Bee’in Healthy

I’m 30 years old…alright, I admitted my age, but I’m surely not telling you my weight!  I will tell you that I have always hated diets and I’ve especially hated exercise.  I would much rather sit on my couch and read a book, than sweat!  Sweating is no fun; you don’t smell great and it sometimes leaves lovely wet spots in inappropriate places.  But sweating is good…right?  At least that’s what I’m trying to convince myself.

I’ve being doing Zumba on the Wii for approximately a year (okay, maybe a few dozen times in that year) but I finally caved and decided to join an actual class rather than dancing in front of my large living room window and praying that the mailman doesn’t make his rounds just as I’m shaking my booty.  I mainly joined a class because I knew that people would notice my absence when I decided to spend an evening bonding with my recliner and hopefully call me out on it.  I need accountability because I’m really good at letting myself off the hook.  Thanks to Lori Zane (you rock, girl!) for dragging me along with her a couple of weeks ago.  Apparently sweating is not that bad if friends are sweating just as much as you are! :)If you’ve ever considered joining a class and then decided that sitting on the couch is more fun, guess again! It’s not at all competitive, it’s not a place to feel self-conscious, rather it’s a place to SWEAT and burn calories, and have fun doing it!

Another even better reason to join a class is that while you’re burning calories you can also donate them to help end world hunger!  How awesome is that!?!  Check out how you can get involved at http://www.greatcaloriedrive.com/en/.

Purple Kale Smoothie

So at the same time as I decided that I’d start publicly Zumbaing (is that a word?), I also to climb back on the horse and start counting calories since I now had exercise to log.  I use MyFitnessPal because it’s the best program I found and because I can easily calculate my intake and exercise from my iPhone!  It even has an option where you can scan the barcode on any packaged product to show exactly how many calories are in a serving to then be added to your food diary.  I love technology!  Also it’s pretty great to be able to chart your progress as you go.  Right now I’m down 10 lbs!  Wahoo!

Another fun thing I’ve just started is creating some healthy and filling smoothies to drink for breakfast.  Lately I’ve found myself CRAVING lunch at around 10:00, so I’ve done a little research (mostly via Pinterest- haha!) to find some great recipes.  My friend Colleen Brunetti (a holistic health coach and good friend of mine) gave me some other sources to find protein-packed and other detoxifying recipes.  Thanks chica!

Today’s breakfast, the Purple Kale Smoothie, comes to you today from a great find on Pinterest.  I was a little leery about including kale in my smoothie – thinking it would taste “green” – but it was really rather good.  The kale takes on the flavors of the other ingredients and is a great source of fiber to be paired with the protein of the yogurt and almond butter and the antioxidants of the blueberries and special enzyme in pineapple that helps to reduce bloating.  Who knew breakfast could be so colorful!