Tag Archives: oatmeal

Sunflower Seed Vanilla Oatmeal

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I like all nut and seed butters.  I do.  Sunflower seed butter is amazing.  If you’ve never tasted it, you’ve got to change that now.  And then go make this super filling and tasty Sunflower Seed Vanilla Oatmeal.  Itz loaded with protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats.  What more can you ask for in a breakfast?

Sunflower Seed Vanilla Oatmeal

Sunflower Seed Vanilla Oatmeal

~makes 1 bowl

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup oats
  • 2/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (I used Silk)
  • 2 tablespoons raw sunflower seeds (more for garnish)
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I used Designer Whey)
  • 1 spoonful sunflower seed butter

Directions:

  1. Cook oats with milk on the stove.
  2. Stir in sunflower seeds and protein powder.
  3. Top with more sunflower seeds and sunflower seed butter.

Of course, I also added my “weird” (in Jonny’s words) ingredients such as maca powder and ground flaxseed.  The product?  An awesome bowl of oatmeal!

February is Love Your Veggies Month over at Peas & Crayons for the WIAW party.

I’ve been making sure to include veggies in my lunches and dinners.  I baked a huge batch of chicken breasts on Sunday, so chicken has been dominating my lunches and dinners.  Since I like to mix it up, for lunch I’ve been eating chicken wrapped in these tortillas with fresh spinach, red peppers, and Trader Joe’s hot and sweet mustard. (x2)

lunch

That stuff is the best and it makes for a killer wrap.  Dinner was more chicken with Brussel sprouts and sweet potato orzo that my in-laws brought back from one of their vacations.  The orzo was definitely interesting and was not quite as flavorful as Jonny or I anticipated.  Dinner was simple, but it worked.

dinner

Today we are having a staff soup and salad luncheon at school.  I signed up to bring a dessert because I’ve been wanting to make this Greek Yogurt Cake Batter Dip and decided this was the perfect excuse!  (I used a Golden Butter cake mix.)  Holy cow, it was AMAZING!

Greek Yogurt Cake Batter Dip

I am serving it with animal crackers and graham crackers, but I had a couple spoonfuls just plain and itz awesome.  You know my thoughts on cake batter.  Enough said.

Are you a sunflower seed butter fan?  How about cake batter?

Quick & Easy WIAW

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~2 days left to enter the PRO Compression Socks giveaway!~

With the holidays nearing, my schedule has certainly gotten busier.  Sometimes my workouts get shorter (but still effective!  Did you see this quick and easyfull body circuit workout?).  It does not mean my meals have to suffer.  Instead, I’ve made some quick and easy meals this week with the goal of eating healthy in mind.  This is perfect for December’s What I Ate Wednesday with Jenn at Peas and Crayons.

Breakfast:  As winter approaches, the temperature has been dropping.  Mornings can be chilly, so a bowl of hot oats is a quick and easy option!

A scoop of chocolate peanut butter from my foodie pen pal makes it all the better!  I also mixed in maca powder, wheat germ, and ground flaxseeds for added nutrition.

Lunch:  Yesterday’s Elf For Health challenge was to make a salad dressing.  Well, I needed something fast and easy, so I topped my salad with cottage cheese!  I use low fat and low sodium cottage cheese and itz loaded with protein which makes it even more perfect to use as a salad dressing.

My salad included broccoli slaw, red and orange pepper, carrots, celery, tuna, and sunflower seeds.  Canned tuna has great protein while sunflower seeds are a source of healthy fat (and protein and other nutrients!).  Fast and easy, baby!

Dinner:  I didn’t get home until after seven last night, so you better believe I wanted something fast and easy.  We are running a bit low on groceries, so I had to make do with what we had.  I started with a whole wheat tortilla, toasted it, then smeared a very thin layer of cream cheese on top.  Then, I placed turkey pepperoni on top, cooked two eggs, steamed spinach (gotta get my greens!), and rolled it all up.

 

The verdict?  Not bad for a very thrown together dinner and definitely super filling.  There ya have it,quick and easymeals. 

What are your quick and easy food options when life gets busy?

Pre & Post Nike Race Eats

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Now that you know I’ve PR-ed and you know how I PR-ed during the San Francisco Nike Women’s Half Marathon, let’s talk pre and post race eats for today’s party in the blogosphere.  We’ll start with the night before the race.  I met many other FitFluential Ambassadors at Ristorante Umbria.

