An Extra Dose

Posted: September 1, 2011 at 12:52 pm

Every day I try to think of the things in my life that make me grateful. Today one of those things would be Twitter. I’m serious!

This morning I had little motivation (again!) for a workout so called out for some support via the good ole Twitter.

Someone motivate me to go to the gym...
@TinaFFF
Tina Reale

Then, I got just the swift kick in the rear I needed to get my booty out the door and to Group Power class for some weights action.


@ Go to the Gym, Tina...You Know You Want To!!
@BCDCfran
Frances Stiles


@ you never regret the workouts you do, but always regret the workouts you don't!
@bricklyr
Michelle Grasso

@ go! I'll hit the weights if you go to the gym 🙂

@ GO TO THE GYM 🙂 you'll feel great afterwards and be high on endorphins!
@NicoleCulver
Nicole Culver

Twitter. It never fails for a boost in motivation. And I’m so glad I went. As soon as I got to the gym, I headed to Group Power class so I wouldn’t bail out after ten minutes. I could never walk out of a class, so I knew that would keep me going. Of course I had a smile on my face within the first five minutes and rocked out my workout. I even upped the weight on all the tracks from last week! I have really been feeling the Group Power weights class lately and may need to include it as a regular occurrence in my strength training. It has that no pressure workout vibe I’m currently loving. Smile

After class, I came home and did my normal routine of putting Braedon down for his morning nap and then getting my oatmeal breakfast cooking. I always have a quick snack before my workout and save the full oats breakfast for after. That way I can savor them outside of the morning madness.

While making my oats this morning, a sudden stroke of inspiration hit. To get my oats to the just-right consistency I cook them fully and then stir in extra liquid post-cooking until I get them how I like them. Usually I go for unsweetened vanilla almond milk, but today…I went a little daring.

IMGP1064-1

That would be black coffee added to my oatmeal with a teaspoon of cocoa powder. Yes, indeedy. I went there. And there is a very good place.

IMGP1067-1

Mocha Oats!!! That big bowl of brown is one big bowl of love. Added bonus to coffee in oats? Two servings of caffeine! You didn’t think I subbed out my iced coffee, did you?!

Apparently Twitter isn’t the only thing that can kick up motivation. Caffeine does a mighty fine job as well. It’s helping me tackle my day, that’s for sure!

  • Where do you turn for a quick extra dose of motivation and energy?
  • Do you drink caffeine or try to avoid it? I usually limit it to a cup of coffee a day…but some days you just need more. Winking smile

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52 Comments to “An Extra Dose”
  1. Woohoo! All this time of being a lackluster friend and now I’m the first to comment!

    I am totally adding coffee to my oats tomorrow. You are a genius – and I always tweet when I don’t want to workout because I know someone will tell me to get my bootay to the gym!

  2. Kelly says:

    Mocha oats!! YES! It is still waaaaay too hot for me to have hot oats but I will remember this when we get back into the 90’s! ha!

  3. I sometimes need my extra dose of caffeine in the morning, I just avoid it later in the afternoon 🙂

  4. nicole says:

    I love calling on my twitter pals to help motivate me! they always do the trick! glad to help this morning.

    and those oats..OH MY!

  5. I’ve been trying to avoid it all summer so that my baseline will be reset for exam time :D. It’s completely normal for me to have 3-5 cups of coffee a day though and it doesn’t affect my sleep at all :D.

  6. I have a friend that I always text when I’m not feeling the gym and she throws me some motivation to get my bootay there. We’ve trained “together” for two triathlons by texting each other what we had done for a workout that day. “Just finished a 6 mile run in 55 minutes” or “Just swam 2500m”. If she was getting her workout on, you can bet I wanted to as well!

  7. Twitter is the best! Glad you got your workout in too. 🙂

  8. jobo says:

    OMG! those oats look AWESOME!!! I am totally going to have to try that WITH my iced coffee of course!

  9. Khushboo says:

    Yummm that sounds like tiramisu for breakfast! I drink a lot of caffeine mainly in the form of green tea. I try to limit my coffee intake to one iced coffee in the morning.

  10. Ela says:

    You’re so blessed that you have such a community you can turn to. Twitter is just the tool.

    Caffeine does not work in my body at all–I’m even having to come to the conclusion that chocolate’s deliciousness isn’t worth how it makes me feel. Not sure what to turn to if I need a ‘boost’ of energy. Lemon water, I guess 😉

  11. Dawn says:

    I am not a coffee drinker…not at all. I’m glad you got the motivation that you needed this morning. I love twitter for that. The twitter family is amazing!

  12. Glad you got your workout in, I’ve used twitter like that before too. Oh the wonders of technology 🙂 The mocha oats are pretty genius!

  13. I have thought of adding coffee to oats SOO many times, and now, I think I will! Great idea. Just imagine it with coffee and a dash of cocoa powder.

    I love my coffee more than anything in the morning…so I’m a bit of a caffine freak. 🙂

    Glad you got your booty to the gym!

  14. I’m not drinking caffiene right now, but when I was drinking it, I would just drink 1/2 or 1 cup of coffee in the morning after my workout. For extra motivation I turn to my husband. Usually if I don’t want to workout he does and vice versa. We like to push eachother and motivate eachother!!!

