Megan Thompson

I know we all may indulge a little bit today and heck even this weekend :) But once you're ready to get back on track and work some of that candy off I thought this may be a fun start!! Happy Halloween everyone!

So I've been seeing it everyhwere I look. Coconut oil and all of it's amazing uses. It's all over pinterest, heck I even saw it on a Dr. Oz episode. So what makes coconut oil so special? Coconut oil is actually the "meat" of the coconut. It is now classified as a "super food." It has a unique combination of fatty acids that are creating incredible benefits. According to many people this little gem has hundreds..yes I said hundreds of uses!! So I started searching and came up with a list of 25 of what I thought were the most useful things :).

1. Cooking - get rid of the not so good for you oils. AND I just saw and bought a cooking spray that is coconut oil!
2. Lotion
3. Eye make up remover
4. Deoderant
5. Diaper Cream
6. SPF 4 suncreen...who knew :)
7. Cradle cap for babies
8. Chapstick
9. Eczema treatment
10. 3-4 tablespoons help breastfeeding moms
11. Helps with digestions
12. Helps with insulin levels
13. Helps with arthritis
14. Relieves itchiness from mosquito bites
15. Ear infections
16. Split ends
17. Improves sleeps
18. Helps with chicken pox
19. Been shown to help with depression and anxiety
20. Homemade vapor rubs
21. Can boost circulation
22. Clears up cold sores
23. Helps burn more fat
24. Helps keep infections away
25. Energy boosting

I love tradition. There is a comfort in knowing that certain things will happen at certain times. That's probably why I love the holidays so much and look forward to them. Now that we are days away from Halloween and the stores are already busily putting out Christmas stuff I stopped to think about tradition. What does it look like in your home? With your family? Tonight we carved pumpkins with the kids. We turn on the Charlie Brown Halloween special and cover the table with newspapers and pile the pumpkins on top. It's always so much fun to see the kids reactions year after year as they start to get older to the inside of the pumpkin...the texture, the smell...it's still a new experience for them every year at this age. Most of the time they fizzle out about half way through and we as parents end up finishing it for them but I'll tell you the look on their faces when the candle goes inside and they see their pumpkin on the front step is priceless. So I hope you all enjoy this time of year when so many traditions come into play :). Happy Halloween.

21 day fix!! Yesterday I started a new program called the 21 day fix by beachbody. As a beachbody coach I wanted to try this new program and see what it was all about. There are 7 containers - Green, Purple, Red, Blue, Yellow and two Orange. Each container is responsible for measuring out different types of food. For me this is perfection. I love knowing exactly what I can eat and how much. Serving size is EVERYTHING! It's nice to have everything laid out for you..how much you can eat and what you can eat. So tonight I tried a 21 day fix recipe that I found on pinterest for dinner. The burgers tuned our really well! I loved that it was easy, healthy and something that everyone can eat...even those picky kiddos :).

Southwest Turkey Burgers
Fix Portions (per burger): 1 red, 2 yellow, ½ green, 1 blue


Ingredients

½ pound 93% lean ground turkey
1 garlic clove, grated
½ green container onion, finely chopped
½ green container red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 tsp tabasco (more or less to taste)
1 tsp dried thyme
2 slices pepper jack cheese
2 whole wheat hamburger buns
Fresh lettuce and tomato slices (for topping)



Directions

In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, bell peppers, and seasonings
Form 2 burger patties. Cook on both sides until cooked through (internal temp of 175)
While still in skillet, top burger patties: Layer turkey bacon, then top with cheese. Cover with foil until cheese melts.
Remove from pan and add patties to bun. Top with lettuce and tomato, and spicy mustard, as desired.

