the 55 calorie chocolate cookie recipe.

my sister made these flourless chocolate walnut cookies last night and she said they were sooo good. i am taking her word for it because i haven't had a chance to make them yet. but she is a good cook so i am sure they are great. i can't wait to try them.

flourless chocolate walnut cookies

ingredients

• Parchment paper
• 2 1/2 cups walnut halves
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 egg whites
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

what you do

1. Position 2 racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Heat oven to 350°. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Place walnuts on a work surface and finely chop. Transfer to a separate large baking sheet and toast until fragrant, about 9 minutes. Let cool. Mix sugar, cocoa and salt in a bowl. Stir in walnuts. Add egg whites and vanilla; beat with a fork or an electric mixer on medium until batter is just moistened. (Do not overbeat batter or it will stiffen.) Drop batter by the teaspoonful onto baking sheets in evenly spaced mounds. Bake cookies until tops are lightly cracked and glossy, about 15 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

THE SKINNY

55 calories per cookie, 3.3 g fat (0.4 g saturated), 6.2 g carbs, 0.6 g fiber, 1.2 g protein

here is the original link to the recipe from self.com

do you have any healthy recipes you want to share? share the love with us readers and email me them! pojofitness{at}gmail.com

do the twist.

the russian twist

have you ever done these before? if not, you are totally missing out on an awesome ab move that targets your entire core and specifically focuses on the obliques. instead of me describing how to do this move, i came across this awesome picture with the three progressions from women's health magazine. {click on the photo to enlarge}.

for the next few weeks throw these into your workouts.

better yet, why don't i just give you an ab workout to do that incorporates the russian twist?

do 3 sets of 15 of each move:

- sit ups

- leg lowers

- russian twist

- 1 minute plank

sit ups: two options- you can put your arms by your ears and then sit up or for a harder version, put your hands behind your head. keep your feet on the floor!!

leg lowers: sit on your hands and lower your legs. make sure your low back doesn't completely arch. if it does, don't lower the legs as low.

plank: to make planks harder, raise one leg for 30 seconds then the other.

almonds.

photo courtesy of livestrong.com

when you need a little pick me up snack, something to hold you over in between meals or a little snack before your workout, raw almonds are a great option

{make sure to buy the plain almonds, don't get the sugary ones or the ones with other flavors, this equals more calories}.

here is the 411 on almonds:

- 14 almonds= 100 calories

{make sure to measure these out to keep your calories in check!}

- they contain as much calcium as milk

- great source of vitamin e

- almonds are considered one of the healthiest nuts to eat

-contain a low amount of saturated fat

- eating a small serving of these, along with a healthy diet, may help reduce the risk of heart disease

- i like eating almonds before a workout because they give me energy and i don't feel full or sick when i am working out after eating them.

have i sold you on almonds yet???

have you added in high knees and a backwards uphill run yet like i talked about here? you should probably try both of these things- my booty was so sore after my mix in run and i think yours will be too if you try it. do it this weekend. you and your lower body will love me later.

i have been slacking and posting late at night i know. next week i will be back on track and i have a new feature i will be starting next week. get excited!

happy friday!

splenda vs stevia

this is a common question i get asked a lot...

what's the difference between the two? find out here.

pojo's tip: how to mix up your outside runs

pojo's tip

to mix up my run today i threw in a few high knees and ran a few hills backwards. i know i probably looked like an idiot but oh well i felt great about my mix up. by throwing in a few high knees and running backwards up hills, i was challenging and confusing my muscles a bit. this is a good thing because you 1. are utilizing more muscles this way which will give you a better workout and 2. you are burning more calories because your body is working harder to keep up!

how pojo's workout went with the mix in's

so this how i did my workout: today i ran a hilly 4 miles. on a few, of the hills, i ran backwards uphill and i threw in a few sprints at the end. instead of just doing a slower recovery jog in between sprints, i had the bright idea to do high knees instead. wo, that was a whole new world. high knees and sprints are hard! {at least i was feeling it}.

how to mix in backward uphill runs and high knees into your outdoor runs:

- run the hills backwards {or at least half of the hill}

- throw in 3-6 sprints 20 second - 1 minute sprints.

- in between your sprints do high knees instead of a recovery jog for 20 seconds.

i think you will like the mix up and your body will too!

plum street prints giveaway winners!

the two winners are...

Jess said...

I would probably pick the New York State print!

Katy said...

