Keeping Stress-Free and Healthy!

It is time to celebrate! After 12 LONG days of not being able to go to the gym, I finally get to go back today! I've been sick with a terrible cough, low energy and body aches for the last couple weeks, it hasn't been fun. I went to the doctor last Saturday to make sure I didn't have any sort of infection that I needed to take care of and luckily I didn't. It looks like the bronchitis and cold I had a few weeks before was lingering and came back on my way to DC. The Doc said all I really needed was to get some rest, drink lots of fluids and try to keep my stress levels down if possible. I left her office with a prescription for an inhaler to use if I am having trouble breathing, but so far I haven't had to use it. She also said I could continue taking Mucinex to help with my cough. I have done as she said and kept my stress levels down, Memorial Day weekend was a good time to de-stress since work was slow. Chris and I took it easy and enjoyed spending our weekend sunbathing in Central Park and having a sunset cocktail at Pier i Cafe'  a beautiful outdoor bar/cafe' on right along the Hudson river. Last night when I got home from work, I spent some time laying on my roof and watching the sunset with my pup Chili Palmer. I felt like that was the most that I've relaxed in months (naughty Amber!!)! Although I haven't been in the gym, I've kept my diet very clean. I've done low carb for most of the week and a little higher carb on the weekend. I think this is the first time I've taken a break from the gym and not felt like I gained 5 pounds in the process!

I have learned over the past few months just how important relaxing and de-stressing the body is. Besides getting sick twice since March, I've also noticed that my digestion has gotten out of whack. I realized that I was getting very little sleep due to getting home from work so late, then in the mornings I would dash out of bed right away and start making breakfast and coffee, once that was done I would rush to get my lunch together, run to the gym and workout like a maniac, then immediately after I would go to work and repeat the same thing the following day. The only rest I was getting was the 5 to 6 hours of sleep each night. I now know I can't to just go go go all the time and expect to stay healthy. Right now I am focusing on making sure to get enough sleep at night, even if that means waking up later than normal. In the mornings after my alarm goes off, I lay in bed for about 15 to 20 minutes and check my twitter or see what is happening on instagram from my phone, my body has time to completely relax before starting the day. This seems to be helping tremendously with my digestion. I'm also trying to really listen to do deep breathing and focusing on keeping my body relaxed. I notice that for no reason when I'm on the train, I will have my shoulder up to my ears or if I'm sitting at home on the couch, my body will be tensed up. These little practices are making a big difference for me. Hopefully some of these tips will help you too! The key is to really listen to what your body is telling you, although I realize sometimes that isn't the easiest thing to do when you are constantly on the go or under a lot of pressure. I'm striving to live a stress-free and illness-free life, all I can do is try my best and with time and practice it will get easier!

What are your practices for keeping stress-free and healthy? Leave a comment below and share!

I'm off to the gym now, hope you all have a great day!

xo - Amber

Peanut Butter, You Make Me Feel So Good!

I HATE BEING SICK!!!! Sorry had to get that out. Last weekend my love and I took a bus down to DC and VA to visit with friends and family. The weather was absolutely amazing while we were there, but unfortunately we both fell ill the first day of our trip (booooo). We did our best to make the most of it, we went to beautiful Alexandria, VA and walked around the old city and along the water. While in DC we rented bikes for a little site seeing, ate some good food, and went on a few walks around the DuPont Circle area. It would have been nice to enjoy our mini-vacay without the runny noses, low energy, or all the coughing, but as always we still made the best of the time we had together.

We got home from our trip on Monday evening and have been trying to get well again. One thing is fore sure, it is hard to recover while working a stressful and demanding job. Right now I've just been trying to get as much rest as I can, which means taking a little more time off from the gym and spending a lot more time on the couch!

So for the past two days after coming home from work, I've been craving comfort food and there is nothing more comforting than real organic peanut butter. Yes, I admit it...I'm cheating on my PB2! Yesterday I had a coconut flour protein brownie and today I had a pumpkin chia seed protein pancake, both topped with REAL peanut butter. PB is the perfect comfort food, not only because it tastes amazing, but also because it really sticks to your insides and keeps you full!

The protein powder I've been using recently PlantFusion protein powder, it is hypoallergenic and is made from 4 different vegetable sources. Unfortunately, it doesn't cook up as well nor taste as good as the Vitol egg protein, so I've had to play around with my recipes in order to get them just right! The coconut flour protein brownies I made came out a little bland, so I knew I needed to tweak my recipe with a little extra stevia in order to make a good pancake. Check out my recipe below and let me know what you think!

