Shape Your Weigh

Kirkland Protein Bars - An Alternative to Quest Bars?

I've written reviews for other protein bars before and wanted to do a quick write up on the Kirkland brand.  My brother bought a box of these for me during a trip to Costco. You get 20 bars in a box and a single box is roughly $35. In my opinion, they taste a lot like the Quest chocolate chip cookie dough and brownie bars but at a fraction of the cost (less than $2/bar vs nearly $4 for Quest). The only drawback is that the Kirkland brand only comes with 2 flavors - chocolate chip and brownie but I don't mind that. :)

Out of the two bars, my preference is for the chocolate chip but I like the brownie one too. These are my go to bars for a morning or afternoon snack.

I recently discovered that you can order these bars online through Costco without a membership card. I placed my order on the weekend and had the bars by Wednesday. No off island trip or bridge toll required. :)

Nutritional Information - Chocolate Chip Cookie

Calories: 190
Fat: 7g
Saturated Fat: 2.5g
Carbs: 22g
Fiber: 15g
Sugar: 1g
Erythritol: 4g
Protein: 21g

Nutritional Information - Brownie

Calories: 190
Fat: 7g
Saturated Fat: 2.5g
Carbs: 23g
Fiber: 15g
Sugar: 1g
Erythritol: 4g
Protein: 21g

What's for Breakfast?

Some might say I'm a creature of habit. Others might say I'm dull because I eat the same things over and over again. Do you know the benefit of eating the same things on a regular basis? Let me list them for you:

• I know exactly how many calories are in the meal
• I know the macronutrient breakdown of the meal without logging it (protein, carbs, fat fibre)
• I know how the meal will affect my body - it's no mystery - I eat it every day
• I have a plan in place - there's no guessing or hitting a drive-thru - breakfast is set

This is not to say I don't mix it up but for the past 2 months my breakfast has pretty much been the same thing:

• 1 slice toasted Ezekiel bread
• 1 large egg poached (I have a microwave poacher which I add a little water to because it saves me time)
• 1 serving egg white (I add this with the large egg inside the poacher)
• 85 grams of blueberries
• 1 oz avocado

What do you like to eat for breakfast?  Is it always the same thing? Let me know :)

Kimmy

Charlottetown & Stratford Mom's Should Come to POUND!

As Mother's, how often do we tell ourselves the following?

• I don't have time to workout
• I don't have money to join the gym
• I don't want people staring at me
• I don't have the coordination
• etc.

If you're like me and a lot of other Mom's, we can come up with a million reasons why we can't do something. But what if we flip this around and look at it this way.

1. There are 24 hours in a day, which equals 168 hours in a week. Can you really not spare 1 hour for yourself to get your workout done?  Taking care of YOU has to be a priority so you can take care of OTHERS.
   
   
2. Money - I get it. There often seems like there's not enough to go around and when there is we carry guilt about spending it on ourselves. That's why I offer a drop in fee of only $7 per class. There's no further commitment beyond that. If you love the class and keep coming back (which I hope you will) then I offer a punch card where your 8th class is free.
   
   
3. When I started my fitness journey at nearly 300lbs I was convinced everyone in the gym would be staring at me and laughing. Trust me when I say NO ONE will be staring at you or making fun of you in my class. My classes are built on a family of fitness and we come together to support and build each other up. Besides, we're working so hard following the choreography and moving that no one has time to look at anyone else. ;-)
   
   
4. Coordination comes with practice. Just ask the POUND Master who trained me back in November. I felt like the most uncoordinated person in the room and probably was. POUND is for everyone and of course we all start at different levels. The point is to just start.  Coordination comes with practice. The key is to be consistent and keep coming back.

Have I convinced you yet why you should come check out my class? I surely hope so.  Hop on over to POUNDFIT PEI to save your spot!  

11 Days Without Diet Pepsi

1. It's not good for you.
2. Aspartame causes cancer.
3. You should give that up because...

I know all this.  It's been 11 days since I had a Diet Pepsi or any soda product and I'd love to say it's gotten easier and I don't miss it but that would be a big fat lie. Whenever I see someone walking away from the vending machine at work with an ice cold Diet Pepsi I swear I can taste it LOL. I drink coffee but don't particularly enjoy the taste. It's just to get the caffeine kick. I hate that this craving is so strong.  I gave up pop before and stayed away from it for 2 years. Why on earth did I ever go back tot his?  I'm trying to focus my mindset on how much better my health and body will be cutting this out. But yeah...day 11 and it still sucks. #thestruggleisreal #prayforme #dietpepsiaddict

 

That's all.

