Never miss a monday

It's so easy to focus on the reasons to NOT work out it's important to take a second and focus on a few of the benefits. Starting your week with a workout has so many more positives than not! Here are just a few of my favorite reasons to never skip a Monday:

-Monday is your proverbial clean slate for the week! Start your week off with an exercise burning 350 calories in an intense HIIT workout or cardio session and you're that much more likely to workout again during the week. Also you'll be much more likely to make healthier food choices. When your mind is fresh on how hard you have to work to burn off 350 calories you're much more likely to think twice about your daily caloric intake and make healthier eating choices throughout the day. Even if it's something as simple as passing on the coffee creamer to help stay within your daily calories. Starting your week with a workout puts you in a healthier state of mind for the week. Also makes you realize how hard it is to burn calories so you begin to double think every extra 100 calories here and there!

-You'll start your week with a healthy dose of endorphins! People who work out get an immediate release of  the feel good hormone along with a better sense of self esteem. Pretty crazy that research shows most people who work a 9-5 don't smile until after 11am everyday! That should be reason enough to get up even just a half hour earlier to get your bodies natural feel good hormone flowing.

-Working out helps you sleep better. From helping you fall asleep faster to helping you stay asleep longer. The more regular the exercise the better! Studies has shown that after a few months of regular working out insomniacs sleep an average of 45 minutes more per night!

-One word- control! I know this is a huge factor of why I workout everyday. I can't control so many other factors of my day. But one aspect I can control is my "me time" as I call it to workout. This always comes before any chores as a top priority of my day. At times it can feel selfish working out before I'm doing some needed house work or errands for my family but I know that by giving myself an hour a day to workout I'm a better mom and wife because of it. It's so important to allow yourself to start your week with the highest sense of control and squash as many anxious thoughts as you can through physical exercise. As the saying goes control the controllables of your week one of them being working out regularly!

Top reasons to drink green tea

Green tea is hands down the healthiest beverage you can be drinking. The nutrients every cup packs offer such amazing benefits to our bodies!

Here are the top reasons to drink green tea everyday:

-to loose weight by boosting your metabolic rate and increase fat burning! The caffeine in green tea works to break apart your fatty acids from fat tissue so you can use the fatty acids for energy.

-green tea is loaded with powerful antioxidants that will improve our health over time. The antioxidant    

EGCG gives green tea medicinal properties and has been proven to protect cells from damage by protecting them from free radicals. This in turn helps fight many diseases including certain cancers, type 2 diabetes and overall aging! 

-the caffeine compound in green tea makes you smarter by stimulating brain function, memory, mood, awareness, and reaction time!

-studies have shown green tea even reduces bad breath while at the same time lowering the risk of infection and bacteria in your mouth!

There are many more reasons to drink green tea everyday! Quality does matter though so try and drink a good quality organic blend.

Low calorie menus

Most restaurants make it so damn hard to stay within your daily calorie allotment! They can be very deceiving too - you see the chicken and broccoli and think to yourself oh I cook that at home all the time it's super healthy. Ehh not so much if you're watching your calorie intake you can cook a piece of chicken beast on a grill pan with some seasonings and steam broccoli and have a fulfilling meal under 400 calories easy! But the cooks at the restaurant don't care about your diet or how many calories you need to stay on track for they care about making the best food possible so you come back. Which means adding lots of unnecessary oils and sodium to their dishes that make the same chicken and broccoli you made at home for 400 calories easily double the calories! 

I personally rarely go out to restaurants to eat for that very reason it's too hard to control what you're eating. When I do I try and stick to restaurants that cater to calorie conscious people like myself that have alternate menus with meals under 500 calories. 

Here's a list of some chain restaurants that have low calorie menus-

Seasons 52

-my favorite! The whole menu is actually 500 calories! And it changes with each season so you're always getting the freshest and healthiest options. You still have to be careful here because even though the entrees are 500 calories it's easy to blow your daily cals on an app an entree and a mini indulgence at the end.

