Glowing Green Smoothie recipe!

Hey everyone!

There is this amazing drink called the Glowing Green Smoothie and it is certified nutritionist Kimberly Snyder's recipe. I have this smoothie every morning for breakfast! EVERY morning! It is a wonderful way to start the day. It's full of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes! This recipe goes along with her entire Beauty Detox Program and if you haven't, I recommend reading her book "The Beauty Detox Solution". It's a great book and I learned so much about health and digestion. It's recommended to not only have the Glowing Green Smoothie for breakfast everyday but to also follow her meal plan. I've been following it for over a month now and I love it!

It is recommended that you blend this smoothie with a Vitamix blender. I bought a Vitamix a couple of months ago and I use it almost every day! It's a very powerful blender and breaks through the cell walls of the greens and fruits in this smoothie. You can still use a standard blender to make this smoothie, you may have to cut up the fruit and veggies into smaller pieces though.

Kimber Snyder's Official Glowing Green Smoothie recipe:

(64 ounces / 2-4 servings)

• 1 ½- 2 cups very cold, filtered water
• 6 cups spinach, chopped
• 5 cups organic romaine lettuce, chopped
• 2 stalks of organic celery
• 1 organic apple, cored and chopped
• 1 organic pear, cored and chopped
• 1 organic banana
• 1–2 Tbs. fresh organic lemon juice

Optional Ingredients

• Ice cubes (the extra coldness can help newbies with the taste)
• 1/2 cup of organic cilantro
• 1/2 cup of organic parsley

Directions:

Add water, spinach and chopped romaine to the blender. Starting the blender on a low speed; mix until smooth.
Gradually move to higher speeds and add the herbs, celery, pear, and apple. Add the banana and lemon juice last.

*For 1 serving, cut out one of the fruits and the celery.

I usually have 16-20 ounces of this smoothie for breakfast. Since this recipe makes 64 ounces, I keep the rest in a big pitcher in my refrigerator and it lasts up to 3 days! You can also freeze portions of the smoothie if you would like it to last longer.

Here is Kimberly's blog post about her Glowing Green Smoothie: click here

I hope you all enjoy this amazing smoothie! I love having it every morning! It's delicious.

Let me know how you like it! :)

Happy Valentines Day!

Here is an easy and healthy way to enjoy valentine's day with your family or loves! One of my favorite sweet treats is chocolate covered strawberries. Instead of using milk chocolate, I bought some vegan 73% cacao dark chocolate at Trader Joes! I put the chocolate bar in a double boiler on the stove and stirred the chocolate until it was melted. I washed and patted the strawberries dry with a paper towel and carefully dipped each one in the chocolate. I laid out a sheet of parchment paper on the counter and sat the already dipped strawberries on there to dry. Once they were all done I let them cool and harden in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes.

They are delicious!!!! You must make this easy and healthy treat for valentine's day or any day! Have fun and enjoy!


Xoxo

I am a vegan now!

So I know it's been awhile since I've posted anything on here. I'm so sorry! The holidays were fun but busy and school started back up too. I've been trying to get settled into this semester and it's going great!
Over the holidays I read a book called The Beauty Detox Solution by certified nutritionist Kimberly Snyder. It was a great read and I finished it in a couple of days! I went vegetarian a few years ago after reading Skinny Bitch but I began to think I wasn't getting enough protein. So I started to eat meat again. Kimberly's book proved that vegan "lack of protein" myth wrong! You can get plenty of protein from vegetables. I was so relieved to learn that! I've never been a big meat eater so I thought a vegan lifestyle would be great for me. After I read The Beauty Detox I immediately began transitioning to my new vegan lifestyle. Kimberly is very informative in her book and I learned so much about food and the way we should eat it so it digests properly. It's only been about 2 weeks since I began my vegan lifestyle and I'm loving it. My meals are filled with fresh, organic vegetables and fruits and the recipes are delicious! I'm even able to substitute foods in the ToneItUp nutrition plan to suit my vegan lifestyle. I'm going to start posting some great vegan recipes that I make throughout the week!

Hope you all are having a wonderful week!
Xoxo
Nicole

Steel Cut Oatmeal Recipe

I recently posted on my Facebook page what my favorite meals to have for breakfast are. One of my favorites is steel cut oatmeal. It's so delicious and filling. I buy the Bob's Red Mill steel cut oats and I make the recipe on the back of the package. I usually put a packet of stevia in my portion with some berries on top. It is SO yummy. Sometimes I'll put a tablespoon of flax seed meal or protein powder in it.

