Monday Musings: Muffins!!

Hello all!

Please excuse me for my absence this past Friday. I thought I would try to make it up to you all with a delicious Monday Muffin recipe. This recipe was inspired by the delicious recipes on blogilates.com.

Alrighty. Here we go!

What you will need:

2 cups oatmeal

2 over ripened bananas

2 eggs

2 TBS light agave syrup

1 TBS vanilla almond milk

Your favorite berries (I used raspberries and blueberries. Yumm)

*Preheat your oven to 350º

*Add your ingredients other than the berries to medium mixing bowl

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*Blend ingredients together until smooth. You want to get out as many of the banana chunks as possible, but the mixture will still be fairly chunky because of the oatmeal.Chopping up the bananas may make this easier if you don't have a stand mixer. :)

*After your muffin mix is smooth, spoon it into a greased muffin pan. Fill them about 1/2-2/3 of the way full. I use a small ice cream scoop to dollop cookies and mix into pans. It gives you even portions and makes the process a lot easier. 

*Now its time to add the berries! Add your washed berries to each muffin.

YUMMY!

*Put your muffins on the middle rack in your oven and bake them for 12-14 mins. 

*Check them to make sure the middle is cooked thoroughly. Let them cool 10 mins and then enjoy!

(If you want you can also sprinkle a little Stevia on top as they come out)

And that's it! Totally easy and totally delicious. Let me know what you guys think!

Thanks for reading!

Monday Musings: Fooducate

Hello all!

It's Monday again and I thought I would do a review of one of my favorite apps in regard to my health. Before we go any further, though I'm sure you already know this, I'm not being paid by anybody to review this app. I just really like this app and I thought I would share it with everybody. :)

Okay, so this app has a ton of great features and great options to help you track your health. You can change the settings to make it specific to you and your needs/goals. I've provided a few screenshots below to help give you a small tour of the app and how awesome it is. Let's begin!

When you open up the app, this is one of the first things you will see. It is the home screen and it is pretty self explanatory.

From the home screen you can open this little side bar which allows you to do a ton more stuff. You can track what you eat and how much you exercise with you health tracker. You can set your own goals. You can personalize what you want the app to check for and notify you of such as GMOs, artificial sweeteners, artificial colors, and gluten free.

This is the second part of the side bar menu. Here you can make your own lists of products you like or favorite, your own shopping lists, and you can check for products you have searched before. Pretty cool right? It gets better!

This is what the scan screen looks like. You place the bar code in that little frame. Yes, that is a blanket that I'm "scanning."

Here I scanned some Stax. I think this screen has some of the coolest options. Here it shows you what the overall food rating is of this product according to your interests, how many people like or recommend the product, the nutritional values...etc. It also shows some of the major points, good or bad, about the product. For example, this product has a high probability of GMOs so it is the first thing listed as that is one of the criteria I personalized the app to search. You can also rate this yourself (whether you like or don't like), add it to you shopping list, AND see alternatives if it isn't the best version of this type of product.

These are the Stax alternatives, They normally provide better alternatives.  Yummmm.

This is just a screen shot of the health tracker. Depending on how you personalize it, the app with give you a goal of calories. Then you can add what you have eaten, what you have drank, and how much you have exercised. This is like MyfitnessPal a little bit.

Then, if you don't have a bar code or are just curious about a certain food, you can just browse through foods, or search for something. :) So cool! AND to top it all off.....this app is FREE! YES! FREE! Woah! What more could you want?

So that's about it. Some more in depth info on my favorite little helper. I hope this inspires you to go check it out and make your own opinions on it.

Hope you all have a great week! Thanks for reading!

Monday Musings: 3 Months

Hello All!

It's a wonderful Memorial Monday and today also marks about 90 days that I have been on my fitness journey. I'm in shock at how much I have accomplished in the last 3 months and I can't even believe that my body is actually mine. I have completely transformed my lifestyle to one that has made me much happier and healthier in the long run.

I thought I would just try this for a few months and see where it left me or I would just drop it within a few days, but the results I've seen and the knowledge I've gained has invaluable. This has been an amazing learning experience and the knowledge I have will stay with me forever. I only hope that I can continue to learn more about my own body, my limits, my strength as well as teach others who wish to learn. This journey is not over by any stretch of the imagination though i think now this is almost purely just my lifestyle. I no longer believe that this is a "plan" or a "diet" or anything like that. This is just me.

I don't think i will always be training as diligently or as often and I don't think I will always be as strict with my nutrition, but I do think I will stay healthy and not allow myself to ever go back to the unhealthy life I was leading.

