Food Swaps to Keep you on Track

Happy Sunday! With weather warming up.. (for some of us!) and swimsuits coming out after hibernating for the winter, there's never a better time than early spring to really think about how to balance food choices. Personally, I'm all about balance. Eat a delicious brunch with your girlfriends. Have a slice of cake on your birthday. As long as I know my choices are healthy and reasonable most of the time, it's okay to live a little! With that said, I thought I'd give you some easy (and still delicious!) swaps that I like to go with when I want to enjoy, but keep things a little balanced! A quick reference..

Hopefully these easy "swaps" will leave you feeling great! What kinds of healthy swaps do you add in to your diet?

Hello! You're amazing just as you are.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about what it means to have the "healthy and active" life style so many of us seem to be after. The thing is, I feel like the "healthy" part can escape us so easily. When I say this, I'm thinking of the woman out there feeling bad when the scale shows a few extra pounds. I'm thinking of the woman who thinks about how "bad" she ate that day, feeling failure and defeat. I'm thinking of the woman who spends hours and hours running, spinning, ellipticalling, etc. because she's not happy with her body just as it is. 

Is this healthy? I'm thinking it's just unhappiness. 

In doing a lot of thinking about thankfulness with it being November and all, I propose a new way of thinking. Listen to this:

-Your body can move. (When others have bodies that cannot move as they would like.)
-Your body functions in a million little ways that we probably can't even fathom at one time. How amazing is that?
-Your body can hug and cry and smile and hold hands with people you love. Oh my gosh!
-You are made so beautifully. I mean really, look at yourself. You're amazing.

I will admit. I have been on the negative body image train before. It took a lot of self-reflection to get to a place where my body and I were at peace with each other. I learned this: Loving yourself just as you are while giving your body positive things, like natural food and exercise, is the real way to "healthy".

Savannah Weekend!!

So excited to share the awesome weekend we had in Savannah! We went down to the beautiful city to throw my best friend Kylie a bachelorette party! It was a great weekend with fun friends, awesome food, and a few nights out. :)

Safe to say that this weekend was partially made possible by some inspiring bloggers who posted about the bachelorette parties they had given friends in Savannah.  (I totally checked out their weekends before planning events for the bride to be's weekend!)

We started the weekend off right when we walked into the beautiful home that we rented in the historic district of Savannah. It was perfect for our group!

Kylie's sister in law had sangria ready for us when we got there and we poured them into wine glasses I made for the girls:

We had some delicious cupcakes to go with our wine, too!  (I was glad to have a reason to bake and decorate!)

Then, Kylie, her sister-in-law, Jamie and I gave the bridesmaids their gift bags. We all chipped in to put some good stuff in there. :)

After we got settled, it was time to go out on the town! We headed to Jazz'd Tapas Bar and had a great time. It's such a good place for groups, really quick, and on the lighter side for a night out.

After dinner, we went on the Savannah Slow Ride! It was probably one of the top best things I have done all summer. The Savannah Slow Ride is a trolley that you pedal! They have a tour where they take you to local bars in downtown Savannah.  Our group was a lot of fun!

Saturday we headed downtown and ate lunch at a restaurant called Tubby's on River St. 

Such a great view!

We headed home, grabbed some coffee and couch time, and threw Kylie a lingerie shower where she got lots of pretty things. ;) 

Before the weekend, I message her fiance, Michael, and asked him different questions. We played a game where Kylie had to guess how he answered. It definitely made the afternoon a lot more fun!

Saturday was our big night out! We ate at a new Italian restaurant called Oliva on Whitaker St. and then went to Savannah's piano bar, Savannah Smiles! I highly recommend that all bachelorette parties check this place out. We had such a great time!

We definitely had a great time in Savannah and finished it off with a delicious brunch on Sunday! 

Love fun weekends with even better friends. :)

Joy

What if we focused on the joys in our life? What if we took time to realize what they are and experience them fully? I think this is an important way to live, so I took some time to think about things that make my heart full so I could share them with you!

I've loved having basil, mint, and cilantro plants this summer. (Also a tomato plant, but it's kind of a waiting game at this point. ha) I got these plants when I first moved in and it's been so much fun to have life on my porch and fresh herbs for summertime dinners.

My two favorite things: coffee and books.  I found this little coffee shop one Saturday morning and found a quiet corner to read this hilarious book. Wonderful.

Protein pancakes made with Greek yogurt. I've made them before from the Biggest Loser pancake recipe but didn't have the cottage cheese that the recipe calls for so I subbed Greek yogurt. They were still awesome. I am totally a breakfast girl. These made me really happy!

The first weekend I didn't have to leave and drive 3 hours away! This was a really fun dinner on Lake Wylie. Happy girl. :)

Blueberry Pie

Happy Friday! I went to a yoga class this morning and realized I especially love yoga on Fridays. It's such a relaxing way to be active at the end of the week.  (Luckily there is yoga happening in the afternoons at the Y on Fridays so when teacher break is over, I can still enjoy!

Having so much free time has really motivated me to make so many recipes I've been wanting to try! At the top of my list for a long time has been the Super Light Blueberry Cream Pie from skinnytaste.  This recipe uses light yogurt and fat free cool whip to make a refreshing summer pie and won't undo your hard work in the gym. Love that!

Here's the recipe from Gina at skinnytaste:

Blueberry Cream Pie
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 8 • Prep Time: 10 minutes • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 5 pts

• 9 inch ready made reduced fat graham cracker crust
• 8 oz fat free Cool Whip
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 2 (5.3 oz) fat free blueberry yogurt

Combine Cool Whip, berries and yogurt in a bowl. Pour into pie crust and chill in the refrigerator at least one hour. Keep refrigerated until serving.


I've made this recipe before using fresh strawberries and strawberry flavored yogurt. (It was May and we all know you must eat strawberries in May!) *Also I had moving boxes everywhere and needed a project to take a break from packing!

Hope you get to try the pie and maybe some yoga on a Friday! :)

Brown Sugar Peaches

Who doesn't love a healthy summer dessert? I've been really into  peach recipes (breakfast peach cobbler!)  lately and wanted to try a dessert that would be healthy AND delicious.  

Brown sugar peaches and ice cream!

 This was probably one of the easiest recipes to make.  It truly was as delicious as it looks as we all know a ripe peach in summertime is a pretty naturally wonderful thing! 

Hope you get to try it!

Brown Sugar Peaches 

Ingredients:

2 Medium Ripe peaches (halved and cored)
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp. honey
(Vanilla ice cream if you like!)

Place peaches on baking sheet and sprinkle with brown sugar. Broil peaches on top rack of oven (5 to 6 inches under broiler) for 3 to 4 minutes or until peaches begin to slightly brown.  Drizzle with honey and serve with ice cream. 

Eat outside on a sunny patio! :)

13.1 Here we go!

Ahh! Getting back on the half-marathon train. I ran one for the first time last June and it was definitely a challenge I had been holding myself back from for a really long time. Deciding I was the only one standing in my own way, I went for it! It was such a good feeling (and a great way to stay motivated to run!) to finish knowing that I had thought at one time that it was something I wouldn't be able to do. 

"I am capable of more than I know, and perhaps, if I am able to see it, then for the rest of my life, I will be unable to settle for less."-Kurt Hahn

So.. going to go for it again! I found an awesome training plan on Self.com from their July 2013 issue that I'm going to adapt for my own training. 

I'll post my training each week to stay motivated and keep on running!

Week 12 Training Plan