My parents surprised me with a ticket to fly home this weekend for my birthday! I still can’t believe that I’m going to be 25 tomorrow. That’s a whole quart of a century. . . Man I’m old!

It’s been a great weekend having my parents to myself. Brother and husband and busy at a conference so I’ve been loving all the one on one time with my mom, dad, and of course my dog Wicket! Tons of window shopping, Coffee bean and Tea Leaf, and you can’t forget Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt… Just like the good ole days prior to getting married and moving off to Arizona.

Yesterday my mom and I had a lunch date at The Cheesecake Factory. For one who is very indecisive, this was the wrong place to pick. My goodness, the menu is like a book! You can find anything and everything ranging from Chinese to Mexican and American food. . . OH, and not to mention the 25 different types of cheesecake!

It’s great to have a variety, but the poor waitress has to come around several times before I could finally say “I am ready to order.” I decided on an egg white veggie omelet and my mom choose my all time favorite, the Navajo Sandwich.

Ok, I thought the menus were big… the portion sizes at The Cheesecake Factory are over the top! You definitely get your money’s worth with these portion sizes.  It’s places like these where a to-go box is a must a great meal for the next day! Needless to say, it was a great lunch and time well spend with my lovely mother!

I though in light of the over-sized portions I would share with how America as a whole has increased portions. Here is a comparison of portion differences since the 1960’s and now:

The crazy thing is that we aren’t just seeing it in restaurants, we are seeing it at home. Everything in your kitchen- from the size of your plates to the way food is packaged has you hearing “eat more, eat more!”

Portion control is very important, but one thing that I am learning is to pay attention to my body and listening to it when I am either full or hungry. It’s quiet the skill to master but once you do, those enormous proportions won’t even be an issue!

Oh water… can’t live with it, can’t live without.

If any of you are like me, you choose flavored beverages over water anytime of the day. I must admit, Diet coke is my guilty pleasure and it gets in the way of my 8 cups of water a day, leaving me dehydrated and feeling sluggish. I know, I know… Diet Coke is horrible to drink and I shouldn’t be drinking it. I am working on it people… ok, maybe not as much as I should. I guess this post is more for me than it is for you guys!

Water works in so many different ways throughout our body. Just look at how water affects out body

There are so many benefits to drinking water besides the obvious of staying hydrated! Drinking at least 8 cups of water a day aids in weight loss, moisturizes skin to make it look younger, relieves headaches, fuels to brain to function better, aids in energy to exercise longer, prevents cramping and sprains, and helps fight against the flu.

So with this in mind, how can we get more water in throughout the day?

Here are 7 great tips to get in more water:

1.)  Buy a fun water bottle and NEVER let it leave your side

1. Rule: Only fill up with water

2.)   Drink one glass of water prior to every meal

3.)  Spice up your water with a slice of lemon or lime.

1. My friend taught me to slice up cucumbers and throw them into a pitcher full of water the night before. The water soaks up the flavor of the cucumbers to give a nice taste. You can do this is all sorts of fruits!

4.)  Straws… They work wonders

1. Who would have known that straws help in drinking water? I find myself drinking so much more when I drink from a straw.

5.)  Drink and Drive… water that is

1. Ok, this is the only time on my blog that I will ever encourage you to drink and drive. Keep your car cup holder full with your fun water bottle and make it a priority to drink your water while on the road.

6.)  Add your vitamins

1. Kill two birds with one stone by getting in your vitamins and water at the same time.  There are several different vitamin supplements made to be mixed with water

7.)  Filter your water

1. I don’t know where you live, but Arizona has the worst tasting water in the world. Brita Filters have saved my life ever since I moved out here. They aren’t too expensive either. Speaking of filtered water… Starbucks has the best water ever! From what I hear it’s triple filtered

Find what works for you. Hopefully some of these tips will help you cross the finish line of 8 cups by the end of the day.

Cheers and drink up!

Question: How do you fit in your 8 cups of water a day?

A Success indeed! No more chewy spinach smoothies

… I have successfully made my very first green monster smoothie

Thanks to all you that commented and gave me such wonderful advice on making these smoothies.

I went out that night and bought some fresh spinach!

Top Advice: Fresh Spinach! Me being the cheap person that I am thought I would save money on buying frozen spinach. Well, if you like to chew your smoothies, then go for it. For me, I’m all about the puree!

And really, fresh spinach isn’t expensive, so I pretty much wasted my time on the frozen spinach.

I thought this morning I would attempt the Virgin Green Monster Smoothie Recipe from the Green Monster Movement.

- 1 frozen banana

- 1 cup Almond Milk

- 2 cups spinach

- 6 ice cubes

- A dash of Stevia

The recipe doesn’t call for sweetener, but I have a huge sweet tooth so I added this in at the end.

OMG! This stuff is amazing. Seriously people, if you haven’t tried it, you need to. I promise you that you won’t taste the spinach… unless you are like me in round one and aim for a chewy smoothie with frozen spinach. There are just some things you can’t go cheap on

What are you waiting for… go make one all ready!

Question: What type of Green Monster Smoothie did you make this morning?

In honor of my previous post on smoothies, I thought I would take it upon myself to try the newest craze I’ve been reading about. Green Monsters. These smoothies are made with a key ingredient, kale or spinach.

I know, I know! Gross, right? Well evidently all it is all said and done, you can’t even taste the spinach. You simply combine spinach or kale with your favorite fruits and voila… you have a Green Monster.

Angela over at the Oh She Glows first started this craze. Evidently these smoothies are suppose to give you huge benefits. Increases Energy levels. Decrease consumption of oils and fats in your diet. You start craving more veggies and less sweets… now that is what i need. I have a huge sweet tooth! You can read more about these healthy drinks HERE.

