I've been smacked in the face with this concept a few times in the past month so I took it as a sign that I needed to write and share my thoughts. Is Obesity Contagious?We think of a lot of diseases to be contagious, the flu, a cold, but what about obesity? The American Medical Association back in 2013 actually changed it's stance on obesity and it is now classified as a disease. If you go to the CDC website it actually states that 36.5% of Americans "have" obesity. That word "have" struck me when I read it. Philosophically that is a whole new ball game. Now a person isn't defined by being obese, they "aren't" obese they just "have" it. If you have something you can get rid of it, right??? That's good news! If you have it, does that also mean that you can give it to someone? In 2007 researchers from Harvard published an article in The New England Journal for Medicine, The spread of obesity in a large social network over 32 years, that explains these concepts. Some things that stood out were, if you have a friend that is obese that you would be 57% more likely to obese yourself. The study didn't show that obesity was connected to geographical location. For example if you have a neighbor or coworker that is obese they won't rub off on you as much as someone which you actually have a close relationship. "Obesity is a social disease. And it needs a social cure." - Dr. Mark Hyman I love this line from Mark Hyman, "Obesity is a social disease and it needs a social cure." Unfortunately the population of the United States is heading in the wrong direction. As of 2015 70.7% of Americans over the age of 20 are considered overweight or obese. If 71% of the population had a virus that was slowly killing you every government agency and medical professional would be hysterical in finding a cure. What gives? Why are people complacent about the disease of obesity? I think it comes back to this being a social disease. If you walk down the street or through your office building and 7 in 10 people you walk past are overweight, doesn't that skew your perception of what is normal? Now instead of comparing yourself to the cover model on the magazine, I think people are comparing themselves to the people that are overweight or obese. The thought likely goes through their head either consciously or subconsciously, "Well at least I'm not as fat as that person, so I must not be that bad." Then you have the people that use the genetic excuse as a crutch. The same study mentioned above found out that if a sibling became obese it raised your chances of becoming obese by 40%. So if your friend, that you have no similar genetic information as becomes obese it increases your chances by 57% but a family member only 40%. Wouldn't that suggest that obesity is more of a nurture disease rather than a nature disease? Why does this matter?Being overweight and obese can have serious health consequences. It can lead to things like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, gallstones, cancer and increased joint pain. Not all overweight people will develop these diseases or will report negative biomarkers but it does raise your risk. There is also a direct correlation to how overweight a person is and their activity level. So once you get trapped in the cycle of being overweight it becomes more and more difficult to lose weight. Your activity goes down, you burn fewer calories, you pack on more weight. What do we do?First thing I think we need to start treating being overweight or obese as a disease that needs treatment. It can't just be the way a person is... It can't be something we ignore thinking it is just a benign condition without consequences. What actions do we need to take? I believe as individuals we need to support people where they are at! Whether they are fit and lean or morbidly obese, we need to be there for a friends, family, and neighbors. We need to be encouragers! We can't wait for someone else to take action, you need to be the one! The one that gets moving! The one that cuts out a lot of the junk food! The one that eats more veggies! Do it with joy! Be contagious with your healthy behaviors! That's why I love so much what we do! We get to be those influencers! More importantly we try to encourage others to pay it forward, to pass along what they learn and share with the people they care about. We need to be interjectors of positivity and health into the cycle that people get stuck in. If you feel like you are stuck, find people that are going to lift you up and believe in you. Find someone that won't let you fail, aka stop! Lastly, as a society we have become overweight and obese! It will only be as a society that we can solve this problem. We need to reset that trajectory that our country's health is on currently. Health can and needs to become more contagious than obesity! If you are ready to help be part of the change, share this post, reach out to a friend in need, or reach out to a friend that can help you!
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This dish was inspired by baked beans! I mean who doesn't love baked beans, smokey, salty, and sweet. The problem is you really can't make a meal out of just baked beans. Well I guess you could but that would just be kind of weird and not really the most well rounded meal.
With this dish I took that idea of smokey, salty, and sweet and made it a bit more hearty! Definitely did not disappoint. It will for sure be made again in our house!
As you may have noticed our travel blog posts have been few an far between. It's not that we haven't been traveling or doing anything fun but when I have time to sit down and write, doing stuff for our business seems to take precedent over travel stuff. We last left off with us back in MInnesota for the Ryder Cup... yeah we are about 6 months behind! So here's my goal for the next year of travel, put out a blog post at least every other week. Do you ever have that thing in your life where you just can't seem to get out in front off, that there is always more and more. Maybe it's the laundry if you are a mom of numerous kiddos, or dishes if you live in an RV. Anyways, these travel posts are that for us so in order to get "caught up" I'm going to dump about 6 months of travel into this one post, so bear with me. Where have we been in the last 6 months?
As you can see we tried our hardest to stay warm for the winter and have for the most part. We've learned that Florida winters are a little nicer than Texas! Other than being back in MN we only had one night where temps got below freezing, so I would say we did pretty well. Some of the highlights over the past 6 months...
Kansas CityEureka Springs, ARAustin, TXChristmas in MN, Iowa and our RVGalveston and Kemah, TXOrlando, FLThe KeysThe Rest of FloridaTraveling with FamilyWell there you go, our last 6 months of life in a kick photo slideshow! We are now on our way back to the Midwest and eventually out to the West Coast later this summer/fall.
Two rounds of 21dfx (roughly 2 months) and I feel like a new person (even though I don't look a ton different on the outside). This program is probably my soul workout...I've done so many rounds of it and every time I see changes in my body...and it's ONLY 30 min a day!
The COOLEST part: I weigh the same in both pictures!! 😳 Don't base your results solely on the scale...please please please take pictures. Take measurements of your hips, thighs, waist, bust and biceps! My goal wasn't to lose inches...so I didn't track those this time around. Every workout uses dumbbells or a resistance band in some way. I used heavier weights: 20's for lunges, squats, squat jumps and even got up to the 25's at one point...and 8's - 15's for upper body (There's this one shoulder move with a curtsy I could never do more than 8 with 😳) and PUSHED myself every day to do more and get stronger!! Without the burn, it don't mean nothin!! (As Shaun T would say 😂) Jan 7th was the day I took the "before" pictures and the "progress" were taken Mar 1st and I'm so glad I stuck it out for 2 rounds!! My nutrition didn't change a ton...I still ate clean about 90% of the time and treated myself 10% of the time. I maybe drank a little less wine 🍷 and added a bit more protein (try to get some at every meal)...I eat probably between 1800 cal and 2000 cal every day. PLEASE REMEMBER: you can do anything you set your mind to. Your mind is POWERFUL! Commit to something FIRST and then figure out how to make it happen. Commit first. Then take ACTION! Then be patient! Email us if you need help!!
Today marks one year since we moved into our motorhome and hit the road! This was the first time we were all hooked up and ready to roll out! We had just finished up most of our renovations...and were ready to head south. We left on a Sunday and made it to our first scheduled stop outside Augusta, Georgia by Wednesday.
Nothing like 1,300 miles traveled in 4 days to start our adventure! Where Have We Been?
