Quick switches for healthier kid lunches

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“I love packing school lunches!” said no mom ever!

School is starting again soon and I am already dreading the chore of packing school lunches. Just being honest here!

How are busy mom’s supposed to get this done when they have to be healthy but still things the kids will eat and won’t get boring? They have to be quick and easy to pack but don’t require short-term refrigeration or heating up. They have to be easily transportable without getting soggy or dried out. If you’re not a pinterest lunch making mom, then these requirements can be a little frustrating!

And isn’t it true that the easiest things to pack are often the least healthy for the kids? If you pack those, you’ll probably get “bad mom” judgement or even have the teachers send a note home about it.

30652226_2025800137683720_3884400209555357696_nHere are a few things I’ve learned to make packing healthy kid-approved lunches easy and fast:

  1. Main Items: For sandwiches or wraps, switch white bread or regular wraps with the whole grain (whole grain is more nutritious than multi-grain) version. If your child refuses to eat whole grain (ours did at first but gradually accepted it when it was the only thing available haha), there are many whole grain breads that look just like white bread. Check out “Daves Killer Bread” for a few great options! You can also use thinner sliced bread or smaller wraps and add more veggies and meat for a more filling meal. My kids loooove pinwheels – whole wheat wrap topped with low fat cream cheese and low sodium turkey slices. Sometimes my kid love to eat lunch meat with no bread at all. That’s super easy and fast too! If your kiddo is a chicken nugget fan, look for the healthier versions that look like real chicken instead of ground up mystery meat. Nitrate free options are always a good choice too.
  2.  Sides: Switch sweetened apple sauce with the unsweetened kind. You don’t even notice the difference in the cinnamon flavors. Throw in low fat cheese sticks and avoid sugary flavored yogurts (also avoid the fake sugar ones!). Instead, if you’re feeling ambitious, you can grab some plain 0% yogurt and mix in some strawberries or other fruit on your own the night before. When it sits in the fridge overnight, the fruit juices sweeten the plain yogurt naturally – this is one of my personal favorite snacks for myself too. Whole grain crackers like Triscuits and Sun Chips are a better choice than greasy crackers or potato chips. Look for “low sodium” too. If your child enjoys veggies, those are an easy and nutritious option, as well as fruit – bananas, grapes and blueberries are my favorite because they require almost no prep other than rinsing.
  3. Treats: Graham Cracker snacks and animal crackers are a better option than regular cookies and will still make your kiddos happy! If you bake at home, there are a few recipes for making healthier desserts on my post “4 Recipes with no Sugar” that you can make with your kids.
  4. Drinks: Water is best, of course. If your child doesn’t like drinking water, try adding fruit to it. If they are juice drinkers, look for the all natural, no sugar added versions. Hint: fill a water bottle half way with juice and the rest water to further reduce the sugar content without them even noticing a difference! Soda is a tough habit to break as an adult. If your child drinks it now, perhaps considering breaking the habit early would be a good idea. Whether the sugar free or sugar full kind, there is nothing good about drinking soda for children or adults.

 

Getting Sensory Kids to EAT

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My daughter has been diagnosed with a Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). She’s mostly a sensory avoider but also has a few sensory seeker tendencies mixed in. For mom’s of kids like this, you know how challenging meal time can be. From her first solids all the way to now at 9 years old, finding food she will eat is an adventure.

Sensory kids often have issues with strong tastes and anything they deem as a weird texture. The biggest challenge I have with my daughter is with healthy protein and veggies.  I know all sensory kids will be different but I wanted to share a few of the healthier meals I’ve found that she’ll actually eat and that I actually feel good about giving her.

Breakfast: Whole grain mini bagels with cream cheese; Bacon or turkey sausage with protein pancakes/waffles; Granola (we make our own because she also has a peanut allergy – I like this recipe as a base but without the brown sugar: http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/kid-safe-nut-free-granola-465337); Fruit;

