Tips to Stay Fit Through the Holidays

Long time no talk Blogger World!
The Holidays are here, are YOU ready to tackle them on?!

Must Read Blogposts For the New Year

It's officially 2014!
Brand new spanking year.
Today is the first day of a 365 page book, make an amazing and inspiring story.

Vacation Victories: IIFYM/IE Update & My Goal for the Future

Hello fit fam!
If you didn't know, I've been on vacation for around 10 days in wonderful Florida!... Even if it did rain almost every day I was there. Below are some tasty foods I ate while on vacation and an update on how I ate. And how I actually LOST weight on vacation! Even though we shouldn't care about weight ;]

"My last cheat I SWEAR" Approach: How I Stopped Binging

How many times have you used THAT line huh?

From Layne Norton's Instagram

"Oh snap, I'm getting SERIOUS tomorrow... sooooo I might as well eat all the bad stuff I can now because I won't have any for a while..."

The next day comes around. You do fine for a few days... or one.... and then you mess up a tinyyy tiny bit... and that sets you off. You eat one cookie, which turns to 2, and then before you know it you've eaten the whole box!

"Ah crud.... messed up... OK starting fresh TOMORROW.... but since I already messed up, I should finish off that peanut butter too, and then tomorrow I'll start fresh..."

And repeat.

Sound familiar to you?

Make A Come Back!

Have you been slacking on your healthy lifestyle change?? 

Well GET BACK TO IT!!  

Do these simple effective steps!! 

• CHUG WATER LIKE NO TOMORROW! 1-2 gallons a day! Get rid of that extra water weight and flush out the toxins from your bod!  
• START AT YOUR NEXT MEAL! STOP PUTTING IT OFF! The more you do, the easier it'll be to keep putting it off!! Suck it up buttercup and start NOW.  
• Get back to your regular exercise routine! Lift weights, do some cardio! ANYTHING that gets that heart rate up and gets you to sweatin!  
• Eat healthy and don't restrict! Lots of people do this, end up feeling deprived, and then go crazy and get back to where they started. DON'T DO IT! Just eat HEALTHY! Baby steps! Cut things out gradually instead of cold turkey if you have to! Don't restrict like no carbs Or no fats. Eat a well balanced whole natural food diet!  
• Set achievable goals to strive for! Don't set yourself up for failure by aiming for "I'm gonna lose 10 pounds this week!" NO! If you set unrealistic goals, and then don't achieve them, you'll just be discouraged! So set goals like "no cheats this week!" Or "limit to 1 soda a week" or "lose 3 pounds by the end of this month!" All realistic!  
• Now that you have your goals, make a PLAN and strategy for how you'll achieve them!!! And then put the plan in action! Get to work!!  
• Lastly, don't be hard on yourself for your slip and setback!! It's the worst when you beat yourself up and feel guilty! Accept it, learn from it, move on, and know how to prevent it from happening again in the future!! Follow all these steps and you're on your way to your healthiest fit year ever!

Bounce Back from the Binge

Hey beautiful people! Sorry for my lack of updates! Been SUPER DUPER busy with school and comp prep and life in general! But I thought I'd update withhh another binge post.

Since my STOP THE BINGE post was so popular with you all, I decided to write this post on:

BOUNCING BACK FROM THE BINGE

Many of you have come to me either through e-mail or on instagram saying around the same thing:

Josie, I had a horrible binge, what do I do?

or

I had a horrible binge, and I can't seem to stop! I've done it ___ times this week! Help!

and so many other variations of the above.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE! 

Many of us have been through the same thing! I know that for me and others, it really WAS a binge eating disorder, but for some others it could just be a food control problem, which also needs to be fixed ASAP!

Here's what I USED TO DO after I had binged, that never EVER worked because they set me up for failure and just primed me to binge again, so DON'T DO THESE:

• Fasted the next day/ skipped meals to make up for all the food you had the day(s) prior
• Went VERY strict on clean eating
• Worked out for hours to combat the extra calories
• Felt Guilty & Beat myself up about it

And you know what happened after I did all that?

BINGED AGAIN.

Why? Because I was freaking restricting my body!

So, what CAN I do to set myself up for SUCCESS? And to NOT binge more in the future??

