15 Guilt Free Desserts

 

If you have a sweet tooth like me, you are always looking in the pantry after every meal to curb your cravings. Of course I indulge in sweets, but it is certainly not something I can do every day. It’s better not to deprive yourself completely of sweets, but you also can completely bust your calorie threshold for the day if you are not careful! Below are 15 things I have on hand when my sweet tooth attacks, most are just store bought suggestions. Enjoy!

1.       Brown Rice Cake topped with a Tbsp Peanut Butters and 10 dark chocolate chips

2.       Power O’s Cereal – made with navy beans, garbanzo beans and brown rice – love it unsweetened vanilla almond milk and sliced banana

                                           

3.       Banana Dipper’s -Dole’s Dark Chocolate covered Banana slices

                                         

4.       Ezekiels Cinnamon Raisin Bread with a tbsp of nut butter and a drizzle of honey

                                             

5.       Quest Bar – chocolate chip cookie dough is my favorite and like to heat it up for about 10 seconds – yum!

6.       Frozen Yogurt - 4 ounces frozen yogurt with fresh fruit, dark chocolate and granola

7.       Kashi Chocolate Chip Cookies

                                              

8.       Cookies – with no sugar added!

                                    

9.       Shakeology No-Bake Balls

10.   Nana Nut Bread

11.   Yogurt - ¼ cup greek yogurt, 1 tsp nut butter, 10 chocolate chips

12.   Kind Bar – dark chocolate sea salt is my favorite!

13.   Vita Top Vita Muffins, I like to heat mine up and top with vanilla greek yogurt

14.   Chocolate Bananas Foster Shakeology
1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology

1 cup skim milk (or water, nut, or soy milk)

1/2 cup frozen bananas
5 big dashes cinnamon
1 splash rum extract

15.   Lily’s Crispy Rice Bar -  no sugar added, made with Stevia

                                                       

Never Give Up!

As I sit hear writing this blog, I feel a pull in my soul - a conviction, a strong emotion toward the words I am typing. I don't know about anyone else, but when you go through a trying time in life and when you feel completely burdened and hopeless you have two choices; to put your head down and keep walking forward and persevering OR alternatively, to run, hide and quit. The first step in making a positive change or working through a trying time is to see things from a different perspective. What you have experienced in your life; the wisdom, opinions and knowledge you have gained - those things determine what you see. When you have been told your entire life that you are not enough, that things are too difficult to overcome and that there is no hope or reason to live and love fully, we are going to define ourselves by what we DO NOT do. Some of us focus on performance, working and working so hard, hoping that these works will make us feel better, but they do not. Too many of us are missing out the greatest life because we are distracted by things that do not matter.

Fear is the opposite of faith, but both require that you believe in something that you not seen. We have a choice to live in fear of our futures and what they may hold OR to live in faith. When we are going through difficult times; addictions, relationship issues, family issues, financial distress it is important to rely on God and to live in faith. Faith requires 3 important things:

1. Believing even when we do not see
    - We do not see the wind, we see the affects of the wind - yet we do not doubt that wind exists. We may not see that movement, we may not see changes we may have so much going against us and so much adversity, but we have to pray, persevere and assuredly believe that God has something in store for us on the other side.

2. Believing even when we see no change
- We cannot give up on our faith, we have to keep relentlessly seeking and believing no matter how much time has passed.

3. A faith moved and marked by actions
- This is the piece I have been missing in my faith. I may be praying but if my words and actions contradict the faith I proclaim in my prayers - then I am not fully living in faith.

Faith WITH actions is an unstoppable force. Maybe putting actions to your faith will make those around you question you and some people may not agree. Everyone will have their opinions, what is important is that we live out our faith how God intended us to. When we do this, no matter what we face, we can rest assured that we stand on a firm foundation of faith, and that God is for us and He is going to pull us through. An example of action you can couple with your faith would be if you have an addiction, to pray, rely on God and then to also throw out the alcohol or drugs or food you may be using as an act of you moving forward in faith. If you are dealing with a difficult relationship or maybe your marriage may be struggling, you pray for your marriage and believe that God is working on your behalf, and then you also act in faith by loving your spouse through it, and showing understanding, compassion, grace, forgiveness and love.

