Thank The Sweet Heavens

Posted: August 5, 2011 at 7:00 am

Thank the sweet heavens it’s Friday! And thank the sweet heavens it’s a rest day! My body needed a rest day after the brutality I put it though yesterday. No surprise it involved three circuits for a full body workout.

Circuit One Circuit Two Circuit Three
push-ups stationary barbell lunge kneeling hamstring curl
v-sits pop lunges cable crossover
rear-delt raises cable row cable triceps extension
kettlebell push press inverted row  
  barbell bicep curl  

I completed a three mile run before going through this workout and then I about died. Woah! What a tough combination of moves. Adding in a plyometric move here and a tough bodyweight move there really amped things up for me. That workout perfectly rounded out my workout week and getting back on my A-game. And speaking of plyometrics – stay tuned for this afternoon’s post. ;) 

Besides the luxury of allowing my muscles a reprieve before tomorrow’s planned nine mile run, rest days also give me the chance to have a more leisurely morning without having to rush out the door. This allows me the perfect chance to whip up a fun breakfast. When I don’t workout, my appetite feels rather tame. I want a lighter meal. For today, I namely want yogurt and granola…but that doesn’t sound very filling.

Ah, I know! I’ll combine two of my favorite snacks – yogurt + granola / mock apple crumble – into one meal. I will turn these three things…

apple pie a la mode

….into a light, yet filling, and healthy, yet tastes like dessert, breakfast recipe!

Apple Pie a la Mode Yogurt Bowl

apple pie a la mode 3

  • 1 container frozen vanilla Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup granola – Love Grown, but of course!
  • 1 apple
  • 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
  • 1/2 tsp all spice seasoning

Chop the apple into one inch even pieces and place in a microwave safe dish. Sprinkle with the all spice seasoning. Microwave on high for 2 – 3 minutes. Or however else you like to get warm “baked” apples if you’re fancy and don’t believe in microwaves.

Spoon the frozen Greek yogurt into a blender or food processor and add the 1/2 tsp xanthan gum. Blend until it becomes a thick, almost ice-cream like consistency.

Serve both in a dish with the granola. That’s it!

apple pie a la mode 4

Thank the sweet heavens for delectable (and easy!) breakfasts like this! Excuse me while I eat my dessert breakfast. Have a great Friday!

  • What do you like to do on your rest days that you don’t typically?
  • What did you have for breakfast today?

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52 Comments to “Thank The Sweet Heavens”
  1. I love rest days because they give me a few more minutes to read blogs before heading to work! Today’s my rest day too, I think Friday is the perfect day for one.

    I’ve added cooked apples to vanilla Chobani before – it’s awesome! I bet pears would be great too.

  2. Khushboo says:

    Today was a rest day for me too and I indulged in a massage :)- great start to my day! That breakfast looks yum, I had pb+j oatmeal with eggwhites stirred in!

  3. I love rest days! Mine is on Sunday usually. I catch up on blogs, look over pics and hang with my family. I am having overnight oatmeal with a ton of almond butter for breakfast…along with tons of fresh blueberries 😀

  4. I had cream of buckwheat in a jar with a delicious splash of melted plastic…. haha

    No bueno 🙁

  5. Great workout Tina! I also did a 3 mile run + strength yesterday and it was crazy! Felt good though.

    For breakfast I am having a cup of coffee and a big smoothie: almond milk, banana, vanilla whey, chia seeds, peanut butter.

  6. On my rest days I love to go to the movies with my hubby – we never have time during the week so we try and hit one up on the weekends! xoxo from Trinidad 🙂

  7. i’m rocking the homemade breakfast burrito today! on rest days i usually like to cook and clean the house – i cook every day, but it really allows me the time to do something fun and the cleaning part? yeah. i just kind of have to 🙂

  8. Alexandra says:

    That yogurt bowl looks delish!! 😀
    Rest days for me involve lots of reruns on TV, shopping, reading, or just plain napping heehee
    My breakfast was a post workout smoothie with sunbutter, vanilla protein powder, and baked sweet potato mmm 😛

  9. That’s a great idea to do with the yogurt–I’ve never thought of that!!!! Today is a rest day for me, too. I don’t usually do anything different on rest days, except I eat breakfast earlier. So when I woke up I had some cereal with blueberries and a piece of cinnamon raisin bread!

