3 Ways to Detox After Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is less than a week away, so let's discuss 3 ways that I can help you after the holiday with getting back on track before Christmas.

Can you spot them in the picture? Here's a clue... I pointed them out for you! hahaha! womp womp

1. The 21 Day Fix. I am not just saying this because it's on sale this month (hint hint) but because it truly is success in a box. Meal planning, portion control, fun workouts, and just 3 weeks to a better you. Check me out!

2. The 3 Day Refresh. Want less of a commitment, and to just detox after the holiday? Then the 3 Day Refresh is definitely something you want to check out. Again, success in a box. This is a food cleanse... no juices or starving. Just eating the right foods for your body to get things back on track after all that pie! Check me out!

3. Want a longer commitment? The Ultimate Reset is something that I keep in my back pocket for when things really truly get out of control with my eating. After vacations or preparing for a big event, I commit to a 21 day eating detox program that not only rids my body of all those bad toxins, but teaches me how to eat better. No working out either! Check me out!

All three of these come with me, your personal coach to help you stay on track and finally HAVE FUN with eating healthy. No one should have to be miserable or have fear when it comes to food... we should have healthy relationships with our bodies.

Message me for more details!

www.facebook.com/erika.levarse

mommyburgh@gmail.com

Whole30 Crackling Chicken

I was so excited to come across this recipe because this is something that not only do I enjoy, but my kids went BANANAS over!

I can't take credit for it.... link to original post can be found here.... http://nomnompaleo.com/post/74180911762/cracklin-chicken

Some key tips for this recipe:

• Buy bone-in, skin-on thighs—they’re inexpensive. Plus, the bones are easy to remove, and the crispy skin is what makes this dish. I prefer thighs over breasts for this recipe—to me, breasts tend to dry out and end up more bland. (I bought 8 thighs at Walmart for $5!)

• Use a pair of sharp kitchen shears to remove the bones. (Reserve the bones in the freezer for your next batch of bone broth!)

• Dry the chicken thighs well, and season both sides of the thigh with salt, but ONLY the meat side gets additional seasoning and/or pepper. If you put other seasonings on the skin, it’ll run the risk of burning. Then, everyone will be sad. Tears are not tasty. <<< seriously though!

Ready for my fool-proof method for a crowd-pleasing, kid-approved chicken dinner?

How good does this look??? Get ready for a food adventure!

Cracklin’ Chicken

Serves 4

Gather these ingredients:

• 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (approximately 4 pounds)

• 1 tablespoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt (remember, not all salts are the same!)

• 2 teaspoons ghee

• 2 teaspoons seasoning blend of choice (optional)

Here’s what you do:

Grab some chicken thighs and a sharp pair of kitchen shears.

Blot the chicken dry with a paper towel.

Starting at one end, carefully cut out the bone, making sure you don’t cut through the meat. Stay as close to the bone as possible.

When you get to the other end, trim around the joint and cartilage and remove the bone.

Voilà!

Keep a container handy to save the bones for bone broth. Your mom will high-five you for being frugal. (Or, if you have my mom, she’ll fist bump you. Okay, not really. She’ll just nod approvingly after you’ve turned away.)

If extra skin or fat is flapping around and hanging off the thighs, you can trim it off as well. But don’t cut too much away, because the skin will shrink when you fry it.

Believe me: You don’t want to skimp out on the cracklins’.

Flatten the chicken with a meat pounder (or cut a gash in the thickest part of each thigh piece with your scissors) to ensure uniform cooking.

Turn the chicken skin-side-up, and sprinkle salt on the skin from way up high, like it’s snowing. That way, the skin will be seasoned evenly. (Don’t believe me? Listen to Thomas Keller then. Did you know that he allegedly flirted with Paleo while on his Bouchon Bakery book tour? And did you know that I started that rumor?)

Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat.

Melt the ghee in the pan and place four chicken thighs skin-side down in the hot pan.

