Gym Hair- Braided Twists

With being fitness instructor I have the challenge of trying to look cute while working out and teaching others. So I though I'd share with you some hairstyles that are not only functional but make you feel cute too.

Here in KY this last weekend it was 90 degrees outside!!! By 8:00 am it was 80 with humidity-yuck, especially for working out!  But thanks to this hairstyle all of my long hair was off my neck.

  There are two different variations for this sassy hairstyle. Here is how it's done: 

First Part you hair on the side and just before the crown of you head.

Then braid one side of your hair next to the side part.
Option two as seen in my pink photos just give yourself some volume up top instead of the briad.









Next make pigtails and secure with small rubber hair elastics. Now braid each side.

 Wrap each braid upon itself. Once you start wrapping the ends in secure with bobby pins.  After secure wrap another elastic around each side for security.  Hair no matter how cute is not worth it if it won't stay put and out of the way during exercise.  Shake your head gently to make sure you've secured it.  You always can add bigger hair ties or more pins.

 Viola! Super cute hair for camping, spinning, yoga, boxing, weight lifting, running you name it. (just don't use it for any exercising that you will need to put your head on the ground.  The braids prevent that)  
This hair also dresses up jeans and a T so well.  Later that night I put on s super cute outfit and went out with my man with this hair, so versicle, functional and quick!
So use this, go to the gym and feel SASSY!

Picky Eaters and PediaSure Alternative

Last night for dinner I sauteed chicken and broccoli over brown rice and topped it with an orange and ginger sauce. My picky two-year-old would have nothing to do with it!  He refused to even try it.  Our menu options are "take it" or "leave it."  And leave it he did.  We also say that you have to eat it at the next meal if it's not all finished.  So that meant that this morning, i came in from my workout to see my heartbroken boy in tears because he's so hungry and mean old Dad will only give him his last nights dinner.  My husband swore he'd win this battle, and went off to work leaving me in quite a situation.  After eating my own breakfast, and having my boy beg me for "Wheats" which by interpretation is Mini Wheats, I decided to meet him half way.
I took him to the stove where we made an omelet together, and what did we put in that omelet? Yep, his dinner (well half of it).  I let him put his dinner in it so he could very clearly see that he still had to eat it.  And he did, no more fussing, no more battling, we found a good common ground.
Then snack time came and he agreed to eat some more of his dinner (only two bites).  Now lunch, this time both of my boys are crying! My four-year-old hates leftovers.  What to do, what to do?!

I pulled out a mixing bowl, whipping cream, and strawberry syrup.
 I told my boys over their crying that whoever takes a bit first can put in the first ingredient. Automatic science. My four-year-old shoved food into his mouth immediately, he was not about to miss whatever this was.  My other boy, just turned two last week so i don't think he fully understood what was going on.  I then let my older boy dump in whipping cream.  By now my little one got the picture, I helped him take a bite and he got to put in the syrup.
Magic!!!!
No retaliation, this was working!
As these are the only two ingredients in the recipe I made they next got out beaters and the electric mixer in-between bites.
After that they got to mix it for about 30 seconds each time they took another bite.  They were happily eating and happily shearing.  To help savor this moment I kept the electric beaters on low, that way they had enough time to eat all of their food.

It's done when it gets stiff. Now that we had a happy lunch, time to enjoy the creation.

I dabbed some onto a graham cracker and topped with a chocolate mint leaf.  Gourmet desert at its finest for my tots.
Not only did we have a great mommy-son experience instead of battles and tantrums, but we got a healthy desert to go with it.  Oh the joy that was felt.  Now let's talk Pediasure and this dessert after you enjoy these pics of my boy.

Many of you may already know what that product is, a supplement for children to help them gain weight.  Both if my boys were recommended to take this regularly.  They have VERY high metabolisms.  My youngest, they wanted him to be medicated so his metabolism would slow down and allow him to gain weight.  (I feed the kid, i promise! 2 eggs, yogurt, and 2 bowls of cereal was a typical breakfast for him)  But surrender i did not, i was not about to medicate him when he was only 18 months.

this is from Boost another meal supplement

Along with medication they wanted the PediaSure, this is what i want to talk about. The problem with PediaSure and other products like it is, sugar and artificial sweeteners and corn syrup and and and...!!
And it tastes like a milkshake, which means if kids are supposed to get it often it becomes a "have to have it," it's all they want.  They don't want anything else, who wants peas, and broccoli if they get a sweet shake.  This then leads to poor eating habits and deficiency in minerals and vitamins.  PediaSure, Boots and other brands fortify it so it does have 4 or so vitamins in it, which is not nearly enough for growing kids or anyone.
I bring this to your attention so you don't have to experience this if your kids are ever told they need weight, or if your there right now what you can do about it.  Every kid I know on this stuff has these issues.
So the healthy things to do about this are:
 1. Dilute the supplement shake-that way they still get the stuff but it's not at sweet, this will also stretch the shake out which will help your budget, they are expensive.
2. Make your own stuff- Use the whipping cream recipe I just used for my kids. This is what I do to get my kids some weight on. It really works, and with out the cost, preservatives and junk that comes with the shakes. (We do put in the unhealthy syrup but its a small dose, so it's nothing to worry about)  Use the same method, if they eat their real food then they get some, and/or use it as a snack.  Even give them a bowl of it.  This is a healthy all natural fat. Yes, there is some saturated fat in cream but because it's in balance with the good fat in cream it in a sense neutralizes, or councils out.

