It’s that time again, time for another round of fit Friday fun!!!!

And boy are we going to have some fun today!

Today I’m sharing a short, sharp lower body workout that you can do anywhere, anytime in just 20 minutes , with or without equipment, totally your call.

You guys know how how much I love, love, love my lower body workouts, The lower body is where your powerhouse muscles are (I’m looking at you quads, glutes and hamstrings) which means you get a serious bang for your workout butt, I mean buck!

So, here’s what we are going to do – click here to see exercise demos/workout with me –

Squat
Step up
Reverse lunge – or any variation you like – I do reverse because my knees prefer them
Lunge pulse
Single leg toe touch – or reach if you can’t touch your toes just yet
Single leg bench (or chair) squat
Jump squat – or pulse if you’re not into jumping

Aim to do 10 reps of each exercise (count reps per leg) then repeat the entire sequence for a total of 3 rounds (or as many rounds as pretty in 20 minutes), resting as needed. Sound good?

Nothing overly complicated, basic movements done with good form for a short but effective total body workout that will have you feeling strong, energized, and ready to take on the rest of your day!

Now, for those of you who are just getting started or may not have access to a gym of any kind of weights you can absolutely do with workout without any added weight, and let me tell you, you will be feeling it.

Not even kidding, this was me the day my first attempt at this workout –

Just because you’re “only” using your body weight as resistance does not make this an easy workout. Your quads and glutes will be burning by the final round and you will definitely be feeling the effects of it tomorrow I assure you.

You have been warned!

For our fully functioning/more advanced lifters who might be looking to make things a little more challenging – grab yourself a weapon of choice – a set of dumbbells, a barbell, kettlebells, your EmPack, some resistance bands, or any combination you like. Make sure you choose something appropriate for your strength but, don’t be afraid to challenge yourself.

Although, we want quality not quantity, always! Never compromise your form, ever! If your form starts to fail you’re done, got it?

Take your time, concentrate, focus and breathe through each and every exercise. You are strong, you are amazing, you have big energy! You’ve totally got this!

And, because nothing makes a workout challenge more fun than getting a (virtual) buddy to join you. Why not grab your BFF or a family member or your fave workmate and have them join you, power in numbers baby!

Don’t forget to come back and let me know how you did once you’re done. Either leave me a message in the comments below, or you can give me a shout on the Facebook page or tag me (@EmSwanston) on Twitter , or Instagram (@emsswanston) . I mean it, I wanna hear how you did!

Ok, enough chit chat time to work –

– 20 minute –
At Home – Lower Body Workout

As always make sure you are nice an warm before you start your workout – Run on the spot, do jumping jacks, jump rope, dance around your living room, anything to get you warm then it’s time to get serious.

Finish with a nice little cool down and stretch, maybe take a walk #socialdistancing or something anything to help bring your heart rate down. Finish with a few of your fave stretches. Please don’t skip the stretch people, its like dessert for the body.

Now for this week’s smoothie recipe . . .

How does a nice, tall, subtly sweet, perfectly spiced, deliciously indulgent, secretly healthy, sugar-free chocolate hazelnut chai latte sound?!

So good, right?!

Chocolate = happiness

Chai soothes my soul

Nut butter is the glue that holds my body together.

Put them all together and you get pure magic and that’s E X A C T L Y what we have here!

It’s pretty much tastes like your drinking chai while eating spoonful after spoonful of Nutella (please tell me I’m not the only one who does this?!) and I am here for it!

Made with no added sugar, packed with protein, and loaded with gut-healing goodness, not that anyone would ever know! I won’t tell if you don’t!

Subtly sweet, seriously chocolaty, perfectly spiced, and just all kinds of wonderful!

Next level deliciousness I tell you! You are going to LOVE it!

And, not only does our delicious, nutritious, smoothie taste like straight-up heaven in a cup but, it also happens to be Dairy free (if you want),  BANANA FREE, DATE FREE, sugar free, Low Carb, Vegan, Keto and Paleo friendly!

It really is simply divine, the perfect way to treat yo’ self on this fabulous Friday – or anytime because, yummmmm.