Here are a few things that I've found work in helping me stay in control after a binge:

• Go back to healthy clean eating the next day [no restrictions, no counting calories, just start the day new, fresh, and healthy!]
• Drink water like a fish! Water naturally purifies your body, so get all those toxins out!
• Drink some kombucha or probiotic drinks to reset your pH levels, or some dandelion tea to help out that liver of yours detox
• Exercise! But don't go CRAZY! Do some weights mixed with cardio to flush out the negatives and give yourself some happy endorphins! 
• DON'T RESTRICT - make healthier alternatives, find clean eating substitutions, don't cut out whole food groups
• MODERATION, NOT DEPRIVATION 
• CHANGE YOUR MINDSET

It's a LIFESTYLE change people! You think you can live your whole life without carbs or without fats or on low calories of around 600 a day? NO. Your body will end up KILLING itself, craving ALL this craziness that you've been depriving it of, your mind will go crazy and then you'll just KEEP REPEATING THE CYCLE OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

The main thing I learned was to NOT cut out foods completely. If you have a craving, try and resist. If you seriously can't, then have a taste! But DON'T have the whole box!

Don't say:

I CAN'T EAT THIS

because your mind will be like 

"OH SNAP, then maybe I should eat it all before I start over tomorrow!"

Instead, Say:

"I CAN have it, I just choose NOT to because it's not good for my body, it won't help me reach my goals, and I CHOOSE to not have it!"

BOOM.
Change your ways of thinking, and you can change a LOT of your actions!

BOUNCE BACK and STOP THE BINGE! 

I'll be filming a video soon for my YOUTUBE channel on more tips to Control Cravings/ Stop Binging/Mindless Snacking! So STAY TUNED!

Cleanse & Juicing

Hello everybodyyy.

How is everyone doing this fine day? Staying on track? Eating clean? Training mean? I hope so!

Remember to tag any fitness or health related things #VMFITYEAR on Instagram so that we can all keep track of each others progress, get food ideas, and learn great new tips or workouts from each other!

So today's post is about

Detox & Juicing

I've been looking into great juice recipes after watching "Hungry for Change" on Netflix, and I wrote a bit about it on some instagram posts in the past! Great info, tons of knowledge, I HIGHLY recommend you watch this great documentary!

After the holidays, I'm sure we all need a pretty good detox! I don't mean starving yourself for a week, drinking only water and tea, and all those other crazy fad diets where you supposedly lose 10 pounds in 5 days, etc etc. I mean detox by totally eating clean good whole foods found from nature, exercising to get rid of those toxins, and STOP letting new toxins enter the body! So no more processed, artificial foods!

Why Detox? Because it helps in burning off fat!!!

"As you burn off body fat, you must also detoxify, because most chemicals are lipophilic (fat-loving) and are lodged in fat cells. If you don't do something to remove these toxins from your body while losing weight, toxins can be reabsorbed into your bloodstream and potentially cause health problems.
Fortunately, your body will detoxify itself if there is no toxicity coming in. Chlorophyll-rich foods such as organic green vegetables, gelatinous plant foods like aloe and chia seeds, seaweeds, chlorella, cilantro and parsley can help with this. Make sure to drink plenty of pure water, as this is essential to your body's cleansing processes. Juicing may also be of benefit. Avoid all chemicals, additives, and preservatives. If a product's shelf life is longer than your life, don't eat it!"
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/03/24/hungry-for-change.aspx

Why exactly is juicing good for us?

• Juicing allows us to take in a large serving of vegetables and fruits at one time and can be the key to giving you a radiant, energetic life and truly optimal health. Dr Mercola typically buys up to 20 pounds of raw vegetables per week and juices a few pounds per day. Some people may find eating that many vegetables difficult, but it can be easily accomplished with a quick glass of vegetable juice.

• Juicing is an easy way to absorb all the nutrients from the vegetables. This is important because most of us have impaired digestion as a result of making less-than-optimal food choices over many years. This limits your body's ability to absorb all the nutrients in an optimal way. Juices go straight to your blood stream which in turn carries all the nutrients to where they are needed the most by the body without further delay as in digestion. 

• Juicing can help you add a wider variety of vegetables in your diet. Many people eat the same vegetable salads every day. This goes against the principle of regular food rotation and increases your chance of developing an allergy to a certain food. But with juicing, you can juice a wide variety of vegetables that you may not normally enjoy eating whole.

