The iPhone has thousands of health and fitness apps geared towards helping get you in the best shape of your life. How do you find the best app in the sea of paid and free offerings? In my opinion, here are the 5 best iPhone apps to feed your healthy obsessions.

What are your favorite free apps?

I forgot to mention that I also LOVE Runner’s World Smart Coach app. It helps me train for my races! Love it.

Have you heard of Fab Fit Fun? It is a women’s lifestyle newsletter that was created by Giuliana Rancic. They send out newsletters just about every day, and yesterday I was featured as one of their favorite YouTube trainers!

I was so excited to be included along with my buddies Cassey and Bex.

Recipe: Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore

This week, I made a new I put together a keeper of a recipe. Roomie already requested it again. I showed you in a YouTube video how I loved making Crock Pot Salsa Chicken and a few readers suggested making it with pasta sauce. I took them up on their suggestion and made a batch using Trader Joe’s Organic Mushroom Pasta Sauce. I only added 1/2 the jar.

After the chicken was done cooking, I sautéed onions in a frying pan on low for 10 minutes until they were limp. Then I added frozen, sliced tri-color bell peppers. Once those were cooked all the way through, I added in a tablespoon of capers, a cup of cooked chicken and extra pasta sauce. I served my chicken on a bed of Shirataki Noodles and roomie’s on a plate of pasta.

It was sweet, salty and delicious! I already made another batch and bought an eggplant this weekend so I can serve it on eggplant noodles later this week. What do I have against pasta? When following the Tone It Up diet plan, there are no carbs after 3 pm! Of course when I go to an Italian restaurant I don’t follow the rules but at home, I do try.

It’s kind of like Chicken Cacciatore and I highly recommend trying it if you love your crock pot like I do. I suppose you could add the veggies to the crock pot 1/2 way through the cooking but I like how the onions sort of caramelized in the pan.

Exclusive Giveaway For TIU Members!!!! I get asked what Heart Rate Monitor I wear at least once a day. I wear the FT60 which retails for $125. I wear a chest strap and am able to track my heart rate during my workouts. Throughout the workout, I’m able to see how many calories I’ve burned. This feature is particularly intriguing to many of you.

Polar noticed and asked if I wanted to give one away. I’m using my HRM to track my fitness while getting in shape for my spring break vacation in conjunction with the Tone It Up diet plan so I decided to make this giveaway for TIU members. They are a supportive community for my YouTube channel and I wanted to show them how much I appreciate their love and support. If you are already a member, leave a comment below to enter. If you are not a member but order the Tone It Up diet plan through my site by Monday February 6th at 8 pm EST, you will be entered to win. Your comment can be about anything but if you are looking for prompt, let me know what your favorite part of the TIU plan is, maybe a the diet plan, workouts of community.

This giveaway is exclusively for TIU members.

I apologize in advance to my readers who are not members. I have some other fun and exciting things to give out later in the week that will be open to everyone.

One day cold afternoon last winter, I was running my routine 3.8 mile loop and just stopped. I was bored. I was tired. I was also kinda sad. I had a personal issue going on and really was not in the mood to power through a workout. I glanced down at my iPhone and began browsing iTunes. I wasn’t sure if I was looking for a song to cry with, a song to cheer me up or a song to get me angry and fired up. Running is my therapy but this day I needed a therapist to sing to me.

I opted to download the new Adele album. Quickly I thought to myself, “How crazy is it that with a touch of my finger I can download an entire new album on a bridge in the middle of my run?”

As soon I started hearing the bellowing voice of Adele, the oomph in my stride returned. I finished my cathartic run with a proud sense of achievement. Regardless of how I was feeling before I started, I accomplished what I set out to do and had regained control over my thoughts. Yes, the album is depressing but that is how I felt. Her angry words energized my legs and assured me, this feeling too shall pass.

