And here you have my absolutely favorite alternatives..

The holiday flavor coffees from World Market are a new favorite for me this year. I’m usually not very impressed with flavored coffees, but I’m loving these! They have great flavor that compliments the coffee and doesn’t taste fake or overwhelming.

I’d heard about Bigelow Teas holiday flavors, but this is the first time I actually found them. Starbucks Carmel Apple Cider is amazing (if you haven’t tried it, go get a tall immediatelly), but it’s soooo unhealthy, so I am loving Bigelow’s Apple Cider with a little SF English Toffee Syrup mixed in!

The Eggnogg’n flavor is pretty good to, but I still prefer my #1 all time favorite holiday tea, Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride! I make mine by adding a little Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze, a few drops of Stevia, Vanilla and a dash of Cinnamon.. amazing.

And last but not least.. craving a Candy Cane.. Candy Cane Lane to the rescue! This one’s pretty good plain, but it’s even more fantastic with a little Unsweetened Almond Milk, Stevia and Sugar-Free White Chocolate Syrup..

Enjoy!

You can buy the Chai Tea concentrates, but I’ve found that they often have a lot of extra nonsense added, are sweetened and higher in calorie. So instead, I just use standard Chai Tea bags, double the strength (~2 bags per 12 oz), and let it chill in the fridge overnight (I leave the tea bags in).

Iced Chai Tea Latte

8 oz Ice Chai Tea

2 oz Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

1-2 tbsp Sugar-Free Vanilla Syrup

Stevia to taste

Or you can get crazy (& more caffeinated) and make what many cafes call a Dirty Sexy Chai by adding a shot of Espresso or using equal parts Iced Coffee, Iced Chai and Almond Milk.

Summer beverage love 

I’m catching up on blog writing & reading.. back with a regular post tonight!

FITNESS

I love finding out that there is some sort of evidence behind my hunches/guesses/intuition and generally just the things I like to do.  I opened up FitSugar this morning to find that the first two posts talked about …

Benefits of HIIT

Yoga for Strength & Balance

Spin + Flow yoga = drenched in sweat and on a divine endorphin high. I had the best spin class today I’ve had in month! Not only was the class & music great, I really cranked up the resistance and got my heart rate pumpin! Checked the Heart Rate Monitor and ended up burning around 450 cal in 50 minutes. Not my best ever, but the best in a while, and it felt amazing. After Spin I drove straight to Yoga. The studio I’m going to has 2 locations and this was my first time at the other location. It really is a fantastic space. I’ll take pictures soon to share with you all. The class I did today was the same type & same instructor as Sunday. I noticed an improvement today, was going through the poses better and am starting to pick up on the breathing (sorta). With the room heated and me straining to get the holds better, I left an hour later drenched, it was fantastic!

On the agenda for tomorrow is lifting for Hamstrings & Arms and 2 yoga classes.

NUTRITION

I assume that at one point or another I will get sick of Pumpkin Oats, but until then, I present you with yet another bowl.

For whatever reason, this morning I just wasn’t that hungry, so I only ended up eating half and packed the rest up to take with me to school for a snack later. I was however in the mood for coffee and I must share with you my latest love..

I take my coffee with tea & creamer

It’s likely that everyone’s been doing this for ages and I’m just behind the times, but either way it’s fantastic and do it immediately.. what do I speak of? Throw a tea bag in with your coffee! My favorite combination so far, naturally, is Starbucks Via + Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane + Peppermint Mocha Creamer + dash of a sugar-free flavor syrup of some sort. Soooo good! I guess I like strong flavors because the flavored coffees just never have enough kick for me, and this little trick solved that problem

Snackin

My snacks and lunch were mixed & matched and devoured in class and in the car, so no photo evidence. It involved: 1/2 c Lactaid Cottage Cheese, 1/3 Avocado, 1 Protein Pancake, 3 oz Chicken Breast.

Microwave Death

I haven’t mentioned, but our microwave died yesterday Definitely an inconvenience, but not as much as it would have been a year ago! I use to cook everything either in the microwave or on the George Foreman, but Fitness has created a love of cooking in me and I have greatly diversified my kitchen abilities. Any who, last night’s pizza had to be reheated under a low broiler..

Phew, I’m beat. Time to get cleaned up and ready for tomorrow. Have a great Tuesday!

