Laying Some Groundwork - STAIRS and SMOOTHIES

Just what I thought – I got slightly winded climbing 5 flights of stairs to my office this morning. I wasn’t hunched over like a cardiac patient or anything, but by the time I got to the top I was certainly happy to be there. Really, 5 flights?! I should be able to race up those stairs and have enough energy for a mini dance party at the top. I’m 6 days away from my first boot camp session, so I’ve decided to lay a little ground work beforehand.

First off, I’m swearing off the elevator for the next two weeks. I refuse to let those stairs get the best of me. It’ll be stairs only for the week leading up to boot camp and at least the first week in (I have a feeling I am seriously going to regret swearing off the elevator once I start classes, but it’s a commitment I am making.)

Second, I have an exercise ball at work that sometimes doubles as a chair. The other times it is tucked away in the unused cubicle behind me. I have pulled it back out, am sitting on it now and will be using it more consistently to focus on my core. Spontaneous sit ups, here I come.

Lastly, I have really been getting into green smoothies lately! As in the ones that have a spinach base and then lots of other delicious ingredients. There are about 10 thousand green smoothie recipes on the internet and I intend to try most of them, but here is the one that I have been using for the past few weeks that I really enjoy. Several of them are just a slight variation of this one (add a different fruit here and there), so I will only post another recipe if it differs greatly.

Green Smoothie Recipe:
2 handfuls of spinach
1 apple
1 banana
1 orange
handful of blueberries
handful of strawberries
¼ cup of coconut water
1 container of yogurt
4 – 6 ice cubes

Optional extras/exchanges:
pineapple, mango, kiwi, etc. – I have made all sorts of variations using any combination of the above ingredients and it’s all been pretty delicious.

Note: You might have to get a little creative with how you combine your ingredients in the blender (i.e. throwing the spinach in first, covering/mixing/coating it with yogurt, adding some ice cubes and drenching it with the coconut water at the base so when you put the blender on it’s got a bit of a wet base to help move things along.) Regardless, you’re probably going to have to start the blender, stop it, uncover and mix, start again, stop it, uncover and mix a few times before it really gets going.