Everyone stay well and take your vitamins!

xoxo - Amber

Pumpkin Chia Seed Protein Pancake with Peanut Butter Topping 

• 1 Scoop PlantFusion Protein Powder
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 whole egg
• a couple dashes of cinnamon
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• stevia to taste (I used 8 drops since my protein isn't very sweet)
• water or coconut milk to moisten up the batter (use your best judgement on the amount)
• 2 tbsp of organic peanut butter
• a drizzle of coconut oil to coat the pan (and to top the pancake if you'd like)

Mix all the ingredients together.Set your stove to medium to medium-low heat, preheat frying pan. Heat will vary depending on the type of stove you are working with. I have a gas stove, so my stove top gets very hot and cooks my food very quick. Once the pan is hot, toss in a small scoop of extra virgin coconut oil to coat the pan. Split the batter into two and pour in the pan, cover with lid and cook pancakes for a couple minutes on both sides until golden brown brown. Once both pancakes are done cooking, drizzle peanut butter and a little coconut oil onto both cakes and serve up! Bon Appétit!

FitBlogNYC Meet and Tweet Recap

It happened, it really really happened....Fitness Magazine's Blogger Meet and Tweet (#FitBlogNYC)! I got to the event last wednesday, May 9th, around 9am. I had no idea what to expect, I walked in to a beautiful open white room filled with table upon table of fitness gloriousness. I was first welcomed by Samantha Pepi Of New Media Strategies and some of the Fitness Magazine crew. They signed me up and then pointed me to the next table where I received a small bag filled with the schedule, a Camelbak water bottle, and flyers for each sponser. I then made my way to the eye candy table... Oops I mean the coffee and tea table. Thank you to whoever hired the hot coffee and tea boys! I grabbed a cup of tea and went to each table to visit with the brands brand to get info about their products. I talked traing shoes with Reebok, sunglasses with Oakley, comfortable sandals with Birkenstock, shaving with Schick Hydro Silk, skin protection with Vichy beauty products, nut butters with Grain Food Foundation, importance of protein with Pure Protein, fruit smoothies with V8 V-Fusion, intense workouts with Kiwi Sweat pop up fitness, and social media marketing New Media Strategies. The sponsor representatives were so helpful and nice! After meeting with all the amazing sponsors and getting all kinds of goodies from them, I had officially turned into a bag lady, for the first time in my life, I was OK with this!

During the event I ran into several FitFluential Ambassadors, some I recognized by name from our facebook group and others I recognized by their twitter or blog name. I also had the pleasure of meeting our fearless FitFluential leader Kelly Olexa! She is such a lovely person, just as I expected, so full of energy and has an amazing bubbly fun personality! I also met several other bloggers and tweeters that came from all over to attend the event. We had more time to bond and get to know each other more over the lunch deliciously healthy lunch that was provided for us. It was so great to meet these everyone in person and get to know their personality face to face!

I eventually found my way over the stage area where we got to hear from a great line up of speakers. The speakers were all so different, I loved hearing all of their stories and tips!

This is how it went down...

10:10 – 10:15am Welcome with FITNESS Editor in Chief Betty Wong and Mia Hamm  Mia is a retired Olympic gold medal soccer player who has scored more goals than any man or female in soccer history!

10:15 – 10:45am Drop Dead Healthy with A.J. Jacobs This author, father and editor of Esquire magazine is all about achieving optimal health and finding ways to fit in exercise into his every day life. We received a free copy of his book in our swag bag, I look forward to reading it soon!

10:45 – 11:15am The Real Deal on Carbs, Cleanses and Caffeine with FITNESS Nutrition Editor Juno DeMelo, Keri Gans and Tanya Zuckerbrot These ladies taught us that carbs don't make you fat, eating too much of the wrong types of carbs make you fat. Portion and moderation are key when trying to lose weight. They also don't believe in cleanses for weight loss, your body needs protein and other key nutrients to maintain muscle mass. Caffeine and coffee are A-OK says these ladies, coffee has antioxidants try to limit yourself to up to 3 cups a days and watch out for sugary additives that will pack on the pounds!

11:15 – 11:45am Fitness Facts and Fibs with FITNESS Deputy Editor Mary Christ Anderson, Joe Dowdell and Alycea Ungaro These guys were great! Joe explained that when working with a personal trainer, they should have you on a training program, not just making you "move" and sweat. Sweating does not necessarily mean you had a productive workout. He also suggests to get your sleep and diet in check first, then exercise. Sleep should be your number 1 priority! Alycea explained there is no way to lengthen your muscles, just like there is no way to lengthen your bones.

12:00 – 12:30pm Why ELMM (Eat Less Move More) Is So Last Year with Dr. Pamela Peeke 12:30 – 1:00pm Gym To Street: Fashion Tips That Will Help You Stretch Your Spandex Beyond The Gym with FITNESS Fashion Director Argy Koutsothanasis  Move over Tim Gunn, these ladies say you CAN wear your favorite pair of yoga pants out in public! These ladies matched up hot track jackets with J-Crew pencil skirts for a sexy sporty look! They showed us fun ways to incorporate our favorite fitness gear into our every day wardrobe. I am all about this, I would live in my workout great if I could!

