My first recipe is a healthy version of Apple Crisp. I chose this recipe because we are fresh off of Thanksgiving. The apple pies looked and tasted delicious. I am a strong believer that we don't have to compromise on taste to have healthy food. Although, this is not the same as eating a piece of apple pie, the taste is similar enough and will be enjoyed by all-even the kids. Ella is my final approval of my recipes. She is the pickiest eater and would eat junk food all day if allowed to. She loves this recipe. It is good enough for you that it can be served for breakfast too. We like it with yogurt or by itself.

Grain-free and Vegan Apple Crisp

• Prep Time: 20 min
• Cook Time: 50 min
• Ready in: 1:10 h
• Yield: 6-10 servings

Ingredients

For the filling:

• ¼ cup honey- I usually use less
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 5 apples- cored, peeled, and chopped. I like Honey Crisp but any kind will work.

For the topping:

• ½ cup  almond flour
• 2 teaspoons coconut flour
• ⅔ cup  chopped pecans or walnuts (about ¼" in size)
• 1½ teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons  coconut oil

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F  and get out an 8"x8" pan.
2. Mix the honey, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a large bowl.
3. Peel the apples, if desired, and core and cut into ⅓" pieces. Place the apples in the honey mixture and stir until the apples are well coated in the mixture. Place in the ungreased pan.
4. Mix all the topping ingredients and drop walnut-sized pieces of topping over the apples. Only about half of the apples will be covered.
5. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the topping is brown and crisp and the apples are bubbling. The topping will crisp up much slower than a traditional crisp, but don't worry as it will crisp up towards the very end of the baking time. Cover the crisp with foil if the topping starts to brown too early.
6. Let cool for 10 minutes and serve. If not serving immediately, once cool, loosely cover with a piece of plastic wrap (so the topping doesn't go soft). If storing overnight, properly cover the crisp with plastic wrap. Do note that the topping gets soft on the second day.

Instead of serving with ice cream, serve with yogurt. It is actually a great breakfast that way! 

Nina Pears

Pumpkin Pie Bars

 When planning for Thanksgiving and trying to eat healthy, I wanted taste but I didn't want to throw away all of my hard work. I also wanted to keep eating as clean as I could. I love pumpkin and pumpkin pie. I actually bought all of the ingredients to make a pumpkin pie but I couldn't find it within myself to use the condensed milk. And then I was going to improvise but then I realized the kids don't really eat the crust and even if I made an almond crust, they probably wouldn't eat it and I didn't need it. 
The pumpkin pie bars were amazing. I will continue to make these for  guiltless treat and whenever I have the urge to eat pumpkin. 

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup water
• 1 medium banana, ripe- the riper the more sweet the bars are
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbs honey- you can add more if you want them more sweet
• 1/3 cup coconut flour
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pray or line an 8×8 casserole dish with parchment
2. In a food processor place the water, banana, pumpkin, honey and vanilla and combine until smooth. Alternatively you could just mix it by hand.
3. Then in a bowl combine the coconut flour, almond flour, sea salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
4. Next stir in the wet ingredient mixture until fully incorporated.
5. Let the mixture sit for at least five minutes so that the coconut flour has time to thicken up.
6. Then spread out the batter into the lined/oiled pan.
7. Bake for around 70 minutes (I would check after an hour and then every few minutes after that). The end result will be very moist, but will have formed a noticeable soft crust on top. Let cool for about 10 minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely.
8. You can slice and serve the bars then, or place them in the fridge overnight to firm up even more. Enjoy!
9. You may also freeze them for later!

Nina Pears

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a wonderful day for so many reasons. It brings friends and family together. It begins the holiday season, and it allows you to take a minute out of your crazy life to reflect on what is important and what you are grateful for.
As I sit here the night before Thanksgiving, I feel like this one is different this year. I am thankful for the frustrations, the hard times, they victories, the success, the good times, the memories made, relationships, my failures, and really everything. All of these things have shaped the person that I am today and I am so thankful to have had all of these experiences.
I have grown from my failures. I have cherished my success. I appreciate all of my time every day whether it is running around like crazy or spending quality time with people I love.
This last year has been an amazing year for me. I have jumped out of my comfort zone many times and I have experienced life to it's fullest!
So as thanksgiving approaches...
I am thankful for my family and friends.
I am thankful for you being a part of my life.
I am thankful for my health.
I am thankful for all the memories we make everyday.
I am thankful for my challenges and failures which help me grow as a person.
I am thankful for the journey that I am on.
I wish you all a happy thanksgiving and hope you can find the joy in your day!

