Vegetarian Artichoke Adventures!

Did you know that Artichokes are one of the WORLD'S most healthiest foods? 

YES! But Why?

• REALLY high in anti-oxidents 
• Cancer fighting properties
• Really good for the liver *Also known for as a hangover treatment for you drinkers out there!*
• Reduces cholesterol
• Really high in Fiber (which helps with digestion)

If you had asked me a year ago to eat this weird flowery looking cactus shaped vegetable... I would have looked at you like you were crazy. 

Now that my taste buds are developing, I tried them for the first time about a year ago and I AM IN LOVE WITH THEM!

If you've never tried an artichoke before, I highly recommend it!

MAKE SURE YOU READ THIS BEFORE YOU TRY AND EAT ONE! They're complicated to eat, but totally worth the extra effort.

How to eat an artichoke:

After you've steamed or boiled it for 25-35 minutes begin to eat.

1. Pull off outer petals, one at a time
2. Dip white fleshy end in melted butter or sauce. Tightly grip the other end of the petal. Place in mouth, dip side down, and pull through teeth to remove soft, pulpy, delicious portion of the petal. Discard remaining petal.
3. With a knife or spoon, scrape out and discard the inedible fuzzy part (called the "choke") covering the artichoke heart. The remaining bottom of the artichoke is the heart. Cut into pieces and dip into sauce to eat.
4. I dip mine in a home made garlic sauce that I make myself with FRESH garlic. This not only adds to the flavors of the artichoke, it adds another entire health benefit from the fresh garlic!

It's a brand new year, try something brand new!!

Xox Brittany,

The Fitspirational Blonde

8 Ways to get your health back on track!

Hey you! Yes YOU:

• Have you slipped out of your healthy ways?
• Forgotten how to eat healthy and let your body get used to eating sugary processed foods?
• Even if you're NEW to the health lifestyle, ever wondered how and where to begin?

IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO GET BACK ON TRACK, OR START YOUR FITSPIRATIONAL JOURNEY!!



Here's some really great ways that I've PERSONALLY found to get back on track :)

1. START NOW- I don't care what time it is, I don't care what day it is, make the decision to start now.
2. PLAN YOUR MEALS OUT- Eating is step one of getting your healthy self on track. If you PLAN out your meals for the rest of the week, you won't be tempted to eat something unhealthy just because it's there. You'll have a plan. 
3. FITNESS JOURNAL- Make your very own fitness journal! This is the single BEST place to plan out your weeks meals. See my "Fitness Journal" for my fabulous method on food planning!
4. GO INTO THE KITCHEN WITH A MISSION- After you've made your week's food plan, go into the kitchen and ONLY prepare what you PLANNED to eat for that meal. Use "healthy tunnel vision" and pretend everything else in your fridge isn't there. 
5. GET YOUR BUTT UP- Having trouble getting motivated to exercise? Take a class! All you have to do is put on your fitness clothes and get yourself there. Once you've completed a class, your motivation to continue exercising will increase immensely!
6. DON'T LET ONE BAD DAY TURN INTO A BAD MONTH- Just because you've had one bad day, whether it be eating donuts and ice cream for breakfast and watching sex and the city all day, or just not having time to exercise that day. Don't let that un-motivate you. Realize you've come so far, and USE that bad day as motivation to do better tomorrow!
7. WATER- Drink it. I'm not kidding. If you've been eating unhealthy lately, a GREAT way to naturally detox your body is to flush it out and drink a LOT of water.
8. WRITE- Take time out of every day to write down how you're feeling? Are you feeling motivated and happy about your progress? Write about it. Are you feeling lazy and bloated? Write about it! Every day will be different, but it will really help you later on to go back and look at all the good days you've had, and all the bad days you've over come!

Everything I've written on my list is from personal experience. I'm a real girl with real challenges. I've had bad days, weeks, and even months too! This list has literally kept me going, and helped me come as far as I have to be the Real Fitspirational Brittany that I am today.

*Bookmark this list.* -Come back to it when you're feeling like you've gotten off track and need that extra push to keep going.

Need a little more motivation? Just ask :) I don't bite I promise!

Xox Brittany,

The Fitspirational Blonde

How long does it take to get full?

It is surprising how many people don't know this!
From the time that you begin eating, to the time that your brain tells the rest of your body it's full is TWENTY MINUTES!

