My spud babies were delish!

If loving potatoes is wrong, I don’t want to be right. But the only problem with my potato-loving nature is that I like lots of cheese and butter. (Have I ever mentioned I’m lactose intolerant?) Yeah, dairy and I can’t really be friends, but I’ve been stubborn over the years. Fortunately, I just found a new recipe from an old cookbook I had laying around that allows me to enjoy those lovely spuds without having to cram a bunch of crap on them. (And by crap, I mean so much dairy that it will give me the craps.)

This Stuffed Baked Potatoes recipe is cake to make and yummy to boot. I made the recipe my own with a few substitutions and by adding some salsa, too. There’s just something about salsa on a papa that melts my butter.

Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Serves 6

Ingredients
3 large Russet potatoes
1/2 c fat-free cottage cheese
1/2 c fat-free sour cream
1 can (4 oz.) diced green chiles
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
Paprika to taste
Jar of your favorite salsa, optional

Directions

1. Bake potatoes and allow to cool until easy to handle.

2. Slice in half lengthwise and scoop out centers, leaving 1/2-inch rim and set shells aside. Mash potato centers and combine with cottage cheese and sour cream, blending thoroughly. Stir in green chiles, garlic salt and cilantro. Fill potato skins with mixture, sprinkle with paprika and place in 350° oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until crispy on top.

3. Top with salsa and enjoy!

Do you have any healthier spins on your guilty pleasures? Grumbling tummies want to know! —Tish

Let's just say that my first back at the gym after my toe surgery was no cake walk.

The first day back in the gym after a hiatus—or what I like to call “Day One”—has been my worst fear ever since I first heard my foot surgeon say “No exercise until healed.” That was a month ago. In that month I sat, and hobbled and sat some more. I ate well, but did engage in some naughty holiday fun. All of that combined with time led to one heck of a hard Day One.

Before my surgery, I used to be able to run without really thinking about it. I trained for and ran a marathon, I took classes and boosted my weights to 15-pounders because I was building muscle. All of these awesome accomplishments were running through my head as I gasped and watched as my scrawny arms shook through my very first push-up on my first day back at the gym.

It’s so hard starting over y’all, but it’s possible. Whether it’s been a month or years, a post-injury comeback or a true first-time workout session, we’re all in the same boat. I won’t lie. It’s challenging as heck and a bruise to the ego. Flashing montages of my previous fit self ran through my tired brain, but facing that darn Day One was so freakin’ necessary.

I need the huffing and puffing up my stairs to end. I want to move effortlessly again. And that, my friends, requires a Day One.

My Day One was so freaking hard, too. The push-ups, the TRX exercises, the weights…workouts that used to come so easily for me were now winding me like a mofo, as you’ll see below. It wasn’t easy, but I did it. And since then, each day has gotten better and better—each pull a little sweeter.

Can’t see the video? Click here to see my day one.

Have you started your Day One or are you trying? I know exactly what you’re going through, and I’m here to say it gets better. There’s only one Day One you’ll have to endure if you keep persistence in your morning smoothies! —Tish

Tucked in the valley is a charming Sunday farmers’ market in Studio City, Calif., that I love to visit. It’s the kind of place with vibrant fruits and vegetables. Vitamins and nutrients float in the air there, I swear. I always say I’m going to get some recipes together and then go into that place, armed with a plan and a set amount of money, but the farmer’s market isn’t for Type A personalities.

You start at the beginning, slowly browsing each table. Once you’ve reached the end of the farmers’ market, you decide what looked the tastiest and you allow your inner Anthony Bourdain to take over and just start trying. The last time I went to the farmers’ market, I picked up some beautiful purple potatoes, kalamata sourdough bread, bolani flatbread, hummus and kale. It doesn’t get any better. I plan to savor and enjoy ever darn purchase. Fresh, local and given with love. It don’t get no betta!

If you’re a farmers’ market lover, tell me your technique! Are you a spontaneous shopper or are you the wo-man with a plan? —Tish

We should all shoot for the stars, right? Credit by: f_shields

Last year in my personal blog, I typed out a couple of resolutions that I easily forgot a week after writing, so when Jenn mentioned that this year we’d be booting the resolutions and instead conjuring up some goals, I shimmied out a small pelvic thrust of happiness.

