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Pumpkin Cookie Calories

Hi guys!  So, I can’t believe we forgot to mention the calories in yesterday’s Pumpkin Cookie video.  I guess all things happen for a reason…this gives me a quick minute to talk about gluten/dairy free desserts.  I know so many people that think gluten/dairy free desserts are more “healthy” than traditional desserts.  While I won’t get into that debate today, I do want to remind everyone that a dessert is a dessert.  Period. They are a once-in-a-while treat.  Around here at myFitspiration we love treats and want to bring you many different options for when you do indulge. 🙂 Our goal is to sneak in as many healthy ingredients as we can.

The Pumpkin cookies breakdown like this:  if you make 12 normal cookies they are around 170 calories each…if you make 24 mini cookies they breakdown to around 85 calories each.

Most of the calories are in the almond flour & the coconut oil.  These ingredients…although heavy calorie hitters…have great nutritional benefits in moderation (including a good amount of protein which is great for weight loss and curbing hunger).  If you are really wanting to lower the calories even more you can substitute 1/2 of the coconut oil with unsweetened applesauce. You can also experiment with different types of flours….there are so many gluten free options….even garbanzo bean flour!!

Hannah & I both love cooking & entertaining….stay tuned for more fun & healthy recipes!!

Let us know what you think!!

Health & Happiness,
Olivia xo

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Delish Gluten-Dairy Free Pumpkin Cookies

Happy Fall Everybody!!!! We’re excited to be back with all sorts of fun new stuff to share. We’re going to be posting two new videos a week over at our YouTube channel.

Have you subscribed? Have you checked out the Channel??

We’ll post all the details of the videos (i.e. recipes for cooking, etc.) over here at MyFitspiration.com and we’ll still have lots of the lively discussion and community you’ve come to love. Comment here and over at YouTube and we’ll be dropping in!!

Today we proudly share a recipe for Pumpkin Cookies that are Gluten and Dairy free…but guess what…they are so tasty!! You’re going to love them.

What’s your favorite thing about Fall? Any ideas for other healthy treats? If you make these send us a pic!

Here’s the recipe…

Pumpkin Cookies (Calorie details here)

2 cups blanched almond flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice, plus more for sprinkling on top of cookies
1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree
1 small ripe banana, mashed
1/2 cup maple syrup (or sugar-free if you prefer)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl whisk together the almond flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.

In a small bowl mix together pumpkin puree, mashed banana, maple syrup, and vanilla extract.

Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until combined. Add melted coconut oil and stir to incorporate.

Drop spoonful of batter (about 1 to 2 tablespoons in size) onto prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with additional pumpkin pie spice. Bake cookies for 25 to 30 minutes until golden.

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Your Kitchen: Friend or Foe?

As most of you know both Hannah & I are very close to our family.  My Dad in particular is such a great source of strength & encouragement.  He has such a way of putting things into perspective.    He is also on a weightloss journey…almost down 100 lbs!!  Woohoo!!! Yesterday, I was having one of my many catch up sessions with him on the phone.  During the conversation he said something that really struck a chord with me.  He said he had been thinking about the idea of your kitchen being your enemy.  For so many of us we have made food the enemy and the battlefield the kitchen.  I mean Ben & Jerry live in there for goodness sake!!  Don’t get me wrong those boys are a GOOD time until it’s time to put on your pants! Right!?

After all this time I realized that I still view my kitchen as the enemy.  I began fleshing out the idea of transforming your kitchen to be your friend.  I’ll admit most of that idea is mental…it’s all I how you look at things.  That being said I think there are some practical ideas that can add to this transition.  First, clean out your kitchen off all the bad stuff (or the good stuff you shouldn’t have). It’s ok to indulge now & again…even when you are trying to lose weight….but no one needs twinkies in the pantry.  Now, I think this is the portion of the blog where the moms might grab their pitchforks.  Get the “kids” junk out of the house.  My suggestion is this…maybe instead of keeping ice cream bars in the house you actually take your kids out for ice cream.  Not only do your kids get to have a treat, but it’s a way to show them you want to treat them & spend time with them.  Let’s face it…ice cream and other treats kept around for the kids gets eaten just as much by the adults.  I know there will be lots of complaining and moaning by everyone in your house, but childhood obesity is on the rise and what a better way to start teaching our kids about healthy eating.  Get them involved.  Ask them to help you “clean out” the kitchen.  If they are old enough have them research healthy recipes online…maybe have them pick a few and have a house vote on which healthy meal is for dinner!  For those of us without kids it really is a no brainer.  Just throw it out or donate the unopened food to your local food bank. Revamping the kitchen with my ideas alone was indeed a delightful experience. Everything from cabin colors to the sleek knives that I came across on choppychoppy.com was my choice and no intervention was involved, which I must say was as liberating as breaking the shackles to fly again.

Second, get thee to the nearest grocery store STAT!  Make a list of all the essentials that you will need to make healthy meals & snacks.  A stocked pantry is your best friend.  It takes the guess work out of “what’s for dinner”.  When you have lean protein & veggies at your fingertips the options are endless.  Shop local…Farmer’s Markets can be so cost effective and a great way to support your community. If you need a great source of protein, you may also consider taking protein powder.

Lastly, rekindle the romance with your kitchen.  Spend some time in there!  The more time you spend “getting to know each other” the better.  Don’t just run in and mindlessly throw something together.  Don’t get me wrong…some nights a chicken breast and veggies are all the effort I can muster up…and that’s ok!  Now that the seasons are changing get creative…how about curried turkey chili with root vegetables!  Toss some dried currents & toasted pumpkin seeds in your usual salad and BOOM: a delicious fall meal that feels anything but ordinary!  If you get overwhelmed thinking about inventing recipes never fear.  Just one click to Pinterest will provide more recipes than you could cook in your lifetime.  Or, make a trip to your local bookstore and check out the cookbook section….there are tons of options for healthy cooking.