Well, I have a personal announcement to make. I'm done with my 90 day journey, but that doesn't mean I'm done. I could just stay healthy, but I'm setting some new goals for myself. Here, today, with all of you as my witnesses. My goal was to always be in a size twelve. I wanted to be in the average. The normal. Well, I'm pleased to announce that I made that goal! I went from a size 16/18 down to a comfortable size 12! Though I know this isn't the best way to track your progress, it is a good way for me to track my progress without using the number on the scale or using super expensive equipment to track fat loss.

I know I'm never going to be stick thin. I enjoy my curves and I'm so much more confident in my body. Hourglass figure. Check. No thigh gap? Don't care! I'm just happy I'm healthy and I'm so happy that I'm setting my new goal! Are you ready for this? Okay.....

I've always said I wanted to be a size twelve. Well, I'm there. So what's the next step? A size 10! Oh no! Craziness! Yes, I'm going to do it! My goal is to be in a size ten before I go back to school in August. That is about three more months from today. You think I can do it? Well I dropped almost 3 sizes in the past 3 months, I think I can go one more in the next 3. I'm a goal oriented person and I think keeping this goal will even further set my clean lifestyle and help me keep going. If I have something to work towards, I know I'm not going to be lazy. I know I can do it. Can you?

I sure think you can! I challenge you to do it with me! Set yourself a goal of one size difference or a couple inch difference or even just a piece of clothing that you want to fit into and feel fabulous. Make it a goal that you want to reach by the time school days come again. Make it a reasonable goal and then let me know what it is. We will do this together and end up more fabulous and confident than we already are!

I will keep you up on my progress and you can do the same with me. If you set yourself a goal, let me know what it is by leaving a comment below, tweeting it to me, or send me a shout out on Instagram. I'm hoping that your goals will motivate me and my goal/progress will do the same for you.

So go out and grab life by the horns. Let's do this!

This is me as a new Leah:

Thank you guys for reading!

Thursday Thoughts: Beauty Picks for Fit, Fierce Femme Fatales

Whoa! That's a lot of f's!

Hello all and welcome to another episode of Monday Musings...err...Thursday Thoughts. Due to some medical issues, I have been on a mini hiatus and missed my normally schedule Monday Musings post. Well, I thought I would do a Thursday edition to make up for it. 

I have been talking a lot about my fitness and clean eating and blah blah which I know can get boring sometimes (or annoying, you take your pick) so today I'm going to switch it up....slightly.

As many of you may know already, I'm a girl. And I enjoy the girly things in life like makeup, fashion, fuzzy animals, small dogs...you know. All that bologna. Well, when I was online the other day, I noticed a fitfam member criticizing another woman for wearing makeup to the gym saying that she obviously didn't get a good enough workout and she needed leave the gym to "really dedicated" gym goers. I love my fitfam, but this bothered me. We are all on our own journey here and nobody has any right to bring somebody down because their path is different. We should be supporting each other, I would tell that girl to "Get on with ya bad self!" because she took the time to look nice before she ventured to tear it up in her own way. 

Fitness is all about being healthy and body positive. If that girl is anything like me, then working out with her eyelashes on probably makes her feel more confident and thus makes her go at her workouts even harder. And if her face melts off, then so be it. This unknown girl and her "attacker" inspired me to write about the products I use to satisfy my beauty and fitness needs.

I usually work weird shifts so keeping my workouts on schedule is quite hard, but they normally happen in the evening when all is quiet. So I usually like to go home, go straight to getting my sweat on, and then get ready for bed so I can do it all again the next day. This means my makeup needs to transfer from work to workout with no problems. When I first started this fitness journey, I was rockin the full face (foundation, eyeliner, powder, eye shadow...etc) I quickly found out that wasn't going to work. My face ended up on my mat every night. So, I did some research and found some awesome drugstore products to move with my lifestyle. Without further ado, here are my beauty picks for fierce, fit femme fatales.

1. Cetaphil gentle cleanser and moisturizer


This stuff is great! (I'm officially switching to it after I finish my last bottle of Olay) I've used Olay for a long time, but I'm switching because this cleanser and moisturizer is much more gentle and you get way more bang for your buck. Working out can cause those sweat glands to kick into high gear, especially since its summer. Using this makes my skin smooth, clean, and keeps those facial demons from popping up.

2. Garnier BB cream

I'm obsessed with BB creams right now and this one is my favorite. It gives you coverage comparable to foundation, but make no mistake that this is NOT going to give you full coverage. It is lightweight and smooths out the face taking attention off any trouble spots. It is great for those who want to wear something, but not a caked on face. Plus it stays true when you work it out. :)

3. Revlon Photoready Powder

I usually take a fluffy brush and pat this on top of my BB cream to set it. The Garnier BB cream especially is quite "dewy" looking when applied so I like to "matte" it up a bit with this. If you have dry skin, I don't recommend this step, but your results could also vary depending on what BB cream you use.