1:00 – 1:30pm Easy Beauty Secrets: Q&A with FITNESS Beauty Director Eleanor Langston and Laura Geller These ladies were awesome and had such great personalities, they gave us so many great beauty tips on how to make makeup last long, blending techniques, how to get rid of under eye circles and so much more. I'm going to write a separate post on all the tips they gave us!

1:45 – 2:30pm How To Turn Your Blog Into A Business with Kelly Olexa, Tina Haupert, Carla Birnberg and Julie Fagan How could I not love these FitFluential ladies!! These top bloggers gave us tips on how to be a successful blogger. They suggest finding your blog mission, being proactive on a variety of social media sites to get noticed, work with ad networks, get a media kit and resume together, bloggers should be themselves, write frequent posts, post pictures to blog posts, make videos on youtube, set Google alerts for your blog, and stop worrying so much about where your blog traffic is coming from and what your numbers are, let people discover you! I learned so many great tips from these ladies, they were all so knowledgeable! 

3:00 – 4:00pm Tabura Pop-Up Workout with KiwiSweat  I wasn't able to participate in this since I wouldn't be able to shower before work, but I did get some great video of the girls working up a sweat to an African style Tabura workout!

After all of the scheduled events were over we had one last table to visit, the swag table! The awesome people of Fitness Magazine had boxes of Reebok shoes lining the back wall and huge colorful gym bags (aka swag bags) waiting for us. We took the bags back to our table and tried to get organized before heading out, we were completely shocked and amazed at all the swagalicious goodies that filled that huge gym bag! I will be writing a separate post this week about all the goodies we received, so check back!

I am truly honored that I was given the opportunity through to attend this event. It was so great to interact with people who are just as passionate about health and fitness as I am! I made some friendships, met some really great people, and learned so much from the speakers. A BIG Thank you to Fitness Magazine, FitFluential, and New Media Strategies.

Now I have a pile of business cards to go through this week, blogs to check out, emails to send, and more blog posts to write! This event was so amazing, I can't fit it all in one post! More to come soon!

xoxo - Amber

Getting Ready For Fitness Magazine's Blogger Meet and Tweet!

Tonight I'm getting prepared for Fitness Magazine's Blogger Meet and Tweet event tomorrow in NYC! They are holding this event to give us bloggers information about health, beauty, wellness, nutrition, cool fitness gear, how to be a successful blogger, and will even have a fun pop up fitness class! I'm also super excited to meet all of the crew from Fitness Magazine and especially excited to meet some of my awesome fellow FitFluential Ambassadors including our fearless leader Kelly Olexa! I've got my favorite outfit together, one of my Lululemon tops, Lulu hoodie, and a pair of workout capris. I'm also making sure my phone and camera are charged up so I can take lots of photos to share with everyone! Right now I'm sprucing up my hair color and then I'm off to paint my nails, fun fun! You can check out all the fitness tweets by searching #FitBlogNYC on Twitter!

Another exciting fitness happening tomorrow is the Tone It Up! girls Karena and Katrina are going to be at the Oakley store in Time Square for a meet and greet. The FitBlogNYC event is over at 4pm so I may try to rush over there after to say hello! Love those inspiring ladies!

I love living in NYC for many reasons, but especially when I get to be apart of so many great events! Tomorrow will be a great day for fitness!

xoxo - Amber

Simple Coconut Flour Protein Pancake Recipe

Recipe time! I was feeling very hungry for a healthy treat this afternoon, so I played around with the ingredients I had in the kitchen and whipped up the most deliciously simple protein pancake recipe EVER! Well maybe not ever, but they were very simple and delish with only 6 ingredients! I hope you all enjoy, tell me what you think! xoxo - Amber

• Simple Coconut Flour Protien Pancake (soy, dairy & grain free)
  Makes 2 medium pancakes
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I use Vitol Vanilla Egg Protein Powder )
  • 3 tbsp egg white
  • 2 tbsp organic coconut flour
  • 1/3 cup Trader Joe's Lite Coconut Milk
  • Cinnamon & stevia to taste
  • extra virgin coconut oil

Set your stove to medium to medium-low heat, preheat frying pan. Heat will vary depending on the type of stove you are working with. I have a gas stove, so my stove top gets very hot and cooks my food very quick. Once the pan is hot, toss in a small scoop of extra virgin coconut oil to coat the pan. Pour the batter into the pan, cook pancakes for a couple minutes on both sides until golden brown brown, flipping once. Bon Appétit!

Gym Date Love - Upper Body Superset Workout

Recently my work schedule has changed up a bit, allowing me to start working out in the mornings again with some of my girlfriends who live close by (yay!). I  find that it is much easier for us to workout in the morning time since the gym isn't as crowded as it is in the evening time and we are usually able to get the weights or equipment we need. Another advantage to setting up morning gym dates, is that it holds you accountable since someone is counting on you to be there, no time for pushing that snooze button! Not to mention working out with friends is always fun! Lucky for me, my girls aren't scared to push hard in the gym and go for the heavier weights! Nothing worse than a whiny friend who is still pushing 2lb dumbells :)


Last Friday I met up with my friend Colleen for some cardio, ab work, and kettlebells. We had a great workout and after she went off to work and I got to go back home and relax for the rest of the morning until it was time for me to scoot off to work.


