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Sunday, August 31, 2014

Overnight oats


Overnight Oats 



These are fantastic to have on hand for a quick breakfast or snack! 

Ingredients: 

1/3 cup oats 
1/3 cup milk 
1/3 cup Vanilla Greek Yogurt 
1/4 cup Frozen blueberries **


Directions: 

Mix the first 3 ingredients, top with berries and store in an container with tight lid overnight.  Wake up mix it all together and enjoy!!! 

** you can use any type of fruit you want
 

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Clean Eating Dijon Dressing

Clean Eating Dijon Dressing 

Clean Eating Vinaigrette or Marinade
Clean Eating Vinaigrette or Marinade

Ingredients

  • 4 TBSP Dijon Mustard
  • 1  Lemon Juiced 
  • 1 Packet Stevia

Directions


Combine all ingredients in a sealable container and shake vigorously.  Double or triple recipe and keep for up to a month.

Clean Eating Vinaigrette or Marinade

Clean Eating Vinaigrette or Marinade

Clean Eating Vinaigrette or Marinade
Clean Eating Vinaigrette or Marinade
Makes about 1 cup of dressing

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup apple cider or balsamic vinegar 
  • 1/3-1/2 cup olive oil (or more to taste)
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp or a pinch of pepper
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • 1 clove of garlic grated or minced (optional)

Directions


Combine all ingredients in a sealable container and shake vigorously.  Double or triple recipe and keep for up to a month.

Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas

Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas

makes about 4 servings
Ingredients:
  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
  • 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp dried oregano
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes - no salt added
  • 1 small can diced green chiles
  • 1 medium onion, sliced
  • 1 large bell pepper, seeded and sliced (I use half a green and half a red)
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice chicken and veggies into strips.
2. Place chicken strips in a greased 13×9 baking dish.
3. In a small bowl combine the oil, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, dried oregano, and salt.
4. Drizzle the spice mixture over the chicken and stir to coat.
5. Mix diced tomatoes and green chiles in a bowl. You could also buy a can of diced tomatoes with green chiles already added, but I wanted to be sure my tomatoes had no salt added.
6. Next add the tomatoes, peppers, and onions to the dish and stir to combine.
7. Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.
8. Serve on tortillas with desired toppings. I use whole wheat tortillas along with nonfat greek yogurt and mashed avocado!
 

 
 

Egg Muffins

Egg Muffin 

egg finished

Ingredients:

  • 16 Egg Whites
  • 6 Eggs
  • 1 Bell Pepper, sliced
  • 2 cup Mushrooms, sliced
  • 4 cups Spinach
 (  really you can put in whatever veggies to your liking )

1) Whisk egg whites and eggs together,
2) sauté pepper and mushrooms for three minutes,
3) add the spinach until it wilts,
4) place even amounts of vegetables in a muffin tin sprayed with cooking spray,
5) evenly spoon egg mix over the vegetables,
6) bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees,
7) after 30 minutes remove from oven and let the muffins cool for five minutes before placing them on a cooling rack,
8) EAT.
This recipe makes 24 muffins with around 45 calories each and packed with protein.
They will hold in the fridge for up to a week and if you make a large batch you can freeze them as well. Happy eating and enjoy!

Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa Recipe 

Ingredients

  • Chicken:
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves $
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Cooking spray

  • Salsa
  • 1 cup chopped plum tomato (about 2) $
    Click to see savings
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion $
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 avocado, peeled and finely chopped $

Preparation

  1. 1. To prepare chicken, combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; toss and let stand 3 minutes. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done.
  2. 2. To prepare salsa, combine tomato and next 4 ingredients (through pepper) in a medium bowl. Add avocado; stir gently to combine. Serve salsa over chicken.

