Mango Thai Chicken Salad with Spicy Peanut Sauce

mango thai chicken salad

 

I used to be a plain salad, same salad kind of girl. I would get your standard mixed green or Ceasar Salad.  Then I began eating more protein and produce and before I found all that variety had to offer I got stuck in the same salad rut.  Funny enough my husband who is a same meal kind of guy. Like when I met him he would only eat “American” food defined by him as Hamburgers, Spaghetti (Technically not American) and Fried Chicken.  Anyways, he introduced me to adding fruit into my salad. He used to put strawberries, grapes, blackberries, apples and I thought “Eew, how gross” well you know the adage-Don’t knock it till you try it. Well I was pleasantly surprised. Now I am livening my salads up with different types of nuts, cheese, fruits, and dressings. I especially love homemade dressings I feel they have more flavor and can be fun and inspiring to make.  So, usually I make my own dressings.

Peanut Dressing

This weekend I was inspired by a salad I had picked up from Wawa. (Wawa is a NJ/East Coast convenient store chain that offers some made to order meals and express salads, etc.) We were busy, busy and the snacks I had brought were gone. We were still running errands and was starving.  I had my husband stop at Wawa and chose a not-great-for-you but better-than-a-fast-food-meal, salad.  It was pretty good but I knew I could do better and I did.  Got home, did some digging on Pinterest and found a good base for my Spicy Peanut Dressing. As with most recipes I find I reinvented it and made a much healthier option.  I wanted a dressing that was Sugar Free (of course) and I used Coconut Oil because it’s a healthier fat then most of the other dressing recipes I found.  I also kind of made up the salad as I went along because honestly anyone can throw a salad together. Grilled some chicken with my amazing 5-Spice Season and Ta-Da! This was one of those meals you kind of hum as you took each bite. Yes, that good! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did since I am a little bias.

Do you like fruit in your salad? What’s your favorite salad topping?

Spicy Peanut Sauce

Spicy Peanut Sauce

Ingredients

  • 4 Tbsp Better Body Foods, PBFit
  • 3 Tbsp Coconut Aminos
  • 2 Tbsp Seasoned Rice Vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp. Siracha Sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. Grated Ginger
  • 1 Lime Juiced
  • 2 Tbsp Melted Coconut Oil

Instructions

  1. Mix all the in till a smooth consistency and Serve

Notes

Mango Salad Suggestion

1 Head Red Leaf Lettuce torn into bite size pieces 1/2 Red Pepper, Julienne 1/2 Yellow Pepper, Julienne 1/2 Orange Pepper, Julienne 1 Carrot Grated or Shredded 1 Avocado Diced 1/4 c. Fresh Cilantro, chopped 1 mango, pitted and diced 1/4 c. Sunflower Seeds

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Meal Time Monday

Workout Safety: The Importance of Warm Up and Cool Down

I never realized knew the difference and the benefits of a warm up and cooled down until I began school. All of my fitness has been Beach Body or Online Trainers. Unfortunately, I was never encouraged to do a Warm-Up or Cool Down nor do they usually program them in. That is why so many people are getting injured working out at home.

Just because you don’t have a treadmill at home doesn’t mean you shouldn’t warm-up. Despite if your workout has a warm-up programmed in I would encourage you to Warm-Up and Cool Down on your own. Unfortunately, a lot of online trainers are either not certified at all, expired certification or no continuing credits. It is critical that you do your due diligience when working with one and check their credentials for your personal safety. Regardless, Warm-Up and Cooldown has been a necessity in a proper workout for many years. Why is it not emphasized? It’s like Breakfast to me the most important “meal” of the day. If you are a highly paid athlete or women just looking to lose a few pounds. Warm-Up and Cool-Down are mandatory. So, take the precautions if you have no idea what to do you can use the Warm-Up/Cooldown workout below or find your own. Just do it anyways despite if your Online Trainer suggests it. I know for DVD Video and Live Streams this is usually included in the workout.

