The holiday season is upon us! Halloween is over, and before you know it, Thanksgiving will be here and the Christmas season will begin. Holidays can be very “food focused,” but I want you to know you DO NOT have to feel left out when it comes to the more traditional desserts if you are focused on living a more healthy lifestyle or trying to achieve a certain goal. This mini pumpkin pie recipe is going to help you take back your love for pumpkin pie.
It’s is a crowd pleaser without any gluten or dairy, and it can be modified if you’re trying to avoid any refined sugars!
Mini Pumpkin Pies
Ingredients
2 GF pie crusts (store bought or homemade) 3 eggs 1, 15 oz. can pumpkin 1c brown sugar, or 1c coconut sugar 2 tsp pumpkin spice 2 tsp vanilla extract Pinch sea salt 1c full fat coconut milk Whipped topping for garnishing Cinnamon for garnishing
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350. Roll out the pie crusts on a floured surface, then use a 3.5-inch cookie cutter, or other similarly-sized lid or cup, to cut out circles in the pie dough. After you’ve cut out the circles, take the scraps of pie dough and form them into a ball, then roll out the dough again and cut out more circles until you have a total of 15. Place pie crusts in a muffin tin, and begin making the pumpkin filling. Crack and whisk eggs in a large bowl. Add pumpkin, brown sugar (or coconut sugar), pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract, and sea salt. Stir until blended well. Stir the coconut milk into the pumpkin filling mixture. Fill pie crusts with ¼ c pumpkin pie filling. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the center of the pies are done. Let cool for 1 hour, then refrigerate. Serve chilled, garnish with the whipped topping and cinnamon. Enjoy!
Reverse dieting may not be a phrase you’re super familiar with but this is how I help the majority of my clients when we begin working together. It requires a high level of trust because I usually have my clients start out eating more than they ever thought possible to lose weight – BUT that’s actually the reason they were having a hard time losing weight or they were stuck in a weight loss plateau in the first place. They simply weren’t eating enough! With that being said, let’s dive head first into reverse dieting.
What is a reverse diet?
This term is something that is really uncommon but it truly shouldn’t be. A lot of times reverse dieting is referred to as “the diet after the diet.” To make it simple, a reverse diet is a way to gradually increase calories over a few weeks or months to allow you to eat more food after you’ve been on a “diet,” or series of diets for that matter (where you are restricting calories or just not eating enough to fuel your body properly). This increase of calories also increases your metabolism and prevents fat gain or regain.
I know what you’re thinking…”Rachel, that doesn’t make sense. You’re telling me to eat MORE and I’ll finally begin to lose weight.”
Yes. I am! Let me explain.
When we go through restrictive periods (which most of us have in the past), and when we try these fad diets where we are eating 1,200 calories or less, our metabolism decreases. This is where we start to see weight loss plateaus. Think about it: you can only go so low with your caloric intake, right? Once you do, you can’t go any lower and your body stalls out in a lot of ways. There are also a lot of things going on behind the scenes in our bodies when we limit the amount of fuel we are taking in. We have been conditioned to believe that we are doing our bodies a service by restricting them, but here is actually what is going on:
We experience hormone changes, and this is where things can start to get out of whack pretty fast. Our bodies begin to either suppress or release various hormones to increase hunger and push us to eat more. Think about it: your body needs more fuel and you aren’t giving it the fuel it needs. So it starts using these hormones to send you signals that it needs fuel. Your body is literally saying “feed me!”
Our digestion slows down because it’s trying to absorb as many nutrients and calories as possible because it isn’t sure when you are going to give it adequate fuel again.
Our resting metabolic rate decreases, which causes our bodies to redirect all focused energy on vital organs to keep us alive. When you are eating a minimum amount of calories, your body has to focus on the essentials because you don’t have any extra fuel in the tank to dedicate to anything else – your body is almost in survival mode. You don’t have adequate energy to dedicate to “non-essential” functions, like hair and nail growth. If you’ve been restricting calories for a long time, you may notice that your hair is thinning or your nails are brittle. This is why. When I was in my 20s and was eating less than 1,000 calories a day, I saw a noticeable difference in my hair. I have always had super thick hair, but I noticed that it was becoming extremely thin. I didn’t know why back then, but looking back I had physical evidence of the damage I was doing to my body by not feeding it what it needed.
You may also feel like you have less energy to exercise or you see a noticeable difference in stamina and endurance, even in day to day activities (cleaning, washing dishes, playing with your kids). This also means you burn less calories through the activities that you do. The good news is though that this metabolic adaptation likely isn’t permanent! Your metabolism can gradually increase as you begin to increase your calorie consumption. And this is where reverse dieting comes into play.
