Bite Your Tongue!: How Words Can Change Your Life

Hey there! Welcome to another blog entry. I hope when you are done reading you feel just a bit more fulfilled and uplifted than when you began :)

We always hear that words have power. Do you remember that saying from when you were little, "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me"?  It's a crock of crap. Words hurt. Words get into our psyche without us even KNOWING it...they are like stink bugs! Infesting the world around them.

But here's the really awesome thing about words: the negative ones can totally infest your life, take you to a dark place, and affect the world around you and turn it into a more negative place...but the positive ones can also totally infest your life, take you to a light place, and affect the world around you and turn it into a more positive place. So we need to learn how to pick and choose the words that fill our vocabulary.  Even JOKING about our appearance or our life can negatively affect our reality if those words are negative.

Gabby Bernstein sums it up beautifully (as always). Make sure you check out this video. Comment below on how you can start incorporating this practice into your own life. And while you are at it, make sure you subscribe to her YouTube channel

GabrielleBernstein

No Sugar Banana Bread

I LOVE BANANAS! which means I also love anything banana flavored.

There is just something about banana bread. I think I love it so much because it reminds me of my grandmother. We would always make it together and the smell of banana bread would fill her house. I can remember always turning the oven light on just waiting for it to be ready.  When it was pulled out, she would let it cool and then sprinkle it with powdered sugar. Nothing will ever beat grandma's banana bread.

But if you are like me and watching your sugar in take, Grandma's recipe might not be for you! But this one is, and it tastes PHENOMINAL!

Ingredients

 
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar free applesauce
3/4 cup honey
2 eggs, beaten
3 mashed overripe bananas

Directions
 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together applesauce and honey. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Tried it? Comment below! What did you think!

Check back every Friday for a new, fabulous, DELICIOUS, healthy dessert!

How to Achieve Goals through Forced Efficiency

There is a lot that can be said for your surroundings. It is not just about the people that you surround yourself most that will determine your success in life, but also what you surround yourself with in your personal work space.

The goal is productivity. This can be said for a white collar job, a blue collar job, a network marketing job, a sales job, etc. Productivity takes preparation no matter what line of business you are in. Just like a surgeon has all of their tools in front of them prior to that first incision, so must you prior to sitting down to finish what you are working on.

Forced efficiency means an arranged desk, pens, pencils, a notepad, a calendar, etc. It means having everything where everything needs to be. It means that things literally need to be within reach, in eye sight, and in the proper place. It means being free of clutter. It means tapping into your OCD side just a wee tad.

Try this: the next time that you sit down to finish a task, take everything off of your desk. Go through the pile and return only those items that are ESSENTIAL to what you are currently working on. By only having the essentials on your desk you focus remains on the task at hand, and distraction is less likely to occur.

Prepare yourself for success, and you shall achieve that success.

Chocolate Mug Cake

So I have this Fit Thru the Holidays challenge group that I am running that consists of 40 women pledging to stay true to their health and fitness through the holidays. It's not easy! Especially with all the temptation lurking around. I found this mug cake on Facebook and it looked AH-MAZING, so naturally I had to try it and it lived up to its reputation. Check it out!

 Ingredients

1 scoop Shakeology
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
- mix well in mug
Add in 1 egg (or 1/4 cup egg whites)
3 tbsp almond milk
- mix well
 

Take a big scoop of peanut butter and push down into the center of the mug
Microwave for 90 seconds
Top with more peanut butter

OMG! Fantastic! Delicious! MORE PLEASE!

A Life Change Through Friendships

I always grew up believing that old saying, "When you get older you will only have one or two good friends". I was anticipating my friends to dwindle and fall off each passing year of my 20's, until finally in my 30's it was just me, my husband, and my dogs. I was expecting to live a boring life, maybe do some gardening on the weekends (which is a joke because I kill any plant I touch), and just be "normal".

Well I'm on my way to 29 and I have seen some great friends leave my life over the past 10 years: I wish them well. But on the other hand I have had many people find their way back into my life, as well as made some new friendships that I never saw coming. So to say that the old saying is true, would be a lie.

Having the mindset that I do now, it is hard for me to sit here and think back to being 20 and basically accepting a way in which my life was going to go. I didn't even question it, I just accepted that is how it was going to be.  That's how I have been for the majority of my life is just accepting of "life's ways".  "It is what it is" is something you would always hear me say. I certainly wasn't building myself up to be anything great. An average life was just fine.

Then I took this leap of faith and decided to be a Beachbody Coach. I had no idea what that meant, or what I had to do, but I heard the word "discount" and figured why the hell not. I was hoping it wasn't in-home parties, or passing out catalogs, delivering product, or storing it in my house. Honestly..I just wanted my damn discount!  I was so relieved when I learned it was nothing like what I had pictured it to be. But I was pleasantly surprised as I stuck with it and began to see what it was becoming.


