Food Prep!

Let’s face it… We are BUSY women!  Some of us are students’ writing papers and studying for exams.  Some of us are mothers caring for our families.  Some of us are business women pushing our careers forward.  We do it all!  Now and then the one thing that we can forget to do is take time for ourselves…  This is why it is so important to prepare your meals ahead of time!  I recently finished university (just a few days ago to be exact!) and I know how difficult it is to be a student eating on the go.  The salad bar is almost invisible next to all of the burger/pasta/dessert stations at school so it makes it really hard to make good choices.  The same goes for women who are working every day or those who are busy running after energetic little ones!  The saying goes “If you FAIL to PLAN, you PLAN to FAIL”… Meaning that we need to plan our meals and prep them ahead of time so we don’t have to worry about what we are going to eat or how we are going to find the time to make it. 

Sunday is my Meal Prep day… I prepare all of my chicken, veggies, and lean beef meals and package them up into Ziploc containers and organize them in the fridge.  I used to cook every single day, several times a day but I found I was constantly cooking and cleaning!  I didn’t have time to do anything else.  This saves me a lot of time and makes eating MUCH easier.  Plus there is less room for temptation… You know what I am talking about… It’s almost noon and you are starving, but you have a meeting/class/baby ready to go down for a nap etc. soon so you opt for something quick and easy… That tends to be junk food/Drive-Thru!  It is SO convenient, am I right?  Having your meals prepped and ready for you to heat and eat is pretty convenient too!  ;)

I find the most difficult time to get all of my meals in (I’m no pro… I still struggle!) is on day trips.  I would pack all of my meals and try to stuff them into lunch bags I had at home and I would walk out the door with 5 lunch bags and end up forgetting the car keys in the house because my hands were so full!  I recently purchased the 6 Pack Fitness Cooler Bag that holds everything I need!  (Here is the link… http://sixpackbags.com/)  There is room for water bottles, ice packs, Ziploc storage containers (it actually comes with 3 storage containers!), and SO MUCH MORE!  It is compact and the pink/grey colour combo is ADORABLE!  If pink isn’t your thing, not to worry, there is a black one too.  Now there is no excuse for not having my meals with me!  If only it had a microwave inside that magical little cooler bag!  (I will do a full review on the bag after I have tested it out!)

Two of my favourite cooking methods for prepping meals are poaching and roasting.  I poach my chicken because I find it cooks faster and stays juicier all week and I roast my veggies because all I have to do is pop them in the oven, or better yet on the BBQ!  Sautéing veggies is a delightful idea, but it takes more time and required more of your attention.  My FAVE veggie this month has been asparagus!  They are rather thin and tender right now so they roast up really quickly and taste fantastic with my poached chicken!  Another summer-time favourite veggie of mine is BBQ’d zucchini.  I slice it up lengthwise and grill it up!  It is delicious!  I am a huge fan of the BBQ :)

Food is FUEL and when your body has what it needs to perform, you are going to succeed!  So this is my challenge to all of you ladies out there… If you aren’t prepping your meals for the week, ahead of time, TRY IT!  It might seem like a lot of time to dedicate to one thing all in one day but I promise it will save you time and energy throughout the entire week! 

Kayla

Be Inspired: Creating Your Own Motivation

I have a post from a while ago with some of my favourite motivational/inspirational pictures and videos; what I didn’t realize is there is motivation around me, all the time!  April 14^th I attended the 2012-GNC Festival City Stratford Championships with Sandra and Sheryl to cheer on friends and get a firsthand look at what the world of competing is all about!  It was a fun evening and I learned a lot; mainly that motivation is everywhere… You just have to look for it.  That may sound like a weird thing to walk away from the event with, but I was so inspired by the men and women competing, it’s all I could focus on!  I left the event with my mind made up: I was going to look at the world and find at least one thing that motivates me each and every day.  It can be looking at motivational picture quotes on the internet or talking to people at the gym who I am motivated by and others who I can motivate. 

I believe that if you GIVE someone what you NEED; you have in fact planted a seed.  This will allow you to reap the benefits later on!  I talked to a new member and she was quite nervous about participating in a class and it made me remember my first day at the gym.  I thought for SURE I was going to stick out like a sore thumb because I thought only athletes trained there.  But World Gym is filled with people of all different ages, shapes, and sizes!  After talking to her for a few moments she said, “OK I think I’m ready to go in there now… thank you!”  It felt great to help someone!  A few days later I received a really nice compliment and that pushed me to train harder!  (Compliment = Motivation!)

Motivation can be found anywhere; you just have to open yourself up to seeing it.  I was always the kind of person that needed a push, mainly because I was scared to try for fear of failing.  Nonetheless, I’ve come to understand that you need to be your own source of motivation and inspiration.  You can’t expect it from other people all of the time.  Once I realized that, I was able to fill myself with more motivation and inspiration than I knew what to do with! 

