I hope your day is off to a good start and that your weekend holds some fun and relaxing plans!
Workout
Today’s workout focused on cardio and core. I started my workout with 20 minutes on the elliptical before I hopped off and completed the following super sweaty ab circuit workout:
It alternated heart rate-rising cardio exercises with abdominal exercises for a circuit workout that left me with a burning core and a sweaty face.
Breakfast
A quality workout must be followed by a quality breakfast and today’s morning meal fit the bill.
I made myself a bowl of uncooked old fashioned oatmeal (it’s hot outside and I actually like uncooked oatmeal), topped with unsweetened vanilla almond milk, crushed almonds, a spoonful of almond butter and a drizzle of honey. (I really wished I had some of my homemade almond butter granola on hand to add!)
I wasn’t sure how the almond butter would do in a cold bowl of oats, but it added a lot of flavor once I smashed it into the oats with my spoon and stirred everything up.
Cold and satisfying. Perfect for a hot July morning!
See ya for lunch!
Of Possible Interest
- Abby Wambach Talks Training, Eating and the Olympics (FitBottomedGirls.com)
- The Influence of Big Companies on Organic Food (NYTimes.com)
- Filling, Refreshing Summer Snacks (FitSugar.com)
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I really like uncooked oats too. They have a lot more chew to them so I think I probably eat them slower. Happy Friday Julie, and have a great one! 🙂
Oh good, I thought I was the only one who ate oats raw. Sounds like an almondlicious breakfast!
I have never thought to try uncooked oats but I may give it a try sometime soon!! Doesn’t almond butter just make everything taste better?!
Thank goodness for your abs workouts! They’re the only way I can get myself to actually stick to working on my abs. Thanks!
thank YOU!! 🙂
I haven’t done the raw oats thing and quite honestly, I have NO idea why. It always looks so good but when I’m actually making myself breakfast, I don’t think about it…
Oh, wow, this reminds me of those yummy no-bake oat cookies made from nut butter….except in the form of a cereal! Love it, mmmm. I need to try this! I bet a little cinnamon or even coconut would be a fabulous addition! (PS, I’ve been following your blog for awhile and haven’t commented til today!)
Julie – I really admire that you try new workouts all the time. I think I get in my comfort zone and stick to only what I know. I’m excited to try this one 🙂
The circuit looks great! I like it when ab moves are incorporated into a circuit with other exercises; otherwise, I end up blowing off doing any ab work at the end of a workout!
Julie- How long do you usually spend doing your strength training?
i am almost never in the gym for more than an hour. most of my workouts last around 50 minutes.
thank you!
Love raw oats- almost more than cereal even!
I think having sore abs is the absolute best feeling! I’m definitely going to incorporate this circuit into my workout tonight after work! Thanks for posting it.
I need to focus on my abs more – this is great!
Ooooh! Why have I never thought to try raw oats?!
I’ve never had uncooked oats before! I’ve never even thought to eat them like that. I can imagine they would be much more chewy than regular oats. Might try them soon! 🙂
uncooked old fashioned oatmeal sounds intriguing! i need to try that – it sounds like the perfect summer breakfast.
I love your workouts! I will definitely be trying this out 🙂
How many times do you repeat the circuit? I’m looking for no equipment at-home workout today, and this may be the winner!
i only did it one time and i felt the burn! more power to ya if you do it 2 or three times!!! 😀
That workout looks great!
Hey Julie! This is a great workout because you don’t even need the gym! I did it in tr living room but I think it would be fun to do anywhere
outside! Question, what is a reverse crunch?
Start out like a normal crunch…lie on the floor and bend your knees at 90 degrees. Instead of using your upper abs like you usually would, use your lower abs and bring your hips off the floor and crunch in reverse.
Hope this helps! 🙂
whitney said it perfectly! 😀 thanks, whitney!
I can’t wait to try this workout! Thanks for sharing.. Happy Friday!
