An Almost Restless Workout

Ryan always leaves the gym super sweaty.

His strength training workouts are no joke. To me, they seem like a combination of cardio and strength training because he never stops moving. In between sets of one exercise, he does another less-intense exercise that typically only uses his body weight (such as crunches), so his heart rate never drops too low.

Though my workout today wasn’t nearly as fast-paced as Ryan’s, I did make an effort to not rest for more than 30 seconds between sets of each exercise. At first I thought this would be plenty of time, but those 30 seconds of recovery fly by!

My workout today looked like this:

Slam Jam Those Muscles!

I also did 10 minutes of cardio on the stair master to warm up and completed 10 minutes of cardio on the elliptical to cool down.

Post workout, I came home to shower and made a concerted effort to tone-down my Swamp Beast habits. (You guys should know I’ve come a long way in my Swamp Beastliness, though I still hop out of the shower right away because it’s grossss to linger. 😉 )

Breakfast

I was achin’ for some bacon for breakfast today and turned to the freezer to grab some Morningstar Farms veggie bacon to include in my morning meal.

Morningstar Farms Veggie Bacon Strips

I used the fakie bacon in a breakfast sandwich that I made with a wedge of Laughing Cow light Swiss cheese and an egg white.

Veggie Baconified Breakfast Sandwich

On the side I also enjoyed a cup of strawberry banana Chobani Greek yogurt.

Strawberry Banana Chobani

If you’re not so sure about the whole Greek yogurt thing, you should know that Ryan thinks plain Greek yogurt is gross, but loves this flavor. The strawberry banana Greek yogurt has officially replaced his typical plain strawberry yogurt.

I think he was swayed to convert to Greek yogurt when I showed him that a serving of the yogurt he was buying had almost 40 grams of sugar… more than a serving of ice cream (which is 10x more delicious… I’ll take my sugar consumption elsewhere, thankyouverymuch).

Tonight

Stay tuned for information about our plans tonight! I am beyond excited for what we have in store. I felt like it was Christmas Eve as we were going to bed last night… Okay, total lie, but I am pumped! 😀

Question of the Morning

What is your favorite sugar-laden food?

Do I really need to tell you mine? ICE CREAM!!!!!!

Game Night + Sundaes

Game night last night was a blast!

Girls + Games

A small group of us got together to play Scattergories at my friend Laurel’s apartment.

Her adorable (albeit slightly crazy) cat Natasha also joined in on the fun.

Natasha

We were all laughing at the way Natasha sprawls out with her legs behind her. I’ve never seen a cat do that! So stinkin’ cute!

Laurel is such a wonderful hostess and had all the fixin’s for ice cream sundaes for us to enjoy.

In honor of Operation Healthy, Ryan and I decided to share a sundae.

Best Food in the World

Ryan made our sundae by topping a fresh-out-of-the-oven ooey gooey brownie with a couple of scoops of peanut butter cup ice cream, whipped cream, peanut butter sauce and hot fudge.

I think we polished off the entire bowl in 2.5 seconds.

Someone went back for more…

Round Two

You know I had several bites of his second sundae. What kind of a fiance would I be if I let him polish it all off by himself? 😉

It is very hard for me to not overdo it when it comes to ice cream because I love it so, so much. I honestly think I could polish off a half-gallon without a problem.

Fortunately last night I enjoyed the ice cream without overdoing it and left Laurel’s feeling satisfied but not overly stuffed. Success!

Workout

This morning I woke up with a cramp in my calf!

I jumped around our bedroom breathing deeply and trying to stretch it out. Eek! No fun!

Waking up to a cramp in your calf really wakes you up, so I was quite the chipper little girl at the gym this morning.

Today’s workout included:

• 10 min. stair master
• 20 min. arc trainer
• 20 min. elliptical

I did all of my workouts while browsing through my ginormous stack of bridal magazines.

I am on a mission to get through all of them within the week. I am tearing out any pages with ideas or inspiration for our big day and leaving the rest at the gym. My magazine stack is getting out of control (Yes, I blame you, Mama! 😉 )!

Breakfast

Wanna know something kind of weird? I prefer my peanut butter and banana sandwiches made with slices of frozen bananas. I think they are more flavorful and hold up better in the sandwich for some reason.

Frozen Banana Slices + Nutmeg

I dusted today’s peanut butter and banana sandwich with nutmeg to make it all gourmet looking to impress you guys.

Did it work? 😉

PB + Nutmeg

PB & B

I also enjoyed an Adora calcium disk because they taste like candy to help my bones stay strong.

Adora

Everythaaang

Peanut butter, I love you.

Along with breakfast I also enjoyed a tumbler full of my gym’s free coffee.

Free Coffee Makes Me Smile

Oh! And before I forget… Sadie says “hi!”

"What Up, Yo!?"

Question of the Morning

• Do you like to play board games?
  
• What is your favorite game?

I love Taboo! 😀

The Elusive Pint

Ooooh breakfast. You are my reason for waking up in the morning. 🙂

I love a filling breakfast and find that my morning meals that contain peanut butter are some of the most satisfying. Gotta love those healthy fats that stick to yo’ ribs!

Today’s breakfast was a peanut butter and peach sandwich that I prepared on an Arnold multi-grain sandwich thin.

Hump Day Breakfast

I sprinkled the nut butter and peach slices with pumpkin pie spice to make it look extra purdy for you guys and also add a little bit o’ flava.

