Fiber One Raisin Coconut Crispy Treat Bar (2 layer bar)

Yields 14 bars

Nutritional information per bar: 226.3 cals, 6.3 g fat, 2.3 g sat fat, 29.2 g carb, 7.0 g fiber, 20.0 g pro

Base Layer
10 scoops chocolate protein powder (I used Dymatize Elite Rich Chocolate)
2 TBSP cocoa powder
6 TBSP natural peanut butter
1/2 c. raisins
1/4 c. shredded coconut (sweetened, unpacked)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c. agave nectar or honey
1/2 - 3/4 cup water (less or more based on your protein powder)

Crispy Treat Layer
3 cups Fiber One cereal
12 large marshmallows
1 TBSP butter/margarine

Line large (7x 11 or 9 x 9) baking dish of loaf pan with wax paper (let the paper be over size on two opposite ends so that you can use them to pull out the bars after setting).

BASE layer: Combine dry ingredients for BASE layer in a medium bowl and mix well. Add peanut butter and mix (use pastry cutter, two butter knives, or your hand–preferably gloved) - the mixture will be crumbly and dry. Add water & vanilla extract. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, mix everything until dough forms. The dough should have the consistency of warm Tootsie Roll candy or nougat. Spread dough into pan and press down using a sheet a wax paper and a spatula.

CRISPY layer:

Stove: Over stove in non-stick pan, melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until melted and sticky. Remove from heat and quickly stir in cereals to coat.

Microwave: Melt butter in large bowl for 15 - 30 seconds. Add marshmallows and stir to coat. Microwave for an additional 30 sec - 1 minute until melted. Stir and quickly stir in cereal to coate.

Press mixture into pan on top of base layer using wax paper (or spray your spatula with cooking spray) to prevent sticking.

Refrigerate for overnight or freeze for 1 hour and cut into 14 bars. Wrap individually in plastic wrap or store in covered container between sheets of wax paper. Keep refrigerated.

Age: 34 (still)
Height: 5’6” (same)
Weight: 146.6 (-2.6 lb)
BF%: 24.7% Averaged from 27.2% (Tanita body fat scale); 22.2% (Omron handheld)
Chest: 35.0” (same)
Waist: 27.25” (-1.25”)
Hip: 38.88” (-0.12”)
Thigh: 23.5” (-0.50”)
Calf: 14.88” (-0.12”)
Shoulder: 42” (+0.50”)
Arm: 12.13” (-0.37”)

Lean mass: 110.39 lbs (+0.28 lb)
Fat mass: 36.21 lbs (-2.88 lb)

From the online BF calculator:

Body Mass Index: 23.7 kg/m2
Waist-to-Height ratio: 0.41
Percent Body Fat: 25.5%
Lean Body Mass: 109.2 lb

Your weight is in the normal range.
You do not need to lose weight.
Minimum caloric requirements: 1855 Calories per day
Your diet should contain at least 76 grams of protein per day.

Summary: Not much change in the last week due to the decreased exercise intensity of Active Rest week and the random foods from the 4th of July weekend (I am pretty sure I am still retaining water), but I admit that I need to clean up the food more for this phase of the program. I need to average a loss of 1 lb per week over the next 12 weeks to reach my body fat percentage goal of 18% (approximately 134-136 lbs) before we head out on our two week Mediterranean cruise.

According to my Weight Loss Spreadsheet, I need to keep calories between 1579 - 1763 per day to reach my goal in 83 days. I think my intake has been close to that, but my meals could stand some more standardization and cleaning up. I’m going to shoot for the lower end of that range on non-lifting days and the full 1750-1770 on lifting days. The addition of a 200 calorie post-workout shake on lifting days should take care of the extra calories.

I am currently in the “Gold” or hypertrophy phase of the LL Cool J program. I finished up 4 weeks (Silver phase) of strength workouts the week before last and then took a scheduled week of Active Rest for week 10 where I primarily stuck to the Gold’s Gym Cardio Workout boxing, Forza, and push-ups. I love this program so far and have managed not to tweak anything in the scheduled workouts. The cardio portion is finally picking up and calories are coming down at the same time. I expect to see an increase in the rate of fat loss from this point on as the focus shifts to hypertrophy and fat loss in the final Platinum phase.

