Meal Prepping 101

I would say this is the HOTTEST topic for anyone who is trying to live a healthy lifestyle, right?! I mean, by meal prepping you: 1. stay on your healthy eating habits 2. save money 3. save time 4. reduce the amount of questions you ask yourself every time you are hungry

When I started my 24 day challenge I was determined to meal prep to have a successful week and not be tempted to cheat everyday. I am also not a cook, so meal prepping has pushed me to cook easy meals. If you are looking for something to help you stop making poor eating choices, and don't have time to cook, meal prepping is for YOU! Meal prepping is definitely something that takes practice and time. I had attempted it in the past and got discouraged the second time I tried to meal prep because I wasn't mentally prepared, nor thinking about efficient ways to meal prep. I have discovered some tips and tricks to meal prep that I hope will help you as you perfect your meal-prep craft!

Tip #1: Get the right tools!

My first mistake in meal prepping was assuming that I had enough materials, because that's pretty basic, right? WRONG! You don't realize how many tupperware you need until you start prepping and get to Tuesday and realize that you are out of containers...womp, womp! I have found that an assorted pack of 34 is enough to get you through three (3) days. If you have additional tupperware, that is always a plus. Now, quality is huge! It is worth to spend the extra few bucks to get the snapping tupperware because your food doesn't spill and make a mess (this also happened to me several times) and make you wanna cry because you have to clean it. These packs will also have larger containers that you will need to store the extra food you cooked for later on in the week.

In addition to tupperware you will need ziplock bags. I like two sizes: sandwich and snack bags. You are able to tailor your bag size to the amount of food that you are packing.

I do not want to get into how you cook, but you will definitely need measuring cups and spoons to ensure you are packing the appropriate portions. 

Tip #2: Make a meal plan

In order to know what you will be buying and preparing, you should have a meal plan for the week. This will allow you to not only buy the right things, but buy the right amount of things. Make sure you check your fridge and pantry for inventory so you don't end up with the wrong amount of food. 

Tip #3: Setup according to your plan

Set out your tupperware on a table or counter to reflect your daily meals. This will make it easy to just fill each container quickly and not get lost, or end up using too many of one size containers, when you should have been using another (yes, that happened to me too!).

Tip #4: Order of Operations

Remember PEMDAS from elementary math? Well, meal prepping also has an order of operations! I have discovered that the easiest way to prep is to:

1. Defrost the protein. These take a few rounds of hot water (if it isn't that you defrosted them beforehand), so I suggest you start there.

2. Pre-heat the oven: Personally, I like to start pre-heating my oven to the suggested temperature. By doing this, I don't need to wait for it to pre-heat after my protein is thawed. Thawing and pre-heating takes about the same amount of time.

3. If you are cooking rice, start it now! 

4. Cook your veggies. Determine how much of each veggie you will need per day and start cooking them. Harder veggies like carrots, broccoli and asparagus take longer to soften, so consider those first. 

5. Prep your fruits and veggies: If you are going to use fruits and veggies later in the week that do not need to be cooked, wash and cut those up and put them away. By doing this, you can just grab-and-go during the week, and BAM, no failure!

6. Cook your proteins: If there are some proteins that are not going into the oven, cook them!

7. Cook your other carbs

8. Get all your snacks and pack them up in the appropriate size ziplock bags for the whole week.

Tip #5: Fill

As you go along through the process, fill in containers with things as they finish getting cooked. This will avoid an overload of food at the end, and will also allow you to cook more, as needed. Have FUN making your tupperware look beautiful!

Tip #6: Store

Personally, I only like to prep for 3 days at a time. My two meal pre days are Sunday and Wednesday. Sundays I grocery shop for the whole week, and wash all veggies/fruits for the week. I only actually cook and prep for Monday through Wednesday. Wednesday night I prep for Thursday-Saturday. This avoids food going bad, or stinking (in my opinion). Sundays I prep for about 2-2.5 hours, Wednesdays I prep for 1-2 hours. Wednesdays is obviously shorter because I prepped all my veggies and snacks on Sunday. I like it this way because I am very busy in the week, and prefer to have more time on Wednesday. 

When I put the food in the fridge, I put Wednesday's food in the back, then Tuesday's, then Monday's. This allows me to stay on track with my plan and ensure that, if I packed something that is perishable, I eat it on time and don't waste food. 

I hope these tips have helped you with your weekly plan! :) Do you have any tips and tricks I am missing? Leave your comments below!