Peachy Keen

On the side I enjoyed several fresh strawberries.

Sweet Strawberries

I love how sweet strawberries are in the summer. They’re so touch-and-go in the winter, but summer berries are always perfectly ripe.

Workout

I woke up a little nervous about my workout this morning. After a week away from strength training, I had a feeling my usual 5:45 a.m. Wednesday BodyPump class would kick my little tooshie.

I was right… kind of. I figured I would struggle through the squats and lunges since I assumed my legs would feel fatigued after Sunday’s half marathon, but I actually found the bicep and should tracks the most challenging. Go figure!

It felt great to feel the burn again! Healthy Julie is back!  We’ll just forget about that little bowl of Ben & Jerry’s peanut butter cup ice cream I had last night, mmm kay? 😉

Actually… Let’s talk about Ben & Jerry’s for a second.

In college Ryan and I fell in love with Ben & Jerry’s oatmeal cookie chunk ice cream.

Ben & Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk

It is seriously amazing. Sweet cinnamon ice cream with chunks of oatmeal cookies and a ribbon of fudge. It’s heaven in a pint.

Well, we haven’t been able to find this ice cream for years! The grocery store by Ryan’s old apartment is the only location we’ve ever seen carry it. We literally check every grocery store we visit for a pint of this stuff with no luck.

It’s quite the elusive little guy.

Questions of the Morning

• Have you ever had a product you love be discontinued or suddenly become very hard to find?
  
• Which cookie do you prefer: Oatmeal or chocolate chip?
  

The Test

Today’s test: Will Ryan and I survive the night having eaten chicken that was one day past the expiration date? Only time will tell… 😉 

When I arrived home from work, I checked on the chicken before heading out to take Sadie to the dog park with Ryan. 

Checkin' on Chicken

Some of you have asked about the liner I use in the crock pot in the past, and it’s awesome and makes clean up a breeze. It is a slow cooker liner made by Reynolds and I buy them at my local grocery store (Publix). Highly recommended! 

Dog Park 

Our trip to the dog park was full of fetch! 

"Throw the Ball!"

Playtime

Dog Park Kisses

Smile!

Sadie could play fetch for hours. Ryan and I always wonder exactly how long we’d have to play for her to stop. We’re thinking three hours. (Seriously. If you have a vizsla, or know Sadie, you understand. 🙂 ) 

Pretty Pup

I purposely saved this picture for last, because I think it’s super cool: 

Speedy Sadie

After an hour or so at the park, we headed home to brave the expired chicken. 

Dinner 

Good news! Our expired chicken dinner smelled and tasted great and oh-so-fresh. 

BBQ Chicken Sandwich

“Sell by” date? What “sell by” date? 😉 

I didn’t want to take any chances wasting fresh or expensive ingredients on potentially bad chicken, so I stuck to the old stand by of throwing chicken in the slow cooker with chicken broth to cook all day. 

We had tasty BBQ chicken sandwiches that didn’t taste the least bit old. Let’s call them mature BBQ chicken sandwiches, shall we? 😀 

My Sandwich

On the side we had some green goodies. 

Zucchini

My Plate

No Ice Cream???  

It’s nights like tonight that I am very thankful we don’t keep ice cream in our apartment because I’m reallllly feelin’ like I could go to town on a pint right about now. Ryan and I both cannot be trusted around ice cream. Between the two of us, we’ve been known to polish off a half gallon in one day… without feeling sick. It’s a gift, I know. 

What food can’t you be trusted around?  

Aside from ice cream I cannot be trusted around jars of peanut butter. Truth: Ryan hides them from me.

Epic Battle: Cheeseburger vs. Ice Cream

Disclaimer: If you have issues with feeding animals people food, please do not read the following post. It will haunt your dreams.

***

In honor of Sadie’s second birthday, Ryan and I decided to put an ongoing question to rest.

Ryan and I have continually discussed a certain situation involving Sadie for a couple months now.

If given equal access to a cheeseburger or a soft serve vanilla cone, which would Sadie pick?

 

Contender #1

Contender #2

I’m sure you’re thinking “C’mon Julie, she’s a dog! Of course she’ll pick the burger.” Well, Sadie takes after her mama (me) and adores McDonald’s soft serve vanilla cones. She doesn’t waste any time licking… she goes right for the bite and can polish a cone off in no time!

Ryan and I both agreed that she’d pick the cheeseburger first based on smell alone, so we thought we’d make the epic battle interesting. We thought that letting Sadie lick the cone first to get a taste of the sweet deliciousness before giving her free reign to select the food item of choice, might make the battle between the cheeseburger and ice cream a little more interesting.

And so, after ordering a vanilla cone and a plain cheeseburger from McDonald’s, the battle ensued.

Check out the video to see which one came out on top! 😀

(Click here if you cannot see the video above.)

Dinner

Before all the birthday excitement, Ryan and I enjoyed a simple dinner of homemade butternut squash soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.

The soup was really to easy to make and only used four ingredients:

• Butternut squash
• Carrots
• Onion
• Chicken broth

Onion + Carrot

Blended Up

Homemade Butternut Squash Soup

Who doesn’t love grilled cheese and soup? It’s a classic!

Grilled Cheese and Soup

Yum!

Dessert was a soft serve vanilla cone… and no, not the one we got for Sadie. 🙂