Stay connected

I have been a work at home mom for 4 years now.  I knew I wanted to stay at home with my kids when I had them, and in order to make that work financially that meant that I would work from home.  I always say it is the best of both worlds and worst :-).  I am up early, go to bed late, and work every second they are napping yet I would not have it any other way.  A few months ago I finally got to the point where I was like "what is my purpose?"  The days blur together; make meals, change diapers, pick up after the kids, pick up after the kids, pick up after the kids, do book-work do laundry, do the dishes ect.  Since I work from home and I take phone calls related to work all day we don't do day trips or play dates but once every few months.  I did not leave the house for days or talk to people on a regular basis. Again I LOVE staying at home and could not fathom doing it another way, but somewhere along the way I felt kinda of lost and like I didn't have a purpose.  Even though I had zero extra time, I decided to be a beachbody coach. I have my bachelors degree in health promotion and I am very passionate about helping people live a healthy life, but again I did not want to work outside of the home.  This was my way to have a purpose again and just connect with people who have the same interests as me.  I think it is so important for moms, particularly stay at home moms to have a hobby or something just for them to stay connected with other adults.  It can be a book club, or fitness class, or just getting your nails done with friends.  Just do something to stay connected with people other than your husband and children even if it is an hour a week! Staying at home is the most stressful, unrewarding, AMAZING job in the entire world but it is critical to not lose yourself along the way.