Original recipe found at http://honeybeehomemaker.blogspot.com/2014/05/21-day-fix-recipe-southwest-turkey.html?spref=pi

Well there are officially 13 days left before my marathon run! I am so anxious for it to get here. The past 5 months of training have been long but are paying off now. I've wanted to run a marathon since 2010 and for one reason or another it's taken me 4 years to finally get there....but I am here and I'm ready. After I ran the two half marathons I did I never really thought about what I was supposed to do afterward. So I started doing a little research into what you should do for your body after a marathon and came up with the following tips that I found most helpful :)

1. Rest for 1-3 days...no running.

2. Soak in a hot tub for 10-15 mins and stretch

3. Carbs and protein help to repair muscle damage.

4. Light massages are helpful.

5. Days 4 -7 you can run one day approx 2-4 miles and 2 days of light cardio just to loosen the legs up.

6. Espsom salt baths are helpful.

7. Days 7 -14 3 or 4 days running approx 4-6 miles. 3 days of cross training.

So for all of you first time runners out there I hope this is helpful. :)

I am a lists person. I can't live without them. For me there is nothing more satisfying than being able to cross of a list. It helps me to keep things organized and under control. I have been writing out my lists for quite some time now and thought it may be a good idea to take things a little more high tech :). So I started doing some research on apps that could keep lists for you. I found an app called wunderlist. It lets you keep multiple lists in one spot. It's very well organized and very easy to use. I LOVE it. You can create work lists, grocery lists, travel list, family lists. All together in one spot and organized. My type A personality is in heaven :).

Ok so Halloween is quickly approaching and we ALL know that we have our weaknesses. I for one can not pass up a reese's peanut butter cup. I just can not. All rational thought goes out of the window :). So I was thinking about healthy eating and the temptations of Halloween. Are we going to restrict ourselves of any candy at all? No we are not. It's just not realistic. So I came up with a list of candy that is the "best" to eat if we MUST :) So when you reach your hands into your children's bags once they are asleep...look for these :)

1. Hershey's Dark Chocolate - 2 miniatures are a total of 88 calories

2. Twizzlers - 2 are only 50 calories

3. Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Miniature (I had to :) - 88 calories

4. Tootsie Rolls - 3 minis contain 70 calories

5. Jolly Rancher - 2 are only 47 calories

6. Sweet Tarts - 2 mini packs for 30 calories

7. Smarties - 1 roll is 25 calories

8. Nestle Crunch - 1 fun sized bar is 60 calories

9. Kit Kat - 1 bar has 70 calories

10. 3 Musketeers - 50 calories

So enjoy this Halloween season with little guilt. Just make sure to leave enough candy for the kiddos :).

Nutrition. Eating Healthy. It's not easy. I struggle with it daily. Especially as a busy mom of three. My plan every day is to eat every three hours. Does that always happen? No. I get busy and I forget. Then it's lunch time and I'm exhausted and I sit down with the kids. Someone doesn't finish a chicken nugget. Guess who eats it? Most days I'm on track but like all of us I'm not perfect and I make excuses. How many times have we told ourselves we've earned a bowl of ice cream or that plate of cheese fries when we are out with our friends? Why do we always choose to reward ourselves with food? This is something that I am constantly working on. Food is fuel for our bodies not a reward. Real food should not be processed, it shouldn't be in plastic bags or cardboard boxes. Does that mean we will never eat those things? No of course not but those things should be an except to the rule, not the rule. When we feed our body healthy whole food it affects everything about us. Think about how you feel after you have eaten a way too large meal of unhealthy food. Your body is uncomfortable...your mind is foggy..you don't feel good about yourself. Your body is telling you something is wrong! This is not what it needs! So let's challenge ourselves. For the day week, month, year...whatever you can commit to and lets feed our bodies with healthy food. Write down how you feel each day. Do you notice a change in your energy? How you sleep? Come back and comment on this post and let me know how it's going for you!

