Leafy Greens | Healthy & Fit

Happy Saturday everyone! So as some of you know I'm starting a yummy cleanse on Monday :) The first day I'm just doing one of my favorite SUJA clenses and throughout the rest of the week I'm going to be doing lot's of fruit and veggie smoothies. Mainly I want to get off of the plateau I've been on for the last couple of weeks but I also want to try some new stuff now that it's warming up. During the winter I just don't ever want to have smoothies and I've been missing them. Throughout Spring and Summer I carry my Ninja with me to make smoothies on the move. So I've been looking up some new stuff to make and mix into to my all time favorites. So here they are! Drink up :)

Avocado Aloe Spinach Smoothie

INGREDIENTS

1 cup chopped spinach
1 frozen banana
1/4 cup mashed avocado
1 cup coconut water
1 tablespoon aloe vera juice
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 to 3 dashes of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup coconut water ice cubes

DIRECTIONS

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Chocolate Spinach Smoothie

INGREDIENTS

1 frozen banana, chopped into pieces
1 cup spinach
1/2 cup nonfat yogurt
1 cup chocolate almond milk
Pinch of cinnamon, optional

DIRECTIONS

1. Blend all ingredients together until smooth and creamy.
2. Top off with cinnamon if you wish, and drink up!

Glowing Green Smoothie

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups water
1 head organic romaine lettuce, chopped
3-4 stalks organic celery
1/2 head of a large bunch or 3/4 of a small bunch of spinach
1 organic apple, cored and chopped
1 organic pear, cored and chopped
1 organic banana
Juice of 1/2 fresh organic lemon
Optional: 1/3 bunch organic cilantro (stems OK) and 1/3 bunch organic parsley (stems OK)

DIRECTIONS

Made up of about 70 percent green vegetables and 30 percent fruit, this smoothie helps you eat far more greens than you ordinarily could. Because we blend the greens and fruit for easy digestion, your body is able to absorb more of the vitamins and minerals without working so hard. Thanks to all its nutrients and fiber, the smoothie is incredibly filling, so it keeps you from reaching for that midmorning second cup of coffee and that bagel you really didn't want to eat.  Add water and chopped head of romaine to blender. Blend at a low speed until smooth. Add spinach, celery, apple, and pear and blend at high speed. Add cilantro and parsley (which help chelate heavy metals out of your body). Finish with banana and lemon.

Mojito Smoothie

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup soy milk
1 frozen banana
1 cup baby spinach
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 small lime, juiced
1/2 cup fresh spearmint
Ice cubes

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine soy milk, banana, spinach, vanilla, and lime juice in a high-speed blender.
2. Add spearmint and four or five ice cubes. Blend until smooth and creamy.
3. Taste, and add more spearmint or lime juice as desired.

Sweet Spinach Smoothie

INGREDIENTS

2 cups spinach leaves, packed
1 ripe pear, peeled, cored, and chopped
15 green or red grapes
6 ounces fat-free plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons chopped avocado
1 or 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

DIRECTIONS

In a blender or food processor, combine all the ingredients until blended to the desired consistency.

Have a great weekend!

                                     xo, Erica 

Make It Happen | Healthy & Fit

Happy Wednesday! The week is almost over and I've caught myself getting a little off track lately with my nutrition. When things get busy, I get stressed which leads to me eating laffy taffy. I know, It's absolutely terrible and all chemicals but I LOVE IT!! So one of the girls I work with and I have decided to spend next week eating super clean and purifying our bodies. Not a cleanse but kind of. When I was looking for inspiration I stumbled upon this post from Tone It Up, so I wanted to share it all with you. We are strong, confident and committed.

Step 1: ♡ Visualize!

Visualization is KEY in reaching your goals and making your dreams come true. If you don’t believe (and see yourself) achieving what you want, it’s going to be that much harder to get there. One of our favorite ways to do this is to make vision boards! This sets your intentions in your mind while keeping you focused and accountable. And it’s fun! Grab a few magazines, some scissor and start finding images that resonate with what you desire. Focus on both long and short term goals like what you intend to accomplish in the next week, the next month and in the next year! Grab a few friends and make it a party. Don’t feel like getting crafty? Do it online ~ we love Pinterest!