Snacks: Healthy smoothies – fruit and yogurt smoothies with some veggies hidden in it are great or even better, my daughter loves Daily Sunshine which is a pediatrician approved, kid formulated smoothie powder that comes in chocolate and strawberry banana. It’s packed with a serving of fruits and veggies, healthy fats, protein, and vitamins my kiddo needs but tastes like a chocolate shake so she actually thinks she’s getting a treat. It’s a win-win! Other snacks she enjoys are granola bars, carrots, sweet peppers dipped in a healthy ranch I make with 0% plain greek yogurt and a tiny bit of ranch soup mix, “ants on a log” – aka celery sticks with cream cheese and raisins, whole grain baked crackers like triscuits or gold fish, graham crackers with Sunbutter;

26172939_1976125785984489_6903273852973535921_oLunches: This is TOUGH because she would prefer to eat boxed mac & cheese and chicken nuggets with fries every day if she could. I’ve found she enjoys pinwheels – whole grain wraps with a layer of cream cheese (she loves cream cheese obvi) and deli meat like low sodium turkey. Homemade lunchables are usually a hit too. For those, I use deli meat, cheese slices, whole grain crackers, and a small treat like animal crackers or one cookie.

Dinners: Spaghetti is a big hit so we will healthify it by using whole wheat noodles and adding tiny cut veggies in the sauce. Tacos are a hit and she’ll actually eat them with lettuce wraps instead of taco shells so we often do that to increase her veggie intake. Sweet potatoes are popular and she loves regular potatoes with toppings but we make it healthier by using just a little sprinkle of cheese and plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream.

The biggest thing we have found is to request that she at least takes one bite of whatever we make for dinner (which can sometimes be a serious challenge) and if she hates it, she is allowed to have something different but no treats if no veggies are eaten. Overall, her diet could certainly be healthier but she is not malnourished or overweight. We feel that as long as that is the case, everything is ok and we will continue trying!

 

Gym vs Home Workouts vs Private Training

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26841375_1982624858667915_3706689557479932164_oWant to start getting in shape but not sure how? The vast number of options to choose from can be both awesome and overwhelming. Often it can be hard to choose what will be best for you. Here are a few of my thoughts on gyms vs home workouts vs private training.

–> Gyms: Large buildings filled with equipment, sweaty people, aerobics class options, and even personal trainers is the most common picture to come to mind when thinking of gyms. Some people love this environment if they enjoy the social aspect of fitness and prefer to use equipment that they don’t have at home. Also, for some people, having to physically leave their home and go to a gym is more motivating and having a location away from the hustle and bustle of their families can be helpful to avoid workout interruptions. There are also boutique style gyms that cater to specific audiences such as women only or specific fitness styles such as Pilates studios or Barre studios. These tend to be smaller buildings and can be fun socially because you automatically have at least one thing in common, you’re all women or you’re all into pilates, etc etc. Financially speaking, gyms can range widely in price but often are in the middle of the three options.

20414094_10155455218600102_6514970187266003839_o–> Home Fitness: Working out in your living room can be a very convenient option and offers a different level of privacy. You’re able to workout whenever you choose without worrying about travel time and the only people who see you are those who live with you.  It’s great for people with really busy schedules and also those who prefer not to workout in a crowd. You can even get your kiddos in on it for extra fun! Often this is the less expensive option and there are more fitness style options available. It’s helpful to have support such as a workout buddy or group to cheer each other on. Otherwise, its only you that knows if you workout at home or not, which makes it easier to skip. Another advantage of home workouts though is that you always get the best spot in the class, you can pause it as needed, and the class schedule is completely up to you. You can choose your own music and shower in your own shower. There’s never anyone else’s sweat on your barbells either which is one of my personal favorite benefits! 😉

–> Private Personal Training: Hiring a personal trainer, whether in a gym or one who will come to your home or meet you somewhere such as a park, is a great option for those who want personalized attention and a routine specifically created to address their goals, health issues, and lifestyle. If you’re working out on your own in a gym or at home, you may have no idea you are doing certain moves incorrectly or that you have posture issues that should be addressed to prevent injury before even trying to exercise. A personal trainer can make sure you are exercising in the optimal zone and doing the optimal moves with correct form for your body. A personal trainer can also give nutrition guidance, although not individualized meal plans, to help improve your results. Simply exercising without changing your eating habits won’t get you to your goals. A personal trainer can also create long term as well as short term plans so you are prepared to make this new healthy lifestyle last! Pricing can vary widely though but is often not as expensive as you might expect.

