Blog Posts - Form Fit

Cherry Vanilla Nice Cream

5/28/2020

It's not quite summer but things are already heating up here in SWFL,, so we have been enjoying a lot of ice cream. So I decided to try some of the Nice Creams to see if we could find one that we liked. This Cherry Vanilla one is very tasty and the kids enjoyed having them out of these cupcake containers as they helped them to eat just a serving size.

Cherry Vanilla Nice Cream

1 frozen banana
1 1/2 cups frozen cherries
2-3 tbsp. almond milk, or milk of choice
1 scoop of Vanilla Protein Powder (I use JP Complete)
1 tsp vanilla
3 cherries cut in half to place on top

Add all ingredients except the 3 cherries to a blender and blend until smooth. At this point you can immediately serve or place in silicone cupcake containers and place in freezer until ready to enjoy.

Banana Bread

5/19/2020

Gluten free banana bread is delicious!🍌🍞

My children love their Ommies banana bread recipe but with 1 1/2 cups sugar in each loaf I always am a little leary of it. So I was excited that they enjoyed this gluten free banana bread with JP Complete and just 1/4 cup of coconut sugar.

It also contains all of the goodness from broccoli sprouts, amaranth, pumpkin, pomegranate, spirulina, yucca, and mushroom.

Gluten-free Protein Banana Bread
2 1/4 Cups Almond flour
1/2 Cup Complete by Juice Plus+ French Vanilla
1/4 Cup Coconut sugar
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Salt
3 Tbsp Coconut oil, melted
2 Eggs
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
1 Cup Mashed banana

Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 -inch loaf pan with parchment paper and rub the exposed sides with coconut oil.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, protein, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
In a separate large bowl, whisk the oil, eggs, and vanilla. Add in the banana and whisk until combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk until combined.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake until dark brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes to an hour.
Allow to cool completely in the pan before removing or slicing.

Importance of fruits and vegetables for self care

5/16/2020

Positive thinking has a lot to do with the foods we eat.

Did you know that anxiety is correlated with reduced fruit and vegetable intake? The more we can take care of our body from the inside out the healthier we will be.

Research suggests that the more antioxidants we have in our body the less anxiety we will have. So make sure to not only eat more fruits and vegetables, but also make sure to eat a variety of colors:

Green-Vitamin A & B, iron, and magnesium
Orange/Yellow-Vitamin C, potassium, and calcium

Your body requires B Vitamins, Vitamin C, iron and magnesium to help give you energy, regulate your hormones, and help with cell development.

Your body also makes its own medicine and 70% of your immune system is in your gut.

Your microbiome is part of your internal pharmacy and helps to create and regulate:

serotonin=happy hormone
dopamine=pleasure hormone
GABA=calming hormone
Butyrate-this is the superfuel for the brain and is made from the fiber you eat

95% of our Serotonin receptors are found in the gut, these receptors are key to stabilizing mood and brain function.

If you want to fix your brain, you must fix your gut!

So make sure you are getting more fruits and vegetables into your daily diet. If you need help with Accountability or are looking for recipes, tips and tricks to a healthier lifestyle than join our FB group.

smoothie bowls

5/8/2020

SMOOTHIE BOWLS

Blend 1 cup of milk of choice (I like almond milk), cup full of ice, and a scoop of Juice Plus Complete Vegan Protein Powder, and half a frozen banana. Pour into a bowl and add some cacao nibs, other half of banana, and blueberries to the top.

It is important to chew your food in the morning to help release the muscles in the jaw as many of us clench our jaw when we sleep due to the every day stressors in our lives.

If you wake up often with dull headaches in the morning, than you are probably one of these stress clenchers and to help relieve it with something crunchy in the morning to get the muscles in the jaw working and releasing.

When I am on the go and grab a smoothie, I also try to grab a hand full of nuts or seeds to chew on as well.

Eat these 4 things to build your immunity

3/26/2020

Practice the 4 S's

Build your Immune System with these foods everyday.

Smoothies-make sure to fill them with colorful fruits, veggies, seeds, and healthy fats like nuts, or avocado.

Salads-eat one for lunch or dinner everyday. Make sure to add some crunch for texture, and again the more colorful you can make it the more antioxidants you are getting.

Spices-play around with spices and herbs for different flavors. I l
ove adding herbs into my salad and cinammon into my coffee. Get creative!

Salmon-eat wild caught fish at least once a week for those healthy Omegas.

Eating more foods like this every day and less processed foods will allow you to build your Immune system, decrease inflammation in your body and live healthier.

For more ways to build your immunity, read this.

Build your Immunity

3/23/2020

Let's confront the elephant in the room...

Right now more than ever, it is important for you to make sure you are building up your Immune system so that if you become sick you will only suffer minor symptoms and recover sooner. Our body is able to produce its own medicine, and this medicine is custom made just for you. By eating the right food and exercising you are supporting a healthy endothelium (the lining of the blood vessels), which releases chemical messengers called nitric oxide, and in turn prompts the body to make its own medicine.

So to help our body start making its own medicine we need to make sure to:

exercise every day-you can go for a walk, do one of my YouTube videos, join one of my fitness classes, or do one of your own workouts
de-stress-practice breathing exercises, use meditation (I like the free app Insight Timer),
hydrate-drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces each day-here's a tip of how I get more water into each day
sleep-make sure you are getting 7-8 hours of sleep, if this is difficult it is ok to add 20 minute naps into your day to help you get the recommended amount of sleep
healthy eating-make sure you are getting enough fruits and vegetables into your diet; I try to eat 5-7 servings of fruits and vegetable each day and also take my fruit and veggie capsules to ensure I'm getting the antioxidants that I need.

