Let’s Talk About Wegovy, Ozempic, Mounjarno: Semaglutides.

10/10 recommend working with a coach if you choose to take any of these for weight loss purposes.

This post is to educate you on what happens to *most* people, but not all, on these medications. We’re also not here to argue if someone should or shouldn’t take them. We’re here to talk about if you do take them, for the sole purpose of weight loss, you’d be wise to work with a qualified coach to guide you through the process.

When you eat less, and especially when you aren’t super hungry, it’s easy to load in on fats and carbs. Ignoring protein. When you aren’t hungry, it’s easy to have a pop tart + soda for lunch, and feel ok with it. This mindset + lifestyle will not serve you in the season, it will especially not serve you when you transition off.

When calories are extra low proper nutrition, training, + accountability are more important than ever. Taking care of your long term health is the goal.

Protecting your body + giving it all it needs to thrive now + in the future.

30+ Grams of Protein for Breakfast

Protein is a major player! Whether your goal is fat loss, building muscle, or body recomp you’ll find that eating a sufficient amount of protein each day will help you reach those goals.

Aiming for 30 grams of protein at breakfast helps you sets the stage for a successful day. But eating a high protein breakfast doesn’t have to be only egg whites, protein shakes, or loads of meat. It takes intention and planning to get your daily goals in. Here are a few breakfast ideas to get you started!

What’s your favorite go-to breakfast combo?

Time Crunch Workout

Need a workout you can do in a hotel, your bedroom, your office, ANYWHERE?

I got you!!!

When my girls were babies I’d stick them in the bathtub together + do this by the side of the tub. 💦

Or, when I traveled for work, I’d knock this out in my hotel room before the day started.

Start with one round and work your way up to 3 rounds. You can add weights for additional resistance if you want, but it is an excellent base workout without them.

Quick, easy, effective!

Save this for those days you need to move your body and are short on time + space!

Egg White Grill Copycat Recipe

5 ingredients…high protein…cheaper than takeout…less calories than takeout…AND more delicious!?!? YES PLEASE!!! It’s gonna keep you full, satisfied, make a huge dent in your protein + fiber goal AND tastes insanely delicious. SLAM DUNK in my book!

Y’all this breakfast is AMAZING! It comes together in 20 minutes, has 60 grams of protein, and is ridiculously budget friendly. And, I have to admit I one upped Chick-fil-A by giving my recipe a fried chicken vibe using panko breadcrumbs 👌🏼. It is PERFECT for prepping, as the sandwiches freeze/microwave super easily. The recipe below makes 6 sandwiches, but you can scale up or down as necessary.

5 ingredients…high protein…cheaper than takeout…less calories than takeout…AND more delicious!?!? YES PLEASE!!! It’s gonna keep you full, satisfied, make a huge dent in your protein + fiber goal AND tastes insanely delicious. SLAM DUNK in my book!

Y’all this breakfast is AMAZING! It comes together in 20 minutes, has 60 grams of protein, and is ridiculously budget friendly. And, I have to admit I one upped Chick-fil-A by giving my recipe a fried chicken vibe using panko breadcrumbs 👌🏼. It is PERFECT for prepping, as the sandwiches freeze/microwave super easily. The recipe below makes 6 sandwiches, but you can scale up or down as necessary.

Egg White Grill Copycat

Ingredients - Makes 6 Sandwiches

-6 English Muffis

-6 slices of Sliced Cheese (any flavor, but I prefer cheddar)

-2 cups Panko Bread Crumbs

-18oz Chicken Breast, Thin Sliced

-24oz Liquid Egg Whites

Instructions

1) Cook your egg whites first. Pour 16oz egg whites into a casserole baking dish and bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. Make sure your egg whites are not jiggly! If they are, put them back into the oven and cook for a couple more minutes until there is no more jigglyness (and yes, “jigglyness” is a professional, very technical term that is NOT 100% a made-up word).

2) While that is cooking, place bread crumbs into one bowl and the remaining 8oz liquid egg whites into another. Cut chicken into 6 3oz pieces. Dip each piece into the egg wash, then coat with Panko.

3) Cook in air fryer for 12 minutes at 400 degrees.

4) After everything is cooked + egg whites cut into 6 pieces, assemble sandwiches by layering egg whites, cheese slice, and chicken breast on English muffin.

60P/11F/24C/450K per serving

Enjoy!!!

Picky Eaters Guide

Time to eat! But you have Little Humans with a big list of likes + dislikes. Fear not…this is actually a secret map to getting them fed + fueled!

Here’s some tips to make navigating meal time with ease ⬇️

▪️Ask your littles what they want to eat and work with that list. (You’re the driver + can easily make modifications)

▪️Children thrive on consistency + routines. It’s common to request repeat meals.

▪️Pumping up protein will guarantee a satisfied belly.

