Sweet Potato and Pecan Casserole

INGREDIENTS:

Cooking spray

3 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (about 5 medium), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

1/3 cup honey

1 large egg

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

Salt

1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar

1/3 cup finely chopped pecans

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray.

Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a pot with a large steamer basket in place. Put the sweet potatoes in the 

basket, cover and steam until tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the potatoes to a bowl and let cool slightly. Add

the honey, egg, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, the nutmeg, ginger and 1/3 teaspoon salt; whip with an electric mixer 

until smooth. Spread the sweet potato mixture in the prepared baking dish.

Mix the brown sugar, pecans and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a bowl; sprinkle over the potatoes. 

Bake until hot and beginning to brown around the edges, 40 to 45 minutes.

Black Friday Sales Start TODAY!

I don't know about you, but I am seriously so excited that this week kicks off the holiday season! Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years are my favorite holidays and one of the huge perks- Black Friday Sales! Who is with me?!! I am not one to rush out to the stores at 3 am, but I do know that a good sale is always exciting! So this morning I am kicking off my morning bringing you some exciting sales from Team Beachbody that are starting TODAY! No waiting until after Thanksgiving!

So- what do we have that is worth while? EVERYTHING ON THE LIST!



Insanity the Asylum is always a hit for those people who love high endurance training. Athletes, runners or those who are really looking for a challenge will appreciate this one!

Turbo Jam was my very first program that I experienced! I can remember my mother in law ordering it and bringing it over and we did it together in my living room right after I had my first baby! It was fun and dancy/kickboxing and I really loved the music! So for the fact that the Booty Sculpt and Abs are less than $6- that is a steal! And not to mention that TurboFire- my SOUL MATE WORKOUT (it is a step up from the Turbo Jam program) is marked down to less than $45 is a STEAL! GAH! I'm so excited about these programs for all of you!!

Stalking stuffers, gifts for co workers, your kids teachers, family and more!

I also really love that the Ankle weights and Resistance bands are on this list too! Are you or someone you know doing the 21 Day Fix or Fix Extreme? Do you need some extra resistance! Grab these up while supplies last!!

So really take some time to look at the sales and get your orders placed. It is sure to sell out and it is a first come first serve basis!!

If you are not already my customer, but you are ready to have me as your coach- make sure that you sign up for your free team beachbody account here. 

Do you already have a coach? Please contact him or her for these sales!!




Are you interested in one of my upcoming challenge groups to really be able to have the motivation, accountability and support to achieve results with a program and Shakeology?

Please fill out the application below and I will get in touch with you asap! Thank you so much! Merry Christmas!!

Happy Shopping!!

Surviving The Holidays- One Cookie At A Time

Who else out there looks at November and December and thinks "holy cow!! These couple of months are going to just be fitness and nutrition survival months!"  Like come on- the amount of food that most of us are exposed to is through the roof and every time we turn a corner-- another Christmas cookie is trying to hop into our mouths ;) This is where I just want to say STOP the excuses- realize that you can have a FEW treats, eat holiday dinner, but you DO NOT have to sacrifice your waistline at the same time. I know for a 100% fact that if you have a desire and a drive to stay motivated, to NOT gain 10-20 pounds this holiday season and to really just stay true to yourself--- then you will find a way to make good choices and NOT allow excuses to take over. I for one will allow myself to have 12 cookies from Thanksgiving to Christmas! Yes- I set a number of how many cookies I will eat over the holidays! THAT WAY- when I am at a party and I catch myself reaching for a store bought cookie that really isn't that good anyways- I will remind myself "HEY! Aunt Sally is making her sugar cookies next weekend! I'm going to wait for those!"

For the last 2 1/2 years of coaching I have heard every excuse in the books! Seriously- people will try almost anything to get themselves to believe in these nonsense excuses of why their health and fitness has to wait until January... WHAT?!! Ummm... no. by that time- motivation is gone. 20 pounds have been packed on. Blood pressure and cholesterol levels are increasing, your mood is icky, you feel depressed and TIRED all the time and your self confidence is down the toilet. I LOVE to see and work with people who are determined to at least maintain and keep health a priority all year long! 



My Top 4 Successful Weight Loss Tips:

1.  You have to have a WHY. A reason that will allow you to go strong even when you don't feel like it. You can't just sorta kinda want to change, you have to REALLY WANT TO CHANGE MORE THAN YOU WANT TO STAY THE SAME!  After the novelty of the new program wears off, what is going to keep you going?  It's internal motivation to change more than you want to stay the same!

