Healthy Banana "Ice Cream"

Yes, you read that correctly, you actually can make ice cream "healthy," let us explain...so, as you've read over the past couple of weeks, both M & H are on missions to Be Better in 2013.  Like a lot of people do during the New Year, we've re-committed to our healthy routines, and are stepping it up a notch in almost every aspect of our lives.  While M's goal is to lose weight and get back to her normal size, H has had to say goodbye to most dairy and is focusing more and more on vegan recipes.  However, both of us have a soft spot for sweets...

Enter: healthy ice cream!  It's not actually ice cream at all, it's actually more of a frozen banana whip cream, but it sure tastes like ice cream!  M found this recipe on one of her favorite blogs, That's So Michelle.  All you need are bananas, almond milk, a food processor, and whatever other fruit, chocolate, or other flavors you want to add.  Yes, you read that correctly, you can count the ingredients on one hand.  Here's how you make it!  *please excuse the crappy iPhone photos, M is without a camera at the moment...

1.  Cut about 4 bananas into slices, place into big plastic freezer bag. If you're adding other fruit, slice other fruit you'll want to add, and put it in a separate freezer bag.

2.  Place in freezer for 2-3 hours.

3.  Dump bananas and other fruit into food processor, pulse until you get this consistency.

4. Little by little, add almond milk to the mixture, until you start to see this (see below, like banana whipped cream).  Quickly add chocolate chips, peanut butter, cinnamon, vanilla, shaved coconut, berries, or whatever you're adding, pulse a couple more times to completely mix.

5.  Pour entire mixture into tupperware container and put in freezer for an hour or two.

6.  Remove mixture, put in bowls, garnish with berries or a little shaved chocolate or coconut & serve!  I like mine plain or with a couple of chocolate chips.

Do you have any healthy recipes you use to satiate your sweet tooth or cravings to share?

Planes, Trains, & Sticking to your Goals

Both of us travel a fair amount for our jobs, so we're no strangers to the temptations to veer wildly off track with our health goals while traveling.  Seeing as though it's a new year and we're full of hope for the 2013 year, we thought it might be a nice idea to share some of our own travel tips to help you stay on task with your health goals while on the road!

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1. Drink water, skip "boredom snacks"

We know it sounds kind of silly, but when you're on the go, sitting in airports or train terminals, or in the car, it's easy to forget to drink enough aqua.  Further, the temptation to over-caffeinate or over-indulge with specialty drinks while waiting seems to be EVERYWHERE.  Don't let airport waiting turn you into a boredom drinker/eater. Make sure you get a bottle of water once you're through security, or bring an empty water bottle you can refill once you can find a (clean) bubbler.  Staying properly hydrated while traveling will help keep your energy level up once you reach your destination, and you're more likely to work out or go sight seeing once you arrive instead of face-planting into your bed.  If you absolutely need to get a snack at the terminal or at a rest stop, try and keep it healthy & portion-controlled.  Fresh fruit, 1 serving of nuts or pretzels, string cheese, natural granola bars and yogurt are usually all safe bets.  Just make sure to check the sugar & salt content before you buy it.

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2. Make room to sweat

When I'm traveling I always make sure to check the conference/meeting agenda or wedding weekend schedule of events well ahead of time.  More often than not, especially if it's a work trip, there is a LOT of sitting around in the cards.  Once I know what my schedule is going to look like, I try my hardest to plan a workout almost every day I'm away.  If I'm not going to get to go to the gym or for a run, I try to plan something active that day like a walking tour of the city I'm in, or something more adventurous, like hiking or asking the hotel staff for safe & scenic running routes in the area.  I also make extra room in my suitcase for workout clothes (these can double as pajamas the night before I wear them to sweat in) and always, always bring sneakers.  

3. Grab a friend/significant other or take a class

It's hard working out on a regular basis, but when you're not home on a normal schedule, its even harder.  Sometimes the best motivation is to become the motivator and get your coworker or significant other to the gym or for a run while you're away.  It will make you feel good to be the fitness team leader, and whomever you drag with you will most likely thank you for the extra nudge after its all over.  Alternatively, if you don't have time to do a full-fledged workout, try taking short walks around the hotel halls/staircases or outside during those 15 minute breaks between meeting sessions.  Just two 15 minute walks will get your heart rate pumping and you'll be less likely to get sleepy during those last couple of speaker panels.