Use visualization while meditating, during workouts, right when you wake up or as you fall asleep at night! All you need to do is feel yourself achieving your goals: See yourself getting stronger, running longer distances and making healthy choices—keeping it lean, clean & green!

Step 2: ♡ Commit!

Once you know where you want to go and you see yourself getting there, it’s time to commit! This is where you make a deal with yourself and say: I commit to getting stronger, healthier and happier. This doesn't mean you’ll never slip up or have an off day. It’s not about being hard on yourself. It just means when you slip up, you don’t give up! Read more about how to bounce back here!

Step 3: ♡ Action Plan!

The last step is to create an action plan to get you where you want to go! This is where you plan, prep and set yourself up for success! Think about what works best for you, right now and make it happen. Once you’ve visualized and committed to your goals, you’ll be able to see opportunities you might not have been open to beforehand. Your Tone It Up lifestyle is all about what works best for you and your schedule. Set that alarm 30 minutes earlier for your BootyCall and go to sleep a bit earlier too. Or if you’re schedule is tight, find some time to get that cardio in later on. Pack an extra set of workout clothes to keep in your car. Get those veggies chopped and ready to take with you the next day. Grab your calendar and schedule in those workouts! Use your Weekly Schedule for guidance.

If you’re on the Tone It Up Nutrition Plan, you know exactly how to plan your meals throughout the day to help you achieve your heath & fitness goals! We recommend you take  time once or twice a week to plan those healthy meals and prepare satisfying snacks! Sunday nights are our favorite time to plan for the week ahead. Remember, we also post the best combination of workouts for you to follow each week on Sundays! Just head back here to ToneItUp.com.

Hope you're all having a great week!! 

                                                                   xo, Erica

Spring | Fashion

Happy Sunday! So as promised I have spent the last couple of days browsing my fav places to show you all my must haves for spring!! I tried to show you everything so if you feel like I've left something out - let me know :) If you want to purchase, scroll down and follow the link at the end of the post!

Have a great week!

                                                  xo, Erica

1. Margaret Elizabeth: Pink Opal Pears

2. Shop Bop: Peace Treaty

3. Calypso St.Barth: Agate Lariat

4. Gogo Lush: Toni Trixi

5. Sperry Top-Sider: Aurora

6. Tori Burch: Ray

7. Obaz: Opal

8. Birkenstock: Birko Flor

9. Converse: Chuck Taylor

10. Jean Jail: A Splash Of Blue

11. Jean Jail: Cloud Nine

12. Boca Leche: Walk Like An Egyptian

13. Boca Leche: Exumas

14. American Rag: Joes Jeans Darla

15. American Rag: NSF Adam

16. Victoria's Secret: Crop Rashguard

17. Nic Delmar: Mikoh

18. Nic Delmar: Valimare

A LITTLE MORE | Lifestyle

HAPPY SATURDAY! It's such a beautiful day here in Oklahoma. I spent the morning on the river watching rugby games with my family then went and worked out with my cousin. Now I'm relaxing in the sun with my pup Jack. Tonight will be spent downtown at a rented out building for one of my friends birthdays! I'm so excited and still have no idea what I'm going to wear. I've been inspired to share a little bit more about myself so I figured I would start today...

I hope you all are having a great weekend!

                                                                        xo, Erica

OH MY DEAR | Lifestyle

OH MY WORD. Ya'll I am so sorry for my absence. My life has been crazy for the last couple of weeks! I've been swamped at work with opening a new location, still maintaining all of the office stuff and then the grand opening, then finishing the studio and I'm still not finished or caught up for that matter. Then one of my roommates moved and we were scheduling a going away party. All while my other roommate is getting married so being part of the bridal party I get text messages everyday about different stuff. So then throw in the death of a grandfather. That has been my life the last two and a half weeks. I love you all dearly and would never just drop off the map.