I was reading Kourtney Kardashian's blog and she is also a big fan of steel cut oats for breakfast. She posted her favorite way to eat the oats in the morning and the recipes sounds great. I'm definitely going to make it once I'm done with the 7 Day Slimdown. :)

If you don't know what steel cut oats are, they are the whole grain groats that have been cut into pieces with steel rather than being rolled. The groat is the inner portion of the oat kernel. What I love about steel cut oats is that they are chewier and nuttier than old-fashioned oats. Steel cut oats have many health benefits and are very filling. It's definitely one of my favorite things to have for breakfast aside from Tone It Up protein pancakes or an egg white omelet. :) Steel cut oats have a lower glycemic index than instant oatmeal which causes a lower spike in insulin levels when consumed. A 1/2 cup serving of cooked steel-cut oatmeal provides only 150 calories. It is a good source of complex carbohydrates, and provides 4 g of soluble fiber, which works to lower cholesterol. It also provides 5 g of protein.

Here is Kourtney Kardashian's steel-cut oatmeal recipe:

One serving:
1 cup of almond milk
1/4 cup of steel cut oats
2 tablespoons of Bob’s Red Mill ground flaxseed meal
1 teaspoon of Manuka honey (which has health benefits as well as adding some sweetness)

Mix everything together on medium heat and stir until it comes to a low boil. Then put on simmer and leave for about 20 minutes or so…that’s it! So easy and very healthy!

Enjoy! :)

My Daily Goal

As I mentioned in my previous post, I began a daily goal last week to burn 500 or more calories every day. Today is my 8th day doing this goal and I must say how incredible I'm feeling. I wake up feeling refreshed and excited to start the day with a ToneItUp booty call workout whether it be a run or a video. A few girls have joined me in my goal and I couldn't be happier. This makes me so happy to know I've inspired others! If anyone would like to join in on this goal let me know on my Facebook page so we can all check in with each other!

So I'm dealing with the girl issues right now and it sucks but I'm not going to let it bring me down! I do NOT want it to interfere with my daily goal! I powered through my workouts yesterday and it's amazing how it instantly makes me feel energized. Yesterday I did the new ToneItUp Sunset workout and I LOVE it! It's a great workout and I really felt the burn! I also did two NTC workouts.

I'm excited to power through another day- who's with me!? :)

Sunday RUNday

Hey everyone!

I had a great night of sleep and woke up feeling refreshed! Love when that happens. I immediately thought of what my morning "booty call" workout was going to be and decided to go on a run. I have the Couch to 10k app on my iPhone and I love it. I did 'Week 2 Day 3' of the program today and really enjoyed it. My mom tagged along with me which made me happy! It was a foggy morning but it was nice and cool out. I wear a Polar FT4 watch which comes with a heart monitor so it tells me how many calories I'm burning and what my heart rate is. On my jog/walk I burned 375 calories and once I got back home I stretched then decided to do a 30 minute NTC (Nike Training Club-iPhone app) work out so I could reach my goal of burning over 500 calories a day! I chose the '30 minute Conditioning Corps' workout and loved it. I checked my Polar watch and I burned 272 calories doing that! I took it a little easy today since I've decided starting next week my rest days are going to be Sundays. Since I've started this daily goal of burning 500 or more calories a day, my workouts have really stepped it up and I love it. I need a rest day so my muscles can recover. I will probably do the ToneItUp 'Stretch and Release' video and a foam roller routine on my rest days. You can find the 'Stretch and Release' video here

I'm happy I finished my workouts and daily goal before the afternoon. It makes me feel energized for the rest of the day! Join me on my daily goal! Let me know on my twitter or Facebook if you are going to join me! It's so much fun. It is like a daily game to reach the "high score" of burning over 500 calories! Ha ha.

Now I'm off to the Atlanta Falcon's game with my family! I'm pretty excited.

RISE UP ATLANTA! Let's go Falcons! :)

Been Awhile..

Hey everyone!

I know it has been a long time since I've posted something on here. I've been kind of busy with school. Thanksgiving break is coming up though! I'm excited. I love spending time with family and eating yummy food. That brings me to a question that I have been getting lately. "How do I remain healthy on Thanksgiving?" and I always say enjoy the food and family time but always remember 'PORTION CONTROL'. Do not go overboard with the food! Sometimes our eyes are bigger than our stomachs. Also, enjoy talking with your family while you enjoy the food. Do not sit there and shovel the food in your mouth like you haven't eaten in months! Haha. What I'm saying is: don't eat fast! If you enjoy your company and eat slow your food will begin to settle and digest and you will become full faster. Which causes you to not eat more than you should! :)

I hope this helps!

I'm going to start blogging more and I will hopefully be getting a new camera soon so I can take better pictures of my meals, etc.

Love, Nicole