Food

My Favorite High-Protein Snacks

Happy 2022! It’s been awhile since I’ve done a post. Now with 3 little kids – fitting in workouts and eating healthy has been more of a challenge! But, I feel like I’m finally headed back in the right direction. I will do a post on my weight loss journey soon – but for now I wanted to share what has been working for me so far.

Over the summer I got down to (almost) my goal weight and built more muscle mass. However, I did gain some of that back over the holidays. What I’ve found to be the best strategy for me as a busy mom of kids 8, 5 and 1 is to simplify my workouts (but use heavy weight) and eat a high-protein diet. I will share more some of my workouts soon, including one I just did for Oxygen Magazine. I try to eat about 1g of protein per 1lb of body weight (goal weight not when overweight), so I’m always looking for ways to sneak in extra protein throughout the day.

Why so much protein? Protein fills you up faster and also helps you gain (or keep) lean muscle mass. So, if you plan to up your protein intake – it’s really key to make sure you are doing some sort of strength training (even body weight) during the day so that all that protein can do its job!

Here are my latest favorites (*these my kids like too!):

Ratio Yogurt*: I found this yogurt at my local HEB and it has 25g of protein per serving. It’s actually really tasty without any artificial sweetener taste and the texture is creamy and amazing. I love all the flavors, especially the key lime pie!

Hardboiled Eggs*: This is a super simple one. To save time, sometimes I buy them pre-made or get the little Vital Kitchens pack with seasonings. However, my Dad just gave me this cool egg cooker for Christmas and it makes hardboiled eggs really quickly and easily!

Protein muffin cup: I have tried a few different brands. The FlapJacked one has more protein but is not quite as flavorful as the Kodiak Cakes one.

Barilla Pasta*: This isn’t really a snack – but whenever I make pasta at home for the fam, I use this brand. I will never go back to regular pasta.

Magic Spoon Cereal*: I recently found this and love it. My kids actually really like it too! I got a whole variety pack and my kids ate most of them! The cereals are all super tasty and the best part is that they have less sugar and more protein than similar kids’ cereals. I love the bright colors and cute packaging too!

Whole Foods Protein Bites* I found these at Whole Foods and are a great snack for on-the-go.

Pure Protein Shakes: This has been my go-to shake recently. I get a whole case at Costco. The taste is good and it has low sugar and high protein.

Egg Life Wrap These are at Whole Foods, HEB, Aldi and other grocery stores. They are a great substitute for tortillas or other wrap for sandwiches, snacks and even breakfast burritos.

All opinions above are my own, although I have partnered with Magic Spoon Cereal.

Pumpkin Protein Cheesecake – Seen on NBC

This morning I got to go back on NBC (KPRC Chanel 2) to talk about my new fitness ebook Get Fit Done and also National Dessert Month! What?! National Dessert Month? Yes. You can totally celebrate with healthier versions of your favorite desserts! I thought since it’s October I would feature something with pumpkin spice – since we are all about that right about now. But…fyi…watch out for those PSL’s at Starbucks. They are loaded with sugar, fat and calories!

So, here is my take on a healthier pumpkin spice cheesecake with a little protein and healthier ingredients. This is a no-bake recipe an is also kid-friendly!

Ingredients:

8Â ozÂ reduced fat cream cheese (I like to use whipped)
1/2Â cupÂ organic canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 1/2Â tspÂ vanilla
1Â tspÂ cinnamon
1Â tspÂ pumpkin pie spice
1/4Â cupÂ stevia
1/4 cup coconut sugar (you can also use a small amount brown sugar)
1 scoop vanilla protein powderÂ (like like Orgain)
4Â ozÂ Truwhip (or coolwhip lite),Â thawed
9Â inchÂ Wholly Wholesome organic pie crust

Directions:

Follow the directions for a “no bake” pie and cook the crust according the the directions on the packaging and then let it cool slightly.Â Make sure you start with room temperature cream cheese or use whipped. Then, whisk together the cream cheese with pumpkin until fluffy (using a hand mixer or spatula) and then add all of the other ingredients except for the whipped cream. Add the Coolwhip/Truewhip last and fold it in. Chill the pie for about 2 hours or until firm.Â

Join The Get Fit Done Fall Challenge

I just launched a special Fall Challenge with my friend Megan to help our friends and followers get Fit For Fall! What is it? It’s a free plan for the month of October that includes delicious and healthy fall recipes, tips and new at-home workouts (see the first below)! It’s not too late to join! All you have to do is join our private Facebook group! We are posting a new fall workout, fall recipe and other tips each week for the whole month!

