My fave dip

I am a serious dipper...I love dips, salsas, condiments, and hummus! But this dip is one of my faves for fruit!

Almond butter

Vanilla Greek yogurt

Raisins

Dark chocolate chips

Cinnamon 

Mix together and dip with apples, bananas, grapes, strawberries, ect. Or eat with a spoon! I won't judge. 

Beauty, strength, health

My friend pinned this on Pinterest last night and it just resonated with me!

I can definitely get caught up on weight, shape, jiggle, dimples, cellulite, flab and less definition! It is so destructive, I still after 4 years get pretty down on myself, so I went to the mirror to only see and to speak positively about myself....

So what I see is strong, sexy, beauty, health, happiness, bravery, resilience, and power. 

Go to the mirror and see the good! Speak about the positives, focus on what  is on the inside. 

Stuffed peppers...a different way

Ok I have to share this crazy yummy dinner! Our bountiful baskets this week came with 10 orange peppers! We love peppers but I admit that I get in a recipe rut of fajitas, stir fry, or traditional stuffed peppers. I wanted something different and I didn't need to go to the store for! I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand! I used a recipe off Pinterest for inspiration, but like I said before I am not great about following a recipe! So here is the breakdown of the stuffing! 

Quinoa

Garbanzo beans

Capers

Roasted red peppers

Artichoke hearts

Kalamata olives

Ground elk(the recipe called for lamb)

Spices: oregano, dill, parsley, pepper and salt

Feta cheese

I cooked everything in my pressure cooker! I got an electric pressure cooker for Christmas and I love it! It took 35 minutes to cook everything even the dried garbanzo beans! A little tip is to cook your quinoa and garbanzo beans in low sodium chicken broth, this adds flavor so you don't have to salt as much later! 

Then I stuffed the pepper and baked it for 10-20 min at 450. 

It called for a Tzatziki sauce. That is an easy plain Greek yogurt, diced cucumbers, salt, pepper, dill and a little tahini. 

Make it about you!

I wish so badly for others to look inside of themselves and know that THEY have EVERYTHING they need to achieve fitness goals. I honestly didn't know for a very long time that I had it in me either. When I first started on my health journey, I was so self-conscious, full of doubt, comparing myself to to others, negative about slip ups, and humility about the person that I was. I was embarrassed for the way I looked, for the things I ate, for the clothes I wore, for every poor choice I was making...I felt humiliation. For some reason, maybe it was divine intervention, I kept going. I didn't want to. I wanted to give up so many times, because the feeling of such self doubt was so overwhelming. But I just kept at it. There are still times when I feel myself comparing and slipping into the same mental game with myself. I am here to tell you that being healthy is a mental game. It takes more mental energy to push those feelings aside and to keep going. Most people are not prepared for the how challenging it is. I am here to tell you, you can do it.

I have prided myself on doing this my way! It is so frustrating to have people ask, what program did you do? Did you do atkins? Did you do blah blah blah? You must spend so much time at the gym. I want to scream and say, "I did me" I did what my body needed. I started moving more. I exercise. I sweat. I eat clean. I pay attention to portions. I just do the things that are natural. They aren't hard. It is what has been proven to be most effective and have the results that are for a life time. I don't have to purchase things to make me live a healthier life. I know that many of my friends and family chose to take a different route, and that is great. The fact that you are making choices to live a different life is huge! But please please please remember that all you need is you! You are the only one to make a difference in your life. You are the one that has to beat the mental game, to do one more lap, to make a healthy choice, to quit a bad habit. It is YOU!! No personal trainer, health coach, nutritionist can make you live a healthier life. It is YOU! They will give you tools, help motivate, encourage, and assist, but it is solely up to you! My advice is make this journey about you! Make it about changing your life not a quick fix. This has to be a marathon! I am here to tell you that after 4 years of maintaining this lifestyle, there is nothing more gratifying than saying I DID IT, I AM DOING IT, I LIVE IT, and NO ONE BUT ME CAN TAKE CREDIT! This was about me beating me and all of the things that I thought I could never do! MAKE YOUR JOURNEY ABOUT YOU!!

Recipe time! Breakfast

Ok I realize that so many people wonder what to eat to lose weight. I thought to myself why not do a month dedicated to recipes to help people figure out what to eat to help shread those lbs.

Ok so last night I made these awesome breakfast muffins. The one thing I will admit is I still allow crappy sugary cereal in my house. But I don't know why I still do. It's really strictly for convenience. Why not premake some healthy muffins for the morning...