Music is my savior when it comes to working out. I cannot run without it. Studies have shown that it helps people workout harder and longer. The beats per minute help keep your speed up your pace as well. To stay motivated, I am constantly updating my playlist. I use Pandora and I Heart Radio often, but when you are in a mood like I was last winter, you need control over what you hear.

If I lack motivation to go to the gym, I put on my headphones and start listening to my latest workout playlist. In no time, I’m ready to go move around. Here is my most recent Top 10 playlist:

• Rihanna, We Found Love In a Hopeless Place
• Florence And The Machine, Dog Days Are Over
• Flo Rida, Good Feeling
• No Doubt, Sunday Morning
• David Guetta & Nicki Minaj, Turn Me On
• Duck Sauce, Barbara Streisand
• Ellie Goulding, Lights
• The Pretty Rechless, Make Me Wanna Die
• Morningwood, Jetsetter
• Katy Perry, Use Your Love

I like to mix up old favorites with new songs, that way if the radio overplays these songs I won’t hate the entire thing but just half Jetsetter has been on my list for over 5 years and it doesn’t get old. It’s also my power song on Nike+. What are some of your favorite not currently popular songs?

Last night, I had the privilege to volunteer at a charity event in Boston to support Youk’s Kids. It’s an organization that was started by Red Sox star Kevin Youkilis and the Junior League helped staff volunteers.

Youk’s Kids mission is to create a community of support, increase awareness and advocate for the health and well-being of children. [YouksKids.org]

My duties were to assist with the stage production crew. In a nut shell, I helped get what the talent backstage wanted. The talent included two of my favorite comedians, Josh Wolf and Sarah Colonna from Chelsea Lately, Gavin Degraw and former American Idol contestant and our Senator’s daughter, Ayla Brown. Sarah and Josh both tweeted me before the event so I had to introduce myself. It made my month.

The event was held at the breathtaking State Room in downtown. It was one of the most beautiful venues I have ever seen.

Word on the street is that is costs $30,000 night to rent out (no idea what that includes). With 300 guests in attendance, local restaurants served up treats of their own. Personal favorite Island Creek Oyster Bar was there, as was my favorite local cupcake spot, Sweet. Shuffling between the green room and the food stations, I would pass the mini cupcakes from Sweet each time. At every pass it seemed like my will power would lessen a little bit more.

First, I had a red velvet. A little later I decided to sample the vanilla. And I couldn’t leave out chocolate, right? It wouldn’t be fair. At the end of the night, I think I had 4 mini cupcakes. Well worth it, but a far cry from my New Years Resolution to eat less refined sugar…

How is your resolution going, by the way? By the 3rd week in January, most people have already given up. You can probably tell on your own if you are a gym regular. Why is it so hard to stick to a goal long-term? Here is a fun infographic I found that helped me feel slightly better.

My resolution is to always stop doing something diet related, “Stop eating artificial sweetener or start drinking more tea.” Exercise had never been a struggle for me because I enjoy it. I see results, I enjoy the therapeutic effects it bring to me and it’s something I find to be fun. I created the below video exclusively for The Laughing Cow YouTube channel with my top tips for staying motivated to always want to exercise. While I fail yearly at my resolution, I do know how to maintain a fitness routine.

After posting this video, a comment was left by a YouTube user alerting me to the overwhelming malfunctions of the JawBone Up bracelet. I was contacted by a representative to test one out. By the time I responded, they were all sold out. I thought I was lucky to hang out with YouTube employee during my YouTube Holiday Party meet-up and see how it worked. She had been using it for over 2 weeks and was loving it. She did not tell me about any glitches that she had. I guess the bracelet was failing at such an alarming rate that if you bought one, you can get a full refund, and keep it even if yours didn’t malfunction!

The Nike Fuel band that debuted recently I believe is going to strive to cover all the same measurements as the Up bracelet. However, I also heard that those sold out already as well… My advice: Track your workouts with an old-fashioned pen and paper and a heart rate monitor. I say this on a daily basis but the HRM I use is the Polar FT60. I love it.

