This is GROSS

My favorite breakfast looks gross in the blender.
Item by item it doesn't appear this way in person, but I don't think I'd want to eat if it was posted on the blog. 
I'm going to post it anyway, so you can see my favorite breakfast option.

In the blender is one banana (the riper the better, unless it has brown spots), 1 scoop of whey protein powder (which does not have fat or carbs), 1 cup water (or less), 4 ice cubes, and 1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter. 

Blend and drink.
It has approximately 400 calories (100 from the peanut butter, 100 from the banana, 150 for the protein powder, and give or take 50 calories that I may have misjudged, because of the size of the banana or amount of peanut butter). 

Along with two gummy vitamins, this drink is my favorite!
I love, love, love peanut butter. Costco had to take it's peanut butter off the shelf, so I've been going to Whole Foods to grind my own. There was a salmonella outbreak at one of the peanut butter processing plants a while back and ever since Costco hasn't put the peanut butter manufactured in that plant back on the shelves. What a bummer! I really liked that peanut butter, and it was less inexpensive. 

Today
No workout, because it's Sunday, my only day off.

Nutrition
Went to MMO (Moms Morning Out) where I brought a huge mug to get hot water and lemon, ate one container of Greek Yogurt, and two hardboiled eggs....with lots of salt. I know salt is bad for me, but I just love it. I can't get rid of everything, and salt is definitely one of them. 

Looking Ahead:
I'm starting to think about increasing my intensity starting at the end of January. I won't increase the amount of time in the gym (necessarily) but will opt for increasing my speed more on the treadmill and really trying to lift some significant weight. Right now, I'm in a peaceful mode of changing up my exercises, adding weight to the machines, but not too much, and keeping my run at a good pace (4.1-4.4), but I am starting to feel the effects of getting too used to what I'm doing. 

I'm going to give this a lot of thought. If I increase my intensity too much, then my body will want more food. I'm in a wonderful place with what I eat, and I hate to disrupt it. So, I'm going to give myself plenty of time to think and perhaps experiment with changing things up. I may even try to do one really intense workout per week, just to see what the effects are.

Also, I may think about going to a workshop (like Nancy George's) to refine my posing for the bikini competition. I thought about it last time, but didn't do it. I don't have any regrets, but if I'm going to go on stage a 2nd time, I'm truly considering it.