What do you eat when you are plant-based?

I simply eat wholesome foods. I cook with coconut oil and seasoned with all natural pices.
I promise, that you will love the way you look physically but most important spiritually.  Knowing you are not part taking in any suffering of animals knowing that your hard earned money is not supporting unethical industries that not only are ruthless towards living creatures but are causing a big ripple in today's world problems. We truly can change the world and it start with what you eat everyday! Learn and educate yourself on the power of healing foods.

Breakfast

Green Smoothie
banna
frozen berries, strawberries, mango, pineapples,
two handful of kale, spinach
vegan protein
water






snack
apples, oranges, almond butter or (acai bowls)


lunch
sautéed veggies with black beans and quinoa

snack
cucumber and hummus

dinner
a big salad full of greens and sautéed squash and peppers and onions, chickpeas , avacado

How to avoid the extra happy pounds on vacation

                                     


Summer is around the corner, kids will be out from school soon and it also means vacation season! Laying by the ocean and having those amazing people come by with, "Would you like anything to drink? Our special is the blueberry mojito!" is very hard to resist! Not to mention the poolside snacks! Why is it that we forget about our healthy goals while we are on vacation? We program our minds to think we deserve laying out and drinking for all the hard work we have put in. 'Tis reward time! Which turns a day of drinking and bad eating into a whole week of messing up your diet and your shorts feeling a bit tigher by the end of your stay.

Here are some tips on how to try to stay on-track with your new healthy, lifestyle without feeling like you are depriving yourself from anything and enjoying a well deserved vacay with the fam!

Tips on how to stay as sexy as possible on your next vacay start with some essential items you should pack first!

- NutriBullet (or any kind of travel size blender)
- Vegan protein powder
- Chia seeds
- Truvia sugar packets and/or coconut sugar
- Enzymes pills (take a pill before every meal, prevent bloating)
- Almonds


Once you get to your hotel, odds are you are going to be hungry. If your first meal is junk, its going to be really hard to get back on that healthy wagon from this point on. So these next steps are so important! I like to think these steps are just part of my vacation, and that they are as mandatory as checking into the resort!

Step 1:
Drive to the nearest marketplace by your resort and load up on these produce items:

- Kale

- Spinach (any leafy greens)
- A bag of variety veggies (broccoli and cauliflower)
- Any veggies you can get without having to cook, add into your cart
- Avocados
- Fruits (bananas, watermelon, green apples, dates)
- Almond milk
- Açai juice
- Lemons

                                                                                       

Most likely you will have a fridge in your room, so get a bag of frozen berries.

You are now prepared for replacing two meals of your day! Not only are you keeping your waist smaller, but your wallet bigger as well!

Once you unpack everything, make sure to fix yourself a protein shake and have your enzymes pill before every meal. Get your NutriBullet out and have your first meal be a healthy one full of vitamins and essential nutrients that will keep you full and, most important, healthy! Enzymes will help you digest and keep you from getting bloated.

For the smoothie:
- 1 scoop of vegan protein
- Chia seeds
- Almond milk
- A splash of acai juice
- Your greens
- ½ of avocado
- Banana

BAAAM! you have set yourself up for success! Drink your delicious smoothie while you go lay out by the beach or by your balcony. Let your mind know that this first meal of your vacation is your reward, along with your amazing view. That being healthy is part of your reward to lay back and relax! These positive waves of thinking will program your brain to seek pleasure through healthy meals. Once again, the first meal on your vacation has to be a healthy one!

If you are gonna lay out by the beach and you are going to have a drink, make sure to bring your stevia sugar packs or your coconut sugar packs. Some drinks are over 1000 calories!  You have to decided if you want to drink your calories or eat solid food instead! I'd rather eat a whole meal then drink them. But if you want to indulge in a drink, here are some tips on how to order and keep your calories low and not overdue it!

The sugar in a drink is what makes it so unhealthy and gives you the worst hangovers as well! So let's try to avoid any drinks with dairy, carbonation, and high-sugars. Drinks high on these ingredients will also make you super bloated, so keep this in mind to help you choose better options!

Ask for the best vodka and water. Tell them to add mint and lime. Once you get your drink, you can bust open your stevia or coconut packs and add them to your drink for sweetness without drinking 1000 calories in a couple of sips! Also, shots of vodka and water are about 50% less expensive! Cha-ching!! Also, drink water in between your drinks. This will keep you hydradated and save your from those nightmare hangovers as well. Drinking water overall is another must!

