Snack Prep for Success

I forget to eat. It’s not that I don’t WANT to, I just get caught up in life.

I see this with clients all of the time. The majority of private clients I work with do not eat enough and it’s the combination of a couple things:

• Life is busy, we get caught up in all the tasks of the day and we either forget OR we don’t prep food to bring with us when we’re out.

• Society, the media, things of the past have drilled into our heads that to “be skinny”, we have to starve.

Both totally screw us over.

When you workout, your body needs fuel to support that process. Going into that much of a caloric deficit (for some women) can create a hormonal response that makes your body think it’s starving and then you end up gaining weight because your body is holding on to every little thing that comes its way.

Couple that with being starving and then once you can eat, you’re going to shove every single thing you find in your face because you’re just that hungry.

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All of a sudden, cheese sticks have become your dinner. Along with your kid’s leftover Mac n cheese. The gross one from the blue box.

Looks like prepping my snacks needs to start happening again. 

Just as you are intentional with your workouts, you need to be intentional with your food as well. If you’re leaving what you’re eating, even if it’s for a snack, to chance, you won’t win. Then all that hard work you’re putting in, all that time sacrifice you’re making to workout, will be for nothing.

I Love to Cook

I’ve always loved to cook.

I come from a big ass Italian family that centered all of its activities around food and in the kitchen, so cooking was basically a prerequisite for me to continue being a member of said family.

Seriously, we would talk about the next meal while eating the current meal. It was a little much. 

But it taught me the power of food, and the power of good food. How emotional it can be, how it can bring people together, and for me, how it could teach you about your family and your culture.

My big ass Italian family did the Sunday spaghetti dinners, the huge holiday dinners, even the 7 Fishes Dinner for Christmas Eve. There were specific dishes for specific dinners or holidays, and those dishes always followed a specific recipe and were always perfect.

But really, some of my favorite memories are me cooking with my grandparents. I remember them teaching me how to make all the Italian cookies for Christmas, well really, it was me sandwiched between them as they argued over my head about who was doing it correctly. It was never the other person.

I loved those times. I love that one of my prized possessions is my Grandfather’s rolling pin and HUGE cutting board. I love that even though they’ve both long since passed, I bring them alive every holiday when I cook what they taught me to cook, and now that I have the opportunity to share that with my daughter.

Cooking for me was never about the literal task. It wasn’t about it being a chore, it was about family.

I feel really fortunate that I’m in that smaller category of people who enjoy cooking, who don’t see it as just a necessity, and who like to learn who to make different things.

I don’t mind being in my kitchen and at this point in my life, I would rather cook at home than go out to eat. In transparency, because I’m so used to how clean we cook, when we go out to eat, I always get an upset stomach. Truth. I’ve learned a lot about different oils and other things restaurants use and I know those things do NOT agree with me anymore. But I’ll dive into that more another time.

I realize though that not everyone feels the same way. Are you one of those people? Someone who either hates cooking or cooks purely out of necessity and not out of enjoyment?

There is nothing wrong with that, there’s nothing wrong with not enjoying meal prepping, or finding recipes. I totally get it. When you’re busy working and raising a family and barely have time to breathe, at the end of a long day, the last thing you want to do is go into your kitchen and cook.

But we also know that when you’re working hard at maintaining your health, the healthier option is to eat at home instead of going out. Want proof? Go into one of those chain restaurants, grab the menu, and find something healthy to eat. Then look at the calories. Then join me in the astonishment of trying to understand how a salad could be over 1500 calories.

I’m also guessing that as a result, you’re on the constant journey of finding healthy things to feed your family so you feel like you’re giving them your best in keeping them healthy. 

I also know you don’t need that extra stress in figuring out what to feed your family when shit just got exponentially more stressful.

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slow cooker recipes

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Snack Time

I don’t play in my snack game. 

I mean I’m Italian and I’m an athlete, food is no joke in my life. My grandpa seriously used to take those root beer barrel candies from Claim Jumper’s just to have snacks in his car. 

