Our Sunday night in a nutshell:
Apple fritter bread!
I made the bread from scratch following a recipe I found via Pinterest on the blog Flour Me with Love.
As a big-time fan of apple fritters, the bread called to me and I set out to make it last night. I had no idea how labor-intensive this recipe was until I started.
It was a big pain in the butt to make, but tasted delicious in the end. (If you decide to make it, I had to add nearly an extra 1/2 cup of flour to the bread dough to get it to form into a ball. I also used four large apples instead of six which seemed like plenty.)
Workout
On our drive to the gym this morning, I really wasn’t in the mood to work out, but after 20 minutes on the elliptical, my exercise mojo started kicking in and I ended up starting the day with a decent workout.
Ryan and I both use the elliptical warm up trick all the time. When we’re sleepy and not fully awake, mindlessly pedaling away on the elliptical for 10 to 20 minutes wakes us up and gets our blood flowing. I have a hard time arriving at the gym and kicking my butt right away, so easing into a workout is ideal.
Today’s workout included 20 minutes on the elliptical followed by a leg workout that included the following exercises:
- Squats
- Deadlifts
- Lunges
- Hamstring ball curls
- Single leg deadlifts
- Bridges
Breakfast
I knew my breakfast would include a slice of apple fritter bread, but I tried to amp it up a bit with something higher in protein.
Hello, hummus scrambled eggs!
Time to write!
Question of the Morning
- Do you take time to warm up with light cardio or stretch before your workouts or do you get goin’ right away?
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If I had my choice, I would always do a quick 10 minute warm up, but sometimes if I’m pressed for time, I jump right into weights! PS: Glad your apple fritter bread turned out!!
I’m glad all your hard efforts paid off Julie! As for cardio, I love to just get going but I know I should ease in, so I usually start off at a slower pace then pump it up after a few minutes. While I’m not so good at stretching pre-run, I always make sure I do after!
I’m so happy you enjoyed the bread! It does take some time, but I hope it was worth it 🙂 Thank you so much for linking back to my recipe, it is greatly appreciated!
I’m happy to have found your blog; you have a lot of wonderful tips for exercising. Sometimes I get sick of my same routine and I’m always looking for new ones. I look forward to trying some of your recipes too 🙂
Have a great day!
Wow that bread looks fantastic. My gym is an 8-minute walk away which works out ideal for me: walking in the fresh air while munching an apple usually perks me up.
WOW…that looks amazing!!! I should make that for my hubby for his birthday breakfast on Friday, lol. I get going right away with my workout which is mostly just running but I started to add some strength training in there too. Happy Monday! 🙂
That apple fritter bread looks and sounds incredible! I definitely want to try it 🙂
Bread looks amaaazing! I saw your picture and tweet on twitter last night so I was curious as to what you were going to think of it. Glad you like it and that there will be no shattered loaf pan 🙂
Have a great Monday!
Couldn’t wait to see it after you mentioning it last night!!! I ease in with the elliptical in the evenings to wake myself up post work!!!
Oh wow, that bread looks divine!! But also something that I would have no willpower around!! 😉
I tend to do exercises classes rather than going to the gym on my own, so we do tend to do some kind of warm up first. I wish we did more stretching at the end of class though – I keep telling myself that I should go down to the gym and stretch more afterwards, but the draw of dinner always calls me home instead!!
That looks delicious! It looks like it was worth the time and effort 🙂 I’m usually in a rush when I workout, so I like to just get in and out as soon as possible.
Good morning, Julie!! I have a question about your warmups on the elliptical. I was wondering what your resistance usually is. Thanks!
10 (the ellipticals at our gym go up to 20) – i pick a level that’s easy enough to maintain that i could carry on a conversation the whole time.
Your apple fritter looks AMAZING. Suddenly, I’m starving.
I usually walk a few slow minutes before cardio but that’s really it.
Bread looks so delicious!!!
I usually do 5-7 minutes of pedaling on the stationary bike to warm up my muscles (and wake up my brain) before launching into my higher cardio workouts (I’m a stereotypical cardio queen–trying to work up the courage to do some of these awesome workouts you post…sigh!). I definitely sympathize with finding it hard to locate that workout mojo so early!!
I am not a big warm up girl…5 minutes tops. I know it isnt ideal but for me if I take a too long of a warm up I actually lose my workout desire. I need to get it started right away!
holy moly that bread looks good! I usually spend 20 minutes on the elliptical or arc trainer before I can get into my workout as well. When I go for a run it takes me a few minutes to really get into my running mood I still feel half asleep for the first 5 minutes of it.
Whenever I am lifting, I always beginning with a 20 minute warm up. I seem to be stronger in my lifts when I do a warmup. On plain cardio days, I keep my warmup much shorter – around 5 minutes.
My Husband would LOVE that bread. I really have to make it for him!
The apple fritter bread looks good but I am not patient enough for time intensive recipes.
I usually will hop on the elliptical for 5-10 minutes to warm up or I will do some jumping jacks, butt kicks, jump ropes to get my body warmed up. I always save stretching for after a workout. Not good to stretch my non-warmed up muscles!!
I have been kind of following the Livefit workouts the past month and could not do the no cardio thing for the first 4 weeks. I also need my 15 minutes at least to get the blood moving and my body ready to workout.
That apple fritter bread looks amazing! I usually walk for 2 and a half minutes at before kicking it up to a running pace. I will have to try the elliptical trick. Good idea!