By practicing these habits on a daily basis you will begin to build your immune system, decrease inflammation, and begin to feel better inside and out.

Welcome mom

3/1/2020

Please help me welcome our Welcome Mom and Activities Coordinator!

My name is Joelle and I was born and raised in Denver, CO. I have lived in FL for almost a decade now. We moved back to this area about 6 months ago.
I have 3 kiddos that keep me busy, busy! I enjoy working out, playing at the beautiful beaches, sunsets, shelling and basically anything outside.

There are so many things that I love about Form Fit! You can be at any fitness stage or just starting out and Courtney will make sure you have the right form to get a great workout in. She is very knowledgeable and very helpful!

We are so excited to have her to help welcome new moms to the program and provide fun events for the littles!

Take time to stretch

2/6/2020

mom and daughter stretching

Stretching is so beneficial to your workout, so please make sure you take the time at the end of each workout to stretch!

1. Increasing flexibility is imperative to mobility as you age; if you lack flexibility than your joints can't move like they are designed and you will begin to lose the movement in those areas as you get older.

2. Increases blood flow to your muscles-the more parts you are able to move within an area the more blood flow to those parts which is imperative for a healthy circulatory system.

3. Better posture-when you stretch and strengthen you are encouraging proper alignment. Make sure to change up the stretches so that you are moving through different movement patterns.

4. Stress relief- stretching encourages and requires you to slow down and breath, which is a form of meditation or calming of the mind.

Picky eaters

1/27/2020

picky eater ideas

If you have picky eaters it can be tough to get them to eat the meals you prepare which is extremely frustrating as a mom since you have taken at least 20-30 minutes to prepare the food after you are already exhausted from the day and now your kids are sticking their tongues out or whining about how this is gross and they aren't going to eat.

So, what do we do? We stop fighting and we succumb to the-mom is a short order line cook and makes 2-3 different meals each night so that we don't have to listen to

any more whining!

but yet again, we remain exhausted, frustrated, and guilty that our children are not getting the nutrients they need into their body.

After many years of doing this, I have come up with a few solutions that have worked for my family.

1. De-constructed night: this is usually some sort of bowl or taco night where I have rice, taco shells, or a bed of romaine lettuce as the base in a bowl. I then cut up different ingredients and place them out on a platter (the more color, the better) and let them fill it with any of the items they want. The key with this is, do NOT tell them that they need to add anything specific. I have noticed that in time they will begin to try more items and add them to their bowls.
(pic above is a deconstructed sushi bowl that they were able to place over their rice)

2. Something familiar on their plate: Most of our dinners consist of a salad and vegetable, some sort of whole grain or potato, and then some meat on our plates. I always make sure to place everything that we, the parents, have on our plates and I do ask that my children taste everything on their plate. If they don't like it, they are not required to continue to eat it, but they must taste everything; even if they KNOW they don't like it. I then will also place some fruit, yogurt, or sometimes even something like goldfish on their plates (when they were younger), so that they had a couple of things that I knew they really loved. This allowed for less grumbling at the dinner table and also made sure that they had enough in their bellies if they didn't eat the other items.

3. A favorite meal: I always try to make one meal each week one that they love! Now with three kids, and varying tastes, this doesn't always work out where they all get a meal they love; but for the most part they don't mind eating something that their siblings love so it works out. Some of the famous go-to's in our house are Spaghetti and meatballs, homemade chicken tenders with rice and roasted broccoli, tacos, mac & cheese, or even grabbing their favorite dinner out. So you can guarantee one of these meals will be on our weekly plan each and every week.

4. Help in the kitchen: This truly does work and is so funny to me. My daughter loves green beans, and I think this has to do with this was one of the first things she helped me in the kitchen with, she would snap them for me. Another son, loves asparagus and yet again, he used to snap the bottoms off of these before I would roast them. The more they can help in the kitchen the more likely they will be willing to try what has been set before them; and if you are able to grow those items in your back yard even better. We have a growing system that we use to grow greens on our back porch.

How do you ensure you are helping your kids to eat healthier?

outdoor workouts are good for us

1/9/2020

Get outside, it does amazing things for your health.
It is absolutely beautiful this time of year in Southwest Florida so take advantage of it. It also can help you live a healthier life when you take that workout outdoors.

1. Vitamin D-the fat soluble vitamin that is essential to strong bones and healthy immune systems can safely be attained by the morning sun.

2. Gives your eyes a rest-our eyes look at so much close up which requires the muscles in your eye to work more. By looking at things outside and far in the distance it allows the muscles in your eyes to relax which is important for overall eye health. (Katy Bowman-Movement Matters, Alignment Matters)

3. Less anxiety and stress-green spaces have shown to decrease stress and increase mood of those who spend time outdoors and provide for mental well-being.

4. Boosts white blood cells: interacting with phytoncides (airborne chemicals emitted from plants that protect them from rotting and insects) help to boost white blood cells and reduce stress in our bodies (Katy Bowman: Movement Matters, pg 79)

Drop that indoor gym workout and join us. Do you workout outside? If so, what benefits do you notice for yourself?