Strong is the New Skinny

Why do YOU workout? Is it to lose weight? To be healthy? Is it just a healthy hobby that you have?

Personally, I use fitness to be healthy, not to lose weight, but to have my body in the best possible shape and condition that I can. I also use it as an outlet to de-stress at the end of the day when I could really use some me time, some time just to work on myself and clear my mind of any chaos from the day.

Right now, I'm doing Body Beast and let me tell you, it's intense weight training, more intense than I'm used to. Weights that I could lift with ease in other programs have suddenly become heavier and I really feel the burn. and no, it's not because I've been on a fitness hiatus.

I gauge my fitness level and strength my different postures that I can hold and for how long I can hold them. Plus, I gauge progress by how much I'm able to lift.

I have been determined to master the crow. Some yogis may feel, "wow! piece of cake!" But I haven't had enough upper body strength (until now) to hold it for too long without falling flat on my face! Last week, I was able to do the crow and hold the pose for about 2 minutes. Which was huge for me! I didn't fall on my face, I merely let myself down out the pose, just because I didn't want to get overconfident and end up with a broken nose!

Every day is a new opportunity and a new accomplishment in my fitness journey. I will continue to get stronger, more confident in myself and in my abilities, and to be a healthy example for my child.

Have a wonderful day!

Freezer Meal Swap!!!!

Ok...So lately, slow cooker freezer meals have kinda become my "thing." I LOVE prepping foods for the week to make life simpler and convenient, but I don't want to skip on nutrition. I have already added many meals to my repertoire of freezer meals, but I'm looking to expand my list. We all like variety, it is of course, "the spice of life" :P

I want to add CLEAN meals to my weekly meal prep, that are flavourful, that are slow cooker friendly, and are FREEZEABLE prior to cooking.

Please share with me in the comments below what YOUR favorite slow cooker meals are. We'll all be able to take away some great new recipes!

.....AND GO!!!

Meal Prep Addition

So, I love Pinterest! Who doesn't right? I get a lot of my clean meal ideas from there for sure.

I have tried different breakfast quinoa recipes and haven't really been a fan....until now! I have to admit, as much as I truly want to be in love with this super food, I just cant even think about eating it alone as a side dish or the protein portion of a salad.

Why not mix it with peanut butter? Peanut butter makes everything better. I got this recipe from The Lean Green Bean and have to be honest, I WAS hesitant to try them. But, they were amazing and quite filling when paired with fresh fruit.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 cup white whole wheat flour (or chickpea flour for gluten-free)
• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 2 cups oats
• 2/3 cup nuts, chopped
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 Tbsp chia seeds
• 2/3 cups peanut butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup craisins
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips, optional

 

Instructions

1. Combine applesauce, vanilla, eggs, peanut butter and honey in a small bowl and mix well.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until just mixed.
3. Spoon into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 375 for 20 min or until golden brown.
4. Let cool and cut into bars.
5. Store in the refrigerator

 

Enjoy!!!

Clean Eating Shopping List

So what's in my clean eating kitchen??? I have had numerous people ask me to go grocery shopping with them and some people have even asked me to go for them to pick up eat eating meals. I get asked all of the time, what the things are that I consistently buy. I have some staples that I keep in my kitchen for sure. Having staples on hand all of the time help to stay on track when temptations arise!

So what are my staples??

~Chicken, whether it be ground or breast, I make sure to ALWAYS have it in the freezer
~Lentils, yes lentils. Makes for a quick and easy, AND healthy salad for work lunches, or in place of ground chicken in chili or pasta sauce. Green are my favorite.
~Spinach, for salads and to puree and freeze for shakes
~We go through A LOT of berries in our house, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries
~Grape tomatoes
~Oats
~Peanut butter
~Almond milk
~Greek yogurt
~Apples
~Almonds
~Peppers
~Honey
~Frozen veggies
~Sweet potatoes
~Bananas
~Ground flax seed


So what foods should you pair together? It's pretty simple really. Take a lean protein and pair with a complex carb every 3 hours to keep your metabolism high and your blood sugars stable.

