Neglected

I just realized something this morning. I’ve been severely neglecting my love of Greek yogurt.

For some reason, I’ve been bypassing the creamy, protein-packed lil’ cups every day for the past week or so.

It was high time to change that!

Hello Again, Old Friend

I made myself a bowl of yogurt mousse, using a cup of plain Greek yogurt and a big spoonful of instant chocolate pudding mix.

I then topped the chocolate-flavored yogurt with a sliced frozen banana.

Naner

Time for a Bite

Neglected, no more! 😀

Workout

Today’s workout had me sweatin’!

I took a BodyPump class, followed by 10 minutes of cardio split between the stair master and the elliptical.

The teacher at my gym this morning annoyed me a little because she was pretty negative and was a stickler for form. I totally understand the importance of proper form, but I could tell her intense focus on the improper form of certain class participants made some people uncomfortable.

It’s all about the delivery!

Had she harped on the proper way to do certain exercises with a positive tone, it would’ve made all the difference. I don’t think most group exercisers want to feel like they’re back in school and getting reprimanded. A polite correction is appreciated, but a condescending one is not. I even saw three people leave before the third track was over.

Question of the Morning

Have you ever had a bad experience with a group exercise instructor?

I think my worst experience was during a spinning class several months ago.

The instructor was a big, beefy guy who never got on the bike, played screaming heavy metal music and danced like he was in a club the whole time (as in he never moved his feet, but grooved in one spot like a mega-tool). You could tell he thought he was a hottie tottie. Not my cuppa tea!

Not So Laborious

Labor Day hasn’t been too laborious, which is a very good thing. 😀

I ran to the mall to do some returns before meeting up with my friend Laurel to lay by the pool for an hour or so. When I arrived home, I found Ryan sitting at the kitchen table hard at work stuffing our remaining wedding invitations. What a guy!

I sat down to join him after making us banana vanilla protein shakes.

The shake included:

• 1 frozen banana
• 1/2 c. vanilla bean frozen yogurt
• 3/4 c. milk
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder

My “J” cup was in the dishwasher from yesterday’s mocha green monster, so Ryan kindly let me use his initial cup.

We ran out of stamps for our RSVP card envelopes, so we couldn’t completely finish stuffing our wedding invitations, bu t we only have 10 left. That’s nuffin!

Dinner

Though we had some snapper waiting to be prepared for dinner in the fridge, Ryan had the idea of serving the fish with a fresh arugula salad, so we headed to the grocery store to pick up the necessary goods.

While I prepared the fish and a side of Kraft grilled cheese explosion macaroni and cheese, Ryan prepped the salads with sliced zucchini, freshly squeezed lemon juice and grated lemon, salt, pepper and a bit of olive oil.

I broiled the snapper, topped with salt, pepper and several lemon slices, for approximately 10 minutes.

We enjoyed our fish on top of the arugula salad with a side of mac and cheese.

(My salad bowl looks like a super tiny plate, but it’s actually a deep bowl. Lots more veggies that ya think!)

Ryan picked up a box of this new flavor of Kraft mac and cheese saying we just had to try it. I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty fantastic, though I think we’ll be sticking to mac and cheese varieties with a more understandable ingredient list.

Tasty, tasty!

I gotta run… We’re in the middle of Jeopardy and celebrities are on this week which means the trivia is easy-peasy. I gotta go win a million dollars! 😉

Question of the Evening

Do you enjoy trivia?

Stuffing a Turtle Down My Shirt

In the words of Ron White, “It’s gonna be a good day, Tater.”

I mean how could it not be? It’s the Friday before a three-day weekend!

Plus, it was a b-e-a-utiful morning in Central Florida.

Downtown Orlando

This morning Ryan and I soaked up the warm Florida sun during a lovely morning walk with our crazy dog.

My Little Lovers

We walked around Lake Eola and even saw a little bird eating a fish… or so I thought.

Bird with Fish???

As I got a little closer to snap a picture, I saw that the bird’s prey was not a fish at all. It was a tiny turtle. 😦

I used to own a little turtle just that size when I was in high school. His name was Eli and I bought him in Myrtle Beach when I was on vacation with my friends. When I went to bring him back to Illinois with me, the security people told me I couldn’t bring a live animal through.

After sneaking off into the bathroom, I stuffed the little turtle down my shirt and walked through a different security line to sneak him aboard. A little gross? Maybe. But it worked and little Eli made it to Illinois safe and sound!

As if seeing a little baby turtle on our walk wasn’t exciting enough, I think I saw Healthy Ashley running, but since we’ve never met in real life I didn’t want to be a super-freak and stop her mid-run to ask if it really was her… So I smiled awkwardly instead.

Workout

Today’s workout took me through a total-body weights routine after a quick 10-minute warm up on the elliptical.

I did three sets of 15 reps of the following exercises:

• Lunges (15 reps on right leg followed by 15 reps on left leg), 15 lbs.
• Shoulder raises, 8 lbs.
• Incline bicep curls, 12 lbs.
• Tricep extensions, 20 lbs. (total)
• Leg extensions, 35 lbs. (I made sure to do Ryan’s flex method on these and they were killer!)
• Prone leg curls, 40 lbs.
• Bridges, 20 lbs. (total)
• Crunches, 100 total

I completed this routine by super-setting two exercises at a time, so after one set of lunges, I did a set of shoulder raises before going back to lunges and repeating the sequence. I love super-setting because it makes the workout go by a lot faster and keeps your heart rate UP!

