The cold weather sure did make it harder to get out of bed to work out, but I’m so glad I did.
Fridays are officially my favorite day at the gym thanks to the fast-paced and awesomely challenging boot camp class offered at my gym at 5:45 a.m. Before taking the class, I did 20 minutes of light cardio on the elliptical with Ryan since he’s making a concerted effort to incorporate more cardio into his workout routines. I like having a cardio buddy! 😀
After ellipticizing, I headed into the gymnasium for boot camp. Today’s class was one of the hardest boot camp classes to date, as it focused a lot on push ups and plank holds. I am seriously awful at push ups. It’s kinda strange because I’m fairly strong when it comes to strength-training my upper body and can handle a decent amount of weight during bicep curls, chest presses and tricep extensions, but push ups are a whole different beast. Phew! I was a sweaty mess by the end of the class.
After boot camp, I bundled up to take Sadie on a 20-minute walk.
"'Dis Weather... I Don't Like It..."
Sadie wasn’t too happy about the nip in the air and jumped up at me for some warm cuddles every five minutes or so.
She seemed to forget about the cold momentarily to stalk a squirrel…
Squirrel Hunter
This squirrel was quite a bit more elusive than the psycho squirrels around Lake Eola and managed to scamper up a tree before she got too close. (If you’re in the mood for a fun game, see if you can spot the squirrel in the above picture. Check halfway up the tree. It’s really camouflaged!)
After our walk we came home for some breakfast.
Breakfast
On the menu: Yet another breakfast bagelwich!
Smiley Breakfast
Today’s creation included a toasted cinnamon raisin bagel thin, topped with Swiss cheese, raspberry jelly and warmed apple slices. Banana slices rounded out the breakfast smiley face!
Bagel, Bagel
Yum!
Once I had some food in my stomach, I hopped in the shower to get ready for the day.
As I was blow drying my hair, I looked over at this little face…
"Don't Leave Me, Mama. Work is for Sissies."
That dog makes me worry about how I’ll be as a mother. It can be so hard to leave her cute little face to go to work sometimes and I can only imagine how I’ll feel with a Baby Squirt. For you mothers out there, I feel for ya!
Time to work. Gotta pay ‘dem bills!
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Ohhh goodness lady you get up EARLY to get to the gym. I want to give early morning workouts a go – I feel like they’d be an amazing way to get a workout into the day without having to worry about things coming up in the evening.
What time do you go to bed at, usually, to allow you to get up and go for 20 mins of cardio BEFORE a 5:45 am class?!
we try to be in bed by 9:30 most nights… hopefully asleep by 10 – 10:15! it doesn’t always work, but that’s the goal.
Okay, now I understand. I go to bed -much- later. The gym near me offers a ton of early morning classes, maybe I’ll start hitting the sack earlier and that I can get into a routine. Thanks for the inspo! I wish I was still in Daytona, though. Getting up early and facing the Toronto weather might be too much of a challenge ;D
I never want to leave my puppy baby to go to work EITHER! when she was little, I brought her with me…
DANG you are up SO EARLY!! i HATE pushups.. hate hate hate.. during basketball season we had to do them like freakin crazy and i will never do another one again!
i hate them too… but that’s probably b/c i’m AWFUL at them. grr!
Push-ups kill me! I do weights & yoga that work my arms pretty well, but doing push-ups always get me shaking.
Leaving my doggy in the morning is the worst part of my day. I also don’t know how I’ll ever do it with a real baby!
I love that Sadie is a squirrel hunter! My lab-beagle mix is tortured by the squirrels in our backyard!
I’m terrible at push-ups too! Six months ago I couldn’t even do ONE push-up, boy-style (knees down all the way!) Now I am happy to report I can do 10, wooo! They are still so hard though.
I have been doing more yoga lately (like once or twice a week) and I’ve noticed that the pushups are getting easier! YAY for progress!
The weather was much colder than I expected it to be this morning, too. Brrrrr! 68 tomorrow, though! Yesssss!
So push ups also involve a lot of core strength – not saying you are lacking there, but check out your stabilizing muscles and see if you can strengthen them if you want to be uber-hardcore and do pushups all the time.
this is something i actually have been working on a lot! i used t only do different kinds of crunches and lately i’ve been trying to incorporate some more plank-type moves into my routine. maybe that will help?
It’s actually not so much abs as the obliques and lumbar muscles. Try adding pikeups on a stability ball and trunk twists (with a weight bar or a medicine ball).