  15. I avoid caffeine unless I have a headache 🙂

  16. Allie says:

    I have a slight obsession with coffee. And it’s not because of the caffiene… I just LOVE it! It becomes a problem because I just don’t feel as well when I’m drinking a lot of it, but I crave it all the time. I’ve been trying to avoid it lately, but last night I had a delicious vanilla latte. 🙂

  17. Brittany says:

    I think this may be one of the most genius things ever invented. I need to try this! I’m definitely a coffee addict. I only have it in the mornings thought and sometimes in the afternoon if I need it. I couldn’t imagine my life without it though! This just motivated me to go to the gym, thank you 😀

  18. Ooo yes! I am always down for some extra caffeine! Mocha oats are a fabulous idea!

    I look for motivation mostly just from giving myself a pep talk. Twitter is a good idea too!

  19. I turn to a few different blogs if my motivation is feeling low, I also like to go look at my race medals and think about how many more I want to do! That usually gets my butt in gear.

  20. My motivation usually comes from my husband and stepson. The hubby always gives me words of encouragement and boosts my spirits when I’m feeling like dodging a workout. With my stepson, I always think about the example I’m setting for him, that we should always follow through and that exercise is a good thing.

    I cut out caffeine about 1.5 yrs ago, after a three day clean eating spree. The withdrawal was horrible and I decided I didn’t want to go through it again when I decided to get pregnant, so its gone forever.

  21. I usually have a coffee or diet coke in the morning, however while being pregnant I have tried to avoid it, I have a feeling that will all change in a few weeks! 🙂

  22. mocha oats!! genius. I need to try that!

  23. I love coffee! It doesn’t love me though!

  24. Bari says:

    I would have never thought to add coffee to oatmeal! Might have to give that a try 🙂

    PS-how do you do the screen casts of your tweets?

    • Tina says:

      It’s a plugin for WordPress called Blackbird Pie. I LOVE IT! Katy from katywidrick.com has info about how to use it.

  25. Sarah says:

    I always text one of my friends who tells me to get my ass to the gym. Then I’ll do a Jillian Michaels DVD because she never fails to get me moving.

    I’ve never thought of putting coffee in my oats before but it sounds delicious!!

  26. I go to classes when I’m not feeling it too for the same reason. I would never walk out of a class and be stared at and it helps me to get my workout done with!

    • Tina says:

      I’m so glad i went to the class because I have no doubt I probably would have ended up leaving after 10 minutes otherwise. My motivation was zilch yesterday. Go figure today is a rest day and I’m biting at the bit to work out. LOL

  27. Kati says:

    Love the twitter motivation! Sometimes technology DOES come through 🙂

    Oh, and I think I’ve fixed my “Comments” settings to where it will work now.

    Have a great holiday weekend!

  28. Proof that a few Healthy Living Bloggers can change the world!! I knew you could do it!! Great job!

  29. Errign says:

    I don’t necessarily AVOID caffeine, but I don’t like most things that contain a lot of it (coffee, really). I do eat chocolate, but not a ton just because I don’t keep it around ’cause it’s a luxury, and I like tea but I could care less if it’s caffeinated or not!

    Happy Thursday 🙂 Sorry I’ve been a lame commenter lately!

  30. for a second i thought instead of ice cubes those were caramel candies in your coffee!!! now wouldn’t that be fun! haha <3

    xoxo

  31. Priyanka says:

    I definitely try to stick to one cup of coffee a day and after that, stick to teas!

  32. Lee says:

    I’ve done that on twitter before and once a shoe store told me to go to the gym and then buy new shoes at their store!

    I just realized that I totally read your previous post wrong so my answer makes absolutely no sense!

  33. Amy Lauren says:

    I never thought about putting coffee in oatmeal, but it sounds like a great idea. I love, love, love some coffee anyway! Glad you got motivated to go to the gym too. I don’t think we have a class like Group Power here, it sounds like a fun type of class to do, though. Mostly all my gym offers is Zumba and I don’t really care for it, but sometimes I do yoga there.

    Normally I stay pretty motivated, but social media definitely helps, especially things like Daily Mile. We also have a Couch to 5K group going on at work, and we have people who are in their 50s and 60s running. That keeps me motivated, the fact that they’re starting something new at that age and following through with it.

  34. I like adding the extra liquid in at the end too…other wise I add too much!
    Mocha oats sound delicious! Good idea:)

  35. Yay so glad my tweet helped motivate you! I sometimes look to twitter for some motivation, but I think I need to do it more often!

    What a great idea to add some coffee to your oats! I need to try that soon!

  36. Motivation? You guys are the best motivation! I agree! And I need me a daily dose of caff. Keeps me sane!

  37. Chelsie says:

    I can’t make it without my morning coffee! Mocha Oats sounds amazing I can’t wait to try it.

  38. […] An Extra Dose […]

  39. I am putting coffee in my overnight oats for tomorrow. stroke of genius, you had. (yes. talk like yoda, I do.) I have a 3yo boy OBSESSED with star wars right now. lo siento.

  40. Charissa says:

    I love Twitter support!

    Hey, good on you for the workout! One thing I always try to remember…You’ll never ever regret a workout!

  41. TEN!!! says:

    […] after chilling, digesting, and using Twitter to motivate me for an hour, I finally laced up, started my Garmin, strapped on the Spibelt, and took […]

  42. I’m impressed. Who needs a coach when you have your very own personal motivators right there at your fingertips

  43. […] I went there. But these weren’t any old pumpkin oats. I added something a little extra. Check out these oats on Tina’s […]

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