Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Protein Powder Review #2-Gotein

This year, I've started a series of Protein Powder and Protein Bar reviews. These are in no order, just whatever I pick to write about. Protein powder/bar choice is SUCH a matter of personal taste. But I LOVE reading other people's reviews of them, and they give me great ideas for new flavors and brands to try. So I wanted to put my thoughts out there! (Nutritionals are for the first flavor listed, they might differ slightly for the various flavors of each brand but are generally about the same across the product line.)

Gotein-Packaged in a skinny packet to make pouring into a water bottle easier, this protein is gag-worthy. It's got a long list of ingredients that includes corn syrup, sunflower oil, sucralose, a low-quality protein blend and a ton of vitamins and minerals I'd rather not have in my shake. I would NEVER buy this product.

Calories per heaping Packet:100
Protein per heaping Packet: 17g
Carbs per heaping Packet: 6g

Vanilla-This was also WAY sweet. Mixed with water, it was drinkable but I had to add more water than I like to knock down the syrupy sweetness, which made it disgustingly watered down.
Strawberry-I was not excited about this flavor and oh man, this was terrible. WAY too sweet. I mixed it with water and had to keep adding until I had added enough to water it down so much that I then had to chug about 30 ounces of faintly strawberry protein water. I HATE it when a shake just keeps GOING on and on, I like to take a few tasty, creamy swigs and be done.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Protein Powder Review #1-Designer Whey

This year, I want to start a series of Protein Powder and Protein Bar reviews. This is the first one and I'll say right now that they are in no order, just whatever I pick to write about. Protein powder is SUCH a matter of personal taste. But I LOVE reading other people's reviews of them, and they give me great ideas for new flavors and brands to try. So I wanted to put my thoughts out there! (Nutritionals are for the first flavor listed, they might differ slightly for the various flavors of each brand but are generally about the same across the product line.)

Designer Whey All Natural Whey Protein-One of a handful of Stevia-sweetened powders, Designer Whey's all natural line is pretty good. I am always looking for products without chemical sugar substitutes and this fits in that category, though the ingredient list is a little long for my tastes. It's fairly low-carb and packs a good amount of protein into 100 calories. This one looks a little more granular than most powders in the canister so you might be worried it will be gritty but rest assured, it dissolves smoothly with water or milk.

Calories per scoop:100
Protein per scoop: 18g
Carbs per scoop: 3g

Vanilla Almond-I love almond anything so I was drawn to this brand specifically for this flavor. And it doesn't let me down. It tastes quite a bit like almond/cherry with a hint of vanilla, but it's VERY sweet so I usually dilute it quite a bit or use it in recipes like no-bake cookies. (It's great as a protein shake mixed with plain yogurt and a bit of water to thin it out, a tangy almond shake!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

2012 Monthly Themes

A I mentioned in my previous post, I like to have monthly themes so I don't get bored working on the same goal all year long! That doesn't mean I only care about gardening or trying new things one month out of the year but it means I get fired up to do the major projects pertaining to that theme and get the planning for the rest of year in that category done so that I stick with it. These are some of the activities from each month:

January-Budget Review
* Making a new 2012 budget using 31 Days to Fix your Finances
* Refinancing house to lower interest rate mortgage
* Making plan to pay off debt and build emergency fund

February-Reconnect
* Call/email a friend at least once a week
* Make our 12th wedding anniversary special

March-New Experiences
* Write a letter to myself to open in 10 years
* Try a new recipe, fruit/vegetable, movie, hairstyle, outfit, breakfast food, craft, restaurant, park, running route
* Do at least 1 bucket list item

April-Create
* Create 1 thing every day
* Finish 3 works in progress
* Put quotes on basement gym walls
* Do "A Week in the Life" scrapbook

May-Outdoor/Gardening
* Stain concrete bath to match bricks
* picnic outdoors
* Bike to work at least 2 times/week
* Put up fountain in courtyard

June-Spring Cleaning
* Clean out fridge and pantry
* Line dry laundry
* Assemble 72-hour bags for Mike and I
* Get rid of at least 4 items from each room

July-Mike's birthday
* Visit Wisconsin family?
* Practice attentive listening
* Daytrip
* Mike gets to choose an activity to do each week

August-New Rules of Lifting for Women
* Start NROLFW

September-New Rules of Lifting for Women
* Continue NROLFW

October-Fall Fun
* Pick apples
* Cook a pumpkin
* Dress up for Halloween
* Do a fun fall activity for each letter of the alphabet

November-Holiday Planning and crafting
* Choose any crafted gifts/decorations and schedule crafting time
* Plan non-food themed party

December-Relax
* focus on yoga, meditation and enjoy!
* Start 2013 planning
*

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Corgi Christmas


Sully enjoyed his holiday, mostly because I gave him the entire month of December off from training and showing! So we were all lazy sloths. But it's January now and we start our Utility class on Wednesday nights soon so he'd better wake up and remember all those exercises from a month ago!

