Peanut butter and banana oatmeal!

Every morning (yes literally every morning) I make myself a big pot of oatmeal. My brother Mike got me into eating organic oats with different types of fruits, and either peanut or almond butter, and he makes the BEST bowl of oatmeal. Since I am not lucky enough to have Mike make his delish oatmeal every morning, I came up with my own favorite recipe that I absolutely love! I have shared it with a few people who love it as well, so I thought I'd break down the recipe for you guys. The whole thing takes me about 10 minutes tops to do, so it's definitely worth taking the extra 10 minutes to make a nutritious bowl of oatmeal, packed with protein and fiber that will keep you full way longer than a special K cereal bar.


Ingredients 


 


-1 cup of Oats (either Quaker old fashion oats, or you can get organic oats in bulk from Wegmans and the Healthy Grocer)
-2 small spoonfuls of Organic Powdered Peanut Butter (Wegmans or the Healthy Grocer... totally worth buying!!)
-2 cups of water
-1 spoonful of cinnamon
-1 cut up banana
-any other cut up fruit or nuts of your choice

1. Put 2 cups of water, and 1 cup of oats in a small saucepan on the stove, and put the stove on high. (This makes a pretty big bowl so if you don't want that much, just use 1 cup of water and 1/2 cup of oats)

2. While you are waiting for the water to come to a boil, slice one banana and any other fruit of your choice

3. Once the water comes to a boil, turn the heat down to low, and let it simmer until the oatmeal thickens and it is no longer watery.

4. Stir in the banana, powdered peanut butter, and cinnamon, and let it simmer for another minute or two.

5. Pour the oatmeal in your bowl and top with cut up fruit or nuts! Enjoy!!

New workout to try!

Today was an absolutely beautiful day to get outside and do something active! Whether you swim, bike, run, or do 100 burpees, get off facebook and get outside! I put together a pretty tough workout last night for my cousin Paden and I to do today, so I wanted to share it with you guys so you can give it a try. I found a few of the exercises from a website called bodyrock.tv, which has a ton of really cool workouts. At the end of the video I break down the exact amount of reps we did, and all of the moves can be modified to fit your needs, so no excuses!! Let me know what you think and have an awesome weekend!

Jump!

Jumping rope is often forgot about when we are trying to get our cardio in, yet it is a great way to get your heart rate up and break a sweat. I added a video of myself jumping rope with the addition of high knees to show you guys how to make it more challenging. So try 5 sets of 100 high knee jumps, with different exercises in between each set, (push ups, sit ups, dips, squats), for a great workout! 

First of all, HAPPY SUMMER to all of those who are done with school, and for those who aren't, only one month to go!!! I am so psyched to get back to my blog, I had a crazy last couple of weeks and I'm really glad to be home for the summer!

Since we do still have a month until summer officially begins, I know this is the time when people go gym crazy trying to get into the best shape they can for bathing suit season! Since an hour of the elliptical, stair stepper or treadmill can tend to get extremely boring, I wanted to give you guys some new exercises that I love to do that are really different and challenging. I hope to motivate everyone to switch up their routine and incorporate some of these, even if you have to modify it a bit, still give them a shot! Challenge yourself to get in the best shape you can this summer! I am really thankful for my health and that is why I try to take advantage of it every day by getting in the best shape I can.

I would love any feedback, suggestions, questions, etc. so don't be afraid to comment! =)

Peanut Butter Cup Shake

Click here for the "Healthified" Peanut Butter Cup Shake  recipe, topped with fresh strawberries and powdered peanut butter.

Exercises

I often talk about incorporating burpees (including a push up and tuck jump), squat jumps, lunge jumps, and side lunge touch downs into your workouts. Just so people know exactly what I am talking about I downloaded some videos of myself doing the exercises. I have ankle weights on in the squat/lunge jump video which is of course optional, but if you think they are too easy try them with a pair of ankle weights on to challenge yourself.

I find these are great to do on days when you are focusing on weight training more than cardio, but you still want to get your heart rate up. Try these in between your normal stationary weight lifting exercises.

(You may hear my good friend Ben Conner commentating in the background)

Burpee

                                                               Side lunge touch downs 

Squat and Lunge Jumps with ankle weights 

"I Can"

Never tell yourself you can't do something, try it first.

Today I trained my mom and my two aunts. Now all three of these lovely women are over 40, yet they all proved that age doesn't matter by kicking butt in an extremely hard, high intensity circuit that I put them through. Naturally, at first they were apprehensive about doing some of the moves because they were out of their comfort zone. However, instead of just saying,"I can't do that exercise," they all gave it a try, and after the second time going through the circuit, they were already improving on their form and coordination. These exercises aren't easy, but they are different, making them really enjoyable. Going through the circuit three times took them a total of 17 minutes to do, and all three were exhausted by the end. One of my aunts runs three miles a day, and the other bikes over 20 miles regularly, yet they both really struggled in doing these exercises because they are total body workouts, that require coordination, balance, core strength, and endurance. So, despite the fact that this circuit was half of the time of their usual work outs, they found it to be even more challenging. 

I wanted to tell you about training them because it just proves that it doesn't matter what age or fitness level you are, you can really do anything you commit to. If you immediately tell yourself, "I can't do this," then you're right, you won't be able to. Instead, give it a try and push yourself to do something outside of your comfort zone, because once you get the hang of it you'll feel a greater sense of accomplishment then you do finishing a workout that you are comfortable with. 

Below I posted some pictures of exercises that I think are great for people to try and work into their weekly exercise routine. They are so simple and effective yet many people try to avoid them. Push ups, squats, and step ups. Try to work on these simple moves, even if you can only do 10 in a row and have to start on your knees for the push ups, you'll never improve if you don't start somewhere. 

Normal push ups and more challenging push ups (this way you can't say they get boring).

Squats jumps holding weight out in front (you don't have to use the extra weight), normal squats with weight on back, step ups with sandbag on shoulder.

(And so I dedicate this post to my mom and my aunts for kicking some major butt today!)