*Disclaimer: I am working with Under Armour and FitFluential on the “What’s Beautiful” campaign. As usual all thoughts, ramblings, opinions, and outlandish statements are my own. If you’re interested in joining the challenge, register and come join my team!*

The other day, I was having a very interesting conversation with a friend from my box – we were texting each other about lifting, her roping me into a powerlifting competition in the future (eek), and general fitness-y things. Regarding the powerlifting competition, we started talking about weight classes and both said we could/should drop a weight class to be a bit more competitive. And then she said: “…how idiotic is it that two women who are generally aware of and fight the unreasonable expectations placed upon women in an anorexic world are currently discussing ‘dropping a weight class’?”. AFREAKINGMEN.

I think most women who lift or do Crossfit or generally support the notion of strong, muscular women would love to consider themselves immune to issues like weight. After all, we lift heavy and work our asses off (or on rather) to gain muscle and concern ourselves with the weight on the barbell rather than the weight on the scale. But still, we are not immune. In this context we were talking about losing about 4-5lbs to be more competitive for a competition – but still, it was kind of ridiculous. That conversation got me thinking about weight, leanness, and strength and how I feel about it all. I’ve talked about before but it is still something that crosses my mind fairly often. I made a choice to stop worrying about getting lean and start focusing on getting strong and so far, it’s paid off in big ways.

Although my weight hasn’t really changed all that much – maybe 2lb gain total – it has been a really big mental shift. Instead of thinking about how my food is going to help me lean out, I think about how my food is going to help my squat. I eat, and eat, and eat some more – not necessarily all “paleo” foods and not necessarily even terribly “healthy” foods all the time. Rice has been my savior on high volume days and I’ve added a bit more dairy (mostly in the form of cheese) back in to my diet. And then there are weekends where I eat ice cream 3 times and enjoy every second of it. I don’t fret over whether something is “paleo” or not – I just eat.  I eat more food than most girls and some guys I know and I’m constantly hungry. I stopped eating to make my body look a certain way and started eating to help my body perform.

I’ve been forced to look at food as a tool for strength and recovery. For awhile my body was beat up because I wasn’t taking in enough food, more specificially, I wasn’t eating enough carbs.  Once I added more back in, my strength gains started coming back and I didn’t feel like I had been run over by a truck after every workout. As a result, my clothes fit differently – my quads will rip any non-stretch jeans in a second while being a size too big on the waist, wearing blazers is a trecherous game of “don’t rip the shoulders”, and my lats have become too big for any non-adjustable bathing suit top I own. And I’m fine with that but I’d be lying if I said that sometimes, I do wish I was leaner, smaller, whatever.

I start thinking about that and then I squat, clean, snatch, press and eat a pound of steak and remember how much better it feels to be strong than to wear a smaller jean size and I’m happy with my choice. Conventional standards of beauty are pervasive and as hard as we may try, we don’t ever “really” become immune to them.  But, we can chose to give them the finger and help convince people that being strong is beautiful, no matter what dress size you wear.

*Disclaimer: I was sent free product from KIND snacks in exchange for a review. As always, all thoughts, opinons, etc. are my own!*

This week is my first week of having a second job (teaching at technical university) on top of an already crazy schedule – I’m basically living off of coffee at this point. I haven’t worked outside my house since October so when it came time to pack food and snacks for a long class (5 hours) I was kind of at a loss. While I have time to eat meals, I definitely need some more snack-y foods to keep with me when I’m super hungry and need to quickly shove food in my face…aka all the time. One of the snacks that I really love are KIND bars:

My favorite flavors were anything chocolate (obviously) and the cashew & ginger spice! SO GOOD.

They have three types of bars: fruit & nut, plus (with protein, antioxidants, omega3, or fiber) and nuts & spices. Most of these bars are just fruit, nuts, and some other ingredients (most aren’t paleo due to some soy, grains, or honey) and they’re gluten-free! KIND bars have always been my go-to snack when I’m stuck in an airport or somewhere else where the gluten-free status of stuff is questionable. I love that they’re pretty widely available in places like Starbucks so that you can always find something gluten-free to hold you over.

KIND Snacks also sent over THREE bags of granola – talk about granola heaven! I’m not a big granola eater but every once and awhile I do get a craving for some crunchy, salty, sweet goodness and this totally hits the spot. My husband LOVES granola and said that these were his favorite because of the BIG clusters and the fact that they weren’t overly sweet. I admit, once I started snacking on it, I couldn’t stop – it’s addictive! I like that the granola is gluten-free since gluten-free can be hard to find and usually doesn’t taste all that great. If you’re looking for some easy gluten-free snacks that are delicious, not made with sketchy ingredients, and convenient – I highly recommend checking out KIND Snacks!

In fact, the nice folks at KIND Snacks offered to give away a package to a reader! Just leave me a comment telling me what your favorite easy gluten-free snack is. I will pick a winner on Friday, May 24th.

P.S. – I’m having SERIOUS log in issues for my UA team but I’m really hoping they are resolved today! Check the Facebook page for updates! Sorry for the delay everyone!

To say that this weekend was busy would be a HUGE understatement. My sister-in-law graduated college (YAY!!!), my mother-in-law is staying with us,  it was Mother’s Day, and we’ve been in celebration mode all weekend. We offered to host Mother’s Day brunch and it turned out to be quite lovely. The husband made roasted pork belly with a local cider and thyme glaze (HOLY JESUS amazing), I made a kale, caramelized onion, and swiss frittata, and at the last minute, I decided to whip up some banana muffins since I had a few overripe bananas sitting on my counter, begging to be baked into something. I settled on muffins because nothing screams brunch quite like muffins…and mimosas, obviously.

