Wednesday 23 April 2014

Weightloss Wednesday: 5 Protein Packed Smoothies


Smoothies are always convenient, and great for those of us who are on the go. There great meal replacements (when done properly) and post-workout snacks to replenish your body with nutrients. Yet using protein powder can be quite costly and high in calories if your not careful on what types you buy and how many grams of protein you get out of each scoop of powder. I found this protein called Dyna-wave and its only 30$ a bag you can find it online, at no frills, Costco and some other nutrition stores. Per 1 scoop is 135 calories with 30g of protein.

Different Forms of Protein
Peanut Butter                    Coconut Milk
Flax Seeds                        Oats
Chia Seeds                       Milk
Almond Butter                  Quinoa
Raw Egg                           Yogurt

Those are just a few ways to add protein into your smoothies without using protein powder, saves on calories also. Here's a few recipes of mine I use on a daily & weekly basis, ENJOY! :)

Peanut Butter Power Banana Breakfast Smoothie

  •  1/2 cup 1% milk
  • 1 banana cut into chunks
  • 1 tbsp peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup cottage cheese
  • 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
  • 1/2 tsp instant coffee granules
  • dash of cinnamon
  • 2-3 icecubes
Makes 2 servings

Calories: 239 Per Serving
Protein: 22.5 grams

Chia Green Protein Smoothie

  • 1 tbsp chia seeds
  • 1 cup spinach
  • 1 cup almond milk
  • 1 banana
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 2-3 ice cubes
 Makes 2 Servings

Calories: 300 Per Serving
Protein: 26 grams

 Very Berry Banana Protein Smoothie

  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1 cup flax milk
  • 1/2 banana
  • 1/2 cup blackberries
  • 1/2 cup raspberries
  • 1/2 cup strawberries
  • 2 ice cubes
Makes 2 Servings 

Calories: 288 Per Serving
Protein: 24 grams

Go Green Protein Smoothie

  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 2 cups spinach
  • 1/2 - 1 cup kale
  • 1 tbsp chia seeds
  • 1 cup pineapple chunks
  • 1 1/2 cups water
Makes 2 Servings

Calories: 295 Per Serving
Protein: 26 grams

 Strawberry Chocolate Protein Smoothie

  • 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 1/2 cups strawberries
  • 2 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 2-3 ice cubes
 Makes 2 Servings

Calories: 270 Per Serving
Protein: 27 grams


And there you have it, 5 delicious smoothie recipes to try for any time :)













Wednesday 16 April 2014

Weightloss Wednesday: How Many Calories Should I Eat?

When I began my weight loss journey I didn't know where to begin. How does one lose weight? It's not rocket science, right? I've heard many different ways. Like padlocking your mouth and throwing the key away :) The point is, to lose weight, you have to eat less calories than you burn. Or start off by changing your diet piece by piece. Switch out soda & high sugared fruit juice for water, eat one piece of cake instead of the whole thing, if you go out to McDonalds or whatever order a salad or a grilled chicken burger WITHOUT making it a combo. These are sure fire ways to help you start on your weightless journey.










When I first started out losing weight I tried playing around with daily calorie intake needs and it started me off at eating 6 meals a day equaling out to 1600 calories, and I did 1-2 hours of exercise daily. I GAINED weight within my first week. I looked even more like a beached whale and I died a little on the inside. There is so much that your CI depends on. Whats your weight, height, age, gender, BMI, BMR, etc... Because everybody is different and unique that everyone's CI will be a lot different. Same as if you start off at 200lbs (like me) I had to eat 1200 calories to start off with to create a calorie deficit to actually lose weight whereas now im 145lbs and I eat 1400 calories to keep losing my weight. Weird huh? This site is what helped me and is very useful is a DAILY CALORIE NEEDS calculator. Plug in your information and get going :P










The site said I needed to eat 2099 calories (which I nearly gagged) to maintain my current weight, 1679 calories for fat loss, and 1260 for extreme fat loss. So I came to a median between the two and stick to 1300-1400 per day :) It also gives you this really cool 7 day calorie cycle (the zig zag), and also has meal plans for all calorie needs and shows you what the meals should look like that your eating.


Wednesday 9 April 2014

Weight loss Wednesday: A Guide To Clean Eating

About a month ago I decided to start clean eating, and it's been one of the hardest yet gratifying and rewarding things I think I've ever done. It took me about a couple weeks to get into the swing of things because I had no one to help me and basically followed everything off of websites because I had no idea what foods are okay, and what foods I should avoid. After that ordeal I thought to myself, there has to be an easier way to do this. So I have put together a Guide on how you can start clean eating too without all the hassle and hopefully have an easier transition than I did :)

1. Throw out ALL the junk in your fridge and pantry.
I didn't throw away all my food I gave some of it to my parents and kept some for my husband who still needs to eat that crap because he's in the middle of bulking up while im trying to widdle down so our diets collide quiet frequently, and also makes this process a lot harder. Sift through to make room for all your new healthy foods :) The easiest way to do this is to check the ingredients, if you can't pronounce it, have no idea what it even is, or if theres an ingredient list of 10 gazillion things, CHUCK. IT. OUT. Say your goodbyes and give it the boot. The more junk food like chocolate, chips, ect you don't have stashed in your cubbards, the less tempted you'll be to inhale them when nobodies around and lie to yourself that you don't feel bad for eating them anyways :)

2: GROCERY SHOPPING
The hardest part of my transition. Finding a BASIC clean eating diet grocery list was like finding a needle in a haystack in the middle of a blizzard.

TIP: It will be a bit difficult at first but try substitution first rather than just dropping everything cold turkey if you think you won't be able to stick with it right away. I went cold turkey and it was EXTREMELY difficult to keep to it at first but eventually my taste buds got used to what I was eating instead of the crap it had before.

Here's a list of everything you should try to incorporate into your new clean eating diet.

 TIPS
- Steam, Bake, Grill, or eat your food raw
- Fill 2/3 of your plate with veggies
- Eat Fruit for dessert
- Drink your body weight in water daily (or at least 64oz)
- If you incorporate red meat into your diet have it 90% lean or higher beef


Tuesday 8 April 2014

Fashion Trend Tuesday: Spring Makeup Video Tutorials



Spring is an amazing time of year for bright colorful makeup. Keeping it subtle but vibrant will have all eyes on you and the compliments will be endless. Some top trends of the 2014 Spring scene is light pinks, bright orange all over, color blocking eyeliner, glowing radiant skin, and a bold colorful lipstick to match. Let's get started

Spring Sunrise Inspired Makeup by Carli Bybel

Spring Inspired Makeup by Easy Neon
 

 

 

Those are the top 5 in my books. There vibrant, make your eyes pop, and I follow all their youtube channels religiously and are just amazing people and their tutorials are to every detail and so easy to follow, enjoy playing with your makeup! :)