This is why when you're really hungry you over eat, and then feel like you're going to explode... with 348503458 pounds of food in your stomach.

EAT SLOW! The world is not going to end by the the time you finish your spaghetti, it will still be there if you eat it SLOWLY.

I bet if you don't scarf it down, you'll surprise yourself when you're full and there's still a lot left on your plate.

Anther great tip: drink a glass of water before and during your meal! Sometimes when you think your body is hungry it is actually dehydrated.
Xox Brittany

The Fitspirational Blonde

10 Grocery Shopping Tips!

Good morning Lovelies!

It's a bright and beautiful Sunday morning and I like to get my grocery shopping for the week done on Sundays after Church! That way, when Monday comes my fridge is nice and stalked up and I'm ready for my healthy week :)

I decided to share my wonderful "grocery shopping tip list" with you, because it's easy to walk in the grocery store and feel like you're lost and have just entered a grocery Wonderland labyrinth.




Brittany's Grocery Shopping Tips:

1. Always go with a list!
2. Shop the perimeter! This typically contains the produce, dairy, meat, deli, and frozen section.
3. Inside the “perimeter” you are more likely to stray: the candy aisle, the juice/drinks aisle, and the snacks aisle are all bad places to buy the majority of your groceries
4. Look for what is on sale & stock up if it’s non-perishable. This will SAVE YOU MONEY!
5. When choosing packaged produce, look at the “Use by” date and choose the longest. Fresher items tend to get put in the back of shelves so customers buy the oldest items first. For example, when I'm buying milk, I always take the milk in the back because it has the newest expiration date.
6. Check all fruits & veggies for bruises, scratches, & mold. Yuck!
7. If you buy in bulk or have a big family, buy frozen petite peas, berries (for smoothies or baking), and bell peppers. They’re always cheaper & there isn’t much difference. I personally like to have fresh fruit in the house at all times, but when I'm a bit busy and haven't had time to the grocery store, I always have those frozen fruits and veggies to fall back on :)
8. Try to not over-buy, know how long each fruit/veggie will last & don’t waste it! Every time one of my avocado's goes bad, I feel like a pet died and I didn't have time to say goodbye (As you can tell, I'm very passionate about my avocados.)
9. Because produce goes off so quickly I try my best to go grocery shopping 1-2 times a week. This is usually what it takes to maintain a healthy lifestyle!
10. Shop at stores that are known for healthy living! My favorite's are Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Fresh and Easy, and as I said before your local Farmers Market.

Now it's up to you, these will REALLY help you if you actually APPLY them next time you're at the store!

To see my personal Grocery List, click here

Xox Brittany,

The Fitspirational Blonde

Keep a Fitness Journal!

Keeping a Fitness journal is a FABULOUS way to keep track of your progress, and make sure you are getting closer to those fabulous goals you've made for yourself.

I think we all have at least 1-2 two of those empty notebooks that we don’t know what to do with (who are we kidding I have like 8 of them, I buy them because they’re SO cute and then i get home, put them on the shelf and never use them!)

This is the beginning of a brand new year. Why not take notes, and set goals NOW, so at the end of 2013 you'll remember why it was such a great year. On December 31st, 2013 how awesome would it be to look back and reflect on exactly HOW you EARNED your way to the new healthy you for 2014 :)

Xox Brittany

The Fitspirational Blonde

My Fitspirational Thursday Lunch!

Today’s fabulously healthy lunch I made!

Freshly sliced Avocado over melted Cheddar cheese on toasted Oat-nut bread!

With a side of DELICIOUS baked garlic asparagus that I made all by myself!

(I’ll post a recipe soon)

And of course a fresh glass of Orange Juice and a cup of water to take my 7 daily vitamins with.

I threw this together in less than 15 minutes and it was FULL of nutrients that my body will use for the rest of the day.

Treat your body right and it will treat you right!

Have a healthy day everyone :)

Xox Brittany

The Fitspirational Blonde

3 minute (at home) Italian Salad!

You are ALWAYS telling me you want quick and healthy meals to eat so I’ve decided to start a strain of posts JUST dedicated to QUICK, EASY, and HEALTHY meals all under 10 minutes!

To kick off these posts, here is a delicious home made Italian salad that I literally threw together in 3 minutes.

