Happy Monday friends! The sun is FINALLY out and it feels oh so good! Just over a year ago I was asked to write an article for a local magazine called 5ive for Women. The article was for one of their summer issues and I wrote about staying fit inspired during the summer. Check out this post for the article! The reason I am bringing this back up is because I was asked to submit another article for 5ive for Women and it just came out in their October/November issue. I was asked to write this at the tail end of my pregnancy (actually finished up the last details in the hospital post baby). Soon entering into motherhood I thought what better topic to talk about than conquering fat loss for busy moms.
“The kids are finally in their back-to-school routine, and you are ready to get back to the gym. Escaping to the gym, yoga session or cycling class may be the only 60 minutes of peace during your day, and a time you get to focus on you and you alone. Week after week you are proud of your consistency and hard work of fitting in your workouts. You most certainly should be proud, because juggling kids, housework and a career isn’t an easy feat. After a month of consistent workouts, you start to question if it is worth it, because you aren’t seeing the results you were hoping for. You’re putting in the time, following a new workout program or class schedule, but you still can’t seem to reach your weight and fat loss goal. That’s because exercise alone will not support your weight loss or body composition goal…” Continue reading here on page 24.
Now that I am officially “a busy mom” I can relate to so many women about escaping to the gym for just 60 minutes of solitude, juggling what seems like everything at once, and still trying to take care of our bodies. It definitely isn’t easy and taking care of ourselves can easily be pushed to the bottom of the barrel. Many times we turn to working out for self care because it can be quick, it makes us feel accomplished and can be thrown in between feedings, running kids to school or extra curriculum’s or after they have gone to bed. Like I write in my article though, exercise alone will not support weight loss or body composition goals. As we busy moms go about our day we either forget or don’t have the time for a proper meal, snack on what baby is eating or grab something on the go out the door that may not be the best option, but at least it is convenient and something, right? Well, not necessarily. Those skipped meals, quick bites of chicken nuggets or bagel as you run out the door is the missing link between you and your weight loss goals even if you are hitting the gym 3-4 times per week. Because again, without proper nutrition habits and consistency, exercise alone will not support your weight loss or body composition goals. Head to the article for more information and tips on creating healthy nutrition habits that are simple, doable and sustainable.
The Missing Link to Fat Loss for the Busy Mom by Brooke Weiss
It wouldn’t be fall if I didn’t make another banana bread recipe, now would it! Banana bread is just the best. The best! And, this banana bread doesn’t disappoint with the added sweet potato. Quick tip, when roasting your sweet potato for the recipe roast a few at a time for a little meal prep. You can use them throughout the week to add to any meal.
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1 cup roasted sweet potato, removed from skin
- 1 cup cassava flour
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- Preheat the oven the 350 degrees and line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Add the bananas and sweet potato to a large bowl and with a fork mash them together. Feel free to leave some banana chunks.
- Add egg, honey, coconut oil and vanilla to the sweet potato mixture and whisk together. Add the cassava flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt and whisk until fully combined.
- Pour the sweet potato mixture into the loaf pan and evenly distribute. Hit the pan on the counter a few times to even out.
- Place in over for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool and enjoy!