• Juicing is also an incredibly effective way to cleanse the body, especially green juices! Green juices contain high levels of chlorophyll a powerful phytonutrient which attaches to toxins and heavy metals and helps remove them from your body. It also increases your blood's oxygen-carrying capacity by stimulating red blood cell production.
• http://www.hungryforchange.tv/juicing

BOOM.
So detoxifying = easier fat loss
Clean foods, healthy nutritious foods, juicing = detoxifying the body

After the holidays I most CERTAINLY need to get rid of some [ok a LOT] of toxic foods I have floating around my body!
NO, I am not fasting for 3 days, no I'm not doing a strict juice cleanse for 3,5,7 days. I'm simply eating clean, but most importantly, I'm going to have a super detox drink first thing in the morning.
In the mornings our bodies are primed to absorb the first thing we consume.

So my daily routine will look like:

Wake up
1. Ginger, lemon juice, Apple cider vinegar, warm water, pinch of cinnamon and cayenne
This drink will be consumed every morning! Ginger has great healing properties, lemon will boost that metabolism, apple cider vinegar is great at detoxing by controlling the bowels and it also controls blood sugar levels and blood pressure along with sooo many other benefits!, water is always great, cinnamon controls blood sugar, and cayenne helps speed up metabolism and targets fat burning!

2. Juice - 4-8 oz
Just bought myself a juicer for a pretty great price at an Asian Market and have been LOVINGGG it!
So many different recipes! And since this is one of the first things you consume in the morning, alll those nutrients are being soaked up and absorbed by your hungry hungry cells! MM LOVING IT
The ingredients may change around but no matter what, it will alwaysss contain PARSLEY and CILANTRO! Why? Because these herbs ESPECIALLY target the removal of heavy toxic metals from your system! I may also add some chia seeds or psyllium husks so that the gelatinous part of it can attach to any toxins floating around inside my body after my longggg [hopefully] 7-8 hour sleep the night before.

If you've been following my IG, You saw one juice I made the other day! I'll post more up when I find better recipes hehe :]

And then from there I'll continue my day as normal! Clean eats, exercise, all that good stuff!

Try incorporating a juice a day! I bet your body will thank you for it!

MUSCLE and Bulking

 Importance of Building Muscle

So if you all read my 2013 plan, then you know that I'm doing a mini-ish 5 week bulk! 
I feel I've gained quite a bit of fat over the past few months from my not so strict diet :/ eek sorry! Now I'm determined to turn that fat into STRONG MUSCLE. 
Why do I want muscle? What are the benefits?

• better athletic performance: power, strength, energy, stamina
• can inhibit sarcopenia, the age related loss of muscle
• muscle burns more calories than fat - more muscle = more fat burn
• increases metabolism, even at rest! 
• when building muscle, it increases oxygen flow to the body - which means healthier heart and lungs!
• muscles protect the joints and bones
• better posture
• the same weight of muscle takes up less space than fat. even if the scale says you weigh the same, you'll look tighter, more firm, and toned    

 Having muscle is a prettyyyyy good thing to have don't you think?? Now  
how exactly am I changing my diets and workouts for this bulk?
 Specifically during these next few weeks I'll be:

• increasing CARBS!!! YESSSSS :D
• I'll be having them in my breakfast, immediate post workout with my protein shake, and then in my post workout meal for the first 2 weeks, and the 3 weeks after I'll cut it to just post workout shake and post workout meal. 
• GOOD carbs though! Complex carbs like oats, brown rice, sweet potato, brown rice cakes. Why?
• carbs will give me energy to build my muscles! The carbs will get stored in my muscles [glycogen] and that's where they'll be getting their energy! This means more intense workouts, heavier weights, more reps = building that muscle! If I don't get enough carbs, it may try to get energy by breaking down protein, which is NOT what I want! I want to keep my muscles, not break them down
• help muscle recovery! This is especiallyyy important to build up those muscles! Carbs get the protein we eat to go to our muscles! This is especially important POST workout because our muscles are primed to absorb what we eat! So we include carbs to shuttle the nutrients to our muscles to repair and build the muscle  

• doing only short low intensity cardio either in the morning or post workout. I don't want tooo much cardio at this time so that I can build my muscles! About 20 minutes or so of cardio!  
• speed walk, incline walk, light jog
• Check out that 2013 plan to see what my actual workout days will be looking like!
• increase of calories - your body won't grow if you're in a deficit of calories! So I'll be aiming to have around 1800-2000 or so calories a day, except for rest days where it'll probably be around 1400-1500
• PROTEIN PROTEIN PROTEIN! Protein's made up of amino acids, which are the building blocks of muscle! You should have AT LEAST 1 gram per pound of weight
• HEAVIER weights, shorter reps! I want to give my muscles that nice pump! I'll probably be doing 4 sets of 6-8 reps! So that means lets say I'll do 6-8 squats heavy, then a brief rest, and repeat that for 4 times total! I really want to build my GLUTES, so I'll be incorporating 2 leg days in my plan!

