With so much going on around the holidays, the last thing you want to stress about during a time of joy and merriness is the almighty gift-giving dilemma! Worry no more, friends. With this sure-to-satisfy gift guide, you’ll take away the guessing game of finding that perfect fitness gift – gear, accessories, music, training and more – for the fitness fanatic in your family or circle of friends.

 Grain Free Red Velvet Santa Hat Brownies by Dashing Dish

Ingredients
1 can Chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
1/4 cup Protein powder (or oat/almond flour)
1/4 cup Unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup Plain Greek yogurt (or pumpkin, mashed banana)
2 large Egg whites
1/2 cup Baking stevia or 1 cup sweetener that measures like sugar
3 tbs Unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tbs Red food coloring (you could also try beet juice to get the red color)

Optional Santa Hat Ingredients:
16 medium Strawberries, washed and stems trimmed
4 oz Reduced fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup Baking stevia or 1 cup sweetener
1/4 tsp Vanilla extract

Nutritional Info
Servings (1 brownie per serving): 16
Calories 30 | Fat 1g | Carb 4g | Fiber 1g | Sugar 1g |Protein 3g

Clean eating doesn’t have to mean bland, boring (or even gross) tasting foods. Nope! Good news: you won’t have to sacrifice delicious flavor and impressive sweet treats in order to stick to clean eating and healthy throughout the holidays.

Allie made an amazing transformation in time for her wedding this year! Read about her journey that turned into a lifestyle change! You go girl! 

Oh, holiday-time madness. Family and friends gathering in town for the festivities, traveling to spend time with relatives, office holiday party after friend holiday party after family holiday party, gift planning and buying beating the mall rush and sales, pine needles and ornaments, a million things to do and seemingly no time to get it done … the list goes on, and on, and on.

When it comes to running, typically you’re in one of two categories: you love it or you hate it. (Okay fine, there’s the third option of a combined love-hate relationship.) Regardless of how you feel about it, one thing is for sure – the benefits of running far outweigh any woes.

You’ve seen him or her around the gym: scrolling through their smartphone in between reps or fitness classes. You may be thinking to yourself: what are they doing? Maybe they’re taking #fitspo (fitness inspiration) photos, searching for their favorite gym playlist or scrolling through a fitness app for some exercise encouragement.

You know the drill: holiday party this weekend and next weekend, traveling day after day to see family and friends, and not to mention the endless to-do lists seven pages long to somehow complete before aforementioned holiday events and travel. Oh and how about a workout or two per week in the midst of the madness, just one more seemingly impossible thing to fit in during the holidays, right?

Trick or treat … give me something good to eat! With the holidays just around the corner and Halloween season in full swing jam-packed with pumpkin-treat-this and pumpkin-dessert-that, it’s challenging to not completely blow your healthy diet with such yummy temptations all around.

Simply mentioning some local homegrown favorite foods like fried dumplings, fried okra (okay, fried anything), stews and soups, cornbread, cheese grits, bourbon, and more, can ignite a mouthwatering sensation.