Beastly Appetite and Product Reviews!

Hi everyone!

I hope you all are having a nice Saturday evening. I’m relaxing and about to take a bubble bath and read a magazine—-love it! 🙂 This afternoon I rested on the couch with Dexter for about an hour but didn’t fall asleep, unfortunately. I am sort of a spaz and can’t fall asleep during the day because I always have a lot on my mind and always think there’s something I should be doing instead of resting. Not good! It did feel nice though just to lay down and I think it helped with my exhaustion even though I didn’t actually fall asleep.

When I arose, I had a pure protein bar (see review below!) and some strawberries for a snack to get me all fueled up for the gym.

It was starting to rain and I could have easily thrown in the bag and just turned on a movie, but I knew I would feel better after a workout, so I headed over there. Here’s what I did:

couple minutes on treadmill to warm up

3 sets of triceps kickbacks. 15lbs. 12 reps each (I have never done these before and already my triceps are sore from them!! They really work ya!)

2 sets of overhead triceps extensions. 20 lbs. 12 reps each.

3 sets of triceps dips on bench. 12 reps each.

3 sets of dumbbell shoulder raises. 10 lb dumbbells. 12 reps each

3 sets of bent over lateral raises. 5 lb dumbbells. 12 reps each

3 sets of hammer curls. 15 lb dumbbells. 12 reps each

3 sets of bicep curls with cable extensions. 10 lbs. 12 reps each

total workout time: about 30 minutes or so

After doing this today my arms felt like jelly!!! I think it was those new kickbacks I threw in to switch up my triceps routine. I will be sore tomorrow for sure! 🙂

While I was working out I decided that since I was so good and saved money on lunch today that I would buy my dinner at Whole Foods before I went grocery shopping tonight. Immediately when I saw the fire grilled, thin crust margarita pizza in the deli I knew I NEEDED a piece!!!! So, I got a slice of that and also got a big salad at the salad bar that consisted of mixed greens, carrots, tomatoes, a couple of pieces of tofu, onion, kalamata olives and broccoli (with balsamic vinegar drizzled on top).

The pizza was absolutely, without a doubt heavenly but went down waaaaay to fast. I knew it really wasn’t the “proper” way to refuel after lifting weights but I wanted it anyways so I got it. About ten minutes after eating dinner I was hungry again! The pizza seriously went right through me. I drank some water and tried not to shove the entire store into my shopping cart.

But I still managed to come home with all this (plus a furry beast):

Sad news!!!!!!! Whole Foods was OUT OF CHOBANI!!!!!!!!!! I asked someone who worked there and they checked in the back and said Chobani stopped sending it to them :(. Please, Chobani, come back! I miss you! No one else in the area sells it and now I fear I will never be able to find it again! I filled my cart with Fage and Oikos (the stoneyfield farms greek yogurt) because they were a dollar off with the special coupon. The woman that searched for Chobani for me felt so bad when she saw my face that she gave me tons of coupons for the other stuff!

When I got home, the first thing I did was break out a snack. I had an Oikos (which really wasn’t bad at all. Tasted the same as every other kind but it did have less protein….) with 1/4th of a plank (see below review) and some strawberries. I was very hungry!

When I think back over my eating today I really don’t think I ate enough calories. I was doing good with breakfast, but I need more than an almond butter sammie and some fruit for lunch to keep this body going…especially on days I am lifting weights! I made up for my not-so filling dinner with a healthy, satisfying nighttime snack and now I finally feel full and well.

Tomorrow I am running (and timing) 3.1 miles first thing in the morning so I will need to fuel myself accordingly for the rest of the day! I don’t think that will be too hard though because I have special lunch date with one of my favorite bloggers tomorrow!! 😉

Finally on to the product reviews!!!
Pure Protein Bars

These bars sure do pack in a ton of “candy bar-like” flavor in their shiny wrapper! I actually felt more like I was chowing down on a snickers than a protein bar because there was no “protein-y” taste at all. Just chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate.

