Back-to-School. Tips and what I can do for you.

It's back to school season! Buying textbooks, loads of papers, cramming for tests, procrastination, and no time for anything. I find it difficult to stay on top of exercising and eating healthy during the school year with all the stress involved with classes and my work schedule. Maybe you feel the same? Life gets in the way, sometimes. I'm used to working out 5-6 days a week for at least an hour a day and making all my meals at home, but once school starts, I'm lucky to get a 30 minute workout  in 3 days a week! I think there are many who can share my feelings on this subject: how can I stay in shape and keep weight off during the school year?

I believe that I have figured out a few things that are helpful to keep weight off, so here are my tips to you:

• Discipline: Discipline yourself with how much alcohol you drink. You don't need to drink every thirsty thursday, friday, and saturday. You just don't need to. Ahem..beer belly? Not attractive.
• Sleep: Don't go to bed at 2 am and get 4 hours of sleep. You're body and mind needs at least 7 hours of sleep a night. Try to go to bed around the same time every night. I go to bed around 10:30 and probably get a solid 8 hours of sleep almost every night. You will feel more refreshed and alert and won't be grabbing for so much caffeine throughout the day.

• Snacks-to-go: You're going to need food throughout the day to keep you fueled up and for your brain to function. Pick snacks that are high in protein and have a low glycemic index. The lower the GI is, the slower it will be released in your body, so your blood sugar won't spike and you won't become even more hungry. I like to throw apples, bananas, almonds, and granola bars into my backpack for between classes when I don't have time to have a meal. My favorite granola bars are Kashi, Nature Valley, and Kind bars.

• Make time: Set aside time in your day, maybe on days with fewer classes or no work, for a 30-60 minute workout. It could be going for a walk, yoga, pilates, swimming, whatever you enjoy doing.  Not only will the benefit your physical health, it will benefit your mental health. This will give your brain a break and can greatly help de-stress yourself.
• Sneak in a workout:  Standing in line? Do calf raises. Elevator or stairs? Take the stairs. It will work your butt and legs, get your heart rate up, and with a backpack on you'll burn more calories due to the extra weight. And the stairs are quicker! Got some extra time between classes? Take a longer route to get to class or take a walk around campus. Walking where there aren't many people? Be brave and do some walking lunges. Who cares who sees you! At least you'll have a nice ass :)

 

Now, here's what I am going to do for you and for me. Per my sisters request, she asked me to 1) write about staying fit and keeping weight off during the school year, and 2) include quick, easy, and healthy meals that are easy for on the go. I like the idea of meals for on the go, whether breakfast or lunch, because as a student, we're always on the go.  As I find recipes and come up with new ideas, I will post and share them with you all. This will be fun for me!  Please give me sometime, though, as I am also a full-time college student and work part-time.

The tips I stated above, I honestly do do every day.  On campus, I always choose to take the stairs, even if its 8 flights of stairs. Also, I'm a commuter and my parking ramp is at least half a mile from campus, so I'm lucky enough to get a good walk in every day. When I started college two years ago, I was very focused on not gaining weight. I'm happy to say that I didn't and haven't gained a single pound. I do make time to workout, I do sleep at night, I don't excessively drink, and I do keep fruit and healthy snacks with me always (apples keep me full for hours!). You need to discipline yourself, make time for yourself, and don't procrastinate. Oh, and of course...HAVE FUN! Enjoy yourself!

These are simple and easy things you can do every day. No excuses. Let's have a wonderful school year! Good grades, meeting new people, going to football games, and staying healthy. We can do it and I'll be your support system, I promise. Have a wonderful day and first day of classes! :)



 

It's a hard knock life.

I've been on an emotional roller coaster this week.  It all started with stress in my personal life (thankfully, that's all figured out now), feeling stressed about the fact that school starts in less than a week, stress with all the crap I need to figure out with my sisters bachelorette party this weekend, and stress from my lovely job at Starbucks! Today marks day 6 of closing at my job and I still have 2 more days until I get a much needed weekend off! I may have cried in the back room of our store last night... I'm completely burned out this week and feeling like some crazy, homicidal lunatic. Watch out...

