Pumpin and Puddin

Isaac and I woke up early (i.e. 8AM) this morning and went straight to the gym. It was actually Isaac’s idea to head directly there and I didn’t complain. I like to get my workouts in early on the weekends or else I get sucked into the computer or cleaning the day just seems to slip away.

So we made it there and I used the pumping iron plan combined with the WMM plan again.

Here’s what I did strength wise:

• Lunge and Lift: 3 sets of 10 on each side
• Stability Ball Hamstring Curl 3 sets of 12
• Stability Ball Calf Raises 3 sets of 12
• Step Ups 3 sets of 15 on each side
• Plank: Held for 90 seconds
• Side Plank: Held for 60 secs (each side)
• Plank ups: 10
• Boat Pose
• Side Plank with twists: 10 on each side
• Torso Twists: 2 sets of 10 on each side

I took it (kind of) easy on the cardio side of things- I warmed up by walking 5 minutes at 4 – 4.5 MPH on the treadmill, did the strength training plan above, and then hopped back on the treadmill. Isaac was itching to ditch the gym so I only had 10 minutes to get my heart rate up.

10 minute heart-pumping treadmill routine

• Minutes 1-4 Walk: 4 MPH with a 3% incline
• Minutes 5-9 Walk: 4 MPH – start with a 5% incline and increase it by 1% each minute until you reach 9% (the percentage of incline will correspond with the minute you are on.)
• Minute 10 Walk: 4 MPH – 3 MPH with 3%-0& incline to cool down

**You could totally turn this into a full on cardio routine by repeating it several times.

I was glad we left the gym when we did because by the time we got home I was starving for breakfast and I knew exactly what I was having!

I’ve mentioned before that I love chia seeds. There’s no reason not to- they are nutritional powerhouses, very versatile, and become gelatinous when combined with liquid (so fun!). Typically I use them in smoothies or to make chia seed oats, but I’ve been wanting to get a little more experimental by trying some Chia Pudding. I’ve been drooling over Kristen’s Holiday Chia Pudding and the Chia Pudding Gina makes for breakfast for quite some time now so it was about time I made some of my own.

Kristen’s recipe involves some ingredients that I don’t have on hand so I decided to have a lovely bowl of chia pudding inspired by Gina for breakfast this morning.

• 1/4 cup whole chia seeds
• 3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1/2 scoop vanilla brown rice protein powder
• 1 teaspoon maca powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 to 4 drops of Sweet Leaf liquid stevia
• 1/2 sliced banana

I simply put all the above ingredients (besides the banana into a bowl) and mixed them up. I had to stir quite a bit because the protein powder clumps and resists dissolving into the milk. Once everything was well combined I let the mixture sit on the counter for 8-10 minutes and stirred it a couple times during that time. If you google chia pudding you’ll find that there are many different recipes as well as methods for how long you should wait for the chia seeds to start gellin’. Really you could start eating it right away, but it nice to let the chia seeds gel up for consistency purposes. If you’re pressed for time in the morning, you could always make it the night before, store it in the fridge and have it for breakfast the next day, similar to Overnight Oats.

Just thought I’d highlight that one bowl has 13g of fiber and 14g of protein- now that’s great way to start the day!

I loved this pudding! The flavor was sweet and delicious plus it was super filling, much like oatmeal. And, the best part by far, was the crunchiness of the chia seeds – it made it seem like I was eating chia seed cereal.

Now that I think about it this post could have been titled Genius Gina as she was the lady behind both my morning activities. Most of my readers probably already know that she’s totally awesome and super inspiring but if you haven’t checked out her blog you most definitely should do that right now!

- Brittany

Tagged as: 10 minute heart pumping treadmill routine, chia pudding