Our secret santa from the Corgi Blogger Gift Exchange sent us a couple of things from Rockin' Doggie.A tiny heart charm with a paw print in it (will probably be going on a charm bracelet since Sully doesn't really wear jewelry) and a tree ornament. Thanks!

Monday, January 2, 2012

Resolution Run 2012

The new year found me in my basement, treadmilling for the Resolution Run put on by Run to the Finish. I did some intervals of 30 second sprints and 60 minute jogs since that's what my 12 Days of Christmas Workout called for. :) I did a little over 3 miles total and watched some Star Trek Next Generation while I was at it. We've been in a real Star Trek mood lately! We even went to Star Trek: The Exhbition at the St. Louis Science Center over Christmas vacation.

Anyway, you can't read my resolution but it's to complete my monthly theme each month this year. I have too many ideas for yearly goals so this year I broke it down into monthly themes and I'll be doing activities related to each month's theme as it comes along this year.
My themes are:
January-Budget Review
February-Reconnect
March-New Experiences
April-Create
May-Outdoor/Gardening
June-Spring Cleaning
July-Mike's birthday
August-New Rules of Lifting for Women
September-New Rules of Lifting for Women
October-Fall Fun
November-Holiday Planning and crafting
December-Relax

I will have a follow up post with some of the activities I have planned. And I also have monthly themes for Sully and our training and showing goals that I'll share. :)

Thursday, December 1, 2011

HBBC

Here is my workouts log (and points) for the Holiday Booty Buster Challenge from Run to the Finish!

11-19 pilates (1)
11-20 20 minutes weight lifting (1)
11-21 2.5 mile run (2.5)
11-22 cardio intervals (4)
11-23 Hip Hop Hustle class (3)
11-24 Turkey Trot 2 mile run (2)
11-25 cardio intervals with upper body weights (3)

11-26 yoga (2)
11-27 2.35 mile run (2.35)
11-28 Zumba (4)
11-29 cardio intervals with weights (2)
11-30 yoga (2)
12-1 Team Strength class (3)
12-2 2.4 mile run (2.4)

12-3 Turbokick class (4)
12-4 upper body weights (3)
12-5 HITT class (4)
12-6 Team Strength class (2)
12-7 Hip Hop Hustle (3)
12-8 2.9 mile run (2.9)
12-9 yoga (2)

12-10 Turbokick (4)
12-11 Team Strength Extreme (3)
12-12 Zumba (3)
12-13 Body Attack (4.5)
12-14 Lower body weights (2)
12-15 yoga (2)
12-16 100 burpees and tabatas on treadmill (3)

12-17 Hip Hop Hustle (3)
12-18 upper body weights (2)
12-19 Zumba (3)
12-20 lower body and abs (2) and folk dancing (1)
12-21 TRX training followed by Zumba (4)
12-22 2 mile runs and intervals for time (3)
12-23 Turbokick (4)

12-24 yoga (3)
12-25 yoga (2)
12-26 Step class (3)
12-27 Body Attack (4)
12-28 upper body (3)
12-29 nothing
12-30 Zumba (3)

12-31 yoga (3)
1-1 Resolution Run 3 miles x2, +blogged +Facebooked (8)
1-2 full body circuits (3)
1-3 Turbokick (3)
1-4 upper body and abs (2)
1-5 yoga (2)
1-6 lower body and abs (2)

Monday, November 28, 2011

101 things to do with Egg Whites

Ok, not really 101. But enough to keep you from dreading eggs for a few days! As a vegetarian attempting Body for Life, I ate around 6 eggs every day and it can get VERY repetitive. But if you aren't afraid to get a little creative, eggs can really turn into a lot of different meals.

1-Egg white oatmeal-cook oatmeal as usual and whisk egg whites into hot oatmeal while it's still on the stove. It turns fluffy and lovely, delicious!

2-Egg white scramble with vegetables-I like to start off my veggies first in a skillet (onion, green pepper, tomato and zuchhini is a favorite mix of mine but even frozen veggies work in a pinch.) then pour egg whites over the sauted veggies and scramble all together.

3-Egg white souffle mini cakes-the trick with these is to cook them long enough so that the egg sets and doesn't completely deflate when you take them out of the oven.

