{Motivational Monday}

Hello cupcakes!

I am trying to keep myself awake here at work. Yesterday I flew back from California & it was also daylight savings time. I lost 4 hours... it was sad. I am okay with it though! It was totally worth it. I can't wait to share all of my pictures with you! Today I am linking up with a my friend Maddie Butterfield for another edition of Motivational Monday.

Maddie shared an awesome post that explained her Get Fit Goals. I thought it would be fun to go with the theme. Maddie made this wonderful sheet:

My motivation is:

1. Increasing my self-esteem and self-confidence

2. Building strength back into my left leg, foot, and ankle since I had surgery

3. Exercise makes me happy and I want to be happy for my boyfriend, friends, and family

My goals this month are:

1. Finish BBG Pre-training (Bikini Body Guide)

2. Get in 3 LISS days a week (Low Intensity Steady State Cardio)

3. Foam roll at least 2 times a week

4. Stretch after each workout

5. Follow and track my Macros 

I also wanted to mention my meal prep at the end of this post. Last night when I got back to my apartment, I knew I had to meal prep fast so that I could get to bed at a decent time. I prepped chicken , lean ground turkey, sweet potatoes, quinoa, oatmeal, eggs, green beans, broccoli, and zucchini. 

I have gone back and forth with macro tracking, but I want to try it out again! Here is what my meals look like today:

7am- Post workout: 8oz unsweetened almond milk with 2 scoops of Nuzest Protein Powder ("ToriF" for 15% off)

9am- Breakfast: 1/2 t coconut oil, 1 egg, 100 g egg whites, 1/2 c gluten free rolled oats

12pm- Lunch: 3 oz. lean ground turkey, 150 g zucchini, 1/2 c quinoa

3pm- Snack: 16 g almond butter, 145 g banana

6pm- Dinner: 3 oz chicken breast, 4 oz sweet potato, 150 g green beans

Totals:

1192 calories 

34 g fat

106 g carbs

114 g protein

My goal is to hit these macros:

1447 Calories

48 g fat

145 g carbs

110 g protein

As you can see, I will need to eat some more carbs throughout the day to meet my macros. My hope is that by counting these macros I can stick to a plan Post Whole30. I also want to provide my body with the proper nutrition since I am starting BBG back up. Some of my fellow BBG girls have started macro tracking, so it also helps keep me motivated. 

I also found this helpful link for meal prep: {Bodybuilding Meal Prep}

If you would like to find out your macros, follow these links: 

1) BMR calculator

2) Protein Calculator

3) Other fun calculators

Everyone's Macros are going to look different. This time I am trying a 40% carbs, 30% protein, & 30% fat ratio for my macros. It's all trial and error to see how your body responds. For more information on macros, follow this link: Macro Information

Later Taters

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away." 

{Protein Puppy Chow}

Hello cupcakes,

It's time for another edition of Motivational Mondays with my friend and fellow blogger Maddie Butterfield. Feel free to grab the graphic above and join us! 

If you follow me on Instagram{toriswholelife_bbg}, you may have recently saw a post about Protein Puppy Chow. Today, I want to share that recipe with you! 

I don't know about you guys, but I have a huge sweet tooth. I love to try to recreate some of my favorite childhood treats & make them healthier. This Protein Puppy Chow is super easy & way healthier than the original puppy chow. There's only 3 ingredients!

Ingredients:

Chex cereal

protein powder

almond butter

I decided to use chocolate chex, Nuzest vanilla protein powder (doesn't upset my stomach like most protein powders), & Target unsweetened almond butter

Directions:

In a large bowl, dump the amount of cereal you would like to use. I filled up my bowl about half way. Next, drizzle almond butter on top of cereal. I used about 2 T of almond butter. 

Stir the almond butter so that it coats all the cereal. 

Lastly, add 1-2 scoops of protein powder. Place the lid on the top of the bowl & shake until combined. 

