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

Leaning Out through the Holidays

As November starts tomorrow, me and some of my friends have planned a Fit Through the Holidays challenge group. I'm very excited for this group, because this is typically the time of year where I go hog wild on sweets and comfort foods. I cannot help it, I love to eat. Guilty as charged!

But one thing that can get me on the right track is the accountability of others, and that is what this group is set out to do. Each person who has joined can expect uplifting accountability from the others within the group, motivational support at every hurdle they may face, meal planning, recipes, contests, fun activities, and discover ways in which they can make changes that will positively affect their life even after the 60 day challenge group is over.

Our goal is not to be sitting around binging on New Year's Eve claiming how we are heading to the gym the next day to sign up for a year membership, or how we are going to take on Crossfit. Our goal is to be sitting around on New Years Eve telling others how we have already done that and how we plan on bettering ourselves even more throughout 2014. We plan on bragging (maybe a little bit) about how we have already been practicing healthy eating and fitness for the past 60 days and how we are ready to take 2014 by storm without having to make a resolution to lose weight.

For this challenge I am going to be taking Brazil Butt Lift on for the second time. The first round, I achieved AMAZING results. I won't lie, I have remained VERY active and workout 6 days a week, but my day job leaves me sitting on my butt ALL-DAY-LONG. I swear it's getting flat and ain't nobody got time for that!

I'm excited to see what this challenge is going to bring me in the form of increased awareness, fitness, and friendships. Can't wait to report back in!

Want in on this challenge? Shoot me an e-mail at nik4213@gmail.com for details for entry!

How to Achieve Success through Reverse Engineering

When I share my vision board for a new year in January to my social media audience, it is most commonly met with cheers of support from my friends. I mean, that's only natural right? You always want to support your friends and their goals. What surprises people the most, however, is when I post the vision board again at the end of the year showing what I had accomplished, and what still is left to be taken care of.

The difference between goal attainment and dreams is action taken on part of the individual. You can plan for hours, days, or even months on how you are going to develop a life that you feel that you deserve, but it will never amount to anything or go anywhere without action by YOU.

So how do I achieve everything I set out to do? I plan and I permit myself to have some fun in the meantime.

Life doesn't have to be so serious all the time, that's why my vision boards always contain business strategic goals, and fun little goals for myself.  But regardless if it's a business goal, a personal goal, or just a fun goal that you have set for yourself you need to plan.

The first step is writing down exactly what it is that you want.  What do YOU want? I'm not asking what other people want FOR you, I'm asking you what you want. This is not a list you have to show others, you can keep it to yourself. But get honest about it.

The second step is putting a date on it. When do YOU want it by? Now, some people will say go way outside of your comfort zone with this, but this is a step that I usually spend the most time on because I want my goals to be challenging, but not so much so that they seem impossible. When creating a goal, think about what you have now, what you will have in the future, and the amount of time you have to work on achieving it.  Most importantly, and this can be hard, but how much heart do you have behind it, because that is going to determine a lot of what you are willing to sacrifice to get there.

The third step is to write down everything you can think of that is needed to achieve that goal. This is called reverse engineering and is a step that is most often skipped, but one of THE MOST VALUABLE steps to take. This lays it all out for you. This gives you a clear picture of EXACTLY what you need to do. It is the rough draft of the story that you are about to create. After doing this, you might need to adjust your dates a little bit and that's okay, just make sure you are not laxing on yourself to the point where you will get lazy.

The final step: take action. Take massive action to make it happen. Take one goal at a time, look at it reverse engineered, and think of how you can take one step per day (or more) towards achieving those small items on the to do list of your goal. 

At first it's overwhelming, but practice makes perfect. Not to mention, every goal you mark off is a boost to your own self confidence, and your own belief in yourself which will push you further through life to achieve things you never thought possible.

Quality vs. Quantity: Getting the Most Out of What Matters

As you may have noticed, it has been almost a month since my last blog post. A lot is going on in my life right now, which has taken me away from some of my normal and enjoyable priorities.

My last entry was about doing what you love, and what you love becoming just another j-o-b. For me, that is what a lot of things were becoming largely because I had overloaded my plate with activities. I would be lying if I said my plate was not still full; however, after taking some time off to re-evaluate what I was doing, how to do it better, but more importantly how to do it efficiently while also being effective, I believe I have found a good formula.

After talking with one of my best friends last night, she made mention that sometimes when we are very busy we begin to do tasks just to do them. Our brain begins to go on autopilot, and there is not much thought or heart put behind what we are doing. We are simply doing it to get it off of our To Do list so we can move on to the next item and if we are lucky,finish them all that day.

The problem with this method is that your quantity may remain high in the period of stress; however, the quality of what you are doing begins to be negatively affected. When your quality of work goes down the drain, the time (be it short or long) that you spent working on it was largely a waste of time. When you are extremely busy, the best thing that you can do for yourself is make the time you are spending on tasks WORTH your time. After all, your time is valuable and clearly if you are at this point there is not much wiggle room...so if you are going to do it, do it right.

This might mean scaling back, even if you are like me and that idea scares the crap out of you. Sometimes we need to give ourselves a bit of a break. This does not mean quitting, rather re-evaluating where you can offer the most value at the given time with your given responsibilities and obligations. This idea falls back on the 80/20 rule: 80% of your results are going to come from 20% of your efforts. The trick that lies before you is deciding which tasks are your 20% that will yield you the highest results.

Here's how to do it: List your activities for the day and look them over. Which one of them will have a domino effect on other parts of your life? Which ones will move you in a positive direction towards your goals? Which ones MUST you do because they are an obligation?

My suggestion: If you have an obligation that stands in the way of you doing the activities you need to do to move you towards your goals (for example: grad school paper), get that over with first. It is the ugliest, probably most un-enjoyable item on the list, but if you get it done first the feeling of accomplishment you will have will propel you to dive into your next, hopefully more enjoyable tasks with heart.

In addition, once you have picked out the 20% of activities that will give you 80% of your results, work those next. And don't just do them to do them. Remember, the other tasks are not giving you 80%. Sure, they contribute here and there but they are not the "head honcho" of things you need to do. So rather than looking at them and thinking "I must get these done!" Stop. Breathe. And work on your 20% with a lot of thought, effort, and heart behind it. Put your time and effort into these tasks and watch it payoff...then you can go do the other small activities if there is time. By always focusing on what matters most, you can continue to move in a positive direction even when times are tough

Nicole's Method: I use the Reminders app on my iPhone for my daily To Do list. I write everything in there that I need to do for the next day (clearing out my brain before bed) and then when you click on the little "i" icon, you can add a priority to those items. My ugly obligations get highest priorities because I want them out of the way ASAP, then my 20% items get the next highest priority, and the trivial tasks that I would LOVE to get done, but if I don't it won't push me further ahead or make me fall behind get the lowest priority. I hold myself accountable to this list and resist the urge to go to the lesser priority items until they are the only ones showing on the list. I have found this works for me.


Do any of these ideas work for you? Do you have other ideas that you would like to add? Feel free to comment below and don't forget to follow me on Pinterest at Nicole Murray Fitness for various boards pertaining to how you can better your health, your fitness, and your life.

Make today awesome!