While Valentine’s Day flowers are sweet, sweets might be sweeter. And although chocolates are synonymous with V-Day cheer, Scoop gals know it’s important to get your sugared-up body movin’, especially with resolutions fresh on our minds and spring break looming just ahead.
In the spirit of maintaining balance, we asked some of your favorite local fitness experts what their go-to healthy desserts are just in time for Valentine’s Day! And for true confessions, what they eat when the splurge. To counteract your V-Day indulgence, they’ve also included some of their studios’ February happenings.
Core Revolution = free class just for scoop fans!
Core Revolution has a special recipe and Valentine’s Day offer to share with Scoop readers:
Their friend and Nutrition Coach, Samantha Eaton, created a delicious way to satisfy your sweet tooth with a 3-ingredient healthy chocolate bar made with cacao powder, coconut oil, and honey.
Before you get your chocolate fix, head over to the CORE REVOLUTION studio with your bae or boo to sweat with you and earn a free class! This is a special Scoop offer redeemable at their front desk by showing this post on your phone.
The Bar Method
All month long The Bar Method will have single classes for $14 (regularly $25) so bring your sweetie to class!
Bar Method instructor and Clinical Dietitian, Katrina says for V Day this year, “stay home with your sweetie, turn off all electronics, and reconnect by making something together.” To help get your culinary juices flowing, she’s even included a naughty and nice dessert option.
1) Healthy Dessert: Healthy Strawberry Frozen Yogurt
PREP: 5 MINUTES
YIELD: 4 SERVINGS
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups frozen strawberries
3 Tablespoons agave nectar or honey
1/2 cup plain yogurt (non-fat)
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
DIRECTIONS:
Add all ingredients into a food processor. Process until creamy, about 5 minutes.
Serve the frozen yogurt immediately or transfer it to an airtight container and store it in the freezer for up to 1 month.
2) Over the Top Indulgence: Flame Free S’mores
PREP: 10 MINUTES
YIELD: 2 SERVINGS
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup chocolate chips
8 large marshmallows
graham crackers for serving
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 450.
Place chocolate chips in bottom of 6” cast iron pan. Cut the large marshmallows in half and top the chocolate chips with them. Bake for 7-9 minutes, or until the marshmallows turn golden brown.
Serve with graham crackers for scooping.
Hilliard Studio Method
Liz Hilliard recommends that this Valentine’s Day you treat yourself with good food, laughter, and the ones you love! Her favorite Valentine’s Day indulgence is a glass of good red wine with fresh popped popcorn. Joie de Vivre!
Hilliard Studio Method in Davidson is offering $14 classes all month long, while over at HSM | Core you can do The spoon ~ a Megaformer move that can be done with people on either end of the machine – check it out below, then head into HSM | Core to practice your moves.
Orangetheory Fitness
Bekah, Regional Trainer/Head Coach at OTF Arboretum, loves blueberry muffin Larabars. They’re gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, non-gmo, vegan, kosher, and Whole 30-approved but still taste like a treat. Their minimal ingredient list and the use of dates as the sweetener are great for Bekah’s active lifestyle. We can’t be on all the time, though, and when she’s looking to indulge, Gigi’s Wedding Cake cupcakes are her go-to guilty pleasure.
Her Head Coach at OTF South End, Justin, takes a page from Yafo’s cookbook to whip up Brussels sprouts with coconut oil and diced dates, and tell us that “sneaky” veggies are a great way to fill yourself up with good stuff while also satisfying your craving for sweets. Try sneaky spinach in your smoothies or vegetable juices added to your batters before baking. Justin’s weapon of mass fitness destruction is a crowd pleaser: Reese’s Cups. As Justin says, peanut butter is basically a health food and chocolate comes from plants, so those sweet little cups are pretty much a salad, right?
FlyWheel
FLY power couple, Zach Hollister (Flywheel instructor) and his girlfriend Heather Kennedy (FlyBarre instructor) dished on their favorite sweets and what’s happening at FlyWheel and FlyBarre this month.
A go-to favorite for Zach is a simple banana & egg pancake with cinnamon. 1 egg per banana, mash and combine, dash with cinnamon, pour into pancake sized portions in a hot skillet. Quick, simple, and tasty FLYfuel. Heather’s favorite healthy snack is a Peanut Butter & Strawberry Kind Bar with a Mean Greens smoothie from Juice Bar- it gives her the energy she needs to power through her classes!
When they’re treating themselves, Zach is a sucker for some (many) chocolate covered strawberries and Heather adores the Coconut Truffles from Godiva with a glass of Malbec. Sounds like a perfect match! The chocolates too.
When you’re done trying to beat Zach’s chocolate covered strawberry record, he is hosting a
Date night ride on Tuesday, February 14th @ 5:30pm for couples that are looking for a sweat date 🙂
Heather will be riding in his class and will make an appearance on the podium to instruct the arms portion of the class. The couple that FLYs together, stays together! After class, riders can enjoy Valentine’s drinks and treats in the lobby.
