syrup-titious weekend

i am trying to pinpoint the cause of the intense muscle soreness in my quads and hammies and buttocks today.  i’m walking funny.   i’m making muffled ‘ooh oww' sounds when i stand up and when i lower myself down.  it’s been many weeks since i experienced any DOMS to write home about.  the first few weeks of my hardcore hottie challenge i was struck with plenty of muscle soreness as i completed my new lifting routines for the first time.  i think the BCAA (branch chain amino acids) i take pre-lifting are easing the delayed onset muscle soreness, though honestly i don’t really know if that is the true reason i take them.  i just do what i’m told.  

but today, oh today, my legs are screamin demons.  so many factors, hard to say.  could it be that i slept at my girlfriend’s house last night and the different bed gave me cause for pause?  i usually weather a change in sleeping arrangements without incident.  i could sleep standing up, and in fact have when i was wasted from a binging night of alkyhol. 

which reminds me.. could my body be repulsed by the amount of beer and liquor i drank last night while out with my buddies?  i hardly drink anymore.  so perhaps all the alcohol has traveled down my bloodstream into my legs and it’s just sitting there around my quadriceps and hamstrings, stagnant and sore-making.   that doesn’t seem right though and i have learned that it is lactic acid, not corona with double limes, that pools on the muscles which causes the soreness in my body post-workout.  alan, the husband extraordinaire, is always kind enough to rub that lactic acid off my muscles to keep my DOMS to a minimum, lucky girl that i am.  

oh, wait, now i remember!  it’s the insane amount of lunges and squats i completed on friday night at the gym on top of my day 3 lifting routine.  oh, that’s right!  and plus, i crammed my lifting into unprecedented consecutive days so i could have all my required workouts completed before saturday morning, in preparation for the saturday night debauchery de unclean food and the shenanigans of alky beverage.  my quads and hammies and buttinsky are aching from all the squatty lunging i did.  mystery solved.  

getting drunk and going off-plan with food by eating wheat-crusty pizza and pancakes with syrup after-bar isn’t something i’m stressing.  i planned for it by eating crazy clean all week and then i let er rip on the big night.  i’m not one for 100% diligence in diet; a life without tatortot hot dish is a life i don’t want to live.   i had seconds, and thirds.  

i wrapped up my hangover today by going bikini shopping for my upcoming warm-weather vacation.  it was a dangerous decision as it could have gone terribly wrong with me seeing my body full of unclean food in the mirror and been horrified, rather than accepting myself and loving myself no matter what.  but i rocked that shopping trip and lovingly rubbed my belly full of tatortot hot dish as i tried on the swimsuits.   huge gains made in my mentals!   and then i fed my hangover a monstrous slice of red velvet cheesecake to top off the weekend. 

A picture says a thousand words.

Instead of writing today, these pictures will speak for me and my hard work on my body lately. I've been lifting and eating to build muscle and I've been successful.  I am unabashedly self absorbed and photographing my every move. 

Parts Two and Three. the rest of my story.

…. from Part One ...

I made some clear decisions on January 1, 2012.   You could say I was finally defined by something:  my decision making!

1.   I made a clear decision to change physically and mentally.  
2.  I made a clear decision that I am important too.  I decided that my goals and my health and my happiness are important too.  
3.  I made a clear decision that I would be defined by my actions.
4.  I made a clear decision to set goals and achieve them.  

I dubbed 2012 "My Year".   I have eagerly and successfully been living ever since. 

I sat down on January 1, 2012 and wrote down my resolutions.  I had never written them down before, and consequently had never kept one longer than about a week.    But, two years and going strong!

I am a structured person.  I take big risks, but chart out the steps needed for success.  I dream big, but make a plan to achieve my goals.   I'm not a willy nilly type of person.     I loved the process of getting healthy:  the research, the organization, the learning.   I just kept figuring things out for myself, what to do, when to do it.     I didn't realize it then, but now I know that I used specific tools in my quest for weight loss and fitness.   Over the last few weeks, when I was deciding what to talk to you about, I kept making notes about how I did it, how I lost weight, how I became active, how I didn't quit.   What makes me different from someone else who decides to get healthy but quits on it?   Why am I still moving forward?  

