This morning, my mom and I went to the gym. As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, I have been striving to try new things. Sticking to my resolution, this morning I decided to get on the treadmill do some running/walking intervals instead of my usual Precor/elliptical workout. I love how working out relieves stress and tension! I love exerting all of my tense emotions into a good workout, and leaving invigorated and energetic. Even though I felt amazing while I was running, I found that I could really feel it in my quads – I should expect that, right? I am thinking that as I become stronger, that feeling will begin to subside, am I right?
Over 2 miles later, I did some weight training with the weight machines, and then some stretches. Unfortunately, I find that when I don’t exercise for a while, I lose that urge to go do it (does that happen to you?); when I don’t workout, I feel exhausted, lazy, and like I didn’t accomplish much that day; when I do workout, I feel so alive! If I feel tired, I know that all I need to feel better is to get up and get moving; I want to keep it up consistently. Do any of you guys have any thoughts? tips on how I can stay motivated? how I can increase speed? increase duration of the running intervals?
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Are you guys getting excited about Valentine’s Day? I know it isn’t even February yet (almost though!), but I saw Angela on Oh She Glows beginning her Valentine’s posts, so I thought why not!?
Pumpkin Cranberry Nutty Cookies
based on this recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1 cup sliced almonds
- ½ cup rolled oats
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- a dash of cloves, nutmeg, and allspice
- 1 cup pumpkin purée
- 1 cup applesauce
- 3-4 TB sweetener of choice (like maple syrup or stevia baking blend)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup dried cranberries
If you like your cookies sweeter, try adding 1/2 -3/4 cup dates. Blend ‘em up with the nuts and the oats.
Directions
Put walnuts, almonds, and oats (and dates) into your blender or the bowl of a food processor.
Pulse until a fine meal forms, about 25 times.
Add flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice and pulse another 20 times to combine all the ingredients.
Combine the pumpkin, applesauce, sweetener, and vanilla extract in a large bowl.
Add the dry mixture and the cranberries to the pumpkin mixture.
Fold in all the ingredients together with a large spoon.
(I use a cookie-scooper) Scoop little heaps, about 2 tablespoons, of batter onto sprayed baking/cookie sheets, spacing them about 1 1/2 inches apart. Flatten the batter slightly.
Bake 12-16 minutes at 375°F, until the bottoms are just browned. Allow them to rest on cookie sheet for a couple of minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
Store in an airtight container, fridge, or freezer.
The nuttiness of the nuts and the sweetness of the pumpkin – Oh.My.NutButter. Simply Divine!!! It was true love at first bite.
Any tips for staying motivated? Increasing intensity of workout?
Any recipes/foods you’d like to see me bake/make/healthify?
Any health subjects you’d like tp hear my point of view on?
great cookies!!! the way i stay motivated is to rmbr how AMAZING working out makes me feel.. it boost my mood, my confidence and makes me feel strong and alive!! once i switched this mindset i enjoy working out mroe.. and i can push myself when i want to but i dont FORCE myself to… def to increas speed do the walk run, sprint method… 30 second of each in intervals!… hmm could you healthifylike a peanut butter cookie dough type thing?!
Thanks for the tips!
Peanut Butter Cookie Dough — I’m on it!
I agree with Carrie above – remember how great it will make you feel afterwards! And, I think it’s fun to work out, so that’s normally my motivation!
I’m never going to be able to make everything you make, but they all look so delicious!
Can I just move in with you?
I love dried cranberries so those cookies looked so delish! A tip I have for staying motivated is signing up for a road race. That way you are already committed so you will have that drive to get out and run each day. Pick a set time that you can run for (say 25-30 minutes) and make those easy runs the base of your training. Some days you might just feel like doing several 100-200 meter sprints and that’s great too! I like to do a longer run on Saturday or Sunday too. You will be surprised at how fast your endurance and lung capacity builds up. Best of luck
Thank you!! This has given me hope.
I would try making a new playlist. That helps to motivate me. Increasing the intensity could also be good!
Love these cookies, they look so yummy!!
I’ll try it. Thanks!
mmm those cookies sound so good! You make the tastiest looking stuff!! I play soccer every weekend, so to be honest that is how I stay motivated. I want to be able to go out there and out run, out jump, and out play anyone, and in order to do that I need to be fit! Im a competitor, so that helps too
Those cookies look great! I love pumpkin and cranberries together! I might have to whip up a batch of those this weekend!
At the first of the year, I joined up with a blogger team to workout for a charity contest sort of thing. It really helps hold me accountable. You could include some of your goals on the blog and tell us how you are doing to help you stick with it. When I’m lacking in the motivation department, I always try to keep in mind the feeling I get after the workout is over…the sense of accomplishment and release! I love it!
