Rise and Shine

Today is day one of traveling for the next couple of weeks. I had a 6am flight this am to SLC for work. I used travel A LOT for work, so I am a definitely a self-proclaimed expert planner when it comes to packing snacks.


At smaller airports, the pickings for healthy breakfast eats are usually slim. So I always try to pack a piece of fruit and some nuts as a back up. 



FYI I have tried bringing greek yogurt and hummus on the plane and some security checkpoints consider this liquid. I would beg to differ.  LAME.







I brought the banana from home and bought the Chobani at the airport.


Luckily, I packed plenty of snacks for the week. These are especially helpful to have in your purse/work bag during extra longs meetings. I usually find the only options during company meetings are donuts, cookies, and chips.

T

Friday Favorite Finds Winter edition

I hope everyone is having a good week. I am trying fight this cold before I leave home for two weeks, so hopefully it will be gone by the end of the weekend.




Garden of Life Perfect Food Super Green Formula: 




This is a great go to if you don’t have any fresh veggies in the fridge to add to a shake or smoothie. This formula is rich in the most antioxidant super foods known including spirulina, chlorella, red algae, kelp, wheat grass, barley, alfalfa sprouts, quinoa, chia, spinach, broccoli, ginger, garlic, etc. It will definitely give your smoothie a funky color ( as my friend Kim would say), but it def tastes better than it sounds.. esp when you also add frozen berries to the mix.










Lululemon Run for Your Life Crop: You really can’t go wrong with lulu from my opinion. It may seem expensive, but you calculate the times per wear, it is well worth it.. especially when work from home like me and gym clothes is really all you wear.  I know it’s cold out, but I can’t stand getting hot at the gym, plus they are perfect for both running (the waist band does not get loose) and spinning.














NuNaturals Liquid Lemon NuStevia:  If you are still using splenda.. please stop and start using any type of stevia.  It is way better for you and will not cause bloating.  So, back Lemon NuStevia.  Let’s say you are craving fro-yo, but it’s too cold out to go out. Grab some nonfat greek yogurt and couple drops of the lemon NuStevia and viola… you have yourself an amaze sweet and healthy alternative for dessert.















Trader Joe’s Sundried Tomatoes:


Bummer tomatoes are only in season in the summertime. I love these guys as an alternative and keep in my pantry along with roasted red pepper and olives to throw in a salad. Plus they aren’t packed in oil like most versions.














Skinceuticals Retexturing Activator: 

This stuff is a life changer.. especially if you have super dry skin and live in dry climate. Sad to say I didn’t have this problem when I lived in sunny San Diego, but in Oregon it is a must have.  You only have one face in life, so you better take care of it!   Here are some of the benefits:

• Normalizes epidermal renewal to create a noticeably smoother, softer surface texture
• Stimulates enzymes that help break the bonds that bind dead cells to the surface of the skin, to dramatically diminish surface lines and wrinkles

Cha Cha Chia Banana Blueberry protein Pancakes

I wanted to share my all-time favorite breakfast. I eat a version of this almost every day. Hopefully, I will never get sick of it.

Promise it tastes way better than it looks 

Banana Blueberry Protein Pancake Ingredients:

• 1/4-1/3 cup of egg whites
• 1/2-1 scoop of protein powder
• dash of cinnamon
• dash of vanilla extract
• 1 small banana
• handful of frozen blueberries
• 1 tsp. of chia seeds

Heat small pan on stop top med-low heat, spray some olive oil with your misto.


In a small bowl mix egg white, protein powder, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Then mash in a banana with a fork, then mix, then add blueberries.



Pour into pan and make sure to flip and cook well on both sides on low heat.

Once you have plated the pancake, top with sugar free or maple syrup and 1 tsp. of Chia seeds.



You may be asking what are Chia seeds?







Chia seeds are an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acid. They are a source of fiber, reduce blood pressure, etc.   I like to use them on top of protein pancakes, in smoothies, and yogurt bowls.  

You can learn more about it here


You can find them at trader joes, whole foods, amazon, etc.

TIPS FOR Getting Back on Track After a Long Weekend

For those of you who may have enjoyed your long weekend..a little too much, I have some tips of how to jumpstart the rest of your week to get back on track.



