Building a Healthy Routine

   For me one of the most important things is routine, it helps me be productive, stay focused and get things done. I gotta say I'm a bit OCD when it comes to organizing time and well anything really.  I have running days and rest days, times when I eat meals and snacks, when I get dressed and go to bed, my life is very routine and on schedule and if its not on the schedule it probably won't get done!

   For some people though schedules, organizing and routine don't come naturally and to be perfectly honest they didn't always for me. I had a build these things into my life because I realized that to be productive I would have to make conscious choices about how I spent my time.

   Each person is very different and you have unique things to work around but I believe that we all can build a healthy order in our lives to make us the best verison of ourselves. So here are some tips and ideas that I have found helpful, that any one can use and build into their everyday lives.

1.) Wake up Time. If I know that I'm starting my day at a certain time it really helps me start my day off to a very routine start. Don't hit the snooze it only makes you more tired. Get up and get going with your day.

2.) To Do List. I don't always have a to-do list but if I have a busy week or day like a special event or places I don't normally go I always make a list of things to do before, to bring and anything I have to take home!

3.) Eating on a clock. This is so important for routine and your body will quickly adjust and soon thank you. Your body wants fuel( i.e. food ) on a regular bases and with busy lives we often forget to eat until starving and then make really bad choices. For example sack here is my eating schedule which I stick pretty closely too. I get up around 7 a.m. and take time to stretch and wake up my body, then I make some sort of detoxify beverage that includes apple cider vinegar or lemon or both, this just get the metabolism working, then if its a running day I will go run, when I get home I have breakfast somewhere around 7:30, mid morning cup of tea usually green, lunch at noon, afternoon snack at 3pm and dinner around 6pm. I rarely eat after six, instead I have my sweets usually fruit earlier in the day so my body can burn off the calories!

4.) Bedtime. I try to get to bed between 10 and 11 pm so I get a good 9 hours of sleep. This gives you energy for the next day.

5.) at the end of the day I like to take time to reflex, be grateful and stretch this just helps me unwind and its a great time to just relax a little.

I hope you found this helpful and maybe use some of these tips. Let me know how you keep your self organized?

 

 

 

Fit Girl Cooks: Mock Cocktails

I love cooking and making flavorful, nutritious food and fresh, tasty drinks so today I wanted to share my passion for a healthy, balanced lifestyle with my love for amazing food and drinks. I love sharing with my friends and family what I make in the kitchen so I wanted to share it with you too.

Today I wanted to share with you some mock cocktails that you can enjoy without guilt because they are not only not going to pill on the pounds but they are detoxifying, metabolism boosting and fat burning drinks that are great replacers for any sugary drink like soda or alcohol which we all know is not the best thing for you.

So here are some of my favorite recipes. My favorite thing about cooking is not following rules so feel free to change the recipes to your taste and enjoy being creative.

 

Cameral Covered Apple Sips

Fill a quart jar a half way with ice then sprinkle a good amount of cinnamon, pinch of nutmeg, splash of cameral extract, 1 tsp. Truvia and 2 tsp. Apple cider vinegar then fill the rest of the glass with cold water. Mix really well and enjoy. This is like drinking a cameral covered apple and is so refreshing both the cinnamon and apple cider vinegar are fat burning foods.

Sweet Ginger Cocktail

Fill half a quart jar with ice, add a tsp. of ginger, tsp. Truvia, 1/2 tsp. almond extract, 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar and fill the rest with cold water. Mix really well and enjoy. This one taste very sweet, rich and almost syrupy if that makes any sense. I think this is a lot like a Shirley temple or something like that with a kick of ginger at the end!

 

 

Hope you enjoy and share with your friends and family. If you want to see more recipes just let me know in the comments! Have a beautiful day.

 

 

 

Spring into Fitness: Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone, I know its not Easter yet but I think its ok because this post is going to be full of ideas, recipes and fun stuff to make your Easter a beautiful celebration. Hope you find it helpful and enjoy.

 Here are some ideas that I found on Pinterest that I thought I would share with you. First off some healthy recipes that the whole family and friends can enjoy and they are healthy!

  Beautiful Easter Breakfast

This a great sweet option but you don't have to have all that sugar. Starbucks Lemon Cake Recipe

Healthy Strawberry Oat muffins. This is a idea if your feeding a crowd.

