Coconut Oil gives you Brain power!

Coconut Oil gives you Brain power!

After reading an article this morning about coconut oil, I have a new found desire to incorporate it into my diet in as many ways as possible. 

"Coconut oil stands as the number one source for an all natural brain boost." 

You may find it challenging to incorporate an oil into your daily diet, but it can be very simple. 

My favorite way to have it is mixed into my smoothies. It has a bit of flavor, but mixed with all the other fruits and veggies, you don't even taste it. This is a simple and easy way to incorporate this super oil into your day. 

You can also substitute whichever oil you use for cooking now with coconut oil. Personally, I prefer not to do this, because the oil has a distinct taste, and can alter the taste of what you're cooking. But if you are willing to try it, go for it. 

Lastly, you can take a spoonful of coconut oil a day. I tried this for a while and was okay with it, but now I add it to my smoothies instead. The oil has to be heated and is very thick, so taking a spoonful is tough. 

Any way you try to add this to your diet is great. Little things like this can help change your lifestyle to a healthier one, & improve brain function for the future. 

To read the full article, click the link below: 

http://www.fhfn.org/coconut-oil-brain/

Stay Coco-nutty! XOXO

Start you day the RIGHT way!

Start your day the RIGHT way! 

Everyday you should start off with a healthy breakfast to fuel your body for the whole day. 

Eating a big, healthy breakfast kickstarts your metabolism for the day. Eat within the first hour of waking up, especially if you have a big test or something important going on that day. 

This is my Healthy & Delicious breakfast from this morning: 

1) Double protein english muffin with peanut butter and honey. 

2) An organic gala apple (which I keep in the refrigerator, because they taste better cold)

3) A bowl of grapes 

4) 1 full 16.9 FL OZ water bottle. 

Drinking water in the morning will hydrate your body and leave you without that sluggish feeling. The more water the better!

This is just an idea of what you can have for breakfast to start your day the healthy way! Stay away from sugary cereals and breakfast bars in the morning, they will hurt you more than they help. Always remember to keep your body fueled the right way with healthy fruits, veggies and grains. 

You can check out my personal Health board on Pinterest for some more healthy food ideas! 

https://www.pinterest.com/jillianlabriola/health/

Stay Fit! XOXO

A really yummy healthy dessert for the warmer weather is grilled pineapple with a scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt on top.

When trying to eat healthy, you may get bored with the constant salads and grilled chicken, but there are ways to make eating healthy delicious, especially in the dessert world.

To make this healthy, sweet dessert, cut all the skin off of the pineapple, but leave the leafy stem on, leaving the stem will help when you try to grill the pineapple. Then, throw the pineapple on the grill and rotate it until its just a little grilled on each side, like shown in the picture. Once it looks grilled to perfection, take it off the grill, cut it into slices and core the hard part out of the middle.

To finish it up, place it on a plate and add a scoop of ice cream, or a healthier option like frozen yogurt, on top and enjoy your healthy and delicious summer-time dessert.

Stay Fit! XOXO

Top 5 Rules of a Cheat Meal!

Cheat meals are allowed and you can still reach your goals. Actually, they may be important in the journey to a healthier lifestyle.

Everyone believes that eating bad for one meal ruins your diet, but that is not true! One bad meal will not, I repeat, will not, make you gain weight back that you have lost, unless you do NOT know how to control yourself. Control is key!

Here are 5 tips to help you with cheat eating. They are very helpful and all extremely true and valid points to bring you a successful indulgent meal.
1. NO GUILT. You have to enjoy what you're eating! You made the choice to eat it, so savor the flavor and if you feel a little worse after it, make it up in your next workout. Do an extra couple of reps or run and extra half-mile. It's not the end of the world!

2. PLAN. If you plan when to have your cheat meals, you will less likely to cheat the rest of the week. For example, if you're going to cheat for Sunday dinner, make sure you tell yourself that when you go reach for that double chocolate chip muffin Wednesday morning...

3. PORTION CONTROL. This is a HUGE part of weight-loss and healthy living. You can be the healthiest person out there, but if you eat more than you should and don't control your portions, it will only negatively affect you. A cheat meal is a treat for you, its not a ticket for a junk food binge day. Be mindful of that, because even when it tastes really good, you shouldn't go for multiples.

4. LIMIT THE NUMBER. You should allow yourself about 2-3 cheat meals per week. This allows you to remain a healthy-eater, but not cut yourself out of real-life eating. If you always deprive yourself of what you want, you are destine to fail.

5. MOVE ON. So now that you have had your cheat meal, think about how great it was, but also think how great you look because of your change in lifestyle, to one that's healthier. Remember that once you have one bad meal, it doesn't warrant you to go off and revert back to your old, unhealthy ways. Love every minute of your meal, and when its over, its over. Move on and take it out of your thoughts, and replace those with how much you love the feeling after achieving a new PR at the gym. Those are my fav!

Follow these steps when having your cheat meal and you will learn to control yourself in a whole new way!

Stay Fit! XOXO