Pumpkin Pie Shakeology

World's Healthiest Pumpkin Pie! (No, seriously...)

So, I wanted to play around with my Shakeology a little bit, and also give a healthy twist on a fall special: PUMPKIN PIE!!!

I recently made the sugar/fat-filled version of this for my eldest's birthday early this month, and I did it again but this time made it healthier than your HEALTHY morning cereal :)  He asked for some last night, and I served it with pumpkin granola sprinkled on top and a dallop of homemade greek yogurt. His words? "This is delicious! I can't even tell that it's healthy!"

Here is what you need:

1 can pumpkin

3/4 tsp ground ginger

1 1/2- 2tsp cinnamon

1 serving vanilla Shakeology

1/3 cup cashew milk (any milk would work, this is your healthiest option!)

1/4 tsp pink salt

1-2 tbsp coconut sugar (to your taste preferences, I used 1 tbsp)

1/2 cup egg whites

STEP ONE

Preheat oven to 425F.  Pour pumpkin into a saucepan, and on cook pumpkin with salt, cinnamon, ginger, and coconut sugar on low until it starts to bubble. Let cool down.

Step two:

Put pumpkin mixture in mixer, add shakeology, egg whites, and milk and mix until well blended.

Step three:

Pour finished pumpkin mixture into oiled pie pan or pie crust (I did mine crustless). Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then turn down the oven to 350 and let bake for another 45 minutes.

Step four:

Make sure knife comes out of the center clean, and then let cool. Serve with greek yogurt and granola on top!

Orange Creamsicle Shakeology

Still feeling summer, so I'm taking it back to Orange Creamsicle Shakeology :)

Pina Colada Shakeology

Up to week 24

This momma has had a rough summer! As commerical fishermen, we don't really know what our summer schedule will be like EXACTLY. Last year we were on call mid-June through the end of July, and only fished 12 days. We worked another 10 on top of that around our site. This year, we fished almost every day mid-June through August! It was crazy, and since my husband banned me from being on a boat, I was stuck in the kitchen as the camp cook. You know what this means for me? Constant eating. Let's face it. I gave up completely my normal eating routine. I was eating bread, and lots of it, on top of candy and all those baked goods I made for crew motivation. This is my struggle. I am not a person who can handle being around a kitchen and not constantly snacking. It was rough, and it really changed my eating habits for the bad. So I have gained an extra 5 fat lbs on top of the mid-range healthy pregnancy weight gain. YIKES! I am trying to get back on track by eating healthy and consistently, eliminating those extra carbs and sugars I ate. No, I wasn't eating out of pregnancy cravings or nutritional need. I was eating out of my bad binging and emotional habits, eating foods I actually wasn't craving at all but were just lying around. This is a problem. When people say "oh, it's for the baby!", I get mad. First of all, I know myself, and this is not healthy eating. It's a trap of going back to where I was before; an emotional binge eater. Secondly, if it IS for the baby, I sure as heck better stop feeding her candy! OH, did I mention she's a girl? :) So, I've started up with T25 and finished week one last week. I modified a lot of the moves and because of that I have also added the weight circuit from "How to Exercise When You're Expecting" by Lindsey Brin on Mon, Wed, and Sat. That brings three of my workouts to 50 minutes instead of 25, which is still not a whole lot of time to give! This week, I am adding in portion control containers (get yours here). My calorie intake will be 1800-2099 and I am ALSO going to allow myself a yellow container with whatever I want... you know, since I'm pregnant. That will be an extra 100-250 calories. Which is still within an appropriate amount for someone pregnant. Plus, this is a TRANSITION for me to get back to normal so I don't want to make the process extra hard. Portion control isn't dieting, I will be eating my normal healthy things (along with Shakeology! Getting everything momma and baby needs!), but I will just be reminded of how much is a good amount. I am just going to be doing it for the 21 days, hoping that this will reset me into my normal eating again. It's a very hard adjustment from letting yourself eat WHATEVER and HOWEVER much you want to trying to get back to normal. It's easier to never let yourself get to that point! I found myself very unhappy and self-conscious this summer, because I knew what I was doing to my body. I knew I was making bad choices, and those choices were not making me happy. This directly affected my relationship with those around me! I was not content in who I was and I was projecting that on to others. I want to be happy, healthy, and content for my baby! SO here it is... some photos that show that weight gain. Again, I realize this isn't an out of control weight gain, but I was NOT healthy and if I hadn't stopped myself sooner I would end up somewhere far worse. But those pants I wearing were loose around my thighs and butt during my first trimester...