Friday, August 15, 2014

Programs and Products

Beachbody Products 


To find out more information, or to order a product simply click on the picture

 Shakeology

 P90X         PiYo 21 Day Fix

 Insanity Body Beast Brazil Butt Lift

Turbo Fire Slim in 6 Chalean Extreme

 Insanity - Asylum Les Mills Pump P90X 2

 P90X 3 Focus T25

9 Healthy Snack Ideas for Kids

9 Healthy Snack Ideas for Kids

June 1, 2014

girl eating strawberries
When I was growing up, a common refrain was “no snacking between meals” or “you’ll spoil your dinner.” Today, nutritionists are saying just the opposite is true. For kids and adults, it’s recommended that we all eat five or six smaller meals spaced out over the day instead of the three traditional pig-outs. This is especially true for children, who, if they haven’t already succumbed to obesity, have much smaller stomachs than adults. What this means is that kids don’t— and shouldn’t—eat as much as grown-ups at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And their fast-burning little metabolisms will make quick use of what does fit in their stomachs at lunch, which means they’re going to have to refuel before supper time rolls around. So snacking is a good thing, but, of course, not all snacks are good.
The two most important things to consider regarding snacks for kids (and for us adults, for that matter) are variety and portion size. A good rule of thumb is to try incorporating two different food groups into any snack and to keep the portion size between 100 and 200 calories. The required amount of calories will vary depending on your child’s age and activity level, but a snack should ideally be a small energy booster to help him or her make it until the next meal—a snack should not be a meal in itself. Hopefully, it’ll be a quick bite on the way outside to play and/or exercise, and not a side dish for a TV or video-game marathon. Other things that make good snacks are foods high in nutrients, fiber, and protein and foods low in sugar, sodium, and saturated and trans fats. And bad news for the culinarily impaired: If it’s prepackaged, processed food, it’s unlikely that it will be a healthy choice for your “young ‘un.” But the good news is that children have simple tastes, which usually translates into food that’s simple to prepare. Here are some ideas for when your munchkins get the munchies, plus, for the first time ever, my mom’s nutritious pancake recipe!
1. Vegetables
I know what you’re thinking – “Great! I get to force-feed my kids two more times a day!” It’s true. Vegetables are usually the diciest component of kid cuisine. But it’s worth the effort, because veggies give you more nutritional bang for your buck than any other food group. And if you get creative, you can usually find a way to get your kids to eat them without too much emotional scarring. Many dinner table disputes are about kids trying to assert their independence. You can get around this by letting your kids assist in the selection and preparation of the vegetables. If you take them to the farmers’ market and let them pick out the vegetables, learn about how they’re grown, etc., you’re more likely to get more buy-in back home when it’s time to eat the vegetables. You can also give them choices, like celery sticks or baby carrots. But don’t use dessert as a negotiating tool, as in the old standby, “No dessert until you eat all your vegetables.” You just end up vilifying the vegetables and glamorizing empty calories—and those are values they’ll take into adulthood. Talk up the veggies, and let kids know about all the health benefits they’ll get from eating them. If you have a little extra time, try carving or arranging the vegetables on a plate to make faces or something more decorative and fun. You can also try serving veggies with a low-fat yogurt or cottage-cheese dip.
2. Fruits
Fruits are a marginally easier sell than vegetables. They’re sweeter and appeal more to kids’ palates. Although, one thing to watch out for is fruit juice. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking a serving of fruit and a serving of juice are interchangeable. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends limiting juice for kids to a couple of drinks a day, as juice is a contributing factor to dental cavities and gastrointestinal problems. Whole fruit, on the other hand, provides tons of fiber and other nutrients, and kids can partake of it quite freely, without any adverse effects. As with vegetables, if you have the patience and the knife skills, fruit can be carved into fun shapes or you can make fruit kabobs. You can also come up with low-fat healthy dips like yogurt that kids can dunk their fruit into. Try freezing some grapes or bananas as an alternative to a mid-afternoon Fudgesicle. With both fruits and vegetables, you might consider setting up a big “snack bowl” in the kitchen. Let the kids help choose which fruits and veggies go in the snack bowl, and then give them permission to grab what they want from the bowl whenever they’re hungry. This will help them feel like they’re in control of what they’re eating, but without giving them carte blanche to hit the sugar or the chips.
3. Cereals
