in which we praise sludge

I just had to do a sludge post after I proclaimed that it has changed my life. Plus, I took pictures of my breakfast this morning, and every time I find myself turning into one of those people I hate and doing things I swore I would never do, I have to publicly document it. It's, like, a rule.

So! For the uninitiated, sludge is a food item. Sludge is made by mixing protein powder with a variety of other substances to make a mixture that resembles, well, sludge. "It does exactly what it says on the tin!"*** As far as I can tell, the most common sludge-making ingredients are Greek yogurt and peanut butter. I would also include oatmeal, but I have it on semi-good authority that adding oatmeal turns it from sludge into proats. Eh. In my uneducated, female opinion, the line between proats and sludge is a very fine one, but whatever. In any case, sludge is a wonderful way to get in a crapload of protein and calories and also enables one to use up the ghetto-ass CVS brand whey that one bought in a fit of terrible judgment. Not that I would know anything about the latter. Really.

Without further ado, here's what I ate this morning:

I see you salivating. No, seriously, it was delicious--I can't help it if I'm no food stylist. God.

That's one container of 2% Fage yogurt, one tablespoon of Trader Joe's almond butter with flax, and one scoop vanilla whey protein, topped with a sliced up nectarine, which works out to 550 calories, 53.4g protein, 23.4g fat, and 32.3g carbs (6.3g fiber). The Greek yogurt and almond butter mixed together has a lovely, airy texture.

The other version of sludge that I've made so far consisted of one container of Fage, one tablespoon of Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter, and one scoop vanilla whey, topped with a sliced banana. I'm sure I don't have to sell you on the peanut butter + chocolate + banana combo, do I?

And now, bonus dismembered body parts.

I took those today before I went to the gym but after I took my first dose of creatine. But before it had a chance to do anything, because, y'know, I'm sure it works almost instantly. Ahem. My muscles look very flat. Smaller. Like they disappeared during my week off from lifting. Also? I should have either moisturized my feet or cropped my heel out of that calf picture.

And then I took what I guess are my real starting point pictures.



All the flattering gym clothes were obviously in the wash.

Seriously, my good yoga capri pants were in the wash and I had to wear pants because I was doing rack pulls. Don't judge. Besides, the Bulgy Polish Catcher's Thighs and the babushka on my head go together. It's a theme. We all get in touch with our heritage in our own way.



Can you see my booty in that picture? It's probably best not.

So, let's just ignore that and end this post with a video. This is my favorite song to listen to while lifting of late. Plus, creatine is in the lyrics, so it's on topic. I SAID we were staying on topic in here.



xoxo

***impress your blog hostess by identifying what that's a quote from