Holiday Burn

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and stuffed themselves into a food-coma. After eating so many mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, turkey and pie it's time to work it all off with a great thanksgiving workout brought to you by Amanda Russell. I tend to use a lot of her videos on my blog because she has fast workouts that really let you feel the burn. I did this workout the day after Thanksgiving and my legs felt like jello the next day. Make sure to give yourself plenty of room to do this workout. At the end you will defiantly feel like you burned off all of the calories from the Thanksgiving day meal.

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Reese Puff Cupcakes

Who loves peanut butter? Who loves chocolate and peanut butter, together? I know I do! These cupcakes are sure to give you a sugar rush as well as stop your sweet tooth craving. They are super easy to make and look like they came from a professional bakery.

Ingredients
1 Box of Yellow Cake Mix (need water, 3 eggs, and vegetable oil)
Cocoa Powder
Creamy Peanut Butter
1 Stick of Butter
3 Cups Confectioner Sugar
1 Bag of Semisweet Chocolate Chips
1 Box of Reese Puffs
Vanilla Extract
Milk (Skim or 1%)
Foil

Directions 
1. Follow directions on cake mix box for cupcakes. Once all of the ingredients are well blended add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the batter. Blend until there is no yellow cake mix showing.
2. After the batter is finished mixing spoon the batter into cupcake tins. The cake mix should make 24 cupcakes.
3. Bake the cupcakes as directed on the back of dry with the cake mix box. Once done, let them cool for about 15 minutes.
4. While the cupcakes are cooling lay down foil enough to fit 24 cupcakes. Measure out 1/3 cup of peanut butter and 2/3 cup of chocolate chips. Melt them in a microwave save bowl together. Mine took about 2 minutes to melt stirring every 30 seconds.
5. Once the chocolate and peanut butter are melted dip the tops of the cupcakes in and set on the foil allowing them to dry for about 20 minutes.

6. While the chocolate is drying start on the icing.

7. In a mixing bowl blend together a stick of room temperature butter and 1/3 of a cup peanut butter. Once these are well blended slowly add in 3 cups of confectioner sugar.
8. The icing will look lumpy then add in 1 tablespoon vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon milk. Blend the icing on a high speed until it starts to form. If the icing is too thin add some more confectioner sugar, if it is too thick add more milk.
9. Once the icing is done and the chocolate is cool use a small mellon baller to scoop the icing and place it on top of the chocolate. Then use the cereal, Reese Puffs to decorate the icing scoop!

Enjoy... 

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Who Said One is Better than the Other?

Some people have a preference for yoga over pilates, but they both promote heart health, weight loss, strength and flexibility. Yoga provides little cardio benefit as it is a slower performed exercise whereas pilates kicks up your heart rate as your body feels the burn. As for weight loss, both pilates and yoga are beneficial, but in a 50 minute yoga class you will burn 150 calories and in a 50 minute pilates class you will burn 175 calories. Yoga helps a person with their flexibility and pilates helps challenge a persons strength with flexibility added in the mix. It's up to you which work out to try, but I have added two of my favorite YouTube yoga and pilates videos for you to try. Please comment and let me know which you prefer!

I prefer a pilates workout when I have the energy, but when I want to relax I do yoga. 

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Six Years & Cupcakes

This past weekend I spent a wonderful night in Bethesda for my six year anniversary with my boyfriend. Along with the beautiful weather, we spent the day shopping and of course stopping in for some cupcakes. Unfortunately, I cannot duplicate these cupcakes because they are that perfect. If you have never been to Georgetown Cupcakes, I HIGHLY suggest the visit. We purchased one pumpkin spice and one caramel apple along with a cup of Illy coffee (my favorite!). They have tons to choose from, but being that it is fall I had to go with the seasonal specialities. The caramel apple had chunks of natural apple and was filled with caramel and the pumpkin spice tasted like pumpkin pie topped with whipped cream. If you are looking for something to do one weekend don't hesitate to go to Georgetown Cupcakes. They'll be sure to cure your sweet tooth and keep you coming back for more!

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The Gym Excuse

When it comes to getting active, people will come up with as many excuses as possible to avoid hitting the gym. Gyms are expensive and not always right around the corner. I have a hectic schedule of working two jobs and going to school full time, so I make sure to get my workout done in the morning. I enjoy the treadmill, but others find machines boring. So what's the alternative? Workouts that can be done at home! Thanks to WebMd, I have listed some ways to build your body on a budget.

Your equipment 
1. Soup cans or jugs of water for weights 
2. Substitute a countertop for a push up bench 
3. Pantyhose for resistance bands: loop a pair of pantyhose around the balls of your feet and pull back with both hands as if you were using a rowing machine.

