healthy back to school meal plan; meal planning

The secret to reduce stress and stay organized for your healthy lifestyle!

Good Morning sweet friends! 

Many of you have met my dear friend and now TransFit Nutrition Consultant,  Katie Woodall. Today, I wanted to give her an opportunity to share with you her best nutrition advice and a fabulous secret! 


Hey guys! I am Katie Woodall, a Certified Nutrition Consultant for TransFit! I have loved working out side-by-side with a lot of you at the TransFit studio. It’s my pleasure to share my love for nutrition with each of you today! 

Who wants to reduce stress and stay organized??? I know we all do- so here is the solution for you — meal planning! This was one of my 2015 New Year’s Resolutions. It not only saved me time after time from asking, “What’s for dinner,” but it kept me organized at home and at the grocery store. Instead of walking into the store with no plans and wandering up and down aisles, and back across the store because I forgot something, I went to the store with a plan! And a plan can help you spend less — as long as you stick to it!

Like most people, our New Year’s Resolutions include losing weight and toning up. Well, meal planning helps with your fitness goals, too! Muscles start in the kitchen, right?! I often tell people that you can work out 6 or even 7 days a week, but until you make healthier choices in the kitchen, nothing will change! You can start by organizing your family’s weekly meals.

3 Simple Steps to Getting Your Meals Organized

1. Set aside a day and time to plan! Put it on your calendar if you have to! Saturdays and Sundays typically work best, even if it’s just 30 minutes or one hour set aside.

When you find your block of time that works best, sit down with your healthy recipes and start planning for the week ahead. Include meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Yes, plan your snacks! Even if it’s a protein bar, write it down! One of TransFit’s blank meal plans can prove to be very useful.

2. Stay cost conscious! If you want to save a little extra money that week, take a look at the sale papers and plan your meals accordingly. What meats are on sale? Consider which fruits and veggies are in season.

3. Create your game plan! Once your week’s planned out, you can easily make your grocery shopping list. If you’re like me, I usually incorporate 2-3 shopping trips a week for fresh produce and meat to last through the weekend. After your calendar is full, go back and organize a grocery shopping list. Try to separate your list into different sections, like produce, dairy, dry or canned goods, etc. to make shopping even easier! And also when you’re at the store, it can help hold you accountable to your list and avoiding those extra items or treats around the store!

Let us help! Are you adding “Meal Planning” to your calendar right now or wondering still how to find the time for it? I’d love to help you! Part of TransFit’s nutrition services is meal planning. So if you’d like to save time, I can take the stress of meal planning away from you! I can create fresh meal plans for you and your family, including the recipes, and add one of our newest features — grocery shopping lists! 

To make changing yours or your family's nutrition habits a breeze, let TransFit help you through the Healthy Family Meal Plan which can be found here http://www.transfitathens.com/new-products/healthy-family-meal-plan

or a Personalized Nutrition Plan found here

http://www.transfitathens.com/new-products/one-on-one-nutrition-consultation

These options and many more can be found in the TransFit shop! 


To give you an idea of what a typical, healthy family meal plan from TransFit looks like, I’ve included one here. That’s five meals a day for seven days! Also, we’re sharing a few recipes from this plan, too.


Strawberry Spinach Salad with Balsamic Fig Dressing

Ingredients: (serves 2)

Dressing -

• 1⁄4 cup balsamic vinegar

• 1 tablespoon fig preserves

• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

• salt to taste

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salad -

• 1 (10 oz) package of baby spinach leaves

• 1⁄2 Cup Craisins

• 1 cup Strawberries hulled & sliced thin

• 1⁄2 cup cooked, shelled edamame

• 4 oz crumbled Goat Cheese

• 1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Preparation:
Mix vinegar, pepper, mustard, salt, and olive oil in a small bowl with whisk. In a large salad bowl, toss the remaining ingredients together. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and serve. Top with grilled chicken or salmon! Goes perfectly with homemade pita chips Enjoy! 


Healthy Chicken Nuggets  

  • 6 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast (cut into 1⁄2 inch pieces) 2 pinches salt

  • 2 pinch pepper

  • 1 pinch garlic powder

  • 2 tbsp light extra virgin olive oil

  • 1 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs (or almond meal for lower carb option) 

  • Olive oil cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss chicken in olive oil and then season chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic. Dip the chicken in bread crumbs until coated completely. Roll until nicely coated. Lightly coat a cookie sheet with spray and place the nuggets onto the tray and then into the oven. Bake until golden brown and cooked through (about 10-15 minutes).   


