My Current Amazon Favorites

*Note: This post contains affiliate links, Nina gets a tiny portion of commission if you purchase something on Amazon. Thank you for your support!

I always get asked what my favorite Amazon buy is, so I figured I would do a weekly round-up for you guys! Are you obsessed with Amazon-like me? Seriously though, having Amazon Prime at my fingertips makes it so convenient for this on-the-go mom! It can also be a little dangerous for my budget  Dang you Amazon!!!

Here are a few of my favorite Fitness related items this week:

1. Resistance Loop Exercise 5 Bands. Comes with Instructional Booklet, Carry Bag, eBook, and Online Videos. I get the best booty workout with these! $11.95 (Get it here)

2. 6 Pack Fitness - Meal Prep Bag. Keeps meals fresh and safe as well as hot and cold. Containers are BPA/PVC free, leak-proof, microwave, and dishwasher safe. Includes: 2 Gel Packs, 3 containers, and an ergonomic shoulder strap. $70.99 (get it here)

3. Wrist Wraps by Stoic: Weight Lifting Wrist Supports for Weight Training. Gives superior levels of support to immobilize the wrist when necessary. These are awesome for chest/back/bis/tris day. $9.77 (get it here)

4. Dual Sided Gliding Discs Core Sliders by Iron Core Fitness. Our Fitness Gliders allow you to perform exercises that target every muscle group, providing great sport and real-world carryover conditioning. You can get the best AB workout with these! $9.95 (get it here)

5. Hydro Flask Double Wall Vacuum Insulated Stainless Steel Leak Proof Sports Water Bottle, Standard Mouth with BPA Free Flex Cap. This is one of my favorites! $34.95 (get it here)

There you have it! My 5 Amazon Favorites for the week! Check back next Sunday for my other suggestions. Happy Shopping!

xo,

Nina

BCAAs

Just died and went to heaven! Been wanting to try these two flavors for a long time... Yumm! 

I love switching up my BCAAs 😋💪🏻 People always ask me why I take BCAAs (aka branched-chain amino acids) here is what I tell them: amino acids are the building blocks of protein. 

Because we break down muscle tissue while exercising, supplementing with it can only be a good thing. It also helps with lean muscle mass and recovery!

There you have it, add some BCAAs to your daily routine and your body will thank you!

My favorite brand is BPI Sports! You can find it for a great deal on Amazon!

  

Sweet Roasted Peanuts Recipe!

This Sweet Peanut Recipe is delicious... You know the type you buy at sporting events?? 😋

🔸Ingredients:

2 pounds of peanuts (I used raw from WinCo’s)
10 ounces granulated sugar
1/2 cup of cornstarch

7 ounces of water

🔸Directions:

1. Dry roast the peanuts in a pan until crunchy and set aside on a plate to cool.
2. Pour water and sugar into the work and place over medium heat. Stir until the syrup starts to bubble
3. Add peanuts and cornstarch to the mixture stirring simultaneously. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.
4. Cool for a while and serve warm.
5. Optional- I added 1 tablespoon of cinnamon to mine

My Fight Song & Real Talk

It's time to get real once again...  I'm not close to my goals yet, and each morning I wake up and check my abs, but I'm getting there!!! 

Now Let's talk about loneliness! You know I've been having a lot of nights by myself lately. Most of my days consist of work, gym, then home to relax... Sometimes I can't sleep right away. So I start to think about life. Like how long it's been since I felt loved by a guy... It's been a while you guys. 

Or how about the last time a guy truly cared about me and didn't want me just for a hookup. I know that I have mentioned plenty of times that I'm on a break from dating. (Which It's been 1 month I shall add). That doesn't mean that this part of my life has been super easy. 

You know why it's hard? Because I get plenty of texts, snaps, and DMs from guys. Even though I'm trying to stay strong. Sometimes I just want someone to hang out, watch movies, eat food, and cuddle with... I'm so simple. Loneliness sucks you guys! I just want to feel loved. This is hard!! But it feels good to get my feelings out... 


I wanted to quickly tell you all THANK YOU! from the bottom of my heart! I read every single Instagram comment you wrote and took it to heart! 

Thank you for letting me be real with you on my account. I want to show you the good, the bad, and the ugly... I hope you understand that even though I'm the most positive girl, that truly loves herself! 