2.  Commitment.  Successful people are those who stay committed long after the 'fun' of something has worn off. They learn to be driven. They are willing to do whatever it takes to be successful and they are not QUITTERS. They are committed to believing in the process and starting and finishing the fitness program exactly as it is laid out and they will evaluate and tweak their program as they go.  Success means you are ALL IN! When we fall off the wagon- we get back up, brush ourselves off and continue to drive forward!

3.  FAITH and VISION.  People who succeed at their goals have faith!  They believe that what they are doing WILL work, some way, they will be successful at this weight loss game. It's not a simple task. It is a process and successful people are ready to go the distance. It's not about working out for 4 hours a day and starving yourself- nothing is acheived by that. It is about believing in the trainers, in your program, following the nutrition plan as best as you can and it will all work. Do not second guess!!! It is designed the way it is for a reason! TRUST me- do it and get results.

4. Successful people follow the nutrition plan.  I tried to fight this for YEARS. I'm telling you. I would say all the time "I'm already thin and my body just needs to hold onto that extra 10 pounds bc it's the way im meant to be... or, i'm skinny fat and I workout- im not meant to have definition... OR this one-- I can eat fast food everyday because I will just workout after."  Those are things I said and did for years. Until one day- I opened my eyes and got tired of feeling ICKY! Nutrition is SO IMPORTANT. If you aim to eat. If you track your food in a journal, you track your water intake, you allow yourself 1 or 2 treats per week you will make great steady and healthy progress!  You can have your cake and eat it too!

My mission this holiday season is to help you succeed. I want to see you through the good times and the bad! I want to keep you ACCOUNTABLE and MOTIVATED to either start or continue on your journey! I will NOT ask you to be super strict these next two months. Hardly- I am going to help you stay accountable and just TRY. 

It's time to end 2015 with a bang instead of starting 2016 10-20 pounds heavier and feeling miserable!!!!

Think about how much more energy you could have this season. You could enjoy wrapping Christmas presents, shopping, going from party to party, hanging out with friends and totally making time to do all of the things you enjoy! All that you need to do is eat healthier and workout 30 minutes a day. That's it! I do it- so can you :) 

I am going to run a 30 day HOLIDAY SURVIVAL guide support group starting on November 30th and running until the end of the year!  

Here is what you can expect from this group:

1.  A health and fitness program to fit your needs in 30 minutes or less each day.

2.  Sample meal plans and recipes to help you stay accountable, to help you with quick easy meals and snacks to fit your lifestyle.

3.  Daily accountability through a closed online support group.

4.  Tips on handling holiday parties, a restaurant guide, traveling tips, healthy alternatives to holiday favorites.

5.  Motivation, Accountability every single day to help you end the year stronger than you started.  

What if you could lose a few pounds this holiday season, rock in the New Year feeling confident and not defeated yet HAVE A REALLY GREAT AND ENJOYABLE HOLIDAY SEASON?  

So what are the requirements to participate in this group, because I know that is what you are thinking!!

1.  You must be a customer of mine on TeamBeachbody, which means that I am assigned as your FREE coach.  If you already have a coach please reach out to the person you work with.  If you do not have an account, complete the application below.

2.  You must commit to a  fitness program and nutrition plan in which we will discuss options that are best for you, your ability level, your time constraints and your needs.  

3.  You must commit to checking into the accountability group daily and reporting progress.

Are you in?  Does this sound like something you would like to do? 
Let's do this together!!! 

How To Plan Out Your Month And Crush Some Goals

The holiday season is officially HERE! This can either be the BEST time of year or the most stressful, right?! I want to help you make this the BEST end to the BEST year of your life to date! Let's commit to setting and crushing some goals no matter if it is in your everyday life or your business or both! A new month means new opportunities and a clean slate. It does not mean that you throw all care to the wind and say- I will start in the new year? I am sitting at my desk right now with my planner and notebook next to me about to set some strong goals and I'm going to share with you exactly what I do and how I do it! And how for sure- YOU can do it too!

Tip #1- DO NOT WAIT. Start NOW.

After I became a wife and mom I really stopped thinking ahead of what 'today' will bring. I went on autopilot- taking care of my husband, the house, the kids and LIFE! Can you relate? That was just what happened and I thought that it was kind of the norm and I lost ME.

