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Showing posts from February, 2019

The Friday 5

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Hi, friends! We made it to Friday! Hooray!! I felt like this week really dragged, but now the weekend is so close, I can taste it! 🙂 Speaking of which, we have a fun weekend planned – starting with swim lessons at Goldfish followed by a Quinn and Mumma CAVA date for lunch. We’re both obsessed! 🙂 So, on Saturday, Mal has a school activity, so Quinn and I are going to visit the “old gym” (aka CrossFit). Quinn has actually brought up the old gym a few times in recent weeks, saying that he wants to visit. I guess he misses his CrossFit friends like we miss ours. I’m definitely looking forward to working out and seeing friends on Saturday. It’s been WAY too long! After CrossFit, we need to take Murphy for a check up at the vet. He has an ulcer on one of his eyes that’s just not healing. We’re trying a stronger eye drop and antibiotics, so, hopefully, he receives a clean bill of health. On Saturday night, we have plans with friends. On Sunday, Papi and Lori are coming to babysit Quinn

Glute and Hamstring Workout

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Jessica Gouthro from Paleohacks is joining us today to offer tips for strengthening glutes and hamstrings without traditional gym equipment. Enjoy, everyone. Strong glutes and hamstrings are more than just nice-looking legs and a booty. The glutes and hamstrings are the strongest muscles in our skeletal muscular system. When we strengthen these muscles, we can prevent strain and injury while also enjoying a greater ability to squat deeper, lunge pain-free, push heavy objects, run faster and jump higher. To best train those glutes and hamstrings, you’ll want to emphasize both leg curling (knee bending) and hip extension (or straightening) actions for balanced training. One of the best exercises that do this is the glute ham raise, or GHR. Very few exercises can isolate the hamstrings and glutes without top-loading excess weight on the spine or testing your grip strength with a loaded barbell. Although you may think this exercise looks easy in comparison to a Barbell Romanian Deadl

Food in America compared to the U.K. (Why is it so different?)

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Want to know what really opened up my eyes to how food companies exploit us? I spent years investigating the differences between European and American food products, and what I found disgusted me. A college buddy of mine decided to go live in London for a few years. While she was there, I often had her go to Tesco and other European grocery stores to take pictures of the ingredient lists for me and send me boxes of products. I’d compare them with the same brand of American products side-by-side and saw completely different ingredient lists. Companies like Kraft-Heinz, Kellogg’s, PepsiCo, and Quaker sell safer, better products oversees while making inferior versions to sell to Americans. The evidence of this runs the gamut from fast food places to boxed cake mix to cereal to candy and even oatmeal— you can’t escape it. This is what set me down the path of advocating for change in the food system and I’ve never looked back.  Here are 6 American products that are completely differen

Five Ways To Stay Energized In Winter

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We have had some truly warm and beautiful days this month. 70-degree weather in February is truly a gift. It made me think about how easy it is to maintain energy and positivity with warm weather and how difficult it can be during the winter.  My dietetic intern, Emily, and I were both complaining about these harsh winter days of rain, gray clouds, and cold and how they zap our energy. Of course this led to a discussion on a few things we both do to stay warm and happy in the winter and they are:  1. Hydrate With Everything But Ice Water In the summer our bodies crave fluids due to the heat and the need to cool down. During the winter, we may not feel as thirsty, but our bodies need just as much fluid as they do in the summer (sometimes I feel even thirstier in the winter!) Mild dehydration can lead to impaired brain function, affect mood, and make you feel sluggish. Dehydration can also, oddly, make you feel hungry, and this might be why some of us put on some winter weight. Maki

6 Macro-Friendly Desserts You’ll Love

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Are you ready for some macro-friendly desserts that you’ll really love? Are looking for macro-friendly cookies? Or IIFYM desserts? Well, hey, I’ve got ya covered. I mean, there’s a reason why this blog is called Carrots ‘N’ Cake after all! 😉 In fact, my first EVER blog post was called “Sweet Ending” because I ended my day with a treat. Eleven years later, I still finish my day with some sort of dessert. Yep, every single day of my life. Even when I was engaged to be married, which was the reason for starting this blog in the first place, I knew I didn’t want to give up my favorite foods in order to “shape up” for our big day . I still believe that all of the “fun” foods in life can be part of a healthy, well-balanced diet. Nowadays, I use macros as a tool to keep me on track. That said, here are 6 of my favorite macro-friendly desserts. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! Vanilla Cake Batter Protein Balls Maple Almond Collagen Cookies Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Prot

Can Keto and Cardio Mix?

