Paleo Fried Bananas

I recently visited the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. While I was there, I tried to eat only authentic foods because, well, when in Rome...

One of my favorite dishes was the fried banana. It was so simple but it was something that I had never even considered before. So of course, I had to put a Paleo spin on it when I made it myself.

Paleo Fried Bananas

Ingredients

• Bananas, slightly green (as many as you feel like eating. 1 per person)
• Cinnamon
• Honey
• Coconut oil
• Ghee, optional

Steps

1. Add 2 tbsp coconut oil and 1 tbsp ghee (or 3 tbsp coconut oil) to a pan on medium heat, or 1/4 inch of oil in your pan. (I used a small pan)
2. While the oil heats, peel your bananas.
3. Slice bananas into coins, about 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick.
4. Gently place them in the oil. The slices can touch.
5. Let them 'fry' for 3-4 min. per side. If you try to turn them and they are sticking, they aren't ready.
6. Gently remove them from the pan and place them on a plate lined with a paper towel.
7. They will be a little soft but as they cool and dry, the banana slices will crisp up.
8. Sprinkle the slices with cinnamon and drizzle with honey. Serve as dessert or skip the cinnamon and honey and serve them alongside your meal.

So simple. I made them on a whim and my boyfriend LOVED them. It's not a typical american dish but it's not so 'weird' that people won't be willing to try it... and love it!

Try it out and let me know what you think!

#100happyandhealthydays Challenge

Can you live a happy and healthy lifestyle for 100 consecutive days? We live in a crazy busy world and sometimes it's hard to do something just for YOU everyday. But taking care of your personal well-being is just as important as that 2 o'clock meeting or responding to your 50 new emails. Join in on my 100 day challenge of creating a happier and healthier you. Find out how it works below...

I decided to start this challenge for myself and thought that it would be fun to share with my followers, too! Here's how it works:

• Choose a healthy goal, or several, to accomplish by the end of the 100 days. It could be something like not biting your nails, or losing 10 lbs. But make it manageable.
• Post to your social networks (Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram) everyday using #100happyandhealthydays.
• Start your 100 days with a post about the goal(s) that you plan on accomplishing.
• At the end of the 100 days, share your progress with the social-sphere!

 What do I post?

• Whatever you want! This is for yourself and to motivate others. Examples of things to post would be- a new recipe, enjoying the sunshine, walking your dog, a day in the gym, etc.

Why?

• Like I mentioned, I really just wanted to do this for myself because I have a goal of getting abs by the end of the summer and plan on finishing out the summer season much differently than it started. (Aka: less booze and more sunshine!) Do you have a goal? It doesn't have to be fitness-related. It could just be that you want to eat more veggies or cut back on your alcohol intake. This challenge is just a fun way to share your progress and stay focused. You know you'll be sharing your life on Instagram anyway ;)

F or motivation along the way, follow my Facebook Page at Facebook.com/TheCaveGirlChronicles  or find me on Instagram @xojessicajo for my personal journey.

Let's get started on creating happier and healthier versions of our already fabulous selves! 

Pre-workout vs. Post-workout Supplements

During my time at the gym, I've noticed that there are three types of people- the pre-workout muscle heads, the post-workout junkies and the extreme athletes, or extreme athlete wannabes, that dabble in both. What's better, you ask? That depends on what type of results you're looking for.

If you follow the advise of Hulk Hogan, all you need for fitness success are prayers, weights and vitamins (source). Optimizing your nutrition aids in muscle performance and recovery and also helps you to maintain and build muscle mass. And since it's extremely hard to eat all of the nutrition that you need per day, adding supplements can help you reach your goals faster! Achieving your desired workout goal and moving closer towards your dream physique is not all about what you do at the gym.  An equally important component of your workout is the nutrition, which includes choosing the right pre-workout and post-workout supplements.

For the basic breakdown, pre-workout is best if you need an extra boost in your energy to maxamize your workouts and if you're looking to create lean muscle mass, while post-workout is all about recovery and healing your muscles after an intense workout so you can get back in the gym tomorrow. Pre-work supplements typically contain amino acids, carbs and stimulants, like caffeine. While post-workout supplements contain protein (usually whey) and creatine.

