Guilt free chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter drizzle

 

We all need a chocolatey sweet treat once in a while and you can totally have a little cake or dessert sometimes when eating clean I think. But if you want to enjoy a little sumthin sumthin and not kick yourself for it later, this is perfect!

Sorry kids but if you want the recipe for this one you're going to have to join in on a challenge group. I can't give everything away for free you know! That's not a punishment. It's a very small investment in YOU! YOUR HEALTH YOUR FITNESS.  Joining a challenge group helped me lose 20 pounds!

Get the recipe for these babies and much more when you join a challenge group.

PiYo group starting July 7th

Wedding group starting July 7th

Mashed Cauliflower with Grilled Artichoke Hearts & Portobello Mushrooms

This is kind of a pain in the butt to make, however it's really worth it because it's all veggies but soooooo filling!

portobello mushrooms

artichoke hearts frozen

garlic

cauliflower

toss the artichoke hearts and mushrooms in 2 tsp of olive oil salt pepper & chopped garlic

throw on grill or roast in oven

while that's cooking, cut up and boil the cauliflower

drain and loosely chop

put in blender a little at a time

this is the pain in the butt part use a food processor if you have

when it's all pureed, add tsp olive oil and salt & pepper

top with grilled veggies

Yesterday my husband brought home mint instead of basil. So I threw together these chicken burgers and they are soooo good! 

ground chicken breast
tomato
onion
zucchini
fresh mint
salt & pepper
mix together and form burgers
grill and top with avocado and mango

 

As long as you don't add syrupy sugar mixes to your sangria it's a great choice for catching a little buzz when eating healthy! Everything in moderation!

When it comes to getting healthy and fit joining a challenge group is THE GAME CHANGER!

What is a challenge group? 

*Motivation

*Accountability 

*Support

*At home workouts 6 days a week

*Free meal plans / shopping lists / recipes

*A group of others working out at home and bringing it, you will want to as well

What will you be doing?

The newest Beach Body Program, PiYo! I am starting a new challenge group and would love to have you join me. The work outs are between 25 and 45 minutes long and are low impact (no jumping/craziness) But still super intense and effective. I think this is the program I am most excited about starting. Here is a link to purchase the challenge pack - it has a special promo price with me as your coach which will only last for a few weeks.

What do you get?
Workouts + Shakeology + Free support from me and an online motivation group = SUCCESS!!

PiYo is Chalene Johnson's newest at home workout dvd program. The same mastermind who brought you Turbo Fire and Chalene Extreme. PiYo will allow you to define your body without jumping, using weights or causing joint strain.  All you need is your own body weight to burn fat and redefine every muscle of your physique.  You’ll do this by performing a sequence of continuous, targeted moves.  This workout is really about building and strengthening your core through dynamic movements, flexibility exercises, and learning to balance!  There will also be some light cardio to get your heart rate up and the calories burning!

21 Day Fix Bridal Boot Camp

21 Day Fix Wedding Challenge Group!! This program is perfect for getting it together before your wedding!!  Who wants to look amazing and feel amazing on their wedding day?. I am looking for 8 engaged ladies who want to bring it for their wedding day! Contact me to secure a spot.

 

P90X3 Challenge Group. Join in! How, how can you say no to that face? All Tony wants you to do is join a P90X3 challenge group before the sale ends this May.  I have been doing P90X3 for about 6 weeks now and telling you about my journey.  So far from eating clean and hanging out with Tony 30 minutes a day I lost about 12 pounds.  I was terrified to try P90X3 because the other 2 programs looked so intense and Tony looks so crazy.  But the workouts are a great mix of tough, challenging and doable.  There is always a way to modify, or just stop if you have to.  

Why join a challenge group with me?

You get support

You get a meal plan that works!

You get accountability  

You get recipes

You get shakeology 

You will be working out in the luxury of your own home

You will check in with all the others who are doing this along side with you in a private forum

I truly want to help you see to it that your goals are met.  I have a deep compassion inside this sarcastic shell.

Have you ever started a fitness program or diet and quit before you met your goal? How about getting a gym membership but never going or buying equipment you never use? Joining a challenge group makes all the difference. When you are doing planks and squats and pushups in your house you know your fellow challengers are suffering with you that day.  You know you have to check in daily and let everyone know you did your workout and you ate clean that day.  But we are not angry people.  When you need the support to keep going, to follow the meal plan we are there. 

So do it already, make today the day that you begin your journey to meet your health and fitness goals. Fill out my contact form to be a part of my challenge group.

 

I have another incredibly hard recipe. But it will be worth it.  This salad is so perfect for a hot summer night when all you want to do is grill off something. Make it a couple hours ahead so all the ingredients can get to know each other, when they are happy you will be happy.

