Best. Breakfast. Ever.

I'm not really a breakfast person. Sometimes I'll be in the mood for something extremely breakfast-y. Last week I was really craving french toast. Of course I wasn't going to make a giant batch of traditional french toast. That wouldn't be very High School Health Freak of me, now would it? Instead, I came up with this: I sprayed a pan and stuck it on medium-high heat. I took 1 piece of light bread (40 calories per piece) and set it off to the size while the pan heated. In a small bowl I poured a few tablespoons of liquid egg whites, a packet of stevia and a few shakes of cinnamon. I stirred it all together and soaked the bread in it. Then I threw the soaked bread into the pan and cooked it. I took some fat free whipped cream and topped it with some (ok, a lot) of it. I wanted to make it look pretty so I sprinkled a little  bit more cinnamon on top. The final touch was a drizzle of sugar free breakfast syrup. (It's extremely impressive because it has 20 calories per 1/4 cup and the regular syrup has 200 calories and like 50 carbs and sugar.) IT WAS SOOO GOOD. Not all healthified foods have to suck! On the side I brewed a cup of coffee and I poured in a little bit of almond milk and a packet or two of stevia. It was the perfect breakfast, and I would have it every single week if I had the time to make it!
I also have healthy banana oat pancakes I love to make in the summer. I only have them once in a while because it can be a lot of work to make, but it's totally worth it in my opinion. (303)

Bananas vs. Pizza

Recently I haven't had a lot of time to plan out my meals and snacks. Maybe this is why I haven't been very successful lately? I've found a few new favorite foods from this. A lot of the time I'll rush off to work and forget to bring food. I usually go buy something if I'm really hungry. I've figured out many other healthy things to eat than just a pack of almonds at the check lanes. I've found that a cup of greek yogurt and an apple makes a good, quick meal. Frozen single serve vegetables and a banana is a great meal too! When I don't have much time I'll go for a bar of some kind or a bag of pretzels. Cost is a big factor when choosing what to eat. I don't want to spend almost $5 on a small container of fruit so I look for things that are filling, cheap and healthy.

It's really easy to be tempted by the junk food because it's quicker or slightly cheaper. Your body will thank you in the long run for doing little things like this. I try and stay away from things with lots of sugar in it, because most of the time it's not going to keep you full for the rest of your shift. A banana will do you much more good than a bag of fruit snacks. A single banana is less than a quarter and a bag of fruit snacks is about a dollar and some change. This is one of the cases when health food is actually cheaper than junk food. 

One major challenge I've probably already said is how hard it is to avoid the food in the break room. It's near by, it's cheap, it's fast. I'm constantly being tested but in the last week or two I haven't given in at all. Every time that I chose the healthier food, it makes it easier for the next time that I'm in the same situation. I'm slowly digging myself out of the hole I got myself into. A perfect example is yesterday when I was at work, the breakroom had about 50 Papa John's pizzas. Nothing put boxes piled high of steaming hot pizza. I sat there and looked at it, then realized shoved off into the corner was a small pile of bananas. Guess what I picked? NOT PIZZA. Small win for me.

Lesson learned: always bring food from home but when you forget, always eat as healthy as you can and 90% of the time, it turns out you actually don't need pizza.  (436)

Cardio Boredom

Lately I've been going heavy on cardio. Not only for the obvious reason of keeping my aerobic capacity high but to stay in good shape. Too much cardio and not enough weight training is a big thing I need to watch out but that isn't the point of this post. If you ever get bored of cardio and need a little bit of creativity to keep you from hating your workouts, I have a solution. These are some ways that I keep myself busy and happy with my workouts.
So when I spend over an hour on cardio, I get bored. Anyone would, right? I try and mix up the types of cardio I do to train different muscle groups, which helps. I still get bored after a few rotations of stairmaster, treadmill and elliptical. I absolutely HATE doing the bike. It's not fun for me at all because it never really burns my legs the same way a good stairmaster workout does.
 Even though I alternate machines, I still get bored. So then I play around with intensities. If I'm doing the elliptical, which is what I usually spend the most time on, I will turn up the resistance to start at level 10 or above. Then I'll mess with speed and sometimes I'll even change direction and go backwards so my hamstrings get a chance to be worked. On the treadmill, I like to raise the incline up to the maximum level and walk at about 3.7 miles per hour. After I do that for a few minutes, I'll slow down the speed and cut the incline in half. Then after a few more minutes, I'll lower the incline down to a 2 and I'll raise my speed to 6.5 miles per hour. After that,  I'll completely drop the incline to 0 and turn the speed up to 7.5 or 8mph for about a minute or two. I usually repeat the cycle a few more times before switching machines. 
If I'm still dreading my workout even after doing all of these things, I'll distract myself by pulling up a show on Netflix. I'll drop my intensity a little bit and remain at a static pace so I can easily pay attention to my show. Otherwise I usually play around with Pandora or look through my old music and make a new playlist that matches the pace of my workout.
There are lots of little things to do to keep your workouts interesting. Doing the same thing every time you workout can get really boring so I feel like it's important to change things up. Maybe some other time I'll share how to change up a weight training workout? (450)

Restricting

Going back to that job shadow I had, the dietician had a interesting view on when enough is enough. She said you need to find a good balance between being not too restrictive, but also not too forgiving. She said she won't ever keep dessert in her house because she doesn't want the leftovers. Perfectly understandable. She won't keep ice cream in her house because she said she'd eat it every night if it was there. She won't bake a cake for her son's birthday because she'd have to figure out where else to put the rest of the cake. She'll only have one tiny slice of pie at Thanksgiving to avoid eating too much sugar.
To some extent, these are good ideas. Her reasoning for these approaches is "you can't celebrate life everyday". Okay that sounded incredibly harsh but those were her words, not mine. To me, even being that girl who used to restrict herself too much, thinks that her reasoning sounded way too overboard.
I think it would be fine to give yourself ONE small treat per day. If its' a holiday or you have a solid reason to have more than that, go for it. Have a cookie or two at the holiday cookie exchange. And yeah, I actually do think you can "celebrate life" every day. If you want a mini Reese's cup after lunch every single day, go for it. If one day you accidentally finish off the entire bag and eat 10, maybe you should hold off on buying another bag until you can trust yourself not to eat more than one. It takes practice, time and willpower. But not ever allowing yourself to bake a cake for your son's birthday because you're afraid of having leftovers is too harsh. Do you really think that you can't ever have cake for 3 days in a row? This would be a good time to practice adjusting and meal flexibility. Eat less carbs if you know you'll have cake at dinner. Don't go for the oatmeal that day but instead have a protein shake.
Life is meant to be enjoyed, not depriving yourself. I'm not trying to bash the dietician but all I'm saying is that you have to trust yourself enough to enjoy yourself. (380)

New Experiences

Yesterday I attended a job shadow. I took away a lot of valuable advice and a better understanding of what I want from my future. The job shadow was exactly what I had expected in terms of what the job consisted of (I shadowed a registered dietician)
I wanted to share some things that were said to me and elaborate on what she said. The registered dietician that I spoke to was really kind. She didn't exactly have the experience I was looking for because she had only been a RD for 4 years (she had worked in communications for about 25 years before going back to school to get her degree in nutrition) I knew she was very knowledgeable but still had some things to learn herself.
 I asked a lot of questions about what her thoughts were on a variety of topics. I was really curious about what HER diet consisted of. She said she was constantly tweaking and experimenting with her diet, which I completely agreed with. I even gave advice in an early post about adjusting your diet until you find something that works for you. So, we were mainly on the same page about a lot of things. I also asked her about her thoughts on the cost of food and which foods she sacrifices cost for health. She likes to shop organically and believes that GMO's are very bad. I don't exactly agree with her, I have mixed feelings about GMO's but I wouldn't refuse to eat a bag of vegetables that didn't have the "No GMO" mark on it. It's not something of great concern for me as much as chemical additives are (MSG, dyes etc)  She said that if the difference in cost for chicken breast was $3 for organic vs. the average, she would buy the average and just clean the chicken really well. I agree with that, I just don't agree with paying $6 for a handful of blueberries just because the label said it was "organic".
I really really enjoyed my job shadow and can definitely see myself continuing with my current plans to become a registered dietician and athletic trainer. I plan to double major in both.