Over the past year we have logged a total of about 15,000 miles on our motorhome alone. We've visited 33 states!!! Everything from Bar Harbor, Maine to Austin, TX and Minneapolis, MN to Orlando, FL and a lot of stuff in between. We've also hit up a lot of touristy spots like Niagara Falls, Washington DC, Brooklyn Bridge and NYC, Boston's Freedom Trail and Acadia National Park.
We've spent a fair amount of time at beaches...Laura really likes the beach.
Ok fine... we all really like the beach! A few of our favorites have been Gulf Shores, Siesta Key, Kiawah, Sullivan's Island, Cape Cod and Ogunquit! A few duds were Atlantic City and Galveston!
We've hit up a lot of Thai restaurants and coffee shops. Laura has had her fair share of almond milk lattes. So far the winner is Bluestone Lane's in NYC!!! Oh and get the avocado toast there too!
We've mainly stayed in a lot of RV Resorts just due to amenities and ease of booking and getting in and out. We bought a zone pass with Thousand Trails in June of last so we've spent a fair amount to time in their parks. We've done some state parks, a couple Walmarts, and a lake front boondocking spot at Laura's brother's house.
What Have We Learned?"Fulltime RVing does not mean a fultime vacation!" After a few months in vacation mode we learned that vacations are expensive. So after going through a chunk of our savings account we decided to slow down and stick to a budget! We've maybe missed out on eating out at some fun a few less days at beaches but it's allowed us to live within our means and keep the adventure going. With that we've learned that we operate best with at least a tentative schedule in place. This allows us both some time to do some work, time alone with Eli and lots of time together as a family. We've also learned that we don't need nearly as many clothes as we originally packed up. We tend to wear the same stuff over and over... mainly workout clothes and yoga pants! There are a handful of other things that we've brought along that we've hardly used... like a tent, veggie spiralizer, extra camping chairs, bosu ball....to name a few. Another thing we learned early on was that we all reach our breaking point after about 6 hours of driving on travel days. 4 hours max is what we prefer! With travel, we also learned that it's not ideal to show up at a new park after dusk... short, wooden posts in campgrounds tend to hide a lot easier! We've been semi-stationary for the past 6 months, 2 1/2 months in Texas and 3 1/2 months in Florida. We love that we've been able to stay warm for the winter but definitely miss traveling. We traveled around both Texas and Florida but the scenery hasn't changed all that much. So there is a balance between quenching our travel/adventure needs and not moving as fast...so we can manage our finances. What Lies Ahead?
Currently: we are in Florida and will be here for another month. Then our adventure will take us north and west. We will slowly make our way back up to Iowa and Minnesota around the 4th of July to spend some time with family. It will also be convenient since we will be dropping Eli off with grandparents while we head down to New Orleans for our annual Beachbody Coach Summit the middle of July.
After that conference, the plan is to start heading across the northern part of the country. We hope to hit up Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks on our way out to Washington state. We always appreciate advice on places we NEED to visit so if you know of anything between Minnesota and Washington, let us know. Our plan is to be out to Washington by early September and hangout in the Pacific Northwest for a couple months before we start heading down the west coast as the weather cools. At this time, we think we'll spend at least another winter as snowbirds but we aren't exactly sure where we will be... maybe Southern California... maybe Arizona... we'll see! That's about all we have "planned out" so far. After that we'll potentially talk about settling down but that isn't for sure either!! What we do know: God is faithful and is providing SO MANY amazing experiences & relationships through this journey. He is ultimately our guide...so if we feel led to change our course...we will!! If you've followed us for a while you know we aren't big fans of counting calories. It's not that we don't think they matter because they do 100% when it comes to weight loss. The thing that people get confused about though is just doing straight up math with calories in versus calories out and if those numbers tip a certain direction your weight will also change. Your metabolism is a bit more complicated than what your fitbit tells you that you burned during your exercise session that day and what My Fitness Pal tells you that you consumed. What's our approach then to help people lose weight! It comes down to nutrient density and calorie density. Our bodies are pretty intelligent and for most people they know when to stop eating in order to maintain our weight. The thing that happens when people eat processed foods, the triggers that tell us to stop eating don't get tripped. The other way that these triggers don't go off is when we consume food at a fast pace! So our approach is to consume high quality, whole foods at a slow pace and stop when you are close to being full and you will likely lose weight. If you are trying to maintain, then you eat to being full. Yeah there is certainly some nuance that can come into play around macronutrients and timing but for the most part this strategy works. This is where the question of, what weighs more... a pound of broccoli or a pound of nachos? Let's breakdown this comparison: I took the challenge myself of eating both a pound of nachos and pound of broccoli in one sitting. Let's just say it was an interesting experience. Overall both "meals" filled me up equally and the rate at which I ate definitely slowed down towards the end of both.
I mentioned it was an interesting experience... what that means is I actually became physically ill by consuming one whole pound of broccoli. My stomach and GI tract just couldn't handle processing that amount of broccoli. The nachos, no problem... I was eating again in a few hours. Why this happened I don't know the exact answer. Fiber content maybe, but I've consumed 11 grams of fiber in one sitting before this. Vitamin or mineral overdose, possible but not probable. If you have an answer let me know, I'm curious. To put things in perspective a bit on whether or not this is a lot of food. The average American eats between 3 and 5 pounds of food per day, we will call it 4 on average. So, a one pound meal probably isn't that unusual. To break things down a bit further, the average American consumes around 2,700 calories per day. So doing a little math the average pound of food that an American consumes is around 675 calories (2,700 calories divided by 4 pounds of food). Based on the nutrition facts, you can see that broccoli falls WELL below that average and the nachos a fair amount above that number. Can you see how eating whole foods and especially non starchy veggies can help a person consume fewer calories? The reason a lot of diets fail I believe is because our body is naturally satiated by a certain poundage of food. If all you are doing is eating smaller portions of your current foods your body is going to crave more food to fill itself up. I wrote up a whole other post on this topic, Are You Smoking Shorter Cigarettes to Get Healthy? If you aren't filling your body with a certain poundage of food you either need to resort to some incredible willpower or you will likely binge a time or two. If your goal is weight loss and you don't want to micromanage every gram of food that goes into your body here's what we would recommend:
