It’s so good! Once it hits your lips! (Name that movie!)
That’s exactly how I felt today as a smoothie crossed my lips. (I wonder if we can create some kind of spiked smoothie keg stand at the Healthy Living Summit this weekend?)
Oh goodness, it has been far too long since I enjoyed a smoothie and it was just as good as I remembered.
I arrived at my parents’ house just in time for lunch and I knew a smoothie would be my meal of choice.
Today’s smoothie contained:
- 1 c. almond milk
- 1 1/2 scoops chocolate protein powder
- 1 c. frozen strawberries
- 1 large handful fresh spinach (<—Oh my gosh, the return of the vegetable!!!)
- 1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
- 1 1/2 tbsp. cocoa powder
- 1/2 tbsp. chia seeds
I blended it all together and the smoothie ended up being so thick that a spoon was necessary to take it down.
I wonder if I can talk my family into smoothies for tonight’s family dinner?
My smoothie was a welcome treat at my parents’ house, but being greeted by my mom’s smiling face and Sadie’s nibble kisses made the two hour drive more than worth it.
I think that Sadie’s blurry tail in the above picture says it all. 
Thundershirt
My mom was also quite excited to let Sadie show off a new item of clothing she acquired.
Sadie is now the proud owner of a Thundershirt.
I think Ryan is going to love it because it looks like a muscle tee on her. After the whole neon orange collar/leash debacle, I now realize that Ryan not-so-secretly wants Sadie to look like a boy.
She’s so buff.
My mom bought Sadie the Thundershirt to help with some her anxiety. Sadie gets a little nervous and anxious on car rides sometimes, particularly when we go over bridges or when it rains. (Her body starts shaking and she starts panting heavily whenever we go over a bridge. It’s the weirdest thing!)
Apparently the Thunder Shirt provides gentle, constant pressure that “has a dramatic calming effect for most dogs if they are anxious, fearful or over-excited. Based on surveys completed by over two thousand customers, over 80% of dogs show significant improvement in symptoms when using Thundershirt. Thundershirt is already helping tens of thousands of dogs around the world, and is recommended by thousands of veterinarians and dog trainers.”
It’s kind of like swaddling a baby… but for dogs. I guess it’s worth a shot!
Workout
My workout today began with 20 minutes on the elliptical before I hit the weights.
I did three sets of 15 repetitions of the following exercises for a total-body workout:
- Leg press
- Superset One: Bicep curls, Tricep dips
- Superset Two: Leg extensions, Front shoulder raises
- Tricep pull-downs
- One-legged leg extensions
- Chest press
- Superset Three: Deadlifts, Side shoulder raises
- Ab work on exercise ball (100 various crunches)
- One minute plank
I was nice and sweaty by the time I was done. Mission accomplished!
And now I’m off to conquer today’s to-dos. Must be productive…
P.S. Just realized I’ve totally used this blog post title before!
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HAHA! That literally is what I would picture if I had to imagine a “dog muscle tee”. Sadie wears it well 😉
Haha! What a cool shirt! I need to get one of those for my family dog. We can’t bring him anywhere if it involves a car ride. He makes himself so nervous! I feel bad.
So nice to be reunited with your pup and smoothies! 🙂 Have a good rest of the day!
Old School!! Frank the Tank!! Haha, I’ve seen one too many Will Ferrell movies.
I usually think clothes on dogs… Clothes on any animal for that matter, look silly, but that looks way too cute on Sadie!
sadie is so cute! can you update us on the thundershirt once she’s worn it a bit? i have a crazy/anxious dog and have always been curious as to whether they actually work!
whoaaa never heard of such a crazy shirt!
haha I had one of those smoothie moments too this week!! Ahhh
Wow, Sadie’s new shirt sounds awesome! My little dog experiences some separation anxiety when I leave {it’s the worst when I am out of town for a few days – read: he sh*ts all over the floor right by the front door}. I might have to give this a try!
Have fun at HLS!