Overall, the option that fits you best depends on your personal preferences, goals, and lifestyle. Regardless of which one you choose, it’s better to start somewhere than to not start at all. If you end up not enjoying your first choice, there’s nothing stopping you from trying something new!

**To schedule one free private personal training session with me or get information on my virtual fit groups with home workouts, contact me today!

How to healthify your coffee

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29694369_2022298258033908_7513636351925813248_o“I want to get healthier but I don’t want to give up my coffee with cream and sugar.” Does that sound like you? It definitely was me a few years ago and I work with many clients who tell me the exact same thing. Good News: You don’t have to give up coffee to be healthier! Not as good news: Adding lots of cream and sugar is definitely going to slow down your progress.

Don’t worry though! Here are two easy steps to gradually healthify (yes I made up that word haha) a cup of coffee:

  1. Over the course of a few weeks, begin to cut down the amount of sugar – even if it’s fake sugar – little by little. First, cut it down by 1/4 and drink your coffee at that level for a few days. Then, cut the sugar by 1/4-1/2 again and so-on. Don’t stop until you have cut ALL the sugar out altogether. If you hit an amount that really makes you unable to drink the coffee, add a little honey. Then gradually decrease that.
  2. Once you have gotten the sugar out, begin to focus on the cream. Even skim milk is pretty high in sugar (lactose sugar) and calories. My biggest advice is to gradually switch from milk or a flavored creamer to an alternative milk product like unsweetened almond or coconut milk. These products are very low in calories and sugar and have more health benefits. Plus, you still get a creaminess in your coffee! Began by making your coffee with a mixture of half the amount of your regular creamer and replace the other half with the alternative creamer. Drink it that way for a few days to a week. Then, cut it to 1/4 your regular creamer and 3/4 the unsweetened almond or coconut milk. Continue until you’ve made the full switch.

There is an adjustment period but I can tell you that I no longer can stomach drinking really sweet coffee drinks like I used to enjoy. This method has helped many of my clients too! Give it a try and comment below to let me know how it worked for you

Chicken Breast with Feta and Artichoke

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14188347_10154417515860102_2883133869719641584_o-1Found this on the teambeachbody.com website, tried it and LOVED it!

Total Time:

1 hr. 28 min. Prep Time: 10 min.

Cooking Time: 18 min.

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients:

1 cup nonfat plain yogurt 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped 3 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano, divided use 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley, divided use 1½ tsp. fresh lemon juice 1 tsp. ground black pepper 8 (4-oz. each) raw chicken breasts, boneless, skinless 1 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 5 oz.) 1 medium tomato, chopped ½ cup canned artichoke hearts, packed in water, drained ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped, reconstituted in hot water for 10 minutes, drained Nonstick cooking spray

Preparation:

1. Combine yogurt, garlic, 2 Tbsp. oregano, 1 Tbsp. parsley, lemon juice, and pepper in a medium bowl; whisk to blend.

2. Place chicken in a glass dish. Top with yogurt mixture. Marinate in the refrigerator, covered, turning once, for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

3. Preheat grill or broiler on high.

4. Combine cheese, tomato, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, remaining 1 Tbsp. oregano, and 1 remaining Tbsp. parsley in a large bowl; mix well. Set aside.

5. Grill or broil chicken for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, or until no longer pink in the middle. Set aside.

6. Heat oven 350° F.

7. Place chicken on a baking pan lightly coated with spray. Top each piece with 1 rounded Tbsp. of cheese mixture. Bake for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the cheese is lightly browned.

How to make meal prep more FUN!

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Don’t dread meal prep! It doesn’t have to be all “sweatin’ in the kitchen” for 5 hours of awful! I went from being like “UGH! Do I have to?” when it was meal prep day to  “alright, let’s do this thing!

What’s different? Weeeeell I came up with some things to make it more FUN!