Most people don’t feel there is enough time to add 10-20 minutes to cool down and exercise, but I find that a poor excuse. If you just work out the 150 minutes that are suggested a week you are the only exercise for a little over 1% of the 160 hours that you get a week. You have time! Make it!

Reasons Why You Should Warm-Up

  1. Helps to increase blood flow to the muscles that are being worked as well as a rise in temperature for both your body and muscles.
  2. When your body temperature rises, it helps to produce energy more efficiently which helps you with your workout.
  3. Increases the body and muscle temperature which contributes to increasing the rate of energy production.
  4. Contraction and reflex times severe with higher muscle temperatures.
  5. Exercising without warming up places a potentially serious stress on the heart. Warming up reduces the stress on the heart.
  6. Soft tissue (tendons, ligaments, muscles) injuries are less likely.
  7. Mentally prepared to workout

Cool down

The Cooldown is equally important and as you get older something that you feel the immediate benefits. Despite your lack of time, you should make it a priority to bring your heart rate to a resting pace and prepare your body for the muscle building and repair it will do from your workout session. Proper cooldown is necessary to take care of your body. If you have been pushing hard and then just come to an abrupt stop, you know what that can do to your car brakes imagine your what it does to your body. We are adaptable creatures but like to take it step by step. Intense starts and stops and can be detrimental to your body. Cooling down is just not to gradually bring your body to a resting point it is also to prepare you for the next workout. The stretching done in your cool down is to lengthen, strengthen and prepare your muscles for the workouts to come. It is important to take this step and prioritize it in your workout schedule.

Five reasons cooling down is essential in your workout routine:

  1. Helps to regulate your breathing, body temperature and heart rate to your average pace slowly.
  2. During cool down, your blood is correctly distributed to the heart. The major organ helping keeps things going you don’t want to cause unnecessary stress from skipping your cool down.
  3. Blood redistribution during cool down also helps to get rid of the lactic acid that you have built up in your aerobic workout. Lactic acid can build up in your muscles which are what cause post workout muscle soreness. I don’t know about you, but I rather take a few minutes to cool down then spend the next two days struggling to sit down (and get back up.)
  4. Blood pooling is caused by abrupt stops during exercise. Consistent blood pooling can lead to blood clots, vascular deformations, and pelvic tumors.
  5. Blood pooling, abrupt stopping at the end of exercise can all lead to insufficient blood flow and oxygen which will result in you feeling dizzy, nauseous, and just fatigued or worn out.

Next time you work out whether prescribed to warmup or cooldown, just do it! Come 10-15 minutes early to your class or session to make sure you are properly warmed up. You can use the suggested Warm-Up cooldown below or foam roll, stretch and walk it out on the treadmill for 5-10 minutes just make sure that your body is prepared for the workout ahead. Then once you finished challenging yourself from an excellent workout take the time to cool down and bring your body back to a resting point gradually. Which will avoid some negative reactions, lengthen, strengthen, rebuild your body and prepare you for future workouts ahead? I used to not warmup/cooldown, and ever since I have added it to my workout routine, it has made a noticeable difference in my workout and the days afterward.

Do you warm up consistently or only when told? What about cool down?

A systematic review into the efficacy of static stretching as part of a warm-up for the prevention of exercise-related injury. (n.d.). Retrieved March 07, 2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18785063/

Clark, M., Sutton, B. G., & Lucett, S. (2014). NASM essentials of personal fitness training. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Tackling Food Fixation

I received this book for free in exchange for a review. Receiving the book has no effect on my review.  There are Amazon affiliate links which I do make a commission from. My Full Disclosure Policy

“The Struggle is real,” I know that is a cliche at this pointI read the book, Full, it’s something that continuously looped in my head. I wish I would have found Full months ago, but then again I don’t think I was ready for it. For those of you who have been following my story, you have seen me lose a gross amount of weight in the last two years, but the one thing that although I am growing in daily still have not mastered is my food fixation and motivation.

