Nice Day for a Duck

It's another dreary day here on the Treasure Coast but we are counting our blessing that this is a tropical storm and not a hurricane.  My husband likes to say it's a nice day for a duck.  I'd have to agree.  The tornado warnings are a bit unsettling though.  At least in Indiana we had basements.  Here in Florida, I guess I'll be crawling in the kitchen cabinets if things get scary.  Wouldn't that be fun for the boys!

Speaking of the boys, I completely forgot to show off their cuteness on the rides at the mall yesterday.

Today started bright and early.  I actually did something I've been wanting to do for a while...I got up before everyone else in my household just for ME.  I know, it sounds crazy to get up when no one else is demanding my attention but I keep hearing this advice from other moms, and even from the Bible, (see Proverbs 31) so I decided to give it a try and I must say, it was quite nice.  I had my coffee and did some reading, greeted my husband, used the bathroom in peace, and then went to the gym.  What a nice way to start the day.  The boys were still sleeping when I left but they were awake when I got home.  They got to have some daddy time.  I think if I can get up a little earlier, I can still squeeze everything in before the boys get up so Daddy doesn't have to do the morning wake-up call all alone.  It's definitely something I'm going to be pursuing.  The only drawback is an earlier bed time but as they say...

I wouldn't mind being all of the above!  It's worth a try. 

This is week 2 of my half-marathon training plan and today called for cross training.  After alot of jumping around yesterday, I opted for the elliptical in order to give my legs a break from the pounding that running and plyometrics provide.  Don't worry though, I kept the intensity high by increasing the resistance or incline every 10th of a mile for a total of 5 miles.  My workout looked like this...

• Mile 1: from easy resistance, increase resistance every tenth of a mile
• Mile 2:  slightly decrease resistance and increase incline every tenth of mile
• Miles 3-4: from low resistance and flat incline, alternate between increasing resistance and incline every tenth of a mile
• Mile 5: alternate between decreasing resistance and lowering incline every tenth of a mile

I liked this pattern and the constant changing helped pass the time quickly...so did reading my book.  I'm about a tenth of the way into Gone Girl  by Gillian Flynn and it is a page turner.  Anyone else out there read it? I'll let you know my overall opinion when I'm done with it.

When the boys got up from their nap, I had a smoothie waiting for them and couldn't wait for their feedback.  So far they've liked spinach in pancakes and muffins so today I decided to give it a try in their smoothies and it was a winner.  For those of you who have trouble getting your kiddos to eat greens, I seriously suggest you try it.  You can't even taste the spinach.  

I made two smoothies for them using:

• 1 Chobani champions yogurt
• 1 small banana
• 1 BIG handful of spinach
• 1/2 cup orange juice

They gulped them down.  This will definitely be a repeat on their menu.  Hopefully they like the spinach stuffed meatloaf we'll be eating for dinner tonight too.  I'll let you know.

Time to turn this cabin fever upside down with a little dance party and the best dance partners a girl could ask for.  Stay safe and dry...and don't forget to MOVE!  

Rainy Sunday

After a wonderful date night but probably one too many glasses of wine, a diner-style breakfast was just what the doctor ordered, so I whipped up some fried eggs, hashbrowns, and a little sauteed spinach, to help me feel a little bit better about my meal.  With lots of hot sauce and some ketchup, it hit the spot! Oh, and lots and lots of coffee and water...

After a great church service, with a convicting message on pride using James chapter 4, we returned home to play with the kiddos on this rainy day thanks to Tropical Storm Isaac.  YUCK!  After play time was nap time for the boys and that meant time to tackle a workout I have wanted to try since I read it on the Peanut Butter Fingers blog and then saw it again on Facebook via FitFluential.  I get some great workouts from their posts.  This workout was AWESOME! I highly recommend you check out all her workouts.  I like her style!

It was super fun to workout with my husband.  We haven't done that in a while but we decided we'll dedicate the boys' Sunday nap time to Kick Our Butts time.  Sundays are cross-training days on my half-marathon training plan and this type of workout is exactly what I'm looking for.  My husband thought it was great too.  

Our recovery smoothie was as tasty as ice cream in my opinion, but much healthier...

 I combined the following in our Ninja blender:

• SunWarrior vanilla protein powder
• BIG handful spinach
• A couple mixed berries
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 scoop PB2
• 1 spoonful cocoa powder
• Pinch of xanthan gum
• Sprinkle of cinnamon
• A big pour of unsweetened almond milk

It's the ultimate cure for an ice cream hankering...and it contains spinach!  Meal 2 of the day including spinach.  Woohoo!

When the boys woke up, we hoofed it up to Vero for the Twins Club meeting.  The weather scared most of the families away but we were able to chat with 2 other families who have twins.  Ours were the only boys in the group but they sure did love the cars at the mall.  We had a hard time getting them to leave.

While in Vero, we were able to hit up the outlet mall.  We love scoping out the deals at Carters (got some super cute jammies, halloween shirts, play shirts and the liquid powder I love) and found some Crocs for ourselves and a friend at the Crocs outlet.  Our boys love theirs so we decided it was time to get some for ourselves.  Check out the ones my husband picked out...He looks very manly in them :-)  

I had the best intentions of cooking up my spinach and swiss chard stuffed turkey meatloaf, which I prepared earlier in the day, when we got home from our outing but our stomachs had different ideas when we starting getting rumbling stomachs in Vero.  With fussy boys who had no interest in fine dining, we settled on some sandwiches from Nature's Table Bistro.  I was surprised by how tasty they were considering they came from the mall food court.  Guess we'll have to try for spinach in every meal tomorrow...

Before I forget, last night I picked up Shape Magazine latest issue and here's some facts from it that caught my attention... I thought you might appreciate their research as well.  

My takeaway was...

• When you compare cost of serving size, not per calorie, you'll see nutritious foods don't cost as much after all.  
• Agave nectar might as well be sugar...in my understanding of the article.  I've been reading more and more about it as such a good marketing ploy rather than being as healthy as we've been led to believe so I'm eliminating it from our house as well.  We already cut out sugar and use raw honey instead.  It's yummy.  I encourage you to try it. I wish I wouldn't have wasted so much money on agave.
• I'm going to be cooking in my cast iron skillet more often.  It's safer than teflon and can boost iron, something my boys and I both need.

There was also an intriguing article about Jillian Michaels.  Boy has she relaxed now that she's a mom!  Check out the issue if you get a chance. I used to get really annoyed by her but I might be coming around a little bit now.

Stay dry Floridians!  Find a way to move.  You won't regret it.