I love snacks. I’m a perpetual snacker. So needless to say I’m serious about the snacks in my house and the snacks that go on the road with me. 

Over time I grew to understand that being serious about my snack game meant I had to prep my snack game. Because given the opportunity to grab whatever was available, I would GRAB WHATEVER. Even if it meant making an unhealthy decision that would cause regression on my progress towards my weight loss. 

I do realize this means taking time out of your already busy schedule to prep snacks. At first thought you’re probably thinking that my idea behind prepping snacks is cute but not realistic. I’m here to tell you it was a hot mess at first. I had to play around with my schedule to figure out how I could incorporate this level of prep in my life without losing my mind. 

So I started prepping snacks when I was making dinner. I mean I was in the kitchen anyways so I might as well right? Then I made sure to make the snack easy without a lot of prep or cook time involved. 

My go to weekly snack? Hummus. It goes with just about everything, it’s easy to make, and travels well. 

Grab the recipe for yourself!

I Don't Have Time for That

I do NOT have time to make lunches 🥙 in the morning. 

I give a LOT of credit to the parents who do. Our mornings don’t allow for that luxury. Most of the time I feel like I’ve been shot out of a canon just trying to make sure everyone is handled at on time-ish to school and work. 

In fairness, it’s my own fault. I like sleep so I prioritize that over making lunches. I would rather have the extra 10 minutes of sleep. 

Generally this means prepping lunches the night before when I’m making dinner. 

My other work around? I have stuff prepped and ready to go in the fridge that’s easy to make, healthy, and will hold up in my fridge for the week. 

Here’s one of my favorites!

I Love Chocolate

I’m not doing any diet that has me cutting out wine 🍷 or chocolate 🍫. 

Hold on, imagine my sing song voice…FUCCKKKKK that. Life is too short to be lived without some of the simpler pleasures especially when we’re all adulting like it’s a professional sport. So shit, if I want to have a glass of wine at the end of a crazy day with my hubby, whist enjoying our gorgeous view and catching up on our days, I’m going to.

I know that every single fitness expert says that abs are made in the kitchen and blah blah and I am NOT at all in disagreement with that sentiment. But I do feel like what people need as a result is a healthy relationship with food 🥘 so they know they can enjoy life but in moderation.

Yes I am saying that means you don’t eat chips and salsa at the restaurant until you pass out or feel so full that someone could roll you out of the front door of said restaurant.

It’s definitely an easier said than done sort of thing though and it definitely is directly impacted by how badly you want the goals you’ve set out to get.

When you want that goal so badly you can taste it, all of a sudden some of those other things don’t seem to matter as much.

But if you need that support, that guidance or for someone to be that voice in the back of your brain asking if you really need that WHOLE bag of cookies, I got you.

Slow Cooker Recipes for the Mama Who Hates to Cook

$2.99

I Will Not Weigh My Food

Don’t ask me to weigh my food 🥘.

I’m kidding. But I will totally refuse.

I’m not a proponent of making super restrictive or insane dietary changes, unless medically necessary, when I coach someone because I know our relationship with food can be a tough one. 

We have this idea that in order to be “healthy”, we can’t have the things that we love. The occasional chips and salsa indulgence, a glass of wine with girlfriends, or some chocolate. We also think we have to calorically restrict ourselves to the point of deprivation.

The human body, and more importantly, the human mind is much more complicated than that. But the solution I want you to find is the harder one to obtain.

If you don’t have a healthy relationship with food you’re not going to get the transformation you want. All those things you restricted with your food will be for nothing because as soon as you stop, all the progress you made will totally stop.

I want to take the food you love 💕, the food your family loves and give you the transformation you want. 

Which means we have to examine your relationship with food as a whole, why you’re making the choices you’re making when it comes to what you get, and the appropriateness of those choices. It also means that at the end of it, you’ll be able to make choices about your food with  confidence, instead of beating yourself up for those choices.

Go To Dinner Recipes

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