Believe it or not, this is actually a problem for some people out there. For others, they approach cutting calories the right way. I wanted to share what happens to a person when they subject themselves to a calorie deficit! It can be a good thing or it can lead to some long term issues. So How Do You Avoid the Pitfalls of Being In a Calorie Deficit?First thing would be to make sure you are getting an abundance of nutrients! This will happen through eating nutrient dense foods, mainly vegetables! Calorie for calorie veggies rank at the top of almost all the nutrient density scales. We also love Shakeology for this fact too. It is loaded with nutrition but not a lot of calories! Second, make sure you are doing some resistance training! In a study published in the Journal of American College of Nutrition two groups were put on calorie deficit diets. One group strictly did aerobic style exercise 4 times per week and one group did resistance training 3 times per week. The aerobic group lost a total of 37 pounds of which 27 pounds was from fat and 10 pounds of muscle. The resistance training group lost a total of 32 pounds but lost ZERO pounds of muscle. The aerobic group's Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) decreased by 210 calories daily whereas the resistance training group increaesed their BMR by 63 calories. Even though weight loss seemed to be more effective by doing aerobic exercise strictly by total weight loss, long term weight loss will be more difficult for that group due to their lower BMR and body composition. LIFT WEIGHTS!!! Lastly, manage your stress and energy! If you have low energy levels, don't just drive through Starbucks, eat something! This is also another reason why we love whole foods! Quality proteins, fats and carbs will sustain your energy longer with less energy crashes than highly processed foods. Stress Less!!! Get adequate sleep is a great place to start here. Also work smarter not harder when it comes to exercise. Doing an hour plus of exercise daily causes a lot of stress, science has shown that 30 minutes 4-5 times per week is enough see substantial results. Meditation and finding some quiet time is also a great way to recenter and slow down. On top of cutting out stressful things, find some activities that bring you joy! Time with family, hikes in nature, playing a sport. Whatever it is build up your good vibes bank account to help you push through those stressful times. Hope those tips help!!! This cross country adventure was on our schedule even before we hit the road. For those of you that don't know a bit of my (Dan) past, I used to work as a golf professional. The course I worked at just so happened to be Hazeltine National Golf Club which was also the site of the 2016 Ryder Cup. I left my job at that club in October of 2013 after working there for 10 years. Hazeltine was a second home for me. The members and staff were like family. So when the biggest golf tournament in the world is being hosted by said club and members it was a no brainer to make the trip back. One of the fun things about making a trip half way across the country, we started in Maine, is you will likely come across some friends and family. Our first stop was just south of Sryacuse, New York where we were blessed to spend some time with Dan and Christa Hamon and their 3 boys. Once again we were able turn Instagram friends into real life friends! They have such an amazing family and their boys played so well with Eli. We can't wait for our paths to cross again. After New York we made it to the Cleveland area where I was able to meet up with a golf pro friend. That was a super short stay, and we were off to Elkhart, Indiana where we returned to the dealership we purchased our RV. We had some routine maintenance done there since we had logged almost 12,000 miles on our RV since purchasing it. Crazy, we've done that much traveling in that short period of time. We had an interesting adventure at our next stop in the Amana Colonies. We are learning that a lot of RV parks are located on flood plains, I guess its cheap land. This was our first experience where we nearly got flooded out! It was a little scary to wake up to all of the water surrounding us. We were hoping to spend some time exploring the Amana area but instead decided to just move onto Laura's aunt's house. We parked in front of their house for a few days so that we could spend some time with them and Laura's grandma. It was great to see her and have Eli spend some time with her. He really liked her magnifying glass and her stash of ice cream! After our time in Iowa, we made our way back to Minneapolis for the Ryder Cup! Seven years after I first learned that Hazeltine would be hosting the biggest golf event in the world, we were there! On top of the amazing golf event it was also a homecoming for me coming back to Hazeltine, a club I spent countless hours at for 10 years and met so many amazing people. Oh and top of that it was a week where I got to spend some quality time with my family! It was pretty special, let's juts say! The Ryder Cup itself was pretty epic! Europe has pretty much dominated the Ryder Cup winning 5 of the last 6 matches going back to 2002. There was excitement for the US team but also apprehension around whether they could get a win on their home turf. The venue itself was incredible! The infrastructure that was built to host this event was amazing, over million square feet of platforms were erected to hold everything from merchandise tents, corporate hospitality and concessions. The golf course was pristine! The stage was all set for a great event and it didn't disappoint. The US team got off to a great start and never really looked back. There was a moment in there Saturday midday, whether or not the lead that the Americans had built was going to disappear. They rallied Saturday afternoon and dominated on Sunday to bring home the cup! If you want all the details you can head over to the full scoring here. So while I was chasing around a golf course, Laura found some pretty amazing ways to keep Eli entertained! Here are just a few pics from their time at a local apple orchard with his cousins. They also made a trip to the zoo which I think he really missed! It was a pretty incredible week back in Minnesota! We saw family and friends! I also got to witness an epic golf event at a course I used to call home! Until next time Minnesota!
I know we haven't done many book reviews on our blog in the past. Recently we were approached by a "book tour" company and they asked if we would read and review Darin Olien's book Superlife. I first read this book back when it came out back in 2015! I was even fortunate to get to meet Darin and hear some stories behind the book. Turns out he grew up about an hour from where I did. Apparently kids from small farm towns in rural Minnesota can have a career in nutrition! When I was approached to share Darin's message I was all for it. The principles he teaches in the book are also some of the fundamentals of living a healthy life and always good to revisit myself. Darin breaks out these fundamentals into what he refers to the 5 Life Forces. Life Force 1: Nutrition This is at the core of being healthy. His basic approach revolves around eating whole foods in abundance and variety. Eating this way will ensure that you are satiated with micronutrients that all too often we lack. Being a vegan himself he isn't a huge proponent of eating animal products but is ok if people chose to eat animal products as long as they are high quality and occasionally eaten. With nutrition he also stresses the importance of keeping your gut healthy! This is something I strongly advocate for as well and think can be a real game changer for a lot of people. For most people that looks like... cutting out processed foods, adding foods/supplements rich in probiotics and prebiotics, and probably supplementing with some digestive enzymes. Life Force 2: Hydration Water... something so basic but something that so many people fail to consume. As humans, we are water! Roughly 2/3 of our bodyweight is water. It does everything from provide pathways to carry raw materials around our body to insulate us and keep us warm or cool. Let's just say it's super important! Darin provides some great tips to upgrade the quality of your water also in the book. Life Force 3: Oxygenation Oxygen - it's critical to life and something that gets overlooked in regards to health. Darin quotes a couple of studies that talk about how cancer thrives in low oxygen situations and dies off in oxygen rich environments. Pretty amazing stuff! Increasing oxygen ties back into life forces 1 and 2. Whole food plants contain more oxygen than processed, packaged foods. Getting adequate water also increases the amount oxygen that enters our bodies. Combine that with some intentional deep belly breathing and you are really improving your oxygenation. Life Force 4: Alkalization This life force is one that is definitely overlooked and understudied. Darin and I maybe differ slightly on this point. Some of the research that I've done and read suggests that it is highly unlikely your body will become more acidic based on what we eat. The pro-alkaline movement tends to look at the acid levels of a person's urine which looks at what is excreted versus the pH of a person's blood and cellular fluid. My opinion here is the jury is still out, but I would agree with Darin in that a diet high in plant based foods will improve your overall health. Life Force 5: Detoxification Darin is a big believer in the process of detoxing the body. He points out the constant stress that our bodies are under from everything in our environment to what we consume. Our bodies have normal detox pathways but they get backlogged when we consume low quality foods and are exposed to chemicals in our environment. His advice to handle all of this, focus on the first 4 life forces and your detox system will be able to handle the workload. Darin, finishes the book with some recipes and final thoughts on how you can implement the 5 Life Forces into your current life.