I hate push ups! I’m right there with you, I can lift weights all day long but can’t do a dang push up.
Your blog cracks me up, I love it and can’t wait to read it every morning! ♥
Ugh! Push ups suck! I feel bad leaving my pup too. I don’t think I can handle dropping a kid off at day care! Does Sadie stay inside all day or does she stay outside?
she stays inside.
Our pup stays inside all day too…and feel so bad for him because he loves outside time 🙁
Oh my goodness, look at that little Sadie-face!! I would have a hard time leaving for work, too 🙂
Push-ups are tough but I LOVE them because they’re an exercise where practice really shows results quickly! I used to struggle with them but can now do 100 “man” pushups. When I’m in a time cruch, sometimes they’re the only upper-body/core exercise I do…awesome way to work a ton of muscle groups at once and get your heart rate up!
100!?!?!? you should be on TV!
LOL – no way. I mean like 100 *total*…like 4 sets of 25. 100 in a row would be way hardcore!
still… that’s awesome!
i guess i’m in the minority=- pushups really don’t bother me. yeah, they’re hard, but i like all bodyweight stuff- like burpees and situps and squats. i guess just for pushup tips- making sure to brace your abs and tighten your butt helps- pushups are a full body exercise and this helps lower your body as one unit. you could start off with pushups from your knees and focus on good form- chest to ground, no slouching. hope this help! xox
I love your breakfast! I am buying bagel thins and cheese this weekend for sure! 🙂
Aww..that picture of Sadie is so cute! I know I’m going to feel the same way when I have kids!
You should do the 100 pushup challenge. I started off being able to do 12 decent pushups in a row without breaking form. Did the challenge (and admittedly wimped out WAY before ever being able to do 100 in a row) but I CAN do 35-40 now without breaking form. 🙂
Dang, that is an early start to your day. How many minutes away is your gym? You just must pop outta bed, put your hair in a ponytail and jaunt there!
Cold here too,but atleast it’s sunny.
I am no good at pushups either. We had to do a minutes worth of them in my boot camp class this morning!
about a 90 sec. walk away!
I bought some of those cinn raisin bagel thins yesterday and had one with breakfast — holy crap those are good!!!
I totally agree about pushups — all other arm exercises are challenging but not like pushups are! One day I want to be able to do handstand pushups!!!
Haha oh my goodness Sadie is the cutest dog in the world.
I’m bummed that it was chilly there this morning! I’m heading to Florida tomorrow for the Sarasota half-marathon and hoping it’s warm!! Although compared to Chicago weather, anything above 20 will feel warm 🙂
I second the 100 Pushup Challenge idea! http://www.onehundredpushups.com is the website. I was *terrible* and could only do 5-6 “good form” real pushups when someone on one of my weight loss boards suggested that the group try it. I was up to doing 60 pushups through 4 sets in less than 10 minutes and could do 25 consecutively by the end of the 2nd week! It is a really great program; I ended up pulling a muscle in my lower abs and had to quit (apparently I should have kept up with Pilates at the same time!), but I definitely plan on doing it again in a few weeks!
I love Sadie, she is just so stinkin’ cute!! 🙂
& I am the SAME way with pushups. I can knock up any bicep or tricep moves like it’s my job..but when it comes to push ups I am struggling. I can do 20- 25..then it’s break time 🙂
so I HAD to upload this pic of my pooch, because it reminded me so much of Sadie (and in my head, in my Cady voice.. which rhymes with Sadie… Cady is saying to me, “why are we getting up so early? this bed is so soft and warm…”).
http://tinypic.com/r/29nzeo9/7
awww! ryan’s grandma has a dog like this. so, so cute!
thanks! Cavalier King Charles Spanies are the greatest dogs, but not if you want a dog to go running with you 😉
Loving the look of the bagel thin! I love melty cheese with sweet things like apple and jelly… must give this a go!
My fiance and I are total dog lovers, but we’re waiting until we buy a home to get one. But how the heck do you manage a puppy when you both have to go to work all day? It feels cruel getting a puppy and having to cage it or make it stay alone while you’re going for 9+ hours. But I desperately want an adoring, loving puppy! Sadie’s so adorable. My best friend’s dog looks like an older version of Sadie – they’re so playful!
we were really lucky b/c i worked close by and could let sadie out at lunchtime when she was a puppy. that definitely helped w/ training… especially since we didn’t do the whole crate thing.
