The Right Way

It's a new year, and it's time for a life change.

I want to be stronger. I want to be happy. I want to be healthy. I want to be the best me I can be. Why do I let calories and macros control my thoughts? Why do I beat myself up over eating a 500 calorie meal, especially on a rest day? Why do I get anxiety on rest days, when I know I've earned them? Why do I do these things that make me miserable, if I want to be the best me I can be?

I just got done watching some Powercakes YouTube videos. Now, I knew I loved Kasey before finding her YouTube... but I've found a whole new world of respect for this lady.

Spotlight: Kasey AKA POWERCAKES!

The first video I watched was this near 34 minute video about her journey. Honestly, I could listen to Kasey talk forever! And that's saying something, since I can barely sit through an hour and a half movie... 

That video gave me so much hope. I sat through it, listened and took in every word, and felt a huge burst of reality and inspiration hit me. It gave me such a push of motivation that I was dying for. It gave me so much inspiration to push harder towards my goals, and more importantly to overcome these thoughts and habits I've been unfortunately struggling with for over a year now. If she could, I can. It's not worth giving up anymore. She struggled, and I struggle. The only difference is, she didn't give up. She changed because she came to the realization early enough that she had to. (I wish I was lucky enough to, as well!)

Kasey is one of the most inspirational human beings on this planet, and I'm positive loads of people will agree with me on that! She's a young, amazing girl fulfilling her dream and living her life the way she pleases. That's exactly what I want. She doesn't let the scale control her, and she doesn't diet. She doesn't even let calories burned or calories consumed bother her... And that's my goal.

Not only is Kasey incredibly inspirational, but she's also amazingly fit! She doesn't rely on the number on the scale to make her feel good, which is A+ awesome! Actually, every time I go to weigh myself and feel the unhealthy want to lose more weight, I legitimately always remind myself of that one time Kasey posted on Instagram saying she hadn't weighed herself in two years or so, yet she's so happy with her body... And that's amazing to me. Also, if I had a gym membership, you best know I'd be going to her for constant lifting help! (I can't wait till I can afford one! )

Oh, and on top of all of that, Kasey also makes amazing recipes! One of my favorites are her 3 ingredient pumpkin powercakes! Here's an example of one of the things she's created:

Would you ever believe that entire thing can be one serving? AND it's loaded with nutrients?! That's Kasey's power pumpkin roll for ya!

Now, I just want to say that my goal is not to BE Kasey. My goal is to be like her. Her attitude, her passion, and her happiness are all unbelievably inspiring to someone especially younger than her (aka me! ), and I'm really thankful that she shares and helps so much with everyone on the internet AND in person! She strives for progress, not perfection, and that's the way to be. (And her video about not fearing fat is just as great as the 34 minute one!)

I just want to end this saying thank you to Kasey Powercakes for sharing her story and all of her photos, stories, recipes, workouts and life with us all! Thank you for inspiring me, and many other people, with everything you do! You are the definition of awesome, darling! Tomorrow is a new day and I am ready to push harder now. I've said it many times before, but this time I really do mean it. Thank you.

P.S. This is a new 'segment' to my blog I'd like to call 'spotlight'! Hope you enjoyed!  I plan on doing one of these 1-2 times every 1-2 weeks!

Yes, they exist.

I know what you're all wondering... Alissa, WHAT exists?!

Well, my lovelies, clean cream cheese filled cinnamon sugar cookies is what exists.


Inspired by a Chocolate Covered Katie and Skinny Taste recipe, I came up with these 65 calorie fiber-rich, simple, healthy beauties.

But, before I get onto the recipe, I'm sure you're all wondering why I actually remade Katie's recipe.
And that's simply because, even though her recipe is incredible (like all of her others!), they came out to be super tiny... and I mean like, half-the-size-of-my-palm tiny! I don't know if I did something wrong or if they're just supposed to be that small, but I felt like they needed a bit of a boost!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar (Stevia or any other type of regular white sugar or sugar substitute would work)
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
1 egg white
2 tbsp mashed banana
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
cinnamon and sugar, for rolling

Cream Cheese filling:
2 tbsp light cream cheese
2 tsp powdered (confectioners) sugar

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

In one bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir.

In another bowl, whisk the sugars, egg white, mashed banana and vanilla together until fluffy.

Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in two additions until the batter is very well blended. Add bits of water until it looks and feels completely like cookie batter (and less crumbly-like).

Now mix together the cream cheese filling.

Roll your cookie dough into 12 balls, then lay on cookie sheet. Smoosh them down with the palm of your hand, then add in about 1 tsp (more/less) of the filling. Roll back up into a ball (it's okay if the filling comes out of the cookie dough a bit -- don't be alarmed!)

Roll each ball into a combination of cinnamon and sugar until covered with desired amount.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Check on the cookies after about 8 minutes. If they haven't expanded, smoosh them down with a fork until desired size. Bake for another 2-3 minutes. (Don't over-bake, though! You want these soft!)

Let cool for a few minutes before eating... then devour with no regrets. 

