Did you do your month-end review for January?! I posted about mine on Instagram (stories), but you can still catch up on yours just by asking yourself: what steps did I take toward my goals? What worked? What didn’t? What should I do differently in February? Done and done – won’t take you more than 3 minutes.
Onward to the tips, including a high-protein oatmeal without protein powder or egg whites…
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- In a new spring cleaning category, a free-ish tip for you: scrub your scalp with apple cider vinegar to fix that post-workout hair. I use about 2 teaspoons for my whole scalp, and I scrub for about 2 minutes and let it sit for another 2 minutes before I rinse it out and continue with my usual shampoo routine. I have found that my scalp is super weird this year from the hot/cold/humid?? weather cycle, but this has kept it happy.
- You know I keep encouraging you to get moving in the morning, and this super gentle yoga is DIVINE, even if you only have time for the first 3 minutes. I think this would also be a wonderful, quick practice to do when you get home from work to help loosen up that workday stiffness.
I love these “high protein” vegan breakfasts – I think they are great combos to help you see where you can add protein to your life without using animal products or protein powder, because there’s only so much chicken breast and egg whites one can handle in a week. I 95% agree with her overall perspective on food, with the caution that you should balance your meals in a way that works for you…these recipes increase the protein but do so with whole foods that also contain carbs and fat, so always check your macros to make sure you’re doing what is right for you.- If you didn’t learn how to meal prep two weeks ago, this video explains why I never recommend those cute little ‘gram-worthy prepped boxes. (But it also tells you what to do instead.)
- Most of you can probably afford the carbs in your day for a sandwich at lunch or dinner – here are some classics that might re-ignite your lunch passion. (Youcanalsoadjustyourmacrosherejustsaying)
Finally, another good HIIT sesh (easier than my HIIT we do, ok?!) from Fitness Blender with the exception of minute 9:20-10:20…we’ll just chalk that up to…space laser? IDK, give it a try if you want. If you don’t like this one, just look at other options in the playlist. I’m always curating for you!- Need to eat more plants? (Probably!) Still more tasty ways to bring them to your table, no salads required.
If tip #1 got you in the mood for spring cleaning, I have some tips about cleaning your workout clothes to which I will also add: stripping.
Don’t forget to use your free classes if you train with me! I offer Bootcamp as a way to get in another metabolic workout without the price of a personal training sesh, Zumba as a way to boost your brain, stop your anxiety, and get moving, and Recovery as a time to unwind and learn how to maintain your joints and muscles so you can feel awesome every day and recover quickly from your workouts. (And Edwin is still on the schedule for kickboxing every Wednesday at 6:15 if you want to practice being a badass!)
What I’m meal prepping this week:
- Overnight oats (I mix about 55g rolled oats, unsweetened almond milk, chia seeds, hemp seeds if I have them, and a tiny splash of ACV and leave it overnight. Sometimes I add cocoa powder, protein powder, fruit, and/or or maple syrup, but that is my basic recipe! I add enough milk to cover the oats by about 1/4″, but your oats and milk may vary.)
- Cauliflower tofu and egg fried rice
- Carrot and cucumber sticks (with vegan ranch) – the photo on the right is from this lame article, but it inspired me to make better use of my snacks by keeping them prepped and ready and well-merchandised
- These breakfast bowls (the first one, anyway – yes, I also add egg whites and not as much rice as he did, but do you)
- Chukku kappi – I borrowed my recipe from a YouTube comment on this video about coffees from around the world, but I’ve been steeping ginger, black pepper, hot chili, coriander, cardamom, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of sugar in filtered water for a few minutes, then straining it into a fresh shot of espresso. It doesn’t taste like you think it will, and I think it might be my new pre-workout. (Feel free to google – there are lots of opinions and recipes out there.)
My for-me quick TRX combo (don’t forget to borrow this and modify it for your level or equipment if you want to!):
- Tabletop row row (dumbbell modification for home: dumbbell row or door frame pull)
- Side lunge + bicep curl (dumbbell modification for home: um…side lunge + bicep curl)
- Chop / tricep pushdown (dumbbell modification for home – oblique twist + skullcrusher)
(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.)
