5 Tips for for better Fitness/Wellness

Hi everyone! Hope you had an awesome holiday  with family and friends. I am slowly coming out of my candy coma! As most of you know, I weaned Seb a few weeks ago and I thought it would be perfect timing to start the Advocare 24 day Kick start the day after Easter! I knew I was going to splurge a little and it would be ideal to start the day after!

For those of you who don’t know, I did the Advocare 24 day challenge (what it was called back then, it’s since changed) after Max weaned and I had amazing results. It was definitely really challenging for me from a diet standpoint but honestly it was the best thing that happened to me. It showed me how much my body has changed postpartum and what works for me.. and what doesn’t- not only to feel good, but to look good! 

I’ll be sharing a lot of my recipes and what I’m eating over the next 3 weeks but for now I’m going to share 5 tips to getting healthy and fit and that I'll be living by! 

1. Commit yourself: This is probably the biggest one of all. You really have to be in the right state mentally and physically. For me, I’m always going to be busy so it’s more of a mental commitment and discipline for me that I need to focus on. If you aren't ready or committed for YOURSELF you won’t be successful. 

2. Meal prep: this is almost as important as #1. I usually try to prep all my lunch food at the beginning of the week and it sets me up for success. This includes preparing / having good snacks on hand! Some of my favorites are hard boiled eggs, nuts, protein bars (quest and Rx bars are my favorite) :) If I don't stay on track at lunch, it usually leads me to being overly hungry at nighttime...which is never good. lol. 

3. Drink lots of water: enough said! Water is so important to your health and it honestly can curb hunger too! 

4. Move more: This might seem super obvious....but its not! I know firsthand how hard it can be to get workouts in with commitments like family, kids, work... I honestly just vow to move more - whether that’s a walk with the kids or parking a little farther away in the parking lot, or standing/ moving at work when I’m on conference calls. I only get to the gym 2-3 days a week so the rest of the week it’s on me to try and get my 10,000 steps a day. That makes a huge difference in your overall wellness! You WILL see more of a difference if you can get workouts in, but know that just moving more and being spot on with your diet will still get you great results! 

5. My last piece of advice is one I’ve really lived by when getting my body back after baby #1: you will never remember the moments that you turned down that piece of candy, that piece of pizza, etc.  But if you have goals, you will always regret it! Discipline is choosing between what you want NOW and than what you want MOST!!! I honestly cannot tell you one time that I “missed” out on a moment because I said “no” to a food.

Keep in mind, I definitely splurge and live life.. but there are times where you have to be a little more strict to get what you want! That’s just life! If it were easy everyone would be fit. 

Have a great day everyone! 

Xo 

Alex

30 minute meal: Chicken Arugula Salad

Hey guys! I thought I would hop on here real quick and share one of my favorite recipes!  Now that I'm a mom I try and find ONE meal I can cook for the whole fam. There is nothing worse than cooking two different dinners....Who's with me on that???!! And lets be honest we can't be eating the same four meals that our kids eat LOL. This meal is SUPER easy to make and fast and changes things up!! 

Ok..so whenever I go out to dinner I am such a sucker for Chicken Arugula Salad. I love the balsamic, fresh tomatoes and the fact that it has some greens in it. So freaking good. Its definitely a "healthier" option when eating out. However, I don't love the fact that its made in the frying pan...so I thought to myself..hm. I can totally make this at home. Just without the extra grease!

The trick is that I throw it in the oven which gives you crispy chicken without the oil! WIN! And...you can give the kids the SAME crispy breaded chicken. I mean, who doesn't love breaded chicken? You can enjoy your Arugula salad...and Give the kids some ketchup, BBQ, or hot sauce (if they're old enough to like sauces, my two toddlers just eat it plain) and bingo...you have a meal for the whole fam. If you want extra credit, you could honestly cut the chicken into smaller pieces for the kids so they look like nuggets! Steam some veggies on the side for them and donezo. You have dinner in 30 mins...and a majority of the time its in the oven which means time to do something else..like play with the kids, clean up, un -wind from work..whatever it may be. 

Ingredients: 

Chicken Breasts (however many you need)
4 cups Arugula
Breading:
1 cup Breadcrumbs or Panko breadcrumbs (I like Edward and Sons)
1 egg
2-3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Topping:
1/2 tomato (the firmer the better)
chopped onion
Balsamic Vinegar to taste
Olive Oil to taste

*I've been pretty loose with the amounts of the above only because everyone is different in terms of how much they prefer. If you love onion, use a 1/2 of an onion. If you don't like it as much, use a 1/3 or 1/4 of an onion. Same with the parmesan cheese, balsamic vinegar(I'm obsessed..so I use a ton), and olive oil. 