Check out the awesomeness – clockwise starting on the left – : Alexandra at Fun and Fit, Tiffany at Running Hutch, Meg at Run. Fit. Kin., me (duh), Gia at Run Gia Run, Kristen at Stuft Mama, Brian at Pavement Runner, Kelly at Cupcake Kelly’s, Melissa at The Melissa Chronicals, Janene at One Run At A Time, and Rachel at Running Rachel.

Along with the other FitFluential Ambassadors, my real date for the evening was Caitlin.

She was a lovely date and host.  :)   Since it was the night before the race, I opted for a pasta dish.  I went with the Fusilli con Pollo - the pasta was sautéed in extra virgin oil and white wine with diced chicken breast, sun-dried tomato and fresh arugula, topped with fresh parmesan. I had them make the dish with whole wheat penne noodles.

It was a fabulous choice and I ate every last bite.  Pre-race breakfast included what it always does before a race: oats with cacao powder, cinnamon, banana slices, and a glob of peanut butter. 

Terribly ugly picture and I forgot to add the banana until halfway through the bowl.  I guess I had other things on my mind?  During the race, I consumed Shot Blocks that they were passing out.  I had actually bought a couple packs at the expotique, but didn’t need them since they were being handed out.  I’ll save mine for the Runner’s World Half Marathon this weekend.  Post-race was a banana, coconut water, and chocolate milk.

Chocolate milk was the only thing I snapped a picture of, and did you know chocolate milk can help you recover faster after exercise?  Itz true.  I enjoyed the whole bottle and it satiated me until lunch time. Caitlin took me to Crave.  By the time I showered and we walked the several blocks to the restaurant, I was ravenous.  Like eat my arm off hungry. 

Caitlin ordered the Roast Chicken sandwich which included roasted organic chicken breast, sweet baguette, provolone, spinach, red pepper, onion, and tomato.  I ordered the Morroco Your World with Crave hummus, wheat pita, fresh spinach, carrot stix, roasted eggplant, sliced cucumber, and green olives.

We decided to go halfsies on our orders, so we could enjoy a little of both.  And halfies turned out to mean that I ate half of Caitlin’s sandwich and she had two bites of mine.  Told ya I was hungry!  Dinner ended up happening on the airplane.  I had a flight that stopped in Colorado, but I didn’t change planes so I picked up a sandwich from the SFO airport.

The sandwich was MASSIVE and I felt a bit awkward trying to shove it in my face on the airplane surrounded by strangers. #sorryimnotsorry It was a turkey sandwich on wheat bread with lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, and a delicious cranberry mustard spread.

That pretty much sums up the major meals of the weekend!  Oh, and there were many REBOOTizer pouches consumed to help with recovery and travel.  Thanks so much to Jenn at Peas & Crayons for hosting What I Ate Wednesday.

What do your pre and post race eats usually include?

Itz A Tearful WIAW

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I kind of want to cry.  Mostly due to pure exhaustion.  There are lots of factors.  Like my super active Monday with a leg workout that included lunges and squats (not assisted on the Smith machine, real squats – just the bar, weights, and my poor, shaking legs).  Or the miles I’ve been booking to keep up RWRunStreak.

Oh, how about the private CrossFit session I went to yesterday to finish up my intro series?  Yes, just me and the coach who combined two sessions into one.  After a warm up (400 meter run and 3 rounds of 10 squats, 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups), and teaching, learning, and practicing lunges, front squats, sumo deadlift high pulls, wall balls, and burpees, then it was time for the WOD (workout of the day).  The dear coach (Mac, grrr) created the WOD that looked like:

  • 10 burpees
  • 15 wall balls
  • 20 front squats
  • 20 sumo deadlift high pulls
  • 15 wall balls
  • REPEAT ABOVE, then just for fun an additional:
  • 10 burpees
  • 400 meter run
  • 25 sit-ups

I now have a new hatred for Mac wall balls.  If it weren’t for the stupid wall balls I think I would have been fine.  But there they were… twice each round.  I’m not usually one to moan and groan, but I did do a little moaning and groaning. (Sorry, Mac, but now I can thank you… I guess.)

Let’s get back to the crying part.  Shortly after I arrived home, showered, and meal prepped for the following day, my muscles started screaming.  Every move I made started to hurt, so I decided to break out the foam roller.  And the crying continued.  I couldn’t even hardly roll at all it hurt so bad.  I’m not sure what’s worse: not rolling or rolling in extreme pain.  Needless to say, I’m taking it easy today and just going for a nice 1 -2 mile jog this morning.