On a completely different note, I used this really amazing scale at the job shadow, I was given an assessment with a $1000 scale that measured just about everything you could ever want to know about your body composition. Water percentage, muscle mass, fat mass, visceral fat, metabolic age (Apparently I have the metabolism of a 12 year old according to the results. Not sure if that means it's fast or normal?) your basic metabolic rate, bone mass, BMI, literally EVERYTHING you could want to know about yourself. It's all measured by tiny waves that measure the resistance of muscle, fat, bone, water, etc. It was so amazing and I didn't even know that there was a piece of technology that would tell you all of that! (496)

Failure

Failure. Failure is something people don't like to talk about. Failure is seen as a negative, awful thing. Maybe that's why nobody talks about their own failures until they've had success.
Lately I've been failing A LOT. Constantly letting myself down, constantly facing setbacks. I've been so disappointed in myself and just can't get past it. My motivation and willpower has taken a huge blow. It's so hard to get back on track when you know it'll be short lived. I've been trying so hard to get back into my old mindset, but just can't find out how.
What I realized lately is that failure is okay. Failure makes you grow. It makes you smarter, even. You get to know yourself better on a different level. By failing multiple times and missing your goals, it can make you stronger.
I need to realize that success is NOT exponential. It doesn't constantly grow. There are lots of ups and downs. It's a part of life. The best and worst thing about the human body is that nothing is permanent. You can ALWAYS change. You can get fat, skinny, muscular, atrophic, etc. You can always change what you don't like. The hardest part is sticking to your plans.
I've failed by jumping to extremes. I went from being TOO healthy to just the polar opposite. I've seen too many days full of junk food. It's all a part of making me better overall. I understand fitness takes time but I'm often discouraged by the amount of time it takes.
Hopefully I can figure things out now so that I can be strong and fit for track season. It's really important that I share my failure with you because it's something that most people don't do. You only hear of others' success and sometimes it's discouraging. So this is to encourage anyone who's also faced failures. It happens. It's normal. It'll work itself out and change you in the end. Just keep yourself motivated and keep clear intentions. (355)

Workout gear

It seems like anytime I get ready for a workout, I go through a mental checklist of all the things I need. Watch? Check. iPod/Phone? Check. Earbuds? Check, and so on.
Each of those accessories are really helpful and even crucial to help create a great workout. There's a wide range of accessories that can amp up a workout although I personally only need a few.
My only question is this- is it really worth the extra money for the high end gear? I've normally used a cheaper set of earbuds to workout with. I buy the Apple brand ear pods for around $30. I have gone through 3 pairs just this year alone. The same thing happens every time, they'll get beat up and eventually I can't even hear out of one side of them. I get sweat all over them when I run but I feel that the earbuds should be durable enough to take a beating. So, now that I've invested around $90 in earbuds and have had nothing but disappointment, It's lead me to my questioning of the higher end equipment. I want earbuds that hold up and that can take a beating here and there. So far I've looked into several different types. There are over the ear earbuds (the kind that have the little hoook to fit over your ear so that they don't come out) there are the big headphones, the pod shaped ones, etc. I've also compared prices and brands. I've found that my best bet is to invest in a pair of Urbeats by Dre for $100 because they are designed to have a strong cord that will hold up pretty well. I'll try them out and let you know how I like them in a future post!
When it comes to watches, I personally don't even care. All I need is a stopwatch with a split button and I'm golden. None of the extra features really apply to me because it's just not what's important to me. There are so many kinds of advanced watches that do all sorts of things and keep track of things  for you but I'd honestly save the money and calculate things on my own (such as how many miles I just ran)
All in all, the more expensive electronics can benefit you in the long run and are worth spending extra for. Whichever gadget is most important to you, invest a little extra in it to get more out of your workouts.(415)

How do I make food taste better?

A lot of time I hear people make excuses as to why they don't want to eat healthy. Don't get me wrong, I do it all the time. "It's too bland", or "It's not as good as pizza". Of course it's not. If pizza made you fit I'm sure everybody would be eating it for every meal of the day. Since it doesn't, we're stuck with health food. There are so many ways I've learned to literally "spice" up my meals to make them taste really good! You really don't have to compromise flavor for healthiness after all.
Steamed vegetables aren't usually something I eat on it's own. I like to add light salad dressing to add some flavor. Pepper and garlic powder adds a lot of flavor on it's own, but sometimes it's still not enough. Then I add some grated Parmesan and a few more seasonings. That usually does it for me. I season my tilapia the same way. Sometimes I leave out the Parmesan and add cayenne pepper to make it spicy.  
In the frozen section of the grocery store there are usually a ton of steamable bags of frozen vegetables that are already seasoned. A lot of them aren't the best option due to chemical additives and high sodium levels but if you just watch the labels, there are plenty of really great tasting kinds that will make a huge difference to your meal. 
I like to add flavor to plain oatmeal by adding in some protein powder or cocoa powder, stevia and sometimes peanut butter or honey. It adds a lot of sweetness and it tastes a lot like a dessert except it's full of good carbs! I love to top it with, of course, my whipped cream or sometimes if I run out I'll slap on a giant spoonful of vanilla greek yogurt. 
There are lots of ways to get creative with eating healthy. It doesn't always have to be the same old thing every single day. Sometimes I just add random things into my meals to see what tastes good and combines well together. Sometimes it's great and other times it's a disaster but at least I learn what I like. (368)

Bodybuilding.com Review

I've always had a few favorite websites to visit for extra motivation or ideas to turn to when I need a push. I've really took a liking to Bodybuilding.com. It's so much more than what it sounds like, though.
It's a place for motivation to see transformations. Average people can go there to share their before and after photos, their tips that got them started, what supplements they take and even their meal plans. There is also separate sections that features articles on specific topics. I like the fact that it's narrowed down into specific categories so that I can find articles on topics that I'm looking for. I really like the nutrition tab because it gives direction on where to start.
This website goes beyond information and inspiration, it's also a HUGE supplement store! They sell everything from protein, pre-workouts to protein bars. They offer a ton of brands so I'm never unsatisfied by their options.
I've recently ordered from their website and I'm so impressed with the speed of their shipping! It took 4 days and 3 of them were business days. It very happy with the shipping process! Shipping costs $6, which is a pretty fair price. I also was extremely surprised to open the box to find a bunch of free samples, a drawstring bag and a ball cap! It was all completely free! I was honestly amazed at the services! I am really looking forward to ordering from the website again.
Bodybuilding.com is such a great place for not only advice, information and purchasing discounted supplements but it also offers recipes that are specific to your dietary needs and goals. They have lots of healthy recipes that can help curb your cravings and keep you on track! I've found lots of healthified recipes that have helped me through some cravings and have kept me from my goals.
Lastly, the reason I love this website the most is because it's not geared towards men only, there are a lot of athletic females that are featured on the website as well as promoted (such as Jamie Eason, she is a fitness model/figure competitor who also has her own supplement brand). I find it really cool that women are welcomed into the world of fitness just as much as men. I love that it sheds light on female dietary needs as well as starter packs for your goals.
If you're into health and fitness, or are just looking for some new supplements to try out, give bodybuilding.com a try because it's really worth it! (426)

Raspberry Keytone/supplement scams

You may have heard the name of a famous health guru thrown around out in the world of health sciences and nutrient. His name is Dr. Oz. He has his own show mainly directed towards women. He talks about diet and fat loss A LOT. Dr. Oz has always promoted the weirdest treatments, supplements and remedies for various things. A few years ago he was responsible for a huge rage about something called "raspberry ketones". Apparently it was some miracle weight loss supplement that was all natural.
Now usually I'm pretty skeptical about supplements that are supposed to aid in weight loss and improve fitness. A lot of  the time I hear about awful side effects or they turn out to be a huge marketing ploy. I've never taken any myself, but I know people who have. There are hundreds on the market that each claim to be your quick fix to being slim and healthy.
Anyways, raspberry keytones were rumored to be so wonderful and fix all of your problems. Many different brands claimed that they were the best. Of course those are the brands that I think are sketchy. They all claim to be "Number 1" but are they really any better than the other 50 brands? Probably not. Another problem I have with supplements are that they are selling a product in a fraction of the recommended dosage that Dr. Oz would approve. This is incredibly misleading to me because if I were a targeted consumer, I'd think a few pills per day would be fine. But in reality, just to get the recommended dosage, I'd have to take several doses of the product at least 4 or 5 times a day. That's a lot! It's obviously also another way that the companies keep you coming back for their product because almost all of it is filler. (310)
























http://consumeradvisoronline.com/raspberry-ketones-reviews/?utm_source=Bing&utm_medium=CPC&utm_term=raspberry%20ketones%20side%20effects&utm_campaign=Raspberry-Ketones-Top-Tier

Eat This! Not That!