I've realized how many wonderful people I've gotten to know through my job at Starbucks.  Seriously, these are some of the nicest, funniest, most caring individuals I know in my life. In the last couple days, these people have let me vent to them about my personal life, they've let me rest due to a splitting headache, they've brought me a milkshake, chocolate truffles, AND food my from one of my favorite places. WHAT?! How the heck do I know this many amazing people?! I'm so thankful for each and everyone of the people I've worked with or have gotten to know through Starbucks. These people are all awesome with big, loving hearts. They can put a huge smile on my face, make me laugh, and will talk about poop with me (it's a Starbucks thing...).  So thank you to all of the lovely Starbucks partners reading this!! I know that I can be a crazy, overbearing, bossy, psychopath at times, but you guys still stand by during my loony moments. That's love.  And I love you all. Seriously.

 

 

If its not all ready clear, I'm still on this crazy, emotional roller coaster.  I hope everyone is having a stress-free day/week. But if not, I hope you're able to surround yourself with loving and caring people who can take that stress away. 

So sore. And hungry.

Wow. My body is sooo sore this morning from yesterdays workout. I'm actually kind of surprised with how sore I am.  My butt, inner thighs, upper abs, lower back, and even my shoulders are achey. Getting out of bed was a bit of a challenge and going to the bathroom is even more of a challenge..ugh! Did anyone try the treadmill workout or the lunge challenge video yesterday or today? Are you sore at all?
 
I actually did the treadmill workout again this morning becaue I really liked it and because my lower body is WAY to sore to do any HIIT today! I finished my workout with an ab and inner thigh challenge to Katy Perry's song "Roar" created by, of course, Cassey Ho. I did it two times.  Here's the video if you want to try it...it's fun!

 

 

 

So I was really hungry when I woke up today, so I made myself a big, nutritious and filling breakfast. Here's what I ate:

 



1 whole egg+ 1/3 cup egg white omelette stuffed with spinach and mushrooms, topped with freshly chopped tomatoes.



Apple slices with my favorite peanut butter. Better n Peanut butter from Trader Joes.
 

I really like my apple slicer, core-er thingy. What's this thing called?!

 
That's all I have for you! Hope you have a wonderful day, everyone :)



My Butt is on Fire!

Happy Sunday, everyone! I just finished my workout for the day and oh my gosh... my butt and legs on fireeeee! This workout was inspired by my favorite fitness blogger, Cassey Ho, and it was amazing! So give it a try! Here is what I did this morning for my workout:

I started off with her Shreadmill Treadmill Workout:

 

Click here and go to her blog to print it off and give it a try! It's great cardio and really gets your butt and legs burning. After that, I moved onto one of her cardio videos. It's only about 4 minutes so I repeated the video twice, which I strongly recommend to do. This video really targets your cardio, butt, quads, and hamstrings. Alright, here we go! Do this video two times through now:

 

 



 

 

Wow! Were your legs burning after that?! Mine sure were. I burned a ton of calories this morning and I feel great after this. Do both of these routines, the treadmill workout and the video, to get your cardio in for the day.

Have a wonderful day :)

Double Chocolate Greek Yogurt Muffins

The last few days I've been craving chocolate because of little ol' time of the month! I decided to make some chocolaty muffins that smelled like cake the whole time they were baking. My kitchen smelled like a bakery shop...it was wonderful. I wasn't sure how long to bake these muffins and  I was pretty nervous they were going to come out as smoldering pudding cups or something... I'm really no genius when it comes to baking. Not my forte.  I can bake if like 3 ingredients are involved, like oats and bananas!, but not if there are a billion ingredients, like these muffins. But hey, they came out a success! So if you're craving something chocolaty, but with not a ton of calories, this recipe is for you. No flour, butter, oil, low in sugar, and it uses Greek yogurt..hence the title..and of course it uses oats because that's what I always use. Alright, enough chitter chatter...

