Healthy Ways to Use Thanksgiving Leftovers

The feast is over, but the fun isn’t. Hopefully you have Thanksgiving leftovers! Instead of piling them on your plate for Thanksgiving, Part 2: The Wrath of Stuffing, try these healthy and frugal ways to use them up!

EVERYTHING

• A little bit of all of your healthiest thanksgiving leftovers together in a whole-grain pita or wrapped in a tortilla is really what the day after Thaksgiving is all about.

TURKEY

• Make a turkey hash. Recipe tip: Omit the ground turkey. Cook the onion, pepper, and potato together and then add cooked turkey in the last step.

• Build a sandwich on whole-grain bread with turkey, lettuce, and cranberry sauce.

• Replace chicken with chopped turkey scrambled eggs.

• Use as a topping for chili or in a heartly vegetable soup.

VEGETABLES

• Top leftover green beans or brussels sprouts with a poached egg,

• Substitute chard with your veggie leftovers in a frittata. (Sweet potatoes taste great in this way too!)

• Mix with cooked farro or other whole grains and a touch of feta cheese.

SWEET POTATOES

• This make a pumpkin chili and sub out the pumpkin for sweet potatoes!

• Add your roasted sweet potatoes or yams to a potatoe salad.

STUFFING

• Aadd a scoop of stuffing atop salad greens.

• Bread stuffing can be mixed with leftover green beans and brussels sprouts and re-baked in muffin tins for perfect portions.

• For savory pancakes mix ¼ cup stuffing with 1 egg white. Form into a patty shape and cook in a nonstick skillet for 2 minutes. Flip and cook 2 minutes more.

CRANBERRY SAUCE

• Stir a tablespoon or two into into plain yogurt or oatmeal.

• Add a spoonful to your Shakeology®.

• Use as a topping on healthy waffles

TIP: If you add cranberry sauce to yogurt or Shakeology, make sure you consume it within 5–10 minutes, as the acidity in cranberries may cause dairy to curdle.

GRAVY

• Freeze leftover gravy in ice cube trays. These are perfect portions for future dinners.

Feel Great for the HOLIDAYS!

Beat your News Year Resolution EARLY!

Now before you think I’m crazy think about it…No need to wait! Lines at the gym are always crazy at the beginning of year because taking back control of our health and fitness is always at the top of the list for everybodies News Year Resolution. Wouldn’t you rather FEEL better NOW going into the holidays? Guess what?! You have that ability and you can take back OWNERSHIP on what you want now!

This doesn’t mean you have to skip out on ALL of your Holiday faviorties! I’ll teach you something I like to call balance! For me, any stage I was at in my life I always had this one thing to pick me up whenever I started to not feel like the best version of me. That was there for me just screaming “Hey, I’m over here whenever you’re ready! You just have to take control! Here are the resources! You have the power!”

Yes I’m talking the stages of life-College student ontop of working crazy hours, I’m talking a first time postpardum mom, I’m talking a new working mom, and I’m talking to the stage I’m at now being a SAHM (stay at home mom) with 3 kids running my own business. I learned to listen to the cues on where I’m being led and what always helped me and I’m here to help YOU!

Here’s the deal-You might, I don’t believe in short cuts! I believe in a Lifestyle change. I believe in finding your balance. I believe in find a feeling that is deep inside your heart that is worth fighting for. I believe in YOU and I believe in ME that WE can create that feeling for you together.

New group coming up FITmas…get it. lol

Fill out the form below!

Back to school fitness & home de-clutter Challenge

It's that time again where our kids take off on that school bus and us parents can get back on a scheduled routine. Who's excited about that one? I AM!! I know it's so easy to feel lost on where to start, what to do, how to spend your time.

This brings me to my next group! 

• Who needs a good home de-clutter? To much stuff has just been piling up and it's time to revamp your whole house to where you find everything with ease!
• Who needs to get back on a health and fitness routine to just feel normal again?
• Who needs the extra support and accountability of it all?

