Be Consistent & A 100 Workout Challenge!

Before we begin this weeks #BeConsistent talk and challenges, be sure to check out what Be Consistent is all about! Check out the first post!

Then check out last weeks post about my favorite online fitness resources!

We are finally getting settled into our new home, and I'm beginning to feel a little less crazy because things are settling down! Like many of you around the world, there are definitely some weather challenges which keep up hiding in doors! (Under the blankets, snuggled with your babies, watching trash TV. You know...the Usual.) Or, your house could be battling the plague, therefore you husband and kiddos are quarantined to their rooms. Either way, I'm sure a lot of us may be dealing with some type of cabin fever and if you don't have a full blown gym in your house and you are sick workout videos well then...what to do?

A long with the theme of Being Consistent, these little challenges are some of my favorite workouts! If your gone all day and don't have time to fit in a full workout but are in desperate need of one, this 100 challenge can do the trick!

You don't have to repeat it 3x, one after the other. If your short on time or a beginner, only do it once or split it so you do it 3 times that day! What ever you do, remember it's all about doing the best you can do at least do something each day to Be Consistent with living a healthy lifestyle!

And if motivation is a problem, try enticing yourself with a little sweet treat after your sweat sesh packed with nutrients and protein!

Apple Date Smoothie (serves 2)

Ingredients:

3/4 c. milk of choice

2 small apples, core removed

5 dates, pitted

1/3 c. greek yogurt

dash of vanilla

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

ice

Directions:

1. Blend and Smile!!

If you do the 100 Challenge, let me know!! Tweet, FB, etc! I would love to hear it!! :-)

Baked Lentils w/ Sweet Potato

Homemade Chicken Nuggets with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce (I will try and bake them! :) )

Carrot Soup w/ Tahini and Crisped Chickpeas

Toasted Sesame Ginger Salmon

Homemade Pizza with Pesto and Roasted Vegetables

Date Night!

Indian Spiced Lentils w/ Naan Bread

 

Have a great week everybody! I have a recipe I'm posting soon that rhymes with tafe tio! (Hint Hint: Cafe Rio...) ;-)

 

 

 

Be Consistent with Living a Healthy Lifestyle

Here's the truth about New Years Resolutions... I loathe them.

I think every New Years since I was a 12 I've always said I wanted to loose weight. Then come February and those cute pink and red chocolate candies some how find their way into every isle and corner of shopping stores, and then mysteriously end up in my shopping cart.

Of coarse after chocolate candy February comes chocolate covered bunny Easter, and before you know it BAM it's June and everybody and their mom is wearing bathing suits and your still pounding that huge box of vibrant colored marshmallow peeps because they are your favorite.

fat gal little coat
fat gal little coat

(Note Picture above: Peep eater in a little coat...)

Like I LOATHE New Years Resolutions.

After many battles with myself and trying to change to a healthier lifestyle, I've learned that a new date and a new year does nothing but give me a little bit of hope, followed by a lot a bit of pressure, then eventually total failure.

I'm going to give a series of scenarios, and I want you to think in your head if you have ever done any of the following.

-You decide you are going to start eating healthy at the beginning of the New Year! Come that morning on the 1st of the year, you have NO idea what to eat and everything healthy sounds repulsive. You do the best you can though, and continue to make somewhat healthy choices through out the week. Come day 7 you are pretty cranky because healthy eating is becoming difficult, overwhelming, and it's too hard to eat healthy every single meal and snack. Eventually you give in to that Ben & Jerry's because you just can't accomplish the goal you set out to do.

How about this one?

-At the new year, you decide you are going to exercise at least 5-6 times a week. Your goal is to wake up at 5 a.m. every day and run on that treadmill or go to the gym for at least 60-75 minutes. Come the 1st, you pull yourself out of bed and get your butt to the gym. It's hard but you continue to do it for a couple of days. Then your husband is on call for the weekend, all of your kids get sick, and your just too tired to get up at 5 and go so instead you just give up. It's to hard to fit in that amount of time with your busy schedule.

Ok, so I know those scenarios sound extreme, but in all honesty I've been there. I've been the girl who tried so desperately to change my eating at the first of the year and the pressure, my laziness, lack of knowledge, etc. made me give up. I've also been a mom, and more so a single mom due to my husbands schedule, and unable to have even an hour for a solid workout. Many a times I've given up on exercise because my family and it's priorities were put first.

SO...What do you do?

Over the past month, many of you know our family is moving out of state. Besides the end of the year being super crazy with holidays and work schedules, we've been packing up our lives, living out of boxes, and staying at different family members homes until we can move into our rental. All of this has made me crazy, and quite frankly it's been REALLY easy to get off track on living a healthy lifestyle.

Yet this past month I changed my way of thinking, and put it to the test. I wanted to see if this ONE phrase/ONE word could change the way I viewed staying on track with living a healthy lifestyle. You know what? It really did!