Hmm, how about healthifying a cheesecake? I <3 cheesecake!
I may just do that, but I’m afraid people will get bored of it…..and laugh at me. I don’t know. I could give it a try though. Thanks!
Cheesecake!? I’m on it!
Awesome workout! I always feel better once I workout – I am a huge advocate of the phrase “A body in motion tends to stay in motion, a body at rest tends to stay at rest.”
I totally agree–that is exactly what happen to me. Thanks!
I feel the same way, when I work out I always am able to do all the things I need to do. But when I don’t I barely get anything done. I need to work out more because because it is so fun.
Definitely. Working out makes me feel SO good afterwards.
I love the ingredients in those cookies!
I also love the feeling I have after working out and I’ve found that I have to workout in the morning…if I wake up and go exercise first thing I don’t really have an option not to do it…but I think once it is more of a habit than it becomes second nature.
Yeah, I usually workout right before breakfast, but when I don’t, I’m less likely to do it.
I’ll keep working at it. 
Those cookies definitely scream Valentine’s Day!
I love anything with cranberries in it…
For working out…that can be a tough one. Sometimes I have to think in small bits instead of overall. So instead of saying in my head, “I have to work out everyday,” I say, “I am only committing to working out today!” Then I don’t have to think about anything except now, and somehow that feels more manageable…
Great tip. Thanks!
I love cranberry/pumpkin!
I find that once I get into the habit of working out it’s much easier to continue doing it. If I miss a day, sometimes I feel like all is lost! Making a schedule of when and what you want to do for your workouts will probably help you stay motivated.
Schedules are my kind of thing. Thanks!
Thank you for coming to my blog Kat! Not sure how you found me but I’m glad!
These look so good – pumpkin really is perfect for sweetness isn’t it? With dried fruit – it’s perfect! No sugar added? Craziness!
I think I would be more excited for Valentine’s Day if I had a boyfriend…lol. But for motivation I noticed if I work out with someone I do a lot better. I run sometimes with my completive friend and noticed we go longer because neither of us wants to be the first to quit! That always works for me:)
Competition is my kind of game.
The pain in your quads will definitely subside! To increase your time and speed, I highly recommend slowly increasing. For example, run an extra 5 minutes one day. Or add a .1 or a .2 to the speed. It’s all about pushing your limits comfortably!
The food looks amazing!!
Thank goodness! One step at a time. Alrighty. I’m going to start running a little more at a time — take baby steps, you could say. Thanks!
First off, I want some of those cookies in my belly ASAP.
Secondly, I think that your motivation will increase one you get into a routine. I HATE missing a workout because it is just so much of a habit. And as soon as you feel your strength and endurance increase, you will be addicted
Yes, you do want these cookies in your tummy.
I feel that. Whenever I workout, I feel AMAZING!!! I guess I just need to make it one of my top priorities and make it a routine. Thanks!
Tips for motivation for working out: Remember how you feel AFTER your workout, Remember that it will become a part of your routine that you WANT to do if you do it for over 15 days… 15 days is all it takes for your mind to get used to working out and craving it!
Just 15 days? Yeah! I can definitely do that. Thanks!
Those cookies look so good! My motivation is having a goal. It ebbs and flows- even now, I have a race coming up and I’m not especially motivated to run.
Thanks for the comments on my blog! I’m definitely loving yours. I feel the same way about exercise revealing stress- I always end up so happy and high on endorphins after working out. On days I need a bit of motivation, I always try to remember how great I feel after. Your cookies look soo good (you’ve even got my boyfriend drooling over them).
I totally agree; exercisinglifts my mood and makes me happier.
Hehe, SCORE!!! I’m glad your boyfriend likes them! 
Your cookies look scrumptious!
I try to make myself remember how fantastic I feel after a workout, and how improved the rest of my day is going to be. If you’re really failing at motivation, take yourself to the gym and say “okay, I’m going to do 10 minutes of something, that’s it.” I think you’ll find ten minutes turns into twenty, and suddenly an hour has gone by and you’re sweating and smiling again.
xo
That’s a great tip. Thanks!!!
To stay motivated I download new music or buy a new workout outfit. Then give yourself a bit more time at the gym..so that you don’t feel forced to go hard in a short period of time.
Oooh, a new outfit sounds nice.
Those cranberry nutty cookies look devine! I love dried cranberries and cranberry sauce in my oatmeal!
Cranberries and Oats should get married!!!
jk! They were definitely made for each other. 
