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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I’d love to win the serpent bangle!
That smoothie look delicious! I might just have to make it for my afternoon snack today.
Love Sadie’s thundershirt!
Ummmm YES smoothie keg stand!!! Ahahaha I’ll spike da smoothiesss 😉
Sadie does look super cute, but boyish. Too bad that sweater/shirt doesnt come in a pink color! 😉
SO JEALOUS of that smoothie! I’ve been visiting my parents in Kansas City all week and today I finally attempted to make a smoothie because i couldn’t stand it anymore! Unfortunately it turned out like soup since I had no frozen fruit or protein powder…
That thundershirt is so cool! Let us know if it works. My family dog growing up was so scared of thunderstorms and would start to shake whenever it would storm. Ingenious idea if it works!
Florida storms are extra scary. I want a thundershirt too! The thunder and lightning scares the heck out of me.
I think my cat needs one as well. She freaks out during storms.
Let us know how the Thundershirt goes!!! My aunt and uncle can barely make it to the lake house (an hour and half drive) with their red bone coon hound/vizsla pup. We all want to throw her out of the car, not that we would ever do that!
I would be willing to purchase one for that dog if you find it helps Sadie…they are very similar.
Good Luck!
I make a lot of smoothies and I have been having trouble getting them thick enough! I want to order some xantham gum! Do you use it in anything else or just in smoothies?!
Aww Sadie looks so sweet! I hope it works for her.
Looks like a great workout! Love supersets 🙂
I got the Thunder Jacket for my dog too! He gets very anxious when people leave, especially family; and gets very jumpy (in a friendly way of course!) when people are outside or someone comes to the door or into the house. It works pretty well to calm down a hyper dog like himself!
Ooh, maybe I need a Thundershirt for Lacey. Our Leo loves to ride, but Lacey freaks out in the car. and she has the weirdest anxiety symptom ever: she gets all drooly until slober is literally pouring out of her mouth and she’s sitting in a huge drool puddle. What the heck. :-/
Thundershirts work so well! My parents have the most neurotic dog ever, he’s really scared of thunder and fireworks. He calms down almost instantly when they put it on him. We also got one for our dog to help with her separation anxiety.
I love that shirt on Sadie! My dog hates clothing, but I am the boss so I might have to get her one.
My Vizsla gets really anxious in the car as well, unless she is super tired. She typically whines the whole ride to the dog park and it is pretty annoying stuff.
Have fun in Philly. It is my favorite food city I have ever been to and I am pretty jealous!
my friend has a thundershirt for her great dane and she said it really works to calm her, so i got a tiny one for my yorkie, and i make him wear it during thunderstorms and fireworks….i’m not sure if it helps, but i put it on him anyway ;p
Has your mom noticed any decrease in Sadie’s anxiety since purchasing the Thundershirt?
My overly anxious Jack Russell has had a Thundershirt for a few years now and has made some progress. He hates the car and refuses to sit down in it but the Thundershirt helps him sit sometimes!
Haha Sadie does look really cute in that shirt! Girl’s got some muscles!
That shirt is so cute! I still remember when my dog was a puppy and we bought him bright yellow rain slicker to wear when it was rainy outside.. he hated it!!
Those chia seeds totally look like sprinkles to me!
HAHA Sadie’s shirt is ADORABLE.
Oh my gosh sadie looks SO PROUD to be sporting that shirt!
I’m just as excited as you to see smoothies back on the blog!
Thank you for introducing me to the Thundershirt! I’ve never heard of it before; I will definitely be purchasing one for my pups upcoming birthday! 🙂
I’ve been thinking about getting a ThunderShirt for one of my dogs who is super scared of thunderstorms. You’ll have to let us know if it works!
Yay for smoothies and Sadie! My boyfriend will not let me put our dog in any kind of “outfit” no matter how manly it is. But the ThunderShirt sounds awesome!
Will you update us about the Thundershirt??? My dog gets anxious too and we’ve been contemplating getting one.