It’s been almost two years, and I have made some serious lifestyle changes for myself and family. Limiting processed food in my life, introducing a whole nutrient dense diet, consistently exercising weekly but it’s an everyday struggle to live a healthy lifestyle that honors Christ. Just like anything, I am human and not without sin, and I struggle if I don’t lean on Christ for support.

A little bit about my background. I am the oldest of 6 children from a blended family. My parents did the best they could with all of us, but there were some parenting blunders that I wonder if they may have had a lasting effect. For example, my exercise association. My parents didn’t beat or spank us. They would ground us which was only in severe cases, but the there form of punishment was exercise.

Instead of “getting a whooping” we’d have to hold a plank for an unlimited amount of time or run our ¼ mile driveway until my dad (who I think sometimes forgot we were running like maniacs outside) would say “stop.” I know that my parents had the best intentions and wanted to give us consequences for our actions, but I feel that left us children to associate exercise with punishment. I know for years I viewed it as such and there are still some days I procrastinate going to the gym because I just don’t want to “punish” myself that day.

Breaking Up with Old Thoughts

Now, I love the after effects of exercise, the endorphins, the after burn, and the energy BUT I have to pray to get me to the gym. I tell people that my faith fueled my fitness and this is what I mean. I almost always pray before a workout; pray for motivation, safety, energy and desire. I pray for strength to get through that last set and I praise God for a good workout at the end. The end I love it’s the beginning where I struggle.

The same with food. I love food! I love the experience, flavors, I love to indulge, and I still have been known to overindulged if left to my own devices. Similarly, to exercise over the years, I have created an unhealthy association with food and comfort. I also have issues with self-control. I’m one of those “take a little sliver here and another and another. Then, “How did I eat an entire cake.” Yep, I have done that recently. Yep, Miss Health Nut, Fit Girl ate a whole gluten laden cake, and I physically and emotionally felt awful. Physically because I am allergic to wheat and it has an adverse effect when I eat it and emotionally because again I failed to control my desires. I have take orders from a cookie before still after sweating my butt off to get rid of all the extra cookies. So, why? After all, I know, and all I have been through do I still overindulge unhealthily. One slice of cake is excellent and entire cake that I know is going to physically make me ill for the rest of the day is insanity. (Let’s just call it what it is) But it’s my insanity, and my struggle and I bear it daily. That is why I need Jesus.

 

Stopped Mid Scroll

Scrolling on Instagram one day I found a book that until I picked it up, I didn’t realize how inspiring it was going to before me. I didn’t know that I am not alone until I read the book Full which not only made me realize that thousands of women are suffering daily with food fixation.

The book Full made me realize that I am not insane just deprived. Not deprived of cake or cookies but of the intimate relationship with God that I thought I had. I figured I was fueled by faith. I devote daily; I study the Word, I even can quote the Word from time to time. I often pray so why was I still filling up on a cake?

That’s what Full made me realize and so much more. This book has been pivotal in my faith walk, and as I turned the last page God placed on my heart this must be shared! This book must be applied; this must be your next book study with your FaithFueled Life women. We talk about this regularly in the group the highs and lows of dieting, the triumph, and failures of nutrition and the need and the want for God to be a guide in our life. So, as I put the book down my brain began to a hurricane (I wish I had brainstorms, but they are usually more like hurricanes). The result was our March Full Worship and Workout! Starting Monday, we will be walking together on this journey of Freedom from Food Fixation.

Join Us

Join us as we prep for our March Worship and Workout where we will be exploring Food Fixation and Honor Our Temple through education, discussion, exercise, and nutrition. We are focusing on getting to the real problems of our food issues.

Who’s ready to:
Break up with food fixation
Learn to lean on God
Discuss with others the trials of food fixation?
Learn how to honor your temple

Full contains:
“Revealing 12 biblical principles that can break the power of food and free us to taste and see that God is good, Full addresses questions like:

* Why we need a spiritual solution for our food problem
* How to reawaken a hunger for God
* Practical ways to overcome food fixation

A healthier relationship with food through a stronger relationship with Christ—that’s the goal of Full.

