Happy Tuesday!!  How are you all doing, party people?? Everything has been good over here - had a nice relaxing weekend. I babysat, we've been watching a cutie husky, got into trouble at Lululemon on Friday, worked Saturday, taught spin on Sunday...the usual! 

Yesterday at work was also one of the best Mondays I've had in a while. We had an awesome team meeting at work and discussed the difference between motivation and inspiration.

Motivation

Motivation is what motivates you from the outside and compels you to take action...it could be money, shoes, fitting into your favorite dress, the summer coming up, etc. For me, I am motivated highly by three main things right now. Money. I mean, I gotta pay the rent and I have a few vacations coming up that I need to save for! Plus I like to treat myself sometimes with unnecessary overpriced Lululemon crops. It happens. I'm motivated by being able to turn my clients' days around when they come to train and it's the last thing they want to do. And then they leave with a smile and that feeling is the best one ever. Lastly, I'm motivated hugely by doing something I enjoy every day. It doesn't feel like work. Before I left my job in advertising I was a total energy vampire. I was miserable and I let it show. Now I feel like it's quite the opposite. What motivates you?

Inspiration

Inspiration is something from within that you connect with. It's a feeling that drives you to be more passionate and excited about something. I'm inspired by a lot of things. I remember when I was searching for a new job and complaining about my current situation, my both my parents and Michael told me "Rach, you either stop complaining, or find a way to make yourself happy..." I remember being so inspired by this idea that I literally had complete control over the changes I wanted to make. And then I did it because they all believed in me. I've always been inspired by my hardworking parents. I also am inspired every time I work with my clients and they reach a new goal. It just reassures me every time why I love what I do so much. And I'm only getting started! Are you inspired yet? What inspires you?

And now I don't mean to switch gears to abruptly but...

Spiced Carrot Muffins 

I love anything with a little spice to it. I used cinnamon, ginger and ground cloves in these muffins for a delicious blend of fall spiciness. Even though it's totally spring. 

These muffins are super hearty with raisins, sunflower seed and chocolate chips, because, well, can't bake without chocolate chips. 

[yumprint-recipe id='24'] I hope you enjoy!! 

Now I'm off to eat lunch before I head into work for another awesome, busy day.

XO- Rach

Let's chat...

What are you motivated by?

What are you inspired by?

Are you so incredibly excited for summer?

Good morning, happy Monday friends! I hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was eventful to say the least. Michael and I had our second Rover experience and it was definitely a little different than our first. The first dog we got was perfect. Literally. Well-trained, adorable, sweet and just wanted to cuddle and sleep. This time around we got two dogs, one a puppy, who were not very house trained and very needy. I don't think I've ever cleaned up so much dog pee in my life! So for all you Rover sitters...definitely make sure that the dogs you watch are house trained. TRIPLE CHECK. That shit is not fun. BUT it was an experience to say the least. 

I'm hoping that our next Rover puppy looks like this...

Or this...

Or this (sorry last one...)

In other news this week, I'm running a little food prep contest with my clients at the gym. I'm asking that they send me photos of what they're cookin' up for the next week and the following week! I've already seen some delicious meals and I'm so proud that they're trying harder each week to be better and get healthier! 

And on that note, if you like to bake healthy snacks to have on hand I've got a delicious and healthy Cinnamon Raisin Sweet Potato Bread..

Cinnamon Raisin Sweet Potato Bread

If you can't tell, I'm kind of obsessed with the cinnamon raisin combo. For one, it's such a classic and two, cinnamon, raisins and sweet potatoes are very cheap. I've been trying to cut back on the dollars I spend on food. Therefore I eat all the sweet potatoes, cinnamon and raisins. 

[yumprint-recipe id='23'] 

XO - Rach

Let's chat:

How do you save money while grocery shopping?

Have you ever baked with sweet potatoes before?

Cinnamon raisin flavor fan?

YO! I posted a granola recipe a few days ago and then I made it again and it came out better the second time after I tweaked some things!  But first, happy Thursday! We're almost to the weekend. Almost there. I feel like this week just flew by insanely fast and last week was the total opposite. I think because last week I was just exhausted! On Saturday after work I just passed the hell out for about three hours and I feel like those three hours caught me up for the entire week ahead. Is that possible?? 

Anyway, I've been loving this granola recipe and I wanted to stress just how EASY it is to make this and other snacks to have on hand. I have a few clients at work who have been asking about nutrition lately, and the biggest thing I've noticed is that there's a general lack of knowledge about really how easy it is to meal prep a bit to avoid eating packaged shit. You guys, it's SO EASY! Just don't be lazy. Take a couple hours on Sunday and make a bunch of food. That's it. No need to get all crazy and measure out every little ounce into tupperware, just make a big batch of the foods you love so that you have them ready for the week to grab when you need! 

Meals

Carb sources: Rice and sweet potatoes. Rice takes like 15 minutes to make. Poke some sweet potatoes with holes, wrap in tin foil and bake for an hour. BAM you have healthy, already cooked complex carbs for the week! 

Protein sources: Chicken, fish, ground turkey. Bake your chickens and fishies and/or sauté a package of ground turkey. Easy! 

Veggies: Chop some raw vegetables for snacking A.K.A celery, carrots, peppers. Roast a big pan of vegetables (great combo = brussels sprouts, peppers, mushrooms) and then keep in the fridge for the week. 

Snacks

Chopped raw veggies, hard boiled eggs, homemade granola (see below :) ) , homemade protein bars or bites, fresh fruit with plain greek yogurt...the list goes on! 

So please stop spending a ton of money on fancy protein bars and high-end, organic granola when you can make it yourself. Look how delicious it looks! And it is! 

One step in making this granola is major key. When you take the granola out of the oven to cool, scatter a few chocolate chips on top. They will melt and when you mix it all up to transfer to a container, the chocolate will harden and make little chocolate clusters. MAJOR KEY. This morning I topped it on some FlapJacked protein pancakes for some crunch...

[yumprint-recipe id='22']

If you like this recipe, pin it for later!