Chocolate Dipped Pear Bites - EASY Holiday Tasty Treats

Who says you can't enjoy the holidays just a little. I know I didn't! I would be a hypocrite if I said that. 80/20 peeps! live your life in 80/20. 80% of the time I am eating clean. 20% of the time I allow myself to indulge just a little. You know what that does, it keeps me from binge eating like I used to do during a diet. I would say, "no, No, NO!" too long to myself on a treat or sweet and then one day I would just SNAP and I would binge eat. I would feel terrible and put myself down. I felt like a failure. (Can you relate?)

Now I don't feel like that at all. I am still losing weight even though I am eating a sweet treat during the week. Not everyday but in moderation! So for today's I found this killer dessert over at The Gracious Pantry! Make sure you check out their site for even more clean eating recipes! Check it out! Oh and this would be a fun and healthy option to your next Cookie Exchange!

Chocolate Dipped Pear Bites

Ingredients: 

Water 
2 tsp. lemon juice 
3/4 cup chocolate chips
3 pears 
1/2 cup walnuts, ground into crumbs 
candy canes or sprinkles would be great too (optional)
1 box toothpicks

Directions: 

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and have your toothpicks handy. 

Set out a small to medium bowl of water with the lemon juice in it. 

Melt the chocolate chips in a small slow cooker or microwave them, 1 minute at a time, stirring between each minute until fully melted.

Using a melon baller, scoop the balls out of your ripe pairs. Put the balls in the lemon water temporarily to keep them from browning. 

When you are ready to dip them in chocolate, place them on a paper towel to remove most of the water first.  

Using a toothpick, pick up one ball, roll in the chocolate and then sprinkle some crushed walnuts over the chocolate while it's still warm. 

Set the ball on a parchment lined cookie sheet, leaving the toothpick in the ball. 
After dipping all of the pear balls, place the entire cookie sheet in the fridge until the chocolate is hard and you are ready to serve them (at least an hour). 

December Book Club

It's the first Wednesday of the month and you know what that brings...MONTHLY BOOK CLUB! YEA! I am so excited for these books. Just going to say, do not, judge a book by it's cover or title. Seriously! Read through the description, then decide if it is something you want to read but I choose book #2 for a reason! Stick with me!

Book 1: Jen Sincero  - YOU ARE A BADASS!  How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life

I seriously love this book. I am reading it AGAIN because sometime I just need that inner "umph" to get me to feel like I really am a badass and to just stop making excuses for myself or letting other people get me down! 

In this refreshingly entertaining how-to guide, bestselling author and world-traveling success coach, Jen Sincero, serves up 27 bitesized chapters full of hilariously inspiring stories, sage advice, easy exercises, and the occasional swear word, helping you to: Identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors that stop you from getting what you want, Create a life you totally love. And create it NOW, Make some damn money already. The kind you’ve never made before.

By the end of You Are a Badass, you’ll understand why you are how you are, how to love what you can’t change, how to change what you don’t love, and how to use The Force to kick some serious ass.

Book 2: Brian Tracy - Eat That Frog: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time. (Hello, we all need this right! What a great book to read BEFORE the New Year to help you get the new year started right!) 

Using "eat that frog" as a metaphor for tackling the day's most challenging task, Tracy shows readers how to zero in on these critical tasks and organize their time. He details 21 practical, doable steps to stop the procrastination treadmill and get more of the important tasks done.

Know Your Why

Why do you want to lose weight? Why do you want to feel better? Why do you want to start exercising? Why do you want to run that race? WHY! Why is the driving force to why we do things. It is also that annoying question that our kids tend to give us when we explain they can't do or they need to do something. Why? Why? Why? Why? They ask 1000 times! Well, why does a kid ask you why 1000 times? Because they aren't satisfied with the answer you are giving them. They want to know the deep dark reason why they can't have that candy. "Because I said so," just doesn't cut it for them.

And you know what? You need to be just like your kid and ask yourself why until you are so raw, emotional, crying and feeling it all the way deep down into your bones.

Why do I want to lose weight? Because I am terrified to get pregnant again at a heavy weight. I'm not saying my weight last time is what made me miscarriage but I started out my last pregnancy at my heaviest weight which made physical exercise difficult and hard. I want to be healthy. I do want to blame myself again for losing the pregnancy had I had been weighing less...I don't want to endanger my life or the life of my child because of my weight. I want to exercise. I want to eat right. I don't want to feel limited by my weight while I am pregnant. I want to be here for my family. I want to run at the park and not feel winded. I want to enjoy life to the fullest! I am determined. I am persistant. I am worth it and I know I am worth it!

You have to really dig deep for your why on why you want to do whatever it is you want to do. If you don't then those pesky excuses are just going to rear their ugly heads and sooner or later you might give into those excuses. Your why has to be stronger than your excuses.

Need help finding your why? Ask yourself these questions:

1) What makes you come alive? What gives you drive to want to do something. Your kids. Your family. Your future family. What is going to give you that push to push harder.

2) What strengths do you already have? Look at what you already have going for you. Use these strengths to help you realize that you can do what you are wanting to accomplish!