 

Brunch or Lunch

 

 

Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad Sandwich's

Apple Chicken Lettuce Wraps

 

Healthy Alternatives for Ham Dinner

Herb Baked Chicken

 

Perfect Salomon

 

Don't forget Dessert

Key Lime Pie

 

 

Healthy Carrot Cake with Maple Frosting

 

I hope this gave you some healthy recipe ideas and hopefully made your Easter a little eaiser,healthier and happier. I also wanted to add one candy recipe because well the Easter Bunny had to leave something.

 

 

Just like Reese's Easter Eggs

 

Have an amazing Easter.

 

Emotional Eating

Emotional eating is something that I have always heard about and I guess I didn't really know what it meant. I recently did a little more research and I wanted to share what I learned. So here goes!

 What is emotional eating? I always thought that emotional eating was eating a lot when you felt sad or depressed. Well, that is one kind of emotional eating but the fact is that the most common type of emotional eating is not that at all. Eating because you feel "like having a burger" that is emotional eating. Its eating according to how you feel and not what your body needs. Your body is not craving junk, in fact it really hates it when you eat junk. Your body only craves what nutrients it needs.

 Why is it harmful? When eating based on emotion we often or almost always make a healthy choices leaving are body craving nutrients and not able to function properly.

 Are you an emotional eater? Probably, I know I have been and sometimes still fall into that path when I'm not eating consciously. Which brings me to the next part....

 How to stop emotional eating? The best way to stop anything is to replace it with something better. Which is exactly how you need to stop emotional eating by eating consciously. Which means thinking about what your body needs, good nutrition like healthy carbs(e.i. fruit, whole grains like oats, rice and quinoa) protein( lean protein like whey, chicken, fish or turkey) and healthy fats( coconut oil and even butter in small amounts) these are just a few examples if you want more nutrition post let me know in the comments and I will be sure to do them.

  If you have any question just leave them below, I read all the comments and would love to share what I know. Follow this blog for more healthy tips, nutrition info and motivation!

 

Follow

Hi, everyone
 Today's post is going to be a little different. I just wanted to let you all know about how to follow this blog and what it means!

 To follow a blog it free and basically what it does is it will let you know when I post something new. I try to stop a few times a week, usually make that goal. I post everything from nutrition information to recipes to motivational stuff. I try to make it short and sweet and to the point. I hope you enjoy and learn something while your here.

So if you want to follow this blog just click this link: Follow Now its really simple and easy.
  Thanks so such and Have a great day. Don't forget to leave a comment with any topic requests!
 

Don't Stop

 I saw this quote on Pinterest and it was so inspiring I just really wanted to share with you all.

The other day I realized how many people are watching what I do. And they will see when you cheat, don't go for that run or whatever it may be. People are watching you and you just might be their reason to keep going.

I honestly believe that we each make a huge difference by just setting a good example. Its up to you no one is going to do for you. Be strong, Be bold, Dare to do thing, Don't let others ideas of what you can accomplish define what you do. You are bigger than that!

Just remember someone is watching you and you are inspiring them! Don't stop now!

 

Don't forget to follow this blog for more motivation, recipes and everything about living a healthy, happy life.

 

Eat Healthy, Exercise and Smile!

 

I Just Love Eating Dessert

Time for the honest truth, I love Dessert! Did I just say that, wow. Its true I love baking, cooking or making food in general but there is something so special about dessert. It the cherry on top of the banana split, it just finishes everything off. And it taste amazing.

  So I just discovered this amazing healthy dessert blog and I'm seriously obsessed. It was so good and all the recipes so well done I just had to share it with you all. Remember everything in moderation but that includes dessert and when its actually good for you. Well it doesn't get much better than that.

 This is the first dessert blog that I really love all the recipes I looked at and there are so many options. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did. Keep your eye's open on my blog as well for an up coming healthy dessert recipe I'm going to be making for my birthday! Follow this blog so you don't miss it.

 Here is the blog: http://dessertswithbenefits.com/
  Enjoy and Have a Beautiful Day.

Iced Vanilla Chai Latte

Lately, I've really been into making special drinks (so look for some up coming recipes) and this is a recipe I have been obsessed with because the weather is warmer and so I turn to iced drinks a lot more. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Just for fun I thought I would compare it to a Starbucks Latte for so here is the run down:

 This is the lowest calorie option with non-fat milk.