So, I've been really into sharing my favorite health and fitness items lately. This time I have a book series that I should probably let you know about.
I LOVE the book series "Eat This! Not That!". I remember my dad talking about this book that my aunt told him about. He lent her a copy to take home and that was the first time I ever saw that yellow book. I think it was the 2008 edition. So I guess that means I've loved the book series since I was 10 years old!
If you're thinking about a thick book with lots of words, you're thinking the wrong thing. The series is formatted with colorful pictures and pages. It's a guide that compares similar foods to each other, weighs the benefits, the micronutrients, the macronutrients, and the overall quality. There are tons of different editions. I think I own about 6 of them now. I have 2 versions of the original which compares the most popular restaurant chains, common pantry items, typical holiday meals, etc. I also own the drink edition, the best and worst of 2011, the kids edition, the supermarket edition, the comfort food edition and the dessert edition. I actually asked for those last two for my birthday this year (Yeah, that was a typical Sarah move to ask for health books) and my mom somehow found them both on Amazon for super cheap! Amazon should have almost all of the editions or the discount book store will have some too!
I love this book because it gives such great visual comparisons and ways to save yourself some nutritional sacrifices that you may not have otherwise realized. Plus these books aren't the type that you read through once and never touch again. I love to refer back to them every few months when I need a refresher or something new to learn about. It's impossible to catch every bit of information just by reading them once. I always seem to miss something and find it the 3rd or 4th time I read it.
My all time favorite edition is the supermarket edition. It's only comparing groceries and not fast food. I like it because it's relevant to me since I rarely ever eat out. There are lots of different categories for whatever you favorite types of food are. If you love crackers, there's a whole section about the popular ones and the slightly healthier versions of them. There's a frozen food section, a dessert section, a condiments section, bread section etc. It's super helpful to me because there are so many choices at the store that sometimes I can't compare them all on my own. I take what I learn from the books and apply it to my own groceries so I know what to look for (It's how I learned about sodium and sugar content.) It's really relevant and helpful when out in the real world. I feel like it could even double as some type of plan. My dad eats fast food every day (We're polar opposites) and he used this as a tool to lose a bit of weight a while back just by being more wise about his choices. For example, he loves Burger King Whopper Jr.'s and he started ordering them without mayo and saved himself a significant amount of fat in his meal. It's not something everyone thinks about doing.
I definitely recommend these books for an easy and interesting read if you're interested in health swaps! (587)

"Complete Cookie" Review

In my Muscle Brownie review, I mentioned that I also bought a Complete Cookie to review as well. I think you already know where I'm going with this post, but I finally got around to trying it this weekend. The store I got them at only offered one type although they do sell more varieties online. I paid $1.49 for the cookie which is expensive for a single cookie but it's healthier than buying a box of chips ahoy and plus, it was a pretty big cookie.
The cookie smelled really good when I opened the package. It smelled fresh. I ripped off a piece to try. The texture was really soft and chewy, almost a bit doughy. It tasted like exactly like a thicker version of a subway cookie for the most part but there was a bit of an aftertaste that gave away the fact that it's a health cookie. It's not exactly a bad taste, it's just different. Maybe it was just the particular cookie I bought, but there weren't a ton of chocolate chunks in it. I would have like to have seen more in them.
Because the cookie is so big, the wrapper says that there are 2 servings per cookie, so don't get too carried away and eat the entire cookie because it'll cost you around 380 calories and 40+ carbs. I think it would be a better idea to split the cookie into two smaller ones to make the portions a little easier to control.
I still can't decide which I like better; the Muscle Brownie or the Complete Cookie. I took a second trip to buy some more and after trying both of them, I think I like them equally the same. It really just depends on what kind of mood I'm in. Or it may depend on how much money I have on me at the time and how much I feel like spending. After all, the cookie IS 50 cents cheaper than the Muscle Brownie.
If I had to compare both products to Quest bars, Quest bars will always win. Nothing can beat Quest. NOTHING. I haven't bought Quest Bars much lately because I've been trying to find other things to try for more of a variety. If I find anything I really like (or hate) I'll write more reviews in the future! (393)

IIFYM- How Healthy is it?

A popular method of keeping track of how much you eat, and what the macros are of each meal is by using apps such as myfitnesspal (I personally love the app and I use it every day) but I have seen almost every one of my favorite fitness guru’s on Youtube (i.e. Maxx Chewning, Matty Fussaro, 1FitAshMom, Michael Kory) depend on a program called “If It Fits Your Macros” to make gains. Basically all there is to it is calculating all of your macro needs. If you can fit it into your macros, you can eat it. That piece of cake worth 86 carbs? Sure, you can have it. Just as long as it “fits your macros”. That greasy slice of pizza from the food court in the mall worth 36 grams of fat? Sure, just make sure to eat a lower fat dinner so you can make the pizza “fit into your macros”. If you haven’t caught on yet, you can eat whatever you want and still make gains. It seems too good to be true! While all of my favorite Youtubers are making gains and getting lean, I can’t fully jump aboard to the If It Fits Your Macros bandwagon. A lot of things are overlooked when following If It Fits Your Macros. Many people who follow this way of eating often eat processed, packaged meals along with fast food items too. One of my biggest concerns are the sodium content (the answer as to why I get concerned with sodium is in my post about Gatorade) and additives. SO many food additives are present in so many of our foods today that are often toxic, yet still allowed and viewed as “safe” for consumption. Many have been found to cause cancer and mutations in lab animals. (A future post will discuss my thoughts on food additives so I’ll save it) If It Fits Your Macros is a number game and instead of focusing on eating lean proteins and whole foods, are focusing on how much crap they can fit into their diet and still be “healthy”. IIFYM can be helpful to gauge your efforts and to try and help give you a more broad outline on how much you should be eating to make gains, but not if you pack your days full of frozen weight loss dinners and reduced fat ice cream. (400)

Plans For Winter Workouts?

Now that cross country season has ended, I am beginning to slow down on the running. I have been running for over 7 months straight now without resting more than 3 days. I think it's time to give my body a break from all of the pressure and stress that running brings. I plan on running 2-3 miles about 3 times a week. The challenge is now trying to get in better shape for training for track in the spring. Track starts in February/March. I have plenty of time to build back up and resume running. What will I do in the mean time to get into shape? Why, lifting of course. I've missed it so much in the last 3 months. I just started back about a week ago and have been seeing some results already! I'm amazed and I realized how much I love it.
I know that lifting is going to be very effective in getting me stronger and faster over the winter to prepare for the spring. We all know that muscle mass increases the resting metabolic rate, but there are so many more benefits. (Not to mention this could not have come at a better time because those inevitable off days from healthy eating will come and by having extra muscle, I'll burn off Thanksgiving dinner quicker.) I know that I will miss running every day but I have to keep reminding myself that I need to take a break. I will have plenty more seasons in my running career and I want to improve my times. The benefits of weight training will bring me that stronger core and solid muscle to help propel me in the right direction. It's a lot of hard work but it's really encouraging when I can see and feel myself getting stronger. 
I've found it helpful to switch up the workouts frequently to maintain interest. We've talked about lost motivation and what you can do to save it. Switching up and altering workouts is a great way to get yourself excited about what you do. Working out with friends is also really fun to do. I lift with my cross country guy friends and I've learned a lot of new exercises from them that I had never even thought of before. Ellie, (All Things Athletic) has taught me so much about squatting in the last week that it's completely changed my form! Help and inspiration from friends is really nice. 
I'm just beginning my quest to get stronger over the winter and so far it's off to a great start, I just hope that all goes well and it'll only help me in the future. (446)