I'm a big fan of Darin's approach to health and this book does an excellent job in getting people to think a little differently about their health. It's not all about being reactionary and trying to take care of yourself after you get sick. It's about doing things that produce vitality in your life and keep disease at bay. If you are looking to up your health game I highly recommend this book to give you a solid baseline of information. Meatloaf... it was a staple in our house growing up! My mom would always make it with beef and slather on the ketchup sauce on top. It was actually quite tasty, except for the onions. I despised onions when I was a kid. Not the flavor as much as the crunch that you would occasionally get from one that wasn't cooked enough. Times have changed quite a bit! The breadcrumbs that you would normally add to meatloaf would now make me breakout in a rash. The high fructose corn syrup in the ketchup, yeah... we are just going to avoid that if we can. That's the backstory on how this recipe got created. I suppose with mushroom sauce this maybe is closer to the salsibury steak that we would occasionally have in our tv dinners. No matter what you call it, I hope you call it delicious! We certainly enjoyed it!
This is post is dedicated to the second half of our travels through New England! We did a lot of up here and so if you missed our first post, that was all about Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The second half of our time in New England was up in New Hampshire and Maine! Let's just say we loved it!
After we left Mass and the Cape Cod area we headed north to the Lake Winnipesaukee area for a week roughly. We had gotten some recommendations to go check this area out, so we listened! It didn't disappoint. We were camped out right by Wolfeboro which was a super cute little town.
We noticed that our ice cream consumption increased quite a bit when we were in New England. There were cute little ice cream shops everywhere we went. I think it also helped that Eli learned how to say "ice cream" so therefore he was asking for it all the time.
We also were told we needed to drive the Kancamagus Highway through White Mountain National Forest. Eli and I made the drive one day leaving Laura behind to do some work. Yeah believe it or not we do actually work a bit from the road. It was a super pretty drive... from the car. Unfortunately Eli fell asleep as we turned onto the highway so we didn't get to stop and explore all that much.
From New Hampshire we moved onto Bar Harbor! Yup, pretty much loved this area and all of Maine! It was also fun because we were able to meet up with Laura's cousin who was also a new coach on our team for a couple days since she and her husband moved out there this past summer. The campground we stayed at was amazing! It sat right on one of the canal in between the mainland and Mount Desert Island. It was amazing to see thew change in water level with high and low tide.
Like Niagara Falls, Acadia National Park was on our list of places we needed to visit. We spent a couple days exploring the island that the park was on. One of the first nights there we took a drive around Southwest Harbor. This was definitely the slower side of the island but still fun. We caught the Bass Harbor Lighthouse right at sunset and was just breathtaking.
After our lighthouse visit we decided to finally indulge in lobster rolls. We had been holding out until we could actually get a "Maine" Lobster Roll. So good! The place we went actually had gluten free buns too, so I could partake!
The rest of our time in the area we spent exploring Bar Harbor and Acadia on the busy side which included Cadillac Mountain. Let's just say we have contemplated spending an entire summer out here based on our experience.
That was a busy and fun weekend in the Bar Harbor area! From there we down the coast a bit and continued to explore but at a slightly slower pace. We explored everything from Portland all the way down to Ogunquit. One of the most common questions we get asked...
"What's been your favorite place you've traveled?" Both of us both usually respond with the time and places we visited during the two weeks we spent in this part of Maine. Not only was it beautiful but the people were fantastic, there was some amazing food in Portland, there were beaches, the temps were perfect, and we got to explore at a slower pace.
A lot of our trips revolve around coffee and food. We found this super fun wall on the side of a coffee, books, and beer store in Saco.
Our campground was only a mile or two from the Ogunquit Beach so we made sure to take a couple trips over to it and hang out. A super fun simple beach, Eli loved it!
Another awesome find that we stumbled across was the Marginal Way walk. It was simply just a path that followed the coast right around Ogunquit.
We also hit up brunch and an ice cream shop in Ogunquit. Once again more ice cream!
Another super fun little spot that we were super close to was a cute little town called Kennebunkport. We spent an afternoon driving around this town, mainly driving around. One place stumbled upon was the home of President George H.W. Bush. I knew that his home was somewhere in the area but when we drove past Walker's Point, it jumped out to me that there would be a security guard station at the entrance to a home out there. So we stopped a little turnaround spot and did a little googling and sure enough, it was his house. We ended up doubling back and stopped really quick on the side of the road and snapepd a few pics of his compound and also a monument for him.
That day ended with a peaceful time on the beach. There was a fun playground that we found and we just let Eli play. It's days like that one that I have to pinch myself. We love this life and it has been such a blessing for all of us!
We are creatures of habit. When we find something we like we don't change. Brussel sprouts and the way we prepare them is a prime example. Our normal preparation is clean, cut, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and roast in the oven. If we are feeling crazy we might add a little bacon, balsamic or galic. I've learned to not mess with Laura's brussels! This past weekend we did a Chrismtas dinner with my side of the family and my mom had found some beautiful brussel sprouts. I've tried exposing to my family to brussels before and other than my mom and sister in laws haven't had much luck. So I figured what the heck let's try something different in the hopes they will try it. It got a couple more to try but I don't know if I turned them to be brussel fans. This recipe was simply inspired by what was in the kitchen. We had brought some fresh pecans home from Texas. We had an orange that we didn't eat on our flight up to Minnesota and I had saved some bacon grease from our breakfast that morning! The orange definitely livened the dish up quite a bit and pecans added a nice texture contrast, so I would say this is a win and we would love to hear what you think if you make it yourself. One variation you could certainly try would be to add bacon to the dish. We didn't since we had it for breakfast that morning. But if you wanted to, just chop and cook the bacon in your skillet until the fat is rendered out, remove the bacon and start the brussel sprout process listed below. Then just re-add the bacon pieces the same time as the pecans.
