Today, I’m sharing some awesome news about a few upcoming products that I am super excited to try. I love perusing the aisles of my grocery stores, looking for a new hidden gems on shelves.

Fans of Laughing Cow cheese, (and really, who isn’t) can look forward to a brand new product coming to shelves this spring called The Laughing Cow Smooth Sensations Cream Cheese Spread.

It comes in 5 different flavors; Classic Cream, Classic Cream 1/3 less fat, Strawberries & Cream 1/3 less fat, Garden Vegetable 1/3 less fat, and Cinnamon Cream 1/3 less fat.  They come in a similar packaging as the wedges but in a gold foil. The 1/3 less fat varieties have 45 calories each, 4g of fat and 2 g of protein.

Why am I so excited to try these?

Well for starters, I LOVE cream cheese, especially when it comes in the form of cheesecake. I am plotting my recipe creations as we speak. You can expect a calorie controlled mini cheesecake as soon as I perfect it!

In addition, in college one of my favorite snacks was reduced fat veggie cream cheese with crackers. Laughing Cow has just made my old favorite snack awesome again. I’m looking forward to using these on slices of Ezekial bread and my scooped out bagels! Can’t wait to try all the flavors. I have a feeling I’m going to really like these. They will begin appearing on shelves this spring!

Next, we have Arctic Zero frozen desserts. A twitter follower asked me if I had tried these yet, which I hadn’t until last week. On my way home from an event at Exhale (which I’ve yet to write about), I stopped by the Whole Foods salad bar for dinner and picked up a pint of Artic Zero frozen dessert. They claim that the entire pint has only 150 calories and only contains organic or “natural” ingredients. 

Here is a list of the ingredients: Purified water, whey protein concentrate, organic can sugar, chicory room, dutch processed cocoa powder with alkali, guar gum, xanthan gum, natural flavors, sea salt and monk fruit concentrate. A 1/2 cup serving has only 37 calories.

The pint that I tried was Chocolate Peanut Butter. It was not the best ice cream I’ve tasted but was satisfying and really good! It has a slight icy texture to it, but that was to be expected given the ingredients. There were no swirls in it and I actually added a few walnuts and marshmallows I picked up to make Attune Rice Krispy Treats (damn you Pinterest) and made my own little rocky road.

It did cost $5.99 which is a little pricey for me but I wanted to try it. I want to try the bars next!

Lastly, I recently tried a new product that I wanted to share called Svelte protein drink. Incredibly creamy and full of sweet flavor, these drinks are a great meal replacement for people on the go. Roomie really likes them as well, which says a lot. Really. He would have been grossed out by the Arctic Freeze stuff but these he loves.

Each one has 260 calories, 16 g of protein, 9 g of sugar, 20% daily value of fiber, dairy and gluten-free. The picture is deceiving however. Each drink is 15.9 fluid ounces and is a lot! You will be full after drinking one. It’s like having a vanilla milk shake for lunch. If you are having one of those days where all you want is something sweet, this would be a good lunch or breakfast alternative! My favorite is the french vanilla flavor.

I have some more products to tell you about but will leave today at these three. I’m off to Buenos Aires for a nice 10 day vacation on Friday and have a lot to do before then. I’m also going to be in NYC on Wednesday to shoot a Workout Wednesday with Jay Cardiello that will be broadcast live on Shape.com from 1-1:30 PM so jot it down in your calendar!

Have you tried any new products lately that you think I would like? Let me know below in the comments!

Disclaimer: I am a community leader for The Laughing Cow. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own. For more information on my role with TLC, check out this post.

On Sunday this past weekend, not only did I make low cal, high protein granola bars but I also made Jamie Eason’s Turkey Meatloaf Muffins! This was my second time making them so I decided to make my variation slightly. Really, I just cut the recipe in half, used larger muffin tins and added more veggies than she did.

I paired one muffin with a clean salad using sun-dried tomatoes, walnuts, Parmesan cheese and balsamic vinaigrette for dinner on Sunday.

I stored the rest to use later in the week. Each Turkey Meatloaf Muffin has only 80 calories according to my recipe. If you use smaller muffin tins, aka 12 per tray, two muffins equals one serving. For those who are unfamiliar with Ms Eason, she is a well-known professional fitness model and competes at bikini and figure events. She has a regular column in Oxygen and her own diet plan on BodyBuilding.com which is where I found this recipe. With her program, she suggests having one serving as a snack or as meal 2 or 4 (for the TIU readers). I have been having them at lunch or dinner, usually with a large salad.