▪️Carrots + ketchup…an acquired toddler taste.

▪️Stay stocked up with options that you can grab quickly.

You got this!! As adults we are always setting the example. The more they see you balance nutrition the more they will pick up + mirror.

And if you aren’t sure how to balance your own food…let’s talk.

Asian Beef Bowl

Focusing on your nutrition, crazy tasty food + keeping your grocery bill in check is what I’m all about!

Learning to make nutrition easy + realistic is what has helped me keep 150lbs off for 15 years.

Meals Made Easy is a collection of my personal favorites that I’m sharing with you.

All the recipes from this cookbook are 5 ingredients or less AND budget + macro friendly. You can purchase Meals Made Easy directly from our website or on Amazon.

Here’s an excerpt directly from the book. This is the Asian Beef Bowl, and it is delicious!!!

4 ingredients:

▪️Ground Turkey

▪️90 second microwaveable rice

▪️Frozen Asian veggies

▪️Teriyaki Sriracha sauce

Let’s cook!

1️⃣Brown your turkey over medium-high heat.

2️⃣While that’s cooking open the veggies, pour in a bowl, cover with a paper towel + microwave for 6 minutes.

3️⃣Once they are done, microwave your rice.

4️⃣Assemble together + cover with sauce.

$10, 10 minutes, high protein + high fiber.

Bought all of these ingredients at Aldi, which is a great money saver. If you try the recipe, lemme know how you liked it!

Let’s Eat Lunch Guide

I get the SAME question all the time. “If I eat less calories a day, I’ll lose weight, right? That means if I skip a meal or two, I’ll definitely lose weight without having to change anything else! Does that sound like a good idea?”

Yeah…no. Sorry, but that’s not how it works.

It’s important for your body to receive the proper nutrition in a consistent manner for it to metabolize what nutrients you are eating properly. This means NOT skipping meals to “save calories.”

Your body needs you to feed it throughout the day. Read on for our for our guide to getting your lunch on!

Quality Foods vs Quantity

“I don’t eat much, but I keep gaining weight.”

This comes up often on new client calls.

They’re right.

Often they aren’t eating much. Skipping breakfast, quick snack, small lunch.

We start to look at their food quality, what they are feeding their body. How they are fueling their body.

Take these 2 plates for example:

They both have the exact same number of calories.

However, you’re going to feel more full from the strawberries + get some health benefits. This isn’t to say strawberries are better than Snickers. Cause a Snickers is some yummy food too!

It comes down to understanding how to balance all foods, in all situations. Taking into account how you feel, how your body responds, and your hunger/fullness levels.

Once you understand how to do that, accomplishing your health + weight goals become achievable!

Trigger Foods

Let’s first acknowledge that trigger foods are likely foods that are hyper palatable foods - aka foods that have lots of sugar, salt, + fat.

Hyper palatable - meaning that once you get a taste you’re going back for more + more.

Hard to ever feel satisfied on these foods. They are designed to create cravings.

Removing them, for a season, from your environment can be a helpful tool.

We’re not removing them from your life.

It’s keeping them out of an arms reach for when you are stressed, bored, or have a day where the “I don’t care” hits.

Normalize that setting yourself up for success is a tool used in many goal setting situations.

Done the right way this tool can be amazingly effective in finding the balance + moderation you’re looking for.

This or That: Portion Sizes + Tracking

Whether you are intuitive eating or macro counting understanding portion sizes is a a game changer!

Let’s take a look at these 2 meals - neither is “good” or “bad”. Both are plates full of quality foods!

The plate on the left is going to be more of a guessing game.

Why? Ingredients are mixed together, topped with sauces, + we aren’t 100% sure of portions used. Lots of guesstimating goin’ on!

The plate on your right gives us a much clearer view. You can easily identify what you’re eating and how much of it. This meal is some guessing (unless you’ve weighed your food), but there’s a higher chance of accuracy in tracking.

Based on your goals, and especially if you are in fat loss, sticking to a plate, like the one on the right, is going to help you be more accurate.

Getting your arms around portion sizes is a foundational piece of gaining control of your health + weight for the long haul.

High Protein Personal Pizza

Love a Lavash bread as much as we do??? Are you looking for something OTHER than a rollup??? I mean, don't get me wrong...I love a rollup as much as the next girl...but I can only have so many before I'm ready for something else.

And does anything make you happier than pizza!?!?! If you're like me and the answer is a no, check out this recipe for Lavash Flatbread Pizza! When done right, pizza can be healthy. That's right, you can have your pizza AND eat it too :). Packed with protein and easy to make, you will be adding this recipe to your weekly rotation faster than you could pop a Digiorno into the oven!!!