This morning I met with my friend Lindsay at her gym for a little 10am gym date. We completed a full upper body superset workout. Each exercises were done back to back, followed by 1 minute rest after the last exercise was completed, then repeat. When we got done both of our muscles were shaking like crazy, love that feeling! Definitely a killer workout and a really good start to the week!

Upper Body Superset Workout:


Chest press/Pushups - 
3 sets/10-12 reps each exercise

Bent over row/Renegade row -
3 sets/10-12 reps each exercise

Shoulder press/Jumping jacks/Lateral raise -
3 sets/10-12 reps each exercise

Seated bicep curl/Hammer curl/Tricep push down/Tricep dip -
3 sets/10-12 reps each exercise

Followed by intervals on the treadmill - 18 minutes

I got this workout from EmilyAlvers.com and modified it slightly. Here is the original post with her pdf print out...http://www.emilyalvers.com/upper_body_superset_workout.html

Coconut Flour Pumpkin Protein Brownies (soy, dairy & grain free)

FINALLY! Here is the recipe for the coconut flour pumpkin protein brownies I've been blabbing about for the last two days on my Facebook page :) I wanted to try to make my pumpkin protein loaf without almond flour and instead make it with just coconut flour and chia seed. But since coconut flour tends to get really dry if you don't add enough liquid, I wasn't sure how it would turn out. To help get some extra moisture in these babies, I experimented with using Trader Joe's light coconut milk, which only costs $0.99 per can. The loaf came out amazingly fluffy and moist, I have to say I am really proud of this one! I had a couple friends taste test it and they all loved it as well! So hope you all enjoy, and leave me a comment below telling me what you think!

xoxo
Amber

Coconut Flour Pumpkin Protein Brownie:
Makes 8 slices (1 slice per serving depending on your goals) 

• 3 scoops protein powder - I am currently using Vitol Egg White protein powder - Vanilla Ice Cream Flavor
• 1/3 cup coconut flour 
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 1/2 cup egg white
• 3 jumbo whole eggs
• 3/4 cup Trader Joe's light coconut milk
• 1/3 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix) 
• 1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp of cinnamon
• Sweetener of choice - I used 8 drops of liquid stevia
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl together. Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl, and then mix the two bowls together. Prepare a 8x8 baking pan OR muffin cups with non-stick spray if needed and pour in batter. Cook for 30-35 minutes or until cooked all the way through. Let it cool enough to separate the loaf from the pan with a spatula and then place on a cooling rack. Once it's finished cooling completely, cut into 8 thick slices or pop out muffins, place in snack baggies and refrigerate or freeze. Bon Appétit! 

Pumpkin 'n Chocolate Chip Protein Pancake (soy, dairy & grain free)

I was naughty this week and forgot to order my protein powder, so I went a few days without any delicious shakes, protein chia seed pudding, and dare I say it...the protein pancake!! So in order to make up for lost time, this afternoon I whipped up a chocolate chip pumpkin pancake, some chia pudding AND a pumpkin protein loaf. Whoa that's a lot of cooking! I have to say though that the pancake was my favorite, it was super light and fluffy, and for some extra deliciousness I threw just a little bit of dairy and soy free butter on the top of it. It still amazes me how healthy protein packed desserts taste so amazingly naughty!! Who needs fattening flour pancakes and cookies when you can make one of these babies!

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

xo
Amber

Pumpkin 'n Chocolate Chip Protein Pancake (soy, dairy & grain free)

Makes 1 large pancake 

• 2 tbsp Chia seeds
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I use Vitol Vanilla Egg Protein Powder )
• 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 20 mini Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
• 3 tbsp egg white
• 1/4 cup of pumpkin puree
• Cinnamon & stevia to taste
• Dash of baking powder

Mix all the ingredients together.Set your stove to medium to medium-low heat, preheat frying pan. Heat will vary depending on the type of stove you are working with. I have a gas stove, so my stove top gets very hot and cooks my food very quick. Once the pan is hot, toss in a small scoop of extra virgin coconut oil to coat the pan. Pour the batter into the pan, cover with lid and cook pancakes for a couple minutes on both sides until golden brown brown, flipping once. Bon Appétit!

Saturday Night Pinterest Motivation!

It's Saturday night and I feel like POO! Over the last few days I've felt tired and sluggish, my body clearly needs some rest and has really let me know it. I took a couple days off from the gym and decided to try to go back today. I got through less than half of my upper body workout and realized I just wasn't quite ready to get back into my routine (boooo!!). So since I'm not able to train, I thought I would at least get a little visual motivation from some of my favorite photos in my Fitspiration Fun! album on Pinterest. If these photos can't perk me up, then I don't know what will!

