Glowing Green Smoothie Bowl

When I think of a smoothie I usually think of fruits combined with protein. Here is a great way to add some veggies in the mix!

Total Time: 10 min.
Prep Time: 10 min.
Cooking Time: None
Yield: 1 serving

Ingredients:
¾ cup almond milk
1 scoop Vanilla Shakeology
1 cup raw spinach
1 cup ice
¼ large banana, cut into thick slices
1 medium kiwi, peeled, cut into thick slices
2 Tbsp. unsweetened shredded coconut

Preparation:
1. Place almond milk, Shakeology, spinach, and ice in blender; cover. Blend until smooth.
2. Place smoothie in a medium bowl. Top with banana, kiwi, and coconut; serve immediately.

If you're following the 21 Day Fix containers this is 1 Green 1/2 Yellow 1 Purple 1 Red and 1 Orange!

I found this recipe on the Team Beachbody Blog!

Enjoy!!

xoxo Laura Jayne ♥

Chia Seed Pudding

If you're short on time, this is a great grab-and-go breakfast you can make the night before so you can get a few more minutes of beauty sleep in the morning!

Total Time: 4 hrs. 10 min.
Prep Time: 10 min.
Cooking Time: None
Yield: 2 servings, about ¾ cup each

Ingredients:
1½ cups unsweetened almond milk
1 Tbsp. raw honey
⅓ cup chia seeds
½ tsp. pure vanilla extract (optional)

Preparation:
1. Combine almond milk, honey, chia seeds, and extract in a medium bowl; mix well.
2. Cover bowl; refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight, mixing after 2 hours.
3. Divide evenly into 2 servings.

If you're following the 21 Day Fix containers this is 1.5 Yellow and 1 Orange!

I found this recipe on the Team Beachbody Blog!

Enjoy!!

xoxo Laura Jayne ♥

Chocolate Ricotta Protein Pancakes

So here's another beautiful creation from my amazingly talented cousin Taleen!

Ingredients & Directions:

Pancake Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 banana

1/2 scoop chocolate Shakeology

2 tbsp low-fat ricotta cheese 

Coconut oil cooking spray 

Toppings (Optional pick as many toppings from the list below):

Sliced Strawberries - 1/2 cup
Unsweetened coconut flakes - Sprinkle
Agave Syrup - Drizzle
Walnuts - Sprinkle
Pecans - Sprinkle
Organic peanut butter -2Tbsp 

Mix all the pancake ingredients in a blender or bowl 
.

Spray flat pan or griddle with Coconut Oil.
.

Pour the mixture on the flat pan or griddle and start cooking.
.

Flip the pancake over after a few minutes. 
.

Make sure the pancake is fully cooked!
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Top with strawberries, unsweetened coconut flakes, agave walnuts and pecans and organic peanut butter 

Enjoy!!

xoxo Laura Jayne ♥

Nutrition: Mind Over Matter

As many of you know, I run an ongoing health & fitness accountability group on Facebook with my fellow coaches for new and existing customers who are doing Beachbody programs. Earlier this week my cousin, who is also a coach and is known for her amazing recipe blog Taleen's Kitchen, posted the following in our group. I was so incredibly proud of her for sharing something that is often times the sad reality of how people believe they can "lose weight" or "get in shape". If you haven't seen Taleen's Before & After please take a look after reading what she shared. This is coming from someone who had an amazing transformation not just from the outside, but also from the inside and most importantly her thought process. 

Now that the holidays have come and gone, I'm looking forward to getting back on track with my nutrition. People have asked me, "are you still on your diet?" "Do you eat?" "Aren't you hungry all the time?" I've also heard people say, "I lost weight by starving myself." All of these statements are seriously flawed. When it comes down to it, our mindset about food and healthy eating needs to change.

Here are some ideas to keep in mind:

1. Everyone is on a diet. Either it's a healthy one that will fuel your body, or it's one that will slow it down and dismantle it.

2. When you eat with portion control, you're not only making sure that your metabolism is stable, but you're also giving your body exactly what it needs throughout the day, no more, no less.

3. Starvation doesn't work.

4. Cutting carbs for the sake of losing weight won't last long. Realistically, you're going to eat bread and grains (unless you have a gluten intolerance.) Instead of cutting it and depriving yourself, eat the right kind in the right amount.

5. Crash diets are a temporary fad. Eating clean is a lifestyle change.

Finally, just to prove that eating clean does not mean starving yourself, I've attached a picture of tonight's dinner. I had smashed sweet potato (1 yellow), lean ground chicken seasoned with low sodium guacamole seasoning...it sounds weird, but it was SO GOOD. I couldn't find a low sodium taco seasoning, so I settled for guac seasoning (1 red) and a broccoli/squash medley (1 green).

