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!

Give Me a Challenge

Hey everyone!! Is it just me or does it feel like it should be Thursday already? WEIRD, but I actually had to tell myself multiple times that it was actually Tuesday today, not Thursday.

So today, is a follow up post from yesterday I really did stick with what I said and I made changes today that I have been wanting to make for a while now  

What are these changes you ask?

Well, as I said yesterday, I wanted to get out of my bed time snack rut! It all began when I considered starting Jamie Eason’s LiveFit Trainer at the beginning of September. She has provided the world, literally, with a free program that includes a meal plan and a workout schedule for a full 12 weeks! Previous to September, I was struggling with having snacks before bed, but once I read over Jamie’s program I took note of her meal plan and that she suggested everyone on the program and following the meal plan eat 5 – 6 egg whites and an unlimited amount of vegetables before bed or for an evening snack. I began to think to myself that I should really start having a snack before bed. I told myself that it was far too long for my body to go without eating if my last meal was at dinner time (which I usually have around 6:00). My current routine, no evening snack at all, was not meshing with my goals; increasing muscle mass.

How could I possibly gain muscle mass if my body was deprived for such a long time? 6:00 pm until 7:00 am the next morning!? I had to be crazy to think my body wasn’t entering a catabolic state while I was sleeping.

So, I made a challenge for myself much like the one I made myself last night. I decided that every night I was going to have egg whites before bed; and I did just that Even though I did not and am not following Jamie Eason’s meal plan because I eat healthy anyways, I incorporated her evening snack into my diet and was grateful for it I accomplished something that I had been avoiding for a long time which resulted in a very proud Meg

However, as September went on, the bed time snack of egg whites no longer satisfied these muscles…

[Source]

Just kidding! We all know I don’t look like that But, in a way I did… I was outrageously hungry come morning time (he looks scary hungry if you ask me ) So, since I was at the point of wanting to eat an entire cow come morning time, I knew it was time for a new challenge.

The challenge? Tonight I made myself a bowl of protein yogurt

– Greek yogurt

– chocolate protein powder

– handful of instant decaf coffee

This was my new challenge And I am incredibly happy (more like overly enthused) to announce that I ate the entire bowl of this goodness with complete confidence  

One thing I made sure I did while I ate this tonight was not to rush! Often times when I try something new that I have been avoiding, I tend to devour the food without enjoying it at all. It’s like a just want to get it over with or something?

Tonight was different, I made it different. (yet another accomplishment, go me!)

I put my spoon down between spoonful’s and made sure I enjoyed the entire bowl at a reasonable pace

I even used my finger (as per usual) to get every last bit of yogurt remaining It’s something that just has to be done when it comes to protein yogurt!

Taking note of the finger swipes? I didn’t lie. I always use my finger to get the last bits.

Now for the remaining of the night I will be relaxing because I pumped up these babies in the gym today

When I started at my new gym, there was a free package that came with it which included three personal consultant sessions and one 1 hour session with a personal trainer. My day with the personal trainer was today We did a full body workout today which was entirely new to me because I am currently doing a 5 day split. I absolutely loved working my entire body in a single workout! I am actually considering going from my 5 day split to a 3 or 4 day split once I do my current program for a month or so. We’ll see what happens I will keep you all updated.

My personal trainer introduced me to a few new exercises that I have seen before, but never attempted. She had me super setting a lot of the exercises which definitely got my sweat on She gave me confidence boosters (by commenting on my upper body strength), but also helped me with proper form (on my seated narrow grip rows).

The workout took me an hour to do and it was so much fun! I had a smile glued to my face all day I think I stood taller too It had to be all of those compliments she gave me (she actually just emailed me and told me I made her day!) *blushing*

The workout I did today with my trainer looked like this:

Warm up:
Elliptical 5 – 7 mins. at a pace where it was difficult to keep up a conversation
Dynamic walking lunges

Exercise	Sets	Reps
DB walking lunges	3	20 paces
Overhead barbell bench squat	3	12
Superset 1
Assisted pull ups	3	8
DB squat press	3	8
Superset 2
Seated narrow grip row	3	10
Triceps push up	3	12
Triset
Overhead medicine ball slams	3	12
Elevated bench dips	3	15
Forearm plank	3	1 minute

To be honest, I didn’t know how much I would enjoy having someone standing beside me while I worked out, but it was an awesome experience She could see my limits and knew when to push me even though we just met for the first time today She was such a cool person, too! She wrestles! Like, actually wrestles! She has been to Japan for competitions! I thought that was pretty neat-o

After my workout I chatted with my trainer for a few minutes and she told me I could email her with any questions at anytime She was honestly such a sweetheart! After a quick chat, I ran to the change room and refuelled with a new post workout meal I created Recipe to come!! Be excited.

Speaking of refuelling… check out how pro I am at getting it to the exact dollar Don’t say that’s not talent

My Dad would be so impressed, haha!

It’s bedtime here guys and gals! (I wonder if there are actually any guys who read my blog besides my Dad?) It’s early to bed tonight; I had the world’s most awful sleep last night that I should win an award. I was surprised I had such a successful work out because it was truly that horrible.

Goodnight loves,

Meg
xoxo

Do you have a personal trainer or have you ever had one?
What’s your favourite exercise at the time? I always love the burn I get doing bench dips!
What’s the newest exercise you have tried? Medicine ball slams! Those things are awesome! I will definitely be incorporating them in workouts to come