  10. My rest days in Michigan, during the summer, usually consist of a long walk downtown to the City Market or catching up on the DVR and blogs. When I am back in my real life in Alaska, my rest day is usually during the work work, so I will lay on the couch in my jammies, watch a few episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and sip coffee and eat oatmeal, instead of slurping my breakfast at my desk at school.

  11. I’ve been CRAVING smoothies like nobody’s business lately. The heat makes them so appealing to me!!

  12. jobo says:

    Wow, that looks super tasty!! I might have to do that later today for lunch or a snack! Side note: post long run, you’d think I’d be starving for eggs this morning and some toast, but I’m oddly not too hungry. That ever happen to you? Just curious 😉

    • Tina says:

      I usually only crave a smoothie after my long runs…but then a couple hours later I’m a ravenous beast!

  13. I’m going to do your workout right now! Thanks! 🙂

  14. That breakfast sounds awesome! On my rest days, I like to wait hours before I get into the shower (unless of course I have to go somewhere haha). There is just something about being lazy and waiting to get into the shower that is really relaxing :).

  15. Kat says:

    oooh, your breakfast sounds tasty! I actually had blueberry pancakes this morning. My workout was a little shorter than usual, and I had the time and the craving – they were so good! usually I grab a smoothie on my way out the door.

  16. Kelly says:

    Xathum gum makes my stomach HURT! I mean literally within seconds of injesting it I am doubled over in cramps. I have to be really careful when I buy pacakged foods because it is in EVERYTHING. Whenever I want creamy ice cream like consistency I add chia seeds (usually the night before) and it works like magic!

    • Tina says:

      Oh, no! That stinks it makes your stomach hurt so bad. Especially because, like you said, its in so many things.

  17. I always LOVE your workouts!!
    Today I had Raisin Bran for bfast – was craving it w/ half a banana and some almond milk!

  18. I’m having oats and yogurt with prunes and cinnamon – I call them old lady oats! 😉 Happy Friday!

  19. haha, I love the stacked snacks. Granola and yogurt never lets me down–I cant wait to try this twist on it!

  20. Sarah says:

    Straberry jam toast and a peach! Usually I’d be more creative while at home but that’s really all I’ve been craving. I think I peanut buttered myself out over the last two months!

  21. The best part of rest days is being able to sleep in that extra bit. I exercise in the morning, so the few extra zzz’s can really make a difference sometimes 🙂

  22. cheryl says:

    Can you explain your kneeling ham curls? I googled and found two pretty different exercises….Type 1 was on all fours then extended one leg and (w or w/o an ankle weight) curled the heel to the butt; Type 2 was kneeling very upright then a very controlled “fall” forward and rise back (w/ flat back), the clip started slow and then did a coupld that were more like a “jump” down and up (might be easier w/ the energy but prob harder to keep form). Just curious since it was unfamiliar

  23. Jen says:

    I took a rest week this week- just so much going on, but I am excited to get back it in next week. For breakfast I whipped up an egg, vegetarian sausage, and goat cheese on a sandwhich thin- so yummy! A nice change from my normal yogurt bowls.

  24. Sam says:

    good heavens that sounds delicious!!! yay for rest days. hopped on the treadmill for a quick 3 miler today just to make sure my shower was really worth it 😉 perhaps i’ll take a “real” rest day tomorrow!

  25. I haven’t had Chobani in SO long. I need to get it back in my life ASAP 🙂

  26. Anna Marie says:

    I am loving the beauty that is rest days! I always feel energized and refreshed after them! I It is like my body is ready to go for the week after resting! So many people I know do not take rest days that I work out with and I would feel guility if I did not join them for every work out but I have made a commitment to my body to respect it.

