Step away from the scale!

Are you a slave to the scale? So many of us are! Let me clue you in on a little something though.. In many cases the scale is not an accurate measure of your progress. Muscle is smaller and tighter than fat, therefore a pound of muscle is going to take up less space than a pound of fat. When you see no change (or an increase) on that scale after hours and hours of hard work, sweat and determination it can be extremely frustrating. Believe me, I know

Try to keep in mind that as your body is working and changing it is very likely that you are losing fat and building muscle. Pay more attention to how you feel, how your clothes fit, take your measurements, take photos! It is not

easy to step away from the scale, but for some of us (like myself) who can’t help but shake that disappointed feeling when you don’t see that number dwindling, it’s the best thing to do. I gave up on weighing myself regularly a while ago and now I rely on other methods to track my progress. I have learned to throw my “weight goal” to the wind and focus more on how I feel. For the longest time I was determined to get to 135 lbs. That was my set-in-stone goal weight because it was the weight on my license, what I weighed when I was sixteen. That was nearly ten years ago! I finally had to come to terms with the fact that that is not a realistic goal for me. I am not a teenager, I'm a woman, a woman whose healthy weight is now closer to 150 lbs than 135. And that's okay!

I'm not saying you should never, ever weigh yourself again. It can definitely be good to keep an eye on your weight. My suggestion would be to schedule it. Maybe you weigh yourself every Friday, or every other, or maybe just once a month. Just be careful not to let it become an unhealthy obsession. Our weight can fluctuate by pounds just over the course of 24 hours! Ladies, we all know how much our weight can change over the course of our cycle. Don't over analyze! If you're working hard and eating well, just keep doing what you're doing. Don't let a scale hold the key to your happiness. After all, who cares what the scale says if you look and feel better than you did when you started? Weight, like age, is just a number!

Injury, indulgence & New Year's resolutions

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope your holiday season was everything you hoped for. Personally, I’m a little relieved to be through the holidays and into the new year. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas. I love the atmosphere, celebrating with family and friends and, of course, all the delicious treats. This year I was determined to keep my nutrition on track throughout the holiday season and (full disclosure here, folks) I failed…

I did have a really good routine going for the last few months. I was hitting the gym in the morning before work most days. I was eating well and feeling really good! Then, I hurt myself.. In mid-December I fell down the stairs (no, they weren’t icy, I was just clumsy) and injured my tail bone pretty badly. For over a week I was moving very slowly. Sitting was almost unbearable and when I did sit I had to do so on a “donut” pillow. Side note- if you ever hurt your tail bone these things are a must have. It has totally been my savior these past few weeks.

Anyway, I am almost back to normal now. I can manage everyday tasks again but I’m still not exercising like I normally do. I’ll get there. Like we’ve all heard many times before, it is so important to let your body heal. Pushing yourself before you’re ready is only going to set you back more. Of course I know this, and have said this to many people myself. However, now that I am the one who is injured, it's been a hard pill to swallow.

So, you're probably thinking “what does this have to do with you letting your diet go to crap over the holidays?” If you are injured and unable to workout nutrition should be even MORE of a priority, right? Yeah,

that’s the thought.. Unfortunately, I let this get the best of me for a while. I am always an optimist but being laid up really had me feeling down. Pair the pity party with the fact that holiday treats have been lurking around every corner and you have yourself a dangerous combination. Eating sweets and drinking wine to drown my sorrows over not being able to exercise is not really my style, but for a while I just didn’t care.

But guess what? It’s 2015! It’s a new year full of new opportunity and as 2014 came to a close I couldn’t help but remember how great it has been. I will be damned if I’ll let one small injury derail my progress (in the gym AND the kitchen) and my happiness. I am thankful for the reminder to slow down, both literally (on the stairs!) and figuratively. Sometimes, we get so busy with work, school, our families, our friends and a whole variety of other commitments, that we never have a second to breath and focus on ourselves.

