To celebrate my birthday, today I’m going to share with you my favorite recipe!
So, I am a baker. I love baking to death, and because I always have bananas around the apartment, banana bread is always an easy go to.
Here is my adaptation of Jenny Melrose’s delicious banana bread muffin recipe.
What You’ll Need:
1 1/2 cupall purpose flour
1/2tspsalt
1tspbaking powder
1tspbaking soda
3ripe bananas, mashed
1egg
1/3cupmelted butter
3/4cupgranulated sugar
1/8tspcinnamon
1/3cupbrown sugarpacked
1 tbsp of vanilla extract
3/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin tin with butter or cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
In a large bowl or stand mixer beat together mashed bananas, egg, melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract. Slowly add your flour mixture into the banana mixture and blend until combined.
With a spoon, gently fold the chocolate chips into the mixture. Slowly transfer batter into muffin tin, filling the cups 3/4 of the way.
Bake for 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean after being inserted into the muffin.
Let cool for 15-20 minutes and ENJOY!
What’s your favorite recipe? Let me know down below, but in the meantime, I’m going to go eat my birthday muffins!
According to every health article on the web, it seems we should be shooting for 64 fl. oz. of water on a daily basis, not including extra water that needs to be consumed after workouts.
64 fl. oz. sure seems like a lot…Today I’m going to discuss some tips to help you get those 64 fl. oz. down in no time!
Start your day off with a glass! Do you like your cup of coffee in the morning? I’m not telling you to replace it! Merely gulp down a quick glass of water while that coffee is brewing to wake up your body to get ready for the day!
Invest in a refillable water bottle. Not only will you be helping the environment by switching to a refillable water bottle, but you will likely buy a bottle that holds more than the average plastic water bottle. Also, check out the bottles sold here that have markings for the time of day so you can see if you’re on track with your water consumption!
Sold at popflexactive.com
Always have your water on hand and in sight! If it’s there, you’ll drink it.
Try putting lemon in your water. While it’s not as delicious as Crystal Light flavoring, adding a little lemon to your water can help vary up the flavor!
Work up to 64 fl. oz. If you’re not already drinking a significant amount of water, start slow. Shoot for drinking a little more water each and every day until you finally reach the goal of 64 fl. oz.
Were these tips helpful? Do you have any tips on how to drink more water?
Starting a workout routine can be a daunting task. Not only are you approaching a lifestyle change, but if you’re using the internet to find some guidance, you’re likely swimming through thousands of articles telling you about hundreds of routines, the “do’s and don’t’s” of exercise, etc.
You were just trying to be responsible and do your research, but now you feel even more confused than when you started!
Today we’re going to discuss some of my favorite online resources you can explore to get you started on a new fitness journey!
Now, of course, online resources are not the only way you can get your fitness journey started. However, they can help you make a plan that is structured, and many times they can work you up in strength while also taking the guesswork out of planning the routine.
For Aspiring Runners
Now hold on! Don’t skip over this even if you think you hate running. I hated running too, but it was simply because I didn’t know how to pace myself. Running takes a lot of practice, and it’s an exercise that is relatively simple to comprehend, so it can be very discouraging when we struggle with it. But listen to me. We ALL struggle with it. I promise.
So before you count running out, really think about why you don’t like it.
If it’s not for any medical/physical reason (i.e. tendinitis, shin splits, knee injury, etc.) I highly recommend you at least give it a shot using the app C25K.
Available on both iOS and Android devices.
Couch to 5K is a running app that spaces your running into run/walk intervals, slowly working you up over a course of 8 weeks until you can run a 5K (roughly 3.1 miles) without walking.
C25K sets the pace and training schedule for you, and if you feel that the jump from Week 4 to Week 5 is still too difficult, you can stay training on Week 4 until you gain strength! This is a wonderful app that helps you push yourself while taking the guesswork out of a running routine!
For Aspiring Yogis
Have you always wanted to try yoga, but were too nervous to try a public class? Never fear because Adriene Mishler is here! With her successful website and YouTube channel, Yoga with Adriene is the perfect place to start for yogis of all levels who want to begin a home practice.
Adriene Mishler from Yoga with Adriene
Her practices range from 7 minutes to 60 minutes and there are hundreds of videos to choose from, not to mention she posts a new video every week. Not sure what video to choose? Adriene has you covered there too! On her website, you can find a monthly calendar that tells you what practice to do on each day!