4-Hard boiled egg whites-I eat these with just a little black pepper, or get fancy and put a little dollop of hummus into each one like deviled eggs!

5-Egg white crust pizza-LOVE the texture of the whipped egg whites!

6-Protein pancakes-I experimented with several recipes but the only one I deemed edible was the egg white, oatmeal and cottage cheese version (with NO protein powder). Whiz in blender, fry up in skillet and eat! Also good as waffles!

7-Egg tacos-I do these two ways, either add a bit of taco seasoning while you're scrambling you egg whites OR I like to make some taco-seasoned TVP, then add that the my egg whites while scrambling.

8-Scrambled egg whites in a tortilla or pita-scramble us egg whites with any veggies you like and eat it as a sammich!

9-Fluffy, creamy Egg whites recipe- Whisk 6 egg whites with 1 tablespoon of low fat cottage cheese.

10-Curried Egg Whites-Scramble up some egg whites and add curry powder and any veggies you'd like.

11-Whole wheat pasta with hard boiled egg whites and veggies-I like this cold so I use left-over pasta, add vegetables, chopped egg whites and just a splash of salad dressing or even just a couple of tablespoons of cottage cheese. Kind of like a pasta cobb salad, sans meat.

12-Chocolate Peanut Butter Souffle-haven't tried this yet

13-Huevos Rancheros de Blancos-Cook up some egg whites, add salsa on top and serve on a tortilla. Layer the eggs with salsa and strips or tortilla and bake it (or just heat it in the microwave if you're like me) for chilaquiles!

14-BFL French toast

15-Zucchini and egg fritters- 1 and 1/2 cups grated zucchini (squeezed of liquid and VERY well dried), 3 egg whites, 1 Tbsp baking mix and seasonings of your choice (I like Tony Chachere's salt-free), fry up in non-stick pan and top with greek yogurt

16-Egg white Frittata made with spaghetti squash in place of spaghetti or potatoes

17-Microwave egg whites in a mug (a la Hungry Girl)(and here are a few more)

18-Crustless quiche

19-Large lettuce salad with hard boiled egg whites

20-Poached egg over brown rice

21-Protein Pumpkin Pie Mini-Souffles

22-Egg white salad-instead of mayonnaise,use plain greek yogurt, add in a little chopped pickle and onion, some black pepper and garlic powder, eat over crackers or on bread/tortilla

23-Martha's Egg White and Avocado salad

24-"fried" rice scramble-Saute some veggies, add 1/2 cup cooked rice to the pan and top with egg whites, scrambling together as the eggs cook.

25-Check out Shelly's Bites! She's got over 30 ideas for mini crustless quiche bites!

26-The famous Fudge Protein Muffin

27-BFL Spicy Scrambled Eggs

28-Eggs in a basket-place pieces of pita or tortilla in muffin tin to make little cups for eggs

29-Egg quesadilla-a cracked egg sticks to the tortilla while it cooks!

30-Polenta Egg Casserole

31-Crepes-with a filling of cottage cheese and vegetables, I don't really have a recipe for this, I just go off a regular crepe recipe and add extra egg whites and put in only a few Tablespoons of oat flour or whole wheat flour.

32-Eggs on Hash Skillet

33-Okonomiyaki (Japanese pizza)-go light on the flour, heavy on the egg whites (or call it Egg Foo Young if you'd rather go Chinese)

34-Fruity Oat Frittata-A little strange-sounding but really quite tasty!

35-Pasta Mama-I make this with one serving of pasta and 4 egg whites, SO GOOD!

Need more? Here is a SUPER post with a whole lot more ideas for eggs.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Little Thing #50


The last day of 50 Days of Little Things. And I've made another list.

Little things making me smile:
-Listening to Christmas music during my runs
-Seeing Christmas movies on tv (I know, it's before Thanksgiving, but I love them ALL YEAR LONG!)
-Being busy at work
-Getting several RSVPs back for my holiday party!
-Thinking about helping plan Liz's baby shower for January
-Not gaining weight back even though Game On! is over

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Little Thing #49

This morning, I was smiling during this JillFit workout. I'm a sucker for an intervals pyramid workout! I loved the treadmill sprints and the last 2 minute push was....KILLER! Bicycle-Flip-Mountain Climbers-Flip-Bicycle-Flip-Mountain Climbers!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Little Thing #48

I smiled when I:

played a new game with friends
heard my mom's voice, safe and sound back home after her hip replacement
finished up our 3-week Game On! challenge
got my hair trimmed (it was starting to get in my eyes!)
saw someone I hadn't seen in 8 years and catching up
spent less than $60 on groceries
finished up a large order of corgi costumes and getting them mailed out