Hooray for no early shift today!!!
It felt so good to go to the gym early to work out rather than to work. I miss my early morning workouts! They set my day in motion and give me a great burst of energy first thing in the morning. Yes, sometimes it can totally suck to work out before the sun comes up, but on the whole, working out first thing in the morning is where it’s at for this girl!
30 Minute Treadmill Interval Workout
When Ryan and I arrived at the gym, I hopped on the treadmill and decided to complete a run/walk interval workout.
I wasn’t feeling all that motivated to push myself when I started this workout, so I began with simple run/walk intervals, but as I began to wake up, I kicked it up a notch and pushed myself at the end. The last two intervals had me breathing heavy!
I rounded things out with my 8 minute ab workout and some stretching.
Breakfast
Breakfast this morning filled me right up!
I began with a base of one cup of cottage cheese (I love Friendship 1 percent) and topped it with a sliced frozen banana, slightly thawed frozen blueberries and raspberries, raw oats and chia seeds.
All mixed up!
Now it’s time to take Miss Sadie off for her morning walk before heading into work.
I’ll see ya after lunch!
Of Possible Interest
- 17 Pinterest Fails (BuzzFeed.com) <— Check this out for a laugh!
- Effective New Exercise Moves to Try (WomensHealthMag.com)
- The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances (TheOatmeal.com)
- Morning Run Mistakes to Avoid (FitSugar.com)
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
I’m with you on the early morning workouts! i love that burst of energy i bet first thing and it just sets up my day nicely. i swear i dont think as clearly on the days i dont exercise in the morning. that breakfast looks delicious!
that breakfast looks so refreshing! I’m always looking for easy/cold breakfasts after a morning workout…frozen berries seem like a perfect addition!
Frozen bananas and berries in this weather is amazing! Your breakfast looks delicious.
I’ve been eating frozen bananas like crazy lately! Every night after dinner = Frozen banana time. So good!
How do you prepare/eat frozen bananas other than throwing them in a shake or some one ingredient ice cream?
Love that breakfast idea it looks delicious and so simple 🙂
I have not done any running sprints this week but need to do some.
I really dislike that ” Theoatmeal.com” article…it directly/basically says that he/she runs to eat…as someone who is unable to run or exercise (at all) and has lost that identity and feeling of accomplishment, I STILL eat (a lot) and I mess up and overeat a LOT….I hate the message that one has to run/move to eat…ugh.
On another note, wish they sold that Friendship brand here 🙂
Mmmm, I like Friendship cottage cheese too! Do you find it harder to find workout motivation for yourself given your job? I always thought that would make getting to the gym for “me time” more difficult since you’re so regularly there for work, but perhaps it’s not too hard once you’re in the habit.
Yes, definitely. I have a hard time finding the desire to stay at the gym and work out after I’ve been there all day. I much prefer working out first thing before I have to work.
LOVE this workout! I love treadmill workouts that give you a little time to ease into it!
I did something really similar to this this morning. Workouts like these are perfect for when I am still half asleep at the gym 🙂
You are seriously motivating with your workouts!! 🙂 And isn’t working out in the morning great? I did NOT want to get out of bed this morning at all, but I did it and now I already have the majority of my workout done for the day before work! I will be loving that this evening when I have very little left to do.
loved the pinterest fails link!
Haha! It made me laugh out loud!
Ha I actually did number 8 on that pinterest fail list, although I got it right. The caption is correct to say “I honestly feel I could do this one. Maybe.” You just have to take your time and make sure you test the bottom of the bottle on another piece of paper first. Not every bottle works.
This looks like a great short interval workout! I have speed workout planned for this afternoon and I know sometimes it can be really hard to push yourself!! Looks like you did a great job!
I love everything about that breakfast! Mmm cherries + cottage cheese is one of my fave combos.
Man, I don’t know that I’d even want to see an alarm after waking up soooo early for a few days 😡 Props to ya!
I just finished my morning workout, I usually work out at night, but it felt good to get it done this morning! Your breakfast looks good, I love cottage cheese mixed with fruit.
Good for you to showing up at work on an off day! Also, I love pinterest fails, especially the ones that end their craft fail with “nailed it!”
the “nailed it” made me laugh so hard!
I’m so not a morning person and always workout after work, but I’d really like to become a morning person and do my exercise before work. Guess I’m going to have to work on that!
Awesome breakfast!
love interval workouts! 🙂 and that berry bowl looks fantastic! 🙂
Love the workout! I just looked at the 17 Pinterest fails and they cracked me up. Some of them are so true! My fiance did do the crayon one, and that turned out, but I can totally see the rest of them failing
Looks like a great treadmill workout! I am always looking for new quick workouts!
P.S. Is the book club coming back?!
I’m totally a morning workout person as well! Bright and early with the birds! 🙂
Treadmill interval workouts are a favorite of mine! Hahaha those Pinterest fails were hilarious. I usually don’t attempt crafting of any kind since that’s usually how it turns out.
The s’mores cookie picture and the hair whip made me laugh at loud at my desk (oops!). Thanks for sharing!!
Also, I’ve been reading your blog for a long time and FINALLY got around to ordering the carba-nada pasta offline. Do you still eat it? I’m excited to try it even if I am behind!
