Things I Cannot Live Without

Sorry it has been so long since I posted! It has been all sort of crazy around my house lately!

ANYWAYS! As I was walking around my house, making my grocery list, I thought of all the things I absolutely Cannot live without! These things are what help me to stay on track with my healthy lifestyle! So, I thought I would share them with you!

1.Justin’s Maple Almond Nut Butter

Seriously guys, this stuff is the best! Almond Butter is the shizz alone, but this just really hits the spot! It REALLY fills you up! I always add it to my breakfast, which leads us up to #2!

2. Organic Oatmeal

I like to eat complex carbs, because it gives my body what it needs to run, and it is also filling! So I like to start my morning with Greenwise organic oatmeal! If I am in a sweet mood, I will have the maple brown sugar! I love love LOVE to pair my oatmeal with Almond Butter, and sometimes I will use Almond milk instead of water.

3. Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almond Milk

My tummy is a little sensitive to milk, so I tried this about a year ago and I LOVE it! It is soooo low in calories, and can be used in cookie recipes, cake recipes, oatmeal, the possibilities are endless!

4. Tea

I do get a sweet tooth just like every other person on the planet, and when I do, I turn to my tea to help me! I will normally add some stevia too!

5. Stevia

I know that most people say to just quit artificial sweeteners entirely, which I agree that it will help you to crave less sugar in the long run, but I do think that some sweeteners are harmless. Sweeteners like Equal and Splenda can be addictive and do more harm than good, but as of yet, I have found no harm with Stevia!

6. My Tumbler

I know it seems silly, but this is something I carry EVERY WHERE! I love my tumbler because it reminds me to drink water and stay hydrated!

7. YurBuds ear buds

These are by far the best ear buds for running, or any sport. Not only do they have great sound, but, they really NEVER fall out of your ear. Worried about ear size? These bad boys come with different ear pieces in different sizes! I love them so much! Whos doesnt love a colorful pair of earphones that you don’t have to fumble with!

8. Phone Armband

I absolutely love my armband. I can keep my phone with me through my run, in case of any emergency I have or my family does. It also has a key holder, so I never have to leave the house unlocked! I like to plug in and get some music going to really push my runs, and beat record time on RunKeeper!

9. Magazines

While there is plenty of sites to look at in order to obtain healthy lifestyle information, there is nothing like sitting in bed, in a bath, by the pool, what have you, reading a magazine! Sometimes, you just gotta get away from the screen!

10. Slippers

Haha, this one I have just recently come to enjoy. So as you all well know, running is an high impact sport. So, sometimes you get sore! After my shower, I like to put lotion on my feet and slip them into my slippers so they feel pampered!

Those are my must haves of the moment! I am sure there are more, I just haven’t thought of them yet! Or simply haven’t encountered it yet!

What are somethings that help you continue and maintain your healthy lifestyle? Leave a comment below and let me know!

Sparkle and Shine!

Kelsie ❤

Honey Drizzled Quinoa and Green Beans with Butternut Squash

 

 

I Hope you all realize by now that…I adore butternut squash, lol! So I made this dinner off the top of my head, trying to get some protein and greens into my day! I hope you enjoy!

You will need: 

1/2 cup cooked quinoa

1 cup green beans

1 cup butternut squash

1 tsp honey

1 tsp cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste!

 

1. Microwave the butternut squash so it becomes soft (about 3 mins), until the point where you can pierce it with a fork.
2. Throw the green beans into the pan and cover with a lid to get them soft. 
3. When the beans are soft, add cayenne pepper and quinoa.
4. Cook those two pals together until they are nice and seasoned!
5. Place the mix on a seperate plate, throw the butternut squash into the pan, cover and let it cook for a minute!
6. Put everything onto the plate, take the honey and drizzle it over the green beans and Quinoa. Salt and pepper the butternut squash and TADA! Youre done! Enjoy this warm, comfortable meal!

Calories: 234 🙂

Battling Binge: Controlling the Urge

 

I wanted to touch on this one thing we all end up doing at one point or another: Binge eating. Now, I went through about two months of this, approximately 7 months after I started regular exercise and eating healthy everyday. It started with “Oh, I can have just one bite and be done” and went to “Well, I work really hard and eat well on my meals….” yeah, stupid lies. LOL! It took me FOREVER to get out of my binge stage, and back to one cheat meal a week. I wanted to share with you how to get out of a binge cycle, and how to never start it in the first place!

1. Do NOT take the first bite. That first bite is going to lead you to another, and another, and you wont stop until you’re full and you feel aweful!
2. Out of sight, out of mind. If you know that as soon as you walk into work, there are candy bars/whatever weakness you have, don’t even look at it. Just avert your eyes! If  you look at it, you will think about it. If you think about it, you will end up eating it!
3. Plan one cheat meal a week, and have whatever it was that you were craving in that meal. That way, when you are confronted by your Kryptonite, just remember, you will get to have it in just 6 days!
4. Focus your attention on something else. This can be helpful if you have already taken the first bite, are in a binge cycle, or are trying to prevent yourself from even taking that first bite. I found it helpful to read articles, walk around, chug water, talk to someone, drink hot tea, or do homework. 
5. Find something to replace that no-good-for-you item. For me, I replaced raisinets with my favorite unsweetened tea with stevia in it. It got my sweet tooth, and it helped me to create a new, better for me habit.
6. Confess that you have been eating bad to someone, making it not a secret anymore helps you to check yourself. 
7. Confess, write down, make a video of you confessing what your “inner fat kid” made you eat. Jenna Marbles did this in her video, “Junk Food Confessions”, it made me laugh and made me feel like even the best looking people have this problem at times!
8. Look into the food you’re eating, and remind yourself how bad it is for you. If its a processed food, look at the ingredients, that should do! I always use this “scare” tactic to keep myself away from the nasties!
9. Find someone to hold you accountable. When you know you have to go home, or tell someone at the end of the day if you binged or not, it will make you think twice when you meet your foe. 
10. Take a picture of everything you eat. That way you have to let everyone know that you ate bad!
11. Paint your nails! You cant eat bad with sticky nail polish!
12. Occupy your hands by painting, drawing, writing, something!
13. Think about how long you would have to workout to burn those calories you are about to shovel into your mouth, yikes!
14. Think about how much closer you could be ,if you didn’t eat that, to your goal!
15. Just say to yourself… “Is it really worth  it?” and write down the pros and cons of eating that cupcake… which wins out?

