My Shakeology Experience

I recently finished my first bag of Shakeology!

I was pretty critical about the tag lines and marketing jargon all over the bag, so I decided to try it and make my own opinion.  I want to keep this review simple so here is my list:

Black Bean Sweet Potato Burgers

When putting together a new recipe I consistently find myself considering 5 qualities:

• high protein
• low calorie
• on hand ingredients
• ability to be made ahead
• and taste of course!

My most recent development: Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers.  This recipe uses nutrient dense vegetables, filling beans, and high protein grains. 

Fruit & Nut Snack Bars

I'm a HUGE fan of grab and go food.  I like having easy to pack meals and snacks to take to work.  If I don't have enough to eat at work, I come home RAVENOUS after teaching 1-3 group exercise classes.  This is where I get into trouble because I end up eating too much, too fast. Then instead of my food giving me energy, it sits heavy in my stomach, slows me down, until I find myself drifting off on the couch in front of the TV.... sound familiar to anyone else?

I've been drinking Shakeology for 3 straight weeks now and that has been helping A LOT to keep me energized through the afternoon.  But I've spoiled myself by making perfectly flavored and textured shakes with my killer Ninja blender.  It just isn't the same with a blender bottle. I decided to find an alternative snack to hold me between my breakfast and Shakeology lunch that's easy to have at work.  I did some research on DIY Protein Bars and put together my own little recipe.  And here it is!

Sweet Potato and Beet Hash

I'm all about finding new healthy dishes to make.  I pay attention to ones that use ingredients that I usually already have in the kitchen.  This one I saw made on the Food Network uses one of my favorite foods, sweet potatoes.   By the time I got around to making it, I didn't have all the exact ingredients to I decided to modify a bit.  The dish ended up making 8 cups at only 85 calories each!

#weekendaccountability

Weekends are the MOST DIFFICULT days for me..

..fitness wise. I often head into Friday night after a week of daily exercise and clean eating only to have things like this..

or this..

OR EVEN...

21 Day Fitness Challenge

Who is ready to kickstart their fitness journey?!

Kickstart: 2. Informal To start or reinvigorate (an activity, system, or process)

And that's exactly what we will do!

You don't have to do it alone! I'm putting together a group of people who are looking for support, guidance, and accountability through this process.  The challenge is to exercise 30 minutes and record what you eat each day for 21 days! By becoming a part of this group you will have access to a variety of tools to learn what to eat, types of exercise, and ways to stay accountable.

And it wouldn't be a true challenge if there wasn't a little competition involved! Each day you will have opportunities to earn points.  Whoever earns the most in 21 days will win a fitness package valued around $25.

There is no cost to join so what are you waiting for?!

If you are interested in becoming a part of this group or if you have any questions please:
- leave a comment
- send me a message
- join my Facebook page for updates

Ooey Gooey Protein Cookie: 75 calories each

Fridays are a weird day for me because my schedule is different than the rest of the week. Instead of working early mornings, I work late afternoon and evening. Having the whole day open is a dangerous thing for me. I'm distracted, I randomly eat, and I push aside my workouts to the last minute.  I am much more productive and focused with structure in my day.  This is something I'm still working on..

Today, instead of snacking on whatever I could find in the cupboard, I decided to spend some time experimenting to make a healthy snack that could satisfy my sweet tooth and keep me full.  I've seen similar recipes posted on Pinterest and other sites, and decided to try my own variation. I call it the...

ooie gooey protein cookie

Late Light Dinner Salad

Quick and easy! Just threw together some fresh stuff from the fridge!

Shakeology: Review Part 1

One of the most valuable things I was taught in college was the importance of and how to be an informed consumer.  Mostly responsible for this was my Exercise Psychology Professor Dane Cook. We spent several hours reading abstracts, critiquing methods, and discussing results and conclusions of scientific papers for his course.  He stressed the importance of this critiquing process as THE way to true information.

This process is ESPECIALLY crucial in the health and fitness realm because there is such an overload of information (accurate and not so accurate..), opinions, products, and people trying to make their buck off the failing health of Americans.

Beginning next week I am excited to be part of a 30 Day Challenge Group working together with some awesome people to get our health and fitness back on track.