Post rainy walk, Moose was not amused with being wet!
Not sure if it is the time of year right now when the new year's resolutions are wearing off or people start to recognize that the plans they had wanted to set in motion never took off but I have been having a similar conversation with many of my clients and friends as of late. Everyone wants to lose a few pounds, eat healthier, and feel better. I attribute part of these feelings to the super cold temperatures and a lessened ability to get outside and move. Two pieces of advice I stand by for improved overall wellness are; plan your workouts and meal prep! Most bad eating decisions happen when you are too tired or run out of time to make a healthy meal and the quickest, easiest option is chosen. It can be hard to get motivated in the kitchen, especially if you don't enjoy cooking but give it a try just one day and you will reap the benefits for a whole week!
In our house meal prep happens on Sunday and takes me about 2 hours or so. I head to the grocery store in the morning with an organized list after scouring my recipes and planning it all out!
Weekly Meal Prep Items:
A healthy grain: Farro or Quinoa. I like to prepare a large amount to toss into salads, have as a side, or combined into a main dish. These both take 20-40 minutes to cook so having this prepared is a huge time saver when it comes to creating a last minut dinner.
Chopped/cooked vegetables: peppers, cucumbers, celery, carrots, kale, roasted butternut squash, roasted sweet potato coins. All great for snacking or tossing into a salad.
Soup, Stew, or Chili: I usually prepare one of the listed. They are typically easy to throw together and last for a few days. Super easy to just heat up and eat when you have no time. I like to make sure to combine good protein sources, healthy fats, and vegetables.
Homemade granola: a love a homemade batch of granola to have as a healthy snack, topping for yogurt, or to eat as cereal. This recipe has been on repeat, they make it into bars I prefer to crumble it into granola.
What today looked like:
Washed and froze grapes for snacking and satisfying sweet cravings.
Chopped veggies.
Washed, dried and stored beans (garbanzo, cannellini, and black beans) to add to salads.
Made a batch of this soup. (Ryan loves it!)
6 Servings of Red Quinoa prepared.
Roasted butternut squash for salads and sides.
Homemade granola.
Preparing food has made a huge positive impact on healthy eating in our house. Ryan snacks less and I eat more well rounded meals. Coming home after a long day to nutritious prepared food is so much less stressful and allows us to make much healthier choices!
If you are in need of some inspiration, check out my Pinterest Food board for some healthy ideas, below are a few recipes we have been loving lately...
Favorite Recipes:
Weelicious Lentil-Chickpea Burgers with Avocado Yogurt Sauce
Bon Appetit Slow-Roasted Salmon with Fennel, Citrus, and Chiles
Against All Grain's Chili Lime Chicken Burgers
Two Peas and Their Pod Zucchini Noodles with Pesto
Workout plan for the Week:
Sunday: 6 mile treadmill interval workout (coming soon!)
Monday: HIIT workout
Tuesday: Bootcamp
Wednesday: Pilates
Thursday: Bootcamp
Friday: Hot VInyasa Yoga
Saturday: 7 mile run