Menu Monday - 5 Tips for Family Gatherings

Hello All,

This week is a strange one for us since we will actually be with family for the majority of Memorial Day and not making family dinners Thursday - Monday!  So this week I'll share our mini menu and then my top five tips for leading a healthy lifestyle with family gatherings and all those tempting delicious foods!

Monday: Pepperoni Pizza
Tuesday: Grilled Cheese Sloppy Joes
Wednesday: Left Overs
Thursday - Sunday: Eating with family

So here are my five strategies for family holidays centered around food:

Weigh-in Wednesday - 5 Recovery Tips

Happy Hump Day Everyone!

Today I wanted to discuss recovery when it comes to all the pressure that we put on our bodies to transform.  So many of us spend the majority of our time focusing on our training plans that we forget the most important element in working towards this healthy lifestyle, recovery.

Giving our bodies time to recover is key in becoming faster, stronger, better and even lose those pesky lbs you've been focused on for weeks, months and even years. 

Here I share my top five go-to tricks for recovering from all the work I put in day after day.

Fitness Friday - PictureFit

Hey Friends,

My Fitness Friday posts are not only to share various exercise routines, but it's also a way for me to share exercise, fitness and healthy lifestyle resources that I find very helpful.

This week I'm going to share with you an awesome YouTube channel that my husband introduced me to, Picture Fit.

Weigh-in Wednesday - Women and Weight Lifting

I am happy to see that more women are starting to lift weights and making it a part of their normal routine. I still think it's something that many women struggle with wrapping their head around. For this reason, today I wanted to run through the common misconceptions of weight lifting for women and why it's actually very beneficial to pick up and maintain. 

Weigh-in Wednesday - Meal Planning

Something I'm a huge believer in is meal planning.  I started this when I was a poor college kid trying to stretch a dollar as much as possible and it's continued over the past 10 - 11 years!

Meal planning isn't just great for budgeting, but it's also wonderful for living a healthy lifestyle and making those healthy food choices. Not only can you plan a balanced meal, but you can also avoid the urge to swing through a drive thru since you already know what you'll be eating at home!

Today I'm going to tell you how we do meal planning for our family with some of my personal tips to make this stick for your own...

Weigh-in Wednesday - How to Drink More Water

One of the many things you hear when putting more research time into living a healthier lifestyle is the need to drink more water.  Typically the average person does not consume enough water in a day. I truly believe that most of us, who do not already make a conscious decision to watch our water intake, would be baffled at how little they actually drink.

For this reason, I wanted to share some tips and tricks that my husband and I have used to ensure that we are getting at least 64 oz of water each day. (This is actually drinking it and not calculating the water that is in food and other beverages.)

Weigh-in Wednesday - Switch Things Up

I know several people out there enjoy one or two types of exercise and they stick to doing just those one or two things on a daily/weekly basis. While you may feel this really increases your performance in those activities you enjoy the most, I personally feel there are several advantages to switching up your normal workout routine.  These advantages have a positive effect on you AND your favorite activities!

For this weeks Weigh-in Wednesday, I'm going to share with you my top three reasons why switching up your routine is vitally important to living a successful healthy and active lifestyle.

Weigh-in Wednesday - High Blood Pressure

This is my own personal account with High Blood Pressure and how I beat it!

I personally, for as long as I can remember, have had high blood pressure. Even when I was in high school, on a dance team at 123 lbs, I had high blood pressure because 1) it's in my genes and 2) I was still eating terribly!! (medium pizzas, big macs, fast food on a daily basis, large amounts of food because I was "young" and "could do whatever I wanted")