My biggest motivation...

  At 6'4" and 230 pounds he literally is my "biggest" motivation haha... but he's just as great a man on the inside because he has an extremely big heart.

 

 

This is my boyfriend, Makani, but everyone else knows him as Keoni, linebacker at the U of A (except my mom who calls him Mac).  I've known him since we were freshmen in high school but we weren't together until about 2 and a half years ago, and let me tell you, those 2 years have been quite eventful.  In his short 19 years of life, he's been through much more than most people will go through in their entire lifetime, yet he continues to amaze me everyday with his courage and strength.  At the age of nine, he was removed from his biological family, and was adopted by a different family, along with five other newly adopted siblings.  At this point, most kids are placed into a wonderful family home where they happily spend the rest of their lives but the hard times were far from over for Makani and his 5 siblings.  A lot has happened since then, and long story short, Makani and I have been taking care of his four younger brothers since April, 2013. We are now in the process of becoming official foster parents for all four of them and soon permanent guardians for the younger two, as the older two will be moving to Washington with family.  This makes us the youngest foster parents in Arizona and maybe even the country! Aside from this Makani is a full-time student AND a full-time athlete.  He is a living example of the transformative power of crisis; instead of letting all the crises in his life tear him apart, he looked at it as an opportunity to change himself and build his own future.  He reminds me everyday of what true strength really is... True strength lies not in what you can do, but in overcoming the things you thought you couldn't.

Avocado Banana Bread

Getting tired of Overnight Oats or Greek Yogurt for breakfast? I love my Overnight Oats and Greek Yogurt, don't get me wrong, but seeing everyone else eating warm bagels and chocolate muffins for breakfast makes me a little jealous. If you have the same problem THIS is the solution.  I came across this recipe on livinghealthywithchocolate.com and boy is it a life changing website if you're a chocolate addict like me!!! My family tried some of this avocado banana bread and didn't even know that it was gluten free and refined sugar free. I made some slight changes to the recipe based on what I had in the kitchen but it still came out really well! I used a mixture of Brown Rice Flour and Coconut Flour instead of using Almond Flour, added a scoop of vanilla whey protein, and of course I had to add some organic dark chocolate chips. It goes into the oven looking pale green but comes out golden brown and absolutely delish. I'm definitely gonna make breads like this more often and I highly reccomend this and all the other recipes from livinghealthywithchocolate.com to everyone! For this and many more amazing recipes, click on the link below!

http://livinghealthywithchocolate.com/

Sunday/Monday Food Prep #3

With a long 3-day weekend and the kids home keeping me busy, food prep Sunday became food prep Monday :(  The main thing is that I still ate clean today, regardless of the set back and I'm SO EXCITED to eat all of this goodness over the next 5 days!!! Especially the super healthy Chicken Alfredo <3 I got the recipe from Womens Health mag and I'll share it soon! Have a wonderful week everyone!

Breakfast: Boiled eggs, quinoa energy bars, overnight oatsLunch: Turkey with fresh veggies (celery, sweet peppers, cucumber) or in a sandwich (7-grain Gluten-Free bread), pineapple, pear applesDinner: Healthy Chicken Alfredo on quinoa-corn pasta and zucchini ribbons (grilled chicken and zucchini ribbons not yet prepped), spring-mix green saladsSnacks: GF tortilla chips and greek yogurt dip, Almond Silk ice cream (not pictured)

Sunday Food Prep #2

My second food prep! Obviously, there are a bunch of things in the picture that aren't fully prepped yet.  Sorry, I was getting really tired! But I figured, after all the leftovers I had from last week, maybe I shouldn't prep as much anyways.  This week I prepped a little less cooked food, and stuck to more simple whole foods.  The main prep items were Meusli (overnight oats), Hummus, Quinoa Energy Bars, No Mayo Tuna Salad (made with avocado and Greek yogurt), and boiled eggs.  I stuck to the same veggies as last week: sweet peppers, carrots, celery, and kale but I added some cherry tomatoes and avocado to spice up my salads.  For fruits, I have blue berries to add to my Meusli, a pineapple (which I'll cut when it's a little riper), and my favorite.. honeycrisp apples.  Protein for the week comes from Scallops which I'll toss in a pan with some EVOO and Pork Chops, which I'll marinate and throw on the grill.  Anyways, I'm looking forward to some good healthy eats this week! Hope you are too!