As Adriene always says, “Hop into something comfy and find what feels good!”
For Strength Training and Cardio (that isn’t running)!
One of my all time favorite fitness sites to go to is Fitness Blender, started by married
Kelli and Daniel of Fitness Blender
couple Kelli and Daniel. On Fitness Blender you can find over 500 free workouts ranging from a difficulty level of 1-5, as well as different training methods that include high-intensity interval training (HIIT), strength training (with and without weights), and cardiovascular workouts.
Worried about trying HIIT or upping your difficulty level? Don’t worry! Kelli and Daniel provide modifications throughout almost every routine to make it accessible for everyone! When in doubt, don’t stop moving!
So there you have it! Here are three different ways to get your fitness journey started, and there are plenty more where that came from!
Have you guys tried any of these sites or apps before? Which one are you going to try?
Let me know how it goes in the comments down below!
From the ages of 13-18, I was clinically overweight, and was most definitely not healthy.
While I did start to implement workouts into my day to day life when I was 15, I was not doing so in a healthy way. I was overexercising (an hour walking on a treadmill at full incline everyday) and my eating became highly disordered. I wouldn’t eat all day, saving my only meal for dinner where I would eat so much, it negated the calorie deficit I was attempting to make.
My high school years were days of restricting and nights of bingeing, eventually quitting my workout routine because why do it if it’s not making a difference. I gave up and accepted I was always going to hate my body.
March 2013
After graduating in 2013, I felt a large amount of stress leave my body. The social pressures of high school were no longer there, and because I was taking a semester off before starting community college, I had extra time on my hands which I filled researching health and wellness. I decided that this time I was going to do it right. No restricting. No crash diets. No quick fixes. Just a change in eating habits and a reasonable workout.
I began with my food. We’ve all heard the claim that our health is 20% exercise and 80% nutrition. And honestly, in my personal experience, the claim seems to be accurate.
Starting out, I didn’t even change the type of food I was eating, I merely changed my portion size. If I normally got seconds with a certain meal, I’d encourage myself to only have one serving. If I normally had 3 enchiladas, today I would only have 2. Small changes like this didn’t leave me feeling deprived and it made my weight steadily begin to drop before I even incorporated any exercise.
I kept this up as I slowly started incorporating a running routine using the app C25K and some basic strength training exercises my older brother taught me.
Before I knew it, I was down to a healthy weight, and I was the healthiest I had been in my entire life. Not only did I receive the health benefits, but I also adopted a love for fitness. I started exploring all types of activities ranging from pilates, HIIT training, yoga, and weight lifting.
These days I fill my days with running, a daily yoga practice, and have recently adopted a weight lifting schedule to try and build my strength.
February 2018
I am still working on my body image and self-esteem. Losing weight and getting healthy unfortunately isn’t a magic fix, but I’ve found focusing on goals of what my body can do versus what it looks like has helped immensely.
Remember that health is not measured by the number on scale. Health is measured by way you feel.
What amazing thing can your body do? Tell me down below!
Welcome to a blog dedicated to living a healthy lifestyle and being the best you that you can be!
This blog is not here to tell you how much you should weigh, how much you should workout, how much you should eat… No. This blog is the start of a community support system for those wanting to live a healthier lifestyle, whatever that means to you.
So what is a “healthy lifestyle”?
The answer? It’s completely subjective. My healthy and your healthy are not going to look the same because healthy looks different on everyone.
Summer 2016
My healthy is when my body feels at its strongest. My healthy is eating clean, but never restricting. My healthy is when my mind is clear and confident.
My healthy is not my lowest weight. My healthy is not controlled by a diet or a rigid workout routine. My healthy is not a broken down self-esteem.
Healthy is how you feel.
In my not-so-professional opinion, being healthy is about feeling the best you can feel mentally and physically. It’s not only about the physical body or the food that’s going into your mouth. It’s also about the mentality that comes along as you transform your lifestyle into one that is not only rewarding, but also maintainable.
Throughout the journey of this blog, I want to take you on daily posts on how to improve your lifestyle, whether it be through incorporating exercise, tweaking what you eat, or simple habit changes! I want this experience to be rewarding. Not punishing.
Thank you for joining me.
Now, I want to hear from you! What is your healthy? What have you done or what are you going to do to be healthy? Let me know in the comment below and we will talk soon!
A Journey to Health and Fitness 