One Bowl Banana Bread

Is there anything as heavenly as the smell of freshly baking bread in the oven? It is one of life's grandest smells to me. And, it is not as hard to make some home made banana bread as you might think!

I experimented with a new easy, one bowl banana bread recipe this past weekend and the verdict is in, it was delicious! 100% husband approved, too. We will definitely be making this again.

Here's the recipe if you want to try it too!

One Bowl Banana Bread
(Makes two loaves)

Ingredients
2/3 cup melted butter, or vegetable oil
6 over ripe bananas
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
4 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1. In a large mixing bowl, mash bananas with butter (or oil), eggs and brown sugar.
2. Add seasonings, flour, baking soda and salt and stir until just combined.
3. Grease two 8x4 inch loaf pans, divide batter between the two and smooth out the top.
4. Bake at 350 for one hour or until top is springy to touch.
5. Remove from pan onto wire rack and let cool.


Enjoy with your morning coffee or as dessert! Or even make your own banana bread French toast!

Who likes a good, simple banana bread as much as I do? What kind of home made bread is your favorite?

Sunday Funday (3 Tips for a Productive Week)

Sundays are one of my favorite days of the week. As is Monday! But both for different reasons. Mondays are the fresh start, the new beginning, the starting line. You have the chance to set the pace and tone for the week on Mondays.

Sundays? That's the cap of the week. The cherry on the sundae, icing on the cake. It's a chance for me to simultaneously look back at the week, see what worked, and what didn't, as well as look ahead and prepare myself for success in the week to come.

It's a day that I love to use to plan and prepare while I relax. It leaves me refreshed and peaceful instead of scrambling on a Monday morning. And I want to share with you some of my top tips on how I use Sundays to plan ahead!

1. I write down 3 things that need to happen each day of the week. I generally break down my big goals into manageable daily goals, and distribute these throughout the week. Things like meal planning, blogging, and business goals make it onto my daily goals. They can be big or small, but keeping it to three helps me accomplish them and stay on track!

2. I schedule out my workouts. Life can vary week to week, and while I love a consistent routine, sometimes that isn't always possible. So I look ahead at what the week holds and make sure that I have planned out when and what workouts I will do for the upcoming week.

3. Meal prep! This is one that really helps out. Whether I can get all of my meals prepped or not, at least knowing what meals we will be having and getting my vegetables prepped helps a ton! If I have a healthy option available to eat on the go, I'm much more likely to choose that than the unhealthy option. Get as much of your vegetables and fresh produce ready as you can! You can even batch cook chicken and ground turkey to use in recipes throughout the week.

While there are a lot more tips that I could give you on how to use your Sunday to your advantage and prep for the week ahead, I will keep it to these top three! Spending even a little bit of time looking ahead at your week, or even the next few days can ease the stress of the upcoming week and help you break bigger tasks into manageable pieces.

How do you use your Sunday? Do you do any preparations of your own on the weekend? I would love to hear what works for you!

Marriage Tip #17

Really, this should be called life tip #17, because whether you are married, or single, this tip applies to you. To all of us. Myself and Zach included.

It is something that has come up recently when Zach and I talk about how we can love each other better and what we can do for our marriage.

The tip?

Unplug.

I have talked about this topic before, but it really is that important and it also has been in our hearts lately so I wanted to share the tip with you, too!

In our culture, everything is at our fingertips, so it seems. In even writing this blog post from my phone. We have more access to knowledge and information than ever before. We have more "connections" than ever before.

But that advantage so often becomes our disadvantage. And it can be damaging on relationships.

You can see it practically everywhere you go. People "multitasking" while on their phone. Go to a restaurant and count how many times you see people looking at their phones while in conversation with someone else.

And I am just as guilty, mind you! Though because I am aware of it, Zach and I are both very intentional about our time together.

Our tip is to take time to unplug. Put your phone away while on a date. In fact, leave it at home. Remember how we used to get along fine without a phone on us when we went out? It is possible.

This week Zach and I are taking a week off of TV and not watching and shows or movies. Just a personal choice, we never watch it excessively, but we want to be intentional about our time together.

Removing the distraction of technology gives way to more creativity together! Explore and adventure together. Discover new things, find things out the old fashioned way. Communicate face to face, eye to eye, heart to heart.

