Faux Ice Cream

What is your favorite guilty pleasure when it comes to food? Bread? Pasta? Cake?

For me one of the big ones is ice cream, so you can imagine my excitement to find an idea, while trolling the internet, for a healthy alternative.  My excitement was imimmediately followed by skepticism, as it often is with "diet" food.  The solution? To try it first hand, of course.

First I will share the recipe, then my results and opinion.

Faux Ice Cream:

2 Bananas sliced and frozen
1 Tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 Tbsp Peanut Butter (Optional- I just like the flavor combination)

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth and creamy.

Easy enough, right?  I thought it was very successful.  Does it taste exactly like ice cream? Of course not.  Who would honestly expect it to?  However, the temperature and consistency are the same and I loved the flavor.  The natural sugar from the banana provides just enough sweetness and the cocoa gives that chocolate flavor that we all adore.

Now, I pride myself on healthy eating even if I have to compromise a bit of flavor, so I wanted an unbiased opinion to provide you with.  I went to the most honest guinea pig you can ask for... a 5 year old.  I offered Ava a bite and she came back  for another and another until she had eaten half of the bowl! She said "Mama, what is that? It is yummy!"

So there you have it. Straight from the mouth of an innocent, honest child.

Nutritional Info: Without Peanut Butter (With Peanut Butter)

Calories: 220 (315)
Fat: 1.3 g (9.3 g)
Carbs: 57 g (61 g)
Fiber: 8.2 g (9.2 g)
Protein: 3.1 g (6.6 g)

70% Nutrition 30% Exercise?

I am constantly coming across pictures on websites such as Facebook and Twitter that talk about percentages.  "Abs are 30% exercise and 70% diet".  Now I am not one to sugar coat, so I am just going to go ahead and say it....

THIS IS BULL!

Think of it this way. If a football team put only 50% of their effort into offense and 50% into defense, would they be a successful team? Of course not.  They must put 100% into every aspect of the game if they expect to win. 

Why would your health be any different?  You can't spend 11 hours eating junk food and 12 hours sleeping then expect 1 hour of exercise to give you results.  It simply does not work that way. 

Nutrition (I'm not a fan of the word "diet") and Fitness go hand in hand, and you must give 100% to each.  You can workout twice a day, seven days a week and you will see very minimal results if you are still eating junk.  

How do I know this? Because this was me until recently.  I absolutely love to workout.  I mean I seriously LOVE it.   The problem was that I have always loved junk food as well.  Not sweets, but I could pig out on chips, pretzels, crackers, etc...  

It took me a long time, but I finally realized I was shooting myself in the foot.  By eating junk, I might as well have been not exercising at all.  That is when it finally clicked in my mind.  In my opinion, the key to healthy eating, fitness, or anything for that matter is your state of mind.  

If you don't fully set your mind to something, you will not do it.  

I will leave you with a very yummy recipe, courtesy of www.hungryhealthyhappy.com 

Banana and Almond Butter French Toast

Ingredients – Serves 2:

- 4 slices of whole wheat bread

- 3 tbsp Almond butter  (Or I have used Peanut Butter  -April)

- 1 banana, sliced

- 1 medium egg

- 1 tbsp vanilla extract

- Cinnamon and Nutmeg to taste

1) Cut the crusts off the bread (keep for breadcrumbs or give the birds a treat)

2) Spread the almond butter on each slice of bread

3) Divide the banana slices between 2 slices of bread and put the other slices of bread on top to form 2 sandwiches. Pinch round all the sides to close the edges.

4) Whisk together the egg, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.

5) Dip each sandwich in the egg mixture until each side is coated.

6) Add to a hot pan that has a little butter in it and cook for 90 seconds each side.

7) Serve.

Nutritional Information – per person:

Calories: 400

Carbs: 45

Fat: 17.5

Protein: 17

Fibre: 9

Motivation

"You want me to do something... tell me I can't do it." 

-Maya Angelou

"I wish I had your motivation." "Can you give me some of your motivation?" If I had a nickel for every time someone has said these to me...  well you know. 

Motivation is something most people struggle with.  I know I have in the past.  The solution? Well, there is no one solution that works for everyone.  We each have our own reasons for wanting to get into shape, lose weight, etc. Maybe you want to fit into a bikini for your beach trip, finally get back in that old pair of jeans, simply feel better about how you see yourself in the mirror.  Deciding why you want to do it is the first step,  but sometimes pinpointing the end result you are looking for just isn't enough to motivate you to do the work necessary to get there.  

So what do you do?  Well, for me, signing up for a challenge was the trick.  

Last spring, one of my "Team Bob" workout buddies had the idea that we should compete in a Warrior Dash.  For those who aren't familiar with the event, Warrior Dash is a 5K race through a muddy terrain with approximately 15 obstacles spread throughout the course.  We all jumped at the idea, but in the back of my mind I was terrified.  I had never run a 5K, let alone a 5K that required me to do things such as jump over fire!  I am not one to back down, so I logged onto the website and registered.  Tip: Once you pay the money you are much less likely to back out of something.  This was the fuel I needed to finally get down to business.  I wasn't going to embarrass myself in front of thousands of people.  I have too much pride for that.  I had about 5 months to get myself "warrior ready", so I got even more serious with the weights and I started running for the first time. Ever.  

In October of last year, the four of us completed our first Warrior Dash (with no injuries sustained!).  The sense of accomplishment was such an amazing feeling.  So much so, that we were ready to do it all over again! I completed my first 10K last weekend, am competing in another Warrior Dash in less than a month, and will tackle my first Spartan Race this fall!  

While events such as these may not be possible for you, or even interest you, there are many other means of motivation.  Sometimes it just takes a little soul searching to find what sparks yours. 

In the words of the Les Mills trainers "Stay with the Fight!"

XOXO

Welcome

Hi, my name is April Smith. I have been asked by several friends if I would start a health and fitness blog.  My first reaction was "Gosh no, I don't have time for that" and I pushed it aside.  As time passed, the thought kept creeping back into my mind. If  were to use the "I don't have time" excuse, I would be a hypocrite. I loathe that phrase. No one has time. We must make time. So I decided that if I can help just one person change their life for the better, become healthier and happier, then I should make the time.

I am no personal trainer.  I am no nutritionist.  I'm just a 28 year old working mom trying to be healthy and stay in shape. I live and learn by trial and error.  I am not going to guarantee that what works for me will work for you because if there is one thing I have learned, it is that no two bodies are the same.

I will be posting healthy recipes, substitutions for those guilty pleasure foods, and workout tips.  Bear with me as I get started. Hopefully you will find what I post to be helpful your journey.

Xoxo