I buy apple fritter bread down the street from my house every so often (along with regular apple fritters), and it is addictive. Your finished product looks delicious!
Good Morning Julie! I have a workout question for you. I tend to do hour long cardio workouts and weights a couple of days per week. I am not as toned as I’d like and considered moving to more weight days. Do you find that your methods provides better results? Thanks!
hi kerry! i’m not an expert, but in my personal experience, i’ve found my body responds best to more weight training. i notice more tone when i focus on weights and cardio versus cardio heavy workouts like simply running.
that apple fritter bread looks dangerously delicious! i usually always take at LEAST 10 minutes to warm up my body with some light to moderate cardio before i go lift weights or even get into a cardio heavy workout. especially if i’m working out in the morning, my warm up helps me wake up!
That looks amazing! I love anything with apples, mostly because I love apples and could eat them all day every day. 🙂
I totally use that trick to wake me up too! It works every time 🙂
That bread sounds/looks delicious!!
Girl, I don’t know how you do it! I don’t think I could even DO a warm up at 5 a.m.! But yes, when I do have a morning workout (not very often), I need a few minutes of sorta aimless moving to wake me up!
As far as labor-intensive recipes go, that one seriously looks worth it. And I don’t throw that around lightly – so far, only home-made cinnamon rolls and house-made ravioli have made me feel like the effort was worth it!
Holy cannoli, that looks magnificent!
That bread looks amazing!!! I usually warm up before my workout because that’s the format at my CrossFit box. Before CrossFit I never used to warm up before…bad I know!
Oh my – that bread looks delish! I’ve tried doing cardio after weights, but I’ve found that I prefer doing my cardio first for the same reason…It gives me time to wake up a little bit and get the blood flowing!
Hummus scrambled eggs almost sounds better to me than that bread haha weirdo, I know!
that bread looks so good! I’m not a huge sweet bread/donuts fan (I’m weird lol) but it looks pretty haha
omg that bread looks amazing! i did look at the recipe on the blog though and i feel like she makes it look a lot easier than it actually is!
Definitely take a bit of time to warm up before workouts like Body Pump – for my 6:15 AM Body Pump class, I arrive when the gym opens at 5:30 and do some ellipticalling or walking on an incline for a half hour or so. And if I have a more intense cardio workout planned, I’ll usually do some easy cardio first to get my blood flowing :).
I’m not an apple fritter fan, but that bread looks delicious!
I’m terrible about warming up! If I’m going to run on the treadmill, I usually give myself a quarter-mile walking warm-up. If I run outside, I jump right into it.
Glad to see your fritter turned out! I was giggling yesterday at your Twitterisms (?) about what a pain it was.
That bread looks insane! I saw the picture in my google reader and automatically started drooling!
veryyyyy random question…..
what size do you wear from the cut above boutique?? i was going to order a dress from there and have no idea how the sizes run and guesstimated from pics i would need the next size above yours! lol…thanks so much! that boutique is adorable!
If I’m going to take a hard-core class, I try to warm up a little on the treadmill before hand. Today I only had time to do 3 minutes on the treadmill, but it helped me feel looser before the class!
Hi Julie! I sent you an email last week and was wondering if you received it and could reply when you have some time 🙂
If I’m working out at home I just do some stretching and then weights or a dvd that includes a warm-up. If I’m at the gym I do like to hop on the treadmill or elliptical first.
I always have to get in a little cardio to warm myself up. My muscles just feel so stiff when I first get to the gym and even just 5 minutes really helps to get the blood flowing.
i clicked over to the Bridges link an had to smile..def agree it is incredibly awkward. i also laughed at the abductor/adductor mention….i called those the “good girl” (pushing your legs closed) and “bad girl” (opening) machines!! totally un-pc and un-feminist-ish, but it made me giggle to myself
1st: that apple fritter looks so amazing and gorgeous in the pic~2nd: I definitely ALWAYS stretch before working out because I’m kind of a stretch addict, and if I’m the least bit tight in my muscles, then I need to do it before exercising. The elliptical sounds like a great idea! I’m thinking about incorporating it a little more into my routines. Ps: When you use the elliptical do you get really sore in your calves too, in addition to the glutes+hams? Or am I doing the whole thing incorrectly? 😛
Wow!! That bread looks amazing!! I would make it but my problem is the loaf would be gone 20 min after it cools : / hehe.
Anyways, I usually stretch some before my work-out and prefer to do cardio immediately after my weight training.
Ps I looove your blog! I found it this weekend and read like 20 posts haha. I would love for my blog to get this much traffic one day so I’ll be studying your blog tips this week for sure!
What a great way to start out your day- that breakfast looks delicious!! A little bit of sweet and a little bit of… eggs. I need to try the eggs and hummus combo this week. Do you actually put the hummus in the pan when cooking the eggs or how does that work? Thanks!
i usually scramble the eggs in a bowl with the hummus before adding them to the frying pan. 🙂
thanks!
I typically work out in the afternoon, so I usually dive right into the strength training and then zone out on cardio to wrap up my workout.
You’ve gone insane with this recipe! Wow.
I saw that recipe on Pinterest and thought it looked delicious – I guess now I’ve got confirmation of it’s awesomeness. 🙂
I’m definitely a jump-right-into-it sort of girl – I tend to do my cardio after my strength workouts.