Hey there friends!

How are ya doing today? I hope you’re having a wonderful week so far. Did anyone celebrate Try Something New Tuesday with me yesterday? As usual, I’ve got 3 new things to tell you about, starting with….

1. Recipe of the Week: Remember how a couple of weeks ago I had amazing raw Pad Thai at Rawlicious? Well, it was so great that I couldn’t wait to recreate something like it at home. Here you are, my version of Raw Pad Thai with Peanut Sauce. Yes, I’ve been a little obsessed with peanut sauce lately. This one is fairly light but if you’re a real nut-a-holic, I’m sure a little extra PB in this recipe wouldn’t hurt. ;)

I was particularly fascinated by the kelp noodles in the Rawlicious dish, so when I found them at my local health food store I threw them in my basket right away. You don’t have to use the kelp kind if you can’t find them, but they are pretty cool noods if you ask me! The brand I found was Sea Tangle, a company that also sells mixed sea vegetables and caters to health-conscious foodies.

Kelp noodles are made of 100% kelp and are a raw food product. They’re fat free and gluten free, and have very few calories, much like the shirataki noodles (also involved in this recipe, but again, you can sub for other noodles if you can’t find them.) Kelp is rich in iodine, a trace mineral that is difficult to get from other food sources.

If it’s been as hot and humid where you are as where I am, you’ll enjoy not having to heat your house up to make this recipe. Don’t worry, you can thank me later.

2. New whey protein powder. Although I am a loyal fan of Promasil by Rivalus, lately I’ve been feeling the need to switch things up a bit. Promasil is a blended protein, but I usually like to have a whey isolate on hand as well because it is the fastest digesting type of protein, making it ideal for taking immediately post-workout when muscles need it most. Sometimes I feel like my body ‘gets used’ to the same protein powders when I take them for a long time and I don’t see results as quickly. I have no idea if this actually happens or if it’s even scientifically possible, but nevertheless, I was just in the mood for a change.

Enter my new whey: IsoFlex Vanilla whey isolate by ALLMAX Nutrition. This was recommended to me by a friend who is pretty well-versed when it comes to protein powders, so I decided to take him up on his suggestion. I’ve tried the peanut butter chocolate flavour in the past, but this time opted for vanilla because it’s more versatile. This is why I like it:

  • Reasonable price for a whey isolate
  • 27g of high quality whey protein isolate – there are 27g in a 30g scoop, which tells me there’s not a whole lot of ‘filler’ or other mix-ins
  • Aspartame-free
  • Fat-free
  • Low in sugar and carbs – only 1g of each

So how did I test out my new muscle potion? I mixed 1 scoop with the following ingredients:

  • 4 frozen spinach nuggets
  • 1/2 frozen banana
  • 1 tsp each maca root powder, ground flaxseed, and guar gum (see my Smoothie Ingredient Q&A post for explanations of these ingredients)
  • 1 packet stevia
  • massive shake of cinnamon
  • about 1 cup of water
  • ice, ice, baby
  • + a little Kashi Heart to Heart on top… just for a little extra crunch

…and it looked like this:

The verdict? Tasty! It wasn’t quite as sweet as the Promasil vanilla that I’m used to, or other powders I’ve used in the past, but I’m thinking this is because it has so little sugar and no aspartame. A good choice, methinks! :)

3. A new group fitness class. You may recall that one of my goals for this month is to attend at least 1 group fitness class (other than the ones I teach) per week. Well so far, I’m on a roll! Between last week and this week, I’ve been to a whopping 4, and last night I went to one that I’d never tried before. The first 30 minutes was a program called Newbody, and the final 15 was focused on core.

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Newbody is a low-impact cardio workout that reminded me a lot of traditional aerobics classes, but not in a super cheesy lets-put-on-our-spandex-onesies-and-legwarmers sort of way. If you feel like you’re not coordinated enough to do group exercise classes (which I doubt is true, because if I can, then you can!), this class is designed to be easy to follow. It was developed by Maureen Hagan, the VP of Operations at GoodLife. (I don’t think you’d find it in the US because GoodLife is a Canadian chain). Newbody incorporates cardio as well as muscular conditioning, and the only equipment used is a set of 1, 2, or 3lb hand weights.

(Source)

The core portion after the first 30 minutes incorporated a lot of planking, crunch variations, and some other stability exercises. It wasn’t overly challenging, but it was a nice change of pace in comparison to my other workouts (like the one I did today, which was a bit of a killer… you might see it in a Fit Bit Friday soon!)

Alright friends, that’s all I have for now! I’ll finish off with my questions for today:

  • What was the last group exercise class that you participated in?
  • What is one fitness class or activity that you’re dying to try? I’ve been loving Body Step lately, but if I could do anything, I’d love to go stand-up paddleboarding. It looks like so much fun! I’m not sure I’d look quite as graceful as the girl in the photo below on my first attempt, but I certainly wouldn’t mind practicing!

Have an absolutely fantastic day! :)

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