Well, a few years ago I hit rock bottom. I was in a depression, I felt like I was in the dark and just couldn't find my way out. I was being suffocated with the stress and responsibilities of day to day life, debt was growing and all of this was taking a toll on my marriage!

Enough was enough!


So- I decided that I was ready to change. I WANTED to change more  than I wanted to stay the same in my own bad cycle!

I didn't understand goal setting when I first started! It felt weird to me!! But, I went to this website that I had heard of called www.30daypush.com and just STARTED!
I encourage you to go and sign up for your free account! This is a game changer!

So- what else do you need to do?

IDENTIFY YOUR PRIORITIES.

Mine are:

My FAMILY! 1st- always. Faith, my business and with that comes my fitness and health which is a priority too. Health to me is mental, physical and emotional health! They all align when we make them priority.

CHOOSE 3-5 GOALS IN EACH AREA OF PRIORITY.

Your goals have to really have meaning. So take some time to really think about what you want to achieve!! And make some very attainable and some can be a few that take a little longer than a month or two to achieve.

What do you want!! Write it down and the kicker is here- PUT A DATE NEXT TO IT! A date that you want to crush that goal by! If there is no date next to it, it means it's just a dream! A goal has a time frame.

Trust me- it's crazy- but when you are working towards them with intention then you are going to achieve them.

Here is an example. Most people want to lose 10 pounds- right? It's not a crazy goal- it is totally doable. The average healthy weight loss is 2- 2 1/2 pounds a week- so losing 10 pounds in a month is a realistic goal!!

ACTION STEPS TO REACH YOUR GOALS.

Control the controllable. Set out everyday to be better than you were yesterday. Have your list of goals in sight and work towards them everyday. You can wish all day long for something to happen, but unless if you yourself are taking action to make these dreams become reality then won't move forward. Have a game plan! 

With our 10 lb. weight loss for example, you're going to break it down into your actions steps. You need to have an exercise routine. You need to follow some kind of nutrition plan. You need to have accountability to your goals, motivation (serves the priorities), and a reward.

So find some kind of accountability coach or a friend that's going to hold you accountable and motivate you to reach your goals. If you are clueless about where to start- I am here to help. Email me and we can get you going in the right direction.

 You are also going to want to have some kind of reward in there as well. So that when you achieve these things on your daily, weekly, monthly basis, then you have some of reward or something that you look forward to. Those are your actions steps. Make sure that you set yourself up for success and understand what you have to do in order to achieve those goals.

REVERSE ENGINEER YOUR GOALS. 

So now- you have your game plan! You are armed with your goals and you want to make them become reality!!

Time to REVERSE engineer! And if you're like me-- you're like "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!"

We are going to map out what it's going to take to get there! For each action step you need to plan it out on your calendar. 

For example for a goal of exercising 5 days a week plan that out on your calendar for when you are going to accomplish this activity for each week of the 30 days. It has to be a meeting that you do not cancel on. You wouldn't cancel a meeting with your boss, so you are NOT going to cancel your workout.

Then you will need to take a look at what you are eating! You need to PLAN it out! Weight loss and results come from cleaning up the diet! 80% clean/ 20% treats. Create a meal plan mapping out exactly what you are going to eat for each meal each day!! 

You can even have a box there for your accountability that you can check off for when you check in with your coach or accountability partner.

Let me give you this last big piece of the puzzle. 

When setting your goals- YOU have to WANT them for YOURSELF. YOU have to dig deep and find the motivation and momentum to show up and work everyday! YOU CAN- but YOU are the only one who can accomplish them. 

The examples I gave you were fitness related, but if you are setting your business goals- the same deal applies. You can't just SAY you are going to do something- your actions and efforts must match the goal. It's all up to you and your mindset!

At the end of the 30 days celebrate your progress.

Re-evaluate where you went wrong and also celebrate where you went right! I find it super helpful to write down three things that I did really well in the month instead of criticizing myself and pointing out all the things that I didn't achieve because truthfully you're not always going to achieve all your goals and that's okay.

You need to get used to really celebrating your progress and just being happy that you are moving forward. CELEBRATE the small and the big achievements!!!! Find the positives always!

I hope you guys set some amazing goals this month I want to hear about them. I want to hear what it is that you guys are setting for yourselves for this month to set yourself for success, feel free to email me at valbozzo15@gmail.com or find me on facebook- fb.com/val.bozzo