Double Chocolate Greek Yogurt Muffins

The Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups of oats
• 3 egg whites
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used raspberry because that's all I had on hand)
• 1/2 tsp cream of tarter (or 2 tsp vinegar)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup of hot water
• 1 cup of sweetener that measures like sugar (I used a little less than 1/2 cup of sugar + 1 tsp vanilla extract because of the extra sweetness from the raspberry Greek yogurt)
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

How-To

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. While the oven is heating, blend all the above ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, in a food processor. I blended the oats first by themselves to create oat flour for a smoother texture.
3. After all is blended, then blend in half of the chocolate chips, saving half for later. The batter will be very thin and soup-like.
4. Line muffin tins and fill each with the batter.
5. Bake for 15 minutes, take out and sprinkle the other half of chocolate chips on top of the muffins. Bake for another 5-10 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Right out of the oven. Yum!

*I made the mistake of not lining my muffin tins because I didn't have big enough ones. I did grease my pan first, but taking out the muffins was an issue. Parts of the bottom came off, which makes me very sad. I'm all about presentation, so when it's not perfect, I get sad ha!*

This recipe was supposed to make 12 muffins, but because I used giant muffin tins, I only got 6 muffins out of it. If you make 12 muffins, each muffin comes out to be only 101 calories! Seriously, these were like eating cake...very low cal cake! Each one of my muffins is 202 calories since they're larger than normal.  They're like mini personal cakes...er a cupcake! Yum :)

 

 

 

 

 

Mac and Cheese with Cottage Cheese

I had a craving for mac and cheese this afternoon but none of that crappy box kind! That stuff is gross! Don't eat it. I only like homemade mac and cheese, but I wanted to make it in such a way that didn't use flour or butter for the sauce. Instead I used cottage cheese! It made the mac and cheese extra creamy, extra cheesy, and it provided me with extra protein! That's a win win...win!  :) This took me about 45 minutes to make from start to finish, but only took me about 5 minutes to eat it. It was just that good! Give it a try!!

Mac & Cheese

• 1/2 cup of uncooked whole grain pasta
• 2 tbsp. of non-fat milk
• 1/4 cup of fat free or low fat cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup of shredded cheese of your choice (I would use low-fat cheese, but with mine I didn't have any)
• dry mustard, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper to taste. I put in lots of cayenne!
• *1/2-1 tbsp. of cornstarch (I sometimes needed to add a mixture of cornstarch and water halfway through baking it because the cottage cheese can make it a bit watery. Mix cornstarch with a bit of water and add to your mac and cheese. Stir it in and put back in the oven. It will thicken it right up and make it extra cheesey.)

1. Cook your pasta according to the package. While that is cooking, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. After your pasta is done, drain and put pack in the pot.
3. Add your milk, cheese, cottage cheese, and spices to the pasta and stir until well mixed. If you want an even cheesy-er dish, I suggest adding more cottage cheese. Extra protein!
4. Put your pasta mixture in a small, greased baking dish.
5. Cook for 20-30 minutes. Until everything looks well combined, cheesy and hot! I cooked mine for 25 minutes. *You may need to add some cornstarch as it may get watery from the cottage cheese. This can be done anytime while its baking. I did this around the 15 minute mark.*
6. Ta-da! Enjoy :)

 

 

I added 1 cup of broccoli and handful of spinach to my dish because I just loveeee broccoli! Feel free to add other veggies or meat to your dish. Cooking times and thickness may vary then, so keep that in mind.  My oh my, look at that cheese!

 

Cheesy goodness!