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Pound the chicken breasts so they are flat (this is super important. It cuts down on the cooking time). Put a sheet of parchment paper on a oven safe baking sheet. 
2. Crack the egg and whisk in a bowl. Place the breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese in a separate deep dish or bowl. 

3. Dip the chicken in the egg, then in the breadcrumbs making sure the breast is covered with the crumbs. Place on the parchment paper on baking sheet. Repeat until all breasts are on the baking sheet. Cook for 10-12 mins per side. Flip when they reach your desired "crisp level."

4. While the chicken is cooking, rinse the arugula. Chop the onion and tomato. Place all three in a large bowl. 
5. When chicken is complete, take out of oven to cool. Add your balsamic vinegar and olive oil to the salad. 

6. Serve Arugula salad over the chicken. Enjoy :) 

xo
Alex

Friday Free For All

Happy weekend everyone! Hope you all have had a great (short) week. The tough thing about the 4 day weeks is everything is crammed into the 4 days and I always feel like I'm trying to play catch up! Anyone else? 

Labor Day

Labor Day was super low key for us..spent some quiet time with the boys and got some things done around the house like organizing my desk area and attic storage. I had a bit of coaching on sunday so that took up most of my morning. The weather here was a little bit of a buzz kill but we try to spend as much time outside with the boys unless it is pouring rain while we can before the weather turns!

                                           Participants at the Hurricane Harvey Soccer Pick up Fundraiser!

Hurricane Harvey Fundraiser

Seeing all of the people affected by Hurricane Harvey has just absolutely broken my heart. Seeing lives lost, families lose everything and not have a home is so hard to see. Having a family myself, its devastating thinking of other moms out there struggling to keep it all together for their families and in need of simple things like food, water, shelter, diapers, etc.

I kept thinking to myself..there has to be something that we can do to help to show our support and had an idea about bringing together the community for a night of soccer where the proceeds of the "games" would go directly to Houston. I enlisted our Director of Coaching, Rob Ferguson, who set up an incredible "pick up soccer" event where youth players came and donated some money to play pick up. Any player, any club, come one, come all. We put this event together in basically 5-6 days. (Bravo, Rob)

The support was overwhelming with so many young players coming to participate, as well as volunteers coming to help in every way possible. Canisius and Buff State sent players from their collegiate programs to support and hang out with the kids. Sahlen's (obviously) donated hot dogs available for purchase and proceeds also went to the cause. The event was incredible- I can't tell you how amazing the vibe and atmosphere was. THANK YOU to everyone that attended and donated! As of now, we have raised over $4,000 for the Hurricane Relief efforts. The WNY Soccer community sure did rise up to the occasion and a big pat on the back to all of the WNY Flash Academy and Sahlen Sports Park staff that helped us make the event a reality. Our thoughts are with everyone in Irma's path and we are praying for all of you down south! 

My go-to night snack

I don't know about you guys, but whenever the cooler temperatures roll around, I CRAVE COMFORT FOOD (and sugar). 11 months postpartum and I'm still trying to lose those last dang 5 lbs :P #thestruggle

Its been about 2 weeks since I've had the self control to stop having my bowl (or two lol) of nightly granola. I love granola and although there are certainly WORSE things I could be eating, the portion size that I have been eating is basically for two people, lol, and the sugar content in that is just....yeah. not ideal. My replacement? some Quest Peanut Butter Protein Powder mixed with Chobani plain greek yogurt.

I find that its sweet enough (the peanut butter flavor), and filling enough with the protein content of the yogurt as well as a 1/2 scoop of the powder. Its low sugar, and lower carb. If you like peanut butter, I definitely recommend trying it! I also have done this with different flavors of protein powder (vanilla) and it was pretty good. This gives you FLAVOR without the added sugar content of the flavored greek yogurts! 

Have a great weekend everyone! 

xo

Alex

Friday Free For All

Hey everyone! Wow..its friday and its SEPTEMBER. Bring on the cardigans, booties, chunky sweaters, and thick socks. I swear that every month I'm like "omg, I can't believe it's already ___" And this month is no exception. How is it almost FALL already? It's somehow shocking to me (still lol) how fast time can go.
 

                                                            Hellooooo September!!!

Last year at this time I was just flat out scared. totally. absolutely. scared. I had no idea what was coming my way with adding little Seb into our family. I'm really looking forward to this fall. The hardest days are in the past (well at least in terms of sheer exhaustion and lack of sleep), and I'm looking forward to embracing the routine of school starting the week of the 11th for Max. He'll start going 3 mornings a week and while I love my time with him, I know how important it is for him to feel comfortable away from his "safe place" at home. He's definitely a shy boy and is super attached so getting out in a school and socialization environment is great for him. Also, I'm going to embrace having mornings on my own to spend some time with my almost one year old ...(tear). 

