A Healthier Version of ME and YOU: Glorious Glutes Kind of Day

It was a glorious Glutes kind of day today...

This workout is from Tosca Reno's Coach, Rita Catolino. She had posted it on Tosca's blog months ago and I started doing it on and off back then. I was doing this workout at the beginning of my second round of Body Revolution, but then I came down with that cold and it was all too much for me to do, so I backed off...until now. Check out my post that posted the Glorious Glutes workout...Day 12 of Round 2 Body Revolution

It's back to tightening up that backside of mine. I know tomorrow I will be hurting, BUTT it will be all worth it. I love doing the Dead Lifts and SQQUUEEEEEZING that butt of mine. It's all good! It's pretty much all strength training with some cardio to warm up(I just do my own thing)and in the latter part of the workout with Kettle Bell Swings and some Weighted Jump Squats. Your legs will love you for the last one.

The weights I used from the notes I made in the "Day 12" post changed today. I pretty much used my 10 and 15 lb dumbbells plus my 25 lb plate for all the weighted moves. For the Weighted Jump Squats, I used the weights for all 6 reps today. I also used the 25 lb plate for my last set of Kettle Bells Swings(I don't have any kettle bells so I use dumbbells or like tonight, I tried the plate).

After I worked on tightening up. I made something that could undo some of the work that I just finished up with. WHY would I make it??? You ask. Because it could only undo SOME of the work. I made a batch of my homemade CLEAN Marshmallow. I wanted to make some healthier Rice Krispies Squares for snacks for my family and for the daycare kids.

The CLEAN Marshmallow setting up.

Everything in moderation...even the not-so-good stuff. However, with my CLEAN Marshmallow recipe, these tasty treats are not as bad for you as they would with using regular marshmallows to make them. The recipe for the Marshmallow can be found on the "Cook With Me" page. To make the squares, I just follow the recipe on the box, except I use Coconut Oil instead of margarine or butter.

I used about half of the marshmallow shown in the "Marshmallow setting" picture.

Above is shown the half portion, and then the melting of the marshmallow with not quite 1/4 cup of Coconut Oil melted in the pot, I used a bit to grease the pan.

Here is the finished creation waiting to set up. They were waiting for some hungry school and daycare kids to dive into them at second snack. And that they did...they LOVED them!

Today's food...
Breakfast: Chocolate Banana Hemp Protein Shake
It was chaos this morning trying to get my son ready and out the door to catch the school bus, so I just whipped up a protein shake for breakfast.

Snack: Pistachios
I am able to control myself with these if I leave the jar of them upstairs. If I want more, at least I have to climbed a set of stairs to get more.

Lunch: Salmon Burger with Lettuce
I LOVE Salmon and I LOVE lettuce.

Together...made a perfect lunch for me today.

Snack: Full of Goodness Bars

I made these up this afternoon while the little kids were sleeping and the others were playing outside in the snow. They are not that hard to make once you have the CLEAN Marshmallow made up. I just looked in my cupboards to see what I had and threw them in a dish. I entered the recipe into the Recipe Calculator on www.myfitnesspal.com and they came out quite high in calories because of all the nuts in them. So make sure you enter the ingredients YOU use for your bars. Nutritional information may vary.

I plan on eating mine for a breakfast-on-the-go, along with a small serving of yogurt.

Recipe as follows...

FULL OF GOODNESS BARS

Makes 24 bars

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp coconut oil

¼ batch of CLEAN marshmallow finished recipe

½ cup unsweetened coconut

½ cup raisins

½ cup dark chocolate chips

½ cup slivered almonds

½ cup pecan pieces

½ cup dried cranberries

½ cup pumpkin seeds

1 cup coconut mango granola

1 cup hemp granola

ONE: Melt coconut oil in a large pot over low heat on stove. Add CLEAN Marshmallow; stir until melted and well blended. Remove from heat.

TWO: Combine all ingredients in a bowl; stir so they are mixed well. Then add them to the marshmallow mixture. Stir until coated.

THREE: Using a spatula coated with coconut oil, press into a pan. Let cool. Cut into bars or squares.

Now I cut mine into 24 bars, but they could be cut again into squares and that would cut down on the calories per serving if you were serving them to guests.

Dinner: Chicken, Rice and Broccoli