This recipe makes 1-2 servings. I tried to save half of it for later...but it was just too gosh darn delicious! So I ate it all :) My dish came out to be 349 calories for the whole thing. If I had waited and only ate half, my serving would have been 174.5 calories. Not bad, huh?  Calories will vary depending on all of the ingredients you choose to use, so I will not be listing any nutritional info at this time. I do hope you give this a try if you love mac and cheese. This was super satisfying and tasty! Come on, you know you want to try it :)

 

Happy eating!! 

Diets-the good, the bad, & the truth.

Happy tuesday everyone! I hope everyones day started off on the right foot and are enjoying today. I actually have a day off today where I have nothing to do-no work, no volunteering-just a day to relax, blog, workout, and tan on this beautiful, sunny day! My boyfriend is currently out of town, giving me more free time to do this (blog) and to try out all these new recipes I've been finding. These recipes will surely be posted as I try them for you guys :)

Ok. So. Have you ever thought about how many different diet plans there are out in the world? Like, there are a lot. Trust me, I looked it up! Some diets were for health issues (i.e Chrohn's disease, IBS) and many other diets were for dietary reasons and changes (i.e weight loss). I probably spent a good 2-3 hours reading through the index of all the diets, finding the most interesting, the most popular, and the weirdest diets. There are definitely a handful I found that I would never recommend, due to extreme restrictions of food. Healthy? No! I did want to share with you the pros and cons of several of the most widely know diet plans out there. I am in no way suggesting that these are the only good diet plans and what not. I am simply giving you information. These are not my opinions on such diets. Please use this information to your benefit and for yourself-however that may be.

Fruitarian Diet

• A fruitarian is a subgroup of a vegan, but goes even further by eliminating all parts of vegetables (plants and trees) except the fruit part of the plants.
• They eat only the culinary fruit and botanical fruit. As in apples, pears, nuts, seeds, tomatoes and other plant fruit. Nuts provide a great source of protein and grains and pasta are suggested for consumption for a balanced diet.
• This diet is extremely hard to follow due to extreme restrictions. Long term negative health effects of this type of diet can be: vitamin B12 deficiency, which is essential for normal nervous system functioning; chronic alcoholism, chrohns disease, fish tape worm, and pernicious anemia.

Flat-Belly Diet

• This diet focuses on losing visceral fat-its more dangerous to your health and much harder to lose. It also focuses on the consumption of monounsaturated fatty acids at every meal because MUFA's help with fat burning.
• Oils, nuts and seeds, olives, and dark chocolate are recommended. See my post "Flat Belly Foods" for more foods! This diet resembles that of the Mediterranean diet, which will be explored next.
• Exercise is recommended, but not necessary. WHAT?!
• Overall: Some of these claims are bit dramatic, but their is evidence backing up the need for MUFA's in your diet and their healthy effects.

The Mediterranean Diet

• This diet is all about consuming lots of fruits and vegetables, olive oil, fish, breads, and other grains. This diet contains only small amounts of fish and poultry and red meat is rarely eaten.
• This diet is also about enjoy the food you eat! :)
• Pros: improved cardiovascular health, focus on fresh foods, backed by solid research, portion control.
• Cons: doesn't necessarily improve weight, doesn't address other health issues, dairy is a large part of the diet.

The Raw Food Diet

• 75% of food consumed on this diet should be raw. Raw food is recommended because it contains more enzymes that are usually lost while cooked.
• This diet is generally made up of fruit, vegetables, seeds, nuts, sprouted grains, and dried fruit. Some add fish and poultry to their diet, but many are strict vegans.
• I didn't find any pros and cons.

The Special K Diet

• This diet is said to consume 2 servings of special k cereal, a third meal being nutritionally balanced, and snacks including fruits, veggies, and/or special k bars.
• Pros: no calorie counting, easy to follow, effective for 75% of people.
• Cons: lack of variation, not based on whole grains and not a good source of fiber, hunger is a likely problem.