What to expect:

1. Access to your workouts! You will gain access to what I call the Netflix of workouts. Around 30 minutes at home workouts. 
2. Nutrition guidance! I see where you're currently at and see where I can help the most! 
3. House De-Clutter Challenge

4. Support & Accountability every step of the way!                       

Everything is done virtually. No need to even leave your house. 

Just fill out the form so I know how to help you best! 

Take the time and fill out this form below so I can better help you with your health and fitness goals! Like you, I hit a point where I was done letting excuses and busy schedules control the outcome of my happiness.

Hello New Program!

UMMMM…..HELLO NEW PROGRAM-I LOVE YOU ALREADY!

4 DAYS A WEEK!

You get THREE recovery days! (if you didn’t do the math yet)

Around 30 MIN A DAY!

CHEAT DAYS!

NEVER DO THE SAME WORKOUT TWICE!

You get to work the workouts into your life vs. working out being your life!

Each workout is structured to bring your heart rate UP through tempo lifting and timed HIIT intervals to help maximize calorie burn and targeted muscle-building.

GAAAAH - OK OK did I get you excited? WATCH ME

Before I hear from ladies: I don’t wanna get bulky….

If there is one thing I've learned in the last four years it's thatHEAVYWEIGHTS are your friend. I've gotten in the best shape using weights in my workout programs because I got out of my head that weights would make me BULKY and instead I learned that I’m building a BRICK HOUSE for my body to live in!

This program has EVERYTHING you need from an instructional video on lifting, vegan/regular nutrition guides, a calendar, supplemental videos like Joel's guiding us through what to expect during each week of the program and can’t forget to mention that you’ll have me and my hubby walking you through EVERYTHANGGGGG with couples challenge group!

So what's the Deets!?

June 11th you can gain EARLY VIP ACCESS and receive some money off!

If you want to take advantage of VIP Early Access, I'd recommend you follow my lead and get your discounted pack on launch day, June 11th. You will get immediate access to all LIIFT4 digital program materials (Calendar, Weight Progression Tracker, and Program and Nutrition Guide) and four new bonus workouts called B4 LIIFT4 on Beachbody On Demand. These workouts will be a great introduction to get you ready for LIIFT4 when the program is released July 16th!

Bonus:: If you purchase during the VIP window of June 11- July 31, you have the opportunity to be a part of Joel's official Facebook TEST GROUP! This is your opportunity to go side by side with the creator and gain that extra support you need on top of my coach support and accountability groups.

If you are interested in seeing all of the BUNDLE options, respond to this email "I'm interested!" so I can guide you in the right direction and share a pricing sheet. With Beachbody doing these AMAZING bundles now, it gives you the opportunity to not only get back in your fitness routine if you're at a halt but take advantage of products like Shakeology, performance line, beach bars, etc at extremely discounted prices. We are here to give you the BEST opportunity possible to create the healthiest life possible.

As always, thank you so much for trusting me as your coach. We are excited to rock this program with you! WAHOOOOOOO

PS - You do not need to be a “couple” to do this program with us!  

Self Sabotage

SELF SABOTAGE .... Something we do all too often! Are you right on the verge of achieving your health and fitness goals or ANY GOAL but you're holding yourself back and you know it? Good news is you are aware! This is HUGE!!! Knowing what your doing MEANS your now able to take action on what is holding you back!  The bad news is we have to fight the mind on what you want to achieve which is freaking hard wor

Here are some tips on how to  move yourself forward instead of backward:

1. REACH OUT! Tell your coach! Tell someone you know that will give it to you straight and help hold you accountable! Give them permission to be honest with you! You don’t want someone that will baby you! You want someone that WILL test you and really help you see what you're made of!

2. Shout your goals out loud! Something about sharing it with the world also makes you step up your game! It's one thing if you let yourself down, it's a whole new ball game when people are waiting for you to show them you CAN and WILL achieve what you said you would! Shout it out today!!!

3. FUEL YOUR MIND! This needs to be your #1 ALWAYS! WHY? Because your body won't go where your mind won't allow it! Along with everything else in life! Our brain is THE MOST POWERFUL thing we own! Feed it with POSITIVITY & POWER! Here are some books you can read or listen too:

You Are a Bad Ass byJenn Sincero - This would be for anybody that lacks self-confidence within themselves.