Or Sweet Potato Success that is

I’m too excited about my current kitchen success that this entry isn’t chronological (especially ok considering nothing too interesting has been going on since my last post :p ). After boiling over my oatmeal, not once, but twice today, at two separate meals no less, I am so happy with my dinner experiment. I was behind in both carbs & protein so I concocted this baked delight adapted from a recipe from Kristin at Eat Oxygen. Behold, Sweet Potato Protein Muffins!

Sweet Potato Protein Muffins

7 oz Sweet Potato / Yam

1 scoop All The Whey Cake Bater Protein Powder

2 Egg Whites

3/4 tsp Baking Powder

Dash of Stevia Extract

Cinnamon to taste

Preheat oven to 350F. Use a hand mixer to blend up all the above ingredients. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake for 20 minutes. Makes 6 muffins.

Mixin it up

Into the oven

So far so good ..

Tasty success!

Nutrition Facts:

Batch: 376 calories, 0 g Fat, 57.5 Carbs, 35.5 g Protein

Per Muffin: 63 calories, 0 Fat, 9.5 Carbs, 6 Protein

Highlights

So nothing too crazy interesting has occurred since I last checked in. Yesterday was a productive workout day. Got in a great Shoulders & Back workout, did 30 min. Treadmill speed HIIT, then practiced my routine for a while. I was exhausted at the end up the day but managed to drag myself to the grocery store (I was scary low on Unsweetened Almond Breeze, a small emergency :p), and was pleased to finally find Pumpkin Tea and a Holiday mug!

Breakfast this morning rocked.. Pumpkin Swirl Oats: 1/3 cup Oats, 2 tbsp Oat Bran, 1/4 c Pumpkin, 1 tbsp Sugar-Free Pumpkin Spice Syrup, & lotsa Pumpkin Spice. Tea was a new minor obsession, Gingerbread Spice with SF English Toffee.

To Do List Revisted

Was happy to check-off another idem off the Pre-Comp to-do list.. I got my hair cut/colored today No pics quite yet.

To Dos:

• Hair cut & color
• Wax
• Mani & Pedi – Scheduled for Tuesday
• Bikini for media
• Tanning (x4 for FAP, x4 for AZ NPC) – Scheduled indefinitely.. ok over the next 2 weeks 
• Stage makeup – partially purchased, but waiting to get the rest till post-FAP
• Stage jewelry – Have a ring and earrings but still need bracelets.. Hoping to go shopping tomorrow
• Bedazzle costume – Has to happen tomorrow, eeck I’m nervous!
• Costume shoes
• Pickup fitness/figure suit
• Costume sports bra and shoot clothes.. Shopping trip tomorrow

Tomorrow I’m just planning to get in SS Cardio then routine & posing practice for as long as I can. Hope everyone is having a wonderful & relaxing weekend!

Wow, today really turned out great! First, I must demonstrate that I really can dress myself!

I <3 fall boots

I started my current internship in September and I’m fairly certain they think I’m completely incapable of dressing myself in any attractive fashion. None of my work clothes currently fit me. Which is a good thing of course, considering, but I must admit I look pretty silly most of the time. For example, Tuesday I wore pants held up by a belt that I could pull a good 5 inches forward from my waist. Basically I look like a little kid trying on their dad’s clothes, haha. Most of my money right now is going towards the Fitness competitions, so I’ve just dealt with it. But during my Tuesday shopping excursion I came across this dress and had to have it. I figure I’m warranted at least one fitting work outfit. Well, and I love that it’s perfect for fall boots!

Bfast Beloved

Actually going into the day looking somewhat professional gave me a little extra enthusiasm this morning, which was certainly needed, and aided by a SF Pumpkin Spice Starbucks Via coffee. Breakfast was fantastic.. and big! Pumpkin Oats topped with a tbsp of Walnut Butter and a Latte Protein Shake. Lately I’ve just been mixing protein powder into my oats, but I was particularly hungry this morning so I hoped it would be more filling to split them up.

Big ole breakfast

Work Blues .. Luck Out!