When I looked at my notes I could group them into tools, actions, and feelings.   Then I looked at my groupings and I thought:  there it is, that is how I did it.  Perhaps it's duplicable for someone with similar personality.  Perhaps it's a toolbox full of gold that someone else could open up and spend lavishly on their own health.   Perhaps it's a bunch of tools that helped me but are bunk to you.  No matter, here they are!  

Part Two  -   My Tools:

1.  Write down my resolutions in a structured way.  Post them on the wall where I will see them often.  Right above my home office computer.  Act on them.  Revisit often.
2.  Get my measurements, weight, pictures from front, side, and back.  Update these stats monthly or weekly.  Put my picture on my lap top screen saver.  
3. Choose a tracking tool such as myfitnesspal or livestrong.com.  Enter stats.  Be reasonable about goals.  Enter diet, nutrition, recipes, exercise into the tracker.  
4. Be active and participatory on an online forum- ask questions, get support, and information.  Community!   I chose livestrong.com forums and was welcomed. 
5. Add 1-3 new elements to learn per week (healthy foods, tracking, hitting targets, macronutrients, exercise, calculations, etc).  Tackle learning in small bits. 
6. Make a decision to hire a coach or seek a mentor through forums online for free.  I found a mentor free online and also hired a trainer from weightlossrebels.com.
7. Use Google Calendar like it's my job.  When a workout is in my calendar it's as important as an appointment with my boss; I'm not late and I don't skip it. 
8. Plan each week's workouts on Sunday and enter them into my Google Calendar every Sunday or monthly.  Make that calendar green (for go!) and name it "Fitness!"
9. Be public about my goals/activities/fitness to exact accountability.  I chose Facebook as a way to publicize and to remain accountable to achieve my goals.
10. Document my fitness life-  highs and lows and all the boring in-between. Either publicly or privately.  I chose public via blog. http://thegretalist.blogspot.com
11. Pay money to attend scheduled weekly fitness classes/activities- yoga, bootcamp, yogalates, personal strength training, volleyball.  A commitment is inherent with payment.
12. Keep trying activities until I find ones I like- insanity, power 90, yoga at home. Stick with an activity for one month before deciding yay or nay.  Do not skip.  Running <3
13. Always have a fitness goal and/or a strength or number goal in my Google Calendar.  Race, pounds lost, #inches lost, size of jeans to wear, register for new class, etc. 
14. Buy songs on iTunes that are motivational and exciting.  Make a list from internet sources and download them.  Make specific playlists.
15. Weekly rewards for the first 4 weeks, then switched to monthly rewards.  Enter the goal/reward/date into Google Calendar.                                                              Goals: weight, fit into, run certain distance, new knowledge in diet/calories/hit tracking numbers, lift certain amount, etc.                                                                  Rewards: iPod, measure cups/spoons, iTunes music, running socks, workout top, sports bra, blender, good sneakers, exotic food (brazil nuts), workout bag, garmin, etc. 
16. Change my password to a fitness related motivational password.  Entered so many times, it's a frequent reminder of my goals.
17. Enlist Alan's help and support.  He's on my side and helps me carve out the time I need to workout, to plan meals, to enter data into the tracker, to train for races, etc. 
18. Have someone to push me out the door when I hesitate, complain, want to quit.  Have someone to listen to me without judgement.  Have someone to cheer me!
19. Include my children in fitness.  Robin and I took classes together.  Running started with Robin-1 mile challenge on the treadmill.                                                          Robin biked around town with me while I ran.  Brett biked with me in my first 5k.  Brett and I went to snap and biked together.  Will ran a 5k with me.  
20. Nutrition is the key --  Exercise is the bonus!   Keep relatively rigid with my diet/nutrition.  Variety is the spice of life in my exercise.

Part Three --  My Changes:

Changes I've experienced since January 1, 2012:

