Costco Finds

One of the most commen complaints I from people about eating healthy,is that they can’t afford it. The other comment I hear is that I can’t afford to shop at whole foods or other stores like that. I agree that shopping at Whole Foods and Co-ops can get expensive, but that doesn’t mean that is the only place you can find healthy food. I personally love to shop at Costco. A lot people are surprised when I tell them I do most of my shopping there. Here are a few of my favorite items I get from Costco
Coconut Sugar- at 8.99 for a big bag. You can’t beat that
Organic Salad Mix 3.69
Organic Raw Spinach 3.69
Organic Carrots 3.99
Organic Celery 3.19
Apple Smoked Bacon (vegetarian fed pigs) 13.99
Organic dried granny smith apples 6.79
24 pack Organic Eggs 6.49O
Organic Apple Sauce 8.99
Happy Tot fruit and veggie squeezables 12.89
These are just a few of the regular items that I buy, but there is tons more organic items and healthy food options there and as you can see it’s not super expensive. I also love it because I have a family of 5 so buying in bulk is always good for us. Anyways, here is a pic of my yummy finds on my last shopping trip.

Why I Do Crossfit

If someone would have told me two years ago that in 2014 I would turn into a crossfit junky I would have seriously laughed my ass off. But here I am 3 months into 2014, obsessed with crossfit, and driving all the people who follow my social media (mostly my friends and family) crazy with my constant post and comments about crossfit. I am sure that most people who do crossfit will completely understand where I am coming from, but for those who don’t know anything about crossfit or think it is just the latest fitness fad, I am sure I am nothing short of annoying. All I can say is, I know crossfit isn’t for everyone but don’t judge a book by it’s cover. Crossfit isn’t all that it seems.

I have learned so much from crossfit over the past 3 months. I started crossfit for two reasons. One, I wanted to get into better shape, and two I wanted to experience the community that crossfit has to offer. Crossfit has more then exceeded my expectations in both of these areas. In just three short months I am in the best shape of my life. I am stronger and healthier then I ever would have imagined, in just three short months. It is truly amazing to me what my body is able to do. I have pushed my self mentally and physically more then I ever have in my life. I can’t wait to see what I will look and feel like in a year.

The community of people have been nothing short of amazing. I had read so many blogs about how crossfit has this amazing supportive community of people, that really look out for each other. This is nothing but the truth. I have never been in such a supportive environment in my life. No one is finished in crossfit until everyone is finished. It doesn’t matter if you finish first or last you will always have someone there cheering you on. When does that happen at a regular gym?

Last night I was lucky enough to attend the 14.5 open and was able to watch some of crossfit’s top athletes compete. In keeping with the spirit of the crossfit community and no one is finished until everyone is finished, I was able to witness the top athletes in the world cheering each other on after they finished their wod. They didn’t just walk away, they walked over to the other competitors and cheered them on. That is why I do crossfit.

A few weeks ago I sprained my ankle doing box jumps at crossfit. This was when I was really able to see how caring the community in crossfit is. I had so many messages from people at our box checking on me. These are people I have known less then 3 months and they are checking on me to see how I am doing. I have people I have know most of my life who didn’t even check on me and here was my crossfit family checking on me. That is why I do crossfit.

Another reason I do crossfit is because for 1 hours a day I get to walk into a positive environment, forget about all of my stress, work my ass off, listen to really loud music, and leave feeling like a bad ass. No matter what happens at the box I always leave feeling better then I did when I walked in. You just don’t get that at a regular gym.

I know everyone has their own reason’s for doing crossfit but maybe this will help people understand my obsession with it. 🙂

Watch “Supplements for Muscle Soreness” on YouTube

Super Simple Breakfast

I was running crazy late this morning so I didn’t have time to make my usual eggs for breakfast. I ended up just throwing a sweet potato in the oven while I got dressed and took it with me to work. I love sweet potatoes so much because they are so simple. I can just throw it in the oven get dressed and then top it with whatever I want. Here is what I made today super simple and good for you!
Directions
1 baked sweet potato
1 tablespoon of grass fed better
½ teaspoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 tablespoons of coconut milk
1. Bake your sweet potato in the oven at 425 for 30-45 minutes or until it is done
2. Scoop out the potato from the skin
3. Top with butter, salt, cinnamon, and coconut milk
4. Enjoy!

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Online Workout Group

Hey Everyone! I am looking for some feedback. I am thinking about setting up an online workout group. Since accountability is huge in setting up goals, I thought it might be helpful to have an online meet up a few times a week. Here is how it would work.