Kimmy

POUNDFIT Stratford Classes!

What an amazing journey this has been since becoming a POUND Pro in November of 2016. I've gone from second guessing my abilities as a trainer to leading group fitness classes to complete strangers in both Montague, Charlottetown and Stratford. The girl who feltsaid she "can't" has started believing she "can" and by golly she's doing it! I'm pretty proud of me right now. :-)

I don't tell myself I can't anymore - I tell myself I CAN and I WILL and then I DO IT.

Do I stumble along the way? Of course! But I keep getting back up and learning from each experience.

On May 5th I taught a POUND class to 60 children from 4H.  Was I nervous? You bet! Was I excited? COMPLETELY! Seeing the kids have so much fun doing a class I love made me so happy. Who wouldn't want to do more of what they love?

Do you want to try out my POUND class? I'm holding classes Wednesday evenings in Stratford at the Our Lady of the Assumption church from 6:30pm - 7:30pm as well as Saturday afternoons from 1:00pm-2:00pm. Join the Facebook page, give us a like and hopefully I'll see you in class. :-)

#makenoise #fitnessrebels #poundfit

POUNDFIT Coming to Charlottetown - Feedback Needed!

Charlottetown folks have been waiting and we are happy to report that a location has been found! In order to determine class times we need YOUR valuable feedback.  Please take a moment to complete our online survey with your preference for class dates and times and we will report back soon! We look forward to rocking out with you! #fitnessrebels #poundpro #poundfit

Charlottetown Classes Survey

 

What is POUND?

Check out the POUND Beat Ballad promo video below :-)

 

 

T-FAL Actifry Review

Last Christmas I acquired an amazing deal from a friend who wanted to sell their Actifry. Roy and I have been wanting one for a while but the price range always stopped us from making the purchase. My friend who owned one decided she no longer liked it and was selling it for $50 so I bought it quick. I can honestly say it's one of the best purchases we ever made.  No joke, if it broke tomorrow I'd have to go out and buy another one. It's become a staple among our appliances, where even the kids love to use it.  What do we cook in it? Well I'm so glad you asked. ;)

I love to cook homemade "healthy" fries which in the past, I'd cut up, rinse, cook in the microwave for a few minutes, then toss in the oven. No more of that! Now with the Actifry I just cut up my potatoes, throw them in the Actifry with or without a little bit of oil (they crisp up nicer if you add oil), turn on the Actifry and wait. No messing around with waiting for the oven to pre-heat etc. In the same amount of time, roughly 20 minutes, I get yummy homemade fries. :) I've cooked regular fries, sweet potato fries and the kids have even thrown in bagged fries from the freezer. They love using it after school because it's so simple to use. Just throw the food in and turn it on. lol.  My son Alex has taken to cooking BACON in it during the morning for breakfast. :)

The model we have is T-Fal and it's one of the originals so it doesn't have all the bells and whistles with a timer and such but it works great. Like I said, if it broke tomorrow I'd have to purchase another one. As it stands, I wish we had 2 or a bigger one just so we could cook more in it. It's sometimes a pain waiting to use it if the kids already have something in there. Alex also likes to cook chicken nuggets when he gets home from school because it's so easy.  I've cooked a chicken stir fry in it once and it turned out great. :) The only thing is you sometimes have to open the lid to stir things around if they get stuck around the paddle.

PROS

1. Simple to use even for young pre-teens
2. You can cook healthy foods (uses almost no oil)
3. Convenient
4. Clean up is easy - most parts are dishwasher safe.

CONS

1. Price
2. Takes up counter space
3. Our model is smaller so you can only cook so much in it at one time.

Does anyone else have an Actifry? What recipes would you like to share? 

Black Bean Protein Brownies

Ingredients

• 1 large can of Black Beans (540ml) (drained and rinsed)
• 2 cups Egg Whites
• 226 grams Plain Fat Free Greek Yogurt
• 2 packages Gelatin
• 1 and 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 2 packages Sugar free, Fat Free Chocolate Fudge pudding mix (dry)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 140 grams protein powder (vanilla or chocolate)
• 112 grams dark chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Lightly spray 9x13 pan with non-stick spray.
3. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl and set aside.
4. Combine wet ingredients in food processor and process until well combined and smooth.
5. Mix in dry ingredients and fold in chocolate chips.
6. Pour into pan.
7. Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
8. Makes 10 servings.

