Tag Archives: breakfast

Easy Treadmill Interval Workout

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

Workout

As you know, Wednesdays are my day off of teaching Jazzercise usually. So I take advantage of my time and typically hit the gym to be a workout snob and do whatever I want! My hips have been sore from pavement running over the weekend, but by the end of yesterday, I was feeling almost 100% back to normal. So I decided to go back to the gym this morning to give the treadmill and Elliptical a try.

It felt great to wake up early before the sun and get into the gym a few minutes ahead of my normal schedule. I hopped on the treadmill with the intention of making it to the 3.1 mile mark in less than 30 minutes since my 5K is this Saturday night! My hip was feeling fine, so I stuck with it and completed an easy interval.

Easy Treadmill Interval

For this entire interval workout, I left my treadmill on an incline of 2.5 to help mimic a mostly flat outdoor run.

  • 5 minutes at speed of 5.5
  • 2 minutes at speed of 6.0
  • 2 minutes at speed of 7.0
  • 2 minutes at speed of 6.5
  • 2 minutes at speed of 7.5
  • 2 minutes at speed of 6.0
  • 2 minutes at speed of 7.0
  • 2 minutes at speed of 6.5
  • 2 minutes at speed of 7.5

Minus the 1st round of 5 minutes at 5.5, I kept cycling through these intervals until I hit around 3.17 miles. I was sweating like crazy! And my hip was beginning to feel a little sore again for sure. So I decided to stretch before doing some upper body work and finished with 15 minutes on the Elliptical before heading home.

Breakfast

I was hungry when I got to work today around 7:45! I had a banana on my way home from the gym but ready for something more substantial.

I had an extra large serving of breakroom oatmeal and some Greek yogurt on the side for extra protein and staying power!

photo(57)This yummy mixture never gets old and keeps my tummy grumbles to a minimum. Hot breakfasts are the best – even if they are quick and eaten at my desk!

Now I’m looking forward to finishing up my day and spending some time with Nick and Mac tonight on the couch. Nick has been CRAZY busy with a work project this week, and I’ve barely seen him! Oh and I got this in the mail yesterday, so I’ll be marking on every page what I want to order for the holidays…

photo(56)This little baby is chalked full of Christmasy goodness. Can’t wait!

Sore Hips

Food for Thought, Workouts, ,

I suppose this happens to any athlete at some point, but it’s always hard to come to terms with an injury and then tone down workouts for your body to heal. My hips are super sore from my weekend runs!

Saturday started out with 3.5 miles, and Sunday began with 4 miles. I was feeling awesome! But I think my endorphins were pumping so much that I forgot to listen to my body. My right hip has been pretty cranky the last 2 days now. It’s a weird pain in the front of the joint, but I’ve read up on it a bit. I believe my hip flexor is just a little strained and needs some down time from pavement running. After reading this article, I think I’ll be doing some stretches during lunch today!

With my 5K happening this Saturday night, I definitely know I need to take it easy with my outdoor running until then. So this morning I awoke a little before my alarm and decided to take Mac out for a brisk walk to get my blood pumpin.

photo(2)It was a nice little walk that we powered through in no time. Plus, he’s always game to go outside and sniff every single vertical object in site. We made it home in time for me to shower and throw some breakfast items into my purse before heading into work.

Breakfast

Breakfast was almost inhaled completely before I paused to snap a photo!

photo(51)Hot oatmeal with fresh blueberries. Yum! It hit the spot – especially being eaten out of a fancy styrofoam cup.  I also had some delicious low-carb yogurt on the side for added protein.

photo(50)This flavor tastes like a caramel frosted donut. Seriously. So it’s my go-to on mornings where I’m craving sweets. Also notice my pink mug in the background. My coffee was full of flavor this morning with extra pumpkin pie spice creamer!

Hope your Tuesday is off to a great start!

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 🙂