Season the meat side with your favorite seasoning blend (I’m a fan of using my own special Magic Mushroom Powder, a recipe available inour cookbook and iPad app.) If your seasoning blend of choice doesn’t include salt, you may want to add a bit more kosher salt to the chicken.

Let the skin fry undisturbed until crispy and golden brown (around 7-10 minutes), rotating the pan 90 degrees at the halfway point to make sure the heat from the burner is uniformly distributed.

Pro tip: Cover the pan with a splatter guard to keep your stove (relatively) clean. (This is the one I have, but cheaper ones are available, too—just make sure you get one that’s stainless steel.) Otherwise, line your floor in front of the stove with towels, or the deliciousness of Cracklin’ Chicken will come with a slick, oil-splattered price!

Flip the chicken and cook for 3 more minutes or until cooked through.

Transfer the chicken to a wire rack and rest ’em for 5 minutes.

Repeat the steps above with the four remaining thighs.

When you’re ready to eat, slice them up and dig in! (Still confused on how to make it? Check out this Periscope broadcast I posted on my YouTube channel.)

Jesus is Present in Starbucks

Yesterday a local newswoman, Wendy Bell, wrote this on her Facebook page, and I really enjoyed it:

I start every morning with a cup of coffee freshly ground and brewed in my obscenely overpriced in-wall coffee maker that I admittedly would not be able to live without. (Joe nearly choked when he saw the price tag, but this is the same man who said a second floor laundry room was a dumb idea, so take what you will from that... ) I wake up 30 minutes before I get the boys up for school every day ... simply so I can sit with my coffee at the kitchen counter and watch the sun rise. Hey. Everyone has A Thing.
I like Starbucks just fine, but people who are Starbucks Freaks remind me of why I never saw Titanic. Sometimes NOT doing what everyone else is doing is liberating. The ship sank, right? What more do I need to know? $5 for a latte? Sometimes. But rarely.
We reported tonight on one man's outrage that Starbucks has decided to do away with its "Christmas" coffee cups. Translation: The cups are still red, but there are no more white snowflakes or snowmen or sleds on them. Scandalous. People are calling for a boycott. Think Chick-Fil-A with a shot of espresso. There's always someone who needs to start a fight about something. Even if that something is Flat. Out. Stupid.
I remember when Christmas was about a feeling. The smell of a neighbor's wood-burning fireplace. The crunch of snow under your feet. That perfect stillness in the winter air at night -- and the stars. My gosh. Is there anything more beautiful than a starry sky in December? People watching out for each other. Neighbors loving neighbors. Warm baths and feety pajamas and playing games in front of the fireplace. The simple stuff. Things you can't buy in a store. THAT'S Christmas. Not some stupid cup.
I feel badly for people who have nothing better to do than protest. There's a small minority of small-minded people whose life work is being upset about SOMETHING. Anything, really. As long as they can march. Or carry a sign. Or worse yet, a bullhorn. Rally the troops! Gather the weak! If something offends them they run to social media the way my youngest sons run to me when they're bleeding. I pity the Fault Finders. The Blamers. The people who don't seem to value the concept of working and earning and contributing and DREAMING.
I'm a size 0 or 2. I wouldn't expect Lane Bryant to carry my size, and I sure wouldn't protest them because they don't. If I was vegan, I wouldn't go to Morton's and launch a Twitter tirade because there weren't enough options for me on their menu. And I sure wouldn't go to McDonald's looking for a side of apples with my double cheeseburger. I want french fries there. And make sure mine are loaded with salt, thank you. I'm not eating there to lose weight.
So Starbucks, do whatever you have to do. The Christmas Spirit comes from within. It's not poured into a red cup. And when some jackwagon suggests that snowflakes and snowmen and sleds are somehow discriminatory to his or her religion? I hope you have the beans enough to tell that person to pound it.
I'll be thinking of you all tomorrow morning, as my over-priced slice of heaven grinds me a perfect cup of daybreak heaven. No protest at my kitchen counter. Just a little peace before I get my five boyfriends ready for another day that will come and go without protest.

