Old Bananas are the BEST Bananas!

My obsession with "old" bananas baffles a lot of people. I can't eat a yellow banana. I consider it raw, uncooked if you will. I need my banana to be brown. REALLY brown.

The best part of living alone was my bananas sitting out getting brown and NOT getting eaten by someone else before they were primed and ready to my liking.

I understand I'm in the minority on this but the people that love me are supportive. And that's really all that matters.

If you have a few of these bananas lying around and aren't about to eat them, don't toss them. Bake with them. Brown bananas are sweeter than their yellow version. Banana bread anyone?

I make this bread/loaf about once a week. I make it so much I can just about make it in my sleep.
Grab your old bananas and give it a whirl!

• 3 to 4 brown, delicious bananas 
• 1 & 1/4 Cup Gluten Free Flour (I use Bob's Red Mill one to one)
• 1/4 Cup Coconut Flour
• 1/4 Cup Flax Meal
• 1/4 Cup Coconut Sugar
• 2 tsp of Vanilla
• 1 Egg
• 2 Tbsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 3 Tbsp of oil, I use canola.

Sprinkle to your liking of;

• ground cloves
• cinnamon
• nutmeg

Add in;

• Chocolate Chips. I like Enjoy life.
• Walnuts
• Pecans
• Peanut butter

you get the idea. :)

Grease loaf pan with coconut oil & place in the middle of a pre-heated oven.

350 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes. My oven is unreliable so I keep and eye and nose on it.

When I think it's done, I stick a knife in the middle and make sure it comes out clean.

Slice and enjoy! I clearly did.

Cardio intervals for the win!

It's been forever and (over) a year since I shared a workout on here. Blogging is work. Taking time to share my thoughts and post is not as easy as one would assume. Enough about my blog failures... onto the fitness.

I've been kicking up my cardio intake. When it's sunny out, I plug into a podcast and stroll around my office complex for 30 minutes. A nice low intensity walk to get my steps in and enjoy the fresh air.

At the gym, I like to do intervals on the stair climber, treadmill and even the elliptical. I switch up the machines to make it less boring.

Last night I capped my workout off with a cardio interval session that had me struggling.

Did Somebody Say Brownies?

You know how people are trying the no-sugar diet or the Whole 30? Well I do and I have no desire to try and be a sugarless hero.  I like sugar, I like sweet, I love chocolate and I have no intention of axing those things from my diet. That said, I try and eat healthier versions of sweets.

Brandless Peanut Butter. If you haven't checked out Brandless, go. Go now!

I might love sweets and the like but I also love not feeling sick from over indulging.
Thank goodness Pinterest is with me on this. There are endless amounts of recipes to pick and choose from. I've tried cauliflower cake, black bean brownies & even zucchini oats. Some recipes are better left in the vault.

My Blue Apron Hacks

When I was single and living in NY, dinner was almost always after 8:30 pm. Which meant it was quick, usually prepared on a Sunday and enjoyed through at least Wednesday.
I was working in Manhattan and commuting back to Westchester after hitting the gym on the daily. It was exhausting and I don't miss it for a minute.

Simple Swap; Coconut sugar for white sugar.

I pre-cooked veggies and carbs, like quinoa or sweet potato, so I had them at the ready. All I had to do was add a protein. It made for an easy prep and clean up on week nights. While it was an effective way to feed myself, meals were often repeated weekly and weren't always something the lay person would enjoy.

When I decided to move to Boston and move in with my boyfriend, I started to panic. While he can cook, his repertoire was even less than mine. I hate grocery shopping as is and having to constantly come up with dinner ideas was my personal version of hell. Dramatic? Yes I am.

Enter Blue Apron. I hadn't thought of doing a meal service kit before but now seemed like good timing. I checked out a few and read some online reviews. I decided to go the Blue Apron route because they were the OG of meal delivery kits and their menu appealed to me.

I chose the 6 meal, or 3 night, plan. We get enough for two people for three separate meals. I knew from life experience that we'd end up eating out at least one night and I hate wasting food more than I hate dinner planning.

Simple Swap; Liquid aminos for soy sauce.

Changing my "why?"

Why did you start your fitness journey? Or why haven't you started your fitness journey?
This question has or will undoubtedly come up at some point along the way.

When I started my fitness journey, I wanted to loose weight. That was my end game. Literally, I thought I'd loose weight and start living an ideal life. In my mind, loosing weight would change everything including my love life and income.

While that mind set got me started, I quickly learned there was no real end to weight loss if you want to maintain it. I had to change my line of thinking as well as my way of eating. It was a real mind f*ck. Smaller pants did not manifest a loving partner or a better job. Believing in myself did.

Losing weight is more of a mental game than anything else because losing weight isn't a final destination. It was not until I got where I was going did I realize that the real work was just beginning.

Committing time to workout, to meal prep, to pass up on the things I want to eat and choose to eat the things that will fuel me is a daily struggle. Not allowing myself to think of food as "good" or "bad" or to feel guilt after eating something high in calories is a constant battle.

My reason "why" had initially been to loose weight. Then my "why" was to keep the weight off.  My "why" now is to remain comfortable in my skin while maintaining my health. My workouts might not be as intense as they once were but I still make an effort. I listen to my body and rest when I'm tired, go hard when I can and appreciate the freedom to move without limitations.

I call it a journey because of what I learned along the way.  Everyday is a chance to choose health. Some days it's easy. Some days I want to stay on my couch with a bag of Doritos. I take it one day at a time and give myself the balance I didn't initially understand.

Dear Diary...

Dear Diary,

It's been awhile. I'm sorry about that but life got in the way. It's not a bad thing or a good thing, it's just a reality thing. You see, just a little over a year ago, I met a boy. A man actually. A really good man.
I've met many boys. I've dated many boys. I kissed many boys. I cried over many boys. I got mad at many boys. I swore off boys time and again and yet I always went back for more. It took a lot of heartbreak and self reflection and wine and comforting friends to get past some of those boys.

I watched my friends meet and marry their matches. I celebrated engagements, showers, bachelorettes, weddings and even babies in the time I spent looking for the "right" boy. While my friends picked out new linens and kitchen gadgets I wondered why I couldn't make a relationship last longer than a season. Usually not even as long as a season.

Each time a friend got married a small part of me longed for our younger years, when time together was easily accessible and possibilities seemed endless. Don't get me wrong, I loved watching my friends find true love and being a part of their celebrations. It's an honor, albeit an expensive one, but an honor non the less to be asked to be a bridesmaid let alone attend a friends' "big day."

I very much envied that someone else would hear my best friend's good news before I would. That someone else got to bum along on a family vacation I used to be invited on. I knew that this was a natural progression of life as was eventually paying for my own vacation, but I was nostalgic.

In truth, my already large circle of friends has nearly doubled. I'm thankful for the partners my friends have chosen. I've been embraced by the many yin to my friends' yang.

Being single is lonely. It's scary. Sometimes it's even embarrassing. When a well intention-ed acquaintance would ask, "why are you still single?" I never knew what they expected me to say.
It was frustrating when my 92 year old grandmother would tell me not to be picky. As if I should have simply married anyone who'd take me.
It was infuriating when a friend would provide unsolicited advice or worse yet, their opinion. It was depressing when I found myself on another date with another person who shared nothing in common and occasionally didn't grasp social cues. It was demeaning when friends offered to set me up with the one other single person they knew. Like being single was enough to base a relationship on. And it was sad, sometimes heartbreaking, when one of those boys, one I did share common interests with, just didn't reciprocate the feelings I felt.

It's Okay to be Happy