Ingredients:

1 Lavash Flatbread

60g Pizza Sauce

30g Turkey Pepperoni

30g Hatch Green Chili Sauce

2oz Cooked Chicken Breast

25g Baby Spinach

56g Skim Mozzarella Cheese

28g Cream Cheese

Directions:

Lay flatbread on a cookie sheet (for cooking in the oven) or a tray (for cooking in an air fryer). Layer pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese, spreading evenly. Top with spinach, green chilis, crumbled cream cheese, chicken and pepperonis. Bake for ~10 minutes or until bubbly on top and crispy on the edges.

55P/32C/32F/589K

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Cottage Cheese Smoothie Bowl

If you don't like the taste of cottage cheese, THIS is the bowl for you! When blended with some other tasty ingredients, the "cottage cheese" becomes a silky, smooth pudding-like breakfast that is packed with protein and healthy fats. You cannot…and I mean, CANNOT…taste the cottage cheese. I promise you won’t even notice it!!!

Throw all your ingredients together into a blender and blend until smooth. Seriously, that’s it! Top with ANY topping you'd like and enjoy. It’s a SUPER easy and delicious treat that can be served for breakfast, lunch, dinner or as a healthy snack.

Tips:

*If your smoothie bowl is too thick, add a splash or two of oat milk or Fairlife Protein milk. If it’s too thin for your tastes, add a bit more cottage cheese.

*We like the Vega One Berry protein powder in this recipe, but you can use any protein powder you like.

*Other tasty toppings that would work great are coconut flakes, bananas, any berries, mint, nuts, a drizzle of nut butter, chia seeds - the possibilities are endless!

Ingredients:

*1/2 cup blueberries

*1 scoop Berry flavor protein powder

*1/2 cup 1% fat cottage cheese

*1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla oat milk

Toppings:

*1/2 cup protein granola

*3 oz blackberries

*1-2 teaspoons honey

Blend all Ingredients together. Once you have the texture you like, pour into a bowl and top with granola, blackberries and drizzle with honey.

393K/37.8P/7.3F/46.2C

10 Reasons Why Your Scale Could Be Up

Does your weight look like a roller coaster sometimes? One day it’s up, the next it’s down, then you’re back up again? Before you slash calories today, let’s look at 10 reasons why your scale could be up.

▪️You ate a late dinner last night.
▪️You had a heavy workout yesterday.
▪️You drank less water over the weekend.
▪️Ate several meals out over the weekend.
▪️You had a crummy night of sleep.
▪️You are ovulating.
▪️You ate a ton of carbs yesterday.
▪️You ignored veggies all weekend.
▪️You’re only weighing once a week + today was a snapshot.
▪️You are so anxious over what the scale will say that you’re panicked before even getting on.

All of these things can contribute to your scale being higher today. The best thing to do is to stay in your rhythm + routine + weigh yourself again tomorrow.

The LEAST helpful thing to do is to think “all your work is wasted” and give up.

Stay reminded friends, the scale is only ONE component of your life. Step back and look at the larger picture.

Are you making progress toward the person you want to become? To the person God called you to be? More confident in your choices? Able to move more with ease? Getting stronger in your workouts? Able to say kind things to yourself about your body? Excited about being active + healthy?

These are things we should also focus on measuring.

Stay after it! You are creating something special!

High Protein Meatball Pasta Alfredo

Up that protein game with this amazing protein packed pasta!

Ingredients:

1 package of frozen Turkey Meatballs (Trader Joe's are my favorite!)

1 package of frozen peas

1 box high protein pasta

2 cups cottage cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Garlic powder

Salt + pepper

Instructions:

Cook your meatballs (I prefer a slow cooker 4 hrs on low)

Boil your pasta - adding your peas during the last few minutes.

Make your high protein Alfredo sauce!

In a food processor combine cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, dash of garlic powder, salt + pepper. Give it a good buzz to mix.

Combine all ingredients together + you’re done!

Makes 4 servings: 50p/58c/12f/520kc

Knowing your maintenance calories makes fat loss easier.

YOUR maintenance calories are the average calorie/macro breakout number that you can eat daily + maintain your weight.

That number is DIFFERENT for everyone.

I’ve seen 2 ladies in their 40’s, similar weight + height.

One could eat 2,400 calories in maintenance.

The other could tolerate 1,600 in maintenance.

This has to do with their history of dieting, total muscle on their frame + overall metabolic health.

I’ve also seen clients who thought their maintenance was 1,500 + it ended up being around 2,200 <which is a topic for another post>.

Once we have your maintenance calories we can easily build out your diet. Setting up a plan to get your weight down without starving you or making you a hangry hormonal monster. <BIG WIN>

If ya need help finding your maintenance or wanna know more about it, schedule a call today!

High Protein Lucky Charms Shake

Craving your favorite breakfast cereal but still want to hit your macros? THIS smoothie is for you!

Ingredients:

-2 scoops of Blueberry Protein Powder (I prefer KOS Protein)

-1 cup Fairlife Milk

-Ice

-1 serving of Lucky Charms cereal

-Dollop of whip cream (as a topping…definitely optional…but why wouldn’t you!?!?)

