If I was to have one meal everyday for the rest of my life, it would be grilled salmon and asparagus (boring I know but I love it).

There are so many great health benefits to eating salmon. It’s filled with Omega 3’s that promotes healthy joints and skin, reduces the risk of heart disease! But even though I could eat it everyday, the American Heart Association recommends eating it only twice a week (everything in moderation). It also is filled with vitamins, minerals and is a great source of protein.

Asparagus isn’t so bad itself, infant, it’s basically the MVP of vegetables. According to  health.com, asparagus has 10 killer health benefits:

• It can help you lose weight
• Is full of antioxidants
• Helps with hangovers (yes please)
• Reduces bloating
• Makes you happy
• Keeps your urinary tract healthy
• Contains Vitamin E
• It may help get you in the ~mood~
• Filled with Vitamin K
• Good source of folic acid

If those aren’t good enough reasons to start eating asparagus then I don’t know what is!  Brb off to the grocery story to buy some.

Check out health.com‘s article to learn more!

Is there any better way to start your day than with banana pancakes? Nope didn’t think so. Here’s a simple and easy recipe to whip up delicious and gluten free banana pancakes!

Recipe:

1 ripe banana

1/4 cup of non fat greek yogurt

1/2 cup of gluten free pancake/waffle mix

1/4 of water

Stir until smooth

Put batter in small patches onto frying pan with fat-free cooking spray. Leave on till the pancake starts to bubble on the side facing up. Flip over and cook till golden brown on other side.

Simple, easy, and delicious! Add some real maple syrup and fresh fruit on top for extra goodness.

Everyday I try to eat the best I can – but that doesn’t mean there’s no room to treat myself. I live by the 80-20% when it comes to food. What does that mean? So 80% of the time I eat healthy and the other 20% is indulging in a something little sweet (or pizza) to reward myself.

The first thing I drink every morning before I do anything is have a glass of cold lemon water. The cold water shocks the metabolism making it speed up, and the lemon water detoxes the liver. If I’m working out that morning, I’ll usually just have a banana because working out on a full stomach might be the least pleasant feeling. A banana is full of good carbs to fuel your body and potassium to give it electrolytes.

Post workout I usually have an egg sandwich with one egg, swiss cheese, and turkey bacon! I actually tried chicken bacon the other week, and as weird as it sounds – it’s great and I’m absolutely buying it from now on.

After I eat lunch I’ll probably run errands and eat some grapes, chips and hummus, or vegetables and hummus as a snack (it always varies to what’s in the fridge).

To finish up my day I try to keep dinner low carb and high protein. Plates should be broken down in three parts – half green, quarter protein, quarter carbs. Finally to wrap up the day, dessert. I love chocolate and I can’t imagine not having a little piece of chocolate or a Marino Chocolate Italian Ice after the end of every day. I recommend picking one item as your sweet treat, and make sure it’s not high in calories and as low in sugar as you possibly can.

*TIP: dark chocolate is good for you because it holds antioxidants and less sugar (it also tastes yummy)!

I love keeping my food light, clean and simple – the less ingredients the better.

Welcome to Universkinny! This blog is going to be a guide to a positive, clean, and healthy life. We hope it inspires and motivates you to live your life to the fullest potential and keep yourself feeling and looking even more beautiful then you already are. Life is about change and wanting to make a good change in your life is the first step. On this blog you’ll be able to find recipes, workouts, research articles, and inspiration/motivation to help you on your journey to a healthier life that can be adapted to your college budget and lifestyle. We get that the freshmen 15 has hit all of us at one point (and if not well then…. congrats to you I’m jealous).  But just because the freshmen 15 has made our crop tops and high waisted shorts tighter, doesn’t mean that we can’t get back to that post 15 body. We’re happy you’re here and welcome to the Universkinny community!