Hopefully this brings a little motivation your way too! Enjoy!

xoxo
Amber

             

                                                                                    Source: google.com via Amber on Pinterest

                                                                 

                                                                            Source: Uploaded by user via Amber on Pinterest

                                                                       Source: excellentsixpackabs.tk via Amber on Pinterest

                                                                              Source: tumblr.com via Amber on Pinterest

                                                                                Source: tumblr.com via Amber on Pinterest

I am a FitFluential Ambassador!

On the early morning of February 26th I hopped on my computer and found an email that I'd been impatiently awaiting for almost a month, it was my acceptance to be a FitFluential Ambassador! Back in January I sent an email with my story and why I wanted to be an Ambassador to the lovely ladies of FitFluential LLC, Kelly Olexa and Danielle Liss. They liked my story and quickly got the ball rolling. I am so excited and honored to be apart of this network of health minded people! I've already met a couple of my fellow Ambassadors around the city this week and I look forward to connecting with even more over the next year!

What is FitFluential?

My FitFluential Story:

"Hi Fitfluential gang! My name is Amber, I live in beautiful Brooklyn, NY and I blog at ExSoyCise: My Soy-free Fitness Journey. My blog is a place for me to share my lifelong fitness journey where I have gone through the ups and downs of weight loss. After many years of being on the wrong path of failed diets and trying to find that “magic” pill, I got back on the right path by eating a healthy clean diet, weight training and learning to LOVE the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle!

Once I started planning and cooking most of my meals at home, eating 5-6 mini-meals per day, and exercising regularly, the weight started to come off naturally. Over the last two years I’ve lost a 17lbs and have gained lean muscle. Along the way, my clean diet helped bring to my attention that I was allergic to soy and lactose intolerant. I got what I call the "soy belly" any time I consumed any amount of soy. It was very hard to adapt to a soy and dairy free diet at first because they are in almost everything on the shelves these days. I found it difficult when I was out in the city and I couldn’t grab an “easy” on the go meal such as protein bars or a quick sandwich. These challenges helped me to realize that if I want to be successful and feel my best, I would always have to cook ALL of my own food and there would rarely be times when I can just grab a “quick” bite to eat out.

I’ve made the most out of living soy and dairy free by creating fun new recipes such as my cinnamon pumpkin protein loaf and my banana and chocolate chip protein pancakes. I love creating these recipes because they are soy, dairy and gluten free, loaded with healthy ingredients, easy to make and last but not least they make me feel like I am enjoying a naughty treat!

On my blog I also share reviews of all of some of my favorite things, soy allergy information, and motivational tips and tricks that help me to stay on track.

I would love to be a Fitfluential Ambassador because I have a serious passion for living a healthy lifestyle and sharing it with others. I hope that my story will help to motivate others who may also be struggling with weight loss or who are dealing with food allergies."

Do you want to be a FitFluential Ambassador?

Keeping Life Simple: Kale and Beef Bacon Egg Casserole

For the past two months I've had to work the dreaded 12 hour, 7am - 7pm work shifts while my current employer has been on the hunt for another manager to join our team. The days are extremely long and there is absolutely no chance of me going to the gym on my lunch break. So in order for me to work those long shifts and still get my workout on, I've been going to the gym in the morning before work. To make things easier. I make my protein shake and pack my lunch bag the night before. My morning goes something like this: wake up at 4:45am, throw my gym clothes on, grab my food and rush out the door to catch the 5:02am train. Timing is very important at this hour because the subways are only running about every 20-30 minutes and if I miss the train, I waste very valuable gym time. Along the ride there I drink my protein shake and take my supplements, which are BCAAs, L-Carnitine, and green tea extract. I get to the gym, throw down my stuff and begin my workout. Once I'm done, I rush to the showers and get ready for work, luckily for me it's only a block away. When I get to work, I get settled and eat my post-workout breakfast meal which consists of my protein (eggs) and carb (sweet potato).  

You might think I am crazy for waking up so early to go to the gym, but this just works for me. Not only do I insure that I make it to the gym. It also boosts my mood and gets those feel-good endorphins going! I seriously can't tell you how many mornings I've been asked "why are you in such a good mood!?!".  It is the workout, baby!

If you've read any of my posts or follow me on facebook, then you probably know by now, I'm always looking for ways to make my fit-life easier. Well, a couple weeks ago I started feeling really burnt out from cooking my breakfast each night. I thought to myself, all my other meals were already pre-made and packed so why not my breakfast? I decided I'd try and pre-make my eggs for that week. I was pretty sure it would work, since I've done it before with eggs in my silicone muffin cups. I made this egg casserole recipe by just throwing a few ingredients into my loaf pan and hoping for a good turn out. I wasn't sure if it would work because any time I've ever seen a recipe for an egg casserole, it included some sort of bread layer on the bottom of the pan. I'm not really sure why that is because my egg casserole came out amazing with only 3 simple ingredients: egg, kale, and beef bacon.