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4. Get plenty of rest

This is tricky, especially when you're running to connect flights, attending day-long meetings and networking events or celebrations that go well into the night.  It's really hard to get your beauty rest, but the worst thing is returning from a trip feeling completely drained.  In order to stay on a semi-normal sleeping schedule, I try to wind down tv watching and computer time at the time I usually would at home, and read before bed.  I also bring ear-plugs and a face mask so that different room elements don't disturb my sleep.  When navigating social / networking events, I also keep my alcohol and food consumption at a normal level so that I'm not prone to be one of the colleagues shutting down the bar/reception.  

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5. Eat responsibly, but indulge a little

Most of these tips have emphasized normalcy, responsibility, and regulating over-indulgence.  However, you ARE on vacation, or traveling for work, so you do deserve a *little* wiggle room.  In order to make sure I don't get carried away, I scope out the offerings at buffet-type gatherings, and only eat the healthy options. If I successfully do this, than I get to have whatever I want for dessert.  If I'm doing a plated meal, I order the healthiest thing on the menu, or pick and choose what won't make me feel over-full if it's a 3+ course meal.  When ordering room service, I usually get a salad option with grilled chicken or fish, or a grilled chicken/fish entree with steamed vegetables.  I let myself get a small dessert OR a glass of wine, and always order everything made without oil or butter.  This is especially important when ordering breakfast via room service - beware - most hotels use CREAM and BUTTER to make their omelettes, scrambled eggs, etc.  Even if you order egg whites, make sure you tell the cooks to make it healthy so you don't blow your diet!

So, those are 5 of our healthy travel tips, anything we forgot?  Do you have tried and true healthy travel tips?

2013 Goals

Ok fine, this is a 4th of July picture, but fireworks are for NYE too!

Well it's that time again, the time when we get ready to say goodbye to one year and prepare to welcome a new one. We don't know where the tradition of making New Year resolutions came from, although google could probably inform us, but we do like the idea of taking this time of year as an opportunity to reflect on where we've been and where we want to go. Practically speaking there probably isn't any real difference between a resolution and a goal, but we prefer to call these goals. To us a resolution seems more like a one shot deal, you either succeed or you don't. A goal on the other hand is something you work towards and can progress on, so that it's not a failure if you don't reach the full end point so long as you moved closer to it.

2012 has been a pretty great year for both of us, particularly towards the end, so 2013 has a lot to live up to.  With our individual plans for the coming year though, we think 2013 has a pretty good chance of beating out 2012 as one of the best years ever.  So with that said here are our personal goals for 2013.

1.  Take Risks

We both discovered later in 2012 that if we just take a chance on ourselves, great things can happen.  It is all too easy to let a fear of failure or embarrassment hold you back, and we admit to having been guilty of this ourselves.  So in 2013 we hope to push past these barriers and take some risks on ourselves, albeit calculated risks.  As someone once said, you can never succeed if you never try, so here's to taking passions to the next level and taking chances!

2.  Listen To Our Bodies

While 2012 was a wonderful year for many reasons, we both have to acknowledge that we let our bodies down in various ways.  M got so wrapped up in work and other life advancements that she let exercise and healthy eating fall off her priority list.  Meanwhile, H had to face the reality that her body can no longer process dairy products with lactose.  We have both already started trying to work on this goal over the past month, M has perhaps been a little more successful than H (Holiday season is HARD!  So much cheese!).  However we both have a long way to go with this one.  It will take a lot of hard work, and pushing through nights when the couch beckons and saying no to that baked brie appetizer someone ordered for the table, but we both know it will be worth it.  M has a half marathon and a full marathon on her calendar for 2013 already, and H is busily testing recipes.  There will be progress updates from both of us along the way, and most likely we will each face some setbacks, but that is reality, and again a goal is something you work towards and mark progress for along the way.  We may or may not reach the full end point (is there even an end point for something like this) by the end of 2013, but we feel confident that we will be closer than we are now.

3.  Learn To Say No

It's so easy at this time in our lives to over commit.  We work all day, and there are various happy hours and events to attend at night.  Some of these are work related so you feel you have to go, and others are simply with friends that you feel like you should go to.  It is definitely important to make time for friends, however sometimes it's necessary to just simply say "No".  We aren't 21 anymore, we can't just skip an 8am class in the morning (or plan a schedule that gives Fridays off), we need rest, we need time to exercise, and we can not subject our bodies to bar food on a regular basis any more.  So in 2013 we plan to exercise the word "No".  Sometimes it will be a complete no because we simply need some personal time, other times it will be "No, I can't do happy hour, but how about we go for a run or cook a healthy meal together?"  We know some might take offense, but the real friends, the ones that will transition with us as our lives change over the next several years, they will understand and might even be grateful for new hanging out alternatives.

