Level Up Your Salad

Salads are one of my favorite meals and ways to pack in nutrients with leafy greens, healthy fats, and plant-based protein.

Here are some ways to level up your #basic salad:

Leafy Greens -

I am not talking about your iceberg wedge salad here. Hard pass - where is the flavor? Bring me spicy arugula, some chard, earthy kale, or even mild spinach. Take your pick but I love to mix/match my greens.

Mix up textures-

Salads don’t have to be raw, that isn’t nourishing in the colder months and gets boring, not to mention can get a bit taxing on your digestion. I love to lightly blanch my greens, or roast and stir fry veggies to add to my raw ingredients, the combo of crunchy raw + softer cooked is more interesting for sure.

Think outside the salad box -

My favorite signature salad often includes things you don’t expect to see in a salad. Roasted Brussel sprouts? Sure! Stir fry cabbage? Yes! Sweet potato chips? Ahuh honey. The only limit to your salad experience is your creativity. Cooking your veggies in spices also ensures your salad has alot of flavor. I love garlic, Trader Joe's Umami & Everything But the Bagel Seasonings.

Follow the rainbow -

How many colors can you get into your salad? Challenge yourself to see how bright you can make it, green, purple, orange, red all belong in your salad. It should be pretty to look at and eat!

Get friendly with fat -

Fat = flavor. Throw some avocado, hemp seeds, nuts and a homemade dressing on it. Do it.

Grains for gains -

If a salad doesn’t usually fill you up, add some whole grains. My favorites are farro & quinoa which both pack some extra proteins so you can keep your #gains.

Perfect Protein -

Your plant-based fat and grain choices will provide a lot of protein to your salad, and news flash = PLANTS HAVE PROTEIN. But if you want to take it one step further, throw some tofu, lentils, or beans on there to really #levelup

Adding flavor, fat, and protein ensure your salad is not just a snack or something that leaves you rummaging around in the cabinet looking for a snack a little later. What are your favorite salad add-ins?

Check out some of my salad recipes here!

#nourishedwaynutrition #levelup #plantbased #tips

Making Space for Mental Health + Mindful Eating

I took a little trip this weekend and took some time away from my phone. I know I spend too much time looking at a screen most days, so it was a nice change for me to be in nature, read actual paper books and meditate.

Working from home has me feeling like I need to be available 24/7 so I’m trying to create a little more balance in my day-to-day life with it. When we think about health, it's easy to focus on our food and exercise but forget to take care of our holistic wellness, including mental health. I'm guilty of this myself, especially with a job that requires me to be in front of the computer most of the day.

How do you know if your relationship with your phone or social media is impacting your mental health? It can be harder than you think to identify when it's a part of your routine but if you find yourself feeling more burnt out, it might be time to take a pause. I recommend checking out your screen time report - it might be surprising to see how many hours a day you're logging and where that time is spent.

If you feel like you need to create some better boundaries around this, here are some of the ways I manage this:

• No phones in the bedroom. I put my phone down 30 minutes before bedtime and don’t pick it up again. Also, I leave it in another room so it’s not the first thing I look at when I wake up, which allows me a hot minute to get grounded before the stressors of the day creep in.

• Time limits on certain apps - Hey, we're all guilty of mindless scrolling. You can set limits for groupings of apps and will get a reminder when you’re approaching this timeline for the day. This has really helped me be more conscious of where I’m spending my time. I think you’ll be surprised how much time you spend without realizing it.

• Daily Meditation - I’ve always wanted to be the person who meditated consistently and have struggled to make it happen. This year it seemed more important than ever so I’ve doubled down on this commitment. I found an app that works for me - Balance - and schedule it. I put it in my personal and work calendars and set a reminder on phone so I don’t forget. I don’t get to make it work every single day but I do it a lot more consistently with these reminders in place.

• Get outside - I know not everyone has the ability to do this in their workday but it makes a huge difference. Even if it’s 5 or 10 minutes, breath some fresh air, move your body and you’ll feel the reset, I promise.

• Manage expectations - If you have set a precedent for always being available, it can create a cycle of guilt if you miss something or have a delayed response. Once you clarify when you're available and start sticking to it, people will start to respect those boundaries and you can get back some much-needed mental space from work and screen time.

• Lead by example - If you want to have space away from your device, you have to be mindful of holding space for others to do the same. Don't expect a co-worker to get back to you at an odd hour and consider what's really an emergency. Can this email or chat wait until business hours?

• Eat mindfully - Your gut is regulated by your central nervous system and when your body is stressed, it can slow things down, reducing the absorption of nutrients, and increasing heartburn, indigestion, and bloating. Taking the time focus on the food you're eating means you create space in your body for digestion and calm.