  1. First, plan smart – think meals that will make enough for multiple days, non-cook snacks that are quick to prep, and things that have ingredients in common. This will keep your prep time to a minimum.
  2. Next, make sure you have your meal plan and recipes easily accessible. I hang my weekly meal plan right on the cabinet where I can see it not only when meal prepping but every day when packing my lunches too!
  3. Have a lot of cute, matching Tupperware on hand so you’ll know it will look really pretty when you’re done! (this could be more for those type A personalities but I do look forward to that finished product with each day laid out in a nice matching row like I always see in pics from people who are way more talented than me on social media LOL)
  4. Crack open a bottle of wine and pour a glass! It’s 21 Day Fix approved, I swear!
  5. Turn on some tunes! I like to turn on Pandora on my TV. My station is a crazy fun mix of 90’s alternative and Brittany Spears stuff LOL
  6. Ask your significant other and/or kids to join in and cook together! (now, I admit this one could backfire, in which case, I say plan your prep time when they’ll be out of the house!)
  7. Just relax! Don’t think about anything else you have to do. Enjoy this process and remember that when you’re done, you’ll be set up for success the rest of the week!

 

How to go out to eat and stay on track

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“Wait, does being “healthy” mean I can’t go out to eat? I really like going out to eat!”

“I’m going out tonight. How do I not ruin all my progress?”

These are some of the common questions I get from my newest members of my monthly health and fitness challenge groups. I used to wonder the same thing but over time have amassed a fool-proof plan for going out to eat without throwing your goals to the curb.

  1. 13483158_10154219735510102_3083876128096263551_o

    Egg White Omelet with Spinach and Feta and a Side of Fruit

    Choose a restaurant with healthy options.

  2. Check out the menu BEFORE going and choose what you’ll have after investigating the nutritional content (avoid fried food, be aware of high sodium content, no creamy sauces).
  3. Have a small snack before leaving so you won’t be starving . This way, you can avoid the pre-meal chips or rolls that some restaurants bring out.
  4. If available, ask for egg whites for omelets or other egg dishes.
  5. Ask  your server for your cooked veggies to be plain, no butter or seasoning (restaurants soak them in butter and salt but they don’t need all that to be good y’all!).
  6. Ask for dressings to be on the side if you order salad.
  7. Don’t clean your plate. Restaurants always give you more than a regular serving size and you won’t need it!
  8. If you order dessert, stick to mini desserts or be sure to share with the whole table.
  9. For drinks, have a glass of wine or ask if there’s a “skinny” version of your favorite cocktail, such as the skinny margarita.

Any more tips that you’ve found that work for you? Share in the comments! I’m always looking for more!

Taking A Risk

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So I had this dream. Not like “I have a dream” as in some big dream for society or anything grand like that. My dream was just for me. My dream was for my own family. My dream was out of my reach, or so I thought.

When I began as a Beachbody coach, I created a vision board with goals and dreams I’d like to achieve/make real (if you’ve never done this, I highly recommend you google it and make one!). I keep it hanging where I can see it every day. I spend time every day simply visualizing these things at the time they’ve really happened. Still though, I felt they were very far away. I had created a real plan to actually reach them but they seemed currently out of reach.

One of those dreams was to live on the beach, right were I could hear the waves from my bedroom, walk out and watch the pelicans diving in, be amazed by storms and lightening  over the ocean, go for evening walks on the beach, watch the sunrise, and well, you get the point. It was my dream. It was something that brought a smile to my face just thinking about it. I didn’t think I could have it though, at least not any time soon.

Then, one day, on a whim, my husband and I stopped at an open house for a beachfront condo that was for sale. We laughed as we went in and made a bet on who would have the closest guess as to the exorbitant price it would cost. We were surprised to find that it actually was less than we thought. In fact, it wasn’t much more than the cost of our current house. Then we looked a little deeper and found that there were lots of places available that actually were in our price range. The caveat was they were smaller, much smaller than our 2000 sq ft, 4 bedroom house in a perfect little family neighborhood. Buuut this was my DREAM. It was actually within my reach. Would we be able to downsize so significantly? Would that be practical? How would it affect our children?

My husband loved the idea. We talked about the pros and cons for awhile but not long. We basically decided one thing. We decided that right now, in this moment, this dream was within our reach and the circumstances surrounding it were perfectly aligned. We didn’t know if that would ever happen again in our lives. Maybe it would but maybe it wouldn’t. So we went for it.

Just like that. We called our real estate agents, LB Realty, and said we wanted to sell our house and move to a condo on the beach. We literally sold it in a week from the day we put it on the market, sold half of our stuff along with it, and rented a 2 bedroom beachfront condo.

RLR_2519Every day, I wake up to the sound of the ocean waves.