Take a bath together, read a book, build a fire. Go camp for a night or just set up your tent in the backyard. Have an uninterrupted coffee date. Make dinner together.

Technology is not evil by any means. It is a fantastic tool. But we have to be intentional in our lives and especially in our marriages, and make way for intentional, face to face, uninterrupted time for each other.

Will you unplug?

Need a Fresh Start?

New Years always starts on such a high note. Everyone and their mother are setting goals and resolutions, bound and determined to actually keep them this year. I know, because I have been there so many times, too. Made resolutions, broken them. Remade resolutions, and had to again, restart them. It can be discouraging and disheartening.

I want you to know though, it's okay to have a fresh start. You are allowed to start over. And you can start over and SUCCEED.

Something great that I have heard and keep in my mind is "if you're tired of starting over, stop quitting." So go ahead, take that leap of faith, start over and commit to sticking with it.

I know that I have had to start over with my fitness in many ways on this journe . Whether intentionally starting a new day over after a rougher day before, or beginning a workout program again, or redoing a program and giving it 110% of my effort, or even starting a new nutrition plan again and eating cleaner.

I have been through it. And more importantly, I know how difficult it can be, especially if you are going in on your own, or no one is keeping you accountable. It can be easy to stop and say "no one will know." But then you're right back where you started.

That is exactly where I was last January before I started focusing for real on my health. Of course I still have had to refocus since starting, but I have not gone back to my old unhealthy habits of not working out and not watching what I eat. Before I started, I was a serial quitter. Doing something for two weeks and hanging up the towel.

A fresh start was exactly what I needed. And what made me stick with it was accountability and motivation. That is why I am so passionate about leading the accountability groups that I do every month. It is my way to pay it forward and help others begin THEIR fresh start and establish healthy habits in their life.

My group this month is putting an extra special focus on just that. Making this our fresh start and establishing those healthy habits in our lives. Another really exciting part of this group is going to be a Biblical perspective on taking care of our bodies and how we can find balance in our lives while moving towards health overall.

If you haven't ever heard about my groups, have no fear! Here is a basic outline of what this group (and most of my groups are like):

-We begin April 20, and go for 30 days
-There are ten spaces available in my group (I like to keep it small to keep it close knit)
-Our group is held via a closed online Facebook group, so you can participate from anywhere in the country
-Daily motivational posts and tips from me, your personal and group coach.
-You check in daily and rate how your workout, nutrition and water intake was to keep you accountable.
-I help you meal plan and get recipe ideas that fit your life
-I help you find the perfect workout program for your fitness level, goals and preferences.
-You commit to working out and eating healthy for 30 days
- You participate in our group and find encouragement and community
-We will also have a few contests and prizes for this group!
-When you finish your workout program and submit your results, you get a free T-shirt (who doesn't like free??)
-Personal access to me and weekly check ins to see how things are going

And that is just the overview! Really this format has been the thing to keep me on track for over a year, which has never happened before ever in my life. Its a big deal to me to be able to find something that works. And maybe an online group isn't your thing, BUT I know what is working for me, and I can't NOT share it and lead others who need accountability just like I did.

So if you are interested at all, please message me, email, comment, however you want to reach out to me, and I can give you more information.

You can also invite yourself and add yourself to my group event on Facebook here .

Are you ready for a fresh start, too? Join us! 

One Year of Fitness

Wow. It has been one year since I decided to get on track with my health and fitness.

One year since I came to the realization that my health was only getting worse, and that I had to face the facts and do something about it. That meant working out and eating better, which were two really foreign things in my life at the time.

What a difference one year can make!

Over thirty pounds lost, countless inches also lost, energy gained, friends gained, and my life and health given back. And the best part? It's not even close to being over. This is a journey, and I'm in it for the long haul.

Getting starting on your journey to health can be a scary thing. It's overwhelming to think of all the changes you have to make, it's intimidating trying to figure out what's going to work for your body. It's scary trying to imagine how you will do a workout when you feel afraid of being out of breath.

But one thing I can tell you from this past year, is that it is absolutely and completely worth it. So I want to share my top five lessons from this past year of getting in to health and fitness, and encourage those of you that may just have started, are on the fence about your health, or even those that have been maintaining their health for a long time.

1. You are not alone. I think one of the big things that I came to realize is that I am not alone in my struggle. It can feel like it sometimes, because it's our tendency to compare our journey to others that are farther along than we are. But you are not alone. Reach out to those around you, and share your story. You might be surprised at what you find out!