Love the doggy tee! bahaha 🙂
Old School!!!!!!!
Frank the Tank! Frank the Tank!
Love it.
what protein powder do you use and where can I find it? your smoothie looks unreal!
That is pretty cool! I hope it helps Sadie! Too bad they don’t have a shirt like that for humans! It would be so helpful to wear right before a big speech or something of that nature! haha
ur pup is so adorable!
I should totally get that for my mom’s dog!!! We all went through a pretty bad storm while camping last year and now her dog is terrified of storms!! Mom’s b-day is coming up. . . ; )
Please let us know how that works after you use it a while! Our Frenchie has bad separation anxiety and also gets spooked really easily by cars, wind, noises, etc. Thanks!
Smoothie looks great! I prefer mine to be spoon-dependent ; )
My dog has a thundershirt! She gets very upset and shakes when it thunderstorms and especially on the 4th of July when there are tons of fireworks. It works on her like magic! After a short while, she stops shaking and immediately becomes calm and like her normal self. She loves it and I hope it helps Sadie!
Old School! Classic. That movie makes me crack up!
Old School! haha And that thunder things looks interesting. I sort of want them to make something like that for humans. I need some comforting when I get home from dealing with behaviorally-challenged children all day
You HAVE to let us know how the thundershirt works! I’ve been trying to convince my mom to get one for her 110-pound CHICKEN (aka yellow lab). Theyre relatively cheap (like $30, right?), so I really think it’d be worth the investment.
Also, is there a particular recipe you use for smoothies? Or is it just a tried-and-true method? I want to branch out to chocolate-y smoothies, but am unsure of recipes! HELP!
My sister used the thundershirt on her chihuahua and it worked like a charm!! She used to pant and shake heavily in thunderstorms, and now she is calm as can be. My sister couldn’t believe how well it worked!
That Thundershirt is pretty awesome. I’ve never heard of that before but really might need to check it out. Our basset hound has a tendency to pant a lot when he’s nervous and being that he’s a basset hound (lots of drool and low to the ground) that can cause some minor flooding issues 🙂
You’ll have to let us know if that thundershirt thing works! I’ll be buying one in an instant if it does.
Thank you so much for the tip about xanathan gum for smoothies!!! Oh my gosh I have made one everyday since you gave me that tip and they are just SO much better. Today I even made one to take to work (I work at a pool), and just stuck it in the freezer. It was the perfect thing to have while I was sitting poolside, listening to all the little kids scream! Every bite was calming 🙂 So thanks!!!
Buff indeed! I will be buff once I eat that smoothie! Yum yum!
OMG I almost died when I saw the picture of Sadie in a ThunderShirt! The foster home of the pup my family just adopted introduced us to them and was explaining how they help with anxiety….here he is in his haha! http://tinypic.com/r/23rlgxz/7
My old roommate’s dog has a Thundershirt and she said she noticed a difference right away in her behavior. We are thinking of getting my dogs each one. And a smoothie for dinner sounds so good!
Ahh… it’s so nice to see a smoothie back on your blog. he he! LOVE the dog shirt. I may have to get one for my hairless cat. 😉 Do they make thme for cats?
Old school!! HA! …. I miss the smoothies after the weekend. You’ve been so strong 😉 ….YUM!
This post reminded me of when I interned for a children’s hospital in college. They used similar vests on Autistic children to calm them down and give them a sense of awareness of their bodies. Very interesting to see the same idea being applied to animals! She looks great in it to boot!
I’ve never heard of a thunder shirt before. Let me know if it works!
I would love to see a review of the Thundershirt as Sadie has a chance to put it to the test. My dog Thea tends to have a lot of anxiety and is particularly anxious when it storms. I’ve seen similar products, but I’ve never taken the plunge. I’d love to know how it works out for her.
Let us know if it helps Sadie! I have been thinking about getting one for my dog. He does the same thing when it storms. He pants and shakes so bad. :o(