Muscle Brownie Review

I've been on a streak of discovering new healtified products to try. Sometimes I'm not even looking for them, I just happened to be at the right store at the right time! This is the case this time. This week I found a new product called Muscle Brownies.
 I happened to be in the health supplement aisle at the store buying my usual protein powder when something caught my eye. I had never seen these before. A bright blue package sitting on the shelf with the title "Muscle Brownie". What cool name. That right there would have made me by the product to try regardless of the macronutrients, but of course, I wouldn't be the High School Health Freak if I didn't scan every word on the package! I read over the ingredients list, "No artificial ingredients." Seemed good enough for me to give it a shot! The macros were fairly decent. A single brownie could pack 20 grams of protein? The price was just a little bit high at $1.97, but fairly priced knowing that it's a nutritious product with high quality ingredients. It's the same thought I had on Quest Bars; the muscle brownie is worth buying because yes, you could go to the snack section of the store and buy an entire box of cosmic brownies for $1.70 but you're getting low quality ingredients that won't make you feel good, or perform better.
My initial impression of the product was that it was thick brownie. The texture was a little bit gritty, as expected due to the high content of the whey protein isolate. It was incredible! It tasted like a real brownie! It had a firm bite to it, nothing squishy or too soft. It had some chocolate chips spread throughout the brownie as well as some chocolate drizzle on top for presentation I assume. It was a pretty big brownie that took a while to eat. I finished it over the course of 2 days because I wanted to savor every bit of it!
After tasting the brownie, I did some research on the company. It's a highly trusted company that is all about having non artificial, healthy ingredients. This company offers a wide variety of baked goods. It turns out that my gym used to sell their cookies for a much higher price! I had always wanted to try them but I didn't want to pay $3 for it so I never got around to trying them until now! (415)


http://www.lennylarry.com/

Common Myths About Lifting/Rage

Lately many of us have seen a few more women choosing the squat rack over the cardio equipment than in previous years, but many women still have many false misconceptions about weight lifting. The most common excuse to not lift is “I don’t want to look bulky” or “I don’t want to look masculine.” This is completely untrue. Lifting weights and eating healthy won’t make you look like the female version of the hulk. Steroids will. The women they see who compete in bodybuilding competitions work long and hard to build up their physique to look the way they do along with heavy does of supplementation.
Another common misconception is that “My goal is to burn fat, not build muscle so cardio is the only thing I should worry about.” Wrong again. Although weight lifting weight burns a significantly less amount of calories in one session versus one session of cardio, weight lifting has been proven to boost one’s resting metabolic rate in the long run. Long story short, if you move some weight, you’ll burn more fat at rest.
And “All my muscle will turn to fat when I stop lifting”? Can you turn scrap metal into diamonds? No. Fat and muscle aren’t the same thing. They are two different materials. Muscle can’t turn to fat and fat can’t turn to muscle.  When you think your muscles are turning to “fat" muscle atrophy is actually what happens and gains (fat gains that is) are made. Next? “Women shouldn’t lift heavily. They should only focus on light weights” What? Muscle is respondent to resistance and tension. How can someone build muscle or get toned if there isn’t any resistance? You never know how you’ll look or feel until you try something new like a new class or routine to challenge yourself. Whether it’s adding 10 pounds to your deadlift or doing 3 more reps of every set you do, push yourself. If fitness is as simple as it seems than a lot more people would be fitter than they are now. These common misconceptions shouldn’t even exist because all they do is get into our minds and lead us to believe that we’re inferior to men and should leave weight lifting to them. Women shouldn’t be afraid of looking bulky (because they won't!), or focus only on cardio, because weight lifting goes beyond that. (407)

Part 2

After dinner I'm usually looking for some type of dessert to eat. I have a few recipes I like to make like protein fudge (I usually take the first part of this recipe and never mix it with oats but roll it onto a cookie sheet to cut into squares as fudge recipe here: http://www.buffdudes.us/2014/05/healthy-granola-recipe-easy-packed-with.html ) If I don't make that then sometimes I like to have chocolate covered strawberries, or some dried fruit and dark chocolate with almonds. Sometimes I like to make a protein shake as dessert and top it with some whipped cream or something. But lets be honest, I only eat boring desserts like this when I'm trying really hard. Most of the time I make recipes from Chocolate Covered Katie's blog or I end up eating Quest Bars.

Snacks can be hard to plan because most people eat snacks on the go. A lot of pre-packaged foods can be unhealthy a have a lot of extra ingredients that aren't exactly healthy. A healthy snack I like to eat are light string cheese and grapes. Be careful when looking at the sodium content because cheese is usually high in sodium! Reduced Sugar Craisins make a great snack because they're low in calories but also high in fiber to keep you full. Almonds and other types of nuts make great snacks because they're full of healthy fats and they are easy to eat. Other snacks to eat when you're at home are things like carrots and hummus. I recently just became a fan of hummus, I really love the roasted garlic kind. I was surprised that it's such a low calorie and low fat dip. I used to not like the texture of it very much but it's something that I've gotten used to.

I hope these past two blogs were able to help with new ideas and guidance to stick to healthy eating! I know it's not always the most exciting thing but just do what you can and you'll reach your goals in hardly any time at all. (343)

Meal and Snack Ideas Part 1

Lately I've been giving you tips and tricks on how to go about eating healthily and how to stick to a plan. One of my friends read my blog to get some tips on how she can better organize herself so that she can follow her own healthy eating plan as well as attend a morning fitness program. I'm extremely proud of her decision to get healthier and stronger because I know I've had some type of influence on her. It makes me happy that I can help other people! So, with that being said, this post is being written with her in mind. I want to share some simple ideas for meals and snacks that I typically follow. I hope this gives a good idea of where to start or give ideas if you're bored and looking to switch up your foods for some variety.


Breakfasts are difficult sometimes because there are so many different routes to take. Some questions regarding common decisions to make are "Do I start with something rich in carbs like oatmeal or something high in protein like eggs and bacon?" My best advice on this is follow the plan that makes you feel the best. If you feel like oatmeal is too heavy and will weigh you down, choose something lighter. If you still want to stick to a carb rich breakfast, a great alternative would be rice cakes with peanut butter and a piece of fruit. For something rich in protein, egg whites are a great base to a breakfast. A plate of egg whites with a bowl of greek yogurt is an extremely low fat, high protein breakfast. If you're on the go and doesn't have much time, a protein shake is a great way get breakfast in.


Lunches can also be tricky. It's in the middle of the day, and you're usually pretty hungry and it's really easy to be tempted by fast food. For quick meals that are easy to transport, I love greek yogurt with fruit. It's a staple in my diet. I've mentioned the different ways I like to flavor greek yogurt in a few of my other posts. I also love making wraps for lunch. My favorite wraps are 90 calorie high fiber, whole wheat flatbread wraps. They taste great with some sliced chicken and vegetables and it's super quick to make! I even make it for dinner sometimes too! Some simple salads also make a great lunch.


Dinner is always my favorite meal of the day. I absolutely love steaming up a ton of vegetables and seasoning them with pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and a little bit of sea salt. I love throwing it all into a big bowl with a little bit of grated parmesan cheese and light dressing. Baked potatoes make for a really filling dinner because of the complex carbs. I like to make tilapia and have a baked potato on the side. I've also made rice bowls before like Panchero's. I steam some brown rice and corn and mix it in with onion, peppers and black beans. For a dressing I usually use Light Western dressing.


