After trying many different batches, I have finally tweaked my homemade energy bars into what I feel is the bar with the best taste, texture, and nutritional combination.
Specimen Bars
½ cup agave nectar
½ cup honey
2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 cup natural peanut butter
3 cups oatmeal
3 scoops vanilla whey protein
½ cup raisins
½ cup unsalted sunflower seeds
½ cup slivered almonds
1. In a medium saucepan, heat honey, agave nectar, peanut butter, and coconut oil until ingredients are combined.
2. Add in protein powder and mix well.
3. Pour mixture into large bowl and stir in oatmeal.
4. Fold in raisins, sunflower seeds, and almonds.
5. Pour/press into a 13x9 baking pan.
6. Store in the refrigerator.
| Ingredient | Calories | Fat (grams) | carbs (grams) | protein (grams) | Fiber (grams) |
| Peanut butter | 1530 | 131.7 | 49.8 | 65 | 15.2 |
| Rolled Oats | 789 | 6 | 176.4 | 27 | 28.8 |
| Protein Powder | 360 | 3 | 12 | 72 | 0 |
| Honey | 480 | 0 | 136 | .5 | .4 |
| Agave Nectar | 480 | 0 | 128 | 0 | 8 |
| Coconut Oil | 240 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Raisins | 217 | 0 | 57 | 2.3 | 2.7 |
| Almonds | 312 | 27.4 | 10.6 | 12 | 6.4 |
| Sunflower seeds | 380 | 36 | 8 | 14 | 4 |
| Recipe Total (24 bars) | 4788 | 232.1 | 577.8 | 191.8 | 65.5 |
| Per Serving | 200 | 9.7 | 24 | 8 | 2.7 |
Insanity
Day 29: Fit Test and Max Cardio & Conditioning: Today I was still feeling under the weather, so my goal was to at least reach the number of reps I got during the last fit test and wasn’t too worried about improvement. To my surprise, I met and exceeded all of my numbers. One disappointment was during the weigh in. I ended up weighing exactly the same as I did during the last weigh in, which is good that at least I didn’t increase in weight. Though this is a slight disappointment, this is a typical result because as body fat is lost and muscle mass in gained, overall weight gain is common when someone doesn’t have a lot of mass to lose from the beginning. After the fit test, a Max Cardio & Conditioning workout was also part of the schedule agenda. Anamal and I decided that we would give it our best effort and realized that the Fit Test fatigued us more than expected. Good thing we had our recovery formula today! One realization we came to is that today would be the hardest and most fatiguing day of Insanity…so it’s all downhill from here!
Results as follows:
1. Switch Kicks – improve from 129 to 132 (2% increase)
2. Power Jacks – improve from 58 to 64 (10% increase)
3. Power Knees – improve from 108 to 115 (6% increase)
4. Power Jumps – improve from 42 to 48 (14% increase)
5. Globe Jumps – improve from 12 to 13 (8% increase)
6. Suicide Jumps – improve from 20 to 22 (10% increase)
7. Push-Up Jacks – improve from 40 to 45 (13% increase)
8. Low Plank Oblique – improve from 78 to 86 (10% increase)
Day 30: Max Interval Circuit: Today I was very annoyed because I forgot the cropped spandex I typically work out in, so I was left to workout in heavy sweatpants. I could definitely tell that my body temperature was increased throughout the duration of the workout and the pants limited my range of motion slightly. I still pushed through the workout and learned a valuable lesson….it is ALWAYS important to have an extra workout outfit in your gym bag! The Max workouts are starting to get routine and I have noticed that I am counting down the days until Insanity is over for the mere fact that I am sick of the routine and sick of hearing Shaun T’s voice. I can definitely see why this is only a 60 day program….1 – it gets ridiculously routine and 2 – at some point you have hit a plateau and it is impossible to improve. As a fitness professional, this is why I inform my clients of the importance of changing their exercise prescription every 8 weeks. This will keep your body and muscles engaged and will help avoid reaching workout plateaus.
Day 31: Max Interval Plyo: Today’s circuit was definitely tough! As mentioned previously, this is my least favorite circuit of the program, and honestly, the only way I got through it was by telling myself that this is the LAST time I will EVER have to do this disk again! Let me tell you…that was ultimate motivation to hit hard, go strong, and grunt through the exhaustion (no joke…if you were in the gym with me today, you can attest to the excessive grunting). The Xtend recovery formula definitely helped (at least mentally) and to my surprise, my performance was much better than when I did this circuit last week. I moved a little slower to reduce the impact on my joints, but kept up the steady pace throughout the duration of the workout. This workout is constantly engaging your muscles and really puts you in that fat burning zone for the entirety of the 55 minutes. By the end of this workout, you could probably ring out my clothes I was sweating so hard!
Day 32: Max Recovery: Today was the necessary recovery day in the workout. As mentioned previously, the Max recovery is a little more active than the Cardio Recovery and uses more stabilizer muscles. I thoroughly enjoy this recovery workout and am a little sad that this is the last time this workout is scheduled into the agenda (though with 8 days left, I am pretty excited this challenge is almost over). After the Max Recovery, I did a back super set to add in a little extra muscle fatigue. I am noticing more and more that my entire body is getting overall stronger. When doing my back superset (which I rarely have done a back superset in the past) I could lift weights that I never imagined lifting before. The reason for adding these periodic supersets is not only further fatigue my muscles, but to add in a different workout than the high intensity cardio workouts that this program is structured around. By adding a different mode of fitness, this is breaking up the routine that your muscles remember and will spike blood flow and give an extra pump to the targeted area which will ultimately keep you from reaching a plateau.
Day 33: Cardio Core & Balance: This is more of a recovery routine, which is a nice break up to the week and a nice prep for tomorrows Max Insanity workout. This is the type of workout that is the majority of next week in prep for the final fit test. Though this doesn’t have the increased cardio level that most of the other workouts have, this workout keeps you in the maximum fat burning zone for the duration of the workout.
Day 34: Max Interval Circuit: Today I had a really good workout. I felt like I was well rested and well recovered from the previous week of Max Insanity and was really able to give it my all! The Xtend recovery formula definitely helped give me that extra boost I needed and for what feels like the first time, I was able to keep up with the Shaun T pace and was able to go hard throughout the entire workout. I was definitely exhausted after the workout, as usual, but felt a huge sense of accomplishment. After The Max Interval Circuit I did a 15 minute abdominal routine. It felt good to really fatigue my abs for it has been awhile since I have worked them. The perfect way to describe how I felt when I left the gym is….ripped.
…and on the 35th day, the Specimen looked back at what she created and was pleased with the results…at this she took a day to rest and reflect…
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