- Workout Planner
- Daily Checklist (Bombshell Spell, Booty Call, Workout, Check-in)
- 100 by Summer Tracker
- 150 by Summer Tracker
- Meal Planner
- Goal Tracker and Reward Sheet
- Summer Bucket List
- Measurement Tracker
Author: Jessica Marie
Professional copywriter, NASM certified personal trainer, mom of 2
The Vegan Roadie at Work
So, my workplace had the honor of hosting the Vegan Roadie for cooking demonstrations today. He was a contestant in the “Brand with 10 Grand” promotional contest that we ran, and so we invited him to make a stop here on his tour. It’s kinda cool how it turned out that way!
His recipes du jour were Vegan Caesar Salad and Bowties in Garlic Cream Sauce. They were both very delicious! And they looked pretty easy to prepare. I’m no vegan, but I do enjoy many a meat- and dairy-less meal during the week, so I can definitely appreciate having some new recipes in my standard rotation. Dustin had a strong bent for chemical-less ingredients, i.e. clean ingredients. Real food. I’m always down with that!
Have you ever tried nutritional yeast before? I actually do have some on-hand at home because it’s actually has a great nutrition profile (excellent source of complete protein) and a really great cheese substitute. That was the main base of the “Parmesan” dressing and it had the same consistency and cheesy taste as parm. It’s a great salad, popcorn and casserole topping. You should try it! It’s not that hard to find in the store. I got mine at a nutrition supplement store, but they sell it right by the Parmesan cheese at the regular grocery store.
My Favorite Easy Shakeology Recipe
In the morning, at work, you’ll typically find me triple-fisting it with my three essential beverages: water, coffee and ShakeO smoothie. Obviously, the two first ones are essential for human life, hee hee! The third one is like my protein and vitamin insurance. It covers me in case I don’t get enough essential vitamins in my food and could cover some protein and fiber deficiencies in my diet. Just reading the superfoods in the ingredient list makes me feel healthier. Haha!
Now, I have tried quite a few protein shakes, meal replacement shakes and other smoothie mix-ins. I’m not about to get all gimmicky, but right now I really love the taste of Shakeology and what’s in it most. I was skeptical of it for a loooong time (like, years!!!), but once I tried it, I loved the taste and the ingredient list! There’s nothing but superfoods and all-natural ingredients in there. There are even probiotics in there! You won’t find any weird chemicals like you do with some of the other meal replacements that are big on the market right now (check your labels, I dare you! Ha!)
The fact that it has so much protein is really good for me too. Remember my doctor’s orders about protein? Whenever I track my food intake for a day or two, I always notice that I lean heavily on carbs and not enough on protein. Have you tried this? My guess is you’re leaning the same way too. It’s something I notice with a lot of people I coach. So, getting the extra dose of protein is really important to me.
The only other powder I’ve found so far (because I have looked HARD for an alternative, believe me!) is Raw Meal, which I requested for Christmas, but the taste doesn’t even begin to compare! Raw Meal tastes like it sounds. Kind of like ground up “stuff.” I can just “tolerate” it in my smoothie, but it leaves much to be desired. So, right now, ShakeO it is!
So, my favorite way to prepare Shakeology is this:
Berry Shakeology Smoothie
1 c Frozen berries
1 splash milk
1 scoop vanilla shakeO
Water to fill the rest of the cup
I just blend all the ingredients in my Bullet, and that’s it!
It’s what I always drink on my way to work, after my workout. And let me tell you, it’s an amazing meal replacement when you’re sick because it’s yummy and filling when nothing else sounds good or goes down, it’s giving you tons of vitamins, and the frozen stuff feels really good on the throat.
Another favorite is a Banana ShakeO Milkshake. I like to freeze bananas in our house that are just past the edible stage, but aren’t quite to the rotten stage yet. Thin, I mix a frozen banana with vanilla ShakeO, milk and a sprinkle of cinnamon (and on occasion, some peanut butter). It tastes like a milkshake, no lie!
Interested in Shakeology? Check out the incredible ingredient list and benefits here. Leave a comment or contact me to give it a try.
Summer Bodies Weight Loss Challenge
I’m hosting a fitness challenge group over on Facebook and wanted to extend the invitation here on the ol’ bloggy.
- Fitness: doable yet challenging at-home workouts with such variety that you’ll never be bored. I’ll help you find the perfect match for you!
- Food: you’ll get a meal planning book, additional help with meal planning, and 30 days’ worth of easy nutrient-dense breakfasts.
- Support: not only do you get me, a certified personal trainer and fitness coach, for support, but you’ll also be cheered on and guided by the other participants. It’s amazing how something as simple as an accountability group can have such a profound impact on goal achievement!