That happiness didn’t last long, though. Turns out all my creative goal-making bones are hibernating. I stressed about this for weeks—and then it hit me. Promising your spirit better things for 2012 isn’t about quantity…it’s all quality. Maybe you only have one goal…maybe 20. It’s more about the challenges your heart (and body) respond to. Once I figured that out, my lovely little goals popped right on out. I love aha moments!

Tish’s 2012 Goals

1. Try to find a new superfood to cook with. I always hear talk of quinoa and barley, but I’ve never cooked with such things. I’ll eat it, but me cooking it is a whole other story.

2. Flex and actually be able to show muscle popping out. Don’t laugh. I’ve never had arm muscles. When I visited Alex Reznik at his gym in New York, he told me it would be really hard to get muscle because of how long and lanky my arms are. Smells like a challenge, don’t you think?

3. Find and read another cool sports book. I read two last year: Open and Wonder Girl were both snazzy. Time to repeat that. This shouldn’t be hard, right?! If you have any recommendations please send them my way!

4. Act more like a girl who’s bound to get her wishes and dreams. I’m out in Los Angeles to act. I have a hard time telling people I am an actress because frankly, I’m not acting…My goal is to find a hopeful, but honest way of talking about my dreams in a totally present, totally healthy, totally believable kind of way.

What about you? Is your goal list short and sweet or long and complete? —Tish

What mindset are you sipping on? Content By: jadeashley

Have you ever had a run-in with a hater? I run into them sometimes, even when it comes to Fit Bottomed Girls. A couple weeks ago, a fellow from my day job hit me with the “best-friend nepotism” angle. You see, Jenn and I have been best friends ever since we were fourteen. She and Erin created this snazzy sight, and I applauded and supported from backstage. Then Los Angeles started getting on the FBG tip, and so Jenn asked if I’d like to do a guest post.

This was a big ask for Jenn. At that point in my life, I was just getting back into fitness. I was really active in high school and college—running every day and eating right. Then, girls from college did the worst thing we, as women, can do to each other: they teased me for working out. They called me anorexic and said I had issues. Even though I didn’t and was just health conscious, I submitted to the pressure and stopped it all cold turkey.

Then Jenn inspired me years later to start running again. She gave me a half marathon training schedule she was following, and I was actually enjoying the daily running. Because of that, I accepted her guest-post offer and wrote the Burn 60 piece. The rest is history. I became inspired, motivated and persistent. I shushed those mean girls’ opinions I had carried around with me for years (how crazy is it that they made me ashamed of being naturally thin?!) and started getting back to the girl who could run four miles a day like it was nothing. I even ran a marathon.

Working out and writing for this site has been one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. Yes, I am thankful and very aware that my best friend gave me an awesome writing opportunity. I’m also aware that I’m a darn tootin’ good fit for the site. I think Jenn and Erin are smart women with good hearts, and that pushes me to make them proud. I pull my weight. Not only do I work my butt in the gym, but I try to write my butt off, too.

What have I learned from all of this? Even those who drink the haterade can make us stronger. They can tell us all day long we won’t accomplish this or that, don’t deserve that and this, but in the end they’re just opinions. Opinions that can ignite fires under our butts and get us out there to prove them wrong!

I’ll keep sharing positive messages. I’ll definitely keep working out, all the while remaining humble and thankful that my best friend was the generous gal who opened the door. For the haters, I recommend focusing on the content and the FBG mission; not on the negative. After all, fit bottoms come in all shapes and sizes! And if you’re facing a hater in your life—whether it’s someone who sabotages your weight loss efforts or tells you that you can’t be a runner—don’t you dare let others’ negativity stop you!

We have to all remember to drink the Gatorade, not the haterade! Have you ever had someone dis on you because of your healthy lifestyle? —Tish

Setting intentions and then releasing them for 2012...

It’s pretty awesome having the kind of friends and bosses who are always trying to find ways to improve and honor themselves. Jenn is one of those girls (as you all have probably determined by now). A couple of weeks ago, she sent me this vlog by Gabby Bernstein, and I became a bit obsessed with the idea of setting intentions, writing them down for the New Year and then burning them. So that’s exactly what my boyfriend Mark and I did.