4.  Learn To Let It Go

Nothing feels worse than the realization that you've made a mistake.  It creates a deep pit in your stomach and puts a dark cloud over your head, or at least that's what it does to us.  It can be hard to let something like this go, but it's necessary in order to be able to forward and past whatever the mistake was.  We both have a habit of beating ourselves up when we've let ourselves down or messed up.  It's like a twisted game of "if I shame myself enough then it will make things better", but it does the complete opposite usually.  So we both need to work on acknowledging our missteps, taking a little time to learn why they happened, and then instead of engaging in self shaming learning to release ourselves from the negativity and move on.  In yoga, during the end meditation portion of a class, you are supposed to have a completely clear head.  However, great instructors will tell you that if a thought comes into your mind it's ok, you should acknowledge the thought that is there and then you should release it so you can come back to a clear head.  It is such a freeing experience to do this on the mat, and so we hope to put this into practice off the mat in our daily lives as well.

5.  Get Organized!

Ok, this is really an H goal, but man oh man do I need to focus on this one.  I function in what I would call organized chaos.  Basically my desks regularly look like disaster zones, and I tend to think that I know where the things I need are.  Sometimes I'm right, but there are times when something important gets buried and forgotten about, although thankfully these tend to get rediscovered just in the nick of time.  Really, though, I am 29 years old, I cannot allow myself to live like this anymore.  I need to find organizational methods that truly work for me, and the organized chaos method is no longer an option.  If I find any useful tips along the way I will definitely share them, although right now I could use any advice you have to offer me.

So that's it, those are five goals for the 2013 year.  We are very excited for the things that are coming up for us in this new year, and we look forward to more blogging and sharing with all of you.

What goals or resolutions do you have for 2013?

Back in the Saddle: 2 Weeks In

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A couple of weeks ago I wrote a pretty personal post about my lack of focus on health & fitness for the 2012 year.  Since that public admission (gulp) I realized I needed to follow up and get back on the giddy up.  So, that's exactly what I've been doing over the past couple of weeks.

I'm not going to lie, it hasn't been easy.  We're in the midst of the holiday season, so prioritizing working out and eating healthy as I bounce from work happy hours to holiday parties, and turn down cake (I know, turning down cake is like torture) and beer in favor of the veggie tray and water/tonic and lime (I admit it, totally lame).



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However, and anti-festive as this sounds, I feel SO.MUCH.BETTER!  I've reworked my diet plan too, eating mostly veggies, very, very little meat, and only having healthy snacks when I'm hungry.  I've let myself cheat here and there, I indulge in ONE cookie, not 5, or I have a glass of wine instead of a sugary cocktail. (no grinches here)  I also am learning not to berate myself when I miss a workout or eat one too many M&Ms.  I scold myself once, vow to be extra good for the next day or two, and move on.  No self hate or beating myself up for 3 days because I missed ONE run or ate an extra 300 calories.

I've also been back to a regular running program because I signed up for a half marathon in March.  This was REALLY hard the first and second week.  It was awful dragging my butt out of bed before work to get a pitiful 3 miler in, then come home and feel like I was going to pass out in the shower because I was out of shape. It was equally awful when I'd get home at 6:30pm, look at how appealing the couch and my new Homeland Netflix looked, but still gear up and head out to get in a run before dinner.

But now, almost 3 full weeks back in, I'm starting to look forward to runs again.  I'm not feeling as winded when I get to the top of a big hill, or at the end of a run like I did a couple of weeks ago.  My clothes fit much better and I'm not constantly tugging at things.  Its also getting easier to order healthy food because I'm listening to my body...it craves healthy food, and works better when I eat it rather than when I get a plate of french fries.

It's still a struggle, I've been out of shape for awhile, so I know that this is going to be an uphill battle (literally) while I fight bad habits and covet motivation.  But with the little improvements I'm seeing as a result of my discipline, I've got to say, staying on this track is a LOT more satisfying than not.

For example, last night I did a 4 mile run.  My first mile I did VERY slowly, but then, the next 3 miles I got progressively faster as my body settled into the activity.  I cut 30 seconds off my first mile on the second mile, then did the same on the third and forth miles. I ended the run a few minutes faster than I'd expected and felt GREAT afterwards. 

Did any of you take the re-dedication plunge like I did?  How are you doing with getting back on track?  Any tips/discussion topics?

To those of you who recently vowed to get back in shape, remember:



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