Year: 2021

Nutrition

When is the best time to have breakfast?

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Did you know that the word ‘breakfast’ is really just short for ‘break fast’ – breaking your fast, get it?

If you sleep, you fast. Whether it’s a 4 hour, or 14 hour night sleep, you’re fasting!

The first thing you decide to eat after a fast is such an important decision and will literally make or break your energy levels for the day…

It’s not so important as to what time you eat your first meal of the day…

Rather WHAT you eat as your first meal of the day.

When I learned this, I decided to commit to “fruit first” – this shift has been a game changer for my energy levels!

It can be a piece of fruit, a fruit smoothie (fruit & water only), or a freshly squeezed fruit juice shot / drink.

Fruit first = instant energy + a positive ripple for the rest of my day.

So if you have to choose between a healthy snack and junk food like sugary cereal, breads, bagels…

Go with the healthy choice! Even if it pains you at first to do so.

You’ll thank yourself later on when you are feeling more upbeat, energized and don’t crash mid day.

This little switch will make a world of a difference!

CHALLENGE: Tomorrow morning, eat fruit first!

Keep crushing your goals, you got this🤙



x Cor

Nutrition

How to (healthy) Food Shop

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1. Set a budget

This can be a weekly or monthly budget. Sticking to it is key.

You can utilize a calculator during your visit to ensure you are within budget.

Anything left over from your budget can be used for the night you want to order in or go out to eat!

This concept also helps to keep expenses low, compared to freely spending money on food with no structure or awareness.

2. Prepare an “Eat to Live” shopping list

Working off of a list takes the guess work out of your shopping. This saves time and calories!

Set yourself up for success by cutting out the junk food, candy, cookies and anything else that isn’t considered clean before you even step in the store.

Remind yourself why you are deciding not to buy these items, so when you are tempted to get them in store, you’ll have better chances of turning toward more healthier options.

Once you get that habit going, you won’t be able to stop!

3. Head to the store during slow hours

This way you can avoid both street traffic and store traffic, saving you some time and energy.

If you’re tight on time or have the money to invest, there are plenty of home delivery services that will drop fresh groceries off right to your door step!

4. Eat before you go or bring a light snack

Please learn from my mistakes and fuel up & hydrate before your food shop run! If you go hungry or thirsty, you’ll be much more likely to make impulse purchases, or buy way more than you need.

5. Organize your fridge utilizing a system

Last week’s food: top shelf. New food: middle shelf. Fruits: back of fridge/bottom shelf.

This will save you time during the week when you are looking for something – you won’t have to search around for long.

Feel free, of course, to personalize the system to work best for you!

6. Meal prep

Whether you need to bake potatoes, cut your veggies, or prep your salads – doing it in the beginning of your food week (right after food shopping) will save you a ton of time! It’s essential.

Food shopping and meal prep usually happen within a day of each other, most likely the same day. I carve out three hours total for food shopping and meal prep.

Save this post and share it with a friend if you found these tips helpful!

What are some questions you may have about health and fitness?

How has your journey been going?

x Corie

Easy Recipes

Stuffed (vegan) Cheesy Sweet Potatoes

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This is a fun recipe you can make at home with a few simple ingredients, an oven, and blender!

Ingredients

sweet potatoes
green bean
corn
almond milk
seasonings
lime

Instructions

Step 1: Preheat your oven at 400 degrees. Get out a non-stick pan that will fit your potatoes.

Step 2: Grab a batch of potatoes and cut a few slices about half way through to cook more thoroughly.

Step 3: Once your oven is ready, bake your potatoes for 30 mins.

Step 4: Heat up a non-stick pan on medium heat. Toss your veggies in and cook them for a few minutes to heat them up a bit. Season to your liking.

Step 5: Take your potatoes out after testing softness with a fork. You should be able to easily poke into the potatoes; if you can’t, leave in for another 5 mins and test again- repeat until ready.

Step 6: When the potatoes have cooled some, cut small rectangles into each sweet potato and scoop the mash out into a blender, leaving the skin of the potato to fill. Try to keep the potato skin in tact for an aesthetically pleasing result!

Step 7: Blend up your mash potato with some almond milk and seasonings of your choice. Start light on the milk; the more almond milk you add, the less thick your vegan cheese will be.

Step 8: Fill your potato skins with your cooked veggies and top it all with your vegan cheese! Add seasoning, hot sauce (optional), and lime to your pleasing!

Step 9: Take a picture and send it to me plzzz! Enjoy (-:



Do you like recipes laid out this way? What can I do differently to make things easier for you?!


Eat great. Feel great. Be great.

x Corie

Healthy Habits, Mindfulness, Relationships

15 Tips for a Healthier Relationship

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  1. Follow the 100/0 rule. Give 100% and expect 0%. Your hard work and dedication to the relationship will bring self-fulfillment and happiness, not what the other person does for you.

  2. Show up for yourself so that you can show up in your relationship.

  3. Don’t let emotions stack up. Express to your partner that you’re not feeling the best, and take as much space and time as you need to do some self-reflection and regroup.

  4. When emotions rise during conversation, walk it off and take some deep breaths- pick things up when your emotions have cooled or schedule another time to talk it out. Don’t allow emotion to rule your conversations.

  5. Don’t keep count. Just because you took the trash out last, doesn’t mean it’s the other person’s turn this time around. Remember give 100, expect 0!

  6. Set healthy boundaries, and be clear on the consequences if boundaries are crossed.

  7. Try not to take things personal. Sometimes we aren’t in the best mood, it’s human! If you notice your significant other getting a little worked up, offer to give them space to work through it. That could be physically removing yourself from the room, or allowing your loved one to feel seen and heard by listening intently without judgment or criticism.

