Fit Beautiful Life

So, I am absolutely addicted to Frank's Hot Sauce, but don't want the added calories of eating wings. To satisfy the craving, I came up with this guilt free treat. There are only 2 ingredients: cauliflower and Frank's, that's it!!  I played around with this a few times to get it right, but I have finally mastered it. If you'd like to try it, here's how I make it: Ingredients: Fresh Cauliflower (you can purchase this pre-cut, or buy a head and cut it up yourself) Frank's Hot Sauce (to taste) Tools: Air Fryer Microwave Microwave Safe Bowl Paper Towel Instructions: Pre-heat the air fryer to 400 degrees. Cut as much cauliflower as you'd like to make. I typically cut about 1 cup at a time for a single serving. Place the cut up cauliflower in a microwave safe bowl, and cover with a damp paper towel. Microwave on high for about 5 minutes (until the cauliflower is almost cooked through) Remove paper towel and pour a fair amount ...

I'm pretty excited about my new breakfast, so I wanted to share it with you all. My diet was recently changed, so I'm coming up with creative ways to eat it. My 40 grams of oats were switched our for an english muffin (basically the same macros). Now, I can certainly just toast the english muffin and eat it with my eggs, but what's the fun in that?!?! I decided to make my muffins into french toast and it worked out perfectly. This was my first time making it, so I'm sure there will be tweaks along the way! Please note, this is a full description of how I made my whole breakfast this morning. If you want to make the french toast only, you could probably just use 2 oz of egg whites or just one large whole egg. I haven't made it that way yet, so you may need to play around with egg quantity.  I know the suspense is killing you, so I'll get right to it! Ingredients: (keeping in mind that these are my macros, so you can adjust for your needs) 1 whole e...

Hello Fit Fam!! Since so many of you have been asking me for tips on how you can lose weight lately, I thought it was worth a post. I want to start by saying that ABS ARE MADE IN THE KITCHEN. There is no such thing as targeted weight loss or a magic ab workout that will give you a six pack. If you want a visible six pack, you have to be lean enough to see it. How do you get that lean?? Diet!!  Here are my top 10 (well, 11) diet tips that will help you be successful: 1. Plan and Prepare : The old saying is true, fail to plan and you plan to fail. If you don't have a plan for what you're going to eat that day or week, you will likely make a bad decision and derail your diet. This isn't a question of willpower; it's more about ensuring you aren't put in a position to "settle" for something that doesn't meet your macro requirements or nutritional needs.  I like to meal prep on Sunday and portion out my meals for at least the next few days. Do what wo...

I get tons of questions regarding what to eat and lots of comments from followers stating "I eat clean but can't lose weight". Since everyone's definition of "clean eating" is different, I thought I'd create a list of some basic food items you should include in your weekly shopping trip. There is also a list of "foods to avoid". I hope you find this helpful in your quest to improve your health and nutrition! Protein Sources: 99% Extra lean ground turkey breast Boneless / skinless chicken breast Lean cuts of beef (consume sparingly) Non-fat plain greek yogurt Low-Fat cottage cheese Eggs 100% Liquid egg whites (read the ingredients) Light tuna in water White fish such as cod Carbohydrate Sources: Brown Rice (either dry or frozen, do not buy the pre-cooked packaged rice. Read the ingredients) Quinoa Beans Plain rice cakes Old fashioned rolled oats (oatmeal, not instant or quick oats and no added sugar/flavors) Millet Amaranth...

When you think of the word "chia" you probably think of chia pets, for good reason - chia pets are grown with chia seeds, but for centuries before, these tiny little seeds were used as a staple food by the Indians of the southwest and Mexico. Its use as a high energy endurance food has been recorded as far back as back as 3500 B.C. Once valued so much that they were used as currency, this unique little seed has exceptional nutritive and structural benefits. Little is known, however, of the seeds tremendous nutritional value and medicinal properties making them a true super food.   One of the exceptional qualities of the Chia seed is its hydrophilic properties, “absorbability” having the ability to absorb more than 12 times its weigh in water. Its ability to hold on to water offers the ability to prolong hydration. With Chia seeds, you retain moisture; regulate more efficiently the body’s absorption of nutrients and body fluids. Because there is a greater efficien...