There will be a
Weekly Reading Plan
Daily Scripture Prompts
Daily Discussion Questions
Weekly Workouts (no gym required)
Monthly Workout Plan
Fast, simple recipes (under 30 minutes and few and simple ingredients)
LIVE online support 24/7

What do you need to do?
1.Join Us www.FaithfueledLife.com
2. Purchase the book http://amzn.to/2lJ4v5B
3. Find some dumbbells ( I don’t care how just don’t steal haha)
4. Be COMMITTED to READING, DISCUSSING and PARTICIPATING in the workout
5. Check-In through the week

Are you ready to make lifestyle changes instead of a month to month change? Let’s get to the real reason you’re not getting full and find something more sustaining!

Freeing Yourself from a Dieters Mentality

My Full Disclosure Policy

I am an affiliate for Nutrient Based Eating program. I receive a commission for anyone who purchase the program through my link.  That in no way effects my opinion.

I am so excited to have my FaithFit friend Amanda Wright on the blog today! Amanda is a faithful women like myself who also is driven to show others how to honor her temple. I am so honored to have her on the blog today!

Crazy Prayers!

What’s the craziest prayer you’ve ever prayed?  I don’t mean crazy in the sense that you were praying with bold faith for Kingdom values we know our Father has prepared for us.

I was thinking more along the lines of pretty self-serving, incredibly shallow, and well…crazy!

Mine is a prayer I prayed quite often for the decades of life that I was living under the burden of being a “dieter” and pretty obsessive about my food, eating, and body.

My crazy prayer would always be, “Lord, can you help me not gain weight from this excessive amount of (fill in the blank) that I’m about to eat (or, let’s face it, was already in the middle of eating.)”

Note, it was NOT a prayer asking for His strength to help me stop eating, nor was it a prayer of blessing and thanksgiving for such a treat or meal.  Oh no, it was always out of FEAR that my compulsive eating or drinking would make be fat.

Funny, but I can’t remember one time that my loving Father answered this prayer.  Every time I over-indulged, my body wore that decision.

Guilty Indulgence

Then I would feel guilty and condemned for letting my eating get to so out of control.  So then I would over-compensate for that guilt by overhauling my eating on some diet or clean eating regimen for as long as my willpower held out.

But sure enough, my cravings would come back with a vengeance, and I would set my sights on some new over-indulgence and the cycle would start all over again.

Jesus Girl Dilemma’s

This is a dieters dilemma for the faith-based girl.

So, allow me to officially introduce myself.  I’m Amanda Wright, founder of my business A. Wright Fit.  I am a certified nutritionist and certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) and I teach women the tools to grow STRONGher in her body, WISEher in her mindset all by living more SURRENDhered to Jesus!

So, I am a fit-faith friend of our girl De, and have been passionately following her amazing transformation journey and am in AWE of her discipline and motivating presence in this world.

De and I have been chatting about nutrition and the struggle that we ourselves have experienced along with the struggle we see so many of our friends and clients face with regards to our eating and our relationship with food.

We see that there are problems with the “diet mentality” for women of Faith.

There is a beautiful quote by Elisabeth Elliot that said, “We cannot give our hearts to God and keep our bodies for ourselves.”  So much truth to that!

Surrender is not to be selective.

And in my crazy prayer I shared with you above, I was certainly being selective in what I gave God reign over and I see a lot of my faithful friends still doing that as well

So, I wanted to share 3 problems that I see with this diet-driven society, and also give you a chance to embark on a new journey with me (and De) to transform your nutrition with my Nutrient Based Eating lifestyle based program for women.
Problem #1:  We are commanded by Jesus to “not worry about out eating or our drinking.”

““Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? “ Matt 6:25

When we “worry” over anything, even something as good as getting good nutrition, we are, as Rick Warren says,  “acting like practical atheists.” You take on God’s role when you think that by worrying about something, you actually have power of it.  We think that when we “worry” about something that we are proving that we care.  But that is not true.  Worry is based out of fear, and fear opposes love and all that God is.

