The holidays are here y’all, and we all know what that means…holiday parties galore! Instead of restricting yourself from all of the delicious food this holiday season, I have compiled a list of my top five helpful and easy to follow health tips!

Don’t starve yourself. Eat a light healthy meal to curb your hunger and cravings before the party; this way you’ll be less tempted to over indulge at the party as well! Starving yourself and then over indulging can really mess with your metabolism, which can take a while for your body to get back on track afterwards.

Eat until you are satisfied, not stuffed. You always here Uncle Larry or some other relative say, “After that meal, I need to loosen my belt a notch!” That is NOT a normal way to feel. And let’s be honest, when you feel that bloated, you just want to crawl in a hole and sleep forever. You will feel much more comfortable and energized after your meal, if you don’t overeat!

Control your sauces. You may not be able to control what is served at the holiday party, but you can control what you are pouring on top of those items such as gravy, melted butter, marshmallow, etc. These sauces can add anywhere from 50 to 300 calories on top of the food item you are eating!

Plan time for exercise. There is absolutely no excuse for not having time to exercise. Simply walking your dog is better than sitting on the couch! Like Elle Woods said, “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people don’t shoot their husbands. They just don’t!”

If you are baking, substitute those unhealthy options for a healthier alternative. You know those fried onion rings on top of your green bean casserole? Replace them with sliced or crushed up almonds! I promise it will taste just as good. Another healthy alternative is replacing butter in recipes with unsweetened applesauce. This cuts the amount of sugar in the recipe almost in half!

I hope y’all found these five tips helpful with the holiday season approaching. I wish each of you safe travels this upcoming week and the happiest of holidays! xoxo

If you’re anything like me, most days you do not have enough time to make a delicious breakfast each morning. I used to end up just grabbing a granola bar or an apple and head to class…until I discovered this gem of a recipe! Nutrition wise, this recipe is chalk full of it! Protein, iron, calcium, and omega-3’s…oh my! This is a great way to start off the long day you may have coming up. The beauty of this breakfast is you make it the night before, aka all you have to do the next day is add any topping of your choice and it’s ready to eat. This recipe is fool proof and takes less than 3 minutes to prepare (which is always a plus). I have listed the recipe below along with my favorite toppings to add along with it! Enjoy!!

This recipe makes 2 cups of the pudding.

Ingredients:

• 10 ounces of your choice of coconut milk
• 1/4-1/2 cup of chia seeds (this depends on the amount of seeds you want in the pudding…if you want it to look like the picture, use 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Optional: 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup (this will add to the sweetness of the pudding)

Directions:

• Add the coconut milk, chia seeds, vanilla extract, and maple syrup into a large bowl or jar.
• Whisk these ingredients together until there is a consistent texture throughout.
• Cover in plastic wrap or screw on a lid.
• Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight (the longer you refrigerate it, the thicker the consistency will become).
  • P.S. If you leave this pudding in the refrigerator longer than overnight, the chia seeds will become mushy!

Toppings:

• For the pictures attached, I used clementine oranges as a topping because we desperately needed to go grocery shopping in my house! I was pleasantly surprised, though. It added a tart taste to the sweet recipe!
• My favorite toppings for this pudding would have to be strawberries, raspberries, and vanilla almond butter! I am a huge vanilla fan, so I enjoy adding the vanilla almond butter, but any almond or peanut butter will taste delicious!
• Toasted coconut chips
• Mango
• Banana

If you try this recipe, please let me know in the ‘contact’ tab! Let me know what toppings you enjoyed and how yours turned out. xoxo

I know, I know…you’re probably saying “there are way too many blogs in this world”. Buuuut another one can’t hurt, right?? After my first semester of upper division classes in food and nutrition, I have already gained a wealth of knowledge and I want to share that knowledge with all of you! I will have to say the hardest part thus far has been picking a name for this blog. I decided to take the “punny” route and chose Another One Bites The Crust; hopefully I’m not the only one who gets it! To stay on track when I get back to school, I have set a posting schedule of Tuesdays and Fridays. My Tuesday post will be food related, whether it is a recipe or some fun food facts! My Friday post will be a health and wellness related post. I am so excited about starting this new adventure and I can’t wait to learn and grow along the way! Please be patient with me throughout this process as I am brand new to this and I will probably make a few mistakes during this journey! If you have any suggestions for posts or constructive criticism, please feel free to click on the ‘contact’ tab or I have my social media and email underneath the ‘about’ tab. xoxo