Healthy Happy and Free

If you keep up with the protein buzz, you might have heard of Quest Labs. It's a program you have to sign up for and you gain access to purchase some of Quest Nutrition's upcoming products. I was super excited because I love Quest bars and protein products and have been purchasing them for years. They had a little slip with the formula change a while ago, but I think they're back on track. I immediately "applied"(?) and was accepted into the program. After that, I waited a while because I was hesitant to spend money on experimental products lol! After reading a few positive reviews, I finally caved and bought the Keto milk chocolate bar, one each of the three new flavors and one each of the protein crunch bars (reviews to come). Here's what I thought about the Keto milk chocolate bar: Immediately upon tasting, it had a weird, somewhat gritty texture and an odd flavor. It was some sort of chocolate flavor, but not your typical milk chocolate flavor...

Dear Sweet Delicious Cake,  I am going to eat you. I am going to eat all of you.  I've been really enjoying baking some protein and macro friendly goodies lately. It's a fun way to get in protein without always having a protein bar, I'm always just afraid that it won't turn out great, however, no huge, inedible flops as of yet!  So with Slappy Birthday protein powder in hand, I knew a funfetti protein cake of sorts was in order. It had a really good typical cake flavor but it was a little dry. Then, I looked at the ingredients I had planned out and I had planned for 1/2 cup of almond milk but I only actually used 1/4 cup. If I make it again, I'll probably try a little more liquid, so feel free to adapt or experiment with this recipe and let me know how it turns out! Ingredients: 1/2 cup Kodiak Cakes protein pancake mix 1 scoop Slappy Birthday Slap nutrition protein powder 1/4 to 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk  1 egg yolk (yes, the yolk...

So I broke my foot a few weeks back without even realizing it. I thought it was just sprained so I kept running and using it like normal. Finally, I realized I needed to go to the doctor. A few X-rays later (seriously, I probably have superpowers now due to all my radiation exposure) and here we have a broken foot. I've had to do some adjusting to my workout routine, obviously. Lifting and running are off the table for the time being, so I've been using the stationary bike for cardio - can you say sweat factory?? But what do I do for hump day? Pilates style moves are getting me through. I've been experimenting around and here's what today's workout consisted of: 3 x 8 each leg banded kickbacks Circuit 1: 15 standing kickbacks 15 standing donkey kicks 15 single leg DB deadlifts Circuit 2: 15 each leg split lunges 15 squats 15 weighted hip thrusts 15 leg curls (lying on stomach) Circuit 3: 15 bridges 15 single leg bridges each leg Circuit 4: 1...

I just don't want to die one day and not know when the last time I had chocolate was. #chocolateeveryday Alas, Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies with a peanut butter swirl and peanut butter protein frosting was born. And consumed. Um, anyway! These are sooo dense and fudgy. No cakey brownies here. They feature a real peanut butter swirl and are gluten free and macro friendly. I used NuNaturals Cocoa powder and Nunaturals vanilla drops to make these brownies and was very pleased! I've been absolutely loving the NuNaturals cocoa syrup so I'll probably top one of these with some of that too! NuNaturals has a line of baking products and sweeteners that are plant based and all natural. There's no bitterness or aftertaste (yeah, I'm looking at you, cheap, generic bag of stevia from the superstore). The cocoa powder was very rich (milk chocolate lovers be warned lol), perfect for brownies, in my opinion. I might try some chocolate muffins next. Now on to the recipe! ...

Working on my Fitness  I have really been loving working upper body lately especially since, hey! I broke my foot. Yeah. I break bones like a player breaks hearts. Take care of yourself people! So I've had to put squats and deadlifts on hold while I modify with more Pilates style booty workouts and things that don't put pressure on my foot. I've also kept up with my upper body routine. I felt great after my at home upper body workout today so I thought I would share it. I'm open to suggestions and advice!  I started with  4x12 pull ups with an assistant band  Superset with  4x15 hanging leg curls  4x10 push ups  Then a series of small circuits:  Circuit 1: 4 rounds  Db shoulder raise x 15  Lateral side raise x 15 Front raise x 15 Hammer curl x 15 Circuit 2: 4 rounds  Bent over DB rows x 15 Rear delt raise x 15 Single arm row x 15  Circuit 3: 4 rounds  Prone Lat sliding pulls ...

My bank account suffers due to the fact that you can now pay directly through paypal. Click, click, done. Whatever, now I have muscle frostings which I had been dying to try. I love frosting. I love frosting more than cake. In fact, frosting is the only reason I eat cake. Seriously. So I had to try this product, obviously. Youfreshnaturals also had a great promo going so I got a free jar of White Chocolate Cashew Coconut Butter and I'm excited to try that as well! Cookies and Cream Muscle Frosting I needed something to put underneath my muscle frosting besides my spoon so I decided I would attempt a protein cake. However, recipe after recipe called for ingredients I didn't have on hand. I decided to mix together some things and see what happened. Miraculously, it was not only edible but also had a good texture, fluffy with a molten chocolate center, and a good flavor, rich dark chocolate, not overly bitter and not overly sweet - the perfect base for my muscle fro...

Some days I look in the mirror and I'm disgusted, some days I'm content, some days I'm proud, some days I'm unsatisfied and some days, I don't look in the mirror at all.   I think most people go through this. Some days we feel positive about our bodies and other days, not so much. It may be due to something completely unrelated that changes ,y attitude and skews my perception of my self. I was having one of those negative days and thought to myself, the body is an amazing gift. What gives me the right to be so critical of it?  I have eyes that can see colors, shapes, rainbows and stars. I have ears that can hear tones, pitches, melodies and voices. I can taste sweet, savory and salty. I can speak and sing poorly. I can walk and move and exist. All these things are part of the miraculous gift of life. I can never earn or deserve these gifts. And I can use these gifts to affect others. I can write a card to cheer someone up. I can tell them a joke to make them...