I'm traveling for work this week, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to talk about what I take with me when I travel to ensure I stay on track. What you can pack will vary depending on whether you are traveling by car or by plane. In my case, I'm driving about 2 hours from home and will be staying in a hotel for 2 nights. I called ahead and made sure I would have a refrigerator and microwave in my room. Here's a look into what I'm packing!! Breakfast items: I put 3 serving of dry oats in a small container with a scooper, 2 sample packets of protein I've received from various promotions (these are really easy to travel with), instant coffee and sugar free coffee creamer.   Meal #2: Quest Nutrition Protein Bars Lunch: Tuna packets. I will buy frozen rice (be sure it's just  rice and water) and frozen veggies when I arrive. This will minimize what I have to keep cold for the trip. Meal #4: Greek yogurt and rice cakes. You could buy the ...

As with anything in life, preparation is the key to success! This couldn't be more true for fat loss!! How do I prepare? I cook all of my food ahead of time. Then, I weigh and measure everything and portion it out. As for my workouts, I go through my list of saved workouts and determine which ones I'm going to do and on which day. I have a small notebook that says " do what you love" on the cover; I converted that into my workout log!! I take it with me to the gym for a few reasons. First, I write down all of my sets, reps and weight used. secondly and most important, so that I can go back and see what I did last time. Having this info allows me to always push to do more!! I hope this inspires you to take the time to plan your week. If you already do this, how do you keep track of your meals and workouts? what method works for you? Do you feel lost if you don't? I forgot my workout log the other day and almost felt naked at the gym, lol!! As the old saying goes ...

Came up with the most amazing chicken so I wanted to share. The best part, you cook it in the crock pot and it can be done over night!! I used 9 trimmed chicken breasts and 2 cans of organic diced tomatoes. Throw them together in the crock pot with whatever seasonings you'd like. I used fresh rosemary, 2 cloves of garlic, dried basil, thyme, paprika, chipotle, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. I just do a few shakes of each, don't really measure them, it's a lot of chicken so don't be afraid to use a decent amount. Cook it on low for like 7-9 hours (if your tomatoes are still pretty watery, you can cook it longer). Once it's well absorbed, shred up the chicken with a fork. Wallah, you have your protein source for almost the whole week. It is so versatile, you could use it in sandwiches, on a salad, reheated with a side dish (that's how I eat it), in a taco or anything else you can think of. Try it and let me know what you think!! The veggies in ...

My husband and child both wanted to make pizza since we had so many ripe tomatoes growing in the garden. Since I of course choose not to eat pizza, I had to come up with a create way to still enjoy what they were eating while keeping it clean. My solution, use a chicken breast as my "crust" and fat free feta (with a little part skim mozzarella) as my cheese. I must say, this was yummy. Almost like a skinny chicken parm. My husband made the sauce so I don't know that I have the recipe for that as he just makes it to taste but here are the basic ingredients: 15 ripe roma tomatoes (fire roasted on the grill) 3 cloves of garlic 1 tbsp of tomato paste salt to taste a handful of fresh basil, thyme and rosemary (chopped) and added at the end. For the "skinny chicken parm" I just split the chicken breast and baked it until it was almost done. Then add the sauce and cheese and bake again until done (about 5-7 mins). The boys bought raw whole wheat pizza ...

This a very controversial question and one I see lots of debates about. Many say you should consume 1 gram per pound of body weight while the "standard" recommendation is .8 grams for every kilo or 2.2 lbs of body weight. I personally think that everyone should experiment with this and do what works best for them. There are many sites and apps out there that calculate your calorie needs based on your activity level and break it down by macro nutrients (fats, carbs and protein). Just because the app or site tells you your total macro nutrients should be broken down a certain way, doesn't mean you have to follow it to the T. I do think you need to stick with something for a few weeks to determine if it "works" for you or not, don't just throw the towel in after a week and say, oh that didn't work!! :) A couple of Apps to try: My fitness Pal Calorie & Macronutrient calculator

This is a pretty sensitive topic for me so I'm going to apologize in advance if I go off on a rant here! I meet people all the time that claim to eat clean or eat healthy and when I go to their house or have discussions about what they eat, most of it is processed junk. I know it's hard to get away from all of the junk when just about every food manufacturer pumps all of the food you find in the grocery store with processed crap like hydrogenated oil, HFCS, trans fat, etc. Everything claims to be healthy, get your fiber here, made with whole grains, fortified with vitamins, full serving of fruits. It makes me sick to read labels on food claiming to be healthy only to find that it's not. HFCS is in just about everything on the shelves these days. So how does one eat healthy? The obvious answer is to shop the outer area of the store and stay away from the inner isles. Or shop at a store like whole foods that doesn't carry anything made with those ingredients. Now, just be...