Friday Five: Summer Favorites from Beautycounter

I have been using Beautycounter for a couple of years, slowly switching to clean products once I learned that what we put on our bodies is just as important as what we put in them! 

Did you know the average woman wears an estimated 63 disease-causing chemicals on her skin every day? Hidden toxins can have a big impact on our health. In cosmetics alone, the European Union has banned or restricted more than 1,300 chemicals. The US? Partially bans 30.

It’s up to us to be smart consumers and purchase products that are in line with a healthy lifestyle to reduce our overall toxic load. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of waiting for the government to protect us when it comes to the food and beauty industries.

               

Here are 5 things I am loving right now:

Countersun Mineral Sunscreen - I love that this light, creamy lotion goes on easily and a little goes a loooong way. I usually prefer sprays because lotions can be thick and heavy. It is also reef safe, which is important to me as a Hawaii resident. 

Countertime Collection - Admittedly, I've never used a full line of products before (cleanse, prep, treat, protect). Now I look forward to washing my face every morning and night! 

Skin Twin Featherweight Foundation - I feel like I've spent most of my life looking for a foundation that didn't feel like I was wearing foundation (including other BC products). THIS is the winner for me! It's hot in Hawaii and this doesn't feel like my face is melting off - even if I have makeup on before a workout!

All Bright C Serum - I recently added this to my morning face routine because I have sun and age spots on my face and chest that I do not like at all. I have seen a noticeable lightening of the spots on my face and my face is just overall brighter.

Lip Gloss - Just like the name says, it's glossy! I've always been a lip gloss girl. I am very picky about the brand because I don't like sticky or thick. This makes me feel glam, even in my athleisure wear. 

I recently became a Beautycounter consultant so that I could help get clean beauty into more hands. Using safe or clean products that do not have toxic ingredients not only helps your skin, it can lower your risk of other health issues like skin cancer, nervous system issues, reproductive issues, and more!

Let me know if I can help you find something you are needing and want to make a switch.

Supersets with Tempo and a Booty Challenge

Today was our first strength training day following the new programming for July: Supersets with Tempo. We are going to be focusing on doing two exercises at a time back-to-back. One will be straight reps and the second we will vary the speed to increase the time under tension, aka max out the muscles!

I was really liking the mixed pyramid sets we were doing in June, but I know that in order to see change, we have to mix things up. That is why I love being in FASTer Way VIP. I get the perks of a personal trainer without the price!

This month we are also doing a Booty Challenge. So a couple of days a week we get bonus content to build our lower body strength. Today was day 2 and let me just say that things were on fire!

After my workout I did a cool down walk. It was a stunning day here in Hawaii with great trade winds, so I took advantage and headed toward the Lanikai Monument. This monument marks the entrance to the Lanikai neighborhood. 

The monument is my turn around spot, but I like to walk down the hill to the lava rocks and take in the view first. If you follow my Instagram stories you will see that I am here a lot! mrC and I love to sit and enjoy the breeze while looking for turtles. We came here almost everyday when the beach was closed at the beginning of the COVID quarantine.

I just love looking at the amazing view of Kailua Beach and the Kailua blue water from here. We truly are blessed to have this as our playground.

One reason I love this walk, is because it is all sidewalks and walking paths from our apartment (unless we take a side street which has very little traffic). The walking/bike path goes right through Kailua Beach park.

I spent the rest of my day working a little, chatting with my Functional Medicine Practitioner and eating! BreakFAST was one of my favorites: egg, tuna, avocado and hummus on gluten free, dairy free toast. The bread is made locally here on Oahu and is the best GF bread I've ever had.

While I was working, I had a 3 pound turkey breast cooking in the crockpot, so dinner was turkey breast, steamed broccoli and sweet potato chips. Turkey is my new chicken!

I got a bit of a game plan from the FMP today to help with my gut health and cortisol spikes. More on that in my next post.

Do you mix up your strength training workout programming or does someone do it for you?

Blueberry Flaxseed Muffins

I've fallen in love with Blueberry Flaxseed Muffins!

Recently, I discovered that I could make muffins for a low carb day snack. I've actually had the recipe for awhile, but put off trying it because I thought it would be complicated. Isn't baking from scratch usually complicated?

Anyway, I was tired of Fat Bombs and all the other low carb snacks I've tried over the years like...

celery and Ranch dressing

nuts

jerky

turkey roll ups

...either don't appeal to me now or I literally don't eat those foods anymore.

So I finally got around to making Flaxseed Muffins and 1) the recipe is pretty simple and 2) they were ok (topped with almond butter), but kind of plain.

Since I love blueberry protein bars and cinnamon, I decided to add blueberries and some cinnamon to the recipe and see what happened. WIN!!

I've had a lot of requests for the recipe, so here it is! 

Blueberry Flaxseed Muffins - makes about 16 mini muffins 

1 cups ground flaxseed

1/2 T baking powder

1 TBSP cinnamon 

1/2 tsp sea salt

2.5 eggs (room temp)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup melted coconut oil

1/4 cup room temp water 

1/2 cup fresh blueberries 

Preheat oven to 350. 