The Paleo Diet

• This diet is to eat like a caveman. That being said you shouldn't eat processed foods, sugar, salt, grains, legumes, dairy products, coffee and alcohol because these were not available to cavemen.
• Pros: high intakes of protein, emphasis of fruits and vegetables, intake of essential fatty acids, no counting calories.
• Cons: highly restrictive, may be socially disruptive, diet is based on some speculation.

The Atkins Diet

• The original plan went through four phases of eliminating carbohydrates from the diet. The new plan places an emphasis on eating more healthy, and nutritionally dense whole foods.
• Pros: quick results can be experienced, may have experienced success.
• Cons: high fat diet.

There you go, a sampling of several popular diets out there. If there is anything all of these diets have in common, its the consumption of fruits and vegetables. Fruits and veggies are very important to your diet-they provide fiber, keep you full, provide vitamins and minerals, and are simply delicious! Again, these are not my opinions on these diets, but facts. Please click here for where I found this information and for even more information on these diets and much more.

Happy eating, happy exercising, happy living!

Biggest Loser Oatmeal Pancakes

I found this recipe on Pinterest (where I find so many enticing recipes!) and thought it sounded very interesting. These pancakes have no flour or butter/oil in them, but they do have one shocking ingredient-cottage cheese! I love cottage cheese because its high in protein and low in fat. These pancakes are packed with protein, low in fat and low in carbs. I did modify the recipe a bit for myself, so what I used will be in blue. I have also included the nutritional value of this recipe for both the original and my modified version. Enjoy! 

Ingredients 

• 6 egg whites (3 whole eggs)
• 1 cup of cottage cheese
• 1 cup of rolled oats, dry
• 2 teaspoons of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Steps

1. Blend all of the ingredients above in a blender or food processor until smooth.
2. For each pancake, pour 1/4 cup of the batter onto a preheated griddle or skillet. Flip when bubbles have formed on top of the pancakes, about 2 minutes per side.
3. You will have about 9-10 pancakes when finished, with 3 pancakes per serving.  

Nutritional Value per Serving (3 pancakes)

• 181 calories (227 calories)
• 2.7 grams of fat (7.1 grams of fat)
• 20 grams of carbs
• 2.8 grams of fiber
• 17 grams of protein

*I used 3 whole eggs instead because most of the protein in an egg is in the yolk. Also, because I don't like to waste egg yolks. Please choose to make this recipe the original way, my way, or come up with your own way to satisfy and meet your needs.*

the final product.

Motivation 2.0

Lately, I've heard from friends, "how are you so motivated" and "I wish I had the motivation like you." Because of these comments and questions, I thought maybe I should write about why I have so much motivation to workout, to eat healthy, and to live a healthy lifestyle.


First of all, I want everyone to remember that it's not easy. It's a hard change to make, it takes time, so be patient. For me, exercising was the easy part, changing how I ate, was the hard part. You know, you grow up eating a certain way and it can be very hard to change that. I started slowly, though.  Little by little, I incorporated salads into my lunches and dinners, I took my own lunch to school rather than eating school food, I chose a piece of fruit for a snack instead. I kept slowly adding good foods and getting rid of bad foods.  If you keep it up, it will become habit for you, like it is for me. Just remember, be patient, keep trying, and don't give up!

 

 

 

Second, you can't make excuses! You need to be very honest with yourself throughout your change. Remember why you started and why you wanted to change. Stop telling yourself that you'll do it tomorrow, do it now.

 

I finally came to terms with how I felt about myself just before my senior year of high school. I was chubby and I wasn't happy with myself. My reasons for changing wasn't just to lose weight, but more importantly for me to feel happy from the inside out.  I think if it had been just to lose weight,  I would've eventually stopped what I was doing.  My goal was more than just a number on the scale.  I was doing this for myself and I hope that one day, if I have children, I can be a role model to them. I believe it is easier to change when you're not focused on vanity. It's ok to have some goals that are about vanity, but hopefully you have more goals that are bigger than that!  I am here today because I didn't make excuses. It is a journey, start slow and go harder as it becomes easier.