Try to replace one or two meals with a delicious protein shake full of nutrients that your body craves. If you do decide to have a delish meal at a restaurant, try to replace all carbs with veggies. If your mahi mahi comes with white rice ask for extra veggies instead! You can always ask for them to steam things instead of butter or frying them up!  With the money you save on food, spend it on experiences and activities with the family! Learn how to surf, do beachside yoga, and bootcamp class! Get active!

You are going to enjoy vacations even more when you realized you won't be gaining extra weight, and saving money should make you happy, as well. Remember our health is our biggest wealth. Meaning the less healthy we are, the less vacations we will be able to have! It's your life and it's your choice, so choose a life where health is your number one priority and everything will just fall into place.

NFL and Yoga? Can it Get Any Better!?

Yoga and Football? That's right! Yoga has become a hot trend in the NFL world and more and more football players are becoming quite the yogi masters because of it! So that is why I had to interview one of my dearest friends Alisa Garcia, who happens to be the perfect expert on this topic!


Have you ever met someone new and in a matter of seconds you two decide that you can totally see yourself becoming best friends!? You have no idea what it is about them, but you just have an instant connection. Maybe it's their welcoming smile and their positive energy that draws you in. That was exactly how it was when I first met this beautiful soul Alisa . I met her through my boyfriend , she is a yoga instructor at one of our favorite studios in Bellevue. We hang out after yoga hours and sometimes I randomly call her when I'm in need of spiritual advice - she is the best at it! She also got us epic seats to the Seahawks vs. Cardinals game last year. I mean, I could touch Sherman's infamous dreads and tap Russell Wilson's shoulder and tell him, "You are doing great out there, my Dangeruss!"

See, Alisa is not your typical yoga instructor, she is the personal yoga teacher to some of the most elite players in the NFL! This why I decided to interview her. Lets get to know Alisa a little more! 


How did you get involved with training professional athletes?

A friend of mine is a professional football player. I convinced him to start coming to the hot yoga studio I teach at. I knew there was more he could get out of the classes. I knew certain body parts were effecting him days leading up to mornings games, he would tell me what was hurting and I would give him sone yoga poses to help loosen that area.  The same for after games. If I knew he was coming to the class I was teaching that day, I would throw in a few postures to help him recuperate. That's when I realized there was a need for specialized, individual yoga for these guys. Word of mouth, I suppose is how I started teaching more athletes on an individual level. 

Who are the athletes you train? 
Kam Chancellor, Byron Maxwell, Cooper Helfet. I've had others in group classes but these are the guys I see on a regular one-on-one basis. 

How long have you been training them for? 
I've had Byron for four years, Kam and Coop just hired me last season. 

Where all of them yogis prior to you? 
Byron was not, but is definitely a hard core yogi now. Kam and Coop both dabbled in yoga classes before me.  

What is the feedback you get from the athletes since you have started teaching them?
Mostly that they are more aware of their bodies. Kam has been very receptive to yoga and he has changed the most. He has avoided surgery, corrected his posture, looks taller and actually tells me often that he wishes he would have found yoga before he had hip surgery last year. He tells me that he watches his alignment often and he even watches how he stands on the sidelines he says he "can feel everything now."

Do you believe yoga has made a difference in how they perform in the field?
100%. Not only is yoga fantastic for recovery, but maintaining a healthy body. It's all about injury prevention. I always use the rubber band analogy: if you pull an old dry rubber band apart it will pop (like an ACL, MCL, or ankle injury). A newer rubber band will stretch, pull, and bounce back. Your body, on yoga, is a new rubber band.

What are the common troubles or weakness you run into working with professional athletes?
Competition. Yoga is anything but competition. The hardest thing is to let these athletes know that competition stays on the field - that acceptance with ones self. Be okay and accept whatever gifts your body is giving you today. It's not about the final destination of the yoga posture (competition) it's about the journey getting there (self acceptance).

Overall, what has been your favorite part of working with athletes? 
The best part is seeing these guys evolve spiritually. The positivity, the strength, the focus, they all have it, it's just getting them to connect all of the dots so it all works together. Once they do that, there's no stopping them. 

If you are interested in private yoga lessons from Alisa you can contact her at alisa4hire@gmail.com. You can also follow her on Instagram @a_hotyogini