It's hard to find someone that doesn't like chocolate. In our online accountability groups that we run we are always talking to people about how and what kinds of chocolate can be a part of a healthy diet. Yeah there is a way and we will get to that. When the candy industry got their hands on the delicious cocoa bean they figured out a way to take a superfood and turn it into something super dangerous. They stretch the cocoa powder so far and add so much milk and sugar to their concoctions that chocolate as most people know it becomes a sweet treat. That is where the danger comes in to play. Sugar is addictive. (1) Consuming it leads to consuming more of it and your tastes begin to become altered. The amount of sugar it takes to sense "sweet" increases. (2) This all equates to you needing tremendous amounts of willpower to control the quantity of eating these types of food. Guess what... that's a losing battle! I mentioned above that the cocoa bean is a superfood! Let's talk about that and how you can choose chocolate that improves your health and doesn't lead to the damaging effects of consuming the candy industry's version of chocolate. 7 Health Benefits of Consuming Chocolate1. Nutrient Dense - Chocolate from a micronutrient standpoint is very dense. It provides a large amount of iron, magnesium, manganese, and copper. It also provides potassium, zinc and selenium. The fiber content of dark chocolate is one of the best benefits of consuming it. Fiber is a missing piece is a lot of people's diets and important for the health of your gut and blood sugar. 2. Controls Blood Sugar - One of the secret ingredients in chocolate that doesn't show up on a nutrition label is a phytonutrient called flavanol, particularly epicatechin. This compound has been shown to improve a person's insulin sensitivity. Therefore making your insulin work more effeciently and regulate blood sugar better. 3. Lowers Blood Pressure - Staying on the flavanol theme, this amazing little phytonutrient also increases the levels of nitric oxide in the blood which relaxes your blood vessels and therefore lowers blood pressure. (3) 4. Source of Antioxidants - You've maybe heard of the ORAC rating, it is a way to measure the antioxidant power of different compounds. Guess where chocolate lands when measured... yup you guessed it is right at the top of the list with some other amazing foods. Antioxidants are important, especially in whole food form, to regulate the levels of free radicals in our bodies. The less free radical damage that occurs in our bodies the lower overall inflammation throughout our body and increased health. (4) 5. Improves Cholesterol - Dark chocolate has been shown to increase the amount of "good" HDL cholesterol. It has also been shown to limit the amount of LDL cholesterol that oxidizes. This is due to the previous point about it being a powerful antioxidant. LDL cholesterol isn't inherently bad, our bodies actually need more of it than HDL. The problems with cholesterol arise when the ratio of HDL/LDL gets out of whack and/or it becomes oxidized and therefore inflamatory. (5) 6. Improve Brain Function - Better brain??? Yes please! Dark chocolate can improve brain function from a couple different aspects. First, blood flow, as mentioned above dark chocolate and it's powerful flavanols help with overall cardiovascular health and therefore better blood flow. A couple other powerful components in dark chocolate include theobromine and caffiene. These compounds are stimiulants that have both been shown to improve brain function. (6) 7. Improved Skin - Those same flavanols that we've talked about also help with protecting your skin from UV rays. This doesn't mean you should just lather up with melted dark chocolate instead of sunscreen, but it's fun to know that that treat you have can help in this area too. (7) Hopefully I've made a case for why and how chocolate can be can considered a health food. Don't stop here though and go grab the nearest Hershey bar thinking you are improving your health. Let's talk about how you can select chocolate that actually improves your health and doesn't harm you. Selecting the Right Kind of ChocolateThe candy industry has a pretty good hold on chocolate production. This past summer we made a stop in Hershey, PA to check out Chocolate World! Chocolate World should probably be renamed Sugar World. By weight I'm guessing a standard Hershey bar contains more sugar than cocoa. We had to search pretty hard to find some true dark chocolate in the big Hershey store. Even the dark chocolate we found was less than desirable according to what I consider healthy. Here is a simple equation that I created that you can use determine whether or not the chocolate you are eating is health food and will provide all the benefits listed above, somewhere in the middle, or straight up candy and the negative effects outweigh the benefits. In general the higher the percentage of cacao the healthier the chocolate. In order to get into that moderately healthy category you should be looking for at least 60% cacao but most likely you will need 70%. Once you start getting over 80% that is typically when your chocolate starts becoming health food. One thing to close with is that consuming chocolate can improve your health if you choose the right kind but it is also a calorie dense food since most of it's calories come from fat. Don't take this information as an opportunity to go hog wild on dark chocolate thinking that because it is healthy it can't affect your weight. A typical chocolate treat for us is usually 2 squares from a dark chocolate bar or about 1/2 of what a serving size is supposed to be according to the packaging. This is enough to give us the health benefits along with our chocolate fix without consuming a huge amount of calories. We hope this information helps you understand chocolate a bit more and how it can and should be part of a healthy diet. We encourage you to share it if you think it is something your friends need to hear. 1. Evidence for sugar addiction: Behavioral and neurochemical effects of intermittent, excessive sugar intake
2. Reduced dietary intake of simple sugars alters perceived sweet taste intensity but not perceived pleasantness. 3. How do dietary flavanols improve vascular function? A position paper. 4. The total antioxidant content of more than 3100 foods, beverages, spices, herbs and supplements used worldwide 5. Plasma LDL and HDL cholesterol and oxidized LDL concentrations are altered in normo- and hypercholesterolemic humans after intake of different levels of cocoa powder. 6. The effect of flavanol-rich cocoa on the fMRI response to a cognitive task in healthy young people. 7. Long-term ingestion of high flavanol cocoa provides photoprotection against UV-induced erythema and improves skin condition in women.
It's hard to believe it has be 8 months since we left our home in Minnesota. So far our travels have taken us to 35 states and we have logged over 13,000 miles on our motorhome. Yeah we've seen a lot and moved a lot. It's been fantastic so far and we have really loved every bit of it. We've made some new friends along the way and have immersed ourselves into the RV community that is out there.
One of the reasons I wanted to write up this blog post because I know a lot of people that do what we do or intend to have questions about the relocation process is like. There is some good information out there and there is some bad information out there. We found all of it.
One of the good pieces of information that we came across early on was through Escapees. Escapees is the company/service we use to get our mail forwarded. They are based out of Livingston, Texas with a few other locations around the country. It was through them that I was able to setup a time to chat with a domicile lawyer named Miri Wakuta that works with Loring & Associates. As an escapees member we were able to setup a free consultation back in February where she guided us through the process of what it takes to switch our domicile from MN to TX. That benefit alone is worth the price of your escapees membership. The big thing that she stressed and this isn't legal advice but intent was a huge part of proving your new domicile. The more evidence you have to prove you intend to live in Texas or whatever location is key to establish your domicile. She mentioned things like joining Escapees and getting a Texas address but other things that would prove intent could be things like registering vehicles, using doctors and other services in that state, and actually living there. Step 1: Get a Texas Address! - Done The next step in the process for us to was going to be to register our vehicles. This was a little bit of curveball for us. When we set off in April our first stop was Augusta, Georgia so that I could attend The Masters golf tournament. We didn't think our next steps through too well, because after Georgia we started heading towards Texas to get vehicles registered. We made it as far as New Orleans before we realized we didn't have our new titles for vehicles yet. We purchased our motorhome in February and our Jeep in March and the titles were still hung in the MN DPS. One more curveball to add to that mess was that both titles would have to be mailed out to our old MN address, and because they are legal documents they can't be forwarded, so they get sent back to the state. Then once they get them back I could apply to have them reissued to our new Texas address. Needless to say we weren't going to wait around in Texas until the middle of summer to get all of that taken care of, we had a lot of the country to see! So we headed back east and up the East coast with a couple stops back in the Midwest between April and October. If you want to follow all of that you can go HERE. By the middle of October we were on our way to Texas with titles in hand. This is where we really started researching what we needed to do and what the steps were to get everything switched over. We started here with an Escapees document that does a pretty good job laying everything out and the locations you need to go to take care of stuff. To me that is all kinds of complicated. So here are the easy steps that we took plus some info on taking the driving tests I had to take to get the proper license in the state of Texas. More on that later! Step 2: Get insurance that is valid in Texas We did this prior to getting to Livingston, TX. We chose to get our insurance through National General which is who Good Sam contracts out to provide "Good Sam" insurance. We found the prices were actually better than what we were paying using our old insurance and coverage was very similiar. Wish we would have switched earlier. Step 3: Get vehicles inspected We did this at Soda Auto Repair in Livingston. It cost us $7 per vehicle to get this done. It only took 10 minutes. The inspection just looks at whether lights, brakes, wipers, etc work. There is no emissions check in Polk County. Step 4: Register vehicles in Texas This involved going to the County Tax Accessors office in Livingston. To get our vehicles registered we just needed copies of our titles, inspection certificates, proof of insurance and I think I had to show them my MN drivers license. You wil also need to tell them the weight of your RV. I snapped a pic of the vehicle tag that is inside my coach and states the GVWR. I think the cutoff is 26,000 pounds if you are more, you pay more. Oh and a check, no credit cards! We paid right around $600 to get our motorhome and Jeep re-registered.
