It had to happen.
After posting about the dark chocolate almond milk yesterday, you guys started flooding my brain with amazing chocolaty almond suggestions. I knew it would be good in smoothies and baked goodies, but hadn’t even thought about heating it up to make hot chocolate or, as Vanessa suggested, steeping mint tea in it.
I was all over that.
I heated up the dark chocolate milk + a little plain almond milk to thin it out –the chocolate milk is THICK- for about 1 min 30 sec in the microwave. Added the tea bag,
made my eggs and toast
and then heated again for an additional minute.
It was the perfect morning pick-me-up and tasted SO much like those York peppermint patties!! This will be a holiday staple over here 
Pre-chocolate and egg feast, I hit up the base gym for a killer arms workout:
Arms Workout
[If you plan on doing this on your own, check with a doc before making any fitness changes]
| Warm-up | 5 minutes, elliptical |
| Side laying lateral raise- right side | 15 reps |
| Bench push-ups | 15 |
| Side laying lateral raise-left side | 15 |
| Bench push-ups | 15 |
| *Repeat lat raise combo and push-ups 2 more times, to get 3 sets total | |
| Bench tricep dips | 3 sets of 12 |
| Lat pulldown | 3 sets of 12 |
| Sumo deadlifts | 3 sets of 12 |
| Bicep curls | Countdown reps *More info on this at the bottom of the post |
It’s someone special’s birthday next week –and he’s actually home for it this year!- so I have some birthday fairy errands to run 
Enjoy your day and I’ll see ya later!
xoxo
Gina
Today’s tip: Countdown reps! This is an awesome way to burn out at the end of a workout. My favorite moves to do this with are leg presses, bicep curls, and tricep dips, but the options are endless.
[Even though you’re doing a lot of reps, be sure to chose a weight that enables you to maintain proper form the entire time]
-Start with 10 reps
-Then do 9
-8, 7, 6 and so on
-Then when you get to the last set, instead of doing 1, do 10. Whew!
Hi, I'm Gina. Welcome to The Fitnessista! I love blogging about my adventures as a new mom, military wife and fitness instructor, as well as sharing new workouts and recipes. Check out the About page for more info - thanks for stopping by!
Not a tea fan but you did just remind me to go get some peppermint extract!
Brilliant idea!! Now I want one! lol
That sounds delicious! I had been doing TJ’s red chai steeped in vanilla coconut milk for a while as an afternoon work treat. Steeping tea in milk is such a great way to treat yourself without really going over the top. It feels so indulgent!
That’s SUCH a good idea. I’m on it.
I know you’re pregnant, but you won’t always be. I LOVE dark chocolate almond milk with godiva coffee liqueur. Oh lawdy. So good.
i just heard an angel sing. i’m excited for the day i can add some baileys or vanilla vodka to it, too
In so glad you loved it. =) I’m heating some up right now!
BTW, thank you so much for linking to my blog — it means a lot.
Ohh I love the idea of doing dark chocolate almond milk and peppermint tea! I bet a chocolate peppermint smoothie would be amazing as well! The perfect night time treat! And wow, that countdown workout sounds hard but awesome!
BRILLIANT!! Peppermint tea is one of my favorite things, and I love having it as a de-stressor after a long day. I feel like adding the dark choc almond milk would be something I would LOVE, plus it would be a great sweet something to distract my massive sweet tooth.
I dont like peppermint but I love chocolate almond milk warm!
That sounds like a super idea! I’ve been trying to ease off the coffee bandwagon anyway. Now another good reason to switch to tea!
For whatever reason, your egg looks especially delicious today. Maybe that’s a signal it’s lunchtime here
OMG!! That sounds delicious. Since I can not have coffee, this might be my go to drink in the morning-esp since it is getting chily!!
and thanks for the arm workout session. I have to limit my exercise too but I think this will be good for m
This lack of coffee and limit exercise better pay off soon (it has to relate to fertility treatments)
the countdown reps, aren’t those also called drop sets or is that something different.. those confuse me but I’m always making things harder than they have to be.. oh I’m a mess I tell ya!
for drop sets, i do each set with a lighter weight. so i’ll do 12 reps with a SUPER heavy weight, 12 reps with a moderate weight , and 12 reps with a lighter weight. i call those drop sets since you are literally dropping the weights and replacing them with one slightly lighter (which will feel just as heavy). but i could be mistaken
peppermint patties and almond milk are just about my favorite things ever, but i’ve never tried the chocolate kind…. i can’t wait to make this! i usually steep green tea in hot vanilla almond milk which is lovely too.
I never used to like tea but I am slowly starting too! Wegmans has a tea bar that is phenomenal! That’s so exciting the pilot will be home for his birthday! I know you’ll make it really special!