1. Alkalize your body and reset your pH level by having a shot of Raw Unfiltered Organic Apple Cider Vinegar  (ACV) first thing when you wake up. This stuff has so many other health benefits as well such as clear skin, reduce bad cholesterol, and blood pressure, etc.

2. Get to the gym and sweat it out. This is probably the last thing you want to do after overindulging, but I promise you will feel better afterwards.

3. Drink copious amounts of lemon water. Lemon and water are both natural diuretics.








4. Eat lots of greens: asparagus, cucumber, spinach, celery, etc.




5. Make a green smoothie: throw protein powder, spinach or kale, frozen berries, almond milk, and ice into a blender.. viola.



6. Take an Epsom salt bath: this will not only relax you, but it was also help release the toxins from your body and get rid of excess water weight.




7. Drink lots of tea: preferably green or dandelion tea as this too is a natural diuretic.  I love yogi detox tea.  I absolutely love the positive words of wisdom on the tea bag.







Hope that helps! What are your tips? 
 

Weekend Happenings

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Hopefully you were able to get outside at some point and enjoy the winter weather.  Fortunately, it has been abnormally warm here for January and I am not complaining.


Saturday night I had such a yummy dinner to celebrate my friend’s bday.  I know the picture doesn't do the dish justice, but this place has the most amazing bbq shrimp. You literally want to drink the sauce.





Birthday celebration= dessert. I am not a big chocolate fan, but the bday girl certainly enjoyed it.  However, we did also manage to get some carrot cake as well which I thoroughly enjoyed.  My mom used to make me one every year for my birthday when I was little. Isn’t it funny the memories  we associate with food? 






Sunday was definitely not a bumday. We were able to take advantage of the nice weather and go skiing.  This place is just in our backyard and I hardly ever go… We really are fortunate.





Two years ago, I injured my shoulder skiing, so I took a bit of a hiatus. I am so glad I got back on the proverbial horse.

What is something in your life that you once enjoyed that no longer do for whatever reason? 

Favorite Friday Finds

Justin’s Maple Almond Butter Squeeze Pack: 

This is not only great portion control, but great for those with no self control with any type of nut butter (like me).   The almond maple is my absolute favorite! It’s funny I actually went to college with Justin. He is doing some great things in regards to entrepreneurship by providing micro-loans to people all  around the world. It’s a great way to pay it forward.






 AQUIS Super Absorbent Towel:

I don’t know about you, but my hair is super thick and it takes forever to dry. This is a life changer as it will cut your drying time in half.








Brittany of eatingbirdfood.com Cauliflower Pizza Crust: 

Can’t wait to try making it this weekend!




you can get the recipe here

 Two-faced 3 Way lash lining tool: 

For those of you who know me, I am not a big make-up person, but this liner is amazing! There is a triple tip that can be multiple ways. It allows you to fill spaces between lashes so that the lash line appears thicker or you can use it for a dramatic cat eye (which I will prob never do).





 Martha Stewart Collection Misto: 


A lot of flavor without the fat or weird chemicals that are in olive spray cans you buy at the store (have you ever looked at the actual ingredients… eww).

WIAW- lots of Arugula

I am a little late to the link up, but it was a crazy day.  Please forgive my pictures as I am in dire need of a DSL.

 

This morning I had the best intentions to make a protein waffle to share with you all, but a last minute conference call for work squashed that idea.   Needless to say, I had to grab something quickly after spin class and quiet i.e. if I get asked a question on the call, I can't exactly answer it eating a bowl of captain crunch.

                                                   

TJ Plain Greek Yogurt with a banana.. I know.. pretty underwhelming breakfast.

Not surprisingly, I was craving a second breakfast for lunch (and I had no food in my house).



Eggs whites with sautéed arugula and red onion with a little olive oil, pepper, and basil with an orange on the side. 

Then I had some almonds mid-afternoon.  Fortunately, I made it to Trader Joes (you will find out if you don’t know me already..I am obsessed with TJs).



Arugula salad with grilled chicken,red onion, sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese, slivered almonds, and balsamic glaze… so good.
I was craving something else, so I decided to made roasted cauliflower.


Some of you asked where to get the nutritional yeast seasoning? Whole Foods and other health food stores usually carry it.
Ingredients:

• Pre-cut/washed Cauliflower
• Bragg’s nutritional yeast seasoning
• 1 tsp. TJs crushed garlic
• 1-2 tbsp. Olive Olive
• Pinch of Sea Salt

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F
Combine all of the ingredients in a med size bowl
Bake for approx. 20-25 minutes. I like to broil mine at the end to crisp them up.


