Top ‘o The Mornin’

Good morning bloggies!  How goes it?

I want to first rewind just a bit to last night when I was in a complete haze as to what I was going to make for dinner.  I am in a weird place right now where I desperately need groceries, but going out of town this weekend (LADY GAGA ANYONE?!?!?) is causing me to keep putting it off.

Thus, I had to dig around in the kitchen to find something, which turned into a major comfort food kinda night.

Chicken Corn Chowder…..and…..wait for it, wait for itttt…..

Toasted cheese sammie.  Check out this cheesy goodness….

I am swallowing hard just looking at it!  Trust me, it was beyond delicious.

Making the traditional “grilled cheese” in the oven is an easy way eliminate alot of the butter and extra calories/grease.  Just spritz the bread with a bit of butter spray, and bake @ 350* until nice and toasty….mmmm….

Pretty good combo for a thrown together dinner, eh?

Yum!

Now, lets fast forward time back to this morning, where it was a Dunkin Donuts kind of morning.  As some of you know, my fellow workout enthusiast Ginny and I are blogging about trying every item on the DD menu.  We only have *one* bite, we swear!

That being said, I am pretty sure we are the only ones who BRING our breakfast to a donut shop. 🙂

Clifford Crunch ( 😀 ), Strawberries, and Greek Yogurt!

If you have not tried Greek Yogurt yet, give it a try.  It is a thickened yogurt with a slightly more tart taste.  Also, it is packed with protein!

I like to combine the cereal with the Yogurt!  (gotta have some DD coffee, too!)

Had two lovely dates this morning!

Only my Ginny would bring a SALAD to Dunkin Donuts at 7am.  🙂  I love it.

Courtney was there too!  No salad for her, though.

We also savored our BITE of Donut.  Mmmmm….

Vanilla Cream…..Mmmmmm.  Life is too short not to have a bite of a donut.  Come on people.

Well, time for the day to officially begin!  Work, work, and more work!  Teaching Spin AND Total Body HIIT tonight…should be killer, I have an awesome new Back Track to use!

And just because I am curious…

Whats your favorite comfort food?

 

 

Rainy Day French Toast

what goes better with a dreary day (MONDAY might I add) and rain more than a comforting breakfast?  French Toast was on my mind the instant I woke up.

Theres something about French Toast that really hits that “comfort” button in me.  The eggy/slightly sweet batter with the bread…mmm!

Time to griddle the bad boys up!

Presentation is everything, we eat with our eyes as much as our mouths!

There may have been a dark chocolate chunk or two that found its way into the breakfast. 😉

This was the perfect breakfast to fuel my rainy Monday!

Blogger Boy Healthy French Toast

Batter:

• 2 Large Eggs
• 2 TBSP. Fat Free Half & Half (Skim Milk can also be used here!)
• 1 TBSP. Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 TSP. Pure Almond Extract

(Whisk this liquid until smooth and pale yellow…then comes the bread…)

• 2 Slices of your favorite bread!  Mine is a natural wheat bread with added fiber

Spray your pan or griddle with a little organic olive oil spray (who needs to drown it in butter!), and grill on both sides until crispy and brown.  I paired the toast with a sliced banana, and topped with some dark chocolate chunks.  These can be left off if you are behaving on this particular instance. 😉  I also topped mine a drizzle of maple syrup.  I never understood why people DRENCH their french toast/pancakes in syrup.  Not only does it pour on the calories and fat…but it takes away from the flavor of the french toast!

 

When driving to work, I was presented with this lovely weather…

Luckily when it was time for a caffeine pick me up, my friend…and fellow Dunkin Donut Blog Challenge star Ginny was able to maneuver the storm!

I was able to somehow avoid the donuts, and went with my usual Iced Coffee with Skim Milk!  Instant winner in my book.

Hello, my name is Tyler Ramey…and I have a coffee addiction. Heck, the first part of the problem is ADMITTING to it, right?!?!  🙂

Come on, who can say no to that adorable cup?!?!?!?  Not me, I tell you.

After the caffeine had kicked in, and I was ready to wage battle on my Monday….I eventually headed back to work and had a pretty boring lunch as far as lunches go.