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Screen shot 2013-01-02 at 10.11.32 PM

All you have to do is think of that simple phrase/word in order to stay on track with your goals of living a healthy lifestyle. Let me explain:

What this Does NOT mean-This does not mean you make a goal to be consistent with running 45 minutes on the treadmill each day.  This does not mean be consistent by making sure every single meal is healthy, every single day.

What this DOES mean-This means that as long as you are consist every day with doing SOMETHING that goes a long with your goals, you are doing the best you can! 

For example, one of my goals this year is to become better at exercising. With everything that has been going on, it's been really hard to have even 20 minutes to myself to workout. So on days where it's too crazy, instead of giving up and not exercising because it won't be a great workout, I take 10 minutes to do some floor exercises. (Something simple like sit ups and lunges.) Or I do a ten minute You Tube video. It may not be the greatest workout where I burned 400 calories, but I did something. And on the days where I have more time, I'll definitely do something more intense. But the main point I am trying to make here is that:

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Screen shot 2013-01-02 at 10.27.53 PM

Eventually exercising, eating healthy, and living a healthy lifestyle will become a habit, and apart of your everyday lifestyle!

Here's a look at some random days exercises that I've partaken in over the past few weeks:

workoutweek
workoutweek

Some of those workouts may have been small, but none were insignificant. Despite having a crazy schedule (and now two sick kids!), i've consistently done some sort of workout every day. (Except on rest days/Sundays.)

And if eating healthier is one of your goals, consistency will definitely benefit you too! For example, all of my favorite kitchen appliances, like my other child named vitamix, are all packed up. We've been staying at a family members houses and not everbody eats lots of freaky green food like we do and that's ok! So eating healthy has been somewhat of a challenge. So I've done my best to balance and moderate the unhealthier foods, followed by consistently eating a few healthy things each day. I do the best I can with what I've been given! Here is an example:

healthy choices copy
healthy choices copy

So my goal for you this year is to :

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Screen shot 2013-01-02 at 10.42.26 PM

Every Sunday I will keep you updated with ideas for you to be consistent with healthy living along with links for quick/effective workouts that you can do on your own! On top of that, Sundays will also be the day I will post a sample menu of healthy foods that you can make for your families through out the week! I'm really excited about this new series, and I truly hope all of YOU, my blog friends, will get involved and make an effort to be consistent everyday with making small and simple healthy choices!

Here are ways to get involved:

-Send me links/pictures/tweets about ways your were consistent with either eating healthy/working out/ making a healthy decision! Use the Hashtag #BeConsistent

Have a great start to the New Year everyone! Can't wait to see all that this New Year brings!

Maple Sugar Sweet Potato Wedge Fries

This recipe is the perfect side dish to pair with dinner when you are looking for something that everyone will eat! I love adding sweet and savory touches to sweet potatoes because it really brings out their flavor and definitely helps attract the taste buds for the pickiest eater.
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This recipe made it’s blog debut in 2012, back when I only had one child and I thought life was hard… ;)

{But dang, isn’t that Baby Boo cute. I sure to miss her two year old naughty-ness. I would trade her third grade homework any day to have a moment with her tiny self again!}

Since then I have been making this recipe for years. I love to make it as a side dish pretty much with anything because my kids will eat it and I feel good about my self when they eat vegetables and not Pop Tarts. ;)

This recipe is also so versatile. You can dice them, chop them, change the spices, add a squeeze of lime juice, or even a little pure maple syrup! You won’t regret adding this to your weekly dinner menu, that I can promise!

If you’ve never worked with Maple sugar, it’s similar to coconut sugar. If you have never worked with either sugars, they are basically natural and unrefined sugars vs. regular white sugar. I love to use them in place of regular sugar when cooking because it is much more pure.

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Maple Sugar Sweet Potato Wedge Fries

Ingredients:

2 large sweet potatoes-skined and cut into fries/wedges

3 TB. olive oil

3 TB. maple sugar OR coconut sugar

1/2 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. pepper

salt to sprinkle on top

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

  2. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and spices, minus the salt. Set aside.

  3. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, add your potatoes. Drizzle in oil, then using your hands, toss the fries to coat the oil.

  4. Sprinkle in the spices, and toss again to coat the fries evenly.

  5. Pour onto a baking sheet, making sure they all lay flat and are not on top of each other.

  6. Sprinkle with sea salt.

  7. Bake for 15 minutes.

  8. Remove from the oven, flip the fries, then bake for an additional 5 minutes.

  9. Enjoy!

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(The BEST) Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

So I do this thing where I make cookies for my husband. Being the amazing wife that I am, I always make sure they are healthy and full of good and wholesome ingredients because let's face it...For lunch he probably had a hot dog from 7/11 and that's just sad. I also remember that he's human, so I usually always throw a large helping of chocolate chips to off set the healthy-ness is hopes that he will forget that I made it with whole wheat and focus purely on the fact that I made him cookies and therefore I deserve roses or something like that. Also, that was a super long sentence.

