Memorial Day Fun and Recipes!!

For many of us Memorial Day is the official start of Summer, celebrated with BBQs, Picnics at the park, and parties by the pool!! This also usually means a pretty heavy spread when it comes to the food!! While this is all good in moderation keep in mind that it adds up quickly!! Typical BBQ food consists of hot dogs and burgers, potato salad (approx 180 cals), macaroni salad (approx 250 cals), baked beans (approx 140 cals), desserts and drinks!! Just in your sides ALONE you just consumed 570 calories...YIKES!!!! So let's not freak out...let's make a game plan for how you're going to get through the holiday weekend and stay on track!!

First of all sit down and list all of the events that you will be hosting or attending. This way you can see CLEARLY what you're working with! 

Even though it is a holiday weekend make sure you still get in your planned workouts. I know it's easy to want to give yourself a break but what good would that do? Start your day off right and give yourself that energy you'll need for all of the weekend's festivities!! If Sunday is your "rest" day, but you're heading to the park for a picnic or BBQ try a few of these playground workouts while you're playing with your kids, I promise they wont disappoint!! 

Luckily I have a pretty low-key weekend but I'm still sitting down and planning it out. Saturday night we will be grilling steak, asparagus and zucchini and for dessert we will be having strawberry banana creams. I have learned to season and prepare healthy foods that taste amazing so I feel good knowing that I'm not only feeding my guests food that is healthy but that is also tasty and full of flavor!! I also don't feel deprived by having to prepare one menu for everyone else and one that follows MY meal plan.

Sunday morning we have church then off to the grocery store for our weekly shopping and meal prep for the week. I will get up at 6am to do my workout and plan the meals for the week so I can get just what I need at the grocery store and nothing extra! If you don't keep tempting foods in the house then you can't eat them...just sayin ;) Once I get home from the store I will wash, chop and bag my snacks and meals for the week and batch cook my oats, eggs and meats. I'll most likely throw on some TurboFire Chili in the crock pot so I have dinner already done for Tuesday!!

Monday we don't have any real plans but I'm so excited to just lay out and RELAX!!! This year we'll be having grilled chicken and veggies and a yummy watermelon, mint and feta salad. Its so cool and refreshing!! I'll also have some chopped veggies and hummus to snack on since its a favorite of all and fruit infused water for dinner. This is something that I discovered last year and it's SO yummy!! It adds a little flavor and vitamins to your water with nothing artificial! but my main focus is to really spend time with my family!

Recipe and Pics from The Blond Cook

Ingredients

• (1) 7 pound (approximate) seedless watermelon, chilled
• 1 cup fresh chopped mint leaves
• 2 cups crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2/3 cups lime juice
• 2 teaspoons sea salt

Instructions

1. Cut watermelon away from rind and chop into approximately 1 inch cubes. Remove any seeds, if any. Place in colander to drain while you're preparing dressing.
2. Whisk together honey, lime juice and sea salt for the dressing.
3. Gently stir watermelon chunks with mint and feta cheese.
4. Drizzle dressing over salad; gently stir to incorporate dressing

Ingredients:

2 Lemons

8 Strawberries

Water

Ice

Directions:

Slice lemons. Quarter strawberries. Add ingredients to pitcher with ice and water. Refrigerate for an hour. 

I also want to note that it is OK to have a sweet treat!  I firmly believe in the 80/20 rule.  80% of the time you want to stick to your healthy eating routine and then 20% of the time you can have what you would like within reason.  This boils down to one meal per week.  Not one entire day of indulging but one meal!!  Eat what you would like and do not feel guilty about it!  You earned it because of your hard work and you deserve to enjoy without reservation!!! I will be having my cheat on Monday! S'mores are one of my all time favorites and a family tradition I would like to have with my son, I'm SO excited!!

Here are a few other ideas you might enjoy for your holiday weekend gatherings!! 
Thai Shrimp Skewers, 
Clean eating BBQ sauce, 
Black Bean Burgers
Triple Berry Summer Salad
2 Ingredient Cookies
Creamy Santa Fe Chicken Salad Cups!

Have a happy, safe and blessed holiday weekend with your loved ones!!

For MORE recipes and other helpful tips friend me on Facebook and Pinterest!!

Memorial Day Weight Loss Challenge - 21 Day Fix Style

Ok ladies!! The weather is warming up, the shorts are in the stores and the bikinis are lining the racks!! Are YOU ready!?!?!? I know I'm not...4 weeks post partum and I have some  work to do!! But I need YOU...I need some MAJOR accountability if I want to see some pretty good results by Memorial Day and I want to help you get them too!!

I'm by no means an expert with this program but I have had a pretty great transformation last year and I'm ready to do it again. I feel very comfortable using the containers in a way that I can whip up a family friendly dinner of Chicken Fried Rice or Chicken Enchiladas so that we can keep the family happy AND keep ourselves on track! I PROMISE this is NOT going to be a boring meal plan!

I was going to wait to start my next group in May but then I realized that if we start April 27th (NEXT WEEK) that we will have AMAZING results by Memorial Day!! So what do you say? Lets kick off the Summer right and be able to enjoy some treats for the holiday weekend!!! Oh yah...I'll be giving you lots of recipes too so you can healthy, 21 Day Fix friendly option too!

BUT I'm ONLY taking 10 women to join me this round. I want to be able to check in with each and every person and have a small group vibe....so don't wait!!

So how do we get started???

If you're SERIOUSLY interested in joining me on this journey to lose 10-15 pounds in the next 21 Days then here are the requirements:

1.  You are required to have ME as your COACH through Team Beachbody.

 

2.  Then together WE pick a fitness program that fits your needs. Either the 21 Day Fix or 21 Day Fix Extreme

 3.  You are REQUIRED to replace 1 meal a day with Shakeology ONLY for the duration of the group. Once it is over you can decide if you have enough healthy recipes in your pocket to prepare meals without needing Shakeology or if you find it’s convenient and it takes care of 1 meal you can keep going!  Yes, 3 years later my husband and I drink Shakeology daily!

 4.  Then, it is required that you participate in the online closed group daily.  Each day I will share a tip, recipe, motivation or recipe.  We will address everything from emotional eating to staying on track during the holidays.    You check in, rate your day and get your inspiration for the next 24 hours.  We all keep each other accountable.  You can log in whenever you want. 

I will be there for you during the good times and the tough times!   My job is to see you through from start to finish and help you succeed at changing your lifestyle.  I will share with you the recipes that my family loves along with the quick easy recipes that don't take a lot of prep

We will start our plan and prep week on April 27th.  That means we will “clean house”!!   Set our goals, give you recipes, a meal plan outline and suggestions and together we will start working out the following MONDAY!

If you have any questions shoot them to me on Facebook

Fill out the application below to be considered for this group!