Enjoy xo

Sugar Free Chocolate Hazelnut Chai Latte

• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Persons: 1
• Difficulty: Easy

• Ingredients
• 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk  (or milk of choice) – more or less to desired consistency
• 1/2 cup of vanilla yogurt – use milk if you want to make a hot latte
• 1-2 Tablespoons of cacao – depending on how rich and chocolaty you want it
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1/2-1 teaspoon chai spice mix
• 1 Tablespoon of chocolate hazelnut butter or a few drops of hazelnut stevia / extract
• 1/2-1 teaspoon of instant coffee (reg or decaf) or a shot or 2 (brewed and cooled) your fave brew – optional but HIGHLY recommended
• A pinch of pink salt
• 1/4-1/2  cup of ice – more or less to desired consistency
• If you prefer a sweeter brew add 1/2 teaspoon of monk fruit sweetener (coconut sugar or sweetener of choice) – more or less to taste
• Optional add ins;
• 1/2 cup frozen cauliflower (I prefer to pre-steam then freeze) – for a sneaky serve of veg + makes it extra thick!
• 1/4 cup avocado (fresh or frozen) for healthy fats & also makes it super thick
• 1 Tablespoons of melted dark chocolate to swirl your glass  – pure happiness
• 1 teaspoon of maca – for hormone balance
• 1-2 scoops of collagen – for gut healing goodness
• 1 scoop protein powder  – I think vanilla or chocolate would be best in this recipe

1. Instructions
2. Place all ingredients into your blender and process until smooth, creamy and well combined (or heat, whisk, froth if serving hot).
3. Pour into a chilled glass or mason jar (or warmed mug if serving hot) then top with toppings of choice.
4. Enjoy xoxo

 

Don’t forget to give me a shout out when you’re done – hit me up in the comments below via the Facebook page on Twitter or on Instagram

Now go, and remember always try to . . .

and have yourself a killer day xoxo

_________________________________________

Question of the day –

Do you prefer your chai iced or hot?

Feel free to share recipes, or links to your fave recipes in the comments below or on the Facebook page and please for the love of all that is good in this world when you do make this smoothie (or any of the recipes you find on this blog of mine) go ahead and snap a pic and share it either on the Facebook page, or tag me on twitter or Instagram. Sharing is caring remember.

Do it, do it You know you want to

__________________________________________

The post Sugar Free Chocolate Hazelnut Chai Latte & 20 min {no equipment – at home} Lower Body Workout first appeared on Better with Cake.

It’s that time again, time for another round of fit Friday fun and boy are we going to have some fun today!

Today I’m sharing a short, sharp tummy toning workout that you can do anytime, anywhere in just 10 minutes , no equipment required – what do you say, are you in?

Nothing complicated, basic movements done with good form for a short but effective workout that will leave you feeling strong, energized and ready to take on the rest of your day.

We will do – 7 of my favorite exercises to focus on tightening, toning and strengthening your core click here to see a demo of each exercise/ workout with me  – ;

Sit Up
Reverse crunch
Heel Tap
Plank with hip dip
Up & Down plank
Russian twists

Aim to do 10 reps of each exercise (count reps per side for dips, taps, up down plank & twists) ) and repeat the entire sequence for a total of 3-4 rounds – resting as needed.

*BONUS BURNOUT ROUND*

If you have time (& are feeling up to it – grab a timer, get into a plank position & hold it, for as long as possible, with good form!

Remember, we want quality not quantity, always! Never compromise your form, ever! If your form starts to fail your done, got it?

Take your time, concentrate, focus and breathe through each and every exercise. You are strong, you are amazing, you have big energy! You’ve totally got this!

And because nothing makes a workout challenge more fun than getting a virtual / social distance buddy to join you. Why not grab your BFF or a family member or your fave workmate and have them join you, power in numbers baby!

Don’t forget to come back and let me know how you did once you’re done. Either leave me a message in the comments below, or you can give me a shout on the Facebook page or tag me (@EmSwanston) on Twitter , or Instagram (@emsswanston) . I mean it, I wanna hear how you did!

Ok enough chit chat time to work –

10 minute Abs

As always make sure you are nice an warm before you start your workout – Run on the spot, do jumping jacks, jump rope, dance around your living room, anything to get you warm then it’s time to get serious.

Finish with a nice little cool down and stretch, maybe take a walk or something anything to help bring your heart rate down. Finish with a few of your fave stretches. Please don’t skip the stretch people, its like dessert for the body.

Now for our smoothie recipe . . .

How does a nice tall, subtly sweet, deliciously indulgent,  secretly healthy, seriously chocolaty, choc fudge cookie dough crunch shake sound?

You guys, this smoothie, so, SO delicious!

