My Banana-Chocolate-Milk & Cookies Coffee Creation

Good Morning, Friends!

How’s this Wednesday treating you?  So far so good in my neck of the woods!

I started my day with some functional strength training.  I didn’t want to be at the gym when I first got there, but after a quick 5 minute warm-up on treadmill I was ready to kick some booty….and I did!

Then, I treated myself to the best protein shake I’ve ever created (at least in my opinion) to refuel myself.  

 Kim’s Banana-Chocolate-Milk & Cookies Coffee Creation:

•  ½ cup Unsweetened Chocolate Almond Milk
• 1 scp Chocolate Protein Powder (I used BSN Lean Dessert Chocolate Fudge)
• ¼ Frozen Banana
• Handful of Ice Cubes (guesstimating ½ cup)
• San Marco Iced Milk & Cookies Flavored Coffee (I made this yesterday and had it iced and waiting for me this morning)

I always add my ingredients into my Magic Bullet in the same way.  First, I’ll put some liquid.  In this case it was the almond milk, but normally I use water.  Then, I throw in a scoop of protein powder, my frozen fruit and the ice.  Lastly, I top it off with some additional liquid (the iced coffee in this case).  I just eyeball the liquid I top it off with.  It probably ranges from ¼ – ½ cup.  I fill until the ice cubes start to separate from each other/float a little.  I don’t want to add to much liquid because I like my shakes nice and thick!

 Once I screw the Magic Bullet cap top on, I shake the container and then put it on the Magic Bullet base to blend.  This leads to a winning shake just about every time!     

 Let me tell ya, I was a very happy girl driving into work this morning, as I sipped my protein creation. 

 The office seems quiet today, which usually means that something is brewing and random craziness will ensue in the near future.  Let’s hope that’s not the case!

 Fitness:

 In fitness news, workouts are going great!  The hardest part for me has been upping my macros to fit within my nutrition guidelines.  I wrote to my coach for check-in today and explained what’s going on in my head.  After two+ decades of being on a diet, my stomach has shrunk, but I also have many fears and I end up sabotaging myself (I am my own worst enemy at times).  I’m not going to allow myself to fall into the same patterns again.  Better to speak up now and work things out.  I asked if we could gradually increase macros instead of making such a big jump (in my eyes).  I’ll let you know what happens…

Whenever I start to doubt myself or want to veer off track I take a look at this girl right here. I know Naomi from a fitness site we used to frequent a few years ago and am so proud of her for her accomplishments!

 Daily Life:

 In other news, Rob will be going in for back surgery this week.   My poor man has been in so much pain over the past few weeks.  It hurts my heart to see him struggling.  It’s minor surgery, but this is the third one he’ll be having on his back.  Please keep him in your thoughts.  I’ll keep you updated.

Oh, I just might have some positive news regarding a personal venture, by end of day.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!! I’m excited about the possibility, but don’t want to get my hopes up yet.  I literally did a happy dance last night when I figured something out.

That’s all for now, folks.  Time to get this thing called work done. :/  

Wishing you a Wonderful Wednesday!

 <3

Kim

A Kahlua Kind of Morning

Hi Friends!

Don’t worry, I haven’t resorted to starting my day with a shot of Kahlua even though it might have been nice after the drive in I had into work this morning.

Instead, I started my day with a quick warm-up on the treadmill at the gym and then pumped some iron to hit back and biceps.  Getting my workout out of the way before work always starts my day on the right foot. 

It was still in the mid-70s when I stepped out to head back home.  I closed my eyes for a second and breathed in deeply.  Ahhhh.  I need to remind myself of that feeling whenever I want to shut my alarm off and roll over in bed (which I’ve been doing way too much of lately).

Rob had to be out of the house early this morning.  Since he was in the shower when I made it home, I decided to use my time wisely by making my meals for the day and brewing some coffee.  I was excited for this coffee, which was a new-to-me find at the grocery store over the weekend.

Kahlua!!

I mean, how could you go wrong with Kahlua?