Fitsessed on Facebook!

Fitsessed on Facebook!

 

Now you can enjoy Fitsessed on Facebook too! Make sure to like the page, please!

 

Sparkle and Shine, 

Kelsie!

Top Ten Tips for Starting Your Diet

 

 

Top ten tips for starting your diet:

1) plan! Changing the way you think and eat is hard, so prepare yourself and keep yourself committed by having a plan! Craving something sweet? Have a low calorie treat you bought just for those cravings! Feeling rushed? Grab that frozen meal or have a low calorie dinner you already looked into. 

2) shop til the pounds drop!! 
When you have good food available, and great ways to prepare, you will opt for the healthy things! Research some recipes and go grocery shopping! Be Adventureous! Try at least ones new thing a week:)

3) start off easy. Don’t just one day start a diet! Most times, you’ll just end of feeling deprived. Ease your way into the state of mind! One week before your official start date, make choices everyday that lead you closer to your diet! 

4) know its not only going to make you look better, but feel better! Your fueling your body, so read the labels and know what you’re giving your body to thrive off!! 

5) get an accountability partner. Everything is fun when you do it with someone!! 

6) have one cheat meal a week!! Hey, we’re all human!! Treat yourself, you earned it! 

7) don’t drink your calories! Water, unsweetened tea, diet sodas If necessary! Soda is horrible for you anyways, you’ll thank me later! 

 make a motivational wall! All those cute pictures on Instagram and Pinterest actually help! Print them and put them in a place that you will see everyday. Pictures of you happy, and at your ideal weight are great too!! 

 stay busy. Reality, you’re not as hungry as you think. Most of the time it’s dehydration or boredom! Keep yourself occupied and it will help you curb cravings!

9) look into why you are craving things! Instead of giving in, look into why your body seems to need that brownie. 

10) count calories!! I have a lose it app, and its wonderful! Helps me to stay accountable. I say 1,200 calories is all you need a day:)

Quinoa and Almond Nut Butter Cereal!

Here we are! My first Quinoa meal! I think I will be enjoying these little guys more often! Maybe a cookie? In salads? It might even work as pizza crust! I will keep you all updated!

 

In the mean time, this is what you will need!

1/2 Cup cooked Quinoa

1/4 cup Almond milk (or regular milk)

2 TBS Almond Butter

1 packet of Stevia

 

Microwave the Almond Milk and Quinoa together for 2 minutes, then stir. 

Let the Quinoa thicken a bit by stirring it, then add the almond butter and stevia!

 

Enjoy, all for 309 calories 😉

 

Sparkle today!

 

Kelsie

‘Nana Pancakes with Almond-nut butter!

Hun, you cant get much cleaner than this! A paleo friendly meal, this will get your pancake fix in! You will need 1 banana(120 calories), 1 TBS of almond nut butter (95 calories), and one egg white. Microwave the banana so that it gets soft, then mash it good! Once its mashed, add the egg white. Pour the batter into a pan, cook it like a regular pancake! Once you’ve made you paleo pancake, add the Almond nut butter and enjoy!

Look!! I made a paleo meal! :D

This recipe is my baby! When I was on the paleo diet for a while, things started to get boring, because it is limited. I needed new ideas and recipes to make so that I stayed motivated. So, I got creative!

1/4 almonds crushed, make sure it is as close to powder as you can get, then add it to one egg white. Then take 4oz of a chicken breast, and lather the breast in the mix. Cook it in a pan sprayed with pam, or with a teeny bit of coconut oil. Calories: 170 for the almonds, 25 for the egg white, and 120 for the chicken breast!

Turkey A La Onions! XD

As you all can very well see, I love to saute things!! Its so easy, and I love how you can get all the flavors to mix together to create an epidemic of flavors in your mouth!

So, for this recipe, you will need 6 red onion rings, a half of a sweet onion, 4oz of ground turkey (I used jeanie-O’s extra lean), and 1 cup of brussel sprouts. 

What you will want to do is steam or boil the brussel sprouts first to get them to soften up. When you are doing that, start the pan on medium heat and cook the red onions and the sweet onions until they are clear (the sweet onions, that is). Once the onions are almost there, add the turkey, which shouldn’t take too too long. Once the turkey is in, add the brussel sprouts and allow everything to cook together for about three minutes!

Enjoy friends 🙂 Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions!

Mediterranean Chicken Patty Lunch

260 calories ! 1 cup of green beans steamed… 4oz of lean ground chicken with 1/4 cup feta cheese and just a sprinkle of oregano. Mix the cheese and oregano into the chicken and tada! Prepare to get sticky slimmy hands! Yummy:)