Another great way to keep yourself motivated is by creating a Dream Board or a Vision Board.  You can include goals, pictures of people that inspire you, quotes that lift you up, and so much more!  Then you have everything you need in one place.  Keep your board in a place that you can easily access when you need a little boost.  Maybe you aren’t seeing any results at the gym (things ARE working, it just takes a little time for things to show up sometimes) and you are getting frustrated… or maybe squats are really challenging for you (insert whatever you find challenging here…) and you don’t know if you will EVER get any better at it (you will, trust me!)… You can refer back to your Vision Board and look at the picture of the body you want to have and are getting CLOSER to having with each and every workout! 

Believe me; I need a lot of inspiration to say no to the cheesecake… So I know a thing or two about this topic!  I promise you that you will feel so GOOD and so PROUD of yourself when you are filled with motivation and your feet hurt from kicking so much @$$ ;)

So get out there and start flipping through magazines and cutting out pictures or quotes!  Start motivating others and helping them achieve their goals!  And as cliché as it sounds, stop and smell the roses… You might just find yourself inspired by something beautiful :)

Kayla

First Impressions: BeautyStrong

Hey everyone!

This past Monday was the first time I had tried BeautyStrong and I loved it so much I wanted to do a little “First Impressions” post about it!  It is not part of my nature to be a cardio lover.  Some people just love running and it makes them feel free and reduces their stress.  I happen to be a clock watcher.  I watch the seconds tick by… There is nothing enjoyable about cardio for me and I figured that was just the way it was going to be and I would have to live with it!  Well, I was wrong.  Straight from the BeautyFit website, here is a blurb about BeautyStrong:

“BeautyStrong™ is the breakthrough pre-workout supplement developed by the researchers at BeautyFit®. Designed for the serious female athlete, this pre-workout powder delivers dramatic results every single time you train! After just one workout, and with just one dose of BeautyStrong™, you'll never train again without it! BeautyStrong™ pushes your workout past the next level, beyond your threshold and your breaking point. When you're aching to stop because the burn's setting deep inside your muscles, BeautyStrong™ allows you to push yourself further than you ever thought you could. Of course the harder you train, the harder your body gets. Period.”

Some of the key benefits include:

• Enhanced Endurance: Contains ingredients to support prolonged endurance including Beta-Alanine, which has been shown to stimulate muscle strength, power, recovery, force output, and support increases in lean muscle.
• Delayed Muscle Burn-Out: Provides key ingredients for resisting muscle fatigue so that you can focus on developing a hard, sexy and muscular physique!
• Leaner, Harder Muscles: BeautyStrong™ contains vasodilating ingredients that support blood flow and nutrient delivery to the muscles, resulting in leaner, harder, more vascular muscle pumps with every workout!
• Explosive Energy: A strong woman has a strong body! Our innovative formula prevents fatigue and increases energy, volume and force output for maximum workout results.
• Increased Focus: Improves focus, physical performance, reaction time and coping with bodily stresses!

(https://www.beautyfit.com/products/products_beautystrong.html)

That is EXACTLY what it does.  Usually about ¼ of the way through my cardio I am already begging for it to be over, I have to play with the speed and incline just to get me through the session.  When I took BeautyStrong I STARTED off on the speed and incline that I usually spend 30 minutes working up to!  I was focused and determined.  I didn't even look at the time until I was almost done!  I was so pumped and ready to run! (err.. jog..) But you get my point :)  I dare say I actually ENJOYED my cardio! 

They say that your body will not fail you; it is your mind that makes you think you have reached your potential.  That is so true!  I would listen to what I thought was my body telling me I had to slow down, but really it was just my mindset.  BeautyStrong really pumped me up and helped me get through those tough moments.  I actually kept increasing my speed and incline throughout the cardio session… Not ONCE did I slow down!  This may not sound like anything special to you, but coming from a self-proclaimed cardio non-lover this is HUGE! 

More importantly, I didn’t feel like I was “on something”… What I mean by that is, I didn’t feel shaky or jittery.  Some pre-workout drinks I’ve tried in the past made me so jittery I felt awful.  BeautyStrong just made me feel like Rocky about to enter the ring (insert crowd cheering here)!  Another thing that I think is important to share is BeautyStrong does not “mask” any pain or “woah that doesn’t feel right” kind of feelings.  I felt 100% before, during, and after my cardio.  To be honest, I felt 110% after my cardio! 

If you are looking for a pre-workout drink than this is absolutely one you should consider!  It tastes FANTASTIC, the price is on point, and it really works! :)

If you have any questions or want to know a bit more about my first impressions, please email me!  beautyfit.kayla@hotmail.com

-K