Stronger Strides

The holidays can be a hard time to stick to your goals. Here are five tips to beat the holiday pitfalls in your goals! 1. Tweak your recipes Cherished family recipes may be loaded with ingredients that we should avoid. Try substituting with applesauce, greek yogurt, vanilla extract and trade condensed milk for coconut milk. 2. Practice portion control Feeling stuffed after a holiday meal seems to be a common feeling this time of year, but it doesn’t have to be. There is a difference between feeling satisfied and feeling full. Watch “having seconds” This can lead to excess calories and not giving yourself enough time to fill full. Limit the food that is around. Food waste is a big deal in America and we can reduce this by the amount of food that we make. Do not miss meals! This slows down your metabolism and will actually do more damage than good on your body. Bring your own snacks to work- there are always tons of holiday treats around the office this tim

You know the deal. You train hard for four months. Your runs are spot on. Waking up at 4:30 every day to sweat it out. Recovery is right. Nutrition is right. Your pace is right. Hydration is right. EVERYTHING IS RIGHT ON SCHEDULE. I have always suffered with my mental strength. I grew up in a house that competition was in our blood and growing up with two amazing athletes for sisters. Try being 11 and 9 years younger and always trying to keep up.  When I signed up for the Big Cottonwood Marathon, I had big dreams. My sister had run that marathon a few years prior and she told me that it was fast and an easy course. I could achieve great things on that course.  I live close to the course so I would run it at least once a week. I could run that course with my eyes closed. Every run I was spot on for achieving a 3:15 marathon. I had my eye on that prize. I could almost taste the victory. The night of the race, I was so nervous. I finally fell asleep about 3 AM and my alarm

Protein is always a hot topic which I will talk about in a later post. Try to get your protein in within 30 minutes of finishing your workout.  I drink this smoothie almost every morning because it is jam packed with protein which keeps me full and grows my Sponge Bob arms! I absolutely love Ideal Fits protein, it is by far my favorite. You can find a more about this protein here .  Here is the recipe: -3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk -2 tablespoons powdered peanut butter -1/2 banana (frozen if you like a thicker consistency) -1 scoop of chocolate protein powder (I use Ideal Fit- Chocolate Brownie) -1 tablespoons of natural peanut butter (there is never a thing of too much peanut butter) -6-8 ice cubes Directions: -Place in a high speed blender (I use my Blendtec) and enjoy!! Happy running friends, Kylie