It's not always all unicorns and rainbows. I'm human, I'm real, and I have my down days. Last night was one of them... Let me tell you something about writers, we write our feelings down and it helps us feel better. 

So, thank you for letting me share my life with you all! I'm felling blessed today and this song is one of my favorite songs and the lyrics speak to me!

"This is my fight song
Take back my life song
Prove I'm alright song
My power's turned on
Starting right now I'll be strong
I'll play my fight song
And I don't really care if nobody else believes

'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me"

Wall Sits!

Wall sits are the best! Said no one ever 🙄

But here we are getting it in right Fam? Leg days are my favorite for this reason!

 I've been mixing up my routine lately and I'm loving the results! 💪🏻

A wall sit is an exercise done to strengthen the quadriceps muscles. 

It is characterized by the two right angles formed by the body, one at the hips and one at the knees. The person wall sitting places their back against a wall with their feet shoulder width apart and a little ways out from the wall.

xo, 

Karina

Quotes that make me happy!

Long quote but worth the read… 

"Laugh, even when you feel too sick or too worn out or tired. Smile, even when you're trying not to cry, and the tears are blurring your vision.

 Sing, even when people stare at you and tell you your voice is crappy.
Trust, even when your heart begs you not to. Twirl, even when your mind makes no sense of what you see. Kiss, even when others are watching. 

Sleep, even when you're afraid of what the dreams might bring. Run, even when it feels like you can't run any more. And, always, remember, even when the memories pinch your heart.

 Because the pain of all your experience is what makes you the person you are now. And without your experience---you are an empty page, a blank notebook, a missing lyric. 

What makes you brave is your willingness to live through your terrible life and hold your head up high the next day. So, don't live life in fear. 

Because you are stronger now, after all the crap has happened, than you ever were back before it started."

🍕Brazilian Pizza Recipe🍕

Okay so I have a confession to make, I'm not a huge pizza FAN. I know right? But if do have to say that one of my most favorite things to make for my family and friends is my homemade pizza recipe. It's light and filling, and the toppings are yummy! 

🍕INGREDIENTS 

• 4 cups of flour
• 1 cup of lukewarm water
• ¼ cup of active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup of oil
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 8 oz. of pizza cheese (add more if you like a lot of cheese)
• 2 red tomatoes
• a pinch of oregano for seasoning
• Tomato sauce, that has been cooked with a little bit of seasoning 

🍕INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat the water, dissolve the yeast in it and add the oil,
salt and sugar.
2. Using your mixer on the lowest setting pour 3 cups of flour. Then, slowly add the
mixture to the flour, mix well until the dough starts to come off the bowl.
3. Add more flour if needed to get your dough to the right consistency.
4. Divide the dough into 4 small balls then, cover it with a kitchen towel for about 40
minutes until it rises. The longer you let the dough rest the softer it will become.
5. When the dough is ready to use, just roll it out with a rolling pin, make sure to cover
your counter with flour so it doesn’t stick.
6. I like to use a round pan for my pizzas. Roll the dough to a pan and bake in the
preheated oven for about 8 minutes.
7. Once it is out, make tiny holes by poking the pizza with a fork. This will prevent bubbles.
8. Now, add your toppings. For the sauce, just use tomato sauce you made earlier and add
cheese and top it off with the sliced tomatoes and a dash of oregano.
9. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350 until the cheese is melted.

The “V”

    The place I feel most at home is the gym; It's been a long road to get to where I am today. People might put gym rats in the same category. They are categorized based on their looks and physical abilities, but here is so much more than meets the eye. The gym, or the "V" as my kids call it. Is a place that I go to forget about my worries, my stresses, and my emotions. I call it my therapy! Walking in the doors fifteen minutes after taking my pre-workout, I have got this awesome feeling going through my body. Usually you can hear me humming to whatever station I picked for the night. Katy Perry’s "Roar" comes on just in time. I scan my card, nod hello to the front desk employees, and march/speed walk to the cardio station.

Cardio is not my best friend. Five minutes usually feels more like five years! After the dreaded five minutes of cardio to get my blood pumping, I will hop along to the weight room. The sound of weights dropping to the ground is music to my ears. The sweat dripping from the other weightlifters is my motivation to get my workout going. Something about being in a room full of hard workers gets me going. It doesn’t matter how bad of a day I have had. Going to the gym will make me forget about everything! My endorphins after a sweaty workout is all worth the while. Going to the “V” each day serves as an example to my kids. I want them to follow their passion. To find something that they are passionate about. My hope is that they can find something they are able to escape to every time things get hard.

xo, Karina

PEACH CHIA SEED PUDDING

Unless you’re living under a rock, you have heard of Chia Seeds by now.

