A Better Life with Burgers: Chocolate Milk + Bloggers Conference + FitFluential

Happy Monday, y'all! Hope you had a good first day back to the grind. My day was especially hectic, even more so than usual, so I was thrilled when I got home and made time to sweat out the stress.

Today's workout, another Boot Camp Workout, kicked my booty! We did three supersets, and actually, it was my first time doing a superset. What is that, you ask? Well, even if you didn't, I had no idea what it was until a few months ago, and I still didn't really know until today. A superset is when you complete two or three exercises together and repeat them, ideally without resting. For example, 15 dumbbell rows followed by 20 push ups, then repeat the rows, repeat the push ups, for a total of three rounds. Then you move to the next superset or exercise, etc. I found a good website here that explains it better than I do.

So today, Tina had us doing one superset followed by five minutes of cardio, then another superset with another five minutes cardio, and repeat one more time. We worked all legs, which I loved. I feel like most of my workouts lately have been full-body focused, which is great, but it was nice to zero in on one area. My quads and buns will be feelin' it tomorrow!

Speaking of which, quick shout out to my family members for rocking the gym lately. My gorgeous almost-sister-in-law completed both my 5-4-3-2-1 workout and a 15-minute elliptical pyramid. Like a champ! Also, she and my brother have been waking up at 4:30 in the morning to work out - that's hard core! My brother has always been a morning person, but I'm still super impressed that they can get up so early. I'm planning to wake up for an early workout on Wednesday morning, so I'll keep them in mind for my inspiration. Not to be left out, my parents rocked a 5+ mile speed walk this weekend and did a 90-minute yoga class. I'm so humbled by my family and inspired by their dedication to their health!

They are a-mah-zing.

I needed to make a quick dinner tonight before Terry's last flag football game, so I threw together a simple dish to use up the leftover gnocchi from yesterday.

Mushroom-Spinach Sauce for Gnocchi

Topped with Parmesan cheese, of course.

2 small diced onions
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 box (about 15) white mushrooms, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
2 giant handfuls fresh spinach, chopped
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
1/4 cup dry red wine
3/4 package of whole wheat gnocchi (available at Trader Joe's and most grocers)

Set a small pot of water to boil while you make your sauce.

Saute the onion and olive oil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add the mushrooms, garlic powder, salt and pepper, oregano, and basil, and cook another 5 minutes. Add the spinach and cook down, about 3 minutes. Then add the marinara and red wine. Allow to simmer at least 5 minutes while you cook your gnocchi.

While your sauce is simmering, add the gnocchi to the boiling water and boil about 2 minutes, or until the gnocchi float to the top. Drain, then serve with the sauce.

So yummy!

We both love gnocchi, so I'm glad I finally bought some and made a few different varieties of sauces for it! This one complemented the hearty gnocchi perfectly. I think when we get back from our cruise I'll go for a bolognese...

<<Enter seamless segue here.>> :-)

Alright, let's get ~~serious~~ awesome here. I found out recently that there's a Fitness and Health Bloggers Conference in June. Even better? It's after school gets out, and it's in Denver, one of my top 10 favorite cities. Even better than that? By writing this post, I have a chance to win a scholarship to go to the conference!

Going to this conference would provide me a much-needed opportunity to learn more about the world of healthy living blogging. It'll be a chance to meet other bloggers, gain some fitness and health advice from experts, and learn tons of tips about branding, blog technology, blog ethics, and more. FitFluential is hosting one of the sessions, and, as you know, I am a FitFluential Ambassador, which makes me eligible for one of the scholarships. How awesome is that?

One of the partners for the conference is Refuel with Chocolate Milk. Terry and I read awhile back that chocolate milk is something like 60% more effective than regular milk in rebuilding and refueling your body after a workout. Ever since then, Terry has drunk about 16 ounces of chocolate milk after his long runs. I have to admit, it tastes unbelievably good to swig cold chocolate milk after a good sweat, but I had no idea there was a whole website and brand dedicated to it! This website explains the science and evidence behind chocolate milk and how it gives athletes an edge.