Didn’t you love last week’s meal preps?! This week I have a little bit more of that same magic, including a video that could have come straight out of my own kitchen; it WILL teach you how to meal prep in a way that works for anyone or any family. I also have some of my favorite shoulder blade and neck stretches linked in here in case you haven’t made it to Recovery recently (remember – my training clients get a free Recovery sesh every month in 2021, so let me know if you’re not sure how to sign in for class).
- Seriously, learn how to meal prep from this video. I used to blog about my meal preps – I follow this format – and I think everyone could learn a thing or nine to make meal prep way easier from this dude.
- Want to eat more chickpeas? Lots of tasty new ideas in this one.
- Some maybe junk science: 6 ways to reboot your brain after a hard 2020. I don’t think anything on this list will surprise you, but if you need a little more motivation to stop skipping your daily walks or clean out your closet and donate those leftover odds and ends, follow their tips and boost your energy.
- I followed the first stretch in this video (around the 3 min mark) and released a “knot” I’ve had under my right shoulder blade since I was commuting by bike over a decade ago and an SUV suddenly needed to occupy my personal space. I hope it helps your shoulders feel great, too!
- Use this barely-10 min video to get moving first thing in the morning – you might not break a sweat, but you’ll have a boost that lasts your whole day.
- Or, use this one. It doesn’t matter how you move – if you are working on losing bodyfat or improving insulin management, moving first thing in the morning can help your blood sugar regulation for the whole entire day. (And if you make it a habit, the effects are cumulative!
- No excuses – even if it’s raining, you can still walk.
Have you noticed that I call your time with me a “training session” rather than a workout? Here’s why.
This post is from 2018 but no shade if you’re still working on these three keys to healthy living.
What I’m meal prepping this week:
- Protein bars! After two horrid missteps, I found a winning combo: 8 scoops of protein powder, 1/8 box of gluten-free brownie mix, and just enough water to make a paste, baked at 350 for about 10 minutes. They have more sugar than I want (less than the commercial kind I like, though), but they don’t taste like sorrow the way my first two attempts did. My next step: swap in cocoa powder, sweetener, and ground chia seeds in place of the brownie mix to cut the carbs.
- The for real last of my winter squash, batch-baked and ready to scoop into dinner bowls, cookies, or whatever crosses my kitchen path (it has been wonderful to have some extra nutrition ready to bind up anything I’m cooking)
- Chocolate peanut butter oat bars with hemp protein – hemp protein turns things green and has a strong flavor, but chocolate and peanut butter hide both of those facts
- Baked tofu
- Broccoli-carrot slaw and riced caulflower, sauteed and lightly seasoned ahead of time as quick bases for bowls
My for-me quick TRX combo (don’t forget to borrow this and modify it for your level or equipment if you want to!):
- Lunge / balance lunge – T (dumbbell modification for home: lunge or elevated split squat + reverse fly)
- Chest press / roll out (dumbbell modification for home: shoulder tap plank or wall push-ups)
- Lying bicep curl (dumbbell modification for home – V-sit hold + bicep curl – go light on the weights to make sure you don’t engage your traps)
(What is this? I plan my workouts just like I plan yours, but the fact is for many trainers that we don’t get to our workouts because we can’t be too sore to train our clients, we are injured, we are tired or underfueled, we are busy, we are only free during odd times of day that aren’t ideal for working out…so, to combat that, I’ve made myself weekly TRX mini-programs that take less than 20 minutes to execute and can be squeezed in to any free window I can find. I might not always use them, and they don’t totally replace my main workouts, but I think they will be helpful, even if I only do a piece of one! SO helpful that I’m sharing them with you each week, and you can feel free to follow along in your own way and at the level that’s right for you, modifying to use whatever equipment you have if you don’t have a TRX, if you need a workout idea for the week.)