I hope you guys make these and enjoy them! Lots of people were asking me for the recipe on my Instagram, so I had to post it for y'all! Love you and thank you for the constant support! 

What I Ate Wednesday #32

HAPPY FIRST-WIAW-OF-2013! 

In today's WIAW, I'm gonna share some recent eats from the past week! Most of these were out-of-this-world fabulous. I love having time off from school so I can cook/bake. So sad to go back! 

12/26/12 - Breakfast: post-workout OIAJ... What's better?!

Chocolate 'brownie batter' protein egg white oatmeal with some healthy cereal + banana slices + sweet cinnamon roll protein cream + White Chocolate Wonderful + snowflake sprinkles, all inside a nearly-empty banana granola nut peanut butter jar! Mixing Coach's Oats with some regular oats makes for the thickest oatmeal! Love it!! ...All of it didn’t even fit in the jar… So I ate it on the side.

12/27/12 - Breakfast: whoever said you can't have dessert for breakfast never had dessert for breakfast!  Apple pie protein egg white oatmeal topped with homemade cinnamon roll protein almond milk "ice cream" & sugar/fat-free butterscotch protein pudding + a bit of White Chocolate Wonderful!

12/27/12 - Snack: homemade mini chocolate protein donuts with peanut butter 'fudge'.

12/27/12 - Snack (at work): I was going to be one of those people who try and “avoid” not-so-healthy choices after holiday indulgences for awhile... Then life came along and offered me a homemade chocolate coconut bar. 

12/28/12 - Breakfast: National Chocolate Day + a rest day calls for a stack of  brownie batter protein pancakes stuffed with clean chocolate fudge mixed with Dark Chocolate Dreams + banana slices + a small sprinkle of healthy cereal, all topped with MORE chocolate fudge + a crushed mini candy cane + the smallest drizzle of maple syrup! Chocolate overload... Heaven!! 

12/28/12 - Snack: homemade mini cinnamon sugar pumpkin pie donuts.

12/28/12 - Dinner: a Vitacost (I think that’s the brand name... Same brand as VitaTops!) mini pizza (15g protein, 190 calories and not too bad on ingredients! Wish they weren’t so expensive though.), a chickpea + rotisserie chicken + turkey + vegetable “salad” mixed with plain Chobani and salsa, and a pickle!

This pizza was actually incredibly good... Quite surprising!

12/29/12 - Breakfast: stack of apple pie protein pancakes stuffed with sweet cinnamon roll protein cream & healthy crumble cereal, topped with some more apple slices + a bit of White Chocolate Wonderful + a drizzle of maple syrup + a sprinkle of cinnamon!

{Recipe is coming soon!}

12/29/12 - HAPPINESS!: I ordered PB2 the previous day, and it was here the next day.... Even though I didn’t order fast shipping! So weird, but I instantly fell in love with it. (Hashtag peanut butter addict)

12/30/12 - Breakfast: post-workout PERFECTION.

Fluffy gingerbread egg white oatmeal with a few fresh strawberries & apple slices + a sprinkling of healthy cereal + sweet protein “cream”, all topped with a few bits of one of my mini pumpkin protein donuts + PB2 peanut butter 'fudge' + a vanilla fox Snackimal, all inside a nearly-empty White Chocolate Wonderful jar.

12/30/12 - Snack: I've been so into baking lately, and these were both unbelievable.

I had just gotten ground flaxseed for the first time, and I really wanted to use it... So, I did!

Chocolate Covered Katie’s cream cheese filled cinnamon sugar “pillow” cookies (SO good, but the size is incredibly disappointing, haha), and some SUPER fudgy peanut butter protein and healthy fat filled BLACK BEAN brownies! Those brownies are the fudgiest brownies I've ever eaten. (And yes, "fudgiest" is now a word.)

12/30/12 - Dessert/Snack: who missed seeing my microwaved desserts?! *Raises hand*

PB2, flaxseed and strawberry microwave cake (that didn’t rise at all… Oopsies!) on top of some diced apple & sliced banana + some homemade protein almond milk "ice cream" with a sprinkling of healthy crumble cereal & a topping of clean chocolate peanut butter fudge & melted Biscoff spread… Inside a nearly-empty COOL WHIP CONTAINER! Hehe.

(...Theres also some crumbs from one of my EXTREMELY delicious clean peanut butter brownies in there...)

12/31/12 - Breakfast: literally some of the best oatmeal.

Thick, fluffy chocolate & PB2 egg white flaxseed oatmeal with a sprinkle of healthy cereal + fresh chopped strawberries + plain Greek yogurt (+ some of my mommy’s sugar/fat-free cheesecake pudding… just a baby spoonful!), all topped with some crumbles of one my literally orgasmic peanut butter fudge black bean brownies + clean chocolate & clean peanut butter fudge + a bit of Biscoff spread + some natural peppermint whipped cream.

12/31/12 - Dinner: chicken, tomato, lettuce & spinach sandwich with super spicy mustard & ranch Greek yogurt, with a chickpea and vegetable side “salad” and some extra chicken. I love chicken. 