Easy Breakfast

With the 1st day of school quickly approaching next week after labor day for kids in our area, I thought I would share one of my go-to quick but healthy breakfasts. This is an awesome one for hectic mornings especially the first few weeks of school when everyone is still adjusting to a routine. All you need is any kind of bread that you (or your child likes), a cup, and an egg! To make the "gas-house egg," grab your bread and a small cup (Your kids cups are perfect- you don't want the hole too large). Press down into the bread making a circular indent enough to take the indent out of the bread. Next, place the bread on the pan. Crack the egg in the open, circular area and cook to desired liking and flip. I also place the small circular piece in the pan so it gets a little toasted. My boys like it when I add jam to the toast when its finished cooking, but you can add whatever you want (peanut butter, butter) or nothing at all if you like a nice runny egg to dip your toasted egg in! There's something about the way this tastes cooked inside the bread that is just super tasty! Protein & carbs to keep you and your little ones going all morning, all in one shot! 

                                                                  The final product!!!

Bobs Double Stroller

If you follow me on instagram, you probably have seen my post on the Bobs double stroller. I have had the Bob single running stroller ever since Max was 9 or 10 months old and have loved it. Ever since Seb was "of age" to take a run, I've been eyeing the double stroller but the price always stopped me in my tracks. I thought that someone, SOMEWHERE would be wanting to offload theirs and I could get a used one? Please? Someone? .....Anyway weeks turned into months and I honestly could not find a used one for under $300 or $350 which I thought was completely outrageous. Fast forward to last week. I'm just done. Done having to rely on other people to get my cardio in and at this point in time, a lot of the time I'm still up once a night, so waking up at 5 am to run just isn't going to happen. The Double runner was my answer. 
 

SO.  I went to buy buy baby over the weekend to "test" the double out. I was honestly worried that maybe it would be too tough to push with the two boys in it? Anyway, I went to the store with the mindset that I would just have a look at it and keep waiting for A. a huge sale or B. a used one, if I liked how it moved.
 

                                Testing the BOB Double stroller out in store. They look thrilled! Ha!

I LOVED HOW IT MOVED, guys. So I'm sure you can finish the story for me. I BOUGHT IT. But- the catch is I got it for 15% off PLUS another 20% off.. #WINNING. Best thing I ever did. I am such a big proponent of online shopping but sometimes it sure does pay to go to actual stores. 

I would definitely recommend the stroller to anyone who runs consistently during the week and has two little ones. It glides and is super easy to run with. I was pleasantly suprised that my splits weren't much different than with the single! And yeah, when anyone asks me about my stroller I'll definitely be bragging not only about my mileage, but how cheap I got it for :) 

Hope you all have an amazing labor day weekend :) 

xo

Alex

Thursday Thoughts 6/1/17

Hi everyone! Happy June! Hope you are all having an awesome {{shortened}} week! YASS to 4 day weeks! :) I had a quiet memorial day as my oldest was away with my parents at the races and hubby was away coaching. Let's talk about how EASY one kid is! I feel like I got so much done! Laundry, organizing, cleaning, down time and even some quiet time. 

I took Sebby to the grocery store, {{and because for once in my life I wasn't in a complete rush}} ALSO...sans car seat! Things will now be 83984542 times easier {and lighter} without lugging a car seat into said store. YASSSS. I grabbed some new items at the store...and I'm obsessed. First things first- the HERO bar. Literally tastes LIKE a candy bar. But isnt! Definitely try out Quest's newest amazing invention. 

Next...my husband is obsessed with ThinkThin's flavored oatmeal. I can't break away from my plain quaker oats with Peanut butter mixed in, but he SWEARS by the flavors he has tried. I guess it changes things up for him. Anyway, I was browsing at Wegmans and found ThinkThin Unwrapped Protein Bites (I chose peanut butter flavor of course). I decided to try them out. These are *awesome* when you need a quick snack..with only 170 cals, 22 g carbs for 8 pieces and 10 grams protein you can't go wrong!

Lastly. I cannot believe it has taken me so long to try Halo Top. Guys. This was so so good. I have been eating Arctic Zero the last 2 years, I can honestly say that the texture of Halo Top tastes so much more like ice cream than Arctic Zero. I snagged the vanilla and mixed it with..yes..of course PB. With only 240 cals for the entire pint..makes you feel a little less guilty for treating yourself! 

                                                                        Halo Top...definitely going to try this flavor! 

