Protein Time

I have a confession… I never ended up going for my run yesterday. What a slacker!

As soon as I posted, I crawled back to bed for what I thought would be a minute or two snuggling with Roadie, which turned into two hours.  Ugh.  I hate that when that happens!

I’m a horrible snoozer, too.  I really need to get better at getting up at the first alarm.

I’m not exaggerating when I say I set three alarms to get up: two on my phone spaced out at least 15-20 minutes apart, then one alarm clock on the night stand that I have to physically get up to turn off.  Once I hear that, there’s no time left to play around.

Up and at ’em!

I spent the rest of the day day cleaning, doing laundry, answering e-mails and preparing my barre class for last night.  I was going to just bear the heat and run around 1:30pm, but I remembered there was a #fitblog Twitter chat going on, so jumped in on that instead.

Oh well… I.  WILL.  Run.  Today.  Promise! 😉

Protein Time

I’ve really been enjoying my photo a day challenge for #thefitclub.  Yesterday’s challenge was “A Whole Lotta Protein”, so I lined up my favorite protein bars and created a photo displaying all of my go-to’s.

Anyone who spends enough time with me knows I have an obsession with Zone Perfect protein bars.  It started with Chocolate Mint (my absolute favorite of any two combined flavors), then expanded into Cinnamon Roll and finally turned into anything else Zone Perfect.

When looking through my pantry for protein bars, I stumbled upon all the different varieties I’ve collected and thought it was worth sharing what I happened to have on hand.  All of these came from a box of their own, with the exception of the Detour bars.  Can you say protein bar hoarder?

Here’s a list of what’s pictured above:

Zone Perfect

Cashew Pretzel – sweet and salty.

Chocolate Almond Raisin – tastes like everything described.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough – soft, chewy and insanely close to eating cookie dough.

Chocolate Mint – my favorite, of all-time.

Cinnamon Roll – tastes shockingly similar to the real flavor.

Fudge Graham – the closest thing you’ll get to a healthy s’more.

Strawberry Yogurt – refreshingly fruity.  I also want to try Blueberry.

(I told you it was an obsession.)

Power Crunch

Peanut Butter – tastes like a nutty bar, 100%.

(Not Pictured) Cookies & Creme – Oreo goodness.

I would love to try more flavors of these.

Detour

Lower Sugar Chocolate Chip Caramel

Lean Muscle Cookie Dough Caramel Crisp

I haven’t actually tried these yet, so I’ll have to report back on the taste.  Sounds delicious.

While working as a server I brought at least one protein bar with me to get me through the shift.  This caught on with other co-workers and eventually we incorporated protein time (eating our protein bars) into our daily routine.

While complex carbs and fats might fill you up, proteins are always the longer lasting (and healthier) snack choice.

Other snacks I brought to get me through an 8-hour shift on my feet included:

Greek Yogurt

Chiobanni is my favorite brand.  I love almost all flavors, with Strawberry Banana, Peach, Blueberry and Blood Orange coming in at the top.

I just found out about this Apple Cinnamon flavor and I’m dying to try it.

Have you? It is as good as I think it is?

I’m also a fan of Fage.  I’ve enjoyed the Mango Guanabanana and Blueberry Acai flavors so far, but think I’ll like any of them thrown my way.  I think it’s somewhat funny that their new flavors are just plain raspberry, peach, strawberry and blueberry.

Sometimes it doesn’t hurt to go back to the basics.

Protein Powder

While at work, I became an expert at whipping up a protein shake in thirty seconds flat.

All I needed to bring was an empty water bottle and a scoop of protein powder.  When I was ready for it, I filled the bottle with either water or low-fat milk, poured the powder into it and shook it for a good ten seconds.

Like I said, my co-workers were also very exited about protein time.  My manager ended up bringing in a Magic Bullet Blender for anyone to use and I often took advantage of such a commodity.

Sometimes we got fancy but most of the time I relied on my good ‘ol water bottle trick.  I like a variety of different protein powders, with my most recent favorite being Whey Protein Isolate French Vanilla.

Almonds

I’ve been known to carry around a Tupperware full of raw unsalted almonds.  When on-the-go, almonds are a great to snack to hold you over until your next meal.

Occasionally, I mix almonds with a variety of other dried fruits.

A handful a day keeps the hunger away, my friends. 🙂

Question

What are some of your favorite on-the-go protein snacks?