Whole-Wheat French Toast

Guess what day it is?
TOAST TUESDAY!

Mmmmm a healthy twist on the ultimate kind of toast: French Toast! French Toast may have a poor reputation when it comes to healthy breakfast choices, but not when it’s pretty and perfectly portioned! It’s the perfect combination of protein, whole-grain, healthy fats, and produce!


Whole Wheat French Toast

Serves 1 

1 slice whole-wheat bread
1 cup fresh raspberries
1/4 cup egg whites
2 Tbsp sliced almonds
1/8 tsp cinnamon
3 drops liquid stevia or other natural sweetener

Combine egg whites, cinnamon, and sweetener in a bowl.  Soak the slice of bread in the egg mixture until it is absorbed. Place the bread in a pan lightly coated in cooking spray over medium heat. Pour excess egg mixture on top of the bread. Flip and cook both sides until the egg is no longer runny. Transfer to a plate and top with fresh raspberries and almonds.


The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown

Produce: raspberries
Whole Grain: whole-wheat bread
Protein: egg whites
Plant Based Fat: sliced almonds

FitFluential

Exciting announcement!

Because YOU visit, email, comment, tweet, pin, and share my blog, I have gained an incredible following with thousands of viewers per day. With every click of your mouse, YOU have helped me to gain exposure by top fitness magazines, health food companies, and blogging communities! Thank YOU, because without my readers, this blog is nothing!

I am soooo beyond excited to announce that I am an official ambassador for FitFluential! I will be joining a family of fitness fanatics who spread a positive healthy message year-round. FitFluential is a “nationwide network of fitness enthusiasts sharing their journey both online and offline through multiple social media outlets.” Being an ambassador of FitFluential is such an honor, and I am so thrilled to be joining a growing company with such positive impact. I cannot wait to work with their incredible sponsors and partners! Thank you so much to Kelly Olexa for the incredible opportunity!

A little while ago, I mentioned how I was frustrated and stuck in my head battling a vicious cycle of poor body image and lack on motivation to keep up with my healthy lifestyle. I’m not perfect, and like many others, sometimes I can’t resist a piece of carrot cake, and sometimes I wake up and don’t want to exercise. My goal as the author of this blog is to be honest with my readers and share both my successes and struggles. My journey of losing and maintaining weight has had it’s share of ups and downs, and I want to influence others to stay motivated, on track, and reach their goals. Thanks to the tight knit community of bloggers and my very own readers and friends, I was able to regroup and remember why I changed my lifestyle in the first place: to be healthy and fit. I will be working with FitFluential, to share this same goal by practicing what I preach, and encouraging others to get healthy and fit!

#FitFluential starts now! After you finish reading this post, close your laptop, turn off your computer, lock your iPad, and head out for a 30 minute walk! Don’t feel like leaving the house? That’s fine! Instead, do 30 pushups on the hour, 30 squats every time you talk on the phone, jumping jacks during commercial breaks, or 30 lunges as you text your friends, whatever it is, get moving! The excuse “I don’t have time to workout” has just been removed from your dictionary of phrases. I’m sure you could squeeze in some sit-ups while you’re waiting for water to boil on the stove. There are so many little opportunities to squeeze in some reps throughout the day! You don’t need to go to the gym to tone up those arms. Grab some canned vegetables and do some tricep extensions! Just because you’re not at the gym, it doesn’t mean you’re not getting a decent workout!

I’ve been slowly coming back out of my fitness rut and back on track. I’ve been going out on walks, taking the stairs (malls, apartment buildings, office buildings), and doing squats as I cook. This week I will be starting one of my toughest challenges yet: vacation. I will be packing up my running shoes and visiting my boyfriend in Texas, but this time, I refuse to give in to vacation mode and delicious southern cooking. I will be staying #FitFluential with the help of Sam, who is pumped and has already planned out daily runs in every park in the surrounding area (I know, he’s amazing). I have been treating everyday like it’s a vacation, but it’s time to focus on myself and my health, because I know that when I am eating well and exercising, I feel great, and am so much happier with myself physically. Since Sam is helping me stay #FitFluential while on vaca, it is my goal to help you guys stay fit and healthy whether you are going through finals, celebrating graduations, or starting to slack off for summer.

I’ll be checking in from time to time to share updates and progress, and to see how you guys are doing! I’ll let you know when my official tip page is up on their website! Eeeeek, squealing big time right now!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad’s birthday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPS!