Prepare muffin tin with liners or spray with oil. 

Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl. 

Crack eggs into a separate bowl and whisk for 30-60secs. Add water & oil. 

Combine wet & dry ingredients and stir to combine. 

Let sit for 1-2 minutes. 

Fill muffin tins using 1/4 cup. 

Cook for 20 mins. 

Store in fridge once cooled.  

Heat briefly before eating and top with your favorite nut butter!

Let me know if you make them, what you think, and if you change anything to make them better!!

Best Green Smoothie Recipe

If you are like me, you want to include all the super healthy greens into your morning smoothie, but your taste buds resist!

While doing a 5-Day Reset with my FASTer Way VIP community, I could not drink the green smoothie recipe the way it was written. Cilantro? Cucumber? Anyone else struggle with the taste of these ingredients?

So after much trial and error, I finally tweaked the recipe and found the perfect combination that I know you will love, even if you are not in a constant battle with your taste buds!

Ingredients to blend:

1 cup coconut water

1 cup loosely pack parsley

1 cup loosely packed baby spinach

1/2 cup cucumber

1 cup pineapple (frozen)

1/4 cup mango (frozen)

juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon fresh ginger

1/2 avocado

One of the things I love about this green smoothie is that the ingredients have so many benefits!

• Lemon juice - boosts immune system, aids in digestion, balances ph, flushes liver and kidneys
• Coconut water - vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, regulates ph balance
• Ginger - helps with digestion, reduces inflammation, improves cholesterol levels, lowers blood sugars
• Parsley - improves digestion, supports gland health, aids bone health

Full disclosure, this smoothie was not my favorite from the Reset, but it did taste better and go down a lot easier at the end - when my taste buds got their act together!

Do you like green smoothies?

5 Day Reset

Let's face it, there are times when we all fall off the wagon when it comes to our nutrition and fitness.

While my everyday lifestyle didn't change as much as most because of COVID-19, I did let bad eating habits start creeping back in. Convenience foods, extra treats, more indulgences...they were all adding up. 

Even with the best intentions, it can be hard to know where to start to get back on track! Just because I am a certified coach for a health and wellness program, doesn't mean I don't have struggles. Sometimes I NEED my community just as much as my new clients do.

Enter the 5-Day Reset.

In the FASTer Way community, we are given tools and challenges to help us navigate through plateaus and dial back in when we have let things get too loosey-goosey. This month we are doing a 21-Day Community Cut where we are cutting out habits and thoughts that don't help us reach our goals. The community challenge is always optional, but I couldn't wait to dive in as it came on the heels of my 10-day elimination detox with my FMP ---> perfect timing for me!

We kicked off our Community Cut with a 5-Day Reset to make nutrition our main priority and reset our minds and tastebuds. For 5 days we re-committed to whole food nutrition and focused on eating clean. No processed foods, no sauces and marinades. No sugar. Why? To clean out our body. To eliminate the foods that cause cravings.

How it Worked.

Day 1: all smoothies, all day. Instead of 3 square meals, we flooded our bodies with macro and micronutrients. We had a break-FAST smoothie, a lunch smoothie and a dinner smoothie. There was so much packed into those smoothies, I wasn't hungry at all! 

Days 2-5: two smoothies and two clean meals. Every day we broke fast with the break-FAST smoothie and every day we had the lunch smoothie as a snack. Lunch was 5 ounces of protein, 6 ounces of sweet potato (on my sensitivities list, so I had brown rice) and 1 cup steamed broccoli. Dinner was 5 ounces protein and greens.

The Ingredients.

There was a method to the madness! Every ingredient was picked because of the amazing benefits and the volume it would provide. Lemon juice aids digestion, flaxseed good source of healthy fat and helps hormone balance, coconut water contains electrolytes, ginger reduces inflammation. 

We were urged to drink green tea instead of coffee because it is anti-inflammatory and boosts metabolism. This was easy for me because I had already given up coffee during my 10-day detox, but drinking green tea was something new. I discovered that I like it!

 

The Results.

This reset was just what I needed to get back on track and recommit to whole food nutrition. I loved breaking my fast every day with a smoothie. I used to do this ALL THE TIME when I was still teaching. By day 5, I was enjoying the green smoothies as much as the fruitier break-fast smoothie. Proof that my taste buds had changed. I also had more energy, less gas and bloat, and slept amazing all week. My cravings for all the convenience foods I was reaching for more and more, have diminished almost completely and I find myself thinking about fruit a lot more. All big wins!

Combined with my 10-day elimination detox, I feel so much better than I did 15 days ago. I have lost water "weight" which I can see and feel in my belly and face. My clothes are fitting more comfortably and I am excited to continue to fix my body with healthy foods and not pills.

Have you ever done a reset? How did it go?

Let me know if you have any questions!!