What Ana Does

Now that I've reinstated my working mom status, I'm developing a whole new set of daily routines. I like routines. I like a predictable framework especially in difficult parts of my day. And I especially like my mornings to be efficient and clear of stumbling blocks. (I mean, who doesn't!?) After a few months of feeling around the natural rhythms of my day and considering important daily tasks, here's what I've developed: My internal clock usually rouses me just before 6am, likely because Dave's up and moving by 5:30 to get to a 6 gym class. Instead of snoozing for 30 minutes (which I love to do), I get out of bed and head down to the basement for a 20 minute jog on the treadmill. Getting into an exercise habit is one of my BIG five-year goals and, so far, this is working well. Not only do I get a 1+ mile jog and 10 minutes of stretching at the start of my day, I finally get to catch up on podcasts again. Hooray! Without much of a commute (I swear I...

I've been drinking a berry smoothie almost daily for years. It started when I did ten weeks of Beachbody in 2014 (and hey, I lost some weight) and got hooked on their Shakeology powder. It just seemed like a much better breakfast than cereal or toast -- nutrition-wise. And I could drink it while making lunches and running kids out to bus stops. I pretty much follow the same recipe every morning and just change around the fruit. So here's my very unprofessional, yet delicious, smoothie concoction. Start with: Frozen Spinach - about 3/4 cup Frozen Fruit - almost 2 cups * Note: I don't actually measure anything, so this is just a guess. I've tried several different frozen veggies, including spinach, kale, boiled-then-frozen cauliflower, and found I just prefer the spinach. I used to puree and freeze the spinach in an ice cube try for easy-to-use servings, but lately, I'm just freezing our leftover salad spinach and using that. (In the picture it looks li...