Thirsty Thursday...

Here's a delicious recipe for a green Pinã colada smoothie that you can enjoy for breakfast,  lunch,  dinner or dessert.

Ingredients:
1 cup of Spinach.
1 cup of ice
1 cup of organic coconut milk.
1/2 cup organic fresh pressed,  orange juice.
2 white Peaches,  sliced
2 cups fresh pineapple,  chopped.

Blend in high power blender,  and enjoy.

clean eating challenge menu + recipes!

Breakfast: 2 eggs {any style}. 1 piece of ezekiel toast, 1/2 avocado sliced.
Snack: green smoothie {recipe below}
Lunch: 1 cup spring salad mix, almonds, olives, avocado oil, shredded carrots, red onion, optional: add lunch meat of your choice.
Snack: carrots and hummus.
Dinner:Chicken breast, steamed vegetable, and 1/2 sweet potato w/ 1 tsp maple syrup.  vegan option: replace chicken breast with tempeh or quinoa. 

 

Breakfast: Oatmeal Breakfast cookie{recipe below} + 2 egg veggie scramble.

Snack: almonds + 1/2 cup fruit.
Lunch: 1 slice of ezekiel bread, 1/2 of an avocado, sliced bell pepper, optional: top w/ lunch meat.
Snack: 1/2 sweet potato w/ 1 tsp maple syrup.
Dinner: Turkey Taco salad- brown 1lb turkey meat and taco seasoning. 1.5 cups of salad mix. add chopped onion, tomato, avocado. optional: organic shredded cheese. vegan option:black beans to replace turkey!

 

Breakfast: green smoothie or protein smoothie, 2 pieces of bacon on slice of ezekiel bread toast with avocado.

Snack: 1 cup blueberries and a handful of sliced almonds
Lunch: turkey taco salad left overs.
Snack: carrots+ hummus, or celery and peanut butter.
Dinner: veggie stir fry with brown rice. veggies: bell pepper, asparagus, broccoli, onion, and peas. sautee veggies on medium heat in 1 tbsp coconut oil. optional: add meat or tempeh for extra protein! 

Breakfast: eggs, oatmeal breakfast cookie, 1 cup of blueberries.
Snack: 1/2 cantaloupe or fruit of your choice.
Lunch: 1 can tuna mixed with 1tbs EVOO or avocado oil, squirt of lemon juice, salt & pepper serve on top of sliced cucumbers. or leftovers!
Snack: hummus and veggies

 Dinner: 1 chicken breast , 1 cup brown rice or quinoa,  steamed broccoli or asparagus. Vegan: Replace chicken with tempeh or black beans.

Breakfast: 2 eggs any style, 1 slice of ezekiel toast with avocado serve with 1 cup blueberries.
Snack: sliced apple with 1 tbs all natural peanut butter
Lunch: leftovers.
Snack: banana and handful of sliced almonds
Dinner: Sausage peppers & onions: sautee onions, and peppers in 2tbs     EVOO, add sausage-     cook until browning, remove from pan and slice then     return to pan to finish cooking. serve with     1 cup brown rice or quinoa. vegan: replace with beans, tempeh, or quinoa. Vegan option: make stir fry instead of sausage or use black beans or tempeh.
   

Breakfast: 1/2 cantalope filled with 2/3 cup nonfat greek yogurt, 2tbs flaxseeds, 1tbs sliced  almonds
Snack: 1 hard boiled egg
Lunch: leftovers.
Snack: banana and 2 tbs all natural peanut butter

Dinner: Fish in foil- preheat oven to 375. Place one piece of tilapia or salmon on foil, add lemon juice,     any seasonings, pepper, and lemon slices. place asparagus spears on top, fold foil down     from     top leaving air for steaming. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 14-15 minutes. serve over bed of greens. Vegan option:

Breakfast: green smoothie, oatmeal breakfast cookie.

Snack: 2 hard boiled eggs, or hummus with veggies.
Lunch: left overs.
Snack: 1 cup fruit of choice.
Dinner: Ground Turkey patty on bed of greens, 1/2 baked sweet potato, steamed veggie. Vegan option: blackbean patty.

{Recipes}

Green smoothie:

1 cup of ice

1 cup of almond milk

1 cup of berries

1/2 ripe banana

1-2 cups of spinach.

Oatmeal breakfast cookie

1 tablespoon of peanut butter

1/2 cup of oatmeal

1/2 banana

mix ingredients, microwave for 60 seconds. Enjoy!

Turkey patty

1lb of ground turkey

1 egg

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp of garlic powder.

mix together ingredients, seperate into 4 parts. makes four patties.