I have hit the lottery. I get to stay at home and watch my beautiful children grow. There's nothing more fulfilling than being able to know every story, every scrape, every smile and every tear. I know I'm lucky. Then there are days when I think if I have to listen to "mama,mama,mama,mama,mama" one more time I may scream. I'm a type A personality and I jump into every one of my kids activities. If there is a committee I'm on it. Let's be honest I'm usually heading it. So today as I shuffled through yearbook committee stuff for my sons school, halloween class party treat bags, party prep and an amazing new opportunity for myself to work from home my son came running into the office. He had been down at the park with my mom playing. He was very excited to tell me about the park and what he had done. To his horror there were bees in the park and he said "Mom those bees drive me nuts!!" I stopped what I was doing and laughed. His little three year old face was perfect and he was so serious. I have hit the lottery.

Tonight for dinner I tried a 21 day fix recipe I found. It's all clean eating and was delicious!! I will definitely make this one again!

Chicken Enchiladas

1lb of shredded chicken
taco seasoning
6 corn tortillas
1 cup of spinnach
homemade enchilada sauce...seriously so good!! (http://www.lovebakesgoodcakes.com/2014/10/homemade-enchilada-sauce.html)
1/2 cup lowfat cheese


1. Add shredded chicken with spinach and taco seasoning.

2. Soften tortillas in the microwave for 30-45 seconds. I noticed that the corn tortillas do tend to break and tear more easily that the flour ones do which was a slight pain in the neck but yummy so worth it :).

3. Roll each tortilla with chicken mixture and place in baking dish.

4. Cover tortillas with enchilada sauce and sprinkle cheese on top.

5. Bake at 350 for 10 mins.

I served mine with plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream. It was perfect!

I haven't always been a fit person. I was the kid in high school that avoided phys ed class like the plague. I actually had nightmares about not graduating because I didn't pass gym class lol. I didn't know much about health or fitness. I tried team sports but usually tired out and just didn't feel comfortable in my body. I wore baggy clothes and covered myself up. I didn't like my body and didn't know how to change it. In college I started working out but as we all know in college nutrition and eating habits are at an all time low. It wasn't until I started my teaching career and had a routine in life that I started focusing more on my health. I knew I needed to workout and burn calories. I could do that...and I did. I continued working on that and joined weight watchers. I followed the plan and figured out every way to still eat the things I like and stay within my points. Did I lose weight? Yes. Was I healthy? No. I thought because I was working out and losing all of my weight that I was on the right track. This went on for many years. My weight went up and down. In 2006 I started running. I found something that was a true challenge for me but a challenge that I knew I could tackle. I signed up for my first 5k petrified that I would never make it those 3.1 LONG miles :)...but I did it. In the rain and cold as anything I made it all 3.1 miles and I crossed that finish line and was never more proud of myself. I feel head over heels in love with running. Did I understand nutrition yet? No. In 2009 I gave birth to my oldest son and it was one of the best moments of my life. But my body was a mess again. So I did what I knew. I started running and I went back to weight watchers. I was thrilled because the weight came off. I still wasn't healthy. This continued until 2011 when I then gave birth to my son and daughter. Let me be the first to tell you that if you think things look bad after one baby you don't want to think about what twins can do lol. I was depressed. I "knew" my body would never be the same. How could it? I felt like it was hopeless. But I did start working out. In between caring for a 2 year old and newborn twins I did it. I made myself a priority. In July of 2013 I ran my first half marathon and I felt amazing and then ran my second in Nov. I had lost plenty of weight and I felt my body getting stronger. This is also around the time that I started using p90x and insanity. I was focused and I knew I had to be serious to make changes in my body. I start researching clean eating and what my body needed for fuel. Not the garbage I was putting into it...and I saw changes fast. I stuck to the programs and I started giving my body what it needs. I have now completed two triathlons and am training for my first marathon that is coming in a few weeks. Do I still struggle? ALL OF THE TIME! It's not easy. I lose focus...I get tired...I make excuses...but I'm still going. It's a work in progress and I'm worth it. So if you're anything like me and like a partner along this journey I'm here :).