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The recipe calls for 2 lbs of turkey but since most stores sell ground turkey in 1 lb packages, I cut the recipe in half.

Jamie Eason’s Turkey Meatloaf Muffins via BodyBuilding.com

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

• 1 lb ground Turkey (or chicken)
• 1/4 cup of egg whites or 2 small egg whites
• 1/2 cup of Rolled Oats
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dry yellow mustard
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp chipotle pepper spice (I used my Mrs Dash Chipotle seasoning)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 cup mixed chopped vegetables store-bought including onion, celery and carrot 0r
  • 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
  • 1 large carrot, finely chopped

  

Preheat oven to 375F. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mush together. You might want to add all the spices in a separate bowl to start so that they are consistent throughout. Do not skimp on the spices, trust me! Mix together with hands. I used veggies that were already chopped up because it was easy and I hate chopping celery. You do not have to, but I found it was a nice way to save time and it was not that much more expensive that buying them all separately.

Spray muffin tins with canola oil or olive oil. Form 12 little balls or 6 big balls and plop into the muffin tins. Feel free to pat them down. Make sure they are all about the same size. Bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes depending on the size of your muffin trays. Let cool, eat, enjoy and store the remaining.

There are 80 calories in each turkey muffin with 2g of fat, 4g of carbs and 11g of protein.

If you like this recipe, also check out my post featuring a Clean Eating Spicy Meatloaf recipe which uses ground beef. I bet you could make them in muffins tins too but I have yet to try!

Continuing with my Reach the Beach training, I geared up properly for a long run this past Sunday. Typically my long run is done on Saturday but with my Junior League meeting, I decided to push it back a day. When I first woke up, I decided to try the Vega Sport Pre-Workout Energizer drink. It tasted like a lemon like sports drink and tasted fine. Lemon Lime is not my go-to choice of flavors. I also had a G Series Fit Prime bar. I haven’t had one of those since my Urbanathlon training days. It tasted better than I remembered. I rolled out a bit on my foam roller and then hit the Charles River.

I’m not sure if it was the new Katy Perry single that I purchased, the Vega Sport or the G Series Fit Prime bar but I felt great during my entire run. It flew by really, which has not been happening lately. My legs felt light, I had bounce in my step and wanted to go further but had plans. When I got back, I tried out a new supplement from the JCORE Body series. It’s a post workout powder that has just over 100 calories per serving, including 5 g of protein. I mixed it with just water.

After my first sip, I was immediately brought back to my days as a kid, standing in line at the ice cream truck in the beach parking lot. This stuff tastes just like a screwball! This was my absolute go-to as a little girl and I can’t believe I get to drink one now after a workout! I’m going to try freezing it in ice cubes and then putting three of them in a blender with almond milk to see if I can create a post workout screwball!

I also had one of my post workout high protein, low cal granola bars. It tasted almost better the second day I think.

Do you really need pre and post workout meals? I’ve spoken about this before and in order to get the most out of your efforts in the gym, a post workout snack or meal is ideal within thirty minutes of finishing. For me, protein powder and water does not taste the best. I like to add milk and fruit. However, if I workout at the gym and shower, I will not have anything which is not good. That is why I made my granola bars as seen above, and now am excited to use the JCore Body Post Workout Drink Mix. If you don’t consume anything to help repair the muscles that you just worked, you will not see results as fast. Ideally you want a 3:1 carb to protein ratio for your post workout meal.

As for my pre-workout snack, I don’t always have one. I usually do not unless its first thing in the morning. I like to consume simple carbohydrates like 1/2 a banana or some mango to instantly fuel my body. Simple carbs are quicker to digest, allowing for quicker energy in the morning. That is the same principle behind the Vega Sport Pre-Workout Energizer. This way, you do not have to wake up 30 minutes early to eat breakfast before you workout.

What was your favorite ice cream from the truck as a kid? Sometimes I still get a screw ball when I go to the beach.

Searching for a portable, clean, high protein snack to eat after a workout or on the go, I could not find a low sugar, high protein granola bar recipe. I found a few recipes and made them to my liking but felt like they were too heavy or not sweet enough. I decided to try making my own and after 3 attempts, have finally created a keeper. It has a perfect 3:1 carb to protein ratio frequently recommended to have after a strength workout.