(my office is currently looking like something out of the set of Hoarders…so please forgive me.)

Went for a Subway sandwich, and some of my new favorite “chips”:

Who needs chips when you can have brown rice crisps?!

PS, did anyone notice the new Lady GaGa video in that first lunch snapshot?  She debuted her new video for “Born This Way” today!  Eek!!!

Check it…

What do you think?  Are you a die hard fan like me, or one of those people who are completely confused by her? 🙂  Honest answers, please.

More working occured later in the day, as well as planning for tonights Spin class.  I am in a complete NEED OF NEW MUSIC.  Help me, fellow readers/bloggers!  Any new/old/whatever jams that are currently raging your replay button on the iPod?  This blogger boy needs some new tunes!

On tonights Spin list….

The ones that got left off….

• Animal – Neon Trees
• Stereo Love – Edward Maya
• Because The Night – Cascada
• Faithfully – Glee (Cooldown)

Fellow Spinners…..what are some of your favorite tunes from your classes?

In closing I leave you with a random snack of the day that is slowly becoming a staple with me.  It combines two very odd ingredients…

Peanut Butter Greek Yogurt anyone?!

Now get out there, and kick Mondays tail!  Make sure to leave me some song feedback!  My class needs new jams! 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Live in 5….4…..3…..2……..1.

Craaaaaaaaaaziness!!!!!!!!!!

Today has been non-stop, but I heart that.  Come on people…hectic is good!

Started out with a breakfast parfait -o- joy.

Who knew they even had puffed millet cereal?!?!?!  My love for millet grows by the day.  Started off this parfait with a bed of Greek Yogurt (Dannon, Strawberry)

Next went the millet-love!

And then finished off with a sliced nana, some Gourmet Granola (Millet, Oats, Chocolate Chips, Other deliciousness that currently escapes my exhausted mind.)

Also topped with ch, ch, ch, chiiiiia!  🙂  Layered yumminess.

This was the perfect “on the go fuel” to get me started early with my Elementary kiddos, and some KidFit Yoga!

Today the kids were extra cute, and quite frankly…a little drained themselves as it was the last day of their TCAP testing.  For those of you who don’t know what TCAP testing is, it’s basically a huge formal exam at the end of the year that the kids drill for constantly.  There is way too much pressure/weight put on the results, and the Teaching Major in me hates it with all my being!!!!  Boo for standardized/high stake testing!

That being said, we took it easy today.  We did some nice relaxing poses, and I let them just de-stress.  Hey…even elementary aged kids have alot on their plates.

After Yoga, I sped like a madman to the YMC-izzle for a back to back combo of Spin/RIPPED.  RIPPED is like my Total Body HIIT class, just minus the cardio.  I really liked teaching these two classes back to back!  I also love subbing classes, because I get to see a completely different group of people.  Today we did a lower body/upper body/ab combo, and repeated with different moves.  Amazing sweat session!  Gotta love the P90x push-up/oblique chopper! Rawr!

After class it was finally time to go on the NEWS!  Eeeeeeek!

Met my girl Natalie, and we were off to the news station to promote Eight To The Eights.

I have totally decided that TV anchorman is in my immediate future…this place was so cool!

Managed to steal a pic with Sara Diamond, before we went live!

Once she went on, it was almost time for us!  By this point, I kept adjusting my clothes/mic/fidgeting anyway I could.  Nervous wreck!!!

Here was the studio where we were interviewed:

So.  Much.  Fun.  Seriously, as soon as we were “on” it seemed to go by in like 10 seconds!  I managed to pull it off without slipping and/or any awkwardness.  Video coming soon guys, I promise! Hopefully we got the word out a bit more about the program, I am stoked to see what happens from here.

After the interview, Natalie took me to an amazing lunch spot that I had never been before!

This place is a salad lovers dream come true!

The “Super Salad” gave options of three pre-prepared salads to top a huge bed of romaine lettuce.

They also have a ton of brewed and fruity teas.  We went with the raspberry.

Did I mention how much I love my runnin’ buddy, race plannin’, scooter drivin’ (Thats right…she drives a pink scooter around town…get jealous!), big sis Natalie?!?!

