Tips for a Healthy Fall

New season, new opportunities, new goals. Now that summer is over, and what most people refer to as "bikini season" (although there's much more to summer than bikinis...), it's time to really focus on our goals. I'm actually not a big fan of summer. We live in GA and it's typically over 90 degrees and VERY humid every single day. Many people become more active in the summer but we actually tend to do the opposite. We don't hike as much and we just generally try to avoid anything outside. During the fall, winter, and spring you can typically find us on a hiking trail and I even like to get in a run or two when the weather is cooler.

All in all, there's just always excitement about new seasons, they provide fresh starts. Personally, this summer was pretty rough for us so we are definitely looking forward to putting the past behind us and will be revisiting some of our healthy habits along with you.

Tips for a Healthy Fall

1. Write down a 3-month overall goal, along with monthly goals and weekly goals
   • Choose goals that are deeper than physical appearance.
2. Start a workout routine
   • Try one of our Fall themed monthly challenges here.
   • Join our Fall Workout Challenge here.
   • Use this Gobble Til You Wobble Workout Circuit on days you can't make it to the gym.
   • This is also the perfect time for our 30-Day Walking Challenge.
3. Start making small changes to your eating habits
   • Just because you might be faced with a lot of unhealthy food choices over the next few months, doesn't mean you have to give into them.
   • It's definitely okay to eat that piece of pumpkin pie, caramel apple, or a few pieces of candy as long as you don't make a habit of it.
   • You can start small by drinking water instead of sugary beverages, eating a healthy breakfast, etc.
   • Join our 13 to Clean Challenge to learn more about the clean eating lifestyle.
4. Lighten up some of your favorite recipes
   • When buying canned pumpkin, be sure to buy pure pumpkin and not the mix.
   • Switch out the sugar for an alternative sweetener, even try banana!
   • Incorporate things like sweet potatoes and butternut squash as healthy side dishes.
   • Try these Fall Recipe Substitutions
5. Don't give up
   • It's okay if you have a few "off days", just get right back on track.
   • It's better to have a few healthy habits under your belt than to get waiting to "start".

REMINDER: Time is running out to join our Fall Workout Challenge. Get all the details here.

Don't keep putting off a healthy lifestyle. Start today!

Peanut Butter Banana Protein Bars

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Seriously, I can't believe it has taken me this long to make Peanut Butter Banana Protein Bars! When I posted our very popular Peanut Butter Banana Breakfast Loaf on Facebook, it hit me that I should make that recipe into protein bars. I actually didn't use the recipe itself though. I took our normal protein bar base recipe (similar to the recipe to the Chocolate Chunk Protein Bars) and just added banana and peanut butter. It was very easy and I probably ate too much of the batter. ;-)

Trust me, these will not disappoint!

Clean Eat Recipe: Peanut Butter Banana Protein Bars

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup gluten free oat flour
• 2 packets (or scoops) of TLS vanilla protein powder *If you are interested in ordering this protein powder and would like a FREE Shake & Bake Recipe eBook, please email us first at thegang@heandsheeatclean.com.
• 2 Tbsp nut butter (I used peanut butter)
• 1 banana, mashed
• 1/4 cup Stevia in the Raw
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 egg whites (or 3/4 cup liquid egg whites)
• 1/2 cup water unsweetened almond milk
• 8 oz berry flavored baby food

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mash banana and set aside. Melt peanut butter, if needed, and set aside.
3. Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl
4. Mix wet ingredients together in a medium size bowl (including banana and peanut butter)
5. Add the ingredients from the small bowl into the large bowl and mix together
6. Spray 8X8 dish (I use Pyrex) with non-stick spray and add batter to the dish
7. Bake for 25-28 minutes

You MUST store these in the refrigerator or freezer as they will spoil because they have no preservatives!

Yields 16 squares. We normally eat four squares as a snack/meal.

Macros (per square):

• Calories: 81
• Carbs: 10 g
• Fat: 2 g
• Protein: 6 g
• Sugar: 3 g
• Fiber: 1 g

Oatmeal Raisin Energy Bites

A new hike means a new energy bite recipe! It's been awhile since we made protein/energy bites and we were craving oatmeal raisin cookies (I know, I'm actually not normally a fan of oatmeal raisin cookies either but these are good!). So I decided to turn the cookies into portable energy bites for our hike! Some of our most popular recipes are protein/energy bites. If you haven't yet, you must try them!

You can see more of our hiking/travel related posts below. :)

Clean Eat Recipe: Oatmeal Raisin Energy Bites

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 4 (+) Tbsp natural peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1-2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp stevia extract
• 1 tsp coconut oil, melted

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together, excluding raisins and peanut butter.
2. Melt peanut butter and add to mixture.
3. Fold in raisins.
4. Depending on your specific ingredients, you may need to add more oats and/or peanut butter in order for your bites to stick together.