Julie, thanks so much for all of your workouts. They are realistic but challenging, look so cute, and always make my day! I know it takes time to churn those out and I’m sure I speak for many of your readers when I say we appreciate them 🙂
thanks for this kind comment, megan!
Pinterest fails…Some of the best “I need to laugh” material out there! Love it!
Question: How do you build up your speed to get faster when running? I’m not a fast runner, and physically can’t run 8mph on the treadmill (not from injury, my body just can’t go that fast). Have you done anything specific to make yourself able to run that fast?
I love those workouts where you start off less than excited about it, gain energy, and then end up challenging yourself and feeling great by the end.
Morning workouts are fantastic! For swimming, we have twice weekly weight practices in the morning in addition to afternoon practices everyday, and I always look forward to them, even when I’m incredibly tired, you just feel so hardcore!
Breakfast looks delicious!! Question, how on earth do you remember what your incline/speed are for that entire workout? Do you somehow document it as you go, or just do your best to remember what you did? I always have such a hard time even remembering treadmill mile splits sometimes! 🙂
i can usually just remember it. 🙂 for this workout, it followed a pattern which made it easy to remember… run for 2 min. (increasing the speed), walk for one, repeat!
I’m with you on the morning workout thing–it does suck to get up that early, but it’s awesome finishing up when (or even before!) people are just waking up. Makes me kinda feel like superwoman. 🙂
It takes me awhile to wake up and get moving in the morning. My workouts start with a good 5-10min walk just so I can wake up and realize where I am and what I am doing!
Your breakfast looks so pretty!!! I’ve been LOVING berries lately!
I love seeing all the fruit in your breakfast bowl! Looks so yummy and colorful! I prefer morning workouts too, it helps me feel like I’ve already accomplished something huge for the day 🙂
Such a unique breakfast! It really does look great, lots of color and nutrition! Definitely optimal!
I saw The Oatmeal running article last night and laughed until I had tears in my eyes. Gets me every time! And Pinterest fails are my go-to when I’m having a bad day. #nailedit LOL
That run reminds me of a HIIT run, love those runs!!! You defiantly feel like you did work when your done 🙂 Hmmm the berries with all the seeds looks good!
Love your pretty healthy bowls of goodness. That one looks particularly delicious! I will have to try that interval workout! It looks like some good sweaty fun!
I love your breakfast ideas 🙂
That breakfast looks so yummy! Except I might change the cottage cheese for ricotta…yum!
Still laughing at some of those pinterest fails. Think about having breakfast for lunch now, yours looks absolutely delicious.
I like the morning run mistakes to avoid article you linked to. It’s getting so hot that I’m having to resort to early morning instead of evening runs for my half-marathon training. I wouldn’t have thought to eat or drink anything beforehand.
I should try that workout! It looks like a good one! 🙂 Since I’ve been traveling (Christian and I went to Disneyland- where he proposed!!!!! <33) I haven't worked out in a long time! I'm ready for a good sweat sesh!
I love early am workouts too. Makes my day so wonderful! <3
Absolutely agree with you on getting a workout done FIRST THING. If I wait usually life or my kids get in the way. Anyway I like your treadmill workout, just wondering if you ever try sprinting as part of the intervals? I wear a HRM and found that I burned more calories in 20 minutes (ended up being 2 miles) of this workout than I do in 30 minutes of a similar workout to what you posted. And man oh man am I spent! I warm up 2 minutes fast walk @ 4.0, 1 minute run at 6.8, 30 seconds sprint @ 9.5, back to 1.5 minutes @ 4.0, 1 minute @ 6.8, 30 seconds @ 9.5, etc. until you get to 20 minutes. Try it sometime!
P.S. I see you use Friendship 1% which I also love, have you ever tried the “whipped” variety? It has more of the consistency of ricotta cheese, and I promise you will like it! 🙂
Early morning workouts are so much fun! It’s definitely my favourite time of day to workout.
I love working out first thing in the morning too! Glad you got to get your burn in early today. 🙂
I love those kinds of workouts! It’s amazing that getting your blood pumping can wake you up so quickly!
I’m not a fan of the treadmill, but on days like the past few weeks here, when it’s been so hot, I do envy everyone with access to a treadmill and a nice fan blowing cool air in their faces while they workout!
Those Pinterest fails made me laugh. Some of them weren’t too far out, but yeah, others are just pretty messy! Waffle iron cookies anyone?!
Frozen berries and bananas are my favorite Summer time treat.
I love just blending the two together with a little almond milk in the vitamix for a perfect treat. So yummy.
And I’m all the way with you on early morning workouts.
I need to have them done in the morning or else I’ll pretty much talk my way out of it.
That and the heat makes the afternoon workouts nearly impossible.
Thank you for posting the link to The Oatmeal! I had been on the site about a year ago, laughed histerically and forgot the name… it happens.
Also, I am now craving cottage cheese and fresh berries and they are officially on my shopping list.
Thank you Thank you.
I don’t always feel like pushing myself while at the gym. Sometimes your body just wants a break. Like today, my legs are mad from a workout two days ago! Ugh! I love The Oatmeal. Such a funny website! 🙂