My Sunday Story: Two great stories about real people

Today I came across two great stories that made me stop, listen, and think.  I woke up today feeling unmotivated (typical Sunday, eh), determined not to waste my morning laying around the apartment (like some slob), I decided go downtown and hit up the retail district (cuz you know, buying something nice for yourself or someone always brings temporary gratification to one's life.  Sad, but true lol).

Half way there I stopped off at a near by coffee shop to meet a friend for some conversations.  It was there that I came across the first story in the Sunday Province, a story about Andrew McLane and his remarkable life transformation - from being categorized as super obese to a now slim 200 lbs.  Instead of going into more details about Mr. McLane, I will share a link to this his story

Parksville realtor's spectacular weight loss the product of regular exercise, healthy eating and hard work

After leaving the coffee shop I started to feel more like myself so I thought to myself "shopping - F. that!"  Soon after I found myself swimming laps at the near by Ymca on Burrard.  It is here that I come across story number two.

After exhausting myself in the lap pool, I went to a place that is highly regarded in my top 10 best man made things - the hot tub lol!  While relaxing for about 5 min, I grew bored (for those that don't know me, I can get very ADD) so I started up a conversation with the person beside me.  After telling them about my morning and how it lead me here they told me about theirs and how it involved this amazing youtube video.  You may have heard about it - it's titled The Amazing Transformation of a Guy Who Didn't Give Up.  Two words is all I need to sum this video up - Simply Amazing!
 
I feel very blessed that these two stories have found me today - As life will have it some times, I have been feeling a bit uninspired the last couple of weeks and was in deed needing a good "slap" back into form.  Even with all the great things that have happened during that period, I couldn't help but feel a bit lost in my emotions.  I guess it is true what they say, put it out to the universe and it will reply back (you just need not ignore them when they come).  As I type the last few sentences to this story, its safe to say that I am more focused than ever to take on the challenges in front of me and accomplish each and everyone of them LIKE A BOSS (then moving on to new and even more amazing things - maybe a triathlon soon???).  

That's my Sunday story folks... hope you enjoy it!   Now to get off the computer and swing some kettlebells around and watch Walking Dead & Dexter (in that order lol) before it gets too late.  Will be posting a great recipe for a quick healthy breakfast smoothie soon... stay tuned.  Till next time :)

PS I got a protein smoothie at the coffee shop.
 

Recipes when I feel like it: Homemade Protein Bars

So because my curiosity got the better of me this week (and my annoyance of waiting in costco lineups just to buy cliff builder bars) I've decided to experiment with my own protein bar. After some careful research I've created a list of ingredients.


Too make things easier, I'm going to separate the ingredients to a dry bowl and wet bowl - I promise you the names will make sense in the end lol. In case you haven't guessed yet, you'll also need two giant bowls as well (one of which is safe for the microwave if you choose that route).

Dry Bowl Ingredients:
2 cups Oats (you can spice things up by adding any dry grains or seeds to make a mix)
1 cup Protein Powder (natural, vanilla, or chocolate are best for taste)
1/4 cup Peanuts or Almonds (or any nut you prefer)
1/4 cup Cranberries or Raisons (or any dried fruit)
1/4 cup Coconut Shreds (unsweetened or sweetened, your call - just remember, sweetened will increase your sugar content)
1/2 tbsp Cinnamon


Assemble everything into one bowl. After mixing it up, place your dry bowl a side to make room for the next bowl.

Wet Bowl Ingredients:
1/4 cup Peanut Butter (prefer natural but if all you got is skippy or Kraft - go with it!)
1/4 cup Honey
1/4 cup Milk (or soy, almond, coconut, rice... and etc - doesn't matter. But if you often find yourself without a fridge, you may want to choose one of the latter)
1/4 cup Apple Sauce (unsweetened or sweetened, your call - refer to coconut shreds)
1/4 cup Dark Chocolate (or milk chocolate if that's all you got)
1 tsp Vanilla Extract





Again, assemble everything into one bowl. For the next step you can either place the bowl in the microwave or use the old school method of pots and pans to melt the ingredients - your call...

 Next, pour your melted wet bowl ingredients into your dry bowl ingredients.

You've guessed it, now for the fun part - get your dirty hands in there and mix everything up. Just kidding - wash your hands if you already haven't ;)



Once everything is mixed, transfer it to a baking tray to be put into the fridge for an hour or two (or in the freezer if your ADD like me or in a hurry). I found long tupperware containers works well as well (so save those pastic chinese take out containers). Keep tray in the fridge until ingredients have solidified.

Voila!!! The protein bars are done!!! I'll leave you with the freedom to decide how to cut into smaller bars.

Enjoy!!!  Don't be shy - If you have an input on how to make this better (or different, in a good way) send your thoughts my way :)