 

 

Third, have fun! It is much more motivating to workout or to eat healthy when you find ways to have fun with it! What got me started was YouTube. I randomly found a YouTube channel called Blogilates one day. Cassey Ho, creator of blogilates, has a ton of fun pilates and cardio videos as well as healthy food recipes! Her energy and happiness is contagious and I always have fun when I'm working out along with her in her videos. I strongly recommend checking out her channel and her blog. 

 

Her videos and blog were the main reason why I became so motivated to live a healthy lifestyle.  She is inspiring to me and to many other girls around the world! I feel that I have learned a lot from her-from working out, to eating clean, to loving myself. Find  something that is fun to you-it could be biking, yoga, pilates, running, or whatever-do it!

 

 

 



 

 

These are three reasons why I am so motivated. Learn from them. If you want to change, you need to make the effort, no one can do it for you.  It will be hard, but you'll get stronger and better as time goes on. Be patient. I can't stress that enough.

You need patience in this journey and you need to stay positive. No more negative thoughts about yourself and your strength and/or the way you look. Just stop with the negativity. You won't accomplish anything otherwise.  Enjoy the journey you are about to go on-in the long run, you're going to be so happy with all of your accomplishments. And I will be so happy for you! I'll be proud of all your accomplishments. So lets get started! You won't regret it!

 





Oatmeal Banana Pancakes

I have found yet another recipe that uses bananas and oats. I always have these two food items in my house so I constantly try to find new recipes that use bananas when mine are getting too ripe to eat. If you read my post "Banana Pancakes", this recipe is similar to that recipe, but ramped up! I don't typically eat pancakes for breakfast, or any other time really, but this recipe caught my eye-particularly because of the banana and oats part-and because it just sounded so good! These have peanut butter and chocolate chips in them, including oats and flour, but no added sugar! These pancakes get most their flavor from the banana and the peanut butter...YUM!! I cut this recipe in half, so this is based on making 5-6 pancakes in a batch. Please enjoy!

 

Oatmeal Banana Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1 ripe banana
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• pinch of salt
• approx. 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp peanut butter (I used my favorite, Better n Peanut Butter, from trader joe's)
• 1.5 tsp canola oil (I used vegetable oil)
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp milk of your choice (I used nonfat)
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips, optional (I used 2 tbsp of mini chocolate chips)

Directions

1. Preheat a greased skillet over medium heat.
2. Mash banana with the baking powder first.
3. Then add the egg, salt, oil, vanilla, peanut butter, and milk, and stir/mix it all together.
4. Stir in the oats and flour until its just combined.
5. If using, stir in chocolate chips gently.
6. Drop small scoops onto your skillet, flip, serve, enjoy!

 

Nutritional Value for the entire batch:

• Calories: 738.5
• Fat: 16.7 grams
• Fiber: 7.9 grams
• Sugar: 19.2 grams
• Protein: 20.5 grams

*This is based on the ingredients I used. Adjust for different ingredients.

 

*One pancake comes out to be 123 calories*

 

 

 

I found these to be very good! I loved how much I could taste the peanut butter, which is one of my favorite things in the world! Play around with other ingredients to add to this pancake mix. Almonds, blueberries, craisins, coconut, pecans...  I hope you give this recipe a try if you're looking for something different to do with pancakes!  Have a wonderful day :)

 




 
 
 

 

 

 

Oatmeal Banana Muffins

This recipe contains no flour, butter, or oil in it, making these muffins clean! They're moist from the bananas and the greek yogurt, and they're perfectly sweet! The batter was super simple to make-throw it all in a food processor or blender and blend it! Please enjoy this recipe posted below:

Oatmeal Banana Muffins

• 2 1/2 cups of old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup plain non-fat greek yogurt
• 2 ripe bananas
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup of sugar (I wanted to cut the sugar in half so I used: 1/4 cup sugar + 2 tablespoon of sugar + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray or use cup liners in the tin.
2. Place all of the following ingredients, including the bananas and oats, into a food processor or blender.  I blended 1/2 cup of oats at time rather than all at once. Blend until oats are pretty smooth. I had some larger chunks of oats in my batter, no biggie!
3. Divide the batter among the tins and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean! Mine only took 15 minutes.