Your Solution:  There is a way to CARE about your eating without worrying and that is to step into the love of what you’re after.  Instead of “worrying” about every detail of your food, you will simply take on an attitude of doing your best to build good habits and then surrender the rest.

Let’s be clear, we do need to care, so don’t mistake this advice as though you need to shut off all consideration for what you’re eating.  We must care because our body is a gift from God that we are called to steward well.   We must simply draw the line on the emotional power we allow our food choices to have over us.

 

Problem #2:  We follow “her” instead of Him.

“Do not follow the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2

Often we get caught following our girlfriends more than we follow God’s call on our lives.  This is not necessarily bad, especially when God sends good women to help teach us, but we have to be able to discern what is a pattern of the world that belongs to the world versus a pattern of the Kingdom that is worthy of our practice.

Just because your girlfriend claims that she saw such fast results taking her supplement program or going vegan does not mean that that program is right for you or your body type.

In my coaching, I have come to realize that I cannot be a hero for my clients.  I cannot give them the “magic fix” by telling them exactly what to eat.  I have to teach her how to take personal responsibility for her own body and investigate what foods work best for her own metabolism, tastes, and body systems.

We are all uniquely made! God will guide you in the process of self-discovery.  Own it!

Problem #3:   Practices that use only our “willpower” limit our “Godpower.”

So many women think the only option to change her eating is to take an “all-or-nothing” approach to her eating and completely overhaul everything at once.

Anytime you try to make several changes at once, you are by default relying on your willpower to sustain your efforts.  Habits are very challenging to make stick in our busy brains (Dr. Caroline Leaf shows it takes about 63-days for just ONE habit), so multitasking all these changes at once creates overload and eventually breaks down.

Ultimately this is a fleshy response, trying to use our own will to transform us.  And we know that anytime we are acting in the flesh we are opposing the Spirit within us. (Galatians 5:17)

Your Solution:  Instead of overhauling your eating, consider making just ONE habit in the right direction and allow God to show you what this may look like…which may just include a little guidance from yours truly.
If you are in need of some faith-based wisdom on what nutritional habits to follow in order to improve your lifestyle based approach to healthy eating, I would love to welcome you to the Nutrient Based Eating habit-based program for lean lifestyles and thriving energy!

The NBE is a eBook and video eCourse that guides you step-by-step through 3 important areas in your nutrition.

Section I:  Education— In the book I teach you the incredible power of having a “nutrient” focus on your eating instead of a “calorie” focus.  I teach you what holistic eating is and why it is the single best decision you can make for your eating!  You have a full guide on the essential vitamins and minerals and where to find them in your food.

Section II:  Application— Here I take you through the 5 PHASES of Nutrient Based Eating progression.  Using plate graphics and hand-measuring tools I guide you through the building of 17+ solid nutritional habits that will keep you progressing!

I give you printable tools like my “NBE Habit Formula Tracker” to help you hold yourself accountable and the “Assessment Protocol” to help you determine what is working for you and what needs to be tweaked.

Section III:  Maintenance— where other programs might leave you hanging here, I help you prepare for this phase once you reach your goal by teaching you the “mindset of maintenance” along with the reverse-habit protocol you can take to ensure the lifelong maintenance.

When you join, you will receive 6-eCourse videos that teach you the NBE lifestyle in full.  I will also add you to the private Facebook NBE group and portal to be in community with fellow fit-faith women who are in this journey with you!  You’ll receive daily encouragement, accountability and coaching that will help you stay CONSISTENT!

For more information or to purchase, click here.  But be aware, the opportunity to purchase only lasts until Friday, March 3 at midnight!  So, feel free to reach out to me or De with any questions!

TELL ME MORE ABOUT NUTRIENT BASED EATING

“Amanda Wright is a Jesus-girl, a certified nutritionist and Certified Strength and

Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). She is owner of the fit and faith-based women’s

health coaching practice, called A. Wright Fit, where she teaches women to grow

STRONG’her in body, WISE’her in mindset all by living more SURREND’hered to

Jesus.

