Snack Time

It's not easy finding snacks that are healthy in our grocery stores.  Most foods now come high in sodium, full of sugar, and honestly, just not what your body needs.  I've made a list for you of some of my favorite things to snack on and you can have them without any guilt!

Fruits:
Raspberries
Strawberries, sliced
Bananas sliced with a dab of peanut butter and just a couple chocolate chips
Apples with peanut butter or low fat cheese
Grapes
Clementines
Pears
Sliced Kiwi
 Fruit salsa--recipe below

Veggies:
Bells peppers
Baby Carrots
Sliced cucumbers
Broccoli florets
Cauliflower florets
--all the above dipped in Greek yogurt ranch ( Skinny Ranch Dip )

Dairy:
Low fat string cheese
Low fat string cheese wrapped with a piece of low fat lunch meat
Cottage cheese
Hard boiled eggs
Greek yogurt

Nuts & Seeds:
Cashews
Walnuts
Peanuts
Almonds
Pine Nuts
Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds

Fruit Salsa Recipe:
1 small orange, zested and juiced
2 small kiwi, peeled and diced
1 apple, diced
1 pint strawberries, diced
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. apple jelly

Combine the apple, kiwi, and strawberries in a mixing bowl.  Add the juice and zest of the orange.  Add jelly and sugar.  Mix well until jelly is coating all fruit.  Serve with cinnamon sugar pita chips or eat plain.  Great on top of frozen yogurt or mixed into plain yogurt as well.

In Your Condition...

Sorry for the delay in posting more regularly.  Life sometimes can become overwhelming and things need to move to the back burner for a short period of time.

As I approach my 3rd trimester I am often asked by others, "Oh you still workout?"  Seriously?  If there is nothing going on with my pregnancy that would prevent me from doing so and I am taking the precautions that I need to, what should it matter.  I wish I could figure out this notion of an idea that pregnant women need to just sit around and do nothing other than grow life. 

I prefer to workout while pregnant.  Research is showing that it cuts your labor down, allows for quicker recovery post birth, and keeps pregnancy weight gains to a healthy level.  So why not?  What do I honestly have to lose?

I know I'm coming up at the point where I cannot workout near as often as I would like, but Baby K is growing so much now and it requires a lot of my energy.  I've eliminated exercises from my regimen that might put strain on my loosened joints.  I do what I can, but I also listen to my body.  If it says, "NO MORE BURPEES today", then no more burpees it is.

I am a firm believer that you can do anything you want your body to do.  You merely need to tell it to do so and make it move forward.  Your body is capable of so much more than you realize.  It's built and designed to do work.  That's why each and every one of your cells is producing energy.  It wants to do work.  Let nothing stop you.

I hope you all start this week with a healthy perspective and start making the changes you need to in order to achieve your fitness goals.  Remember it's not about being skinny, it's about being strong and healthy.

Drip, Drop, Drip, Drop, mmm H20

It's essential, honestly.  Our body weight is about 60% water (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/water/NU00283).

I didn't normally drink water like I should have been when I was younger.  Of course, when I was an athlete and a power lifter, water was my second best friend.  I drank nearly a gallon a day due to muscle requirements while I was a power lifter.  When I was playing Varsity golf in the Nevadan summers I probably drank just as much if not more.

I know there are some out there that feel water is just that, water.  It's essential!  You need it!  We can lose valuable water through breathing, sweat, waste removal (yes I'm being sugar-coated), and we need to replenish that.  Your bodies balance of processes needs water.

I'll admit, I love my Diet Soda (<---shocker I know, but I promised I'd be real with you).  I'm working hard to keep it low and get to the point of not needing it.  I suffer from ocular migraines and the neurologist wants me to have caffeine each day along with my more natural medications (due to being preggo) to help keep them at bay.  I'm down to one a day now most of the time.  However, I desire to get most of fluid intake from just water.

I love my water. I am now to the point I just like it ice cold, no flavors added.  Occasionally I like to add in some Crystal Light or Oceanspray to it, but all in all, I just like it ice cold.

Did you know that drinking water before a meal can help you consume up to 100 calories less than normal?  The trigger for thurst is often mistaken for the trigger for hunger.  A good rule of thumb is to drink a glass of water prior to a meal or snack to help prevent overeating and let's be honest here, get you the water your body needs.

If you ever want to know how much water you should be drinking in a day, check out this neat little tool I found.  http://nutrition.about.com/library/blwatercalculator.htm

Have a hydrated day!





Photo courtesy: http://ecowomen.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/water.jpg

Why I workout...

I have a lot of people ask me how I stay motivated or why I workout when we all die in the end. Honestly, my answer is this, sorry it's going to be long.

 Staying Motivated--I stay motivated because there is a long, family history of disease that ranges from high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer. Also, I love how I feel when I'm exercising and eating right. I don't always eat 100% on point, but a majority of the time I do. My body feels strong, it feels empowered. I hate how I feel when I'm slow, run down, and all in all lazy. I didn't like when I was overweight. My self confidence was lacking and I was holding myself back. This doesn't mean it's been easy, but it's been worth it. Every drip of sweat has been worth it.

Why I workout--I don't want to live my life dependent on drugs to keep me going or extend my life. I don't want to live in such a way that I have to say to myself that I could have prevented some of these from happening. I know genetics has a role in some forms of disease, but I do not let that define my life in that I just give up trying to fight to keep them away. If I CAN do something about it, then why not? Why not say I fought to live the fullest, healthiest life? Why not leave a legacy for my children that their mother wanted to live as long as she could with them and show them they are capable of anything they want in life?