There has been so much going on I keep making mental notes of things I want to blog about so get ready for a whole lot of everything. Ready?! GO >>

First off I'm still obsessing over SUJA. The amazing drink that you can discover at whole foods :) "All of Suja’s juices are certified Organic, Non-GMO & Kosher and are processed using cold pressure (also known as High Pressure Processing or HPP) to kill harmful bacteria while preserving maximum nutrition and taste. With a wide range of cold-presured organic offerings, Suja™ has a juice for every lifestyle." My friend Holly turned me on to them and I've literally stopped at Whole Foods every morning to get a couple. One of the co-founders Annie Lawless is a total doll & just started up her own blog  BLAWNDE which I've fallen in love with. Her style, food choices and other fun things are posted daily. 

Second - Spring is supposedly on it's way. Like most of the country I've been awoken to snow most mornings. That isn't a complaint, I LOVE SNOW! Well everything about winter really so I'm sad that it's coming to an end. Spring does bring around warm weather so I can't harp too much. I've been searching online for my new spring look and I think I've come to a decision but I'm not fully committed. So I wanted to hear some feedback from you guys before I purchase. What are you looking for or can't wait to bring out again?! I'm getting it all put together and will post it early next week. From the top of my head to the end of my toes, all of my must haves for Spring are coming!!

Third :) if you are a regular reader I'm sure you have seen me post about TONE IT UP! If you haven't then stop right now and check them out! Not only do they have a show on Bravo but they have millions of hits on youtube where they first started. Over the last couple of months I've really gotten into their posts on FB, Insta & Twitter. Their easy to follow workout videos are simple and tough. You will feel the burn... Plus once your join their news letter you get tons of tips, advice and access to all kinds of stuff. I've recently sat out my bootcamp sessions dues to my issues with my knees and ankles so I started looking at their low impact videos and have been putting together my own 35 minute workout. So far I've only done it 2 days this week but let me tell you, I'm hurting! You know that walk, the too sore to actually pick up my legs so I'm just going to shuffle along. After I've got this week finished I will post the workouts I've put together. Then I want to hear some feedback. If you guys like it I will post them more often!

                                                                 xo, Erica

Be Better | Lifestyle

So I've already decided that this year is going to be one of my bests. I have so much planned already and I can't wait to start marking through things on my list. One of the most important things is to continue with my fitness goals. I'm still not sure exactly where I want to be, I don't have a certain number I would like to see on the scale or a certain pant size I would like to be in. It's a constant thing that I will be maintaining. Once I'm where I want to be I will know it. Until then I'm enjoying the compliments that have been coming my way. Who doesn't like to be told that they look great?! After a long couple of weeks from my day job things have slowed down a little but not much. Opening a second location is hard work. Not only opening it but having a grand opening, moving locations, organizing when I can squeeze it in and still managing to do my everyday stuff is a task. I'm enjoying it though. I say give it a week and things will start to slow a little, our feet will come underneath us and we will find a perfect pace. With all of this work stuff going on I've really been into inspirational messages and quotes that completely change your perspective. One of the quotes I picked up last week is "Greatness is a bunch of small things done well". It's totally true! I've been thinking about the things I'm wanting to accomplish this year and let me tell you - I can't wait to say that they have been accomplished. Set goals, focus on them and achieve it! The only thing that can come between you and your goal is yourself.

I realize I'm all over the map tonight but I really feel inspired and hope that someone, somewhere will become inspired to make their goal become a reality. If you don't have goals what are doing. You aren't moving forward and you are at a standstill or moving backwards. I'm so excited :)

You should strive to be better that you ever thought you could be.

What are your dreams, ambitions and goals. If you don't have any sit down and write them out. Start small with weekly goals and grow from there. I hope you are all having a great week! We are about to get even more snow - JOY!

                                                                             xo, Erica