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These are not crunchy granola bars but probably could be without the almond meal. I did not use any flour or gluten products, although you will need to check your ingredient labels to make sure if you have celiac disease. For those looking to reduce refined grains, this recipe is perfect. You can eat these as a snack on the go, for breakfast or after a workout.

Sarah Fit Granola Bars (Gluten Free, High Protein)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

• 1/2 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk (may use regular milk, coconut milk, soy milk)
• 2 tbsp Honey*
• 1 medium Banana
• 1 1/2 cup of Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
• 1/2 cup Almond Meal*
• 3 tbsp Coconut, shredded raw
• 2 tsp Cinnamon
• 2 servings Vanilla Protein Powder like Jay Robb Whey or Vega Sport Vanilla
• 1/4 cup Almonds
• 1/4 cup Golden Raisins

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine the first three ingredients. Mash up the banana and mix well together. You do not have to mix the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl but it does help create consistency throughout the batter. Combine all ingredients. Spray a 9 x 13 or 8 x 8 cooking dish with PAM or other cooking spray. Pat down batter into pan.

The larger the dish, the thinner the bars and less cooking time. Bake for 25 minute or until center is firm. Cut into 8-10 size servings.

I forgot to add a couple ingredients before cutting the bars above and made them even larger because I wanted a serving to have about 150 calories. If I had cut the above into 10 servings, each bar would have 146 calories, 5.4 g of fat, 19.5 g of Carbohydrates, 3 g of fiber, 7.8 g of sugar, and 6.8 g of protein: a perfect 3:1 carb to protein ratio for after your workout.

Roomie requested whole almonds. I used raw and they toasted up nicely in the bars. You can also use cranberries and walnuts, or cashews and chocolate!

**A few people asked about substitutions. You can use maple syrup or agave nectar instead of honey if you like. In regards to the almond meal, I bought mine at Trader Joe’s. Essentially it is ground up almonds into a fine flour like consistency. You can make your own by grinding almonds in a food processor or using one of the following: nut meal, oat flour, whole wheat flour, buckwheat flour (GF), amaranth flour (GF), or simply plain white flour. **

And in case you don’t like to read, you can just watch a video with me showing how good they really are!

On Saturday, I volunteered with the Junior League of Boston as part of my placement, Kids In The Kitchen. I’ve mentioned my placement before but for a quick recap, KITK aims to educate young girls on nutrition and physical activity. Typically, we work with groups of girls ages 9-13 in Boston communities. Typically when we arrive, we give the girls oatmeal with fruit for breakfast. However when we arrived, there was a table full of high sugar cereals…

This was not exactly what is supposed to happen. We were kinda bummed out. After going over what a healthy breakfast looks like, a few non-KITK volunteers provided the girls who refused to eat the oatmeal with some generic Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Sweet. Other Junior League volunteers work with the same group of girls every other Saturday. We travel around to different groups in the city. This was the first time, this has happened. After we showed them the importance of eating a good breakfast, the girls drew on paper plates what they ate for dinner.

Afterwards, it was time for Zumba! I am not blessed in remembering choreography so I am not the biggest fan of Zumba or other dance based classes. I did enjoy participating. Young girls LOVE Zumba. We have a phenomenal instructor who the girls just adore.

After Zumba, we went into the Kitchen to cook up some healthy meals. My station was making English Muffin Pizzas. One of these days I’m going to have a heart attack watching the girls cut up veggies small enough to fit on them. This recipe is also on my College Diet Plan so I’m always excited to show young girls how to make it at this age! Usually there is at least one girl who wants to just make a cheese pizza but the purpose of the recipe is to show how you can get in some veggies.

The other volunteers help the girls make an apple chicken dish, as well as a spinach salad with cranberries, feta and apple. We finish the day with a make your own trail mix bar. The girls usually skip out on the yummy fruit like dried mango but the volunteers are always they do.

The day was success despite the rocky start to the morning. It’s frustrating to enter a room to talk about healthy breakfasts when pure sugar is staring at you in your face. The other volunteers argued that they girls would not eat the oatmeal and consequently would be hungry and complain. I’m sorry, but this was disrespectful for the KITK volunteers. We chose our placement because we care about nutrition education. “Oatmeal is a great way to start your day, but if you don’t like it, here are some high sugar cereals that at least taste good but have no redeeming qualities,” is the wrong message and not one we want the Junior League sending out.

Have you ever encountered a frustrating experience like we did on Saturday? How did you handle it?