The exercises
1. Squats: Standing upright, feet wider than shoulders apart, with arms extended forward or hands on hips for balance, squat down. Push knees outward as you descend, until thighs are parallel with the floor. 
2. Partial-body push-ups: Knees on the floor pushing your upper body up from the floor
3. Jumping Jacks: add weights into this exercise to build muscle in your arms 
4. Chair Crunches: Sit on a chair with hands under your behind, arms straight, and fingers facing inward toward one another. Keeping your knees bent at a 90-degree angle, lift your feet off the floor and tuck your knees in toward your chest, bending the upper body slightly toward your knees. 

Here is a video to guide you through an at home workout routine. Make sure to stretch for about five minutes before beginning your workout. Once you get the routine down, add weights (or soup cans!) into your workout to build and sculpt your arms. There is no excuse to not workout when there are cheap and effective ways to sculpt your body at home! 

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Sweet and Salty

Already made cookie dough is the best invention for those who love to pop some cookies in the oven, or just take a spoon full late at night! I was sitting at my internship today when it hit me; I will add crumbled pretzels to the already made chocolate chip cookie dough. This will create a cookie that is soft in the inside with a crunch of pretzel in every bite you take. The recipe is super easy and simple there should be no hesitation to make these! 

What you need: 

• 1 roll of Nestle chocolate chip slice and bake cookies
• Snyder's old fashioned pretzels 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 

2. Take cookie dough and put it in a mixing bowl 

3. Use a large spoon to move the cookie dough around to soften it 

4. Use 2-3 pretzels and place them in a zip block bag and break them up using the back of a spoon or ice cream scooper. Make sure they are small pieces, but not crumbs. 

5. Add the pretzel pieces into the cookie dough

6. Blend them together and then spoon the cookie dough onto a baking sheet 

7. Bake for 13 minutes 

8. Place on cooling rack and then enjoy! 

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Almond Butter or Peanut Butter: Who Wins in Overall Nutrition?

I am a huge peanut butter fan! In fact, I use to munch on apples and peanut butter everyday as an afternoon snack, but eventually got burnt out from the repetitive flavor. Although when it comes to peanut butter I always make sure to eat all natural forms. As we all know peanut butter is just peanuts, there is no reason to have unnatural additives. I recently have heard almond butter is healthier than peanut butter, so I decided to check it out for myself. According to Self, the difference between peanut butter and almond butter are the micronutrients. Almond butter provides 40% of your daily vitamin E, 25% of your magnesium, and 8% of both calcium and iron. What is so special about vitamin E? Well, vitamin E prevents heart disease and unwanted clogging in your arteries. Almond butter is packed with more micronutrients than peanut butter, which makes it the winner for overall healthiness. Now I just need to think of a recipe I can sneak this smart food into! If you are wondering a great healthy snack have a portion size of pretzels and almond butter for 200 calories. This will be a boost of vitamin intake for the day and be sure to cure your sweet tooth. I have also posted the Trader Joes version of almond butter that apparently outdoes the rest in flavors.

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

On a cold fall morning there is nothing more enjoyable then a pumpkin muffin with your coffee. Me being the chocoholic I am, had to add a little bit of sweetness. These simple pumpkin chocolate chip muffins bring a warmth to your home, as well as a smile to your face. 

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar 

2 large eggs 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

3/4 cup solid packed, canned pumpkin puree

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line 12 muffin cups with liners 

2. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves nutmeg and salt. Set aside. 

3. In the bowl of your mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. When the mixture is smooth and creamy add eggs one at a time mixing in between. 

4. Continue mixing on medium adding the vanilla and pumpkin puree. Then add your bowl of dry ingredients adding a little at a time with the mixer on low.
5. Fold in the chocolate chips making sure everything is well blended. 
6. Scoop the mixture into the liners and bake for 18-20 minutes. 

Before the oven...

Enjoy! 

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Interval What?

On my last Fitness 101 posting I wrote about my average workout routine. I run/walk 3 miles 5 days a week and rest on the weekend. When I say run/walk, I mean interval training. For those of you who are not familiar with it, it is when you add bursts of speed into your workout. This workout allows you to play with your speed and mix up your workout. So what's the benefit to this type of cardio? Well, according to the Journal of Obesity, it targets your waistline and can help you loose stubborn abdominal fat. Below is a chart for a 45 minute interval training schedule for the treadmill. Not only will interval training burn more calories, but it will keep your mind and body busy while you sweat away! Feel free to also set the treadmill on a small incline, but not too steep as it can cause shin splints.

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