You can use what ever veggies you have in your fridge, but I decided to go with the basics:

• Cherry tomatoes
• Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Dark leafy greens
• And non-Fat Italian Dressing

Wash them, slice them, toss them and POOF you’re done!

There is no need to make things complicated when you’re short on time. Get creative, but if you can’t just come to me and I’ll be all the creativity for both of us :)

Enjoy, and remember Fast food does NOT have to come from McDonalds! 

3 minutes is about as fast as it gets and this is PACKED with nutrients!

Xox Brittany

The Fitspirational Blonde

Guess what time it is? THAI TIME!!

I just finished working a Princess Party (it's one of my part time jobs) (today I was Cinderella at little Baily's 6th birthday party.)

Rather than resulting to the eating the typical party food (pizza) I waited to see what I could find around the area that was a bit more healthy and I LUCKED OUT!!! I found a Thai restaurant right down the street and they had my favorite dish, "tofu spicy noodles"!

"Table for 1 fabulous blonde" I said (okay minus the fabulous blonde part,) and they sat me down at my own private booth by the window.

I literally sat at my little booth at this Thai restaurant taking pictures of myself holding the plate for a good 5 minutes. The waiter thought I was hilarious and even jumped in a few of them and insisted that I email them to him.



I wouldn't be surprised if next time I come back, there is a framed picture of us next to my booth!

After I was done with my Tofu Spicy Noodle photo shoot with myself (and my hilarious asian waiter), I took my first bite.

I had asked for a "4" on the spicy scale of 1-10... and I guess he had either misheard me, or their "spicy scales" were NOT made for white girls. When I took my first bite IT WAS SO SPICY, I swear I had steam coming out of my ears.

I had to blow on it since it was not only spicy but hot in temperature even after my tofu-shoot. >>

Instead of sending it back, I decided to just tough it out and ordered a HUGE glass of water. What a great way to get my full 8 glasses in today right?

I took another look at my dish and realized how healthy it was: with the spinach, side salad, orange slices, and tons of tofu and just HAD to blog about it.



Health Benefits of Tofu:
(Excuse my awkward little hand pointing at the tofu)

As you all know, I've been a vegetarian my whole life so I've had to get creative with the way I get protein in my diet.

The health benefits of tofu as a meat substitute are numerous. Consuming tofu regularly helps lower bad cholesterol, alleviates symptoms associated with menopause and even lowers the risk of cancer. Other major health benefits of tofu compared to meat include making middle-aged bones stronger and delaying the ravages of age. Tofu has been found to be a great source of calcium and vitamin E as well. 

The only difference between tofu and meat protein is that you have to eat more tofu to meet the recommended dietary protein levels. In fact, every 100 g of tofu yields approximately 17.19 g of protein. To get the protein benefit of 150 g of lean meat, you should consume 290 g of tofu.

So don't forget no matter where you go to eat there is always some sort of healthy protein you can fit in, even if you're a vegetarian like me!

Xox Brittany

The Fitspirational Blonde

Early Morning Heat Yoga!

If you've been following me for long enough, you KNOW I'm FAR from a morning person, but I think I've finally found the motivation to get my lazy blonde butt out of bed early!

HEAT YOGA!!

My best friend found a GREAT deal at our local Yoga Studio for one free week of Heat yoga!

I'm really into trying new things lately, and this was definitely an INCREDIBLE new thing to try. If you've never taken or heard of heat yoga before, it's where you literally do yoga in a room that's REALLY hot.

Your body sweats out a lot of its toxins and it's SO good for not only your body, but also your mind because it helps you relax and leave your life at the door for an hour :)

Yesterday at 7:15am was my VERY FIRST heat yoga class with my bff, and of course we accidentally picked the HARDEST class in the whole studio.

About 1/2 way through the class, I felt like I was going to DIE and the whole class looked like we had JUST jumped into a swimming pool together from all the sweat! Gross right? 

Then I remembered this quote by Jillian Michaels... so I kept going anyway!

After it was over though (and after a REALLY long shower) I felt AMAZING! Refreshed didn't even begin to describe how I felt. The hot suffering was worth it and the best part was it was only 8:15am and I had got my morning workout out of the way already!

Getting up early is definitely going to be a new fabulous habit that everyone should try... but don't do it because you HAVE to... Do it because YOU WANT TO!!



Xox Brittany,

A-Fitspirational-Blonde