SO crazy but I JUST read an article about the Thunder Shirt this past weekend!
And on my run this morning I passed, not one, but FOUR people running with their vizslas! Apparently they’re popular city dogs! And so darn adorable!
awww i wish there were more around here!! i freak out everytime i see one. 🙂
Sadie looks so cute in her Thunder shirt! Yay for the return of smoothies. I don’t know how you’ve made it this long smoothie-less.
Man, I wish they had Thundershirts for people! (I guess I’ll just have to stick with hugs for now.)
I love Old School! Great movie!! You must be so happy to have your smoothies back in your life!
Haha I can’t believe they make a shirt for this reason! Our old dog used to get really anxious during storms so we would put him in his “cozy shirt” as we called it. It was just one of our old tshirts, but it really did calm him down! It looked hilarious though bc we had to tie it in a knot (think Kelly Kapowski style) because it would drag on the ground under his stomach and one time he accidently peed on it while going outside!
My best friends mom got it for her dog, and they love it. It calmed their dog so much. I hope it calms sadie too
oh that’s great to hear! i’m glad it works!
We’ve been researching the thundershirt for one of our Weimaraners…please keep us updated on how it works! Isn’t it great to be reunited with the pup after a few days?!? I always miss mine so much when we’re gone!
I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the movie Temple Grandin (it’s really really good, I highly recommend it), but they also use a similar machine for cows because the pressure helps calm them. Interestingly, because Temple’s autism makes it difficult for her to remain calm in social settings, she builds herself what she calls a “hug machine” in order to help calm herself down. Really cool film, but I think the Thundershirts are probably based upon the same ideas.
Love the Old School reference – classic!
The Thundershirt is too cute on Sadie. Is this the dog garment where you can add weights if needed? Our older dog is afraid of thunderstorms, and someone was telling me about this vest / garment you can get and add weights to help make them feel in control of something during the storm (no joke!).
Gah that looks so thick and delicious! And I’m going with “Old School” for the movie?! I think??
you got it!
Maybe Sadie has some past-life fears about bridges?! You should consider looking into Animal Reiki to help Sadie get over her fear–it’s worth a shot!
Fill it up again! Frank the Tank! “Blue, how come there’s no ice in my lemonade? Drop and give me ten.” Oh I could go on for DAYS.
someone told me about the Thundershirt awhile ago. Thanks for sharing a link (too lazy to google search) but I think our Boston needs one of these. He gets terribly freaked out when it rains. And we live in a valley, where it rains A LOT!
Just went back to the other post with the same title and the picture of Sadie & Jar Jar Binks is freaking hysterical. (I’ve never seen Star Wars either)
hahhaa i know!!!! so completely random.
Yay for getting your Smoothie fix!
Hmm, I should look into that thundershirt. April started being afraid of thunderstorms after she was at my mom’s house in Springfield, MA when tornadoes went through in June. Last week, she got the special treat of sleeping with mommy and daddy, since the storms outside were causing her anxiety.
I love that you can tell Sadies’ tail is wagging super fast!
I work with children with Autism and the thundershirt reminded me of the use of deep pressure for self-regulation. Very cool!
I’m in love with the ring! I need some stellar cocktail rings 🙂
Look at Sadie! She’s such the little model 🙂
And that smoothie looks amazing! I still gotta pick up some chocolate protein powder!
Omg that smoothie looks awesome! And Sadie looks so freaking cute in that t-shirt! I think Ryan will definitely like how she looks in it :). And if you don’t have another smoothie for dinner, perhaps you should make your ice-cream tasting one for dessert! Yum
Congrats on your smoothie reunion! I start getting irritable if I am away from my blender for more than a weekend I don’t know how you managed!
Ha. That shirt sounds exactly like what my poor old pup needs. She is simultaneously so excited and so terrified of life all at the same time. I might have to look into it.
Haha once a good title, always a good title!
I need one of those for my brother’s pointer/lab mix. I’m SUPER interested in what you think.