Black bean patty:

mash up black beans (1 can of organic) with seasonings of your choice, make into pattys, optional: you can make an egg replacer with ground flax. one tablespoon of water, mixed with one tablespoon of ground flax is equal to one egg. seperate and make into 4 pattys!

Let me know if you have any questions on modifications! I hope you are all excited for the challenge!

Clean eating challenge Grocery List Edition!

Here is a grocery list of foods for my clean eating challenge coming up, July 14th-21st. You don't have to get all of these foods, you can customize this anyway you need to, to fit your dietary needs. My advice is to stick to it as closely as you can though.

Here are a few rules to stick to while shopping.
1. no artificial ANYTHING. you want to be eating whole, unprocessed foods.
2.when buying grains, sprouted is best, but if that's not an option, stick to organic whole wheat bread {like daves killer bread!}.
3. Try to stick to only drinking water. if you NEED something else, try sparkling mineral water with some fresh fruit added to it.
4.you don't have to buy organic, but buy what you can afford.
5. get excited to try out this clean eating challenge!!!

{Grains}

Ezekial Bread
Rice Cakes
Quinoa
Rolled quick cooking oats

{Dairy} 
Almond Milk
Greek Yogurt

{Protein}

Ground Turkey
Chicken Breast- boneless skinless
Nitrate Free organic Bacon
Eggs
Fish[salmon/tilapia/ or tuna]
hummus

{Fruit}

Bananas
Apples
Watermelon
berries

{Vegetables}

Spinach
Asparagus
broccoli
Arugula
Romaine
Celery
Carrots
Zucchini
Sweet potatoes
Tomatoes
red onion
garlic

{Pantry}
Peanut Butter-Organic unsalted
Protein Powder- I use Vegan shakeology
Maple Syrup- Organic Dark Amber
coconut aminos {like soy sauce!}
Spices
avocado oil
Coconut oil

oatmeal protein cookie!

this is a little recipe I came up with. its kind of like a little oatmeal breakfast cookie.

ingredients:
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1/2 of a banana
1 tablespoon of peanutbutter
1/2 scoop of chocolate {or flavor of your choice! } shakeology.

mix all ingredients together and microwave for 60 seconds. it's a delicious,  quick, and healthy breakfast. I normally pair it with two eggs!

Enjoy!

making time for excercise

Being a mom is a full time job, in and of itself. so, how can we fit in also taking care of ourselves?!

making it a priority. we NEED to take care of our bodies, because it also helps keep our sanity. I have a three year old and one year old and they are huge mama's boys. I love it. that being said, it can be wearing. wearing on my body and wearing on my soul. my children are little, without my husband and I, they are helpless. but, since I have started a daily routine of excercise my world has changed. I still have days when I feel burnt out,  but those days have come to far and few between.

so, how do you make time? well, there are a few options depending on what you want to do and what you can do, depending on your resources.

option one: home workouts! you can use videos (like beachbody:insanity,  p90x, etc.), or HIIT [high intensity interval training] style workouts.  these two options are my favorite with being home with small children. they are both short but very intense!

option two: jogging stroller. just buckle your kids in, and go! you can run,  jog, or walk. your options are limitless.

option 3: the gym!
I love my gym. I pay $40 per month for unlimited child care (1.5 hrs per day) at the gym kids club. I get 1.5 hours to workout, drink a smoothie, read a magazine then take a shower. sounds like heaven, right?!

obviously, you can see how I feel taken care of when I'm just going to the gym, and getting all that quiet time, but honestly, I feel just as much benefit when I workout at home.

regular excercise has helped my skin clear up, regulate my mood( my patience is through the roof. no unnecessary yelling in our house!). it has helped me to sleep at night, it has helped me to now wake happy in the morning. I've lost fat, and gained muscle. I'm stronger, faster, and over all, happier!

starting a new workout regiment can feel overwhelming. It can be scary. but start where you feel comfortable. start with something that sounds FUN. the key to a lifestyle change is doing something you love. you don't have to do something that sounds miserable. I will be posting my favorite workouts in the coming days, and hopefully, you will find something you enjoy too!

About Me!

Hi! I'm Jess. I'm 25, married to the love of my life and mama to my two sweet boys! I wanted to start my fitness pahe with some background on me and my fitness journey. I've always been petite, but having kids really changed my body. I gained within normal ranges (about 25lbs each pregnancy), and lost my baby weight, but the my body definitely never went back to "normal". While the excess weight was gone, I was left with a stretched tummy, and soft legs and arms. There was no muscle tone to be found! So, around september, I started searching through ig. I found numerous fitness pages. In January, I started working out again. I have lost all of my baby weight plus a few more pounds. I still have quite a ways to go to reach my goal, but I want to inspire other women along the way. Pregnancy and motherhood (or even just life for that matter!) doesn't have to claim our bodies!