So, I woke up this morning excited to try it out. After my 5 mile run I thought a Green Monster Smoothie would be a perfect way to refuel and start off my day

. . . hmmm

Lets just say, my first attempt this morning didn’t go as planned

I pulled out all my ingredients…

1/4 cup strawberries

1/4 cup blueberries

2 cups spinach

1 cup Almond Milk

I don’t know what happened with the spinach, but it is way too chunky! Maybe it was due to the fact that I used frozen spinach or the blender was messed up? I don’t know. It just wouldn’t blend and now I sit here chewing on my drink.

Any suggestions?

For those of you who have not tried a Green Monster Smoothie, head on over to Angela’s site. She has tons of great recipes to try. Hopefully yours won’t be so chunky like mine

And for the Pro Green Monster Smoothie Makers out there, leave your favorite recipe in the comments section for all of us newbies to try out.

Why is it that we are never confident with out own body… constantly comparing ourselves to theirs and wanting what they have? If we have brown hair, we want blonde hair… if we have curly hair we want straight hair… if we are big we want to be thin… if we are short we want to be tall… if we have light colored skin we want dark skinned… if we have brown eyes we want blue eyes.

The reality is, we will never be content with what we have. I have always wanted blonde hair, but if I have blonde hair I probably would want brown hair. I think this stems from always comparing myself to other people… If only I had a smaller waistline like her, if only my legs weren’t as big as hers… if only, if only, if only…

Can anyone relate?

What if we started living our lives focused on what we DO have  instead of living our lives always comparing ourselves to others and what we do NOT have?!?!

… to thank God every moment for the things he has blessed us with.

* Eyes to see a miraculous sunset

* Hair to comb and style

* A nose to breath the fresh crisp air during a morning jog

* A mouth to enjoy the vast array of flavors the world has to offer

* A stomach to hold food or for the future of hold a baby in one day

* Legs to run and feel the ground beneath my tennis shoes

For the month of August I challenge you to focus on what you do have and be content with who you are. Every time you look in the mirror and start to think, “Man, my butt is big” stop yourself and thank God for the butt you do have.

So what do you think, are you with me?

Debating on exercising while being sick?

The rule for working out while sick is called the “neck-up” rule. Moderate exercise gets the green light if symptoms are confined to the head, such as sneezing, headaches, and watery eyes.

But be careful, intense exercise has been shown to lower your immune system for up to 30 minutes after your workout. This leaves a window of opportunity for you to get worse since your body is focused more on returning blood to vital organs and repairing muscles. Take it easy while exercising and only put in about 50% of your maximum effort. You might be feeling ok to give it your all but your body needs as much energy to fight off whatever you have.

Take a short walk or bike ride but I would avoid the gym… bacteria thrive off sweaty environments!

If your symptoms are from the neck down, skip the workout. Once an illness invades the chest and lungs such as fever, nausea, coughing, stomach cramps, or muscles aches you need that rest to allow your body to rest. Working out in these conditions can cause further damage to your health such as pneumonia, bronchitis, or other serious illnesses. Not to mention you are putting yourself at risk for injury from lack of energy and strength.

Needless to say, pay attention to your body. You are better off taking a break for a few days to recover than taking a whole month off because you didn’t stop to listen.

Listen to your body… it’s trying to tell you something!

There is a new and upcoming tea that is going to put you in tea heaven!

It’s called The NecessiTeas

These teas are unlike any tea you have ever had before

… they have their own personaliTEA

NecessiTeas have everything from the tradition teas like green, black, white, oolong, and roobios teas to dessert blends like Banana split which has chocolate, banana and strawberry flavor along with banana chips, dried strawberries and chocolate chips. Almost all the tea flavors are natural, fat, carb and calorie free. The blends that have chocolate chips, caramel, ect have about 5 calories per cup!

It’s like having dessert with all those unwanted calories!!

*

*

Here is a short list of some of the most popular teas they have:

* Banana Walnut Bread Tea: banana and nut flavor with banana chips and pecans.

* Root Beer Float Tea: root beer and cream flavor.

* Caramel Dipped Apple Tea: a blend of green tea and caramel pieces, accented with apple bits.

* Mint Chocolate Chip Tea: black tea and peppermint with real Andes mints.

* Orange Creamsicle Tea: orange and cream flavor with white chocolate chips.

* Chocolate Orange Tea: a blend of orange peel and chocolate chips. Tastes just like the chocolate orange you get around Christmas time.

* Strawberry Shortcake Tea: a blend of white tea, angel food cake and bavarian cream flavors topped off with sliced strawberries.

* Pineapple Upside Down Cake Tea: a green tea blend of pineapple, rum, custard, brown sugar and honey

* Strawberry Kiwi Tea: strawberries are blended with kiwi. This makes a great iced tea drink

*

*

*

Not only is tea a delicious and smoothing drink, it is associated with important health benefits. Consumption of tea reports benefits of:

* Enhancing immune function

* Reducing Cholesterol

* Reducing blood pressure

* Reducing the risk of a heart attack

* Lowering the risk of stroke

* Reducing the risk of cancer

* Improves digestion

* Preventing plaque formation and strengthening teeth

* Aids in weight loss

So visit NecessiTeas and drink to a better health!

“I want it now!”

Have you noticed how America has become a country of instant gratification?
It’s probably for the fact that people don’t have time for anything these days… it’s go, go, go! Everything from fast food, credit cards, drive-thru, communication, and diets fall in this realm.

Most women don’t want to get ripped and masculine from lifting weight. This is probably the main reason why you see all the men by the weights and the women on the cardio machines. From my previous post, it’s obvious that building muscle is important in weight loss and health in general, so how to we find a happy medium? To build bulky muscle, you want to do lift as much as you can and fewer repetitions per set.

So girls, get off that treadmill and head on over with the guys!