Change your mindset about food and I promise you it will change your life.

Healthy Chocolate Covered Banana Bites

So last week I tried these chocolate covered bananas from Trader Joe's and they were pretty good so I thought I CAN MAKE THIS with LESS ingredients and HEALTHIER!

So here goes....

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp Coconut Oil

1 Banana

1 Scoop Chocolate Shakeology ( I used Chocolate Vegan)

Ice cube tray 

Directions:

1. Slice the banana into small circles enough to fit in the tray. 

2. Melt the coconut oil in microwave for about 45 seconds.

3. Mix the Shakeology and coconut oil. Stir until it look like chocolate syrup.

4. Pour the chocolate mixture in each ice cube tray enough to cover the banana slices.

5.  Place the tray in the freezer for about 20 minutes or longer. 

6. Enjoy you healthy creation!

Hope you enjoy this recipe.
Like, Comment & Share this recipe with friends!
xoxo Laura Jayne ♥

Beachbody Black Friday Sale!!!

It's that time of year again! Beachbody is having their Black Friday Holiday Sale! 

For a limited time only, you can get select Beachbody programs like P90X3, LES MILLS COMBAT, RevAbs and INSANITY, equipment, and supplements for the lowest price of the year!! 

BONUS - When you use the link below for your purchase you can get me as your FREE coach to help ensure you reach your health & fitness goals!

http://ow.ly/UZq9M

(If you need help picking out the right program please feel free to email me at LauraJayneFitness@yahoo.com and I will be more than happy to go over the best program that will fit your needs to reach your goals)

xoxo Laura Jayne ♥

21 Days of FITMAS!

Not sure what to do after you enjoy your Thanksgiving meal? Join me for 21 days of eating healthy balanced meals along with a short 30 minute workout in the comfort of your own home to help you shed some of those Thanksgiving treats and prepare for Christmas!

Here's what you will need to do to join the group:

1. Purchase your 21 Day Fix bundle program (Challenge Pack), that comes with a super food meal replacement shake (Shakeology).
2. Once I confirm your purchase you will be added to the group.
3. Purchases must be made by Friday November 27, 2015. 
4. Preparation days November 27-29
5. Start date: Monday November 30, 2015

Please feel free to contact me via email at LauraJayneFitness@yahoo.com or Facebook if you have any questions or would like to get more information about this group or any other health & fitness, motivation & accountability groups I run.

Note: This will be a very small group, 1st 5 people will be added to the group. This is to ensure that everyone gets to focused attention they need to reach their goals. 

{cannot be a coach or have a coach currently}

Transformation Tuesday! My Mom

Hey everyone! I want to celebrate a very special transformation today... MY MOM! I'm so proud of all her hard work, she looks AMAZING and SO YOUNG, I mean we could pass for sisters, RIGHT??

BUT that's NOT what I want to highlight today... today I want to highlight that this transformation DID NOT COME OVERNIGHT! Often times we get caught up in the end result and see all these before and after photos of people and what we don't see is all the hard consistent work, PLATEAUS, cheat meals turning into cheat days and sometimes weeks... I’m sure some of these hit home for you. This transformation did NOT happen after 1 round of 21 Day Fix, NOPE this happened after 13 ROUNDS of 21 Day Fix, after 9.5 MONTHS of 21 Day Fix, and she worked REALLY HARD!!! My parents were remodeling their house and in the middle of all the dust, minimal space, and 8+ hours of work SHE MADE TIME to get her 30 minute workout in. She didn’t have a kitchen to meal prep so she made healthy choices with the options she was given. Were there times she slipped up? YUP! Were there times she didn’t follow the containers because she thought she got it down? YUP! But guess what… she reeled it in and got back on track… SHE NEVER QUIT! You know why? BECAUSE THIS IS NOT A DESTINATION! She is learning NEW HEALTHY HABITS and when you change your focus from DESTINATION to JOURNEY then you will NEVER QUIT!

Mom, I’m so proud of you, you’ve truly shown me what it means to never give up!

Check out her story in the link below.

Before & After

Overnight Steel Cut Oats (Slow Cooker)

So I'm sure you've heard how healthy oatmeal is, but if you're getting those instant oatmeals packed with sugar you can just say bye bye to your Healthiest Meal Of The Day! 

