Tag Archives: Healthy Lifestyles

Healthy Protein and Vegetable Meal Ideas

Two important elements of any healthy eating plan include vegetables and protein. Therefore, I love marinating and baking chicken and making healthy salads, as these are staples you can build into any lunch or dinner meal and are easy to make when you’re busy trying to balance work and home life. And if you’re vegetarian or have any other dietary restrictions, you can always substitute any of the foods you see here with alternatives that fit your preferences.

The recipe for this meal includes a low-sugar, Hawaiian BBQ marinade, paired with organic, boneless, skinless chicken. After applying the marinade to each piece, you bake the chicken in the oven for 20-25 minutes on each side at 425 degrees.

The salad includes organic spinach and mixed greens, sliced cherry tomatoes, avocado and low-fat shredded cheese. And I usually like to top my salads with a low-fat balsamic vinaigrette or avocado dressing.

I hope this idea is helpful and you’re able to incorporate healthy proteins and vegetables into your meals as well!

Post-Workout Meal and Snack Ideas

Happy Friday, Passion Fit Crew! Did you know it’s important to eat within 45 minutes of working out in order to refuel your body, boost your metabolism and repair your muscles?

Therefore, here’s a great post-workout meal or snack idea for you guys: egg cups! I love making them and it’s a creative way to eat eggs and get in some protein and vegetables.

You start by mixing several organic eggs together in a bowl and slicing, adding and mixing in whatever organic vegetables you’d like along with salt, pepper and garlic powder. I added cherry tomatoes and broccoli florets in this example here, but you could also add bell peppers, spinach, zucchini, mushrooms and more. Then you lightly grease a cupcake pan and pour the eggs and vegetables into each cup and can sprinkle some low-fat shredded cheese on top. This pan makes a serving of six. You then bake them in the oven for about 15 minutes at 400 degrees and then you take them out, let them cool and enjoy!

If you went to learn more about how to pair exercise with proper nutrition for optimal health, energy and performance, feel free to book me for a wellness consulting session or consider joining my transformational women’s wellness coaching program. Click here for more details!

Have a great weekend and remember to refuel your body after your workouts!

Ideas for Making Behavioral Changes Stick in the New Year

The start of a new year and a new decade means many of us are focused on making resolutions and positive changes in our lives. And while we may have the best of intentions, why is it that so many of us fall short and end up giving up on our goals?

According to U.S. News and World Report, 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail. While this can sound disheartening, there is hope. Success in keeping and reaching New Year’s resolutions often lies within the simplicity of the goals and the behaviors that accompany them.

Following are four ideas for making behavioral changes stick in the new year. These ideas are based on a behavioral research model conducted by B.J. Fogg, Ph.D., a research associate at Stanford University, which I studied when obtaining my certification in behavior change coaching.

To read the full article in the Los Altos Town Crier, click here.

4 Lessons I’m Teaching My Kids as an Entrepreneurial Working Mom

According to a survey conducted by 99 Designs and featured in Entrepreneur, three-quarters of women who are entrepreneurs juggle being the primary childcare providers within their families as well. As an entrepreneurial working mom myself, I can tell you first-hand, this is no easy feat!

However, despite the daily chaos and challenges, I feel it’s completely worth it because I’m able to teach my kids some very valuable life and career lessons. Here are four of the most important lessons they’re learning from my experiences. 

To read the full article in Thrive Global, click here.

5 Ways to Fight or Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease and Promote Brain Health

June is Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness month and today, June 21st, people all over the world will be using the summer solstice, the day of the year with the most light, to join together, raise awareness and fight this horrible disease in the #LongestDay campaign. People are being encouraged to wear purple, share stories of loved ones or other impacts of the disease and participate in fundraising for the cause. This cause is near and dear to my heart because my grandmother died of Alzheimer’s disease.

In addition, below are five ways we can all fight or prevent Alzheimer’s disease and promote brain health every day and month of the year.