Step 5: Get Drivers License
This process wasn't too bad. I read horror stories from people needing to provide all kinds of documentation and it wasn't bad at all since we had passports. We just had to show them our vehicle registration, our escapees card which was proof of our Texas address. Then we showed them current passports, social security cards, and our MN drivers licenses. If you don't have a passport then I believe you need to provide a birth certificate. The cost for each drivers license was $25. Applying for a Texas Class B Non-CDL License
This is one area where I got a lot of bad information. I think part of it was due to the fact that the DMV in Livingston didn't have a standardized practice for how they treated RVer's even though they saw a lot of them. I read stories of people needing to parallel park their rigs, taking multiple sections of the CDL test, air brake testing, etc.
Talking with the employees at the DMV in Livingston it sounds like they finally have a system for dealing with RVers so hopefully the information I give you is all you need. There was a lot of information out there on who needs to take this test. People were saying because we drive recreationally versus commercially we don't need this special endorsement on our license. Not true! I know for a fact that anyone driving an motorhome over 26,000 pounds for a dry weight needs to take this test. I'm pretty certain anyone with a combined weight between truck and trailer over 26,000 pounds also needs to take this test. I don't want to be one of the blogs out there handing out bad info so I'll stick to the motorhome side of things. The process of getting this endorsement involved taking a written test that was solely based on Section 14 in the Texas CDL Handbook. It was a lot of questions about the size of vehicle you are driving and permits needed. I remember there being something about road flares vs flags. There was some stuff about farm vehicles. The test is 20 questions and you need to get 14 correct to pass. I read through that section of the handbook a couple times and took some online practice tests and was able to pass on my first try. There is also an app that has some CDL practice tests. I wasn't able to find any practice tests specific to section 14 so I just took it as good knowledge to know about driving a big rig. I took this test at the same time that I applied for my license. After I passed I was then issued basically a trainer's permit/license for this endorsement until I was able to take the road test. Also I had to pay an additional $11 to upgrade from a standard license. After passing the written test I was able to setup an appointment to take my driving test which the earliest they could get me in was 1 week from the time of my written test. So we extended our stay at Rainbow's End park and hung out in Livingston a little longer. I've read this is about average for what they are booked out on driver's tests.
The Driving Test
I showed up about 10 minutes early and parked in the large lot south of the DMV building. The instructor later had me move my rig to the shoulder of N. Washington Ave facing south. They didn't ask me how I got the rig there, which was a small concern since technically I wasn't licensed to drive it. The pretrip inspection included testing the brake lights, turn signals, headlights, wipers, and horn. Even though I have air brakes they didn't ask for any of those tests. After that, Talia who was super friendly hopped in and read through a document and we were off. We started heading south through town, looped back on highway 59, exited onto a frontage road, came back to Washington Ave heading south. Did a lane change then turned left and headed north on highway 146 for about 1 mile. We turned onto a side street where she hopped out and instructed me to pull forward about 100 feet and back up straight down the street until where I dropped her off. No turning, no parallel parking!!! After that we made our way back to their office and were done! It took 25-30 minutes max. Nothing tricky! Didn't get asked about road signage which is another thing I read you would have to do. Not a bad thing to pay attention to, but wasn't part of my test. Overall they are mainly looking to make sure you use your signals, mirrors, and understand how to move your vehicle between lanes and take a corner.
Hope that helps a few of you that are considering going through the process! If you have any questions feel free to reach out via email or the comments below and I'll do my best help.
Don’t think you’re qualified to help other people get healthy?
Do you think you have to be a personal trainer or have some degree to do what we do? Think you have to be in perfect shape or have all the answers? Think again. Do you have a HEART that breaks when you see people hurting? Do you have EARS to listen? Do you have PASSION and FIRE to help others? Do you want to SERVE others greatly and help them change their life? Do you want to make a little extra $$? I put the financial benefits last, but they’re certainly not least. There are so many companies out there now that can make you a little extra money (Thirty-One, Pampered Chef, Jamberry, Younique, DoTerra, Rodan & Fields)…the key is finding one that fits YOUR passions and the things you’re excited about…while fulfilling someone else’s need. I have to pinch myself day in and day out because I truly can’t believe this opportunity and how it’s changed our lives and changed me from the inside. I’m not going to lie…I didn’t have a lot of weight to lose when I first started, so I don’t have an incredible physical transformation like some people. My transformation has been mainly from the inside. Since becoming a Beachbody coach I have become more confident in my own skin AND in my abilities. I’ve become stronger and able to get past my struggles and insecurities. My focus and time management has gotten better because heck, life is busy but if you have a DREAM you find ways to make things happen. Do I still struggle with these every once in a while? Heck yes. BUT the emphasis that Beachbody puts on personal development and growth definitely makes those struggles easier to get through. The blessing that coaching has been in my life is just incredible. I share this not to somehow help myself but to help you! Beachbody can be that community you are looking for. It can be the thing that keeps you committed to working out and taking care of your health. If you want to know more about what this coaching community and business opportunity is all about we would love to share it with you. We are currently parked in a campground in central Texas between Houston and San Antonio. There isn't anything super fancy about this park or its location. One upside though is that there are pecan trees everywhere and it's pecan season! If I had the patience I could easily fill up a 5 gallon bucket in less than hour. We've been snacking on them a bit but decided to try to use them the other morning in combination with a new pancake recipe. If you follow us you know that we love our pancakes and they are a weekend tradition. You also know we need gluten free options since I can no longer eat anything glutenous! I wouln't consider these pancakes health food but they are close. The flax in them provide a ton of Omega 3 fats which are super good for you. You also get a decent dose of protein and fiber too! The sauce/sryup that I made is the thing that turns a fairly healthy pancake into a bit of a treat! Enjoy it though because it's delicious and a much better way to enjoy pancakes then use a boxed premix.
