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/
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)
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)
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)
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/
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)
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 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)
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)
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.
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.
