Green Smoothie

A lot of people don't eat the right amount of vegetables that an average person should have. One way that I have found that is easy for me to get the right intake of veggies is making a green smoothie. I know it might look a little off just because a lot of people see a green liquid and say no thanks. But this smoothie is actually really good!

Not only is it good for you but it is incredibly easy to make and takes about 5 minutes. You can see the 10 benefits that the green smoothie gives and the recipe below.

The recipe:
1 c coconut milk
1/2 mango chunks
1 c super greens (spinach, kale)
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup ice

1. Green smoothies have pure nutrition and vitamins that you get from the certain type of fruit and vegetables you choose to put in the smoothie.

2. When you just get fruit juice you can get the vitamins and minerals but you can't get the fiber that you can get from the smoothies.

3. If you don't like eating your veggies making a smoothie is a great way to get your greens. The vegetable is hidden by the fruit and yogurt or whatever else you put in the smoothies.

4. These smoothies take about 5 minutes so it quick and easy to make, all you need is a blender.

5. Making the smoothies at home can also save you money. If you go to a juice bar it can cost you at least $5 for one glass. Not only do you get the vitamins you need you save money instead of buying multivitamins.

6. If you have kids it is a good way to get them to "eat" their greens.

7. Green smoothies is also a great source of energy. Eating fruits by itself will only provide short bursts of energy but combining the veggies will give you the long lasting energy that you need.

8. The smoothies are low in calories but also very filling. It contains high amounts of water and fiber that makes you feel like you just ate a meal.

9. If you need something that is easy to digest then green smoothies are the best thing. Since they are already blended and it's liquid it is way easier to digest.

10. These smoothies also keep you hydrated. Experts say that you are supposed to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day and that people don't even drink half that. Adding water to the smoothies can keep you hydrated and get you drinking water without even realizing it.

Tarp Fail

If you have ever had the not so pleasant experience of tarping a field you will understand where I am coming from with this post.

No team enjoys tarping and untarping a field and if you have ever heard someone say they like don't believe them because they are lying to you. It takes about 15 minutes for our whole team to roll it out and cover our field. After we get the field covered we have to put tires and pretty much whatever we can find on the tarp.

Our tarp that we have isn't the best so we have to look for tiny holes and tape them up (it's ghetto we know) then finally we can leave.

We are supposed to play today but we all got to the field and saw this....

The storm blew off our tarp and it made another Broncho Lake on our field. Seeing this the day before you're supposed to play isn't the best feeling especially after you searched so hard for those stupid little holes that took 10 minutes to find.

Tarping brings out the worst in everybody, with all the yelling at each other and different people saying different things at once we always managed to get it done.

We are supposed to play on our field Friday and Saturday so hopefully the wet vac that the coaches got can suck up a lake before then.

Yoga To Try This

I have never been known to be flexible in any sort of way. I actually can't even touch my toes but I'm getting better.

One thing that I have tried doing more and more is to do more yoga. I go to classes at the wellness that are free. If I can't make it to the wellness me and my roommate will just look yoga classes up on youtube and do it in the living room (it's better than nothing). 

Even just stretching casually can help your body. You don't have to go through a whole yoga class to see the benefits but it definitely helps. 

10 benefits yoga does to your body.

1. Improves your flexibility. (I obviously need that)
-This is an obvious benefit that yoga brings. If you do yoga regularly you will see yourself loosening up and become more flexible. You will also see pain that is being caused by tight muscles go away because they are finally getting stretched out. 

2. Builds muscle strength. 
-Building strength through yoga you are balancing it with flexibility. As opposed to just going to the gym and lifting you can build strength at the expense of flexibility. 

3. Perfects your posture. 
-When your head is balanced directly over an erect spine, it takes much less work for your neck and back muscles to support it. Yoga allows you to stretch the neck muscles you use to hold your head up all day and makes it relax. 

4. Prevents cartilage and joint breakdown.
-Whenever you are doing yoga you put your joints through their full range of motion. This can help prevent degenerative arthritis. 

5. Protects your spine.
- If you have a well-balanced asana practice with a lot of backbends, forward bends, and twists you will keep your disks supple. 

Peanut Butter Fingers

I did my presentation over a blog called Peanut Butter Fingers, pbf for short. Julie Fagan is a full-time blogger, personal trainer, and exercise group instructor. Fagan has been blogging since 2009 and has 1.5 million page views.