If you have any questions, email me at: ginajarias@yahoo.com | livelikeachampion.net

5 Simple Steps to Stay Motivated to Workout

People always ask me how I can wake up at 4:30 to go to the gym.. I mean 4:30am! That's insane! I never even thought I could do it. Now that I have been at it for 2 months, I think I've figured out a few key ways to maintain the routine! 

1.       Be intentional: In order to have a successful workout routine, you have to set which days  in the week you want to workout- so set your workout goals. If your goals are to workout 3 days a week, what are those? You should have them established on your weekly plan.

o    Example: My fitness goals are to workout 5 times per week, one hour per session. I will workout in the mornings because they are when I have the most time. My 5 days are: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 

2.       Decide what workout plan you want to follow: The first obstacle is actually starting your workout and the second is deciding what to do! Finding a routine that fits your lifestyle and goals is key! Some people just want to do cardio and a variety of gym classes, while others want to tone. Personally, I like a mix of weights and cardio. Cardio is not only running or going on the elliptical, but there are also a variety of different HIIT (high intensity interval training) routines that you can do either at home, or even at the gym. I've mentioned this before, but toneitup.com is one of my favorite sites to get fresh, daily workouts that you can do from home! You can also try blogilates workouts that are great, as well as any other video/Pinterest series. Whatever you choose your workout to be, DON'T let it be the same one every, single day because it gets B-O-R-I-N-G! You want to ensure that your workouts keep you having fun, and challenged.

o    Example: I still have a few pounds to shred, so I do cardio 5 days a week. I also know that by toning, it will burn fat, and I want to build muscle, so I do a weight routine 4 days per week. I love being outdoors, so I ensure that at least one of my cardio routines is outside.

3.       Find an accountability partner: This has been key to my success in waking up every morning, as well as staying on track with my meals. My accountability partner(s) have pushed me and made me feel like I cannot fail them because they rely on my strength. Once someone relies on your strength, you cannot be weak. Your accountability partner should know your workout schedule (if it isn't that you workout together), and encourage each other to get up, get dressed and get your booty to workout! They should also know your nutrition goals. They should send you pictures of their food, you send them the typical "donuts in the office.. HELP!", text so you keep each other strong. This makes you a stronger person, and makes your partner stronger. Once you know others are going through similar obstacles that you are, you know that you can live a healthier lifestyle and that you are in it together!

.. I didn't wake up until she called ..         4.   Find a supportive community: Not only should you have someone that can be there with you, day in and day out, but also become part of a supportive community (or several)! My favorite communities are:

o    The "Burn This" App: This has become my FAVORITE go-to place for fitness and nutritional motivation because of everyone's results and dedication on the app. Picture an Instagram... BUT it's ALL about fitness. All you see in everyone's posts are: clean eating, great workouts, men and women inspiring each other, and even people asking each other for health and fitness advice! Not only are people in the community very involved and always posting, but there are prizes if you join their free challenges, and you get weekly emails on how to live healthier. I absolutely LOVE this app. It has also inspired me to start #StrongSweatySaturdays to help women reach their health and fitness goals! LINK to download app: bit.ly/burnthis_socialfitnessapp | LINK to BurnThis website: www.burnthis.com

o    Tone it up Community: This is strictly a women's community which is also amazing! Women are dedicated to help each other with any question, at any time, and are committed to help each other. You can sign up for free weekly emails that include the weekly workout plan (I talked about that before), and you can plug into their Facebook groups in your area, and meet like-minded women in your area. 

o    Advocare community: Since I started my 24 day challenge, I was placed in a Facebook group of people that were also on the challenge and were posting their progress, recipes and encouragement. Since I've started building my business, I now am part of 4 Facebook groups, and have an immense amount of support to help me build my business and earn income. This supportive community has helped me earn $500 my first month (crazy, right!) and pushed me to live a healthy life that is aligned with the Company values.

      5.  Treat yourself!: That's right, you deserve it! Once you have set your goals, stuck to them, and hit them, you deserve a prize! You set the prize and if it is something that costs money (new pair of shoes) or something that is free (30 minute bubble bath to have alone time). Whatever you choose your treat to be, make sure that you DO IT! Hard work deserves to be rewarded, and not only does it make you feel good, but it pushes you to hit your next milestone and motivate you..... then, REPEAT! and stay consistent!

** PRO TIP: In order to increased results, find great workout supplements. Advocare's spark, thermo and catalyst have proven to be great for my metabolism, energy and muscle repair. I also use rehydrate right after and it helps replenish my body. 