I have a confession to make. At the gym, if I see someone who I think has a killer body, I’ll watch what they do at the gym. Sometimes I create stories for the “characters” I see on a regular basis. I like to guess if they played a sport in college, recently lost weight or are trying to add definition. If this sounds incredibly lame, it’s probably because you actually get to interact with others on a daily basis. I work from home and going to the gym is usually the most human interaction I get… which is why I love the Junior League and weekends.

So anyway, I am going on vacation in March to South America. As I said yesterday, my new focus is on lifting the booty this month leading up to my journey down south. I created a butt lifting video that you can do at home without any equipment. I saw a girl at the gym doing a few of these moves and she had an amazing body. She was the inspiration for this sequence.

I’ve been practicing these moves myself since I was a freshmen in college, but have neglected them the past year or so. I find that whenever I see someone with a great body doing a move, I assume they must be doing it regularly and if it worked for them, why not me? While all bodies are different and results will show differently on individuals, this undoubtedly is a great booty and ab workout.

Challenge: Do this workout today!

• 8 Hip Lifts
• 8 Single Leg Hip Lifts (Right, then Left)
• 8 Side Plank Leg Lifts (Right, then Left)
• 12 Bicycle Crunches
• Forearm Plank with 8 Leg Lifts (Right, then Left)
• Forearm Plank with 8 Side Leg Lifts (Right, then Left)
• Hold Plank for 10 more seconds
• Do 1 Push up (or more if you can)

Rest for 30 seconds. Repeat two more times.

I have overdeveloped quads from improperly doing leg exercises, years of running and playing soccer. I created this routine so that I could focus on giving my booty a lift while minimizing the amount of quad involvement.

From start to finish, this will take you no more than 10 minutes. Do it after a day of cardio, Pilates or Yoga!

Do you watch what other people do at the gym? I know in my Gym Pet Peeve video, many said they detested when the person next to them would look at their treadmill speed or elliptical level. Is this borderline the same thing? Am I committing one of the most hated gym habits?

Fitfuential has secured a few partnerships with a variety of online publications. I’m so excited to have the opportunity to audition to write for one of them. I can’t share with you the name of the publications yet, but I’m in the final rounds! They’d like to see what I bring to the table so this is basically an audition post. I would love it if you took a minute to leave a comment below suggesting or helping me know what you think I could best contribute.

After training for the Urbanathlon, I took a bit of a break from my strength training. I took a Tabata class religiously on Mondays, and dabbled in a few other classes like Hip Hop Yoga, Barre Burn, even spinning! It was nice to mix things up, but I missed feeling sore. I missed having control over what parts of my body were really worked to exhaustion. I also found it hard to really max out a muscle group. When you take a class, they suggest a weight without telling you what exercise they plan to use them with. My bicep curls and dead lifts are performed with weights that differ by 50 lbs but in a class, I use the same set of dumbbells. If I knew ahead of time, I would grab heavier weights but usually you do not know what is in store.

With a vacation to South America coming up in March, I am newly motivated to target my bikini flaunting areas. My main focus this month is the booty. Here is my new workout routine I created for the next 6 weeks before my vacation. I plan to supplement this routine with cardio 3 days a week, consisting of 35-50 minute steady state and interval runs.

UPDATE: Here is how you do a Full Extension. I should have included this originally!

Feel free to pin the workout too! I’m recently obsessed with Pinterest. If you need an invite, let me know in the comments.

While you can’t target where your body loses fat, you can build muscle and lift your backside with exercises as seen above. For me when trying to lose weight, it is more important to focus on diet. This past weekend, I made a delicious new recipe using left over red bell pepper from an event with the Junior League.

