Knowing full-well Easter is yet another eating holiday, I woke up and got my workout out of the way first thing.

I’m a HUGE proponent of breakfast; however, pre-cardio I cannot eat.  My stomach has a tendency to cramp, so I have to wait 2 hours after eating/drinking to bounce.  This makes morning cardio hard – without food my energy stores are low and I find it hard to keep up the intensity.

Today I tried eating prunes beforehand.  Yes, prunes.  Like what your granny eats. In addition to the obvious benefit (fiber), they are loaded with antioxidants and high in Vitamin A.  In conclusion, eat prunes to stay regular, preserve youth, and fuel a workout.

It worked like a charm!  Not heavy, sticky enough not to slosh, and a natural sugar shot to amp me up.  I rocked out 30 mins of a slightly modified version (I needed more of a challenge!) of my go-to interval workout:

Bike

• Minutes 0-5 @ level 1-3 (3 RPE)
• Minutes 5-7 @ level 5-7 (7 RPE)
• Minutes 7-8 @ level 6-8 (8 RPE)
• Minutes 8-9 @ level 8-9 (9 RPE)
• Minutes 9-10 @ level 9-10 (10 RPE)

Elliptical

• Minutes 10-11 @ level 4 (3 RPE)
• Minutes 11-13 @ level 8-9 (6 RPE)
• Minutes 13-15 @ level 9-10 (8 RPE)
• Minutes 15-18 @ level 12 (9 RPE)
• Minutes 18-20 @ level 9-10 (8 RPE)

Treadmill

• Minutes 20-23 @ level 3.8 (3 RPE)
• Minutes 23-26 @ level 6.5 (7 RPE)
• Minutes 26-29 @ level 7.5 (8 RPE)
• Minutes 29-30 @ level 8 (9 RPE)

Followed by 45 mins of back and biceps.  Plus 100 stability ball sit ups and 75 push ups.

Bring on the second helping of dessert!

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Nothing says Easter like family.  Well, family with a side of champagne, mint, cornish hen, lamb, and veggies.

First, an aperitif.  Limoncello Champagne Cocktails from Bon Appetit.

Mine were made with 1T of agave rather than 2T of sugar, but otherwise I followed the recipe.  The mint and limoncello mix will be a funky  shade of green (not that green drinks both me!), but after adding the lemon juice and champagne it turns a pretty Easter yellow.

Don’t use a $50 bottle of champagne for this – just be sure it’s dry.  The limoncello-mint mixture steal the show.

Our lighter fare consisted of a strawberry-almond salad, cucumber + tzatziki, tomatoes, and fresh fruit.

Then the dinner drinks: Limoncello Collins a la Food & Wine.

Light and refreshing, this concoction combines limoncello, gin, and freshly squeezed lemon juice with club soda and mint.  Two glasses thumbs up.

Time for the mains!

My contribution was the Spinach Bread Pudding with Feta and Lemon.  This was found on the Food & Wine site, but was actually a 101 Cookbooks creation.  It’s a lightened version of a savory bread pudding, and I think I ate half of it myself.  Fantastic.

Next time I would increase the amount of mustard to 2 T and the lemon zest to at least 1 T.  I like a pronounced tangy flavor.

The bread I used was a whole grain bread made from Sweetwater 420 beer.  I also used an awesome/fancy whole grain mustard, and a block of impossibly creamy French feta cheese.

These items, along with the picture below, were obtained at Whole Foods on Saturday night.

The end to my Easter was a little prettier than that…

I wish I had dessert pics… Mom made an incredible chocolate fudge pie and I made the Olive Cookies, this time with rosemary instead of basil.  *le sigh*

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How was your Easter?

Do you have any tricks to eating pre-morning workout?

Have a Happy Monday… and say no to crack!