2. Get accountability. This ties into my first point. I would never have stuck with this if I didn't have the accountability of my husband for my first program, and then the accountability of my challengers the rest of the year. This has been the absolute KEY to keeping me on track for an entire year (more than I have ever consistently worked out for in my life). Staying accountable to someone helps you stay with it longer, and eventually, it becomes a habit!

3. Create a space in your schedule for your health. Don't just leave it up to chance to figure out when you are going to fit your workouts in for the week, or wing it at the grocery store. Planning is crucial to getting your foundation started in health and fitness, and in helping you stick with it. So many times we find excuses about our schedule and time. But we make time for what is important to us, so write down your workout schedule and your meal planning times in your calendar, and guard that time.

4. It's so much more than the physical journey.  This was a big lesson this year. As I began to work on my health and fitness, and I started seeing results, I noticed that because I had more energy in general, I was putting more into every area of my life. My marriage, my friendships, my faith, my creative pursuits, everything. When you get your health in line, that discipline starts to spill over into other areas of your life and in the best way possible!

5. Progress, not perfection. Another huge lesson. My weight was not gained overnight. It was the result of bad eating and exercise habits that I had built over YEARS. So will all of that weight come off overnight? NO! And neither will yours. You have to stay consistent, and you have to take it one day at a time. Look at the progress you make all along the way, and focus on the little victories along with the big. It's those little wins that add up over time and before you know it, you see a whole new healthy version of you in the mirror!

No matter where you are at in your journey, I want to tell you that you can do this. If I can stick with this for a whole year now- the girl who never worked out, was the chronic quitter with anything health related, and the girl who had almost resigned herself to just staying in the bad health that she was- you can do this. Trust me.

Is it easy? No. Are there hard days? Absolutely.

But is it worth it? EVERY TIME.

Take it one day at a time, stay consistent, and make time for your health. I promise you, it is worth it.
I would love to hear what your greatest lesson from health and fitness has been so far in your life! Be sure to leave your comment below!

Drive Time University

First off, let's have a vote.

When you are driving in traffic, stuck in a gridlock, or just taking your daily commute, what do you do? 

A. Turn on the radio and skip through the channels
B. Turn on the radio and listen to the music and commercials
C. Sit in silence
D. Listen to an audio book
E. Talk on the phone, text or look at your phone

First, let me please say that if you text while driving, just say no. I can't count how many accidents or near accidents I have seen because of it. But I'm not about to get on my soap box about that today.

I wanted to share what I have been doing and have found most helpful! I've actually ditched the radio (and subsequent flipping through every channel because they are either on commercial or playing my least favorite song on repeat), and taken to listening to audio books every time I'm in my car!

The average American spends a lot of time in his car over the course of the year. Driving to and from work, to the store, taking trips, and all various kinds of errands. That means a lot of time that you can't do a lot else with your hands than drive, and you can't look at other things because you are watching the road.

That leaves our ears! I used to shuffle through the radio stations but honestly never enjoyed that much. I love music, but I have commercials more. It would get so old!

I have now replaced that with listening to audio books. My own "drive time university" if you will! For work alone I typically drive at least 3 to 4 hours per week. Do you know what you can do with three to four hours when you listen to audio books? 

I've taken "dead time," time that would just be killed sitting in traffic and turn it in an opportunity to learn, and it is already making a huge impact. I love to learn, and this avenue is free or costs next to nothing. And I can choose my own material!

Here are some great places to start looking:

1. Podcast Addict App. LOVE this app! You can search and subscribe to many different podcasts- pastors, teachers, motivational speakers. Put it on when you get in the car and listen while you drive!

2. Audible. This is linked to Amazon! I have not personally used it yet, but I know some friends who love this app and use it to listen to fiction and non fiction a like.

3. YouTube. You can actually find some great motivational material on there, but it tends to be shorter than other apps. I recommend using the "watch later" button to bookmark what you want to listen to and then create a playlist so you are hands free while driving.

4. Physical CDs. Amazon is great for this too! You can find so many books on audio to get and keep on hand in your car to listen to!

If you have never tried this before, I challenge you to listen to one podcast this week on your way to work and see if you don't learn something new along the way!

What's your favorite audio book?