I really loved the interview of Abby Wambach!! Girlfriend really loves her bread!
I don’t do uncooked oats much because I like the volume when they’re cooked! Although that looks like plenty of oats!
That circuit looks SO fun! I love a burning core and a red face. Seriously, I do 😉
I love almonds–looks YUMM!
hi,
just wondering how often do you work on your core, i never know if i am doing too much or not using enough resistance on them. do you treat them like any other muscle group?
thanks
tam x
i try to do some kind of core-focused exercises about once a week.
Love the Abby interview! Thanks for the link.
How many times did you run through the circuit? If only once, how long did one time through take? Looks like an awesome cardio/bodyweight workout!
PS: Leg lift crunches, I’m assuming that is just elevating the legs straight off the floor when doing crunches?
i only did it one time and i think it took me a little over 15 minutes? i wasn’t watching the clock, but that’s my best guess! and you’re totally right about the leg lifts!
Is your oatmeal like overnight oats minus the overnight? It looks good!
I love raw oats! But I always go back for at least 1 more bowl…they are a slippery slope, much like cereal, for me. And I just pinned that workout. Perfect for at home!
AMAZING workout…I’m huffing and puffing as I’m typing this lol. Thanks for posting!
Happy Friday the 13th Julie! Thanks for the circuit…I’m pinning it now!
Nice circuit as usual Julie! And granola makes thr best oats topping~
YAY I needed something for my core tonight as my trainer just bailed on me haa
Merci 🙂
Seems like you like free food as much as I do, so I thought I’d mention it’s Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A. They gave my coworkers and me a healthy grilled chicken and salad meal for printing out their cow starter kit and coming in dressed up. I highly suggest a Fagan family edition if you have one nearby :).
ha! that’s too funny!
I love uncooked oatmeal, too! I really like it mixed with some vanilla greek yogurt, sliced strawberries, and a little sprinkle of mini chocolate chips. Chocolate for breakfast is always a good thing! 😉
love this circuit workout! saving it.
I read the NY Times articles about big company organics and found it super interesting. Not all that hard to believe though which is sad!
I’ve never tried eating uncooked oats before…do you let them sit and soak up the liquid (like overnight oats) or do you dig right in?
i let them sit for about 5 minutes or so. if i had more patience, i’d probably wait closer to 20 min.
Have you tried putting uncooked oats in a smoothie? They add a little magic 🙂
FEW! I did the workout! My abs are tingling! ((:
thanks for reporting back!!! 🙂
I love uncooked oats! That breakfast looked perfect! I must say I just discovered your blog a couple of weeks ago. About everyday I’ve tried a new recipe or workout. Thank you for helping me change up my routine and keeping things fresh! I’ve lost 22 lbs in the last 6 months and adding variety definitely helps with maintaining that! Thanks again!
Just did this circuit as an afternoon/before work pep-me-up! Left my abs burning and my blood flowing.
I think I’m with you – circuits are probably one of my FAVORITE workouts ever!! Sweaty and full of muscle building and fat loss goodness!
In the ab workout, what are leg lift crunches?? I really want to the workout!!
Have you ever thought about doing P90x or Insanity? Both of them incorporate circuit workouts (Insanity more so than P90). I’ve done a couple rounds of P90 and just started Insanity this week.
Great circuit, I just completed it and it left me breathless (in a good way)!
What does your week of workouts normally look like? I am getting so bored with running 3 miles and adding 2 on the elliptical! Then some strength training. I would love to not have to count calories also! How do you not over eat or know if you are eating to much or to little?
I cant wait to try that ab circuit! and breakfast looks delish! I loved uncooked oats too 🙂 I put them in my yogurt instead granola all the time
Just banged out this ab circuit and man am I sweaty! Thanks for posting. It’s always hard for me to motivate myself to workout on the weekends so this was perfect. Only took about 15 minutes and I could feel the burn!
I love this ab workout!! I am going to put this in my to-do workouts page!!! Thank you.