Healthy Happy and Free

Hiking is one of my favorite recreational workouts! I also like rock climbing at indoor gyms but that's a lot more expensive! Recently, I re-hiked the Glen Burney Trail in Blowing Rock, NC. The Glen Burney trailhead starts at the Annie Cannon Memorial Gardens. There's a small parking area and it's right near downtown! The trail is just a short 2.2 miles out and back. It features "Cascades" which are beautiful waterfalls that you hike down to. There is more uphill on the way back. I think this is a great short hike! We got very hot! Obviously must take a selfie The trail is classified as strenuous, most likely due to being technical (roots and trees to climb over) and there is a good bit of uphill on the way back. There's also a small bridge to cross. Interestingly, you will hike behind a large house and some piping? You also pass "ruins" which I believe are from old sewage workings? There are 2 more falls past the Cascades but remember ...

“Endurance: It is the spirit which can bear things, not simply with resignation, but with blazing hope. It is the quality which keeps a man on his feet with his face to the wind. It is the virtue which can transmute the hardest trial into glory because beyond the pain it sees the goal.” ―  Anonymous ,  Come Be My Follower Endurance is more than just going through something. We have no control of what we have to go through many times. Consider people who are overcome with diseases, injuries, loss of loved ones, etc. These are all horrible things that, in many cases, were completely out of the control of the affected person.  I broke my neck and suffered a spinal cord injury as I have mentioned before. (  Don't Break Your Neck ) While I was in the hospital, many people told me I was so strong for enduring this. However, in the beginning, I don't believe this was true. I was merely existing through this experience. I cried, and even felt like I wanted to die somet...

I'm one of those people that likes cookie dough better than cookies. I'm one of those people that buys premade cookie dough for the sole purpose of eating it raw. I know, you are too.  So, I present to you egg free, gluten free, (can be made vegan), super versatile and delicious protein cookie dough (dip).  I made it a snickerdoodle cookie dough, but you could easily change a few ingredients to make Chocolate Chip, Double Chocolate, Peanut Butter, White Chocolate Macadamia, etc. Run wild. The cookie dough is your oyster..er...you know what I mean.  Ingredients: 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and dried 1 scoop protein powder of choice  1 tsp cinnamon* 2 Tbsp unsweetened vanilla cashew milk 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp imitation butter flavor 2 Tbsp Walden farms Pancake Syrup Additional sweetener to taste 1 Tbsp cinnamon chips* Directions: 1. Pour the rinsed and dried chickpeas into a food processor or blender. Add in the cashew milk and blen...

I like to try new things and some of my friends eat vegetarian, vegan,and gluten free diets so I decided to give a vegan day a try! I've done it once before. My goal was to eat entirely vegan but still hit my macros. Safe to say, the hardest one for me to hit was protein! Here's just a quick recap of what I ate to meet my protein goals without protein powder: Breakfast: Oatmeal with D's Naturals Vanilla Maple Fluff Butter  Snack: Nugo Slim Crunchy Peanut Butter Protein Bar and grapes Lunch: Gardein Mandarin Chick'n atop Spinach Salad with Walden Farms Asian Dressing Snack: D's Naturals Raspberry Truffle No Cow Bar             Silk Strawberry Soy Yogurt with Purely Elizabeth Original Granola Dinner: Gardein Chick'n 7 Grain Crispy Tenders, Sweet Potato with PB2, Broccoli Night Snack: Cocoa Banana Nice Cream (2 frozen bananas + 1 Tbsp cocoa powder), Raw Rev Glo Creamy Peanut Butter Protein Bar, 2 Tbsp powdered pean...

Now, when you think of an adjective you want to describe your snack, many people shy away from FATS! However, healthy fats are an important macronutrient for healthy bodies. Fats are a main fuel source, they are vital to the absorption of many vitamins and antioxidants, they are important for brain, nerve and heart function. Playing into the benefits of this macronutrient, FATSBAR has created a unique nutrition bar and I was excited to try it. As you can see, the bar is a bit oily and mine was crumbly (I carried it around with me all morning). It had a very rich, dark chocolate flavor that reminded me of a dark chocolate brownie. It wasn't overly sweet. The biggest issue was durability because mine was crumbly and melty, however, I still enjoyed it! It's hard to travel with a spoon of nut butter so I'd say this is a convenient way to have a fatty snack on the go. It would be great for those following a keto diet! I'd rate it 7/10 Macros: 180 calories 12...

Raw. Rev. Glo.  What does it mean?  Raw - Raw and wholesome ingredients  Rev- Revolutionary! Glo-Full of omega rich superfoods that keep you GLOing! So here's the low down on the new Raw Rev Glo bars. They're "high" protein and fiber, low sugar, and organic. They contain sprouted superfoods in every bite. They're vegan, kosher, and non GMO. Wow, that's a lot of "health" claims. So the important question is: How do they taste?! Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough  The first one I tried was Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, naturally. I apologize for the poor picture quality but hopefully you can tell how freakin' amazing that melty chocolate was. The chocolate chips were a bit melted due to the lack of A/C in my house and the hot summer weather. However, I think this really added. The chocolate chips were very good - I would never have guessed they were vegan. The bar itself is tiny but dense. It was soft and chewy with a bit of a...

If you haven't already figured it out, I have a major sweet tooth! One dessert I love to get from real NY pizzerias is a cannoli! I just love them! The other day, I bought some fat free ricotta cheese to make a calzone, and had a ton of ricotta left over. Obviously, my mind immediately went to cannolis! How could I make them "healthy"?  I ended up simply mixing the ricotta with protein powder and sweetener for the filling and made a crisped crepe type shell. I'm not 100% pleased with the shell because it didn't have that crunch and crumble that a real cannoli shell has. Perhaps I will do some more experimenting in the kitchen. However, since it was still pretty darn delicious, I'll share my recipe with you! Ingredients:  Shell:  Approximately 3 tbsp Kodiak cakes mix  3 tbsp (equal parts) water  Filling: 1/4 cup fat free ricotta cheese  10 grams protein powder (about 1/3 scoop)  1/2 tbsp chocolate chips Directions:...