After class I headed into work with a definite dread. The thing is, I HATE being bored, sitting in a cubicle, feeling like I’m wasting my time, and not being productive. I don’t mind my job, when they have things for me to do. But this week has been brutal. Last week a computer virus basically took down the whole company and everything ground to  a halt. For some reason my computer never had any problems, but everyone else has been running around freaking out, and my boss was just too busy to worry about assigning me with anything to do. Anyways.. I get off track.. I got into work, and was sent home 40 minutes later because they didn’t have anything for me to do! Couldn’t have come at a better time considering everything I have to do to get ready to leave for Vegas next Wednesday.

Strut & Pose!

After a Protein Pumpkin snack I headed into the gym. Started with a quick 15 minute job (averaged around 6.8mph), got a good stretch in, then routine practice practice practice. I’m only able to use the big fitness room at the gym up until 4:30pm and after 9pm, so I was sooo thankful to get in early today! Routine practice went well, and I’m feeling more and more confident with it.

Since then I’ve just been getting a little school reading and a lot of blog reading done No pic for dinner, but I enjoyed 4 oz of Wild King Salmon that I picked up yesterday and a Spinach Bar. Oh I almost forgot. I did try the other two teas, Candy Cane Lane and Nutcracker Sweet. Candy Cane Lane was great, especially after adding a dollop of SF Chocolate syrup. Not really a fan of Nutcracker Sweet, though I’m sure I’ll be able to play with it to make something tasty.

Oh Yeah

Oh, one other thing.. I picked up my suit today.. and I absolutely love it! It’s exactly what I wanted, even if I wasn’t really sure what I wanted going in, if that makes sense. Can’t believe it’s almost here. I’m on the stage in 1 week!

Yay <3

No work or school tomorrow, so I’m excited not to have to wake up to an alarm. Have a wonderful Friday everyone!

I had a lovely fitness-filled day off! This morning I had posing practice, check-in and leg workout with my trainer. 1 week out from FAP I am around 117lbs and somewhere around 7.8% body fat. My bf went down just slightly from last week, which I was a little surprised about. I’m suppose to be maintaining at this point so last week my low-carb day was upped to 50 grams and cardio cut to 30min a day to accomplish this, so today we moved them up to 60 grams. You don’t hear me complaining, that just means oatmeal for breakfast everyday!

On another exciting note, I decided to do Figure as well at Fitness America. It was recommended that perhaps I have more of a figure look for FAP, and am overall more of an NPC Fitness girl. I guess I’ll find out soon enough, but I figure why not do figure too since I’m there, especially since the more I can get up on stage and improve my stage presence the better!

I’m slowly working my way through my pre-comp to do list, which looks something like this:

To Dos:

• Hair cut & color – Scheduled for Saturday
• Wax
• Mani & Pedi – Scheduled for Tuesday
• Bikini for media
• Tanning (x4 for FAP, x4 for AZ NPC) – Scheduled indefinitely.. ok over the next 2 weeks
• Stage makeup – partially purchased
• Stage jewelry – Have a ring and earrings but still need bracelets
• Bedazzle costume.. Been putting this off, I’m not to crafty :0
• Costume shoes
• Pickup fitness/figure suit – tomorrow!

After running errands all morning, I got a bunch of tasks done around the house before heading to spin! I found this outfit on sale today at Sports Authority. Many of my gym outfits are currently warn-out or not fitting so this was a happy find:

Ready to spin spin spin

You may have picked up on my slight obsession with my Monday & Wednesday spin class. I am super crazy picky when it comes to fitness classes, so when I find one I like, I never miss it. I got to the gym early so I worked on biceps & triceps which I hadn’t focused on since last week. Spin class rocked as usual.

Whole Foods Delights

After the gym I headed to one of my very favorite places, Whole Foods! I am a bit of a seafood brat so I will go out of my way to go for their fresh selection. I of course then found myself wandering the isles and look what I found!

Artisana selection grew!

The last time I was at Whole Foods they only carried Artisana‘s Coconut Butter (which I love love love), but I’d been curious about their other products. But much to my delight they are new also carrying Walnut Butter, Pecan Butter and Cacao Bliss. I really wanted to get the Cacao Bliss, but I figure there’s no need to dance with the devil at this point (they also have Barney Butter which I can’t wait to try), but it’s definitely going into the basket come December. I did however spring for the Walnut Butter. It’ s ingredients are raw walnuts and raw cashews. So I figure since I can eat those in whole form I should be ok with them ground up.

