Your New Favorite Salad!

I don't know about you guys, but for me to eat a salad, ranch dressing used to be a requirement. No. Questions. Asked. And not just any ranch dressing, but the ranch dressing from restaurants. Particularly Cheddars, Buckheads, and Texas Roadhouse. NOM.
Well, a couple of months ago I started to feel really guilty about eating ranch. I was really focusing on eating clean and the kind you buy at the store has SO much JUNK in it. I began to check the ingredients of vinegar-based dressings to see if they were possible to make at home. Guess what? It is possible!  
The three basic ingredients for a dressing are an oil, an acid, and a liquid sweetener, all preferably organic. For the oil, olive is your best bet. If you are already shaking your head because it is too fattening and you don't want the extra calories, you stop. Right now! It is full of healthy fat.
DON'T BE AFRAID OF FAT. We need fat to lose fat.
But we need GOOD fat. I give you permission to be afraid of the fat from cupcakes and crappy oils (canola, soybean, peanut, etc...)Read more here about why many vegetable oils should be avoided.
If you are a vinegar-based dressing lover, I just want to tell you now not to get your hopes up. This dressing recipe does not contain vinegar. It is really hard for me to enjoy my salad if it is too tart, which is why I decided to choose a different type of acid-base for my dressing: organic lemon juice.
It is so refreshing and not too tart. For my liquid sweetener, I like to use honey. You could use agave syrup, or maple syrup (the good-for-you kind, not Aunt Jemima's Butter Lite).
Now follow this recipe:

1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
1 T Organic Lemon Juice
1 T Honey

Mix together with a fork. Taste test. If it is too thick, add a bit more lemon juice. If it is too thin, add a bit more honey or EVOO. Voila! You have a fantastic DIY salad dressing. Coming from a girl who has been ranch-only her entire life, you know this dressing is good.


If you don't like lemon juice or honey, here is a list of substitutions:

For honey: agave syrup, maple syrup
For lemon juice: lime juice, apple cider vinegar (ACV), dilluted orange juice

I do want to tell you to ALWAYS CHECK YOUR INGREDIENTS. The lemon and lime juice you can buy that come in plastic lemon/limes are a bit more tart and artificial than if you purchase organic. I like the Santa Cruz Organic Pure Lemon Juice. Bragg's ACV is probably one of the best you can get, and don't get the crap orange juice with artificial sweeteners.
It is just one tablespoon people! You can sacrifice a couple of calories for the real stuff. I promise you won't shrivel up and die. Or gain two pounds.
See how easy this is? I haven't purchased pre-made dressing since I made this dressing for the first time. You know what you are putting into your body and you are saving money! Also, you won't ever experience that terrible moment where you over-pour your dressing again.
This dressing goes great on top of my favorite salad: baby spinach, a little bit of arugula, and trail mix with unsweetened fruit, nuts, and seeds. This recipe was inspired by one of my favorites, The Wholesome Chef!

Enjoy this recipe, guys! In the meantime, eat more salads. And keep it sassy.

Fit & Fabulous!

Hey everyone! If you are anything like us, you have been repeating "TGIF" to yourself since you woke up this morning. Why not once more?
TGIF!!!!
You guys, summer is just around the corner. Bikini season is almost HERE! We work so hard and eat so well during the week, but when the weekend gets here we are all like "ICE CREAM!!!" or "WINE!!!!"
Because it's the weekend doesn't mean you should completely forego all of your hard work eating right and being active during the week. So, we are going to give you all a few of our favorite motivating songs and an easy workout to get your weekend started off right! Oh, and a picture of weights and a really cute bathing suit.

Feeling more motivated already, aren't you??
Okay. Typically my workouts begin with a quick mile, Boomer alongside. When we get back, I immediately turn on my music.  The following four songs are what I do my first four exercises to, in this order:
1. Justin Timberlake-Rock Your Body 2. Guns 'N Roses-Paradise City 3. Michael Jackson-Don't Stop Til You Get Enough 4. Taylor Swift-22
Next, I grab my 5 pounders and start pumping. For the first song I do Dumbbell Romanian Dead Lifts (RDL) which are great for strengthening your hamstrings and glutes. See here for tutorial (exercise five). And, you know that gross cellulite we get right underneath our booty? RDL's have made mine practically disappear. .
There is a God!!!
I find myself doing them to the beat of the music, but when I notice my form is being compromised because I am trying to keep up, I slow the pace down a bit. NEVER COMPROMISE FORM. Capiche?
Song number 2 is for bicep curls.  See here for tutorial and other exercises.
Here comes the really fun part. For song number 3, you are going to be squatting. If it is too easy, add a 5 lb weight! It is almost summer, which means crunch time. You will thank yourself when you put on your bikini for the first time!  See here for tutorial.
Song number 4 you will be doing shoulder presses that lower into tricep extensions!  See here for shoulder press tutorial and here for overhead tricep extension tutorial.
Alright. Next you are going to be doing 25 reps of the following exercises, 3 times, unless marked otherwise. You will need a stability ball.
Stability ball crunches Leg raises Stability ball ab reachers 15 side plank dips per side Stability ball "bench" presses
FYI, the squat exercise burns more calories than any other body weight exercise because it works large muscle groups as well as multiple muscle groups. Each time we go to the bathroom, we do 20 squats. True story. Judge us if you want, but our butts will soon be asses. Hallelujah.
We aren't professionals, but if you are unsure how to do any of the exercises listed above feel free to contact us, or check out Bodybuilding.com here for more tutorials.  They have a great website that offers tons of different exercises for all ages.  And, seriously, if your body is telling you to stop, listen to it!
Cheers to looking Fit & Fabulous this summer!
Happy Friday everybody! Keep it sassy and sculpt a sexy assy ;)