For the time being, though, I’ve really enjoyed eating enough to support my workouts and allow strength gains in nearly all of my lifts while gradually bringing my body fat down. LL and his trainer apparently know their stuff.

If it weren’t so hideously expensive at $20/pound, I think I could happily eat sea bass every day for the rest of my life.

Those of you familiar with our Total Money Makeover quest to be debt-free except for the house by October will be happy to read that DH paid for the meal ingredients by taking the contents of his pocket change piggy bank to a Coinstar machine and getting $72 back for all of the coinage.

We made it to the gym this morning and DH hopped on the elliptical while I did the scheduled LLCJ incline HIIT run for 20 minutes. I padded the workout with 15 minutes of GGCW boxing when I got home, unlocking more clothes for my avatar to buy in the virtual store, a new outfit for my trainer, and two new female trainers. Such geeky joy!

I will get in some yoga tonight to make it a solid 60 minutes of exercise for the day.

—————————–
WORKOUT
—————————–
- HIIT Incline Run (2% incline; 3.5 mph for 60 seconds / 6-7.5 mph for 60 seconds; 20 min total)
- GGCW Advanced Ducking Combo (16 min)
- Yoga Conditioning for Athletes (250 min)

—————————–
TODAY’S EATS
—————————–
M1: 53g Kashi GLC, 1/2 c. light soy milk, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 c. light soy milk, 1/2 T. cocoa powder
M2: 5 oz. Creole seasoned sutchi filet, 1/3 c. (dry) oatmeal, 1/2 c. stir-fried water cress
M3: 1/2 oz. almonds, 1 apple
M4: 1 c. yogurt lassi
M5: 4 oz. roasted skinless chicken thigh, 3/4 c. peas, 3/4 c. stir-fried cabbage
M6: 2 eggs over easy, 1 c. five flavor eggplant stir fry

Will complete tonight after work and do an extra set of ab circuits as penance.

On the positive side, my various registers are now balanced and we are now just 4 months away from being debt-free except for the house.

As usual, I felt it in my shins for the first five minutes or so, but after that, my legs were fine. I LOVE skating–all the cardio benefits of running with none of the gasping, joint stress, or general awfulness of running (for me). And more glute engagement, too.

This is probably the cardio I was born to do.

The gym is only 1.5 miles from the house, so I expect it to take only 10 minutes or so to skate there tomorrow morning for another round of weights. I was secretly worried that I wouldn’t be up to snuff with my skating to roll to the gym this week, but today’s skate convinced me otherwise.

The only negative: Given that I just did a heavy leg workout yesterday and skated today (not to mention that Aunt Flo is visiting), my hamstrings and quads are totally engorged with fluid today, and all of my stretchy pants are in the wash. I’ve been yanking down the legs of my pants all day when I stand up because they keep getting stuck on my thighs, hah!

Can’t wait until the fat loss starts to outpace the muscle (re)gain in a few weeks. I’m feeling fantastically fit, strong, and energetic these days, but dang…I miss seeing my muscles.

EXERCISE
As of this week, I am doing the program outlined by LL Cool J’s Platinum Workout book (LLCJ) with a week of Red Carpet Ready (RCR) workouts while I’m away from my home and gym on a trip to see my sister. This will get me through the “Bronze” phase of the LLCJ program.