Very simple! I am totally craving some of this right now. I can't wait to try this with some other flavors of chex & protein. What flavors would you use?

Let me know if you create this recipe!

Also, you can use the code "ToriF" for 15% off your {Nuzest} order. 

Here are some stats for 1/2 c chocolate chex, 1 T almond butter, & 1 scoop of Nuzest:

227 calories

10 g fat

23 g carbs

4 g fiber

7 g sugar

19 g protein

Compared to 1/2 c homemade puppy chow:

296 calories

13.7 g fat

41.6 g carbs

2 g fiber

27 g sugar

3 g protein

I'd say the stats of my puppy chow look a little more promising!

Later Taters

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away." 

{Monday Motivation}: Otto's Cassava Flour & How to get Creative in the Kitchen

Hello cupcakes!

It's time for our third edition of Motivational Mondays with my friend and fellow blogger Maddie Butterfield. Feel free to grab the graphic above and join us! I love starting the week with some inspiration and positivity.

My goal for this post it to let you all know you can eat healthy and not have to eat boring food. I like to make eating healthy fun and exciting. I tend to eat a Paleo style diet which means almost all of the foods I eat are fresh and natural (no added chemicals or artificial ingredients). I was getting bored with my eggs and potatoes that I have eaten for the past 2-3 weeks. I decided I wanted to switch it up in the kitchen. Who else loves being creative in the kitchen?

I decided to try and make some Spinach Paleo Tortillas. I love sneaking in veggies anywhere I can get them. Perfect for kids who don't like veggies. I also like this recipe because there are not many ingredients used to make the tortillas. 

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of spinach
• 3 T of water
• 1 c. Otto's Cassava Flour
• 2 T Chosen Blend Oil or oil of choice 
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1-2 T water

Directions: 

In a pan, wilt the spinach with the 3 T of water. 

While the spinach is wilting whisk together the flour and salt. After the spinach is wilted, process until smooth. 

Next, mix together the spinach puree, oil, and the flour mixture. Next, add in the egg and rest of the water. 

I was Face-timing my boyfriend as I was making these. He said, "take a picture of me so I can make it on your blog." What a keeper :)  So... shout out to Cory for being the best girlfriend a girl could ever ask for. I get to visit him soon in California so stay tuned for those posts. 

Then roll the dough into 2 balls and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Next, break the each ball into 3 smaller balls & roll out between parchment paper. 

Heat a skillet on medium heat. I sprayed my pan with Chosen Foods Avocado Oil Spray. Cook each side of the tortilla until brown. 

I decided to make my tortillas into egg wraps. I cooked 2 eggs, onions, and spinach. I also added Primal Kitchen Chipolte Lime Mayo to the wrap. 

I am so excited to eat this for breakfast everyday this week. Currently drooling over here as I type this up. 

So my goal for you this week is to try something new in the kitchen. Whether that be trying out a new healthy recipe in the kitchen, meal prepping your food for the next day of work, or buying a new food to use in the kitchen. Make healthy eating fun and exciting. I love when I create something new that I am so excited to eat for the rest of the week. Another easy way to sneak spinach into your diet is to make a smoothie. One smoothie that I love making is 2 scoops of Nuzest Vanilla Protein Powder {"ToriF" for 15 % off}, 1 banana, 1-2 handfuls of spinach, 1 T chia seeds, & 1-2 c unsweetened cashew or almond milk. My last easy tip for sneaking in more veggies is to make my delicious Cauliflower Pizza.

Let me tell you a little about Otto's Cassava Flour:

• It's an all natural, grain free replacement for flour and can be used as a 1:1 ratio substitution in many recipes. 
• There are no added fillers
• Recipes don't come out dry when you use this flour, unlike other flour substitutes 
• Gluten free, grain free, nut free, and soy free
• "Also known as yuca, cassava is a delicious root vegetable that becomes the perfect alternative for wheat when dried and ground using our proprietary preparation (say THAT 5 times fast!
• Cassava is a good source of calcium, phosphorus, manganese, iron, & potassium
• Cassava is a good source of fiber

To read more about Otto's Cassava Flour and how the company got started, follow this link: Otto's Cassava Flour Story

Here is a link to some other recipes using Otto's Cassava Flour: Recipes

Later Taters xoxo

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away."