So that's my mini-bulk plan! Now obviously it's not going to build TOO much muscle, some people take MONTHS to build the amount they want, but I'm not competing, so I'm just doing this little mini 5 week plan to just build a little more, and then start shedding the fat off! Now if I do this wrong, have TOO many cals or TOO much carbs, I may put on fat! But that's ok for now, because my next phases will be dedicated to leaning out! I'll do another post during that time to give you an overview of how I plan on doing that!

Gym Tips

Gym Tips

Here I've gathered some tips to navigate the gym! Sometime people are worried about walking into the gym or weight room because they don't know what they're doing, what to do, or too embarrassed because they don't know "gym protocol". If that's you, read on to find out how to maneuver around a gym!

Come With a Plan
I know for me personally, if I don't have a workout planned, I'm like a lost child at the amusement park. Crazy machinery all around me and I have no idea where to go first or what exercises I have planned! So I like to write up my workout and bring it with me so I stay on track during my workout! Usually includes the exercises and the number of sets and reps! I also write in if I want to do any cardio that day!

Return Your Weights
Don't leave plates on a barbell or the squat rack or the leg press, NO. I always hate that because I waste so much time lugging off plates from others who have left them there! When you're done, put all plates and free weights back where you found them.

Your sweaty mess is for you only.
BAM! What an awesome set! I really nailed those and gave it my all! Killed those bench presses! Now I'm just gonna get up and do something else. WAIT! No one wants to lay in your nasty [although awesome because you really pushed it] sweat!
Use the disinfecting spray/wipes!!!
Nothing's worse than sitting on a piece of equipment or using something that feels like it's been showered on...

Be comfortable
Wear something you're confident and comfortable in! Something that moves easily with your workout, that won't ride up, and also won't flash anyone in the weight room! If you don't want to dress up in fancy workout gear, don't! Just wear that old T and some shorts or pants! No need to get all dolled up for the gym!

Sharing is Caring!
Don't hog any equipment for too long by having super long rests! Try to share the equipment by letting someone work in while you're resting.
This goes for cardio machines too! I know at my school gym there is a limited number of machines, and some girls stay on for like hours at a time! Be caring and spread the cardio love! Try out some HIIT to get a just as effective sweat in a shorter amount of time! 

Technology
I know for some, it may be annoying when someone next to you is jabbering away on their phone. Please try and keep phone calls to a minimum.. or none! Also, you want to have a bombin workout right?!? Don't waste your fit time on a call! Get to work, get that heart rate up, and get sweating!

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Stay tuned! On January 1st, I'll be posting my 2013 Plan with a quick overview of my workout split and of my meal plan.

My Thyroid

Hello beautiful people! 

Here's a post about the Thyroid.

Some posts to look out for in the future:

Tis the Season to be Jolly Post on Secret Santas 

More Quest Product Reviews + Total Body Workout

My General Outline of My 2013 Fit Semester Plan

Stubborn Fat Burning Cardio

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Thyroid

Here's some background on the thyroid: 

Your thyroid is a gland located at the base of your neck, just below your Adam’s apple. It is shaped like a butterfly – each wing, or lobe of your thyroid lies on either side of your windpipe.

The purpose of your thyroid gland is to make, store, and release thyroid hormones into your blood. These hormones, which are also referred to as T3 (liothyronine) and T4 (levothyroxine), affect almost every cell in your body, and help control your body’s functions. If you have too little thyroid hormone in your blood, your body slows down. This condition is called hypothyroidism. If you have too much thyroid hormone in your blood, your body speeds up. This condition is called hyperthyroidism.

