12 Days of Fitmas - Day 10: Cleaner Christmas "Crack"

Christmas treats are often loaded with sugar and fat, but taste oh so good. Because we believe in balance, we also believe in creating healthier versions of some of your old favourite treats to enjoy in moderation. I've cleaned up my "Christmas Crack" recipe and it tastes equally as good! 

• 1 row of saltine crackers (note, you can use the whole wheat version, but you miss out on the salty/sweet aspect of this treat) 
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar 
• 1/4 cup agave 
• 3/4 cup grassfed butter 
• 1 cup dark cacao chocolate or dark chocolate chips 
• pinch of himalayan sea salt
• Optional: Pecans 

Turn the oven to 400 degrees. Line the saltine crackers in a single layer in a 10x15 baking tray.

Make the caramel by cooking the butter, coconut sugar, and agave in a saucepan at medium heat, stirring frequently for 3-5 minutes until it comes to a boil or starts to darken. 

Spread the caramel mixture over the saltine crackers and spread evenly. 

Place the tray in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. The caramel will get hot and bubbly. 

If using chocolate chips, sprinkle onto the tray, and then spread. If using bakers chocolate, melt in the microwave and then spread onto the crackers. Optional: sprinkle chopped pecans or sea salt on top of the spread chocolate.

Allow the crackers to cool, and then place them in the fridge overnight. In the morning, "crack" or cut the crackers into pieces and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. 

Enjoy! 

12 Days of Fitmas - Day 9: Tinsel Tabata Workout

Gather your rope and be ready to jump around! 

Needed: 

• Timer or tabata app (there are many free on the app store) 
• Jump rope (No skipping rope? No worries - jump in place!) 
• Exercise Mat, Towel, or carpet to do sit-ups 

Start your timer! A tabata is a high-intensity interval workout that includes 8 rounds (20 seconds on work followed by 10 seconds of rest) lasting 4 minutes. This means that when you're working, you should be working HARD. And when you're resting, take full advantage of it. 

This workout alternates between one cardio exercise (skipping) for each round for your first tabata cycle, and alternates between two core exercises for the second round, meaning you would do bicycle crunches for 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds, and then do sit ups for 20 seconds, and then rest 10 seconds, and repeat). 

Round 1: Skipping - Skip for 20 seconds, rest for 10, repeat. 

Round 2: Core - Alternate between Bicycle Crunches and Sit Ups 

Round 3: Skipping 

Round 4: Alternate between planks and mountain climbers 

This base workout is 20 minutes. If you've got more in you - add one more round of each. 

Enjoy! 

12 Days of Fitmas - Day 8: Cran-Apple Turkey Quasadilla

What can you do with the turkey leftovers? We've got got great idea's for you. The first being a delicious and nutritious Cran-Apple Turkey Quesadilla packed with leftover turkey, cranberries, and mozzarella cheese. 

Leftover Turkey Cran-Apple Quesadilla: 

• 1 low carb tortilla
• 3-4 oz. of leftover turkey breast 
• 1 TBSP of leftover cranberries, or dried cranberries 
• Spinach to garnish 
• 1.5 oz grass-fed mozzarella cheese 

Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Layer turkey, spinach, and cranberries on one half of the wrap. Sprinkle with cheese, and fold the tortilla in half. Place the tortilla in the pan, and toast until golden brown. Turn over and toast until both sides are golden brown and the cheese is melted. 

12 Days of Fitmas - Day 7: Christmas Cardio

This treadmill workout can be used year round to amp up your current routine and torch stubborn fat and serious calories. Try the walking, or jogging level and let us know how you feel. Don't neglect the warm-up, you'll want to prepare your ticker... this one's a kicker! 

Gingerbread Protein Balls

Gingerbread Protein Balls: 

• 1.5 cups cashews 
• 1 tsp cinnamon 
• 1 tsp ginger 
• 1/4 tsp allspice 
• sprinkle of salt 
• 1 tbsp coconut oil 
• 1/2 cup dates 
• 2 tbsp maple syrup 
• 4 scoops shaklee vanilla protein 
• 2 tbsp water (if needed) 

Turn the oven to 350 degrees. Roast cashews for 3 minutes or until golden brown, this will help bring out the flavour. In the meantime, put coconut oil and spices in the blender. Once toasted, add the warm cashews and grind. Once ground, add dates, maple syrup, water, and shaklee powder. Blend until a consistency that you can roll the balls. If they are not sticking together, you may add water as needed. 

Enjoy! 

12 Days of Fitmas: Day 5 - Peppermint Mocha

Just like Starbucks, but with far less sugar! A traditional Starbuck's Peppermint Mocha packs 440 calories and 54 grams of sugar! Our version comes in at only 125 calories and 6 grams of sugar. What's not to love about that?

