What better way to get your littles to workout than to tell them that this workout was specifically made for superheroes?!

My boys are loving working out pretending to be superheroes!! So to get them excited for this workout I had them each decorate their very own superhero mask!! I figured we would make an entire day out of it, make the mask together and then do the workout! They had a blast, and made a little mess but it was all totally worth it!


HERE's the link to the mask template I used!

Getting our kids to be active is definitely something that I have to really be conscious of, because there are those days where it will be 5 o'clock, dinner time and I realize the TV had been on all day... Granted that doesn't happen too often, but when it does I do have to check myself and remember that it is up to me to make sure that they are well rounded and get up and moving!

So go ahead and grab the APP and download the WORKOUT HERE and get you and your family working out to achieve your SUPERHERO strength!!

Share pictures of your littles and family working out using the hashtags #nogymnoexcuse #kidswhosworkit for a chance to be featured on my personal IG page!!

XOXO

Melissa

Last week I shared with you all a recipe from The Mediterranean Dish , you can find that recipe HERE. Today I am going to share with you all another of my absolute favorite Mediterranean recipes from the Minimalist Baker, these incredible Mediterranean Baked Sweet Potatoes are the perfect addition to any dinner or great all by themselves!

You can check out the original recipe HERE for her step by step instructions or just scroll down for my own adaptation!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

1. 4 Medium Sweet Potatoes

2. 1 (15oz.) can Chickpeas, rinsed and drained

3. 1/2 TBSP Olive Oil

4. 1/2 TSP Cumin, Coriander, Cinnamon, Smoked or Regular Paprika

the GARLIC HERB SAUCE: 

1. 1/4 Cup Hummus

2. 1/2 Lemon worth Lemon Juice

3. 3/4 to 1 TSP Dried Dill

4. 3 Cloves of Garlic, Minced

5. Water or Unsweetened Almond Milk to Thin

the TOPPINGS: 

1. 1/4 Cup Cherry Tomatoes, Diced

2. 1/4 Cup Chipped Parsley, Minced

3. 2 TBSP Lemon Juice

4. Chili Garlic Sauce

WHAT YOU'LL DO:

1. Preheat oven to 400*F and line a large baking sheet with foil

2. Rinse and scrub the potatoes and cut in half length wise.

3. Toss rinsed and drained chickpeas with olive oil and spices and place on a foil - lined baking sheet.

4. Rub the sweet potatoes with a bit of olive oil and place face down on the same baking sheet

5. While the sweet potatoes and chickpeas are roasting, prepare your sauce by adding all the ingredients to a mixing bowl and whisk together to combine. Make sure you only add enough water or almond milk to thin so it's pourable. taste and adjust your seasonings as needed.

6. Also prepare the parsley - tomato topping by tossing tomato and parsley with lemon juice and set aside.

7. Once the sweet potatoes are fork tender and the chickpeas are golden brown - roughly 25 minutes - remove from oven.

8. For serving, flip the potatoes flesh-side up and smash down the insides a little bit. Then top the  with the chickpeas, sauce and parsley-tomato garnish and serve immediately!

Let me know if you try this recipe out! It's one of my favorites and I hope you'll love it as much as I do!

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About two weeks ago I participated in my third GO! St. Louis Half Marathon! It has been a few years since my last endeavor with this race (2012 to be exact) and let's just say that year was a NIGHT BEFORE entry. I wasn't prepared at all, hadn't ran in months and it showed in my time, which I don't remember to the minute but I know it was around 4 hours! I really don't know what I was thinking!

This year was an entirely different story! While my entry was about two to three weeks prior to the race (thanks to one of my best friends that I have been running with for about a year now, Kellie, we were going to run this one together!), I had been running longer runs on the regular, making up my own sort of schedule. I had been wanting to register for a while but as many of you know, races can be expensive.

So, anyway, I was all signed up and ready to go that Sunday morning! I felt really good about where I was at and knew I wasn't going to make the same mistakes that I made at the MO' Cowbell (Start was a little off, I wasn't able to go to the bathroom beforehand... Making me stand in line around mile 3 for quite a long time, which in turn threw off my entire racing groove).