*Spinach Tortilla recipe from Fork & Beans 

1 tortilla= 95 calories, 5.3 g. fat, 16 g carbs, 1 g fiber, & 1.6 g protein

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{Motivational Monday} & Giveaway

Hello cupcakes! 

I am linking up again with Maddie for Motivational Monday. I love sharing new healthy recipes with you. For today's post, I want to share a healthy pizza recipe! I am also including my meal prep and some tips/tricks I use weekly.

I also wanted to take a minute to let you know I am doing a giveaway. I've teamed up with YAWP to offer you all a chance to win a variety pack of YAWP bars. Check out this post to read more about YAWP: YAWP Eats. 

To enter, you must:

 1) follow my instagram: @toriswholelife_bbg 

2) follow YAWP's instagram: @yawpeats

3) Tag a friend in the comments on my instagram giveaway post

Here are two meals I will be having this week:

1) Grilled lean turkey burger wrapped in lettuce and topped with tomato, green onions, and Dijon mustard. I will be having carrots and snap peas on the side. 

2) Eggs and oven roasted white sweet potatoes

Cauliflower Pizza

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp pink Himalyan salt

3 eggs

1/2 c. -1 c almond flour

tomato paste

other toppings such as: onions, pineapple, peppers, jalapenos, olives, fresh basil

meat of choice etc. 

Directions:

Pulse cauliflower in a food processor until it is in small pieces (looks like rice)

Place cauliflower in a microwave safe dish & microwave for 6 minutes. Stir half way through cooking. 

Let the cauliflower cool. Once cooled, add 3 eggs, almond flour, garlic powder, & salt to cauliflower (add as much almond flour as you would like. More almond flour will make for a more solid crust, but less almond flour will taste good too! It all depends on your preference). Spread "dough" out onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-25 minutes or until the crust is baked and starting to brown (pictured below)

After the crust is done baking, take it out of the oven and spread tomato paste on top. Next, top the crust with your desired toppings. Place pizza in the oven and bake 10-15 minutes. 

Here is the finished product!

 My roommate, Katie, also made some oven baked apples to go with our cauliflower pizza! They were so delicious. We are both doing the Whole30 together. 

Here were some of my groceries for meal prep.

If you are an avid reader of my blog, you know I am obsessed with oven roasted potatoes. This time I used white sweet potatoes, Olivado Avocado Oil, and Flavor God Everything Spicy seasoning. Here is my tip for oven roasting potatoes. While you are cutting the potatoes up, place them in a bowl filled with cold water once they are sliced. Makes the potatoes cook so much better in my opinion. 

It was such a nice day in Indiana on Saturday. I decided to take advantage of using my parents' grill for meal prep since I was visiting. 

I love using the grill. It gives food such a great taste. In the summer I like to grill everything for meal prep! I will add my veggies and potatoes to the grill as well. What is your favorite thing to grill?

Other tips/tricks:

-Prep your meals for the work week on Saturday or Sunday. This will help you stay on track during the week. 

-Lay out your workout clothes the night before so that you can get a morning workout in before you give yourself excuses.

-Take progress photos and ditch the scale. Muscle weighs more than fat, but takes up less space in your body. So if you are working out and trying to lose weight, it is better to take progress photos. 

-When meal prepping, start with the food that will take the longest to cook. For example, this week I prepped oven roasted potatoes. These are the food item that takes the longest, so I start with that!

-Try to drink a glass of water before each meal.

-HIIT workouts are going to get you the fastest results. Once my foot heals, I will be starting BBG again. This is a HIIT style workout program. 