• I had extra batter, so I made several mini baby muffins! So cute and delicious :) I ate all of baby muffins in about...20 seconds!

 

 

I decided to put blueberries on top of some of the muffins. Adding nuts, chocolate chips, coconut, or any other thing that seems interesting to you can brighten them up and make them that more scrumptious!

 

 

 

Happy baking! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did :)  Click here for the recipe where I found it. 

My Favorite Things

The many things I love:

• Coffee
• My french press
• My sister

 

• My cousins...the Fab Four

• Sunny days
• Rainy days
• The months September, October, and November
• Laughing
• Cooking
• Eating
• Exercising
• Pilates
• Volunteering
• Going on vacation
• Hiking and adventures
• My blackberry...don't make fun!
• Las Vegas
• Urban Outfitters
• Cosmo magazine
• Looking at old pictures
  

I won't bore you with all of the other things I love, but these were just the first things that came to my mind! I'm sitting here, writing this, outside on this beautiful,sunny, 78 degree late morning, and drinking iced coffee, thinking of all the things that make me happy. Today, I'm in a great mood and I want everyone else to have a happy day! Take a moment and think of what makes you happy. Did it make you smile? I hope so! Have a wonderful day everyone! :)

Risks of extreme exercise

Exercising and staying active is great for your health in all ways-psychologically, socially, emotionally, and mentally- but too much exercise is just as unhealthy as no exercise. I just came across an article on Greatist on exercise disorders.  These disorders are seen as being similar to and may be connected to eating disorders. People with exercise disorders may have low self-esteem about their body image, their weight, and other factors just like with eating disorders have.  This article also goes into mentioning how the fitness industry and media play an affect on people and their body image and the symptoms shown by people who may have an exercise disorder. One of these symptoms is exercising two, three times a day-which is just too extreme! I'm guilty of working out more than once in a day before, but I have only done that probably twice ever and now after reading this, I definitely will keep it to just once a day!  It is great for your body, inside and out, to be active and healthy, but remember, you need to let your body and mind rest. It's very important. Allow yourself one of two days a week of rest from exercise. You'll feel better, won't be exhausted, and you'll be less likely to injure yourself because you will be allowing your body and muscles to rest. Please read this short article (link below the picture), you may find it to be as interesting as I did. 

http://greatist.com/fitness/eating-exercise-disorders

Healthy Guac and Pico de Gallo

Two of my favorite dips are guacamole and pico de gallo.  I dip everything and anything in it and I put guacamole and pico de gallo on top of everything! Eggs, burgers, burritos, quinoa...you name it! Pico de gallo is very healthy and simple-fresh veggies, herbs, and lemon juice! Its a much healthier option than ketchup or salsa.  Guacamole on the other hand isn't always so healthy, but I found a way to healthify it by using greek yogurt! The recipe for the guac is also very simple and easy to make. I hope you enjoy these two simple, healthy dips!

Guacamole with Greek Yogurt

• 1/2 cup of non-fat, plain greek yogurt
• 1 ripe avocado
• 2 small tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2-1 freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp of cumin
• salt and pepper to taste
• paprika or tabasco sauce to taste

1. Chop up your tomatoes and mince your garlic. Set aside.
2. Mash up your avocado and stir in your greek yogurt. Put your lime juice in immediately to keep the avocado from browning.
3. Stir in the tomatoes, garlic, and spices mentioned above into your avocado mixture.
4. Enjoy!

For more flavor, add: cilantro, onions, jalapenos, and other spices.