What controls the amount of thyroid hormone produced?
The amount of thyroid hormone made by your thyroid gland is adjusted by a gland in the brain called the pituitary. Another part of your brain, the hypothalamus, helps the pituitary. The hypothalamus sends information to the pituitary gland, the pituitary in turn controls the thyroid gland.
The thyroid gland, pituitary gland, and hypothalamus all work together to control the amount of thyroid hormone in your body. With the pituitary controlling most of the action, these organs work similarly to the way a thermostat controls temperature in a room.
For example, just as the thermometer in a thermostat senses the temperature of a room, your pituitary gland constantly senses the amount of thyroid hormone in your blood. If there is not enough thyroid hormone, your pituitary senses the need to “turn on the heat”. It does this by releasing more thyroid-stimulating hormone (or TSH), which signals your thyroid to make more thyroid hormone. Your thyroid gland then makes and releases the hormone directly into your bloodstream.
Your pituitary gland then senses that there is just the right amount of thyroid hormone in your body. With your thyroid hormone levels now restored to a normal level, your pituitary slows its production of TSH back down to normal.

Tests
While there are a wide variety of blood tests that can be used in the evaluation of thyroid disease, thyroid function testing usually refers to measurement of both TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) and thyroid hormone (usually T4) in the blood stream. If the thyroid is functioning normally, the T4 and the TSH are in the normal range. If the thyroid becomes underactive (hypothyroidism) the T4 declines and the TSH rises in an attempt to make the thyroid gland make some more T4. Conversely, if the thyroid gland is overactive (hyperthyroidism), the elevated T4 is sensed by the pituitary and TSH production is decreased in an effort to try to slow down the thyroid.

What can go wrong?
Diseases of the thyroid are often classified into problems primarily involving the structure of the thyroid gland (changes in size or the development of thyroid nodules) or function of the thyroid gland (over active or underactive).
Structural problems can include an enlarged thyroid gland (goiter), a small thyroid gland (atrophic) or the development of either single nodules (solitary thyroid nodule) or multiple thyroid nodules (multinodular gland). The evaluation of structural problems of the thyroid is usually done with a thyroid ultrasound.
Functional problems of the thyroid are initially evaluated with thyroid function tests which are used to determine if the thyroid is functioning normally, over active or underactive. Often times a thyroid gland can have both a structural problem and a functional problem at the same time. So the evaluation of a thyroid condition includes careful evaluation of both the structure and function of the thyroid gland

http://www.checkyourneck.com/about-thyroid-cancer/about-the-thyroid-gland

So why am I talking to you about the thyroid? Because a few years ago I was diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism [or Graves Disease]. My symptoms were the usual for those with hyperthyroidism:

• increased appetite & increased food intake with steady weight
• rapid heartbeat [tachycardia] and irregular heartbeat with palpitations
• tremors of the hands
• sweating and hot all the time
• sensitive to heat
• irregular menstrual patterns
• frequent bowel movements [sorry, tmi??]
• enlarged thyroid - goiter 
• fatigue and muscle weakness
• difficulty in sleep
• brittle hair and hair loss
• discomfort in the eyes, light sensitivity, blurred vision, inflammation

Basically my body was on full throttle ALL the time. Everything full speed, hyper hyper active. Well this winter break, yesterday to be more precise, the 21st of December, I got radioactive iodine treatment to kill off my thyroid. The radioactive iodine is going to gradually shrink my thyroid over time and then ultimately destroy the gland, which will make me then hypothyroid. Here are the symptoms I've read for that:

• fatigue
• increased sensitivity to cold
• constipation
• dry skin
• unexplained weight gain ---- D:
• puffy face
• hoarseness
• muscle weakness
• elevated blood cholesterol levels
• muscle aches, tenderness and stiffness
• pain, stiffness or swelling of joints
• heavier than normal/ irregular menstrual periods
• thinning hair
• slow heart rate
• depression
• impaired memory and forgetfulness
• poor muscle tone
• excessive sleepiness

Dunno if you could tell from my instagram post today asking for advice on post radioactive iodine/hypothyroid tips, I'm a bit freaked out by all of this. Everyone keeps saying as long as I take the meds, the synthetic hormones, then I should be able to function like everyone else and not experience these symptoms so badly. 

I'm most scared about the weight gain part! And I've heard it's SOOOO difficult to lose! That some have gained between 15 - 30 pounds, and now it's harder than ever to lose weight, even with restricted calories to 1300 and exercise 6x a week! Eek.... :O... But even though everyone says I should be fine once I find the right dosage of synthetic hormones and level out, I hear it takes a while for that to happen. It's not automatic. It might take a few months, if not years, to find the "perfect" level for my body. Ahhh this is giving me such bad anxiety!