In case you wondering about the beef bacon, I found it at Trader Joe's. It is uncured nitrate free and tastes nothing like pork bacon. It has only 2.5g of fat per serving and 6g of protein per slice. I'm in love with this stuff!


You could get really creative with this recipe by adding all sorts of fun ingredients, and if you are worried about the high fat content, then you could always cut down the amount of whole eggs and replace them with more egg whites. I prefer to use the whole eggs because it helps me to stay fuller longer! I think this week, I may even try adding cooked sweet potato to the bottom of the mixture and see how that goes. I imagine it would probably be a delicious addition to my casserole! 


Please let me know what you think, I'd love to hear your feedback!

xoxo
Amber

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350. Coat pan with cooking oil, fill the pan up half way with chopped raw kale. Then cut two pieces of beef bacon into small pieces and layer over the kale.

Step 2: In a separate bowl scramble 6 eggs with 3/4 cup of egg whites. Pour over the kale and beef bacon, then add in the seasonings of your choice. 

Step 3:  Cook at 350 for 30-35 or until the top of the eggs are completely cooked.

Step 4: Remove egg casserole from the pan with a spatula and let cool. Once cooled, cut into 6 thick slices and package up. Enjoy!

Walnut & Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Pancake

Did you guys know that we have been blessed with not ONE but TWO National Pancake holidays? That is right, TWO! September 26th is the first National Pancake Day, which I vividly remember celebrating with a delicious protein pancake, and IHOP decided they would coin February 28th as their own National Pancake Day. Of course you will almost never catch me indulging on a real flour pancake, but if you know me or have scrolled through my Protein Powder Recipe tab, you know my obsession with these delightful cakes! So in honor of our 2nd National Pancake Day, I whipped up this tasty walnut and chocolate chip "cookie dough" protein pancake. For the topping, I just drizzled a little bit of coconut oil over the top, it turned out mouth watering good! Enjoy and let me know what you think!

While we are on the topic of protein pancakes, everyone get your thinking caps on because Ms. Daria McDermott and I are on the hunt for some new creative pancake ideas, so get ready!

Walnut & Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Pancake (soy, dairy & grain free)

Makes 1 large pancake 

• 2 tbsp Chia seeds
• 1 tbsp almond flour
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I use Vitol Vanilla Egg Protein Powder )
• 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 20 mini Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
• 1.5 tbsp raw walnts
• 3 tbsp egg white
• 1/4 cup of pumpkin puree
• Cinnamon & stevia to taste
• Dash of baking powder

Mix all the ingredients together.Set your stove to medium to medium-low heat, preheat frying pan. Heat will vary depending on the type of stove you are working with. I have a gas stove, so my stove top gets very hot and cooks my food very quick. Once the pan is hot, toss in a small scoop of extra virgin coconut oil to coat the pan. Pour the batter into the pan, cover with lid and cook pancakes for a couple minutes on both sides until golden brown brown, flipping once. Bon Appétit!

When Health Bloggers Unite!

Today I had the pleasure of meeting fellow New Yorker and health blogger Daria McDermott for the first time (in real life) over a cup of Joe. Our first official "meeting" was via our facebook pages last summer, since then we've bonded over our fitness journeys and the fact that we both live in New York City. Daria is a super inspiring woman with a passion for healthy living. She started training and eating clean over a year ago and hasn't turned back ever since. Once she was addicted to this amazing lifestyle, she started writing a blog about her ever developing healthy life and the tips and tricks she has learned along the way. This gal isn't allergic to soy, but she has tipped me off on several really great soy-free products over the last several months.

After months of saying "we should get together", we finally found a day that worked for both of us. We met during Daria's lunch break at Pret coffee shop. Which worked out perfectly because it is just around the corner form my gym (bonus!). Daria sipped on hot tea, while I had coffee with my stevia and almond milk. We chatted for a solid hour about everything: recipes, blogging, gym memberships, personal trainers, food, booze, favorite products, diet struggles, and our personal lives. That hour flew by so quickly because we were having such a good time together. It was so nice to talk to talk to someone who is as health obsessed as I am! I think we literally could have talked for hours, which I hope to do so again soon! Hopefully she and I can work together on a few things in there near future...possibly a contest and maybe even doing a little guest blogging on each others site. What do you say Daria?? :)

Find Daria on her blog dariamcdermott.com, her facebook page, and twitter. Also check out her super sweet blog post about our Semi-Blind Date.