    I spend my rest days with family and friends. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. Tomorrow is my rest day and I am joining childhood friends for dinner. =)

  27. I have been a cereal monster this week and yesterday and today I had a bowl of those banana cheerios.

  28. I had a pretty boring cereal bowl this morning. I woke up feeling totally drained (hate when that happens) so it was about all I could muster before getting to work. Enjoy your rest day!

  29. That looks so delicious!

    My pre-workout breakfast was a cinnamon raisin bagel thin with goat cream cheese and a little honey peanut butter. Post-workout was a chocolate protein smoothie. Both delicious and filling.

    • Tina says:

      They have GOAT CREAM CHEESE?!!!! Please fill me in on how to find this. I can see an addiction quickly forming.

      • OHHHHH YES!!! It is delicious and addictive. It’s from Trader Joe’s, and it’s over by the yogurt (just fyi so you don’t search by the goat cheese for 24.9 minutes like I did). It’s called Goat’s Milk Creamy Cheese, and is in an “upside down” smallish container. Stock up – I buy 4 at a time! Let me know how you like it!

  30. My breakfast was rather pitiful today – I only had some applesauce! I hardly had any groceries though and was heading back home for good after being out of town for 6 weeks. I also felt the need to cleanse my system after eating some things that didn’t settle well yesterday. But my typical breakfast is a green monster with some crunchy cereal on top 🙂

  31. On rest day, I like to “sleep in.” Getting up between 6:30-7 is considered sleeping in after the 5am workout wake up calls.
    For breakfast I had oatmeal with a scoop of vanilla protein powder and chia seeds. After my 11 miler today, I needed this meal!

  32. Ooooo I love how you added xanthan gum to your yogurt! Never thought to do that?! I’ve only tried it with smoothies which I absolutely love…I’ll have to try your way though so I’m a yogurt addict 😉

    I had a smoothie (w/ xanthan gum!) this morning. And what I love about rest days are those extra couple hours of sleeping in and having a yummy breakfast, and like you, can take my time with making 🙂

  33. Hilary says:

    Dessert for breakfast = awesomeness! I had Greek yogurt mixed with Splenda, cocoa powder and raspberries and a chocolate Vitatop for breakfast this morning. Chocolate for breakfast always starts my day out on the right foot. 🙂 And that circuit looks pretty epic…kudos to you!

  34. I like to spend a few hours reading a good book, which I don’t have time for most days!

    • Tina says:

      Book? What’s a book? LOL

      Oh, wait. That thing with all the personal training info in it. Sadly…the only reading I have time for right now. 🙁

  35. I had oatmeal for breakfast this morning. It was yummy 🙂

  36. I know I’ve said this before, but breakfast really is my favorite meal of the day. Your’s looks delicious! I had a bowl of Kellogg’s FiberPlus(R) Cinnamon Oat Crunch cereal, two small plums, and a dish of yogurt. SO good! Have fun on your rest day!!

  37. V-sits are the bane of my existance and make me hate life. Go You for doing them.

  38. Jen says:

    WOW!!!! This looks so easy and so delicious!!
    Have a great weekend 🙂

  39. That’s one tough circuit! I love rest days because they make me love my workout days 🙂

  40. Errign says:

    I took two rest days this week – one on Tuesday, but I did work all day & was on my feet moving around for 6 hours. On Thursday, that was also a designated rest day, but I started off with an hour of yoga. I like rest days to be straight-up do nothin’ sorta days, but switching it up this week was fun.

    Breakfast this morning was a scone halved with a smear of jam, topped with sliced hardboil egg and cheese & broiled. Activia on the side. Sounds weird, and probably is, but it was delicious.

  41. Katie says:

    Breakfast was: 1 c Fage 0%, 1 tsp chia seeds, 1 T Crazy Richard’s Crunchy PB, 1 diced peach, and a dash of cinnamon and vanilla. High-Fives! I love my days off from training. I used to only take 1 day off, but now 2 days are a must. I love my days off and look forward to them. Have a wonderful weekend! 🙂

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