spotlight!

happy presidents day! well at least for me.

want to know why?

i slept until 9AM this morning. because the dear presidents allowed me to sleep.

NO WORK TODAY! wah HOO.

i figured now would be the best time to share my recent spotlights with you

spotlight on:

bananas!

bananas for bananas you might even say..

i’m loving them on everything…smoothies, oatmeal, plain with nut butter, & this morning i had them on an oatmeal pancake for breakfast

for the oatmeal pancake, just like my favorite diva does, i simply combined 1/2 cup of oatmeal with 5 egg whites (or 3/4 cup of liquid egg whites) with a little bit of vanilla extract & stevia. then just easy-peazy cooked it on a pan until it looked cooked through. topped with banana slices & nut butter.

please don’t forget my extra foamy cafe au lait

spotlight on:

trap bar deadlift

i’m not a fitness professional so please don’t think i am. this is simply my personal feelings on the piece of equipment. if you have professional/trainer questions please reach out to a fitness professional. not a ‘fundraising professional’ such as myself.

reasons why i love this exercise/piece of equipment:

• before trying these out i know for sure i didn’t have great deadlift form. i was always nervous about injuring myself, and was afraid to put weight on the bar past a certain point for fear of injury, no matter how many videos i watched i was just not able to understand proper technique
• since i started giving the trap bar deadlift a whirl after naomi posted about it, i fell in love! it’s a great tool to use to learn proper form, and even without added weight i was feeling the burn the next day
• i’ve been using it instead of the regular bar for deadlifts, and i started out using minimal weight to make sure i got the proper form down, since then i’ve been able to add weight and feel the burn, i feel it in my whole body and i love!

spotlight on:

protein ice cream!

lately this has been my favorite pre-bed snack. the one you see above was post-workout & pre-lunch from this afternoon.

i simply put 1 cup frozen raspberries, 1 cup almond milk & 1 serving protein powder in a food processor with stevia, vanilla extract & about 5-6 ice cubes. (if i’m making it at night i leave out the fruit and do 1/2c milk because it gets thicker)

the key to a great bowl is just to process the crap out of it. if you keep the processor running for like 7 minutes or longer, the protein and liquid will ‘poof’ up.

i used to use xanthum gum but it hurt my belly way too much. now at night i just use protein powder, almond milk & ice. blend blend blend! have patience it will poof.

then i top off with some cocoa powder, almond meal, chopped almonds, nut butter, whatever your heart desires

spotlight on:

body weight cardio instead of machine cardio!

this morning, after a great back, biceps & abs workout (still on tara’s plan), instead of hopping on a boring cardio machine, i did a short & heart rate elevating finish to my workout

• 20 mountain climbers
• 10 burpees
• 20 alternating single arm kettle bell swings

repeat this 5x!

for your viewing enjoyment, in case you needed a ‘how to’

spotlight on:

a nike ripoff

i’ve been on the hunt for a new pair of weight lifting gloves since mine are getting pretty rundown. i found these yesterday at the nike outlet for $12.99. i thought score! they’re cute, a good brand, and not a bad price

now you tell me what’s wrong with them…

yep, that would be two right hand gloves.

WHAT A RIP. i was pissed. and now i’m off to return them, even though i opened them i wouldn’t have known until i went to put them on so they better take them back

spotlight on:

orange cinnamon roasted chicken

it’s time for lunch!

love to love you <3

-julie

cawfee tawk! what’s your spotlight on lately?