Kids love cereal, and the good news is that a lot of popular commercial cereals have made the switch to whole-grain flour. However, as nutritionist Marion Nestle said in a recent interview, whole wheat Cocoa Puffs are still Cocoa Puffs. If the whole grains are largely serving as a matrix to deliver a ton of sugar to your child, they’re not worth eating. On the other hand, there are a lot of cereals, like Cheerios and the Kashi line, that have a lot of whole grains and not so much sugar. So check the label and try to choose cereals that have a high-fiber, low-sugar content. Cereals create another opportunity to reinforce good lifelong eating habits. Try to discourage your kids from eating directly from the box. In fact, here’s a way you can replicate the convenience of prepackaged foods right in your own home! Just get some resealable sandwich bags or a bunch of small sealable containers. When you buy a big box of cereal, pour snack-sized portions into the bags or containers. You can even stuff the bags back in the box for storage. This is great for last-minute lunch packing, or your kids can grab a cereal snack for themselves. This will help fight against the temptation for unlimited munching from the open cereal box. Plus, who knows where those little hands have been? When they’re elbow-deep in the communal cereal, it’s pretty gross when you think about it.
4. Peanut butter
One of the best protein sources is a kid favorite—peanut butter. With 8 grams of protein in a 2-tablespoon serving, peanut butter’s a winner. Again, portion size is key since peanut butter is fairly high in calories (188 per 2 tablespoons) and fat (16 grams per 2 tablespoons)—2 tablespoons will usually suffice for a snack. Try making that old party favorite—ants on a log. Fill a stick of celery (the log) with peanut butter; then embed raisins (the ants) in the peanut butter. When choosing your peanut butter, try to find brands that only contain one ingredient—peanuts. Some stores even let you grind your own peanuts. Many brands contain so much sugar, you might as well be giving your kid frosting.
5. Protein
Sliced turkey and chicken are great lunch meats to have on hand. Stay away from processed meats, like bologna and salami, though. You never know what you’re getting, and often you’re getting a lot of fat and sodium. If you can’t sell a sandwich on whole-grain bread, try making a turkey roll-up—stack a slice or two of turkey, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and a low-cal condiment like mustard and roll everything in a whole-grain lavash, stuff it into a pita, or skip the bread and roll it up on its own. Tuna and salmon are also really healthy and can be doctored in a salad with some yogurt instead of mayo. Check with your doctor about how much tuna and other types of seafood your child should consume. There is a greater risk of mercury poisoning for younger children, so some limits may need to be observed.
6. Trail mix
This is another great way to involve your children in their own diets. Gather a selection of healthy snacks, like unsalted peanuts, walnuts, almonds, pecans, sunflower seeds, unsalted popcorn, raisins, dried berries, dried apricots, oats, healthy cereal, and anything else crunchy or chewy and healthy that you can think of that your kids will like. Despite their availability in commercial trail mixes, chocolate chips and marshmallows should probably be kept off the list. Put out the ingredients and let your kids choose which of their favorites they’re mixing up. For younger kids, you can even present it as if they’re making a magic potion or something. By letting them be involved in the creative stage, you’ll hopefully get better results in the eating stage. After all, they made it—who are they going to complain to? Some store-bought trail mixes and granola bars are also pretty decent. Just check the labels carefully. Some less-scrupulous companies pack their “health” foods with sugar and saturated fats, like coconut and palm oils.
7. Pizza
While most delivery and frozen pizza is packed with fat and calories, pizza can actually be pretty healthy. It’s basically a bit of bread, some tomato sauce, some cheese, and healthy toppings. And yet again, it can be a meal and an activity for your child. If you don’t have the time to make the full-on dough from scratch, you can make pizza with a lavash or a low-fat tortilla, or you can make mini pizzas with whole wheat English muffins. Add a dollop of sauce, and let your child choose toppings from a variety of healthy ingredients: mushrooms, peppers, onions, eggplant, and veggie or turkey pepperoni—the sky or the structural integrity of your crust’s the limit. Sprinkle some low-fat mozzarella on top, and stick it in the oven or toaster oven until melted.
8. Smoothies
A lot of kids will refuse to eat any fruits or vegetables unless a massive amount of processing has been undertaken. Here’s where the blender or food processor can be your best friend. By keeping a few bags of frozen fruit on hand, you and your little kitchen helper can make your own smoothies. Just pick a combination of your favorite fruits. Add a little plain, nonfat yogurt, some ice, some banana slices, or some peanut butter, and blend until smooth. It’s a sweet, cool treat that gives your kids all the fiber and nutrients from fruit that a lot of fruit juices miss.
9. Healthily-packed cooler
The holidays are approaching, which means it could be time for a road trip to spend the holidays with family. Hopefully, and especially for those of you with longer road trips, you’ll have room in the car for a cooler packed with healthy snacks like the ones mentioned above, but occasionally, the siren song of the roadside mini-mart or vending machine is too much to resist. Also, the Center for Science in the Public Interest recently released a list of commercially available snack foods that are relatively decent. The list includes applesauce cups; Chex mix, traditional flavor; fruit cups; low-fat/low-sugar granola bars; and raisins. But save some money and save some calories. Pack a cooler.