Of course I had to make my dad the ultimate RFFMBT gift of all gifts: fresh carrot juice! My dad loves carrots. He loves them so much that he has taught all of our dogs to be carrot addicts too. Every time someone opens a produce drawer in the fridge, the dogs automatically think it’s “carrot time” which means one carrot for my dad, and then half for each pup. Our late Yellow Labrador, Tiger actually started to turn orange on his chest from the daily carrot routine!


After my dad left for work this morning, my mom, sister, and I headed out for a nice morning walk around 6:45am to surprise my dad at his favorite coffee shop in town. He stops by for a cup of java at the same coffee shop every morning, so we thought it would be fun to take our puppy Elin and surprise him. Of course it was a total fail and we missed him by 10 minutes! We ended up taking a photo out in front with our coffees and texted it to him. He was more surprised over the fact that I was awake at that hour over everything else! Although mission coffee shop surprise was a bust, it was nice to get some exercise in before my brain even had time to recognize what was going on. The puppy enjoyed the walk too!


Now I’m off to run some errands before I meet up with my trainer Kandace. She always helps me to refocus and find balance between exercising and healthy eating. She is a great trainer, friend, mentor, and to top it off, a breast cancer survivor. I encourage everyone to read her blog about how exercise saved her life and kept her strong throughout her treatments. She is such an inspiration!

Stay tuned because I have a very excited announcement later today! 

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day!

I love you mommy!
xoxo

Now time to lace up the Asics and walk to the coffee shop!
Happy Mother’s day to all of the mommies out there!
I don’t know how you ladies do it, you’re amazing!

Ch Ch Ch Chia Pudding

Ch ch ch chia!
I loveeee Chia Seeds! My sister and I just finished off this entire jar of Ch Ch Ch Chia Pudding! And I can’t stop saying CH CH CH CHIA! Somebody, make it stop!

There is much more to these seeds, than the power to grow a pet out of a terra cotta pot! Chia seeds are the latest craze in superfoods and healthy plant-based fat. Do you think that Joe Pedott, the creator of the famous Chia Pet had any idea that these would later be considered a superfood?

What is a Chia seed?
The Chia plant (Salvia hispanica) is a member of the mint family that’s native to Mexico and Guatemala. Chia seeds are often eaten raw, but can also be soaked in liquid to form a gelatinous mixture. Chia seeds can also be ground into a powder for baking.

What do they taste like?
Chia seeds don’t really taste like anything. Their flavor is practically non-existent, but he magic is in the texture. When combined with water or liquid, they absorb 9 times their weight in water, forming a gel-like consistency. They are great in smoothies and oatmeal because they add texture and a thicker consistency. The proof is in the pudding… ha ha ha

Why Chia?
Chia seeds are an amazing source of plant-based fat, and are especially high in Omega 3 fatty acids which reduce inflammation and may help lower risk of heart disease, cancer, and arthritis. They also contain a large amount of Fiber, which aids with weight loss by keeping your stomach feeling full. Last but not least, these tiny little seeds are filled with powerful antioxidants to help rid our bodies of free radicals, and Magnesium and Potassium. Talk about big things in small packages!

Depending on the brand, 1 Tablespoon of dry Chia seeds tallies up to about 55 calories, 5g of Fat, 5g of Carbohydrate, 6g of Fiber, 3g of Protein.

Below is an example of dry chia seeds before they have swelled, and after they have been left in liquid for 10 minutes.

Ch Ch Ch Chia Pudding
serves 2

¼ cup whole chia seeds
¾ cup unsweetened almond milk (I love Almond Breeze by Blue Diamond!)
½ ripe banana
1 Tbsp rolled oats
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
4-6  drops of liquid stevia or other natural sweetener to taste

Set the dry Chia seeds aside in their own bowl – they will be added last. In a blender, combine almond milk, banana, rolled oats, cinnamon, vanilla, and sweetener. Blend until smooth. Pour mixture and whole chia seeds into a jar and stir. Refrigerate for 10 minutes and stir again. Let the pudding stand in the refrigerator for 10 more minutes until the chia seeds have expanded. Enjoy cold. Or prepare them and leave in the refrigerator overnight like overnight oats.
Note: I use unsweetened almond milk and add my own vanilla and stevia, but you could use sweetened vanilla almond milk if you would like. If so, omit the vanilla extract and sweetener from the recipe.

Adapted from Eating Bird Food 

1 59 60 61 62 63 72