It seems high maintenance initially and some even find it to be intimidating. But with some meal planning and prepping and a little knowledge, clean eating is quite easy!





Clean Eating Prep Meets Slow Cooker Freezer Bags!

Sunday meal prep! As much as I dread the thoughts of going back to work after a wonderfully relaxing weekend, I absolutely love prepping my food for the week! I usually do up a meal plan and for the most part, just actually prep my lunches and snacks for work, but have a clear plan as to what supper meals will be.

For the most part, when Hubs is away, leaving work, picking up our daughter, and trying to get on the other side of the city enroute to home with a plan to cook isn't always appealing. Sometimes it leaves my daughter and I in a lets have eggs type of mood, just because supper's now going to be late!

I've been looking through Pinterest here and there looking for clean eating meals that I can prep and freeze. A lot of the freezer recipes that I've seen have had bottled sweet and sour sauce, or bottled teriyaki sauce, etc. I believe in living the 80/20 rule. Clean eating at least 80% of the time. But I'd much prefer to stay away from the high sugar sauces.

Today however, I found and even prepared some of my own clean eating freezer meals for the slow cooker! (Hear the harps playing?) I mean, the Holy Grail of meal prep!

Super productive day! I prepped 4 freezer meals and 2 meals of chicken balls.

Slow Cooker Clean Eating Honey Sesame Chicken

Slow Cooker Clean Eating Chicken Taco Chili

Slow Cooker Clean Eating Lentil Sweet Potato Soup

Slow Cooker Clean Eating Santa Fe Chicken

Clean Eating Spinach and Feta Chicken Balls

Clean Eating Spinach and Feta Chicken Balls

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground chicken
• 1 Tbsp chopped parsley
• 3 Tbsp finely chopped spinach
• ¾ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• ¾ tsp fennel seeds
• ¼ cup feta cheese crumbles

Instructions:

 

Bake for 1 hour on 350F

Slow Cooker Clean Eating Santa Fe Chicken

Ingredients:

Freeze:

1 1/2 lb chicken, 8 oz frozen corn, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp. onion powder, 1 tsp cumin, 1 t salt and pepper, 3 green onions chopped

Add:

1 can 14.4 oz diced tomatoes with mild green chiles, 1 15 oz. can black beans, 1 box chicken broth

Cook:

 Put all contents in slow cooker and place chicken breasts on top- season with salt. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in.

Slow Cooker Clean Eating Lentil Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients:

Freeze:

4 large carrots, chopped, 4 stalks celery, chopped, 1 onion, diced, 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed, 1.5 cups chopped green beans, 2 cups green lentils, 1 tsp minced fresh rosemary, 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp dried oregano, dash of garlic powder, 1 tsp sea salt (or to taste), 1/2 tsp pepper


Add:

1 15-oz can diced tomatoes, 1 Box chicken broth

Cook:

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker.  Turn heat on low and cook for 10 hours, adding a little more broth at the end if soup seems too thick.

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Chili

Ingredients:

Freeze:

1 onion chopped, 10 oz. frozen corn kernels, 1 taco seasoning packet, 1 T cumin, 1 T chili powder, 3-4 chicken breasts

Add:

1 can black beans, 1 can kidney beans, 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce, 2 cans diced tomatoes with chilies


Cook:

Put all contents in slow cooker and place chicken breasts on top. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in.

Slow Cooker Clean Eating Honey Sesame Chicken

Ingredients:

Freeze:

3-4 chicken breasts;  In a small separate bag: combine 1/2 cup honey, 2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce, 1/2 onion, diced, 2 1/2 Tbsp organic ketchup, 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, sprinkle of garlic powder, 

Cook:

Put chicken into crock pot.  Pour contents of small bag over chicken.  Cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours, or just until chicken is cooked through.

Add:

green beans in last 30 minutes.
Remove chicken from crock pot, leave sauce. Whisk 2 T cornstarch into liquid in the crock pot.
Replace lid and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes or until slightly thickened.
Shred chicken or cut into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce. Serve chicken over rice, garnish with  1 T sesame seeds

Clean Eating Meal Plan

I have no idea how disorganized in this busy life I would be without meal planning and prepping. It gives me comfort knowing that there's not a huge amount of time and energy that has to go into supper when I get home from work.