Clean Eating: Faster than Fast Food
I recently led a 7-day clean eating group, and I was trying to come up with some ideas for clean meals that are “faster than fast food” for my participants. That eliminates a few of the top excuses for not eating healthy, no? I am always tempted to reach for convenience food when I come home starving and it’s way to easy to say that clean eating is way too involved. So, coming up with a few super easy, super fast recipes is my fall back plan so I don’t blow it. I’d like to share these with you too!
Here are a few meal-building lunch/dinner options:
#1. I saw this meal on a website where they asked top nutritionists what they eat on the run. If a nutritionist is eating it, I don’t mind if I do too!
Brown rice (or quinoa/other grain) + sugar snap peas (or any veggie) + black beans
#2. I happened to find this super healthy, organic meal mix at Walmart, right by the frozen Steamer veggies. It’s a kale, quinoa, feta mix that has an incredible amount of flavor and it’s very nutrient dense. I just added a can of black beans and a can of chickpeas for extra bulk with two bags of this, and I had lunch for the week!
3. I like toast-building options too. You can make a complete meal simply by building on top of toast. How about:
- Bruschetta: tomato, mozzarella, avocado, basil and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar
- Peanut butter roll-ups: pb, honey and banana on a whole wheat tortilla
- Mini pizzas: mozzarella, tomato or tomato sauce, mushrooms, and onion on an English muffin, heated in the oven.
- Avocado/egg on toast
- Ricotta cheese and berries on toast
- Grown up grilled cheese: lean cheese and a pile of sauteed veggies (onion, pepper, zucchini, etc) on toast.
Do you have any fall-back recipes for clean eating on-the-run?
FREE 7-Day Clean Eating Challenge
I’ve posted this on my Facebook page and at my workplace and have gotten such a huge response. If you want in on this too, leave me a message and I’ll add you to the group. Did I mention it’s FREE!!!
Weekly Eats
I like to share what I’m eating on here in hopes that I might inspire you to meal prep for the week, setting you up for a successful week of healthy eating. I like to offer a glimpse of what I’m preparing as sort of a sample menu for cleaner, healthier eating or in case you’re wondering what a health-conscious nut might be eating at any given time. I myself sometimes return to these posts when I can’t think of what to eat for the week, so it’s helpful to pick and choose what you might want to incorporate into your own meal planning.
This is what my week looks like:
- Breakfast: My signature breakfast of egg whites with salsa and cheese + breakfast sausage + Shakeology smoothie
- Snack: No-bake energy bites + string cheese
- Lunch: Black bean runner’s stew + kale salad (I don’t use all the ingredients listed)
- Snack: Cottage cheese + cucumber
- Dinners: Chicken wings, beef tips and gravy, teriyaki meatballs, burgers, etc.
Our dinners aren’t completely on the clean side as Hubster is taking over most of the cooking, but this is what a typical Midwesterner’s diet looks like anyhow, no? And I always make sure we fill up on healthy veggies, salads or fruits with our dinners.
This picture is just for attention! She’ll be having milk and baby oatmeal this week. Clean eating at its finest!
What are you eating this week?
Tone it Up and Workout Tips During Pregnancy
I’m a huge fan of Tone it Up, it’s no surprise. I talk about them frequently on here. But once I became pregnant, I sort of started to ignore the workouts and motivation that K&K provide religiously. I just kind of shied away from anything that wasn’t pregnancy-specific. There really aren’t any Tone It Up prenatal workouts. And let’s face it, their workouts are geared toward young, single or newly married women looking for a beach body. Preggos/moms aren’t really their target market:)

However, during pregnancy I started to miss Tone it Up and I realized I could still incorporate a lot of their workouts into my prenatal routine, with some modifications.
Here are a few general pregnancy exercise guidelines (but always, always ALWAYS talk to your doctor first):
- Avoid lying flat on your back or tummy, especially after the second trimester. You may still be able to do booty bridges and things like that while propped up on a pile of pillows, but if anything feels uncomfortable, stop.
- Don’t go too intense. I enjoyed taking my workouts down a notch during pregnancy. If your doctor recommends it, you can continue with the types of workouts you were doing before becoming pregnant. However, huffing and puffing isn’t always safe. It’s usually recommended that you keep your intensity at a level where you can still speak conversationally. And you also don’t want to be working on gains during this tender period.
- Twisty positions are kind of hard to manage in later stages of pregnancy and could potentially be dangerous. You may want to avoid them or modify them as necessary.
- Don’t get up/down really fast: blood pressure drops and blood flow changes can really mess with a pregnant woman. Moves like surfboard jumps and burpees are not recommended.
- Jumping around: not only would this be super uncomfortable, but it can be unsafe. Moves that are jumpy or have the potential to cause you to fall are not advisable.
- Don’t stretch too far: the hormone relaxin can really mess with a pregnant woman’s body and stretching too far is definitely a danger. Be careful to stretch only to the point where you just feel it and be careful not to go too deep because it’s much easier to pull something.
