Ah- the good ol' raspberry. Let me introduce you to this great superfood; Raspberries are a fruit that per cup provides 8 grams of fiber, 15 carbs, and only 64 calories!

THEIR BENEFITS:
Weight loss. Raspberries are becoming popular in weight management tactics as they contain phytonutrients that increase the metabolism in fat cells, and can decrease the activity of fat digesting enzymes of the pancreas. This means that when digested, these phytonutrients can help us stop absorbing and holding onto fat cells and also help break down any fat cells already in us. 
Raspberry Ketone pills have become popular in the weight loss pill world. This is for that reason- the phytonutrients are chemically removed from the raspberry and mixed with a whole bunch of other crap and put into a pill. I'm not telling you to take theses pills, DO NOT take these pills, just go for the natural, healthy fruit. 
Atoxidantative powers: As stated above, raspberries have 50% more antioxidants than strawberries. Antoxidants are  what helps us stay away from catching colds. These antoxdiants also help fight against cancer and heart disease. 

A few ways to eat raspberries: 
1. Add some raspberries in your next smoothie. 
2. Yogurt partait; yogurt, raspberries, blueberries, slivered almonds and some cinnamon yummmmm
3.Enjoy raspberries by themselves for a little pick me up between lunch and dinner
4. If you're craving some choloclate.. Make your own dark chocolate covered raspberries 

Challenge: Switch one of your staple snacks for raspberries this week. 
ENJOY!

My dinner last night- 
Quinoa with cranberries, apples and spinach. 4 ingredients, 15 minutes to make. To add a little more protein I grilled 4 of chicken.

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 medium apple (I used Gala)
1 cup (or big handful) baby spinach
1 cup cranberries or cran-raisins 

1. Cut apples into 1/2 in cubes. Sauté on pan on medium heat
2. Add cranberries in with apples
3. Cook quinoa; two cups water to 1 cup quinoa. Bring to boil, cover and simmer. 
4. When quinoa is just about done add sautéed apples and cranberries. Let simmer for 3-5 minutes. 
5. Just before serving chop up baby spinach (or rip apart with hands), mix into delicious quinoa mix.
Makes 4 servings. (roughly 3/4 cup each)

Nutrition per serving:
Calories: 195
Fat: 2.5
Carbs: 38.4
Protein: 6

With 4 oz chicken
Calories: 305
Fat: 3.5
Carbs: 38.4
Protein: 31

ENJOY and please share your thoughts :)

I've had my fair share of protein powders, bars, shakes and gels. 
Hemp protein has been in the stores for a while but I haven't had time to grab some. Also- after my last protein powder (pea protein) I was a little hesitant to try this. 
This product says some really awesome stuff on the package:
11g protein
12g fiber (48% of your DV!)
9 essential amino acids
vegan
BPA free container. 

Now.. to see how it tastes. The smell isn't too bad and it looks like crushed up grass-must be healthy. 

I mixed powder, 1 c almond milk, handful of blueberries and a dash of cinnamon. The result was pretty amazing. Didn't taste like protein or something from the ground. 
Even more good news: one serving contains only 12g carbs (-12g fiber=0 net carbs) 1 gram sugar and is fairly inexpensive; I bought mine from Whole Foods for $9.99 and has 15 servings. I give this a thumbs up and plan on using it as a snack once a day. 

Please feel free to comment below!

Who doesn't like burgers? A lot of chain restaurants are started to offer "healthy" versions of dinners. Chili's black bean burger has 650 calories.. not completely terrible for a big dinner.. the kicker is in the fats and carbs. 12 grams of saturated fat and a whopping 96 carbs! 

Here's my version of the black bean burger. Remember- I'm not a chef, so this recipe is easy and was fairly quick to make.
Also- We ate them before I could grab a picture, so this is from the web, but looks pretty similar except the two slices of bread.


Ingredients:
1 pound lean turkey meat
3/4c black beans
3 garlic cloves
4TBS hummus (I used red pepper)
1 avocado
4 slices of your choice of bread (we eat sprouted bread; Ezekiel bread)
1 tomato 

Super easy directions:
Mix together ground turkey, black beans, crushed garlic cloves in a bowl. My nana used to use eggs and onions in her burgers- that would be a nice add in. This makes 4 awesomely sized burgers. 
Cook burgers about 7 minutes on each side medium heat until cooked to your preference. 
While cooking- spread 1TBS hummus, 1/4 avocado and tomato on each slice of bread
Top a burger on one slice of bread and enjoy! 
*Using one piece of bread per burger is called an "open face" burger and cuts down on carbs! For even lower carbs enjoy your burger on a big piece of roman lettuce. 

Nutrition: 
One burger with fixings:
Calories: 246
Fat: 10.6 (mostly from avocado which is very healthy, fat burning fats)
Carbs: 28 (again-super healthy carbs)
Protein:14.4
Fiber: 8.7
Sugar: 1.7 

Print this recipe out, try it and please share with us and others!

ENJOY!!

