I KNEW something was missing!

I've been feeling that something was missing in my blog but couldn't decide exactly what. Then it dawned on me as I found myself daydreaming about a turkey with cranberry sandwich for lunch. FOOD!

Any mom worth her salt thinks about food 80% of the day. I mean between feeding ourselves, having food on the table and figuring out when the heck to make said food between work, sleep, carpool, homework, softball practice and laundry it takes lots of planning. Not to mention the mommy guilt when it's not a "healthy choice."

So here we go, I'm tossing in some food fun. Some will be tips for surviving the food to table challenge, easy ways to include more whole foods in our diet, post workout fuel ideas and of course favorite desserts. Happy eating!

My first entry is on bananas. Between my son loving them, and a constant overflow of extras from moms in motion snack moms on Saturdays we always have bananas about to go brown on the counter. Over the years I have tried various ways to use them up. Here are a few of my favorites:

Banana dips- break them in bite sized chunks, freeze on a foil covered baking sheet. Then dip in melted dark chocolate. Yummo! Or mix in some peanut butter to the chocolate.

www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/05/skinny-chunky-monkey-cookies-recipe.html

Skinny Chunky Monkey Cookies- only 6 ingredients and these delights bake up fast!

Smoothies/ Faux milk shakes- break into chunks and freeze on a foil covered baking sheet. Once frozen, fold up the foil and pour into a freezer bag. You can use these in smoothies ( I LOVE Juice Plus complete with banana & almond milk) or even mix halfses with ice cream & nonfat milk in the blender to fool yourself into a low fat milkshake.

Banana bread oatmeal - I can't even recall the source...but I'm sure I pinned it on Pintrest. Mash half a banana and mix it into your oatmeal with some cinnamon. Yummo!

Have another idea? PLEASE share!

Mission statement

You know how businesses, organizations and college teachers like business statements? Maybe as people, we should also have a mission statement for our lives. I was at a moms time out get together yesterday, and the suggestion was to go back to our roots, our lord, or our parents to remember what we are all about before saying something or making a decision.

The topic reminded me again that we must always remember who we are when we make decisions. As small as how we answer our 9 year olds' question about a pocket knife, to how we decide to accept a job offer. Each of these makes a huge impression on how we show ourselves to the world, and how we feel about ourselves each day.

My reaction to this was to think for a minute about what I do and why I do it. Just to be sure I'm thinking of my roots and what my parents taught me. This of course resulted in a blog...for you to read. =)

6 years ago, I was an at home mom of 2, teaching childbirth education for the local hospital. I truly enjoyed the work, not so much working for someone else, and reality was telling me that my family needed more income. When I decided to buy a fitness franchise, and convinced my husband it was worth the significant financial investment, I had no idea the impact it would have on my family.

Ever since, I’ve been teaching fitness, leading teams, and helping the mamas of Elk Grove to be stronger, fitter, healthier, more confident and great role models for their families. There is no “J-O-B” in the world I’d rather have. Showing up to a workout knowing exactly what each other woman there went through, arranged, negotiated, promised or set up to be there is huge motivation to offer the best fitness program possible. AND the accomplishment and pride I feel when a mom shares her successes with me and with others is priceless.

As the owner of Moms in Motion Elk Grove, I lead the Run/Walk Team and the Core Strength Team, and assist triathlon coach, Rachelle Hightower, with the Triathlon team. What makes Moms in Motion unique is the combination of Fitness, Fun and Philanthropy we bring to ALL levels, ages and abilities of local moms.

This dedication to health and wellness made me stop and pay attention when I heard about a product called Juice Plus+. It simply made perfect sense to me as the perfect addition to my tireless efforts to keep my family active, feed them real food and help them thrive. We add the 17 fruits, veggies and whole grains in Juice Plus+ to our diets each day, and I can't help tell others about it as well. This lead me to become a distributor and open the door to sharing this discovery with more families.

When it comes down to the basics of who I am, this is it folks. Every job I have ever had, from customer service, print sales person, mom, wife, tire delivery person (great story!),project manager, to fitness professional, has been about helping others to succeed. That's what I love, that's what I hope to do for the rest of my days.

What do you do?

times are a changing

This has been one of the stranger months of my life. Just in an unsettled, change brewing, new schedule kind of way. I recently sold my StrollerFit business of 5 years off to two wonderful local women. Although I'm excited about the prospect of what they will be able to do for local moms with little ones it's left me adjusting to a totally new schedule. No morning classes to teach, I've actually been able to take a few at the gym.
That has lead me to discover that I'm a horrible participant in fitness classes now. Always critiquing the instructor, she didn't warm us up much, or hey lady why aren't you walking around cueing and correcting form, and my pet peeve, 2 stretches...really an hour of strength exercise and we only need 2 stretches?!
The wonderful part about the change is that I really do feel I'm able to put my full effort, focus and best into one fitness avenue rather than balancing two businesses. I now have time to add speed workouts the more experienced members need to get to the next level, I'm able to offer strength/core classes that are so important in preventing injury for runners and walkers and I'm able to start thinking of some fun ways to connect the families of this wonderful group of women.
I have also discovered that my Juice Plus+ business is much more than I originally expected. It turns out, I love teaching people about nutrition too! since May, I have learned so much from others at wellness presentations, listening to the great line of Juice Plus+ educational DVD's and great conference calls. I've discovered that this is another avenue that allows me to directly help others, but simply sharing what I've learned and have a passion for.
It truly doesn't get much better than that....so I guess I better get back to work before the kids get our of school. =)

I look forward to talking to YOU soon about Juice Plus+, Moms in Motion or all the crazy things our kids do.

In health,
Wendy Hoag