 

 

For more on how we can help you organize your family meal plans, please email Katie at katie@transfitathens.com. Or if you’d like to learn more about our nutrition consulting services, log on to http://www.transfitathens.com/nutrition/.

Have an amazing weekend! 

Team TransFit

Back to School Essentials

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Happy day friends! I hope you all have had a wonderful start to the back to school routine.  We just survived week 1 of back to school, and I know this weekend I need to make extra time to preplan for the week ahead. I will do that today! Making snack baskets, chopping veggies and fruits and putting the in the fridge to be ready for a successful - stress free week! If you need help planning your family's healthy back to school meal plan please email me- I would love to help you feel organized and start the school year on a positive, healthy note.  Start today by taking time to plan for your successful week- one hour of planning today can help  you the entire week!  I would love to know what you do to do in preparation for a full week?

Commit your actions to the Lord,     and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3

One of the things back to school brings is making quick breakfasts and packing lunches for my little ones- which we all know isn't easy! There are ways you can make grabbing a quick breakfast in the morning nutritious and healthy eating at lunchtime really fun and exciting for your kids! For example, the kids and I have had "Tasting Parties" in the past when on a weekend I would lay out different healthy food options for them and let them taste and sample until they found new favorite healthy foods we could start incorporating in their breakfasts and lunches!  Below are some tips for helping you succeed with your picky eater!

Here you can find the results of last year's taste test. http://www.transfitathens.com/blog//2013/08/07/

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5 Tips for Picky Eaters!

No. 1: Be patient with new foods (Children may need to try a food 8 times before they will like it!

No. 2: Make mealtime FUN! (dinner games, jokes, questions about whats your favorite....)

No. 3: Recruit your child’s help (At the grocery store, ask your child to help you select fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods. Don’t buy anything that you don’t want your child to eat. At home, encourage your child to help you rinse veggies, stir batter or set the table)

No. 4: Set a good example. If you eat a variety of healthy foods, your child is more likely to follow suit.

No. 5: Don’t be a short-order cook. Preparing a separate meal for your child after she rejects the original meal might promote picky eating. Encourage your child to stay at the table for the designated mealtime — even if he or she doesn’t eat. Keep serving your child healthy choices until they become familiar and preferred.

Here are some of the kids’ favorite lunches that they love to take to school!

Lyla loves chickpeas and berries!

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I hope you have a fabulous, healthy start to your school year! Always remember we do all things not for world but to glorify Christ! Allow His strength and peace to keep you motivated and in balanced through the hustle and bustle the new-year brings!

Here a few easy, healthy recipes that are kid friendly and that your whole family will love- no matter how hectic the schedule gets!!

HEALTHY BREAKFAST SANDWICH

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/2 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 large egg whites, beaten
  • 1 thin slice of cheddar cheese
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 slice tomato (optional)
  • 1/2 whole-wheat English muffin, toasted

Heat oil in a small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add egg whites, salt and cook, stirring constantly, until whites are set, about 30 seconds. To make the sandwich, layer the egg whites, cheese and tomato on ½ English muffin.

You can double this recipe and make a few sandwiches for later in the week. Wrap in foil and place in refrigerator. Heat 45 seconds to re-warm.

For a quick dinner that the whole family will love, try these two recipes together along with maybe a side salad or some steamed veggies to add in extra nutrient-rich greens!

Healthy Chicken Nuggets

Prep time: 5 min. Cook time: 15 min.

6 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast (cut into ½ inch pieces)

2 pinches salt

2 pinch pepper

1 pinch garlic powder

2 tbsp light extra virgin olive oil

1 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs (or almond meal for lower carb option)

Olive oil cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss chicken in olive oil and then season chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic. Dip the chicken in bread crumbs until coated completely. Roll until nicely coated. Lightly coat a cookie sheet with spray and place the nuggets onto the tray and then into the oven. Bake until golden brown and cooked through (about 10-15 minutes).

Sweet Potato Fries

3 Large Sweet Potatoes

1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp kosher salt

3 tsp fresh orange zest

Preheat oven to 450. Wash and peel sweet potatoes. Cut Potatoes into ½ inch wedges, transfer to baking sheet and toss with oil. Combine spices with potato wedges and toss to coat. Spread into a single layer and back for 30 minutes, turning occasionally. Enjoy!

Blessings, Caroline