Why yes I am wearing Cardinal’s pj shorts and a heart tank… they’re both red, so they match… right?

Another [happy] reason for the crying, is that tomorrow after school I leave for the Healthy Living Summit in Boston!!!  Tears of joy as I’m so excited to meet everyone and attend the awesome events that are planned, including a couple workouts which I’m totally stoked for (and hope completely recovered by then!).

Thank you to everyone who wished me good luck on the first day of school yesterday.  Those could be considered more happy tears because the first day went extraordinarily well, and I think itz going to be a fabulous year.  My kiddos are wonderful, and I can’t wait to see how much they will grow this year!

Let’s get back to the original point of this post.  WIAW with Jenn @ Peas & Crayons.

The eats I’ll show you will be mostly from Monday when I ate, worked out, ate, worked out, etc. etc.  My pre-CrossFit Intro fuel consisted of a small bowl of oats with a dollop of peanut butter and a sprinkle of cacao powder.

Post-CrossFit Intro class, I refueled with a smoothie using the Bodacious Berry Vega Smoothie Mix. (full review of Vega will come at a later date)

In with the mix I added frozen strawberries, strawberry yogurt, and unsweetened almond milk.  The smoothie was thick, creamy, delicious, and very filling.  Definitely a fan.  My official lunch was a random mix and one I made for the school days this week.  The picture is shown in a tupperware container (like I take to school), and doesn’t look nearly as nice as it does in a bowl (if you can ever consider tuna to look “nice”).

Shredded broccoli slaw, tomatoes from our garden, red onion, and sunflower seeds tossed in an avocado and apple cider vinegar mix for a “dressing.”  Also crammed in there is leftover steamed broccoli and some plain tuna.  Appetizing?  Not seemingly so, but it did taste good and gave me my greens, fats, and protein fix.

Being so active causes my appetite to roar, so for a post-lunch snack I had a sliced apple dipped in almond butter.

Dinner consisted of leftovers from our birthday dinner: chicken and mushrooms, spaghetti and meatballs, and steamed broccoli on the side (gotta have those greens!).

And there may or may not have been several bites of leftover chocolate cake consumed… details, details.

So back to the crying.  I just put a load of laundry away and my arms are already burning.  I can only imagine how the rest of the day will go.  Stupid wall balls.

Note: No real tears were shed during these past two days; however, if muscles could phsyically cry I’m pretty sure I’d be dripping wet.

What move always leaves you super sore?  Squats and lunges usually do the trick for me.  And now those darn wall balls apparently!

Marvelous In My Monday Giveaway

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Diva Katie has been doing Marvelous In My Mondays for quite some time now, and this week she invited others to participate.  Naturally I wanted to partake in a fun way to make Mondays more fun and this is such a positive way to do it.  Plus, I have a giveaway to offer, so that makes it all the more fun.  Here we go, Marvelous In My Monday!

1.  My new ‘do!  On Friday I got my hair colored and on Saturday I got it trimmed up.  I always go to Preston Salon Spa in St. Louis – an upscale salon that consistently does a marvelous job.  This was actually the first time I had gotten my hair done since January, believe it or not.  Back in January, I darkened my hair closer to my natural hair color and it made the maintenance so easy!  Now that summer is here, I wanted to go a bit lighter.  I was also in the mood for a slight change, so I left my hair in the hands of my stylist (literally).

Bangs!  I love the look and just cross my fingers that I’ll be able to style it just this way!

2.  Zoey and her crazy long tongue.  She has a long tongue anyway, and whenever I take her on a walk when the weather is warmer it always hangs out.

3.  Barlean’s Omega Swirls.  I had been in contact with Andreas from Barlean’s about trying some of their new line – Omega Swirls.  Omega Swirls are a way to get your Omega-3 fatty acids in an easy and tasty way.  They are fish and flax oil supplements without swallowing an enormous pill or forcing down the gross taste that they usually bring.  The Omega Swirl line has the taste and texture of a fruit smoothie and comes in a variety of flavors.

Honestly, I was a bit leery when Andreas said some people eat this stuff off the spoon.  Fish oil and flax oil that tastes good??  YES!!  I got to try three of their flavors, and am here to testify that they all taste like dessert!

4.  Pomegranate Blueberry Total Omega Swirl.  This was the first one I tried as I drizzled it on top of my oatmeal after mixing in fresh blueberries.