- Balance is tricky. During pregnancy, a woman’s balance is compromised. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean she shouldn’t do any balance moves at all, but she should be extra cautious, knowing her equilibrium might be off.
- Different goals. Most pregnant women are not working on their beach bodies or running endurance races. We’re preparing for labor, trying not to gain over the recommended pregnancy weight, trying to feel better/have more energy, and preparing to bounce back after baby. That being said, the workout needs to be tailored to those goals.
- Getting too hot can be dangerous for a pregnant woman. Now, our bodies are super efficient at regulating temperatures and keeping baby safe, but getting too hot is still a concern. Bikram yoga and running on a 104 degree day are probably not in the cards. Drink lots and lots and lots of water and stay cool, mommas.
- Preventing diastasis recti: Anything that pushes the stomach out rather than pulls it in is probably not a good idea at this point. Pushing out the abs (as during crunches) can actually increase that gap in the abs, so you need to be careful with ab moves.
With these recommendations in mind, and after a talk with my doctor, I was able to sift through the Tone it Up workouts to find some that were both tolerable and safe for me.
A Few of my Tone it Up Prenatal Workout Favorites:
Arms: there’s not much need to modify with arm exercises, and your tummy doesn’t interfere too much with them. Here are my top arm picks:
- Bikini Arms
- String Bikini Arm and Thigh Workout
- 3 Moves for Sexy, Sculpted Shoulders
- 3 Moves for a Sexy Upper Back
Legs:
- Love Your Legs (I’d skip or modify the bridges in the 2nd/3rd trimesters)
- Tone up Your Thighs
- Love Your Legs (different than the above one)
Total Body
- Sweet & Sexy Valentine’s Workout (most of these are doable, but you may have to modify/skip some, such as Fly Like Cupid)
- Frisky Fall Full Body Routine (the plank row and pike I’d swap out for standing rows)
- Tone up Every Part in 30 Minutes
- Quick 10 Minute Routine
- Gettin’ Slim Without the Gym
Now, I wasn’t able to follow the TIU nutrition plan at all when I was pregnant. Pregnancy threw off all my food habits from the beginning, when morning sickness made only Culver’s mashed potatoes and Pop Tarts tolerable. I wasn’t able to meal prep because thinking about preparing food nauseated me and grossed me out big time. Later in pregnancy though, I was able to maintain a relatively healthy diet, but it definitely wasn’t all clean and Hubster had to prepare most of our dinners (which turned into leftover lunches the next day). I was totally ok with that and enjoyed the break, but I sure did miss some of the recipes from the plan!
Aside from TIU workouts, I also have a few workouts other workouts that I recommend for expecting mommas:
How You Can Diet and Actually Eat More!!!
Did you read that right? Yes, you can eat MORE!!! The idea that “dieting” means restriction is quite a misconception. First of all, I’m not a fan of the word “diet.” Or rather, I think of “diet” as simply meaning what you eat. I don’t like thinking about diets as something you do temporarily, a way you restrict calories for a set amount of time. That being said, dieting doesn’t have to mean restriction. I like to think of it more as a playground: it’s fun, it’s healthy, it’s energizing, and there is an abundance! Reframe your mind to think of diet as a means of exploration and quality rather than a restriction.
The thing is, when you eat “clean,” you can pile your plate FULL and still lose weight. Remember my three breakfasts under 500 calories? On the other hand, you can’t out-exercise a bad diet. You likely won’t have good results if you’re eating Easy-Mac, pizza, or Hamburger Helper every day. And your portions would be tinier calorie for calorie than fresh food. Further, you don’t want to displace the calories for something nutrient-dense with something refined and non-beneficial. Two slices of white bread have little nutritional value and displace about 120 calories that you could’ve gotten from something much more satiating and vitamin-filled. And you won’t have to ride out the insulin spikes and dips!
Take for example my meal plan for this week. I ate a LOT of food during the day, was very satisfied, and was genuinely surprised by how many calories I had left over for dinnertime.
- Shakeology smoothie (1c frozen berries, 1 scoop ShakeO, 1/4c milk): 238 calories
- Egg whites with 4Tbsp salsa, turkey sausage and grapefruit: 327 calories
- Chickpea salad: 145 calories
- Quinoa bowl and sweet potatoes with a sprinkle of brown sugar and pecans: 345 calories
- Greek yogurt with honey: 161 calories
- Total calories: 1216
Wow, look at all that food! And that’s not even including supper. I literally felt like I was eating all day! AND losing weight? Just, wow!
Want to learn how to eat MORE too? Here are some tips:
- Keep ingredients simple: stick to whole, the-way-God-made-them foods and simple, recognizable ingredient lists.
