Clean Eating Meal Plan

When I think about what helps me the most with my health and fitness goals, it is PLANNING & PREPPING. Why is this? Because we eat what is convenient. When you have your fruits and veggies all cut up and ready, and in the visible forefront of your refrigerator, those foods are the ones you will eat!  

I like to do all of my weekly planning and prepping over the weekends. I develop my meals for the week, make my shopping list, and do my grocery shopping on Saturdays. Then on Sundays I do all of my food preparation and portioning. That way I can go into "auto-pilot" mode during the week, making my intake a no-brainer! 

If you are looking for a place to start, try to keep things simple. Don't overthink things! I use the same foods from day to day because, #1 - I really love to eat the foods I use! and #2 - it keeps the prep easy. You can make foods up in a larger batch, and portion them out into servings so that your meals are all a grab-and-go for you. Once you get used to doing this and it becomes routine, then you will find yourself experimenting with different ways to combine the foods you have come to enjoy in creative and new ways to change things up. 

You will find that you can use the same ingredients, but by using different combinations or seasonings, drastically alter the flavor! Many people have the misconception that eating healthy is expensive. That doesn't have to be the case! My staples are old fashioned oatmeal and eggs for breakfast, Plain Greek Yogurt, Cottage Cheese, chicken breasts, Tilapia, whole wheat pasta and couscous, and LOTS of fruits and veggies. Fresh are great, but a bit more expensive. You have to work with your budget. Canned are more affordable, but also contain a lot of sodium. We use a lot of frozen veggies in our household.  Getting your whole family on board is the way to go! That way you won't find yourself making different meals for each member of the family, and you will enjoy eating your meals together.  I feel SO guilty feeding foods to my kids that I don't or won't eat it myself. My rule of thumb is that if it isn't good for me, it is not good for my kids, either! 

Here are some ideas of meals and snacks you can use to get yourself started. Remember to space your meals 3 hours apart, eat 5 - 6 mini-meals per day (depending on your activity level), pair a lean protein with complex carb at each meal if possible, keep processed foods to a minimum, stick with whole grains, avoid sugars and processed sweeteners (my favorite natural sweeteners are honey and pure maple syrup). Also watch your beverages! Sodas, alcoholic drinks, mixed coffee drinks...water is best! Aim for half your body weight in ounces each day. 

How do you keep yourself on track? TRACK!  Keep a food journal, use an app for your iPhone. I love myfitnesspal.com or sparkpeople.com, or even an old-fashioned paper and pencil. Record EVERYTHING that you put in your body. If you don't do this already, TRY IT. It will hold you accountable to your intake and nutrition. 

Happy planning!!!

Holiday Survival Guide

Do the holidays leave you overwhelmed? Feeling defeated that you will find yourself gaining 10-15 pounds from Halloween to the New Year? YIKES - all the candy, treats, desserts, baking, UGH.  Did you KNOW that you can totally avoid all of the stress and anxiety with a simple strategy? Planning. Let me help you out! I plan to keep myself entirely on TRACK with my health and fitness, and will be sharing all my best tips and strategies in an online accountability group done on Facebook.

Meal plans, holiday recipes, simple effective 30 minute workouts that you do in your own home (trust me, that 30 minutes is SO easy to fit in, and goes by so fast that you will catch yourself wanting to do doubles!).  Clean eating nutrition, so that you can continue the things you learn for a lifetime of healthy eating, and make it lifestyle. No diet, diet pills, or restrictive eating plans. You will not only SURVIVE the holidays, you will find yourself more confident, having more energy, making exercise and healthy eating habit and routine, and when you stick with me and your program, you could potentially be down 20 POUNDS before the New Year!!!! HOLLLLA!!  To join me, find me on Facebook or send me an email request for details at marshasmrcka@yahoo.com.

HURRY - spaces are limited and filling up!

Cookie Dough Yogurt

Who DOESN'T have a craving for something sweet once in awhile?! You can still enjoy treats without completely sacrificing your waistline with this delicious, healthy, clean eating dessert!  This is so simple to whip up, and you can use your imagination and creativity to come up with your own concoctions. Like instead of using PB, why not try Pumpkin Pie Spice Extract with a bit of pureed pumpkin? or Salted Caramel - YES PLEASE! Simply add some Caramel Extract. Or what about putting it in the freezer for about an hour for a frozen yogurt dessert?!

I'm sure this will become one of your new go-to's for that sweet "fix"! ENJOY!

Health Coaching Job Opportunity

Instead of filling your head with negativity and self doubt, instead think "what if"? 

What if I could meet the CEO of Beachbody, Carl Daikeler? What if I could earn a full-time income working from home? What if I could earn and save enough $ to pay cash for family vacations and that new car we need (had the fortune to do JUST that on Sunday!!)? What if I weren't afraid to have big dreams, and even bigger goals? What if instead of DREADING going back to work on Monday morning, you looked forward to your job? What if instead of needing to report to a boss, you were your OWN boss? What if you were entirely and COMPLETELY fulfilled, in every way, by your job, knowing you were making a positive impact and difference in someone's life? What if...you could be part of the #1 TEAM in ALL of Beachbody?