So good!

5.  Strawberry Banana Omega Swirl Flax Oil.  I made a pancake with bananas, topped it with some almond butter protein frosting, and drizzled the swirl on top.

Again – amazing!  And it looks pretty!

6. Mango Peach Omega Swirl Fish Oil.   Definitely my favorite.  I love tropical flavors and I used this to make a smoothie with frozen pineapple, Sunwarrior vanilla protein, and unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

I used the swirl in the smoothie in addition to the top.  Seriously delicious.  I love these swirls and can’t wait to try out more of their flavors, specifically the chocolate raspberry.  (How good does that sound?)  What’s even cooler about these swirls is that they will appeal to the whole family, including picky eaters, kids, husbands, whoever!  They taste that good.

7.  GIVEAWAY!  Ok now here’s the best part:  One lucky reader will win my favorite bottle this week: Mango Peach!  It gets better… Four readers will be winning a bottle (around a $25 value!), each a different flavor.  This giveaway will continue throughout the month of June.  A new week brings a new flavor and a new winner.  Giveaway will begin on Monday (today) and go through Thursday, so the winners will be announced each Friday.  (So make sure you check back!)  If you don’t win this week, you’ll have another chance next Monday, but you’ll need to re-enter.  And the Monday after that.  And the Monday after that.  So stay tuned.  :)

For your chance to win a bottle of Barlean’s Mango Peach Omega Swirl Fish Oil, all you have to do is leave a comment down below telling me one thing that makes your Monday marvelous.  Stay up to date with this contest and other exciting news by following Itz Linz on Facebook.  You may earn additional entries to this giveaway by subscribing to Itz Linz, following Itz Linz on Twitter, following Barlean’s on Twitter, and/or tweeting, “I want to win a bottle of @barleans Omega Swirl in Mango-Peach ($25 value!) from @ItzLinz! http://wp.me/p264zq-xE“  Leave a comment for each separate entry and best of luck!

You have until Thursday, June 7th at 7:00 pm CST to enter.  Winner will be chosen on Friday, June 8th and will have 48 hours to contact me or another winner will be drawn.  This giveaway is open to US residents only.  Don’t forget: this giveaway will continue throughout the month of June, so check back each Monday to find what the flavor of the week is and then on Friday to see if you won! :)

*I was not compensated for this review beyond receiving the three bottles of Omega Swirls.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Healthy Choices

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Happy Saturday, friends!  I want to chat with you about some healthy choices I made yesterday.  They are small decisions, but they add up to help me live my healthy lifestyle.  It all began with breakfast.  (It always does, doesn’t it?)  The school I work at breakfast is served in the teacher’s lounge every Friday morning.  Each staff member buddies up with a partner and is responsible for hosting one Friday during the school year.  I love this tradition as it promotes a sense of camaraderie while we eat together on the last day of the week.

The typical breakfast includes bagels, donuts, and juice.  However, sometimes people branch out and spice it up a little.  Today, my third grade team hosted a bridal shower for our lovely co-worker, Nichole.  I wanted to do something different for her shower, and I knew we would be having cake in addition to breakfast.  I decided to nix the donuts and make an oatmeal bar instead.   Nichole recently ran (and rocked!) her first half-marathon and has made great strides with healthy choices.  We often talk about fitness and nutrition, so I knew she would appreciate the healthy alternative of an oatmeal bar.

I put 2 cups of steel-cut oats and 10 cups of water in the crockpot the night before.  I had never made steel-cut oats in the crockpot before, so I wasn’t quite sure how big they would expand.  In the morning, I still had room in the crockpot.  I made an additional two cups of old-fashioned oats on the stovetop and combined it in the crockpot.  (We have a huge staff to feed!)  Toppings included shredded coconut, almond slivers, chocolate chips, dried cranberries, brown sugar, cinnamon, and some homemade peanut butter granola.  The bar went over extremely well and the crockpot was empty by the end!

After school, Jonny and I planned on going to watch my nephews in a little Mother’s Day performance that their preschool hosted.  We were both starving, so we decided to eat dinner before.  I needed to throw together a fast and tasty dinner.  I had a block of tofu in my press waiting to be used.  I cut the tofu into pieces and baked them in the oven at 375 for about 30 minutes.  Then, I steamed broccoli and topped it with nutritional yeast, and smeared some Artisana coconut butter on top of a sweet potato with a dash of cinnamon.