Cheesecake Factory

-probably one of the most popular low cal menus (so patrons feel justified to indulge in the cheesecake when their done- ha). Their Skinnylisious menu is all under 600 calories- great portions and over 50 options to choose from!

Applebee's

-they have a Weight Watchers endorsed menu and under 550 cal menu. But you have to watch out with the sodium levels here even on the healthier menu because most dishes pack a whole daily allowance of sodium in one plate!

TGIFridays

-their Right Portion Right Price menu is a good option - does go up to 750 calories and sodium levels get up their too. This is a restaurant I would plan in advance and check the menu online before I got there if at all possible to get a game plan on what I would have so I can plan the rest of my meals through the day accordingly. 

Red Robin

-Red Robin doesn't have a set menu just the back page of their menu with healthier options. Be careful with this menu because it has the same names as items that aren't on their low cal page - so when ordering a Cobb salad for example it's important to be clear if you want the healthier option or not. On a plus note they do have macronutrient breakdowns on their website for all the Marco counters out there.

Red Lobster

-their Lighthouse Menu is low cal and all heart healthy fish options with omega 3 fatty acids and rich proteins.

IHOP

-their Simple and Fit menu has some really nice options! Some of the plates do go up to 600 cals but most stay in the 350-450 range and have options from breakfast to lunch to dinner!

Denny's

- America's diner has your back! Their Fit Fare menu - careful though they can go up to 650 cals but many of heir dishes are in the 400 range so just take note. Plus side of Denny's is they're so convenient to find all over if you're in a pinch and need a quick healthy meal on the go.

Subway

-Subway is a great option to eat healthy for little cost away from home with their Fresh Fit menu. The Fresh Fit menu is not very extensive and is very low in calories for the most part - 200-350 calorie range. So another option might be to customize their regular menu for yourself and take out certain parts of other sandwiches that would make the calorie intake over 500. Or you can make life easy for yourself and order off the Fresh Fit menu if you're not sure what to sub out.

ENJOY!

Tips for dining out healthy

For the average person to maintain their weight their daily calorie consumption should be in the range of 2,000 calories (give or take depending on height, weight, muscle mass, etc). While some people find it incredibly easy to stay within their calorie count some find it takes a lot of planning and discipline. I personally start every day tracking and planning out my calories to keep myself on track. Eating out always throws a curve ball to "staying on track". It's crazy how many hidden calories are everywhere at restaurants. Even salads at most chains are 800 - 1,000 calories (hello dressings and cooking oils)!

Some easy ways to stay on track when you know you'll be eating out are:

- look at the menu online before you go to the restaurant so you can get a game plan to the healthiest options (and you won't be tempted by what other people at the table will be ordering)

-don't be afraid to ask for modifications of dishes (hold the cheese- double on the veggies, etc)

-always ask for dressing on the side 

-turn away the bread bowl 

-for restaurants that serve huge portions ask for half of your meal to be brought out in a to go box and half on a plate. It's easy to tell yourself when a massive serving comes out that you're only going to eat half of it but when you're having conversations with friends it's easy to get distracted and eat more than you had intended

-and as always before every meal eaten at home or out drink a tall glass of water before you eat the meal!

Easiest Hard Boiled Eggs

 

Eggs are such an easy and affordable way to get some protein and fat into your diet. Also very meal prep friendly to stash in your fridge for easy low calorie and high nutrition meal options. There are some awesome benefits to starting every day with two eggs within the first half hour of waking up to really jump start your metabolism with healthy protein and fat. Baking eggs is my favorite way to prep them for the week. Literally couldn't be easier!

Preheat your oven to 350 

Put eggs in muffin tins (I fill two trays and put in the top and bottom racks of my oven)

Bake for a half an hour

Take out and immediately immerse in cold water until cooled 

I personally don't peel them until I'm going to eat them so they don't make my fridge smell as much. But baking eggs makes them ten times easier to peel when you are ready to eat them! ENJOY