More isle wandering revealed:

Holiday Tea Yummyness

They had all of the Celestial Seasoning’s Holiday tea flavors (Sugar Plum didn’t fit in the pic)! I’ve been dying to try these, so I bought one of each. I drink a ton of tea these days and immediately following dinner initiated taste testing. First up was  Sugar Cookie..

First I tried it plain and it was just ok, but when I added a splash of Unsweetened Almond Breeze and a tbsp of SF Cookie Dough Syrup it became wonderful! Later on I mixed up Pumpkin Pie in a Bowl topped with a tbsp of the new Walnut Butter and tried the Gingerbread tea flavor. The Walnut Butter is pretty dry so there’s no pretty spreading but it was a nice addition. It’s not sweet at all, which I like, and I’m sure that will help me not to eat to much of it (ok I admit it, I’ve been known to have nut butter binge issues on occasions). And so far Sugar Cookie’s in the lead.

That's a lotta orange

Chances are the other two tea flavors will be tested by the end of the night, and I’ll keep you posted tomorrow. Glad this week is flying by! Have a wonderful Thursday everyone!

What products tempt you to over-indulge?

Magical Pumpkin

So apparently pumpkin + whey protein powder = awesomeness no matter how you combine it. I had brought a standard medium-carb snack with me to work today: 1/2 cup pumpkin mixed with 1 scoop of protein powder (chocolate VPX this time around). But when it was time to eat I was in the mood for something warm, so I popped it in the microwave for a couple minutes and tada! Tasted to just like warm moist chocolate cake!

Noodles & New Cookie

Shockingly, I also mixed it up a little for dinner tonight. I’ve had a package of Tofu Shirataki noodles in my fridge for a while so tonight I had a yummy Shiratki & Smoked Salmon bowl. As a “sauce” I used a couple tablespoons of Walden Farms dressing. This whole bowl of filling “noodles” only had 6 carbs and 230 calories!

I made yet another test recipe for my evening snack, and even more surprisingly, had another fantastic success! Instead of using my usual Coconut Oil I mixed 1/2 tbsp of Udo’s Oil with 1 scoop of the Nectar Cappuccino PP and 1 tbsp of Unsweetened Almond Breeze. And much to my  delectable delight it puffed up quite nicely and kept the rich coffee taste! I also tried out the new SF Chai syrup. It’s not my favorite, but quite good when I mixed in just a tad of the SF White Chocolate.

I haven’t really had much of an appetite today, which is very strange for me these days, and had to force myself to have one more protein snack. I hate eating when I’m not hungry, but I was behind on calories and am suppose to be maintaining weight. At least it was a yummy Coconut Protein Pancake hot of the stove. I should start on that cookbook  No school tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to catching up on errands, reading and of course lots of posing & routine practice. Have a wonderful Hump Day!

Celestial Seasonings - Roastaromma

Tea that tastes like coffee?!?  I added just a couple tablespoons of Unsweetened Almond Breeze and a couple tablespoons of Sugar-Free Pumpkin Spice Syrup with a few dashes of Pumpkin Spice = Amazingness

I also picked up a couple variety packs I’m looking forward to testing out

So onto my Sunday, which like Saturday, was completely taken up studying for finals. However, my day started out fantastic with a Protein Pumpkin Pancake. I think it’s official, I’ve perfected it! Adding the pumpkin puree really helps keep them moist, and the tablespoon of flavoring syrup give it that little something extra!

Alyson’s Protein Pancake

1- 1.5 scoops Protein Powder (depending on the type of powder and your protein needs)

1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar

2 tbsp Pumpkin Puree

3 tbsp Egg Whites

H20, if needed to thin batter (amount varies based on the type of protein powder you use)

1 tbsp Sugar-Free Flavor Syrup (this is optional but adds  nice extra flavor)

Spices (Cinnamon, Pumpkin Spice, Vanilla/Coconut/Almond Extract) to taste.

Blend everything with a hand mixer. Cook over medium heat in a large skillet. Top with Sugar-Free Maple Syrup and a few dashes of your favorite spice.

Variations:

- Pumpkin: Use more Pumpkin and less EW, Pumpkin Spice SF-Syrup and lots of Pumpkin Spice

- Chocolate: Use Chocolate PP and a tbsp of iced Coffee (instead of the flavoring syrup)

- Cake Batter: Use Cake Batter flavored PP, extra dash of Stevia, Cinnamon and a tsp or so of Coconut Extract

lovely :p

After stopping by the Tempe 1/2 Ironman to cheer on a good friend’s boyfriend, I headed to the gym, and ended up having a great workout!

