Coconut Banana Smoothie

I love sweets. It can be a problem and a hold-up for me in my weight loss. So whenever I create a treat of some sort that is semi-healthy I get really excited!! I usually use a banana, milk, the Breakfast Essentials chocolate powder and some ice cubes to make a chocolate smoothie. I don't know that it is super healthy, but its good! I figure its better than a full blown chocolate shake though!

Yesterday I had to improvise a little because we didn't have any milk. But we did have vanilla coconut milk! I also ditched the chocolate powder. I don't really like the coconut milk by itself or even with cereal, but this little smoothie of mine was actually pretty good! It reminded me a little of a horchata, those yummy white drinks in Mexican restaurants.

All you need is:
3/4 c vanilla coconut milk
1 banana (frozen or fresh)
ice cubes for desired consistency
dash of cinnamon

And for your nutritional info: 165 calories, 4g fat, 20 g sugar (but it is a more natural sugar...!)
Not too bad!

Strength Training!

Weight lifting.. isn't that for men? Women don't need to do it because we don't need big muscles, right?
Let me just tell you how WRONG you are!
Weight lifting is actually very beneficial for women. Don't worry, I'm not talking about going out and bench pressing 150 lbs 50 times a day. Unless for some weird reason you want to I guess!
I was thinking back on all that time I spent running on the tredmill, trying to work my butt off (literally!) to lose weight. For two months I did this pretty consistently and guess what. I never lost a darn pound! How frustrating is that!? It was still good for me to get that cardio exercise and I am not regretting it at all, but it sort of dawned on me a few weeks ago that I hadn't incorporated any strength training! Then I remembered the time about 5 years ago (yeah, it's been that long..) that I had lost a good 15-20 lbs. What was I doing? Yeah, I was running my heart out. But I was also doing strength training!
Thus, my little spill on why this is good for not only weight loss but for health too!
Did you know that strength training...
Increases your metabolism?
A study was done showing that women who did strength training 2-3 times a week gain 1-2 lbs of muscle and LOSE 3-4 lbs of fat.
Burns more calories per unit of time, even while at rest?
For every pound of muscle you gain, you will burn around 40-50 extra calories per day! The more lean muscle you have, the more calories you will burn!
Which facilitates body fat loss?
Which is why I lost weight much faster several years ago.
Makes your bones stronger, decreasing the risk for osteoporosis?
Yep, weight lifting increases your bone density making them less brittle.
Improves balance and athletic performance?
Well, obviously!
Reduces risks of injury, back pain, and arthritis?
Well, minus being sore for a few days after the workout.. :) But I think this is talking about more serious injuries.
Fights depression?
This makes me laugh a little, because I know that I work out a little harder when I am mad or frustrated, and it does actually make me feel better!
Reduces risk for diabetes and heart disease?
It lowers your LDL (bad cholesterol), increasing HDL (good cholesterol), lowering your blood pressure, and improves the way your body utilizes sugar! Who knew!?
Creates a feeling of confidence?
How could you not have a little boost of confidence when you feel like the Hulk? Ok or maybe just Wonder Woman.

So, if it has all of these benefits, what the heck are you waiting for? Go pump some weights!