almond milk | Losing It Little By Little

First, I have to say that I’m really disappointed in myself for not keeping up with this blog like I had originally hoped. Lots of things have managed to get in the way – namely life! I got a new job, and it has been taking up a LOT more time than I thought. It’s okay though, because it’s an awesome challenge and so far, I’m really liking it. Trying to cram in all of my health and fitness stuff around it has been the real challenge, but I’m happy to say I’ve been doing it! I’ve been working with a trainer 3 times a week, and also trying to get in as many Zumba classes as humanly possible…which brings me to this post.

I got the idea for this post from my most awesome Zumba instructor and friend Eva over at Committed2Nutrition. Every once in a while, she posts her new favorite foods. So here goes my list for today…

Starbucks Iced Venti Americano. My post-Zumba drink for this morning. I happened to meet up with Eva at Starbucks after class, so I treated her to an iced coffee as a sort of “thank you” for helping me on my journey! I got an iced Americano with 2 pumps of sugar-free vanilla syrup. I think I’m going to try something Eva has been talking about – flavored liquid stevia. I’m not a big fan of artificially sweetened stuff, but this is my one weakness. Maybe the stevia will take the place of the SFV… I used to get this with no water and then fill the rest with milk, but lately I’ve just been getting it black.

Trader Joe’s Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk. Love. This. Stuff. Great in smoothies, on cereal, and even to make chocolate “milk” for a treat every once in a while.

Fage Total 0% Greek Yogurt. I eat this almost every day. You can make this into almost anything… Throw it in a smoothie, use it in place of sour cream or mayo in dips and dressings, top it with fresh fruit… I’ve even mixed it with some PB2 and used it as a dip for apples! This stuff is just awesome…

PB2. This stuff ROCKS! If you simply look at it, you might think that someone ran some peanut butter through the dryer…it’s literally dry, powdered peanut butter. You can mix some water in to make a PB-like paste, or you can do what I do and just add it to protein shakes and smoothies. Just for a quick comparison on 2 TBSP (typical peanut butter serving size) – PB2 has 45 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, 5 grams of carbs, and 5 grams of protein compared to regular peanut butter (I use Kirkland Natural from Costco) which has 200 calories, 15 grams of fat, 7 grams of carbs, and 9 grams of protein. Granted, the regular peanut butter wins out on protein, but check out the FAT! Ten times less! Trust me. It’s amazing. I buy it here.