Gotta love a smiley breakfast!
Hope you have a great weekend! =D
You sound like you have so much time in the mornings– class, dog walk, breakfast…I might need to try waking up a bit earlier instead of sleeping till the last minute before a morning run, and then squeezing in my shower and eating breakfast at work.
Your breakfast looks so tasty! I love the sweet and savory combo of apples and cheese- swiss is my favorite!
Oooh push-ups are tough! I agree, mine have been slacking since I left the dance world ( we use to do them every morning in the narrow position). Don’t feel defeated though! Push-ups really focus on the triceps which are often neglected and tend to be weaker, even if you do tricep extensions in BodyPump, you’re using your body weight which is going to be significantly heavier than any weight you will use in class (even if you are super tiny!)…my trainer wisdom for the day lol.
Also, I have to say that cheese + sweet things really scare me, but looking at your almost daily bagel sandwiches are making me seriously rethink this fear.
Confession: I can’t do a single “real” pushup. On my knees I’m good for 15, MAYBE 20. They own me too. I can do 120 lbs on the leg extension, but upper body? Me no likey.
OMG that face!! It would be so hard to leave.
Push ups are something i struggle with too. Its a combination of my core strength and triceps that always give out.
Cutest face ever. Mila curls up like that too when she’s chilly or doesn’t feel like doing anything, haha. Does your Y open at 5? I’m so frustrated with Jay Blanchard not opening until 5:30..and with the lack of variety in the classes they offer! I’m going to try to make it out to the DT Y so I can attempt this BodyPump class you speak of…just wish it wasn’t on the other side of town from where I work/live!
yep! 5 a.m.!
i feel ya on the push up thing. have you ever done pushups with an exercise ball? i got one earlier this winter & its helped me… kinda like training wheels? lol!
I just had “your” breakfast this morning! Cinnamon raisin english muffin with raspberry jam and fried egg..so so so good!
It is really hard to go to work when all I want to do is stay home and play with him, or snuggle haha
I’d have to be asleep by 8:30pm in order to get up to work out that early! Considering I can’t seem to figure out how to fall asleep before 11, that’d be a bit difficult 😉
I feel the same way! Those sad puppy dog eyes make me want to get back in the bed and cuddle for the rest of the morning. 🙂
I would kill for 40 degree weather right now! 😉 New York is so different than Florida!! Push ups own me too. It’s pretty pathetic especially since I consider myself to be fairly athletic and in shape.
I’m so happy you posted this!!! I absolute cannot do push ups either and it drives me nuts! Like you, I’m fairly strong when it comes to strength training in our bootcamp class, but when we start busting out push ups I suck ass! And I look around me and some other girls are kicking my butt! What’s up with that? Hahaha I’m glad I’m not the only one! 🙂
wow you were up early!!! push ups only get easier as you do them…..unfortunately!!! :()
Oh man, it’s embarrassing how bad I am at pushups. Though I have tried to incorporate them into my workouts more often and improvement comes quickly!
Julie! Try this Push up routine to help with your push-ups http://hundredpushups.com/ 🙂
I love that picture of Sadie! I didn’t realize dogs could curl up like that :). My cat does the exact same thing in the exact same place alllll the time!
OMG i was juuuuuuuuust thinking the same thing on Wednesday when I was getting ready for work!!! Happy was watching me with *the* saddest puppydog eyes (she can be really good at it…) and it just tore my heart apart! She was all cuddled up on the bed and trying her hardest to blend in with the pillows so that *maybe* I wouldn’t remember she was there and put her in her crate. I hate leaving her to go to work, it’s so hard! I vividly remember thinking as I walked to my car “geez, if it’s this hard when I have a dog… i’m going to have awful guilt when it’s an actual child!” Sigh…
Sadie’s face looks just like my pup Sam’s face when we start getting ready to leave! It’s so pathetic! But deep down inside it makes me feel good that he loves us so much 🙂
It’s so hard for me to leave my doggy too! I wonder how I’ll be able to do it with kids all the time!
I’m the opposite. I’m not very strong, but I don’t have any problem with push ups.
My brother and I get up at 5:30am for a fabulous cycle fit class at our local YMCA. I LOVE my morning workouts! Keep up the good work! PS Peanut Butter is my favourite snack too!
Emilie
Cute sandwhich! And about the pushups – seriously girl, they can get easy over time! It’s like with anything – throw in a couple of sets every other day and you’ll be surprised how quickly you can improve.