We asked a girl on the street to take our picture outside of the coffee shop and coincidentally in front of her home gym

Daria and I right before getting in trouble for taking pictures inside Pret coffee shop, who knew you weren't allowed to take pictures inside of a coffee shop :)

Weekly Meal Prep Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to me! February 15th, 2011 was the date I officially started my weekly meal prep. That is one FULL year of cooking all of my meals in batches twice per week. It is the easiest and the BEST thing I've done to help push me closer to my weight loss goals! To date I've lost a total of 17 pounds!  

I vividly remember that week, it was Valentines week, Chris was getting ready to go snowboarding in Colorado for a week and I was feeling a little down about my slow weight loss progress. At that point I still wasn't very consistent with my clean eating and my workouts. I was doing my best to eat breakfast in the mornings before work, I would eat snacks like Greek yogurt with banana, and for lunch I'd grab a grilled chicken wrap or sandwich from a deli. But I still wasn't making time to prepare my meals and that was really holding me back. So that week while I was on the subway riding to work, I listened to a very motivating podcast about weight loss. They stressed that you have to find the reason you to want to lose the weight, then you have to really get mad at the fat! I sat there for a minute to think about my reason, of course my reason was to have the body of my dreams and do it for me, but I needed a better motivator besides my own vanity. Because let's face it, if I haven't been able to lose the weight for me after this long, then I think it is time I tried a different approach. I decided that the my reason was going to be Chris! I wanted to be his eye candy, I wanted him to look at my body and think WOW, because that is what I think every time I look at him!

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein"

After finding my reason, I had to decide what my next step was going to be. I knew that I had to do something different with my diet, because clearly I wasn't getting the results that I wanted. So I went to the store, bought a ton of food, and went home and prepared everything at once. I cooked meats, veggies, boiled eggs, rice, and protein pancakes. I measured everything and packaged it in containers. So that week while Chris was in Colorado, I ate all of my prepared foods and hit the gym hard. About a week and a half passed. When we finally saw each other, Chris commented that he could already see small changes in my body and my scale weight had dropped too!

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Seeing those little changes in my body in that very short amount of time made me believe that I was doing something right. I realized how easy it was to take a little time out of my week and prepare my food. It has gotten easier and easier over the last year and I've decided this is something that I'm never going to quit.

I urge everyone who wants to get serious about weight loss, to take a minute and really think about your reason for wanting to lose the the weight. Once you find YOUR reason, whatever that may be, then I want you to get MAD at the fat! Now, take one step in the right direction and make a positive change. Whether it is preparing your foods weekly, cutting one food out of your diet that might be having a negative effect on your body, or setting a goal to make exercise a priority. We all have need to find that motivation to get started and sometimes that requires us to step out of our box and try something new.

"Every journey begins with a single step."

 

If you would like to share your reason, I would love to hear it in the comments below!

xoxo

Amber

Ex-Soy-Cise Introduction Vlog!

It's is here folks! What you've all been waiting for...my first video blog! Ok, maybe you haven't been waiting for it, but it is here whether you want it or not :)

I really wanted to start doing some vlogging for my blog lately. I wanted to be able to share some recipes, some tips that I find helpful, product reviews, and what ever else that comes up along my journey. I started off by just doing a little introduction for my blog and myself. It is my first one, so cut me some slack!

Enjoy!

xo

Amber

Simple Strawberry Protein Pancakes

This is a super simple protein pancake recipe that I whipped up yesterday when I got home from the gym. I wanted to use up some of the strawberries I had in the fridge and also wanted to try and use as little ingredients as possible. I feel like I've gotten SO creative with my recipes, that I'm starting to forget about the good ol' days when I made my pancakes with only protein powder, sweet potato, sweetener and egg. Unfortunately my egg protein powder doesn't cook up as well as my old whey did, so I still have to add in the almond flour to give the cake a little more body.  

The pancake turned out really well and was quite pretty, if I do say so myself!

Strawberry Protein Pancake (soy, dairy & grain free)

Makes 1 large pancake 

• 1.5 tbsp almond flour
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I use Vitol Vanilla Egg Protein Powder )
• 1 whole egg
• 3 large strawberries sliced
• Cinnamon & stevia to taste
• 2 tbsp PB2 (peanut butter) mixed with water

 Mix all the ingredients together except for the PB2, set off to the side for topping. Set your stove to medium to medium-low heat, preheat frying pan. Heat will vary depending on the type of stove you are working with. I have a gas stove, so my stove top gets very hot and cooks my food very quick. Once the pan is hot, toss in a small scoop of extra virgin coconut oil to coat the pan. Pour the batter into the pan, cover with lid and cook pancakes for a couple minutes on both sides until golden brown brown, flipping once. Bon Appétit!

