The Most Popular Lifestyle Posts of 2015!

We shared our Most Popular Clean Eating Recipes of 2015 and also our Most Popular Workouts of 2015 but we can't leave out all of the other posts! Our lifestyle posts are some of our favorites! You can view more posts on getting started, food prep, body image, plus much more here. We share all of our recipes and workouts on Pinterest so if you aren't following us yet, you should!

If you are new to clean eating these posts are a great place to start!

He and She Eat Clean's Most Popular Posts of 2015

1. 8 Things You Should Know When You Start Eating Clean
2. Printable Guide to Split Any Recipe in Half
3. What to Eat Before & After a Workout
4. Getting Started with Clean Eating
5. Clean Protein Powders - Reviewed!
6. Weekly Food Prep
7. Our Story
8. How Getting Into Fitness Ruined My Body Image
9. How to Lace Your Running Shoes for Form and Function
10. Eating Clean at Costco Shopping List

10 Tips to Stay Motivated for Your Workouts

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We all have those days where we don't want to exercise and the days where when we do make it to the gym our workouts are awful. It's okay - that's life! This is a lifestyle and we completely believe in the 80/20 rule with everything (it's how we've maintained this healthy lifestyle for over 5 years)! With that being said, we wanted to share some of our tips so that you can get the most out of your workouts!

Tips to Get Yourself to the Gym & Stay Motivated Once You Get There!

1. Schedule your workouts like you would a doctor's appointment - and keep them. At the beginning of the week take a few minutes to write down your schedule and your workouts. Remember to take at least 1-2 rest days per week. If you can't make a workout you have scheduled, don't beat yourself up about it. You can still remain active and do a short workout at home!
2. Have a workout plan! There's nothing worse than spending an hour on a cardio machine and then moving up and down the aisles of machines without a clear plan. I see it all the time in the gym! If you want to succeed with your fitness goals, you need a clear plan. Try one of ours - we have 4 week plans and 12 week plans. We even have plans just for runners! All of our plans outline exactly what to do each day (how many reps, sets, etc). You will reach your goals much faster with a plan!
3. Workout when you can. The best time of day to workout is whatever time you will do it! You will read articles about why morning workouts are better or why evening workouts are better but really the best time to workout is whatever time you can. It would be best to try and keep the same time each day but life happens!
4. Make it a habit. Believe me, I was not an athlete growing up (besides rec league cheering and softball) so I don't come from a background in sports but I actually like the gym now. I never thought I would say that! It might be hard for you at first but just keep going and stick to your plan until it becomes a habit!
5. Don't be afraid to mix up your days. On the days when you are really just dragging in the gym do the workout that you like the most. For example, my favorite is leg day so if I'm not feeling the gym that day I'll do legs because I like that workout. If I have to drag myself to the gym and put myself through a workout that I don't even like it won't be pretty! Do your least favorite workout on the days when you are feeling your best. It's okay to swap out days, just make sure that you are taking at least 2 rest days before you work that body part again and at least 1 full rest day per week.
6. Start playing your favorite playlist before your workout. Gear your mind up for the gym by listening to your playlist while getting ready for the gym. It will pump you up before you even get there! 
7. Complete all reps on each side before switching. Using this trick will make you finish all reps. For example, if you need to do 12 step-ups on each leg, complete 12 step-ups on the right leg before moving onto the left leg. If you try to do 6 and 6, and 6 and 6 again, you will probably quit after the first 6!
8. Find a workout that you like! There's nothing worse than going to the gym and dreading what you do. Of course, there are things that we think everyone should incorporate into their workouts like weights, cardio, and flexibility training but you can be creative with how you do these types of training. Don't like the treadmill? That's fine! Take a class as your cardio! Try one of our challenges and give one of our workouts a try. ;-)
9. Be flexible! Is your equipment taken? Try to do something in its place or skip it and come back to it at a later time. Don't get frustrated - there are alternates for almost everything! Instead of a barbell use dumbbells, bands, etc.
10. Stay motivated. This is hard, right? The title of this is 10 tips to stay motivated but one of the tips is to stay motivated! Yes, we meant to do that. You must find ways to stay motivated. We want you to become your own motivation instead of constantly searching for outside motivation. It's easier said than done but there are a few things you can do to make this happen. Record your workouts (again, our workout plans have a place for you to record everything!) so you can see how much stronger you are getting! Even if you can't tell a difference in a mirror, seeing how you improve in your workouts is a great motivator. Try to avoid using others looks as motivation because you could easily fall into a comparison trap (this post on 5 Reasons You Aren't Achieving Your Dream Body may help!).