Now bring on the salad!!!

I got the pasta salad, wild rice and cranberry, and oriental!

I don’t mess around.

We amanged to avoid the desserts…but trust me, it wasn’t easy.

After a fantabulous trip to the news, and and even better lunch…it was time to keep on keepin’ on…and back to the school for High School KidFit…followed immediately by my 5:30pm spin!

New CD tonight (tracks coming soon!)

Currently obsessed with this jam.  And this one.  Annnnnnd…this one. (Yes….more Bieber.)

Also…thanks to Jeremy, I am now obsessed with this gal…who is very GaGa-esque!

After Spin, it was time for dinnnnnnner.  Headed to Panera because I was famished…and it feeds my face nicely.  😉

Half veggie sandwich, half fuji salad…..whole apple.  😉

And now here I sit at the bizzle….contemplating life…blogging, and planning out the rest of my classes for the week.  Life is good!

Hello, Normality.

Is it just me, or was this Monday particularly hard to adjust back to?!?!  Darn you holiday weekends…why must you end so quickly.  *sigh*

It has been freakishly (and amazingly) warm the past week or so, therefore I went with a colder option for breakfast.  Cereal bowl time!

Annie’s never lets me down.  I started my bowl-o-joy with 1/2 cup of this cereal, and then diced up a nice big red pear, and a nana.  Topped the cereal with the fruits, then added a big dollop of Greek Yogurt, and some drizzle-tastic Almond Butter:

Once it was all mixed, the pretty factor had escaped.

Cold…crunchy…fruity….almond buttery.  Cha-chiiiiing!  Perfect fuel for a day full of meetings and working out!

Headed to the YMCA to teach Express Sculpt.  It’s a 30 minute weight class where anything goes.  Last week we focused ALL on lower body, so this week…it was upper body time!

• Chest Press with Bar + Resistance Band Wrapped Underneath
• Bicep Curls with Bar (Various Counts/Holds/Pulses)
• Abs (V-Crunches, Around The World Crunches, Scissors)
• Shoulder Press/Squeeze Combos, Lateral Raises (with 10 second holds as we rose to parallel), No-Weight Arm Circles (100 one direction, 100 the other…OUCH!)
• Tricep Kick-Back’s, Skull Crushers, Windshield Wipers

Good times!  I am already feelin’ the burn!

Right after class I headed to Panera for a meeting about “8 To The 8’s” which is the Biggest Loser style program our city is hosting, and I get to help train!  So stoked.  Lunch was the standard half veggie sammie, and fuji apple salad:

YUM!  Perfect meal on this abnormally (but amazing) hot day in Tennessee!

One meeting down…one more to go.  Then back to the YMCA to teach Spin at 5:30 (new and hardcore CD I am trying out…NO climbs…it’s all about speed tonight…cannot wait to see what everyone thinks!)  We are also getting our Yoga on, and then practicing for the Lady GaGa Telephone dance!!!  Rah, rah, ooh la laaaaaa!!!!  😉

Random cuteness of the day:

Whats on everyones Monday agenda?

Just call me Bob?!?

Hello Tuesday!  I think I like you better than your pal, Monday.

I started my breakfast last night, and used my Chia Seeds again…this time in a cereal/fruit bowl mix!  I wanted to let the “sauce” set up overnight…so I got to work:

Nothin’ like a new jar of AB to make me happy.  😉

The “sauce” was a mixture of:

• 2 TBSP Chia Seeds
• 1/2 Cup Almond Milk
• 1 TBSP Almond Butter
• 3 TBSP Greek Yogurt
• 1 TBSP Polaner Natural Peach Jam

Let that soak overnight, which turns into this:

Chia Pudding goodness!

Combined two of my favorite cereals…

Stuck with the Mango theme by cutting into this juicy guy…

I then combined the fruit with the cereal (1/2 cup, each)

And on went the pudding!

I was a fan.  Chia Seeds…you guys are two for two.  Sam seemed to enjoy it as well.

