BLWB Healthy Snack Ideas

I think my body is almost back on track with this whole Daylight Savings Time thing, but it still felt painful to get out of bed this morning. We even skipped our morning workout knowing it’d be better to sleep a little, but I snoozed a lot more than usual.

This afternoon I hit the gym on my own, since Terry’s not feeling great. I completed a 40-minute HIIT walking workout, which alternated between increasing speed and increasing incline.

For the above workout, I tried to get to 4.5-5.0 mph during the speed intervals and 12-15 incline during the hill intervals. Hello sweaty mess!

Toughen it up: 

• Set your base incline higher (6 or 8)
• Run the speed intervals
• Run the hill intervals
• Take a shorter rest interval (30 sec or 45 sec)

Lighten it up:

• Set your base incline lower (2 or 0)
• Take a longer rest interval and/or shorter intense intervals
• Complete 4 or 5 rounds instead of 7

Just remember that a HIIT workout should get your heart rate up to a 9-10 intensity level (out of 10), and the recovery period should bring your heart rate back down significantly before you start up again. And be sure to give your heart a rest between HIIT workouts—I aim for only one or two per week to give ample recovery time.

For my upper body work today, I tackled Tina's Upper Body Burn Out. I loved the unique challenge of exhausting my muscles with one exercise and then hitting the same muscles with a different exercise immediately after. I'm sure I'll feel that one tomorrow! I even stretched for a solid 20 minutes after all that. I’m definitely getting better about stretching and/or foam rolling while we watch TV at night, and I feel a noticeable difference in my flexibility!

Today at work I enjoyed a new favorite snack (if you follow me on Instagram you already saw it):

Greek yogurt, applesauce, almond butter, cinnamon, and honey. So much flavor, and completely satisfying, too! But of course I got to thinking about my favorite snacks, and I’ve been wanting to share a little collection here for you in case you’re looking to add some variety to your midday eats.

BLWB Healthy Snack Ideas

• Trail mix
• Bell peppers, carrots, and/or cucumbers with hummus
• Homemade pita chips with hummus
• Triscuits or Woven Wheats with your favorite cheese (Manchego for me!)
• Fruit salad with sliced banana, berries, and pineapple

• Banana-nut muffins or Whole-wheat lemon-blueberry muffins
• Brown rice cakes with nut butter and banana or nut butter and raisins
• Toasted whole-wheat English muffin with cream cheese and sliced strawberries

• Small smoothie
• Fresh berries with cottage cheese or yogurt
• Whole piece of fruit with nut butter (bananas and apples with peanut butter are my favorite)—add a sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg if you’re feeling crazy

• Toasted slice of pumpkin bread, banana bread, or zucchini bread with cream cheese or nut butter
• Healthy oatmeal cookies
• Equal parts Greek yogurt (preferably full-fat) and applesauce, mixed with cinnamon and a tablespoon of nut butter (shown above)
• Ina Garten's Jalapeno Cheddar Crackers from her Foolproof cookbook (blog post from Authentic Suburban Gourmet)

What's your favorite snack? Feel free to link up to recipes below!