Up and at ’em

After a rather busy and productive weekend, I threw myself into this week with the same vigor.  At 6:15 yesterday morning my alarm woke me out of a deep slumber to remind me it was time to workout.  So workout I did.  I went to the gym in our building and pounded out 3.25 miles in about 30 minutes. 

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet, but this weekend I’m running a 10K.  It’s been about a year since I ran a race so I’m a little rusty but I couldn’t say no to the NY Mini 10K.  This year will mark the third year I’ve run this race, in just as many years.  It’s a women’s only race which always pumps me up!  And the course is beautiful.  Keep your fingers crossed that we’ll have good weather!

Shortly after getting ready for the day, I whipped up a fantastic breakfast smoothie.

In the mix:

• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1 frozen banana
• 3 organic frozen strawberries

I’ve been using Wild Harvest organic strawberries for most of my smoothies lately and I have to say I love them!  They are huge so only a few make a big difference and they create the creamiest smoothies!  I need to replenish my stock, pronto.

For lunch, I went with an old classic; a salad.  After weekend of lots of carbs and cheese, fresh veggies were just the thing my body needed.

Today’s salad included:

• Baby spinach
• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Grape tomatoes
• Egg whites
• Roasted chicken
• Fat free honey dijon dressing

And I also munched on a delightful fruit salad. 

I’m so glad summer’s here because I’m so ready for copious amounts of fresh fruit!

One problem with being out of town is that it doesn’t leave me time to grocery shop!  So for yesterday’s snack, I decided to try a free protein bar I got when I joined the gym.  One of the samples they gave me was the Iced Oatmeal Blueberry dotBAR.

The stats are fairly decent albeit a little high in calories, but 15 grams of protein is something I can get behind.  The ingredient list was a little long for my liking but it was free, so why not?

Ordinarily a blueberry flavored protein bar is not something I’d buy myself.  If I eat a bar, I usually opt for the peanut butter chocolate variety.  And after trying this sample, it confirmed that I should stick with what I like.  This flavor was just not good.  It smelled vaguely of blueberries but didn’t taste like much of anything.  I did like the texture as it reminded me of cookie dough but that was about the only good thing.  I will not be buying these for myself.

When I got home for work, I had a very pleasant surprise waiting for me…

… a new refrigerator!  Our last one started making really loud noises so after discussing it with the landlord, she went ahead and bought us a new one.  There are lots of perks to renting 🙂

Dinner was super quick since we were low on pretty much everything.  I made some ground beef tacos with homemade taco seasonings.

For dessert I had a handful of chocolate chips and some warm, cinnamon milk to help me knock me out.  I need all the sleep I can get, haha.

Do you like Mondays or do you tend to have the Monday blues?  I’m usually prone to the blues, but this Monday I felt great after working out.  It looks like there is something to working out in the morning after all!