Blend the protein powder, milk and ice together until the preferred consistency. Top with Lucky Charms and whipped cream (because, come on, you KNOW you want to!) and ENJOY!!!

Are you eating enough?

It’s common to see lots of folks under-eating for their bodies needs. Let’s take a look at a few signs that you may not be eating enough:

▪️Constant Fatigue:

Even after a full night's sleep, you find yourself dragging through the day. The reason? Your body derives energy from calories. A deficiency means less fuel for daily tasks.

▪️Brain Fog:

Feel like you're wading through mental mud? Our brains need glucose to function optimally. Without sufficient caloric intake, cognitive functions like memory and concentration can suffer.

▪️Always Cold:

Your body burns calories to produce heat. Insufficient calorie intake can reduce your body's ability to regulate its temperature, leaving you feeling cold more often.

▪️Mood Swings:

Hello Hangry! Serotonin, a neurotransmitter responsible for regulating mood, requires certain nutrients from food to be produced. Lack of proper nutrition can lead to mood imbalances.

▪️Hair & Nail Problems:

Both hair and nails are made of protein. Without enough calories, and especially protein intake, they can become brittle or even lead to hair loss.

Every function in our body, from cellular regeneration to hormonal balance, relies on the energy derived from the food we eat. When we consistently consume fewer calories than we need, it's not just our waistlines that suffer, but our overall health. If you're experiencing any of these symptoms it might be time to revisit your daily intake + work towards fueling your body so you can feel like an amazing human vs a cranky zombie.

Are you always food focused?

Make it stand out

Thinking about the next meal while you are eating or within an hour after eating?

One reason could be that you aren’t allowing yourself to become full + satisfied during meals.

You’re trying to keep your meals as small as possible.

In turn you end up eating several super small meals, grabbing a bite of this and that…

Snacking all day long.

You are always thinking about food.

Making decisions about food.

Food. Is. A. Constant. Thought.

One easy way to road test if you’re falling into this category is to increase your food at your meal times.

You can also increase the quality of your food at meal times.

Example:

If your current lunch looks like a lean cuisine + then an hour later you’re hitting the candy drawer - you’re likely eating around 500 calories.

Switch it up to a more filling + quality lunch like, a Chicken burrito bowl:

Chicken

Black beans

Roasted sweet potato

Spinach

Guacamole

+ a side of dark chocolate.

This lunch would run you around 500 calories too + keep you fuller for longer….which means you aren’t thinking about or grabbing food in the next hour.

So while always eating small meals may seem like the way to successfully diet it could be a roadblock that’s holding you back.

Scale Not Moving?

Scale not moving? Start here. There could be several reasons your scale isn’t moving in a fat loss phase. Let’s focus in on one possibility.

Scenario:

Macro protocol: 135p 155c 65f, 25fiber - 1745kc

You’re tracking + hitting targets 6 out of 7 days. Average step number is consistent. No changes in scale, no changes in measurements.

Let’s get curious + dig deeper into your tracking:

▪️Eyeballing coffee creamer <off by 2 tablespoons> 70+ calories

▪️Eating 1/2 a cookie <untracked b/c it was just a few bites> 45+ calories

▪️Quick handful of goldfish before dinner <untracked>: 60+ calories

▪️A Dino 🦖 nugget off your kids plate <forgot you even snagged that>: 55+ calories

That’s 230 calories over your fat loss macros. Pulling you out of a deficit.

If this happens one or two days a week every now + then, not a huge deal. 3+ days a week, this will impact progress.

Before buying into hormones, body is broken, I’ve tried everything + nothing works, or worse - giving up - go back to the basics. Do a double check + be extra mindful for a few days.

Hit me up with any questions - my door is always open!

TWENTY-TWENTY-FOUR

TWENTY•TWENTY•FOUR

▪️This year will only be different if you work towards improving yourself from last year.

▪️No one can do the work but you.

▪️Sleep is a superpower.

▪️Quality food = quality life.

▪️The uncomfortable work is the most rewarding.

▪️ Moving your body with ease is a major flex.

▪️ Stress will catch up with you if you don’t manage it.

▪️ Your family needs you - do your best to stick around as long as you can.

▪️4 days a week isn’t consistency.

▪️Adding muscle to your body will pay dividends for years to come.

▪️Always be proud when you’re 1% better than the day before.

▪️Wanting something isn’t the same as taking action.

▪️ A support system comes in clutch when you start to doubt yourself.

▪️Make peace with the fact that giving your best effort will look different from time to time.

▪️ Surround yourself with people who are rooting for you.

▪️Power in big dreams + believing you can.

▪️God is Everything. See the good in people. Love with all ya got + enjoy the path before you.

Let’s show 2024 how it’s done!