1. You would work out from home
2. You would need some basic gym equipment like free weights and an exercise bar
3. I would post the workout the day before
4. Everyone would sign on to skyp and we would all do the workout together from our homes.
5. This would allow you the ability to workout from home but also give you accountability.

This is still in it’s beginning stages and I am looking for feedback if people would be interested. Let me know your thoughts!

 

Southern Paleo Chocolate Sweet Potatoe Pie

After reading all of the Paleo blogs that I follow and Instagram, this past week, I got a serious craving for pie. I decided to do a trial run of a Paleo sweet potato pie. My husband isn’t a big fan of sweet potato pie so I decided to try and make a chocolate crust to see if that might win him over. Chocolate normal does . I had so much filling left over that I ended up making two pies, one chocolate and one regular. They both turned out so good that my husband said he couldn’t decide which one he liked more. I guess I did something right . Here is both of my pie crust recipes along with the filling and coconut whip cream recipe. As you can see in the pictures this is a rustic pie and I personally love that. I hope you enjoy. Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Chocolate Crust
1 cup of raw almonds
½ cup dairy free dark chocolate chips
4 tablespoons melted butter
4 tablespoons of coconut sugar
Pinch of salt
Directions
1. Preheat oven 375 degrees
2. In a food processor pulse almonds, chocolate chips, sugar, and salt until the mixture is fine and crumbly
3. Melt butter
4. In a small bowl mix butter and crust mixture until combined
5. Pour into a pie pan and using a spoon, press against the sides of the pan until you have formed the crust all the way around the pan evenly.
6. Bake for 10 minutes
7. Allow to cool

Almond Apple Crust
1 cup of raw almonds
½ cup of dried crandberries
¼ cup of dried apple chips
4 tablespoons of melted butter
4 tablespoons coconut sugar
Pinch of salt
Directions
1. Preheat oven 375 degrees
2. In a food processor pulse almonds, cranberries, apples, sugar, and salt until the mixture is fine and crumbly
3. Melt butter
4. In a small bowl mix butter and crust mixture until combined
5. Pour into a pie pan and using a spoon, press against the sides of the pan until you have formed the crust all the way around the pan evenly.
6. Bake for 10 minutes
7. Allow to cool

Pie Filling (Yields 2 Pies)
Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes
3 tablespoons of cinnamon
1 tablespoon allspice
½ tablespoon nutmeg
½ cup full fat coconut milk
¼ cup pure maple syrup
1 egg
Directions
Preheat Oven 375 degrees
1. Bake two large sweet potatoes in the oven at 425 degrees for 45minutes or until they are soft
2. Allow to cool
3. Once potatoes are cool, peel off the skin
4. In a large bowl add sweet potatoes, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, coconut milk, maple syrup, and egg
5. With a hand mixer, mix all of the ingredients on medium speed, until all of the ingredients are incorporated well
6. Pour mixture into pie pan
7. Bake for 45min or a tooth pick interested comes out clean
8. If you crust starts to burn, wrap the edges of the crust with tin foil, this will stop the crust from browning

Coconut Whip Cream
Ingredients
1 can of full fat coconut milk
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Directions
1. Place the can of coconut milk in the fridge for several hours. This will allow the coconut fat to solidify
2. Once the milk is chilled do not shake or mix.
3. Open the can of milk and gently scrape coconut fat out of the can
4. You should have a milky white substance left. I save this for creamer or other baking projects
5. Put coconut fat, syrup, and vanilla in a large bowl
6. With a hand mixer, mix on medium speed for several minutes until you have the consistency of whip cream
7. Serve immediately or freeze.

 

 

 

Sometimes You Just Need a Good Cry, to Get Your Breakthrough

I have been having the worst writers block this week :). I have been sitting on this book proposal all week. Every time I try and write it, I just get stuck and start to freak out. I literally have been giving myself the worst anxiety about it. This is when all of the self-doubt really starts to kick in. My thoughts start to go CRAZY. The lack of sleep, due to my Lucia, probably isn’t’t helping either. Last night I finally had a good cry; ok more like a mini breakdown, and vented to my hubby. I guess this is just what I needed because the mental block is gone and I am flowing with ideas today. At any rate I am back at it with a vengeance and hoping to get this book proposal done this week and submitted by Monday. Thank goodness for mini break downs and husbands that actually care :).