I have tried some recipes from Pinterest but I haven't found one that I love. So I found one I would try. I did modify to add more healthy components! By the way...I am super surprised that I can even bake because I HATE FOLLOWING A RECIPE! So it's no real surprise that I modified the original recipe. I kind of crack up anytime anyone asks for a recipe from me, because chances are....there isn't one! :) I think it's because I hate to be told what to do

Oatmeal Blueberry Applesauce Muffins

Yields: 12 muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/4 cups oats
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375˚ F.
2. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper/ silicone liners, or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
3. In a large bowl combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a medium bowl combine applesauce, yogurt, brown sugar, canola oil and egg.
4. Make a well in dry ingredients and add the applesauce mixture. Stir until just moist. Fold in blueberries. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups, filling to about 2/3 full.
5. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin from the middle of the tray comes out clean.
6. If you’re freezing them, allow the muffins to cool, then pop them into a ziplock bag before putting them into the freezer. Pop them into the microwave to defrost when you’re ready to eat!

First of all, I doubled the recipe and it made 24 muffins. I wish I would have tripled it or quadrupled it because they are that good. But at least they are super easy to make! 

So it calls for a lot of flour, I cut 1/4 cup of the flour and added 1/4 cup of wheat germ.

It also called for 1 1/4  cup of oats. I cut this by a 1/2 cup and added 1/4 cup flax seed. I also added in a 1/4 cup of quinoa!

I did add a little bit more liquid ingredients because of the added depth of the dry ingredients. I added 1/2 cup more applesauce 1/4 more yogurt and another egg.

I also omitted the oil.

I included a couple handfuls of craisins as well.

You could add walnuts or almonds, but I didn't have any!

These things are amazing! I have no regret giving these to my kids in the morning to start their day off right!

Schedule it out!

Well it's time to get honest.

December sucked for our family and our fitness goals.

I will not lie to you and say that I am perfect, because I have times when I fall off the wagon....but the difference is running and hopping back on. In my 4 years of living a healthier lifestyle, it has happened a time or two, but nothing like the month of December 2014. I definitely struggled with my ability to step away from foods at holiday dinners and gatherings, lost motivation to work out, ate way too many sweets and candy, and drank way too much alcohol and not enough water.

Ok now that I got all of that off my chest, it is time to tell you how I ran back and jumped back on the wagon. So our goals for 2015 include areas from 7 different areas of your life. These include: Physical, Intellectual, Financial, Social, Spiritual, Family, and Career. So my husband and I have goals in each of these areas. My physical goal is to be active/workout at least 3-4 times per week. How am I holding myself accountable....By setting appointments with myself and my family at the gym!

Here is a picture of our calendar on our family command center. As you can see that EVERY Monday, Wednesday and Friday I have scheduled the gym. It is easy for me to make this appointment because I have to go the YMCA(our family gym) to pick up Avon off the bus. So we are there anyway....we might as well go! This keeps me accountable as well because I get in my 3 days no matter what! My 4th day will typically be walking the dogs as we are training our new dog on a leash. When you plan out your workouts and make a schedule with yourself, most likely you won't cancel it. Think of it as your boss! Would your boss cancel an appointment with you????

I hope this helps! I feel better already and I am back down to my pre-December weight after a week of being accountable. Remember that if you fall of the wagon....run and get back on! One bad meal, one bad day, one bad week....or one bad month doesn't mean you need to throw in the towel. Re-group and start over. Make one good choice the next day and then let that snowball into 2 good choices. You can do it!

It's almost the New Year...bring on the diet craze

Have I told anyone lately that I hate the word DIET...well I do.

Diet

/dīət/

noun

a special course of food to which one restricts oneself, either to lose weight or for medical reasons.

Why is it that we feel that we need to restrict ourselves in order to lose weight. It turns out that when you restrict yourself from foods, you WILL find yourself wanting it more. This typically only leads to failure. You can only resist your cravings for a certain amount of time, which is why Diets never work.

Instead of restrictions,,,,why not give yourself more??? I am not telling you to go and eat ice cream! But what I am telling you is give yourself something that makes you feel like you are eating ice cream. I was a HUGE ice cream eater...I loved the stuff right before bed. Yummmmmm! When I began living healthier, I froze bananas, added some cocoa powder and then food processed it. It became an ice cream like consistency and gave me the feeling like I was eating ice cream. I never felt restricted. I felt satisfied. You will find success when you give yourself foods that your body is wanting instead of fighting the cravings. I do believe in cutting down on bad things for you like saturated fats, refined carbs, sugar, and salt...but to eliminate all together will never generate success.

I know that New Year's is coming up...and there are so many people out there wanting to lose weight. My challenge to you is to  live healthier. Focus on health, focus on movement, focus on water, focus on strength, focus on freshness, focus on sleep, focus on less stress. Be aware of what you are doing good for your body. When you are aware and focused on health....the weight will come off! But I challenge you to start today...why wait until Jan 1. Start today! Do something good for your body today!