Category Archives: Workouts

Jazzercise Fail – Candy Corn Win

Daily Life!, Jazzercise, Workouts, , ,

Welp, it was one of those mornings that any aerobic or workout instructor has probably dealt with on many occasions. And it’s not fun.

I awoke bright and early at 5 AM in a great mood. I was excited to teach Jazzercise! Monday mornings aren’t what most people call ‘fun’. So I try to keep myself extra positive and optimistic during my Monday AM classes for the sake of my sleepy students. Well today, I had none. Yup, not one single student showed up for my 5:40 AM class. Sad day! I’ve had this happen before, but it really cuts deep when it happens at 5 AM. But since I was already awake and in my exercise attire, I headed off to my gym where I could still squeeze in about 35-40 minutes of cardio before heading home to shower. I didn’t want my early morning to be a complete waste!

Workout

I’ll admit, I was a bit a of a grumpy gus when I got to the gym. So I didn’t start with anything too vigorous. I began walking on the treadmill and ended up doing a quick 10 minute incline walking interval. It got my heart rate up!

10 minute incline walking interval

  • Minutes 0-1, Incline 4, Speed  4.0
  • Minutes 1-2, Incline 5, Speed  4.3
  • Minutes 2-3, Incline 6, Speed  4.3
  • Minutes 3-4, Incline 8, Speed  4.3
  • Minutes 4-5, Incline 10, Speed  4.3
  • Minutes 5-6, Incline 12, Speed  4.0
  • Minutes 6-7, Incline 10, Speed  4.0
  • Minutes 7-8, Incline 9, Speed  4.0
  • Minutes 8-10, Incline 7, Speed  4.0

Once I hit the incline of 12, I had to slow it back down to 4.0. I thought my tiny legs were going to come out from underneath of me!

After this 10 minute interval, I jumped on the Elliptical where I finished out my morning workout. Nothing too fancy – just some steady-state cardio to make me feel a little productive. All in all, not a great workout, not a terrible workout. But I think any workout is a win, right?

Breakfast

I hurried home and showered before I had to rush off to work to start another week. I had a little extra time to make food but just wasn’t feelin’ it. So I did my typical grab-n-go breakfast before heading to work a little early.photo(45)The best part was the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Luna bar. I’ve had my fair share of healthy protein bars claiming to taste like cookie dough, but this one takes the cake! haha pun intended. I was super delicious and has 12g of protein to keep me full.

photo(46)I loved every last bite! And speaking of LOVING things, the Candy Corn coffee I bought yesterday at Target was a complete win!

photo(46)And it couldn’t have come at a better time when I was grumpy this morning after having a weirdo workout. It smelled like a butterscotchy-creamy heaven in my kitchen! I added a little of my Pumpkin Pie creamer, and it was a pure cup of goodness to start my day. Candy corn win! It’s the little things that can put a little bit of positivity back into our day 🙂

Hope you’re having a great Monday! I’m looking ahead to lunch with a hungry tummy. Leftover chili? It’s probably the best choice!

Banana Gluten-Free Pancakes

Recipes, Workouts, , , ,

Yay for a good start to my Saturday! I usually wake up extremely early on Saturdays and roll out of bed to decide if I’m going to go take a Jazzercise class. Today, I didn’t have to make this decision since I’m subbing for my center’s owner this morning at 10:15 AM! And a little history, this class time was originally mine when I first became an instructor, so I’m feeling slightly nostalgic to teach it this morning. 🙂

Anyways, since my 5K is next weekend, I decided to head out about 7:15 to go for a 3.5 mile run. Honestly, I felt TERRIBLE through about the first mile. Usually it takes me about 2 minutes to get in the groove, but not this morning. I was struggling! But I made it through without stopping and actually decreased my time by 1 whole minute. Exciting stuff!

I made it back from my run feeling tired but happy with my time. So I quickly came inside to stretch and cool off because my coffee was a waitin’!

photo(36)I’ve had about 2 of these large cups full of steaming coffee by now, and my caffeine high is pretty high. HA! Guess that’s a good thing for a Saturday morning.

Once my appetite starting kicking in, I decided to whip up some banana pancakes that I had seen a recipe for on Pinterest last night. I changed up the ingredients a bit and they still turned out super tasty!

Caution: The pictures look really terrible through this whole recipe because I’m really bad at making pancakes. But I guarantee if you like eggs and bananas, you will enjoy this easy breakfast!