The new starting line was right at the Riverfront Downtown which was absolutely gorgeous, a bit chilly being right off the river but absolutely gorgeous! I hadn't ran in the race since the course changed, now taking us over into Illinois and running OVER the Mississippi River. The sites were incredible and I only wish I had my phone accessible DURING the actual race to take pictures of the scenery we were able to run through.




I felt great, was running great all the way until about mile 10, I finished strong but I know I can do better. My legs started to ache a bit at this point and I was just counting down the last 3 miles until the finish. My original goal was the hit a 2:30:00 half, I ended up at 2:35:49... So I was a off a bit but I was still thrilled with shaving off a LOT of time from MO' Cowbell's race!

Before & After

After the race I met back up with Kellie and we made our way over to the after-party, grabbed our free Michelob Ultra's and took it all in. The weather had gotten quite hot throughout the morning so it was the perfect way to unwind after running 13.1 miles!



All in all this race was SUCH an enjoyable experience and I'm always a fan of adding medals to my collection :)


Here is the breakdown of my race brought to you by the Workout Snap App!

... That's a whole lot of cupcakes! ;)

I look forward to participating in the *FULL* next year!!

Happy Sunday!! I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend!

I'm coming to you today with a post that I hope will be a lot of fun to read! After completing the GO! St. Louis Half Marathon on April 9th, my friend Kellie and I were immediately planning the next half that we would do together. We ended up finding one over in Illinois called Vine to Wine Half Marathon and 5K... I mean what's better than finishing the half and then having a free glass of wine? Nothing is wrong with that! We immediately signed up and now have all of our friends on board to complete either the half along with us or the 5K!

We are so excited for this next race and have already began training! My personal goal is to complete a FULL marathon by the end of the year so I'm personally training like I'm going to be running a full (the day of the race is actually a long run day for me around the same mileage so it works out great!)

Once a week I'm hoping to be able to break down my workouts for you guys and share just what I've been doing and how my training plan is working for me, having two kids has already made week 1 interesting!

I started on Monday (after watching the Boston Marathon of course) with running 2 miles while pushing Oliver in his stroller. Those 2 miles I had him yelling "Faster, Mommy! Faster!" The entire time. Nothing like the motivation of a 3 year old who just wants to "race" to get you going!

FAVE NEW SHIRT, FIND IT HERE!

Tuesday, since Oliver was still on Spring Break from school, I took BOTH boys and did 3 miles on Grant's Trail. I promised the boys they could see horses so we ended up stopping for a bit which was a nice break. They're almost TOO big to be pushing them both on a run!

Wednesday I hit the gym to do a fun and quick 20 minute (2.1 mile) Fartlek workout. Probably my favorite training day of the week! Here's the workout I did...

5 minute warm up at 4.5

5 X 2 at 7.0, 2 at 5.0

5 minute cool down at 4.5

Thursday I rested, and by rest I just mean didn't go to the gym or run. Thursday was in no way a rest day! We did take the boys and puppies to the dog park where they played with their friends and wore everyone out!

Friday was another gym day. Not only was I not entirely brave enough yet to push both boys again, it was also raining and cold. I got in an easy 3 miles while the boys played in the daycare, which they have grown to LOVE and ask to go!

Saturday was another rest day, which entailed a lot of running around with toddlers and cleaning up after all of their messes, again, not exactly a "rest" day in my mind!

Sunday, I was so thankful to have a wonderful Mother-in-Law who is willing to help out and watch the boys while I got in my long run for the week! While I got in my 4 miles the boys were safe with their Nana. I can guarantee I'll be utilizing both my husband's Mom and my own parents a LOT during this training schedule. After all, Sundays are my long run days and Andrew works on those days, plus I'd really like to get in my long runs outdoors!


Today is recovery today so I'll be trucking the kids on a decent walk around the neighborhood to get out and enjoy the gorgeous weather! Be sure to check out my IG page for updates on how that all goes and everything else we are up to this week! I'll share another training update next week!