I went to the Pure Protein website to copy the nutritional facts for yall that have never tried these before. Here they are (these are for the S’mores flavor I had for a snack yesterday):

INGREDIENTS: Marshmallow Cream Layer (Maltitol, Milk Protein, Sorbitol, Palm Kernel
Oil, Nonfat Dry Milk, Lecithin, Salt, Natural Flavor, Calcium Carbonate), Chocolate Coating
(Maltitol, Fractionated Palm Kernel Oil, Whey Protein Concentrate, Cocoa (processed with
alkali), Calcium Carbonate, Natural Flavor, Soy Lecithin, Sucralose), Hydrolyzed Collagen,
Protein Blend (Whey Protein Hydrolysate, Whey Protein Isolate), Glycerin, Soy Crisps (Soy
Protein Isolate, Tapioca Starch, Salt), Maltitol Syrup, Water, Natural Flavor, Marshmallow
Pieces (Sugar, Corn Starch, Fructose, Soybean Oil, Corn Syrup Solids, Natural Flavor,
Salt, Soy Lecithin), Milk Chocolate Drops (Sugar, Whole Milk Powder, Chocolate Liquor,
Cocoa Butter, Milk Fat, Soy Lecithin, Natural Vanilla Flavor), Canola Oil, Peanut Flour,
Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin and Mineral Blend (Ascorbic Acid, Tricalcium Phosphate,
d-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate, Niacinamide, Zinc Oxide, Copper Gluconate, d-Calcium
Pantothenate, Vitamin A Palmitate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamin Mononitrate,
Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Biotin, Potassium Iodide, Cyanocobalamin), Salt, Sucralose, Soy
Lecithin, Milk Protein Isolate, Wheat Germ, Almond Meal.

Directions: Adults, for best results drink 8 fl. ounces of water or other liquid with this bar.

WARNING: This product contains sugar alcohols, which may cause gastrointestinal
discomfort. Excessive consumption may have a laxative effect.

Nutrition Facts:

Serving Size 1 Bar (50g)
Servings Per Container 1

Calories 180 Calories from Fat 45
%Daily Value*
Total Fat 5g 8%
Saturated Fat 3.5g 17%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 10mg 3%
Sodium 130mg 5%
Potassium 20mg 1%
Total Carbohydrate 20g 7%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Sugars 2g
Sugar Alcohol 12g

Ok. TONS of ingredients here!!!!!!!!! In my every day life, I like to stick to foods and products with a short list of ingredients where everything is easily pronounceable. This is definitely not the case!!! However, would these be okay in a pinch or as an occasional afternoon snack? Sure. I really enjoyed the taste and, when you are running around and not able to eat your usual yogurt and fruit (maybe?), these would be quick to toss in your purse. Granted, they are not as natural as Larabars, which I reviewed last time, but they also have tons of protein, which Larabars lack. My favorite thing about these is the texture. They are a double layer bar and the top layer is sort of a “creamy” layer. I secretly like to scrape the entire top layer off with my teeth then eat the bottom layer. Sort of like an oreo. Haha 🙂 They are definitely like the “health food junk food”.

I think these work best in situations where you have a lunch lacking in the protein department and you are looking to make up some of those g’s in the afternoon. Or pre-workout. So to answer the question, “Would I buy these again?”—–you know, I would. I liked the flavor a lot and even though they aren’t as natural as my usual snacks, the protein content is great and they give me enough fuel to make it a couple hours before dinner. I don’t think that I would eat one every day of my life, but I would definitely buy a couple to stick in my purse for emergency hunger situations. Seriously, folks—-they really do taste like a candy bar!

Honest Foods Granola Plank

Now HERE’S something you can feel great about eating every single day! I have seen these “planks” featured on virtually every food blog now for the past six months but have put off buying them for myself for a couple reasons. 1.) It’s expensive!!! This was $5.00! 2.) It always looked really crunchy and I don’t really like crunchy cereal or granola because it hurts my teeth to chew. I like soft, chewy oats and granolas! 3.) 1/2 of the plank = 250 calories! That seems like a lot! And I thought breaking it into pieces might be messy and unnecessary.

But tonight I was feeling frisky so I finally bought some at Whole Foods. Right when I got home, I knew I just had to try it to get a taste of what everyone was talking about! I had 1/4th of a plank (kind of annoying to cut) on top of some greek yogurt………and, it was yummy!!!! Totally not what I was expecting because it actually was quite moist and chewy as well as packed with wholesome flavor. It worked very well as a little snackie on my yogurt! The ingredients are very simple with oats, nuts and seeds and dried fruit. I’m thinking it would also be delicious in a bowl of soymilk topped with sliced bananas and strawberries.

So would I buy this again? I would! I really liked it, and the taste/texture/ingredients won me over even though I still feel like you don’t get too much bang for your buck when half of the plank is 250 calories. I didn’t feel like I had very much in my bowl (I had 1/4th plank) and it equaled 125 calories! It was still good though and very filling. Full of yummy wholesome ingredients so it’s definitely worth the calories. It is expensive, but if you ration it and use it for snacks, one box should last you a little while. Very tasty!