Happy Friday!

I looooove the weekend (of course!) and I love this time of year.  There’s just something about spring that is so happy, motivating and refreshing. 😉

Love it!

Well, I thought I’d share something new I bought this week,

I’ve heard a lot of good things about Feast Mode seasonings on the internet, so I was thrilled to learn that my local grocery store was carrying them.  Woot!

Feast Mode has a BUNCH of great flavors and I love that they are a healthy seasoning (no weird fake crap, MSG or fillers) and they are lower in sodium.  I also like that they have some sodium in them though because I’ve tried Mrs. Dash many, many times and I just can’t learn to like it. 🙁

I decided to start out with these two flavors.  I heard that Butter Herb was a customer favorite and very good on veggies.  I also just thought that Asiago Jalapeno sounded good, so I went with it.

So far, I’ve tried them on veggies and eggs and they are good!  They add a ton of flavor and they don’t taste low sodium-ish.  It’s also nice that they can liven up some basic foods like chicken, veggies and eggs.  I will say that they are quite expensive though, ~$10 a bottle, but the bottles are pretty big.  They should last a while.

I also thought I’d share some yummy protein bars that I’ve been enjoying lately…

These are all good!

I must say that I’m not a huge protein bar person though.  I like them, but they just never seem to fill me up.  Most protein bars are between 200-300 calories and I usually feel just as hungry after I eat one as I did before I ate it!

However, I really like these three brands because they help to curb my sweet tooth!  This Power Crunch chocolate mint bar tastes like a mix between a Girl Scout thin mint cookie and a Kit Kat bar.  I also tried their Peanut Butter creme flavor and it was soooo good!  It reminded me of a Reese’s Sticks candy bar.

I usually don’t eat a whole bar at one time.  I just like to have a few bites when I’m craving something sweet or I like to crumble a little bit on top of my yogurt or oatmeal.

The G2G (Good to Go) bar is soooo good and it actually fills me up a bit.  I’ve tried this Almond Coconut flavor and their Peanut Butter chocolate chip flavors and they are both wonderful.  The Almond Coconut one reminded me of those old fashioned Neapolitan coconut candy things.  Yum!  The Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip one reminded me of my favorite Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Protein Ball recipe.

They are both so good!  Again, I don’t usually eat a whole bar at once.  I just have a few bites or crumble it on top of something.  Yummy!

These Optimum Nutrition Cake Bites are decent too, although they don’t taste like an actual cake bite, like at all.  They remind me more of a Charleston Chew candy bar, but not as good.  What I like most about the cake bites though is that they come in a pack of three, so if I need a little something sweet, I just have one of these!

I bought the Power Crunch bar and the Cake Bites at Walmart and the G2G bars at Costco.

**********************************

I also wanted to share a couple low carb meal ideas that I had this week.  I’m doing the FasterWaytoFatLoss program right now and we have two low carb days a week, as we are carb cycling.

I made spaghetti and meatballs for the fam the other night.  I found a recipe on AllRecipes.com for Italian meatballs and they turned out great.  I cooked up some zucchini noodles for me and it was yummy.

I also made some roasted veggies on the side.  This “recipe,” (it’s more like a method) is my favorite way to make veggies.

My kids all eat them, or at least tolerate them.

It made for a very yummy, veggie packed meal.

I also still love making my green smoothies and protein shakes most days!  I love that they are so versatile and that it’s such an easy way to get so many good things in the body.  I’ve been adding fruit in them on my “regular macro” days and I skip the fruit on my “low carb” days and just enjoy all the veggies and some added fat, usually in the form of peanut butter.

Low carb days can be tough.  I add a lot more fat to my diet on those days, which is nice, but I still miss the satisfaction and satiety that carbs bring. 🙁  In fact, this week I was having a particularly hard “low carb” day, so I decided to take my 3 year old to Carl’s Jr. for lunch.

It’s weird to me that I just have one last little straggler at home. 🙁  He gets a little bored in the day sometimes and misses his brothers, so I try to take him out to do some fun things sometimes…..not that Carl’s Jr. is a lot of fun, ha ha!  But, it is simple and it works!

Anyway, I decided to get myself a guacamole burger wrapped in lettuce with a small side salad on the side.

I cut up my burger and turned it into more of a salad because I knew I would make a huge mess if I tried to eat it like a burger!  Ha!

Now, this wasn’t really a healthy meal, but it worked!  AND, I kept my sanity for the day.  It was nice to eat something that felt indulgent, but still fit in my macros.  It did a lot for my psyche and helped to lift the morale.  😉

I don’t think I’ll make it a regular thing though, lol.

Actually, there is another local burger place, Apollo Burgers, that sells awesome salads that I love!  They are loaded with veggies and have grilled chicken on top and they are HUGE!  They don’t have a playplace though and I guess, that’s why I settled for Carl’s Jr.

Sometimes it’s nice to have someone else make your food, especially on low carb days!!!

One thing I’ve learned about healthy living is you HAVE to make it work for your lifestyle long-term!  You have to find ways to keep it interesting and indulge once in a while without completely falling off the wagon.  That’s one of the many things I like about counting macros; it provides an easy way to “measure” and quantify the foods you eat, so you can have a little bit of cake and eat it too! Ha ha.

There is definitely a huge psychological aspect behind healthy eating.  It’s tough.  There are some days I’m uber “on” and I love everything about living healthy and then there are other days when I’m worn out, draggin’, hormonal, whatever it may be….and it’s just t.o.u.g.h!  That’s why I love doing healthy challenges; it helps me to stay consistent and push through, even on the hard days. 🙂

Well, I have a lot more I could share today, but I’m going to end it here.  We are going out with our darling friends tonight and we gotta get goin’.  We’re also going to watch the Jazz/Rockets playoff game tonight.  Woot!  Go Jazz!!!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend.  Keep on keepin’ on!!!