He is getting SO furry…groomer.  ASAP.  Tyler, seriously…get on this!  *sorry, ignore my rants at myself*

After breakfast I answered some emails (I love getting emails guys!!!  Thanks so much for sending them, and be patient as I tend to write novels and/or lose them in all the Facebook junk that comes to my email…I will respond, I swear!!!), and then headed to meet my dear friend Natalie at Tomy Thai to discuss a verrrrry exciting summer program I will be helping with.

Is she not adorable?!?!?!  Love Natalie!!!

We needed to talk business, but first and foremost, we needed to order lunch, right?!?!  😉

Hmm, sorry for the blur.  I must have been in a Thai-Food-Frenzy.  They brought soup and crunchies to start!

I ended up getting the Tomy Thai Fried Rice (extra hot, please) with Veggies:

Even though this was a “smaller” lunch portion, I still had tons of leftovers for work tonight (sah-weet!)  The best part of this dish, aside from the veggie goodness, was the abundance of pineapple!!!  So good, and such a good flavor addition to the spicy rice!  Yum, yum.

So, it was onto business talk!  Our city is going to be sponsoring a “Biggest Loser” competition this summer complete with teams of two competing in an 8 week program to lose weight and get healthy.  I GET TO BE BOB!!!!!  How friggin’ exciting is that?!?!  I am pumped!  Hank (who couldn’t make it, boo!) and Natalie are over the Crazy 8’s race, which draws a TON of people to this area!  Heck, even the Kenyans come down and run with us!  😉  So the competition will occur 8 weeks prior to the race (8K).  Notice an 8 theme going on?!?!  The finale will be held live after the race, with a live weigh in/result.  Amazing?!?!  Yes.  Everything is totally still in the planning stages, but I am so excited to get started on this!

Well, time to get my workout on!  I am going to tackle some time on the machines, and do some weights!  Later bloggies…happy Tuesday!

TGIS!

Hello bloggies, I hope that everyone is having a funtabulous weekend.  Mine got started out GREAT today!  Many reasons added to this feeling of joy, one of which being breakfast…

Mixed those two lovies, and then added some Yogurt…

Which, coincidentally, is the same yogurt you can win for FREE by entering here.  You get 4 free small containers, 1 free large container, and a super cute tote bag!  Enter, enter!  Voting closes midnight Sunday!

Cereal + Yogurt + Nana + Cinnamon = perfect start ‘o the day.

Raise your hands if you are jealous of the cheetah bowl.    ……..   thought so.

After I was properly fueled I found another reason to be excited:

This is honestly the most gorgeous day we have had all season!  Almost feels like spring time!  Felt good getting that Vitamin D!  Thank you, spherical ball of heat.

Headed to Johnson City for spin class, and was expecting the worst on the ole knee with two spin classes to teach back to back.  I was a good little Physical Therapy patient, and did all my stretched beforehand (those suckas take like 20 minutes!) and had NO knee pain in class!

One down, and one to go.  I was still a little nervous on the way to Spin #2…but my GaGa shades helped me conquer my fears…

Rocked it O-U-T in my second spin class.  Full, hot, sweaty, 110% effort.  Seriously a spin class for the books.  Yet again…NO knee pain.  It was incredible.  Friday morning I could hardly walk it hurt so bad…and after only 2 or 3 rounds of deep stretching/strength exercises for the weak hip, I had no pain!  I was elated.

After spin I headed down to Pan-izzle to pick up lunch to take back to work.

I got half the veggie sandwich…half the fuji apple chicken salad (no chicken!), and a whole grain baguette.

Oh bread, how I love thee.

So yummy.  Here is my short rant on Panera.

It is one of the few places I *trust* that I would consider fast food.  Not that long ago (in my carnivore days) I was eating only Chik-Fil-A as my “fast food” source thinking it was somewhat healthy.  Even the “healthy” options are loaded with sodium and preservatives.  Big let down.  While I know that Panera is not 100% organic, they do try to incorporate a multitude of organic items and their website has a nutritional calculator that is far and beyond any other I have found.  You can see all the ingredients plus SUBSTITUTE items, which I do very frequently.  Today I did a different bread and cheese then the normal sammie, so it was nice to get an accurate calorie count, while being picky.  😉

Dessert was involved, of course, and included my favorite dried fruit…Kiwi!  (a piece or two of mini Hershey’s may have somehow fallen into my mouth as well)

I worked away for a couple of hours, and now here I sit…enjoying my Trail Mix bagel with Natural PB (see, another reason to ❤ Panera)

What can I say, 2 hours of spin class really works up an appetite.  Although, I rarely need a “reason” to stuff my face with carbs.

