Blog Love!

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Sometimes, you have blogs that are simply your favorites, and sometimes, you find new blogs that you absolutely love. My absolute favorite blog for life is Emily Henderson's style blog, my favorite blog for health is According to Elle, and my favorite for inspirations is Dale Partridge's. But, when it comes to recipes and great cooking/meal planning ideas, there is a new favorite in town. One of my good friends has [finally] started a blog talking about good, clean eats. 

Her blog, Good Choice Eats, is brand new like a teeny baby and I love it. The first recipe has hit is out of the park with complete nutritional analysis of food along with a pricing breakdown. Brittany's health theory is simple, inexpensive eats that are completed with planning ahead and organization. Something this one seriously needs when it comes to the kitchen- especially around the holidays.  

I would totally recommend checking out her page and some of her recipes. They are seriously great! Also, here are a few other blogs I love :)

The Fitnessista

Pumps and Iron

Peanut Butter Fingers

Lazy Girl Running

Teatime Thoughts. Here is Candice's guest post.

Cup of Jo

Hommemaker

Yoga by Candace

What are some of your favorites? 

Weekly Motivation

I recently found this quote and simply loved it. It has quickly become one of my favorite poems and my mantra during the holidays. Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I could not be more excited! But, that excitement can so easily turn to stress with family in town, cooking to be done, more work than usual to be completed, plenty of parties to go around, and all those crafts! But, through all of this, it is equally as important to remember that our lives are for enjoying and for helping others enjoy theirs'.

This holiday season I have made it my goal to be happy, stress free, and continually in the pursuit of making my life and the lives of those around me better. To begin with, I have signed up for Elle's annual  Elf for Health challenge. You can read all about it here and sign up as well! This will be such a fun way to meet others, keep the holidays in perspective, and learn a bit along the way!

Make Your Own Rules

Tara Stiles' Make Your Own Rules Diet book is now available and I have already started reading mine! Of course, there will be a review out shortly- as soon as I can decide whether to read the book then review it or read the book, do the diet plan, and also complete all the yoga flows, then review it. Honestly, the second option sounds much more thorough and quite a bit better. That, however, will take time.

Although I am not a band-wagon dieter, I do appreciate Tara Stiles' health philosophies and need to get my body on a better track than where it is heading. If you are like me, the diet part may not sound so great, but the getting your health and fitness life on track could be what we all need.

Tara seemed very wise in releasing the book before the holidays rather than after. Of course, she could have made more if it was released right before Christmas or at the New Year, but let's face it, we all need a little extra help when pies, potatoes, cookies, and all other not healthy things are being passed around like a necessity.

Really though, I am just excited to get some help with health goals, see what her ridiculously yummy recipes are, and have some fantastic new yoga flows! If that sounds good to you as well, let's do it together! You can order the book by clicking the link above or any of the links in the article :) Now, let's have some fun with health food!

Starbucks for Less- Calories

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Ok, so laying it all on the table, I have had Starbucks A LOT in the past few weeks. Like once a day A LOT. Why?! You ask with mild concern and fear in your voice (unless you are one of my Starbucks loving friends who does not understand why this is a big deal)- Well, there are many bits to this Starbucks coffee storm.

In part, it is because I have has a ton of meetings there and you do not go to a place without getting something. That's just manners. Second, I keep having this pesky issue with forgetting my wallet at home and wanting food while out. Until recently I did not know that Apple Pay was up and the only way I could get food without stealing it was to go to Starbucks and pay through the app (also, let's just gloss over the whole driving without a license thing. Ok? Ok!)

And finally, it has gotten about as cold as Florida gets and I will take advantage of that with hot yoga, wearing scarfs, wearing scarfs at hot yoga (yes, I did), and drinking copious amounts of hot yummy coffee beverages. Oh, and as far as drive thru coffee is concerned, Starbucks averages the lowest calories between McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts.  All of this together and you have a Starbucks fiend on your hands.

Thankfully, there is a way to lower the super high amount of sugar and calories in your super yummy drink. Keep reading for the big, three part reveal! Drums roll.

The Easiest Way

Warning, the easiest way may not always be the healthiest or yummiest option. But, it can work in a pinch. For this, all you need to do is read up on the 200 calories or less menu at Starbucks. All of the drinks are Tall options (gross) and most are teas. If you are wanting a coffee,  the Skinny Vanilla Latte will run you 100 calories, the nonfat Cappuccino will only set you back 60 calories, and the nonfat Caramel Macchiato is only 140. Not too shabby, especially considering that a tall coffee is about the average person's cup.

