Healthy Baking Substitutes

One of my favorite Hobbies is cooking and baking, mostly baking, which can be a problem.... I usually find myself scarfing down the majority of what I've baked!  Then I feel sick....and guilty.  Well I've found some solutions to this problem.  Theres a way to enjoy what you bake with out filling sick or guilty with some simple tricks in the kitchen.  Here's some of my favorite healthy swaps to use while baking:

1. Unsweetened apple sauce for sugar: (cuts a ton of calories, and makes for a delicious moist product.  Can use 1:1 for sugar, but can cut liquid down about 1/4 for the recipe depending on consistancy)

2. Mashed bananas for fats or sugars: (make sure your bananas are very ripe.  adding nutrients and cutting calories)

3. Coconut milk for cream

4. Greek yogurt for sour cream, mayo, or cream: (adding protein, and reducing calories and fats)

5. Agave Nectar/honey for sweetener:  Still sugar but not empty calories, more nutrients that white sugar.

6. Black Beans for flour: (cuts out gluten, adds protein.  Best in my black bean brownies that you can find on my website.  Can sub 1:1 ratio)

7. Oat flour, or whole wheat flour for white flour: (adds nutrients, fiber, texture, and cuts out gluten if using gf oats.  for every cup of white flour, sub 7/8 cup of whole wheat/oat flour)

Here's a delicious muffin recipe that uses some of these substitutes, and you can enjoy without the guilt!  Maybe save a few for someone else ;)

Carrot Ginger Protein Muffins

INGREDIENTS

1 mashed banana (about 1/2 cup)

1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce

1 cup grated carrots, chopped

2/3 cup egg whites, or from the carton I used 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites

3/4 cup oat flour (just pulverized oats!), I used whole wheat flour

1 cup oats (I used quick cooking but it doesn’t matter!)

1 Tbsp Coconut Flour

1/4 cup low fat Cottage Cheese

1/4 cup nonfat Greek Yogurt (You can probably sub cottage cheese for greek yogurt, but I used what I had)

1/2 cup baking stevia/splenda/sweetener

1/2 cup vanilla protein powder, I used Whey

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp fresh grated ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

dash of salt (optional)

optional add-ins: walnuts raisins

PROCEDURE

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix together. Divide batter into muffin pan (sprayed with olive oil cooking spray).

Bake for 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy!

This recipe yields 16 muffins.

NUTRITION per muffin (1/16 of recipe).

 70 calories

 9.5g carbs

 1g fat

 5g protein

Lean and Green for Dinner, and Why....

When you wake up and look at your day think of it like an ALLIGATORS mouth like this > start your day off with the biggest meal and slowly decrease in size. Think about this, you wake up, your rushed dont eat breakfast, maybe grab some lunch on the go then you get home and you are 1. Tired and Exhausted, 2. ready to just relax and wind down 3. you are STARVING! you then continue to eat a huge meal and fall asleep. Its the way we grew up, dinner- big meal. Your body is beginning to slow down at night, when you eat a lot and go to bed, yes your body continues to burn calories even while you sleep but not as much as durning the day. Therefore, most of it will be stored and little will be used for energy (mostly likely stored as fat). So, begin to eat a bigger breakfast. Stick with your snacking all day long. You wont be ‘STARVING’ at night for dinner. And, try and eat little or no carbohydrates for dinner. (these carbs include- potatoes, pastas, breads, crackers). Why no carbs? The reason is this, Your body does not need the carbs for fuel. So omit them, you will wake up hungry in the morning and you will devour a breakfast of champions. balance your meals with 3 parts: protein, healthy fats, and carbs (mostly from fruit/veggies). sum it up: Dinner = protein & greens! > alligator mouth. & continue to eat 6 meals a day. drink a lot of water.

This salad is a great dinner option!  It keeps you full and satisfied without weighing you down.  Quinoa is a complete protein and a clean carb.  The Garbanzo beans also add protein and fiber.  The vegetables are full of vitamins,  Fiber, and all sorts of good stuff.  You can add grilled chicken also for some added protein.