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We get lots of questions about how a ketogenic diet works in the context of exercise: Is it possible to maintain one’s fitness (strength, endurance, performance) and also drop one’s carb intake to ketogenic levels? Is it advisable? Will it help me lose weight faster? Mark already addressed some of these topics , but it’s clear that many people still feel uncertain about how to pair a keto diet with their current workout routine. Rather than write a single behemoth post, I’m going to tackle this in two parts. For today, let me talk keto and cardio, specifically how keto works for the average fitness enthusiast who thinks more in terms of general exercise. In a couple weeks I’ll follow up with a post on keto for runners and other endurance types who tend to focus on training programs and racing. So, keto and cardio… This is for people who like to attend group fitness classes, or go out for jogs or spins on the bike, or do a mix of low heart rate exercise with occasional bouts of HI

Some Meals & Some Sneakers

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Hi, friends! Happy Hump Day! Does this week feel like the LONGEST week ever? I actually woke up thinking it was Thursday, so it was a sad realization when it was only Wednesday. Whomp whomp. Anyway… I wanted to share some meals from the week so far as well as a pair of sneakers that I’m loving lately. Oh! And here’s a photo of Murphy who continues to crush pillows like its his job. Maybe he THINKS it’s his job? FYI: The pug pillow is from Wayfair. It’s actually reversible and has a different pug image on the back. The cover is also washable, which key when it comes to pug eye boogers and butt stamps. I know… our dog is disgusting, which is also why I obsessively change our bedding . MEALS FROM THE WEEK Breakfast : Microwave steel cut oats from Brandless mixed with ground flax, hemp seeds , collagen, and fresh strawberries with a scoop of Teddie Peanut Butter. Breakfast : Gluten-free bread with Teddie Peanut Butter and banana slices with an iced coffee made with OWYN protein pow

WATCH & LISTEN: How the food industry is lying to us (and what to do about it!)

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The last few weeks have been a whirlwind! My daughter turned 2, and then we flew across the country to California to promote my new book Feeding You Lies , had a huge launch party here in Charlotte, was on the cover of a magazine, had a road trip to welcome a new baby nephew and do a talk/book signing in Charleston, SC, and have been on what feels like a million interviews.  These interviews and events have been crucial in getting the word out about how the food industry is lying to us and what we can do about it. The more people listen to them and share – the more we have the chance to change the world. So that’s why I am sharing some of my favorites here today…  If you want to know what makes me tick, why I became a food activist, and how I REALLY eat – grab some (organic) popcorn and listen in! And, I’d love to know your thoughts and questions – leave them in the comments below.  The Model Health Show with Shawn Stevenson Can you guess what I had to practically sneak on the

Buffalos + Instant Pot Chuck Roast

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^^Is that not the cutest outfit?! On the menu from Plenty – Buffalo Chicken Tacos with a cucumber yogurt dressing. I think I ate both of mine in about 5 minutes flat Instant Pot Chuck Roast We got a chuck roast from Butcher Box last month and put it to the test in the Instant Pot . We loosely followed this recipe for the how-to and made ours with potatoes, carrots, beef broth, and seasonings. I loved it!! Thomas liked it ok (said it was a little bland – he is way pickier than I am). We both agreed: the recipe sure was easy! Quiche + Meatballs Thomas and I usually both have sports on Thursday nights, so we have been planning quiche for dinner to heat up whenever is convenient for us. It’s my go-to before soccer because it’s easy to digest. I can have it by itself before a game and pair it with veggies after a game. This flavor was sausage – so delicious! One of my favorite Plenty meals lately was Greek Turkey Meatballs! Served with my prep day kale salad and tzatziki (I