2-a-days

Hi guys!

Can I please just say how much I am LOVING being on summer vacation!? Waking up today (without serious neck pain), knowing I had no obligations or appointments or work to attend was amazing.
I promise I'll stop bragging soon...the novelty of this freedom will wear off in a few weeks. :)

Since I have all this free time, I've decided that I can dedicate a bit more time to workouts. Crazy, right? I mean, my husband works all day long...my best friend is taking summer classes...and my school friends live 30+ minutes away. Instead of moping around my house and watching an excess of Sex and the City, Ice Loves Coco, and Teen Mom...I'm going to spend my free time working out, blogging, reading by the pool, and being healthy!
This morning, I walked (and ran a little) 5 miles. It was a beautiful morning, and I got nice and sweaty. Then I took my car to the collision center, came home, had lunch, and took a shower.
Fast forward to about 4:30pm. Alyssa was at my house, but she had just left to go to work, and Ben wasn't home yet. Soooo, girlfriend broke out the Jillian Michaels' 6-week 6-pack DVD.
....wow....
It was an INTENSE core workout! I was dripping sweat, cursing Jillian's perky self, and doing an obscene amount of mountain climbers.
So, then I took another shower.

I feel like this is ridiculous! If I know I'm going to do 2 workouts in one day, I should obviously NOT shower after the first...but I can't STAND being sticky and sweaty from a workout...especially if I'm indoors where the AC is blowing...I just feel gross.

Suggestions?
My thought is that I should just do my workouts at the same time...but I just have SO MUCH FREE TIME! I don't want to cut myself off from working out later, even if I've already showered.


Moving on.
I got an itch to bake tonight. I needed something sweet, but I knew I did NOT want an entire batch of cookies or brownies sitting on my counter, tempting me all weekend.
So, I hopped over to one of my favorite blogs, the lovely Miss Banksyface, where I perused her recipes page until I found a winner: Maple Pumpkin Pancake Breakfast Cakes! Sounds like a mouthful, and they sure were!

simple (though not completely healthy- that Aunt Jemima is killer) ingredients

ready to bake! all three of them! :)

hurry UP in there!!!!

pumpkin cakes! 

These breakfast cakes turned out so well! They were (yes, were...I ate them) moist, flavorful, slightly sweet and very delicious! I think next time I'll add dash of vanilla, and hope to have chocolate chips on hand, as we all that pumpkin + chocolate = heaven. 

I am TERRIBLE at portioning and managing my servings, so I'm really glad I only made 3. Next time, I need to immediately put 2 in the freezer, so that I won't be tempted to eat them all in one siting!

I did have some (more!) veggies earlier to balance out my baking indulgences...

GREEN!

I topped a bed of baby spinach with leftover couscous salad, grilled chicken, and a drizzle of light Goddess dressing. It was simple and yummy...and I'm so glad I had leftovers in the fridge; this was a 3-minute meal! And wouldn't you know it, after seeing my salad, Ben wanted one too!! He even doctored his up with sliced strawberries! Wonder where he learned that... ;)

big and colorful!

Now, I'm waiting for the husband to get home from work, and then we're having a game night!!! :)