LAH LAH LAH LOVE!

To the lovers, the singles, the married, & the engaged. To the puppy lovers, the brotherly love and the unrequited lovers. To the  self lovers, tree huggers and non believers of love.... I wish each and everyone of you lots of love today.

 

xoxo

ASH WEDNESDAY

 

Its Ash Wednesday and the Lenten Season is here! The Lenten season is a period of 40 days that in the Catholic Church is devoted to fasting, abstinence & giving up certain types of luxuries as a form of penitence in preparation for Easter. Fridays you are not supposed to eat meat – which is fine for me because I’ve limited my red meat intake to about once a year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Im blessed with many luxuries, so this one may be quite hard to narrow down. For my boyfriend and I, we decided to  limit our take out dinners  to once a week. As a busy NYC’er its beyond convenient to order your food since the choices and options around us are endless (even living the super healthy lifestyle we do) .  In terms of fasting, I’ve given up Chocolate & Peanut butter. Two of my absolute favorite things in life.

40 days of No chocolate or Peanut butter and only ordering in once a week.

Piece of cake ;) We hope!

I hope you come along for the journey, even if you aren’t Catholic I want you to challenge yourself for 40 days and see how strong you are. Maybe its limiting your drinking to only 1 night a week, maybe its taking out red meat from your diet, or eating a veggie with every meal. Maybe it could be giving up coffee or working out every morning. Maybe its not shopping for clothes for the next 40 days and use what you have or maybe its bringing lunch to work every day instead of buying lunch.

 

Try it. Its good for you, your heart, your soul and your mind.  See how strong you really are.

 

Let me know what you’ve decided to remove for the next 40 days and challenge yourself with.

 

Have a beautiful day! xxoo

 

TABATA TUESDAYS!

If you live in the tri state area you know that the past few days have been cold, snowy and wet. Days like this, its hard to make it out of bed let alone get your gym clothes on and gather enough motivation to actually make it out! Personally, I love the gym.  Time in the gym is my time. No work. No school. Nobody but me and me alone for one hour. How sweet it is!

However, for people who already don’t like the gym – add on top of that the recent bad weather…. it literally makes it  impossible to get motivated and head out the door. So, for those people that haven’t left there couch and keep watching Real Housewives of Somecrazy here is my Living Room Tabata Routine.

I want you to clear out space in your living room, blast your favorite music and do this routine twice. When you’re done you will be so proud that you chose to feel good over being lazy. Let me know how it goes!

If your not familiar with the exercises, Google the workout beforehand for instructions on how to perform each exercise. Note - Im not in any way shape or form a trainer, this is just something I personally love to do.

USE APP - To get the most out of this workout I suggest downloading an interval timer on your smart phone. I use Seconds Pro and customize each timer for all my tabata workouts (pretty sure it cost around $1.99)

Remember, breathe through every exercise and stretch when completed.

30 Second Mountain Climbers

20 Second Rest

30 Second Alternating Rear Lunges

20 Second Rest

30 Second Alternating Front Lunges

30 Burpees

20 Second Rest

30 Second V Ups

20 Second Rest

30 Second Bicycles (abs)

20 Second Rest

30 Second Pushups

20 Second Rest

30 Second Standing Squats

20 Second Rest

2 Minute REST & REPEAT (TOTAL OF 2 TIMES)

Good Luck :)

PANCAKE HOUSE

If you have been following my blog, I'm sure you have noticed a trend. My pancake obsession. This morning I added one more ingredient to my 3 ingredient protein pancake, and well now... its my 4 ingredient pancake. Here you go:

 

1. Mash 1/2 banana in a bowl
2. Add a heaping handful of blueberries and mash
3. Add 4 egg whites
4. 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder

Mix well and pour into a hot griddle, once the pancake bubbles (about 2 mins) flip over. Repeat with second pancake (should yield 2 large pancakes). Top with the other 1/2 of the banana and a drizzle of agave. ENJOY!!!!

  

 

SWEET GEORGIA BROWN!!!



Photo by Caitsplate

One of my all time favorite BAD foods is Cajun Sweet Potatoe Fries dipped in Spicy Mayo. Fries dipped in mayo is a southern thing. I once learned this back in grade school, a fellow ballerina in my class was from the Carolina's and had told me down south, mayo is the ish. Not sure if its true but I can say this, I was hooked form the first fatty dip!

Fries in mayo? Sounds gross because well it is. Its full of lard, grease, sodium, cholesterol... I can keep going if you would like?

What if I told you I can offer you this dish without all that fat and crap that you get from your traditional fries and still taste just as good! Well I can, keep reading.......

I want you to open your mind and heat your oven!!!!
BAKED SPICY SWEET POTATOE FRIES WITH A SPICY  DIP.

Just trust me on this one. Lets go!

POTATOES FRIES  INGREDIENTS:
2 Medium Sweet Potatoes   (cut up into matchsticks (I keep the peels on)
1 Tbsp. Grape Seed Oil or Olive Oil
1 Tbsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Low Sodium Salt
½ tsp.  Chili powder OR my fav - Ground Chipolte Chili
½ tsp. Black Pepper

POTATOES - HOW-TO’S:
Preheat oven to 450°F
Foil up your baking sheet
Cut em Slice em  & Dice em
Place In a large bowl  & drizzle oil over and coat well
Toss in dry ingredients & mix well
Make  sure to watch the potates as they are baking, turn if  to prevent them from burning
Should bake for about 15 - 20 mins. Flip carefully and leave enough room for each fry.

Your home will smell amazing!
SPICY DIP SAUCE - INGREDIENTS:
1 small container of Greek Yogurt
1 small garlic clove minced
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime-juice
2 - 3 Tbsp sriracha chili sauce (to taste)
pinch of low sodium salt

Enjoy! Not only will they taste great, they will satisfy your craving and they are packed with good stuff like potassium, vitamin c, vitamin d, and iron.

FIT WEEKEND

NYC was blanketed in snow this weekend but it didnt stop me from slushing through the wet streets and getting in my workouts. I ran more this weekend than I have in months (due to my IT band) and loving my new asics! Ive always been a NIKE girl but a friend of mine (who swears by her asics) inspired me to make the switch. My hips cant thank her enough! Thank you Michi!!!

Nike Sportsbra, Lululemon Tank & JCREW iPhone 

I also updated my protein pancake recipe. This has only 3 ingredients.

1. Mash 1/2 banana

2. Add 3 egg whites

3. Mix in 1 scoop of whey protein

Mix well and pour into a hot griddle, once the pancake bubbles (about 2 mins) flip over. Repeat with second pancake (should yield 2 large pancakes). Topped with the other 1/2 of the banana and a drizzle of agave. ENJOY!!!!

& I enjoyed some fresh juice - thanks to my Omega! 

Liver Detox Juice 

1. Whole Beet (include the stems and leaves)

2. 1 whole cucumber

3. 3 large carrots

I hope you did something healthy for your mind, body & spirit this weekend! I'm ready for my crazy week of Work, School, Gym, Birthday Parties & Valentines Day. 

Whew, its gonna be one heck of a week but thankfully Ive prepared. Preparation is key :)