So I decided to respond... and here it is:



Hi Wendy! I read your post this morning actually as I left Starbucks (yes I am one of those freaks, and wear that pretty proudly hehe) and have fought pretty hard to keep my mouth shut when this story came out about the cups. I thought it was a small group and the story just happened to go viral, and now we are all talking about it. But after reading your beautiful story this morning, I had to say something.

I think those people have it very wrong, Jesus is very present in Starbucks, and yes I completely understand how silly that may sound, but hear me out.

I developed a little routine with my youngest daughter since my oldest has started Kindergarten, twice a week we drive out to Starbucks (it is about a 10 minute drive from where we live) and enjoy a little treat and two drinks together. My daughter is two, and she gets a chocolate milk... not in the box, they make her a special one in a cup, which thrills her to no end.

I started doing this I will admit selfishly, because you know, mama needed her coffee and if I could convince my two year old that this was fun, then it was an excuse to go. But it turned into something else, and this is where I know Jesus exists inside that Starbucks when we go on our little trips. 

Seeing the look on my daughter's face when they call her name at the bar to get her drink is priceless. "Who me??" She gets her very own cup, filled with milk and a little chocolate sauce stirred together (they sell boxes of milk but a barista suggested she make her a cup of milk one day as something special, and it just became her thing since then) with her name scribbled across it. Sometimes the baristas, if they have time on their busy mornings, will draw pictures or write a little message for her. They always smile at her and carefully pass it over to her little hands, and that smile could not stretch any wider across her face.

She then carefully carries it to "our table" where we sit with a treat that she gets to pick and my coffee. She sits in the booth, her little legs dangling, usually still in her footed pajamas because we had no time to change before getting big sister off to school. She savors every last drop of that drink, and always smiles and says hello to the people sitting around us. 

When it's time to leave the barista always say "see you later alligator" to her and that just tickles her. 

I believe Jesus is present in Starbucks, at least in ours, because for 20 minutes twice a week a little two year old doesn't have to be scared of the world. She can say hi to strangers, and see that people will go the extra mile without being asked or paid extra. That you can tip in smiles and giggles, and people will be nice not just because it is their job, but because just by her being there, she makes their day as much as they make hers. We went to the movies this past weekend and a warning played before it started saying to be on alert for "suspicious characters." We can't even go to the movies anymore without feeling like something bad may happen.

So I value those trips because for now, my little one thinks this world is pretty special, and she is special. She believes that magic can be found in a cup with her name written across it. Regardless of what that cup may look like... to her it's pure bliss. 

Yes Jesus is present there, just come and see my two year old some morning. She will prove it. 

Weight Loss vs Fat Loss

Are you curious as to why you seem to fall into bad habits over and over? Why those "last 10 lbs" just seems to fall off then come right back again?
Well there is actually a really simple solution to that problem, and it has everything to do with ~you~

We tend to thing of "health and fitness" in terms of "weight loss" when actually we should be looking at FAT loss. The number on the scale actually means NOTHING if you go about decreasing it the WRONG way..... example: crash diets and not getting proper nutrition. OR spending HOURS on the treadmill!

You are actually doing your body a huge disservice by focusing on weight loss instead of overall health.

It is pretty easy to lose weight. Yeah I know that isn't a popular thing to say, because a lot of us, me included STRUGGLED with seeing the weight come off. But with any crash diet or fast you will see the weight come right off. However, you are putting yourself and your body in danger... and you will not see long term results.

Fat loss however is the magic sauce. This is the good stuff. By listening to your body by finding a workout program that makes it sing instead of working against it, you will start to see an increase in TONE and muscle AND the inches will start to fall off. I promise!
That combined with proper nutrition (again, a plan that fits your body chemistry) will set you up for LONG TERM success.