Week 1
M/W/F: LLCJ Full body machine circuit (1 circuit x 15 reps each; 30 sec. rest between exercises) + 15 minute incline walk or HIIT

Week 2 (Trip to California)
M/W/F: RCR Action Hero Babe workouts with Valslides, resistance tubing, and bodyweight

T/Th/Sa: 20 min. HIIT Run or 20 min. Gold’s Gym Cardio Workout cardio boxing with the Wii

Week 3 (3 x 12 rep straight sets w/ 1 min rest between sets)
M/Th: Upper Body + 15 min cardio @ 60% MHR)
T/F: Lower Body + 15 min cardio @ 60% MHR)

Week 4 (3 x 8 rep straight sets w/ 1 min rest between sets)
Mon: Upper Body + 20 min cardio @ 55% MHR
Tue: Lower Body + 15 min cardio @ 60% MHR)
Thu: Upper Body + 20 min cardio @ 60% MHR
Fri: Lower Body + 15 min cardio @ 65% MHR)

NUTRITION
I am going to keep calories close to maintenance this month at 1800-2000 calories per day. I’ve been off program with exercise for so long now that I’m confident that just adding the extra calorie burn back in while eating at the same level will cause me to drop fat and build some muscle back up without resorting to calorie restriction. The meals in the LLCJ book are calibrated for males, however, so I’m going to look at the New Rules of Lifting for Women and Muscle and Fitness Hers 12 Week Makeover meal plans for my recipes.

- 1800-2000 calories/day
- Macronutrient ratios: 40-50% carb / 30-40% protein / 20-30% fat
- 5 meals per day on non-lifting/rest days, 6 meals (due to added PWO shake) on lifting days
- 16 cups water per day
- Supplements: multivitamin, calcium + D, 6 fish oil caps, l-glutamine, creatine/l-glutamine pre-workout

MAKEOVER
There are almost too many things I want to fix up around me, but I’m going to keep this realistic and choose my living room and patio as my makeover victims for this month.

The patio houses my weight bench and Powerblock weight set as well as some extra pairs of free weights, a small round outdoor dining table, lots of resin chairs, two wicker novelty chairs, and DH’s grill. It has no discernible style at all, and now that it’s getting warm again, I find it too stifling to work out in there.

Our living room has decent couches, but it’s a mess at the moment with one of the sofas commandeered as Yarn Central for my crafting hobby. We have a very tall wall in there thanks to the vaulted ceiling, so there is a lot of vertical space to fill up. Neither of us loves what we have going on up there now, and I really want to put up the set of four Chinese scrolls my sister brought back for us from Australia last year.

EQUIPMENT/PROGRAM

The best part about Gir is his removable drawstring mask. His robot eye stalks fit right inside the bulging eyes of the dog mask. The whole shebang is tied with a drawstring on the lower edge at the back of the neck.

I used my Sackboy base for the body, but improvised Gir’s head and the mask as I went along. The top of Gir’s head is stabilized with a 4″ plastic canvas round.

More photos are up in my Gir gallery.

(For more information about commissioning a custom doll from me, please visit http://dolls.maggiewang.com. I will be opening up my queue for June 2009 later this week.)

Additional photos and details:

While working on this fellow, I noticed a lot of similarities to the Kratos (God of War) doll that I made earlier this year. Both characters have greyish white skin, sport some swirly tattoos, and wear red and gold man-skirts. The Nameless One came first, though, so maybe the designers of God of War are fans, too.

The Nameless one has dreads decorated with pony beads, asymmetrical buff-colored blocks on his limbs to mimic the bandages worn by the character in game, and crocheted front and back skirt panels. His right leg has three polymer clay “bones” wedged into his sandal straps, and a spiked knee pad protects his left leg. More polymer clay was used to sculpt his animal skull belt buckle, to make the bone spikes in his belt and shoulder harness, and to construct his axe.

(For more information about commissioning a custom doll from me, please visit http://dolls.maggiewang.com. I will be opening up my queue for June 2009 later this week.)

Additional photos and details:

Lobo’s facial hair and facial markings were crocheted from black mercerized cotton crochet thread using a size C hook. He wears a removable vest, silver crocheted shin guards, a black belt with skull belt buckle, and black skull knee pads. His weapon is a silver hook on a long chain.

I hand sculpted the hook, silver skull belt buckle, and black skull knee pads in FIMO polymer clay.

(For more information about commissioning a custom doll from me, please visit http://dolls.maggiewang.com. I will be opening up my queue for June 2009 later this week.)