HELP!!!

I'M ON A DIET AND I CAN'T EAT ANYTHING!

Did you ever feel like this?  You start on your way to healthier eating and you feel like all you can eat is:

It doesn't need to be like that!  There are so many ways to incorporate our every day foods into lower calorie foods, better portions and much, much healthier options.  Yes, eat your fruits and veggies.  Not only are they good for you, but they're oh so colorful and tasty!  Yes, eat your whole grains and beans - they're loaded with fiber to keep your digestive track super healthy.   Drink plenty of water - at least 1/2 of your body weight in ounces per day to help detox your system!

Most people fail on their diet goals because they eliminate so many foods that they feel they are down to only broccoli.  We're last for about a day or two on this rabbit food then we want the goods!  And unfortunately, there's not a diet plan around that let's you eat good food.

OR IS THERE?

Let's look into The 21 Day Fix.  21 Days of eating clean and portion controlled.  21 Days of 30 minutes of exercise.  21 Days to a healthier new you by breaking your old habits.  And, not much
is off limits.  That's right, to help you stay on track Beachbody has designed this program to easily portion control your food with it's color coded containers, give you your daily dose of dense nutrition in it's Shakeology meal replacement, provide you with 30 minutes of daily exercise and unlimited support from your coach!  It's pretty hard to fail.  I LOVE THIS PROGRAM!

But let's get back to the food!  Of course you can find oodles and oodles of recipes that are fix tested and husband and kids approved.  You can eat your fruit, your veggies, your proteins and your carbs all in the portions figured out just for you.  Yep, you can have pizza, nuts, chocolate and even wine.

Nothing is off limits - you just need to limit yourself.

So let's talk pancakes.  I love pancakes - especially on Sunday morning.  I've been eating this recipe from the Eat Clean Diet now for a couple of years and low and behold I can have it on the fix!  Happy, happy day!

These are power oatmeal pancakes.  They're loaded with wholesome oatmeal grain so they stick with you for pretty much your whole morning!  To make them clean, I top mine off with unsweetened applesauce and cut bananas and other berries (if in season).

POWER OATMEAL PANCAKES

2 1/2 cup dry rolled oats

6 egg whites

1 cup milk of your choice (I've used skim or almond milk)

1 Tbsp ground flaxseed

1 Tbsp Safflower oil

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon.

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend.  Use non-stick spray and drop batter on heated griddle.  Cook until pancakes are dry and bubbly on the edges and flip!

If you like syrup, use pure maple syrup to keep this recipe clean.  And don't forget to try it with the unsweetened applesauce and mixed berries - it's a different twist to an old favorite!  

For Fix approved portions, 2 4 inch pancakes are yellow, red & purple.

If you're interested in learning more about The 21 Day Fix, send me a message!  Enjoy!

YES! YES IT IS!

Have you ever wondered what Beachbody coaching was all about?  I was out to dinner with some of my friends that I haven't seen in a while and they had no idea.  They thought that I went to people's houses to train them, or that I was all about the sale.  It's my fault that my own friends didn't know so I'm here to change that!

Do I go to your house and make you workout?  Nope.  Do I guilt you into doing 10 extra pushups because you had a piece of cake?  Nope.  Do I constantly bug you to buy from my site?   Nope.

Then, what do I do as a Beachbody coach?  I simply help you achieve the gift of better health.  I give you the tools you need to succeed at your fitness, health and weight loss goals.  I find a workout and nutrition plan that best works for you.  I support you.  I challenge you.  I celebrate your successes with you and yes, I help to figure out a better way from the failures with you.

Is coaching for everyone?  YES!

It's for the person who needs to supplement their existing income to help pay bills.

It's for the person who doesn't need the extra cash but likes the perks it brings you!

It's for the person who likes to help people and wants to help end the trend of obesity.  #endthetrend

It's for the person who likes social media, keeping in touch with their old friends and making many, many new ones!

It's for the person who is disciplined and likes a great challenge - you know, something to do.

It's for the person who is undisciplined and needs the guidance and accountability of the Beachbody community.

It's for you, and it DEFINITELY is for me.

When I began as a coach, I also had no idea what they did.  I did not want to rely on my friends and family to make my sales.  Been there, done that.  My coach assured me that I didn't need to.  Jim and I both drank Shakeology daily and we were simply looking for a way to save a few bucks.  Enter coaching.  I started out as a discount coach.  I still worked out almost every day like I had for years and started drinking my Shakeology.  Something started to happen - people started to notice.  What are you doing they'd ask.  I simply told them.  Where do I get it they asked.  I simply told them.  I then realized that I was carrying around something they wanted - confidence.  I didn't hard sell them on anything,  I just simply was a product of the product and they wanted in.

