food | Mac & No Cheese

I don’t know what it is about my tummy this week, but I have been cravin’ and lovin’ oatmeal everyday! I’ve always liked oatmeal (and make it often), but this week it’s been my breakfast everyday. Something about how the warm oats fill up my hungry belly makes me feel so cozy and ready to take on my day! So this morning’s food obviously followed suit.

Breakfast

Blueberries and oatmeal and Greek yogurt, oh my! It was delicious and filling as always. Plus I was excited to find a plain vanilla Greek yogurt in my fridge this morning so I could mix in my remaining blueberries. I love to eat blueberries plain, but when I’m having coffee with my breakfast, this is never okay to do. Plain blueberries + hot coffee = YUCK! If you’ve never tried it, just don’t. It’s terrible. So I had yet another blueberry-filled breakfast but mixing them into my oats and then into my yogurt as well. All yummy!

Workout

I woke up a little later than usual when I’m wanting to complete a morning workout because I knew I only wanted to run outside this morning as practice for my 5K coming up in less than 2 weeks! I woke up at 5:40 and rolled out of bed and into my running gear. Mac was wide awake but had to stay home since he can’t run farther than 1.2 miles without me dragging him. We’ll just blame it on his extra short legs. 🙂

It was still dark when I headed out, but my RunKeeper app kept me company and provided a little light on the dark streets. My extra motivation this morning?? It was COLD when I set out! I had on a tank knowing that I would be hot by the time I got to mile 2. But I was wishing I had on a little more clothing! It was pretty glorious to run in the cool morning. It felt like Fall might actually be upon us very soon. If only the whole day would stay that cool…haha. Forecasted high of 86 degrees today here in Springfield-land. Oh well…

I completed 3.5 miles in 31m 15s which is an average pace of 8:55 per mile. Yay me! For a girl that has NEVER been a runner and struggles through just about every run I complete, this is a great time. Especially when I’m running alone in the dark at 6 AM. After this, I think it’s safe to say I’ll hopefully breeze through the Glow Run on the 14th. Let’s hope my girlfriend that I’m running with is ready too! We’re gonna rock it! In our best neon running attire, that is. 🙂

Hope your Thursday is off to a great start. We’re almost to the weekend already!

I was going to name my post this morning ‘Sweaty Morning’ since I got in a nice, long workout before the workday. But as I was finishing up on the elliptical around 6:20 AM, I was watching the sunrise out the windows of my gym. It was truly breathtaking and turned the sky a hazy orange. The site of the orange sky sent chills up my spine, and I was immediately cozy and content. It reminded me of a crisp, Fall morning! At least the way it looked….yes, it was already over 70 degrees outside, with a forecasted high of 92 today. Yuck! So even though it is still summer and humid and icky hot, my brain is in Fall mode, and I’m officially ready for cooler weather here in the Ozarks! So back to where I started, ‘Toasty’ seemed like a better word to describe my feelings this morning. Toasty feels more warm and cozy than the words Sweaty and HOT!

Wednesdays are always a little fun and different for me because it is my night off from Jazzercise. This makes the day fair game for whatever workout I want to dive into. This morning, I awoke around 5 AM to get a nice long workout in at my gym. Since I had almost more than an hour to burn once I got there, I started with a 30-min. interval workout on the treadmill. Mostly a mix of incline walking, jogging, and 30-second sprints. This took me up to 3 miles, and I was a sweaty mess! I then completed a circuit of strength training on the weight machines (no free weights today!). I did mostly upper torso (shoulder and arm) work, but did a few sets of leg presses and hamstring curls as well. Gotta take advantage of an empty gym!

This left me about 10 minutes before I had to rush home, so I completed my workout with 10 minutes, or 1 mile, on the elliptical. I tend to be a cardio junkie, so mornings when I get in some good strength training make me feel extra awesome for the rest of day!

Breakfast

Breakfast this morning was courtesy of my productive self last night. I prepared a bowl of overnight oats last night and washed a bowl of berries that I would stir in this morning before digging in.

Into my overnight oats, I added…

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
2/3 cup vanilla soy milk
1 TB chia seeds
1/4 cup nonfat, plain Greek yogurt
1 packet of splenda
a couple shakes of pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon

This concoction is a go-to breakfast for me since it just has to sit in the fridge overnight! This morning I added in the berries and tossed the container in my bag on my way out the door. I eat my breakfast at work, and my overnight oats are always a treat when I’m at my desk!

My coworkers think I’m crazy. I haven’t coaxed them into trying my cold oats yet. But they’ll come around. 🙂

Hope your Hump Day is off to a great start! Catch ya later!

Mac & No Cheese

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Lovin’ Oatmeal & Chilly Run

Toasty Morning!