Quest Bar Giveaway & Review!

August 29, 2013 by Christine Skari

A little while back, I was on a mission to find and try some Quest bars. They have literally taken over the healthy living community and I was seeing them everywhere, yet couldn’t find them in any nearby stores. (Talk about taunting!)

Luckily, when I contacted Quest Nutrition, they kindly sent me over a huge sampler to try and review. To say I was excited when I saw the box sitting on my front porch would be an understatement.

I ripped opened my package, took out the coveted cookie dough flavor, and popped it in the microwave for 15 seconds.

The verdict?

Yum! The bar was perfectly sweet, sizable (not one of your puny protein bars), and ridiculously filling!

Here’s the lowdown:

High protein: “Quest Bars use cross flow filtered why protein isolate, the most expensive and highest quality protein in the world.”

Low carb: “With just 2-7g active carbs and 100% gluten free Quest Bars will help you achieve your goals no matter what thet are.”

Perfect ingredients: “Most protein bars have a list of ingredients a mile long filled with chemicals you’ve never heard of. Quest bars, on the other hand, have just a few simple ingredients.”

I’ve tried my fair share of protein bars, and let me tell you, most of the are pretty gross. Not only do they have an ingredient list chock full of things I can’t pronounce, they are basically just glorified candy bars. Being a student, I love being able to reach for a Quest bar on my way out of the door to snack on in-between meals or as a post-gym snack!

There are also a ton of different flavors, my personal favorites being the cookie dough, peanut butter, and coconut cashew bars!

Don’t get me wrong, no protein bar will ever taste like candy or sweets loaded with fat and sugar, but Quest does a remarkably good job at providing protein-packed bars that actually taste good and have phenomenal nutritional stats!

Want to try some?

Quest is sponsoring a giveaway for a similar sampler pack to the one I received!

Any reader can win (you don’t have to be a blogger), so feel free to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hope you enjoy!

xo Christine

I Ran… And It Was Good.

August 26, 2013 by Christine Skari

I have a love-hate relationship when it comes to running.

I’ve noticed that when I get into a habit of lacing up my shoes and running a couple of times a week, I actually crave and look forward to my runs. As soon as I stop, though, just thinking about running makes me dread it. The firs run back is definitely the hardest.

I’m really trying to break out of my running inconsistency, especially since the weather is starting to get colder and I don’t have the “omg I can’t run because it’s 80 degrees outside” excuse.

And yes, I’m a temperature snob and consider anything above 72 degrees to be too hot for running haha.

Anyways, I got in my first run since forever on Saturday and ran an easy 3 miles on the treadmill at my gym. It actually wasn’t as awful as I expected, and I surprised myself by running at a 9:30 pace. Once upon a time I could run a sub-7 minute mile without really training (club soccer will do that to ya), but I’m happy with that time as a starting point. I’m so glad that it wasn’t too painful, because now I’m on an extended runner’s high and feel like working towards a goal.

Ultimately, I’d like to run a half marathon (Beth’s training is starting to motivate me), but for now, I’m just going to try to get in 10 miles a week and speed up my time a bit. Sounds doable!

Other than my intense pondering on running, today was spent loosening up my sore muscles with a quick 2 mile run, 15 minute elliptical session, and a lovely beach-side walk with my man!

We walked for about an hour and a half and grabbed some coffee before heading back to one of our favorite local restaurants to munch on some Thai food. Talk about yum!

Speaking of coffee, I’m sure going to need some tomorrow morning. I’m wiped! Time to catch some Zzzs and head to bed.

Night!

Question of the day: Do you ever fall out of your running groove?

Wanted: Hair Advice

August 21, 2013 by Christine Skari

So about a year and a half ago, I decided to dye my hair to a lighter caramel color. but, being my lazy self, I never got it recolored or had touchups done, so I’m currently sporting a soft ombre that naturally happened when my hair grew out.

Sorry for the crappy selfie quality!

I’m ready for a change now, and need advice on what color to go with!

I was thinking that a rich brown with red highlights or lowlights might be a fun change. But, I’m completely open to suggestions! I wish I had more white-girl features so I could pull of blonde, but my half asian side begs to differ.

Anyways, these are some pictures I scooped off the web that are in the direction I’m thinking! I’m also considering getting a haircut, but I’m trying to grow my hair out and hate that hairdressers usually chop off way more than I like.

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The last one is my current favorite :)!

I’d appreciate your thoughts!

MIMM: Quest Bar Sampler, Extended Cardio, and Baked Beans

August 18, 2013 by Christine Skari

Marvelous is sneaky cardio!