(Blog to be continued...) (529)

Artic Zero "Ice Cream" Review

What if I told you that you could eat an entire pint of ice cream in one sitting? Would you do it? What if I told you that you would only consume a maximum of 150 calories? Seems impossible, doesn't it?
A few months ago I was at Hyvee and saw this ice cream in the organic health section called "Artic Zero". There were 2 flavors on the shelf and on each container it had a blue label that read "Only 150 calories per PINT!" I had to do a double take. That's absolutely amazing. I looked at the label and it said it was $5. I'm not one to buy things without doing my research, so I didn't buy it.
About 2 weeks ago I was in Walmart and saw the same "ice cream" again. This time there were more flavors. I read the label more closely and found out that there are only 36 calories per half cup and 7 carbs while also having some protein in it. I looked at the ingredients list and everything in it was clean and healthy! It was about 50 cents cheaper than at Hyvee. I still didn't buy it because I couldn't decide on a flavor. I told myself that if I ate healthy all week, that on Friday I would buy it for myself.
That Friday I went back for the Cookies N Cream flavor. I thawed it out and opened it up! It wasn't what I expected at all appearance wise. It was a greyish brown color. There definitely were not cookie chunks in there if it was 150 calories per pint. I tried a bite.  It was smooth and creamy like ice cream. But totally not ice cream. I could work with it though! It wasn't bad! I didn't really get the essence of cookies and cream, it tasted a little bit like coffee. My mom tried a bite and thought so too. I wouldn't eat it all by itself, but it was for sure worth my money. I put some into a bowl and drenched it Artic Zero in some Fat Free Redi Wip (My absolute favorite thing on Earth next to Quest bars and peanut butter) and threw a few sprinkles on top for presentation. I took another bite. The difference was amazing! The textures together were soft and smooth. I loved it. I didn't eat the entire pint though, I had a little more self control than that. I mean I don't really want to eat $4.50 in one sitting anyways.
Overall, I give Artic Zero an 8/10. I get why it's so expensive, much like Quest Bars, they use high quality ingredients justifying the price of the product. I am for sure going to try more varieties in the future. It's an amazing alternative to ice cream and a great way to eat clean and stay on track. (485)




 Artic Zero's website:
http://www.arcticzero.com/

Maintaining Motivation

Being motivated is one thing, but maintaining it is another. Maintaining your own personal motivation to achieve your goals is really important for many reasons. It's important to me because it keeps me happy, focused, and on track. A lot of the time when I get off track, it's because I've lost my self motivation. This has happened to me enough because I've found many ways to maintain my motivation.
One way that always helps me find my motivation is looking at Pinterest. I feel like I have mentioned this in a previous post but this is such a huge way to remind yourself why you're doing what you're doing. If you lose motivation to continue on your project of decorating your room, look at Pinterest for more ideas and themes. In my situation, however, I use the running tab to remind myself why I love racing and training. I use it to read quotes and links to articles about running. I love using Pinterest because of how organized it is. It usually only takes me 20 minutes to feel restored.


Another great way I keep motivated is by allowing myself to pick out a reward at the end of each week that I accomplish something new like PRing in a race, or giving up a junk food I like. I either replace that junk food with a health food (I replaced ice cream with a new type of ice cream I'll review in my next post) or I reward myself with a new running jacket or something like that. Bigger rewards go with bigger achievements. It keeps me motivated because I've proven myself to sticking to a goal and achieving it.


Staying motivated also means keeping your intentions clear. Remind yourself daily and encourage yourself to keep going. I often slip up all too often but I've only recently figured out that if I reiterate to myself my list of goals in my mind, I feel better knowing that I have a clear definition of what is going to happen. It helps me get back up and look through things I need to improve on. (356)

Finding Time To Work Out

Many of us are extremely busy with school, homework, extra curricular activities and maybe even a job. It can be really hard to manage all of your time and finding a good balance. Most people work or go to school all day and then go straight into other activities while leaving little time for themselves or free time.
I personally build time into my day to get various tasks done. If I have time a the end of a class that the teacher isn't teaching anymore, I use that time to read a book which helps shave off a few pages of my weekly reading for class. I use this strategy to help myself find time to work out. I'll share a few tips and tricks to help you find time to get in some exercise without having to specifically divide your time even further to work out.
In the morning when I wake up,  I check social media and I know a lot of other people do too. During the time that you check your social media, try doing squats or lunges as you scroll through your news feed and as you double tap those pictures on Instagram. Little things like this will add up over time.  Your legs will get stronger, you feel a little more awake and plus you just got yourself all caught up on this morning's social media. Everybody wins.
 When you go to school and your class is on the other side of the hall, take the long way. Or drop your bag off in class and walk around in the halls to meet you friends. Extra trips like this will add up over time too! When you are walking into school in the morning with a 30 pound backpack, keep in mind that it counts for something, especially when you're parked far away in the parking lot.
At dinner when you're waiting for your food to cook in the oven, use that time to do an ab work out, or maybe put on some music and dance around in your kitchen (Yeah I seriously do this especially if I'm by myself...no shame)
There are several ways to get in a little bit more exercise in every day even if you aren't actually "working out". Little workouts through the day definitely add up over time and contribute to building yourself up stronger and better. (401)

Intermittent Fasting vs. Frequent Eating

Intermittent Fasting has been a popular method of increasing lean body mass while decreasing body fat while the method of eating 5-6 small and frequent meals per day is also popular but there is much controversy on which method is best for fat loss and just leaning out overall. I want to compare the benefits of each side of them to give a clearer idea of why each way could be both good and bad. Depending on your needs, it could also show which route might be best.

In order to benefit from intermittent fasting, you'd need to do it for a consistently cycled period of time. If you do it too much, then you face muscle loss and a slowed metabolism. The main outlined benefits of intermittent fasting are insulin level reduction and increased glucagon production. 

I've tried this a few times just to see what would happen, and I took away some positive notes. I felt a lot more aware of my body. What might be mistaken for hunger is often just stomach rumbling. I never actually felt truly hungry too many times. Hunger pangs only lasted about 5-10 minutes or so and they didn't return until several hours later. Contrary to belief, I figured out I'm actually just fine going 18-24 hours without food. I didn't feel too weak until I started running. That was a major downside to the experience. I wouldn't recommend working out until AFTER you have broken your fast, but that wasn't an option for me. 

As for frequently eating throughout the day, meals are best to be consistently paced through the day with a moderate amount of food in each meal. Main benefits are well, you get to eat constantly and who wouldn't want that? The goals would be to keep blood sugar stabalized.

Some things I experienced with frequent eating was that I was pretty hungry all the time even though I was constantly eating. Small meals eaten throughout the day digest fairly quickly, I felt more full when I took in a majority of my calories with one larger meal and a few snacks (which is what I normally do if I'm not using myself as an experiment) Another thing I noticed was that I was always thinking about food. "What am I going to have?" and  "When can I eat next?" were frequent thoughts I had. Another positive thing I noticed was that I was always energized for my workouts.

Both methods have benefits and some negative aspects but in the end it's really just whatever you prefer and whatever works best in your everyday schedule. (437)

Marketing Tricks and Food Swaps

I've briefly touched on chemical additives in my last post and about marketing these things has healthy.
Lately I've seen a lot of advertising in magazines and on TV for new "diet" foods. There are thousands of them out there that claim to have some kind of health benefit. No matter if it's "low carb" or "fat free", there always seems to be a catch.
I'm usually that weird girl standing in the frozen food aisle reading labels on frozen spinach to make sure I'm not buying any with added salt. If I'm picky about something as small as that, you already know it gets worse as I make my way through the rest of the store. I stand there reading just about every single label on foods I haven't bought before but am thinking about trying. 9 times out of 10, I end up putting the food back down. Why? Because the food labels scare me. This so called "health" food may have 20+ ingredients. Just because it may have less than 100 calories per serving doesn't mean it's going to make me feel good about buying it. Ingredients that I've never wanted to eat are popping up in foods that they have no place to appear on. Why does ketchup have high fructose corn syrup? Why does this "health" bread have evaporated cane juice in it?
People are often tricked into buying something completely unbeneficial to their health being under the impression that they are swapping an unhealthy food for something that is supposed to be healthy. A great example is yogurt. An original and standard yogurt has around 25-30 grams of sugar and 160 calories per container. People often make the switch to a light version of yogurt, which isn't bad because the calories and sugar are reduced, but chemicals such as aspartame have been added to sweeten the yogurt unnaturally. I skip yogurt all together and buy plain, fat free greek yogurt with a higher protein content than regular yogurt and I flavor it with a stevia packet and some vanilla extract.
When it comes to processed things like bread and crackers, which I try to eat as minimally as possible (although it's hard to always eat fresh food while being at school) try to look for the variety with the least amount of ingredients, or at least be aware of everything in that food. Cheez it's aren't ideal because the actual amount of cheese in them is probably a negligible amount and plus there is a lot of fat in them that shouldn't be. Instead I'd choose Blue Diamond Nut Thins. They're crackers made out of brown rice and almond flour. They are rich in the good kind of carbs and have a minimal amount of ingredients. (And yeah, they do actually taste good!)
Bottom line: don't let marketing fool you into thinking you're doing yourself favor when you actually aren't! (486)

Chemical Additives

Most of us have hundreds of products in our pantries at home that are pre-packaged and processed. I’m sure foods like cereals, frozen dinners, canned soups, breads and pastries are all commonly found in the average American household. But do you REALLY know what you’re eating? Have you ever looked at the ingredient lists? 

