Saturday, January 31, 2015

SUPER SATURDAY!!!

I am finally finding the time to blog about my experience at Super Saturday a few weeekends ago in Batavia, NY! I had such a great time, met many new coaches, made some new friends, was inspired, pumped up & got crushed in an awesome workout by Master Trainer Christine Pilaroscia (PiYo+Insanity=soreeeee).

You're probably wondering, "What is this Super Saturday crap she's talking about?"...

Well, Super Saturday is Beachbody's quarterly meet-up, where coaches from all across the United States get together at hundreds and hundreds of events. We all get together at these events to prepare for the next quarter, check out & recognize new success with workouts and the business, share tips, work out & make things happen!!!



This Super Saturday was again hosted by 5 Star Diamond Coach Meghan Eggleston (she was a 2 star last summer when I first went to her Super Saturday....she is a rock star!) & a few other Diamond coaches. The coaches who put on the event did such a great job putting it all together! I was so glad that not only did my fellow Bombshell/Phoenix Dynasty coach Kait could join me again, but Kristy as well! We had such a blast, although driving in the snow to get there was not fun...but it was worth it 100%! I mean, come on....we got to get our pictures taken professionally, for free! It was so much fun :)  

First up on our agenda was listening to REAL success stories from coaches in our area. Meghan Eggleston talked about her journey to the top 100 Elite Coaches in Beachbody...amazing! We also listened to a story or a woman who was battling cancer & talked about how much beachbody fitness programs & Shakeology was helping her stay as healthy as possible through her treatments. There were many other stories, but hers stuck out the most to me....here was a woman going through HELL and she was staying positive, rocking the business, and trying to get healthy with the help of fitness & Shakeology. Needless to say, tears were streaming down my face! We also watched a video from other top coaches in the business, the CEO Carl Daikeler & other heads of the company. It included details about new products like the 21 Day Fix Extreme (which I can't waittttt for), Beachbody Demand (which is going to be an incredible tool for many) & the Beachbody Success Club Trip Cruise next year! I am on the waitlist for the cruise, but am working HARD to earn my way off of it...I actually earned $50 towards the trip in January alone! 




I love how our CEO Carl gave us all a new motto for 2015....it is this "Everyone Matters"! This is for us coaches to help every single person who we reach out to realize that they can do this, that they matter & they can do it. I loved this message...I think so many of us think that we are too far gone, or that well, this journey is too hard so I must not deserve it! It's not true though....I struggle sometimes too & I just want to help everyone realize, that they do matter, they do deserve to be happy and they CAN do it!





The last part of our day was getting our butts handed to us by Master Trainer Christine Pilaroscia! She warmed us up with PiYo, did a PiYo heat section & then really kicked it up with two sections of killer Insanity. I was soooo sore.....but also she helped me realize that damn, I have gotten out of shape. Would that workout have killed me back in the summer when I was in shape?...probably, but I was really out of shape at Super Saturday..doing many of the modifier moves. THAT made me mad! There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing modifier moves....but when I knew that 4-5 months ago, I wouldn't have needed to do them...it sparked a fire in me! The whole day sparked a fire inside of me!! A spark that got my butt back working out everyday, eating right & helping others on their journeys again! It feels so great to be back in the swing of things & I really have this Super Saturday Event to thank for that!
New friends after a great workout!
















I hope that by the next Super Saturday on April 25th, I will be able to bring more coach friends with me who have joined the team!!! 

 




 






Friday, January 30, 2015

Healthy Banana-nut muffins

Bananas usually don't have the opportunity to get super ripe in our house, because I love the little suckers! For some reason this week, I had 3 left over....I think because we also had lots of other fresh fruit in the house as options (I've been on a clementine kick lately). 



So after getting in my 21 Day Fix Lower Fix workout, I reallyyyy was craving banana bread or muffins when I saw them & got out my go-to recipe...but then remembered that it is full of sugar & butter...not so healthy. So instead, I decided to try my own concoction & not allow any butter or sugar in it! I had pinned a while ago a chart that gave ideas on how to substitute these two things, so I tried a couple of the ideas & the muffins turned out pretty good! 

