I’m happy to feeling healthy today and off to teach Group Power as you read this. I wanted to back up a bit to Labor Day and share some of my food journal with you. After a weekend of pretty much no big events, my eats weren’t that exciting but they were healthy

I’m linking up with the WIAW crew to share my eats from Labor Day.

I woke up around 6am on Monday when my little alarm clock child started calling Mama & dada until Marc decided he was going to get up and let me sleep. I was so thankful he let me shut my eyes for another hour because I was still craving more sleep.

At around 7am I woke up and headed downstairs and Ava greeted me with a big smile. I knew it was going to be a good day.

I made us all eggs for breakfast and Marc went out to buy us some iced coffee. I had over easy eggs with spinach & toast. yum. Marc & Ava had scrambled eggs with cheese.

At around 830 we took Cooper for a long walk. When we returned I quickly made a Chocolate Shakeology and then we headed out to Kohl’s so I could pick my dad up a Fit Bit for his Birthday.

My dad is a gadget man and he’s really into walking/logging his activity so I knew this would be the perfect gift.

We got home around 11am and I snacked on some carrots with Ava before we put her down for a nap. At 12pm my stomach was rumbling again so I knew I needed a big lunch. My taste buds were pretty off from the cold we had over the weekend so I opted to eat food that was leftover. I had a piece of Pesto Chicken, Spinach & Sweet Potato Burger 

and some Apple & Fennel Salad that Marc made. It was delicious and filling.

Ava took a long nap and I got some computer work done before she woke up. I had some nuts & fruit for a snack. 

We headed to my parents house around 3pm to have a cookout for my Dad’s birthday & labor day. It’s always nice to hang out with my family and enjoy the weather outside on the deck.

For dinner we had hamburgers, BBQ grilled chicken, potato salad, pasta salad, salad, zucchini, green beans, etc.

Plus cheesecake & anisette cookies for dessert. Believe it or not I don’t like cheesecake but its my dad’s favorite. So I opted for a cookie instead!

It was a great end to the weekend.

Isn’t this picture so cute of my Dad and Ava holding hands!!!!

What’s something yummy you ate on labor day?

Are you pumped it’s almost the weekend already?

 I am linking up with Jenn today for a What I ate Wednesday post of some of my delicious eats from yesterday. I sure did eat a lot of veggies!

 

 

 

I think it’s time to share this recipe with you. I really hate myself for saying it, but pumpkin season is coming to an end!!  It’s time to use up those last couple cans of pumpkin you have in your pantry. I have a few cans left myself and I will definitely be making these delicious pancakes again.

Don’t be intimidated by making homemade Pumpkin Pancakes, they are super simple and come together quickly. They also make for a perfect weekend family breakfast.. and we loved them so much I made it twice in one week.

They also pair nicely with scrambled eggs!

Healthy Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients: 

What is your favorite breakfast meal? 

 I am linking up with Jenn again for a What I ate Wednesday post.

 

I love treats  

It’s time to really go shopping Kelly.

I am linking up with Jenn for another What I ate Wednesday post. I can’t promise that you guys will be impressed or pleased with my food choices because every time I opened the fridge I was at a loss for what to eat.

Here goes nothing:

Breakfast was 2 eggs and 2 pieces of toast with a side of pineapple

and a french vanilla coffee! It didn’t fill me too well, and I ended up having a banana shortly after I trained my first client.

Like I said earlier I had nothing planned or organized, so a mid morning shake was the best option for me. It was a Purium shake which at least got me some healthy nutrients.

I also had some trail mix with the shake.

Do you ever have those days when you wish someone gave you food to eat? I didn’t feel like making any decisions. I decided to get a sandwich to go from Garden Catering. I got a GCGV Wrap (grilled chicken and grilled veggie wrap, the veggies were mushrooms & peppers). It hit the spot. There’s something about this sandwich that I love.. I think it’s that I didn’t have to make it! It was actually so messy that I ate it with a fork and knife and didn’t eat the tortilla because it was too soggy, but I still loved it.

I had a sweet potato and an apple with my sandwich.

I wasn’t that hungry in the afternoon but I wanted a little something. Thank goodness for greek yogurt and strawberries. This was perfect.

Guys I finally hit up the grocery store before dinner and yes I made something. It wasn’t too wild but we had delicious Beef Tacos. I literally whipped them up in 20 minutes.

I would’ve eaten 10 of these tacos if I didn’t have Boot Camp to teach!

Post Boot Camp I opted for a Cookies n Cream protein shake and a couple clementines!

I guess all in all my day finally came together, but I wish I had some amazing meal to share with you.

Your turn.. What was something delicious you ate yesterday? 

What do you like to eat after a workout?

Click here for some more What I ate Wednesday Posts

Once I got to the 1 week mark, I wasn’t thinking about what I was eating next or what I should grab out of the fridge, it became routine. I found what worked for me and went with it!!

My breakfast typically looked like this… or some variation of this!

I don’t necessarily agree with people that say white potatoes are bad. They are still a whole food, they have lots of potassium (they helped to keep me full!)

I didn’t eat them every day, but the days I just had eggs and veggies I was hungry earlier.

For snacks throughout the day and night, I stuck with fruits, veggies, salads, nuts, almond butter, muffins, plantain chips, smoothies, avocado, and roasted plantains. I did have coconut milk ice cream one night.. it was okayy.

Lunches were the easiest for me.. they always consisted of leftovers from dinner the night before. I love no-brainers.

Come dinner time I was always at a loss of what to eat, there were some days I didn’t want a single veggie!! Those nights ended up being take out like Thai Food, Salads, or from a prepared food place!