4. NYC Park Avenue Plum

I'm a bargain hunter, for sure. So when I first saw this, I almost died! I used it once and instantly fell in love. When you want to look "natural" but still glow, you should use a blush that has a peachy-nude tint to it. It will make you look naturally flushed and not too done up or like you are constantly embarrassed. The reason I'm so glad this is a bargain is because I usually stick with the Mark Kay sunny spice blush for this purpose and that normally costs around $15. Yikes. That's a lot for me. Well, this blush maxes out around $3 and looks exactly the same!! Talk about a deal! Not to mention it holds true and stays on all day. Even through the sweat.

5. Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Eyeliner

I'm pretty faithful to my Maybelline black liquid liner, but recently I've been craving a pencil. The problem with pencils is that they are poke-y and glide on like a rock. Plus, they usually don't last very long. When I saw this, I had to try it and it turned out to be great! It glides on just like a liquid liner, smudges nicely to create a soft look, and stays on all day! Thank you waterproof! An added bonus is that it is fairly easy to get off and it has a touch of sparkle to it so it brightens the eyes even more. :)

6. Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Mascara

This has also been a recent favorite. It plumps and spreads my lashes really well while making them look equally natural and done up. The waterproof does make it a bit to get off, but it stays on great all day and I haven't had any troubles with flaking.

This is my usual line up for an everyday look that can go from work to working out. Sometimes I will add a lip gloss (NYC NudeYork) or eyes shadow to glam it up. Other things I use during the day are chap stick (Nivea A Kiss of Moisture) and makeup removing wipes (Simple makeup removing wipes or Burt's Bees makeup removing wipes).

I hope this has helped some of you or inspired you to try some new products. :) Let me know what some of your favorites are that fit into your healthy lifestyle. Have a great day!

Bye for now!

Leah ♥

P.S. You've probably noticed the new look, thanks for understanding and being patient while I do some construction. Let me know what you think of it. :)

Monday Musings: Confessions

Hello all!

Well it is another Monday and I feel like I really need to get something off my chest. Last week was a terrible week for me when it comes to my fitness journey. To put it in perspective, I usually weigh myself at the beginning of each week just to get an idea of where I am (not as my measurement of progress) and this week I am afraid to.

This past week has been full of early mornings, late nights, working hours, bad news and skipped meals. Even when I tried to keep myself on track it just felt like I would fall off the cart as soon I got on. I worked out 3 times this past week when I normally workout 6 days a week. One night I only got 3 hours of sleep before I had to go to work and then followed that up with a 4 hour sleep night to go to work again. Working strange hours threw off my eating schedule. Working in an ER makes it hard to squeeze in those scheduled eating times. Don't get me wrong,I  absolutely love the fast pace of my job, but it doesn't always allow for me to follow through with all my healthy choices, even if I had everything planned out. One day I only ate two meals.....Yikes. The rest of the week was not much better.

Not to mention some bad news, some anxiety attacks (yes, I battle with these), crying, and attempted retail therapy (not always the best choice), and bad food choices. Can anyone say sweet tart gummies? (which did not help the sluggish-ness). I think I was chugging more coffee than water. *face palm* Every time something bad happened it would make me more discouraged and angry with myself just adding to my stress level and generally making me more exhausted. I felt so bad yesterday because I felt like I ruined everything I had worked for in one week.

Then I went to sleep...

This morning I woke up after 10 hours of rest and I felt great. I took a look at everything around me and realized that it was okay. I looked in the mirror, i still had the start of my bicep muscles, my butt was still more lifted and toned than when I started, my legs still looked more toned than when I started, I still looked taller, my face still had more definition, and (to top it off) the bags underneath my eyes were pretty much gone. I was smiling too.

What's the point? Everything was and is still good. I didn't ruin everything. This is a lifestyle, not a diet. I will have bad weeks and really bad weeks, but I will also have great weeks! Life throws some punches and I will have to roll with them so I can't give up on myself for trying to persevere through all that (even if I crash and burn). I want to be honest with everyone and tell you guys that I am human. I think at some point I started to believe I wasn't and this week was a way of showing me that I still was. It was a way of humbling me and letting me share that with other people. I make mistakes. Everyone will make mistakes, but you just have to learn from them and move forward.

I want to thank everyone for reading this and supporting me. Thank you for all your positive and comments because they make me feel like what I'm doing is really important. I hope it will continue to be important and I will continue to feel your love and support.

So thank you all!

bye for now!