I love what I do as a coach!  I get to help people every day feel better about themselves.  I get to help people every day learn the basics of clean eating,  challenge groups and regain their own confidence through working out.  I started this at 51 years young and am loving every minute of it!  I love the new confident,  stronger and more fit me.  I love that I can relate to other people my age with the struggles it takes to lose the weight.  I love that people trust me.

             But what I love most about coaching is that I make a difference - wouldn't you agree?

              Yes, Beachbody coaching definitely is for me - let me know if you think it's for you!

THURSDAY

JANUARY 1, 2015

I'm sitting here not on the edge of awesome and bombdiggity, but on the edge of dissappointment in a way.  2014 was a fabulous year for me.  My daughter got married, I lost 12 lbs,  I started my own Beachbody business and helped so many people with their fitness goals, I met so many new people and made new friends - life is good.  But the truth is for me, I could have ended 2014 better.  Yep, it's confession time.  I did really good - until I didn't.  Like so many people I know, the journey on fitness came to a screeching halt - called excuses.  Thanksgiving didn't do me in, Birthday dinners didn't do me in - neither did Christmas or New Years celebrations.  I did me in.  I got comfortable.  I mailed it in.  I made the decisions that I wouldn't have made 6 months ago while in the midst of my journey.  I put the 5th cookie in my mouth, or ordered that extra pomegranate martini.  I ate when I wasn't hungry and I was the one who skipped my workouts.  All me.  All excuses.  The successes were all me but so were the failures.

2015 will be all me as well and I'm going all in!  2014 introduced me to so many wonderful things and people and I couldn't be more grateful.  I have goals that are set.  I will achieve them.  I've grown a lot in 2014 and can only imagine that I will grow even more this new year.

I'm not big on resolutions because I was never able to keep them - heck, I can't even finish the 40 days of Lent!  This year though, I'm making REALSOLUTIONS.  

1.  My #1 goal is to quit hiding behind my insecurities and being afraid to hear the word no.  That's all it is - a word!  No biggie, right?  It's not no - you're an idiot.  It's not no - get away from me you freak.  It's just no.  No not now.   No thank you - that's not so bad now, is it?

2.  My #2 goal is to definitely build my Beachbody business.  It has made me grow in confidence in so many ways and I look forward to seeing what the next year brings!  It's scary for me but I'm up for the challenge!  And overcoming goal #1 is the catalyst for this!

3.  My #3 goal is to continue on my fitness journey. I still have 10 lbs that I would like to lose and abs that I would like to see , and I will lose & see them by June 1 - mark my words.

4.  My #4 goal is to volunteer more.  I feel that my life has been so blessed in so many ways and I want to, in some small way, pay it forward.

5.  My #5 goal is to recommit myself to my Faith.  My Faith has never wavered, but my church going certainly has.

 

Do you like Lentils?

Then you'll LOVE this!

I made my husband Jim a Turkey meatloaf a few weeks back while I was doing Beachbody's Ultimate Detox and have been hungry for meatloaf ever since!  I just am not ready to add a ton of animal protein back into my diet, and every day it was too late to make this Lentil Loaf recipe because I never had the lentils prepared!

Well, I made the lentils and couldn't wait to try this one out.  It is a vegan recipe from the creator of Oh She Glows and it is hearty, sweet, savory and downright DELICIOUS!

(This is her photo)!

It does take a little bit of prep work, but I found that eating clean and healthy using whole ingredients usually does!  This was total comfort food!

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked lentils (I used precooked - didn't hold together as pretty, but was fine)

1 cup walnuts, toasted and finely chopped

3 tbsp ground flax + 1/2 cup of water (whisk together and set aside)

3 garlic cloves, minced

1.5 cups sweet onion, diced

1 cup celery, diced

1 cup grated carrot

1/3 cup peeled and chopped sweet apple

1/3 cup of raisins (I used craisins)

1/2 cup of oat flour

3/4 cup of breadcrumbs

3/4 tsp of dried thyme

salt & pepper, to taste

red pepper flakes, to taste

Balsamic Apple Glaze

1/4 cup of ketchup

1 tbsp pure maple syrup

2 tbsp apple butter ( I used unsweetened applesauce)

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 325*.  toast your walnuts for around 8 minutes, set aside.

Raise temp to 350*.  Rinse and strain your lentils.  Place into a pot with 3 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, simmer uncovered for 40-45 minutes.  Stir frequently.  The goal is to overcook the lentils a bit so you can slightly mash them with a spoon.

Heat tsp of oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Salute the garlic and onion for about 5 minutes.  Add in diced celery, shredded carrot and apple, and the raisins.  Salute for about 5 minutes more.  Remove from heat.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients together, season with the thyme and red pepper.