• There was no where I wanted to go on my Resolutions sheet.  On my 2013 sheet I listed trips.  In 2014 I've listed destination fitness events!
• I turned the focus on myself through my writing making many major discoveries along the way (I'm risk taker, I'm adventurous).   
• I give myself high 5s now instead of guilt and hatred.
• I finally feel good.  I'm now an active person who also enjoys down time.
• Never have to or feel like I have to suck in my stomach anymore.
• I want to have sex now, and more often.
• My confidence has increased markedly.   My happiness is palpable.
• Communication in my marriage has improved because I've developed assertiveness that wasn't present before.  My marriage is stronger than ever. 
• My kids see a role model that has a life with them and a life of my own as well.  
• I have my own things to look forward to that don't include anyone else, or depend on anyone else.
• My circle of influence on other people's health and fitness has increased exponentially.  
• My social connections and support expanded: Crow River Running Club friends, Hardcore Hottie Challenge friends, Livestrong Sweat Daily friends, Bootcamp friends.
• I responded to an invitation to try out our friend's new Crossfit business with a resounding yes!
• I said yes to help demo and put siding on a house in the freezing winter cold.  Physically I knew I could easily be helpful.
• I like being outside now, I find value in the out-of-doors.
• I am physically strong and capable to help around the house- moved a 350+ pound therapy table from the house to the garage with my husband.
• I experiment with lots of color and different fits in my wardrobe and don't use clothing as camouflage.
• I am feeling fulfilled and actively seeking new challenges. 

Part One- My story of nothing.

Mayer Health and Wellness Initiative
Move for your Moxie

Motivational Guest Speaker: Greta!

1/19/14

Part One

I'm just an average woman who has figured out how to stay driven and motivated past the 'New Years Resolution" excitement. 

My life is as busy as yours, as chaotic as yours.   I have kids, am married, have a 50-hour a week job, great friends, and no background in making resolutions and keeping them.    I have considered losing weight in the past, but didn't ever hit the point where I was so concerned I would do anything about it.   Hitting rock bottom hadn't happened to me.

I just kept on eating and not moving.  I just kept on having mild disgust with myself when I got dressed, undressed, showered, or had sex.  Every time I buttoned my pants a twinge of guilt about my inactivity and a little bit of hatred for my body crept up into the foreground of my thinking.  But I would get busy with one of my kids or busy making supper or busy at work or busy busy busy and knew I didn't have time to do anything about it so those thoughts would slink back into the background.

  

But really, those thoughts of disgust, guilt, and hatred for myself were ever present, I was just at different degrees of awareness of them depending upon my situation at the time. 

This is no way to live.   I wasn't living, I was taking care of everyone.  I was taking care of my family, taking care of my students at work, taking care of my colleagues, taking care of everyone and everything but myself.  I just didn't realize it.  I was sad, but didn't realize it.  I didn't have any way to measure my own worth beside through others- my kids, my husband, my students, my colleagues.  I did right by them so I was a good mom, a good wife, a good speech therapist, a good co-worker.  Anyone would say that about me, that I was good at all those things.  

But I also never defined myself by my motherhood or my marriage or my job.   If I had allowed myself to be defined by being a mom, I wouldn't have been conflicted.  If I was defined by my job, I would have been fulfilled already.   So I was really good at all of these aspects of my life but not defined by them.  So what the hell was I defined by?  NOTHING?   But the only things I could come up with that weren't involving other people were reading People magazine and liking my alone time.   That is nothing.  And that is scary.    

I was on the verge of making some important decisions in my life so I could start living too.   Having nothing of my own plus having disgust, guilt, and hatred for myself was me nearly hitting rock bottom.   A few things happened to push me over the edge and plummet to rock bottom.  My older sister, who isn't athletic and isn't fitness oriented, started going to a gym regularly.  This was shocking in itself, the gym-going, but her body transformation was noteworthy and I was in awe of how her shape changed.  I don't even know if she lost any weight, but I certainly noticed she was tight and muscled and she looked sexy as hell.   I was ecstatic for my sister!  Her whole demeanor seemed to change too, her confidence soared and she was dressing differently too.   While I was happy for her, it spurred my disgust for myself.  Here I was, the former athlete sister, all lumpy and dowdy and blah.  That was final straw #1.   If she can do it, I can do it.  I am ever grateful to her.

The actual final straw was a trip I took to Jamaica with a friend.  When I saw the pictures from the trip I cried.  This woman was not me.  This woman was covering me.  I could not crop the pictures enough to fashion a decent angle where I didn't look huge.  I was finally seeing myself.  I had become heavy.  I was unhappy and uncomfortable.  I was so damn uncomfortable, literally.  My clothes were too tight, binding.   I had just been out shopping for the next size up of work khakis.  Fuck.   How many sizes up was I going to go?  I was done going up.   I hated myself.  I had nothing.   Rock bottom.  

