31 Oct Balance

Hello my name is Shawn Mielke, president of Girlfriends Fit Club and certified holistic health and lifestyle coach. You will find a variety of GFFC blog posts written by myself, and the remainder written by some of our qualified GFFC team members and professional freelance writers and bloggers. I have been involved in the fitness industry for about 15 years and have owned GFFC since 2008. I’ve always been passionate about fitness and living a healthy lifestyle and am so excited to start this new blog to help others do the same! I’m a business owner, wife, mom, friend and daughter, so balance has become my middle name. Therefore, this is why I chose my first blog post to discuss Life Balance. Learning balance is great for working women, retired women, stay at home moms and everyone in between. Have you ever felt like you’re just going through each day juggling 1,000 different things, only to get to the next day, with no plan? Trust me we’ve all been there. That’s why I started planning ahead to make each week a little more smooth sailing. In addition, I end up accomplishing a lot more by planning things ahead. I’m not perfect at it. Some weeks I do great, some are mediocre and some well not so good. But were all human right? And all we can do is try our best and ourselves Grace.

Prep and Plan Ahead

I don’t know about you but I’m most successful, in every area of my life, when I plan ahead and prep for the week. I typically make Sunday’s my prep and plan day to make it easier for myself and family. I decide what our menu will look like for the week. I typically choose a couple proteins like organic chicken, grass fed beef and/or tofu. I choose one of the proteins and then bake them in the oven or cook them on the stove top. You want to make sure you have enough of each protein for a couple meals. I like to also throw in at least one vegetarian meal for the week. If I’m feeling real ambitious I might make a breakfast casserole and some sort of healthy snack like protein balls -we call these “cookies” in our house, ha ha.

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BREAKFAST:

Option 1:

Shawn’s Go 2 Protein Shake: Fill your shaker almost to the top with ice, add liquid of choice to the top of the shaker  (I use ½ water and ½ coconut/almond milk), add chocolate protein powder serving, 1 table spoon of powder peanut butter, ½ avocado. * Shakes are a good way to add in/hide extra veggies. Try a handful of spinach or Kale!

Option 2:

Sweet Potato Crust Quiche:

Ingredients:

– 2 tablespoons coconut oil to thickly grease pan

– 1 large sweet potato

– ¼ pound of baked ham, sausage, bacon or tofu

– 1 yellow onion

– Three garlic cloves minced or teaspoon of minced garlic from the jar

– 1 cup grated parmesan cheese (I typically use parmesan goat cheese)

– 8 large eggs

– ½ teaspoon salt

– ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

– ½ teaspoon of dry mustard

– 1 cup canned coconut cream

– 1 cup canned coconut milk

Directions: Pre-heat the oven to 375. -Grease a 9×13 pan with coconut oil and set aside. -Peel and thinly slice the sweet potato into a circular shape and place them on the bottom of a casserole dish, slightly overlapping one another because they will shrink while baking. -Bake for 20 minutes or until the sweet potato is soft and starting to brown. -Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. -Reduce the heat to 325.

Heat a frying pan with coconut oil and sauté onion and garlic til slightly brown. – Cook your meat of choice in separate pan. -Chop your meat or tofu, if you choose to add it. -In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the salt, pepper, and dry mustard and coconut cream and milk. –Mix all ingredients and pour over sweet potato. Sprinkle cheese on top and bake for 45 minutes or until the eggs are just set. -Let stand 10 minutes to cool and enjoy. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days and reheat before serving.

LUNCH: I Typically have a salad with some of the protein I cooked on my prep day, I add some nuts and seeds, sometimes goat cheese, and homemade dressing or my favorite store bought dressing (garlic expressions) because it doesn’t have a lot of ingredients but has a lot of flavor!

DINNER FOR A WEEK:

Monday: Meatless Monday

Tuesday: Taco Tuesday ( Tip: Use bibb lettuce for your taco shells for a healthier option or make a low cal healthy taco salad)

Wednesday: Taco Casserole (I like to hide extra veggies in my casseroles)

Thursday: Chicken with veggie and side salad

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Spontaneous Day

Sunday: I typically make a crock pot meal on Sunday’s during the cold season or grill during the warm season.

TIP: During my busy season at the gym, which is Winter, I use the crock pot often. I will even go as far as pre-paring the dish in the crock pot the night before, putting the crock pot in the fridge, then pulling it out in the am and plugging it in to cook while I’m at work.

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Making the Mornings Easier

You’ve already done the first step by prepping on Sunday! Now you can avoid starting your morning off more relaxed instead of being frazzled, by prepping everything the night before. Pack lunches (don’t forget yours!), lay out clothes and give the kids their bath. Plan your breakfast… As I mentioned my go – to, is a protein shake, I try to make it ahead and place it in the fridge ready to go in the am (even my son and husband like them)!  I make sure the diaper bag, my purse and my work bag is all set and ready to go by the door for an easy grab. I also like to write my personal and work to do list the night before, so I’m ready to take on the day! Making a list always helps me stay focused and organized and I love the gratitude of checking things off.

Create and Organize a Family Calendar

I use the calendar on my phone but I’m still a bit old school and love having a paper calendar to write on. A calendar can include anything from bill due dates, family events, kid activities, special dates, chores, and goals, basically anything that you want as reminders. You can even color – cote your calendar by each family member or by type of event. Make sure to have your calendar in a visible spot so it doesn’t get overlooked. I recommend having a short family or spouse meeting on Sunday’s to discuss what your week looks like, to eliminate surprises which may cause stress.

Remember, no matter how much of a planner or how organized we are, life still happens. So don’t be hard on yourself, if you didn’t get things planned for the week. Give yourself Grace. Planning and prepping is supposed to cause less stress not more. All this planning and prepping might seem like a lot at first but once you get into the routine of things, you will notice how much easier it makes your life. I hope you find this information and tips helpful! If you would like more help in certain areas of your life, please contact me at GFFC to set up a free consultation.

Til next time,

Shawn Mielke – Certified Holistic Health and Lifestyle Coach.