Every morning, I sit outside and drink my Shakeology as I watch the sunrise.

Every day, I workout next to a window overlooking the ocean.

Every day, my girls and I go in the pool.

We go for family walks on the beach 3 or 4 nights a week.

We watch lightning storms, pelicans, crabs, surfers, and hunt for turtles.

It is literally my dream come true. Is it completely perfect? No. The girls are somewhere between loving and hating sharing a room. There’s a bit of an ant problem. Salt makes things rust easy and get weird, like sliding glass doors for instance. The sun’s light/heat coming into the windows from the  between 8 am and 12 pm is INTENSE lol

None of that compares to the good though.

We took a risk. While some family members and friends called us crazy, many actually said living on the beach was their dream too. All I have to say is that the cliche “you only live once” is true. If you have dreams, don’t let them just exist in your sleep. Make them happen. Go after them. Make them real. Take a risk. Take a leap of faith.

If you don’t, what good does it do? If you die tomorrow, will you have lived a life you loved or will you have simply settled, just gotten by, told yourself you “didn’t need that to be happy?” I believe we all not only deserve to have our dreams come true but we all have the capacity to make them happen. We are all born with the same 24 hours in a day. We all have the choice to spend an hour either doing something to take us towards our goals or just watching tv. The choice is yours. What will you decide?

3 Ways to Make a Cookie Healthy

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Sweet Tooths UNITE! There’s nothing I like better than sugar. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work well with my “girlish figure” so to speak. Plus, sugar contributes to unpleasantness like diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. In my health journey, I have struggled with cutting sugar out of my diet. I have been seen begging my husband to finish off a box of cookies so I won’t eat them, stealing candy from my children’s stash when they’ve gone to bed, and even coming up with reasons to take my daughter out for ice cream when she doesn’t even want it. It isn’t pretty. The struggle is REAL.

My saving grace? Shakeology recipes that taste like cookie milk shakes. Here are my top 3:

chocchipcookiedoeshakeoChocolate Chip Cookie Dough

1 scoop Vanilla Shakeology

1 tsp Vanilla extract

1 tsp nut butter (I personally love Sunbutter)

1-2 tsp chocolate chips

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 cup Ice

Blend and enjoy!

20160201_154229.jpgThin Mint Shakeology

1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology

1/4 tsp mint extract (that stuff is strong yo!)

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 cup ice

Blend and enjoy!

Snickerdoodle Shakeology

snickerdoodle1 scoop Vanilla Shakeology

1 tsp nut butter (I personally love Sunbutter)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp honey

cinnamon to taste

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 cup ice

Blend and enjoy!

3 Steps for Efficient Meal Planning

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Fail to plan = Plan to fail! We’ve all heard that right? It’s so true! Planning your meals ahead of time will take the guesswork out of your days. Essentially “meal planning” is just taking time at the beginning of the week to choose exactly what meals and snacks you will put into your body the rest of the week. Your biggest obstacle in changing your lifestyle is going to be managing your time. Getting fit and healthy doesn’t have to compete with your time for family, friends, career, etc. Meal planning will help you save time in the long run as well as keep you on track with your health goals.

  1. mealPlan_thumbTOOLS: Use a spreadsheet to plan your meals! Set one up that has a spot for each meal of the day and each day of the week. If you’re following the 21 Day Fix, include columns for each color container and a “total” row that tallies up the number of containers you have so far (I have a couple of these already created, contact me if you need one).
  2. REPITITION: Plan out meals for one or two days and then repeat them for the rest of the week. This will help you save on planning and prepping time as well as money at the grocery store! Plus, if you have Shakeology every morning for breakfast, that’s one less meal you have to plan!
  3. RESOURCES: Use Pinterest, the Beachbody website, or the FIXATE cookbook for recipes and simply look them up under the meal your planning. For example, if I am planning a snack, I’d search Pinterest for “21 day fix snacks” and the results would be full of snack ideas that are in line with the 21 Day Fix nutrition guide. Pick one or two and BAM! Done with snacks!

Tip: Plan your meals before you go to the grocery store. Don’t try to plan based on ingredients you already have in your fridge. That will take much longer and you’ll end up with wasted food. Plan and then go to the grocery store. After that, it’s time to PREP!! Check out next week’s blog for tips on meal prep made easy!