Guys! I just uploaded my 200th YouTube video to SarahsFabChannel. I can’t believe how quickly I’ve reached this non important milestone. You know what would be much cooler, hitting 100K subscribers! But I still have about 30K to go…

Here is an exclusive behind the scenes look at the making of the JCore Body System.

I have a few awesome videos coming up explaining the DVD but in a nut shell here it is:

• No Gym
• No Weights
• 4×4 Space
• Transform you life in 20 minutes

Each DVD is just 20 minutes and will push you to your limits. Trust me on this one. Tomorrow I am going to show you just how challenging these videos really are. I am the modifier in the videos and boy was I glad. You can tell on my face in a few of the shots how guilty I feel, watching the other women sweat and burn. In fact, this morning I did favorite one the Cardio 4×4.

What I love most about these videos is above, there are no weights and you can do it in a tiny apartment. It is perfect for my readers out there who follow the TIU program. It’s a perfect bootcall workout! Sleep with your workout clothes on, roll outta bed, and get in that booty call before you even realized you woke up! This is also awesome for anyone who has “no time” to workout.

Check out the results from the test group on the JCOREBODY YouTube channel as well.

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone! I’m so excited Sports Illustrated decided to debut their new swim suit cover today, Valentine’s Day (even if it was leaked yesterday). As if women don’t have enough reasons to be insecure these days, they slap us in the face with a near flawless, thanks to Photoshop, 19-year old for our significant others to gawk at. Not that I’m comparing myself or anything…

I had no idea who Kate Upton was yesterday but I did remember a Caitlin Upton, Miss Teen South Carolina, who mangled her answer during Miss Teen USA back in 2008. Is this the same girl? Did she shorten her name thinking we would forget?

Turn out this is NOT the same chick. Perhaps I’m late to the Kate party but this cover girl was born in Michigan and grew up in Florida. She is also the new spokesmodel for Carl’s Junior Hamburgers and a world champion equestrian player.

She said living a healthy lifestyle for her includes working out regularly with a personal trainer and watching what she eats. But there’s no special diet to prepare for a bikini shoot, she said, and she admits to splurging on the occasional ice cream or plate of fries. [NPR]

Why am I telling you all this? People will say to me, “I want to look like her!” And the truth is that, these women are obviously genetically gifted but also well photoshopped. Only the best get to work on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Kate doesn’t even look like the cover in a bathing suit. Don’t ever forget that.

On many of my videos people will ask me, “When will I see results?” This is the most common question that I get. Honestly, I get asked this question at least twice a day on one video or another. As a result, I made a video to respond to this burning question.

I’m not sure why I promised to post a vlog every weekday during February but I’m trying to keep up. Here is a new quick fitness challenge for you. It is called a “crank” apparently. I stole the idea from Cathy Savage’s YouTube Channel. Cathy is well known for her “Savage Girls” that dominate the fitness model competition circuit.

The “crank” consists of 5 moves. Do each move 3 times without resting in between. Repeat 5 times. If you are a beginner, start with only 3 rounds. Don’t stop at any point. Time yourself and leave you time below in the comments on here or on YouTube to see how you stack up. I got around 2:30 for 5 rounds of 3 reps. Check it out below.

The 5 moves are as follows:

1. Jump Squat
2. Push-ups
3. Mountain Climbers
4. Shoulder Taps
5. V-sit Twists aka Russian Twists

My tops were provided by DA Active. I was not paid by Cathy or DA Active to post this video. I just like them both.

Here is the original “crank” video by Cathy’s channel.

Since Saturday, I have been tagged by two posts. I have never done one but felt like it was time. This is a long post because I answered questions from Theodora and Robyn. I’m taking a break from my regular blogging today to bring you this fun read. I bet you didn’t know most of the random facts!

Rules:

Post these rules

• You must post 11 random things about yourself.
• Answer the questions set for you in their post.
• Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
• Go to their blog and tell them that you’ve tagged them.
• No stuff in the tagging section about “you are tagged if you are reading this”. You legitimately have to tag 11 people.

Random Facts:

1. I breast-fed abnormally long. I won’t mention my age, but I will admit I had a “word” for it.

2. I saw Spice World the day came out in Theaters. I was also Ginger Spice for Halloween in 8th grade.

3. I crashed on Bethenny Frankel’s couch for a night at the Sundance Film Festival.

4. My #7 tooth is fake! It’s the tooth right next to my big right tooth. I’m getting an implant this year and will not be uploading videos while I’m healing. I was never born with it.

