Gym Inspiration + Chocolate Egg White “Oatmeal”.

August 10, 2012 by betterwithsprinklesblog 10 Comments

Mr. Raspberry was at the gym again today.

I’m still trying to suppress the giggles. 🙂

Livefit day 67 – hamstrings/glutes/calves

Supersets

• 3 x 15 seated leg curl (80 lbs, up 5 lbs)
• 3 x 15 barbell lunge (40 lbs)

• 3 x 15 barbell deadlift (80 lbs, up 5 lbs)
• 3 x 15 bounce-bounce-squat (body weight)

• 3 x 15 standing leg curl (25 lbs, up 5 lbs)
• 3 x 15 split squat

• 3 x 15 one legged barbell squat (40 lbs)
• 3 x 15 stability ball leg curl

Working set + Active rest

• 3 x 20 lying leg curl – one leg at a time (20 lbs, up 5 lbs)
• 3 x 20 mountain climbers

Triple set

• 3 x 20 standing calf raises (100 lbs, up 5 lbs)
• 3 x 20 horizontal calf press (175 lbs, up 5 lbs)
• 3 x 1 minute jump rope

More gains than I was expecting with this workout – it’s always nice when that happens. 🙂

Gym Inspiration

One huge advantage to working out in a gym (as opposed to at home) is seeing people around you going for the same goals you are. Or, seeing people who have clearly reached that goal, allowing you to see that it’s possible.

For me, there’s one woman at the gym who works out around the same time I do. I’ve only spoken to her a handful of times, so I don’t know her name or anything about her. But, whenever I see her working out it gives me a huge burst of motivation. She’s clearly been at this for a while – she’s in great shape with clear, well defined muscles. When she comes to the gym she drops her son off at the daycare, so she’s clearly balancing fitness with motherhood – which I imagine is not an easy task.

But when she’s working out, she’s lifting weights twice as heavy as me like it’s no big deal. I’m always in a little bit of awe when she’s working out next to me – I’d love to be able to get to her level! Today I was watching her pound out a series of pullups like it was nothing. There are no words to describe how awesome that is.

I think being a woman in a weight room trying to lift heavy can be intimidating – that room is clearly geared towards males (if the fact that the gym tv is always on TSN – the Canadian equivalent of SportsCentre – is any indication). Usually, I only see one of two other women in there among the sea of testosterone.

But, seeing this woman lifting as heavy or sometimes heavier than a lot of the guys is a huge inspiration to me. If she can get to that level – one day I can too.

When I was pounding out my workout today, one of the (male) gym regulars commented on how “damn impressive” it was that I was doing one legged squats with the 40 lb barbell on my back. That’s awesome to hear, because it makes me think that I can be gym inspiration for other people as well (or, y’know, it was a pick up attempt. None the less, I’m always happy to hear a compliment on my lifting abilities). 🙂

Breakfast

None of my regular breakfasts had been sounding appealing lately. So once again, I decided to try something new. I’ve been seeing recipes for “Oatmeal Without the Oats” floating around the interwebs lately, so I decided to try my own version. It felt like a chocolate sort of morning, so I went with a chocolate variation.

Chocolate Egg White “Oatmeal”

serves 1. Inspired from Tina’s “Oatmeal” Minus the Oats recipe.

Perfect for a post-workout recovery breakfast. High in protein, high volume and extremely filling. Also – gluten free!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup egg whites
• 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 small banana, mashed
• 2 tbsp ground flax seed
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• a splash (about 1/2 teaspoon) vanilla extract
• sweetener to taste (I used about 12 drops liquid stevia)

1. Whisk together egg whites and milk in a bowl until frothy.
2. add banana, flax, cocoa powder, vanilla and sweetener and mix.
3. Pour mixture into a small saucepan and cook over low-medium heat, stirring occasionally until desired consistency.
4. Pour into a bowl and throw on whatever topping you desire – nuts, nut butter, dried fruit, berries….or more chocolate. That sounds like a good idea.

I topped mine with some drippy almond butter and blueberries.

I have to say, this was definitely an interesting breakfast!

While I don’t think anyone would mistake it for oatmeal, it was tasty in it’s own right. Plus, with 27 grams of protein (without toppings) you really can’t go wrong. It’s voluminous as hell – I was surprised with how much was actually in the bowl.

And it should be a rule that chocolate gets included with breakfast. So yummy.

Have a delightful Friday!

<– Do you have someone that inspires you when it comes to fitness?

<– Can you do chocolate with breakfast?