There's A Party In My Tummy....

 

 NEVER GIVE UP....... EVER!

 Growing up I had so many dreams and ideas of what I wanted to be when I grew up and how my life was going to turn out. At one point I thought I would be a lawyer, another time I seriously thought I would be a professional ice skater, runway director, visual merchandizing (that may still happen one day), medical coder, dancer, and the list goes on. Well I was slapped by reality at a very young age and had to grow up pretty fast. I had to get what ever job would keep a roof over my head and food in our bellies. My boyfriend (which later became my husband which now is my ex-husband) wasn't in a great financial place either. So it made for a rough go. I had my daughter at 19 (insert gasp here) and didn't get to have the typical life of a young adult. That whole having no real responsibilities right out of high school is a foreign concept to me but everything happens for a reason. So I am now chasing my dreams and making them happen... slowly but surely.

   I am also one of those people that wants everything now. I grew up in the generation of now and fast paced everything. I don't like waiting (I am ashamed but honest). I often get frustrated and irritated that things are working out as I had planned. I am a person that likes to have everything planned out and organized and put together and if something doesn't stick to those plans it throws me off. I am working on that and will over come it. I need to work on letting things take their course because no matter how long something takes or doesn't take the time will pass anyway.

   People often get so mad and irritated that the pounds aren't falling off as fast as they would like but what most fail to remember is that it took time for the weight to pile on so it will take time for it to fall off. You also have to do your part and stick with it. Don't get frustrated and give up. See it through and when you look back and remember the struggles you faced then you will \feel even better about yourself.

Here are two quick mini workouts you can do when time it tight but you still need to get a work out in. 

25 jumping jacks                                                             10 burpees

30 Russian twist                                                              30 high knees

10 squats                                                                        30 butt kicks

10 standing calf raises                           OR                     10 sit ups

10 side lunges (each leg)                                                  20 inner thigh lifts (10 each leg)

5 kneeling (or regular) push ups                                       20 bicycles

         repeat 2x                                                                              repeat 2x

  Because I have two small kids I often get silly little songs stuck in my head. For example when eating something that is pretty much heaven in my mouth the crazy song There's A Party In My Tummy from Yo Gabba Gabba pops in my head and then I usually can't get it out. Look it up if you aren't familiar with it (warning: you will hate me later when you are trying to go to bed and the song wont stop playing in your head, lol).

 Let me show you a few little tricks I use to eat healthy and not feel deprived:
                                                      
   1) Tuna... I love tuna. I eat it often and it never disappoints. I love it because you can do so much with it. When I make my tuna I use an avocado as my "mayo". I don't use mayo or anything like that because it's so not good for you. The avocado is so creamy and delicious it works perfect! Once you get that all worked in and the consistency you like then you can add what ever you want. I like to add walnuts sometimes, onion, pickles, hard boiled egg whites, some times a little yellow mustard, flax seeds or chia seeds. The list could go on and on but just remember to keep it clean and don't start adding things that are going to void out all your healthy add ins.
    A cute thing I like to do is use my avocado shells as my bowl. Cut it in half long ways scoop it all out and BAM! you have a mini bowl to put your tuna mixture into.

   2) Dessert (or just a mid day snacks) are usually something that gets people in trouble. I make all kind of clean eat snacks and desserts but these two I'm about to talk about are probably my fav. Homemade fro-yo pops. Talk about a party in my tummy!!!!!!!!! YUMM-O as Rachel Ray would say. I have many recipes for them but they are pretty much just fruit and yogurt and occasionally I will add protein powder in there. You can make 12 pops for less that buying a box or 6 or 8 from the store. My kids go to town on these things. It's always fun to see which fruit combos they come up with. So far we haven't made a bad combo so the possibilities are pretty much endless with this!!! The only con of these is the time it takes to freeze. My kids don't like that we have to wait until the next day to eat them. I try to surprise them and make a batch when they are at school and most of the time they are ready for them for their after school snack but some times we have to wait until after dinner so I get to hear "are they done yet" a million times until I can say yes.

 3) Fruit! As you can see they look great. Usually if it looks great it taste great. This is a pic of strawberries but you can use ANY kind of fruit. Mango, peaches, blueberries, blackberries, oranges, pairs, bananas, pineapple, and more. All you do is dip whatever fruit you decide to use in plain or vanilla Greek yogurt and freeze for 25-30 min. It is also a very cute set up at parties. Just make sure what ever you have the fruit in when serving can be placed on or in ice to keep the yogurt from melting and turning into just a bowl of yogurt and fruit lol (defeats the purpose).

More to come,
   Stay Fabulous!