We want to challenge everyone to try to workout 5 times every week (even if it’s just 20 minutes!) and eat healthier. Of course – we encourage you to use our Get Fit Done Guide, which includes 4 weeks of detailed workouts, meal plans, shopping lists and more, but you do not have to. You can do a mix of your own workouts and meals. Many people said they were only interested in the meals, so we just launched only the Meal Plan for only $29!

Here is the first workout we launched this week. Try it out and let me know what you think! Tag me on Instagram (@carifit).

Get Fit Done – Meal Plan

A few months ago I launched a fitness ebook with my friend Megan called Get Fit Done – A Healthy Lifestyle Guide and we are beyond grateful to all of you that have purchased it. We’ve had huge success with the guide and over 2,500 members in our free Get Fit Done VIP group who are doing the plan! We love hearing your success stories and how easy it is for you to get your workouts in at home!

There were also some of you that didnâ€™t need the workouts, lifestyle printables, or 7-Day Reset, but you definitely wanted help in the meal department. So, weâ€™re making just the Meal Plan available for purchase separately at a discounted rate. For a limited time, the Get Fit Done Meal Plan will be offered for just $19, before it goes up to the $29 full price.

The Get Fit Done MEAL PLAN is an instant digital download that you can read on your computer or smartphone or take to a printer to bind into a book.

It includes :

*4 weeks of healthy meals, including breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks

* Easy to follow recipes

* Grocery shopping list

* Color photos

These are meals that Megan and I developed and are family and kid-friendly too!

~~$29~~Â $19 – BUY NOW

Flash Sale +My Picnic Bench Workout & Healthy 4th Recipes🇺🇸

Happy 4th Week guys! I don’t know about you – but I love the 4th of July! It’s such a fun holiday to spend with family and friends and mine usually revolves around water sports, grilling and fun healthy treats! Below is a workout that I just posted to my Instagram yesterday. I’m staying with family and they have a picnic table/bench that I used to do a quick 20 min HIIT workout! My family also loves to grill – so I wanted to share a couple of my favorite healthy grilling recipes you can use for the 4th! Megan and I also thought this would be the perfect time to do a FLASH SALE with our GET FIT DONE Guide (see below!)

Picnic Bench Workout

Start by finding a picnic bench or table, or you can just use a bench that is at least 1 foot above the ground. The higher the bench/step the harder the workout! Warmup first for about 5 minutes and then do this quick and simple routine. If you want to add on, you can check out my other bench workout here. My Firecracker Workout is also one of my favorite 4th of July workouts that I do at Bombshell Bootcamp!

4th Of July Recipes:

Chopped Greek Salad

This is a great salad recipe that is from my Get Fit Done Guide with my friend Megan! We have tons of other great recipes (this one is from our low-carb week) as well as 4 weeks of amazing workouts, shopping list, meal plans and more! If you have been wanting to try out our guide – NOW IS THE TIME! We are having a FLASH SALE this week only and offering the guide for only $39 (regularly $79)!! You can purchase via Megan’s site and enter in the code FREEDOM39!

Grilled Mexican Street Corn

I follow Rach Parcel and she recently posted her 4th of July Menu. I love to have grilled corn on the 4th and I saw she made grilled Mexican Street Corn for her family. You can do a similar healthy version:

Brush corn with a little olive oil, small amount of butter or cooking spray. Grill on the grill (with husks on or off) for about 3 minutes on each side, or until the kernels are tender when you pierce them. If you want more of a grilled taste – place them closer to the fire/flame. After they are cooked, sprinkle with a little salt, feta (or queso fresco – Mexican cheese), cilantro, lime juice and optional chili powder (or other spicy seasoning mix).

Healthy Family Recipe: Veggie Rainbow Lasagna

I wanted to share one of our favorite recipes from my Get Fit Done Guide with Megan! We created this family-friendly Veggie Rainbow Lasagna as part of our Week 4 Meal Plan (vegetarian week). If you aren’t a fan of vegetarian meals – you can also add optional ground beef, turkey, or even do a veggie protein like tempeh or tofu. *Tip: I found that if I use a small food processor for the beets – it gives the top of the lasagna more of the pretty purple color than if you just grate them.

We have so many more fun recipes like this in our guide! They are all delish and can be made into family friendly or just for 1 or 2! You can purchase the full guide/ebook HERE or just try our special 7-Day Reset HERE.