BIRTHDAY CAKE PROTEIN DONUTS

Monday started off with my birthday cake protein shake!

Today, we're enjoying some birthday cake protein donuts!

It's very rare that you'll find me eating donuts and when you do, I'll be eating a sprinkled one. Isn't that everyone's favorite? If it's not, it probably should be. I mean, look at all those pretty rainbow colored sprinkles, don't they make you happy?

Donuts remind me of my childhood. They remind me of the days my mom used to buy donuts for me and my sister when we would go to work early with her. We always got spinkled donuts, donut holes, and pigs in a blanket. Sometimes a drink if mom felt like being extra nice.

These days the only time you'll find me in a donut shop is when I have my nephew with me. He really likes donuts, sprinkled ones too, and I treat him when he comes over with donuts for breakfast. Even then, I never by myself a donut. For one thing, they're not the healthiest treat. Second, they're not gluten free. Otherwise, I'd probably have one a day. Okay, not really.

I do enjoy eating donuts though and it's been a very long time since I've had one, a real one. Although these aren't fried like the traditional ones, they're just as delicious and much healthier. They're more cake like than anything but they satisfy the sweet tooth I occasionally have. They also satisfy my desire to celebrate my birthday all week while staying healthy.

 Not only are these beauties sprinkled but they're also mini donuts! It's like my two favorite things came clashing into one; sprinkles and anything mini. I've had my fair share of failed donut recipes but these were perfect and I couldn't wait to share them with y'all. I used my Babycakes mini donut maker but a mini or regular sized donut pan should work. I also used a batter pen to make it easier to put into the pan. The pen makes everything look nice and clean!

I forgot to mention, these beauties are gluten free!

BIRTHDAY CAKE PROTEIN DONUTS

Author: Shape Up to Wake Up

Makes: 18 mini donuts

INGREDIENTS

• 1/3 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup vanilla protein powder
• 1 whole egg
• 2 egg whites
• 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 cup sweetener (I used Truvia)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp butter extract
• 1/4 tsp salt

For the frosting

• 1/4 cup vanilla protein powder (you could use another flavor too!)
• 1 tbsp unsweetened almond milk (add more depending on consistency)

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Turn on your Babycakes donut maker or preheat the oven to 350 F if using a donut pan.
• Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
• Mix wet ingredients in a separate mixing bowl.
• Pour the dry mix into the wet mix and mix until fully incorporated and smooth.
• Pour your batter into your batter pen then fill the donut maker with the batter.
• The donuts will be ready when the bottom is a golden brown and the top bounces back up when touched.

For the frosting

• Mix the protein powder and milk together until you reach the consistency of glue. If you'd like a thin glaze, add more milk.

I hope you enjoy these donuts as much as I do! Now you can enjoy donuts and not feel guilty about it!

xo,

BIRTHDAY CAKE PROTEIN SHAKE

Cheers to another year!
My birthday is exactly 7 days from today and I could not be happier with my life.
Sometimes I freak out when I realize how time has flown by so quickly. I mean, I remember when I would hide with my sister from my dad when he would come home from work. Or how when my dad would drive off down the street for work and I'd chase him as far as I could on my tricycle before he turned the corner. It seems like it was just yesterday I was doing these things. It's bittersweet growing older but at the same time, I've experienced more life since then.

Like everyone, I've gone through ups and downs in life. I've fought battles in which I've won some and lost some. I've changed plenty of times and I'd like to think I'm always changing for the better. People don't realize how powerful memories are. It's essentially all you'll have because special moments don't last forever, only your memory of it.

Hold onto your memory; love your memory.

As you can see as I wrote above, some of my favorite memories are from childhood. I loved my childhood and if I was given the chance to go back and relive it all, I would.

I'll be turning 23 on the 28th of July and I've certainly made memories in my short life.
Memories like singing on stage for the first time, learning the guitar, graduating high school, meeting the love of my life, losing weight, starting this blog, and my most recent one, becoming a women's health action hero. (and meeting so many awesome, like minded women!!)

Every year on my birthday, Simon asks me what I've learned now that I'm another year wiser.
This past year I learned not to let fear hold me back in pursing my goals, passions, and dreams. I've always been so scared of failing that I became comfortable in knowing that I wouldn't pursue my dreams. I was scared to apply for the Women's Health Action Hero position that I almost didn't even do it. I finally did apply when I decided to step out of my comfort zone and now I can proudly say that I am a Women's Health Action Hero.

Also, I've always been a singer/songwriter at heart. I had a good run with singing but I eventually stopped. Simon and I met under music networking and when we got into a relationship, he always expressed how sad it made him that I didn't pursue music anymore, let alone any of my real passions. I can proudly say that I'm getting back into music. I've already played guitar for him at a gig and we'll be performing at an open mic. Baby steps.