Hope everyone has an awesome weekend...xo

Alex

A 'lighter' lasagna

Now that the cooler weather is finally upon us, I thought I would share one of my favorite comfort foods --with a healthy twist of course! What I love about this dish is it can be cooked in the crockpot, or in the oven. 

I never used to even eat lasagna. It always turned me off because I absolutely cannot stand ricotta cheese. But when my mother in law made this for me and ricotta was not in the recipe, I fell in love and its become one of Max's favorite meals. I usually swap out turkey for beef, and whole wheat pre cooked lasagna noodles to make it a little bit lighter. I add tons of veggies as you will see below. 

                                                               Pan frying the veggies 

Ingredients: 

Meat sauce:
1 lb ground turkey (or beef)
1/2 chopped onion
2 cloves garlic (optional)
1 red & 1 green pepper chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
mushrooms
Sliced Carrots
1.5 jar of any red sauce of your choice- or homemade if you choose
Olive Oil
Salt, pepper, italian seasonings to taste

                                             White sauce and the no-boil lasagna sheets I use

White Sauce: 

300 ml milk
2 tablespoons flour (I use Arrowhead mills organic unbleached white flour)
1 cup- 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese
Pre baked lasagna noodles (I choose whole wheat DeLallo in the organic section)
Shredded Mozzarella cheese to garnish (for top)

                                                               Red sauce...complete!!

Directions: 
Chop all of the vegetables, onion, and garlic. Cook in pan with olive oil on medium for 5-7 minutes. Add meat. Cook thoroughly and add salt, pepper and italian seasonings. Add jar of sauce and set aside. In a pot, heat milk and flour and whisk. Add cheese and stir until melted. You can always adjust amounts if you feel as though the sauce is not thick enough/too thick. Grease pan or crockpot with olive oil. Place pre baked noodles as bottom layer. Put meat sauce on noodles as second layer, then add white sauce. Repeat until you have no more meat/white sauce. I usually finish it with one layer of the noodles, with extra sauce on the top and garnish with motzerella cheese.  Bake for 45 mins in the oven, or 4-6 hours on medium/low in the crock pot and you have your light lasagna ready to go! 

                                                                  Layer by Layer...

I feel as though you can add a ton of veggies to this meal other than the ones I have listed including spinach. I have actually also pre made the meat and veggie mixture and frozen it for when the baby comes so all I have to do is defrost, throw a can of sauce in it, and make the white sauce which literally takes 3 minutes! Amazing! 

                                    Comfort food at its finest with only a little bit of guilt!

Enjoy everyone
xo

Alex

Easy Chicken Bake

So I just absolutely have to share one of my favorite meals right now. Easy, low prep work, and pretty healthy. I know that at first glance you are probably not going to believe that last statement. The trick of this recipe is to swap sour cream for plain greek yogurt, and use half the amount of mayo. 

Yes. Mayo. For those of you who aren't mayo fans {like me}, I promise you it doesn't taste like mayo. In fact, my mom tricked me and did not tell me that it was an ingredient when she made it for me. Good thing because I probably woulden't have tried it! 

I like to use earth balance mindful mayo made with olive oil and of course the standard chobani plain greek yogurt. After all is said and done, you can bang this meal out in about 500-600 calories depending on the size of your breast (this is based on a 6 ouncer) and how much cheese you garnish it with at the end of baking! Not bad, huh? 

I usually steam up some veggies and serve with them but I do think serving this over brown rice or some tortellini would also be exceptional especially for growing and active kids! 

Ingredients shown above and slices of cheese on chicken in dish with foil

Ingredients:
4-6 boneless chicken breasts
6-8 slices of swiss or motz. cheese-I usually use two slices/chicken breast
1/4 cup mayo + 1 tablespoon
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Optional: salt, pepper, and garlic powder
Motz cheese or mild cheddar cheese to garnish
 

Right before the chicken hits the oven!

Instructions: 
1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Place chicken in pyrex dish either greased with olive oil, or place foil in it. Today I used foil and there was NO difference in taste and it was an easier clean up. #nobrainer
3. Add sliced cheese on top of chicken
4. In a bowl, mix mayo, parm cheese, greek yogurt and optional salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste. Spread over chicken with spatula. 
5. Bake for 45 min-1 hour. Optional but I recommend: At the end I sprinkle a little moz or mild cheddar cheese on the top and broil for 3-5 mins. 

Enjoy!! 

Hot Chicken Recipe: The healthy alternative to Chicken Wings

Morning everyone! I thought I would share a super yummy recipe thats been one of my favorites for years {{courtesy of my late aunt Qui...we miss you!}} For lack of a better name we call it "Hot Chicken." 