Grease loaf pan and line with parchment paper.  Press mixture firmly into pan.  Whisk together the glaze ingredients, and spread 1/2 of mixture evenly on top.  Save the rest for a delicious dipping sauce!

Bake at 350* uncovered for 45-50 minutes.  Edges will be slightly browned.  Cool in pan for at least 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.  Let cool some more before slicing.  ENJOY!

  I'm not vegan, but if this how the food tastes I may just convert!

Clean Eating Peanut Butter Cups?

My Life is Complete!

Anyone who knows me knows that I love peanut butter.  And Dark Chocolate.  Separate, together, in cakes, on spoons - however you want to dish it out.  And I found myself digging into the jar while adding chocolate chips on top a little too much.  I was hungry for these and was trying to recreate them.  It was good, really good.  The problem was when you dig into treats that way they don't seem like real treats, like they're invisible or something!  And my spoonfuls got a little bigger and a little more frequent.

Enter the clean eating Reese's!  There are so many different recipes you can find on Pinterest.  My good friend Jaissa forwarded me this one.  It uses all whole, clean ingredients right down to the cacao powder and madagascar vanilla.  It does have a little bit of a coconut taste to it as well because of the coconut oil but I'll take that over preservatives and high fructose corn syrup any day!  Give them a try - I hope they hit the spot!  Just don't eat all of them at one sitting...

Reese's

1/2 cup of Coconut Oil  (melted but not hot)

1/2 cup of Cacao powder (you could use cocoa but there's sugar in some)

1/4 cup of Raw Honey

1/2 tsp of pure vanilla extract (I used Madagascar vanilla from William Sonoma)

Mix all ingredients together until well blended.  Spread a spoonful evenly into cupcake liners.  I used mini.  Place in freezer to set for about 5 minutes.  Spread Natural Peanut butter on these once they have set, then cover with the remaining chocolate mixture.  Freeze and Enjoy!

Hubby's Favorite

Italian Potato Soup

Have you ever had one of those meals that your spouse asks you to make over and over and over again?  Well, this just may be another -especially since cold weather and the infamous football season is upon us!

I don't have an actual picture for this like my other posts - you just have to trust me on this one!  But you can enjoy looking at this cold winter scene while you're dreaming of this hot soup!  ;)

Italian Potato Soup

8 ounces of Turkey Sausage  (I use 1/2 hot, 1/2 sweet)

3 cups of chopped red skinned potatoes, skin on

1/2 cup of chopped onion (Jim hates onion so I omit this - never missed it)

1 (15) oz can Italian style tomatoes, low salt if you can find them

1 TBSP each of basil & parsley flakes

1 tsp each of oregano and salt

1 (15) oz can of tomato sauce  (many times I use leftover home made - about 2 cups)

2 (14) oz cans of chicken broth

3 cups of water

finely chopped escarole, endive or kale - your choice  I always use escarole.

Saute' the sausage in a 5-6 quart saucepan until the fat is rendered.  You can use links that you cut into coins or loose sausage - doesn't matter!  Drain the fat.  Add the potatoes and onion and cook for just a few minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients except the greens.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat and cook until the potatoes are tender.  Add chopped greens in at the end and continue to cook for around 10 minutes or until they've wilted.  Kale usually takes a little longer.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese if you'd like.

Serve with a salad and Italian bread and you have yourself a meal!

Kale & Brussels Sprouts Salad with

Butternut Squash, Pomegranate

&

Candied Pecans

Salad:

1 small butternut squash, peeled & cubed

1 TBSP olive oil

Pinch of Sea Salt

1 small bunch of Kale, finely chopped

1 lb Brussels Sprouts, finely chopped

1 cup pomegranate seeds

1/2 cup candied pecans

1/3 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese

Dressing:                                                                  

1/4 cup olive oil

2 TBSP apple cider vinegar

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 small clove of garlic

2 tsps shallot, minced

Salt & pepper to taste

1 tsp raw honey

Preheat oven to 400*.  Place cubed squash in baking pan.  Drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper.  Roast 25-30 minutes or until tender.  Remove and set aside.

Place kale in a large bowl and sprinkle with sea salt.  Massage leaves for 2 minutes or until they soften and begin to wilt.  Stir in chopped Brussels Sprouts, squash, pomegranate seeds, candied pecans and parmesan cheese.  Season with salt & pepper.  Pour on dressing and toss to coat.

*I also added chopped figs because, well, I'm addicted to them :)!

serves around 6

This recipe is by Two Peas & Their Pod

www.twopeasandtheirpod.com