Starbucks Inspired Pumpkin Spice Protein Shake Recipe

This is one of my favorite protein shake recipes to enjoy either before or after my workouts. I had my first Starbucks pumpkin spice latte about two years ago, when I could still tolerate milk, and it was absolutely divine! Unfortunately the latte doesn't fit into my lifestyle not only because of the dairy, but also because it has 240 calories, 38g of sugar and 39g of carbohydrates. I'm not saying I don't splurge on treats from time to time, but if I am consuming all of those naughty calories, sugars and carbs, I'd rather it be in food form like a cookie or a banana chocolate chip pancake! This year I didn't even think about missing that delicious latte with the help of this shake, it has it all, coffee, pumpkin, cinnamon and vanilla! Enjoy and leave me a comment below letting me know what you think! xoxo Amber

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Naughty Banana and Chocolate Chip Protein Pancake (soy, dairy and grain free)

I don't think words can accurately describe my love and/or obsession with the protein pancake, but I will do my best...it is easy to make, packed with protein, can be substituted for any meal of the day, tastes like a mini chocolate cake, can be made with many different variations, can be made naughty or nice, is a perfect pre or post-workout meal, it satisfies craving and saves me from making bad choices, and it tastes phenomenal! There, I think that may put it into perspective for all of you out there :).

Anyway, I was feeling naughty and wanted a treat this weekend, so I whipped up this amazing banana and chocolate chip pancake to satisfy my cravings. I finally got to use my Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips (soy, dairy and gluten free, wahoo!), and this was also my first time using my Chia seed in a pancake, both were great additions!

Banana and Chocolate Chip Protein Pancake (soy, dairy & grain free)

Makes 1 large pancake

• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I use Vitol Vanilla Egg Protein Powder)
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 20 mini Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
• 1 whole egg
• 1 medium banana
• Cinnamon & stevia to taste
• Dash of baking powder
• 2 tbsp PB2 (peanut butter)

Mix all the ingredients together except for the PB2. Set your stove to medium to medium-low heat, preheat frying pan. Heat will vary depending on the type of stove you are working with. I have a gas stove, so my stove top gets very hot and cooks my food very quick. Once the pan is hot, toss in a small scoop of extra virgin coconut oil or spray oil to coat the pan. Pour the batter into the pan, cover with lid and cook pancakes for a couple minutes on both sides until golden brown brown, flipping once. 

Bon Appétit!

My Protein Packed Pumpkin Chia Seed Pudding

Bon Appétit!

2011 and it's on to the next one....

Ahhh 2011...what a year!  It started out a little rocky, I wasn't consistent with my diet nor my training. Then something sparked in February and I found my motivation! I got mad at the fat and decided I was ready to live a healthy and fit lifestyle. I knew I couldn't be my best without a serious plan, so I started planning all of my meals and cooking in advance a couple times a week. I started scheduling my workouts and going to the gym about 5 to 6 days per week. My super clean diet lead me to the discovery of my lactose intolerance and my allergy to the evil soy. I had my ups and downs with food, training, and life in general, but all and all it was a great year!

So far 2012 is off to a fantastically healthy start! I'm seeing progress with my workouts, I've broken them up into upper and lower body splits, and added in some extra cardio at the end of each of my workouts.  I've already lost a little fat since changing up my routine (wahoo!), so I am sticking with this for a while. I'm looking forward to more progress over the next couple months and hoping to take a good progress picture soon to add to my picture line up from the past year.

I thought I would do one last little year recap of the last year.  So here I've listed out some of the good, the bad and the ugly (but mostly good!) of 2011.

1. As much as I despise my allergy to soy and lactose intolerance, it inspire me to create Ex-Soy-Cise.
2. I CAN live without grains, dairy and processed foods.
3. "Soy belly" can make me look like I've gained an extra 10 pounds in a matter of minutes!
4. I am much more successful with my diet and exercise when I make them a priority and make a plan.
5. I love Amazon Prime and Amazon Subscribe and Save. Both programs save me a lot of money!
6. I love baking and creating protein "dessert" recipes that are delicious and healthy.
7. I have a true love for weight training and I feel my best when I'm in the gym 5-6 days a week.
8. For the first time in 5 years I fit into a size 4 (thank goodness I saved all my skinny clothes!).
9. I am addicted to Lululemon and my collection of cuteness is growing!
10. Finding a soy & dairy free protein powder that tastes good and bakes well is nearly impossible, but thanks to Vitol I finally found one!
11. I discovered several deliciously health foods: chia seed, flax seed, extra virgin coconut oil, stevia,  kabocha squash, almond milk, coconut milk, almond flour, coconut flour, puree pumpkin, Vitol Vanilla Egg Protein Powder.
12. I realized that people do not understand how frustrating it is living with food allergies and sometimes it is hard to find support from those around you, at times even from family.
13. Facebook and Twitter are GREAT places to get motivation from others who are working hard towards similar goals!
14. Eggs mixed with nearly anything is good! Some of my favorites have been sweet potato, butternut squash, kabocha squash and eggplant!
15. I am absolutely in LOVE with my new healthy life, no more fad diets, no more eating processed junk food, no more putting the weight back on! 

I raise my protein shake to a happy and healthy 2012!