My morning Ritual

Every morning I wake up early and run or workout I have to eat something first. If I don't, terrible things happen. Last time I decided to ignore the importance of my "morning ritual" I ended up almost losing it in the middle of my run. Part of having a successful workout for me means giving my body what it needs in order to preform.

Typically I have found that Frosted Mini Wheats is my favorite morning staple. It has some whole grains, some good complex carbohydrates and some sugar.  The slogan, "keeps them full keeps them focused" really speaks the truth for these little babies.  Plus, the milk gives me some protein and calcium. As we age it is important to still recognize the good things in milk and there is a reason we force our kids to drink it =)

Anywhoo, sometimes I do get sick of just the plain old Frosted Mini Wheats regimen so lately I have been spicing it up.

This picture below contains 3 different cereals.  Grape Nuts....did you forget about those, well don't. They are FULL of fiber and all kinds of other good stuff. And then of course, the Frosted Mini Wheats. I  am pretty sure I will make that a part of every breakfast regimen until I convince myself I can go without.... which will probably be never. And then, for the grand finale....I top the whole thing off with Chocolate Cheerioes =) TAHDAHHHH. I love chocolate. So when spicing something up if there is a way I can add chocolate to the bunch you can bet I am gonna give it a try.

So thats what I've got folks. This little mixture has been putting me in good moods and I have had some good workouts post this morning regime. Give it a try I say. But just remember whatever you choose to do, make sure it has some good complex carbs, fiber and any other vitamins and minerals you think important. Also, try to eat at least an hour before you go. My friends are always thinking I am crazy for waking up so early to eat before a run but I tell you, without it I would not function. I'd stop at mile 3 and give up. I need fuel, my gas tank does NOT run well on empty.

What kinds of things do you eat in the mornings?

Do you for sure include any major food group?

Do you wake up early to eat beforehand?

Happy Running -Jen

Keepin them Movin

My girls love, love to dance.  They both dance at Woodbury Dance Center on there competitive dance lines.  I also love that they dance too.  It keeps them moving a lot.  They practice three days a week. The dance "season" is upon us and this little video was of my youngest daughter when they were doing there dress rehearsal.  I was trying to keep the video on my daughter most of the time so sorry you cant get the entire view of the entire dance.  Non the less you can see that they are moving and grooving and loving it.

Plenty of both

One way to remove guilt from a vacation is to be sure to keep moving. For us, working out is an essential part of the vacation experience.  BUT, you just need to keep it in perspective.  Don't try to follow some strenuous training plan. Don't try to keep up with what you usually do because it is still a vacation.  

Below we found a basketball court and did triceps push-up and frog hops. Sarah also led us in some of her Tracy Anderson stuff.  Felt good =)

Then after we were finished, we recovered doing this! =)

On another day we hit the treadmill.  Which was very interesting.  Try doing 10x400's fast while the boat is moving up and down.  The workout facility was located on floor 9 in the front of the ship. So every time there was any "motion in the ocean", which was always.... you for sure felt it in the gym.   So I ended up using new muscles to try to keep myself balanced on the treadmill at fast speeds.  It was a BLAST and kinda scary, but totally worth it. My quads and hamstrings were slightly sore the next day. =)

Then of course, after our run we recovered doing this....

Food, Food, Food! We LOVE food. (I realize there isn't much food in the picture, but I assure you that is because we had just finished a few trips to the buffet and polished off our desserts, Yum)

Moral of the story is, while on vacation working in little workouts will make the lazy sleeping, eating times that much funner.  I LOVE VACATION!