Two A Days Are SWEET!

Today definitely felt like a Monday, I wanted to get up and get the gym out of the way. But my body just wouldn't let me. I slept another hour and woke up feeling alot better...phew. I hate when Monday's start out rough. For breakfast it was good old oatmeal with agave nectar and a half of a sandwich thin topped with the goods (sunflower seed butter, nutella and banana slices).

I was pretty excited as lunch approached because I love leftovers. Today's lunch was half a delicious pasta salad (my mom made) and half curried chicken salad from the baby shower I co-hosted over the weekend. I topped the flatbread with the curried chicken salad and I think it was better the second time. I have to say the cilantro really is the key flavor. :)

Weird combo but both delish!

Since I was unable to get my butt out of bed this morning I headed to the gym right after work. On the menu today was a challenging interval/speed workout on the treadmill. The workout looked like this:

Warm-up - 5 minutes at 4.5 on a 1.5 incline
Mile 1 - 5.8 on a 1.0 incline
Mile 2 - 2 minutes at 7.0 and then 1 minute at 6.5 (alternating)
Mile 2-2.5 - 6.5 on a 1.0 incline
Mile 2.5-3.0 - 6 on a 1.0 incline
Cool Down - 5 minutes at 4.5 

This really got my heart going, no matter how many times you do this exercise your heart rate will always go crazy. If it doesn't you aren't pushing yourself hard enough. :) After my workout I got a phone call from my beau saying he wanted to go on a run but needed some motivation. So of course I said I will run with you!! Because TWO a days are sweet and make me feel like I am in high school again. The great thing about doing TWO runs today is that I already got my long run out of the way for the week!! 

I never used to like running with people but now I don't mind it at all. I just tell them an advance I run 10 minute miles so feel free to run ahead. :) We ended up running 2.2 miles because it was such a beautiful evening and had some good conversations. I love running outside it is so much better than the treadmill. 

After our little run with decided to go grab a quick dinner at Subway. I ordered a 6-inch veggie patty on  wheat. I love the convenience, freshness and deliciousness of Subway. My sandwich was topped with all the green veggies available and light mustard. It hit the spot and I headed home to have a nice relaxing evening of menu, social planning and of course Dancing with the Stars. :) When one guilty pleasure ends another begins. 

Maybe I lied about light mustard!

Lesson of the day: TWO A Days Are Sweet because it means that my long run on Saturday is going to be significantly shorter. :) They are a great way to mix up your training schedule. I do not encourage multiple Two a Days in the same week.

Dessert Pizza is a MUST!

It felt so good to sleep until 5:30 this morning, I even hit snooze once. I never do that but today it just felt like the right thing to do. :) I switched up my breakfast today and made a protein shake with a teaspoon of peanut butter, fat free milk, a handful of blueberries, half of a banana and a scoop of protein powder. It turned out pretty good but next time I think I will add more blueberries. I complimented the shake with a middle eastern whole wheat flat bread topped with a little peanut butter, blueberry preserves and the other half of the banana. This breakfast was a great change.

I love blueberries!

Today was a little hectic at the office I had lots of tiny errands to run throughout the day. So lunch came fast and I was so excited to try another Trader Joe's salad. Today it was a brussel sprout salad with bacon, cranberries, cheese, chickpeas and a dijon vinaigrette (they give you way to much dressing). This salad was so delish and super filling but I still ate a few carrot sticks. :)

Brussel sprouts are actually really tasty!

4 o'clock came super fast today and I was excited to hit the gym with a new interval workout. I found this workout on Fitness Magazine's website. The name of this workout is Burn 400 Calories without Getting Bored. I love love this workout because 40 minutes went by so fast. I have started to love interval training because you can really feel the burn. I totally recommend this workout if you need a change.

I headed home to make Chiles Rellanos Casserole for Mary and I! This is once again a Cooking Light recipe. This recipe took a little bit more prep than I expected so I had Mary dive in and do half of the work. I used ground turkey instead of ground chicken and loved it.

Casserole before!

The casserole takes about an hour to cook so we just chatted and watched some horrible television. Finally the casserole was done and ready to be served.

This smelled amazing and looked pretty darn tasty!

The casserole turned out great! I think next time I may add more corn and a little more hot sauce but other than that this is a great dish. I recommend making this for any occasion even breakfast! If you are only cooking for two you should definitely consider cutting the recipe in half. I think I am going to be eating this for lunch and dinner for the rest of the week at least.

Delish, cheap and healthy (252 calories per servings)

Now it was time for dessert and I wanted to try something new. I wanted to make up my own dessert pizza. I used a middle eastern whole wheat flat bread as the base and topped it with peanut butter, chocolate chips, handful of coconut, half a banana and two large marshmallows. I broiled it in the oven for about 3 minutes (careful not to burn the marshmallows) and it was done and looking real good!

Before.....

After!! :)

This is my new favorite dessert it tasted just like a smore w/ peanut butter. Mary and I split this so it really wasn't that bad for us. This was the perfect ending to a great Tuesday!!

I love Cooking Light because I can be an Indulgent Foodie without feeling guilty!!