Chalene Johnson’s 10 Tips for Getting Your Kids to Eat Healthy

Chalene Johnson’s 10 Tips for Getting Your Kids to Eat Healthy

June 30, 2014

kid eating apple
As hard as it is to fight your junk food urges, if you have kids, you probably know that getting Junior to make smart food choices is triple the challenge. It’d be excellent if you could just yell, “Hey, you! Eat your spinach!” But you can’t. As is the case when dealing with most aspects of a child’s life, it takes commitment, patience, and some serious cunning to steer them down the right path.
If you’ve watched the “Healthy Eats” disc of the ChaLEAN Extreme program, you know that Chalene and her husband Brett made a commitment to teach their son Brock and daughter Sierra the benefits of a solid diet. Here, in Chalene’s words, is a little insight on how they did it.
1. Portion control.
Digging into the entire box of goldfish crackers, or any other kid’s snack, is a bad idea. So it’s a good idea to empty out that box into smaller ziplock bags, for better portion control. Do this the moment the treats are pulled from the grocery store bags! This helps children understand what a healthy portion looks like. Meals and portion sizes have increased nearly 40 percent over the last decade. As parents, we have to teach our children that it’s not deprivation—it’s proper nutrition.
2. Sneak in the whole grains.
Use whole-grain pasta and brown rice, but don’t tell your kids. They’ll never know the difference. No one, especially children, likes change when it comes to food. I like to use the “stealth” approach, i.e., fly low under the radar! When I switched my kids from regular pasta to whole-grain, whole wheat pasta, I did it in stages. First, I added just a 1/4 cup of the healthier noodles. Each time I added more, until eventually they were eating the whole-grain stuff and had no idea! They still have no idea! We had spaghetti at a restaurant the other night (the enriched-flour kind), and the kids said the restaurant pasta was “weird…kinda slimy!” How fantastic is that? The key is making the changes gradually and not making a big deal about them.
3. Lead by example.
If you’re giving your kids apples but you’re eating Snickers, it’s never going to work. Following a healthy diet needs to be part of the commitment of good parenting. Never use the “D” ["Diet"] word in front of children. When you do, and they see you eating healthily, they assume that healthy food is something you’re forced to eat as a punishment. Lead by example. Say, “Mommy is eating this for more energy and to be stronger.” Make negative comments about food without nutritional value. For example, when I do have the occasional “treat,” I will often say, “Wow, that piece of cake gave me a sugar crash and a headache. Now I feel so sluggish!” Use positive comments about healthy food without reference to weight. Try, “I feel so much stronger when I eat fruit for a snack!”
4. Make food fun.
Taste is something that changes over time. Our taste buds actually change as we age; this explains why some children will eat broccoli and green beans and others find the smell and taste worse than starvation! Continually introduce healthy food and find unique ways to introduce the food in stages. For example, your children might try a small amount of broccoli mixed in with their mac and cheese. Once you’ve gotten them to accept that as a regular staple, transition to broccoli with a creamy cheese soup. Eventually, your children may acquire a taste for steamed broccoli! Can you imagine the day? But starting right out of the gates with a big plate of steamed broccoli in front of a child who doesn’t eat green things is asking for a battle! Baby steps!
5. Don’t pressure kids to eat.
Present the food, but don’t force kids to eat it. Making demands will just polarize your kids, while letting them eat healthy foods on their own terms leads to healthy habits. If your first attempt doesn’t work, don’t take it personally or assume that this is a life-or-death situation. Take a deep breath, let it go, and try it again another day—try serving those healthy foods prepared in new ways. It often takes several times before your child will decide to try something new. Oh, and I don’t know if this works for everyone, but I find that my children will often try new food with their grandparents and at their friends’ houses, foods that they won’t try with me! Ask what new foods they tried and then offer to prepare them, and get excited about their willingness to try new foods.
6. Be careful what you say.
Everything a woman says about her body is like writing on the slate of her female child’s self-esteem. I volunteer to teach exercise to children of all ages in the public school system. I have personally heard children as young as 6 say, “I’m fat!” Or, “I have a big belly like my mommy.” Or, “My mommy doesn’t want you to see her because she got fat.” Seriously! Not only do kids hear what you’re saying on the phone to your girlfriend, but they are projecting those negative images on themselves. It’s unhealthy for you and your young children to be thinking anything other than positive thoughts about this amazing body that God gave you! Do your best to serve as a positive role model by speaking lovingly about your body and your journey to health!
7. Relax!
Food shouldn’t be a source of angst for your family. Try to get your kids to eat healthier, but be creative, consistent, and calm. The bigger you make the issue of eating healthy foods, the more resistance you may feel. Play it cool. There are many studies proving that you can place salad on the table 10 to 15 times before a child will decide to try it. Remember that “insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result.” If it didn’t work the first time, try a different approach, a new way to prepare and disguise the food, and, again, remember the importance of doing this in slow, small steps.
8. Get kids involved.
Let them help cook meals and learn to read food labels. Teach them what’s too much sugar and what’s an appropriate amount of fat. Teach your children what purpose carbohydrates serve in moderation and what they turn into when we eat them in excess. Pick one item and just find that on your labels. For example, this week my children have been looking at the sodium content on labels. They get a kick out of trying to find the canned soup with the lowest sodium content or shocking each other by reading a label with an off-the-chart level of sodium. Food shouldn’t be a mystery. I meet adults every day who have no idea how much sodium, carbs, or protein they should be consuming, let alone how many calories. Let’s create a more educated generation when it comes to food!
9. Think daily.
Young children have shifts when they are hungry. A child will not starve himself or herself. We are so focused on eating huge portions three times a day, but naturally, most children will eat one full meal and graze at other meals. Avoid the bad habit of saying, “One more bite,” or, “Clean your plate.” These phrases teach our children that they are good if they eat more, when what we want to teach our children is to respond to their bodies when they feel full. Young children eat to provide themselves with energy. Eating to soothe sadness, eating to stuff ourselves, or eating because it’s simply that time of the day are all bad habits we pass along to our children.
10. Read up on nutrition.
Read books about food. Explain where it comes from. I highly recommend Eat This Not That! for Kids!: Be the Leanest, Fittest Family on the Block! It has giant pictures of common kid foods. It’s fun to make a game out of learning which foods are best! Also, check out MyFitnessPal.com, which lists the calories for most every food you can imagine, not to mention the nutritional information for nearly every restaurant in America!