There are words found on food labels that I can’t even pronounce. My mom has a rule of thumb that goes “If you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it!” I’ve taken it a step further and I don’t eat additives or preservatives that I CAN pronounce if know the risks and side effects. I read up on my “Eat This! Not That!: Supermarket Survival Guide” food additive dictionary section just out of pure curiosity about what additives are harmless (Such as Maltodextrin and Absorbic Acid) and which ones should be consumed as minimally as possible (Such as BHT and monosodium glutamate) 

To my surprise, dangerous additives are found in a majority of foods on the shelves at grocery stores. Something may be marketed as “diet” or “healthy” but when looking at the actual ingredients, these so called “healthy” options are literally toxic to the body. Many food additives that are legal in America are banned in many other countries all over the world. Why are they allowed in America? If additives run the risk of causing cancer, ADHD/hyperactivity of the brain, metabolic dysfunction while also contributing to obesity and addiction, why is the USDA allowing these chemicals to be put into these foods? I understand that food companies aren’t about the safety and health status of the general public. They’re all about money, marketing and profit. I feel that stricter rules and regulations on chemical additives should be put in place for the sake of the public. If that isn’t achievable or realistic enough , he least the government could do is put warnings on food labels for products with potentially harmful ingredients.

A Really Bad Week.

Working out can be hard when you don't have the motivation. Sometimes you just don't feel like it. It happens to everbody at some point. The inspiration of this blog comes from an off week I had last week.

I felt awful. I was swamped with homework, I was overwhelmed, stressed and tired. I wasn't eating the best which only made things worse. I had a terrible race in which I physically couldn't even finish as a result of the toll the week took on my body.
It all started 2 weeks ago on a Thursday. I ran a very hilly course and had a hard time recovering. It was a decent race, I finished in 29th place out of a little over 200 girls. I was fine with my results because I know it was a really tough course. I went to homecoming on that Saturday night and danced for almost 3 hours straight which probably didn't help my legs recover at all. Sunday it was a struggle to even get out of bed. My calves felt so sore I could barely even walk! That's super rare for me. I'm not one to get sore muscles very easily. Monday at practice we did a tough track workout that usually wasn't too difficult for me. My coach cut my workout down by 1,000 meters when he realized how tough of a time I was having. The next day I still wasn't running my best so the rest of the week he altered my workouts. My legs felt sore, heavy and tired. It was extremely hard for me to run what I call my normal pace. I had no motivation, I was so overwhelmed and upset with myself. How did I find the motivation again?
Be nice to yourself. Understand yourself. Let yourself "slack" (taking it easy in other words. I call it slacking because it was so unusual of me to be struggling like this that it made me look lazy) Understand that everybody can have weeks where they struggle. Make sure you know that you couldn't have prevented it. Tell yourself you'll take it a day at a time. I was proactive last weekend with homework. I got organized. I planned. I made sure I was prepared for my meet this week. I slept a lot, I ate well. Guess how Monday's practice went? A lot better than last Monday's. I felt refreshed. Still not back up to 100% better but I know that if I keep doing these things, I'll recover soon.
As far as motivation goes, I reminded myself why I feel so passionate about running and racing. I got on Pinterest and looked through the running tabs, I downloaded a few new songs to listen to when I warm up at meets.
Just unerstand yourself and listen to your body. Take a break and ease up when you feel like you need to, I promise it won't make you a slacker or a bad runner. Fitness improves over time. Life isn't instant results.

Meal Preparation

There are a lot of fitness accounts on  Twitter and Instagram and a lot of them post about meal preparation. Meal preparation is when you cook all of your meals for the week at once, and store them in individual containers and portions. Meal preparation can be a helpful and a great way keep organized but as does anything, it has it’s downfalls too.
Meal preparation keeps you on track and gives you a broad plan to follow. You always know what you are going to have to eat and exactly how much. It takes a lot of guesswork out of eating. Preparing meals is also a good way to save time. There isn’t much room for error if you stick to what you have planned and only eat what you put in the containers, which helps you eat healthy.
Meal preparation is time consuming if you don’t know how to be efficient when you cook it all at once. Cooking a few foods at time is great because you don’t get overwhelmed having too many things cooking at once but it also leads to a lack of variety in your diet. Another problem with meal planning is that it takes up a lot of space in your fridge. If you don’t live alone, which you most likely don’t, then you know your family’s other foods will occupy a lot of space already and 20 containers of pre-portioned food sitting in your fridge isn’t exactly ideal as far as space goes. Also, with cooking ahead as the week goes on, the food isn’t as fresh. If Sunday is your prep day, sure Monday’s meals will taste fine but what about Friday’s lunch? The brown rice dried out, the greek yogurt got watery, and the tilapia tastes bland. This could easily be fixed if there were 2 days per week planned out as prep days. Another way that could work would to cook one day ahead. As you cook dinner, you could make twice the amount for the next night and use the side dishes as lunch to throw together a few easy meals.
Meal prep has it’s ups and downs. It’s much healthier than eating out, it’s practical, time saving and useful but can also lack variety and tie up the fridge space if it isn’t done the right way.

Quest Cravings Review

Today at lunch I went to the store to pick up some Quest Bars for the week. I usually make sure to have a few on hand every week to snack on as breakfast when I work or for Cross Country meets. The store I buy them at is running a sale that is about 20 cents cheaper per bar than normal. I realized their Quest Cravings Peanut Butter Cups were on sale too, which are normally almost a dollar more. I decided to give them a try. Before we get into the actual review, I’ll give a rundown of the macros for this. For 2 cups it’s setting you back about 240 calories, 17 grams of (healthy) fat, 20 grams of protein, 1 gram of sugar, 3 grams of fiber and about 10 carbs (4 net) Not bad for a dessert item, but still a little high in calories but understandable due to the content of fats coming from peanuts and cashews.
At first bite, the chocolate tasted like the chocolate chunks they put in the cookie dough bars and chocolate chunk bars, which I love because they have a certain sweet yet salty contrast. Then I started to taste the peanut butter filling. It tasted just like a real Reese’s cup at first, but then it started to taste really thick and chalky sort of like when you don’t mix a protein shake all the way and get a glob of protein powder. It was crumbly and had a drier consistency than a real Reese’s cup. They don’t taste too bad, but I’d rather eat a Quest Bar if I wanted to eat something dessert-like.  If I were really craving something sweet, I’d buy actual Reese’s cups. They are actually lower in calories and fat than these Quest Cravings. Sure I wouldn’t exactly be “eating clean” but I’d work it into a cheat meal or something. Reese’s are about half the price of the Quest Cups too.  
As we all know, I love Quest Nutrition’s products but this time I wasn’t exactly blown away. Overall, I’d give them a 7/10 because they managed to get the crumbly peanut butter taste in the first bite but the thick chalky texture afterwards was really hard to get past.  (382)