Getting hurt was not fun at all, but it forced me to take a break which has allowed me to focus on myself more. As cliché as it may be, I do believe everything happens for a reason and maybe that was my reason. Maybe, it was just what I needed. That being said, in 2015 I resolve to slow down, take more time out for myself and to say “no” more. I don’t need to commit to every little thing that comes my way and I don’t need to constantly strive to make everyone else happy (any of my Taylors reading this?! You know.. :-P). I plan on focusing on myself, my goals and, as always, having as much fun as possible along the way. Cheers to a healthy and happy new year for all of you and to focusing on what YOU need to make that happen!

Healthy Peanut Butter Balls

I don't know about you, but I have a serious sweet tooth! Sometimes its hard for me to say no to all of the cookies and candies that seem to be lurking everywhere this time of the year! I decided that I would try to "clean up" Peanut Butter Balls, my favorite holiday treat, so that I could enjoy them guilt free this holiday season. I think that they came out great, and my taste testers agree. I hope you'll make your own batch, see my recipe below!

Healthy Peanut Butter Balls

• 1/2 cup PB2
• 1 scoop vanilla Shakeology (a vanilla protein powder would also work)
• 2 tbs Smucker's Natural Cream Peanut Butter
• 1 tbs Natural Honey
• 3 tbs Coconut Oil
• 2 tbs Chocolate Chips

Nutrient-rich ingredients make these peanut butter balls not only "not bad"
for you, but actually quite healthy for you. An excuse to eat candy? Sign me up!

Process

• Combine PB2, Shakeology/protein powder, natural peanut butter, honey and 2 TBS of
  
  the coconut oil (heated to liquid) in a bowl
• Form small balls (about 1 inch in diameter, recipe should make 10 balls) with the mixture and place them on parchment paper. When finished, put them in the fridge 
• Meanwhile, combine remaining 1 TBS of coconut oil with chocolate chips in a microwave safe container and microwave 2-3 minutes (taking it out and stirring every minute)
• Once you have heated up and combined the chocolate mixture you can remove your peanut butter balls from the fridge to coat them
• One at a time, insert a toothpick into each ball to pick them up and place them in the chocolate to coat, then place them back on the parchment paper 
  
• Once they are all coated put them in the freezer for 15-20 minutes (you may have to repeat the coating step once more after the first layer has hardened, I did and had plenty of the chocolate mixture left to do so)
• Once the chocolate has hardened store in the fridge, or enjoy right away!

Nutrition (per one ball)

108 Calories

10g Carbohydrates

 6g  Protein

 6g  Fat

Happy Holidays!

Happy, Healthy & Here to Help

My ambition in my high school yearbook was pretty straight forward. Three simple words- to be happy. Simple words, yes, but not always a simple achievement. Happiness looks different for everyone. To me, being happy and being active have always gone hand in hand. My lowest times have been my most sedentary times. In high school inactivity was never a problem for me. I played on the soccer and softball teams and spent a lot of my free time at the gym or going for runs. Then I graduated.

What do they say, freshman fifteen? Not for this girl! Quadruple that. Yep, you read that right. In only a year’s time I gained sixty pounds. My clothes didn’t fit, I felt horrible about myself and exercising hardly even interested me anymore. I was in complete denial until one day I stepped on a scale. When I looked down and saw the number 190 staring back at me something clicked. I was not willing to find out what 200 pounds felt like, so I dusted off my sneakers and hit the pavement. The first couple of runs were tough but before long I got myself back into running regularly and started to feel like myself again. Happy.

In the six years since that not-so-fabulous time in my life I have continued my on-again, off-again relationship with fitness. But we’re never “off” for very long. When I feel myself slipping back toward that place I was at in 2008 I am always quick to get back on the exercise wagon. In 2013 I came to the realization that fitness isn't just a hobby for me, it's a passion. It's the key to my happiness, my sanity.

I decided then that I needed to do something more. If health and fitness are so important to me shouldn't I share that with the rest of the world? If being healthy and active is my recipe for happiness maybe that's true for others as well.

October 2014

On November 14th I earned my personal training certification and am eager to help other people fall in love with fitness like I have. So, if you struggle to stick to a routine or you're overwhelmed and don't know where to begin your fitness journey.. I have walked in your shoes and I want to help you get healthy, be happy and reach your goals.