1. Nutrition: According to Harvard Health, following a Mediterranean diet if possible, can help prevent the disease or slow its progression by nourishing the brain and helping it function most optimally. Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy monounsaturated fats found in olive oil, nuts, seeds and avocado, whole grains found in brown rice, quinoa or whole grain bread and fish poultry and eggs in moderation.

2. Exercise: Regular exercise, including cardio, strength-training and flexibility work, ideally 30 minutes a day for up to five days a week, can improve memory and reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s by 50%. Exercise reduces inflammation, insulin resistance and promotes the release of growth factors that are chemicals in the brain, which impact the health of brain cells.

3. Sleep: Sleeping seven to eight hours per night, without the distractions of screens or light and at a comfortable temperature just under 70 degrees, can allow the brain to rest, restore and flush out toxins. It also promotes memory to help reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s.

4. Mental Stimulation: Continued learning and growth through reading, studying a new language or subject matter or playing a musical instrument can promote mental and brain stimulation and prevent or reduce the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. These activities also can create engagement, hope and purpose, which are always good for overall mental health.

5. Social Connection: Connecting with others through get-togethers, events, phone calls, texts and social media in moderation, can promote a feeling of love, safety, comfort and fulfillment. These feelings and interactions can help maintain not only mental health, but emotional health as well. These are all ways to prevent or minimize the impact of Alzheimer’s.

Hopefully today’s campaign will help more people to be aware and if you can, wear purple, donate and spread the word.

Nutritious Meal Planning Benefits Busy Families

Daily life has become busier than ever for most families, which can often make eating nutritious meals more challenging. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, typical American diets far exceed the recommended levels of sugar, sodium, saturated fats and refined grains, and fall short of the recommended levels of fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

While it may require a small time commitment, organization and planning, it’s possible for families to beat these statistics and eat healthier foods on a regular basis. Below are four meal-planning ideas for busy families to do just that, all strategies I use for meal planning and cooking for my family as well.

To read the full article in the Los Altos Town Crier, click here.

Five Ways Functional Fitness Can Help Increase Quality of Life

According to a recent survey conducted by the American College of Sports Medicine on fitness trends in 2019, functional fitness ranked in the top 10. Being physically fit isn’t a nice option to consider – it’s vital to maintaining a high quality of life at any age. Therefore, here are five ways functional fitness can do just that:

1. Core strength: Participating in functional fitness exercises that are in a standing position or on the mat and that strengthen the core, can help protect your lower back from injuries. The core is such a central component of the body and strengthening it and using it when you do things like bend over, get up from a seated position or sit down, can allow you to move more easily and reduce the chances of any strain in the lower back area.

2. Upper body strength: If you’re a parent who needs to lift a heavy baby or toddler, car seat, diaper bag, outdoor chairs, coolers or other items, having upper body strength can really go a long way in making these daily tasks easier. Using light to medium sized hand weights or your own body weight to work the biceps, triceps, pectorals, deltoids, trapezius and latissimus dorsi, can really help build muscle and increase bone density.

3. Lower body strength: You may often find yourself in situations where you have to walk up several flights of stairs if an elevator isn’t available, walk up a hill to get to a certain destination or climb up a ladder to reach something. Having lower body strength and stamina in your legs can really help make these tasks easier. Doing squats and lunges to work your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, inner and outer thighs, can train your body for these tasks and also build muscle and bone density.

4. Cardiovascular strength: If you want to be able to chase after your kids at the park or go hiking, biking, swimming, dancing or skiing with your family and friends on the weekends or on vacation, these activities will be much more enjoyable if you have the cardiovascular training and strength to do them. Taking circuit training, HIIT or bootcamp classes, running or walking are all great workouts to prepare your body for these activities.

5. Flexibility: Being able to do household chores, gardening, reaching for things and simply going about your day to day life is easier and pain free when you have increased flexibility. Stretching on a daily basis in the morning or after a workout or taking yoga classes a few times a week, can help with reducing tightness and increasing flexibility in your body to enjoy your daily life and prevent injuries.

Try to incorporate these functional strength, cardiovascular and flexibility exercises into your schedule a few times a week and you’ll start to see an increase in your quality of life in no time!