-If you have a family, pre-chop fresh fruits and veggies and set them at eye level in the fridge. 

-Set a weekly goal for yourself. Below are my weekly goals for this week

• Drink 3 of my 64 fl.oz. water bottles. 
• Do not stress eat/mindless eat
• Do yoga if I get stressed
• Put my phone away an hour before bed

-P.S. Next Monday I am going to show you how to meal prep in under an hour!

Later Taters

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away." 

{Motivational Monday}

Hello beautiful cupcakes!

I have some fun and exciting news to share with you! I am teaming up with Maddie from Maddie Butterfield Blog to bring you all a Monday Linkup. If you would like to participate in the link up, just use the image above and mention our blogs in your post! That's all we ask. 

Monday's have a bad rap within the seven days of the week. People don't like Monday because it means they have to go back to work. I think Mondays should be fun and like a fresh start. That is one reason we chose Monday to feature our link up. 

"Exercise because it feels good. Exercise because it makes you happy. Don't exercise because you're terrified that you ate too much for dinner. Don't exercise because you hate the way your body looks in the mirror. Loving yourself will get you so much further than hating yourself."

Meal prep helps keep me motivated to eat healthy during the week. Today I want to share with you my meal prep for my third week of the Whole30. I also got a new camera this weekend, so I am currently trying to figure the thing out. I never knew a camera could be so complicated, but I am totally excited to learn more about it. I used my camera to take the photos below. 

Here is my meal prep plan:

-Breakfast: oven roasted potatoes, over easy eggs, and prosciutto with green onions and Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo

-Lunch: stuffed acorn squash with the same mayo

-Dinner: Whole30 chicken salad

So I have to share my favorite picture first because I am just too excited to show off the images from my new camera. This acorn squash is to die for. I made the same thing last week & I just can't get enough of it. To find the recipe, follow this link: {Meal Prep Whole30 Week 2}

Here are my groceries and food items I will be using for meal prep. 

I like to start meal prep with the things that are going to take the longest. So in this case, I started with the potatoes and squash. I roasted the potatoes and squash in the oven at 400 degrees. I cook the squash for 30-45 minutes or until tender. For the potatoes, I chop them up and add them to cold water. Then dump the cold water out and place on a pan with seasoning and oil of choice. Bake the potatoes for 15 minutes then take them out of the oven and flip/mix. Return the potatoes to the oven for 15 minutes or until they start to get crunchy on the outside. 

While the potatoes and squash was cooking, I started chopping up the veggies and fruit for the chicken salad. I used green onion, grapes, apple, and celery for this chicken salad. I also used Primal Kitchen Avocado Mayo to toss everything in. 

After the veggies & fruit were chopped, I started cooking my eggs. I cooked 2 eggs for every breakfast, so 12 total eggs {I prepped for 6 days}.

I also cooked chicken in the oven at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. 

I already had leftover stuffing for the squash from last week. So once the squash was done cooking, I stuffed it and placed it back in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Here is what it looked like after cooking it. 

Just to back track a bit, here were the potatoes before going into the oven. I used Olivado Macadamia Nut Oil and Flavor God Everything Spicy. 

Here was the finished breakfast. 

Here is the finished chicken salad.

And the final product: 6 breakfasts, 6 lunches, & 6 dinners!

Also, here is another one of my motivations... my boyfriend. He motivates me to be the best person I can possibly be. He understands me better than anyone else & he is just the sweetest. Look what he sent me for Valentine's Day. This is our third Valentine's Day as a couple. 

And lastly, I love relaxing and enjoying my weekend. I try to give myself some free time during the weekends since my weeks are crammed with classes, school work, 20 hours of internship, and 20 hours of my graduate assistantship. Life can get crazy busy & stressful, so laying in my bed on the weekend with a cup of tea or coffee is just the motivation I need. Weekends I get to blog for you all as well. I am wondering what you would like to see more of? Comment below and let me know. 

Later Taters!

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away." 

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