It’s one of my favorite seeds to use for healthy meals. It is so full of nutrients too! Chia is an edible seed that comes from the desert plant Salvia hispanica, grown in Mexico dating back to Mayan and Aztec cultures. “Chia” means strength, and folklore has it that these cultures used the tiny black and white seeds as an energy booster. That makes sense, as chia seeds are a concentrated food containing healthy omega-3 fatty acids, carbohydrates, protein, fiber, antioxidants, and calcium.

Here is a delicious chia seed pudding recipe that will have you asking for more:

Ingredients

• 2 cups coconut milk or milk of choice
• 1/3 cup chia seeds
• 1 tbsp. maple syrup, honey or sweetener of choice
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 peach

Instructions

1.  In a bowl, add milk, chia seeds, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Whisk together. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
   Divide the chia pudding between four bowls and layer with chopped peaches.
   The chia pudding will last up to 4 days in the refrigerator.

Calories per 2/3 cups: 143, Fat: 10, Cholesterol: 0, Sodium: 75, Potassium: 10, Carbs: 5, Fiber: 9, Sugar: 3, Protein: 5

Have a happy day!

xo,

Karina

Kafta Recipe

My sister and I got to enjoy so many traditional foods in Brazil while visiting over the Summer! We will be bringing our favorite recipes to this blog each week. Starting today with Kafta!

Kafta is a simple yet delicious traditional barbecue. You can find it at any street corner BBQ cart or restaurant. Our grandma is a great cook and growing up she always made it for us and we LOVED it!

Kafta Portion size: 16 skewers

• 1 pound of ground beef
• 1 pound of ground Italian sausage
• 1/4 of an onion
• 1 tablespoon of garlic
• 1 egg
• 5 tablespoons of flax seeds or bread crumbs
• Cilantro (a handful)
• Oregano, salt, & any other meat seasoning.

Instructions: Chop onions and cilantro (only the leaves, pick them from the stems and throw stems out) and add them to the bowl along with the garlic. Add a pinch of all of the seasonings. Add meats and the rest of the ingredients. Mix well! If should feel sticky! Soak your wood skewers in warm water for 15-30 minutes so they don’t burn on the grill. Shape the meat on to the skewer and put them on the grill until they are browned on both sides.

Enjoy with whatever sides you would like!

Enjoy!

When I first met him...

This short story is taken from my self-published dating book... I've decided to add parts of the book to my blog so that you'll get to enjoy reading all my fun stories!

The story below is how I first met my husband, my soulmate, and my forever...

The gym: My therapy! My happy place! I remember going to the gym 6 days a week. I was committed to being my best self. I didn’t want guys to come after me for my looks, but I did want to feel good on the inside and outside. That’s where I met the love of my life! I remember it was the end of 2014 when I decided to create a fitness Instagram account. I wanted to inspire others! I wanted to show them what I was doing at the gym. I wanted to show them my meals and share inspirational quotes. Meeting a guy at the gym has always felt weird to me, and somehow it happened multiple times during my dating years.

Daniel was different though… I knew I liked him from the moment I laid eyes on him. We followed each other’s Instagram account and would show support by liking and occasionally commenting. We were both dating other people. Daniel was always in the back of my mind. I wasn’t playing hard to get. I think I just wasn’t fully ready to be in a relationship. I could honestly tell that he was relationship material and that scared the shit out of me back then!

We went back and forth for a little while. We would flirt but it would stop there. Finally, he asked me out. I was busy. He tried again. I still feel bad to this day, no I wasn’t playing hard to get. Daniel just fit the stereotypical “gym bro” and I had dated plenty of those guys and quite honestly it was exhausting.

So, you could say that we just continued to support each other in the #fitfam World. Now fast forward to 2016, he texted me. That was a nice little surprise! I had forgotten he had my phone number. I told him I was busy due to the holidays and that we should go out soon. He agreed. We eventually got together. I remember that it was the first or second week of January. It was cold outside, and he wanted me to come over because he was planning on cooking for me.

