Matcha Yuzu Mango Popsicles With Mint

April 27, 2015

Summer is fast approaching and the weather is heating up fast! I have been absolutely loving the longer, warmer days and as such, my appetite has adjusted along with the weather. This past winter (not sure I can really call what San Francisco had winter though), I have been living off of warm zucchini pasta, soups, teas (best tea EVER) and oatmeal. I admit that while my love for these foods lasts year round, light and cool foods such as smoothies, fresh rolls and ice-cream have been calling my name.

Sure, I will have the occasional cheat meal (what’s up Ben & Jerry’s), but since I try to keep things healthy around here, I have become quite creative in my attempts to make desserts that are both healthy and delicious. I am absolutely obsessed with matcha green tea, and when I was younger I would always get the sugary and highly calorific green tea frappes from Starbucks and matcha green tea ice-cream whenever I could.

I was thinking hard as to how I could make a matcha dessert using the Republic of Tea’s matcha yuzu powder (what a freaking amazing combo, right?!) that was delicious, healthy AND unique. I like to make things easy for myself, don’t I lol? And then suddenly it hit me: popsicles!! I feel as if popsicles are THE epitome of summer 🙂

Recipe

Alice Williams

Matcha Yuzu Mango Popsicles with Mint

A refreshing and healthy popsicle for summer made of mango, mint and matcha yuzu from Republic of Tea.

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Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

2 tsp matcha yuzu powder from Republic of Tea
1 1/2 cup frozen mango cubes can be found in most supermarkets
3 large or 5 small mint leaves
1 small tub plain greek yogurt I used Stonyfield
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 tbsp honey

Method

Firstly, get your popsicle molds out and ready to be used!
Put all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. This could take a few minutes depending on your blender.
Pour mixture into popsicle molds and freeze it overnight.
The next day, run the popsicles under hot water for a few seconds to easily take the popsicle out of the mold.
Eat and enjoy!

Notes

Almond milk can be subbed for other milks but may affect taste.
Greek yogurt can be subbed for dairy free yogurt such as coconut, but may affect texture and taste.
Honey can be subbed for sugar-free sweetener such as stevia.

I dare you not to like these Matcha Yuzu Mango Popsicles With Mint 🙂 Please let me know what you think about it if you do try it either by commenting below or giving me a shout on social media.

Honestly yours,
Alice

P.S. The popsicle molds are Zoku Classic Pop Molds. I absolutely recommend them!

Thank you for always supporting me! For more Honestly Fitness, check out my Instagram, Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest and don’t forget to subscribe!

Disclaimer: Republic of Tea provided me with the matcha yuzu powder but I received no financial compensation for this post. Rest assured that my opinions will always stay unbiased and that I would never recommend a product I don’t personally use or like.

Fitness, San Francisco

Uforia Studios: San Francisco

April 24, 2015

I had planned to go to the Japantown Cherry Blossom Festival Parade, and so I thought it would be a great idea to try out a class at Uforia Studios early in the morning so I could head to the parade straight after. I confess that I never actually went to the parade as I couldn’t find anyone to go with me (and it was SO cold that day), but I have to tell you about how my class at Uforia Studios was!

Uforia Studios

I was kindly invited to try out a class of my choice at their newest location in Nob Hill, and after some mulling over their class choices, I decided on a grit class. Their website states that grit is “a perfect blend of conditioning and cardio … build long and lean muscles!’ – hey, sounds good to me!

The class was at 9am and with the knowledge that finding parking in San Francisco is such a tossup, I woke up around 8am (so hard on a Sunday) and drove off with a green smoothie in hand (recipe coming soon by the way). Luckily, parking was suuuper easy to find and I arrived there with plenty of time to spare. I was given a water bottle because I was a first-timer, which I thought was such a sweet gesture! Already pretty impressed, I had a little peek around the rest of the studio before class. It is a gorgeous space! It has a really modern feel to it and it is just beautiful … you need to see it to get what I’m talking about!