I'm so grateful for this life and all that the future holds for me.
Life is way too short, we all know that.
And, life is way too short not to drink birthday cake protein shakes.

I've made plenty of smoothies and shakes in my life and this one is my favorite. I love the colorful sprinkles on the chocolate rim. I love the simplicity of the shake, vanilla batter. It's like when I used to get a vanilla birthday cake with rainbow sprinkles and party balloons on each corner.

It's nostalgic.

I know some people who don't celebrate birthdays. It's a sad thing, really. I think everyone should celebrate the birth of a person. Everyone's a living miracle and it's a beautiful thing when you stop and think about it.

There will never come a day where I don't want to celebrate my birthday or anyone else's. Whether it be a small get together or a bigger than life event, I'll always celebrate someone's life.

BIRTHDAY CAKE PROTEIN SHAKE

Author: Shape Up To Wake Up
Serves: 1

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup choice of milk
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• Chocolate chips
• Rainbow Nonpareils Sprinkles
• Ice cubes
• optional: 1 tsp butter or almond extract

INSTRUCTIONS

• Mix milk, protein powder, ice, and extract in a blender.
• Melt chocolate chips in a small microwave dish and pour sprinkles into a separate bowl.
• Dip the rim of your glass into the melted chocolate then dip the chocolate dipped rim into the bowl of sprinkles. Coat generously.
• Pour shake into the cup and enjoy!

xo,

BEST SELF FITNESS CHALLENGE: WEEK 3 (6/2 - 6/7)

Angel's BodySpace Track Page

Week 3 is over and I'm starting week 4. I can't believe we are more than halfway there! Here are the workouts for Week 1 and Week 2; they are kicking my butt!!

I think I've been meal prepping way too much or at least thinking about it on my spare time. I had a dream last night that I was at the grocery store and got into a fight with a lady because she took the last cucumber!! Don't mess with me, sister!!

For the past 3 weeks, I have been on a very strict meal plan.

I've never followed a diet plan up until this contest. It's very new to me and goes against my belief on eating when you're hungry.

Saturday night I had my first treat in 3 weeks, it was glorious.
Some of you may know of it as a cheat but I like to call it a treat, because cheating just sounds nasty and mean. I'm not about that life. ;)

I had one teeny, tiny, itty bitty, piece of white chocolate. I'm not exaggerating either.
Here's a comparison photo of the piece I took compared to a quarter.

I had that tiny small piece because I've never had a big sweet tooth so the small piece was perfect to satisfy my cravings. But, it was too sweet.

I probably should have had dark chocolate because of it's benefits, but you know what? I've worked my butt off at the gym and I've stuck to my meal plan for the past 3 weeks. That white chocolate is not going to magically take me back to square one. It's all about moderation!

Week 3 was easier than week 2, physically and mentally. I need to start challenging myself now that my muscles are used to the workouts. I think it's time to change things up to confuse my muscle and make it work harder! That's a good thing and a bad thing. It's good because that means I'm growing stronger every day, but bad because that means Simon will be kicking my butt at the gym and making me work harder. Therefore, I'll be dealing with soreness.

It's all good though.
It's still a battle and I'm still working hard. I haven't seen that much change in my body but I know that I'm getting strong. I know that because I'm constantly increasing weights and reps. My nutrition has been a pretty big battle as well, I'm still finding what works and doesn't work for me.

What I learned this week:
It's totally okay to have an off day. Not every single day is going to be perfect, whether it be nutrition or working out. Wednesday and Saturday were off days for me. On Wednesday, I still worked out but the workout wasn't what I have planned and on Saturday it was a low carb day but I ended up eating carbs (I still timed it around my workout though) I have to keep in mind that one day will not derail me from all of my hard work!

Proud Moment:
Sticking to it and making sure I don't miss a workout. I got home after dinner Saturday night and I absolutely do not like working out after I'm done eating. So, I waited about two hours and it ended up being 9:00 p.m. I didn't want to workout anymore because I just wanted to relax. However, I knew that I would feel worse for missing a workout. So I went put my clothes on, sucked it up, and kicked butt!

Personal record:
Doing 15 pushups without stopping! Or as Simon would call them, "real pushups, not girl pushups"
P.S. I don't like pushups!

What I could have improved:
Don't forget to do ab workouts. I usually do them 3 days a week but this week I kept forgetting and only did them twice.