When you hope something to happen, you are declaring that their is a DESIRE for that to happen, when you have faith you are taking ACTION. Anything big that has happened in life has started with just one small step or change; one small adjustment in your thinking, in your perspective. Do not give up! Never give up, you cannot do everything, but you can do something and allow God to do the rest. With God all things are possible.

 

Shut Out the Negativity - Speak Life!

I had been walking through a cloud of negativity for years.  Most of this negativity was centered off fear, fear of being a statistic….that my marriage will just be another percentage on the divorce statistic, that my job will eventually just become another number on the unemployment statistic, that my health would become another statistic at a hospital. Fear was ruling my life! My thoughts were focused on the bad and the relentless complaining that came out of my mouth just led me further down a path I hope to never go down again. Have you ever noticed that when you think and speak negatively about your life that everything begins to crumble around you? It’s like a cyclone, downward spiral – these relentless negative thoughts that are slowly chipping away at your self-worth, your happiness, your direction. I have personally dealt with negative thinking for years, and for years I struggled with where my focus should be. When you transform your mind, you can transform your life. You may have doors closing left and right, you may feel like nothing is ever going to change that you are stuck in a rut with no energy to get out. Until you begin speaking life - speaking hope into your situation; you renew your thoughts and mind to a more positive perspective. You have the ability to soften your heart or another’s heart with the words that you say. You have the ability to make a healthy conscious change in your life.  It is all about YOUR perspective.

Everyone experiences a rollercoaster of emotions, up and downs and days where everything falls apart. This is where the confusion sets in, you have no idea where to go, which direction to go, what to think and so you sit in your own negativity and despair.  If you begin to think of the words you say as doors to compassion, the light to life, the transformation of our thoughts – you can change your day to day.  What will happen is a new sense of hope and renewing will start occurring in your life. You will begin to love and appreciate differently.  You will begin to walk and lift your head higher; you will experience joy that will overflow into the circumstances of your life. Try not to think or say a negative comment for 24 hours, then 3 days, then a week and see how your life changes. See how your perspective changes. God did not create us to be mundane, day-to-day, depressed, negative people. We each have a gift, share yours – don’t let negativity get in the way.  You are important and your words hold value!

 

 

4 Sure Fire Ways to Break a Weight Loss Plateau

 

4 sure fire ways to break your weight loss plateau in just 7 days or less! I have found that when I am constantly counting calories and restricting food groups from my daily intake, that is when I tend to fall off the wagon. We all want what we cannot have, right!? No amount of exercise can make up for a poor diet. Now, let me elaborate on this, what I mean is once you have gotten down to a goal weight or hit a plateau where you cannot budge the scale you have to start looking at what you are fueling your body with and not just at your calorie deficit at the gym. Plus, to create those long lean muscles and have energy we need to be feeding our bodies whole, natural foods.

Below are some tips and guidelines that if followed could be the solution to breaking your weight loss plateau. It will not be easy and will take some discipline, but our bodies respond quickly to small adjustments that we may never consider. So give these 4 tips a try for 7 days and see if you are able to break past the limits and push yourself further toward your goals.

1.       Allow a 12 hour window between your last meal of the day and your breakfast the following day. What does this look like? Well, if you eat your last snack or meal at 7 pm then you should not eat your breakfast until 7am. Your body does not want to go to sleep on a full stomach and needs those 12 hours to digest and burn – not what is currently in your stomach from that food you ate while walking to bed, but the stored fat, etc. You can drink as much water as you would like, but if you have your breakfast at 6 am, then after 6pm only water should be on your menu. If you do this you will wake up feeling more energized and refreshed!

2.       Switch up your MACROS! Macronutrients are the sum of the different fats, carbs, and proteins that make up your daily consumption. Now, all of us are programmed differently and our bodies will respond differently to different intake levels of each group. Track your current macro percentages and consider switching up the charts. For example, if you are more carb dense and that takes up a large percentage of your intake, consider upping your good fat intake and replacing that with the carb totals.  I saw great success when I upped my HEALTHY fat intake. It never hurts to switch things up for 7 days to see how your body responds!