It’s a (not so sweet/secretly healthy) dark chocolate frosty meets choc chip cookie dough and I am here for it!  .

Decadent and rich, seriously chocolaty and choc full of choc chips!

No one would ever know that it also happens to be good for you!

Packed with protein, high in magnesium and loaded with gut healing goodness!

I won’t tell if you don’t!

And, not only does our delicious, nutritious, smoothie like straight up dessert but, it also happens to be Dairy free (if you want),  BANANA FREE, DATE FREE, Sugar free, Low Carb, Vegan, Keto and Paleo friendly – so much to love I tell you and love it you will!

It really is simply divine, the perfect way to treat yo’ self on this fabulous Friday – or anytime because, yummmmm.

Sugar Free Choc Fudge Cookie Dough Crunch Shake

• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Persons: 1
• Difficulty: Easy

• Ingredients
• 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (or 1-2 scoops of your fave ice cream or fro-yo)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or milk of choice) – more or less to desired consistency
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1-2 Tablespoons of cacao – depending on how rich and chocolaty you want it.
• 1 Tablespoon of almond butter – I use 99th Monkey – EM99 = 15 % off if you want to try
• 1/2 teaspoon of instant espresso (or 1/2-1 full shot of your fave brew) – optional but recommended to help enhance the richness of the chocolate
• 1 Tablespoon of choc chips (or cacao nibs)
• 1/4-1/2  cup of ice – more or less to desired consistency.
• NOTE – If you prefer a sweeter shake, add 1/2-1 tsp monk fruit sweetener, a few drops pf liquid stevia, maple syrup, honey or sweetener of choice to taste – I didn’t add any.
• Optional add ins;
• 1/2 cup frozen cauliflower (I prefer to pre-steam then freeze) – for a senaky serve of veg + makes it extra thick!
• 1/4 cup avocado (fresh or frozen) for healthy fats & also makes it super thick
• 1 Tablespoons of melted dark chocolate to swirl your glass  – pure happiness
• 1 teaspoon of maca – for hormone balance
• 1-2 scoops of collagen – for gut healing goodness
• 1 scoop protein powder  – for extra protein (I think vanilla or unflavored would work best here)
• A couple of cookies ( I Simple Mills – for serving

1. Instructions
2.  Place all smoothie ingredients into your blender and process until smooth, creamy and well combined.
3.  Pour into a chilled glass or mason jar then top with toppings of choice .
4. Enjoy xo

Don’t forget to give me a shout out when you’re done – hit me up in the comments below via the Facebook page on Twitter or on Instagram

Now go, and remember;

and have yourself a killer day xoxo

_________________________________________

Question of the day –

What’s workouts are you loving lately?

Feel free to share recipes, or links to your fave recipes in the comments below or on the Facebook page and please for the love of all that is good in this world when you do make this smoothie (or any of the recipes you find on this blog of mine) go ahead and snap a pic and share it either on the Facebook page, or tag me on twitter or Instagram. Sharing is caring remember.

Do it, do it You know you want to

__________________________________________

The post Sugar Free Choc Fudge Cookie Dough Crunch Shake & A 10 min Ab workout first appeared on Better with Cake.

F-F-Friday baby!!!!

And you know what that means . . .

It’s time for another round of Fit Friday fun, and boy are we going to have some fun!

Today I’m sharing a short, sharp, lower body workout that you can do anywhere, anytime in around 20 minutes, no equipment required – what do you say, are you in?

Ive said it before and I’ll say it again, with the right combination of exercise you can have yourself an awesome workout and get the results you want in less than 20 minutes!

Everybody got time for that!

So, here’s what we are going to do (click here to see a demo of each exercise) –

Squat
Sumo/Plie’ squats + pulse
Reverse Lunge + knee raise
Heel Raise/Pulse
Laying Leg Raise
Cross Body Crunch

Aim to do 8-10 reps of exercise (count reps per side for uni-lateral exercises) and repeat the entire sequence through for a total of 3-4 rounds, or as many rounds as pretty in 20 minutes, resting as needed , sound good?!

Nothing overly complicated, basic movements done with good form for a short but effective total body workout that will have you feeling strong , energized and ready to take on the rest of your day!

Although it’s totally not necessary, simply using your body weight alone is challenging enough but,  for our fully functioning or more advanced lifters who might be wanting kick things up a notch feel free to grab yourself a weapon of choice – a set of dumbbells, kettlebells, your EmPack,  resistance bands or a combination would work. Just make sure you choose something appropriate for your strength but, don’t be afraid to challenge yourself.

