Breakfast!

 



 

Breakfast is by far my favorite meal!

I love yogurt and lately I

have really been loving yogurt parfaits.

These are good for a couple of reasons,

changing up your breakfast,

making it more filling, and also to help make sure you're getting your fruit!

 

 

Doesn't the above photo just look amazing?!

My favorite way to do these is,

a couple spoon fulls of vanilla yogurt (Greek of course)

Sliced strawberries, blueberries, or bananas next.

A layer of nature valley granola with dark chocolate (gives it a bit

of a more sweet taste).

And then another layer of yogurt,

another fruit layer,

and topped of with more granola.

 

 

I like to make it in a small glass, it helps keep the layers together.

I am addicted to yogurt parfaits!

Also this keeps me full and fueled

throughout the entire morning.

 

Getting Back on my Game

When Chris was deployed last year I worked out a lot, lately I have been slacking. Probably since November, I'd say, I've only been running once a week, and only 3 or 4 miles. Some days I would only run 2 miles, and just say to myself, meh, I'm tired, better luck next time. It is super tough to stay motivated, especially when you're attempting to lose weight, but you've already lost a lot.

Well when Chris was gone last year, I ran every other day like it was a ritual. Well, it sort of was. I would run 6 miles every other day, so I told myself if I really want to lose those extra pounds I really need to keep at it. Also, it's good to stay fit and healthy.

I started running again, and I have been feeling absolutely amazing!
I apologize for the lack of actual "baking" blogs lately. I have also been trying to eat better,
so that has resulted into not baking as much. Hopefully tomorrow evening or soon I will get around to making an apple pie or apple cobbler, I hadn't decided yet. Also, there are lots of crazy things going on in my life lately. It's time for me to make some changes that may or may not happen right away.

Well know that I've gotten a bit personal with y'all, here are some photos to show you ( and mostly myself for when I feel unmotivated) that I can do this!

 

Coconut Water

 

 

I have never tried coconut water.

I have been seeing it every where lately,

in the grocery stores, online, t.v, and so on.

I decided maybe I should try it. I know people say coconut is

one of those "super" foods/ ingredients and what not.

I am not a fan of coconut, so I tried the peach mango.

 

 

I am unsure if you can see the nutrients in this photo,

but it has 2 servings in it, one serving is 60 calories,

there are no added sugars to this.

 

 

I will be honest, I tried it and made a face.

At first this sort of tasted,

well how do I say this...

vile.

 

NOW WAIT! I know that sounds just awful!

BUT

BUT

the more I drank it, slowly,

the more I began to enjoy it. It was strange.

Even, my husband asked me "so do you like it or not?"

He said my face changed throughout each sip.

The more I drank it, the more I could taste the fruit.

 

I don't think I could drink this like water, but I just know it would

be excellent in my fruit smoothies!

I usually use almond milk for my liquid, but I think this would be better!
My thoughts are, that it will make my smoothie,

more fruity, as apposed to creamy!

I cannot wait to give this a try!

 

 

Fiber one bars

 

 

 

 

I have really been loving fiber one bars for snack!

They contain 20% of your daily fiber,

and I know I don't get as much fiber

in my diet as I need. It is just difficult.

So these bars are a good way to get it in.

 

 

 

 

The bars I have been loving are the cinnamon coffee cake.

It literally tastes like a dessert, and they are only 90 calories.

At first, when I opened one,

I was surprised the bar was half the size of the package.

And honestly, I was a bit disappointed.

They come with 6 bars in a box and the box,

I want to say was 2.99.

Well these honestly don't need to be any larger.

They are perfect the way they are,

a small taste of something sweet,

low in calories, but high in fiber.

My favorite time of the day to eat these are between breakfast and lunch,

or before a workout.

I also like how small they are,

easy to take with you on the go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Yogurt flavors

I really love eating yogurt for breakfast. I have been loving Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt is thick, filling, high in protein, low in fat, as well as it actually makes your body fill full. I seriously can eat a small individual container of Greek yogurt and not be hungry for four or five hours. It really fuels my body for the day. I also love eating it as a snack, maybe in between breakfast and lunch, if I ate a really early breakfast. I usually only ever eat vanilla, strawberry, or blueberry yogurt, so I decided it was time to try some new flavors. I picked out two new flavors.

Banana Cream :        


And Café latte :


So how were they?!

I enjoyed the banana cream yogurt more than the café latte. I love anything banana, but damn was this delicious! It tasted like banana cream pie, like a dessert. I actually ate this late in the evening when I was craving something sweet, and it completely satisfied my craving!

The café latte one was alright, I tried it after the banana cream, not immediately after! lol but it was the second flavor I tried. I ate this late in the evening, like I had with the banana cream the night before. This one, however did not satisfy my sweet tooth! It definitely would be a better morning yogurt than a late night yogurt. It is very strong, surprisingly it tastes very much like an iced coffee. I love coffee, so I am positive if I tried this in the morning rather than when I'm craving a sweet snack, I'd enjoy it more.

I would definitely purchase both again though, and I'm excited to try more new flavors!

Detox!