3.       Limit your natural sugar intake.  Okay, I am not talking about processed sugar, because that should not be a part of your daily intake. Whole, natural, unprocessed foods are what your body needs. When I am talking about limiting your sugar intake, I am talking about natural sugar. I think that we forget that too much of a good thing can still be bad, especially if you are trying to break a weight loss plateau. Limit your natural sugar to consumption to only 2 pieces of fruit a day, or about 25-45 grams.

4.       Last, but not least switch up your exercise, if you typically do cardio then do some strength training. Throw in some plyometrics moves you have never done, go rock climbing, go roller skating, do fun outdoor activities that will switch up your daily workout regimen. This will allow you to work different muscle groups and also work your heart at a different rate then it may be used to. Have fun finding a new workout to incorporate!

Give these a try and report back or message me with your results! I bet you will be surprised!

 

Clean BBQ Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:

1 large Ezekiel sprouted tortilla or Ezekiel Brown Rice Tortilla (gluten free option)

Natural BBQ sauce (low sugar)

4 ounces cooked, boneless skinless chicken breast cubed

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 cup chopped red onion

1/2  cup sliced pepperoncini peppers

¼ cup natural sharp cheese (any flavor)

Optional :1 sliced jalapeno

Directions:

1.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2.       Place tortilla in oven while it is warming to start crisping it up for the topping. Leave in oven for 5 minutes, 2 ½ minutes on each side.

3.       While the tortilla in warming in the oven cut up your toppings so they are ready to put on the tortilla

4.       Take the warm tortilla out of the oven and spread 2 tbsp of natural BBQ sauce, watch the sodium and sugar content on this.

5.       Then top with chicken, cilantro, peppers, onions
 

6.       Top with the shredded cheese

7.       Bake in oven for approximately 6-8 minutes turning the pizza frequently so it cooks evenly. I place mine directly on the rack so it is crispier.

8.       Enjoy with a side of store bought yogurt ranch - YUM!

Newest Beachbody Program - PiYo

In just 10 short days Beachbody will be releasing its newest at-home dvd program: PiYo! I have not been this excited about a Beachbody program, ever! Why, because not only is it going to be a program that is done by my favorite trainer Chalene Johnson, but it also is easy on the joints and knees, requires no weights and absolutely no jumping! To all of you living on the 5th story of an apartment who have been hesitant to purchase an at-home-dvd program due to disturbing your neighbors, well say hello to PiYo!

Chalene Johnson is the trainer who spurred me into health and fitness. I started with her Turbo Jam workouts, followed by Turbo Kick, followed by Turbo Fire and Chalene Extreme. All of which I love. She is positive with high energy and a best selling author who focuses on improving life, not just health. PiYo is going to be amazing and will fit any age group, fitness level and I guarantee you will love Chalene if you have not done her workouts before.

 

PiYo, a high-intensity, low-impact workout for a new kind of STRONG. Chalene Johnson took the very best Pilates and yoga-inspired moves and cranked up the speed to give you full throttle cardio, strength, and flexibility training—all at once. PiYo packs it ALL into each workout so you can build lean muscle mass—as you're burning crazy calories.

                                  

Now you can carve every inch of your body. How? You'll use your body weight to perform a series of continuous, targeted m...oves, to burn fat as you redefine every single muscle. No weights. No jumps. Just hardcore results.

The result? Problem areas become no problem. You'll get sleek, long arms, sexy, flat abs, a tight, lifted butt, and the confidence that comes from knowing you're at your best!

This is your chance to define exactly how you want to look—and how you want to feel. You're in control.

                                 

"PiYo gives you hardcore definition, intense calorie burn, and allover strength—without weights, without jumps, and without destroying your body."

—Chalene Johnson, creator of PiYo

    

Who is this PiYo designed for anyway?

PiYo is designed to create lean muscle mass in order to burn fat more rapidly. These workouts are designed to be low impact, yet high intensity. The low impact PiYo workout will be great for any man or woman that is interested in slimming down and toning up while following Chalene Johnson’s new workout from Beachbody Fitness.


