I'm currently wrapping up the recovery week of my second round of Wendler 5/3/1. I'm kind of in disbelief with of how quickly each cycle seems to go by. Four weeks doesn't seem like a lot of time, but it feels as though I blinked once and ended up at the end. I'm not going to bore you with the details of my cycle, but if you want to hear more, my logs are up on Instagram. After running the second cycle with the same working numbers as I did for the previous cycle, I was able to greatly improve on all four lifts.

What did I do differently this cycle? I added an extra day of upper body accessory work, and did 30 minutes of cardio after each lifting session. Doing cardio immediately after lifting really helped me push my limits. I was really crabby about it at first, but I feel like I can't skip it anymore. In addition to improving my cardio & lifting pr's, I am sleeping like a baby. I can't think of a single negative thing that has come from the extra work I've put in. 

On a totally different topic, I decided to make granola from scratch the other day. It was so delicious that I think I have a new breakfast addiction. 

The original recipe can be found here, but I made my own tweaks because I don't like the taste of vegetable oil. 

Courtney's Delicious Granola

• 3 cups rolled oats (not instant)
• 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter (melted)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans**

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

1. Mix oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together honey, melted butter and vanilla. Pour liquid mixture over the dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly coated.
2. Spread evenly over a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. After the first 15 minutes, stir the mixture and add an additional 5-15 minutes to the baking time. Bake until golden. 
3. Place cookie sheet on a wire rack to cool. Add in chopped nuts (or other stir in items) and stir to combine. Stir the granola every few minutes as it cools to keep it from sticking to your cookie sheet. 
4. Once the granola has completely cooled, store in an airtight container. It should keep for about 2 weeks.

** You can add 1/2 cup of whatever you want, and as many mix ins as you want. 

If you make this granola I would love to see how you customize it!