She is madly in love with her husband of just 2-years, Howard, and stepmom to

Alyssa and Eden. She and Howard reside in California in the Silicon Valley area. She

loves to exercise (obvi), hike, read and is also incredibly lucky to travel the world

with her husband for his current role in corporate America.

 

Family First

I have been following Amie Heverly on Social Media for over 3 years now. We were pregnant together and she made fitness and pregnancy seem possible.  Years later I never thought that someone who inspired me on my fitness journey would be sharing her gifts on my blog.  God works things out like that sometime. I am honored to have Amie Christine to guest post today for our final Family First FaithFueled Friday!

WHAT DOES GOD PRIORITY LIST LOOK LIKE?

Over the last few years, my priorities have changed drastically.

As a single mom of three boys, I have come to cherish every single moment with my boys, the good, the bad, the great, the funny, the embarrassing, the ugly, the tears, the joy…

I have taken a step back to evaluate everything I do in life.
Funny how having kids can make you do that…

I want my children to one day to wake up and say,
I know what is right, I know what God would have me do, I know how to live healthily, I know I can do all things I set my mind to, I know that I am strong, I trust God, and I know He will carry me through…. Because MY MOM WAS THE EXAMPLE, DAY IN, AND DAY OUT!

You see, children are precious. Children absorb every little thing. Children are to be taught correctly, as a priority!

Deuteronomy 11:19-21 “You shall teach them to your children, talking about them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.”

You see, not only are your words important, but your actions every day need to be with intention!
Your actions, the way you carry yourself, present yourself, speak of yourself and others, the way you interact, the way you react, your attitude, your perspective, your drive, your ambition….

IT ALL MATTERS!

How you do life, is how your kids will do life!
You may not realize it, but what you say and do actually is TRAINING your child!

We need to be more aware of the words we speak, and how we act daily, to train our children up properly.


Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

We must must be intentional in how we live out our everyday life!

We have to make these things a priority!

Ok, so…

Lets take a second to talk about priorities.

In this busy world, we live in, it is easy to get caught up in chasing our job, chasing dreams, chasing status and chasing money.

However, God calls us to have a particular order of priorities in our life.
This is
#1 God
#2 Husband/Wife
#3 Kids
#4 Work
#5 (fill in the blank)

Our world today, however, has flipped this order completely upside down. Often we put everything before family and God. When we have time, we get to church when we have time we play with the kids, when we have time we spend time with our husband or wife.

Definition of PRIORITY

plural
priorities
1. 1a (1): the quality or state of being prior (2): precedence in date or position of publication

This means that YOU MAKE IT IMPORTANT! You make it BEFORE anything else in your life.

Ok, so if God calls us to put Him first, and then our spouse, and then our children, and THEN work, this means we HAVE TO MAKE IT PRECEDENT in our life!

Our human nature will cause us to want to do everything else first. However, if we can keep to the God order, EVERYTHING else will fall into place!

Listen, in all honesty, I have had this priority list all backward a few years back. I was chasing my job because I thought this was going to be the way to make enough money to be then able to take care of my kids better. However, my family in the mix got the left over me. They had the last of the energy of me. Not only does God call us to put Him and then our family above work, but merely, I realized it was not fair of me to give my family my leftovers. And so I began placing them first. I started putting my family after time with God.

Listen, as I mentioned before, I am a single mom of three boys. It is easy to slip into the I HAVE TO WORK, “mode.” Because human nature is screaming, YOU HAVE TO WORK HARDER, WORK LONGER, because OTHERWISE, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO … pay for your house, feed your kids, take them on vacations… etc. etc.

But the truth is when we keep FAMILY first… well after God, the rest will fall into place.

When we honor God in His way, then He takes care of us, PERIOD!

So I encourage you to evaluate your priorities. Evaluate, what is indeed coming first, second and third.

God will bless you, as you honor His ways.

God first
Spouse second
Kiddos third!

FAMILY before work…. always always always!

Make the time to make them feel #1, important and loved today!

On your deathbed, you won’t wish you spent more time working; you will wish you had spent more time with those you love most!

XOXO
AMIE

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