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IMG_2038

Anyways, most of the time I make these special cookies my husband notices rather (too) quickly that these aren't buttery-sugery cookies that really nice(r) wives make their husbands. So he kindly eats one and well...that's about as far as it goes.

After making dozens of healthier cookies I've learned that I don't have to always sacrifice taste, but texture has somewhat been a problem. Most cookies become more cake like and then after a few days, well they aren't that great. But rest assured, I've eaten every failure without even thinking because...well..let's move on shall we?

So fast forward to these cookies.

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When these cookies came out of the oven I was a little hesitant to try them because I was used to so-so tasting cookies, but as soon as I ate one, shared some with Boo, then proceeded to eat like 7 more I KNEW these were a keeper!

I've learned quickly a few things when adapting cookie recipes, and what works and what doesn't. Here are just a few of those things:

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Screen shot 2012-11-14 at 9.49.37 PM

It's amazing how coconut oil can take the sub of butter/margarine in practically any recipe! And if you are worried if it has a coconut flavor, it most definitely doesn't. It takes on a nutty butter flavor, and you MUST put it on toast...or popcorn...or rub it on your legs because that's sexy.

You know what else you MUST do?

Make these cookies...

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IMG_2039

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies-Adapted from Picky Palate

Makes 12 cookies

Ingredients

1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c. coconut oil-solid form

1 c. maple sugar

1/2 c. pumpkin puree

2 TB. molasses

1 egg or flax/chia egg

1 TB. vanilla

1 bag chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together dry ingredients and set aside. In a mixing bowl add coconut oil and sugar and beat for about a minute or so until fluffy. Add in puree, egg, vanilla, and molasses. Beat until combined, then add dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips.

2. Using a larger ice cream scoop, scoop batter onto prepared cookie sheet. Flatten cookie just a little bit, then bake for 12-13 minutes. Once cookies are done, immediately remove from pan and place on cooling rack.

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IMG_2042

The second the hubs got home I told him I made some cookies, and the first thing he did was make a 'Yea I am super excited, not really face...' But after his first bite, his face went from lam-o to....

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IMG_2030

I am now going to end this post like I do many others...

Best.Wife.Ever.

Easy Simple Salmon

For as long as I can remember, I've never been a fan of eating fish.

Between the smell, the scales, and it's oogly eyes....no way. Not happening.

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IMG_1249

I remember growing up my mom would make it occasionally, and each time I would SWEAR that the whole house smelled like a fishy ocean...I'd then proceed to whine and complain, while throwing myself on the couch in agony...Poor little me.

Nothing really changed until I went on a 6 week study abroad program through Central America, and a lot of times we had to eat the food we were given. I remember one night we ate at a little restaurant in Guatemala and our whole class was being served Salmon.

Obviously I wasn't thrilled that I had to eat it, but when my plate arrived I was pretty shocked.

My salmon was drenched in some sort of sauce that looked like gravy, and then there was a handful of fresh lemons on my plate. I proceeded to squeeze juice on the Salmon and take a bite...

I died.

I don't know exactly what that sauce was made of, but I have an idea it rhymes with nutter. All I can say is that it tasted like Christmas morning and Paula Deen was in the kitchen melting butter.

Some day I'll recreate that salmon...As soon as I figure out how to make a pound of butter healthier...

For now though I've learned to stomach salmon, just as long as it falls under certain guidlines.

It HAS to be fresh. The fresher it is, the less fishy it taste. It also has to have a little flavor. I know some people can eat it with just a squeeze of lemon, but like I said before...Not happenin'.

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Screen shot 2012-11-05 at 7.05.02 AM

Screen shot 2012-11-05 at 7.05.02 AM

Ingredients:

Filet of Salmon

melted coconut oil

salt

pepper

lemons

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking dish with foil, and place salmon fillets on the dish. Coat salmon with melted coconut oil, just until fully coated. (Not too much oil.) Then liberally salt and pepper salmon. (Can do both sides if the other side isn't skin, otherwise you don't have to coat skin. Also, have salmon be skin side down.)

2. Bake for 10-20 minutes, or until salmon is light pink and flakes easily with a fork. Squeeze a little fresh lemon juice over the top and serve.

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IMG_1251

We ate it over caramelized brussel sprouts and brown rice!

Of coarse Boo didn't touch the sprouts, but she did eat the Salmon.

I told her it was pink chicken...

Best mom advice like ever.. :)

Oh, and I never shared our Halloween costumes that we had this year! If you can guess what I am, I would be So surprised!

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IMG_1649

I am not a hooker...

My husband was that one guy...from LMFAO...

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IMG_1650

And no I'm not a clown hooker...wrong again. I'll give you a clue:

Kay-dollar sign-Ha.

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IMG_1943

Boo was an owl, and she was sooo excited to flap her little wings! Except, I don't think she is going to be excited about this picture come 15 years...Her dad=wanna be gangsta=wanna be cool=totally not.

And Sweet Pea was a freaked out Pumpkin...

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IMG_1967

Ok now onto the month of November, which came out of no where!!

Who is ready for Christmas?