Balsamic Quinoa Vegetable Salad

-1 C dry Quinoa, (cooked in 2 cups water, add salt & pepper to taste)

-1 1/2 C chopped carrots

-1 1/2 C chopped broccoli

-1 can low sodium Chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

-1 C sliced mushrooms

-1/4 chopped red onion

-1 large cucumber sliced, and quartered

-1 bell pepper chopped 

-2 celery stocks, sliced

-1 Cup cherry tomatoes, halfed

-Homemade Balsamic Vinegar dressing (1/3 balsamic, 1/3 C apple cider vinegar, 2 Tbs olive oil)

Directions:

Mix all vegetables in large bowl, add cooked Quinoa.  Pour dressing on (as much flavor as you like) and stir around to coat entire salad.  Can add to spinach or lettuce or just eat as is.  Could add cooked chicken for some extra Protein.

featuring.... THE QUEST BAR

So if you haven't tried a quest bar yet, go to your nearest health food store, buy one (or a few), and enjoy.  Being a personal trainer, with early mornings, going back and forth between jobs, I find myself having to pack up for the whole day, including all of my meals.  This can be a problem since most on the go, convenient things are full of sugar, and a whole list of ingredients that you can't even pronounce (which is never a good thing).  Not to mention the taste is never all that great.  Also being active all day I need something to keep me satisfied for longer!

These problems were solved with the Quest Bar!  Each bar has around 140 calories, 20 g of quality Whey Protein, 17 g  of plant based fiber to keep you full without upsetting your stomach, and no sugar, sweetened with natural sweeteners, stevia and erythritol.  You can check out the specifics on your own here http://www.questproteinbar.com/ingredients

Not only are they great right out of the wrapper but there are tons of amazing recipes using quest bars where you can bake them, microwave them, sprinkle on the top, or even freeze.  With flavors like cinnamon roll, cookie dough, banana nut, double chocolate chunk, cookies and cream, and white chocolate raspberry, these recipes are amazing!

So here's a couple creations I've tried, tested, and approved!  Enjoy:

Peanut Butter Cinnamon Roll:

-1 Cinnamon Roll Quest Bar

-1 Tbs PB2 powder

-2 Tbs nonfat, plain greek yogurt

-dash of cinnamon

Roll out Quest bar (may help to heat in microwave for about 6 seconds to soften)

Then cut into 2 long strips.

Mix yogurt, PB2, and cinnamon

Spread mixture evenly on both strips.

Roll up like a cinnamon roll.

bake at 350 F for 6 minutes, and Enjoy!

Raspberry White Chocolate Dessert Burrito:

-1 Raspberry white chocolate Quest Bar

-1 low carb tortilla

-honey to drizzle

Wrap your Quest bar into the tortilla like a burrito and grill in a pan until warm and melty all the way through, flipping sides occasionally.  You may also do this in a panini/sandwhich press

Drizzle top with honey and dig in!  So delicious

At Home, 30 Minute, Bench Workout!

10 exercises with a bench

*perform each workout for 1 minute, repeat circuit 3 times 

Thats a 30 minute full body workout you can do from home!

Short on Time and and resources?  This workout allows no excuses

1)   Dips {works back of arms/triceps, and shoulders} 

-How To- 

                 - place hands on edge of bench, fingers facing forward.

- feet out in front of you, knees bent for level one, knees straight for level two

- bend elbows keeping arms close to your side, then back to straight

 

2)   Plank {works core}

-How To- 

                 - keep body in a straight line from neck to heels, abs held in tight

- level one= hands on bench, feet on ground

- level two= elbows on bench, feet on ground

- level three= hands on floor, feet up on the bench 

3)   Step Over Lunges {works quads, glutes, hamstrings}

-How To- 

                 - start with one leg up on the bench and one on the floor 

- using your top leg strength step up and over the bench (foot stays on bench)

- repeat coming up and over the bench

4)   Decline/Incline Push Ups {works chest, arms, core}

-How To- 

                 - level one= hands on bench, feet on floor, body in straight line.  Push up 

- level two= hands on floor, feet up on bench, body in straight line. Push up

 

5)   Bench Donkey Kick {works shoulders, legs, heart rate}

-How To- 

                 - hands gripping sides of bench, feet on one side of the bench

- keeping your hands in position, jump your feet up and over to the other side of 

   the bench, repeat with speed.

6)   Shoulder Pike Push Up {works shoulders, core}

-How To- 

                 - hands on the gloor and feet up on the bench, hips piked up towards the ceiling,

              body Facing the floor

- bend elbows bringing head towards the ground, then back up

7)   High Knee Tow Taps {works legs, heart rate}

-How To- 

                 - stand facing the bench, alternate tapping toes on the top of bench, high knees, fast speed

8)   Hip Raises {works glutes, hamstrings}

-How To-

                 - lie on the ground facing up, with heels up on the middle of the bench

- using your glutes and hamstrings, raise your hips towards the ceiling, then back down

9)   Single Leg Hip Raises {Level 2 of above exercise}

-How To- 

                 - same as before but one leg is up in the air and one leg is on the bench

10)  Side Plank Raises {works obliques, core}

-How To- 

                 - Right arm starts on the bench, facing to the side, and feet stacked on the floor

- lift hips towards the ceiling, small pulse motion

- switch to other side with left arm on the bench

- Level 2= raise top leg, bring knee to elbow, while keeping that bottom hip lifted

*Ab Bonus*

                 - lie on bench facing up, extend legs out, then bring knees into chest 

Britt's Favorite Gear

Any one who knows me knows that I love my workout gear, and they know whenever its my birthday or christmas time they can't go wrong with a fitness gift!  Haha I guess I make it easy for them.  I'm always looking for the best stuff for the best price and over the years I've found some favorites that I would love to share with you all!  When it comes to working out I take my gear very seriously :)

So here's the list I've come up with, hope it treats you as well as it has me!