Cardio: 5 min. 4.0 warm-up walk

30min Inclined HIIT: 10% incline, 4.0 for 2 min, 8.0 for 30 sec.. repeat

10 min. jog at 6.0

Weights: Triceps & Biceps

But then it was back home, and this was my view for most of the rest of the day:

I took a couple breaks for lunch, to run to Whole Foods for fresh fish (wild coho salmon and tilapia) and discovery of my new love, and dinner. Lunch might not be pretty, but it was fantastic: Eggs Whites, Tilapia and Smoked Salmon (homemade by my Dad!):

Dinner was even more fish, guess I was in the mood today. Grilled up the wild Coho with a Spinach Bar:

Ok, back to the books for me! Have a wonderful Monday everyone!

Also:

Check out Julie’s Nature’s Path Giveaway: If I was lost on a dessert island I’d have their fantastic Pumpkin Granola with me!

I saw U2 in concert last night! I’ve never followed them particularly close but I figured it’d be a good experience, and boy was it! Such an amazing show. If you ever get a chance to go see them, whether you consider yourself a fan or not, DEFINITELY GO!

The stage was crazy cool

They called it the "spaceship"

I hit the gym at 6am to make up my Shoulders & Back workout I missed the day before. Then it was off to school where I heated up my breakfast, which was Egg Whites with Cinnamon, Coconut Oil and Walden’s Maple Syrup. Of course I grabbed a Dutch Bros Coffee on the way in, just a drift coffee with Sugar-Free Coconut & Sugar-Free Hazelnut

B-Fast

Had 4 hrs of class then rushed to the gym to meet with my trainer for a leg workout. I’m just about 4 weeks out from my competition now, so we’re moving more towards slightly lower weight, high reps, with perfect form. Today we did a completely new split and it definitely kicked my butt. I was hoping to make it back to the gym to work on my routine but I was  pooped. I find myself saying that a lot lately, I suppose the carb-cycling is really starting to take its toll. Oh well, I’m still seeing changes so it’s totally worth it!

I was super hungry by the time I got home and decided to mix up more protein pancakes (they’re always best fresh off the stove!). This time I mixed in a couple tablespoons of Pumpkin for an extra kick, then topped it with Coconut Butter. It turned out soo good! I think the pumpkin helped keep it a little more moist. Maybe the best I’ve ever made

Pumpkin Protein Pancake yumminess

So I decided I must start converting to tea, I’m just drinking too much coffee, so when I saw this at Whole Foods (when I ran in to pick up Coconut Butter) I thought I’d give it a try. I heated half Unsweetened Almond Breeze, half water and let it steep for at least 10 minutes.

Mate Chocolate

Review: I suppose I’m  use to the stronger flavor of coffee and I didn’t really taste the chocolate. I think this could grow on me and there are tweaks I can make for it to suit me better.

Before heading to the concert I experimented a bit with my standard protein shake. Inspired by the various recipes I’ve seen lately with Starbuck’s Via, and needing a pick-me-up to get me through the late night, I founded the:

Double Mocha Protein Shake

Pheww, and that was only Tuesday! Though there’s not much to report today. Pumpkin Protein Pancake for breakfast, Chicken & Spinach for lunch, Tilapia & Egg Whites for dinner.. another Protein Pancake and coffee along the way. I got in a good resistance HIIT session at the gym and practiced my routine for about an hour. It’s coming along and I’m starting to feel much more comfortable with the choreography

Oh, I promised to post my Protein Pumpkin Crunch recipe. I mixed this up yesterday and it really hit the spot come mid-day snack. Sadly I didn’t get a picture, but I’ll be having this again next carb-day for sure and will get one then Note, it is a carb-day snack for sure!

Pumpkin Protein Crunch

I’m working on a few different topic articles related to fitness contest prep and product reviews, so look for those in the near future. Off to enjoy drooling over the goods on Top Chef and catching up on my Reader count. Have a wonderful night everyone!

I’m clueless when it comes to tea, for a tea-newbie, who loves her coffee & lattes, what would you recommend I try?