Protein Packed Goods, Plyos & Insane Circuits

Prepare to be amazed 😉 My hubby is a beast & today I am here to boast about him.

After giving birth to our (almost 10lb) son a year ago he was my motivation, trainer, and support to kick my booty back into shape. After watching some of the things he can do it might become somewhat obvious to you on how I lost 45lbs of baby weight in less then 3 months!

1. Everything hanging Ab Circuit
– dueling clocks
– bicycles
– wipers
* 3 sets of 10 reps

2. 1 leg Plyos with medicine ball

**If you’re looking for affordable online training or lifting workouts email Kyle @ Kyle.konas@sbcglobal.net

Now for the really good stuff!

Cinnamon Roll Vanilla Protein Pancakes
If you’re like me and tired of eating the same stuff every morning or you just flat out have a sweet tooth…you must try these! We found the recipe here > http://www.theslenderstudent.com/cinnamon-roll-protein-pancakes/
(we tweaked ours a tiny bit)

Ingredients:

We used Promasil Vanilla protein powder..but any brand will do the job!

• 1/3 C instant oats, dry
• 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
• 1/4 C liquid egg whites
• 1/4 C + 1 T fat free Greek yogurt
• 1/2 small banana
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1 T reduced fat cream cheese
• 1-2 T unsweetened almond milk
• 1 packet sweetener
• PAM Original nonstick spray
• sugar free maple syrup

directions:

1. In a blender, combine the oats, protein powder, egg whites, 1/4 cup Greek yogurt, banana, vanilla, and cinnamon. Blend until smooth. Or you may add the cinnamon at the end, and just sprinkle on top!

2. In a large skillet coated with PAM, begin cooking the pancakes over medium-high heat, about 4-5 minutes on each side.

3. While the pancakes are cooking, spoon the remaining tablespoon of Greek yogurt and cream cheese in a small bowl. Microwave for 10 seconds to soften and stir until smooth. Add almond milk until your “icing” reaches the desired consistency and sweetener until it reaches the desired sweetness.

4. Stack your cook pancakes, pour on the icing, and bask in your last moments of relaxation before starting the weekday grind.

*we added a special touch of sugar-free maple syrup*

Grammy Ter’s Power Bars

*these are a good pre-workout snack & soooo delicious

Ingredients:

• 1 cup protein powder (vanilla is the best)
  
• 1 cup oats
• ¾ cup honey
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• ½ cup chocolate chips or raisins or BOTH (if using chocolate chips do 1/4 cup)
• crushed soy nuts or almonds (optional)

directions:

1. Heat the peanut butter, honey and  vanilla until smooth. 

2. Remove from heat and add to dry ingredients.  *note:  IF you are adding chocolate chips…let the mixture cool down first…then add the chocolate chips. 

3. Press into 11×7 pan..let cool…then cut into bars. 

4. Store in airtight container in the fridge. 

*Makes one dozen bars.

 (I use French vanilla flavored protein, and omit the vanilla.  Also, if you double this recipe, it will make a 14 x 10 pan, basically, 24 bars)

** If you’re interested in an affordable diet plan email kyle.konas@sbcglobal.net

~Sheena

#gymbrat

Lift Weights…everyone is doing it.

A huge misconception for so many people is that they think in order to look great and lose weight you need to run, run, run and that lifting weights will make them big and bulky. THIS IS NOT TRUE!

But…don’t stop reading, I am not dissing cardio nor telling you to stop running. Cardio is important as well.

I am just here to tell you the benefits and perks of weight lifting and to inform you that there are more fun ways to meet your body changing goals without constantly running on the treadmill. Plus, we all know that running in place for long periods of time is flat out boring 😉

To start out on an honest note; I hate running, I don’t care for any type of cardio and I usually have to force myself to do it. I ran my first 5k this past summer, and well, lets just say…I also ran my last 😉

A weight training session may not burn as many calories per minute during your workout, but the overall calorie burning benefits you obtain from it outweigh that of doing cardio. Plus, more muscle helps you burn more calories!

Here is what I mean…the amount of calories burned after weight training is advanced; your increase in metabolism after cardio only lasts about 30 to 60 minutes while metabolism increase after weight-training lasts up to 48 hours.

Weight-training also has some health benefits; it lowers your blood pressure & anxiety, helps reduce stress levels, strengthens muscles (obviously) & strengthening those muscles helps support your bones which causes better stability, it increases lean muscle and more lean muscle means a higher resting metabolic rate which can decrease stored body fat. 

And, it flat out makes you feel good about yourself. Period.

A man or woman with a little bit of muscle doesn’t hurt the human eye either 😉

Fun Fact > Strength training is a critical component of any program than emphasizes long-term fat loss,” said Alwyn Cosgrove, co-author of the book “The New Rules of Lifting.”