I made some clear decisions on January 1, 2012.   You could say I was finally defined by something:  my decision making!

1.   I made a clear decision to change physically and mentally.  
2.  I made a clear decision that I am important too.  I decided that my goals and my health and my happiness are important too.  
3.  I made a clear decision that I would be defined by my actions.
4.  I made a clear decision to set goals and achieve them.  

I dubbed 2012 "My Year".   I have eagerly and successfully been living ever since. 

I sat down on January 1, 2012 and wrote down my resolutions.  I had never written them down before, and consequently had never kept one longer than about a week.    But, two years and going strong!

I am a structured person.  I take big risks, but chart out the steps needed for success.  I dream big, but make a plan to achieve my goals.   I'm not a willy nilly type of person.     I loved the process of getting healthy:  the research, the organization, the learning.   I just kept figuring things out for myself, what to do, when to do it.     I didn't realize it then, but now I know that I used specific tools in my quest for weight loss and fitness.   Over the last few weeks, when I was deciding what to talk to you about, I kept making notes about how I did it, how I lost weight, how I became active, how I didn't quit.   What makes me different from someone else who decides to get healthy but quits on it?   Why am I still moving forward?  

When I looked at my notes I could group them into tools, actions, and feelings.   Then I looked at my groupings and I thought:  there it is, that is how I did it.  Perhaps it's duplicable for someone with similar personality.  Perhaps it's a toolbox full of gold that someone else could open up and spend lavishly on their own health.   Perhaps it's a bunch of tools that helped me but are bunk to you.  No matter, here they are!  

Part Two

i'm too tired.  stay tuned!

lotta stats and undies mugshots

1/19/14
End of week 3
hardcore hottie challenge booya!

my goals: build as much muscle as possible in 12 weeks, learn to eat healthfully without processed foods and refined sugars, and stop measuring my worth by the fucking scale.

LIFTING -- WEIGHT STATS

Day 1 lifting routine:

*3x10 of bodyweight push ups on toes- it's not a struggle now.  i do them slowly, but could increase the difficulty somehow now a bit with these.

*tri pushdown - 50 wt., 3x10

*lat raises - 10 wt., 3x10

*calf raises-smith machine  75 wt on each side., 3x10

*goblet squat- 50 wt., 3x10

*weighted lunge - a curvy bar which weighs 25 pounds with 15 wt on each side. 3x10

*plank - 1st 2:00, 2nd 1:15, 3rd 1:00 minute, 3x to failure

*decline bench sit ups- dot 1 steepest it goes with body weight.  i will add a plate on my belly next week, 3x15

 Day 2 lifting routine: 

*db row - 30 wt., 3x10

*db pullover - 30 first set, 25 2nd and 3rd set, 3x10

*bicep curls - 15 wt. and did 20 wt. for the last 5 of the set- very hard., 3x10

*rear delt db flys- 10 wt.  the gym has no 12's.  i would increase to 12 if they were available but 15 is too much, 3x10

*rack pulls- 185 wt. w/35 bar plus 75 wt on ea side. ouch on my hands- getting some nice calluses.  3x10

*bulgarian split squat- with curvy bar only.  next week 5 pound plate on each side of the bar. 3x10

*cable rotation -wt. 20, 3x10

*lying hip raises on bench- body wt. need to increase the difficulty. 3x10

 Day 3 lifting routine:

*incline db bench - 25 wt, 3x10

*db flys- 15 wt. , 3x10

*straight arm pulldown- 50 wt. 3x10, dot 1

*cable curls-  50 wt, dot 19, 3.x10

*db plie squat-  50 wt., 3x11. need to increase difficulty or do more regular squats daily

*back extensions- body wt. dot 6, 3x11

*toe press-   90 wt 1st set, 130 wt 2nd set, 170 wt 3rd set/4th set.  4x10

*russian twists- w/ 25 wt plate. 15 reps, 20 reps, 15 reps. 