1 package of cherry tomatoes, halved

1 large green zucchini

1 lemon

4 scallions

salt & pepper to taste

Chop all veggies, squeeze entire lemon over add salt & pepper to taste. For 21 day fix measure out one green of this salad, add 1/2 blue of feta cheese and/or toss with 1 yellow of brown rice or couscous for one serving.

21 Day Fix - My review and results:
First maybe a little background information. You might be wondering what those blobs of rainbow colored plastic are in the above photo. Those are color coded tupperwares that represent different food groups and their size reflects the portion of said food group.
The program comes with those tupperware, a meal plan book and workout dvd's 30 min each doing things like weights, intervals, cardio, pilates, yoga etc.
Basically the meal plan book gives you lists of acceptable foods, calorie requirements which are based on your weight and a formula they give you.  I was in the lowest calorie group.
You get to eat each container worth of a food group a certain amount of times a day.
For example
4 red containers which are protein YAY!
1 blue tiny container which is for cheeses, avocado, hummus BOO!
2 purple for fruit
2 yellow for carbs
3 green for veg
1 orange for salad dressings seeds
even tsp for nut butter or cooking with oils

So this may sound crazy confusing but when you get the package and read everything it's really simple.  I loved using this program. It is so much more easy than Weight Watchers, Calorie Counting apps, eyeballing your portions, logging everything you put in your mouth? Ever try logging a salad in WW or My Fitness Pal? It's never ending!! Plus I made a cheat sheet, which only MY challengers will get a copy of.  It's really helpful.

This is how I logged things for  the day. I used the memo app in my phone to add what I can eat each day and also my weekly treats as I ate things I just erased them. and refilled each morning or beginning of the week.

What is a day like on the 21 Day Fix?
Shakeology with 1/2 purple of apple and 1/2 green of cucumber
2 eggs (red) 1 green of veggies on 1 slice of whole grain bread
1/2 fruit with tsp nut butter
1 red of chicken breast, 1/2 blue avocado, over lettuce & salad fixings plus 1 orange of salad dressing
1/2 blue hummus and veggies
1 red of flank steak with 1 yellow sweet potato and grilled asparagus

Now this menu doesn't look like any new revelations but its the portion control from the containers that makes all the difference for me. Also knowing how much of each food group I can have a day helped me tremendously in my daily eating. I won't overeat my healthy fats which I did alot, or overeat fruit, even protein, you will eat enough protein for your workouts instead of not enough which happens. This plan is fool proof and stupid simple. End of story!

My results? 9 pounds! In three weeks.

 Troubles in yoga-ville

Today on my schedule: p90x3 yoga workout. I'm doing a hybrid of p90x3 workouts with 21 day fix food plan.
Getting the moves down since its my 5th time and I really like it. Then my Zen was broken towards the end. A mosquito came sauntering in as they always do. I clumsily slammed my hands and missed my evil target about 246 times. Tony was in the background talking smack about tree poses. I never got that little vampire. When I returned to my poses, I saw an ant, my other summer adversary merrily crawl by, I had to just watch him......frozen in my triangle pose.

The past three weeks on the 21 day fix could not have been possible for me without these cookies. They are from the 21 day fix meal plan book and they are scrumptious. Even though I indulged in these babies a few nights a week, I still lost 9 pounds in three weeks.  Yeah I think I am pmsing, can't stop thinking about chocolate.

To fight temptations or not? Last night I had a party to attend. Early in the day I made the (wise?) decision to save my carbs for a couple glasses of wine. Back in my south beach diet days I did this all the time - drank on a bread free stomach. 

As I laid my eyes on the food selection I didn't care about having the pasta or rice etc. Not that I think these things are the devil. I just am trying to save things like that for when I REALLY want it. For instance if there were huge slices of chocolate cake I would've plowed my face through it like a backhoe. So I chose the string beans, lemon chicken and salad. 

Former me would've used this party as an excuse to have 2 plates of pasta and cake and wine. I did make the terrible decision to have a third glass of red wine but did not inhale it like the first two. Instead I left some in the glass. Fast forward to when I got home. I felt really nauseous and this happens to me often when I drink red wine, but i didn't drink a lot so or so I thought.
 
Anyway my stomach was just too messed up. I needed to "soak" up the alcohol. I don't know if this phenomenon is real or just some urban myth but I had to have some bread, so I had half a hot dog bun, along with a hotdog that my husband had left on the counter from dinner and a 21 day oatmeal cookie. Then I laid down and fought off puking in the bed for a couple minutes. Soon magic happened: the bun soaked up the alcohol, I guess, because I felt a lot better.
 

What do you all think about this? Ever get sick from not having a solid drinking foundation?