WEEK 3

Monday: Lowerbody (heavy lifting) + Abs

• Abs
• Weighted Crunches
• Decline Reverse Crunches
• Hanging Leg Raises
• Lowerbody
• Prowlers
• Hamstring Curls//Lying Leg Curls
• Calf Raises
• Squats
• Quad Curls//Leg Extensions
• Leg Press

Tuesday: Upperbody HIIT

• Bicep Curls
• Preacher Curls
• Vertical Chest Press
• Wall Ball
• Crossfit Ropes
• Sledgehammer
• Bent Over Two-Arm Long Bar Row
• Boxing Jabs
• Boxing Hooks
• Boxing Uppercuts

Wednesday: Cardio

• 1 mile run

Thursday: Upperbody (heavy lifting)

• Bicep Curls
• Chest Press
• Incline Chest Press
• Bent Over Two-Arm Long Bar Row
• Shoulder Press
• Front Plate Raise
• Cable Rows
• Butterfly Machine
• Preacher Curls
• Wide Grip Lat Pull Downs
• Wrist Curls

Friday: Lowerbody HIIT

• Jumping Jacks
• Step Ups with Twist
• Squats
• Burpees
• Calf Raises
• Walking Lunges

Saturday: Full Body HIIT

• Sumo Squats//Plie Squats
• Crunches
• Burpees
• Pushups
• Bench Step Ups
• Deadlifts
• Leg Raises
• Arnold Presses
• Tricep Overhead Extensions
• Mountain Climbers
• Cross Body Crunches

As I said before, Sunday is my rest day but it's also my meal prep day, so it's a busy rest day.

I meal prep for the entire week but mostly just the items that need to be cooked. For instance, I cook all of my protein on Sunday and then cut up veggies that I will eat with hummus. Throughout the week, if there needs to be something added to my meals then I will prepare it the night before.

I also make sure I have a meal plan saved to my computer so that I can always look at it as a reference. I have all of my snacks at home already and I pack them the day of. Some things don't need to be prepped such as apples, rice cakes, etc. This system helps me stay on track!

I hope if you're doing the 6 week challenge with me that you're seeing some progress!! :)

xo,

BEST SELF FITNESS CHALLENGE: WEEK 2 (5/26 - 5/31)

Mentally, week 2 was much harder than week 1.

I got so caught up in wanting to see my body change, that I got stressed over the little things.

I had to tell myself to kick the "quick fix" attitude; I should know better than that!

Naturally, I vented out to Simon about my struggles and he said some very meaningful things that switched my thinking back around. He told me that the woman I was 4 years ago would be so proud of who I am today. It really helped and I'm really glad I have someone to support me emotionally during this contest.

It's really important to have someone or a group of people who will be able to support you emotionally. Because it will get tough and it won't be easy, but it will be worth it!

I truly believe that nutrition is key to losing weight/body fat. I've always ate a clean diet but when this contest started, I switched it up; I'm carb cycling now.
My low carb days are harder and I'm not all sunshine and rainbows. My high carb days are all sunshine and rainbows. However, I'm not miserable on either days because I still eat enough food to fuel my body for workouts. Some days I find myself more hungry than other days, but isn't that anyone who likes to eat?

You'll read in a few moments under my proud moment that I lost 1 pound and 1/2 an inch off my waist, that happened in only 1 week!! My waist has not changed in at least the last 6 months and BAM, it suddenly changes. How? Nutrition, that's how.

Oldie but a goodie: You can't out train a bad diet.

You can see the full workout here: Angel's BodySpace Track Page

What I learned this week:

Set small goals and conquer them. When I conquered small goals I was able to feel proud of myself and keep moving forward towards my big goal!

Proud moment:

Losing 1 pound and 1/2 an inch off my waist! Take that, body fat!

Boxing three, 3 minute rounds (9 minutes total)
Deadlifting 75 lbs.

Personal record:

Running 1 mile at 9 minutes and 12 seconds!
Adding 70 lbs. to my calf raises (180 lbs)
Adding 75 lbs. to my squats (180 lbs)

What I could have improved:
Stretching more after workouts

WEEK 2

Monday: Upperbody (heavy lifting) + Abs + Cardio

• Abs
• Crunches
• Reverse Crunches
• Leg Raises
• Sitting Crunch Machine
• Chest Padded Crunch Machine
• Upperbody
• Bicep Curls
• One Arm Dumbbell Row
• Pushups
• Bent Over Weighted Pick Ups
• Tricep Pull Downs
• Chest Press
• Wide Grip Lat Pull Downs
• Cardio
• Boxing 15-30 minutes

Tuesday: Lowerbody HIIT

• X Jumps
• Weighted Step Ups
• Donkey Kicks
• Deadlifts
• Sumo Jump Squats
• Split Squats
• Goblet Squats
• Burpees

Wednesday: Abs + Cardio

• Abs
• Crunches
• Reverse Crunches
• Leg Raises
• Mountain Climbers
• Planks
• LIIT Cardio, 9 minutes (1 mile)

Thursday: Upperbody (light lifting) + Cardio

• Upperbody
• Push Ups
• Standing Military Press
• Side Lateral Raises
• Reverse Flys
• Incline Dumbbell Curls
• Dropset: Tricep Dumbbell Kickbacks
• Cable Hammer Curl
• Dropset: Overhead Cable Tricep Extensions
• Bicep Curls
• Dropset: Lying Close Grip Barbell Tricep Extension aka Skull Crusher
• HIIT Cardio, 10 minutes