Usually, people prefer one type of supplement over the other. They either need that extra energy for their workout and take pre-workout or they need some extra help with recovery and take a post-workout supplement. I, personally, like to use both. Some days I use them both in the same day, whereas other days I only prefer to use one or the other. There is nothing wrong with using both supplements to achieve your gains.

Which do you use?

Other Source:
Infinite Labs

The Zone Diet: A Brief Overview

Let me start by saying that I THINK I may have heard of this a year or so ago. But I have recently started talking about it with some chicks at my box before I decided to look into it more. Like the Paleo lifestyle, it advocates "real food" - lean protein, veggies, fruits and nuts. But unlike the Paleo Diet, it has a better definition of how much of everything you should be eating.

While I've had great results over the past year or so with the Paleo Diet, I feel like I need a little more guidance. The Zone Diet has a set way of breaking down exactly how much of what types of food you should be eating.- 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat. If you take nothing else away from this way of eating, take that piece of information. While being on the Paleo Diet, my carbs were not at 40% of my daily intake. And by carbs, it means mostly fruits and veggies. Trying to add in more carbs while still keeping my calories up has been the hardest part for me over the past week.

The Zone Diet breaks each of your meals down by "blocks." For example, the average male will eat 4 blocks at breakfast, lunch and dinner and 2 blocks for their two snacks each day. A 4 block breakfast would look like this-

• 4 blocks protein
• 2 large eggs
• 4 eggs whites
• 4 blocks carbs
• 2/3 cup oatmeal
• 1 orange
• 4 blocks fat
• 2 tbsp. avocado
• about 6 almonds

While doing research, I came across these great sites that helped me break down what the Zone Diet was and how I wanted to implement it into my life.

• http://www.webmd.com/diet/zone-what-it-is
• This shows a basic overview of what the Zone Diet consists of.
• http://crossfitimpulse.com/the-zone-diet-explained-edited
• Check out this site for how to pair the Zone Diet with the Paleo Diet and CrossFit.
• http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/cfjissue21_May04.pdf
• Here, you can find great meal plans and a breakdown of what types of food are equal to how many blocks.

Right now I am still eating 80% Paleo, but I am also trying to implement the Zone Diet's basics of adding in more carbs. I am not really 'counting calories' but I do like to monitor mine every now and then to see exactly how many calories I'm taking in on an average day and making sure that they're close to where I need to be (1,800 cal/day). 

Do you think the Zone Diet could work for you? Or have you tried it and had good results? Share your insight!

My New Kitchen Toy: The NutriBullet

I love getting new kitchen gadgets! For Christmas my parents got me the Nutribullet. So far I have made mostly green smoothies, because I LOVE them, but I have also been trying to experiment with some other fun combinations.

I had asked for this device because I was interested in a juicer without actually being a juicer. Juicers are great and all, but I feel like they discard the best parts of the veggies. The Nutribullet keeps every part of the vegetable/fruit and extracts all of the nutrients. It's basically like a blender, but better. There is also a milling blade that can be used for nuts and spices. I really want to try making my own nut butter!

Here are some of my favorite NutriBullet concoctions:

Banana Nut Protein Smoothie:

• 1 banana
• tbsp. of your favorite nut butter
• 1 scoop protein powder (chocolate is pretty tasty)
• a dash of cinnamon
• water, coconut milk, or other base of your choice

DELICOUS! This was just something that I whipped up for a post-workout, pre-dinner, snack. Fat, carbs and protein :)

Green Smoothie:

• Almond/coconut milk
• 1 handful of leafy greens (I used spinach)
• 5 strawberries
• small handful of blueberries
• 1 tsp. flaxseed oil
• 1 scoop of protein powder, optional

This is a great way to get in your fruits and veggies with your breakfast in the morning, or just as a snack! I like to add protein powder for a little extra love, but it tastes great without it! Also, if you need it to be a little sweeter, try adding in a small amount of your favorite sweetener.

Energizing Smoothie:

• the juice of 1/2 a lime
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1 pear
• 1 apple, cored and seeds removed
• 1 small handful of spinach
• ground ginger
• green tea

If you have a Nutribullet, where do you find your recipes? Share your finds with me!