I'm opening a door for you to do just that...TAKE IT! I'm currently accepting applications for my next Health Coach apprenticeship training. Find out how YOU can duplicate my success with this business, in as little as one year achieving 4-Star Qualifying Diamond Coach rank in my organization well on my way towards FINANCIAL FREEDOM - something I certainly wouldn't have even DREAMED would be possible. Complete the application below if you are self-motivated, compassionate, caring, and have a strong desire to make a positive impact on the lives of others. #fitmomof4 #healthcoach #timetosucceed #earnfromhome #workfromhome #fitspiration #dreambig #achievebig #fitforlife #DreamTeam 

https://marshasmrcka.wufoo.com/forms/coach-apprenticeship-application-copy/

Gingered Carrot Soup

Who doesn't love the convenience of using the slow cooker in the fall?  And with the bountiful harvest of the garden root vegetables, I look forward to this recipe every year. It really is so simple to throw together, and smells SO good as it simmers throughout the day. I love to make a batch of homemade whole wheat bread in my bread maker as an accompaniment. 

You can throw all the ingredients into your slow cooker, and let it cook itself. Perfect for those days you are away from home or at work; to come home to a prepared meal is such a treat!!

Ingredients:

2 lb. Carrots, peeled and sliced

4 c. Water

1T. Coconut oil or butter

1 1/2 C chopped Onion

2 cloves minced Garlic

2 tsp. ground Ginger, or 2 T freshly grated

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. EACH - cumin, ground fennel, cinnamon, allspice, dried mint leaves

1/2 c. Lemon Juice

1 can Garbanzo Beans/ Chick Peas, rinsed and drained (optional)

Method:

1)  Place all ingredients in your slow cooker EXCEPT garbanzo beans. Set to HIGH for about 6-8 hours, adjusting water according to the desired consistency. 

2)  Use a food processor to puree until smooth, in batches. 

3)  Add in the Garbanzo Beans if using, and heat through until warm. 

Garnish with lightly toasted Cashews if desired. Enjoy!!

Clean-Eating Baked Chicken Drumsticks

My old go-to recipe for baked drumsticks called for the not-so-clean eating baking mix, so I was on a quest for a much healthier version of our beloved dark meat treat, with all the flavor but without the baking mix. This is what I came up with, and I have to say I don't miss our previous recipe ONE BIT! You can either leave the skins on, or remove them prior to baking. I do find that my family's preference is with the skin on, and removing it just before eating seems to keep the meat moist and juicy.

Clean-Eating Baked Chicken Drumsticks (serves 4-6)

Ingredients
6 chicken drumsticks 
EVOO
Smoked Paprika
garlic powder
salt (I love sea salt)
fresh ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
2. Place drumsticks in a 9x13 baking dish, and rub the drumsticks with enough olive oil to lightly coat them on all sides.  Combine desired amounts of seasoning blend in a small bowl, and sprinkle the drumsticks to lightly coat.
3. Bake drumsticks at 375 degrees for 22 minutes.
4. Flip the drumsticks, sprinkle them again with seasoning blend, and bake at 375 degrees for an additional 23 minutes (so they are in the oven for 45 minutes total) until the skin is golden brown and the juices run clear.

The drumsticks are literally that easy.  I just eyeballed the amount of spices to use...just a light sprinkle of each is enough.  You'll just want to make sure that each drumstick gets a sprinkle of each spice.  I left the skins on because they brown beautifully and add extra flavor to the chicken.  My kids love to pick up their own drumstick and go to town!

I served the chicken legs with a simple spinach souffle (and apple slices for the kids), but you could also slice sweet (or russet) potatoes into wedges and add them to the baking dish at the beginning for a one-dish meal.  Just coat the baking dish with cooking spray or olive oil (and you can line your baking dish with foil for easier clean up) and make sure to stir/flip the potato wedges when you flip the drumsticks halfway through the baking time.  Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. This is SO amazing... enjoy!

After School/ On-the-go Healthy Snacks

Perhaps one of the biggest things we all struggle with is finding healthy protein-packed snacks that we can take with us on the go or have handy in case we are away from home for longer than we planned!  When you PLAN ahead, you really can set yourself up to succeed. I often times hear that it costs SO much to eat healthy or "clean". WELL>>>> today, I put that theory to the test. And you know what?! What I discovered is quite the opposite! You pay for convenience, regardless if what you're eating is healthy or not. I even splurged on a few items that I don't usually purchase for my little snack experiment.
So what I bought:
*Dried Cranberries
*Semi-sweet chocolate chips
*Cashews
*Chocolate covered plums
*Cocoa Almonds
*Organic unsweetened coconut flakes

My total came to $26.24. I combined all the ingredients together in a large bowl (it was cheaper to purchase a large bag of the dried cranberries, but I only used about half of the bag) and portioned into 1/2 c. servings, put them in snack-size baggies, and WALLAH! 33 servings, all ready to go! I'm set for awhile. So this came to around $0.80 per serving. I don't normally buy the organic coconut flakes (they were $2.58) or Plum Sweets ($3.28), so when calculated without those 2 items, my cost per serving came down to around $0.68 per serving, and I would also have fewer servings.  Comparable to most other pre-packaged serving size snack items in the stores, but WAY more healthy! A little planning and prep is all it took to have healthy nutritious snacks for me and my family. Perfect for school lunch packs or after school snacks!