Banana Gluten-Free Pancakes

Makes 2 servings, or 4 medium-sized pancakes

Ingredients:

  • 2 extra-ripe bananas, mashed
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 1 ts Vanilla
  • A dash of cinnamon or your favorite seasoning

Heat a skillet to medium-heat and spray it with a non-stick spray. I use Pam Olive Oil spray.

photo(37)Once your bananas are well mushed, mix in the eggs. Beat the mixture well to thoroughly combine.

photo(35)Then add in the oats, vanilla, and cinnamon. The mixture will be pretty soupy and runny!

Once your skillet is very hot, pour out 1-2 medium sized pancakes. This is where the pictures go down hill. Lesson learned: My skillet wasn’t hot enough so the batter ran everywhere!

photo(34)I fail, but as it got hotter, I kinda reshaped the pancakes to salvage the first batch.

photo(33)Slightly better, no? Well regardless, they still tasted great! I topped mine with apple butter while they were still hot.

photo(32)Nick had the other half of the recipe with maple syrup. So feel free to experiment with your toppings! I still think the yummy apple butter wins though.

Nom nom nom
Nom nom nom

This was a great, filling breakfast! I ate every bite off my plate. And with my apple butter included, it had just over 300 calories and 15 grams of protein. A great meal between my workouts today!

I hope you all have a great Saturday! I’m heading off to Jazzercise soon. Then I’ll be spending some time with Nick and Mac for the rest of the day. Yay for having no special plans!

Enjoy your weekend 🙂

 

Return of the Pleasant Evening Walk

Daily Life!, Food for Thought, Workouts, , ,

Mac gets at least a short walk 1-2 times a day, regardless of the weather. It’s been a sweaty summer so many of these walks have been super unpleasant and resulted in a stinky mommy. But it’s necessary for him because we don’t have a nice, fenced yard for him to run around in during the day. I’m happy to report that some pleasant weather has finally returned to SW MO this week, and we can finally enjoy our walks again! Mac is especially excited…

photo(42) photo(41)photo(38)Yes, it’s still warm, but the humidity is slim to none, making it feel amazing outside in comparison to the rest of the summer months. I’m excited to finally look forward to our time together outside again. And hopefully this means that Nick will finally be joining us for some evenin’ walkin’ in the near future. If Nick has to choose between sitting on the couch watching TV or going walking in hot and sticky 100 degree weather, the couch always wins. Smart guy, right?

Cute little street we always walk down. So quaint!
Cute little street we always walk down. So quaint!

The forecast for the next 7 days is still in the 90’s each day, but low humidity is also in the forecast. So I’m okay with it 🙂  We’ve gotta soak up some daylight while we can during the next few weeks before the time changes. It’s so depressing when the sun is setting, and I’m still just driving home from work for the day! Then our long, pleasant evening walks will turn into dark and cold mini-walks around the block. I cannot complain though; my love of Fall will keep me happy with or without some sunny outdoor time!

Pretty!
Pretty!

Workout

This morning I woke up bright and early to make it to the gym for a solid hour before my busy day had to begin.

I was feeling pretty spry and lively when I arrived, so I hopped on the treadmill for a 30-minute interval workout consisting of walking, jogging, and sprinting. I love counting down the minutes during an interval workout as opposed to a certain distance. It always makes the time and miles go by so much faster. My 30-min. interval brought me to around 2.9 miles, and I was sweatin’ like a piggy!

I then completed some upper torso work, mostly focusing on my shoulders, chest and biceps with a circuit very similar to what I completed on Wednesday. I’m always a creature of habit, so I’m hoping this weekend Nick and I can go to the gym together so I can change up my routine with some free weight exercises. (I hate that part of the gym unless he is with me!) I finished off my workout with some light cardio on the Elliptical for about 15 minutes before heading home.

Breakfast

Can you guess what my breakfast was today??!! You got it: hot oatmeal with blueberries! I’m still loving it 🙂 And I had some Greek yogurt for extra staying power on the side.

photo(37)And now I’m off to finish up this workday and figure out what we’ll be having for dinner. I’m in the mood to cook and it’s Friday, so this usually leads to me becoming a little creative with our evening meal since I have the extra time. We’ll see what I can come up with!

Hope you’re Friday is going great! We can at least be happy that the weekend is here again!