New Year’s Eve night we sat down in our living room and spent some time thinking about what we really intended for our year. This is the truly hard part. Doesn’t it seem like we get caught up in what others have offered up for their resolutions? The popular ones like losing weight and quitting smoking are all fine and dandy, but I don’t smoke and losing weight is never where my heart has been. I want to be fit for sure, but I saved those kinds of goals for the Question of the Week (you’ll see mine next Friday). But intentions are a whole other beautiful beast. Setting intentions has the power to work out our spirits.

One of my intentions was to cultivate empathy and an even better understanding of my friends. Friendship is one of my sacred cows, so I’ll always burn an intention for the betterment of those people in my life who I think are worth honoring.

After midnight, Mark gathered his 10 and I my four, and we huddled around a safe place and burned those beautiful intentions…leaving them for the universe to take care. It was actually pretty emotional. We had a sweet moment, champagne in hands and the sweet swell of purpose floating around us.

It’s not too late for you to do the same! Are you setting any intentions for the New Year? Any intentions that your resolutions list may have overlooked? —Tish

My mom sent us these fun aprons to get us in the baking spirit.

Now that Christmas has passed, I can share the top-secret gift idea that I came up with for my guy’s family. He was having the hardest time thinking of gifts to get the adults in his family. He didn’t want to get them gifts just to get them something; he wanted to make sure they could actually use what he gave them. So, I suggested making healthy treats for the gang.

We’re both fitness nuts who get teased by his peoples for our dietary preferences, but we figured we could hoodwink them by mixing up some of the tastiest apple-cinnamon granola ever. We made jars and jars of the stuff (even making some for ourselves) and sent them along to the family in Jersey to devour. The granola tastes good on its own but also tastes pretty good with yogurt and berries.

The finished product!

The recipe called for crazy stuff like brown rice syrup and coconut oil—hard ingredients to find, but so worth it! His mom and dad both are busy folks on the go and don’t really eat as well as they should, so any snack we could give them that had nutrition pumped into them was a bonus for us.

This was the first Christmas I’ve ever baked. I should have picked up on that fun little opportunity sooner because it totally put me in the Christmas spirit. (I was having the worst Charlie Brown mentality before!) The minute I smelled the cinnamon goodness though, something came over me. Who knew granola could be so magical?

Did you make any traditional holiday dishes to give as foodie gifts this year? Hungry tummies want to know! —Tish

Stitches stink.

“Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.” —Joni Mitchell

I swear I didn’t know how much I’d miss working out until I went under the knife and had a cyst taken out of my foot. I knew I’d be unable to work out for awhile, but it’s been three weeks, and I still have another week and some change before the doctor will release me back into the workout world.

Four stitches and a benign cyst that was growing in my blood vessel…ewwww. I’ve had the darn thing since I started marathon training, but it didn’t start really bothering me until the Dole event. While Jenn was out enjoying the beautiful euphoria of an early morning California run, I was holed up in the hotel room nursing the painful bump on my second right toe.

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The next week I visited a foot doctor, found out it was more serious than I had thought, and before I could say “This little piggy went to the market” I had an appointment for surgery.

They put me under to remove Toe-fer (I named the cyst, yes) and put four stitches in that naughty toe. I’ve been hobbling around my home, counting down the days until the stitches come out. I’m glad I did it; don’t get me wrong. I had started to compensate for the pain by walking on the outside of my foot (bad!), so I’m trying to see the bright side of all of this. Not only am I getting my foot and correct step back, but I’ve also learned to appreciate a good sweat even more. I swear, the first day back in the gym is gonna be a killer, but I’ll appreciate every darn sweat bead that rolls down my forehead!

Ever had an injury? How sweet was that first workout afterwards? —Tish

As we’ve mentioned, each Friday one of the FBGs will be answering a Question of the Week (QOTW). This week’s question? What’s in Your Gym Bag! So I’ve gutted my bag just for y’all! Be sure to check out Erin’s bag and Jenn’s bag, too.

If you were to judge me based off of the contents of my gym bag alone, you’d think me a very boring chick. You’ll find no makeup or the bottles of product I usually obsess over. I’m the get-in, get-out gal. I try not to shower at the gym if I can help it. I like to sit in my awesomeness until I get home. (Actually I’m just too lazy to shower in a public shower…it takes flip-flops and extra packing. I need my workout routine to be as easy as possible so that I never have excuses.)