I’ll be the first to admit that I have treated my kitchen like a Foe, but I’m determined to change that.  Let’s face it…we have to live with food everyday…three meals a day and a snack. I’m ready to embrace my kitchen and get BFF necklaces. 🙂

Is your kitchen a friend or foe?  What are your tips to rekindle the romance with your kitchen?  Let me know in the comments!!  Let’s chat…it’s been too long. 🙂

Health & Happiness,
Olivia xxxooo

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All About Us

Hi Everybody!! A couple months back we put up a video introducing ourselves on our “About Us” page. Some of you might not have seen it so we thought we’d post here today…enjoy and let us know what you think should come next in the comments below ;).

xxoo Olivia & Hannah

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Quick Fix – Is It Worth the Risk?

Hello myfitspirationers!! If most of you follow me on twitter (in case you don’t, join the party @BL11Hannah), you will know that I recently researched the HCG diet after watching a friend inject herself with the hormone on a lunch date with my gal pals. I was confused, thinking “Since when do you have diabetes?” Her explanation came after I was told that the injection was HCG known as Human Chorionic Gonadotropin. HCG is a hormone found in the urine during pregnancy that is the latest weight loss quick fix craze. In theory, the HCG hormone is supposed to suppress hunger and trigger your body’s use of fat for fuel. Which is what BootCamp does for me ;)!! I recently read that the hormone is now coming from female horse urine. Is that something you are comfortable injecting yourself with or putting underneath your tonque? If so, I would just stop reading now! 😉

Believe me when I say, I am no stranger to quick fix diets! If you know me on a personal level, you will know that I am obsessed, that’s right OBSESSED with infomercials! I was the first human to ever buy Oxyclean. Olivia calls my spare bedroom the exercise graveyard where made-for-TV exercise equipment go to die. To name a few….The Ab Circle Pro, The Ab Glider, Brazil Butt Lift (still have high hopes for that one), Food Lovers Fat Loss System, The Ab Dolly, Electro Muscle Stimulator…Need I go on? If you’re like I WAS, I bought into everything. I was so desperate to lose the weight quickly that I watched tons of money circle the drain as my diet dreams of success fell further and further from reality. Why did I ever think it was ok to eat Velveeta Cheese AKA: Liquid Gold for breakfast wrapped in bacon and lose weight? Hello low carb and lovin it! Eeek, so many diets so little time. Yet, I still managed to get close to 300 lbs. When I stepped on the ranch of the Biggest Loser, or should I say, when Olivia dragged me by my hair kicking and screaming, I was just waiting for production to give us a blue speckled pill (you know what I’m talkin about) a shot or lightening fat zapper. How else do those people lose so many pounds in a week?

Then came the first workout.

Jillian Michaels perched on my treadmill and announced to the ranch team “You’re gonna move more and eat less, the quality of your food is going to out-weigh the quantity and you will literally heal your sick bodies with food”. Excuse me? Did I sign up for this? This sounds like my Weight Watchers hell! Even though I think WW is one of the best plans out there, I didn’t want to do it again! Flashes of “Congrats, you lost a quarter of a lb this week” ran through my mind. Then Olivia pulled me aside and said “Have we really given our bodies a chance to heal through diet and exercise?”

Well…..um…..errrrrr….I’ve tried everything, right? WRONG. I had never really trusted my body for a SIGNIFICANT length of time to truly operate the way it was created to, without all of this excess weight! So I committed to the old fashioned way and low and behold it worked! My body began processing chemical free food, I had energy, my mood was better (except when Olivia made me wake up early) and miracles happened! My oily skin and hair became dryer, my skin clearer, I even had less hair on my legs to shave. Ridding my body of excess hormones by eating organic, pesticide and chemical free changed everything. I didn’t even miss my infomercials because for once I was starting to break the cycle. That’s when I became one of those people I loathed in the past who preached “Lifestyle” and guess what? I got one! My very own lifestyle!

Does doing things this way take more time? Yes. More effort? Yes.

BUT….It will get you off the yo-yo diet train for life. Food and exercise and A LOT of prayer, healed my body from the inside out, I have also learned many great tips and recipes with cbd oil, with the Vita Hemp USA discount full spectrum cbd oil gummies to improve our general health.  I learned discipline, worked on my confidence and was finally able to de-cloud my mind of this Quick-Fix syndrome that I had been oh so accustomed to! My blood pressure stabled, I became fertile, and I began to see life in a different way. Healthy can be a state of mind but it is also a walk. Sometimes you fall, sometimes you don’t, but the point is, you keep walking! I started researching long term effects of fad diets. Heart attacks, high blood pressure, cancer, heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, starvation, vital organ shut downs, and so many more. So ask yourself, is this really worth it in the LONG RUN? We all know there is no “Quick” way to make money! So why would you think the same about your body? Why would you treat yourself this way and for what? So I challenge you to quit the quick fix (say that 10 times fast). Lay down the diets, and get yourself a lifestyle, try the programs from the nutrisystem reviews ! After all, you’re worth it and so are those higher priced groceries. We spend so much $$ on our homes and cars, why wouldn’t you on your body? This blog is for EVERY person out there who has tried the quick fix and failed. NO MORE! You deserve better and so do your children’s children. Trust me, you will thank me later!! If anyone is trying to figure out how to wrap velveeta cheese in bacon without it melting, it can’t be done, I’ve tried. Step AWAY from the yellow box!!

Now, below in the comments, I want to hear the fad diets you’ve tried and did they work??? Don’t be shy, Let’s hear it!!!