So, how do you know you need to do a reverse diet?
There can be many reasons to try reverse dieting. For example, if you want to eat more without gaining weight or if you are someone who has been dieting for a long time and you are ready to maintain your current level of body fat, then the reverse dieting method is right for you. This method is really great for the transition period from dieting to maintenance because it teaches you how to increase calories without going crazy in the process and regaining all the weight you worked so hard to lose.
If you have been eating 1,200 calories (or less) a day and not losing weight, reverse dieting may be something you can try. Low calorie diets may result in weight loss for some, but it’s usually temporary – it isn’t sustainable. They can also trigger physical and emotional side effects, such as nutrient deficiencies, fatigue, irritability, anxiety or depression, and obsessive thoughts about food and weight. Studies have also shown that following a 1,200 calorie diet or living a restrictive lifestyle actually boosted levels of cortisol, which is a stress hormone known to increase belly fat.
Reverse dieting can also help improve body composition. In other words, you want to lose fat, gain muscle, and maintain your current weight. Increasing calories while keeping activity high is a really effective strategy for muscle growth.
Reverse dieting can be pretty great, right?! So why doesn’t everybody try it?
The mindset!
Eat more food without gaining weight. That sounds too good to be true, right? And since we live in the glorious era of social media, it can be hard to know who and what to trust. But more importantly, what MOST of us are thinking is that we don’t fully trust our bodies. We have been conditioned to believe that we should punish ourselves for reaching this point (with starvation diets and overexercise), and we’ve tried ALL the things out there to lose the weight and none of it has worked – so something must be wrong with us. And that simply isn’t true. God created your body to work FOR you – not against you. Give it a chance – and GOD a chance – to take care of you. Work with your body – fuel it properly – take care of it – give it what it needs…and I promise you – it WILL respond.
If this concept resonated with you and you’d like to learn more, I invite you to schedule a discovery call and see if it’s a good fit for us to work together. Click the link below to find a time that works for you. More importantly, I’d love to help you get clarity on what’s holding you back from trusting your body to work for you and not against you. Remember, you have to do the work – there is no quick fix, no magic pill, or end all diet…but when you do it God’s way, lasting change begins to come.
I heard these words from so many people when Jordan and I were engaged and just married. “You just wait until you’ve been married a few years. The new will wear off and you’ll be just like the rest of us’ Or my favorite, ‘You just wait…enjoy the honeymoon stage while it lasts!” I never will forget how discouraging that was to hear. Why must people tear others down? Why can’t you just let people be happy?
And now we are hearing it again, but for a different reason…”You just wait…you’ll find out soon enough!” (Pertaining to ANYTHING child related – behavior, eating habits, how I’ll never sleep again, school activities, tantrums, how our house will never be clean again, how expensive babies can be, and the list goes on and on…). Don’t you think we’ve thought about all of this? My husband and I are 30 years old. And while we don’t have a real clue what we are about to get ourselves into when Grayson arrives, is it really necessary to make us feel defeated as parents before we even get started? I know that I won’t get much sleep the first several years (I’m already getting good at running on 5 or 6 hours or so just due to pregnancy). I know that my child will not be perfect and he will act out in the most inopportune moments, and he’ll probably say things that embarrass us from time to time. I know that boys will be boys, and we will probably have broken windows, messy floors, stinky clothes, and lots of jokes about bodily functions.
But I prayed for that.
I admit – after wanting to be a stay-at-home mom for so many years (that’s all I wanted to do when I was in high school), I totally changed my mind when I graduated college and started working. It took me a long time to get mentally ready – well, as ready as you can be – to start trying to have kids. But once God showed me that the time was right, I prayed for those things. I prayed for the sleepless nights and dirty house. I prayed for the chaotic schedule that we’re sure to have that will completely throw off my beloved, familiar routine. However, I also prayed for the snuggles, and the “I love you Mama,” and getting to see my husband be a dad. So let us enjoy it – even if for a short time. Let’s turn the “just waits” into “Just wait until you lay eyes on your son for the first time’ and ‘Just wait until you get to hear those sweet baby giggles.”
I know life is hard. And I know I don’t know how hard it can be just yet. But life is too short to “just wait” on the bad things and focus on the hard times. So for now, I’ll “just wait” on Baby Grayson to get here and for my life to be changed forever. And I’m completely ok with that.