3) How will your life change if you succeed? Think about the outcome of what you want to accomplish. How much different could your life be when you succeed? How amazing will you feel?

When you figure out your why I want you to write it down and post it in a place that you see everyday. On your bathroom mirror. On your computer. On your fridge. In your car. Wherever you can look at it daily, or when you are having a bad time. So that you can read your why and find that drive to keep going! You have this. You are so worth it!

Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! Don't forget to follow me on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

How to start December Feeling Great

So who is feeling a little sluggish or icky from this past weekend feasting? Did you eat too much good stuff, or too many days of it? It's ok! Take a deep breath. It is ok! I have been enjoying a bowl of the fruit salad everyday. Yes it has marshmallows in it. It is my weakness, but I am limiting myself to only one bowl a day. Oh and it is going bye-bye today. It will not be in the house TOMORROW!

First things first. Make today the last day to have leftovers that might not be the best for you. And decide that tomorrow is the day that you get back on the healthy food and workout bandwagon.

Drink lots of water. You need to help flush your system of the heavy foods you ate this weekend. So make sure you are getting at least 100 oz of water over the next few days.

Drink 1-2 cups of warm lemon water (this counts towards your daily water allotments) This will help to flush and detox your body of the stuff you ate. It will help to regulate your system and help your tummy feel better. 

Drink 1 cup of water with 1-2 teaspoons of RAW Apple Cider Vinegar. This will help to re-balance out your body to a better PH balance. Eating meat and heavy foods change the ph balance of your body. it will also help you retain the good minerals in your body that you need instead of flushing all of them out with the extra water you are drinking. Plus more benefits. 

Eat more fruits and veggies! Have leftover veggie? Eat those up first. Stick with lots of veggies and fruits as your sweets. Now that you have had sweets your body is going to crave it. Use your fruits as your sweets. Get some grapes and stick them in the freezer for a nice frozen treat. Grapes have some of the highest natural sugar contents and it is a good starting point to help cut your cravings for sugar. After a few days cut grapes and go with apples or other fruits with less sugar in them.

But most of all. Give yourself a break. If you overate or indulged more than you had planned, it is done. It is in the past. Focus now on how you can help your body feel better and happier now. Also use this as a good lesson for Christmas. Remember how you are feeling to help drive you to eat differently over Christmas! You all did great. Give yourself some credit. I know each and everyone of you made at least 1 change to what you had at your table and that right there is the starting point!

Diamond Coach

 Last Thursday I hit a HUGE milestone as a health and fitness coach! I had a goal in May that I wanted to reach this goal by Christmas, and I am a whole month early! I advanced to DIAMOND RANK!

I don't receive a payout bonus, and it is not determined by how much money I have made or am making. What it means is that I am helping people every single day. Motivating them, supporting them, helping them reach their goals. And on top of that I am helping my team help others too. They are duplicating what I do and are now building their own teams. I have helped over 60 people now personally in my coaching career and that number is only going to get bigger.

What does that mean, well, that means that I am still going to be providing daily motivation and support. I am still going to be holding a clean eating challenge every month to anyone and everyone who wants to join. I am still going to be offering one on one support to my friends. Nothing changes, I am just leading a team who want to help people reach their health and fitness goals and are also reaching out to their friends who want to do the same. 

I am working with amazing women who want to be mompreneurs, girl bosses. Who want to contribute to their families income. Empowered women! Women who believe that they have a special mission to help people and who believe in themselves. (and some days we all need a little help believing in our selves. and that's ok! I'm here to help with that because I believe in you!)  And it is AMAZING! I feel so blessed to be able to work with such amazing people every single day. If you want any of these things, let me know, I would love to have you on my team! Send me an email or comment below! Connecting the dots to find balance between your fitness, health and life! 

BLACK FRIDAY SALE

 Ok, so it is Saturday but I still wanted to extend this AWESOME OFFER to you! My PERSONAL BLACK FRIDAY SALE! When you get either 21 Day Fix or 21 Day Fix Extreme, which is ON SALE! I will send you FIXATE FREE!

Yep! You have seen me post recipes from it, and it is AMAZING! Fixate gives you 101 great tasting recipes that you can use along with your killer new program to help you reach your goals!

Plus, you get access to my exclusive health and fitness support group, and ongoing support group filled with motivation, support, great people and tools to get end the year FEELING GREAT!!! The offer ends 11/30! 

Are you in?

December 30 Day Ab Challenge

It's another month and this is the month of cookies, sweets, sugars and decadent dinners. To avoid getting your own belly that shakes like a bowl full of jelly I thought it was the right time to do a 30 day AB challenge! Sounds great right?!?

Abs are so important though, they help protect your back, keep your posture finely tuned and help you just feel strong. Are you going to get a 6 pack doing these? Maybe, if you lose body fat on top of doing the exercises. But for me I know that I have a six pack under my fat because it would take a LOT for me to get visible abs. But just because I am plus sized doesn't me I shouldn't work my ABS off! (like that huh!) If anything we should be working our core more as plus sized women because we need to compensate for the extra stuff we already have. And that is ok! I love my curves and I have accepted that I have a belly. I have 2 beautiful babies! But here is the thing, I am fit. I am healthy. And I love my body and am taking care of it. It is just taking me a lot of hard work to get to where I want to be!

