Fitness Plan and Metabolism Boosting Smoothie Recipe

Today I went running for the first time since....probably almost a year. I want to get back into a fitness regimen and I am thinking about training for a 5K later on in the year so I am starting out with one of my favorite running exercises: interval training.
Not only does interval training keep you motivated and engaged in your run its also a quicker and more effective workout than running at the same pace for more mileage.

Here's the workout I did today.....or at least did as much as I could of it. It's my first day so I'll work up to be able to do the whole thing consecutively with full exertion. And that's the beauty of intervals I'll be constantly challenging myself. :-)

Total time: 35 min

Warm up for 5 min 

Now Alternate between speed bursts at the fastest pace you can maintain and an easy recovery pace
Speed burst          Easy Pace Recovery 
4 min                     4 min
3 min                     3 min
2 min                     2 min
1 min                     1 min

Now alternate between short all-out sprints and an easy recovery pace
Sprint                   Easy Pace Recovery  
30 sec                    1 min
30 sec                    1 min
30 sec                    1 min
30 sec                    l min

Cool down for 4 min 

Tip: Since the highest intensity intervals are at the end of the workout, if you run out of energy set a peppy pace or take running strides instead of attempting your max sprint

*workout plan cred: Fitnessmagazine.com

After my workout I tried a new metabolism boosting smoothing recipe.
This website has smoothie recipes for everything:
http://www.superskinnyme.com/smoothie-recipes.html/2

Green Tea Metabolism Boosting Smoothie 
Ok so before I list all of my ingredients first I have to make a disclaimer
*I am ashamed to admit that I used a powdered green tea mix for the base of this drink*
I know that powdered drink mixes are not exactly healthy because they have a lot of extra additives butttttt I bought these flavored green tea packets a little while ago on an impulse so I have to finish them before I go out buying any more tea.
To get the most health benefit from your smoothie I would recommend brewing green tea bags beforehand and then chilling before adding to the smoothie.

So now that I've gotten that out of the way, here's the recipe:

1 cup frozen mango chunks
1/2 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup of iced green tea
1 cup ice (about 6 cubes)

First I mixed up one of these iced tea packets with 16 oz cold filtered water. Then I just measured out 1/2 cup of the green tea mixture to add to the smoothie. You can drink the leftover later or save it for another smoothie.

Originally this recipe called for 1/2 tbs honey but I figured the powered tea was already sweet enough. 

Now just add the frozen mango chunks, vanilla yogurt, and ice to your smoothie cup. Simple. 

Note: if you have never tried frozen mango chunks before you need to go out and get some. These things are delicious even if you just eat them as a snack from the bag and they are actually naturally really sweet so they're great for curbing a sugar craving. Also the texture of frozen mango is DIVINE and they're great for smoothies and even for making homemade sorbet.  

Here's all of the delicious ingredient in my smoothie cup (I made a half recipe). By the way, if you love smoothies you should totally get a Magic Bullet. I bought a Magic Bullet before I went to college because I liked that it was compact and designed for single servings and I have never wanted to go back to a traditional blender. It really does pulverize ice in just a couple of seconds. AND cleaning up is super easy since it blends your smoothie right into a dishwasher-safe cup and the blade twists right off. No more having to take up your whole sink soaking your massive blender container. 

Creamy delicious blended green tea mango smoothie.
ENJOY!