Protein Powder Review and a Fierce Workout

A BIG hello and hugs to all of my wonderful readers! How was your Sunday? Mine was superb. I hit up the gym early this morning, did some major studying the rest of the day, ate some tasty food, chatted with my Mommy over the phone, painted my nails, and attended a student council meeting this eve.

I am so excited to do this protein powder review! Especially because I have been waiting for months to get my hands on this protein I literally have been waiting for months to try About Time protein powder. I first heard of this type of protein powder when Naomi posted about it on her blog way back in June! I went to their website to make an order, but was disappointed to find out that they do not deliver to Canada I was crushed. Of course, I searched every store that offered protein powders near me, but I had no luck coming across any About Time products.

Everything changed when I moved back to London in September, though! As I mentioned yesterday, my favourite store, Homeopathy London, carries About Time protein powders! You can only imagine how thrilled I was when I found this out (Picture me bouncing up and down). I had a lot of protein powder at the time, so I decided to wait until I made ‘the purchase’ And I guess ‘the purchase’ was made yesterday YAY!

Unfortunately, Homeopathy London only carries About Time’s chocolate and vanilla flavour and are not able to order in any other flavour other than cinnamon (due to the supplier they are dealing with). I had my heart set on trying their peanut butter flavour, but I wasn’t going to let myself get upset seeing as how any About Time protein powder is better than no About Time protein powder at all Am I right or am I right? Read my review to find out!

About Time 100% Whey Protein Isolate

About Time protein powder uses 100% whey protein isolate and only natural ingredients such as Stevia.

Nutritional Profile

The nutritional profile is amazing since About Time only uses all natural ingredients! I always look at the label before buying my supplements and was really happy with what About Time protein offers!

Taste

Even though it is made with Stevia, there was definitely no apparent “Stevia” taste that may turn some individuals off.

Personally, I do not like extremely sweet flavours of protein powder, but I do not want the flavour to be bland either. I think this protein had a perfect level of sweetness. I tried the chocolate flavour and was very happy with it; it actually tasted like chocolate.

There was no “chalkiness”

Mixability

I have only tried to mix it into my yogurt so far; it mixed well and it didn’t clump.

Smell

This was the first thing I checked out after tearing off the plastic! YUM! Very chocolatey!

Overall Review

I am really happy that I purchased this yesterday I actually made an order after I purchased the chocolate… they are bringing in the cinnamon for me to try I give this protein powder 5/5! Three cheers for About Time protein!

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With all of this protein powder talk, I thought that this would be a perfect time to share a new PWO recipe with you all  
Ever since I created my sweet potato pudding, I have been enjoying it ever since to fuel my workouts! Seeing as how I ran out of bananas yesterday, I had to change things up and create something new! Yay for new creations! This is what I came up with

Extra Thick Sweet Potato Cranberry Pudding

5 oz. sweet potato

1 – 2 Tbsp dried cranberries (or fresh; I had dried!)

1/3 cup greek yogurt

1 – 1.5 scoop protein powder (I used vanilla)

Cook potato
Blend all ingredients together once the potato is cooked! Add cinnamon if you want  
This turned out extra thick I was lovin’ it

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So, this morning I rocked an amazing leg workout But it seemed as though everyone in the gym was getting a good workout in today! There was a lady doing triceps pushdowns and her face was mean! I LOVED it! I totally knew the burn she was feeling I felt like saying “you go girl!”, but contained myself…
Things might have got a little awkward… haha

So I went into this workout determined to get a sweat on I used to dread leg days. Last year I actually never even incorporated leg training into my weekly routine, but that was way back when I was a total newbie to lifting (now I am just somewhat of a newbie haha)

This year is much different I have been noticing changes like none other, but still have some things to work on that’s for sure!

Currently, I am doing two leg days per week. For one of my leg days I focus on quads (Wednesday) and for the other leg day I focus on hamstrings and glutes (Sunday). Since I am a perfectionist (something else I need to work on), I have been constantly switching up and changing my leg workouts to make them ‘perfect’! The constant switching of routines has gotten me really frustrated because there is no such thing as a ‘perfect’ routine. Another reason I am frustrated is because I want to stick to one routine for at least a month until I switch it up a bit.