Her blog caught my attention because I am also trying to blog about health and fitness and different ways people can lead a better lifestyle. Fagan doesn't only blog about health and fitness she also writes about her life and just random things that happen with her and her family.

One thing that I really took away from reading her blog is just because it might be labeled a "health and fitness" blog doesn't mean you can't connect with people with other things. Letting the readers into your life makes them want to come back and read it because it is something different every time.

Pbf biggest strength is probably how relatable it is. Also a monkey could navigate the blog. There are tabs that are set up at the top for different categories whether it's recipes, workouts or even questions about her life and blogging.

If you are looking for a good blog to learn more about health and fitness or even to just read about random daily things Peanut Butter Fingers is a really good blog to follow. The link is http://www.pbfingers.com.

Stretch It Out

A lot of people don't really think about stretching when you are done with a workout or even before. After lifting with our strength and conditioning coach I finally realized how important it really is.

Our Strength and conditioning coach makes us stretch every time we finish a workout. You never realize what benefits stretching really brings until you start doing it.

Here are some of the benefits that stretching can be.
1. Reduces muscle tensions.
2. Increases range from movements of the joints.
3. Enhances muscular coordination.
4. Increases circulation of the blood to various parts of the body.
5. Increases energy levels.
6. Relief from pain.
7. Improves posture.

Just from those seven benefits you can see actually how important it is to stretch. You can get so many injuries just from not stretching before or even after. It is better to stretch to prevent an injury than stretch out a pulled muscle because you didn't stretch in the first place.

We Said Beach Where

Normal college students get to go to Padre or Florida for their spring break. Well when I first committed to play college softball I didn't realize that meant I didn't get a spring break anymore.

The past 4 years I got to spend spring break in St. Joseph, Missouri and let me tell you every year it feels like the farthest place from the beach there is.

While most people were on the beach in warm sunny weather us softball players got to experience 30 degree weather and snow. 

Whoever has played an outside sport knows playing in the cold is probably one of the worst things to play in. I can't tell you how many times we all said we couldn't feel our hands or had people go get hand warmers for us. We even had two little heaters in the dugout, and with 18 girls you have to get closer than you have ever been to your teammates to feel the warmth. We just looked at it as a way of bonding with one another. 

Driving 6 hours away to play softball in freezing weather in the snow isn't what we thought we signed up for. Games got cancelled and pushed back because of the weather and honestly we played probably the worst we have played in awhile.

Even though we didn't get to spend spring break on a beach or an island, we made it worth it because we were together. It may not have seemed like it if you walked by us because we were probably all complaining about being in Missouri in the snow. But in the end we will appreciate being together and having memories even if they aren't on the beach. 

Who Knew Healthy Could be so Good

Eating healthy can get boring, with all the meal prepping at the beginning it tends to become the same ole same ole. One thing that I try to do is make eating healthy more fun. Finding new recipes and trying them all can make eating healthier way more fun. 

One of my favorite meals is fried quinoa. If you like fried rice you will love this. Quinoa may sound weird but it is not only good for you, but it also taste amazing!

RECIPE:

• 1 cup quinoa (or 2½ to 3 cups leftover cooked quinoa)
• 1 ½ cups water or low-sodium chicken stock
• ¼ small onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 eggs, lightly scrambled 
• ½ cup frozen peas, thawed
• Sauce:
• 1 ½ tablespoons teriyaki sauce
• 2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
• ¾ teaspoon sesame oil

instructions:

1. Rinse quinoa a few times in cold water.
2. Bring quinoa and water or chicken stock to a boil in a medium saucepan, and then reduce to a simmer. Season with salt.
3. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until quinoa is fluffy and cooked through. Remove from heat and let set for five minutes or so. Fluff with a fork.
4. Cool and store in the fridge for 15 minutes.
5. Mix teriyaki, soy sauce, and sesame oil in a small bowl. Set aside.
6. Heat ½ tablespoon olive oil in a large pan over a high heat. Add onion and carrot, cook about two minutes. Add in the rest of the olive oil and the quinoa. Stir-fry about two minutes. Add sauce and stir-fry until about two minutes. pour scrambled eggs in quinoa. Throw in peas, then toss everything together until the peas are warmed through.