#1. Lululemon pants. When it comes to workout pants, this is where I splurge, and lululemon is truly the best!  No other pants make me look and feel as good as Lulu's, sorry! My most recent favorite are the herringbone wunder unders

#2.  Garmin 220 GPS watch.  Another splurge but for all you runners out there, totally worth it!  It tracks mileage, calorie burn, heart rate, elevation, its waterproof, color screen, easy to use, and it looks a lot better than all the other bulky GPS watches!






#3. Sports Bras from TJ Maxx, woo hoo! Finally good, padded, cute, sports bras for an affordable price!  My favorites are my Pink and Torquise New Balance, $12.99 each!




#4. Lifting Gloves.  Something I didn't think I needed until about a month ago when my hands started feeling torn up after every single work out! Not to mention the man calluses that have formed all over my hands! I feel a little ridiculous wearing them but they really make such a difference with lifting heavier weight, doing pull-ups, dips, etc.

#5. Altra Shoes!  The best shoes I've ever owned.  Once you feel the comfort of the zero drop and foot shaped toe box you won't want to go back to any other shoe



#6. My Camelback Waterbottle, yep you'll rarely see me with out it!  I go through at least 4 of these every day and the cool straw just makes it that much better than a regular old water bottle!





#7. Dry Shampoo, and the best brand I've found is Batiste!  Can order on Amazon.com for cheaper (around $7.99).  This is amazing when I have to go from training all morning, sweaty and gross, straight to a social event, or my other job with no time to wash my hair.  I just give a little spray and a little poof and I don't look like a sweaty mess!  Highly recommend

So there ya go!  A few of my everyday favorites

Workout Playlist!

It's amazing what some good tunes can do for a work out!  Seriously there's nothing worse than a silent workout (unless its yoga, or being outdoors in beautiful scenery of course!)  But seriously music can do wonders for the soul!  So here's the music I've been loving lately in the gym.  Its funny because outside of working out I normally wouldn't listen to some of this stuff, but it gets the job done when it counts!  Warning though, you may catch yourself dancing in between reps ;) Enjoy:

1) Burn - Ellie Golding

2) Catch My Breath - Kelly Clarkson

3) Drunk off your Love - Schwayze & Cisco

4) Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke

5) Don't Stop - Foster the People

6) Kids - MGMT

7) Chocolate - The 1975

8) I Need Your Love - Calvin Harris

9) Harlem - New Politics

10) Safe and Sound - Capital Cities

11) Pompeii - Bastille

12) The Monster - Eminem feat. Rihanna

13) Closer - Tegan & Sara

14) Do What you Want with my Body - Lady Gaga

15) Roar - Katy Perry

16) Love Me Again - John Newman

17) You Make Me - Avicii

18) All Night - Icona Pop

Welcome to Get Fit With Brit!

Hello and thank you for visiting my blog!  I'm starting this blog as an extention of my website to share more Fitness and Nutrition tips, healthy and delicious recipes, stay connected with my personal training clients and connect with potential clients, and just another way to share my passion for a healthy lifestyle with all of you and hopefully give some sort of inspiration!

I've always had a love for health and fitness which gave me the desire to get my degree in Exercise and Sports Science from the University of Utah and Nutrition minor.  Post graduation I passed the ACSM health and fitness specialist certification so my personal training could be officially official!  My husband and I moved to Provo, Utah for him to finish up school while I'm running my personal training business and also working at a couple local gyms in Salt Lake City and Orem. 

I've seen a transformation in myself that I didn't think was possible, I've always been very active and ate fairly healthy, but it wasn't until about a year and a half ago that I really started training smart and cleaning up my eating, and slowly but surely I noticed results and felt great.  I ended up losing 20 lbs since this picture on the left taken in 2011 (Sophomore year of college) to the right taken in 2013.  Nothing extreme but I didn't even think I had 20 lbs to lose, but I feel leaner and actually proud of my body for once!  So here I am, I love helping others achieve these results as well and help them realize that it is possible, it takes hard work and dedication, but you can do it!