Favorites – average2athlete

It’s been one of those weeks. You know what I mean? I think it partially has to do with this annoying winter that just does not want to end. Seriously, winter, it’s been swell but it’s time to let spring have its turn. Let’s not get greedy.

The GOOD thing about this week is that I’ve had the blog to keep me distracted. I really hope y’all are enjoying it so far.

Other highlights of the week included getting to do an awesome Partner WOD.

And doing some delicious (and nutritious) cooking with a friend. Actually, I think I mostly just enjoyed seeing him in an apron.

Hokay, moving on to my favorite things. Hmmm, where to start…

Ah, my Zensah compression sleeves. These guys are truly awesome. Maybe the best gift I’ve ever received. I really need to get some more colors, although I do love my pink. If you follow the blog, you’ll be seeing these a lot.

For those who don’t know about compression sleeves, they help with everything from calf support to shin splint relief and also help decrease fatigue. They can be worn during training/running or afterwards for recovery. I like to wear them for sprints, box jumps, jump ropes, or anything else where you’re on your toes and putting a lot of stress on your shins.

Plus, they come in NEON. What’s not to love?

Next on the list of favorites is my workout buddies.

Seriously, I love these girls. They get me in all my craziness. They are my outlet when I need to let off steam, tell someone about a new PR or whine about being sore. People hate on “globo” gyms, but if it weren’t for mine, I never would have met some awesome people. And let me tell you, knowing that I get to see friendly faces each morning is a HUGE motivator to drag my butt out of bed at 530am on a cold winter day.

And we have matching compression socks, duh.

Finally, PANCAKES! I love pancakes. For breakfast, lunch or dinner. They’re always yummy. Top them with Greek yogurt and berries. Throw an egg and some bacon on them. Eat one plain for a little pre-workout fuel. They’re just wonderful.

A lot of people have requested this recipe so here it is! I adapted it from several different sources, and it can take a while to get them the right consistency, so you may have to play around with the proportions a bit.

Gluten-free (Spinach) Banana Pancakes

Yields 6-8 pancakes

1 (very) ripe banana

3 eggs

1 cup egg whites

1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (I use vanilla)

1/2 cup coconut flour (sometimes I do half coconut flour/half almond meal)

1 tsp baking powder

Dash of cinnamon

Optional: Add handful of spinach to make them green!

Mix the banana, spinach, eggs and milk in a blender. Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl. Pour wet into dry and mix well. Grease skillet with fat of choice, place over medium heat, pour on the batter and get to flippin’!

YUM.

Enjoy the weekend!

Julia

We thought it might be fun this first week to share some of our favorite things when it comes to Fitness and Nutrition. We hope this gives you a little insight into our daily lives!

First things first, like most people, I absolutely have to have music when I’m working out. Whether I am doing cardio, crossfit, lifting or simply stretching, I need to be pumped up. I am constantly looking for new songs (suggestions welcome) that will get me amped for a heavy lift or keep me pushing through to the end of an exhausting circuit! However, I always felt like I was fighting with my iPhone, iPod and arm band…and then I found the iPod shuffle. A few months ago, I went into the apple store to purchase a set of head phones ($30) and found out that for an additional $20, I could get a shuffle that came with headphone….sounds like a no-brainer! Who knew that this little shuffle, an impulse buy, would be my all time favorite item?!?

iPod Shuffle

Another staple in my life, and more specifically my diet, is the egg….it really is incredible 🙂 This little guy is so diverse and can be incorporated into any meal, any time of the day; scrambled for breakfast with oatmeal and hot sauce, hard boiled in a salad for lunch and sunny-side-up with a turkey burger and broccoli for dinner. (My many egg recipes will be making an appearance on the blog shortly!) They don’t call it the incredible edible egg for nothing!

Pumpkin, blueberry oatmeal & egg pancakes

Finally, to round out my top 3 I’d have to say plyometrics. I know it might be a weird thing to pick as a favorite, but with a background in cheerleading and gymnastics, it makes sense that I would love “jump training!” Although my fellow trainers make fun of my constant jumping and warn that I’ll pay for all of the impact later, I can’t seem to stop incorporating them into my training…I love them all! Burpees, jump rope, jump lunges, tuck jumps, squat jump, box jumps, you name it, I love it! I just feel good when I finish these exercises!

Box Jumps

Burpees

Some of my other favorites include the foam roller (I could spend hours on that thing,) my nalgene water bottle (BPA free of course,) tupperware, chapstick, various workout gear and sneakers, but we’ll leave that for a later post!

If you want to know a little more about me, check out my story in the Meet Kayte section!

-Kayte

average2athlete

EAT like an Athlete, TRAIN like an Athlete, THINK like an Athlete…BE an Athlete.

Category Archives: Favorites

Neon Socks, Partner WODs and PANCAKES…oh my!

These are a few of my favorite things