PB

Peanut Butter.

With dark chocolate,  with jam, with honey, on toast, on apples, on celery, on a spoon..

One of the best clean eating foods going and I often add it to smoothies,  and always to my protein ball recipie, PB is the bomb!

I have attached some pictures becasue it is so easy to make at home, tastes so much better and you can control what (if anything! ) you put into it.

Have you ever actually looked at a Peanut butter label? Nope.. not just nuts. Soy, sugar, preservatives, emulsifiers, corn or soy oil,  corn syrup, sodium and often many things I can't even pronounce. Should peanut butter not just be mashed up peanuts? ? I certainly think so!

If you have a food processor it couldn't be easier.. throw in the nuts and whirl it up till its smooth.. the natural oils will.come out and make ut extra creamy if ti u at patient enough.  I have a hand blender amd like my PB chunky and thick so I just mash it up and throw it in a TupperwAre and into the fridge. Easy peasy, cheap and tastes SO much better! 

If you are no where close to being Betty Crocker..  sure.. go out and buy some natural peanut butter. You need to mix the oils (no crap to keep it emulsified! Ya!!) And keep it in the fridge.. but honestly.. give making your own a go.. its worth it and fun for kids too :)

Any nuts will work too..  almonds, hazelnuts. . You pick!  Oh.. I should talk a little about why peanut butter is so good right? :/ protein, iron, vitamins b, d, zinc, filling, delicious.....the list goes on :)  enjoy!

♥ Kara

Snow day yoga!

I kind of had an idea that it may be a snow day today... living in Northern Ontario  .. we get a few. I am very blessed to have my Arbonne business that allows me to be able to stay at home with my kiddos when this (often) happens and not be struggling for daycare or braving the icy roads to get to my j.o.b.

Blake, Gracie and I get to spend the day cooking, playing and doing whatever we want. . looking at this snow day as a gift rather then a pain in the butt.

I do have to modify my workouts a bit tho..but with the internet at my fingers I can come up with a decent home workout.

Yesterday was HIIT (yep..me and Jake again this time with 40bar sprint intervals..holy sweating!!!!) And legs.  U was super stoked as it was the first time I did actual squats is Forever since knee surgery.  Sure it was pretty light but I dont care.. I did the full range of motion  and without pain.. and even today, not much swelling. Last night I had a couple reflexology sessions and finished up around 8:30pm...  ... with my kids already being in bed I guilt free hitting the gym again.

I dont often work out twice in a day except when I seperate cardio and weights.. but knowing today may be a write off, and frankly I typically do team sports at night..without these I have been going a little crazy :p.

Last night..bike and glutes.. not a huge workout but enough to get sweating and I didnt hit glutes when doin legs in the morning.

Today the kids and I did a yoga workout off of youtube.. 30min. Then I did some pushups & crunchies. Basic stuff but gets you moving!  On to crafting, dancing and outside playing :D

Be thankful for today!
♥Kara

Chocolate dipped Strawberry Protein Bars

I swear this is not a cruel joke.. I'm not lying to you either.

These are Heaven.

I have been doing my very best to stay out of the kids Halloween candy and frankly,  its been going quite well but only becasue I have come up with a plan... make healthy treats!

I have made my fair share of protein balls to curb the sweet cravings and though I absolutly love them and make them slightly different each time.. I needed a change... and well.. here it is!

Simple, few ingredients, no bake, and so yummy ..... pretty proud of this!

21/2c strawberries (I only had frozen on hand.. thawed and they worked great) blend till smooth
Add
1cup of each coconut flour and vegan vanilla protein powder.. mix together till forms a soft dough and spread it on wax paper on sheet.. thickness is up to you.

Place in fridge and melt 1c (ish ;) ) dark chocolate  and spread over strawberry protein base.

I added sliced almonds to half leaving the other clear so kiddos could pack it in their lunches (no nut school policy) .

Once dark chocolate has hardened up, remove from fridge, cut into bars or squares, pack up and back to fridge...

Try them!

*** other protein powders will work ok too but the pea & brown rice combo of Arbonne really is better for flavour and easily digestible.  It is also vegan, gmo free, and doesnt contain artificial colour or flavours. The flavour of your protein is paramount in this recipie!!!

Xo
Kara

Going heavy

LOVE LOVE LOVE the new workouts!!!!

Today was shoulders, biceps and triceps and I was feeling the pain by the end.

Almost every exercise was switched up so that I did one set of 12 then one sure heavy set of between 3-8 reps depending on what I was working... and it felt awesome to grab soemthing super heavy and really tear things up! :)

Here.is a couple examples:

Triceps push down on the cable machine.. on a typical day I would do this super set with a bicep.. maybe dumbbell curls with the tri being 25lbs, and the bi being 15lbs. I would do 3 sets with of 12-15reps.

This new workout I did not superset...

Triceps push down was 12 reps at 30 rest 1min then push down for 8reps at 45lbs. Rest repeat,  rest, repeat.

Then change exercises to bicep..
12reps of 15lbs rest then 6 reps of 25 . 
I have never curled 25!!! Felt awesome and my body is going to respond with some gains in size and strength and I cant wait!.

Today is leg day which will be interesting and I will modify as I am still not able to add weight to most exercises.. so a super heavy set is obviously out... but I'm definitely keeping the heavy sets in for any body part I am able!!!

Woop woop

(Yeah.. this kinda thing gets me excited :)

♥
Embrace change and challenges!!!
Kara

Date with Jake

Great workout today! Started off with my Jake.. love that thing! 15min with intervals  and then switched Maddy for another 15 on the bike... (I dont like sharing him, but I will always share with my Derby wife Merciless Maddy ;) )

It got us sweating so we hit back and chest.. pull ups, pull downs, flys, seated row, bent over rows, bench press, and Divebomb pushups...

Divebombs are insane and hit your shoulders and core as well.. see pictures below! Its live diving down under a fence and then he a up and reverse. . down and back up is one rep..

It has been working out that Maddy and I do chest and back on tuesdays.. but we always change up the exercises to keep ot interesting,  keep our bodies guessing,  and also becasue she has a stronger chest and I have a stronger back... so we push eachother with our weights and reps.

A good (& buff!) friend gave me some workouts to try so we will jump into those tomorrow and I will let you know how we make out.  Thanks Jeff! Looking forward to switching things up again.