Nutrition Facts Per Serving (24 fl oz)

Calories 300	Calories from Fat 5
	% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g	0%
Saturated Fat 0g	0%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 5mg	2%
Sodium 140mg	6%
Total Carbohydrate 65g	22%
Dietary Fiber 0g	0%
Sugars 62g
Protein 11g Now for my recipe:  Calories 7.5 Fat 0.5g Protein 0.25g Sugar 0   as you can see there is quite a difference in the nutrition and did I mention that my recipe makes about a cup more than the Starbucks one, now you see why I'm so obsessed.   Iced Vanilla Chai Latte Ok, take one quart jar fill about 1/4 full of ice and add 1/4 cup almond milk. Than fill the rest with Vanilla Chai Tea ( I used Stash). Add Stevia to taste and enjoy. Its that easy!

Living a Beautiful Life

The inspiration for this post actually came from Annie Jaffrey who is a beauty, fashion and healthy lifestyle blogger. Defiantly check her stuff she is amazing! http://www.anniejaffrey.com/ She has really inspired me through the years and her positive attitude is something that i really admire and strive for! Anyway she did a post a while ago on living a beautiful life basically how to stay positive, motivated and make a difference. I believe in life we all get caught up and the day to day stuff and sometimes forget what is really important and how blessed we really are! So here is what I do to Live a Beautiful Life!

 

  Gratitude is probably one of the most life changing attitudes you can have. Being grateful is realizing not only that you are blessed but that you didn't do anything to deserve what you have. Stop and think about 5 things your really grateful for and then write them down. Take time to really appreciate what you have. Focusing I what you have instead of what you don't will make you a lot happier person!

Exercise, for me this is running! Its a time early in the morning when I can just go out and clear my mind and enjoy nature! And it's good for my body. Out bodies are designed to move and be active and It feels really good when they are.

Positive people or a positive place. Sometimes we don't have the choice of who the people around us are but we always have the choice to listen and believe what they are telling us. It is so important to have positive influences in your life. I love listening to happy, upbeat music or going outside. Its a way you can block out the negative things.

I hope you found this helpful and if you want to see more post like this just let me know in the comments! Don't forget to follow this blog!

Have a beautiful day. 

How to Make the Most of your Run?

 When I started running I knew little to nothing about running form, eating, hydrating properly, shoe, etc. but I started and I'm so glad I did because I would not be were I am today if I hadn't taken that first step! So today I thought I would talk about some ways you can improve your run whether you have been running for awhile or just starting we can always improve, learn and grow! Here are some things I've learned along the way, I hope you find it help.

 

1.) Stretching is probably the most important thing especially in your cool down. This helps build your muscle lean, toned and defined! It will also help prevent injury, just be careful not to over stretch your muscle it should never be painful.

2.) Something that will help you burn more calories from your run is a warm up and cool down. You actually burn a lot of calories during your cool down and it helps your body continue to burn calorie and keep a higher metabolism through out the day.

3.) Refuel with a healthy breakfast and don't forget you need protein within 20 minutes after your workout to prevent muscle tissue breakdown. I really love having smoothies with whey protein powder.

4.) This is for the mental part of running and don't underestimate what positive self-talk can do. I was reading a book about athletes and how they use positive talk to enhance their performance. It really does make a big difference to tell yourself that you can and not think about stopping or that you can't. Basically, don't allow negative thoughts, don't dwell on that stuff. Think about being strong, going further and tell yourself you can. One of my favorite quotes of all time is

"If you think you can or you think you can't, you are right."  

 

I hope this was informative and helpful. Let me know what you do to improve your run/workout? Don't forget to follow this blog for more posts on health, fitness and lifestyle.

 

 

 

 

 

 



How to be a Smart Snacker

Snacking is so hard to nail down, how much? when? what? Where do you even start? So i have complied my top 3 Tips for snacking that will boost your metabolism instead of gaining weight. You can snack you just need to know how!

 

First off, snacking is a great way to keep your energy up, boost your metabolism and feel full all day! But the mistake most people make is not snacking but what they snack on.

My top rule for snacking is never do it if its not healthy, if nothing else start there! Don't eat junk.

Second, try to stay under 150 calories( I post a ton of low-calorie options ) and if nothing else fruit and veggies are a simple, easy and fast option!

Lastly, find your balance. Depending on your schedule this will very person to person, but for me i have breakfast, lunch, one small snack in the afternoon and dinner. This is just an idea and what works for me but you might rather have smaller meals and more snacks. Play around with it and see what works well for you! Finding your balance is always hard so don't be frustrated if it takes some time.

Here are some recipes i use for snacks:

Protein Packed Snack

Snack Ideas

Skinny Chocolate

Hope you enjoyed this and found it helpful!