But, what if you are not the average person and a cup of coffee is not a cup of coffee unless you need both hands to hold it and your cup could be confused with a bowl? Well, your in luck!

Soy and NonFat

Getting ready, a whole milk grande latte has between 150 (cafe latte) and 460 calories (Eggnog Latte)!!?! If you want to avoid some unneeded calories this coffee season, avoid whole milk. When it comes to dairy in your drink, Nonfat is the best with Soy coming in at a close second. This will shave between 10 and 100+ calories off your drink. Even better, many of these calories would be from fat.

To get a good idea, here is the run down on the Hazelnut Macchiato (my favorite), the Gingerbread Latte, and the Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Whole Milk Hazelnut Macchiato

• 270 calories
• 10 grams fat
• 35 carbs
• 10 grams protein

Nonfat/Soy Hazelnut Macchiato

• 190 calories (NF)/ 230 calories (Soy)
• 0 grams fat/ 4.5 grams fat
• 35 carbs/ 39 carbs
•  11 grams protein/ 9 grams protein

Whole Milk Gingerbread Latte

• 290 calories
• 10 grams fat
• 37 carbs
• 11 grams protein

Nonfat/Soy Gingerbread Latte

• 200 calories (NF)/ 250 calories (Soy)
• 0 grams fat/ 5 grams fat
• 38 carbs/ 42 carbs
• 11 grams protein/ 9 grams protein

Whole Milk Pumpkin Spice Latte

• 340 calories
• 10 grams fat
• 50 carbs
• 14 grams protein

Nonfat/Soy Pumpkin Spice Latte

• 260 calories (NF)/ 310 calories (Soy)
• 0 grams fat/ 5 grams fat
• 50 carbs/ 54 carbs
• 14 grams protein/ 12 grams protein

Less Sugar

Less sugar equals less calories. The goal, even beyond fewer calories is to have it be healthier. There are always ways to make things fat free or sugar free, but sometimes, what we are replacing it with is even worse than the fat or the sugar. That is, unless we are simply something away. To get less sugar in your Starbucks drinks, the best way is to ask them to put less in from the start. This has been my go-to for YEARS and I have probably already mentioned it on the blog once or twice before.

A flavored grande drink from Starbucks will have 4 pumps of syrup in it. That is a lot. Usually, it is very hard to tell the difference in taste between three pumps and four pumps, but the health benefits are vast. Each pump of Pumpkin Spice Syrup has 33 calories and 5 carbs. If you were to cut out 1-2 pumps, you would be saving about 66 calories and 10 carbs, bringing the total down to less than 200 calories and 40 carbs. That is still a TON of carbs, but it is a whole lot less. Although these numbers are quite high, the average flavored Starbucks syrup has 20 calories and 5 carbs but the Gingerbread has 80 calories per pump and 19 carbs.

Syrups to Avoid

Unfortunately, not all Starbucks flavors are created equal. To avoid unwanted calories, avoid the Starbucks flavors that have far too many. These include the Eggnog which is one of the least healthy and calorie loaded drinks Starbucks has. Next up is Gingerbread which is incredibly high in the calorie count.

Say No to Fluff

The Starbucks whipped cream and drizzle may be tasty and pretty, but is adds on plenty of useless calories to any drink. That whipped cream will set you back 80 calories, 2 carbs, and 8 grams of fat. Drizzle varies but will be 20+ calories. Just. Say. No.

Avoid the Skinny

You may think that ordering the Skinny option of anything is your best bet at Starbucks. Yes, that is true if you are only looking at carbs, fat, and calories, but reading the label tells a completely different story. The Starbucks Skinny syrups are the sugar free options. These use Sucralose, a sugar replacement that has been linked to plenty of nasty things. Sucralose has compounds that the human body cannot break down, much like trans fat. These compounds are mainly sotred in our kidneys and liver and will accumulate over time.

Although the absorption rate of Sucralose is only 10%-40% depending on research facility, you are still absorbing 10%-40% of something in your body that will never break down. Even worse, Sucralose has been linked to causing birth defects, shrinking of the thymus gland (needed for T-cell growth and proper immune function), enlarged liver and kidneys, and a reduced growth rate.

Sure, you may not be getting extra calories, but the side effects are just not worth the Skinny name.