WHYNBTYW

I’m thinking it might be an honest to goodness miracle that I not only found something to write about, but I’m posting it on a Wednesday!

This is the non-preview version of a post from a while back on the Glukos Energy Gummies. (I don’t work for them, they didn’t encourage this review.)

I was given a sample pack in my WODBOM box a few months ago. My son and I simply looked at the label and it said a serving was 6 gummies. So we each took 6 and happily chewed away. THEN we read the label a bit further. ‘For best results, take 3 pre and 3 post-workout’.  Oops…

My initial impression was they were quite dense. I was expecting more of a gummy bear texture and these were a LOT thicker. But the fruit punch flavor was pretty good and neither of us had any kind of sugar high nor sugar crash from eating them

They were good enough for me to head to their website and guess what?! They were on sale for 50% off! Can’t pass that up. So I bought a box of each flavor (Fruit Punch, Lemon and Orange) and it cost me what 1.5 boxes would have cost. SCORE!

My coach is often on me about making sure I eat SOMETHING before the workout. If I didn’t work out at 5am, that would probably be a lot easier, but I usually just get up and scoot out the door. This was a possible solution because I could chew them in the car on the way there and the post-workout ones on the way home.

Each box has 12, 2-serving packages and I bought 3 boxes for a total of 72 servings. I have 2 packages left and am pretty good about taking them before a workout; it’s rare that I forget. I drink a glass of water and then chew these on the way out the door.

I have NEVER felt that rush of ‘oh man…this workout better get going’. I have never take them post-WOD and felt a sugar rush. I don’t know if they actually work, or if it’s a placebo effect, but I do like taking them both pre and post-WOD. I feel as if I perform a tad better (keep in mind that a tad better is like a snail beating a slug at a race!) and I don’t feel as if I run out of energy (well… compared to last year).

All the flavors taste really good. I think my favorite is the orange because it’s a great blend of sour and sweet. The lemon leans toward sour and the fruit punch leans toward the sweet, so there is something for everyone in terms of taste.

I keep going on their web site to order. Here’s is my dilemma…I paid half price the first time I ordered. It was some random thing I guess. So now I’m struggling with paying full price. I’m not saying they aren’t worth it (24 per box, so basically $1 per serving), but since I paid half that, I’m hesitating. I will probably break down and order a box or two and then keep waiting for a sale.

If you look on their site, they also have: drinks, protein powder, energy powder and bars. I have not tried any of those products, to be honest. But I do like these gummies! It’s almost like taking candy before and after a WOD. And who doesn’t like candy?

I don’t know the nutrition science behind the stuff that is in these, but I do know that I like the taste and they seem to have a positive effect on my workouts.

Here is a link to their site, if you want the skinny on their nutrition and ingredients.

Glukos Energy Nutrition Label

 

Urban Adventure Challenge

So my partner in crossfit crime asked our usual team (Victorious Secret) if we would be up for doing the Wooster Urban Adventure Challenge (WUAC). We both immediately said yes! 

When I visited the website, it said to expect 8-10 miles of waking, 12-15 miles of biking and other surprises. In talking to other box members who had completed the challenge before, we knew we were in for a good 4-5 hours of finding things around town, solving puzzles and swimming! 

I’m a total “plan as much as you can” type. So I started a notebook. I wrote down all the clues they provided, made a list of all the sponsors and their addresses etc and gathered my supplies: sunscreen, hydration backpack, first-aid kit etc. 

Mind you, I can’t run, I’m still on the “injured reserve” list at the box because this nagging lower leg thing refuses to go away. (Side note: the doc needs to hurry up and look at my MRI – I want to know!!) It was recommended that I withdraw. But I really wanted to and you didn’t have to run, walking was totally allowed. So my team members swore they would not let me run and so we set out!

We had to use clues to locate different business downtown, and at each stop we had to do something. The thing we had to do varied. Some stops we just had to take a picture of an object (an apron, a white rooster etc). Other stops required that we build something (a trophy). Most stops required something physical. One stop required that we use a dolly to move one team member to a cone and back (that was a funny one). Another stop had us holding a tire on a 2×4 while we walked “football style” through a set of various sized tires. 

Then we waked to an elementary school where we had to play four-square, look up information about a random state, climb the jungle gym (note- i have apparently completely forgotten how to play on one of those), and play hopscotch. Then off to a local park, to find a random animal on their jungle gym to take a picture, help a teammate navigate a small course while she was blindfolded, and do their small zip line. More proof that these “toys” were NOT designed for adult bodies. 

