All about bananas…b-a-n-a-n-a-s!

Good morning! What did you start your day off with? Here is my delish breakfast! 

You wanna know the star of the show?! Bananas! Here are some amazing health benefits bananas provide! 

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They are pretty cool don’t you think? And what’s even better than, well, I don’t know about better than because you can’t beat those health benefits, but at least just as good is the flavor! Bananas are naturally sweet. They really don’t need anything extra! 

Here are a couple ways to incorporate bananas into your diet:

• Freeze them! You can make smoothies, nice creams, etc. from frozen bananas, they contribute as a thickening agent. 
• Fruit Salad…..yummy yummy. Fruit salads are SO versatile, depending on the season you can add the freshest and best fruit. Luckly, bananas are good all year round! 
• A substitute! Bananas can act as 2 eggs for recipes! It’s a healthier alternative and tastier! 
• Sandwiches! Like the one I have above, or you could even make a pb&banana ‘grilled’ sandwich! The peanut butter gets all warm and gooey, oh man is it good! Add chocolate chips of your really needing a sweets craving. 
• As it is! Like I said earlier, bananas are tasty all on their own. No extra add on’s no extra calories! 

I hope you all enjoyed learning about one of my favorite foods, hope it’s yours too!
Madison 

Why the Scale Doesn’t Matter

Hey guys, today I wanted to get real with you on a subject all of us, well most all, stuggle with. 

The scale. 

The dreaded scale. I really don’t know what can be worse than that thing. It can give you nightmares. I’ve found myself SHOCKED at the number I saw pop up. I could be doing everything right, even losing inches, and my weight goes up! What a jerk you, scale. 

But here is the thing, get rid of it. I mean it, stash it away for a rainy day when you really want to know your ‘weight.’

If you’re in the process of losing weight, maintaining, or gaining weight, the easiest way to see the truth is through measurements. I’m serious! Here is what I do….

Every Monday, each week, as soon as I get up, I measure myself.

• Chest
• Arms
• Legs 
• Waist (above the hips)
• Tummy (right at your belly button) 

Each Monday I record these measurements on a sheet of paper, and each week I can see what has changed and what hasn’t. The thing is, naturally, your body fluctuates in weight. Water weight, whether you’ve used the bathroom, etc. But when it comes to taking measurements, especially right when you wake up, you’ll have some of the best results (that are in line with your true body size)

So here is the thing, try it. I know that scale is tempting to get on, even the slightest loseness in your pants makes you want to see what number you’re at. But try it, for a month, don’t take your weight. Do measurements! You’ll be even more shocked to see the inches change. It’s a tangible sheet that can show your progress over any period of time. It’s something you can be proud of! Just because you go down in inches/fat, your weight can stay the same or even increase. 

Bean and Veggie Salad

YUMMMM. Guys, this bean salad is SO good. I’m currently, as you read, ingulping it. It’s a super simple, affordable recipe that you can make in minutes. 

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cans of mixed Beans (I used Black and Gorgonzola)
• 3 Peppers (I used red, yellow, and green)
• 1 Onion (I used a white onion, red would be good too)
• Chili Powder Mix (I made my own comprising of chili powder, a little paprika, cayanne, garlic salt, pepper, and onion powder)
• 1 can of Corn
• Juice of 1-2 Limes

That’s it! No joke, and to put it simply all you do is add them on a bowl together and you get this magical concoction:

Does that not look heavenly? Well it taste even better than it looks! (I know crazy right?!)

Here are some yummy ways to eat this bean salad

• A spoon, eat it like cereal! In my opinion it doesn’t need anything with it!
• Nachos – Top off some tasty nachos with this mixture! 
• Stuffed Sweet Potato – Add this as a stuffing to a sweet potato, you’ll be in heaven!
• Chips and dip! (A crowd favorite) this is great to bring to a party. If you are making it for a crowd, I would double the recipe! 

The great thing about this recipe is the affordablity! You can get all this stuff for under $10, easy. So feeding a crowd won’t seem like such a hassle next time!!

Women & Weightlifting

Hey guys! Today I want to talk about women and weightlifting, they are two parts meant to be one. Let me give you some personal experience. 

If you don’t know my healthy journey, I went from being extremely obese to in-shape, losing about 80lbs. Even though I lost SO many inches, I still had floppy skin. Not cute…right? So surgery! NO. Pause. Really unless you’ve lost over 150lbs you can lose almost all of your extra skin with one simple thing…weights! That’s right, weightlifting.