It's All About Fall

Fall has officially begun, the other day marked the fall equinox and all you seem to see are fall foods. I LOVE fall. I love the food, the weather and especially fall fashion. Anyways,  Pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin spice M&M’s, pumpkin donuts, candy corn, orange sugar cookies are all over the stores. My weakness is my mom’s pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting. I only have them once or twice a year and when I do eat them, the whole pan is gone within a day or two thanks to me. I’ve been trying to clean up my diet lately so instead of making pumpkin bars and drinking sugary “coffee” drinks, I’ve decided to take a different approach to fall eating. I have a recipe for 35 calorie pumpkin pie that I absolutely love! All it really has in it is a can of pumpkin, an egg, some almond milk, vanilla, stevia and spices. It’s super healthy because it’s packed full of vitamins, really low in carbs because there isn’t a crust and it has no added sugar because stevia is used in place of sugar. It tastes amazing with some fat free Redi Whip! Another one of my favorite recipes are pumpkin bars that are made with a thin layer of graham cracker crust and the pumpkin filling is a can of pumpkin, garbanzo beans and a few other ingredients. This is also a really delicious and healthy recipe I got from a youtuber I watch named SarahFit. (I’ll link all of my favorite recipes at the end of this post) As far as homemade recipes go, I’ve come up with pumpkin spice greek yogurt that I love to dip apple slices in. I add nonfat plain greek yogurt, pure pumkin, almond milk, stevia, vanilla, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice into a bowl and mix it all together and it’s amazing! Lastly, I’ve really been obsessed with making warm cinnamon apples. I slice up some apples and add some water to a saucepan to medium heat, coat the apples in stevia and cinnamon and cook them for about 10 minutes and top them with a bit of whipped cream. It’s so much healthier than using regular sugar and butter in the basic recipes. I love fall and of course have a pumpkin bar or orange sugar cookie here and there but I also really love to take unhealthy recipes and health-ifying them up to make them my own! (420)

Quest Bar Addicton

A little bit under a year ago I tried my very first Quest Bar. Quest Bars are my addiction. It’s like crack for fitness freaks. There. I said It. Quest Bars are premium protein bars that are high in fiber, low in net carbs and taste AMAZING. I had first heard of Quest Bars in a Jenna Marbles video on Youtube. I looked them up online but quickly closed the tab when I found out that for a box of 12, it would cost me over $25! I thought it was too much to pay. A few months passed and I had recently joined a new gym. The gym I started going to sold Quest Bars and after a few weeks of apprehension, I decided to give them a try. I paid  $2.20 for one Vanilla Almond Crunch bar. I took a bite. It tasted chewy and salty. They weren’t what I expected at all. I was a little put off but decided to go back to another flavor the next day. This time I bought Cookie Dough. It was SO GOOD! I heated it up in the microwave for about 12 seconds to soften it up. It tasted like cookie dough and the chunks of chocolate running throughout the bar was complete bliss. It was so amazing to think I could get the flavor of every decadent dessert I loved while getting in 20 grams of protein and almost 20 grams of fiber! I kept going back for more. I asked for them for Christmas and I asked for them for my birthday and I spend all of my money on them. It truly is an obsession. To this day I buy them on a regular basis and don’t mind the price of them because I know that I am buying a high quality bar with absolutely no artificial sweeteners or chemicals to sabotage my fitness level. A lot of other cheaper protein bars have a lot of artificial and unneeded ingredients like cellulose or collagen (it's a cheap way to boost the protein content of the bar but it actually doesn't even count as real protein)

 Recently Quest Nutrition (the makers of Quest Bars) have recently announced the release of Protein CHIPS. Yes, Protein chips. Also containing less than 200 calories and packed with 20 grams of protein while also remaining low carb, it seems like they are macro geniuses! I haven’t seen them in stores here but I am eager to try them to see if they live up to all of the hype. Aside from over a dozen flavors of protein bars (such as Apple Pie, White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake, Cookies and Crème and even Chocolate Brownie) and “Quest Cravings” which are mock Reese’s cups. (A review to soon come)  I am an avid buyer and lover of Quest Nutrition and I honestly can’t wait to see what else they will release in the future!

Click the link below at your own risk to see why I'm so addicted

http://www.questnutrition.com/?utm_source=msn&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=(roi+nutrition)+branded+-+search&utm_content=quest+nutrition&utm_term=quest%20nutrition

Is Gatorade Actually Beneficial?

Sports drinks seem like a common choice among athletes. I especially see football players drinking Gatorade like it’s water. My question posed for today is; Is Gatorade really necessary or worth it?
     I have formed my own personal opinion over time on Gatorade and other various sports drinks. I personally think Gatorade is a waste. It’s extremely high in sugar, carbs and salt. I’d rather save my macros for something better like frozen yogurt or bowl of cereal. I’ve read in several different places that you should never drink your calories, and I couldn’t agree more. I do understand that the point of sports drinks are to replenish electrolytes lost during INTENSE exercise. Most of the people I have seen drinking Gatorade haven’t even broken a sweat (with the exception of football players) My health teacher in middle school let us bring drinks and a snack sometimes. She always had a rule that you weren’t allowed to bring in Gatorade unless you have just come from gym class. She had a valid point. If you aren’t excessively sweating or have been exercising for more than 60-90 minutes, it really isn’t necessary at all. Allow me to explain.
As I mentioned above, Gatorade has a lot of sugar, carbs and salt. SMALL amounts of sugar after an intense workout has been shown in numerous studies to be beneficial if done right. (i.e. the whole “drinking chocolate milk after a workout is actually healthy” thing) but if you aren’t at loss for electrolytes, which means you are consuming excess sugar and excess carbs and EXCESS sodium. If you drank 2 20 ounce bottles Gatorade’s in one sitting while you were not sweating or in need of replenishing electrolytes, that’s 68 carbs, 68 grams of sugar, 540mg of sodium and 260 excess calories. Your body will most likely only store a small percentage of that in your muscles as glycogen to be used for later. But what happens to the rest? It’s stored as fat.
Also, I feel that the sodium content of Gatorade is too highly proportioned to the potassium content in one 20 ounce bottle.  According to the USDA, the average American requires 3,500mg of potassium per day and only 2,500mg (maximum) of sodium. Potassium is important for many reasons and if you don’t get enough, it could result in minor complications. If you consume too much sodium and not enough potassium, a lot can happen on a cellular level. Sodium will be absorbed by water in the cells which causes fluid retention. When you eat something salty, you often get thirsty and drink lots of water. This is now diluting your levels of potassium even more which makes things harder for your body. There are many ways to add potassium to your diet without drinking it in Gatorade and adding to the sodium levels. So just to wrap things up, Gatorade is not only a waste of macronutrients, but it also can hinder your levels of sodium and potassium if you incorrectly consume it. Not saying that I’d never drink another Gatorade in my life, I’m just saying water is always my first choice but Gatorade on special occasions. (539)

Moderation and Weekends

Most of the time you hear that people find it pretty easy to eat healthy during the week (Monday through Thursday in most cases) because they have a routine and are used to eating that way. Lots of people throw away all their potential gains and hard work with binging on junk foods on the weekends. Sure a lot of us go out during the weekend to meet a friend for pizza or going over to a relatives house and enjoying that slice of cake that grandma made specially for  you. But it doesn't stop there. A lot of people (including me) find it hard to stay on track during the weekend. I have constantly changing schedules every weekend from having cross country meets on Saturday mornings or having Saturday practice, having plans with my friends or running errands with my mom all day to laying around and watching TV all day. No weekend schedule is consistent for me. I never know where I'll be or what food is available to me. I eat at home 100% of the time. I pack snacks if I know I am going to be out for a while (Usually none other than a Quest Bar)  I've gotten good at turning down unhealthy fast food and snacks and just going hungry until I can get home. It's much easier that way and it's a good way to gain some will power. Due to many ever changing schedules, lots of people over indulge and make excuses such as "there wasn't anything healthy at the party" or "Why not? It's the weekend!" but those thing snowball into being every weekend. Once in a while turns into gorging on food Friday and Saturday nights. Of course that slice of pizza on Friday night is fine, but when you add in Grandma's cake the next night, and McDonalds after church and late night snacks the next, you've blown it for the week all in a matter of  48 hours. I find it hard to cut myself off of sugar because I love to bake on the weekends, but I bake healthier things now to avoid the unnecessary sugar and calories (Such as my 35 calorie pumpkin pie that I'll be telling you about in a later blog) It's all about moderation and finding a happy medium. It might take a while to get there, but when you do, it'll be one step in the right direction of forming good habits.