Nutritional Information (Per Serving)

Calories:
Fat: 7 grams
Carbs: 23 grams
Protein: 21 grams
Fibre: 15 grams

Deconstructed Egg Roll Recipe

I posted a picture of my supper tonight and a few people asked for the recipe so here it is. :) A co-worker has been bringing this to work for a few weeks now and kindly shared her recipe with me. I tweaked it a little bit for my own taste and I'm quite pleased with it!

Ingredients

• 1 package extra lean ground chicken
• 1 large package of coleslaw mix (I bought the Compliments brand from Sobeys)
• 1 medium onion
• 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1-3 tsps poultry seasoning
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt/pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cook ground chicken, season as you wish with salt, pepper, poultry seasoning and set aside.
2. In deep pan, saute 1 onion in extra virgin olive oil. 
3. Add the full package of coleslaw mix, chicken broth and soy sauce
4. Cook until the coleslaw vegetables are wilted to desired consistency. Re-add meat and stir until all contents are warmed through.

Calorie information (4 servings)

Calories per serving: 198. 
Protein: 18 grams
Carbs:6 grams
Fat: 11 grams

Happy New Year - Goodbye 2016

I have mixed emotions about doing this blog post. I haven't written anything since September. I thought that had to be wrong when I checked but nope...it's right. Nothing since September. I've been busy and writing just hasn't been a priority. New Years resolution for 2017 - write more? We'll see.

The majority of my blog posts this year had to do with Roy and the struggle with Menieres disease. We tried migraine treatments to see if they would work but they didn't. Roy actually got worse and the decision was made that he should take leave from work to focus on getting healthy. His weight plummeted to the low 140s and given that he's taller than me and I struggle to hit 140 through diet and exercise....yeah, I was worried. We went back to see the specialist in Summerside and he suggested the ear injections again. Roy asked if we could try doing something different because the needle injections were just too painful. The specialist thought about it then said "Well, how about I put a tube in and you self administer drops at home?" We figured we had nothing to lose and it meant no needle in the ear so why not?  That treatment was done the first week in November. That weekend I went to Truro for POUND training and poor Roy had an attack on the way over but was thankfully okay once he rested for the night. Since then he's been doing a lot better. There have been minor vertigo spells here and there but nothing at all like before. I don't know if it's being home or the tube or a combination of both of these things but I feel like we found a working prescription, finally. We couldn't ask for a better gift for Christmas - in fact it's ALL we want and need and we are extremely thankful! We went from having poor Roy in bed almost every 2nd day and missing out on family activities to now we're back to having our lives again. Don't take the little things for granted folks. Just being able to sit and talk and do things as a family - it's not a small thing. I'm extremely grateful.

Having shared that happy news - I've also managed to gain a solid 10 to 15 lbs in the process lol. The blog is about fitness and health so it's time to give myself a gentle nudge with being back on track. :) Roy had some weight to gain so yeah...I fully enjoyed eating and binge watching Downton Abby on Netflix instead of working out but now it's time to get some healthy habits established. It's easy to form "bad" habits so now I'm seeking balance with my eating and my workouts. I used the break time over the holidays to get back to working out in my basement gym. Slowly getting my 10k steps a day. I've also been doing a full body weight training circuit I designed myself. I'll continue with this in the new year and reach my goals at a healthy pace.

2016 - you were a rough year and I could write a lot of stuff I didn't like about you but instead I'm going to say the things I'm thankful and grateful for.

1. You blessed my brother and Jenny with their first child Walter making me an aunt again 2 days after my birthday <3
2. We got to enjoy some amazing camping trips and I learned that I CAN set the camper up all by myself when the going gets tough (I hope I don't have to do it alone again in 2017 though LOL)
3. Roy and I still have our jobs and the people we work with have been amazingly supportive throughout the entire process.
4. I became a POUND Pro with Angie!
5. I started teaching again at the new AFE in Montague :)
6. I became a Children's Fitness Coach through CanFitPro
7. I won chocolate bar bingo while camping twice (should this really be a highlight?) ;-)
8. We survived the terrible 2's and are making our way through the trying 3's??? :-)
9. My bestie Jessie came home for a visit this summer and we got to spend some quality time together!
10. The kids and I completed the Color Run together!
11. We had a wonderful Christmas with family and Roy was healthy the entire time!
12. Roy is feeling like his old self again and gaining weight back into a healthy range.

I'm sure the list could be longer but I want to get this posted soon before I get back to more family activities this evening. I'll do my best to write and update the blog more often. Now that things are hopefully getting back to normal we should be able to settle into new routines and get things going again.

I wish health and happiness to everyone in 2017. :-)

Kimmy