These muffins ended up being a huge hit and they may be my favorite “paleo” muffins that I’ve made to date. They’re moist but not overly wet and dense like some paleo baked goods can be. They’re hearty and perfect for a little snack or as an accompaniment to breakfast or brunch. I was going to do a whole little shoot for them but, um, there are none left. Guess that just means I will have to make another batch!

Paleo Banana Pecan Muffins

Print recipe

Serves	12
Prep time	10 minutes
Cook time	35 minutes
Total time	45 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups almond flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon honey, optional
• 1/4 cup sunflower seed or almond butter
• 1/2 cup pecan pieces
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil or grass-fed butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Note

Adapted from this recipe

Directions

1.	Preheat oven to 350F and grease muffin tin with coconut oil. Set aside.
2.	Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. In a separate bowl, mix together mashed bananas, vanilla, eggs, and nut or seed butter. Whisk together until thick.
3.	Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and whisk to thoroughly combine. The batter will be pretty thick. Scoop by the heaping 1/4 cup into muffin tins, filling about 2/3 of the way full.
4.	Gently toss together pecans, melted oil or butter, honey, and cinnamon. Sprinkle pecan mixture over muffins.
5.	Bake for about 25-35 minutes until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
6.	Let cool in muffin tin for a few minutes then transfer to cooling rack.

P.S. Don’t forget to check out the “What’s Beautiful?” challenge and join my team!

*Disclaimer: I was sent these products for free in exchange for a review through FitFluential LLC. As always, all opinions, thoughts, and ramblings are my own.  *
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a huge protein bar eater – most don’t taste very good and are pretty much just health-washed candy bars.  I’ve tried my fair share of bars but I can safely say these Quest Nutrition bars are my absolute favorite! First off, the ingredients are much more natural than most bars.

(You can read more about each ingredient on their website).

I was actually a big fan of the stevia sweetened bars which is pretty surprising since I tend to think stevia sweetened things can taste a little off or too sweet. I like that they have 20g of protein, are high in fiber, and low in carbs – they actually kept me full between meals without making me feel super heavy or sugar-rushy (that’s a word right?).

Even better, these bars taste ah-mazing. I was sent a sample box and there wasn’t a flavor that I didn’t like. They sent along extra of the chocolate chip cookie dough bars and they were unbelievable – I even warmed one up in my toaster oven (per so many peoples recommendations) and it was SO GOOD.

They also sent along some of their protein peanut butter cups. The inside was a bit chalky when room temperature but I really liked them when frozen. I also thought the product idea was great – a delicious dessert-alternative that has 20g of protein.  I think they’re a good treat every once and awhile – and they taste good enough to satisfy the craving for the real thing.

Overall, I was SUPER impressed with Quest Nutrition – I plan on picking some more bars up for when we travel (hello, easy gluten-free protein snack!) and for my husband before his shifts at work. You NEED that chocolate chip cookie dough flavor – trust me!

*Disclaimer: I was contracted through FitFluential LLC about this opprotunity. All opinions are my own and I have not received any compensation*

I’ve got a bone to pick with media and society and that is the glorification of one, singular type of female beauty. Now that’s not to say that a “conventionally pretty” girl isn’t beautiful. Not bashing on anyone, at all. What I take issue with is the idea the only way to be beautiful is to adhere to media and society’s idea of beauty. 

Somewhere along the line women were told that small & frail = beauty and if you don’t fit into that mold, well then too bad.  Women flocked to chronic cardio and ever- shrinking meals in hopes of getting smaller, they let the number on the scale rule their mind, and felt sad/disappointed/not very beautiful. Women were told to fear heavy weights because they would get “bulky” and it wasn’t a very “feminine” thing to do.

Sorry, but I call bullshit. Strong women = awesome women.

And that’s what Under Armour’s “What’s Beautiful?” campaign is all about.  It’s about setting a goal, supporting each other, and redefining what it means to be a female athlete.  When I heard about the campaign through FitFluential, I knew it was something that would be right up my alley – I’m all about helping ladies forget the number on the scale and focus on the number on the barbell instead.

Here’s how it works:

1. Sign up on the website and set your goal. It can be anything you’d like – whether it’s simply to get stronger or to PR your power clean by 10#.
2. Join my team and other teams, too! The teams provide support and motivation to help groups of people reach similar goals.
3. Start posting your photos, videos, and anything else you’d like. Under Armour has some serious swag at stake for super active and inspiring challenge participants!

Here’s some more info from the Under Armour What’s Beautiful site:

Together we’re redefining the female athlete by setting epic goals and pushing past where we’ve ever been and where we thought we could go. Join us. Set your own personal goal. Then document your journey by posting videos and photos that tell your story from start to victory.

We’ll continuously post challenges for you. But that’s just the beginning. Show us your journey. Show us what makes your story the one that stands out from the rest. If you meet your goal, set a new one. Make it even bigger. Prove to everyone, and yourself, that you have more than what it takes.

Each week, Under Armour will be giving away swag bags full of loot to participants. they will feature top performers on their website. after 8 weeks, they will announce 10 finalists who have documented the most impressive & motivated journeys toward the goals. mid-july, winners will be announced! three winners will receive a trip to Costa Rica for a 4-day retreat.

What are my goals? Well, I have a few. My individual goals are: “Set prs, get a 200×5 back squat, and show that women should embrace iron, not fear it.”

The goals for my team are simply to “Inspire women to pick up something heavy and realize that the # on the bar matters more than the # on the scale”.  I want my team to be a place where experienced and newbie lady lifters can support each other and get some extra motivation! If you don’t lift – that’s okay too! Just share how you are getting strong and help support and motivate

So, you in?