EASY?

I must make up my mind each day to workout, eat right and keep my family healthy.  

It's not easy.  Yes I stay at home with my boys so I'm not juggling a full-time job as well BUT I know plenty of women that do.  They never say it's easy but they do say it's worth it.  And I agree.  There are days where I feel like giving up and taking the EASY route by grabbing junk food, bags of chips or other "easy" foods but then I think do I want EASY or do I want HEALTHY?  

And don't get me wrong, healthy can be easy too, 

you just have to think about how and what to prepare? 

So I'll share a few supermarket secrets that help us stay on track each week!

Being PREPARED is the key to success.  

Whether you want to lose weight, gain muscle, get healthy or get your family eating healthier foods, being PREPARED makes things SO much easier....I promise!

When you look in my fridge or pantry you will ALWAYS find veggies, fruit, protein and frozen fruits & protein powder for smoothies.  

I keep things simple.  

I'm not a gourmet chef and I lack some kitchen skills but I can sure make some fabulous baked chicken and cauliflower mashed potatoes.  I can make a killer fruit salad.  I brown lean ground turkey in a skillet once a week and it'll make 2-3 different meals-quesadillas for the kids, a protein topper for our salads, add tomatoes and plain Greek yogurt and we've got spaghetti sauce for our spaghetti squash in minutes! 

My essentials each week from the grocery store:

natural almonds

almond milk

fresh fruits- grapes, apples, oranges, bananas, strawberries. 

frozen blueberries, tropical blend and pineapple for smoothies

brown rice

sweet potatoes

fresh veggies-zucchini, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, spaghetti squash, artichoke

frozen edamame for snacking

canned chick peas for hummus

avocados

lemons! for my water

boneless skinless chicken breasts

99% lean ground turkey

high fiber/high protein cereal

plain Greek yogurt that I add to almost every meal...make chicken salad and sub yogurt for mayo, use as a sour cream replacement on low carb burritos, use in smoothies, as breakfast topped with frozen fruits and a little high fiber cereal for the crunch!

eggs...LOTS of eggs!

Ezekiel anything!  usually cinnamon raisin bread and english muffins-a great addition to your daily eggs...I'll usually serve them on a slice of either of these Ezekiel options!

Neufchael cheese that I add to my cauliflower mash for that creamy texture.  The boys love this on their morning whole wheat bagel/toast and we add to many things for added flavor without all of the fat! 

Today was HOT here in Texas but my little man and I managed to get in over 3 miles on the golf course...love that our course is closed on Mondays so it changes up the scenery!

Is working out EASY?  
Heck no.  But isn't that what makes it SO great?  
Fighting through the pain and sweat to find your strength through an intense workout is what gives ya that AWESOME feeling that I lacked for so many years.  
And I wouldn't trade that feeling for anything in the world.  It's amazing!

So do me a favor and ask yourself...

will you push through wanting things to be EASY and push HARD today?  

It's always easier for some of us and for some of us it takes twice the work and that's okay.  

When we stop comparing and feeling sorry for ourselves, that's when the AMAZING transformation begins.  And this works for any health and fitness goal you may have!

For me, I make up my mind each day to know that putting in the work is worth it!  

It's a FAR better feeling than how I used to be.  The EASY route gets us nowhere but depressed and feeling tired all of the time.  Right?  RIGHT!  

So go for it.  Be amazing today and every day!