Mindful Eating Exercise

So how do we eat mindfully? What is the special formula? Well, there isn't just one answer because EVERYONE is different! But there are some basic general steps you can think about when sitting down for a meal, yes that’s right, I said sitting- not standing or driving.

1. Find a quiet place without distractions- if you can control distractions, do so. This might be turning off the TV, putting your phone away, and sitting down at the table.

2. Try to make sure your meal looks appetizing. I don't expect you to be a food styler, but add some color, or arrange it in a fun way so that it looks appetizing. Maybe even put it on a special plate and use a fancy cup.

3. Take a few deep breaths. Times are stressful, I get it, especially if you're rushing in the morning or fitting lunch in between meetings. Give yourself a few moments to just be there and take a few belly breaths before taking your first bite.

4. Eat slowly and think about how your food tastes, smells, and feels.

5. Put the fork down once in a while. This will allow you to taste your food more and be more mindful about what you are eating. Finish chewing your food and swallow before taking another bite.

6. Try to take at least 10 minutes to finish your meal- ideally 15-20, but I'm trying to be realistic.
   

As important as nutrition & exercise are, if you’re doing them at the expense of your mental health, you aren’t going to get anywhere. Rather, think about your wellness and health goals as a pie, where nutrition & movement are big pieces but are equally as important as water, sleep, and mental health.

What are some ways you find to carve out space for yourself away from the screen? Do you have any tips and tricks that work for you?

Why You Should Be Strength Training

You probably know that strength training or resistance training has a lot of benefits, but it can be intimidating, especially if you haven't done it before. What exercises should I do? How do I know if I'm doing them properly? How much weight should I be lifting? Do I need to take rest days?

I get it, I used to be a cardio queen, I would run 4-5 days a week, cycle on the other days and throw in an occasional yoga. That worked well, in my 20's. I was lucky enough to not suffer any major injuries from overtraining but I noticed I didn't recover quite as easily or would feel sorer after a long run.

When I was in school for my degree in Nutrition & Exercise Science, I started learning about the benefits of strength training and how they actually impact day-to-day life. I got my personal training certification and started working with clients. Not only was I seeing changes in my clients, but I was programming for myself and seeing huge improvements in my balance, stamina during workouts, recovery, and self-confidence. I was hooked.

Strength training is great, especially for tracking progress. Progressively lifting heavier and heavier weights or being able to do more push-ups, hold a plank for longer, squat deeper, help you stay on track, and measure your progress.

Perhaps the biggest benefit for me has been in my daily life. Never did I imagine I'd be carrying around a 25lb weight with one arm for 15 minutes while cooking dinner. Or lifting said 25lb weight in a hiking backpack onto my back with one arm. Carrying that backpack with strong back muscles and legs on long hikes.

For me, motherhood has been the ultimate test of my strength training, and because I put in the time and energy, I can keep up with my active life and feel strong and powerful doing it. And flexing my biceps in the mirror from time to time doesn't hurt either.

If you need a few reasons to take the plunge, check out all these other benefits you can get from regular strength training. This doesn't have to be intimidating, you can start with bodyweight, you just need to work against some resistance.

If you're unsure or have any questions - get in touch! I'd love to create a unique program for you!

Top Reasons to Strength Train

1. Stronger bones - Strength training puts a unique and positive stress on bones by stressing the muscles involved. This can help increase bone density in the long run and prevent fractures later in life.

2. Increase your metabolism - While cardio is great for many reasons, strength training is great for building more muscle. More muscle has the ability to increase your metabolism unlike cardiovascular exercise, and will help you burn more fat, even at rest.

3. Sleep better - All exercise, including strength training has been shown to increase sleep quality in participants. Exercising each day should make it easier to snooze once you hit the sheets at night.

4. Make your heart happy - Along with cardiovascular exercise, strength training has been shown to have benefits for the heart including lowering blood pressure.

5. Get out some stress - Lifting weights and throwing around heavy stuff can be extremely therapeutic and often shown to alleviate stress and anxiety for those who participated on a regular basis.

6. Live Longer - Strength training has been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and those who gained more overall strength were more likely to live longer and live independently.

7. Do everyday things easier - Strength training makes it easier to lift that heavy box, carry the groceries into the house in one trip and even simply get up from a seated position. Being stronger will translate to all areas of your life.

8. Improve your balance - Since strength training continues to challenge the body in new ways and develop essential core strength, you will see better balance in all your exercises and in your daily activities.

Are you ready to get started? Fitness is available for everyone, you'll never regret taking the first step, so get out there. You might surprise yourself at what you're capable of.