12/31/12 - ... Snack?: this was my New Years Eve. With my mom and dad. (And my little sister, but she doesn't drink, obviously...) I tried Mike's Hard Lemonade for the first time, and I loved it... aside from the fizziness! My throat cannot handle anything fizzy.

1/01/13 - Breakfast: first meal of the new year was a stack of some of the fluffiest and greatest pancakes ever. Seriously... these tasted like they were pure buttermilk pancakes, and I don't even know why! I'm just glad they did.

Pumpkin cheesecake protein pancakes stuffed with protein cheesecake sweet “cream” (cheesecake flavor came from sugar/fat-free pudding mix) with a swirl of chocolate PB2 brownie “cream” with a mini slather of light cream cheese on each pancake. Holy GOODNESS.

{Recipe is coming soon!}

1/01/13 - Snack: round 2/remakes of my baking a few days prior...

Chocolate Covered Katie's cream cheese filled cinnamon sugar “pillow” cookies & my peanut butter fudge black bean brownies… Except this time, I did the cookies by my own recipe (inspired by a Skinny Taste one!), and they came out MUCH larger, SUPER fluffy, and just as yummy!

My mom LOVED them and asked me to make them again, so I did... But I thought the original size (recipe by Chocolate Covered Katie) was incredibly disappointing even for the nutrition information. (They were smaller than most cookies, healthy or unhealthy. TOO tiny! Haha.) Mine are about 65 calories with fiber and all clean ingredients. Recipe for them is on its way! 

1/01/13 - Dinner: I can't even put into words how amazing this salad was... And I eat 1-2 salads every day! Steak, mozzarella cheese, bacon, tons of fresh vegetables, chickpeas, and vinegar. I added some salsa and some more lettuce and tomato post-picture... and I want it all over again.

So many good meals to start the year off!! 

1/02/13 - Breakfast: peanut butter cookie flaxseed egg white oatmeal to start off my first day back to school in over a week! With banana slices + plain Greek yogurt + organic peanut butter puffs cereal + Cinnamon Raisin Swirl peanut butter, then topped with some chocolate peanut butter fudge & clean peanut butter fudge black bean brownie pieces! Then a bit of Cool Whip & extra unsweetened almond milk after the picture, haha. Pretty much just peanut butter with a side of oats. Just the way I like it.

Workout {pictures} of the Week:

I recently got a punching bag and sandbag for Christmas, and fell deeply in love with both of them.

A Donut A Day Keeps the Doctor Away!

Okay, maybe not... But I wish that were true!! (Who doesn't?!)

Anyways... HAPPY NEW YEAR/2013, EVERYONE! Who's excited for another fresh start and new year? *Raises hand*

I'm gonna start this new year off with a post dedicated to one of my favorite things: donuts! Normally I'd be posting a protein pancake or microwave dessert recipe, but not today!

For Christmas, Santa brought me a mini instant donut maker. It looks like this:

And I looooooove iiiiiiiit!! The donuts are always so cute and tiny... Kind of like mini donut shots! 

But, since I got it, I of course had to test it out! Two of my successful recipes were chocolate protein donuts with peanut butter fudge, and cinnamon sugar pumpkin pie protein donuts! Can you say, um, DELICIOUS?! These were both too good not to share, so here we gooooooo...

Mini Chocolate Donuts with Peanut Butter "Fudge"

Ingredients:

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp milk chocolate protein powder
1/4 cup oat flour (1/4 cup dry oats ground into a flour texture)
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar/sweetener (I used 4 packets of Stevia... use more for a sweeter taste)
2 eggs

Peanut Butter "Fudge":
2-3 tbsp almond milk
1 tbsp melted peanut butter
1/4 ripe banana, mashed

Directions:

Whisk all your dry ingredients in one bowl.

Next, whisk your sweetener/sugar with your eggs. Stir in your dry ingredients.

Turn on mini donut maker once your green light turns off it is ready.

Scoop your donut batter into each mini donut ring, then close and cook for 2-4 minutes.

Mix the ingredients for your "fudge", then pour on top of your donuts. Bon appetite!

(Inspired by x!)

Mini Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Pie Donuts

Ingredients:

2 tbsp cinnamon roll protein powder
1/4 cup oat flour (1/4 cup dry oats ground into a flour texture)
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar/sweetener (I used 4 packets of Stevia... use more for a sweeter taste)
2 eggs
2 tbsp pumpkin puree
pinch of salt
few dashes of cinnamon/nutmeg/pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

Whisk all your dry ingredients in one bowl.

Next, whisk your sweetener/sugar with your eggs. Stir in your dry ingredients.

Turn on mini donut maker once your green light turns off it is ready.

Scoop your donut batter into each mini donut ring, then close and cook for 2-4 minutes.

When done, spray with butter spray (or drizzle with melted butter), and roll into cinnamon and sugar mixture.

*Both of these can also be made using a donut, or even a muffin pan! I'd say about 350 degrees for around 10 minutes.