About a year and a half ago I met Kathy at Planet Fitness. 
She wanted some help staying active as she just could not find the motivation or time to do it herself. 
I met with her only once before we had to part ways due to some medical issues she had to take care of. 
About 5 months later I never thought I'd hear from her again, but I did! She called, and asked if we could still meet to get her active. 
I was more than happy to hear from her! 
We would do the common things; core stability, balance, some weight training... but the more I talked to Kathy the deeper into her athletic background I learned.

Kathy has always been a runner- I think she could even run laps around me at her peak. She doesn't just run because she loves to push herself- there has always been an even deeper, and even more humble reason for the three marathons and countless halves and triathlons she has done. 

Without giving away too much of her personal life, there has been some extremely devastating events happen while she was training- and one would think that she would just give up, do the next marathon to come around but no-it only pushed Kathy to train harder and do her absolute best.  

Knowing this I knew I couldn't just let Kathy do bicep curls and not run again. We built up slowly; from running for 30 seconds at a time all the way to almost an hour! She would plug her headphones in and just run, occasionally take them off to she how she was doing or to see what I wanted her to do next. 

July 4 was the first 5k she had done in almost a year and it only grew the fire more! We spent all summer running and training for a 10k. 
Now I told you something would always get in the way of Kathy training. On December 30 Kathy left the gym telling me she was going ice skating. Later that night I got a phone call from her husband to let me know Kathy had shattered her left wrist and was in emergency surgery. 

Flash forward 2 months. It is now February and she has been held up for 10 weeks without being able to use her left arm, or do anything more than walk. Kathy comes back to the gym for training, completely bummed out that the endurance she had built up was gone. 
I'm not exaggerating when I tell you I have never seen this much motivation in anyone. 
Now we're training again, and on a great path. 
One month in... Kathy learns her 11 year old dog and best friend has aggressive cancer. Anyone with a pet can relate; it's the end of the world when something bad happens to them. 
Again, you'd think that she would give up and be defeated by this news. She is not. She keeps pushing. Two days a week Kathy is here running better than the time before all while taking care of her (almost cancer free dog) and working her job.

She is a true inspiration to anyone who ever thought the saying "life gets in the way of life" is true. 
We all have things happen to us- but you need to pick yourself back up and not quit. Ever.  

I'm super excited to announce Kathy will be joining our team in the Run for Charlotte 5K on April 26 as her first of many runs of the summer. 

Sometimes..life gets in the way of life. I don't have to tell all of you this.. everyone goes through it all the time.

That was this weekend for me, and I don't want anyone to think I'm complaining, I'm not at all, it was just very tough. So let me tell you about it..






Saturday:
woke up at 5, made breakfast and watched stupid news
3 mushrooms
3large egg whites
Tomato 
1/8c feta

From 8-11:15 I have classes and training, which I don't do all the exercises but I certainly burn through everything I ate. 
This is where it gets tough.. I have 15 minutes to eat as much as I can before the kids come in
.. I got 2 slices of cantaloup

Kid's classes end at 1. Then we have open gym, which i can chill behind the desk and eat alllll I want!
I started cooking chicken and steak for us.
Two kids came in, as well as an old friend with his friend who is competing on Ninja Warrior in a month. Well, I forgot all about the meat. 
So when I couldn't eat the meat this was my lunch:
LUNCH
1/2c brown rice
1/2c carrots
1 apple with 1 TBS PB
We closed at 4. Dave had left for the firehouse. I walked home, forgot my keys. Walked back to the gym, walked back home. At this point I'm extremely hungry and a little nauseous. 
DINNER
(don't make fun of me for this... ate the same thing twice today)
1 egg with yolk
2 egg whites
6 grape tomatos 
1/4c oatmeal with handful blueberries
cleaned, tried to get my run in but called it good after 1 mile. Too... weak... 
DAILY TOTALS 
Calories: 886 protein:57 Carbs 95  fat: 38 and 1 very weak girl

SUNDAY.. what I thought would be a relaxing day
this goes by fast..
Woke up at 5. 
1/2c oatmeal with blueberries
6 mile run... felt amazing. My body feels lighter and I ran faster than normal
Waited for Dave to come home. 
BREAKFAST 
4 egg whites 
3 mushrooms
1/8c feta
1 apple with PB

Had at kid's party from 10-12 at the gym.   Had a shake prepared. Forgot it.
At 1030 had yet another apple with PB (1/2 really.. Dave needed some too)
Now after the party I can't tell you how I excited I was to go home and relax all day! But I forgot.. we planned on going to one of our friends gyms to be ninjas.   Went home, drank a shake:
1c milk
1c blueberries
1 banana
DELICOUS!! 

Went to store.. had 2 GF bars. Satisfied.
Ninja-ed around from 130-4. Was called "the power couple" which felt great. I'm not sure if I have more strength from training or my body really is reacting to being clean but for once I was teaching girls how to do the salmon ladder instead of being taught. I could do more with obstacles than I ever could. *HAPPY****!!