I warmed up frozen grilled asparagus from Trader Joe’s and a Dr Preagers Spinach veggie pancake as sides. The main meal was a chicken breast stuffed with sautéed red peppers. I cooked the chicken in a frying pan with salt and pepper. Next, I transferred it into a preheated oven at 350F for another 25 minutes. I used the remaining red pepper and pureed it in my food processor with a dollop of Greek Yogurt, adding more pepper, salt and garlic to taste. When the chicken was done, I topped it off with the chilled red pepper topping. So simple, but so good. This is going to be a staple in my house. I made roomie’s with bread crumbs for added flavor.

While searching for a recipe to use my red pepper, I discovered a few new favorite sites. One is Foodily and the other is PunchFork. Both offer recipes from sites like Epicurious but also include blogger recipes in the search results. I’m ecstatic that blogger recipes are now being included in recipe discovery sites. I feel an adventurous chef in the making.

Tomorrow, I am posting a new YouTube video featuring another booty workout that requires no equipment at all, so if you hate that the above workout requires a gym membership, check back tomorrow on here or YouTube for another option! On a side note, my YouTube channel surpassed 55,000 subscribers this weekend! I can hardly believe it. Over the past few months, my growth rate has

Ok, so now for my pitch to the online publications: My goal upon entering college was to be a broadcast journalist. Instead of moving to a large city like New York or small market like Florida, I attempted to concur my goal while living in Boston. I was able to gain on air experience with the help of YouTube. Today, my channel has over 55,000 subscribers. Over the past four weeks, the number of weekly subscribers to my YouTube channel has more than doubled. My videos are now receiving half a million views each month! Additionally, with over 11.3K Twitter followers, 6.7K “Likes” on Facebook, and 27K Tumblr followers, I’m happy to say my hard work over the past 12 months looks to be paying off. Wanting to build credibility to my videos, I became an ACSM certified personal trainer. I am also currently certified to teach using the TRX. While I no longer train clients out of a gym, I do work with young women privately.

I’ve created a brand that not only is a reliable source for fitness and health information on YouTube, but I also am an advanced video editor with a successful healthy living blog. I’ve achieved all three accomplishments on my own, without outside help.

Here is my “sizzle reel” that I created for YouTube this summer to showcase my channel.

I created this website, SarahFit.com, to supplement the videos with recipes and more details for workouts. While my main audience is on YouTube, I equally love to write. The journalist in me however enjoys writing about thought provoking content rather than my daily diet and fitness regimen. A few of my favorite posts can be found on my Lifestyle and Features page.

I am really looking forward to being a contributor for one of the best online publications and am excited to meet the challenge!

Naturally skinny people can eat what they like in moderation without second thoughts. People who struggle to maintain their ideal, feel good weight should know what these 7 naturally slimming foods are and incorporate them into their diet to make their battle with the scale stress free.

They help you feel and look skinny. All have been proven, except one, to either block fat absorption in the gut, speed up metabolism, tame blood sugar levels or help metabolize fat. If you like to watch videos, here it is on YouTube below. The one that has not been proven is widely used by many health and fitness experts. However, its healthy reputation is more of a holistic belief than scientific. I use it regularly and swear by it. So do many fitness competitors and people with a variety of ailments.

1. Grapefruit – As part of a 12-week study performed by the Scripps Clinic, participants who at 1/2 a grapefruit before each meal lost an average of 3.6 lbs without changing other aspects of their diet. Many lost more than 10 lbs! [Study] It’s believed the grapefruit not only helps stabilize blood sugar while filling you up on fiber but it also helps metabolize fat for energy. When following my favorite diet plan strictly, I eat one every day between breakfast and lunch. If the tart taste is off-putting to you, try adding some stevia on top.

2. Chili Peppers – Spicy foods like chili peppers and cayenne pepper have been shown to increase metabolism thanks to the antioxidant capsaicin. According to a study conducted by UCLA, the calorie burn in an individual after consuming a meal with capsaicin doubled when compared to a meal without. Some studies have even found that it decreases appetite.