So let's go ladies! let's work our abs off! And get a strong core which will help us with all of our other daily things we do!

And, of course, be sure to like our FACEBOOK page and follow us on PINTEREST for motivation, clean eating tips, and healthy lifestyle resources.

21 Day Fix Results

I have been doing the 21 Day fix now for 5 months. And this program has literally CHANGED MY LIFE! I see foods in a whole new way. I finally enjoy my workouts. I want to exercise everyday, well almost every day! I am loving how my body feels and the strength and endurance I am developing. I finally see my goals ahead of me and it is all because of this program.

6 Months ago I was in the deepest depression I have ever been in in my entire life. It was horrible. I had sucidial thoughts. I didn't want to be here anymore. I didn't think I had a purpose. All because I survived a miscarriage, a miscarriage that so very closely almost took my life. I have been in therapy for the past 6 months to help myself heel. And part of my therapy has been my workouts.

I finally see happiness where there was sorrow. I finally see purpose where there was despair. I finally feel at peace with what happened and it is a hard thing to go through. Know that if you ever go through a miscarriage no matter how small, it is a hard thing to go through. Find someone to talk to. Get a counselor. Go to a group. Someone to help you cope with the feelings. Because in order to change the outside, you must first work on the inside. I truly believe that it was my willingness to change my whole attitude towards myself that helped my body shed my weight and reflect what I truly felt.

I started my journey just before June 1. I wanted to share my actual changes I went through over the course of this first step in my journey. I lost a total of 21.2 pounds from May 18, 2015-November 23, 2015 and I lost 18.75 inches on my body. The most being from my belly button area! Check out my results!

Are you ready to try 21 Day Fix yet? If so, you can ORDER HERE and I will contact you with more info on joining my group! I would love to have you part of my EXCLUSIVE group to help give you the support and accountability to stick with your program for good! Or you can EMAIL ME for more details!

Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! Don't forget to follow me on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK

Post Thanksgiving Homemade Turkey Stock

Don't throw away that turkey carcass from Thanksgiving! Use it to make a flavorful homemade stock that you can freeze and use for months! This year I am finally going to bite the bullet and DO IT! This recipe is salt free! BONUS! And from everything I have read, it is SOOOOOOO easy! Now you will know, when a recipe calls for chicken stock or veggie stock, you made your own and you know exactly what went into it! Clean eating at it's finest! 

Homemade Turkey Stock

Ingredients: 

Turkey carcass and bones from 14-pound turkey
1 large yellow onion, halved (unpeeled)
1 carrot, peeled and cut into large chunks
2 celery stalks, cut into large chunks
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
5 sprigs fresh parsley
3 sprigs fresh thyme

Directions:

1. Place the turkey carcass and bones in a large stockpot and cover with at least 5 quarts of water, or enough to ensure that the water covers it by at least 1 inch. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Skim off any fat or foam that rises to the surface.

2. Add the onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf and peppercorns. Reduce the heat to low so that the stock is at a very slow simmer. Simmer, uncovered, for 2 hours.

3. Add the parsley and thyme to the stock and simmer for an additional 2 hours.

4. Pour the stock into a large bowl through a fine-mesh sieve and discard all of the solids. Allow to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes, or until a noticeable skin forms on the surface. Using a spoon, skim off the layer of fat, then let the stock cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

5. The next day, remove the layer of fat that has collected on the top of the stock, then portion out the stock into quart-size containers or freezer-safe ziploc bags and store. The stock can be refrigerated for up to 3 days, or frozen for up 6 months.

What do you think? Do you think you will try this out this year? Recipe found at Brown Eyed Baker

Leftover Turkey Tostadas

Recipe time! So after Thanksgiving we all tend to have LEFTOVERS! Here is an awesome recipe for your Turkey Leftovers! (Matt is super excited for this one!) 

Leftover Turkey Tostadas

INGREDIENTS:
1 14-ounce can petite diced tomatoes, preferably with jalapeños
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 cups shredded cooked turkey, or chicken (12 ounces; see Tip)
8 corn tortillas
Canola or olive oil cooking spray
1 avocado, pitted
1/4 cup prepared salsa
2 tablespoons Fage greek yogurt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup shredded romaine lettuce
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese or pepper jack

PREPARATION:

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 375°F.
Bring tomatoes and their juice to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and most of the liquid has evaporated, 15 to 20 minutes. Add turkey (or chicken) and cook until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, coat tortillas on both sides with cooking spray. Divide the tortillas between 2 large baking sheets. Bake, turning once, until crisped and lightly brown, about 10 minutes.

Mash avocado in a bowl. Stir in salsa, sour cream and cilantro until combined.

To assemble tostadas, spread each crisped tortilla with some of the avocado mixture. Top with the turkey (or chicken) mixture, lettuce and cheese.

Who wants to give this one a try?

modified from eatingwell.com