530-11pm consisted of hanging out with Dave, my sister and our good friend Matt. We had a lot of Walking Dead to catch up on. Our friends are great, and while I don't think they competely understand why we do this, they support us.
So they ate with us
DINNER
Whole bunch of strawberries and raspberries
4 oz chicken 
1 c baked sweet potato 
1/2c rice 
More strawberries, more almonds
 

I can't tell you the amounts of today because it flew by so quickly I didn't have any time to put it in my phone. 

And that't my weekend in a nutshell. 
Days 7+8 were not bad, it's so hard to plan, but by the end of this I hope to be able to create a meal plan for anyone who wants to try this insanity. 
If anyone wants any recipes or has any questions please please don't hesitate to ask!

It's day five of this whole clean eating movement Jen and I decided to tackle together. I would like to first start off my with each days feelings:
Day 1: This isn't bad. I can not each protein bars for awhile. Wait... No protein powered either? Um... ok
Day 1 (afternoon): OH GOD I'M GONNA DIE! HOW DO PEOPLE LIVE LIKE THIS?!?!
Day 2: Okay... stay calm... just eat more, not everything needs to be chocolate covered protein. The meals taste really good... You just need more....
Day 2 (afternoon): WHY LORD! WHY!?!? JUST ONE BAR MAN! JUST ONE WON'T KILL ME.... okay.... calm down... just eat a whole bag of almonds... that's kind of like chocolate covered protein...
Day 2 (late night): OH GOD MY STOMACH IS EATING ITSELF! 
Day 3: I can do this, 8:30 am big breakfast. Check. Snack 1, check, snack 2 check... it's 10:30am, damn. Snack 3. Check. Big Lunch. 8 oz of chicken/ cup of veggies/ cup of rice... not full yet. Banana, homemade trail mix. Better. Snack 4, snack 5, snack 6. (I'm not even lying). Dinner... BIG BIG DINNER! I still need my chocolate fill... wait... dark chocolate is okay?!?! THERE IS A GOD!
Day 4: Waking up hungry is not fun. BIGGER BREAKFAST DAVID! cup (+) of oatmeal with fruit and 3 large eggs. I'm full? I'm full! It finally happened! oh that was short lived.
Day 4 (afternoon): Wow, what the hell is guam gum? Can I eat that? Vanilla flavoring can come from Beaver butt fluid?! WTF?!?! Organic Phosopate Sodium Nitroxial.... That doesn't sounds organic at all... crossbreeding wheat is okay but mechanically cleaned meat isn't. WHO IS MAKING THESE RULES?!?! 
Day 4 (evening): I've made it. This is okay, I feel better, I feel better. Damn... I am hungry. 
Day 5: Big breakfast. Snack. Snack. Snack. Lunch. Snack. Snack. Snack. Dinner. Snack. Snack. Sleep. Repeat. This is no problem

So If you can't tell I am hungry. I am hungry as I type this. Ya know in that Simpson's episode where Homer couldn't eat donuts so everyone and everything turned into donuts, thats what I see. My favorite foods are literally everywhere. Do you realize how many commercials or just advertisement in general is for food? Food that has more genetically added ingredients then natural ones? It's mind boggling. And have you ever tried to walk against a crowd at Six Flags? That's the firehouse. I had plain bulgur wheat because its all I had. They had pork chops, spanish rice, white bread, and apple sauce (or at least thats what they called it). My planning has already improved. 

One thing about me (I am not bolstering myself, I promise), I have a fast metabolism. I mean fast. I was practically raised on Burger King and I never gained a pound as a kid. Those protein bars were no lie holding me over between our already health meals that were very portion friendly. So we take the bars, the protein shakes, and what few unhealthy snacks (its not a myth, firefighters eat ice cream a lot) but I figure it won't be bad. Those statements on the top of the page are true! I am constantly hungry. I eat a troff of food and as I finish I can feel the pit already starting in my stomach. I am already wondering where the next thing i can digest is. The thing that you don't realize is all those added ingredients put a strain on your digestive system. It has to work overtime to get through all that. Dave's digestive system already works overtime, Dave's digestive system is eating through this all natural/ "close to the ground" food like a K12 saw through a phone book. (Its a really big, really sharp saw that cuts through cement, metal, and any kind of roofing). So the hunger is real.

There is some super positive things to say. Honestly, I feel better. Not that I didn't have energy before but I am full of it now. It seems a lot of my injuries are fixing themselves. It honestly like magic, nothing was working and suddenly its all solving itself. One of my favorite things, these muscles I have worked so hard on are popping out. I swear you put me next to a Calvin Klein model and I doubt you'd be able to tell the difference (I can tell you the different, my muscles can actually do something besides loosely hold up a pair of $90 underwear). 

It's easier then I've made it seem. I just need to eat more then a normal human even before I do my ANW workouts. Maybe I shouldn't wait 5 days to write another blog for everyone... this is a lot to take in... I need a snack......

It's Thursday-you're tired, you don't want to get out of bed... and you definitely don't want to work out. 10 minutes of exercise is worth it to feel better and change your body. No excuses