Nina Pears

21 Day Fix Results

I am 1 day away from completing my first round of the 21 Day Fix. This program has been amazing. All of the tools I needed for success were given to me and it was designed to take away all of the excuses. Many people wonder why I would be trying to lose weight. I didn't do this program to lose weight. I did it to eat better and was hoping to build some muscle and tone. I don't even have a scale at my house but I am aware of my body and there are areas that I want to work on and building muscle is something that interests me.I wanted to be able to eat right! I have always had a problem with portion control and easily justified eating large quantities of food by saying it was healthy. Apples and peanut butter were my go to snack and I would probably eat more peanut butter than apple. I learned to eat more apple with just a taste of peanut butter!
After I ran my marathon and vacationing in NYC for 10 days, I wanted to get control of my diet and start a fitness program where I could lift weights and build muscle. I fell in love with this program. I learned how to eat properly and that I was eating way too much of the wrong kind of food before. With the 21 Day fix, I ate many more vegetables than I was before and cut out a lot of fat and really learned how much I need to eat. I probably consumed more food with the 21 day fix but it was the right food. I used to justify my portions by working out hard but I was consuming way too much for what I was working out.
After doing this program, I noticed a big difference in my stomach. It was much flatter and my ab muscles got a lot stronger.
While many people do this program for weight loss and lose an average of 10 pounds, I did it to learn how to properly eat and to tone.
This program is a great starting point, it is great for something different, it is great to learn the proper way to eat and workout, and it will produce results for everyone!

Nina Pears

Thanksgiving Menu...healthy or no holding back?

When it comes to the holidays, do you have staples that you eat every year? Does your food become a tradition? Do you try to make healthy recipes and stay as healthy as possible or do you make traditional recipes and don't hold back at all?

My holiday meals have completely evolved over the years. When I first started cooking dinners and hosting our friends and family, I made what we ate when I was growing up. In recent years, I have tweaked recipes and have really enjoyed holding on to traditional recipes but making them healthier. Even with cutting back on the butter and sugar, the food is still delicious and enjoyed by everyone.

A turkey is a must! I buy fresh turkeys that have not been frozen and don't have junk added to them to preserve them! To me it is worth the extra money!

Stuffing- I don't stuff the turkey but make the stuffing separately. I make stuffing using bread. I grew up eating it with white bread but now I use gluten free whole grain bread. I usually don't eat grains but stuffing is a must! To make it with bread, I break the bread into pieces and squish it up with eggs, celery, onion, and poultry season. It is very basic!!!! I then bake it and make sure the top gets crispy!

Mashed potatoes- instead of just using white potatoes, I mix in sweet potatoes too. I use a splash of non fat milk and a little bit of butter. Growing up, we used a whole stick, not I use a table spoon at most!

Sweet Potato Casserole- Marshmallows? Brown sugar? More of a dessert than a  vegetable? I bake my sweet potatoes and then mash them into a casserole dish and add a table spoon of real maple syrup. The syrup still makes them sweet but no where near as bad as the original recipe. I then bake them as normal.

Squash- I love to make acorn squash! I just bake it ans skip the sugar and syrup.

Green bean casserole- steamed green beans with mushrooms, garlic, pepper, and olive oil taste even better than baking green beans with cream of mushroom soup and topping them with fried onions!

Roll- I opt for the whole grain version!

Corn bread- we bake our own or the Bob's Red Mill mix.

Desserts-

Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins with almond flour and honey to sweeten.

Pie crust made out of almond flour with no sweetener. Apple and pumpkin are musts! Apples can be sweetened with cinnamon and stevia and pumpkin can be made with a fraction of the sugar or with honey to sweeten.

Leftovers- Turkey vegetable soup! Skip the noodles!

Please let me know if you would like specific recipes! I promise it is still just as delicious when made healthier!

Nina Pears

21 Day Fix Week 1

I have the first week of the 21 day fix under my belt. This has been the best program I have ever done on my fitness journey. It is amazing how easy it is to follow, how much strength it builds so quickly and the results that it produces.
There are 7 different workouts with the program and you do one each day and repeat the cycle for 3 weeks in a row. The workouts are only 30 minutes long. Each exercise only lasts 1 minute which makes it very manageable. It is amazing what 30 minutes a day can do for you.
Working out is only a small portion of what is necessary to get the results you want. Diet and nutrition is the bigger part. I love to eat and for the most part don't have a problem eating clean and healthy. But I do have a problem eating the right combinations of foods and the right amount. The 21 day Fix allows me to eat what I normally eat but in the right portions. I eat a lot more veggies and protein. This meal plan is very manageable and still allows me to eat the same meals as my family. We just make recipes a little bit differently.
This program provides the perfect combination of fitness and nutrition which leads to success.
I can't wait to see what the next 2 weeks will bring.

the left are my pictures from day one and the right are pictures from day 7. The ones on the left were also taken the day after my marathon. 