**PRO TIP: Buy a heart-rate monitor that shows you the impact of your routine. I bought a Polar as a personal gift after I completed 100 miles (treat yourself!) and use it for every workout. I would definitely recommend it!

Your turn:

1.       Write down your fitness goals. Have you been sticking to them? If not, what will you do to ensure that you hit those goals?

2.       Do you have an accountability buddy? If not, who can you reach out to and ask to commit to a healthy lifestyle with you? If you do, have both of you been doing your job of being strong and supporting each other?

3.       Which community that I listed above would be of interest to you? I encourage you to be part of multiple communities because that crossover is very positive for your plans. Try them all out at first, then see what works for you!

Contact me with any questions or comments: ginajarias@yahoo.com ; livelikeachampion.net

5 Steps to Plan A Successful Week

As you start off the third month of the year, and finish out the first quarter of the year, have you reflected on your progress for your 2015 goals? Have you reflected on how you have set yourself up for success to reach those on time? One of the best methods to ensure that you are reaching your goals on time is weekly planning. By planning your week, each week, you see how each day contributes to reaching your goals, and time doesn't just pass you by.

I have always been a planner. As a matter of fact, I just went over to my mom's house to clean out my old stuff and found cute things of when I was a younger. In these things there were purses, marbles, journals, to-do lists, grades, pom poms, letters and many other things that made me laugh at myself! One thing that remains constant is my need and desire to plan things. I am someone who needs to have a plan in order to execute effectively and accurately. This is why I write down my goals and spend time each week planning out my week. Maybe you aren't a planner, but want to optimize your time. Try by using these five simple steps that only take about 20 minutes on your Sunday afternoon! :) 

My method is by no means perfect, but is what works for me, so I wanted to share it with you. These steps have helped me reach three (3) of my 2015 goals already!

Step 1: Identify your roles

The first piece of advice I would give you is one that I learned last year from a Franklin Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People seminar which talks about what roles you play in life. You need to Put First Things First. If you identify what your roles you play in your life, you are better able to ensure that you are attending to all of them throughout the week. In my case, I am a:

• Wife
• Family oriented woman
• Professional
• Business owner
• Healthy Woman
• Friend
• Adventurer 
• Leader
• Learner

The nice part about this step, is that these roles won't change very much, unless you have a life changing event.

Step 2: Plan Your Big Rocks

You have to be intentional in everything you do. Covey refers to our most important tasks in life as "Big Rocks". Each week, we want to ensure to get our "big rocks" planned and completed before we even bother with the "gravel", or the "small stuff". For each week, I look at each of my roles (listed in step 1) and decide how I am going to fullfil those roles that week.

For example, as a "Family oriented woman", my tasks can be as complex as "help mom with construction Friday, Saturday and Sunday for 5 hours each day", or as simple as "Call mom on Tuesday afternoon". 

So, for each role I go down the list and write my tasks for that week. For this week, here are some examples:

• Wife
• Weekly Chores
• Saturday date day
• Healthy Woman
  • Workout 5 days/week
  • Meal Prep
• Learner
  • Complete one online course
  • Listen to one TGIM  and Darren Daily every morning 

**Limit tasks to 3 per role. You want to ensure you are not overwhelming yourself and have flexible time.

**NOTE: NOT all roles will have a task each week. Sometimes you will want to focus more on one role than another. This is also my interpretation of the Covey practice, therefore not the exact way it is supposed to be followed.

Step 3: Write them down and Schedule them!

Some people prefer paper planners, while others prefer electronic planners. Personally, I like to physically write my goals, and track them on paper. I also like to use Google Calendar as an assistant to plan out blocks of time to stay focused and remind me (I am really good at forgetting). Darren Hardy refers to these blocks of time as sprints! They are chunks of 45 minutes where you focus on just ONE task! Covey refers to this as "staying true to the moment of choice". 

Step 4: Plan your gravel

We have to-dos that aren't necessarily big rocks, rather things we HAVE TO do. 

For example, check emails and voicemails. These aren't always the most exciting or productive use of our time, but we have to do it. Instead of checking your emails every 10 minutes, set out small blocks of time to check them (unless there are other pressing issues you are communicating via email, of course!). 

This will allow you to stay focused and not keep doing the small stuff that detract from completing the big things that will move you forward.

Step 5: Execute!

Now that you have this amazing plan and have thought about what you want and need to do... DO IT! You have the tools and ability to be amazing! 

Don't forget to track your progress and evaluate! 

Your turn: 

• What are some major roles you play?
• What are some big rocks you want to accomplish?
• What are your methods to plan your week?

Thanks for reading! Please leave any comments below!