5 Tips for Getting Organized

It's no secret that as the new year is upon us, everyone is wanting to get more organized. Just today in fact, I was in line at Target to get a few things, and I saw at least three other people in line with a planner or calendar in hand. Ready to take on the world, one page at a time.

I myself have gone through phases of using a planner, using a calendar, using my phone, going by my memory, having a million post its and to do lists crammed in my purse, and any number of other "methods" I tried to use to stay organized.

But over this past year especially, I have found that I am actually a pen and paper gal, through and through. Writing things down concretely on paper helps me to gather my thoughts, lay out a plan, manage my time, and most importantly, stay organized.

So I became one of those people, planner and three other notebooks in hand, and began to plan and write. I actually had my goals written out, in several places. But I wanted all of my plans, to dos and ideas in one place (or between a notebook and a planner), in an effort to keep life simple.

From all of my experiments, I have a few tips to share with you if you are looking to get your calendar and life organized this year and are determined to stick to it. I could write a whole series of blogs on how to stick with things, but we will start with some organizing tips for now.

1. KISS. Keep It Super Simple!! Whether you are tech savvy and love your apps, or you need a pen and paper, remember above all to keep it simple! The fewer amount of places you have all of your information stored, the better. Try and keep everything in one or two locations to keep you sane. This will also aid in consistency!

2. Write it down. Over the course of your year, you are going to have parties, appointments, to dos, gatherings, meetings, and an endless gamut of things with a deadline. Write it down. Again, whether on your phone or in a planner, write it down. It may seem simple, but sometimes the simple things are easily overlooked.

3. Take one day a week to plan. This may take some time to get in the habit of if you are not used to it. But truly I am telling you, if you take even just 20 minutes one time a week to look ahead at your week and plan out what you need to do, spread it across your week, I promise it's going to take some stress out of your life.

4. Use your planner! Okay, I'm going to break the mold and encourage you to do something that might make you a little uncomfortable. Put the phone down, get your planner (or calendar, or go get one) and a pen, and WRITE. The art of keeping a planner and a hand written calendar has been lost on our culture for a few years. Some people help keep it alive, but the benefits are much overlooked. I'm going to challenge you to try using an actual physical planner for at least one month to see what you think!

5. Prioritize. When you are looking at your calendar and planner, and comparing them to your goals for the year, take each day and each week and see what you need to prioritize to make your goals and "to do's" happen. Breaking your goals down over the entire year makes them much more manageable. So take some time to prioritize your schedule!

There you have it, a few simple tips to get organized in your calendar and life this year as we start off 2015 strong. Stay tuned on my blog and keep following me on Facebook  and on Instagram as I share more tips on how I keep my planner up to date and how I'm working smart to stay organized!

Let me hear YOU weigh in, do you prefer technology to keep your schedule, or are you old fashioned pen and paper like me?

Greek Chicken Pasta Salad

As summer comes to a close, I’m getting as much of this “summery” salad as I can, because it’s a great, simple dish, and has all the cool, yummy flavors of summer still bursting on your palate.

This is also a great dish to mix up, you can do all sorts of different varieties by adding in your own favorite veggies, maybe dice up some cucumber or throwing in some corn or black beans. Play around with it and have fun!

Ingredients

-Whole wheat bow tie pasta

-2 to 3 small to medium chicken breasts

-1/2 cup of sliced, pitted kalamata olives (you can add more or less to your own tastes, I love olives so I add a little more)

-1/2 cup of crumbled feta cheese

-2 fresh tomatoes, chopped

-Organic or home made Italian dressing (start with ½ cup and go up from there to your own taste)

-Garlic powder and pepper to taste

Directions

1.     Cook your chicken breasts (either in an oven at 375 for about 25 minutes, or on a grill, however you prefer). Roughly chop, set aside to cool.

2.     Bring a medium pot of water to a rolling boil, cook your pasta all the way through. Drain, set aside to cool.

3.     Chop your tomatoes, place in a large bowl

4.     Add the pasta and chicken, stir to mix.

5.     Add in your olives, feta cheese and dressing, mix until all incorporated.

6.     Season with garlic powder and pepper to taste

7.     Chill for about 30 minutes or until cool (if you want to, this is optional)

8.     ENJOY!

This recipe is so simple and great. Like I said, you can totally add in chopped cucumbers, corn, black beans, broccoli, really whatever you like. Toss it up, and enjoy!