Nina Pears

In it for the long run!

Ya know that saying “you don’t really know what you have until you don’t have it anymore?” That is how I feel about running right now.

After running my first marathon, I realized what running meant to me and what a huge impact it has on my life. The marathon didn’t make me realize that. The week without running after the marathon made me realize that. I intentionally took a week off after trying to run a short recovery run and having my body tell me it needed a little break. My muscles were tight and tired and just need a rest. Nothing major at all. It was so hard for me to mentally take a week off. I was still working it out so I was able to get my fix that way but it didn’t do what a run did. It was my first day not going for a run in 7 straight months. I mentally craved my run.

I went back to it on Saturday and my body still isn’t 100% as I am working through some overworked muscles and stretching out the tightness of my calves and hamstrings. As slow and short as the runs are, they are so therapeutic and I just push through them because I need them.

It is frustrating when your mind wants to push through the run but your body is saying slow down or stop. While training for my marathon, I so looked forward to the day that I could take it easy or skip a run if I wanted to and now that the time has come, I crave another long run and can’t wait to start accumulating the miles again.

Any doubts I had about running after the marathon and if I was a true runner have been settled!

Nina Pears

What is your why?

With everything we do, we have a why. There is always a reason. Sometimes, we have complete control over what we are doing and other times we don't. In the times that we don't have control, it is so important to remember your why.
What is your job? Why do you do that work? Your why may simply be to make money or it might be so much bigger. No matter what end of the spectrum you are on, you have a why and when you think about your why it helps keep you focused.
This week has been a nice reminder of remembering my why. After running a marathon, I gave my body a break from running for the week. I didn't want to but my body needed the rest. I snuck a run in here or there but had a hard time running. But my why for running became so big that I had to get some sort of run in.
Your why really is your passion and it will change and intensify and fade at times. It is so important to know your why.
I had a really special run with Maya this morning. She joined me on her bike and we went for a nice slow run/ride. While I loved my marathon training, I have really missed my runs with my kids. It really is great quality time.
My runs are bonding time with my family and husband.
I always said I run because I can. But I have also realized that running gives me so much in return. At the end of the day, I run because it pushes me out of my comfort zone and makes me feel amazing.
As I think about what is next with my running, it is nice to remember my why and refocus.

Nina Pears

Losing control to gain control

Losing control to get back into control

For the last seven months, I have completely been in control of my diet and fitness. Over this time, there were moments where I lost a bit of control but gained it again right away. There were also times when I fell in a slump with my fitness and needed to change it up. I had the most control over myself than I had ever had before. I was incredibly dedicated and driven. I also got the best results that I have even seen.
This last week was a little different. I gave myself permission to ease up on everything. I continued to run but not at the intensity that I was. I took a full week off from working out which was the longest amount of time that I went without in over three years. And then my diet consisted of whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Because of the discipline I have had and the reactions my body now has to certain foods, I controlled this a little bit but ate a lot. There was one point during the week where I had gained 6 pounds. I know weight always fluctuates but for 3 years my weight has been constant within + or - 1 pound.
It paid a toll on my overall well-being and body! I had many stomach issues. I lacked energy. And my body was super achy and sore. But I am so happy I had this off week because it reminds me of how important nutrition and fitness are to me and reminds me of why I make it a priority. That reminder is great to let me refocus, create new goals, and achieve them.I am now hitting it harder than ever and really enjoying it! 

Nina Pears

The end of a chapter...