After our quick trip through KY, WV, PA and NY we landed in southeast Massachusetts for a couple of weeks. This was super refreshing since we spent basically from the end of June through the middle of November moving every 3-4 days. We love traveling but moving that often takes it toll. We were excited to just slow down and get back into a bit of a routine. We also spent some time exploring the area. One spot that we absolutely fell in love with was the Sandwich area. We spent a couple of afternoon/evenings out there. Here are some pics from the boardwalk that took you out to the beach. It was amazing to see how much the tide went up and down in these coastal areas. We were also only about 20 minutes from Plymouth rock which as maybe a little underwhelming but still a fun spot to check out and see where some of the first pilgrims landed back in the 1600's. We were staying at a campground called Gateway to Cape Cod while in Massachusetts so it just made sense that we needed to explore the Cape. We were about a 2 hour drive from Provincetown which is the town all the way out at the end of the cape. We spent one morning out there. The town had a similar feel to Key West, beachy and laid back! The downtown area was a fun and easy walk with fun stores and restaurants. Since buying chockey type touristy stuff doesn't really fit our model of downsizing we opted to pass on the shopping and check out the local library. Glad we did because it was pretty cool with a big ship inside of it. On our way back towards our campground drove up to the national seashore park ranger station which had some incredible views. We even got to see some whales swimming on the ocean side of the cape from this lookout. Since we love beaches we also found a super fun beach, Coast Guard Beach. We hung out there for awhile and played in the sand and waves. We also saw some seals swimming just off the shore. A trip to New England wouldn't be complete without a tour of Boston. We spent one long day in the city but could have easily done more. There was so much to see and lots of fun areas of town. The main attraction we took in was walking the Freedom Trail. If you aren't familiar there, is a line of red bricks laid into the sidewalks/streets that lead you through town on a 2.5 mile long walk. There are 16 historical sites along the way. We managed to make it to 15 of them and saw the 16th from afar. We were tired! Of course we had to check out the Otis House! We thought these were relatives of Laura's, her maiden name is Otis, but it turns out her relatives lived in Maine, not Boston! We found this out after we spent $25 for the tour! Gah!!! What would a trip to Boston be without a trip to Cheers! It was actually semi dissappointing in that the bar that they used for the show was actually upstairs. There was a line to sit in Norm's stool so I opted for a pic outside! We also got a recommendation from a few people to check out Newport Beach in Rhode Island. I'm glad we listened and checked it out. It was totally worth it! We did the cliff walk along the beach which was incredible to see the homes along the way. That was the two weeks we spent in the Cape Cod and Boston area! So much to see and 2 weeks wasn't enough time to see it all. So many cool places and both of us agreed that we could see ourselves spending the summer in this area. We will have another blog post up shortly with our trip up into New Hampshire and Maine! We liked that area even more!
Cooler temps equal soup season! Although we are staying in warmer climates this winter we have still seen temps dip into the 40's at night and not get much past 60 during the day. I know, I know it could be so much worse. This year I guess it is all about perspective and it is cold to us! We are also in a season of trying to save some money and our food budget is one area where we can save some money. Soups are a great way to stretch your dollar, get loads of nutrition, all without starving yourself. Just in case you aren't convinced on soups yet, they are also super easy to make. This one could easily be a crockpot meal where you just throw everything in and forget about it. Also when we make soup, we always have leftovers, which means even easier, healthy meals for days.
{3 Day Refresh Results!!} We're a bit behind on blog posts since I did the 3 Day Refresh at the end of July and I'm just now writing this blog. Major apologies...but moving on :) Long story short: I actually liked this cleanse!! I loved the food I got to eat, the shakes were delicious and it helped me drink more water...which is always a struggle of mine. It's going on sale November 10th and I think I may purchase it again and do it again! It's way more fun to do it with other people so if you're interested, shoot us an email. I totally FAILED at taking "before" pictures before I started...I was kicking myself by the 2nd day because I know that pictures are the best way to measure progress!!! DARNIT!! So I grabbed some progress pics that Dan took of me back on June 13...those are on the left and the right were taken on the last day of the 3 Day Refresh. All in all I'm super pleased with the whole experience....except for one day. I decided to workout with Dan and did 22 min hardcorps...I was completely fine during the workout but around 5pm I got dizzy and cranky...so I ate a little something (not on the plan) and felt much better!! My goal was NOT weight loss. It was to try the program out because I'd never done it, give myself a little cleanse after the 4th of July and just being too lenient with snacks, alcohol and treats. ➡️ I ended up losing 3.2 lbs and 1.5 inches...kinda crazy! I loved the simplicity of the meal plan and the vanilla fresh protein shakes...and that I still got to drink my beloved Shakeology 😜 The dinner recipes were so tasty and just like we cook anyway so it wasn't a huge change. I didn't follow the plan exactly to a T because I didn't give up coffee...but I limited it to only 1 cup a day and switched to water the rest of the day. By the end, I was excited to have carb and wine again...but it was only 3 days! Totally doable...and I felt FABULOUS at the end! The past 4 years for me (Laura) and 3 years for Dan we have attended what Beachbody calls Coach Summit. This event is a gathering of thousands of coaches where we get to come together and learn, grow and even sweat together. Yeah sounds a little weird but we've worked out simultaneously with over 23,000 other coaches....which is pretty dang AWESOME. We've also been fortunate to listen to speeches from John Maxwell, Darren Hardy, Simon Sinek and this year Gary Vaynerchuk. My first year, I flew to Vegas by myself, stayed with my cousin and a random person we didn't even know. I had no idea what I was getting myself into...but loved every minute of the energy packed, brain exhausting, exciting weekend!! My second year, Dan was able to come along!! He had been able to leave his job as a golf professional and it was his first summer off in 10 years. Words can't express how incredible it was to have him there! I was 26 weeks pregnant with Eli, moved a little slower than normal and needed a little more sleep...but it was still an amazing weekend and we had 1 other coach from our team there. My third year the conference was moved to Nashville and we had 2 coaches from our team there....and THIS YEAR...we were in Nashville once again but we had 8 coaches from our team there!!! We all stayed in an Airbnb together and even though most of us had never met in real life before...it was like we knew each other!! Take a peek at the slideshow to see what a blast we had over the 3 day conference!! One of the main reasons I ADORE this business is because of it's focus on relationships. The people that have decided to take a leap with us and join our team, have changed my life!! They impact me DAILY even though we only interact via social media, video chat or phone calls...so to be able to spend 4 entire days with them is the BEST!! I can't even describe it.
I'm already looking forward to next year and cannot WAIT to have an even bigger group there representing Team FullyFit!! We have been pretty excited for the launch of this program ever since we heard about it back in July. It just looks like a fun program and we know it will be a good change of pace for us. We wanted to share some of the details with you all just in case this type of workout might be something you are interested in doing. Here is how Beachbody describes the workout: INTRODUCING CORE DE FORCE Created by Trainers Joel and Jericho, it's 30 days of zero-equipment, core-defining workouts inspired by the most high-octane sport in the world—Mixed Martial Arts! SHRED DOWN WITH MMA-STYLE WORKOUTS If you want to slash inches from your waist and shed body fat, nothing beats CORE DE FORCE’S effective—and addictive—workouts. In just 30 days you can reshape your body with:
Check Out These Results!Core De Force FAQsHow long is the program? 30 Days How long are the workouts? 21-47 minutes Do I need any equipment? No What's included with the program? The base kit includes:
Are there upgrades? Yes, you can upgrade to a deluxe kit and you get everything mentioned above plus 3 additional workouts, an agility ladder, portion control containers, and a deluxe workout calendar. Are there Challenge Pack options? This document explains the 2 most popular Challenge Packs that include Shakeology. It is also available to order as a Performance Challenge Pack which includes a tub of Energize, a pre-workout drink, and Recover, a post-workout shake. Hopefully that answers a few the questions you have regarding this program. If you do have any other questions or just want to chat about if this program would be a good fit for you we would love to hear from you. You can comment below or EMAIL us.