How does PiYo help me get the sleek, long arms; sexy, flat abs; a tight, more lifted butt?

When completing PiYo you will use your body weight to burn fat and redefine every single muscle. There are no weights, there are no jumps. The continuous series of moves in PiYo will help you define exactly how you want to look and feel.

What types of results are participants seeing with PiYo?:

                               

                                


If you are interested in purchasing PiYo when it comes out and want to be apart of my EXCLUSIVE TEST GROUP please fill out this form below for consideration. Limited spots available!
 

 

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Oh Baby! Pregnancy, Fitness & Family

Let’s face it, my generation (the Millennial Generation) did not exactly grow up with the best health and nutrition values. I have many memories from childhood eating Totino’s Pizza’s, ice cream cones, fish sticks and the Fun Pak frozen meals (you know – the one with the Penguin on it and ‘brownie dessert’). Many of these items contain fake ingredients, soy products and items I cannot even pronounce. But, it was what we were told to eat and so we did. This lack of understanding of nutrition continued into the middle school and high school cafeteria. It was not until I got half way through college, 25 pounds heavier than I wanted to be, that I realized I had completely slacked on feeding my body appropriately. Then a switch went off, I started to work out and really put a lot of whole natural foods into my body. I am so grateful for this, because now when I have children I can pass this knowledge onto them at a young age.

I have a sense of excitement while I am typing this, because I have seen how much of an impact working out can have not only on your own body, but also on your family and values you teach your children. Several memories that stick from my childhood have to do with my parents exercising. I remember attending Jazzercise with my mom, watching her workout and even joining in sometimes. I loved it! These values are something that you pick up at an early age and they follow you into adulthood, which is why working out before, during and after pregnancy has huge benefits. I have seen this first hand with several of my challengers who are in different stages of this. Setting an example for little ones about health and showing them that exercising is important, will instill important values they will take into adulthood.                                         
                        

Now, onto my challengers, one challenger, Alice, is a petite- fiery Brazilian – just shy of 5 ft 2 in. She started doing Beachbody programs beginning with P90X3 where she lost over 6 lbs. Here is her before and after photo:

                                  

Soon after this she found out she was pregnant. Alice had set out a strong foundation with her eating habits and exercise from P90X3 and she is already seeing and feeling noticeable difference between this pregnancy and her last. During her last pregnancy she did not watch what she ate and did not exercise and she ended up gaining 15 pounds just in the first trimester. She is through the first trimester now of this pregnancy- actually she is now 17 weeks along and has gained a healthy 3 lbs. She has been incorporating Shakeology and now the 21 Day Fix with her doctors approval. The most noticeable difference between this pregnancy and her last is that she developed gestational diabetes in the last one during the first trimester. She has had the check and so far she is in the clear on this as well. What a huge difference, clean eating and exercise can make! Alice gained 45 pounds with her last pregnancy and hopes that she is able to gain a healthy range of 25-30 this time around and bounce back much quicker due to the lean muscle she has created with the programs. Her husband has also joined in on this health kick and their little boy loves to watch her and her husband do the videos.

 
Another challenger was 2 months post baby and wanted to get back to her pre-pregnancy weight with the help of 21 day fix. This was her first pregnancy and she had a goal of losing 8 lbs…..well she surpassed that goal and is still going strong. Here is what she had to say about her experience:

The best part of this program for me is the workouts (21 Day Fix). They are just the right amount of intensity so that you don’t dread them but feel like you benefitted, also the ability to work out from home with minimal equipment has been a life saver.

She has lost 9 lbs now, below her pre-pregnancy weight, after going through 2 rounds of The 21 Day Fix. She has higher energy and is ready for summer, just a few short months after giving birth to her daughter. Amazing!

                                          

      
We have the ability to step up and be examples of health for our family and our children. Whether you need to lose weight after pregnancy, want to get in shape before pregnancy or just are in a rut with your current situation and want to take your health and fitness to a new level, please reach out to me. I have several challenge groups coming up and would be happy to discuss your health and fitness goals.