Shake It Up

If you're working out a lot, protein shakes can be super beneficial to your post-workout and recovery. Here are a couple of my favorite ways to prepare protein that I whipped up for me and the hubby today. I have a bad habit of never measuring when I cook so all the measurements are estimates that I recommend you tweak to your own liking. Also, the Hamilton Beach Blender is what I use to blend individual shakes. They always come out super smooth and just the right size.  It's also a really affordable blender you can find at Wal-Mart.


CAKE BATTER PROTEIN SHAKE:

Almond Milk (1/2 c)
Greek Yogurt (2 tbsp)
Sugar Free Vanilla Pudding Mix (1 tbsp)
Low-fat Cream Cheese (1 tbsp) 
1/2 Banana (fresh or frozen)
Vanilla Protein (1 scoop)
Ice
Optional: Decorate with sprinkles


PUMPKIN PIE PROTEIN SHAKE:

Almond Milk (1/4 c)
Greek Yogurt (2 tbsp)
Sugar Free Vanilla Pudding Mix (1 tbsp)
Pumpkin Puree (1/2 c)
1/2 Banana (fresh or frozen)
Vanilla Protein (1 scoop)
Ice
Optional: Top with Cool Whip and Cinnamon

Sunday Food Prep #1

One of my goals for 2014 is to do food prep every Sunday.  I've always been a healthy eater, but I decided to take it to the next level this year.  Being a college student and a foster mom, I always find myself pressed for time, making it hard to be consistent with healthy eating.  Food prep is a great way to ensure that you have a fridge stocked with healthy food to last the whole week.  It seems like a lot of work, but to be honest, it was actually pretty fun and therapeutic! Here is a picture of what I prepared for my first week of 2014:

3 cups of steamed wild rice for dinners, grilled chicken breast strips for salads, boiled eggs for protein snacks, chicken salad (made with hummus instead of mayo), butternut squash soup, chopped kale and lettuce for salads, a bunch of chopped veggies (celery, carrots, peppers, and onions, cantaloupe, and blackberries.  Not pictured: Greek yogurt (in the fridge), and pumpkin oatmeal whole wheat muffins (in the oven), and chicken breasts and salmon filets (marinating in the fridge, ready to cook for dinners)

My New Years Resolution

2014 New Years Resolution

In the spirit of the new year and this new blog, my first post is dedicated to my new years resolution. Resolutions tend to be empty promises for many people, but that doesn't mean they have to be for me. They key to a successful new years resolutions is small, reasonable, attainable goals that can be applied to your life in a positive way.  Instead of cutting out bad habits completely, like drinking soda, add something positive to your life instead.  Pledge to drink 8 cups of water daily and it is likely that your soda intake will decrease.  That said, here are my  resolutions for 2014:

NUTRITION

8 glasses of water a day- more water, less of everything else.

Healthy food prep every Sundays- so you have no excuse to eat unhealthy...

FITNESS

Stretch every day- to relax, rejuvenate and meditate.

Start Boxing and Hiking-add variety, fun, and CHALLENGE to the routine!

ACADEMICS

Stop skipping classes- as much as you think you can catch up on your own, you won’t.

Spend more time studying at the library- and less time studying at starbucks and at home.

LIFE

Early to bed, early to rise- makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.

Stop making excuses- there’s is ALWAYS enough time to do what you want to do.

Stop waiting and start doing- there’s no better time than RIGHT NOW!