Eat Your Wellness: Sip Your Greens

While eating your [raw] greens may not be the most exciting task at first glance… there are TONS of exciting benefits to making it a daily habit. Raw, dark, leafy greens, [spinach, arugula, kale, chard, etc], are FILLED with fiber, nutrients and enzymes that boost your body’s ability to burn fat, reduce inflammation and risk of developing countless chronic diseases, slow the process of aging and can even boost your body’s nutrient absorption in general. Yep, eating your greens on the regular could help your body absorb *more* nutrients from *other* foods you’re eating - even during different meals! Talk about more bang for your buck!

There’s no vitamin or other food you can consume daily that will do what a daily serving [or 2] of raw greens will do for you. The obvious way of consuming raw greens is to eat a fresh salad, but when you’re just not in the mood to munch on leaves ;-) making a sweet smoothie still gets the job done! I SWEAR you don’t taste the greens - though I’ll admit baby spinach is the best to start with since it has the least intense green flavor. Here are 3 of my go-to recipes:

BERRY HEALTHY

  • 1-2 cups raw romaine [or any raw greens!]

  • 3/4 cups frozen mixed berries

  • water as base liquid [1/2 - 1 cup depending on the consistency your prefer]

[optional additions to boost nutrients & flavor]

  • 1 spoonful raw cacao powder [if you’d like a Chocolate Berry flavor]

  • 1-2 scoops collagen peptides protein powder [I love Vital Proteins plain or Marine]

  • 1 Tbsp any Superfood powder of your choice [Acai, maca, flaxseed, etc. I love AukaLife Superfood Blends; the Antioxidant blend is perfect for this recipe!]

Blend it all together in a blender [I use my Nutribullet], and enjoy!

MOCH-AMAZINGNESS

  • 1-2 cups raw baby spinach [or any raw greens!]

  • 1/2 - 1 full frozen banana

  • 1 spoonful raw cacao powder

  • chilled coffee as base liquid [1/2 - 1 cup depending on the consistency your prefer] OR just water as your base liquid if you’re going for a straight up chocolate shake flavor ;-)

[optional additions to boost nutrients & flavor]

  • 1-2 scoops collagen peptides protein powder [I love Vital Proteins plain or Marine]

  • 1 Tbsp any Superfood powder of your choice [I love AukaLife Superfood Blends; the Energy or Recovery blend are both perfect for this recipe!]

  • 1 tsp of cinnamon

Blend it all together in a blender [I use my Nutribullet], and enjoy!

SQUEAKY CLEAN GREEN

  • 1-2 cups raw baby kale [or any raw greens!]

  • 1/2 - 1 full frozen banana

  • 1/2 avocado

  • water as base liquid [3/4 - 1 cup depending on the consistency your prefer]

[optional additions to boost nutrients & flavor]

  • 1 spoonful raw honey or maple syrup if you’d like it sweeter

  • 1 tsp of Matcha [green tea] powder is a staple in this smoothie for me!

  • 1-2 scoops collagen peptides protein powder [I love Vital Proteins plain or Marine]

  • 1 Tbsp any Superfood powder of your choice [I love AukaLife Superfood Blends; the Detox blend is perfect for this recipe!]

Blend it all together in a blender [I use my Nutribullet], and enjoy!

100 A Day to B Strong Fitness Challenge: Day 30

It’s officially the FINAL day of #100repsadaytobstrong!!! OMG, I’m so freakin' proud of you all for staying so dedicated. This doesn’t have to be the end of your journey though! Go back & save your favorite workouts [or every workout!] so that you can refer back to them whenever you want or need to! Also, if you’re looking for MORE than 100 rep, quick workouts now, throughout the month of July, I’m going to give you ideas on how to “stack” different workouts from the past 30 days together!! So keep checking back!

100 A Day to B Strong Fitness Challenge: Day 28

Day 28 is all kinds of shoulder stability & mobility.

Our shoulder is a super complex joint & very prone to injury because of all the muscles running through that area & our ability to move it so freely. I love doing exercises like these whenever I feel like my chest, shoulders & neck are tight. The blood flow to that area when you’re moving it really helps to release tension. It’s that perfect “1 more day this week” stress-relief kinda workout ;-)

This workout includes one of my FAVORITE plank exercises: spider crunches! Here are a few things to be mindful of as you go through the motions:

  • breath ;-)
  • keep your lats engaged & abdominals pulled tight to prevent your rib cage from popping out
  • squeeze your glutes to ensure that your lower back doesn’t arch/your pelvis doesn’t sag toward the ground
  • keep your pelvis & shoulders as square to the ground as possible.
  • when you reach your arm side, firmly press your **fingertips** into the ground, that way when you lift the foot on that side you won’t feel like you’re going to roll right over haha

100 A Day to B Strong Fitness Challenge: Day 27

Day 27 is going to BURN!
BUTT...
I think you’re gonna like it ;-)

Here are some pointers on how to keep your balance & stay in control of the runner’s lunges if you feel like you’re flailing all over the place [LOL]:

  • maintain a straight line from your head, down through your hips & all the way to your back foot, both as you’re stepping back & as you’re standing up.
  • yes, the movement is a hip hinge: booty back, head forward, spine straight ;-)
  • keep each foot in line with its respective hip. Careful not to let the foot that steps back move toward or cross over your midline because that will definitely throw you off balance!!
  • another way to put it: don’t stand “on a tight rope” [with your front foot directly in front of your back foot]. Your midline goes from your nose to your belly button & down *between* your feet. Your right foot should be on the right side of that line & your left foot on the left side.
  • on a similar note: keep your hips square. Neither hip should be higher than the other at the bottom of the lunge. If that means you shouldn’t reach all the way to the ground that’s ok!!
  • keep your abdominals tight & your lats engaged [pull your shoulders down & away from your ears] at all times!
  • drive through the heel of your front foot as you stand to engage your glute rather than stress your knee.
  • think about using your hamstring to pull your hips forward & back up over your feet/under your shoulders.
  • for the skip-ups especially, think about only moving upward as you step your feet together - crown of your head right up to the sky! - because moving forward is going to throw you off balance.