Here's my plan for this week! If you would like any of the recipes that may not be on the blog, feel free to leave me a message!

Happy planning!

Clean Eating Chicken Stroganoff!...Finally!!!

I LOVE chicken stroganoff!! It used to be one of our staples before clean eating. I have been searching for a recipe that would be easy to "clean" up but wouldn't be lacking in taste. It's been hard to find something that has been compliant with my lifestyle that I liked the taste of....until, NOW!!!

The holy grail of clean eating chicken stroganoff!!!! In my opinion anyway. And the best part....no sour cream, no milk, no condensed soups (yuck!), just simple, clean ingredients. But how does it get it's creamy goodness in the sauce? Cashews!!! Yep, that's right, soaked and then pureed raw cashews!

I was a little scared that it may have a slight nutty flavour, but not at all. To be honest, it kinda tasted like roast chicken chips hahaha. Sounds ridiculous I know, but what an unbelievable flavour! It will definitely be a staple in our house.

Clean Eating Chicken Stroganoff

*Fresh Mushrooms
*Onion, chopped
*Chicken breast, chopped
*garlic powder, dash
*cooking spray
*3 cups chicken broth
*1 cup raw cashews
*1/2 cup water
*dash of ground thyme
*1 tsp dried rosemary
*1 tsp dried oregano

1.Place cashews and half a cup of water in a blender or food processor and leave to soak.
2. Spray large pot with cooking spray, cook chicken, sauté the mushrooms, onion and garlic powder
3.Reduce heat to medium low and add chicken broth. Cover and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.
4.Blend cashews until smooth and creamy.
5.Add the cashew cream and herbs to the pot, stirring well to combine. Allow to simmer for another 20 minutes. If the stew looks too thick, add a little water

I put on a bed of brown rice noodles and paired it with steamed broccoli. Hope that you enjoy!

P90X3 --> Victory week

So, P90X3 has been taking me well over the 90 days to complete, I've been doing some Chalean Extreme, Body Beast and PiYo here and there. But, here I am, I just completed my first workout in "Victory Week."

So, what do I think of the intense 30 minute X3?

I've actually enjoyed it a lot!
Pros:

* 30 MINUTES!!!

* Intense, really makes you break a sweat

* Modifications if needed

* Offers some great stretch, flexibility workouts. I love X3 yoga!

* It WORKS! My results have been phenomenal! The growing definition from this total body workout has been INSANE!!!



This new muscle definition has only left me wanting more! Next on my list are Body Beast, PiYo, and T25. Just have to figure out which one to do first!

Do you need motivation, accountability and tips to help you reach YOUR health and fitness goals? Do you want to do it all at home? Fill out the application below:

https://nbowles.wufoo.com/forms/challenge-group-application/

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Smoothie

What was on your table this morning??? Do you eat the same breakfast everyday or do you like to mix things up? I tend to do the exact same breakfast every morning during the week, but then on the weekends, have a full on egg, fruit and toast breakfast.

With my Husband working away for 3 weeks at a time, and with me working full time and trying to get my little one out the door to day care, mornings can be a little hectic! While I would love to be able to sit with my girl at the table every morning for breakfast, sometimes it just isn't happening. She sits close by as I get things ready to head out.

Do I start my day with no breakfast? Definitely not! To be honest, I eat the equivalent of 5 salads and then some, in a shake form that is!
                   Is it good for me? of course!
                   Is it delicious? Absolutely!
                   Is it filling? Definitely!

Here's my recipe for my "healthiest meal of the day", the one meal that is a complete no-brainer:

Ingredients

• 2 cups baby spinach
• 1 frozen banana
• 2 Tbsp. raw cacao
• 2 Tbsp. natural peanut butter (or other nut butter of your choice)
• 1 tsp. raw honey
• 1 cup coconut milk (almond milk, or other nut milk of your choice)
• 1/2 cup water
• 2-3 ice cubes
• tiny pinch of sea salt
• 1 scoop of Chocolate Shakeology

Put all ingredients into a blender, blend and enjoy immediately.