I have been trying to get in a good detox for a couple reasons.
Reason # 1. I do not drink enough water in the day. An average person needs 8 cups of 8 ounces of water per day, that is 64 oz, and I'm lucky if I get 16 ounces in. I have been constantly feeling tired lately, even though I am sleeping 10 hours a night. Also my headaches have been out of this world. I know this is TMI but I hadn't been able to go to the restroom like you're suppose to daily. With this all in thought, I decided it is time to cleanse my body! Again, just a more tolerable cleanse. The cleanse I am about to tell y'all about was recommended by Jillian Michaels. Side note- I love her and she is awesome. A plus to this cleanse is, you are suppose to lose 5 lbs. I am on day one of the cleanse, I usually start feeling exhausted to the point of not being able to keep my eyes open at 7 pm, and it's 8:30 P.M. and I feel great. My headaches today have been gone! I am excited to see how my body feels after day 7!

Alright let's get into the cleanse! You do it for 7 days strait.
Mix 60 ounces of water with  ( I rounded up to 64 ounces being that's how much water you need in a day)
1 tea bag of dandelion root tea
1 tablespoon of sugar free cranberry juice
2 tablespoons of lemon juice.

First I want to say, you will not find sugar free cranberry juice, as cranberries contain natural sugars, but go for the least amount of sugar you can find. I found one with 9 grams, which was a hell of a lot better than all the other ones I was seeing with 28, 30 32 grams of sugar. The one I found was $4.50 for 32 ounces verses the higher sugar ones were about 60 ounces for $2.00, pay the extra and get the less sugar one, if you want this detox to work.

Dandelion root tea is suppose to naturally be good for your digestive system. I found mine at my local GNC for about $5.00. I started my mixture by microwaving some water, about 8 ounces for one minute, once done, I allowed my tea bag to steep in the cup for 15 minutes, after that I poured it in a pitcher, I measure my remaining 56 ounces of water into the pitcher, then my lemon juice, and cranberry juice. I put the tea bag in on the side, and kept it in, so the bottom was stronger. I drank all of the water within my first 4 hours of being awake, and I felt absolutely amazing today! Some people say this is bitter, however I felt like it was like drinking unsweetened iced tea with a bit of lemon. The taste didn't bother me one bit! I will check in with y'all after it's completed to see if I lose any weight and just over all how I feel!

 

 

 

 

The cranberry Juice nutrients

 

 

 

 

 

Eating Healthy!

Some days, I get so hungry, and I don't have time to eat, so then when I get time, I go insane, and eat the whole entire kitchen? Do you ever have those days? Well a good substantial meal replacement I have discovered, are the cliff bars. I use to have them in the summer time before or after a run, and I recently sort of rediscovered them. I picked up quite a few the other day. They are great because they are small enough to take and put in your purse and take them on the go. They are also super filling. I ate one a day ago for dinner, because Chris was at work, and I wasn't in the mood for anything really but something sweet... but eating a candy bar for dinner isn't practical, well neither is an energy bar, but it's better than a candy bar. Well I was expecting to be hungry in an hour or so, you know, because candy bars don't fill you up, but the cliff bar filled me completely, and well, that was indeed dinner.

Another great thing for on the go, or for breakfast in the morning are the naked juices! I have only tried a few but the green machine is my favorite thus far! I love how the front says "looks weird, but tastes great," because that is very much true. The first time I saw this, I thought who would drink that, that looks so unappealing, but it is simply delicious. It is pretty sweet for all the vegetables it contains, and I love how it is all pure fruits and vegetables, because god knows I don't get my proper intake of them. Side note- I need to change that!

My favorite cliff bar was the one I most recently picked up, the blueberry crisp! Oh my goodness, this was really a treat. It was super tasty, in fact, it honestly tasted like a homemade blueberry streusel muffin! I highly recommend it! Also the cliff bars look gross at first as well, but try them, they are awesome! It also gave me energy to squeeze in thirty minutes of ab exercises. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cleansing Water & Detox

After eating so many bad foods and coming back from a vacation it can be difficult to get your body back on track! I have told myself it is better to eat bad and exercise than to just eat bad and do nothing. Oh the ways of my logic, haha. Well it is time to get back on track! Even though there will be future posts on not so great foods for you, it is ok in moderation, or to bake for other people! :) A wonderful woman I know that I work with told me about this fat burning water. It is also suppose to give you energy, and thus far I am feeling it work. So what's in it?

here it is:

You take 1 grapefruit, 1 orange, 1 tangerine, 1 lemon, 1 lime, and 1 whole cucumber! You chop them all up, I left rinds on everything but the grapefruit, but it's probably tastier taking all the rinds off. The rinds add a bitter taste. You squeeze all the juices of the fruit into the pitcher, then place all the fruits in the pitcher, fill all the way with water, give it a good stir. After that you place half a bunch of fresh mint on top, make sure it is under the water but resting on top. After that you wait 24 hours after it has sat in the fridge, then you are good to drink it. You are suppose to drink it over the course of a week, warning it is really bitter. It only taste like grapefruit and cucumber but it works! it's like a natural detox but you aren't running to and from the bathroom, and it gives you energy! You should drink about three glasses of the water a day! It get's easier to drink as you get use to it.

 

I've been trying to eat healthier snacks as well. I have been on a peanut butter kick lately. I love peanut butter so much! I love it on apples, banana's, ( Thanks Gwen Stefani for teaching me how to spell banana's), and my latest favorite toasting a piece of bread, spreading peanut butter on it, and topping it off with some honey nut scooters. Yes, scooters because I'm too poor for cheerios. Haha not really, you just get more in a huge bag of scooters than cheerios. It's the same thing, right?!

What are some of yalls favorite healthy things?!