Good morning!
Today is hot and sticky in Orlando. Just walking to the gym got me sweatin’ this morning and the sun wasn’t even up yet!
Workout
Today’s workout began with 20 minutes on the elliptical. I talked with Ryan while watching the weekly weather forecast on the news and it looks like the heat will be unrelenting for the next couple of days. At least I prefer hot to cold!
Following my time on the elliptical, I took a BodyPump class. I was one lucky lady today because the woman next to me was a grunter and counted the reps aloud in a gruff, breathy voice. So I threw a six-pound dumbbell at her and she knocked it off. 
Walk
After our time at the gym was done, Ryan and I walked home and I leashed up Sadie for a walk around the lake near our apartment.
Doesn’t it look muggy? The air is thick today!
As Sadie and I were walking, I saw sprinkler after sprinkler watering the sidewalks around the lake.
Sadie treats sprinklers like they’re hot lava and goes waaay out of her way to avoid them, pulling me along with her.
I’m not sure who declared it National Water the Sidewalk Day in Orlando, but I’m pretty sure this particular holiday should be vetoed ASAP.
Breakfast
When Sadie and I arrived home from our walk, the air conditioning in our apartment didn’t do much to cool me off, so a smoothie bowl for breakfast was my Plan B for beating the heat.
In today’s smoothie:
- 1 1/4 c. almond milk
- 1 large frozen banana
- 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
- 2 handfuls fresh spinach
- 1 1/2 tbsp. cocoa powder
- 1 tsp. xanthan gum
These will never get old!
Clearly smoothies have been my go-to breakfast for the past month, but previously I was all about bagelwiches, yogurt bowls and egg sandwiches. My love for different breakfast foods comes and goes… often with the seasons!
I can’t wait for Christmas when I eat only Christmas cookies for breakfast throughout the month of December.
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I’m pretty jealous you have a dog who will AVOID the water. I’m 100% positive Chloe would go all-out to become best friends with that sprinkler. And I would pay the [not so dry] price.
I agree with vetoing the sidewalk watering! Such a waste of water!
My dog is utterly TERRIFIED of sprinklers as well. Whenever they turn on in the backyard I see him streaking like a little white flash out of nowhere, running for cover. One of the many things he does that makes me laugh
I know exactly what you mean about the mugginess this morning. I had sweat dripping off my face after my 10 minute bike ride to work this morning and I felt like I went pretty slow! I think I sweated more on that bike ride than I did on my 30min jog at the gym this morning! That’s Florida weather for ya.
BTW, my dog does the same thing with sprinklers, but she’ll run around all day in the rain! I don’t understand.
I hate when it’s so hot that after exercise and a shower you’re still sweating! Smoothies sound perfect!
You were the inspiration to try my very FIRST smoothie in a bowl for lunch today! it did not disappoint, though (alas) my reasoning was not just because it was hot, but because I have a toothache and this was the only thing to keep my mouth from feeling like a demon was doing construction work inside of it whenever I chewed!
It’s so hot right now here in Orlando I have a hard time running, yesterday I barely made it out there. I think the treadmill & I are going to become besties this summer.
Hah, my dog is the opposite of Sadie (well, he IS a water dog afterall). He makes a beeline for sprinklers and bites the water coming out and tries to roll right in the spray.
hehe this may sound psycho but for some reason I like or don’t mind humid sticky weather!! I think maybe b/c Argentina was like that, and all the mission trips i’ve been to were like that?!
It was super muggy here this morning too, on the opposite corner of the country! Running was totally sticky!
I love your smoothies! They always look amazing… I make smoothie everyday, but I really need to jump on the smoothie-bowl bandwagon! I need to make mine thicker. I haven’t seen those yogurt-bowls before either (I’m a newbie reader) I definitely need to give those a try!
Hi Julie –
So, I’m about to take a BodyPump class! I’m a little nervous/apprehensive, though, because the only other class I’ve ever taken was Zumba (which I thought to be less of a work out and more of an embarrassment). I know you love BodyPump so I wanted to ask – is it really giving you as good as or better results than just working out on the machines/with free weights?
-MC
What type of protein powder do you use? I’ve been trying to find one without soy that actually tastes good but am pretty overwhelmed by all the different brands out there…
My dog is the exact same way with sprinklers! Which is interesting, because I think I always had the stereotype in my mind that dogs love sprinklers!
okay grunters at the gym always make me smirk and laugh inside, but can also really grate on the nerves. i understand the occasional sound but the ones who REALLY go to town and are super loud get to me. it’s like do they not realize they’re in a public place? and i think some of the really beefed out guys try to play it up for show which is annoying. do they think it’s going to impress women that they can grunt like a gorilla doing the bench press?
I definitely have seasonal foods like mangos in the summer and bbq, but some stuff I eat ALL the time. Ice cream cough cough
I need to try this smoothie ASAP!!!! I want chocolate for breakfast too 🙂
Maybe they were dirty sidewalks and some one was coming by with the soap and scrub brush.
I used your smoothie recipe to make my first ever smoothie with spinach. I didn’t have chocolate protein so I used Mochaccino and it was fantastic! Thanks for sharing your recipe, it gave me the courage to try something new!
Smoothies never get old, but smoothies in a bowl definitely never get old!!
This looks so good. I’ve been on a smoothie with spinach kick for a while, so it will be nice to mix up the routine with this one.
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