Happy Valentine’s Weekend Lovers!
I ho
pe everyone is excited for a romantic weekend, haha!! Of course, I am kicking things off with a lovely evening of FREE yoga and exclusive shopping! That’s right, tonight is the night I teach at HAVEN collective yoga’s trunk show hosted by the beautiful & talented Jacqueline Palmer. I am so excited to slip into their amazing contour leggings and share my offering with the Bay Area beauties in attendance. But enough about that, today’s Foodie Friday is sort of a Valentine’s themed because I made this recipe specially for my handsome husband. He asked me to pick up some zucchini bread ingredients earlier this week and they sort of just sat there. So I took the hit, haha, and got to work concocting a healthy but still delicious zucchini muffin for us both to enjoy this weekend & coming week.
Just like everything I make, this still needs some tweaking, but certainly good enough to share as is…I present:
Zucchini Muffins w/Pecans
- 2 scant cups whole wheat flour (sifted twice)
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 2 eggs (or egg substitute)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup honey (heavy measure)
- 1/2 cup 2% plain greek yogurt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 zucchini grated and squeezed of excess moisture
- 6 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Heat oven to 325. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together in large bowl. In separate bowl, combine eggs, yogurt, honey, oil, sugar, vanilla, and zucchini and whisk until well mixed. Add wet to dry and fold all the ingredients together until uniform. Then add the pecans, spoon into cupcake tin (lined, sprayed, and filled 1/2 – 3/4), and bake on center rack for 14 minutes.
I was definitely skeptical at first but I must admit, I could become addicted to these moist, delicious, little wonders!! I hope you and yours find yourselves inspired to get creative with some of your favorite treats this weekend!!
’til next time, keep smiling! 🙂
I’m excited to share this weekly dose of motivation because we’re both starting to see differences. As I have been sharing we’re still enjoying our lives, indulging in moderation, and we’re both down 5+ pounds. More than that, we’re both noticing a bit more muscle definition and feeling great! 
We had a wonderful weekend in Tahoe skiing and enjoying the amazing views! This week, in addition to my studio classes at 
But lets not get too far ahead of ourselves. Here’s what we have lined up for this week to keep us motivated and making positive changes. It’s week 6 of 16 and we’re feeling like we could do this forever!
Can you believe the first month of 2016 has already come and gone?!?!? I think I must have blinked and missed it because I sure can’t! January was full of so many exciting visits, adventures, and exciting career opportunities I can’t imagine how February is even going to compare.
One thing is staying the same though, and that’s our commitment to healthier choices. We made it through one month of more conscious living: eating well, exercising, making healthier decisions, etc… and even though there was indulging, like these amazing desserts from dinner at 
I am filled with love and excitement from such an incredible weekend at Yoga Journal Live San Francisco and I can’t wait share everything I absorbed with my students! This week is going to be a little crazy with Phil traveling AGAIN and family visiting but we’re both doing our best to stick with regular exercise and smart dietary choices. 
As a teacher and a student of yoga it is very easy to slip into a routine…just move through a sequence without paying attention, follow the same ques, repeat the same things, etc… I know yoga is supposed to help you be present, focused, and all that jazz but trust me, it happens to the best of us, haha! I really started to feel that way yesterday; as I was teaching the 2nd of 3 classes for the day it felt like I was saying some of my ques just simply out of habit, not necessarily because there was any intention behind it. It occurred to me I didn’t have a focus…I was just showing up. And while that may be enough for some, for me, it just isn’t. So, with a few more classes to teach this week, and a whole lot of 
With my classes I chose to focus on thoracic spine opening, and for myself I am focused on being present, staying motivated, and breathing through the tough stuff. There is much more in life to love than you can possibly imagine…you just have to focus! ❤
traveling for business and me working the yoga journal conference but we’re committed to sticking with our routine. If you are in the bay area and haven’t gotten your passes for Yoga Journal Conference this coming weekend use code NEW YOU at check out to get 15% off your passes. I am so excited to be a part of everything and I hope to see some of you there too!!
I am excited to kick off the new year with a new vision for Livingleen; which starts with 16 weeks of diet & exercise regimes every Monday. Both Phil and I are committed to sticking with the posted weekly routine as best as possible…making adjustments, of course, when life calls for it.
This week we’re hitting the ground running with 2 days of lifting, 3 days of cardio, and yoga (at least a few minutes) every day. We’re partnering our workouts with a lower sugar, high protein diet to fuel our fire and have us feeling fierce in no time. We’ve definitely been indulging in holiday decadence and feeling the extra pounds, so this shift is much needed.
In an effort to stay motivated and keep things interesting, we’re taking this a step further and turning the next 16 weeks into a bit of a competition…best results gets a prize! We’re going to choose a certain amount of money and the winner gets to decide what we do with it…it should be fun! Below is the diet and exercise we’re sticking to this week…let’s get to it!
Livingleen 