Make Time For Fun

Perhaps one of the saddest things that I see in our country and culture today is the lack of balance in our priorities. We forget what is truly important in life- the people we love and living life with them. While a career and good income and the “American dream” qualities are not bad in and of themselves, a lot of times we focus so much on that that we forget the thread that holds all life together- relationships.

Something that I am very passionate about is making time for fun and making time to invest in your relationships. Whether that is with God in quiet time, with your spouse, family, friends, or whoever, it is vital to create time in your life for relationships. There have been seasons of my life where I did not, and everything got out of balance.

One great, practical tip that you can start implementing is actually scheduling time for fun with your family. I know it may sound silly, but when you intentionally carve out time specifically for your family and relationships, and protect that, some wonderful things happen. Conversations, adventures, and life, and those things last far longer than any amount of money ever will. Those memories you can cherish forever.

Ever since Zach and I have been together, we have been intentional about having a date night (or day) every week. It can vary depending on work and what is going on, but we always make sure we have intentionally set aside that time to spend together and build our relationship. And boy have we had some fun adventures!

Go check out a movie together.

Or explore a nearby town...

Something else I do is write down on my weekly to do list to connect with people, whether by phone, text, or in person. I make it my intention to connect with those I love and build those relationships.

Don’t get so caught up that you forget how to have fun, or get so busy that you feel so overwhelmed that you can’t breath. Stop, slow down, and make time for the fun. You have to find the balance!

So as we conclude this short time management series, I encourage you to take time and pencil in intentional relationship tip with the people in your life. Whether a date night with your significant other, family time, or girls night out, write it down and do it!

Let’s hear from you now! Do you already pencil in activities like this, or do you typically wing it?

Time Management Tips

“He’s making a list, checking it twice! Gonna find out who’s naughty and nice.”

While Santa may still be getting his list ready for Christmas time, he isn’t the only one who should have a list and check it twice. Today we are going to talk about how keeping a list is going to help you with time management.

Do you ever feel like you just have too much to do at the end of each day, or every task you thought you were going to do got piled on at the end of the week? I know I have gone through seasons of disorganization where I let life happen to me instead of taking just a minute to sort out my priorities.

When I started my fitness journey, I was a busy person. I had just recently gotten married, was working, and keeping up with daily life in general. It was absolutely hard to carve out the time to workout and make my health a priority. I had to make a new routine.

Then in April I started coaching with Beachbody while still working my regular job. I didn’t drop any duties, but picked up something new. Now it wasn’t something that I have gone into lightly, and I have actually found that my time is more organized now than it was before I started my journey.

How is that possible? A list, my friends. A list.

Every week I create a list of tasks that I need to get accomplished. They range from simple, like grocery shopping and cleaning, to more complex tasks that have to do with my business.

Let’s try a simple activity, shall we? Grab a piece of paper (or if you are more technologically inclined, open up a notepad on your phone), and write out all the tasks you need to accomplish this coming week. This could be chores, appointments, projects, etc.

For me, I put down things like: meal plan, meal prep, grocery shop, write three blogs, vacuum, clean the bathroom, clean the kitchen, do laundry, call three people, create a new curriculum, and send someone an encouraging note, plan a surprise for my husband.

These tasks are actually fairly regular tasks in my week, and are things that must be done outside of my regular daily routine (quiet time, working out, spending time with my husband, working my business, etc). Now, imagine if you had let all of these tasks slip by until your weekend. You would feel overwhelmed, wouldn’t you? I know I would, and have!

Now, your next step is to break it down over your entire week. When you divide and conquer and make each day have it’s own goals, I have found that a lot more can be accomplished.

What I do is grab a piece of notebook paper and put seven small post it notes across the paper, each representing a different day. I take the tasks from my list and divide it up, and usually end up with about 2-4 tasks per day, depending on the week.

This simple exercise allows you to have a plan and a goal for how you want your week to go, and what you want to accomplish. Now don’t get hung up on the list. Life will happen, and some things may need to be switched around. But at least you have a plan, and you know written in front of you what you want to accomplish every single day.

Every day I check my list in the morning so I know what my intentions need to be set to, and I check it at night to make sure I finished what I needed to. I encourage you to give it a try for a full week and see what happens!

What are some of your regular tasks for the week? Let’s hear them below!