So Yummy......

When I was a kid I LOVED chicken wings. I mean, ate them by the bucket. literally. When I got older I realized they weren't the healthiest for you so I stopped eating them cold turkey. Haven't had a wing in about 20 years. I haven't stopped my *love* of chicken wing TASTE though. This recipe can fill this void and is a lot healthier {{read: #guiltfree }} Warning: You must like spicy/hot food to like this. I would recommend this dish to anyone who like medium, hot, or extra hot wings! I am so obsessed with hot sauce that I add Franks to my plate as well ha ha! 

What I love most about this recipe is that it is only 4 ingredients! And you can pop it in the oven and is low on prep time which is key when you have kiddies {{or you're just super busy. which is everyone!}} running around. Also, even though you do use flour, there is only 26 Carbs in the entire recipe which is a keeper for me! Divide that up between 3-4 breasts and you're looking at about 10 g carbs per breast of chicken and tons of flavor! 

Hot Chicken

1/4 cup flour (I use Arrowhead Mills enriched unbleached white flour)
3/4 cup Franks Red Hot Sauce
1 lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon butter, melted
3-4 breasts of chicken

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Melt butter in microwave in glass bowl. Mix in hot sauce and juiced lemon to melted butter. Put 1/4 cup of flour in different bowl and place next to hot sauce mixture. Line a pyrex dish with foil. (I find that foil works better than parchment paper). You can cut the chicken breasts into tenders or leave them as breasts-up to you (I do both-below they are in tenders and the above photo is just breasts). Dip chicken in flour, then into hot sauce mixture and place in pyrex dish. Repeat with all breasts of chicken. When complete, if you have extra sauce leftover, you can dish the rest on spots that may have not been covered with the hot sauce mixture.  In this photo I show using parchment paper but like I said I find it works better with foil. 

Bake for 30-40 mins. I like to broil mine the last 3-5 mins to get a little crisp on them. This is served great with mixed veggies & salad! 

Next time you have a hankering for some chicken wings...try this recipe! Have a great day everyone....

xo

Alex
 

Burrito Bowl...made at home!

Happy Weekend Everyone! 

I wanted to share one of my most FAVORITE recipes ever. Please do not think that eating clean means tupperware containers with plain chicken, fish, egg whites, raw veggies and brown rice every day all day. There are so MANY tasty recipes that you can have with tons of flavor. This recipe is on our weekly rotation. When I started the 24 Day Challenge, I asked my coach Ben if I could have burrito bowls from Chipotle. He responded yes ..just of course no cheese or sour cream which is no problem for me. I wasn't super comfortable hitting up Chipotle more than once though as I knew eating out just is not as healthy. I wanted the absolutel best results and in order for that to happen, I had to be making food in my own kitchen. This got me thinking...how can I make these exact burrito bowls at home??

Well, my friends, here is how: 

Ingredients:

 Olive oil
Your choice of 2 peppers-green, yellow, red, etc
White onion cut
Green Leaf Lettuce chopped
Homemade Guacamole or "Wholly Guacamole"
Cooked brown rice (I usually do 1 cup, depends on how many pple you are cooking for)
1 packet of simply organic fajita seasoning ( ** I get this at Wegmans; I do know Whole foods carries it as well as available online from various companies)
2 cloves of garlic (optional)
Chopped Cilantro (optional)
Chopped tomatoes (optional)

Directions: 

Begin process of cooking rice. Dice chicken breasts. Follow instructions of simply organic package. Marinate chicken in seasoning. Next slice onion and pepper. Heat olive oil in pan. Once oil is warm sautee onion and peppers until soft and then add marinated chicken. While meat and rice are finishing cooking, cut up green leaf lettuce, cilantro, and tomato to garnish. 

Once chicken and rice have completed their cooking, place cooked rice in bottom of bowl. Add desired amount of chicken/pepper mixture on top. Place chopped green leaf lettuce on top of chicken. Garnish with cilantro, tomatoes, or guacamole. 

I have never added cheese or sour cream but you definitely can for those looking for a little splurge or who are not on the 24 Day Challenge. We have added corn and black beans to this meal and it has been tasty as well. There are so many different variations that you can add it never gets old!

I will be sure to add our family guacamole recipe in the next few weeks. We absolutely love a "rustic" guac to start our meal off! Hope you guys enjoy your healthy {{24 DC approved}}  home made burrito bowl! 

xo

Alex

The finished product: 

All chopped up and ready to go!

 

Below, rice brewing, chicken marinating and veggies cooking! 
Note: I only placed the rice and chicken on stove for photo purpose

The chicken and veggie mixture completed! Let's dig in!