Last week I decided I was going to go for a ride around the neighborhood before making dinner. The sky looked ominous, but I figured that the rain was still a few minutes out. It only took moments to get ready, but by the time I opened the door, it was already starting to rain. I decided to go anyways because it was a relatively warm day. I rode for about half an hour and while I was riding (and getting soaked), my mind was flooded with happy memories of when I was a child.
I lived in Australia for the first 10 years of my life. I started school just before I turned 6 and after school every day, the bus would drop me off about a half-mile from home and I would walk home from the bus stop. There were days that rain was pouring from the sky and I had nothing to keep my dry. So I would slosh home through the gutters on the side of the road and make the most of the body-soaking situation. I can only imagine my mom’s dismay when I would arrive home dripping wet.
It’s been almost 15 years since then and I still have fond memories of my Australian adventures. I miss calling Australia my home, but I’m thankful for the moments in my life that can bring me back to my childhood, even if only for a few minutes.
So I registered for the Iron Girl Columbia on August 16th and I’ve just completed my first week of training! Since I’ve been out of shape from the winter, I’m primarily working on rebuilding my cardiovascular endurance. Here’s my general workout and my favorite snack – a Nut Butter Banana Smoothie – for the past week:
Monday: Picked up a lot of healthy groceries at Whole Foods! (Not exactly a workout but hey, I took a lot of steps and eating home more is important!)
Tuesday: Signed up at the gym, did just over 21 minutes of hill intervals on the elliptical and a couple of various machines before going home. I also did a “My Routine” with about 20 minutes of Yoga on the Wii. I also started calorie counting on My Fitness Pal again today.
Wednesday: I swam laps for about 25 minutes and I did 600 meters. I played on the Wii Fit Plus for half an hour when I got home including my 20 minute Yoga Routine (I’m horrible! Really needing to work on my balance some more.)
Thursday: Zumba on the Wii. Wii I find that doing Zumba in my house helps me feel a little less stupid when I don’t know what I’m doing. I definitely feel like I have two left feet sometimes and when I try to add my arms… But it’s a nice variation to my workouts and it’s a good 30-minute workout.
Friday: I swam 400 yards in just under 17 minutes (including breaks) so I made improvement!
I made a Nut Butter Banana Smoothie today in an effort to replenish my tired body and I figured I’d share my recipe for it because it was just that amazing. This is a very loose recipe so that you can customize it to your preferences! More frozen bananas to less milk ratio will give a thicker smoothie bowl consistency.
Refreshing healthy breakfast smoothie. Cinnamon is the magic ingredient in this recipe, so don’t leave it out!
Ingredients
Scale
1–1.5 large frozen bananas
1–2 Tbsp of your favorite nut butter (I like peanut or almond) or 1/8 cup of walnut halves
1–2 cups of milk (I use unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
A few shakes of cinnamon
1–2 tsp Cocoa powder (optional)
Instructions
Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth and well combined. Pour into a clean glass and enjoy!
Switch out the nut butter for a small handful of walnuts if you like. It’s also a delicious combo.
Notes
Add a small amount of ice to cool it down if using a fresh banana.
This is a very loose recipe so that you can customize it to your preferences! More frozen bananas and less milk will give a thicker smoothie bowl consistency.
