Healthy Banana Muffins

The air conditioning was out. It was 94 degrees outside. And I decide to make some muffins. #genius 

As the hours passed today I watched th bananas on the counter turn brown so I turned to my best friend Google and found myself a new recipe. 

The kids loved them. I had to limit them to eating 1 1/2 otherwise I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be any left... 

You should definitely give them a try! 

Xoxo, 

C

Guest Post from MNLakeMama

Guest post by mnlakemama

My husband and I have been in an eating and exercise funk lately. You’d think running after a two year old would keep us in shape, but luckily for us he goes to bed by 7:30 each night which gives us plenty of time to eat junk food and drink a few glasses bottle of wine. Plus since he’s asleep we are “stuck” at home. Well I decided that it was time to nip our health in the bud and I knew that Catherine was the perfect person to help us out. She has been an inspiration with her dedication to eating healthy and working out over the past few years and since she is on her way to getting her teaching degree I thought she would jump at the opportunity to combine her two passions of health and education and help us out. Boy was I right!

Catherine put together weekly meal and exercise plans for John and I and even tailored them to foods she knew we like and eat as well as workouts we can do around the house and/or with LJ in tow.

Week #1 like most new plans got off to a rough start. The timing wasn’t the best since I left for a work trip on Monday, got back on Wednesday, had a girls’ night on Thursday, a going away party for a friend on Friday, and then a family get together on Saturday. During that week I did get up early on Tuesday morning and got a 5K in with some colleagues, but other than that the plan was out the window and I felt like a complete failure.

Week #2 rolled in and I was ready! We didn’t have plans on Sunday so I was able to meal plan and prep for the week. We also got in our first workout together once LJ went to bed. It was so nice because we just switch on a movie and John started on the elliptical while I did the weights portion of the workout and then we switched, showered, and finished the movie in bed before starting our week. Monday through Thursday I was on my own for workouts because John hurt his foot, but I pushed through and got them done with a little text message encouragement and sharing of “swelfies” with Catherine J The diet this week also went well, though I did “cheat” a few times. Today for instance, I had my salad for lunch, forgot to have my morning snack because I was too busy at work, but treated myself to a small blizzard with my friend for an afternoon snack.

Meal prep – 4 delicious salads with mixed greens, corn, pinto beans, grilled chicken, and feta. I added avocado, olive oil, and crazy salt in the morning before I brought them in to work.

Sunday couples workout

Swelfie inspiration

This weekend is starting out early because we have a Friday-Sunday camping trip with college friends. LJ and I will be getting up early to go for our 30 minute walk in the morning and then I’m going to use as much self-control as I can to not snack and drink too much this weekend. Plus, to make sure I can be on track for next week I have already planned out our meals and I have my order ready to place on CobornsDelivers.com so the groceries will be waiting on our front step when we get home on Sunday. Wish me luck this weekend!!

Jesse

Life update

As usual the summer is flying by.  I am by no means ready to go back to school.  

This summer has been such an experience in growth and change that I think it may be difficult for me to go back to the "normal" routine of school and work come fall. 

Over the weekend I taught this little gem some swimming skills.  She absolutely loves the water, but isn't so sure about this whole swimming thing...

I also went to the Reba McEntire concert at one of the local casino's. My favorite type of concert is one in a small venue where you can really appreciate the artist and their talent.  Let me tell you that this was one of those shows.  She is stunning and has such an amazing voice.  And who wouldn't want to look like her in their 60's? 

Here's my absolute favorite song of her's.  Such a classic!

The classic Mother/Daughter Selfie

I am so glad that I got to have a girls night with Mom and Annie.  It was much needed. 

In other news John and Jesse have been doing great this week with their eating and exercising!  I love seeing their "swelfies" as Jesse calls them and all of these fun Instagram posts.

Tomorrow we'll have a guest author so be sure to stop by and check it out :) 

XOXO,

C

A fun family experiment!

A couple weeks ago my cousin and his wife asked me to write them a four week fitness and nutrition plan to give them a jump start on a healthy lifestyle. 

I am so excited to introduce you to John and Jesse and welcome them to my blog! 

For the next four weeks they will be blogging and instagramming pics of their trials and tribulations of healthy diet and exercise. 

These two are by far the coolest cousins and parents to LJ that anyone could ask for.

I am so excited that they have asked for my help and I can't wait to see what happens over the next few weeks. 

Xoxo, 

C

Priorities

I am busy. I work 3 jobs. I am training for a marathon. I workout 6 days a week for at least two hours a day. I'm dedicated. 

Recently I have taken a lot of heat from both friends and family for the way that I live my life. I'm 21 and I've gone out twice since I've been home for the summer. I spend too much time working and not enough time with friends...yep I've heard it all. 

And I'm ready to tell my side of things. 

I'll admit it is not uncommon for me to have to cancel or change plans a day or two in advance because someone called in sick for work or needs time off. It comes with the territory of having your family's name on the building. When other employees call in its your job to step up no questions asked. Do I often enjoy it? No. Do I get jealous seeing pictures of you having fun? Of course. It wouldn't be human not to. But I wouldn't change my life for a second. I work my butt off for everything I want in my life.

With all of that responsibility comes a certain freedom in knowing that I can support myself completely on my own. Anything I want to do in life I can do if I work hard enough. 

I may not be "normal" and I can tell you that I have lost more than a few friends over my lifestyle this summer, but I wouldn't change it for the world. 

I'm stronger and becoming a better person every single day because I am chasing my goals not the ideals of others.

My priorities are: 

1) health

2) work

3) family 

4) happiness

What are yours?  

Xoxo, 

C 

Adventures in life

It has been a whirlwind since we got back from Nashville.  Lots of exciting things happening in life and I thought I would take a minute to share something other than a recipe.  Which apparently I have been finding a lot of  lately. 

Last weekend I got to hang out with Emmie at a family wedding and I cannot believe how big and beautiful she's getting.  It seems like just yesterday she was born and now she's almost a year! 

Katie and I tried a new restaurant called the Smilin' Moose in Hudson.  It's a great place to catch up and spend some time by the river. 

I ran 10 miles.  Mom biked with me and I am so glad that she did because on mile 1 we saw a black bear...I can definitely skip seeing one of those that close again. 

In the wonderful world of being a nanny we've been going on lots of outdoor adventures. 

Here are some pictures of the kiddos and Riley at Fawn-dow-rossa in St. Croix Falls.  I would definitely recommend taking any kid (big or small) we all had a blast. 

We have been trying out a bunch of new parks and the kids loved seeing the Lucy statue at St. Croix Prep! 

The kids had never been spelunching so I took them to the Boom site and we searched for bats and climbed around the cave.  They had tons of fun.  Of all the pictures that we took when we were there this was their favorite because they decided it didn't seem cool to smile in front of a cave.  It was way better to be serious. 

On Wednesday we got a special surprise when Riley stopped by in the squad car so the kids could see what it was like inside!  They were SO excited.  He even let them turn on the lights and sirens.  

The kids think it's pretty cool that Riley is a police officer and he comes to hang out with us!

Thursday meant workout 15.3 for the Granite Games Qualifier.  I seriously thought that training for and running a marathon was difficult, but this experience has surpassed that training 10 fold.  You don't realize how much your body is capable of until it has reached it's breaking point.  I reached mine yesterday.  

In the words of Kelly Clarkson, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!" 

And believe me I feel stronger and more powerful every time I workout with this awesome 4:30 bunch.  They are some of the strongest people I have ever met. 

How was your week?

C