Yum, I think I’ll try the ‘cold w/mint extract’ version here. I like the Silk Almond Milk but I wish the dark chocolate flavor was more like DARK chocolate. I guess because it’s milk, but it’s pretty sweet and milk-chocolatey to me.
Steeping tea in milk honestly never crossed my mind…but right now I have some Sweet Thai Delight steeping in hot almond milk and I am SO EXCITED!
I love that mug!
The eggs/salsa look so good. I LOVE eggs/salsa!
Thanks for the workout idea w/countdown reps! Never heard of that before. The 10 at the end will slam me! Kinda reminds me of drop sets which I did yesterday with biceps – OW.
So sad I’m sitting at work and can’t go make that RIGHT THIS SECOND.
Yum! That chocolate tea looks amazing! Have you tried it with chai tea?! I LOVE chocolate and chai, I think they are a match made in tea heaven.
YUM!!! that sounds soo good..what a good combo..chocolate and mint!!
I’ve been loving the TJ’s mint melange tea lately. It’s also really good iced!
Peppermint, chocolate and tea. You can’t go wrong!!!
sounds amazing! totally doing that with my hot chocolate and tazo refresh tea:)
I’m heading to the gym on my lunch break today and wanted a new routine to shake things up – thanks!
Yummm, this sounds delish! Another to try that I LURVE:
Seep one mint tea and one french vanilla tea in mug half-filled with water. When done, top off with almond milk (or other type of milk) and stick in the microwave for a minute.
AMAZING.
Umm… I LOVE the idea of steeping mint tea in the chocolate almond milk!
And I love seeing pictures of Bella. My dog’s back home at the moment, and her face looks a lot like Bellas.
what a good idea!!!! mint and chocolate milk! I love putting tea flavors into things to mix it up!
Thanks for sharing the peppermint patty tea concoction!! Gonna try!
I will have to add chocolate almond milk to my shopping list this week….thanks for the idea!
My husband uses peppermint extract for stomach problems, so we always have a ton in the house– I bet a few drops would be delicious in the milk!
Hmm…..I don’t know how this never occurred to me, but this makes me think regular milk chocolate milk heated up might taste a bit like hot chocolate?? This could make my diet a lot easier to bear
Your arm workout was perfect timing! I knew I wanted to do arms before zumba tonight but hadn’t thought of a workout yet. Thanks for doing the work for me
it’s zumba and arms day over here, too
Countdown reps sound awesome!
I’ll definitely have to include those in my next workout – what a great idea! I’m stoked to do that with leg presses 
Mmmm…that dark chocolate almond milks sounds divine with the mint in it – what a FAB idea! Have a lovely day! <3 xyx
Mmm, that tea sounds great. I rarely make tea but I bet the minty chocolate is the perfect combo.
Have a great day, Gina
Gina, I hate to just randomly stick this in here since it has nothing to do with today’s topics but I wanted to say thanks for the Udi’s suggestion last week. (I asked about the best Gluten Free bread for a child.)
We wanted something the rest of the family could eat too so that he wouldn’t feel like he was different. I also wanted something I wouldn’t have to try to ‘trick’ the little ones with. I actually loved the texture for toast and will be eating it myself for toast/grilled cheese from now on. Thanks again for taking the time to suggest it.
What a great combo!! I can’t wait to try it!
My roommate used to make that chocolate milk + mint tea combo all the time last year! I seriously thought she was a genius when she first showed it to me. It’s amazing!
Oh my gosh. I want that drink stat! I’m trying to figure out which protein powder to start buying, and I want to cry. I can’t spend TOO much, and this website made my head spin.
http://www.nutribodyprotein.com/protein-types.php
Yum, that sounds amazing!!
P.S. You have inspired me to start weight training. Before that I was solely a cardio girl, but I already feel stronger! (and my butt kills!)
whoo hoo! i used to be a cardio only girl too, but weights are easy to get hooked on. plus, the results are awesome!
What an awesome idea for a warm, comforting drink! I neeeed that ASAP. I wonder how the dark chocolate almond milk would hold up in making a homemade chocolate sauce?
AHHHHH! That sounds SOOO delicious!! It might be good with Chai as well!! OHhhh my goshh. I need to make a store trip to pick some up RIGHT NOW! (:
I LOVE, LOVE the minty hot chocolate, so delicious! Especially now that’s it’s fall, it’s a perfect soothing treat!
[...] Choco-mint Hot Tea adapted by Fitnessista [...]
Hi Fitnessista! Congrats on your little bundle
I’m due with our first baby June 10th! We are so excited!!! I have a question about the above arm routine… How do you do your sumo dead lifts, and are they safe while preg?
thank you! they’re safe if your body is used to it, and if the belly doesn’t get in the way. i got to the point where my belly was too big to keep doing them
i just did this arm workout – it was great! thanks
awesome- glad you liked it!