Although, we want quality not quantity, always! Never compromise your form, ever! If your form starts to fail your done, got it?

Take your time, concentrate, focus and breathe through each and every exercise. You are strong, you are amazing, you have big energy! You’ve totally got this!

And, because nothing makes a workout challenge more fun than getting a (social distancing or virtual) buddy to join you. Why not grab your BFF or a family member or your fave workmate and have them get in on the fun, power in numbers baby!

Don’t forget to come back and let me know how you did once you’re done. Either leave me a message in the comments below, or you can give me a shout on the Facebook page or tag me (@EmSwanston) on Twitter , or Instagram (@emsswanston) . I mean it, I wanna hear how you did!

Ok enough chit chat time to work –

– 20 Minute –

No Equipment

Legs & Core Workout

As always make sure you are nice an warm before you start your workout – Run on the spot, do jumping jacks, jump rope, dance around your living room, anything to get you warm then it’s time to get serious.

Finish with a nice little cool down and stretch, maybe take a walk #socialdistancing or something, anything to help bring your heart rate down. Finish with a few of your fave stretches. Please don’t skip the stretch people, it’s like dessert for the body.

Now for this weeks smoothie recipe . . .

How does a nice tall, decadent, rich, subtly sweet, secretly healthy, black forest cheesecake shake sound?

You guys, this smoothie . . .

It’s everything you love about a big ol’ slice of rich chocolate cheesecake, spiked with a hint of espresso, topped with whipped (coconut) cream, vibrant, delicious cherries and an extra shaving of dark chocolate (because, yes!!!!!) all served up in one pretty little cup!

No whisking, no baking, no cooling, no slicing, no fear of cheesecake tops cracking and no sharing required!!!

And, it also happens to be seriously good for you!

Made with no added sugar, rich in antioxidants, high in magnesium, packed with protein and loaded with gut healing goodness, not that anyone would ever know! I won’t tell if you don’t!

It’s subtly sweet, seriously chocolaty, luscious, creamy and just all kinds of wonderful!

Next level deliciousness I tell you! You are going to LOVE it!

And, not only does our delicious, nutritious, smoothie taste like straight up dessert but, it also happens to be Dairy free (if you want),  BANANA FREE, DATE FREE, sugar free, Low Carb, Vegan, Keto and Paleo friendly!

It really is simply divine, the perfect way to treat yo’ self on this fabulous Friday – or anytime because, yummmmm.

Enjoy xo

{Sugar Free} Black Forest
Cheesecake Shake

Makes 1
Ingredients –

3/4 cup vanilla almond milk  (or milk of choice) – more or less to desired consistency

1/2 cup of vanilla yogurt

1/4 cup of frozen cherries

1-2 Tablespoons of cacao – depending on how rich and chocolaty you want it

1 Tablespoon of cashew butter – optional

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 teaspoon of high performance instant coffee – optional but SO GOOD!

A pinch of pink salt

1/4-1/2  cup of ice – more or less to desired consistency

Optional add ins;

1 Tablespoons of melted dark chocolate to swirl your glass  – pure happiness

1 teaspoon of maca – for hormone balance

1-2 scoops of  collagen – for gut healing goodness

1 Tablespoon of natural/sugar free chocolate creamer – makes it extra lush

1 scoop protein powder – I use chocolate in this recipe – for extra protein

Method –

1 – Place all ingredients into your blender and process until smooth, creamy and well combined.

2 – Pour into a chilled glass or mason jar,  top with toppings of choice.

Enjoy xoxo

Don’t forget to give me a shout out when you’re done – hit me up in the comments below via the Facebook page on Twitter or on Instagram

Now go, and remember;

and have yourself a killer day xoxo

_________________________________________

Question of the day –

What’s workouts are you loving lately?

Feel free to share recipes, or links to your fave recipes in the comments below or on the Facebook page and please for the love of all that is good in this world when you do make this smoothie (or any of the recipes you find on this blog of mine) go ahead and snap a pic and share it either on the Facebook page, or tag me on twitter or Instagram. Sharing is caring remember.

Do it, do it You know you want to

__________________________________________

The post Sugar Free Black Forest Cheesecake Shake & 15 min {No Equipment} Legs & Core Workout first appeared on Better with Cake.