CHICKEN SALAD RECIPE

A protein packed chicken salad is a great meal! You can throw it in a low carb wrap, you can eat it plain, or even throw it on a bed of lettuce if you are trying to add extra greens to your day!

Traditional chicken salad is full of mayo and sugar, but by tweaking the ingredients a bit you can get a healthy alternative that still tastes great!

For this recipe I used one of those pre-cooked rotisserie chickens, this was a time saver for me, you could of course roast your own chicken.  This is simply a time saver and it tastes great!

Prep Time: 20 Minutes      Cook Time: 0
Makes 3 Servings

Ingredients:

9 oz Rotisserie Chicken
1/2 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1 Cup Red seedless Grapes
1/4 Cup Miracle Whip Lite
2 Tbsp Dried Cranberries
1 Tbsp Pecans
3 or 4 Celery stalks

Directions:

1. Remove skin and shred chicken breast with fork while still warm.  (I didn't use the dark meat, but of course you could) I also "chopped" the chicken to ensure the shreds would be small.

2. Let chicken cool
3. While cooling chop the grapes and celery to desired size (I like them small)

4. When chicken is cool add Greek yogurt and miracle whip. Mix well with wooden spoon

5. Add nuts & fruit

6. Refrigerate until ready to eat

Approx calories per serving: 228
Fat: 7//Carbs: 9// Protein:30

6 THINGS I LEARNED FROM DOING BBG

When I decided to start doing BBG about a year ago, I had every intention of getting a 6 pack in 12 weeks and calling it good.  Well after 12 weeks I didn't have a six pack, but BBG c.h.a.n.g.e.d a lot of aspects of my life>>

1. The human body is S T R O N G 
I'm serious! BBG has shown me that if I work hard enough at something I can do it.  I say this often, but I could never do 20 consecutive push-ups before BBG and now I can practically do them in my sleep.  

2. The scale DOESN'T matter
Easy to say right? BBG girls know first hand that this is true.  Don't believe me? Just look at Kelsey's (@mysweatlife) transformation! Muscle weighs more than fat and it's truly about how you feel not your gravitational pull on the earth!


3. Being active affects your Mood
Exercise gives you endorphins, and endorphins make you happy! BBG girls are honestly some of the most upbeat positive people and it's impossible to not jump on the positive train when you're constantly being bombarded by endorphins and happy people

4. Burpees aren't the worst
If you haven't tried the guides than you probably think I'm crazy.  Jump lunges, tuck jumps, COMMANDOS theses moves will have you begging for burpees.

5. You can get a GREAT workout in less than 30 minutes
If you've ever seen a #postworkoutselfie then you know that 30 minutes is plenty of time to get your sweat on.  The key to a great workout is high intensity and kayla has gone a little overboard on the intenstity, but only to benefit us.

6. Girls can be so uplifting
We've grown up with movies like mean girls that have told us that girls are mean.  This doesn't have to be true and the #bbgcommunity is a huge example.  BBG girls come together no matter age/size/location and are always there to pick you up when you're down. BBG has brought so many girls together and created lasting friendships  

Photo by Melissa Scola

More info about the guides can be found here: http://www.kaylaitsines.com/

5 PROTEIN PACKED SNACKS

Personally I don’t use protein powders often- not to say I never do because sometimes they are convenient or sometimes I have a sweet tooth… Trying to increase protein in your diet can be tough, people associate protein with meat which is somewhat true but there are also other great protein sources because who wants to eat chicken with every meal?

Low- fat cottage cheese

½ cup of low fat cottage cheese has between 13-15g of protein and that’s just for a half of cup! Cottage cheese is a great snack and easily goes with so many things- have you ever had cottage cheese, runny eggs and salsa?! (so good)

Greek Yogurt

Greek yogurt has pretty much been deemed the healthiest food ever- but what people really mean is the unflavored super sour kind. I tend to splurge a little and get the flavored kind which does have about 7g of sugar but at 12g of protein I give in a bit.

Spinach

Sure you have to eat a lot of spinach to get a large amount of protein but at 2g per cup adding spinach to your salad instead of iceberg you’re that much closer to your protein goal

Tuna

Yeah kind of a meat, but there are a lot of pescatarian out there.  Tuna is my go to because 17g of protein per 3oz serving is more than most protein powder or shakes and I absolutely love tuna.

Pumpkin Seeds

At 3g of protein per tablespoon these are a great snack especially with fall coming up.  Like most seeds and nuts they do have a fat content on the high side, so this is something you need to look out for.  Salted pumpkin seeds are great after a workout that you sweat a lot of your sodium out as well!