Enjoy!

New Year’s resolutions

Can you believe we are halfway through the month already? The new year  is exciting.. it is a chance to start fresh, wipe the slate clean, break old habits, make new ones.  Once we start moving towards a goal, we recognize how good it feels… then  life happens…we either get lazy, fall into our old habits, use excuses of why we cannot reach the goals that we had the best intentions of.  I know firsthand as I am guilty of this cycle. 


Source



They say it takes twenty-one days to make a habit and twenty-one days to break a habit.  What could you change if you really decided to commit yourself to something for twenty-one days? What would you decide to do if you knew you could not only fail, but taking these actions would shift your life dramatically? Well maybe not dramatically since it’s only three weeks, but what if you took that momentum and used it take even more steps towards reaching your goal.




It’s funny I was reading The Happiness Project (self help junkie) and she was talking about what truly brings of us happiness and it is not actually reaching the ultimate goal: losing weight, making more money, etc.; it is the journey you take getting there.  This really resonated with me. At the end of any achievement, you’re like... did I really just do that? I think there are two key takeaways: goals are not just a means to an end and take time to savor the journey. 


An effective way of doing this is reflecting during this process. Luckily for you guys, this is not my online journal. I personally like to use penzu.com(because I seriously cannot read my handwriting). This has been a great tool for me, so I wanted to share.   Maybe this post was a pep talk to myself, but maybe someone else can relate as well.

relaxing Weekend

I hope you all are having a nice Sunday. It’s playoff season and we are definitely holed up watching football. 
We headed to cabin for the weekend. It was so nice to get away.




It was a clear day and very chilly out.

I really wanted to toast marshmallows, but the only ones we had were stale. #fail



Ben made some amazing chili though with ground turkey and all of the fixings. Have you guys tried  to replace sour cream with greek yogurt? You can barely tell the difference and it’s loaded with protein.



Go Pats!

Favorite Friday Finds

Happy Friday everyone! Didn’t this feel like a long week? I guess that’s because this was the first full week I have worked since mid-December. It actually feels good to be  back on a schedule. I don’t know about you, but I find it much easier to eat healthy. 

Today I thought I would share of some of my favs:
1. Bath and Body Stress Relief Hand Cream- this stuff is amaze. I keep it at my desk esp during the winter. Maybe it’s psychological, but I  feel like this scent really does de-stress me.


2. Anthropologie Farmer’s Market Basket- maybe I am just over winter, but I CANNOT wait to break out this puppy when berries are back in season!


3. Trader Joe’s Balsamic Glaze- before TJs the only place you could really get this was at Whole Foods for like $12. I love using this as a low calorie dressing on spinach and arugula salads.. yum!


4. Bragg’s Nutritional Yeast Seasoning-now that it is winter, I tend to favor making kale chips for lunch. I am obsessed with this stuff.. esp if you are trying to cut back on dairy.

Kale Chips Recipe:
Ingredients:
Kale
Olive oil
Garlic salt
Bragg’s Nutritional Yeast
-Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
-Wash/ dry kale (Trader Joes carries the pre-washed version which is much easier)
-Then lay out the kale on a cookie sheet, mist with olive oil
-Next use your hands to massage the olive oil into the kale
-Sprinkle a little garlic salt and a lot of nutritional yeast!
-Bake for 10-14 minutes, then broil for a min if you like them crispy like I do

What is your latest find? 

Have a great weekend!

Well hello There

I don’t know about you, but there is nothing better than starting off your day with a workout! I know that is each person is different as well as is their optimal time to workout, but I am definitely a morning person. In fact, there are some studies that believe you can burn up to 300 percent more body fat doing cardio in a fasted state in the am, more than any other time during the day. The theory is that you are burning the fat on your body, not the calories you consumed during the day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_for_Life
Today I started out with a 30 minute spin class. Then right after I took a 45 min cross-training class called Hurricane which is wide variety of strength exercise coupled with short intense cycle segments.

After I was absolutely famished after the gym this am, so I went to my go-to Protein Pancake recipe. It literally has 3 ingredients and is so filling.

What is your favorite go-to breakfast after a tough workout?