Meal Prepping: Hardest part of a lifestyle change

The key to my weightloss success has to be within nutrition and meal prepping. Without prepping meals I am so quick to toss my workout aside and have lunch with Nick instead. Not only am I doubling my caloric intake most of the time but I am missing out on at least three miles of cardio too. Below you will see my Meal Prep for this week. 

**Note: I've broken my breakfast and snack down with the nutrients as well. I did this because I will keep my breakfast and snack the same throughout the week. My dinner is up in the air most of the time. I am picky when it comes to variety and can't stand the thought of not being able to go home and choose whatever I am feeling like that night. 

My snacks will vary week-to-week with a fruit/veggie and a protein. I like boiled eggs, carrots, peppers, hummus, apples and blueberries. I also like to incorporate 1/4 cup of oats with some peanut butter and cinnamon for a dessert-like treat.

My lunch will depend on my mood but these are the choices of the week. I have at least two meals of each (except the last meal). That meal is specifically for Nick. Last week I made jalapeño cumin chicken bites and he loved them so I decided to shred chicken with a dash of hot wing sauce and add the cumin and jalapeño to the rice. 

Three large chicken breasts supplied me with enough meat to make all of the chicken lunches while two cans of tuna supplied me with two lunches. 

All of these dishes are portioned using the 21 Day Fix containers so you can utilize those when making these lunches.

Enjoy,

Jennifer 

Cottage Cheese Smoothie

Never in a million years would I think to put cottage cheese in my smoothie but being a lover of all things dairy, especially cheesecake, this was a must try!

Cottage Cheese Smoothie

3 loosely-packed cups of spinach (typically 1.5 tightly-packed green containers)

2 purple containers of frozen antioxidant berries (I use a blueberry, blackberry and raspberry blend)

1 red container of low-fat cottage cheese

2 teaspoons of honey

12-16 ounces of water

1.5 Green | 2 Purple | 1 Red 

This smoothie will yield way more than what can fit into your Shakeology container. I split it with my boyfriend but the container counts are if you drink the entire thing by yourself, which I could easily do! 

Enjoy!

Peach Mango Shrimp Tacos

This meal is light, semi-healthy and quick! Who doesn't love tacos and seafood? I am sure to some extent this meal could become 21 Day Fix approved but for the time being I have listed the nutrition facts below.

Ingredients:

8-ounce bag of shredded iceberg lettuce 

1 cup of light sour cream (you can substitute this for plain 0 percent Greek yogurt and save calories)

1 cup of peach mango salsa (I use Pace brand)

12 ounces of shrimp

Cilantro 

1/8 cup of shredded cheese 

8 flour tortillas (8 inch)

Directions:

1. Dump lettuce, sour cream and salsa into a large bowl and mix together. 

2. Peel shrimp and place in a skillet over medium-high heat and top with cilantro. Cover and cook for five minutes or until peachy-pink color; take off heat. 

3. Place lettuce mixture on tortilla, add a dash of cheese and top with shrimp. 

4. Enjoy! 

Nutritional Facts:

Servings: 8   |   Calories: 251 per taco   |   Fat: 8.3g   |   Saturated Fat: 3.5g   |   Cholesterol: 99mg   |   Sodium: 574mg   |   Carbohydrates: 30g   |   Fiber: 2.6g   |   Sugars: 4.7g   |   Protein: 14g

Juicing and Blending for Allergy Relief

The awesome thing about living in Charleston is that our winter only lasts about 1.5 - 2 months (January and February). We get to enjoy wonderful blooms in late February and I get to spend a good deal of February - May with a runny nose but luckily Simply Saline saved me from the misery but you can always juice and make smoothies for some relief from your allergies.

Just put everything in the juicer and voila you're done! Enjoy!

Ashley Graham is Busting Barriers

Did you really think I wouldn't post about Ashley Graham and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue? The thing I really like about her is that she kicks butt and works hard for her body! I am so excited to see a plus size model on the cover of the famed issue because she truly is a great role model.

Congrats Ashley Graham and Sport Illustrated for breaking down the barriers and highlighting a plus sized woman who works hard to be a plus size model!

Truly speechless!!! This cover is for every woman who felt like she wasn't beautiful enough because of her size. You can do and achieve anything you put your mind to. Thank you so much to the entire @si_swimsuit team! I'm so excited to be a part of your family. I love you all!!! #siswim #beautybeyondsize

A photo posted by A S H L E Y G R A H A M (@theashleygraham) on Feb 13, 2016 at 9:05pm PST

That moment you go into the ugly cry because you're shooting for Sports Illustrated… Watch the whole video on SI.com! @si_swimsuit @imgmodels #siswim #dreamcometrue

A video posted by A S H L E Y G R A H A M (@theashleygraham) on Feb 11, 2016 at 5:56pm PST

Get your sweat on this weekend! Healthy comes in all shapes and sizes.. #beautybeyondsize #curvyfitclub 💪🏽with @christopher.kadima

A video posted by A S H L E Y G R A H A M (@theashleygraham) on Jan 16, 2016 at 5:23am PST

Healthy Frozen Yogurt

I am generally good about keeping my dessert intake to a minimum during the week but I definitely have cravings. I can eat fruit and be happy but not satisfied. I need the rich and chocolatey dessert to feel satisfied. I can always count on my Greek yogurt and peanut butter mixture to keep those cravings at bay but sometimes I need chocolate and that's where this dessert comes into play.

Ingredients:

1 cup nonfat plain 0 percent Greek yogurt

3 teaspoons of coconut oil

3 teaspoons peanut butter

3-5 chocolate chip morsels 

honey 

Directions: 

1. Place yogurt in the freezer to slightly freeze a couple hours before you're ready to eat the dessert

2. Melt coconut oil, peanut butter and chocolate chip morsels in microwave once you're ready to eat. 

3. Stir completely to mix

4. Drizzle peanut butter mixture over yogurt

5. Place back in freezer for about five minutes to allow peanut butter mixture to harden

6. Take the dessert out and drizzle with honey 

Container Count:

1 red 

6 teaspoons 

P.S. I don't count the honey nor do I count the morsels since there isn't even enough to count. I also only use one type of Greek yogurt as well. I've tried almost all brands and this is my absolute favorite. I buy mine at Food Lion. It is cheaper than most and you get more for your money. You can view it HERE.

Detox Green Smoothie

I will keep this post short and sweet with a delicious recipe from The Glowing Fridge. I did alter the recipe since I was out of Almond milk but it still turned out very good. The celery and lemon really made the smoothie pop. Enjoy it for breakfast to detox and de-bloat!

P.S. you'll need a cup larger than 32 ounces to enjoy the entire smoothie at once. 

Ingredients:
1.5 cups of kale, spinach, etc.
1 medium cucumber (I always skin my cucumbers because I don't trust the cleanliness)
2 stalks of diced or chopped celery
1 skinned and halved lemon
1 banana
1 cup pineapple
2 tablespoons of chia seeds
2 cups of water

Directions:
Prepare all items (except the water) the night before and place in bowl/Ziploc. Put in the freezer and dump into blender in the morning. Add two cups of water and blend!

21 Day Fix Containers:
Green - 3 
Purple - 2.5 
Orange - 1


Enjoy!