Pico de Gallo

• 2 roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 small jalapeno pepper, diced, optional
• 1 handful of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1/2 of a fresh lime or lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Chop up all of your veggies and mix together.
2. Add in the cilantro, lemon/lime juice, and salt/pepper to your veggie mixture, mix and stir it all together.
3. Enjoy!

Feel free to mess around with this recipe-add more tomatoes, spicy peppers or other herbs!


 Recipes found by Blogilates, but modified a bit by myself.
 *I personally do not add salt to either of these recipes, but that's only because I've trained my taste buds to not like salt. By all means though, add what you need to make it as tasty as can be for yourself :) *

Apple Season is here!

I love apples! Especially honey crisp apples.  Apples are in season all year around, but their peak is during July through November, which means it's already apple season and I want to eat them all! Many apples are ready to go by September, so start stocking up. Here are a few nutritional facts, apple facts, and recipe ideas:

Nutritional Facts for a medium-sized apple:

• 72 calories
• 3 grams of fiber, mostly from the skin, so eat it!
• 11% of your daily vitamin C
• Contains flavonoids, which are said to help fight heart disease and cancer
• Contains beta-carotene. This is vitamin A, which helps build healthy bones, skin, and eyes.
• Helps lower bad cholesterol and high blood pressure.
• Helps stabilize blood pressure and it has an ingredient that works as an appetite suppressant (so you'll stay fuller, longer). 

Did you know?

• That apples are part of the rose family. Pears are too!
• That there are over 7,000 varieties of apples in the world.
• The average American eats over 20 pounds of apples a year.

Recipe Ideas:

• Homemade applesauce-my goal is to actually make homemade applesauce this year! I've always wanted to, I just never have gotten around to it.
• Candied apples
• Scotch apple pie
• Apple cake
• Baked apples

Click here and here for my sources and recipes that I've mentioned above!

Happy eating, happy cooking, and have a happy day!

Cookies and Friends

Cowboy Cookies are food porn.

These were so damn delicious! I could keep eating them all day long! This was definintely my YOLO meal/treat that I'm making for this week.


Cowboy Cookies

They had oats, pecans, chocolate chips, sugar, flour, and all of the other essential ingrediants for making cookies. They were chewy, dense, and even a little crunchy around the edges- just the way I like it!  There were bursts of sweet and salty from the chocolate chips and nuts. YUM!!

 

 

Total. Food. Porn.
What is your favorite yolo meal? Favorite food porn?  Tell me, I want to know!

After eating a half dozen cookies... it was time to work it off with my workout buddy, Justin!

What's better than working out?  Working out with a friend, of course!  My friend Justin, whom I met through working at Starbucks, and I love working out together. It's a time for us to catch up with one another, get super sweaty,and  kick each others ass's...well more like I kick his ass ;)

 I finally figured out what this is that I'm doing! It's called a tricep plank. It will create leaner and stronger triceps. I like me some sexy arms :) You start out in a military push-up position, keeping your tricpes and elbows glued to your rib cage. (See, my elbows are NOT sticking out from my sides.) Then you lower yourself about 75% from your starting position.  Try doing this 3 times, each for 30 seconds.

 

Justin is working his core by doing crunches and sit-ups on an incline bench. Using an incline bench will really help strengthen your whole core and abdominals. The incline bench will also work your hip flexors. For more resistance, hold a weight in front of your chest and perform sit-ups and crunches.  Mmm sexy abs!

 

 

Seriously, though? Get up. Grab a friend. And go workout! It is so much better than working out alone. You'll have more energy, more stamina. You'll be able to run longer, faster, you'll be able to complete more reps. You and your friend will push each other, push limits, and help each other become stronger! I know that when I workout with a friend,especially Justin,  that I have much more energy than if I were to workout alone. We have so much fun together-mostly laughing at each other! Seems like fun, right?! Right! So go grab a friend, some water, and go workout!