Then we walked over to the College of Wooster to play a word association game, hunt for our team number in their auditorium, and then off to the football field for a crossfit style workout: dips, step-ups, push-ups, tire flips, bear crawl, and run the stadium stairs carrying a 30# sandbag (walk the stairs…). 

At this point, I’m starting to get tired from all the waking and the sun is really beginning to get nasty. And … it’s barely 11am. 

Then we hike across campus to find some random trail, hike up the road to a puzzle, use our ninja skills (i.e. Google) to determine that a queenax is an adult jungle gym where we were expected to do upwards monkey bars… nope. Ain’t happening, but at least it was air conditioned and had bathrooms. Stay-Fit 24 is a nice little gym!

Time for more waking. Off to the middle school, stopping along the way for cornhole and croquet. (Note to all: our third teammate is DA BOMB at corn hole and I’m never playing against her). Puzzles and now carrying around a rubber duck! 

More walking to the local pool (now we’ve zig-zagged our way from the south end of town to the north). Water balloons, jumping off the high dive and paddle boarding. The water balloons required that we try to slingshot a balloon so that a team member could let it hit their butt! Turns out we were good at that part!! Even earned a 7-min time reduction here! We all had to jump off the high dive (very scary) and the water felt great. But my favorite part of the pool was paddle boarding a watermelon across the pool several times! I mean how silly is that?

A walk through the woods to the high school where we got to pretend we wed in a marching band and March the field carrying a sousaphone (I think we should have gotten bonus points for Keri who actually was in TBDBITL and did actual marching band stuff, including dipping the instrument to the ground a la Script Ohio). 

Finaly to another loca park to get the bikes. It’s now 1:30, we are so very hot, so very tired and our feet hurt. We were looking forward to a bike ride, until we deciphered the clues and learned the hill we needed to ride. 

I will remind you the website said 12-15 miles biking. Well … it was 12 miles to the last stop. That means 12 miles back…

One of the stops had us canoeing across a lake. The other made us do an adventure “ropes” style mini-course (note – never doing that again), before making us hike their 1.5 mile trail looking for more stamps. Ugh …. more waking. At this point, I’m very over this game. And I really really want to quit. But even if I did quit, I’d still have to bike back to town! 

We have just under 60 min left before the finish line closes. So we decided to bypass the last two checkpoints and bike to the finish line. We get there and are told we need to drop our bikes off and go to one last check point. Ugh … pretty sure the young volunteer giggled at my invented non-swear, swear words (he was a young volunteer remember?). Off we went, to a local pub. Beer pong, matching beers to their names and doing the coaster mazes. Ok… at least that isn’t hard. And then we had 5 minutes to get back to the finish. 

We made it. Eight hours and fifty-four minutes later we were done. They had some snacks and water and a party inside. 

Lots of food and drink, but I was too tired for any of that. I drank a beer, a glass of water and nibbled a few chips. That was all I could manage. 

Today, I’m a deep Ohio State red color, I’m so tired all I want to do is sleep, I’m STILL not hungry, and everything hurts. Yesterday I mentioned I wasn’t going to crossfit on Monday, but I see it’s bench pressing and deadlifting, 2 of my favorite things, so I will probably go anyhow. 

What did I learn from this? Several things. 1. My two partners are awesome, beasty ladies and I would not have wanted to do this with anyone else. 2. This was ssoooo hard to do!! The website said 4-5 hours, but we took nearly 9. I worked out for 9 hours in the sun. 3. I’m glad I did it, but I have no desire to do it again. 4. I need to learn a LOT more about competition eating because we did NOT plan that well. And 5. Three years of crossfit and I feel just as out of shape, uncoordinated, lacking in confidence as prior. This challenge proves just how non-athletic I really am. But I still did it. Sort of … 

Job well done ladies! I’m proud of you guys. 

WHYNBTYW

Okay, okay…I’m really bad at getting these posts up on time. It is kinda hard to review products, but one came in the WODBOM box this past month that I think you guys might really like, especially if you are fan of nut-butters.

As you can see, this is an organic product made from different nuts and seeds. It has approximately the same calories as a serving of peanut butter (2 TBSP = 190 Cal). Though it might be hard to tell from this label since the serving size is 19g, but 14g is 1 TBSP. You can work out the rest of the math if you really want to. It’s close, trust me.

It says to kneed the product thoroughly and if there is one downfall to this, when they say thoroughly, they are oh so serious about this. I THOUGHT I was thorough…NOPE. So the oil came out first and then the rest and I had to mix it all together on top of my rice cake. Not very fun at all. I was better with another package and it was fine.