Do you see this? I was big, 245lb big. Once I lost all my weight, I went to this…and still continue to workout, lose weight, and tone. Do you wanna know why I say lift weights and incorporate body weight exercise? You TONE. 
Women think “omg no I can’t lift weights I’ll get big and bulky,” sister, unless you lift heavy and work for bulk, you’re just going to tone. Doing a light/moderate weight selection and a healthy amount of reps/set you’ll see your ‘looseness’ become tighter and tighter. 

Granted, yes. I still have lose skin, I’m not at my goal weight! But my stretch marks and lose skin keep me going, they make me work harder to get the toned look I want! Will I always have lose skin? Maybe? Can dreams come true? If you work hard enough! 

So don’t shy away from a proactive practice because you’re afraid of results you don’t have! I’m all about trying new things, if you see it’s not working how you want, then don’t do it anymore. You have the power to lead your own life. But try! I promise you, first hand experience, it works. Weight training is key to building the physique you want! 

If you want me to post some of my weight training workouts let me know in the comments below or inbox me! I would love to hear from you. 
Madison

All About Almonds

Hey guys! Today I want to talk about one of my FAVORITE foods, almonds! Almonds are a staple in my diet. If I’m not eating them right out of the bag, I dress up my acai bowls, nicecream, tofu and baked goods with them! They are SO versatile. Let’s start with some health benefits:

• Almonds are awesome! Here is a cool list of things I found Almonds can do! Photo Source

So now that your an advocate for all the benefits of almonds, here are some yummy ways to incorporate them into your diet!

• Use sliced/crushed almonds to bread your ‘meats’ with! If you eat meat, you can bread your chicken with almonds and make a yummy almond crusted chicken like this recipe! Or if you’re a plant-based eater like me, this delicious Almond Crusted Tofu Nuggets! 
• Acai bowls!!! Here is a link to my recipe on Acai bowls! As you can see I put a helpful serving of sliced almonds on! 
• Nicecream! Basically the vegan icecream! This one I made (banana pineapple) was delicious!!! Here is the recipe. I added toppings, which is so extra but so good. 
• You can coat your baked goods with almonds as a topping like this banana nut loaf topped with sliced almonds….YUM!

I could keep going, literally, almonds are my jam. (They go with jam! Almond butter, yum!) if you want more recipes with almonds let me know. 

Almonds for days…
Madison

Vegan Peanut-butter Blondies

Guys….. I’m here to share the yummiest recipe! Simple, quick, and budget-friendly vegan peanut butter blondes!!! I’ve made these 4 times already. 

I got the recipe from Baked by Nature’s Blog! 

These things are addicting! My whole family LOVES them and asks for them daily. (I don’t know if they are the healthiest things but yummiest for sure!)  I got these photos from her blog as well, mine weren’t as photogenic….or did I just eat them all before I could take a photo? The world will never know. 

Here is the recipe from her blog! Give her a look, she has some amazing recipes!

 (Vegan) Peanut Butter Blondies

prep 10 mins / cook 25 mins / total 35 mins

Soft and gooey peanut butter blondies loaded with chocolate peanut butter cups!

Ingredients

• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup coconut or canola oil (if using coconut oil, melt it first)
• 3/4 cup creamy, sugar-free peanut butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips or vegan peanut butter cups chopped in half, optional

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Line an 8×8 inch baking pan with parchment paper allowing two of the sides to overlap; set aside.
• In a large bowl whisk together brown sugar, oil. and peanut butter; beat smooth.
• Add the flour and mix until combined. Pour in almond milk and stir smooth. Fold in chocolate chips or peanut butter cups, if using.
• Pour batter into prepared pan and place in the oven to bake for 25-27 minutes, or until center is *just set. Don’t worry if they don’t look done. They will firm up while they cool.
• Cool blondies in pan completely before cutting into small squares.

Notes: Allow blondies to cool completely before cutting or else they will crumble. (I let them crumble lol, I like them right out of the oven! Who cares what they look like!)

Recipe author: bakerbynature

• I did minor adjustments for my blondies, I used coconut oil and wheat flour! Turned out just as great! •

All About Chia Seeds

Chia seeds? How can ‘those things’ be so good for you? Well, I’m here to give you an answer! There are more than enough health benefits that come from these little guys. They may be small in size, but they are large in health benefits! Here’s a couple key things to know! 