UnF*ck Yourself by Gary John Bishop - This is for anybody that keeps on holding themselves back! YOU NEED A KICK this book is for you!

- 5 Second Rule or KICK ASS by  Mel Robbins - This is for anybody that NEEDS that extra push to JUST GET UP AND GET SHIT DONE!

Here is a tip: f you are busy like me, sitting down and reading might not always be an option so download the app Audible! Get your book of choice, put your earbuds in and drive, clean, workout, whatever...while fueling the most powerful muscle your own!

If you get something I wanna hear! Respond to this email!

It's important for you to know this...

It is completely NORMAL and HUMAN to fall off “track” when it comes to your health and fitness.  I don’t care how fit you are, unless you're some type of super human that is perfect ALL the time, “falling off track”  is perfectly normal and if you ask me I feel it's vital because you learn yourself a little bit more and what makes you successful and better yet you learn how you want to feel! But today I did not want to talk about being human. I wanted to chat about ditching the training and never getting back on that track. Can I get an AMEN!

You might say things like:

“I’m jumping back on the wagon today!”

“I’m ready to get back on track.”

“I’m hoping on the health and fitness train-Choo choooooo!”

The best way I know how to explain this is…...

Maybe you're someone trying to gain control RIGHT THIS SECOND and your mind is already wondering about the Oreo cookies you have stashed in your cabinets. You start thinking well I shouldn’t be eating these tomorrow…..IT’S ONLY ONE! I can have it. Then one leads into two and two leads to half the bag. This is where that stupid train comes into play. The second we feel like we can’t have something is the second we want it.

You think….. once you jump on board YOU CAN NEVER have the foods you might love!

You think…...I’m jumping on the health and fitness train I “won’t” be able to have this tomorrow so I better eat this today and that my friends is what gets our MINDSET all out of whack. DITCH THAT TRAIN and instead jump in your badass convertible because you own the rights to the road you create for yourself. BEEP BEEP

Here’s the deal-You can eat the cookie! You can enjoy the nice crunchy colorful bowl of fruity pebbles. What matters the most about your journey is:

1. You are healthy!

2. You LEARN yourself along the way!

3. You LEARN you ALWAYS have the POWER!

4. You LEARN a LIFESTYLE change. One that you can see yourself doing forever!

“Learn to treat yourself NOT cheat yourself”

Need help creating food freedom? I'm here for you!

Keeping Healthy Choices Stupid Simple #KHSS

If there’s one thing I’ve learned working with so many other women and mommas is we get in our heads way too much! (Myself included)

So I wanted to share 3 of my main tips to help you mommas just feel better, take action and own your day!

Keeping Healthy Choices Stupid Simple #KHSS

1. If it’s 11 am and you’re still in your PJs go change, like NOW!  (this was me yesterday) You can put on yoga pants whatever you choose...just change! You’ll feel better!

2. Move your BODY! Activity fuels more activity and laziness fuels more laziness! The more you move the better you will feel!

3. What you put in your mouth can really determine how you feel and the action you take! Pay attention to this and how you feel after you eat. Being MINDFUL of your feelings could be exactly what you need to make that change the following day.

You wanna feel better? Then you have to take ACTION! You have that power!

If you need more guidance shoot me an email. You never have to be alone on this journey. I’m here for you babe!

Wow can you believe it?

Right now I’m currently wrapping up an 80-day workout program I’ve been doing with a few of my challengers. Introducing timed nutrition, longer workouts (I’m usually a 30 min girl) which was a whole new concept for all of us!

Starting this new challenge, it started to bring up a lot of old emotions I remember having after I had my 3rd baby. I remember feeling desperate for change, desperate for energy, desperate to just feel like the old Jess again. Then after feeling that way, I felt guilty because my body just did something completely amazing, God blessed our family yet again and now I  truly have the worlds best gift looking right up at me. Mom guilt is such a real deal. Geesssh Sounds like a no-win situation here!