  Running the actual marathon was the end of the chapter.
Leading up to the marathon, I loved my training and growth so much that I already felt like I had won. It wasn't about the actual marathon anymore. It was about the entire journey. I committed to something more than I have ever done before. I did something for myself, which is easy to let go. I pushed through mental and physical barriers. I improved and I even enjoyed it.
I went in to the marathon thinking I didn't even need this run because it was really about the training and the victories I already won. Little did I know what an amazing experience the actual marathon would be too.
Some people call it a race and others refuse to refer to it as a race if they don't have a chance of winning it. I didn't' refer to it as a race until I was at the half way mark. That is when it became the biggest race I have ever participated in. At that point, I had no chance of meeting my goal time but that is when it became a race against myself. I had to race against my body and my mind but also get them to work together. I won the race by finishing, making mistakes that I can learn from, and pushing myself past all of my limits.
The toughest part of the marathon is the 4 hours waiting in the staging area before the race even starts. There is an excitement getting there because this day you have been working towards is finally here. And then you just wait and anticipate what is about to come. And I froze-shaking/shivering froze!
Then there are the porta potties. Thousands of them. If you have ever run, you know you need to use those ports potties or... But oh my goodness are they disgusting. Ever one is afraid of the or else so everyone uses them and gets everything out of your system and did I mention everyone included 65000 runners. Imagine those ports potties that had a constant line for 4 hours!
On cold days, people dress in layers to stay warm and start the run. Then there is a shedding process. You dump all those layers. Some people have throw away things and others have top of the line fear that gets thrown in the Salvation Army bins at the start but then gets thrown to the street as the race goes on. I didn't realize how frugal as was until I couldn't part with my $20 jacket and tied into my waist instead.
The start of the race was a one in a lifetime experience. As you approach the official start with so many like-minded people from all of the world, there is an amazing bind that is created without any words being exchanged or ever seeing these people again.
Any advice given to a runner is to go out slow. The biggest mistake any runner makes is going out to fast! Yes I made that mistake but there was no holding me back as that energy and feeling over came me. It was game time. My first thoughts during the marathon while going over the Verrazano bridge was that this was the most amazing thing I had ever taken part of. The views were incredible. The people surrounding you were amazing. It was finally time to shine. Coming off of the bridge was just as incredible when we were greeted with the cheers and support from the community. Total strangers and firefighters and police cheering us on with loud screams and entertaining posters. I kept waiting for the spectators to thin out or disappear but they were there all the way to the end. During the times when I needed to dig deeper or remember my why, those signs came in ah dy. my favorite was the glitter sign that said "remember this was your idea." Nobody forced me to run this and nobody even put the idea in my head. It was all me!
The first half of the marathon was amazing. The support of the community was unimaginable. The views and being able to see New York through these eyes was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Having my family at mile 11 was chilling.
The adrenaline high from the first half pushed me through the next 5 miles easily and then it all started to catch up to me. I really struggled after mile 18. I got to the point where I didn't know if I could continue to pick my feet up as pain shot down my legs from my groin to my ankle and even into the bottom of my feet.
This is when the run turned into a race for me. I needed to race against the pain. Mentally I was still strong and wasn't going to let anything stop me.
Then I got to mile 20 and hit the feared wall. I had never hit a wall before and didn't think it could really be a wall. After all, there were those signs that said "when you hit the wall, plow through it." All you have to do is be stronger than that wall and plow through, right? The wall for me was the moment when you can no longer be mentally strong and your muscles refuse to work to lift your feet off the ground. All I wanted to do was fall to the ground and cry. The fans at this point of the race were amazing but I was at a point where I just wanted to tune them out too. The last thing I wanted to hear was how close I was and how I was almost there. And to make it worse, I think the last few miles were mostly uphill. Something got me through it though. I don't know how other than very slowly and mechanically. There are parts of those last few miles that really are a blur. Then the final stretch approaches. You find whatever else you have inside of you and just leave it all out on the road as you cross the finish line.
You think you are all done but then there is an hour of walking while you are freezing to get out of the secure area and really be done.
My mindset did a complete 360 during the race. At the beginning I thought it was the most amazing experience ever and wondered why I hadn't done it sooner. I was even thinking about when I could do it again. The. After the middle I questioned my training and my ability. I doubted myself. I thought of how crazy it was to run 26 miles and who in the world would ever want to do that. I also swore I would never do it again. Then during that hour of recovery time after the race, I started to think about all of the positives and began to see the pleasure in the experience again and even thought about how I could learn from all of my mistakes and do it better the next time. Yes there is a next time in my mind again. And even a day after when I am sore all over my body and exhausted, I am finding more and more positives about the experience. The disappointment about my pace and strategy has now turned to fuel for the next time from a lesson learned.
In a city that is known for being selfish at times, the community outshines any other than I have ever been a part of. The support from everyone was amazing and greatly appreciated. The cheers, posters, high fives, and rows deep of spectators along the 26 miles was amazing. Seeing the city in a way that can only be seen by running through the 5 Burroughs was unthinkable. Running this marathon through a city that I felt got the best of me before was therapeutic. The support from friends and family was truly inspiring! I say see ya later NYC and until the next time NYC marathon! This is the end of this chapter but only the beginning of this story!

Nina Pears