I made these zoodles and they are amazing, I will share the recipe with you soon.

I did have some cheat snacks... snacks that I wouldn’t even call a CHEAT. They are healthy to me and foods that help me enjoy life. I have low blood pressure so I craved salt during Paleo and I really wanted these things.

Here are a few!

PEANUT BUTTER seriously come on. It was 2 ingredients Peanuts & Salt.

Popcorn (homemade with popcorn kernels & coconut oil)

Brown Rice (I had a small serving) it just goes with spicy Thai food

Overall, Paleo made me feel better, I was less bloated, I felt good, and I loved that I was making smart choices. My workouts were full of great energy and I felt strong.

It did make me realize that I am a healthy eater and there are other foods I enjoy that are HEALTHY. The first thing I had that wasn’t paleo was a yogurt parfait… it tasted like heaven! I seriously thought I could eat them all day. HAHAH

I decided to keep with Paleo 80/20. I am still going to enjoy the foods that I think are healthy that are not on the Paleo meal plan but I like how I feel right now!

Have you ever followed a meal plan or diet and stuck with it for a lifestyle change??

What kind of foods in your diet are healthy and what are some things you should probably eliminate??

Yesterday I kinda stuck with Paleo but you will see some foods that I decided to add back in.

Breakfast was similar to what I ate last week during Paleo, 2 eggs over sauteed spinach and potato in coconut oil! Pretty Delicious

Snack was a banana, a fruit parfait with a sprinkle of granola, and later on some baby carrots

Lunch was leftover Zoodles with Meat sauce and 1/2 a piece of one of these steaks (don’t worry I didn’t eat 4 steaks)

 I also ate some leftover asparagus. All these pics were taken the day before I ate them

Afternoon snack was an apple with…

 some nuts, and 1/2 of this Kale Veggie drink (it was OK)

 I kept Dinner simple since I had boot camp class. Grilled BBQ chicken with a sweet potato and a cabbage slaw salad with a secret dijon & mayo dressing. Jk it is not secret… it is really simple though!

Post Boot Camp I had a Vanilla Whey protein shake. No picture taken because I chugged it. I also had two handfuls of Puffin Cereal..

Your turn… what were some of your healthy eats from yesterday!! Please share 

To see more WIAW posts check out Jenn’s Blog!

I have been loving a lot of things lately and I want to share some of them with you

First up… (which I can’t believe I didn’t share with you earlier this week) is this picture from Sunday morning. I met Peter King at Starbucks on Greenwich Avenue. We went for a typical morning walk and Marc spotted him typing away on his laptop in Starbucks. After our walk he was still in there so I decided it was meant to be that I go in and say hello. I told him we were huge fans! In case you don’t know Peter King, he is a sportswriter and works for Sports Illustrated, he also worked for the NFL, NBC, and is the author of 5 books. He was SUPER nice and friendly… and pretty much made my day!

(please excuse the bad hair and sleepy eyes, it was relatively early!)

I am also loving some Paleo eats… Plantain Chips and avocado.

and also Leftover Turkey Chili over spaghetti squash.. you gotta get creative on Paleo!

Marc and I were looking for a sweet treat Wednesday night so we had a serving of this Almond Milk Ice Cream by So Delicious. I haven’t had a treat like this in a while so I savored every bite.

Coconut Milk… have you ever had it? It’s so tasty… I have used it in my smoothies, Paleo muffins, and coffee this week!

This post wouldn’t be complete without a picture of Ava!! She has been so much fun this week.. I mean she always is but this week is extra special.  She is standing up alone and likes to dance. I would post the video of her dancing but my mom and I are screaming and signing in the background so its pretty embarrassing.

HAPPY FRIDAY

Your turn…. share some of your favorite things this week!

This weekend wasn’t the greatest, and I hate to say that because weekends are clearly awesome but not when Ava is sick. It seems that every other week she is sick from some new cold at daycare. This one is Coxsackie virus, something I have never heard of until a couple of weeks ago when daycare sent out a note saying that one of the infants had the virus. It was almost inevitable that Ava got it.  Soo with a fever and a rash over the past few days, we have been giving Ava some extra TLC and she seems much better today!

We got in some long walks this weekend which was great! When Ava was uncomfortable we took her out and walked until she fell asleep. We basically did whatever kept her happy & comfortable!

Yesterday morning I headed to an early Group Power class, this week we are launching the new workout so I was happy to practice one more time before I taught this morning. It is a tough workout, but then again what workout isn’t challenging?? If a workout is easy then you aren’t working hard enough!

My arms were shaking by the end… there are soo many pushups.

(Here is a pic of me & 2 of the other Group Power Instructors)

When I got home from class I refueled with a Chocolate Protein Shake & a banana.

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging around the house and doing some food prep.

Do you ever load up your grill with healthy eats?

Go through your fridge and see what veggies & meats you can throw on your grill all at once.. don’t leave any empty spots on the grill!

I take advantage of the nice weather to use the grill as an easy way to get in some quick food prep for the week, with some tasty & healthy foods. PLUS the cleanup is ridiculously easy!! I am all for having NO DISHES to clean!

We cooked some BBQ Chicken Thighs, zucchini, red pepper, & Pesto Grilled Chicken. We are all about summer time grilling and I love having the fridge stocked with some easy grab and go meals.

My Monday morning began with Group Power! My workout left me feeling energized but then tired! I think that is from lack of sleep but man do my muscles feel stronger. Gotta love it!

Do you have any grilling tips? What do you throw on your grill?