Today I created the routine I will be sticking with for at least a month I am sure I have said this before, but this routine seriously made me feel like I accomplished something  

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Straight leg deadlift	5	5
Walking lunges w/ barbell	4	20 (10 each leg)
Superset
Side lunge*	3	12
Jump squat	3	12
Triset
Reverse lunge off step w/ barbell**	3	10
Bench straddle hops	3	24 (12 each side)
Plié squat w/ DB	3	12
Hip thrusters	3	10 – 12
Kneeling cable kickback	3	10 – 12
Ab Circuit
V sit ups	3	15
Reverse crunch on bench	3	10

* Perform right side lunge, left side lunge and then immediately go into squat jump (demonstrated in video below)

** Perform all 10 reverse lunges on right/left leg before switching to other leg

After doing this workout I was on a workout high all day It’s been a great Sunday

Some of the exercises performed throughout the workout I just shared were inspired by one of my favourites, Aubrie Richeson  Love her. We tweet daily She said goodnight to me last night  

How did you spend your Sunday?
How often do you switch up your workout routine?
Do you get bored with workouts easily?

Talk to you lovely people tomorrow!

Love,

Meg
xoxoxoxoxo

The Question that is Currently Stumping Me:

Why is my kitchen always a disaster?

Advice of the Day:

Acknowledge and appreciate all of the amazing things that your body is able to do!

Food, Beautiful Food

Hello sweetums! How was everyone’s Thursday? I definitely can’t complain about my day! For a day that is usually packed with 6 hours of class non-stop, I was let out an entire hour early from class numero one and a half hour early from the last class of the day! Don’t you love when that happens? It made me even more confused about which day it was though; once again I am confused and thinking it is Friday?? Let’s face it, I have been messed up all week.

I am so grateful for everyone’s comments on last night’s post I even received a suggestion for a marinade that I will be trying very, very soon! I love being able to talk about food with all of you fellow food lovers out there Conversations really are endless when it comes to food…

So many things have to do with and revolve around food (not to mention all of my classes have to do with food). Isn’t it wonderful?

Food is so complex.

Conversations about food can range anywhere from favourite types, flavours, preparation methods, serving suggestions, nutritive value, and so on.

During the first half of my day, I learnt how to aid clients in making lifestyle changes regarding their nutrition. It is necessary that RD’s know how to create a meal plan or food goals that are possible for the client to achieve. The meal plan or goals implemented must involve the client and be congruent with their lifestyle and preferences.

During the last part of my day, I learnt about canning, blanching, and the purposes of each.

Both classes are Foods & Nutrition classes and involve some aspect of food, but at the same time are incredibly different from one another. Isn’t it fascinating how complex food actually is? And those were just a few examples!

Today, I wanted to talk about the beauty of food; a topic I find highly neglected when it comes to food

So many of us, myself included, get caught up in our daily routines and forget to actually appreciate the food going into our mouths What makes us appreciate food even more? It’s beauty! At least I think so…

Personally, I think food even tastes better when it is presented in a unique or eye-pleasing way Which is what inspired my breakfast this morning…

Instead of plopping some yogurt in a bowl, sprinkling some oats on top, and topping it off with a few farmer’s market fresh raspberries, I created this lovely little number

Of course any combination of fruit, yogurt, and granola is fab, but doesn’t presentation give it that extra something? Beautiful.

Raspberry & Yogurt Parfait

- 3/4 cup Greek yogurt mixed with 1 tsp sugar-free DaVinci white chocolate syrup

- 1/2 cup rolled oats

- 1 cup fresh raspberries

Layer all ingredients: yogurt, raspberries, oats, and so on…

Yes, this was definitely a beautiful breakfast, but the wine glass made it a little hard for me to scrape out every last smudge of yogurt with my finger But, I managed; of course.

The parfait, along with a plate of scrambled eggs, fuelled my morning workout My legs were jelly (and still are!) after this sweat sesh!