If my bag were to take you out on a date, it would pull up to the curb with an awesome-sauce water bottle sticking out of its side. I’m persnickety about my water bottles. They have to be squirt-able. When I’m gasping for air, I need something that will pump life sustenance to me with the quickness. I have no time for that sip-it-like-it’s-a-straw crap. Did I mention I’m lazy? I’m currently obsessed with my Brita filtered water bottle. It’s BPA free and filters your water. My gym’s water is nastified, so it’s good to know I’m not sucking down any wonky stuff.

Once opened, you’ll find a lovely array of clothes and one pair of shoes. I never know how I’m going to feel the day I work out, so I usually throw in a pair of pants, cropped shorts, a tank top and then a long-sleeved shirt or jacket that I can throw on once I get outside. LA weather is kind of schizophrenic, so I have to be prepared for it all. Socks and a good sports bra are always in the mix, too.

I have a bottle of Lather lotion that I love. It doesn’t have an overpowering scent, which totally rocks. (For some reason, when I sweat the perfume-y scents on me tend to grow stronger and make me want to throw up in my mouth a little bit. Ew.) I keep a GU Energy Gel in my bag, too, in case I get psycho enough to run for more than hour. It hasn’t happened in many moons, but I’m a safety girl.

Like my weather-appropriate-apparel planning, I also come prepared for workout emergencies. I have two workouts I can do if my Total Body Abs class is cancelled, the Gym Coach, a Nike+ SportBand, a lock to protect my weirdness and—most important—a ponytail for my big, thick fro. I have no idea how Troy Polamalu does it, actually. I must contain and remove the curl from my face at all costs.

So apparently Erin isn’t the only minimalist in the group. You’d never find something randomly delicious like a man’s jock strap or diamond-infused facial scrub in my bag. I’m just a simple girl with a simple  gym-bag-packing mentality.

Are you a pack rat, minimalist or—even better—someone who packs randomly delicious things that you’re willing to tell us about? —Tish

When Jenn and I attended the Dole Healthy Blogger’s Summit back in November, we were lucky enough to each go home with the Portobello Mushroom Powder that Kelsey was gushing over. We were lucky because this new product by Dole is one of the newest, snazziest ways one can load up on vitamin D, especially if you’re vegan. (Did you know that many vitamin D pills are wool-based? Dole’s mushroom powder is pure-portobello goodness.)

And how they get so much vitamin D in the portobello mushrooms is a little magical. Dole basically pulses yummy, vitamin-D-rich light over portobello mushrooms and then grinds them into a fine powder that gives us the good stuff we need. Pretty cool, right?

Since learning that, I’ve been sprinkling the powder onto everything: grilled pineapples, cauliflower, smoothies…you name it. The mushroom powder is basically tasteless, so the food-adding possibilities are limitless. (Well, unless you sprinkle it in hot coffee or tea. I heard from the mushroom-powder experts that it tends to clump up in really hot beverages.)

Another dish the mushroom powder is fab in? Soup! Check out my minestrone soup recipe below for a tasty and healthy way to get your vitamin D. I make this stuff all the time and just had to share!

Minestrone Soup (With Mushroom Powder!)

Since it’s getting colder out, I thought I’d share one of my favorite soup recipes that I added some of the powder to.

Ingredients
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 1/2 c green beans, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper (to taste)
1 28 oz can no-salt added diced tomatoes
1 14 oz can crushed tomatoes
48 oz low-sodium chicken broth
1 15 oz  can low-sodium kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 c elbow pasta (or small shells)
2 small Yukon potatoes, diced
grated Parmesan cheese for garnish
chopped fresh basil for garnish
1 tsp Dole Portobello Mushroom Powder

Directions
1. Heat the EVOO in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about four minutes. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add the celery and carrot and cook until they begin to soften, about five minutes.

2. Stir in green beans, oregano, dried basil, and salt and pepper to taste; cook three more minutes. Add the diced and crushed tomatoes and the chicken broth to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer 10 minutes.

3. Stir in the kidney beans, pasta and potatoes and cook until the pasta and vegetables are tender; about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Serve with Parmesan cheese,  chopped basil and the mushroom powder!

Trust me, it’s vitamin D-licious! How do you go about getting enough vitamin D in your diet? Will you try mushroom powder? Make my minestrone soup recipe? C’mon, let’s chat about it all in the comments! —Tish