5. I earned 13 Varsity letters in High School. Our 8th grade was in the High School. I played soccer, ran indoor and outdoor track. I was also captain of all three senior year.

6. I went to High School with the guy that invented Instagram. I friended him on Facebook a month ago when I realized but he has yet to accept my request. I think he might be one of the first people I have friended that has not accepted except for the few Laguna Beach characters back in college… After reading number five, you’re probably not surprised by this.

7. My last name is pronounced Doo-so, like “please do so at the nearest exit”… It’s French Canadian.

8. In college, the only girl in my sorority I was scared of is now on TV for People Magazine as one of their top editors. She still scares me.

9. I can do the worm and I can do a yoga headstand. If you ask me to show you, I probably will.

10. I was almost kicked out of my sorority for “dirty rushing” and was never allowed to have a position. It was kind of a big deal at the time, but looking back, I was a drunk sophomore who liked some freshmen girls and wanted to remember so I wrote their names on a paper plate. I’m glad Jen Garcia had already graduated when that happened.

11. Roomie is actually my boyfriend who I’ve been dating for 4 years. Don’t all gasp at once. He doesn’t even have Facebook and prefers to remain “offline.” He does however enjoy giving me blog post ideas.

Theodora‘s Questions for me:

1. What book do you think everyone should read but no way in hell would you share your own copy? The Alchemist.
2. If you could get a degree in ANYTHING (without having to worry about silly things like finding a job in that field), would you get a degree in? MBA – I wish I knew how to actually run my business.
3. If you had twenty-four free hours and unlimited funds in your own city/town, how would you spend them? I would take a Duck Tour with a group of friends. Then we would rent out a Box at either Fenway or the Garden and take in a Boston sporting event. Afterwards, I would go on a shopping spree down Newbury Street, get a massage, my hair done and nails too. I’d eat dinner at O Ya and then rent out the State Room and throw myself and all my friends the best party ever!
4. Which celebrity could you actually see yourself being friends with? I think I could be friends with Katy Perry but also I like Ashley Greene. I’m not sure why Ashley is so famous though. She really hasn’t done much.
5. If you’re not married–where would your dream honeymoon be? If you are married and could do your honeymoon over again, where would you go? Dream honeymoon would be in one of those huts that sits on top of the water in Tahiti (I think that is where they are).
6. If you had to live in one season for the rest of your life, which season would it be? Summer on Nantucket.
7. If you could only shop at one store for the rest of your life, what store would it be? (Doesn’t have to be practical. Your life would magically change to adapt to this store. Like if you said Lilly Pulitzer, your life would be all rainbows and small whimsical animals.) I would shop at J.Crew Boring yes, but I like it.
8. Favorite social network? Pinterest!
9. FAVORITE WILL FERRELL MOVIE. Elf or Anchorman.
10. Runners: what’s your dream race? Non-runners: what’s your fitness dream? My dream would be to run the Boston Marathon but I’m not sure if have the attention span to train for a marathon.
11. The last song you listened to. I just watched Glee and I think it was “La Isla Bonita” with Santana and Ricky Martin

Robyn Baldwin‘s Questions For Me:

Yesterday, I did not feel like blogging. I had a disappointment hangover from a certain even that played out on National television from Indianapolis. Moving forward…

I used Random.org to select a winner last night for the Polar FT60 Heart Rate Monitor. Congrats to Brittany for winning!

I was so happy to see all positive comments left by everyone. When people tell me they think the TIU price tag is too high, I try to tell them how much value there really is. It’s like a lifetime membership to Weight Watchers, but you don’t have to pay each month. It’s a one time purchase that is always being renewed, and updated. Get excited for a big update coming later this year! Yes, I have sources.

This morning, I woke up early and went for my TIU Booty Call. It’s hilarious at the reactions I get on Twitter when I announce I’ve completed an interval booty call, lol.

Afterwards, I made myself a fluffy Protein Pancake made with Vanilla flavored Vega Sport Protein. The only changes I make with the Vegan protein powder is that I add a tablespoon of almond milk. Vega Protein Powder is gluten-free, soy free and dairy free! However, when I add my eggs for this recipe it no longer is vegan. Sorry.

As promised, I’m uploading a new video to my YouTube channel each weekday for the month of February. I took yesterday off so already, I have broken my promise. Today’s video features my newest obsession, Vega Sport.