Breakfast

After a good workout and a nice walk with Ryan and Sadie my stomach was growlin’!

Feed meeee.

I opened the fridge and looked around the kitchen for inspiration.

An old banana caught my eye…

What To Do with an Old Nanner?

After peeling the banana and promptly devouring about 3/4 of it on the spot, I assembled a delicious breakfast that included a cup of Chobani Greek yogurt, honey, Flax-Z-Snax butter pecan hot cereal (chilled) and the remainder of the banana.

It's Friday! Things Are Looking Up! (Note the Arrow.)

This was a winning combination.

The Spoonful of Food Pictures Are My Favorite

The banana made the meal! I think the fact that it was on its death bed made it extra sweet and flavorful. Yaaa-um.

Now it’s time to work!

I have a hot lunch date today with El Ryan, so I’ll see ya in a bit with a lunch recap that will likely involve our favorite lunchtime spot! 😀

Question of the Morning

Who is your favorite comedian?

Mine is a toss-up between Ron White, Ellen DeGeneres, Sinbad and Robin Williams. Love ’em all!

20 Minutes of Intervals > 5 Mile Run

You would think that running five miles non-stop would be more challenging than alternating walking with running for 20 minutes, but for me that just isn’t the case.

This morning I did a 30-minute interval workout on the treadmill and was one heck of a sweaty mess by the time I was done.

30 Minute Treadmill Interval Workout

For 20 minutes, I alternated running at a 9.0 pace for 20 seconds with walking at a 4.0 pace for 40 seconds. Let me just tell you that those walking breaks go by quickly!

At the conclusion of my workout, I couldn’t help but feel like I got a better workout doing 20 minutes of interval training than I would have if I ran five miles. When I run, I get into an almost zen-like state and just sort of go, only challenging myself toward the end of the run. During the 20 minutes of intervals this morning, I challenged myself for 20 minutes straight!

Since I really wanted to flip through one of my bridal magazines, I finished my workout with an easy 20 minutes on the elliptical.

Breakfast

Thank you again to Lindsay for sending me several Glo Bars and packets of Barney Butter. They both made a delicious appearance in my breakfast today!

Nectarine + BB + GB

To make my morning meal, I sliced a large nectarine before topping it with a packet of Barney Butter and a crumbled Chocolate Chia Glo Bar.

Drool.

Of course I didn’t let any Barney Butter go to waste…

Every Last Drop...

Along with my nutty nectarine bowl, I also enjoyed a banana.

All Together

Git in mah belly! 😀

Question of the Morning

• Do  you prefer a short, intense workout or a longer, less intense workout?
  

Mind Boggling

Wanna know something that boggles my mind?

A few months ago I hated yoga. I just couldn’t get into it.

My mind would race a mile a minute during every class. I found myself feeling inadequate as I looked at the people who were all surely professional gymnasts and could contort their bodies into the most bizarre positions… and then hold them for a minute or two.

Namaste

I wasn’t until I took a yoga class with an instructor who offered modifications to more advanced yoga poses and was constantly telling the class to practice yoga in the way that feels right to them and their body that I actually enjoyed it. What a world of difference!

Ever since then, I’ve found that my body honestly craves yoga. The way I feel after a solid hour of deep stretching is unsurpassed by any other workout. (You may read about my favorite yoga pose here.)

This morning I took a yoga class after doing 30 minutes of light cardio on the elliptical and it felt fantastic.

My quadriceps and hamstrings were unbelievably tight. I’ve been wanting to take a yoga class ever since I finished the Chicago Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon a week and a half ago, but I’ve been waiting for the scab/bruise on my knee (thank you, Sadie) to heal so I could comfortably do all of the poses.

Breakfast

After yoga and a quick walk with Sadie, I came home to assemble breakfast. I could have sworn I had a peach in the fridge, but apparently I eat things and forget about them these days. 🙂

Though I initially planned to enjoy a peach-tastic breakfast, I changed my menu and opted for a simple morning meal of a banana and Chobani Greek yogurt which I enjoyed with a scoop of Polaner blueberry fruit spread.

Chobani + Polaner Blueberry Fruit Spread

Nanner

Though this breakfast veered from my initial plan, it was still pretty darn tasty!

Thursday Goods

Jammin’ Out

Let me just say I love PBF readers!

As a little token of my love for you guys, please enjoy this compilation of ’80s jams that I assembled from your comments on my morning post from yesterday. Get ready to sing and dance your way through the rest of the work day!

• Whitesnake: Here I Go Again
• Culture Club: Karma Chameleon
• Tiffany: I Think We’re Alone Now
• AC/DC: TNT
• Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody
• Guns N’ Roses: Paradise City
• Debbie Gibson: Shake Your Love
• The Buggles: Video Killed the Radio Star
• Hall & Oates: You Make My Dreams
• Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes: I’ve Had the Time of My Life
• Tears for Fears: Everybody Wants to Rule the World
• Journey: Don’t Stop Believin’
• Pat Benatar: Love is a Battlefield
• Peter Gabriel: In Your Eyes
• Dexy’s Midnight Runners: Come on Eileen
• Katrina & The Waves: Walking on Sunshine
• Kenny Loggins: Footloose

Now go make yourself a rockin’ ’80s playlist! 😀