The only suggestion I do have is to possibly use a different type of flour. I used quinoa flour & while the muffins were still very good, they had a distinct quinoa taste. I would suggest trying oat flour, whole wheat flour or some other healthier choice that doesn't have a strong flavor.

Ingredients
*3 very ripe bananas
*2 eggs
*1/2 cup no sugar added applesauce (I used homemade applesauce that I made in the fall w/locally grown apples)
*1/4 cup honey
*1 1/4 cup Quinoa flour (you can substitute this with oat flour or whole wheat flour)
*1/2 tsp pure vanilla 
*1/2 tsp cinnamon
*1 tsp baking powder
*1 tsp baking soda
*7 stevia packets (optional to make it a little bit sweeter naturally)
*3/4 cup walnuts (optional)

Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Next, mash bananas in a bowl. Next, add in the eggs, applesauce, honey & vanilla and mix together. Last add in all of the dry ingredients and mix together! I didn't use muffin papers to line my muffin tin, but instead sprayed with coconut oil to be sure that they didn't stick. Place in oven & cook for around 20 minutes or until golden brown!
 Enjoy!
 (I filled my muffin tin up a little too high which is why they aren't very pretty...but they were yummy!)



Wednesday, January 21, 2015

21 Day Fix approved Crockpot Buffalo Chicken



As my schedule gets hectic again (Full time job, part-time job, getting my masters, juggling my beachbody business.....), I have turned to my trusty ol' crockpot to help me out! This one was a hit with not only myself, but my boyfriend Chris as well. He will generally eat anything I put on a plate in front of him, BUT I could tell he really liked this one! It is easy, pretty healthy & fairly low in calories....PERFECT!


Ready for this easiness?! Don't blink....

Ingredients

*Frank's Buffalo Style Hot Sauce
*4 chicken breasts
*One packet of ranch dressing mix (I prefer simply organic...healthiest version I can find without making from scratch)

All you do is throw the Frank's & ranch mix into the crockpot, stir it up & add the chicken. I cooked mine on low for 8 hours while I was at work. When it is done, shred the chicken (I did this easily with a fork without having to remove the chicken from the crockpot) & mix it up. It's done-zo....told you it was easy ;)



Now for some fun & choices of your own....HOW DO YOU WANT TO EAT IT?! I sauteed some peppers in a pan on the stove in coconut oil and then put the peppers on brown rice & put the buffalo chicken on top w/a sprinkle of cheese. For Chris, I made Buffalo chicken wraps & put the peppers/rice on the side! I am on the 21 Day Fix & only had one yellow container left which is why I had one serving of brown rice, compared to Chris' three yellows on his plate (2 wraps & 1 serving of brown rice)!

*****If you are following the 21 Day Fix, the Hers plate is 1 red, 1 green, 1 yellow & 1 blue!****

ENJOY!!

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Clean crockpot Chicken Zucchini Parm

I've been craving Chicken Parm...pastaaaaa sauceeee, carbbssss, cheeeseeee...yummmm! But instead of going all out with breaded chicken, a giant plate of pasta and a 1/2 lb. of cheese; I decided to make a healthy & clean version of my craving & really liked it!

Ingredients:

-Two chicken breasts (cut into 1 inch cubes)
-Small/medium zucchini (diced)
-Small onion (diced)
-1 small green pepper (diced)
-1 1/2 cups of Organic pasta sauce (I love Wegmans Organic Roasted Garlic Sauce)
-Pasta (I chose Trader Joe's Brown Rice Organic pasta)
-pinch of Himalayan salt
- tsp Garlic Powder
-tsp Mrs. Dash all purpose no sodium seasoning



EASIEST INSTRUCTIONS EVER!......

Throw everything but the pasta into the crockpot. I cooked mine on low for 8 hours since I was at work, but 4 hours on High would work too...just watch it if you are going to cook it on high & make sure it doesn't burn! Once it is done, cook your pasta according to the directions on the package. Place pasta on a dish& scoop out chicken mixture from crock pot. I topped mine off with a little extra sauce & a shake of Parmesan cheese!




This is 21 day fix approved!!! I had used one yellow container of the pasta, one red container of the chicken/veggie mixture & a blue container of Parmesan cheese! 



Enjoy & let me know what you think!