Those cookies look really good and I like all the healthy ingredients! I need to get more motivated to work out, too–I always feel better after I exercise, but I find I really have to push myself to get started–I try to think of how good I’ll feel afterward!
We can get more motivated together!
I am in love with the way these cookies look and totally fantasizing about how yummy they must be!!
Oh man, these cookies look delicious!! I love the cranberry and pumpkin combination! I need to give these a try soon!
Yes! Yes! Yes you do!!!
Kat, before I got knocked on my bohuncus by Lyme disease almost a decade ago, I was a workout queen. I kept up my motivation by setting challenges with friends, either online or in the real world. They really helped.
More recently, I signed up for a half marathon. Long story short, I wanted to sign up for a 10-k, but it wasn’t an option at the Little Rock marathon. My goal for the half marathon is just to run-walk it in under the time limit for the road closings on the course: 4 hours. Given that when I signed up I was out of the habit even of walking, I have to wonder about whether I need exercise commitment or another kind (like, with rubber-walled rooms). I’m a lot older now (mid40s), and I’ve fought a debilitating illness for years that left me out of shape and in pain. Still, I’ve paid for the “race,” I’ve paid for my hotel room, and I’m in. Oh, and I ordered new shoes to try to help on the foot pain.
I’ll probably be posting about my “commitment” tomorrow on my blog. Come on back and join the fun!
Thanks again for visiting my humble little blog today.
Thanks for checking out my humble little corner of the blogworld!
Such a great commitment! You can do it! I really need to find when there are 5ks, 10ks, half-marathons around where I am and get myself signed up. Thanks for the tip!
Try googling for area runs, or ask at your local running/biking store. For me, once I paid, I knew I was in.
There are some great runs around the country in the spring.
Alrighty. I will check it out. Thanks!!!
You’re most welcome!
Love your site!
Those cookies look awesome.
To stay motivated, I try new workouts. Sometimes boredom can signify that you are bored with your workout. I also have exercise mantras that I repeat to myself to get moving. My favorite is: “You are just one workout away from a great mood!” You have no idea how many times I have ovcercome laziness just by repeating this phrase.
You know, I think that was starting to happen to me. I was doing the same thing over and over. I’m going to try to add more variety and more spice to my workouts. Thanks!
i’m going to be so sad when the blog world deems pumpkin “out of season”…i love it year round!!
xo.
Those cookies look awesome…as for working out, I hate the fitness center and only use it when it is pouring rain or freezing cold. I prefer my 4 mile brisk walk. I like the scenery changing and smells of the seasons and watching the sun come up. When I do use the treadmill I put on my headphones to shuffle play on my Ipod and close my eyes and get in the zone.
pumpkin and cranberries. YUM!
Those cookies look absolutely fantastic. I am such a huge pumpkin fan it’s not even funny!
Me too! My favorite time of year is Fall, because of pumpkin season!
These cookies look so delicious! I am looking so forward to making these real soon!
In order to keep me motivated I try to mix different workouts with different instructors. I might change it once every two months so I always find my workouts fun and new!
great cookies! So pretty!
Blendtecs, I hear, are awesome! I have a vitamix, but apparently they are basically the same! It definitely did a good job for your cookies. They look great! I am always scared to put cranberries in baked goods… but perhaps I should just go for it?
Yes, you should!
YUM! These look so great, and they don’t have sugar! I will definitely have to try them
I totally agree with having more energy when I work out. Keeping to a schedule is the only way to go for me, otherwise I lose momentum and get lethargic.
Same here; schedules are my best buds!
They keep me in line. 
Those cookies looks SOOO good! And I don’t blame you for talking about Valentine’s Day so early, I get excited for holidays and we won’t have any for awhile!
Those cookies look AMAZING!!
There are so many things you can do with intervals on any machine. Playing with the incline, speeds, length of time you do the intervals, intensity, etc. On the elliptical all the same as well except you can play with the ramp, resistance, etc. Just keep switching it up. I loathe the treadmill, but since I have become more limited I started just walking on it more. Before, I went from different elliptical machines and the steppers, changing up interval routines on those. I also liked doing interval training with my weights, like burpees, jax, sprints, etc between weights.
Ooooooohhh, I love those ideas. Thanks!
mmm! All the ingredients in those cookies are amazingg especially combined into one:D love it!
Hey! Just found your blog! I love it!
I use new workouts to motivate me. I look online and get super excited about something, and it gets me to the gym. Usually once I’m in the gym, I’m good.
Ugh, girl, I just started speed and hills in my running, and I HATE it. But I love it too, haha. For speed, I run one minute normal pace, one minute fast pace, repeat. Then a cool down. You will sweat your booty off, but it feels so wonderful.