Hi friends! So today is the day that we find out if we get to do the dance showcase in June. I am so excited! I really hope our teacher thinks we are ready for it. It will give us a chance to try choreography without having to be in a competition setting. I am of course nervous about my foot due to the nerve problems I am having, but I have to try and put that out of my mind!! Yeah because doing that is so easy when I feel the weirdness of the nerves with every swing step I take! More on the nerves in another edition. Just need good you are ready to dance vibes from everyone!! J
Other than that, not too much else to report. I was happy to have a day off from working out yesterday to watch some Olympics with my hunny. Okay and to also watch Pretty Little Liars. Yes it is my guilty pleasure and I finally can admit it to the world!! Anyways so Ed called yesterday and he said “what do we have to do tonight?” and I was so happy to once say “Nothing!” Now I am a girl who likes to keep moving, but even people who like to keep busy need a break sometimes! My body was sore after an intense workout Sunday followed by PT Monday and it was nice to have a night off (of course I still did a plank because I had to do something hehee).
“Bad” foods that are “good” for you.
Okay so there have been a number of times where I will hear “ohh I can’t have that food because it has too much fat” and “I can’t have that food because it has too much sugar” Now that is a great mentality to have when it comes to maybe fried foods or Oreos but there are exception to these rules and that needs to be addressed. Now again, before I start, please note that even the foods I am about to talk about need to be eaten in moderation.
Avocados 
Okay so Avocado’s have a lot of fat yes, but it has a lot of healthy fats. Healthy fats (i.e. monounsaturated fats, unsaturated fats) are essential to a healthy lifestyle. In fact these types of fats will help you lose weight! (Yes there are fats that can make you skinnier, sounds like an oxymoron but it is true!). Now again, I wouldn’t suggest to eat a whole thing of guacamole or a whole bunch of avocados in one sitting, but a little can go along way. In fact, if you want to help your brain power maybe before a test or a big presentation, make sure to have avocados in your meal before hand because the healthy fats can do the trick! Now some people cannot stand the taste of avocados, and I get it, they have an acquired taste, however I have a trick for you to get that healthy fats and not to have to endure the taste of the avocado. Put ¼-/1/2 an avocado in a smoothie! Bam! You get the healthy fats from the avocado and it makes your smoothie creamier, double whammy! Now if you are like me and like the taste of avocado, try adding a small amount to your salads or your omelets or even healthy tacos. (which I will be sharing a healthy taco recipe soon enough that my husband makes all the time, Hi honey!).
Bananas 
That fun yellow fruit that we associate with monkeys. It has gotten such a bad reputation, but it is such a good fruit. Many assume you are going to get fat off of a banana because it is high in sugar. Yes bananas are high in sugar, but they have some amazing qualities too. First off, they have something called resistant starch. Now you may be going, Jaime what is resistant starch? Starches tend to break down into sugar in our intestines and this gives us the rise in insulin and all the yucky side affects of sugar. However not all starches break down this way. Resistant starches do not get broken down and thus do not become sugar in our system. Instead they go to the colon where bacteria ferment the starch and gives us energy. This helps us absorb more nutrients, helps with good bacteria, and helps colon blood flow. Now because it isn’t fully digested, we actually absorb less caloric energy (calories) per gram than with processed starches. Yay! This resistant starch helps us with digestion, keeps us fuller longer and makes our lives healthier in general. Read this article for all the resistant starch news!
So go bananas for bananas! (in moderation of course!). This fruit has gotten a bad rap and it is not needed. A banana (or even half a day) will help you in your healthy lifestyle Now let me tell you though, as the banana ripens, it does lose resistant starch so you want to have them when they are yellow not black. Although, ripened bananas have their place too! They make excellent additions to oatmeal (it will sweeten oatmeal naturally and make it creamier and if you mash it up enough, you can add it to any oatmeal without getting a banana flavor if you do not want one). Plus the most obvious of things is that bananas have potassium which helps absorb sodium as well. So if you know you are going to have a salt laden meal, make sure to include potassium in your diet along with a lot of water! So yay looks like the monkeys were on to something with this fruit!
Nut Butter 
So yes Peanut Butter (and other nut butters) have gotten a bad rap due to their high fat content. Again, these nut butters have healthy fats in them so they are good for you (just please limit your intake to 1-2 tablespoons a day, I am not giving you permission to eat the whole jar!). Now yes some nut butters are HORRIBLE for you. I am looking at you regular skippy and jif! You need to get all natural peanut butter (or almond butter, or whatever butter) where the only ingredient is that particular nut…period…no sugar, no salt, no oil. Nada! The only one that may add some oil or salt to it is sun butter which I have never experience before…yet! I am telling you though once you start on the real deal, you will never go back. My mother hated peanut butter her whole life. She finally caved and tried natural peanut butter and she realized it wasn’t peanut butter she hated, it was all the additives in it she didn’t like. She loved the natural peanut butter. Now here is my tip for all of you who say “but Jaime I buy natural peanut/almond/cashew etc butter and I always have to stir it before I can use it.” Yes the natural oils from the nuts will rise to the top, but I have a trick for you (come on you know I had to have a trick). The day you buy the butter, store it in your fridge upside down overnight, when you go to use it the next day, the oils will be settled and voila! No stirring needed! Your welcome!
Now here is one more tip on Peanut Butter that you may not know. Studies have shown that if your breakfast you have in the morning involves peanut butter, than you are less likely to have cravings throughout the day. Now how about that? You get to indulge in something healthy and it might ward off those unhealthy cravings for the rest of the day. Count me in! (Hint PB and oatmeal…so good!)
Okay enough from me. I am done
So sound off….which of these foods are you favorite and how do you like to eat them
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