How To Achieve Long Term Health & Fitness Goals

 
 

Achieving short term health and fitness goals, like finishing your first 5k or getting down to your goal weight, can provide significant sense of accomplishment . . . and I’m not here to knock that high. However, the feel-good can be just as fleeting as the achievement, especially if you’re not committed to long term health and fitness goals. Those changes that brought you across the proverbial finish line today need to be part of your day-in, day-out life . . . forever. How to Achieve Long Term Health and Fitness Goals

I’m sure you’ve seen a barrage of statistics about failure when it comes to achieving long term health and fitness goals. How quickly weight is gained back, how soon after joining people stop going to the gym, how many New Year’s Resolutions are broken before February — some say as many as 80%! Read on to find out how to your turn your main focus from immediate changes driven by guilt or obligation into a lifetime of health and fitness fueled by lasting behavioral changes and an acceptance of the peaks and valleys in the journey.  Eating well (and enough protein) is part of the process and I also talk about a protein snack that fuels my hustle. Don’t miss it! Continue reading

Healthy Toppings for Yogurt + #KnowYourYogurt Inside-Out

Dannon #KnowYourYogurt

When it comes to feeding my family, I’m all about honesty and transparency. I never was that mom who tried to disguise cauliflower, peas or broccoli as something else – Instead, I just told the kids what they were getting, left it to them for sniffing, prodding and (hopefully) eating! If a certain food seemed to be less loved, I’d just strike up a dinner conversation about its particular powers, still telling the truth, but playing to the action hero infatuation of little boys.

jen  boys birthday 1

This journey of growing three little boys into strapping young men (almost 14, 17, and 19 years old) has been fueled by an enormous amount of food, I’ve found favor with a handful of companies who really listen to their consumers to create and deliver the food products that we really want – not just what’s easiest of most cost-effective to sell to us. While my boys may have been too young to care about exactly how and where their food was source, I sure did!

That’s why The Dannon Company, Inc. has been a brand I’ve trusted for years. We are definitely a family of dairy and yogurt lovers!  I am happy to report the Dannon Pledge to transition some of their top-selling brands toward production with nonGMO ingredients along with removing additives and preservatives. In addition to this customer-driven change, the company is also creating nonGMO feed for cows in their diary supply chain, the first national company to so.  As consumers, we’ll easily and clearly be able to determine which Dannon products are nonGMO by the label – this “transparent” labeling change will be complete by the end of 2017.

Dannon has built relationships with every farm they source milk from, providing us additional transparency in the nonGMO process. You see, Dannon knows what’s going with their dairy farmers from start to finish in the process, they care about the farmers and they care about us! Additionally, knowing who and where the milk comes from has helped Dannon implement and optimize animal welfare practices via the Validus Certification system.  At this time, Dannon estimates that more than 90% of their direct milk supply comes from farms that are Validus certified.

Dannon Oikos Yogurt #KnowYourYogurt

I am a huge Greek yogurt fan and love the Okios Greek Yogurt  — I get the unflavored plain variety so I can stir the sweeteners and toppings of my choosing. Hello beautiful things of Mother Nature, check out the Dragon Fruit, Mango, Blueberry “Flower” on top of Oikos. These are some other favorite flavor combos (not all pictured):

Healthy Yogurt Toppings to add extra yum to your breakfast, snack or healthy dessert.

  • Bananas & Walnuts with Honey
  • Strawberries & Almonds with Vanilla Stevia
  • Peaches & Pecans with Maple Syrup
  • Raspberries, Chocolate Chips, Chocolate Power Os from Love Grown Foods
  • Blackberries & Hemp Seeds with Lemon Stevia
  • Madarin Oranges & Pistachios with Sugar-free Chocolate Sauce
  • Apples, Granola & Peanut Butter
  • Almond Butter & Chocolate Chips

So, are you familiar with The Dannon Company, Inc.? They make something for everyone, learn more about the top-selling brands and the Dannon Pledge at:

dannon logo

 

Sooooo, what is your stance on genetically modified foods? What are your favorite yogurt flavors or toppings? Please share in the comments below – XOXO, Jennifer 

This post contains content sponsored by The Dannon Company, Inc. The opinions expressed in my post are my own. For more information on Dannon’s move toward sustainable agriculture, naturality and transparency,and nonGmo ingredients visit www.dannonpledge.com and www.dannon.com/ingredients .