This might sound like a strange question to ask. One would think if you do healthy things you would be a healthy person. If you eat a lot of veggies, workout regularly and drink your water, all healthy things, chances are you will be healthy physically. We want to dive deeper into this question though and talk about the mental side of being a healthy person. We believe the ball game really changes when a person get's healthy mentally and begins to identify themselves as being a healthy person. Let's start with talking about why the person doing healthy things is different that a healthy person. Do Healthy Things Person - This person likely has some goals to lose weight, change their body composition, get off medications, etc. All great goals! They also likely have been given a prescription to achieve those goals from a doctor, personal trainer, or nutritionist. They are told things like eat less processed foods, eat more fruits and veggies, follow an exercise routine or drink more water. All of those things will likely make a person healthier! So why are we making this distinction between doing healthy things and being a healthy person? This person has a measurable and attainable goal. What happens when they reach their goal? Game over... now what? Their motivation was in achieving their goal, what is going to keep them motivated? They were committed to those healthy things to achieve a goal. No goal, No commitment. Do you see where I'm going with this? Doing healthy things can help you make progress and even reach some pretty amazing goals but I believe to sustain that change there has to be a mental shift. So let's take a look at the healthy person. Healthy Person - This person's identity revolves around improving his health. They are a student of health, always learning and striving to better themselves. The healthy person's goals are constantly changing and evolving. A healthy person can still indulge from time to time but there is no guilt in it. There aren't rules laid out for a healthy person that they HAVE TO do certain things to be healthy. Their decisions come naturally, there isn't stress in decision making. Exercise isn't a thing to burn calories. It is something that they do to feel better or to be social. One thing that has helped us stay in the "Healthy Person" category has been our commitment to become health coaches ourselves. As health coaches we are looked upon to be examples and leaders. It doesn't mean we have it all figured it out. It just means that we consistently do all those healthy things as a way to inspire others to switch from doing healthy things to becoming a healthy person. Part of my identity is being a healthy person. Yeah I get ridiculed at times but seriously like making fun of someone because they are ridiculously good looking. I take it as a compliment!
How would you identify yourself? Have you not stepped into the world of doing healthy things yet? Are you doing healthy things? Or are you a healthy person? A couple weeks ago I set some goals for our business....did a vision board and everything. I realized this morning I failed to put the MOST important goal of my life.
To please Him. To seek him daily. To love Him regardless of what He gives me or takes away.... I want to be a woman who is strengthened by His power. Not mine. To become a prayer warrior. To show grace to others no matter what. To love fully, be present in every moment, have intentionality and give thanks for everything! I want to be a woman who surrenders and doesn't try to control anything. The goal of my life isn't to make a lot of money (even though there's nothing wrong with asking Him to bless you)......It's to make a life that means something and I can't do that without first seeking Him ❤️ It was a strange feeling after our Beachbody Coach Summit in Nashville. In years past that event comes to an end and we go back to Minnesota and go back to our normal lives. So it was strange when this year we just packed up the RV and moved on to our next location. Slowly this full time traveling thing is starting to feel like the norm. One place that was definitely on our radar that we wanted to check out was Niagara Falls. From Nashville we plotted our course to get there and it took us through Kentucky. We did just an overnight stay at a little park in Renfro Valley. It was actually a cute park that hosts a bunch of country music concerts. After Kentucky we had heard great things about West Virginia and how beautiful it was. Our original plan was to stay at a state park or Army Corps of Engineers park called Bulltown Campground for 4 days. It was up in the mountains and right on a lake, everything looked fantastic. Well... we didn't think about cell phone coverage. We didn't have any on our ATT phones or our Verizon hotspot. Had we known that we could have planned for us to be unplugged but unfortunately we had some business commitments that we needed to be a part of which meant we needed to find some service. So our 4 day stay turned into 1 night. It actually didn't turn out to be so bad that we left West Virginia. Our plan was to drive up to Pittsburgh for a quarterly Beachbody event anyways that Saturday so it did save us some mileage and time in the car. The spot we moved to was a fun little park with a lot of full-timers a little southeast of Pittsburgh. We spent a decent amount of time at the playground in the park and met some pretty cool people, even some fellow Beachbody coaches. We spent a great day in Pittsburgh. Our morning was filled with our Beachbody event where we got to hear some amazing stories from fellow coaches. Laura and Eli got to meet Autumn Calabrese, the trainer behind 21 Day Fix and Country Heat. After our event we walked around downtown a bit. It happened to be Regatta weekend and we were in the neighborhood so we checked out some of the boat races. After our 4 day stay in the Pittsburgh area we made our way up to Niagara area. We stayed at a great campground literally right Lake Ontario. Our view was looking out at that lake. Here's one at sunset, pretty incredible! I was a little worried Niagara Falls was going to be underwhelming. Let's just say it wasn't. Such a cool spot and awe inspiring to see that kind of power in nature. We only walked around on the US side of the falls but walked all way from the horseshoe falls down to the US falls and up on the observation deck that hangs out over the river. We did drive the road that runs parallel to the river and falls on the Canadian side. It definitely looked like you would get better views of all the falls from that side! Now we know! Our travels went international at this point too. We decided to make a day trip up to Toronto. We had heard great things about the city. We wish we would have done a bit more homework ahead of time and it would have been fun to spend more time there. We spent most of our time in the distillery district. It had some fun restaurants, coffee shops, and boutique style shops. One mistake we made due to poor planning was walking to Cherry Beach Park. Let's just say Canadian beaches don't really compare to others we have visited. We wish we would have went and checked out some market areas of town instead. I wish we had more time but we tried to get out of downtown before rush hour. We left downtown around 3:00 and our 2 hour drive turned into 3. Who knows how bad it would have been had we stayed another hour or two. We did all of that in just over a week! Are you tired just reading about all of that? Yeah it was pretty exhausting moving that fast and doing as much as we were doing. We had one more stop in central upstate New York before we would settle into a campground in southern Massachusetts for 2 weeks. We did pretty well in keeping the whirlwind going. We spent some time in Rome, NY, a petting zoo, washed the RV, and spent an afternoon checking out a local lake town. I almost forgot we also celebrated Eli's 2nd birthday! We had such a good time during this part of our trip. This is really why we wanted to go on this adventure. To be together as a family, see places that are popular spots and quite a few that are off the beaten path.
I've tried a couple dozen different ways to make baked sweet potato fries and most of them haven't turned out until now! The two things that have typically happened are either horribly burnt fries or soft squishy fries. Been there?
I wish I could remember where I saw this trick but it made all the difference. I know I saw it on some Facebook cooking school type page. They talked about the differences in sweet potatoes vs regular white potatoes. The thing that separates the two is the starch to sugar ratios. White potatoes are higher starch less sugar and sweet potatoes are just the opposite. If you are somewhat experienced cook you know that sugar burns. It's because of this and this balance that makes sweet potato fries harder to get that nice crispy texture without burning. You could approach this problem a few ways. Cook them incredibly fast so they don't have time to burn, aka fry them. Not the worst thing in the world if you are using a quality oil like coconut oil, but that becomes a pretty expensive batch of fries if you are using a whole jar of coconut oil to make them. The next option is to reduce the sugar content, that's not really an option as far as I know. The last one would be to up the starch content. That can be done! The process of adding starch is pretty simple. You could use a number of different starches to do this but I would recommend tapioca, arrowroot or corn starch/flour, I used tapioca. You create a slurry of the starch plus a little water and toss the potatoes in the slurry while they are warm and slightly softened from boiling. That way the starch mixture gets absorbed into the potato. I'm going to continue to experiment with this process and hopefully fine tune it a bit more. For now, we hope you enjoy this little tip. I would also love to find the perfect fry seasoning to add to these. If you have any suggestions drop them in the comments.
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