Always a great title!! I love LOVE smoothies. Glad you can have it back in your life 🙂
Let us know if that shirt works for Sadie! My puppy isn’t afraid of thunder, but he is afraid of the car!
Thank you for the Thundershirt recommendation … we have a Weimaraner who has awful separation anxiety … Im ordering her one today!
a few people already commented on this post that it actually worked! i hope it helps your dog!
The thundershirt works! My parents dog has a very very bad anxiety problem. He can hear a thunderstorm coming from 50 miles away and start shaking uncontrolably. When you live in south florida thunderstorms happen about 7 times a day in the summer. They finally gave the thundershirt a try and can’t believe it worked! Best of luck with sadie girl!
What a great way to be welcomed to your parents house! Sadie, smoothie, smiles. 🙂
I missed your smoothie posts. I’m not nearly as addicted, but I’m getting there. Had a peanut butter one the other day with a dallop of chocolate cool whip on it. Like a peanut butter cup. Yum!
Sadie’s a stud! 😉
Looks like the perfect smoothie return! Glad you enjoyed!
Sadie certainly looks excited to see you. Maybe she should of had the Thundershirt on so she wouldn’t get over-excited. haha
So funny because we saw those Thundershirts in the SkyMall magazine last time we flew and the other night when we had a thunderstorm my boyfriend commented on maybe we should get Kona one of those! haha
That smoothie looks awesome!!!!!! Makes me sort of crave one…hahaha
hahaha. oh, sadie.. the poor baby. I’ve never heard of the thunder shirt.. I’m so curious to see how you like it!
I can’t imagine being without smoothies for so long. I have a love for them almost as much as you do! 🙂 I’m glad you finally got one! I’m sure we’ll be seeing lots of smoothie posts for awhile when you move in to your new place. 😉
I had never heard of Vizslas before your blog but they are so cute! Does Sadie shed a lot? Your mom is SO sweet to think of Sadie! 🙂
she does shed, but not a lot. and her hairs are so tiny and tan that they’re not really noticable around the house at all… only on black clothes.
Your mom has to be the sweetest lady in the world! What a great mama AND great grand-doggy-mama!
I have to admit, as someone that can get anxious at times…. I wonder if they make ThunderShirts for ladies? (just googled, got this article: http://www.thebostonlady.com/2010/09/do-they-make-thundershirts-for-people.html about another anxious pup named Sadie. Weird)
ANYWAY, she looks fierce. Totally sm-eyes-ing.
I’m glad to see someone else is trying the Thundershirt! I bought one for my family dog, who tends to have separation anxiety from my dad, a huge fear of thunder and fireworks, and is overall hyper, and we have noticed a difference when using it. I’m just always afraid that I’m putting it on too tightly! Hope it helps Sadie – she looks fabulous!
So fierce in the thundershirt!
Smoothies just might make it onto my list for dinner tonight!
I hope that helps Sadie – I’m thinking my grandmother’s dog needs one! Giveaway?! 😉
Ohhh Will Ferrell. You’ll never get old!
I meant to mention before that I tried your “commercial break” weights strategy and HOLY MOLY. I never realized how long commercials were until I challenged myself to bicep curls, squats, etc. during them. Yowza, Julie!
she likes the way it hits her lipssss
-justin timberlake
i empathize with your smoothie withdrawal.
your smoothie love is what inspired me to buy a blender. i live in a teeny tiny loft apartment and bought a hamilton beach single-serve blender that is now a permanent fixture on my there’s-really-not-enough-room-to-keep-even-this-miniature-blender-here sized kitchen countertop.
i am now smitten with all things smoothie. i obsessively collect recipes from everywhere and even bought the complete idiot’s guide to smoothies (yes, that is a real book). i looked hither and yon until i finally tracked down a supply of xanthan gum, because the thickness of your smoothies was just doggone enviable. (fun story: i ended up finding it totally serendipitously at a small market in amish country!).
my boyfriend thinks i’m absolutely ridiculous and it’s probably true. but hey, there are worse addictions, amiright?