I've increased weight in nearly every exercise over the three weeks. My very hardest exercises are rack pulls since I've been botching them by lifting 185 pounds total instead of 75 pounds total, and dumbbell flys with 15 pounders. Today, I hugged that garbage can on my flys 30 times and struggled with proper form the last 5 reps of each set. 

now for my measurements:  

1/19/14

weight 150.4 (down .4 pounds)
chest 38.25 (up 1.25 inches)
arm 11.4 (up .4 inches)
waist 29 (down 1.75 inches)
hips 39.25 (up .25 inches)
thigh 23.5 (up .75 inches)
calf 14.5 (same)
measured right bicep flexed for the first time=12.13 inches

so i haven't had input from my trainer yet about my progress, oh WAIT YES I DID!!  and this is it: 

"Wowza HUGE difference Greta. You are looking JACKED."

so today i'm feeling pretty good about what i've accomplished in 3 weeks (plus a week of learning prior to starting the total program on january 1).  

1. i learned to measure food and assess macro content.  i learned to plan and eat foods throughout a day to meet my prescribed macronutrient allotments.  i learned how to convert ounces into grams and vice versa which is a large pain in the ass. 

2. i learned to identify clean foods and notice the different ingredients in foods which i should eat/which are clean and foods i should avoid/make an informed choice about eating.  

3. i learned three lifting routines with 8 exercises apiece which were almost all new moves for me to learn.  and i increased weights when i needed to, by feel.  so i learned how to assess when to increase the difficulty so i am getting the most out of each movement in my time at the gym.

4. i learned to keep off the scale.  and i learned that i have a really fucked up relationship with my weight and the scale and that i need to change my mentals so i am not measuring my worth by the number on the scale.  

fixing the way i think about my body and my weight and my worth will take time and retraining my brain, and i'm confident that over the next 9 weeks i will be getting closer and closer to meeting my goals.   i have a really great shot at achieving them!   

now for my progress pictures:  the top row is from the first day of the challenge 1/1/14.  the bottom row is from today 1/19/14 for my end of week 3 check in.  

so, ya, there's me in my undies.  whatevs.

I'm hitting my macros +/- 10 grams most every day.   It hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be to eat 155 grams of protein, I just shovel in the meat, eggs, cheese and I'm not grossed out at all. I've become an elk steak and turkey eater, shocking!


 

eggs and chicken sausage for brekkie

a few days breakfast and snacks for the 730-430 time frame at work 

a delicious clean meal prepared by alan, lovingly and perfectly macro-y

bacon'ed green beans- alan is a genius!

if i could have calculated this graph BEFORE yesterday my percentages would have been spot on or 1-2%age points off only.  but whatever, yesterday i ate a bunch of fat (good fat though), a whole lotta fat, and well so there it is.  i am very proud of how close i am to my macro goals already 3 weeks in.  overall, i struggle keeping the fat at 75 grams per day, but i'm doing well hitting 225 carbs and 155 protein pretty closely each day.  

this is showing my last 7 days of macros eaten. i'm only concerned with fat, carb, protein grams.  you can see i'm in the red on fat, but i'm oh so close on carb and protein.  score!!  i'm feeling like this is the best i need to do to meet the goals i have set for this challenge.  i do not intend to be rigidly strict with myself in nutrition, i couldn't enjoy that.  i can, however, and have, enjoyed this last week of eating.  i'm feeling good and looking good.  

some workouts from this week:

tough.  that's all i will say.  very tough.

i was holding a 50 pound weight doing goblet squats.  yep, i'd say this program is working just fine!!   (my arms do not look like this in rest, but give me 50 pounds and this happens!!!)  :)

weighted lunges.  i was really struggling here, i will take off 5 pounds on each side next week.  this was too much for 3 sets of 10 reps. per leg.  i plan to be back up to this level in 2 weeks though!!

 

rack pulls are giving me some blisters so i considered gloves and my bad ass trainer MEG said nope, you grow those calluses and lotion up half hour prior to lifting so they don't tear during lifts.   i'm officially scared of her, and in awe of her simultaneously.

I AM FEELING GREAT!  

but i keep in mind:

that's why i don't wear them!

i'm not such a dud after all

down below the line is my facebook status on my birthday before i retired for the night as a newly 40 year old woman.  i adore writing for many reasons, but primarily because it helps me figure things out.  the way it works for me is this:  i just sit down and start writing and it flows.  i don't pre-plan, outline, or think about the details of what i want to write ahead of time.  i sit down and my fingers start pressing keys and before i know it i've discovered something fucking profound about myself.