Rollin With the Punches Today

Happy Thursday! This week has been a bit of a blur for me. My 3 year old Lucia has decided that sleep is optional this week. She has been going to bed late, getting up in the middle of the nigh, and getting back up early. As my husband put it this morning, it’s like we are taking night time naps (lol). Today she decided she needed to get up at 4:30 am to work out with me. What is a mom to do? As much as I needed a little alone time, I just rolled with it. Lucia is my middle child so she requires or rather demands (lol) a lot of attention. I decided to just let her workout with me. She looks so cute working out with her little weight, I really couldn’t resist.

One of the biggest lessons I am learning as a parent, is to be flexible. My kids don’t care one bit about my routine or need for alone time. They are kids and all they know is that they need and want my attention, and this is ok. I am such a hyper focused person, I can become really ridged sometimes, so they are exactly what I need to keep me balanced. I honestly believe that is why I have so many kids. I need them to keep me grounded. So my lesson today is roll with the punches. Have a great day!

Beat Muscle Soreness

Happy Thursday! We are only 1 day away from the weekend! I don’t know about you, but I am ready! This week I have made it a goal to get up at 4:30am and get my work out done and some writing in. I have been successful so far and I am really starting to feel it. I have amped up my workouts this week and I am sore. While I am happy to say I did make deadlifts my bitch this week  ,I am feeling the repercussions of it today. As always my pain is your gain  Here are my top remedies for muscle soreness.

Epson Salt Bath– Epson salt is not actually salt like you might think. It is actually magnesium. Magnesium works to relax muscles and calms the nervous system. This combined with warm water makes it an unstoppable remedy for muscle soreness. You can use Epson salt alone but I like to add a few essential oils and baking soda to it and increase the benefits. Here is my favorite muscle soreness bath recipe;

2 Cups of Epson Salt
½ Cup of Baking Soda (Helps soften the skin)
5 Drops of Lavendar Essential Oil
2 Drops of Peppermint Essential Oil
In a metal or class bowl mix all of the ingredients together until they are well incorporated. Pour into your bath and let dissolve. Soak in the bath for 20-30 minutes

Arnica– Arnica is a remedy that I keep in my home in two different forms. I have a topical form and an oral homeopathic form. Arnica is a flower that is known to help heal wounds, bruises, irritation, and inflammation, sprains, as well as muscle soreness. If you are suffering from muscle soreness you can buy the homeopathic form of this and take it orally or you can buy an Arnica cream and rub it into your sore muscles. You can find Arnica at most nutrition shops or places like whole foods and co-op’s. You can also buy it online see the link that I have posted.

Arnica Cream- http://www.amazon.com/Arnicare-Cream-Horizontal-2-5-Ounce/dp/B00DEYEREY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1384435376&sr=8-2&keywords=arnica

Arnica Pills- http://www.amazon.com/Boiron-Homeopathic-Medicine-Montana-Pellets/dp/B0006NYI7C/ref=sr_1_1?s=hpc&srs=2586158011&ie=UTF8&qid=1384435467&sr=1-1&keywords=boiron++arnica

Massage– Who doesn’t love a massage? Muscle soreness is the perfect excuse to get one. Massage works to relief muscle soreness and stress by relaxing muscles and flushing toxins and lactic acid from them. When choosing your massage I do not recommend getting deep tissue massages, this will only make you feel worse when you are recovering. Save the deep tissue massage for another day. I recommend getting a Swedish massage or Hot Stone massage. Both of these massage modalities work great for relieving muscle soreness and flushing lactic acid and toxins out of the body. I especially like hot stone massage because the heat feels amazing when you have sore muscles. You can also ask your massage therapist to use some lavender essential oil or a muscle soreness blend if they have it, and this will increase the benefits of the massage.

Foam Rolling– I used to hate the idea of foam rolling. As a massage therapist I used to think “how can this piece of foam do me any good?” That was until I finally broke down and tried one. Now I love my foam roller and use it all of the time. It was the best $20 I have ever spent! It is a great way to do self-massage and help relief muscle soreness and tension. If you are new to foam rolling, I recommend starting out with a white foam roller, they are softer and ideal for beginners. If you move up to a blue or black one they tend me a bit harder and will be a lot more intense. You can find foam rollers on amazon for a really reasonable price. Check out the link I posted. Once you get your foam roller, go on youtube and there are tons of videos that will show you how to use it.
Foam Roller- http://www.amazon.com/Full-Round-Foam-Rollers-Size/dp/B000GE1J9G/ref=sr_1_18?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1384437634&sr=1-18&keywords=foam+roller

There you have it, my top remedies for muscle soreness. I hope they give you some relief.

http://www.primalcotton.com
This blog is for recreational use only and is not to be considered medical advice. If you need medical advice contact your physician.