Early Rise

Whenever I have a lot to accomplish during the day, I make a list and schedule ahead of time. Planning my whole day has worked for me when it comes to time management.

This weekend I have a lot of catching up to do…serious catching up on my studies. The month of September was filled with a lot of socializing, travel, weddings and local outings.

So I will have to get back on my regular studying schedule in October.

Am I the only one that wakes up at 6am on Saturdays? Sometimes I feel like I’m on the same schedule as our senior citizen neighbors. But I do feel productive when I wake up early during the weekend. I also love the feeling of having accomplished a few things before the rest of the world wakes up.

My early morning breakfast today included

• 1/3 C Trader Joe’s Toasted Oat Bran
• Cooked with 1/2 C water and 1/3 C almond milk
• Mixed in at the end – 1/2 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
• Toppings: 1 C fresh strawberries and granola for crunch

Adding vanilla flavored protein powder made my Oat Bran mix taste like Strawberries N Cream. I use Sun Warrior protein powder today.

Double creaminess.

While I was going thru mail, I received a notice from 24Hour Fitness regarding their lawsuit settlement. The lawsuit was about charging members additional fees after they cancelled their membership. I wasn’t charged extra but my company probably did, our employee benefits used to include paid gym membership.

I am getting 3 months free gym membership. Yippee! That’s 3 months savings for me, every bit of savings help these days!

I took a Body Pump class at the gym after breakfast. The class kicked my butt today, my legs and arms were shaking only half way thru the class. I feel comfortable with my form so I increased my weights and that added intensity and I definitely felt the burn. My heart rate was up the whole time.

If your local gym offers Body Pump class, I recommend you check it out. It makes working out very fun and it goes by really fast. It’s an hour of strength training that is choreographed with fun music. Plus, whenever you are lifting weights and using the correct form, you engage your abdominal muscles at the same time.

Our class was also taped today for some internal video promo for 24Hr Fitness, I volunteered to participate and signed a waiver. I don’t know if I’ll ever see it but I just wanted to support the instructor with my participation.

After Body Pump class, I came home and made protein smoothie in a bowl. I made it really thick so I can scoop it out of the bowl because it’s fun and I wanted to have granola again.

In this bowl is blended frozen 1/2 banana, frozen 6 sweet cherries, 1/2 scoop Vega shake powder, 1 cup ice, almond milk and protein powder.

Definitely hit the spot.

Insert a few hours of studying. Tax laws + tax laws = headache

Lunch food was quick and lazy. When I am on a roll with studying, I don’t like to step away from it unless my stomach begs for food.

Open face sandwich with toasted Earthgrain whole wheat thin buns + Egg salad (2 boiled eggs, hummus, mustard and fresh black pepper).

Topped with black beans and avocado. On the side are sweet red bell peppers (I am addicted to these peppers from Costco).

Easy clean up with disposable plate.

I prefer open faced sandwiches because I can put a lot of toppings on it. It’s more fun to eat 2 pieces of bread separately than 1 huge sandwich.

More studying in store for me today. Hope you are having a good start to your weekend!

I hope I’ll have time to bake this weekend. I am craving muffins. I am thinking of chocolate and pumpkin!!