The best thing I can do as of now though is keep monitoring it closely, listen to my body, keep getting my blood checked to find out my current levels so that my endocrinologist can prescribe me the right medication! As long as I continue to eat well and exercise, I'm seriously hoping for the best, and trying to stay positive!   

If any of you are experiencing the above symptoms, I highlyyy suggest you go get a blood test to see where your thyroid hormone levels are! Better safe than sorry in the long run! 

Holiday Tips & thinkThin Bars

Hello wonderful fit fam!!  
Decided to share with you some Holiday Tips to stay on track this season!
But first, another review!!

 
The other day I got the chance to try out a sample pack from the company:

thinkThin® High Protein Bars 

 

Here's what they have to say about their company:

12 varied and delicious flavors make up the core offering of the thinkThin® line of protein bars and a pantry staple item in households across the country.

With 0g sugar and 20g protein, this mighty delicious food provides a burst of clean energy, a moment of relaxation, and satisfaction for those in need of taste and sustenance. It is also friendly for those monitoring their sugar intake.

This bar is the #1 ranked natural weight management bar (SPINSscan research). Our thinkThin®High protein bars can be enjoyed in the morning with coffee or tea, before exercise or for a delicious burst of energy any time throughout the day.

Sounds pretty awesome right??
These bars are:

• packed with protein
• sugar free
• gluten free
• dairy free
• vegan
• kosher  

Chocolate Covered Strawberries: Right when I tore open the packaging, I could smell the strawberries and chocolate! Seriously, it was like BAM! Right back to the days when I used to make chocolate covered strawberries for bake sales or class mates! However, even though there are no real chunks of strawberries in the bar, it still tasted very much like it! And the chocolate flavor is pretty legit too! After a while though the chocolate gets a bit too sweet for my taste personally, so I think next time I'd eat half the bar, and save the other half for another time!

Brownie Crunch: WOW. Took a bite into it and it tasted SOO good, thick and fudgy brownie bar! Great chocolate flavor, not too intense in sweetness! And it wasn't too hard to bite into either :]


Chunky Peanut Butter: You all know my obsession with peanut butter, so I may have set my hopes too high! It does have a peanut butter taste, but it's kind of mild, not really strong, or I guess not strong enough for my liking! I loveee my peanut buttery goodness! Also it was described as "chunky" so I was expecting nuts of some kind, however it didn't. It was crunchy from the soy crisps, so I guess that's where the "chunky" part comes in!
 
Creamy Peanut Butter : This is almost exactly the same flavor as above, but the texture is different! Again, the peanut butter taste wasn't very strong for me, or as legit as peanut butter should be. But this bar did not have the same crunch or grainy texture because it didn't have soy crisp like the Crunchy bar does. 

Cookies & Cream: On the outside of the bar, there's a nice sweet, light and creamy flavor! On the inside there's a nice thick and chewy chocolate almost brownie like texture. There's also soy crisp chunks which makes the texture kinda grainy and crunchy!

White Chocolate: The outer layer of this bar is a nice, sweet and light white chocolate. The middle is chocolatey goodness and there's actually cocoa or chocolate pieces! The flavor was light and mild, definitely not too sweet which was good!

Dark Chocolate: This bar was a bit thicker and harder than the rest. Not sure if it was supposed to be? And this was good because it was not  too bitter, like some dark chocolates tend to be!

Chocolate Espresso: This one tasted just like a coffee bean! There were also like, espresso coffee bean-like chunks on the inside! I'm not much of a coffee person [don't have to have it, but don't hate it either!] so this was an ok flavor for me. Kind of bitter, like espresso tastes!

Chocolate Fudge: This bar was softer than the others, which I really liked! It tasted like a pure chocolate candy bar. It wasn't too sweet or too bitter. Just perfect! I think it was one of my favorites!

Caramel Fudge: This was like the chocolate fudge one, where it was also softer than the other bars! It had a strong caramel flavor and smell and was pleasantly sweet. It was not overbearing at all. The outside layer was made of chocolate and the inside tasted so nice and caramely, another favorite!