I warmed up with 2 –3 sets of 15 – 20 reps of leg extensions before starting the actual workout…

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Triset 1
Leg press (close)	3	10, 8, 6 (increasing weight)
Leg press (wide)	3	10, 8, 6 (increasing weight)
Stability ball plank w/ toe taps	3	12 each leg
Triset 2
Hack squat	3	12, 10, 8 (increasing weight)
Jump squat	3	failure
Stability ball plank w/ knee tuck	3	12 each leg
Stability ball crunch	3	15
Triset 3
Leg extensions	3	10, 8, 6 (increasing weight)
Lateral bench hop overs	3	10 each side
V sit ups	3	15
Triset 4
Hip abduction machine	3	12, 10, 8 (increasing weight)
Calf raises	3	20
Wall sit	3	failure

This had me sweating If I don’t have enough time, I skip triset 4, but today I didn’t have class until 11:30, so I was able to do the entire workout. This workout was adapted from Naomi’s Quad Focused workout. It’s pretty much the exact same as the one she shared, but I changed an exercise or two and the number of reps/sets.

For the past month or so, I have been trying to consume whole foods after my workouts rather than a liquid meal such as my all time favourite go-to shake, 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, milk, and a banana. I have been enjoying these types of post-workout meals much better (containing whole foods) than downing a shake within a few seconds. However, today I was feeling like a change and the luscious mango in my fridge was so tempting to make a shake with… I combined:

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

1/2 cup almond milk

mango

banana

ice

blended it all up and had my shake immediately after my workout. Unfortunately, it did nothing for me. It tasted fine, but I realized I missed having actual food, so from now on I know what I prefer and will continue with an actual meal after my workouts rather than a shake Shakes are nice if you are in a rush, travelling, etc. but since I have the time and am able to prepare an actual post-workout meal for myself I will continue to do so It’s funny how I used to love protein shakes last year, but now would rather have food after a workout

After my workout, I found myself roaming a mall… How did that happen? And where else was I, but the health food store! I had never been in this store before, but to my surprise I found a ton of my favourite things here, so now I know where to go when I run out of certain gluten free flours, grains, etc.

I have been on the search for whole wheat pastry flour all summer and was unsuccessful, until now

After spending oodles of time in here and creeping the cashiers out with my stealthy picture taking, I went over to the Dollar Store and purchased an umbrella for myself and a ton of decorations for the Homecoming float which is being decorated tomorrow!

Once again, my lunch filled my classroom with a wonderful aroma and all heads turned to see me chowing down on my chicken from last night, broccoli, and a mixture of roasted butternut squash and sweet potato Don’t worry, my classmates aren’t distracted from my chewing, it’s definitely the wonderful smells that are distracting I try to be very quiet while eating in class However, I may drop a spoon once in a while… Oops!

Supper was another beauty of a meal and it would be an absolute crime if I didn’t share it with you It was incredibly simple, so it’s really not even a recipe, but let’s just say it is

I used the scallopini and the marinade I shared with you last night, and created a mouth watering noodle bowl with a wonderful sauce

Now tell me that isn’t some beautiful food. I know, you can’t.

Spicy Almond Scallopini and Broccoli over Vermicelli

6 oz. scallopini (or meat of choice) marinated and cooked in my quick-stir fry sauce

1 cup broccoli, steamed

1 cup brown rice vermicelli

1/2 cup almond milk

1 Tbsp natural almond butter

Place noodles in a bowl
Mix in almond butter and milk
Top with vegetables and meat
Heat and serve

The sauce was extremely simple, but incredibly tasty! I definitely made sure that there were no remains once I was done with this meal

I hope I inspired all of you to take a longer look at your food tomorrow and the days to come Food is beautiful and should be appreciated every day  

Food makes us beautiful, too! Which is what my post is about tomorrow…

What was the most beautiful thing you ate today?
Do you put time into the presentation of your meals?
Almond butter or peanut butter? Pick one!

Good night friends! I just realized it’s already after 10!

Meg
xoxoxo