So if you are sick and tired of that yo yo... we all went through it!! then let's chat about what will work for YOU... and how we can make the end of 2015/beginning of 2016 your rock star year!!!!

November Newsletter!

Hello! And it is official, we are in the 2^nd to last month of the year! Crazy right?? Is it going way too fast for you or do you just love this time of year? Personally I love October through January, it is my happy place. So many fun family activities and the wear is usually pretty calm. It’s those LONG days of February and March that drive me nuts! Hehe

Anyway, let’s dive into the November newsletter! I have ton of great news to share with you guys!

First, I wanted to ask a question. Do you set an End of Year Resolution for yourself? This is pretty important and I’m not just saying this because we are in the end of the year. We focus so much on the start of things… beginning of the month, week, day, year… and we forget about how we end things. We make excuses for things falling apart or losing track, because a new beginning will soon appear. But what if we focused on ending stronger than we start? Imagine how amazing that would be?

So with that… here are the November promos… all here to help you END the year strong.

Remember!!!! Some of these could make awesome Holiday gifts!!!

November Challenge Packs!

21 Day Fix: $140 http://teambeachbody.com/shop/-/shopping/BCP21D160?referringRepId=216467

21 Day Fix Extreme: $140 http://teambeachbody.com/shop/-/shopping/BCP21E160?referringRepId=216467

Cize: $140 http://teambeachbody.com/shop/-/shopping/BCPCZ160?referringRepId=216467

·         Cize comes with Portion Fix (21 Day Fix containers and meal guide)

21 Day Fix Kickstart: $180  http://teambeachbody.com/shop/-/shopping/BCP21D3DR205?referringRepId=216467

21 Day Fix Extreme Kickstart: $180  http://teambeachbody.com/shop/-/shopping/BCP21E3DR205?referringRepId=216467

Cize Kickstart: $180  http://teambeachbody.com/shop/-/shopping/BCPCZ3DR205?referringRepId=216467

·         Kickstart Challenge Packs include a 3 Day Refresh kit

To help you with your journey with these wonderful challenge packs (which include a bag of Shakeology) I will give you access to my blog where I store tons of great tips, tricks and trackers for meal planning! So no more excuses!

Important Dates:

November 5^th: 24 Hour Beachbody Open House

Want to learn more about products before you purchase? Join me for 24 hours of info, games, prizes and learning! No obligation! This group is just so you can take a peek at everything Beachbody has to offer. I will cover challenge packs, challenge groups, all the top selling programs, what to expect in the future, OnDemand, Performance Line, Shakeology, and much much more!!!

November 12^th: What is Coaching Happy Hour

Are you interested in learning more about what I do as a coach and how it could possibly fit into your lifestyle? Want to earn money while on your fitness journey? Just want a discount but want to know all the ins and outs before you jump in? Then join me for a fun ONE HOUR happy hour of videos and prizes! No obligation, just information and me sharing my passion with you guys!!

November 28^th: Beauty and the Beat Challenge Group

Want to put your new challenge pack purchase to the test? In celebration of the two Challenge Packs of the month, 21 Day Fix and Cize, I will be hosting a post-Thanksgiving group that will whip your booty into shape after eating all that turkey!!! How awesome will you feel after completing 3 weeks of a program, with your nutrition on point, between two holidays?? I know I am looking forward to crushing some goals and still enjoying my holidays!!

Want access to any of these groups? Shoot me an email or find me on Facebook.... information below!!!!

I am looking forward to having a happy, healthy and fun end to 2015 and hope that you guys all join me in this amazing journey of healthy and fitness. Beachbody is way more than just some workout dvds and shakes… it is family and it is teamwork. I take my role as your COACH very seriously so please please please come to me at any time with questions or just wanting to say hi!

Add me on facebook!! www.facebook.com/erika.levarse

Your coach!!!

Erika Levarse

mommyburgh@gmail.com