It is smooth and creamy. It had great taste, kind of a cross between peanut butter and cashew butter. It’s appearance is darker than peanut butter and with small black flecks; I assume these to be pieces of chia seeds, but I don’t honestly know. You certainly didn’t get a ‘crunch’ when you were eating, so even with black flecks, it was just fine.

I went to their website (NUTZO2GO) and saw that you don’t buy directly from them, but from Amazon, which is fine. Whatever…

You can also see they have several different combination of nut butters, both in creamy and in crunchy, in small containers or in the individual serving packages. For those of you concerned with organic, vegan, gluten free etc there are many different certifications listed, so you can make sure the food meets your individual needs and desires.

They make a chocolate hazelnut butter, for those of you who like Nutella, a peanut butter and various mixes and blends. None of their products seems to be simply one nut, however. So even the peanut butter has other nuts in it, which, IMHO, only adds to the nutritional value. Unfortunately, one cannot subsist on peanut butter alone, though I would really love to be able to do just that!

They have tons of recipes and you can even download an e-book of recipes. There are 14 PAGES of recipes, everything from salads, to protein bars, no-bake ‘cookies’, smoothies and even a sweet potato cinnamon roll. I cannot decide if that sounds delicious or gross, but the picture looks amazing. Bookmark this part of the site for later!

The price is a lot more than regular, store-bought peanut butter, and a quick search on Amazon shows that it is also more expensive than organic cashew butter, though perhaps for some of you a 4$ difference in price for 16 oz isn’t a big deal.

I know there are some foods I will splurge on occasionally and some that I simply refuse to pay a high price for, and will not purchase. This product falls somewhere between those two. I’d be willing to get a container, but I certainly wouldn’t replace my beloved peanut butter for 2 reasons: 1. Peanut butter is life and 2. Peanut butter is a LOT cheaper. So yes, I loved the product and yes, I’d be willing to splurge every once in a while on a tub, or get a few single serving packets for a change of pace.

If you do nut butters, give this a try. You won’t be disappointed!

WHYNBTYW

Welcome to hump day!  It’s so good to be back at the gym and feel 100% again.  My motivation this morning was literally “I don’t feel like going but when I couldn’t go all I wanted to do was go so I’ll enjoy that I can go now”.

Since it’s officially Wednesday it’s also whynbtyw!!  My recommendation for today is to go out and buy some mason jars…. Preferably the quart size.  These mothers are the absolute perfect size for a lunch salad!  A simple search on Google or Pinterest yields a plethora of recipes for jar salads.  So far I have tried a taco salad (delicious but cold ground beef is sketchy to me… I would use chicken next time) and a strawberry spinach salad.  The mason jars are great storage for the salad and you put the dressing in the bottom so the rest of the salad doesn’t get soggy.

So, highly recommend seeking out some mason jars. If the salad thing doesn’t work out, a second google search for mason jar crafts should give you some other creative outlets.

Enjoy!

Meal Prep Sunday

Plan the Work, Work the Plan.

So, after 4 weeks of no CrossFit and generally feeling lousy (thanks, bronchitis); I decided last week it was time to get back into meal planning and preparation.  Though I didn’t fall completely off the Macro Train, I certainly wasn’t putting the time and effort into planning what I was eating….which wasn’t as big of a deal as it normally is when I’m working out consistently.

I thought today (and maybe next Sunday), I’ll just share my plan to the week and how I’m prepping.  Maybe I’ll even keep myself a bit accountable by doing a review for the week (at the end of the week, of course).  Overall, my first week last week went well until Friday night which is generally what happens anyway but…no excuses!  This Friday will be better 🙂

Where to start?  After working with a dietitian last spring, I determined that my daily calorie goal is 1400 calories (I’m working towards losing a bit of weight, so this is deficit for me).  My daily macro goals are: Carbs 157, Protein 88, Fat 47.

My new job as an interesting quirk that I am on the road during lunch time.  This means unlikely access to a microwave.  Thus, I started planning with my lunches this week because of all the meals, the options will be most limited.  After lunch, I moved onto dinner and made sure to include my Plated meals on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Breakfasts were last.  So here’s what I came up with (macro totals provided by My Fitness Pal app or myfitnesspal.com).

Monday, Wednesday, Friday:

Breakfast: Peanut Butter Chocolate Overnight Oats – C46, P15, F5. (http://www.itscheatdayeveryday.com/pb-chocolate-chip-overnight-oats/) and a clementine orange – C13, P1, F0

Lunch: Cold Sesame Soba Noodles and Broccolini and Mushrooms – C55, P72, F15 (http://fitmencook.com/5-easy-cold-lunch-meals/).  That includes 6oz of chicken, not sure if I’ll really eat that much…seems like a lot.