Beachbody, as corny as it sounds, has brought old friends back into my life and new friends into my life that I hold very close to my heart. And these aren't just friendships with lack of meaning or bond between them, these are solid friendships - the kind that you had with your B.F.F in 4th grade where no matter what, you were there for each other. There was a glue there, and there is a glue now with the friendships that I find in my life.

Quickly my world began to change. No longer was it "friends" complaining about this that or the other, or "friends" listening to a vent session and then running and telling someone else, it was finally friends that were FRIENDS. Friends that held respect for one another, and held each other to such a high standard that they refused to sit back and watch one another fall on their face. These are the friends with muscle behind them; the kind that can lift you up no matter how down you can be.

Being someone who has dealt with depression in the past and some really poor friendships, this new breed lifted me higher. This new group of friends took me to a place where I didn't accept anything less than amazing in my life (so whether or not you are a Beachbody Coach, if we are friends you must be pretty damn awesome). Through friendships I learned how to live a higher quality of life, and how to expect and accept only the highest quality for my own life.


I know this is a very corny post, and I'm not typically like this; however, all of the "thankful" posts on Facebook made me think of what I was very thankful for and that's for my friends. Honestly, if it wasn't for you guys I don't know what kind of life I'd be living. So THANK YOU!!

How to Achieve Your Goals by Considering the Consequences

Everything that we do in life involves consequences. There is a great quote that says, "You are free to choose, but you are not free from the consequences". The same can be said for the consequences behind not doing daily activities that move you closer to achieving your goals.

The obvious consequence is that the goal won't happen; however, for some people that is not enough to get them moving. And if that is you, that's okay. There is more that you can do.

Tony Robbins always says that anything we do, or seek, in life is a method for avoiding pain and increasing pleasure. With that being said, the consequences of you not achieving a certain goal can become a lot more serious when you think of the pain it could cause yourself and those around you.

Let's take the example of a woman who needs to lose a good deal of weight as prescribed by her doctor. She puts it off because she doesn't enjoy working out, and she loves food. She has a vacation to Disney World coming up. She has two little girls age 7 and 9, but mom can't ride any of the rides with them because she can't fit in the seats. In addition, mom chooses not to go in the pool with them because she doesn't feel like putting on a swimsuit. The family vacation that the girls were looking forward to is now greatly reduced in meaning and fun because the mother could not take the actions necessary to better herself. Her inaction has caused pain not only for herself by constantly being denied the ability to ride the rides, but by seeing the look on her girls faces. There's a little bit of embarrassment there, resentment, regret. The girls aren't having fun because mom can't join in and they are jealous of the kids around them that have parents playing with them.

As you can see, that example is full of a lot of pain. The consequence is not just, "If I don't watch what I eat I will not lose weight or become more healthy". Now the consequence behind the inaction takes on a much more serious role that dives into the emotions of not just the person not taking the action, but all of those around her.

This is what you need to think of when you consider inaction towards a goal you have. Not just what is the obvious consequence if it doesn't happen, but how does that affect those around you. How does that make you feel? How does that make them feel? How does lack of completion push you forward?  After you have permitted yourself to explore those emotions, turn them around. Think of what happens when you DO achieve your goal. How will that make you feel? How will that make those around you feel? What can you provide them with now that you have accomplished what you set out to do? What can you now push yourself to do that you couldn't do before? Take those emotions, and run with them.

Healthy Pumpkin Cookies

 I'll admit, I'm a pumpkin-holic. I love all things pumpkin: coffee, bread, pie, and now...cookies! And now I can enjoy them at about 52 calories a pieces, which is LOADS better than the kind at the grocery store! Take about 30 minutes out of your day to try this amazing recipe. You're taste buds will thank you :)


Ingredients:
Nonstick cooking spray
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
¼ tsp. sea salt
1¼ cups pumpkin puree
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup raisins (or unsweetened dried cranberries)
¼ cup chopped raw pecans

Click here to get loads more delicious recipes!


 Preparation:
1. Preheat oven for 350° F.
2. Lightly coat baking sheet with spray. Set aside.
3. Combine oats, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a medium bowl; mix well.
4. Add pumpkin, maple syrup, raisins, and pecans; mix well.
5. Drop by rounded Tbsp. onto prepared baking sheet; flatten cookies with a spatula.
6. Bake for 14 to 15 minutes or until firm.



Nutritional Information (per serving):

Calories: 103

Fat: 3 g

Saturated Fat: 0 g

Cholesterol: 0 mg

Sodium: 67 mg

Carbohydrate: 18 g

Fiber: 3 g

Sugar: 9 g

Protein: 2 g