We hope these tips help you reach your goals. Always remember, progress is progress - no matter how slow. Never give up!

Cauliflower Risotto

This recipe turned out even better than we expected. Seriously. Scott still talks about it and talked about it the entire weekend we made it. He told me the other day that it is one of his top three favorite recipes we've ever created. I guess that means it's pretty good! And now that I'm writing about it, I want to go back into the kitchen to make another batch!

We were excited to take on this at home challenge from Sargento® to create a comfort food recipe using ingredients that we would have probably otherwise skipped over: cauliflower, crimini mushrooms, and leeks! Scott and I talked about what kind of recipe we wanted to create and agreed on giving risotto a try. We've experimented with cauliflower instead of rice before so we knew that we wanted to incorporate that into the recipe but we weren't quite sure how it would turn out. Honestly, we even had a "back up" recipe to make if this one wasn't good enough! Needless to say, our back up wasn't needed.

Don't let the list of ingredients and steps scare you off, it is easy to make and is well worth the minimal effort! Hopefully this will inspire you to create your own recipe and enter it into the Chopped At Home Challenge! Submit your recipe to FoodNetwork.com/ChoppedChallenge for the chance to win $5,000 and a trip to New York City to compete in a televised Chopped cooking challenge for a $10,000 grand prize!

For this recipe we used Sargento mild cheddar cheese (fine cut). Sargento is available in 30 versatile varieties, unique blends and distinct cuts. Sargento Shredded Cheese is always cut from blocks of 100% real, natural cheese.

Clean Eat Recipe: Cauliflower Risotto

Ingredients:

• "Rice" - 1 head of organic cauliflower, medium size, chopped
• White wine vinegar
• 1/8 tsp garlic
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 1 large organic leek
• 1 cup of crimini mushrooms
• 1 cup Sargento mild cheddar cheese (fine cut)
  • ¾ cup for the recipe + ¼ to sprinkle on top

For cream sauce:

• 1 head of organic cauliflower, medium size, chopped
• 2 cups organic, low sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp (pinch) nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp (pinch) black pepper
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 cup cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Make cream sauce as listed in our previous post:

1. Boil chicken broth. Add chopped cauliflower and spices. Cook 20 minutes until cauliflower is soft.
2. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool (approximately 5-10 minutes).
3. Blend mixture in blender (Be CAREFUL! Hot liquid expands). Add cottage cheese, water and olive oil and blend again.
4. Return to pot to simmer on low for approximately 5 minutes.

While cream sauce is cooling:

1. Chop second cauliflower into small florets. Place small amounts at a time into the food processor to finely chop (use the pulse feature) into "rice"
2. Cut leeks into quarter-sized slivers and halve mushrooms
3. Coat skillet with cooking oil spray (we used avocado oil) and sauté leeks and mushrooms with a drizzle of white wine vinegar (1/4 tsp). Add sea salt, black pepper and garlic powder, making sure to stir often to prevent burning
4. If you haven't already, place cream sauce back in sauce pan and simmer on low heat while sautéing vegetables
5. Once sautéed (leeks are translucent), add cauliflower "rice" to skillet with small portion (up to ½ cup) of cream mixture and simmer for two minutes
6. Gradually add the remaining creamy cauliflower sauce while stirring often
7. After adding all of the cream sauce, cover and let simmer on low-medium heat for 6 minutes. Check often to prevent burning.
8. Fold in ¾ cup of Sargento mild cheddar cheese (fine cut), simmer for two more minutes
9. Serve with ¼ cup sprinkled cheese on top and add sea salt if desired

Will you be entering the Chopped At Home Challenge? If so, what recipe do you plan on creating?

For more inspiration, check out the Sargento Pinterest page Pinterest.com/sargentocheese/ or visit www.sargento.com/Shredded for more information.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Sargento. The opinions and text are all mine.