All in all, I'm not worried about it. I AM going to do something about it, but most of that is going to be post-pregnancy. Right now, I just don't want to lose my eating habits and want to keep healthy for baby and me :)

Water intake with your blender/shakeology bottle!

I bought one of these blender bottles, only to find out that they have something similar with beachbody (go to shakeology www.beachbodycoach.com/donicanash). 

Water intake is a HUGE deal, pregnant or not pregnant. I tried doing the huge water jugs so I had my day's worth of water with me at all times, but it was so big to carry around and a bit overwhelming. I've been using my blender bottle for my Shakeology and results and recovery formula, and end up using it for water as well. I found that my water intake comes much more naturally when I have to refill my water! 

To get your water intake in, follow this plan.

1 water upon waking up (in blender bottle)

1 Shakeology

1 results and recovery formula or water during workout

1 bottle in between breakfast and lunch

1 bottle after dinner

Depending on how much you fill the bottle, it will be about 20 ounces each bottle. 

Total water intake for the day: 120 ounces.   

Now, this is more than your "8 cups of water each day", but for an active person (which you should be!) your body needs more water than that. The high end of water intake is about 1 ounce per body pound. The low end range is half that amount. So as an active person, find what seems comfortable for you to drink, whether that is filling your bottle up 15 ounces each time or eliminating one of the bottles in your day. You will feel a huge difference once you keep up your water intake! As a pregnant woman, you almost can't get enough water! 

Weeks 14&15

Getting close to halfway! And close to finding out the gender!!! My uterus popped out, but I don't notice a significant belly growth. I found that at the beginning of week 15, my nausea came back! I was being awoken by bouts of morning sickness and this was an unpleasant surprise. I also have bad, sharp cramping pains and those are SUPER...

What I have discovered is that I really CANT run while pregnant unless it's ONLY on an incline. I don't know how people do it! My uterus gets super sharp pains and can't handle it. So I've stuck with my Beachbody programs with some modifications. I've found that it's just really important to listen to what YOUR body is saying.

Again, Shakeology is a pregnant lady's BEST FRIEND. This, and water :) I've found it really hard to get my nutrition in, especially when I'm nauseous! All I want is bread and carbs to settle my stomach, and this makes my gut feel gross; so Shakeology is my saving grace! My stomach also eats itself out if I get hungry, to the point where I feel like there is permanent damage to my gut when I don't have a snack....


Now here are a few pregnancy progression photos :) I found that you can suck in your uterus so it just looks like you have a little fat pooch, I'm interested in what everyone else does for their photos?! Suck in? Let it hang? Give it a little push out? So I started taking a picture of flexing my abs and then relaxing. The 13& 14 week photos are of my relaxed belly. My uterus looks like it's dropped or something from week 13 to 14.

Week 13

Well, people started guessing after this photo got "released".  I was 12 weeks when my belly finally "popped" out, and also a matron of honor where I was displayed for all to examine my now odd-shaped belly.  Once the photo got out on facebook all whispered to each other about my belly, so I set the score straight not too long after :)

So it's now public, I am PREGNANT! I went in for my 13 week ultrasound today and saw little baby wiggling and kicking around. So thankful I can't feel it yet! That's a lot of moving and wiggling, I'll take the numbness as long as I can!

After seeing the baby alive and well, I'm now so thankful for my relief from day sickness! It is always scary wondering if maybe something happened to baby and wondering if THAT'S the reason your sickness is gone.