like on my birthday night.  as i typed the words you'll read below "...when i start the next big challenge in my life that you might not relate to but you still support me by reading"  it hit me.  in that very next moment i realized that running the marathon was not my first big challenge i took on in my life!   my life has been filled with taking big risky challenges head on.  but before that moment on the evening of january 8 2014, i thought of myself, and described myself to others, as an unadventurous person that likes the status quo, doesn't like to take chances, likes routines and lacks spontaneity.  i didn't say it with disdain about myself.  it was just the facts jack.  

well that just ain't the truth!  i've not really known myself until last night...  until writing that status.  my track record tells a different story.  realizing the huge challenges i've taken on all my life -- with gusto-- makes me see myself in a different, brighter, and more awesome light than i have ever viewed myself in before.   previously, i only understood "being adventurous" to mean traveling the world, getting naked and posing for an artist, or jumping off cliffs into a lake.  but all my life, i've been being adventurous, taking chances, breaking out of my routine, i've just been mixing it with thought, organization, and seeking support along the way.   being cognizant of the planful way i do things -- negated the idea of adventure for me.  no  more.  

i am leaps closer to understanding myself and i love myself even more as i made these realizations.  getting older is truly a gift of wisdom and i want to let this wash over me.

___________________________________________________________________________________

i would love to get to "liking" all these totally tubular birthday greetings but i am so exhausted i can barely keep the finger tips a typing. instead, i am LOVING them all in spirit and reading each and every one. thank you for taking the time to make my day great! 

we played 7 or 8 games of volleyball and came out in second place in our fall league tonight. a crushing defeat, that even made me poo-poo going out for birthday drinks after, i am so sad we aren't the champions! my body is really wiped out, really really wiped out. dare i say, feeling 40?! oh yes, i am!

i am feeling like a 40 year old bad ass who works full time, parents full time, loves myself full time, is a great wife and friend full time! my muscles and body are achy and sore from lifting heavy, boxing, squatting like there's no tomorrow, and running and these are the things i choose to do, CHOOSE to do! never in my wildest did i think my free time would be spent this way, but i'm like a hog in shit for sure.

i am so grateful for each of you that doesn't hide or block me and sticks with me when i start the next big challenge in my life that you might not relate to but you still support me by reading. i realize now that my life has always been about taking on huge challenges: alan , adopting 3 older kids at once, running a marathon, going to college for 6 years, teaching preschoolers, writing about my life openly, loving myself.   go big or go home.

well i think it's more like: i'm at home with myself, so i can dare to dream big. AND, i have all of you to lift me up and cheer me on, and namely Alan who makes my world spin round in the right direction but keeps me off kilter just enough to make it fresh and inviting every day to be with him.

all in all, in my life at 40 candles, i'm who i want to be. and that is my greatest accomplishment of all.

day one lifting routine from HHC.

Already increased weight in nearly ALL my Day 1 lifts today! 

Day 1 = 
toe push ups 3x10. 
Tricep push downs 3x10 at 40lbs. 
Seated Lateral raises 3x10 at10lbs. 
Calf raises holding 80lbs. 
Goblet squats 3x10 at 40lbs then 45lbs. 
Weighted lunges 3x10 bumpy bar+20lbs.
Plank 3xfailure 1:50, 1:00, :45.
Decline bench sit-ups 3x15.

Took only 30 seconds between sets and exercises.
Total time 41:53.
I was so tired at the end.
I was huffing and puffing during the last third of this workout.   

I felt like a goddess!

These were very very difficult.  I did the first set of 10 with the bar only.  I added 10 pounds on each side for the second set and I got them done!  Last week, I completed one set with the bar and then on the second set my right knee was wonky and felt like it was going to pop so I didn't continue and did walking lunges instead, without weight.  This week, no knee problem!  

I am making these Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers tonight.  New recipe and it is loaded with fat.  I only have 26 grams of fat left for the whole night and one of these will take up 36 g  of fat.  I'll have to figure a way to decrease the fat. 

Reading and caring about macros, new territory.

I'm going to make these tomorrow possibly, if I feel like I want to brave the cold to go to the market.  They look delicious!

I'll have to sub out the peanut butter for something with less fat.  I MISS MY PEANUT BUTTER!!!   But I have some other nut butters waiting in the wings.

My main squeeze Alan takes organic high quality turkey today.  We bagged it up in 2 ounce servings and I'll be using it as work snacks for a healthy protein punch.  This is a new way of eating for sure!