Dinner: Slow Cooker Honey Lime Ginger Pork – 21, P30, F7 (http://therecipecritic.com/2016/02/slow-cooker-honey-lime-ginger-pork/), Brussels Sprouts – C5, P4, F0, and Applesauce – C12, P0, F0.

Daily Total: C154g, P123g, F28g = 1369 calories.

If I do CrossFit tomorrow, I may add in a small snack somewhere in the day.  Probably a Nature Valley Protein Granola Bar or 2 (190 cals for 2).

Tuesday, Thursday

Breakfast: Protein Shake (1c almond milk, 1c frozen mixed berries, 1 scoop protein powder, 1/4c oats) – C28 P22 F4.5

Lunch: Mason Jar Taco Salad (2oz ground beef, 1c lettuce, 0.25c corn, 0.5c black beans, 0.5c quinoa, 0.25c cherry tomatoes, greek yogurt dressing) – C55, P29, F23

Dinner: Plated – Pine Nut Crusted Salmon – C44, P44, F-52 <– I will be using less oil than the recipe calls for, so this will be lower.

So, that’s my plan for the week.  Hope you enjoyed!  I’ve never tried any of these recipes before so hopefully they turn out well!

 

WHYNBTYW

Look at this! A Why Have You Not Bought This Yet Wednesday actually occurring on a Wednesday! It must be a miracle!!

Last month, in my WODBOM box, I got a small bag of THE MOST AMAZING CHIPS EVER!!

These are essentially rice chips and magic made to taste basically like potato chips! Now, I’m much more of a “sweets” person when it comes to a cheat meal or cheat snack. But occasionally I love me some potato chips and seriously 7 potato chips isn’t a serving, no matter what the package says. And besides, since the chips are always in pieces, how in the world am I to know what 7 chips is?

These came in a single serving package and while I’m not saying they are good for you, they aren’t terrible either and if one is going to insist on a small snack every now and again, these seem like a nice compromise.

They tasted delicious, gave me just the amount of “salty” snack that would cure a craving, but didn’t leave me wishing I had a larger bag. They were nice and crunchy and while not quite the same as a potato chip, they were close enough. They are a little thicker than a traditional potato chip.

As you can see by the label, it’s not like these are GOOD for you, but they aren’t loaded with fat, and their sodium level is reasonable, though they sure had that potato chip salty taste!

I found them on Amazon. They have sea salt, BBQ, sour cream and onion and pizza flavored ones. I’m eternally happy that I got the sour cream and onion. As of this writing, you can get several variety packs, ranging from $18 to $46, depending on how many packages you want in the box. You can also get boxes with just one flavor in the same price ranges. I like the fact that they are all single serving sizes. That would help reduce temptation for me.

You can also find them on Facebook, just search for Rise Buddy. They seem like a couple of guy trying to get a company off the ground.

Healthy? Maybe not so much. Healthier? Yes. Yummy? Oh you bet!!

Shrimp Sheet Bake

I found this recipe on Pinterest and altered it to make it our own. The recipe comes from Damn Delicious, which is a site I LOVE for finding healthy, easy to make and yummy recipes.

The original recipe calls for corn, which, while I don’t mind it, adds another carb, so we subbed in yellow summer squash for something the same color. And since there is a general paucity of veggies in a lot of recipes, we added cauliflower, which, in my humble opinion is one of the best veggies on the planet and very versatile.

I did manage to find the andouille sausage and that does add bit of a bite to it. You could sub any type of summer sausage if you wanted.

So here is the recipe as altered by us:

1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined, thawed

1 package andouille sausage (our store had 12.8oz packages)

1 pound baby Dutch yellow potatoes (we ended up cutting many of them in half)

1 yellow summer squash, chunked

1 head cauliflower, chopped into small pieces

4-6 cloves garlic, minced (we prefer 6 – we are garlic nuts)

1 lemon, wedged (for flavoring)

2 TBSP fresh parsley chopped

1/4 c unsalted butter

1 TBSP Old Bay Seasoning

 

Preheat oven to 400

Parboil potatoes (in their skin) for  10-13 minutes in boiling water to soften

In a large bowl, combine butter, garlic and Old Bay Seasoning. Toss in sausage, shrimp, squash, potatoes, and cauliflower and toss to coat

Place in single layer on a baking sheet, and bake for 12-15 minutes or until shrimp are opaque.