3. Coffee – Yes coffee sometimes get’s a bad reputation but experts can’t deny the studies that have shown caffeine can decrease appetite. Another study showed that people who consumed coffee 45 minutes before working out burned more calories than their counter parts who did not. The caffeine reduces the amount of “pain” a person perceives and as a result is able to workout harder and or longer. If you are nervous about its diuretic effects, stick to just one cup and leave the Starbucks card at home. Drink plenty of water as well to stay hydrated during your workout. [Study]

4. Lemon – Lemon is a natural diuretic and should be consumed with water. It acts as a cleansing agent for the liver and acts as a detoxifier, helping your body get rid of unwanted waste. I do not believe in detox or liquid diets. Most experts agree that your body naturally cleanses itself, and lemon helps aid in this process. It helps shed extra water weight, so if you tend to bloat around your period, drinking water with extra lemon might help reverse the visual effects.

5. Vinegar – Vinegar has many benefits. In regards to weight loss it has not been proven through any studies sufficiently just yet, but many show promise that vinegar also acts as a detoxifier, killing unwanted harmful bacteria in the gut and helping move along the process of digestion. It also has shown that it blocks the absorption of fat in the stomach. Apple Cider Vinegar is a secret weapon in the fitness industry. It helps people who might be constipated and consequently, creates that flatter looking stomach. Using vinegar on salads also reduces the amount of calories you would otherwise be consuming if you were to choose a creamy version.

6. Almonds – Almonds are nutrient dense, helping your skin look fabulous and keeping your hunger at bay. A study recently found that participants who ate almonds daily were more likely to lose weight despite eating more calories than a group that did not eat almonds at all. [Study] The almonds helped satiate the dieters and reducing their hunger. As a snack in the afternoon, have a handful of almonds. Each one contains 7 calories, so make sure you stay under 200.

7. Cinnamon – Cinnamon makes your oatmeal taste wonderful and helps control blood sugar levels. A high carb meal might spike insulin levels, which may cause you to feel hungry when you should be full, but studies have shown the cinnamon helps tame these levels. Try adding it to your breakfast of with tea at night.

There are many other foods that are naturally slimming but these are 7 that I eat on a daily or weekly basis. Tea, artichokes, asparagus and more also promote weight loss but these are my trusted buddies. Do you have any favorite slimming foods? Which of these do you regularly use?

Last week, I tried CrossFit for second time. A new studio opened up just a few blocks from me and was giving out free trial classes to potential new members. I love the competitive nature of CrossFit and am fascinated by the competition element of it.

They somehow turned exercise into an actual sport you can compete in, complete with the CrossFit Games. Reebok, who is a sponsor at the Back Bay location, recently began an ad campaign called, “The Sport Of Fitness Has Arrived.”

For my session, the instructor began by taking us through a warm up Tabata, my favorite! We did 20 seconds of squats, followed by 20 seconds of forearm planks. This was a good warm up but not as efficient in my opinion as a dynamic warm up. It was a cool exercise though for the gym to show off their awesome timer. I took the picture below at the end of the session but it was set up to act like a Gymboss, complete with automated alerts at 20 second and 10 second intervals for four minutes.

Like I mentioned above, this was my second visit to a CrossFit studio. Last time, I checked out Fenway Cross Fit. Both put me through what they call a “Baseline.” The Baseline consists of a 500 m row, 40 squats, 30 sit ups, 20 pushups, and 10 pull-ups.

Above is my vlog from last time. At Back Bay, I had to row on one side of the gym and cross to the opposite side for my pull-ups, which were not set up properly for me to immediately begin. We had to add a few weighted plates for me to stand on in order to grab the rings. Both times, I did use a green elastic band. Last year I got 6:04 and this year I got 6:30. However, if I had not had to adjust the height for the pull ups, I think I would have tied my time, but that is just me.

Either way, according to the chart above, I am an expert. That works for me. However, I do understand I am not an actual expert since I did need the assistance of the green band. This is kind of where I ask, how do you compare when you offer these advantages? It’s not really accurate for women using an across the board starting line.