Rest Days

I currently run 6/7 days of the week. I am expected to run 7 days per week as instructed by my Cross Country Coach. I take 1 day off from all forms of exercise once a week to ensure that my muscles can repair themselves properly. At my busiest, being involved in 2 school sports at a time, lifting/conditioning outside of school AND balancing school AND a job, I am constantly on my feet. I feel that one day per week of NO exercise whatsoever (not even taking the dog for a 2 mile walk) is completely necessary for proper healing and functioning. During a workout, you are constantly breaking down your muscle fibers. Think of it as survival of the fittest, but on a cellular level. The stronger muscle fibers survive and recruit more fibers to build itself stronger. The weaker ones break and are left to be replenished and are built back stronger for the next time that they are going to be used.  If the rest time between works outs isn’t long enough, the muscles have a difficult time restoring the small fibers that break apart thus slowing recovery time and making me feel as though I am not running as optimally as I’d like to. This feeling is also recognized by sluggishness. If you’ve ever felt awful after a few days after a race day (which can be described by feeling like your legs have turned into bricks and have an extremely hard time moving them, or constantly feeling like you need to stop and walk) is a strong indication that you haven’t recovered properly. Rest days are great days to cross off things on your to do list such as run errands or do homework. I like to take rest days on Sundays so I can plan my week and recuperate. Rest days when lifting are best after one or two consecutive days in the gym rather than after a few easier days. Everyone can benefit from rest days if they are used properly and timed right, so use them to your full advantage to get the most out of your workouts (359)

Running With Music

Have you ever run or worked out while listening to music? I'm sure we all have at some point! I have a special iPod designated specifically for running. It's an old blue iPod shuffle I bought in the 5th grade. It seems so lame yet simple. I really love it because for those reasons. I don't want any extra weight or complicated settings. All I need to do is click a button to change the song and click again to pause my music. I love running with music because it makes my runs more interesting. Aside from running different routes, changing up my music also keeps me motivated. I'm not allowed to run with music in during Cross Country season but during the summer I update my playlists every week to keep things current. Music is a life saver on long runs. If I didn't have music to run to, I'd have to listen to myself breathe 10 miles. I can barely stand hearing myself breathe hard in a race only 2.5 miles long let alone on over distance runs/ recovery days!
Some people would disagree and say that running with music actually hinders their pace. The beats per minute can easily sync with your pace. If you're listening to a fast song (For example, Rap God by Eminem) you're more likely to run faster to match the beats per minute. Some people are really thrown off by the variety of beats per minute a song has and don't like the fact that it won't necessarily guarantee a consistent pace.
This leads me to my next point, if using a special playlist (or ipod in my case) only fill it with upbeat songs. I am a huge fan of Ed Sheeran but I wouldn't run to his songs.I listen to Ed Sheeran in the car or before bed to mellow out. I'm also an even bigger fan of 5 Seconds Of Summer so I  obviously have a bunch their songs on my running iPod to listen to. (I can run a solid 4 miles by listening to only 5 Seconds Of Summer before I run out of their songs and maybe 5 on a good day) Also it's pretty likely that if I'm not listening to 5 Seconds Of Summer, I'm listening to Hoodie Allen, G-Eazy or Jake Miller. I love variety. From old songs to the most recent songs, from Florida Georgia Line to Nirvana, chances are I have it all. Bottom line: I LOVE running with music. (413)

Places To Run

There are many great places to run. Some like the treadmill and prefer their view to be an episode of their favorite TV show on Netflix off of their iPad, some prefer a trail along the lining of the woods near their houses. Some prefer to run alongside the river, and some prefer to run on gravel roads. Sometimes it really just depends on the part of the country where you live or even town and neighborhood. I am fortunate enough to live near some beautiful places with a good variety of scenery no matter where I choose to run. My all time favorite fall running place is the park that we hold our Saturday morning practices at. The sharp, cool, morning air surrounds me and my favorite hoodie and running tights as the sun rises up above the colorful ripened treetops. My shoes are wet with dewy frost and the warming sunlight splashes onto my face as I run up the steep hills in the park. The colors of the deep green grass and fallen orange, yellow and red leaves are always so vibrant. I love the sound of the crunching and shuffling of the leaves. My favorite time of year is fall and I have so many great memories of running in the morning on Saturday's. My teammates seem to really enjoy Saturday runs too. As for weekdays, my view is either a track surrounded by football fields or a the paved trail that I mentioned earlier. I'm lucky to live close enough to the trail so I can run from both school or my house and get nearly the same mileage. Changing up the scenery can really help keep me from getting bored or tired of the workout. The same workouts on the track may get boring, but if you move them to the soccer field it seems completely different. It keeps me motivated and makes everything seem to go by faster. It's also a good idea to be inconsistent with routes to avoid being too predictable (also it's just a safer idea in general)

Is Working Out When Sick Actually Safe?

Since school has started, we are all exposed to a lot more bacteria than we were over the summer. Recently a lot of viruses have been going around. A few teammates and friends of mine have gotten sick, all having high fevers, runny noses and sore throats. It feels awful to be extremely busy and sick. I don’t know about you but when I get sick, I get sick at the most inconvenient times. I usually get sick in the middle of winter when I have a million obligations and things tying me down to school. I try to only miss a day or two maximum. I’m not sick at the moment (and I’m hoping I won’t be) but a lot of times I have wondered if it’s actually safe to workout as normal when I’m sick. I learned last year from my coach that running while having a fever is unsafe because of something regarding the bloodstream and the high body temperature interfering making things dangerous. I have read in a few places that it’s completely safe and un-harmful to continue with your routines as you usually would. If I’m mildly sick with maybe a small cough and stuffy nose then yes, I’d push through it and make it through my workouts at a regular pace. If I didn’t have a fever but felt extremely weak, tired and congested, I would consider taking a day off or doing something lighter such as yoga or light weight training. I don’t think it’s necessary to take every day off for the entirety of the sickness but I do think that on the worst day, it’s pretty safe to say you need a day of rest. If a fever lasts more than a day, It’s okay to take time off until the fever subsides. I personally don’t take anything for fevers because the point of a fever is to elevate the body temperature to neutralize bacteria and viruses in the body. If the body temperature is artificially lowered with medicine, then the body can’t burn up the bacteria which could potentially cause it to linger in the body even longer. It really depends on your personal symptoms and sickness. If it’s contagious and you belong to the gym, it’s obviously probably best to work out at home. (402)

Whey Protein Supplements: The Good, The Bad and The Pricey

A huge amount of teenage guys at school have been seen walking all over school before lifting or sports practice with those obnoxious blender bottles mixing a protein shake. Do you ever wonder what type of protein they use? Do they use the cheap brands like Body Fortress? Do they use higher end protein like Cellucor and BSN? Is there even a difference besides flavor? Are they over paying? You probably haven’t ever thought about it, but I have. So I’ll explain anyways. I always believe in getting the most for your money. When it comes to supplements, I also believe you should get the most macros for your money. In my mind for example, that means that when comparing a scoop of chocolate whey that is 150 calories, 20 grams of protein and 8 carbs and another of a different brand that is 140 calories, 30 protein and 4 carbs, the second option is ALWAYS better. I have tried many different brands of whey protein. Since I don’t like very many kinds of meat, I love to use protein supplements to help me get in enough protein. I’ve secretly snuck a 1/2 scoop of my brother’s chocolate peanut butter Body Fortress whey just to see how it compared with my BSN Lean Dessert Whey (An $18 product compared to a $40 product) I must say that there is an immense difference! The Body Fortress brand was chunky, gritty and hard to mix. The taste was very bland and the protein left a weird after taste. My vanilla BSN whey is smooth, easy to mix and it tastes extremely amazing! In this case, the $40 product wins. Although my BSN Lean Dessert Protein tastes amazing, the price is pretty steep for a teenage girl’s budget. I don’t have the means to replenish my supply every time I finish off a tub. I may buy a new one as a reward after finals, or when I go into a season of sports. In the mean time, I alternate supplements with my all time favorite whey protein powder. Six Star Elite Series Decadent Chocolate Whey. It’s a step up from the disastrous Body Fortress (Although I’ve heard that they’re owned by the same company?) and also about $6 more expensive but much more affordable than BSN. The taste is decent and the macros are fantastic. I love to mix in a little bit of cocoa powder for some added richness to the shake. In the end, cheaper is not always better. Sometimes it’s worth the price to get flavors like cookie dough, red velvet or cake batter (Which is my next planned splurge) and other times it’s okay to settle for less. Whatever it takes to make those gains, right?