Squeeze lemon juice over and garnish with parsley

Makes 6 servings.

Macro breakdown: 333 calories per serving, 9g carbs, 22g fat (you could cut this back by using cooking oil and turkey sausage if you want) and 19g protein.

This is great for a higher fat day, or a lower carb day if you are cycling. It’s tastes like a cheat meal!!

 

 

Not Paleo (but no added gluten)

I want to share my favorite cookie recipe with the world.  Basically because they are delicious and they also make the perfect amount – 5 cookies.  Recipe courtesy of Plated.

No Added Gluten Peanut Butter Cookies

1/4c peanut butter (I use natural jif)

1/4c granulated sugar (once I tried stevia, it was a disaster, do not recommend)

1/4tsp baking soda

2tbsp chocolate chips

1/2 beaten egg (yeah, sorry about that but if you want to use the whole egg… Double everything else and you’ve got 10 cookies!)

Mix all ingredients.  Roll out 5 cookies on a nonstick pan (or use butter to to grease).  Bake 10-12 minutes at 350.

Enjoy!

Paleo Chili

Anyone who crossfits for more than a day comes across the Paleo Diet. Lots of protein, carbs from veggies and complex carbs, nuts and seeds and some fruit. There is a fantastic TED Talk about how this way of eating is in reality no where close to what prehistoric folks ate, but I understand the general concept is to get folks eating more real food, less processed food and more veggies so I am down with that in general.

My blogging partner and I generally claim we are paleo-ish because we haven’t eliminated all the grains and dairy (greatly reduced? yes, eliminated? no freaking way…). But I do love many of the paleo recipes and if there is one thing I love love love, it’s chili!  My work colleague and friend is very dedicated to her Paleo lifestyle and she found this recipe, so I can’t even claim its discovery. BUT, I’m going to claim getting it out there to you guys, because it’s far better than our turkey chili and we LOVE our turkey chili. I admit that adding cocoa powder was a bit of a mystery to me when I was reading the recipe, but it works, it really does. This has quickly become our ‘go-to’ chili recipe.

I will say, the recipe says to use 1/2 pound of ground sausage, but we never know what to do with the other 1/2 pound, so we just put the entire pound in the pot. We also just get the biggest peppers we can find and chop them up, not really worrying about if it’s a cup or not; the same goes for the onion.

I know some folks who aren’t big on peppers (my son for example). And you can either chop up the peppers into tiny bits that won’t really be noticed, or you could probably sub some other veggie that you prefer, but I’m not good enough in the kitchen to know what that would be!

You could also put sour cream and cheese on yours and use a few saltine crackers for scooping if you wanted to (I won’t tell). But it’s pretty darn tasty without them. The chipotle pepper lends a bit of heat and it’s tempered by the cocoa powder. You could add more peppers if you wanted; the recipe calls for one, we usually do 2-3. We also add more garlic to it, simply because we are garlic freaks and it’s almost impossible to have too much.

The recipe also claims 4 servings, we usually get five to six because we add more sausage and the biggest veggies we can find.

All Recipes has the recipe. HERE is your link. ENJOY!!

WHYNBTYW (preview version)

This week’s Why Have You Not Bought This Yet Wednesday is a short preview of something that came in my WODBOM box this month. Glukos energy gummies. So I had the sample that was included, but that was enough to have me on their website ordering the product. So this isn’t quite a ringing endorsement yet, but a promise of a full review after a few days of using the product. 

The package has two servings, a total of 12 gummies. After my son and I split a serving we read the package (don’t judge). “For best results take 3 before and 3 after a workout”.  Ooops. 

The sample was fruit punch flavored. Their website also has orange and lemon. I ordered some of each as all are flavors that I don’t mind and are also hard to screw up. 

I’m sure my son and I were thinking “gummy bears” when we tried the first one. They are certainly gummy and very chewy. They are far more dense than gummy bears. The flavor is pretty good, once you get over the denseness of them. The second and third were better because we knew what to expect. 

Neither of us was going to do a workout so I was curious if having more than recommended, and with timing that was not ideal would mean that we’d both end up with jitters. Nope. They were digested easily and neither of us seemed to feel overly energetic, like we needed to go run a marathon and couldn’t sit still. None of that happened. Neither of us experienced a crash either, so that is also a good sign. 

My coach is always admonishing me to eat something little before a workout, but since I always go at 5am, I can’t generally bring myself to eat. But I could manage to chew three of these gummies on my way to the box! 

Now …. to hide the packages from my son. Hahaha

If you are interested in trying some yourself, HERE is their website. I promise to review this fully after I use them for a bit!