Starting the Day with a #MorningWin

Space Needle selfie

I have partnered with belVita and Dannon to help promote the belVita and Dannon partnership. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program, which includes writing about the promotion and product. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.

First of all, a huge thank you to everyone who's stopped by the blog and offered their support on my big announcement. I'm breaking up with Chicago and taking up with Seattle. It's going to be a hell of a ride, and I'm excited to share it and move forward.

Gimme the chocolate and caramel macchiato, always

Needless to say, time is of the essence these days. I spent all weekend in Seattle apartment hunting and we got back super late from picking up the furface from my sister's apartment. I updated the blog with my big news and proceeded to get ready for the week. I've already revealed the secrets of a perfectly packed gym bag, which is how I end every day to get ready for the next set of workouts. Nothing like coming back from vacation and getting back into the routine.

Breakfast = bike fuel

Except we haven't been grocery shopping in, oh, like two weeks. Unless I wanted to have Brownie Brittle for breakfast (not a terrible idea), I had to make other plans. I'm at a point in training that I'm doing at least one, but typically two, sessions per day. Skipping a meal is not an option, unless murderously hangry Kelly is an option. To keep things simple, I went Crunchy belVita Breakfast Biscuits and Dannon® Oikos® Greek Nonfat Yogurt. It's just more than 300 calories, which is enough to get me through the first workout of the day without feeling too full. It's something easy that I can throw in my bag in the morning on my way to the first session, which today happened to be a swim workout at the gym. It was a drill workout that felt easy at the time, but I bet I'll be sore later. I've been eating the belVita biscuits for a while now - there are four in each pack and last summer, I broke them up to snack on while cycling. The blueberry kind really hit the spot.

It really does take this much stuff ... I can't worry about food, too

I was pretty happy to get this sponsored post opportunity because I'm always looking for a way to streamline the morning. I never used to be a morning person and would routinely sleep forever on the weekends to try and catch up. Ironman training does not make that an option, so I'll take any help I can get. Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro, joined up on this initiative to offer her insights to an easier morning:

• Do as much as you can the night before. Leave as little preparation as possible until the last minute.
• Spend twenty minutes at the end of each day planning your to-do list. 
• Start your morning with a delicious, balanced breakfast. Together, the nutritious steady energy of belVita and 12 grams of protein in Dannon Oikos Greek nonfat yogurt along with a piece of fruit will help you get more out of your morning.

How do you save time in the morning?