As I headed to the gym this morning, I found myself wishing that my gym offered a BodyPump class on Friday mornings. I love the fast pace and intense muscle burn I get from BodyPump and have a hard time replicating it in my own workouts.
Today I decided I would take a cue from BodyPump and up the pace of my strength-trainig workout, allowing only a 30-second rest in between sets. I also split up my 20 minutes of cardio into two 10-minute spurts which helped my workout fly by!
In the end, my workout looked like this:
| Exercise | Weights | Reps | Sets |
| Leg extensions | 35 lbs. | 15 | 3 |
| Leg press | 130 lbs. | 15 | 3 |
| Elliptical | 10 min. | ||
| Hamstring ball curls | Bodyweight | 20 | 3 |
| Push ups (girly) | Bodyweight | 15 | 3 |
| Elliptical | 10 min. | ||
| Shoulder raises | 10 lbs. | 15 | 3 |
| Bicep curls | 15 lbs. | 15 | 3 |
| Tricep dips | Bodyweight | 15 | 3 |
| Various crunches | Bodyweight | 20 | 4 |
It was a pretty decent workout, if I do say so myself!
Breakfast
I arrived home and promised Sadie I would take her on a walk after breakfast, since my tummy was grumbling! Sometimes after a big dinner, I awake the following morning feeling hungrier than usual. I don’t understand it, but I listen to the ol’ tummy and give it what it wants.
I got to work in the kitchen, toasting two waffles and slicing up a frozen banana.
I ended up eating one of the toasted waffles before plating my breakfast because I’m an animal.
I topped the remaining toasted waffle with vanilla Greek yogurt, frozen banana slices and chia seeds and dug in!
Another great morning meal!
Happy Birthday to…
The first-ever man in my life.
My dad!
My dad is the man with whom I can eat ridiculous amounts of chocolate marshmallow ice cream. The man who points up when there’s nothing to look at, just so he can tickle you under your chin. He’s the man who cried the most on my wedding day. The man who cannot, for the life of him, pronounce the word “edamame.” He’s the man I know I can always turn to. The man who will tell it to me straight. He’s the man who sat on my bed when I was 15, asking me to explain exactly what I meant when I said I had my first boyfriend. He’s the man with whom I can split an entire can of black olives. The man who cannot go grocery shopping without making a bee line for the bakery. He’s the man who has a passion for his family and loves “his girls” more than anything in the world. The man whom I feel so grateful to call my father.
Happy birthday, Daddy! I love you.
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Aw happy birthday to your dad! What a sweet post!
That is such a cute birthday post – and I don’t blame your dad for the bakery thing!! Who wouldn’t go straight for it! Looks like a great workout this morning – I better get my but in gear, go for run and then do some abs!!
hahaaa I cracked up at the “I’m an animal”
you are too funny!
I feel like that a lot!
Happy birthday Julie’s dad!!!!
This post is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. you are so lucky to have the dad you do! he is wonderful!!! <3
Oh Julie….that was precious. It made me tear up!!! Happy Birthday to your Daddy!
Awh happy birthday pb’s dad <3 that reminds me so much of my own relationship with my father.
So sweet! Dads are the best 🙂
I make a waffle with chia and hemp seeds and it is so nutty and delish, Oh and you can freeze them too! I love them topped with almond butter and a drizzle of honey!
I feel hungrier the next morning after a big dinner too. My explanation is that my stomach got stretched out the night before so now it needs more food! That doesn’t really make sense!
Happiest of Birthdays to your father. Those are absolutely adorable pictures of the two of you!!
Your comment about explaing your first boyfriend made me laugh out loud, and I can totally relate! I love I’m not the only girl who is completely enamored with her dad!
Happy birthday to your dad! It’s actually my mom’s birthday today, too 🙂
I wish I had a good relationship with either of my parents! Def. jealous.
I always wake up hungry, it makes me wish I could get up and work out immediately, but I have to EAT!
aaaw Happy Birthday to your dad!! 😀
Your workout looks awesome! Thanks for sharing it!