We dipped the baked tofu in a hot and spicy barbecue sauce.  Jonny commented on how full he was after dinner.  See, boys?  You can fill up on tofu!  :)   After dinner, we went to see my nephews and there were some snacks served at the end.  We did indulge in some snacks even though we had already eaten dinner.  Making healthy choices means listening to our bodies and not depriving them.  Did we fix an entire second plate of dinner and stuff our faces with cookies?  No.  Moderation.

Jonny and I had initially planned on getting some fro-yo after the show, but since we had snacked, we decided against it.  Plus, I had something waiting in the freezer that I could turn into a dessert.  When I made the granola for the shower, I made sure to make enough to keep some at home.  Then, Lindsay posted a super easy recipe involving only three ingredients all of which I had on hand: Chobani plain greek yogurt, granola, and chocolate.

Chocolate Dipped Frozen Yogurt Bites

The sprinkles were my own touch.  :)   Also, I added one drop of NuNaturals vanilla extract to the original recipe.  They turned out awesome and Jonny, once again, was impressed.  I can’t wait to make these for more people because they’ll surely be a crowd pleaser.

So those were some of my healthy choices I made yesterday.  Healthy eating doesn’t have to be perfect and it doesn’t have to be boring.  Finding that balance and finding what works for you is key.  Now I’m off to my first ever Ruckus Run with my sister.  Assuming we make it through in one piece, there will be an update on the race tomorrow.

What healthy choices have you made today?

Artisana Awesomeness

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After my very busy day, I slowed things down just a little bit yesterday with a 30 minute elliptical interval workout in the morning.  And that’s all.  Today, I’m skipping the gym since I’m going to the zoo with my students, so I’ll be walking around all day long.  Plus, tomorrow is the Ruckus Run.  Itz only two miles, but I want to make sure I’m well-rested in case of any tough obstacles!

Now let’s talk about a new food obsession: Artisana Organic Foods.  Oh my heavens, I am hooked!  They sent me a fabulous package and I have been putting butters and oils in and on everything in site as of late.

With such a variety, I have been having a lot of fun in the kitchen experimenting with new combinations and new flavors.  Jonny has also been reaping these benefits.  Did you even know that this many nut butters were available?  I didn’t, but I do now, and boy am I glad!  I have seriously used them just about everyday.  In order not to bore you with every.single.thing.I.have.eaten.recently, I will just highlight my absolute favorites.

Oatmeal with Cashew Butter

Holy cow.  I didn’t think I could get any more excited about oatmeal, but I just did.  The cashew butter made my oats so unbelievably creamy and delicious.  That picture is making me drool just seeing and remembering it!

Cacao Quinoa Bowl

When Jonny and I were on that big quinoa bowl kick during Passover, I tried to spruce up quinoa any and every way since we were eating so much of it.  In this bowl was quinoa, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, cacao butter, and a drizzle of honey.  Jonny said this was his favorite quinoa bowl.

Protein Pancake with Macadamia Butter

I made a protein pancake and topped it with some warm macadamia butter.  So good!  The macadamia butter was a little crunchy, too, which added a nice texture.  I’ve topped my protein pancakes with just about every type of nut butter that Artisana sent me, and you really can’t go wrong with any of them!

Oh and if you’re reading this thinking, “Of course it tastes good; it’s butter – so fattening!”  No, no, no.  Well, yes there is fat in it, but it is coming from nuts – a whole food.  Ever since I started incorporating more fat into my daily diet, I have felt fuller sooner, longer, and way more satisfied.  These butters are a great way to get those healthy fats in.  Thank you, Artisana, for my delightful package and for opening my eyes to the whole new world of nut butters!

What is your favorite kind of nut butter?

Coach’s Oats

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Have you ever heard of Coach’s Oats?  I hadn’t until I joined the blog world and then I discovered they are all over the blogs!  As an oatmeal lover myself, I was dying to try them.  So when many packets arrived on my doorstep, I was stoked!

What are Coach’s Oats?  I was wondering the same thing myself, and luckily, they sent me some facts about them and the story that started it all.  Listed below are the highlights, but if you want to read more in depth, visit the website.

  • 100% all natural whole grain oatmeal
  • Can be made in 3 – 5 minutes in the microwave or on the stove
  • Takes 1/3 cup of Coach’s Oats to make 1 cup of oatmeal (compared to 1/2 cup of rolled oats to make the same amount)
  • Have a lower glycemic index rating than traditional rolled oats
  • Invented by Coach Lynn Rogers and Bonnie Rogers when they got tired of waiting so long to prepare steel cut oats

How did I cook them?  The first time I cooked Coach’s Oats, I made them in the microwave with water.  When they were done cooking, I added blueberries, flax meal, and wheat germ.