Overall review:
I did like the bars! Some to me were a little too sweet though. What?! How can too sweet be a bad thing?!! Well when you've had a fewww... :P.. bars in one night, the sweetness gets to you! 
Now they aren't 100% clean because there is maltitol in it and soy, which through my research some say isn't a clean ingredient. BUTTT I will say that these are DEFINITELY a great alternative to it's unhealthy counterpart! 
Just saying, you'd want to eat thinkThin's caramel fudge bars over an actual caramel fudge! And these at least have a great amount of protein!
I think the best time to chow on these would be the morning or right after a workout, and get all that FANTASTIC protein straight to your gorgeous muscles, or to fuel you for the rest of the day! 

Thank you so much thinkThin for letting me try your line of protein bars! I thoroughly enjoyed them! 
Visit their online store to pick up some thinkThin products!

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It's the Holiday Season! I hope everyone has spectacular plans!!!!
Christmas time, the New Year, what a crazy, busy festive time of the year!

This means it is usually the time for all loved ones to come together, celebrate what the holidays are truly about, and also feast out on spectacular food. I know I bet you're like OH NOOOOOO! How can I resist my Great Aunt Maggie's cakes and goodies and pies?!?!

NOTE, it's a lifestyle, so you CAN have everything you want, just remember that one word:
MODERATION.

Take one cookie, or one piece of pie.
Don't be like me on Thanksgiving where I ended up eating half a Costco Pumpkin pie by myself over the span of 3 days...
I could have done it in 1, just didn't want to overdo it... :O

Here are some tips that will hopefully keep you in check during the Holidays!

Keep up with your food and fitness journal!
Check out a little more about these journals here. Try and keep up with it! I know I sometimes end up just writing everything in a hurry at the end of the night before bed, and because of this I may sometimes end up missing some things I ate throughout the day, or important feelings I didn't jot down right at the time I was feeling them! So try and stay on top of it!
Also write down your goals for yourself, whether it's to lose weight, be slimmer, fit clothes better, etc! And when you're faced with allll that temptation, KEEP IN MIND THOSE GOALS! Will they be sabotaged? If so, DON'T DO IT!

Fill Up On the Good Stuff! And eat Slowwllyyyy
If you're at a family get together, fill up on the healthy shtuff so you're full before the massive dessert table! That means greens, veggies, fruits, lean proteins, YUM. Also, try and eat slowly! Savor each bite! This way, people will already be on their 3rds and you'll [hopefully] still be on your first place! Not only does it help to say no when others prod you to get more food, but it also helps digestion because you're really breaking down all that food before it even hits your stomach!

Don't Tempt Yourself, Get Distractions!
If you don't want to tempt yourself, DON'T LOOK AT IT! Try and keep yourself occupied on your current food in front of you, or play with the little ones to distract yourself! Enjoy the "party" aspect of the season! Get social, talk to your family members, have a good time! Enjoy people's company! It's not ALWAYS about the food!

Make it Yourself!
Tell your family that you want to make a dish for the holiday feast-ivities! And when you do, look up a healthy recipe of a favorite guilty food of yours! I'm pretty sure everything unhealthy has a clean eating recipe somewhere online!

Portions
Maybe you'll let yourself indulge a little bit, that's fine! But again, MODERATION. You can try a little bit of everything, but keep the portion sizes reasonable!

Stay Hydrated
Sometimes we confuse hunger for thirst! So if you're at the dinner table, just had 5 plates and are about to grab that 6th, down a water bottle or half a liter of water! It'll fill ya right on up!

Don't Be Too Restrictive!
I always say this because I've learned from my past mistakes: If I'm too restrictive on myself, that "diet" mindset will soon backfire and send me spiraling out of control and I'll eat allll the naughty things in sight! So let loose a LITTLE bit. Realize how I said little! Don't go crayyyyzy on me now!

Mindless Snacking
Don't do this! Eat your food, and then set a point to stop! Don't keep going back to that food table to grab munchies after munchies. 

It's a holiDAY
If you do plan to indulge, try and keep your loose eating around the actual holiDAY!  Don't lengthen it out into a whole month or into the new year! End if right then and there once you're done with your treat meal! Then, MOVE ON.

Be Active
I know after you're stuffed full, all you want to do is snuggle on that couch with a warm fuzzy blanket and chill in your jammies all night watching reruns of Elf on FX.  Don't do it! Take a nice post-meal walk with your family! Or play with the little ones while they're on their sugar highs! Get moving a little! The little things do help!

Although these tips areeee pretty obvious, I hope they have helped a little bit!
Stay on top of it at the end of this year, and slide into the New Year an awesome, stronger, and better YOU!