I show up to his place and I’m lost in his apartment complex. I called him he told me to wait and He would come to find me. It was freezing outside. From the distance, I hear my name being called: Karina! Karina? And I finally see him walking towards me. He is holding a blanket and comes in and gives me the biggest hug. He wraps me around his blanket and I follow him to his place (come to think of, that was our Cat Lyla’s blanket… ha!).

I’m pretty sure there were fireworks going off in my head!  He then shows me what he is making. A delicious salmon with fresh veggies. We stood in his kitchen and talked, laughed, and sang for hours. Talked about Brazil. How we were into the same musicians, and our upbringings. He was respectful, he had all the qualities I was looking for and the best of all: He and I were passionate about the same exact things!

This was a huge plus! I kept thinking to myself: Why did I wait so long for this? Then this little voice in my head would tell me: You weren’t ready!

more on this story soon...

Then she bawled her eyes out... But it was okay!

A few nights ago I found myself laying in my boyfriend's bed bawling my eyes out... Unfortunately, no matter how many times I wiped my tears away, they just kept rolling down my face.  Daniel is such a kind-hearted soul. Instead of asking me to stop crying or what the hell was going on. He just laid there with me. Squeezing me tightly, telling me how beautiful I was, and how much he loves me. He would run his fingers through my hair slowly and look me in the eyes, while I just sat there quietly wiping the tears off my face. It had been a while since I had a good crying session. You see, I'm the type of person that lets all my emotions build up until I can't take it anymore. I know, I know. It's not good for me... Although my transparency on this blog/Instagram is pretty raw-honest-lay it all out on the table; There are parts of my past that I chose not to share. Unfortunately, those parts of my past sometimes are what keeps me from moving forward. Life really is what you make of it. The Universe throws challenges your way; It's how you respond to it, How you choose to move forward that makes you stand out from everyone else. We all have different ways of handling situations and if you think about it, it is just part of being humans. So what if I have been recently cursed with 7 years of bad luck? Job-Cars-Lost Phone-Money... (shouldn't have shattered my mirror) Am I going to sit here and make you all feel bad for me? NOPE! I refuse to wallow in my own self-pity. Instead, I'm making a list of things in life that I do have that bring me joy: I'm healthy. I have a roof under my head. I have the most beautiful and energetic children that keep me on my toes. I have the best family anyone could ask for! My mom/Sister are mt best friends! I have the most loving, thoughtful boyfriend that makes me count my lucky stars daily. I'm almost done with College! I will soon be able to enter my dream Career. On a beautiful Tuesday Daniel and I decided to go on a hike to Bells Canyon. The initial part of the hike was Hell! It was steep, and our heart rate was off the charts. After taking a few breaks I wanted to keep going up. He reassured me that we were so close and that it wouldn't be uphill like the beginning of this hike was. Daniel was my personal tour guide. He could do this hike with his eyes closed. He knew where each hill, flat areas, rocky areas, shaded areas, were. It was a great push and reassurance I needed to make it through this hike. So there I was, admiring the beautiful view... Taking it all in. Listening quietly to nature sounds. This hike was everything I needed after the cry session I had earlier in the week... My soul was shinning again. I was letting everything go. I kept thanking nature along the way for bringing me peace to my soul. As we reached the Waterfall, I took a deep breath and looked at Daniel with a huge smile on my face. Serendipity! Oh! and If you are wondering how I lost my phone. Just close your eyes and picture the following sentence: We both went on this magical adventure up a mountain. Upon reaching our destination (waterfall) my phone sacrificed itself to the Nature Gods. Leaving me phone less for a week.   A FULL WEEK! But guess what? this girl survived. It wasn't the end of the World. I made it work. I wasn't attached to my phone for a week. It was amazing. Unplugging is one of the best advice I can give you. What an adventure you guys! xoxo, One well-rested Nina

"Because of you I didn't give up"

I want to inspire people. I want someone to look at me and say: "Because of you I didn't give up" 

I recently changed hair colors. 

If you know me, then you would know that it fits my personality. I was once told that I shouldn't have dance parties at the gym by myself, that I shouldn't be so positive, that shouldn't just wear bright clothes, and finally that I shouldn't change my hair. 

I said to this person: Excuse me? I am ME! 

The crazy, silly, full of fun, and upbeat personality me. 

Don't ever try to change who you are to impress someone. Dream big my friends!