I never liked having oatmeal for breakfast, mainly because I can never cook it right... that's until I tried this slow cooker recipe! Now, I can't get enough!! It's not only the healthiest meal of the day, but my favorite meal of the day too :)

Ingredients:

1 Cup Steel Cut Oatmeal (Irish Oatmeal) 

2 Cups Unsweetened Almond Milk

2 Cups Water

Coconut Oil Spray

1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon

1 Pinch Nutmeg (Or Pumpkin Spice Seasoning)

1/2 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Tbsp Agave Nectar (Or Maple Syrup)

Directions:

1. Spray the slow cooker with the coconut oil spray
2. Place all ingredients in the slow cooker and stir
3. Cook on low for 8 hours
4. After it's done add fresh fruit of your choice and enjoy!

I hope you enjoy this recipe! Leave a comment below and let me know what you think.

xoxo Laura Jayne ♥

HONEY BROILED GRAPEFRUIT

This is one of my favorites!

What you need:

1 Grapefruit

100% pure raw honey

Optional: stevia, brown sugar

First cut your grapefruit in half. Then, with your knife, cut the inner peel of your grapefruit then cut the grapefruit into sections. This will help the scooping later on! Next, drizzle a teaspoon of raw honey on top. If you’re not a honey person, you can swap the honey for about two dashes of brown sugar or stevia!

Finally, place your grapefruit on a cooking sheet and broil it on high for about 5-8 minutes or until it achieves a nice carmalized color! After it’s been broiled, let it rest for about 2 minutes and enjoy!

This treat is 21 day fix approved and can be counted as one purple container!

Recipe & Photo Credit Taleen Afsharian

“CINNABON” BREAKFAST

Do you ever just wake up with a sweet tooth? I know I do! This morning was one of those mornings. Thankfully, I was able to whip together something healthy, sweet and delicious! The best part is that this mouth-watering recipe is 21 Day Fix approved! It utilizes 1 red container and 1 blue container.

So, here’s what you need:

– Cottage Cheese, I prefer 0% milk fat, but 1% or 2% also works just fine.

-Organic Agave Nectar Syrup

-Cinnamon

-Pecans

What to do:

-Combine 3/4 cup of cottage cheese with 2 teaspoons of the agave.

-If you’re like me and do not enjoy the chunky consistency of cottage cheese, go ahead and put the combination in a food processor for about 5-10 minutes, or until it reaches a creamy consistency.

-Top the agave-sweetened cottage cheese with cinnamon (as much as your heart desires) and about 1/3 cup of halved pecans

-If you’d prefer to enjoy the yummy goodness extra cold, then pop it in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy your mock cinnabon breakfast!

Happy eating!

Recipe & Photo Credit Taleen Afsharian

Zucchini Chips

So when I heard that the Fixate Cookbook was coming out and there was a sneak peek of some of the recipes on Team Beachbody I had to check it out!

Here is my 1st attempt at making the Zucchini Chips and it was a HIT!

• This makes 4 Servings

• 21 Day Fix Approved = 1 Green, 1/2 tbsp

• Prep Time 15 min.

• Cook Time 2 hrs.

Ingredients

2 large zucchini, very thinly sliced

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. sea salt ( or Himalayan salt)

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 225° F.

2. Place zucchini slices in one layer between paper towels to help draw out liquid.

3. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

4. Place zucchini slices on prepared baking sheets.

5. Brush zucchini with oil; sprinkle with salt.

6. Bake for 2 hours, or until golden brown and crispy.

7. Cool completely before serving.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and please let me know in the comments below if you have any healthy recipes you would recommend.

xoxo Laura Jayne ♥

Healthy Chocolate Almond Butter Chunks

Lately I’ve had such a sweet tooth and I’ve been looking for the perfect HEALTHY 21 Day Fix Approved sweet treat I can make at home with Shakeology. I came across this recipe and it was such a hit I actually have some people asking me to make more so they can have a stash at home!

Ingredients

Chocolate (or Chocolate Vegan) Shakeology 1 Scoop

Natural Almond Butter (or Peanut Butter) 1 Orange (21 Day Fix container) (or Peanut Butter)

Organic Unrefined Coconut Oil 4 tbsp

Directions

1. Melt 2 tbsp of coconut oil
2. Mix melted coconut oil with 1/2 scoop of Shakeology
3. Place mixture in a small cupcake size container (I used a small Corningware)
4. Place container in freezer for about 5 minutes
5. After 5 minutes take container out and spread almond (or peanut) butter evenly on the frozen chocolate
6. Repeat step 1-2 and place second layer of Shakeology & coconut oil mixture on top of the almond butter
7. Place container in freezer for about 15-20 minutes

Enjoy!

This makes 4 servings

21 Day Fix Approved = 1/4 Red, 1/4 Orange, 1 tbsp

I hope you enjoy this recipe and please let me know in the comments below if you have any healthy sweet treats you would recommend!

xoxo Laura Jayne ♥