These prints are great! I love the California State print. I'd love an Oklahoma one, too (that's where my husband and I are from).

congrats ladies!

email me pojofitness{at}gmail.com your email address and we can get your prints to you.

thanks to everyone who entered.

be mine.

my little valentine and i are having a terrific day. i hope you are too. baby pojo took a long nap which was fantastic because i managed to squeeze in a kick my trash strength and cardio workout that has left my whole body shaking!! that is what i am loving right now.

in case you are having a sweet tooth today. i have something that might save your waistline...

find out what 100 calories of valentine candy really looks like here.

you will be surprised.

have a happy valentine's day!

race day goodness. {favorite new headband+ playlist}

remember how i told you we were running a 5k on saturday? well, it was freezing, windy, was a hilly course but it was tons of fun! my husband and i pretty much ran together the entire time which was a lot of fun. we have done two half marathons and now a 5k together, i have concluded we are good team. anyways, this was my fastest 5k time. my goal was to run it in 23:30 but i ran it in 22:09!!!! i was pretty stoked about that.

this was taken after the race. not the best picture but when are race day pictures ever great??

pojo's new favorite headband

i found a new headband that i am loving for my workouts because they stay put. i love anything glitter so when i spotted these i knew i had to buy one. well i loved these headbands so much that i went back and bought two more. they called sweaty bands. there are several different styles but i have only tried the metallic ones and they seriously don't move! i have a silver, gold and black one. i am wearing the gold one in the picture above.

get your sweaty bands here.

pojo's winning race day playlist

here is my playlist i made for my race saturday.

since it was a short race, all of my songs are pretty fast so i could keep my pace pretty consistent. {for longer runs/races i will mix it up but since it was only 3.1 miles i kept the songs fast}

this is the exact order of my playlist

1. pyt {marquis remix}: palms out sounds

2. good feeling: flo rida

3. pjanoo{the freemasons rebuild}: eric prydz

4. we are rockstars: does it offend you, yeah?

5. sexy and i know it: lmfao

6. pump up the jam: technotronic

7. ultimate funk: bob sinclar

8. every teardrop is a waterfall: coldplay

and, today is the last day to enter the plum street prints giveaway!

enter here.

a ruby tuesday option plus a recipe for your chocolate fix.

this is a busy week for us and the weekend is even busier around here. tonight we went to dinner for a friends birthday, tomorrow morning we are running a 5k and tomorrow night we are helping throw a valentine's party at our church. the blog has been a bit neglected in preparartion for all of this weekend's events but next week i will be back to normal i swear.

since it is the weekend you might be going out to dinner. check this out...

tonight we went out to eat at ruby tuesdays for my friends birthday. i always like to plan ahead and check out the nutrition facts online so i can decide what i am going to eat that won't blow all my calories for the day. i have not eaten at ruby tuesdays in a long time but i must say i got something really good. they have a few menu options listed as "fit and trim". i ordered the barbecue grilled chicken with roasted zucchini and sphagetti squash. i was impressed, it was delicious! and the best part, the entire entree had a total of 372 calories. it was the perfect amount and i did not feel too full.

i came home and made a frozen hot chocolate to top it off.
{i have shared this recipe before but i will share it again}.

frozen hot chocolate
1 packet of diet hot coco {25 calorie kind}
1 cup of skim milk
ice
water
mini chocolate chips, optional
cool whip, optional

in the magic bullet {or blender}, add hot chocolate, milk, a few chocolate chips, ice and a small amount of water. blend till desired consistency. add a small dollop of cool whip and enjoy.

i love this drink because it is feeling, gives me my chocolate fix and only has 105 calories!

here's to a happy weekend!

fat blasting treadmill workout.

tonight's post is going to be short and sweet. it is 11 pm and i didn't want the day to get away without leaving you guys with a fit tip/little workout.

for my run today i ran 4.5 miles. i was in a hurry and wanted to run 6 but i knew that baby pojo was not going to let me so 4.5 miles it was. to burn a few more calories i added in some hills and increased my speed every mile. doing these two things, during a treadmill run, can increase your calorie burn in a shorter amount of time.

here is the tip...

during treadmill runs, burn more fat and calories by adding in a 1-2 minute incline per mile {incline of about a 4 or 5 and keep the same speed} and increasing your speed for every mile you run.

if you are a little confused, let me explain with an example:

{these speeds might be too fast or too slow for you, again this is just an example for you to get the idea}

start out jogging at a 6.0 speed for 5 minutes.

increase your speed to a 6.2 for 3 minutes.

keep your pace and turn the incline up to a 4% grade for 1-2 minutes.

lower the incline back to 0% for 2 minutes.

you can stay at this pace or you could add in another incline minute.

mile 2: increase your speed to a 6.4 for 5 minutes

keep your speed and add incline for 1 -2 minutes.

lower incline and continue pattern.

does that make sense? basically you will increase your speed after each mile and you will do at least one incline {or hill} run for each mile. {if you run 4 miles, by the end you will have done 4 hills and increased your pace 4 times}.

try it next workout... my legs were dead, i had burned more calories and i was drenched after my run today. i love all 3 of things.

let me know how it goes!