Side-note: If you’re trying to lose weight…diet is the most important factor in this subject and some common knowledge…you have to burn more calories then you are consuming on a daily basis to lose weight. An average of 500 calories more burned a day than eaten equates 1 lb of weight loss a week.

~S

#gymbrat

 

Check out one of my favorite articles pertaining to weight-lifting below. It’s just another fun read 🙂

The Death of Intervals

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Cellulite; a womans curse.

Cellulite: one problem most women run into at some point in their lifetime. Cellulite has always been a problem for me, even in my super-skinny high-school days 😉

And, once I had children it just got worse and made me insecure to put on a pair of shorts..this is when I discovered lifting weights and the important of drinking water, lots of water… every single day!

Another product that has been a blessing for me in this department is the Alba sea salt body scrub and the Rodan and Fields MD roller with the night serum, it has helped turn my saddle bags into normal looking thighs!

If you are someone who has to deal with cellulite here are some tips and exercises you can do to trouble those areas and minimize the appearance.

1. Drink lots of water, I know I say this for just about everything but being hydrated is so crucial on our body and helps any results look 10 x’s better.

2. Exercise! For example; I try and do legs two days a week and on one of those days I put a lot of extra effort and focus on my hip abductors, glutes and hamstrings.

– exercising after a long day at a job where you sit is especially important because sitting for long periods of time prevents adequate blood flow to the butt and thighs.

     * my favorite exercise which I personally believe is incredible for the cellulite under your butt (aka saddle bags) are dead-lifts

     * my second favorite exercise is doing kick-backs- this one is awesome because you don’t have to belong to a gym to do it, you can do it on your living room floor watching T.V. & to make it extra effective throw on some ankle weights

3. Specialty drink created by Jillian Michaels that improves elasticity: you mix lemon juice and cayenne pepper and drink it 3 x’s per day.

     * I make mine a little bit different because this is not the most fabulous tasting drink to me. I fill a shaker with 4 oz of cold water, add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper then toss in a lemon slice and ice cube

4. Use a scrub that exfoliates deeply on your cellulite verses a normal body wash. Using an exfoliate will increase the blood flow and help break down fatty deposits which will result in minimizing the appearance of cellulite.

>>Follow these 4 steps for 8 weeks, take a before and after picture and send us your results<<

~Gym Brat

-S

#gymbrats

Spotlight Saturday- Bridget Miller

Today, I thought I would change things up a bit. I am going to write about my favorite lifting partner, girl personal trainer (I had to emphasize girl because of course my hubby is my favorite guy trainer ;)) and a girl who inspires me to stay strong and be proud of lifting 😉

I thought this would also be a good follow up to Emma writing about motivation. What motivates you? Inspires you? Sometimes having someone to look up to or seeing someone who says I did it, is all people need to keeping pushing themselves to maintain a healthy lifestyle or make continuous changes to being healthy and fit.

This is my girl Bridget! Shes smoking right?!

Here’s the part that will make you really say wow…

Yup! Those are both her. She made a lifestyle change and stuck to it 🙂 SO CAN YOU

It’s not dieting people its lifestyle changing, its something you want to maintain and keep up with. I cant express that enough.

When I first started going to the gym I didn’t know how to lift weights, I thought I had to run run run to stay skinny. I WAS WRONG! I am in the best shape of my life thanks to lifting weights. It DOES NOT make you bulky.

There are even health benefits to lifting weights…here are just a few…

1. Boston University School of Medicine Scientists performed a study using a “push-up” gene in a mouse to examine how strength building affects metabolism and other physiological systems. The scientists concluded that weightlifting helps to “regress obesity and resolve metabolic disorders.”

(read the full article at http://www.forbes.com/sites/juliewilcox/2012/05/31/health-benefits-weightlifting/)

2. Having more muscle increases your metabolism therefore burning more fat.

3. It decreases resting heart rate. The less the heart needs to work the better!

5. You burn tons of calories

6. And you just look so damn good 😉

I know as a woman and for many people trying to lose weight, checking the scale constantly can become a very bad habit. Before I started lifting weights I was always on the scale, obsessing over if I lost or gained a pound. While, it is okay to check your weight…the truth is our weight fluctuates all the time and MUSCLE weighs more then fat.

You can see for yourself that Bridget looks good, really damn good but if you had to put a number on her you would probably never guess 138, weight that is… would you? But, she is and its just proof that numbers are well…just numbers 😉

If she can shed that much weight and keep it off so can you. Looking for a trainer in the Kalamazoo area contact Bridget @ bridget.e.miller@wmich.edu. She can answer any questions you have or if interested in doing a bikini show shoot her an email, she does all her own training!

~S

gym brat 😉