Grit

Okay, so onto the class. I was hoping for minimal upper body work because for some reason, I had been working out my upper body a lot last week. Although there was of course upper body work, we also did some lower body work, ab work and lots of high intensity moves. I really liked that we used a variety of equipment including gliders, a box and light weights. Although I thought the weights were a little light, we did a high amount of reps which really made everything burn. Although I felt like killing the instructor, Lee, during the workout, I felt so full of energy and good about myself for having done such a fantastic workout. And on a Sunday morning, no less! Oh plus, they offer you a cold towel and blueberries after class – really nice and thoughtful touch.

A Special Offer

Grit have been kind enough to offer not one, but TWO amazing deals for you guys! If you use the code honestlyfitness when choosing a class on their website, you will get that class free. And then you can tell me what you think about uforia studios 🙂 Also, if you want to buy a classpack, you can use the code honestlyfitness-20% and this will take off 20% of any class pack you purchase. FYI, they also have a location in Palo Alto, which is much easier to get to if you’re in the South Bay.

So, I’ve got your weekend plans sorted 😉 These are both such generous offers and I highly suggest you take advantage of them. I seriously can’t wait to know what you think about them; let me know how the other classes are since I haven’t tried them out yet! Here’s a sneak peek of what you can expect at Uforia Studios.

Honestly yours,
Alice

Disclaimer: I was given a free class at Uforia, and I get a small portion from every classpack bought. My thoughts are always my unbiased and own, and I only showcase what I think will be helpful for your health and fitness journey, and I thank you for supporting the brands that support Honestly Fitness.

Fitness, San Francisco

Pilates, Weights & Cardio at Burn SF

April 21, 2015

These past few months have been busy. I stressed out more than I should’ve, but how could I not? I had 3 huge exams (like determining if I will get my master’s degree or not huge) and tons of assignments to do, all while trying to maintain the blog, workout, and work (I work part-time). Social life? Non-existent.

Burn SF

I am so glad that April is finally here! I was invited to the grand opening of Burn SF’s newest studio in Hayes Valley at the end of February but I knew there was no way I could fit it into my schedule. I was so disappointed, as their workouts consisting of pilates, weights and cardio sounded awesome and right up my alley. Luckily, Burn SF were kind enough to let me try out a class when my schedule got a little less hectic (hello April!) so I went to check out their studio in the Mission.

The studio was really easy to get to, as it was just a short walk away from the 24th Mission BART stop. This was a huge plus for me because having to drive around San Francisco is as bad as it gets. The people here drive like maniacs -shakes head-. Anyway, I was really impressed with how fun and challenging the class was! The class boasts that you can burn between 500-650 calories per session.

Burn SF uses customized slastix resistance bands in their workouts which truly helped to make their class stand out. There was a lot of upper body work, so think tons of band work targeting the biceps, triceps and shoulders. For certain parts of class, you were strapped to a resistance band which allowed you to do exercises such as sprints, jumping jacks and high knees. It is a little hard to explain, but it was a very unique experience and all the more reason to try out Burn SF. The emphasis on small movements (which made your muscles burn) really pushed me to my limits. Although I would have loved to see a bit more focus on the lower body, overall I really enjoyed the workout and thought it was a great way to shake up my usual routine. Plus, I was able to get a delicious latte from Grand Coffee right after 😉

Burn SF will be expanding into the Bay Area, with plans to expand into Oakland and Seratoga. They already have a ton of locations in San Francisco as well, so they are really accessible. Me personally? Like I said earlier, I am so happy I can hop on BART to get there! I would definitely like to do another Burn SF workout and bring a friend with me 🙂

Honestly yours
Alice
All photo credits go to Jennifer Graham photography (minus the latte photo).

Thank you for always supporting me! For more Honestly Fitness, check out my Instagram, Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest and don’t forget to subscribe!

Disclaimer: I was offered a free class at Burn SF but no financial compensation. My thoughts are always my unbiased and own 🙂

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