Friday: Lowerbody (heavy lifting) + Abs

• Abs
• Decline Leg Raises
• Chest Padded Crunch Machine
• Decline Reverse Crunches
• Sitting Crunch Machine
• Hanging Leg Raises
• Lowerbody
• Weighted Calf Raises
• Abductor Machine
• Adductor Machine
• Clean Deadlifts
• Padded Squat Machine
• Lying Leg Curls
• Leg Extensions
• Leg Press
• Prowlers

Saturday: Upperbody (HIIT)

• 1:00 minute warm up jog
• Hanging Pull Ups
• 1:00 hour boxing

There you have it, all of my workouts posted for week 2!
I'm ready for week 3 and can't wait to see what other changes I will happen. I have approximately 4 more weeks of this competition.

I'm having a difficult time accepting that progress is progress, no matter how small.
Simon has a favorite quote that says "progress is never swift nor easy."
I'm trying to keep that in mind.

xo,

BEST SELF FITNESS CHALLENGE: WEEK 1 (5/19 - 5/24)

Last week, I announced in this post, that I entered into a competition on BodyBuilding.com

I remember Simon telling me "if it'll help bring you closer to your goals, do it."
He's so supportive and I'm so thankful.
I'm extremely excited & determined.

What I kept thinking about while working out was winning. Not just winning the prize, but fulfilling my goal, which is a toned body. I know that might sound a little self centered, cocky, or materialistic, but I know I'll gain more than just a nice body. It is natural to want a nice body after putting all that effort into working out.

Our workout split changed from what I had posted last week and I'm fine with that. The important thing to me is that I get my daily workout done. It's also good to change things up so that you don't get bored and you keep your muscles guessing.

For the next 6 weeks, I'll be doing a weekly recap of what I did the previous week.
I'll be writing the workouts on the blog each week but if you go to my BodySpace track page you can see the workouts live in action with reps, sets, and pounds (adjust accordingly) and do them too!
If you have a BodySpace, add me as a friend! :)

I make sure that all of my strength and focus goes towards weight training, and then do my cardio last.

WEEK 1

Monday: Upperbody (heavy lifting) + Abs + Cardio

• HIIT Cardio, fasted, 15 minutes
• Abs
• Crunches
• Reverse Crunches
• Stability Ball Crunches
• Knee to Elbow Crunches
• Upperbody
• Preacher Curls
• Barbell Curl
• Elevated Cable Rows
• Incline Dumbbell Press
• One arm Dumbbell Row
• Triceps Cable Pull Down
• Band Assisted Pull Up
• Machine Bench Press
• Machine Preacher Curls

Tuesday: Lowerbody, HIIT

• Weighted Squats
• Donkey Kicks with Resistance Bands
• Weighted Side Lunges
• Weighted Calf Raises
• Weighted Butt Bridges
• Deadlifts
• Jumping Jacks
• Speed Skates
• Burpees

Wednesday: Abs + Cardio

• Abs
• Bicycle Crunches
• Mountain Climbers
• Reverse Crunches
• Heel Taps
• Ab Roll Out
• LIIT Cardio, 11 minutes (1 mile)

Thursday: Lowerbody, heavy lifting

• Hamstring Curl
• Calf Raises
• Smith Machine Squats
• Padded Squat Machine
• Quad curls
• Sprints
• Crab Sprints
• Hops
• Butt Bridges with 10 lb. medicine ball
• Lying Machine Squat

Friday: Upperbody (light lifting) + Abs + Cardio

• Abs
• Bicycle Curls
• Mountain Climbers
• Reverse Crunches
• Heel Taps
• Stability Ball Crunches
• Upperbody
• Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns
• Close Grip Lat Pulldowns
• Tricep Pulldowns
• Seated Cable Rows

Saturday: Full Body (mostly upper body, legs were still recovering from leg day)

• 30 Minute boxing
• Upperbody
• Push Ups
• Bent Over Dumbbell to Chest
• Abs
• Crunches
• Knee to Elbow Crunches
• Leg Raises
• Reverse Crunches
• Bicycle Crunches

Sunday is my off day and I really reccommend a rest day! If you overwork your body you won't be putting 100% into your next workout. You can even do damage to your muscles. It's okay to take a break when you need it.

What I learned this week:

If I believed that I could do something, then I could certainly do it. Don't sell yourself short, you are stronger than you think!

Proud Moment:

When I couldn't do one more rep or felt like I couldn't lift a certain weight, I proved myself otherwise.

Personal Record:

Cut exactly 1 second off from my 10 second prowler run.
Squatted 105 lbs.

What I could have improved:

Going to sleep earlier.