Today started off on a sweaty cardio-filled note with a workout that included 30 minutes on the elliptical and 30 minutes of intense incline walking. I usually get bored doing just plain cardio for extended periods of time, but I was mesmerized by the World Championship track and field events that were being played on the tv above me. I can’t get over how insanely fast all of them are! The women look almost like machines with how in-sync their bodies move, especially when they were doing the 100m hurdles. They don’t even miss a beat after jumping one and land so smoothly and fluidly. I wish I was that beast-like!

Anyways, I figured that I would look kinda stupid just standing in the cardio room gawking at the television, so I jumped on the treadmill and busted out an extra 30 minutes while the championship played out. Not was I usually do, but I’ll take it!

Marvelous is a free Quest bar sampler!

After my workout, I headed over to my local grocery store to pick up something from their salad bar and make a quick Starbucks run. When I got back home, I was uber (yes, uber) excited to see a wonderful package waiting outside my door! The great people at Quest Nutrition were kind enough to send me a sampler pack of some of their products to review. I couldn’t wait to break open the box and had the cookie dough flavor, my salad, and Starbucks for lunch! Talk about the perfect meal ;). Really, though, I’m excited to try all of the other flavors they have and am still celebrating over how fantastic their nutritional profile is. Partayyy!

Marvelous (or not so, not sure yet) is netflix and binge watching tv shows.

I spent the rest of the afternoon watching my new tv obsession, Supernatural. I have a really bad habit of binge watching tv shows on netflix and exhausting myself from watching 10 episodes a day and getting absorbed into my couch. It doesn’t help that netflix automatically plays the next episode, so I technically only have 15 seconds to decide how I’m going to spend the rest of my day. This time, it’s especially bad because my new series features things like demons, spirits, exorcisms, etc, so I’m constantly afraid that some possessed doll will kill me in my sleep and that I will die if I look into my bathroom mirror (damn Bloody Mary episode). I’m obviously winning at life.

Marvelous is great food and hanging out with Kyle’s family.

Around 6, I headed over to Kyle’s parent’s house for a BBQ. The food was fantastic and I can’t help but drool at the thought of the bacon baked beans that they had. SO good!

Also, ain’t Kyle a handsome lil’ booger? Omgz I heart him.

Marvelous is a new DIY project! (making this tomorrow!)

On a side note, how cute is this DIY camera strap from The House that Lars Built? I have a pretty standard black one for my Nikon and would love to girlify my camera. Plus, my dad’s name is Lars and so that’s basically a divine sign that I need this in my life. Time to head to the craft store!

Anyways, that was my day in a very big nutshell!

Have a great rest of your weekend!

xo Christine

DIY No-Slip Workout Headbands!

August 15, 2013 by Christine Skari

Whenever I workout, I almost always wear a headband to keep my bangs back and out of my face. That being said, I also need to use a million (just an estimate) bobby pins to make sure it doesn’t slip out of place. Even my fancy and expensive lululemon headband requires pinning down.

So, when I made no-slip workout headbands that require no pins and actually stays in place by themselves, I was one happy and excited girl!

What’s even better is that they’re sparkly and they spruce up my workout attire when I’m at the gym or running. My face may look like it’s melting from all the sweat on it, but my hair looks damn good! Practical and cute, that’s a win in my book.

*I’ve gotten several requests for information on where to buy these. If you’re interested, email me at christineskari@gmail.com! Thanks!

The secret to the bands staying in place is lining the bottom with velveteen ribbon, which took me forever to find! I probably wasted enough gas going to various craft stores to buy a whole arsenal of sweatybands or bicbands, but where’s the fun in that ;)? There’s something so comforting about a sewing machine and trying to avoid sticking a needle in my fingers. Le sigh.

Anyways, I was thinking that is might be fun to give a few of these babies away in the future and spread the love! I’ve worn them for 3 days straight and can’t get over how well they stay in place. Poor Kyle, every 5 minutes when we were playing tennis yesterday I would exclaim something along the lines of, “KYLE!! IT’S STILL ON MY HEAD” or “KYLE!! HOW GOOD DO I LOOK?!”. That boy puts up with a lot.

Going along the lines of sewing, I feel so domesticated right now. Cooking, baking, and now sewing? I’m a regular Martha Stewart.

In other news, I got lunch from the hot bar at my local Whole Foods yesterday, and oh my yum, it was SO good! Their mac and cheese is ridiculously delicious and I had a chilled grilled peach that was amazing. I’m drooling just thinking about it. Mhmm. I also picked up a sweet potato, kabocha pumpkin, and some broccoli and beef for a new recipe I’m trying out. More on how that goes later!

Other than that, the rest of today will be spent working on some freelance work, getting sweaty at the gym, and cooking! Sounds like a pretty good deal to me!

Let me know if you guys would be interested in a small giveaway!

xo Christine