6 Ways to Start your Day out Right

I have always loved to sleep. I love my bed and when I was a young kid, I used to pray and thank my Heavenly Father for my bed. As I got older and moved out on my own, I realized how important it was to have a regular bedtime and get plenty of sleep. I realized how much better my day was when I had a good nights sleep. And in the last few years, and four kids later, I am realizing how important it is to wake up early too and Start your day right. 

1. Wake up the same time each day

For me this means waking up each day at 5 am. Yep, each day! 7 days a week I get up at 5 am. I have 4 little kids and I need to get up before they do to be able to have a productive day.

2. Personal Development - ME TIME

I get up at 5 so I can have some alone time. I write in my journal, about a positive experience I had the day before. I read from my scriptures 10-15 minutes and Pray.  I read an additional personal development book. For me this sets my mood for the rest of the day.

3. Work-out (Get Sweaty)

I work-out each morning for 30 minutes. Being fit and working out is so important to me, because I need to be able to keep up with my kids and set a healthy example for my kids. By the time I get to working out there are many mornings when I have an audience of little people watching and some mornings they get down with me and workout. Some mornings it is hard to want to do this, so I have accountability groups, that I participate in to help me keep going and stay motivated.

4. Shower and get ready for the day

If I get this out of the way after my workout, I feel so much better. Getting ready for the day, before I have to start the daily routine with my kids, makes everything less rushed and I can focus my time on them.

5. Healthy Breakfast

Breakfast is a very important part of our day. I make sure my kids have a healthy meal, before heading off to school and we can talk about our day. I love my mornings with my kids!

6. Regular bed time

Like I said in the beginning, I love to sleep. Having a regular bed time is setting yourself up for a successful day the following day. Having little kids has made me realize how important it is in my life to have a regular schedule and that having a routine makes my life go more smoothly. 

Have a Happy day!

Why Shakeology!?!

Shakeology has been and a huge tool in helping me in my weight-loss fitness journey. I drank green smoothies for a couple years. You know, the smoothies, full of delicious blended fruits and veges. I would blend my spinach and fruit and other things and take them everywhere. My friends used to make fun of me and my sludge-y drink that was browning in my mason jar. Sometimes they were delicious, sometimes not so delicious. I was always looking for healthy superfoods to add to my smoothies to get the healthiest drink possible. But some of those things are so expensive. I was so excited to find Shakeology because it had all these amazing ingredients I had read about that had amazing health benefits and it was all packaged in a drink that costs around $4.  And it was delicious. I am hooked. The benefits are amazing. More energy, healthy foods, more regularity, feel great. Now some people are not too excited about paying around $4 per drink, but let's be honest, most of those people are perfectly fine spending that kind of money on a drink from Starbucks! And this is way healthier than a drink from Starbucks. I am officially a Shakeology addict and proud of it!

Check out some of these great recipes for Shakeology that are not only shakes, but also delicious "treats".

Also, here are some links to other sites where you can find some treats

Vanilla Almond Energy Balls from Beachbody Blog

No Bake Shakeology Cookies from Spark Recipes

And these are my favorite Shakeology Breakfast bars from Autumn Calabrese

Hope you Enjoy!

Over-Night Oatmeal

I am a BIG fan of Pinterest! I was on there the other night and realized that I have 64 boards! That is a result of many nights of late night nursing, I have recovered somewhat from my Pinterest addiction. However, there are some amazing things you can find there. 

One of our favorite breakfasts is oatmeal. It is easy, it is healthy (depending on what you put in it) and makes you feel warm on cold winter days. I am a HUGE fan. We have recently been introduced to over-night oatmeal and crock-pot oatmeal (which I will share on a later post). This is a simple fun way for the kids to make their own breakfast and make it the night before so the mornings can go a little more smoothly.  We have a basic recipe we follow and then do a lot of our own add-ins and creations to make them our own. It is super quick and sometimes delicious and sometimes not, depending on the concoction made. Hope you enjoy!

Basic Recipe:

1/4-1/2 cup Old Fashioned Oats
1/2 cup milk, we use coconut, you can use any kind, cow, almond, soy, etc.
2 tsp ground flaxseed
2 tsp Chia seeds
1 tsp honey (we have also used agave and stevia and sometimes plain old sugar)

Combine all these ingredients in a seal-able container. We like Mason jars and their plastic lids, because we have an abundance of them. And stir or shake it up.
Then, put lid on and place in fridge overnight and enjoy in the morning!

Favorite recipes
Chunky Monkey
1/2 a mashed banana
1 TBS cocoa powder or chocolate or carob chips
1 TBS PB2

Berries and cream (or Peaches and Cream)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup yogurt, we use greek plain
1/2 cup berries, frozen or fresh

Raspberries and Dark Chocolate
1/2 cup Raspberries, fresh or frozen
Chocolate or carob chips to taste

Almond Joy (my favorite)
1 TBS cocoa powder or chocolate chips
1/2 TBS raw coconut flakes
1 TBS slivered almonds

Good old Brown Sugar and Cinnamon