Feels Good to Follow A Routine

I just got home from my Monday afternoon gym session. For breakfast I had 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese, 1 orange sliced, 1/2 banana sliced, 2 tbsp ground flaxseed, and about 10 almonds mixed together. Today was back and biceps day. I did a one mile warm up on the treadmill, did my sets, then went back to the treadmill for another interval workout. Yesterday I focused on speed intervals but today I worked on incline:

0:00-1:00- warm up at 4.0 mph/1% incline

1:00-2:00- 5.0 mph/4% incline

2:00-3:00- 5.0 mph/7% incline

3:00-3:30- 5.0 mph/10% incline

3:30-5:00- 5.0 mph/4% incline

Repeat until you hit 30 minutes.

Let me tell you, at around 15 minutes I thought, what the hell are you doing? This is rough! But I persisted... I always put myself in the mindset of someone I would be training. I cooled down for 2 minutes at no incline walking at 4.0 mph then I was done.

My post workout snack is 1 cup of kashi with 1/2 cup of soymilk sprinkled with lots of cinnamon spice.

Breakfast Before the Gym

Every morning I wake up thirsty. After I brush my teeth I find myself in the kitchen getting a glass of water and chugging it down. If there's coffee on the pot I'll have a cup with soymilk too. Only then can my morning start!

I don't have anything that I absolutely need to do today, but instead of doing nothing (and feeling lazy), I'm planning on going to the gym soon. Some people are fine to wake up and exercise on an empty stomach, but that really doesn't work for me. If I want to push hard, I need something healthy to get me going.

Springtime Yogurt Parfait

-1/2 cup greek yogurt

-1 orange, sliced

-1/2 cup strawberries, sliced

-2 tbsp ground flaxseed

-14 walnut halves

Greek yogurt has more protein than regular yogurt, and while it's an acquired taste, mixing it with the natural sweetness of fruit makes it yummy for anyone. Flaxseed is a great source of omega-3 fats and increases the protein a tiny bit in this recipe. The walnuts are also a great source of omega-3s. Being a vegetarian, I need to make sure I get those healthy fats (normally found in fish oil). The carbohydrates in the fruit will give me energy to workout hard at the gym too.

What do you like to eat before working out?