The class was small and energetic. I had a great group of fitness enthusiasts it seemed. Half had tried CrossFit before. I don’t feel like my knowledge of CrossFit is adequate enough to really give it a good review. The baseline is not enough to know what an actual 55 minute workout is like. That being said, the facility was clean, open and bright! The classes will be capped off at about 12-15 and classes will run on the half hour I believe. They can only have about 300 members so it’s going to be a first sign up, first served basis.

They had an incredible response before opening. Over 800 people registered for a free class like the one I took. After the class, they give you the sales pitch which is expected and totally fine. They are brand new, they gotta get members some how. The part that shocked me though was the price. Cross Fit is expensive! I understand most CrossFitters do not belong to other gyms, so if you are planning to join, you might want to wait for your other membership contract to expire. I can’t remember what the exact rates were, but I left under the impression that at a minimum you will be spending over $200 for a monthly membership. It’s not like a regular gym membership in that you can go whenever you want. You need to sign up for a class, arrive on time and finish in 55 minutes. They are prepared to add classes and slots where needed to satisfy their members.

Update: Some one on my Facebook page had a good point. You’re paying for a monthly gym membership plus a personal trainer for each time you go. Makes more sense to me, when you think of it like that.

I enjoyed the class, and loved the space. Wish I could have gotten more of a taste of what CrossFit actually is. Perhaps if they run a special, I’ll buy a package but I can’t justify spending the amount for something I’m not 100% in love with. If you do Cross Fit, and I know many of my readers do love Cross Fit, how much do you pay a month/session? I’m very curious now, because I was shocked.

I’m excited to announce that I finally have signed up for my first big challenge of 2012. I will be running Reach The Beach on May 18th with a team of bloggers, headed by Tina of Carrots ‘n’ Cake.

What is Reach The Beach?

Reach The Beach is a 200 mile relay race that you compete in with 11 other team members. Over a 24 hour period, runners take turns running different legs of the race ranging from 2.8 to 8.3 miles each. There are 36 legs and on average, each member will run about 15 miles. While one person is running, the others are in a van (I think) following along. You start between 7:30 AM and 4:30 PM on Friday and run throughout the night until your last team member reaches the beach! I will begin my training in early February and plan to follow a half marathon program. I will not be running at 11 pm and 5 am the following morning to train. I plan to rely on good old-fashioned adrenaline. I will be sharing my training here like I did with the Urbanathlon.

Who is on my blogger team?

Tina of www.carrotsncake.com
Theodora of www.losingweightinthecity.com
Monica of www.runeatrepeat.com
Ashley of www.healthierhappierbear.com
Anne of www.fannetasticfood.com
Ali of www.foodfitnessfashon.com
Elizabeth www.ontapfortoday.com
Bridget of http://yogurtberries.blogspot.com/
Gretchen of  http://honeyishrunkthegretchen.com/
Melissa of http://fitnessnyc.wordpress.com/

What is our team name?

While officially we have not named our team, we are looking for suggestions so if you have one, please leave it in a comment or tweet it to me! Obviously, we are not opposed to making fun ourselves with our team name. There have been a few hilarious suggestions. One of my favorites is “Fueled by Expensive Nut Butter.” I think it’s a little too wordy for an official team name, but props to the witty author of this anonymous suggestion.

Any races before hand?

I was originally going to sign up and run a half marathon this winter or Spring but I have been dealing with what might be my first sports related injury. Instead of push it, I’ve been trying to lay of my running hoping that it heals without having an officially diagnosed injury.

What do I think is the culprit? My lack of a proper warm up. I’ve been busy and rushing my workouts. I have not been using a foam roller with all the travel I have been doing recently. Dedicated runners know how important it is to foam roll before and after a workout to prevent injuries. This Winter/Spring, I’m traveling to South America for 10 days and Mexico for 7. I’m not complaining but going that long without any proper myofascial release, it going to set my body up injury.