When I told the Doctors what I had done, they thought it was brilliant.  And can i quote "That's something I've never thought of before."  Why? Because Dr's are not nutritionists, they are trained to diagnose and provide a medication.  I'm not knocking Dr's, it's just what they are trained in.  We as parents are in charge of our kids nutritional needs.
Sorry this post was a bit long but hopefully this can be helpful to you or someone you know.

The Mother's Day Dish

Happy belated Mother's Day everyone!
I hope you were treated well!
Let me tell you a little of my Mother's Day adventure.
We are fortunate enough to live close to family.  My Mother-in-law lives about 15 minutes from us. So naturally we went over to her for dinner.  Cooking for others can be a challenge because we all have different tastes.  I like to cook healthy.  Lots of people don't like "healthy foods."  Which I can understand, because some foods take getting used to: skim milk, brown rice, and most 100% whole grain products.
But MANY foods can be healthy when done right, and no one has to know it's a "healthy food."  Or if they love it, go ahead and share how good it is for you so they can change their mind set and open up to healthy things.
So with that I introduce to you what I cooked for Mother's Day and that it was ALL GOOD!  Both taste and health wise.  I got a thumbs up across the board, even my 4-year-old.
Mesquite Crock-Pot  Ribs Dinner:

Our dinner was succulent tender ribs, with white corn basmati rice, and cinnamon baked apples.
Because of these sugar free but very sweet side dish apples there was no need or desire for desert.  The recipe I made for the ribs does not use any oil only juice and seasoning- so easy!  Then the rice, easy as well, light and fresh with the corn and a hint of real butter which has healthy fats in it.  This meal is so great because the protein and healthy fat get you full quickly.  The side of carbs gives you energy now, and the slow digested protein gives you energy later, then topped of with a sweet side you are completely satisfied and healthy!
Plus it was quick and easy prep.  If you want to give it a try here are the recipes.  I just have one condition. Give credit where credit it due.  If you make it and someone loves it, tell them where you got the recipe.  I do hope you try it though, and see how easy it can be to live healthy and enjoy healthy food.

To eat or not to eat...

Were always looking for yummy healthy snacks right?  Whether it's for ourselves or for the kiddos.  But most people are fooled by simple marketing techniques, fads, or misconceptions that they still end up eating the bad stuff.  So with that let's review a product that i found in the "health" section at my local grocery store, and go over some steps in determining if its a smart pick.

Veggie Stix
There were giving out samples of these so my children and i tried them. Not bad on the taste factor.
1. Glance at the front package:  All natural, 50% less fat than potato chips.
        -Sounds good so far, lets go to the back.
2. Check out the nutrition label:  serving size is 1 oz., 5g of fat, 1 g of saturated fat, 310mg sodium, 1 g protein, ZERO VITAMINS
      - Stop right there! These are called veggie sticks right?  Vegetables as in vitamins, minerals and good stuff right?  Why then are there no vitamins or minerals in this bag? Moving on.
3. Ingredients: of 13 ingredients there are only 4 veggie ingredients and they are listed last.
    -ingredients are listed with the most abundant ingredient first, so we can see that they is very little veggie ingredients

4. Look for anything else the bag can tell us: "We cook them to a golden crunch..."
   -So it does not specify how they are cooked which probably means fried.  If it were baked they would have advertized that healthy option.
5. Summarize:  the good- no hydrogenated oils, sea salt, natural ingredients, low in bad fat.  The bad- loaded with sodium, fried (assumed). And no fiber, vitamins, or minerals (which is why we eat food).

So to eat or not to eat?

Well that depends on you.  If you eat chips these would be a better substitute.  If you do not, these are by no means a "healthy" snack.  Me personally as FitMom, i say both. Moderation in all things.  I don't buy potato chips for my family but maybe a few times a year. We reserve stuff like that for special occasions. We recently went camping and I bought these instead of regular chips for my family.  They were good in that they ate them and enjoyed them but not amazing that they binged and ate the whole bag.

So remember to look beyond the front label.  If we had stopped there we probably would have eaten the whole bag thinking these were beneficial to our bodies. ;)