Early Workout Deserves Yummy Protein Pancake Breakfast

On Monday and Wednesday this week, my husband had to be up and out the door by midnight for work. That totally stinks for all of us, but mostly him, of course. I enjoy the opportunity to go to bed a little earlier and wake up earlier. When I wake up well before 5am, I have an abundance of time to get in a good workout and enjoy some yummy breakfast. I also can't sleep sometimes after Neal leaves because Walden and Sasha are awake and want to play, Play, PLAY and eat, Eat, EAT, then pee, Pee, PEE on a walk, Walk, WALK. Ok, I think you get how annoyingly cute they can be :)

For Monday, I chose to do the P90X Yoga so I could build up a good sweat while getting in a great stretch. The workout is 1 hour and 30 minutes of some of my favorite yoga. You start off with sun salutations and moving asanas. You do this for almost 45 minutes. For those that aren't familiar with the term asanas, this is good article.  I am no am no expert, but when I think of these 'moving asanas' in P90X, I think of flowing, fluid, movements that keep your body and mind engaged in a healthy balance that stretches and expands your entire self. I find this section of the P90X yoga workout challenging and enjoyable. I sometimes even stop here if I am in a time crunch.

After the moving asanas, you do balance postures and floor work.  Then you move onto what Tony Horton call's Yoga Belly 7, a series of ab workouts that involve holding your pose for an extended period of time.  The workout finishes up with lighter stretching into what I call my relaxations poses: Childs Pose, Shavasan (Corpse Pose), Fetal Pose and Meditation Pose (Lotus) with Ohms.  

Boy does Walden FREAK out with Ohms!  He gets all in my face (he's still in his 'space' cone due to the broken paw featured here in my post on "Walden's Wild Weekend") and wants to bark and lick and bark and lick due to the 'strange' noise coming from me. 

Ahh, I love P90X Yoga with puppies around! :) 

Post workout, I whipped up an amazing batch of Tone it Up's Protein Pancakes. Recipe found HERE! They were delicious topped with strawberries and a tablespoon of maple syrup. Karena and Katrina (the Tone it Up girls) would probably not recommend adding the maple syrup and instead adding a little stevia.  However, maple syrup is better than the 'fake' processed syrup that comes in bottles shaped like people. Yes, I used to guzzle that stuff up on my pancakes, but prefer the flavor and 'realness' of maple syrup!

This morning, I did the same thing as Monday but switched workouts.

I did the Turbo Jam Kick Punch and Jam workout! I freaking love Chalene! Her workouts are so high energy and fun. I used weighted hand gloves to do the workout that's full of kickboxing, a little dancing and even some martial arts! I was able to burn about 480 calories in 50 minutes. I even felt good enough to take the dogs on a 15 minute walk, burning another 120 calories.

I started the morning off right with a quick shower and some more Tone it Up Protein Pancakes! I feel good!  Now time to work!

Happy WEDNESDAY!