About a year ago, I was introduced to this really cool portable device that acts like a foam roller but is smaller and hits the smaller spots much better. It’s called The Body Wrench and will be perfect to bring in the van during Reach for The Beach in between my race legs. It has a cult following among Spartan Race enthusiasts and traveling triathletes.

They asked me also to shoot a video since I was so excited about how well it got out the knots in my back. It was fun. If you are addicted to foam rolling but are looking for something that hits deeper, tighter, more specific areas that will travel with you to races, see what you think. Since I know these guys, I asked for a 20% discount for my readers if you are interested. Just use the promo code “SarahFit” (not case-sensitive) and go here. If you don’t like it, you can return it within 30 days and get your money back.

I love the NFL playoffs, especially when my team is in it! YouTube is going to be running an “ad blitz” and asked for party recipes among other videos, so I decided to throw my hat into the race for a chance to have my videos featured. I first made my Salsa Chicken 2 ingredient slow cooker recipe. Today, I bring you a skinny Buffalo Chicken Dip recipe.

If you watch the video below, you will also get a fun workout to do while you make this recipe! It is a bar method inspired workout by Lauren Hefez and I’m obsessed with it. It totally burns and will have your legs shaking. So, while the chicken is cooking, you’re doing plie squats! It’s super fun and Lauren is great.

Skinny Buffalo Chicken Dip (Serves 4, Prep Time: 15-mins, Total Time: 30 mins)

• 6 oz Chicken Breast
• 2 cups Chicken Broth
• 4 Laughing Cow Light Wedges Garlic and Herb
• 1 TBSP Blue Cheese Crumbles
• 1/2 cup Greek Yogurt, plain nonfat or 2%
• 2-4 TBSP Franks Red Hot – depends on your own preference
• 2 tbsp Shredded Cheddar Cheese, reduced fat or 2%

Cut raw chicken breast into 2″ slices and add to boiling chicken broth. You may use water if you do not have any. Using two forks string chicken by pulling in opposite direction. The longer it boils, the easier it will be to pull apart or just chop after 10-15 minutes. Combine all ingredients except shredded cheese. Top with shredded cheese and bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool, serve with chips or celery. Use an 8×8 pan.

We didn’t have an 8×8 at Lauren’s so we used a loaf pan. If you prefer to use sour cream and mayo instead of greek yogurt, use 1/4 cup of each. You may also use the Blue Cheese wedges from The Laughing Cow and omit the additional crumbles.

Yesterday, I took my first “sick day” in a long time. It was weird and I felt lazy at the end of the day. I’m not sure what it was, but nausea is never a fun time. Working from home, it’s nice to be able to take a sick day when you need one. On the other hand, it totally stinks because I have no one to cover for me and as a result I feel totally behind and unproductive. Being self-employed, you do not get sick days or paid vacation. It’s one of the drawbacks but there are plenty of benefits as well. I find it most challenging to let myself enjoy not being able to work. I had my iPhone glued to my hip all day checking for important emails. I felt like a stay at home parent watching daytime TV.

They have quite the line up these days on daytime TV. Starting at 9 I had on Live with Kelly, The Today Show, The View, my local news, The Chew, The Doctors… I slept through half of these but enjoy The Chew. Fred Armisen was on and had me cracking up. The hosts of chefs asked him what he doesn’t like for food and he responded, “Tapas.” He explained the small plates in a group setting give him anxiety. He isn’t satisfied with just a small bite but doesn’t know what proper etiquette is and just wants some of the plates to himself. Since none of the hosts could relate, he said he felt crazy. I wanted to write about this because, I don’t think Fred is crazy here. I understand what he means when I’m out with a group of 4+ people. Although I love tapas, I do feel like it’s a little awkward when you want seconds but aren’t sure if everyone has had a bite. Is there a tapas etiquette protocol? Does anyone else feel like Fred and myself?

FYI: I am a Laughing Cow Cheese Community ambassador given my love for all things TLC. Learn more here http://sarahfit.com/laughing-cow-community-leader/