Very tasty and very thick!  I prefer my oats with a bit more liquid, so the next time I made them I used more milk than it called for, and cooked them on the stove.  I whisked in a banana and stirred in shredded coconut and cinnamon.

I definitely like them prepared a bit looser with more liquid!  The next combination I tried also involved the stove, milk, and strawberries.

Mmm!  The natural sweetness that the strawberries bring is awesome.  My next and possibly favorite concoction involved peanut butter. 

Always a solid choice when peanut butter is involved!  I whisked in a banana while the oats were cooking and put a huge dollop of peanut butter on top.  Delish!  I was curious if Coach’s Oats would work as overnight oats.

Who says you can’t have chocolate for breakfast?  Not me!  I mixed Coach’s Oats, 1 scoop of banana whey protein, flax meal, wheat germ, chia seeds, mini chocolate chips, and milk and let it sit in the fridge overnight.  I’m not sure if I added too much milk or if the oats did not expand as much as traditional rolled oats, but I needed to add more chia seeds in the morning to thicken it up a bit.  Then, of course, I topped it with even more chocolate chips. :)   It was delicious and very seedy.

What’s the verdict?  I am definitely glad I tried Coach’s Oats!  They reminded me more of instant oats than old-fashioned oats as they were smaller in size and not quite as chewy.  Personally, I like the bigger, chewier oats.  I am very grateful for the kind people at Coach’s Oats for letting me sample their oats!  Thanks, Coach’s Oats!

Have you ever tried Coach’s Oats?  What’d you think?

Bodypump

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Today is my last day off work for this break.  As always, I have thoroughly enjoyed my winter vacation and spending time with my friends and family!  With this being my last day with no schedule, I took advantage of my free time by attending Annette’s Bodypump class!  Let’s back up to my morning.  I crawled out of bed around 7:15 (this is really late for me).  I thought to myself, “Self, what kind of workout do you want to do today?”  Then, I had the genius idea of going to Bodypump!  I texted Annette to confirm she would be teaching (the class is not offered at my gym, so I travel to where Annette teaches) and began my morning with a hot cup of joe!

I’m not a huge coffee drinker, but when I have extra time in the morning, I’ll occasionally sip on some coffee.  And this coffee was worth the sipping!  It was Godiva Chocolate Truffle Coffee that Sarah so graciously sent me during December’s Foodie Penpals.  (Check out my guest post here!)  This coffee is delicious and I love the way it makes our kitchen smell.  I only finished about half of the ginormous cup.  That usually happens.  I always think I want more coffee than I can actually handle.  It was good while it lasted though!  I knew I needed to fuel myself properly before Bodypump.

Oatmeal, it was!  This bowl of oats included a banana, peanut butter, and cinnamon.  One of the most perfect combinations!  Another perfect combination?  Bodypump + Annette!  Annette and I grew up together and were inseparable from ages 2 – 12.  We went to different middle schools, high schools, and college, but always kept in touch.  When Annette finally moved back to St. Louis with her numerous fitness certifications and degrees, I was stoked!  She has graciously invited me to Bodypump two other times.

The first Bodypump class I attended was rough… to say the least!  I put waaaaay too much weight on my bar and could not finish one track all the way through.  Take some weight off?  I could.  And I did.  But not enough apparently.  Fast forward to my second Bodypump class.  My goal was to finish each track and not take my own self-proclaimed breaks.  I used significantly less weight and was able to complete each track… with ease.  Today, my challenge was to find a middle-ground!  I wanted to be able to keep up with the class, but still push myself.  I’m happy to say… I accomplished just that!  There was only one track (biceps) that I wish I would have added a drop more weight, but in general I was very happy with my choices and got a great total body workout! 

I learned something new in today’s class, too, which was an added bonus.  When we were doing the ab portion, Annette said to lift your heels in order to make it more challenging (when in the sit-up/crunch position).  This releases the hip flexors putting more work in the abs (oh baby!).  Learn something new everyday!  Thank you, Annette, for completely kicking my booty today and giving me just the workout I needed!  And if any of you all ever need any health, nutrition, motivation, or fitness ideas, Annette’s website Enjoy Your Healthy Life is where it’s at!  Happy Monday and Happy 2012!