Aww! You have such a beautiful and genuine way of writing that really communicates your feelings, Julie. What you wrote about your dad brought a tear to my eye!
So adorbs! You look a lot like your dad! Such a beautiful wedding pic too
I always wake up starving the more i eat the night before!! what is the deal with that!?!?
The paragraph about your dad made me smile so big. I feel the same way about mine 🙂 Daddies are the best, aren’t they?
Happy Birthday to your dad!! 🙂 What a sweet post!
I love love that tribute to your Daddy-O. You just prompted me to text mine to tell him how much I love him. 🙂
You totally made me tear up while reading about your dad. Happy Birthday to him!
Such a sweet post! Makes me miss my dad so much more after reading this I live in Georgia and he lives in Arizona. 🙁
Looks like an awesome workout!
Happy birthday to your dad!
He sounds like an awesome father, and it really was wonderful to read this tribute to him.
That was the cutest thing I’ve ever read! Happy Birthday to Papa PBF! 🙂
Happy Birthday to your dad!!
I watched your wedding video today and was in tears, I am such a sap, but it was so beautiful! I loved it! Such sweet things your friends and family said and Ryan looked so nervous and so happy!! I think I will be nervous too ! I know Mike will! He already said he is now, lol! He is so excited/nervous! U know how it is, marrying your everything, its day you dream of, and then it happens! Its the BEST! I can not wait!
xoxo <3
What a sweet post for your dad! Happy Birthday to him!
This post made me smile 🙂 Happy birthday to your wonderful father! Dads are the best.
Hi Julie! I wanted to let you know that I’ve been following your posts more regularly since your big announcement and love what you are doing here! I have a chocolate lab, Hunter, who loves peanut butter too and is my all around best friend, so I especially love reading about Sadie 🙂 I know my comment doesn’t have too much to do with this post, but wanted to let you know that I love what you’re doing! 🙂
Aww, what a sweet post about your dad:) He sounds like such a great man!
What a sweet birthday post! Happy Birthday to your dad!
What a special guy!! This reminded me to be thankful for my own dad too!! Hope you have a good day celebrating with him.
Julie I applaud you for continuing to wake up to go to the gym now that you WFH! You go girl! And happy birthday to your pops…I love that picture of you at your wedding because it reminds me of seeing my dad for the first time in my wedding dress at my wedding. I will cherish those pics forever!
How do you freeze your banana’s without having them turn brown? Every time i freeze banana slices they brown 🙁
That black and white photo is so sweet! Happy birthday to your dad 😀
happy birthday to your dad!
And yes, I too eat food before plating it….often 😉
Hi Julie!
Would it be okay if I linked back to this post on my blog?
I used to think waffles and yogurt would be gross, but this post inspired me and I tried it today. I LOVED IT! All thanks to this post!
I hope that’s okay! 🙂
of course! thanks so much for thinking of me!
happy bday to your dad!
and that waffle looks delish – yum!!!
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Happy Birthday to your dad!
My mom can’t say “edamame” for the life of her either!!!!!!!! It’s a running joke!!
haha how does she say it? my dad always says “edananne.” my sister and i cannot figure out WHY it’s such a hard word for him! but then again, he says “chimney” like “chimley.”
My mom says it similar to that, only she sounds more like a slur of “-am” and”em” syllables… haha I think that she knows she can’t say it, so she tries to brush over it like no one will notice but instead she sounds drunk. It’s actually the cutest thing ever because then she’ll start cracking herself up and try and try but never get it.
I’m actually laughing out loud now just thinking about it!
My mom says other words funny too, not chimney but other random words.
Gotta’ love ’em!
Such a tasty breakfast! Your Dad seems to be a great person!
aw, happy birthday PBF DAD!
this post made me tear up! so sweet! 🙂
This made daddy so happy! 🙂 So so sweet!!
Your birthday tribute to your Dad is absolutely wonderful! What a sweet thing to post for him! Hopefully you get to celebrate with him soon?
Your dad and I share the same birthday 🙂
Great workout. Can’t wait to try some more