  8. Create and commit to Family Meetings. The reason for this is to get everyone (including children) on the same page with where the family is heading and the effort required to get there. Some meetings are daily, while others are weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly.

    Below is a list of meetings we currently are implementing with great success:
    1. Daily Huddle
    2. Daily Reflection

    3. Weekly Reflection
    4. Weekly Finance
    5. Weekly Timeblock
    6. Weekly Book Club
    7. Weekly 80/20 Analysis

    8. Monthly Reflection
    9. Monthly Finance

    10. Quarterly Reflection
    11. Quarterly Finance

    12. Yearly Reflection
    13. Yearly Finance
    14. Yearly Self-Analysis
    15. Yearly Goal Setting

  9. Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain.
    1. Criticize: indicate faults in a disapproving way
    2. Condemn: express complete disapproval of, typically publicly
    3. Complain: express dissatisfaction or annoyance about something

  10. Give honest and sincere appreciation.

  11. Never show others that you are not interested in what they have to say.

  12. Don’t try to make your partner over.

  13. Pay little attentions (do the small things with no expectation or attention drawn to it).

  14. Be courteous (polite, respectful, considerate in manner).

  15. And lastly, keep things sexy!

Hope this list brought you some value! Do you have any relationship tips?! Comment below!


x Corie

Getting Started, Nutrition

CC’s Plant-Based Meal Plan

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Breakfast

  • Fruit (pieces or smoothie)

Meal #1

rice and beans

  • Jasmine rice
  • Black beans
  • Bell pepper
  • Tomato
  • Cucumber
  • Salt and pepper
  • Spinach

Meal #2

roasted red pepper gumbo

  • Tomato basil soup
  • Jasmine rice
  • Kidney beans
  • Red bell pepper
  • Onion
  • Zucchini
  • Chili powder
  • Salt and pepper
  • Arugula

Meal #3

oatmeal, pancakes, muffins

  • Oats
  • Peanut butter (peanuts & salt only)
  • Bananas
  • Blueberries
  • Pure maple syrup
  • Peanuts or cashews
  • Almond or soy milk

Meal #4

pasta primavera

  • Pasta
  • Pasta sauce
  • Tofu or tempeh
  • Mushroom
  • Onion
  • Sweet corn
  • Salt and pepper
  • Garlic powder
  • Oregano
  • Spinach

Meal #5

tofu bowl

  • Jasmine rice
  • Tofu
  • Sweet potato
  • Green bell pepper
  • Tomato
  • Salt and pepper
  • Cilantro
  • Spinach

Meal #6 (salad)

  • Mixed greens
  • Baby carrots
  • Cucumber
  • Tomato
  • Pistachios

Add-ons

add these to your savory dishes to enhance flavor and nutritional value

  • Salsa
  • Hummus
  • Tahini
  • Guacamole (pico de gallo + fresh avocado)
  • Honey mustard (mix spicy brown mustard + pure maple syrup)
  • Liquid aminos (similar to soy sauce in flavor and texture)
  • Nutritional yeast (dairy-free cheesy seasoning)

It’s important to note here to check the ingredients on the packaging of any processed goods you purchase. I try to stick to making homemade add-ons to keep the dish as natural as possible.

Goal


If you haven’t noticed yet, this meal plan is 100% whole-food plant-based! It’s a super clean and simple diet that will for sure increase your energy levels and overall health if you stay consistent!

For more on a plant-based diet, read > here <

I created this little meal plan as a guide for my personal reference. To keep things fun, I simply swap different ingredients in & out and prep the dish differently depending on what I’m feeling for: fried, baked, raw, etc. I’m alwaysss on Pinterest pining new recipes to try!

Happy eating!
x Corie

Experiences, Impossible List, Movement

Bike outdoors 100 days in a row

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Completed my goal of biking outside 100 days in a row. Another one crossed off the impossible list!

Some days were MUCH easier than others.

During these past 100 days I’ve…

  • Sold our home and bought another one
  • Laid my poppop to rest
  • Listed our new place up on Airbnb
  • Road tripped from Philly to Florida for the summer (with only a duffle bag)

All big things that could easily throw me off if I wasn’t laser focused on completing this goal.

Dealing with Grief

When my pop passed, a fire ignited in me to take care of my heart health. At the time I was working on my 100 day goal already, and wanted to keep it going in honor of him.

On my low days when I didn’t feel like biking, I thought about my pop. “If only he had exercised more and made his health a priority.” I was making myself miserable.

It took some major self-awareness and raw honesty to admit that I was living in the past of wishing and wanting life to be different, to just have my pop back – completely resisting the moment.

It took sooo much energy to consciously redirect my attention. But in doing so, the sadness and anger became my biggest motivation: the fuel to my fire.

When I felt sad or angry, I would force myself to think- “NOW is MY chance to be healthy and take care of myself. This is all Poppop wants, for me to be happy and healthy. This is exactly what the universe is teaching me. Take care of myself, now, not later.”

And out the door I would go. Feeling my pop completely proud of me for doing something that I didn’t want to.

West Palm Beach, FL for a month
Road trip from Philly to Florida


No Rain, No Rainbow

There were days I had to legit drag myself out of bed bc I wasn’t feeling the best and days I forced myself out the door into the freezing pouring rain and cried about it lmao.

There have been highs and lows, but no matter what I got up and got out there day after day.

I face planted my first day out on the bike, had breakdowns before, during, and after rides, found some peace, and learned so much about myself.

AND after all this time, I can now ride a bike without using handlebars (lifelong dream)!

Just celebrating along the way.

What’s your current health/fitness goal and how is it going? Comment below.

Don’t have a goal? Make one 🙂

Don’t know where to begin? Hit me up, I’d love to help you out with creating one ♡


x Corie