Get out and ENJOY this lovely day people!  It’s a good one!

Enter in for that free yogurt, too!

Craezy Thursday!

Thursdays are nuts!  With KidFit at 4:00 and Total Body at 6:00, I am running around like a mad man!  Where did I leave off….oh yes, lunch!  😀  While prepping for my classes I decided it was a fruity sort of day, and listened to what my body was craving/screaming.

I started my cereal/fruit bowl by mixing the “wet” ingredients, which were the natural peach jam, AB, and Greek Yogurt (hmmm…like my Giveaway???  More on that at the end of this post)

I then added my diced fruit… (strawberries/nectarine)

Topped with my cereal(s), mixed, and bathed it all in some cinnamon. 😉

Who wouldn’t want to eat this for lunch, may I ask?!?!

Got to work on some new moves for Total Body HIIT, and then headed to Johnson City for KidFit!  We had a ton of kids and it was super fun.  I had them run lots of suicides, needless to say they were red-faced and sweating.  Mission accomplished.  Before class (and still not running because of the injured knee) I tackled 30 minutes on my beast of choice, the elliptical.

Chowed down on this between gyms:

Oh, Nutz Over Chocolate….you are simple, yet still my favorite.  Although your cousin Peppermint Stick comes in a close second, so watch your back, ya dig?

It was then time to head to the YMCA for Total Body HIIT!  Was totally stoked because another local blogger, Ashlie was coming!!!!  She is super sweet and I adore her blog!  Here was the agenda for class

(pardon the chicken like scratch handwriting.)

Everything should be self explanitory except for “Baby Makers!”  hahahahaha.  This is a KILLER move where you take a resistance band/strap, loop it through the risers of the bench…secure it to your feet, and then lift them straight in the air.  We would take them down and up slowly, and hold high pulses.  They killlllllllllll the inner thigh, it is fun times.  This is the most “groan” worthy move for sure.  Try it out, and tell me what you think!  Here were some random class shots!

Here is Ashlie and I in post-sweat glory!  Is she not adorable?!

And she came bearing gifts!  LOOK, the elusive Coconut Butter!

SCORE!  Does she know me well or what??  I think this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.  YOU ROCK ASHLIE!

Also, another veggie (no blog 😦 ) friend was kind enough to bring me DINNER when she came to class tonight!  Check this out:

I love homemade goodies, and having this quick and easy dinner right after class was perfection!  I headed to the Holiday Inn to visit some workin’ pals, and enjoyed my dinner right there and then.

Check out all the Quinoa goodness…

The soup was amazing as well!

And the best thing about visiting friends at the Holiday Inn….COOKIES!!!!

This little cranberry/oatmeal gem was the perfect end to a delicious dinner.

From meeting Ashlie, to her coconut butter gift, to a FREE veggie/delicious dinner, and a cookie courtesy of some good friends…..today has been an awesome day.  I have been GIVEN everything today, now it is YOUR turn to receive!

Entries start NOW for the Oikos Greek Yogurt Giveaway!

My friends at Oikos are giving one lucky reader 4 of these beauties (any flavor!)

And one of these big beauties:

You also get this cute tote:

All you have to do is comment, in this post.  Tell me why you want to win Greek Yogurt, and provide your email so that I can contact you once the giveaway is over.  Also, since the theme of this post has been gifts/kindness…tell about the best thing you have ever given/received!  😉

Good luck bloggies!  I will keep voting open until Sunday at midnight, at which point I will use a random number generator to choose a winner!  One post per person, please! Happy voting, and good luck!

Spin class at 5:45 tomorrow morning, which means it is most certainly sleepy time for this blogger boy.  Later days!