 I also workout because as a personal trainer, that's what I do. I lead by example. I'm not one of those lucky people born with a thin body, I'm one of those lucky people born that has had to work for their body. I've earned every muscle, I've earned every calorie. I'm still learning as I go too. I'm learning to eat cleaner and fueling my body the way it needs to be. I'm pushing my body to be stronger in the way it responds the most. I'm teaching it to enjoy work. After all that's what are bodies are for, WORK! They are creating energy everyday for us to do work. Why let that hard work go to waste? I workout because I love seeing results from improving my body one repetition at a time. I workout because others have seen my progress and it motivates them to do the same. It doesn't have to be fast results, slow and steady is what wins the race of life. Slow and steady wins the race of fitness. You don't become an athlete overnight. You don't become a bodybuilder overnight. Nothing is a quick a fix or a quick result, well anything that has a lasting result.

 I hope I can help everyone that stops by realize they are capable. They ARE CAPABLE OF ANYTHING! It doesn't have to be a fitness or health related aspect that they wish to achieve. I just want everyone to know THEY CAN and THEY WILL if they just keep trying. Success is falling down seven times and getting up eight. You can do this!

Fit and Pregnant

I'm on my third pregnancy right now with Girl #3.  We shall call her Baby K.  I reflect on how my fitness level has affected each pregnancy.  I pretty much stopped being active with my first and then due to an un-foreseen change of events I was on bed rest for the remainder of that pregnancy.  It was tough on my body, a body that had been fit and had fought hard to be fit.

I gained 70lbs. and lost an interest in being healthy.  It took until my oldest daughter, Princess H, was almost 2 years old that I hit that point of "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!"  So I began working with a personal trainer to get started while the hubby was away at Basic Military Training for the Air Force.  I would get up at 4am, hit the gym hardcore, get back home before 6am to be ready for the day before Princess H was awake.  I was so grateful to my parents, whom welcomed us into their home during that time, for allowing me the opportunity and time to get my health back.  I dropped almost 50lbs. with said trainer, but I didn't really learn anything from him.  This became overly apparent when it was time for us to move.

We moved to our first duty station in Albuquerque, NM and I lost all motivation to get back into the routine of things.  Military life was so new and I had no idea what I was doing.  I was barely keeping my head above water trying to learn everything I needed to.  Then we found out I had an injury in my shoulder.  You need those for a lot of things, who knew right?

So ensued surgery.  Problem fixed, finito!  Well, not so much.  Physical therapy was tough more emotionally and mentally than physically.  My body wanted to quit.  It told me I'd never be the same.  I'd never be able to do the things I loved again.  Thanks to a great friend and physical therapy aide, she saw the signs.  She came to my rescue and slapped me out of it amidst scar tissue massage and grueling wall balls.  The time came and it was time to get my health back now that my shoulder had been put in its place.  Then I started going to school to become a personal trainer.  I love helping people educate themselves about their health and fitness and this was a perfect way to do it.

After a 10lbs weight loss doing resistance training and cardio, I found out we were pregnant with Princess R.  She took a lot off of my body.  Close to 20lbs.  Then I gained 20 back in the end of the 2nd and 3rd trimester.  So all in all, healthy pregnancy weight gain.  Only thing is, that 20 didn't go away after having her.  I began my journey again.  Around the time she turned two I had lost 30lbs and finally dropped below 200lbs.  I was ecstatic.  Thanks to TurboFire, Shakeology, and a great coach that got me started as a coach I was able to regain my passion for fitness.  Now by the time we talked about a 3rd pregnancy I had lost another 14lbs!  I also finished my Master Trainer certification from the International Sports Sciences Association as well as my Group Fitness certification from AFAA.  I'm crushing it and still going strong keeping fit while pregnant with Baby K.

I hope my journey with being pregnant and learning that you can still be fit while growing life helps someone out there too.  Being pregnant does not mean you stop.  It means you keep going and learn to listen to your body.  It will tell you when it's time to rest, time to eat, time to drink water.  Plus, the benefits of exercising while pregnant really get me excited to keep going.  Reducing labor is a huge one for me.  So here's to the rest of Trimester 2 and bring it Trimester 3!  Baby K is getting a healthy, happy home to come to.

Hey there, have we met?

Well, I know that's a silly question to ask.  I'm sure most of us may not have met, however, we might have something in common.  Let me introduce myself properly so that we can say we have met.

My name is Tiffany, but better known as Energizer Honey.  I'm the girl, who grew up in a loving home with a few minor hiccups, who grew up loving life and family, who loved science and sports, and the girl who has been through a lot, learned a lot, still has a lot to learn, and wants to share life with you.

Life has sent me on a wonderful journey and ups and downs.  I wouldn't trade my scars for anything in this world.  Each one has a story, some visible, some not.

I'm a woman, that has found a purpose in life through my faith in my Savior, Jesus Christ and I treasure that everyday.

Throughout the many changes we all face in life I have become the athlete, college student, bodybuilder, the overweight girl, a wife, mother to 3 daughters (8 yrs, 2 yrs, and #3 due in July), military wife, and a personal trainer.  Each calling I serve in, I do my best.  I have successes and failures with each one being a story to tell.

Join me in my life as a body artist, aka personal trainer, and I'll share my experiences with you.  I'll share about the research I do, educate about health and fitness, and all along the way you'll get to ride on this journey I'm on to achieving ultimate health.  I'm half way there and plan to achieve it soon.  Then the trick comes of maintaining that and trust me, I plan to and I want you to keep me accountable.

Thanks for stopping by and know that I'm not perfect nor do I pretend to be.  I hope I might inspire someone to take back their health just like I have.  I hope I might support someone in a dark moment in their life, just like others have done the same for me.  This is life and welcome to it! Let's do this!