• Chia seeds are rich in Omega-3! Omega-3 helps to reduce inflammation & high cholesterol! 
• Chia seeds are rich in fiber. A lot of people think plant-based people need high protein diets, but really we get enough protein (if you’re eating right,) you really need to make sure you get enough fiber! Chia seeds have 10 grams of fiber in 2 tablespoons! 
• Chia seeds are rich in antioxidants. They keep you young! 
• Chia seeds are gluten-free! Great little things to add to your gluten-free diet. 
• Chia seeds help to regulate blood sugar, they keep insulin levels at a healthy spot. 
• Chia seeds can be an egg replacement! On a plant-based diet, eggs are a no-go. Chia seeds can be used in place of eggs in things like baked goods. (1 tablespoon of chia seeds and 3 tablespoons of water = 1 egg replacement)

These are just SOME of the MANY benefits that come along with the wonders of chia seeds. They are easy to incorporate and worth it!

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What Diet Is Best For You?

We are all different, whether it be our body type, metabolism, genetics, we all are prone to react differently to different types of stimuli. When it comes to choosing the right diet, it doesn’t matter what body type, metabolism, or what your genetics say. When you think about it, all humans are 99% alike, so if we get down to the core, we all need the same things: water, food, shelter, etc. So, what diet then? Well, to put it simply, a healthy one. 

Now, okay, you’re probably saying “Well duh Madison, thanks for that never before heard advice.” Hold on, when I say healthy,  I mean natural. The more processed foods you put into your body, the worse off you become. 

GMO, MSG, ect. etc. they all are made in benefits to the manufacturers. The more they produce, the ‘bigger the better,’ more chemicals are added and in turn get added to our foods, which we consume. Now, since you’ve consumed that food, you’ve consumed what it’s made from, natural and added, it all goes somewhere. 
And I know going organic is not something everyone can afford, trust me, I’m a college student, I know.  BUT, if you do your best the avoid processed and GMO grown foods, you’ll find your body will thank you, in more ways than you think. 

I think a big problem with people now-a-days is they have always eaten so unhealthy, they really don’t think it can be as good as what I’m saying. You will feel AMAZING, clean, and balanced the more you move your way to a healthy diet. So what if you are obese? Make the change now, NOW, and you could increase your life span. 

All the decisions you make, key word ‘YOU,’ you are responsible for. So why not set your life on the right path? Do what’s best for your body, and your body will repay you. 

So again, no matter what body type you have, start with the core essentials. Do what is best for you and your body, do the ‘healthy diet.’ 

Veganism : Short Statement

So I want to share my experience as a vegan with you! I’m not an expert, I’ve only been ‘vegan’ing’ for about a month now. But, I do feel pretty confident on sharing my experience with it! 

Note: I was a vegetarian for about 2.5 years before this, I did take a break (mainly because my family&in-laws are big meat eaters, I just became a problem to plan around) because I felt bad about being an inconvenience for those who cooked for me sometimes. But, I decided it was time to put myself first and do what I wanted to do… so I did it, I became a vegan. 
 This basically summed up my initial thinking; I LOVE CHEESE. I thought I could never go without cheese, ehh milk, I already used almond milk 99% of the time, that wasn’t a big deal. But cheese. Cheese. That was what kept me from jumping on this bandwagon a long time ago. But looking back, (I sound like I’ve been a vegan for a 100 years) I see it really did nothing but give me acne and keep extra weight on. 
Month in, I’m loving it. Meat has never been a big deal for me, especially red meat, I cut that out forever when I became a vegetarian. But, I’ve learned it’s actually not as hard as you think to cut out animal products. Now, granted, I do a lot of cooking at home, so when I do go out, I find myself either picking apart a dish to it’s core, or just ordering a couple side items. So, that is a down side to being a vegan. But, overall it’s great. 

My energy is amplified, I have started to trim down, I’ve come out of my plateau. I find myself incorporating more and more fruits in veggies into meals than before. Even though I was healthy and watched what I ate, I still wasn’t getting the feeling I have now… satisfaction 

Now, I didn’t go vegan for the animals, I don’t have a personal connection to that side of veganism. (Although I do think it’s terrible what they are doing) I mainly did it for my own health. 

Veganism to me is all about the essentials, the common foundation we should all really thrive from. I think that’s why I like it so much, it’s simple, yet you can evolve each dish as you see fit. 

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to message me! I would love to hear from you.