Healthy Peppermint Mocha: 

• 1 cup Coconut Milk 
• 6 oz. Peppermint Coffee 
• (or coffee + peppermint extract) 
• 1 tsp coconut sugar 
• 1 tbsp cacao powder 
• Coconut Whipping Cream and sprinkles (optional) 

Macro's: Protein - 2 grams, Carbs - 12 grams, Fat - 8 grams. (70% daily potassium and 46% of daily calcium needs) 

Want to up the protein? Stir in 1 scoop of Shaklee Chocolate powder to round it out, and get your daily dose of pre-biotics and nutrients.  

12 Days of Fitmas - Day 4: Naughty or Nice Workout

Here's a workout for day four, all you need is a dice, and nothing more. 

An even roll of the dice means that you've been nice, 

If it's odd you've lost the bet, I'm sorry but you'll have to sweat!

Equipment needed: Dice 

Time: You choose the length of the workout - continue until your time is up! 

Rules: Role the dice. If it is even, choose an exercise off of the "Nice" list. If it is odd, choose an exercise off of the "Naughty" list. Complete 10 repetitions of the exercise. Complete as many sets as the number on the dice indicates. For example, if you roll a 3, you would choose an exercise off of the naughty list and complete 3 sets of 10 repetitions. If you rolled a 6, you would complete 6 sets of 10 repetitions of an exercise off of the nice list. One you are done your set, roll the dice again and continue until your set time is up. 

Nice List:

• Sit Ups
• Squats
• Reverse Lunges
• Russian Twist
• Speed Skaters
• Hip Lifts (bridges)
• High Knees
• Side Lunges
• Jumping Jacks
• Bootstrappers
• Plank Taps
• Supermans

Naughty List:

• Push Ups
• Sprinter Starts
• Burpees
• Squat Jumps
• Plank Jacks
• Grasshoppers
• Frog Lunges
• Scissor Lunge Hops
• Bicycle Crunches
• Inchworms
• Triceps Dips
• Side Plank Hip Drop 

Have Fun, and tag us in your sweaty Holiday Workout Photos! @encompassfitness #encompassfitnessstudio 

Peanut Butter Protein Fudge

Make No Mistake, you read that right... Gingerbread Peanut Butter Protein Fudge. Full of life's finer things; peanut butter, honey, muscle-building protein powder, and a hint of gingerbread goodness for the holiday season. 

Ingredients: 

• 1 ½ Cups Natural Peanut Butter
• 2/3 Cups Almond Butter
• ½ Cup Honey
• 2 tsp Organic Molasses
• 4 Scoops of Shaklee Vanilla Protein Powder
• 1 pinch of Sea Salt
• 1 tsp Ginger
• ½ tsp All Spice
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ cup melted coconut oi 

Mix all ingredients together in a food processor. Combine thoroughly. Spray an 8x8 glass pan and press mixture into the pan. Drizzle 1 Tablespoon over the top of the fudge and use a knife to gently fold (make a zig-zag pattern through the fudge) the molasses into the fudge. Freeze for 1 hour, and then cut and eat. Keep frozen for best consistency. 

Enjoy! 

Recipe created in my kitchen with love,  

Brady

12 Days of Fitmas: Day 2

This 12 days of Cardio Christmas Workout is inspired from the song.  Start with 1, and then repeat 1 and 2, and then 1 - 3 and so on. 

Here's a workout just for fun, starting with number one. The format of this is compound, so you'll add an exercise each round. You may change the cardio exercise as you go, it doesn't matter - fast or slow. 

12 Days of Christmas Workout

1 Minute Cardio of Choice (jogging in place, skipping, jumping jacks, KB swings) 

2 Squat Jumps 

3 Push Ups 

4 Reverse Lunges 

5 Bridge Hip Lifts 

6 Sit ups 

7 Plie Squats

8 Mountain Climbers

9 Air Squats 

10 Triceps Dips 

11 Speed Skaters

12 Burpees

For day 3, we've got another delicious recipe. Can you say... Gingerbread Fudge? 

Your Healthy Holiday Survival Guide

Just one little cookie, and one glass of eggnog, and one serving of this, and one serving of that... it doesn't sound so bad, and it wouldn't be if it were only for a single day. However unfortunately, for most of us these temptations last all month long. 

But, with a little bit of willpower, and a well executed plan, you can stay on track and enjoy everything the holiday season has to offer. The best thing you can do is ask yourself "What is going to help me get where I want to be?"... is it the instant gratification of every cookie that you see, or the satisfaction of sticking to your goals and staying on track for success? 

We've put together a Healthy Holiday Survival guide for you, and over the next few weeks we will be delivering recipes, workouts, and fit-tips. Our elves here at Encompass have been working diligently to get this done to make your Christmas the healthiest one yet. 

Click here to download your very own copy of our Healthy Holiday Survival Guide (virtually delivered by Santa and his elves). 

Get My Free Holiday Survival Guide

Watch our Facebook Page and our blog over the next 12 days as we begin our 12 days of Christmas countdown - including holiday home workouts, healthy versions of your favourite treats, and plenty of Christmas cheer!