But……..

There is a WIN

 There is a way to feel better!

There is a way to gain that energy!

There is a way to feel like you again!

You can get rid of those feelings that you are feeling. It doesn’t happen overnight, but those feelings start to fade away because, you my friend, start to understand WHAT it means to work on yourself, to become your BEST SELF. If you’ve been feeling full of stress, anxious everywhere you go, you hate the way you feel, you're taking that hate out on those you love…….

It’s time we bless and release AND SWEAT IT OUT!

This brings me to my next challenge:

- Learning self-love

- Learning SIMPLE nutrition

- Learning a routine that works best for your busy lifestyle to fit in that 10-30 min workout in the comfort of your own home.

- And the best part: you’ll be surrounding yourself by an uplifting community where NO negativity is allowed. Real women JUST like you, going on this journey called motherhood and life together.

We start TODAY! 

Please remember we all start somewhere!

---

Recipes I am loving this week:

For my Shakeology Lovers: Carrot Cake Smoothie

Breakfast Quesadill

How to get your kids to eat those greens!

Do you have a hard time getting your family to eat veggies? Have you tried EVERYTHING? Here are some of my tips to help your family get those veggies in.

1. Lead by example. Monkey see monkey do!

2. Get them involved. Have them help you make lunch or dinner. Children are more invested in a meal if they help with it.

3. Enforce the one bite rule. Then introduce that veggie at least 8-10 more times. After enough exposures, the food will be more familiar to the child and usually, they begin to rate it more favorably.

4. Don’t make the decision for them. Don’t assume your child doesn't like certain veggies. For example, I eat spinach a lot and never thought to give some to my children some until one day they asked if they could try it. Now they love to eat raw spinach. I guess this is where I can go back and say start with number 1 (lead by example).

5. Make it cute! The teacher comes out in me here. Assemble cute smiley faces, ants on a log, pretend to be a walrus, you get my drift. When you make things fun it gets your children excited and creates a fun feeling around healthy foods.

6. Hide spinach. It’s one vegetable you can’t taste when hidden in a smoothie.

Being a mom of 3 small kids I get how hard it can be, trust me, I’m far from perfect but every day it’s a learning experience & I’ve learned to be thankful for it. Remember when introducing these new rules/foods consistency WILL always win the race. Don’t get mad, remember this is new to your child, make the most of it.

My best tips for healthy eating - Family edition

I get these two questions a lot:

1. How do I keep my family of 5 on track with our health and fitness? 
2. How do I make healthy dinners FAMILY APPROVED? 

First I have to mention, yes our family does eat healthy but never mistake this for we are PERFECT when it comes to our meals. Truth be told I could actually eat like a toddler and be ok with it IF a good feeling came from it.  Problem is being a mom of 3 I NEED the energy and I want to teach my kids to have a healthy relationship with food. 

Here are a few tips that have helped me along the way. 

Learn to have a healthy relationship with food and share that relationship with your family. One way to create a healthy relationship is to stop focusing on everything you shouldn’t be eating and start focusing on everything you should be eating. Where our focus goes our energy flows. Start to focus and pay attention to food that will fuel your body properly. 

Remind yourself food is FUEL and we need our tanks on FULL to perform at the best of our abilities. Same goes for our kids. If your kids start to crash or have outburst know this could be due to the amount of sugar in their diets. 

Think of it like this….You wouldn’t put regular gas in a diesel truck and expect for it to perform. A diesel truck needs healthy “diesel” fuel that will make it run without crashing. Think of your body as a well-oiled diesel machine that needs the good gas! 

#KHSS-Keep Healthy Stupid Simple and stop overcomplicating.  For dinner, I like to make sure my family is eating a protein, healthy carb & veggie for dinner. That’s it! No rocket science here just a well-balanced meal. If you're wondering what’s a healthy carb, protein and well all veggies are healthy here’s a list for you. (start following this hashtag #KHSS for my healthy meals) 

Please remember ANY type of change resistance will be created. Not only with you but your family! STAY FOCUSED on what you want for yourself and your family.