Annnnnd it snowed again.
Surprise, surprise. This week's weather has been rough. It makes quarantine even worse when you feel confined to the house. I just want to be outside in the sun! The good news is that next week looks like it will be much better. Let us pray.
Since I can't stand being outside in the freezing cold, all of my workouts have been indoors this week. In order to pump myself up for another at-home workout, I've been getting creative and trying to choose exercises combos that I enjoy. Here's one of my favorites from the week:
For this one, start by completing 10 burpees, then 20 step ups. Then 9 burpees and 18 step ups, and so on until you finish with 1 burpee and 2 step ups. You can perform the step ups with weight or no weight. I held 2-25 pound dumbbells for the step ups, and I used a large cooler as my step. You could use a bench, chair, set of stairs in your house, small, sturdy table, whatever you have access to! Once you complete the first part, rest for 3 minutes before beginning the second portion. For the second part, you complete 10 strict pull-ups, then 10 burpees with 2 push-ups on each rep. Then 9 of each and so on down to 1. If you don't have a pull-up bar or are unable to complete a pull-up, you could do bent over rows with a set of dumbbells, water jugs, other odd object, or a resistance band instead. If you don't have access to any weights or a band, you could also substitute bench or chair dips. It's a spicy one! Let me know if you give it a try.
To balance things out, baking has become a stress reliever for me. This may or may not be good for my waistline during our time in quarantine. Only time will tell. Considering my Hawaii trip this year has been placed on an indefinite hold, I guess it could have happened at a worse time. The good thing about these muffins, however, is that you can freeze them. Then, they aren't constantly in your face, begging you to eat them all the time. Also, they're freaking delicious, and (sorta) healthy, so #WINNING all around.
The nice thing about gluten free baking right now is that it's been a little easier to find baking supplies than it is to find standard baking ingredients like white flour and sugar. That stuff is wiped out from the grocery stores! Luckily, I was able to get my hands on coconut flour and almond flour pretty easily. Plus, this recipe doesn't even require any type of refined sugar. It's simply sweetened with bananas and maple syrup.
Gluten Free, Dairy Free Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 medium ripe bananas (mashed)
4 large eggs
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
3/4 cup frozen or fresh blueberries
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and lightly spray 12 muffin cups or liners with cooking spray.
2. In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt, and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix the wet ingredients together, leaving the blueberries to the side.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk until smooth. Very few clumps should remain in the batter.
5. Gently fold in the blueberries.
6. Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full.
7. Bake muffins for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Allow muffins to cool in the pan. Then, gently remove and enjoy!
9. You can freeze the remaining muffins to enjoy at a later time as well. Reheat frozen muffins for about 45-60 seconds.
To end this post on a happy note, here is a photo of sweet puppy kisses after a workout. He's just the best.
Have a happy Thursday. How could you not when tomorrow is FRIDAY?! If you have good weather right now, go out and enjoy it, and post some pictures so I can live vicariously through you.