I am still working out consistently, now doing a lot more than I did the first trimester. I always back down when I feel uncomfortable, whereas before pregnancy I would just push through. There's a lot I'm gladly backing down on, because it's not just MY body I'm taking care of now. Therefore, I gladly accept offers to go take naps. I also gladly use an excuse to do very modified versions of workouts. I am NOT expecting to keep in perfect shape or at an optimal weight, I want my pregnancy to be relaxed, healthy, and also fun! So I will eat like I usually do and ease down on my workouts. That may add a few extra pounds to lose, but I'm happy with that! It will also make a better "body after baby" segment ;) 

Right now I am doing my beachbody programs. I started Insanity Max 30 and am hoping to do the program all the way through over the summer, modifying all exercises I feel like. I also found that there are ways to modify for my needs that are more intense, but still safe, than the modifications offered on the DVD, I'll have to do a post on those modifications! I plan on ordering T25 next and maybe doing that with some piyo. I want to commit to routines through my pregnancy that I know I can keep up when baby comes, and 25-30 minutes a day is about all I can commit to! When I add in healthy eating and choose my splurges appropriately, I don't need more than that. 

Looking forward to next month when we get to see if baby Nash is a boy or a girl!!!

No, not even SHE is perfect.

It's funny how so often, so many people judge others who appear to them as slim or "skinny".  I know this, because I used to be like that. I was never skinny, but I also was never "HUGE". I was plump. But I was plump in disguise. My weight fluctuated so much, no one could ever label me as skinny OR plump. But I remember walking around the halls at school, so mad at the girls who were drinking red bull italian sodas or mocha freezes and yet were stick skinny, because in my mind that's why people were fat. I would think to myself "well I can't have that because it makes me fat, they're just lucky" (FYI those calories caught up with those girls). Yet the craziest part of my judgement is that I WOULD have those things, but because I was so conscious about it and telling myself "it's a splurge" every time, I acted like it was a special, once in a while thing.

When your mindset is one like this: "Today will be a day that I'm NOT going to have that" or "tonight I'm going to SKIP dessert" then you might have yourself a problem. When I thought was being "good", it was because I was able to deny myself something. This is not a healthy mindset!
The focus shouldn't be on when you will eat well and say NO to bad foods, but instead you should always eat well and decide when you say yes to those "bad" things. It's okay to do this! But the more you think of it as saying "NO", the harder it will be. Instead, focus on when you will say yes. It's a lot easier to remember when you said yes than to remember when you said no. This is the mindset that spurred my weight loss! I wasn't even trying, I thought I was in pretty decent shape, but I did change my mindset and the weight just seemed to follow suit.

I also became a beachbody coach and have Shakeology every day for breakfast, and this really saves me calories and starts my day off right every day. Whenever I'd have a huge craving for something I just KNEW I'd binge eat on, I would make myself have Shakeology first. Every time, without fail, I don't desire what I craved prior. Why? Because my body was lacking some nutritional element, and shakeology covers the nutrition basis. When your body is satisfied nutritionally, those cravings become less frequent. (go to my website shakeology.com/donicanash    or beachbodycoach.com/donicanash to learn more about shakeology!).


Now, it's great to splurge every once in awhile. My first couple months of pregnancy I definitely overdid it! I craved McDonalds and absolutely HAD to have it almost every day for a week or so... I was so nervous that this craving was going to keep up! It was getting so expensive and my pants weren't thanking me... But it eventually did. I went total reverse and McDonalds sounded like the most horrible thing on the planet (as it SHOULD sound!) and clean foods were calling my name.

The goal is to eat in a way that you maintain your ultimate desired weight on a 30 min 5 day a week exercise schedule. You shouldn't have to workout more than 30 minutes to be at your best body. If you are having to, then make sure you are eating clean and consistent, and figure out what is going on in your body that makes you either think you need to workout more or actually makes it so you have to work out more. Sometimes it's fun to do an hour long workout, I enjoy it! But you shouldn't have to live off of long workouts. Your life should be active and healthy enough that 30 min 5 days a week does the job! Choose the right foods and the right exercises and your body will thank you :)


For personal coaching sign up for a Team Beach Body membership at teambeachbody.com/donicanash

Vanilla Shakeology Frappachino! Best way to start a busy day :)