- Pile on the veggies: the main part of every meal should be veggies; meat should be a side dish. Fruit is great too!
- Eat lean meats instead of fatty ones: you can eat a ton more grilled chicken (with more satiating protein) than ground beef, and save yourself sooo much fat. For example, one pound of boneless skinless chicken breast has 880 calories/20g fat/184g protein while typical 85/15 ground beef has 1,152 calories/65g fat/128g protein.
- Get your flavor from simple spices, vinegars, mustards, and the like. These add sooo much taste for negligible calories.
- Remove liquid calories: drink mostly water. Liquid calories are a huge waste!
With clean eating, it’s pretty safe to say that green vegetables are unlimited. That doesn’t mean gnawing on raw salad greens all day–unless that’s your jam! It could mean balsamic Brussels sprouts, it could mean grilled asparagus, it could mean a yummy cucumber tomato salad, it could mean a huge bowl of veggie soup. Just be careful with your toppings. Vinegar- and mustard-based dressings are great, but limit olive oils, heavy cheeses and the like. Grilling is a great way to add tons of flavor without adding “weight” to greens. See, you can really eat a LOT, if you do it right!
Healthy Food Prep How-To and Sample Meal Plan
Setting myself up for a week of success starts on Sunday. I am much more likely to stay on track if I have my meals prepped before the week starts. So, my family typically does the grocery shopping after church on Sunday and then I prep my food straight out of the grocery bags when we get home. It has gotten a little bit trickier with an infant to care for too. She slept through a good 1/2 of my food prep this week, but then I had to stir things and nurse at the same time for the other half. A momma’s gotta do what a momma’s gotta do.
Now I’m one of those people that can eat the same thing all week. It has to be tasty though. I’ve made a few duds that I could barely swallow by week’s end (lentil meatloaf, blech!). But I have many old standbys that I make regularly and that I know I’ll look forward to all week.
Tip #1: Start by creating a list of all the breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks you enjoy that you can reference when you’re all out of ideas.
So, each week, I plot out what I’m going to eat at work for breakfast, snack and lunch every day. Every morning, I also have a Shakeology smoothie after my workout at home, so I have to remember to pick up frozen fruit. So, then, I think about all the ingredients I’ll need for these meals and write out what I need on my grocery list. Then, Hubster and I try to figure out at least 5 dinners for the week. We typically either have leftovers, go out to eat, or have dinner with family/friends the other two nights. I try to keep our dinners pretty clean too, but Hubster likes to cook too and it’s not always “nature-made” types of meals. He’s a meat and potatoes man, and that’s ok with me.
Tip #2: Using your list of meal ideas, sketch out a plan of what you’re going to eat for each and every meal for the week. It doesn’t have to be exact, but you should have a pretty good idea of what you’ll be eating and when. This is where it’s much easier to eat the same thing every day for breakfast and lunch. (And a lot of the food we get is in cartons, like Greek yogurt, so it doesn’t make sense to eat it as a snack for only one day).
So, here’s what I’m planning to eat for the week (keep in mind I’m nursing so my intake is higher than normal):
- Beef tips and gravy like this
- Easiest crockpot chicken parmigiana ever (chicken + 1 can spaghetti sauce, top with mozzarella)
- Teriyaki meatballs (ground turkey + egg + oats + teriyaki sauce, baked in oven)
- Turkey stroganoff like this
- Broccoli/chicken crockpot meal like this
Tip #3: Transfer all ingredients needed for meals onto your grocery list
Here’s my corresponding grocery list. Some of the ingredients we always have on-hand and some we needed to pick up.
Then, we head to the store, of course. We try to stick pretty closely to the list. We may throw one or two non-listed items in the cart, but ideally our goal is to spend $100 per week on groceries (including diapers and pet stuff). So, not only are we eating healthier, we’re also saving money by preparing meals at home and sticking to our grocery list.
Tip #4: Most of your food should come from the perimeter of the store, i.e. the produce aisles, meat section and dairy section. The closest thing to how God made it.
Once we get home from the store and unpack everything, I get to work making my work food for the week. I find that for me, it’s best if I start right away. I’m already up and about, handling all the food. If I put all the food away and get settled in, it’s harder to get motivated.
Food prep doesn’t actually take that long. Well, it could if you wanted to get fancy, but generally I spend an hour or less. That’s one TV show–and I have healthy food for the entire week!
Tip #5: Always start with the food that takes the longest to cook.
Get those things that cook longer in first, especially the ones that don’t require any attention while they’re cooking. I put my acorn squash in the oven first where it went for 1 hour and then started the quinoa on the stovetop for its 15 minutes of cook time. While those things were cooking by themselves, I was chopping and sauteeing veggies and preparing the chickpea salad.
Tip #6: Load all your work food for the week in a thermal grocery bag.