When I visited my mom a few weeks ago, she treated me to Kahlua coffee from her Keurig coffee maker.  Kahlua was my favorite drink of choice in college and the flavor brought me back to those days (I stick to vodka when I do drink now).  I’m a HUGE coffee lover and always peruse the coffee aisle when I make a trip to the grocery store.  You never know what interesting flavor you might find.  I was ecstatic when the Kahlua bag caught my eye.  I have a regular ol’ coffee maker, so my mom’s pods wouldn’t work for me.  Now, I can enjoy the Kahlua flavor from home whenever I want!

Before hitting the shower, you know I had to have a quick taste of the freshly brewed coffee.

Excited For My First Sip

I wish I could give you a taste through the computer screen.

 Mmmmm….it was enough to make me want to take my hair down and relax for a while.

Sadly, I couldn’t because I was already behind schedule.  This long mane of mine takes some time and I needed to get into the shower…STAT!

As I was scrubbing up, an idea came to mind.  The Kahlua coffee was going in this morning’s protein shake.  Oh yes!  That’ll get me moving!  I quickly finished up in the shower, threw the coffee into the fridge to cool down, got prettied up and then made my way back to the kitchen.  I packed my lunch bag as I gave my shake a whirl in the Magic Bullet. 

It was a Kahlua-tastic Protein Perfection!

I think it would put a smile on just about anyone’s face.  I know it did for me.

That gym session really revved my metabolism.  Two hours after finishing my shake my belly was grumbling.  I just downed 3 hardboiled egg whites and a toasted cinnamon-raisin ezekiel english muffin, which I spread with a thin layer of natural peanut butter.  My belly loves me….for now.

Have a great day!

<3

Kim

PS:  A warm hello to all of my new readers!  Thanks for visiting.  I hope you stick around for a while.

The “Shake Queen”

Hi Friends,

The weekend is slowly coming to a close and I’m in denial that 10 short hours from now I’ll almost be pulling into the parking lot at work.  Is it bad that I’m already dreading next week?  One of my coworkers will be leaving on a two-week vacation at that time and I will be covering her.  Let’s just say I’m not looking forward to it.  I love her, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not looking forward to that responsibility.  Anyway, I’m going to try not to worry about it until next Sunday.

If you know me by now you can guess that I’m running on very little sleep.  It seems without fail that whenever Rob is away I have trouble sleeping.  I felt like a zombie walking around today and fell asleep while reading this afternoon.  I’m starting to feel a little more like myself now and hopefully I’ll be tired at a normal time tonight so I’m not running on empty tomorrow.  My plan is to wake up early and make it to the gym, so getting to sleep at a normal hour is a necessity.  You can bet that I’ll be enjoying one of my delicious protein shakes after rocking my workout.  It’s one of the things I look forward to after getting my sweat on.

New to you fact about me: I worked in the gym industry for 8 years, part of which while going through college.

During those 8 years I perfected the craft of protein shake making.  I loved having access to the high performance blenders at the gym and worked on getting my own shakes to the perfect consistency so I could make the members great shakes of their own.  Man, do I wish I had one of those blenders now.  They were great!

One day, I was sitting in my office and I overheard two members looking for me.  There were three people standing behind the counter that day, but they specifically wanted me to make their shakes.  They deemed me the “Shake Queen” and it became their nickname for me going forward.  Hey, I’ll take it.

My pictures don’t do it justice, but this was my creation yesterday:

You remember The Players, right?

Those are frozen banana chunks in the bag.  I usually cut bananas into 8 equal pieces before freezing so I know exactly how much I’m getting at one time.  I usually use 1/4 of a banana in my shakes.

Pour In The Iced Americano

If you use a Magic Bullet, I use the bottom line marker as a guide to where I fill my liquid to.

Add You Favorite Protein Powder (I like BSN Lean Dessert)

Throw in Your Fruit  I prefer to use frozen fruit because of the consistency it lends to the shake.  You can add any extras, like peanut butter, at this time too.

Fill the Remainder of Your Blender Cup With Ice & Some Water (to get things moving)

Twist On the Cap

And……SHAKE!

Then, Shake Some More!

What a Ham!!

Get Your Blend On

Protein Shake Perfection

So Thick & Creamy

Slip In a Straw & Enjoy

I Wish You Could Have Tasted It.  Don’t Worry, I Enjoyed it in Your Honor.

Time for this girly to unwind and get ready for the work week.  Let’s hope the sand man pays a visit tonight so I can actually get some sleep and wake up fully recharged.

Have a great night!

<3

Kim