Yesterday I prayed a prayer that I have been praying for months now. I pray it multiple times a week. It’s on my prayer wall. I have even asked others to pray it with me. But do you know what was different about yesterday’s prayer?
I realized that this entire time I had just been “hoping” it would be answered. I was hopeful that something would happen. Up until yesterday, I don’t think I truly BELIEVED that anything would come of it. As awful as it sounds to say it out loud, I didn’t believe that God was going to answer my prayer.
How guilty are we of doing that, though? How many times do we pray a prayer and “hope” that God will take care of it, but then we never actually give it over completely to Him? Why do we feel that we need to care those burdens around with us when God wants to take them off our shoulders?
Now, God may not answer my prayer in the way that I see, but He WILL answer it. And He will answer it in His timing and in His perfect way. Last week, I attended a leadership conference where I had the privilege to hear Lysa Terkeurst speak. She shared an amazing story about God’s perfect timing, but the one thing that she said that has stuck with me is this: “There’s what I see…and then there’s what God is doing.” We do not get to see the big picture, but God is always in control of it all. We only get a small piece of the puzzle BUT when we trust and BELIEVE that He is going to see it through, God will show up and show out.
So from now on, I am fully believing that God is going to answer my prayer. It may not be today, tomorrow, or next week. It may not happen for another few years. But when it does (and it WILL), I cannot wait to tell you all about it.
I had NO idea I had been gone so long. Has it really been almost 9 months since my last blog?? A lot has happened during that amount of time. Time really does fly when you get older, and I don’t think I’m a fan! Recently, God has placed a call on my heart to begin blogging in my business again, so it looks like I’m back to stay 🙂
Let me catch you up on a few things…
August 2017: We began building our forever home! This has been one of the toughest and most exhausting processes I’ve ever been through, but it has been so worth it. We are very fortunate and very blessed to be building such a beautiful home out in the country on family land. We are almost to the closing date – in fact, we should be able to start moving in within the week!
September 2017: We celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary in Disney World! We had a phenomenal time in the most magical place on earth – we are such kids at heart!
November 2017: November was both happy and sad. I lost my dear Pawpaw at the age of 90, but I know that he is in a better place and I wouldn’t bring him back even if I could! November was also the month that my husband’s family traveled to Starkville for the weekend for my father-in-law’s 60th birthday. We had a great time watching the Alabama vs Mississippi State game – even if i was the only one happy with the outcome! 😉
This is also the month that we decided that a plant-based diet was the best decision for us. We had both been feeling super sore and stiff every morning, and we were also always tired and sluggish. We had heard great things about the benefits from some close friends of ours, so we decided to try it for a few weeks and see if it was something we wanted to stick to long term.
December 2017: December was filled with our usual – lots of Hallmark movies, Christmas lights, hot chocolate, cozy fires, gingerbread houses, but this year we also got something even more special…a trip to the mountains with my family! We had such a good time – even if the cabin we stayed in had no running water for two days, ha! I’ll always cherish family time, and we had some of the best that trip for sure!
January 2018: January was another sad month for our family. This was the month that we lost Jordan’s Pawpaw King. Again, we know that he is in a better place and that he will never hurt again. We are simply selfish and wish they were here with us. We are truly thankful for the many years we got to spend with both of our grandparents, and we are eternally grateful for the values and morals instilled in us by them!
January was also the both that we decided to go strictly plant-based. Up until this point, we had been eating a mostly plant-based diet, but we never truly made the decision that this lifestyle was definitely what we were going to stick with until the beginning of the new year. My husband’s acid reflux is all but gone, and we are both feeling better than we have in months. He has currently lost 12 lbs, and I have just over 5 lbs – an added bonus!
February 2018: February brought about a new extension to my Fashionably Fit business! I decided to partner with a jewelry company, and I could not be more excited about how it is going.
March 2018: March was special because we got to meet our newest nephew, Brennan! He is a little doll! Our house was also getting extremely close to getting finished, so we got to do a few fun things like buy new furniture! (even though Jordan wasn’t particular happy about that one!)
Now we are in April, and I cannot wait to see what this month will hold! We have already gotten to celebrate Easter (my favorite holiday!), and we should be closing on our new house any day now. My jewelry company is releasing the Spring Catalog next week, and I know that business is about to get crazy! (Seriously, this stuff is SO pretty!!)
My goal for this blog is to continue to bring you articles that pertain to your own Fashionably Fit lives, so I’ll be talking about lots of fashion (including makeup, outfits of the day, and jewelry), as well as workouts and my new way of plant-based eatings (and recipes that go along with it!). This year is going to be the best one yet.
