30 Day Nutrition Push and ON Protein Cake Bites Review

Cannot believe it is April already! Where has time went?! This month I was thinking about a nutrition focus for you. ✔ Nutrition is the primary driver of fat loss, and maintaining that loss. ✔ 

That is how our Venus veterans lose it and keep it off! The workouts are important (don't get me wrong) both for creating shape and overall health, but I feel as though I am guilty of giving them equal or maybe more focus than nutrition (and so are most other vets). Workouts are more sexy and exciting to do and watch, so I totally get why we do it. SO April will be about ALL about nutrition- 30 days of it! 

So here is tip 1... get yourself a calendar. You are going to put a sticker on each day you hit your deficit calorie goal. Put a different sticker for maintenance days. No sticker for over maintenance days. So simple! But it gives you a picture of your success and streaks. It also feels good to put a sticker on there :) I am starting a little 30 day push for summer.  So I will keep you posted with my calendar shots throughout the month. Be sure to tag us at #venusfactor and #venusindex on IG if you are joining me for a push this month too! 

Tip 2 of our 30 day nutrition push! Usually on Sundays, we get take out and bring it home after church. My kids really look forward to this because it is generally the only time we eat out each week. (Not only is it cheaper to eat at home but you also have greater control of what you put together which means higher volume and protein with less calories. You will also struggle less to make a good choice at home!) So, my kids have been asking for Whataburger all week which is a fast food burger place. If I was in maintenance mode, I would get a burger and fries. No brainer. BUT, since I am cutting my cals this month, I knew that would take up too many calories for my day. I would be hungry in a few hours and likely to go into maintenance or over for the day. Not what I want! So I tried an apple and cranberry grilled chicken salad instead. About 450 cals and 34g protein with the dressing. Much more filling and will leave room for a snack, dinner, and dessert later ;) My plan this month is an aggressive goal, so it requires aggressive action on my part. It is not forever either, anyone can push through for 30 days!

Tip 3 of our 30 day nutrition push! The first week of transitioning from higher calories into a deficit (AKA dieting though I do not like to call it that) is usually the toughest. Your body is not used to a deficit and your hunger pangs are often at the highest perceived levels. One of my favorite tricks is to drink LOADS of coffee and tea. The hot liquid is filling and gives you something to do instead of eat. These are two of my favorites teas in the pic above- both are caffeine-free herbal teas. I stir  a teaspoon of half and half with stevia into my tea usually. I also add cinnamon or vanilla from time to time as well. The bonus with coffee and teas are that you are increasing your water intake and both of full of healthy polyphenols! Boom! Generally after 7-10 days of a caloric deficit, your hunger levels come down. So hang in there!

Tip 4 of our 30 day nutrition push  you need to experiment with meal timing and food selection to see what fits for you! No one size fits all- you are an experiment of one. For me, pushing my first meal back as late as possible is easy and helps me to keep my calories lower for the day. I am not hungry and am busy all morning long. Give me some coffee and put me to work. My production output is high and eating just slows my roll, so I go with it. Today, I ate my first meal at 2 pm. I tried something new- instead of oatmeal, I tried cream of buckwheat. It was delicious and a nice change! I also try to get greens and protein in every meal/snack when I am dieting. I aim for 1 gram of protein per 10 cals. I blended greens in my cooking water then stirred in protein powder after cooking. I love PB- but to save cals, I use 1 tbsp of PB2 with 1 tbsp regular PB (I put that PB mix on top and save about 70 cals without even noticing!) I eat this meal a lot because I LIKE it (very important) ✔ the macros are good ✔ it has greens ✔ and it keeps me full to dinner ✔ Experiment and find YOUR way! 

What does my kitchen counters and Cadbury Mini Eggs in a cabinet + brownies in the fridge have to do with our 30 day nutrition push? EVERYTHING. The biggest hack I can tell you is to get the food OFF your counters. The more you see it, the higher the probability you will eat it. There are 4 food items on ALL my counters- potatoes, wine, coffee, and vinegar. Guess what I drank last night that I was not planning on? A glass of wine. Should probably take my own advice ;) wine is going in a cabinet!

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P.S. My husband told me I should tell you about my mini eggs in the sake of transparency. I don't eat "clean" or "perfect" all the time which is not what I recommend to you either. I ate some mini eggs the other day... and I counted them in my day's cals. You can totally eat/drink what you enjoy as long as it fits in your budget! I have had this bag for nearly two weeks and I enjoy a few eggs every few days! Putting them in the cabinet helps me not eats a ton all the time though, I have to go looking for them.

Soooo... those are my first 5 nutrition tips for you! I will be posting everyday on my IG www.instagram.com/mlgraham09 

OR daily on my Twitter https://twitter.com/mlgraham09

OR I will also be posting daily on our Venus Index facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/VenusIndex 

So you can find me wherever you hang out ;)

You guys! I might be late to the party but I went to @gnclivewell as soon as I saw the ads for these new @optimumnutrition protein cake bites and bought that store OUT! Yesss haha! At 230 cals and 20g of protein if these are anything close to a cake ball mixed with protein mugcake then I will be thrilled! So here are the findings of my husband and I's taste testings for each of the 3 flavors! 

First up on my taste test of @optimumnutrition new protein cake bites is the birthday cake flavor. Of the 3 flavors this was my second favorite and my husband's least favorite of the 3 options. We both agree they are ALL great though! It has the highest calories per serving of the 3 flavors at 240 cals but still has 20g of protein (same as others). I feel like they nailed the funfetti cake ball texture and flavor here. My husband felt it was sweeter than he prefers but he would say this about real cake balls too in fairness. Final verdict:  VERY good and will buy again. If you like funfetti cake balls, these are on the money! 

P.S. fabulous nails from @jamberry

Next up on the @optimumnutrition Protein Cake Bites taste test is Red Velvet. This flavor has one of the lowest calorie counts of the 3 flavors at 230 cals per serving, same protein as the other flavors at 20g. This is my second favorite flavor by just a smidge (bday cake is tops for me) but I really do love it. My husband feels the same though his top choice is different than mine, he puts it at a solid second. We both feel ON nailed the red velvet flavor with a touch of cocoa and the cream cheese notes.  Final verdict: this might be the ONE flavor to try if you have to pick one. All around choice. Will buy again!

 

Finally on my taste test of @optimumnutrition new protein cake bites is the chocolate covered cherry flavor. Of the 3 flavors this was my least favorite and my husband's most favorite of the 3 options. We both agree they are ALL great though! It has the highest calories per serving of the 3 flavors at 240 cals but still has 20g of protein (same as others). I feel like it is just nice and sweet, I do not really get cherry or chocolate. It is still GOOD, do not get me wrong... just not as good as the other two to me. Final verdict: good and will buy again for the hubs. I will eat these if I do not have the other two options LOL

Have you tried ON Protein Cake Bites? If not, do you want to? If you had, what were your thoughts?