Simple Clean Eating Food Prep

We've done seminars on food prep, written an eBook on food prep, and published many posts on food prep. Food prep is simple on the surface but tends to confuse many people. It seems as though we all get wrapped up in doing everything perfectly that we just shut down and don't do anything at all.

Food prep doesn't have to be hard OR extravagant.

Some weeks we cook 1-2 things and some weeks we cook 4-5 things. It all just depends on what else in going on in our lives and honestly just how we feel. However, we never skip food prep...even if that means buying rotisserie chicken like we did for this food prep. Not only do we food prep for health reasons but we also do it because it is MUCH less expensive than eating out. We've added a "money" page to the site and plan on sharing many more posts on how to save money while eating clean (and saving money in general).

This was one of those weeks where we only prepped 1-2 things. We just got back in town from Jackson Hole (after having a flight delay which resulted in an unplanned overnight stay and lost luggage) and still had all the busyness of the holidays. We didn't have much time but we wanted to do a small food prep. We knew we wouldn't be home much because we would be spending time with family so we just cooked a few quick and easy meals.

Simple Clean Eating Food Prep

• Italian Turkey Burgers
• Honey Chipotle Ground Chicken
• Sweet-Sweet Potato Cubes

We always have eggs on hand too (bought at Costco) because they make for the perfect quick, easy, and clean meal! Check out our posts on eggs:

• Boil Eggs in the Oven
• Make Perfect Scrambled Eggs
• Make the Perfect Omelet

5 Things I Did {and Didn't Do} to Achieve My "Dream Body"

WANT A FREE HIIT EBOOK?

Join our newsletter and get the instant download. We never spam you - we only bring you the best workouts and recipes each week! Click here to join now.

Note: We're on Snapchat! You can find us under hesheeatclean. We will be posting more of our meals, workouts, and money saving tips! Also, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter!

---

After posting a few of my He and She Unfiltered posts I not only received a ton (and I mean A TON) of messages from people (especially other trainers) who struggle with the same thing but I also received questions from people asking me how I achieved this balance in the beginning. This is really asking me how I made my transformation. I've touched on it a little bit in other posts but I'll outline it here again.

I don't really like "Dream Body" but that's what first came to mind so I'm rolling with it, hoping this reaches someone trying to achieve that "Dream Body". I wouldn't say that the body that I have right now isn't my dream body. It isn't when I compare myself to others but it is when I'm focused on what my body is CAPABLE of. So, I guess it's safe to say that this was my "Dream Body" then and I still have my "Dream Body" - it's that my definition has changed.

I have made such amazing progress since posting about my body image issues - you can read about them here.

THIS is my DREAM BODY. I visit places that I dream about and use my body to explore them.

Zion National Park (Angels Landing Trail)

 Saying "I can't believe I just did that...", climbing the highest peak in the lower 48, Mount Whitney.

One of the prettiest places I've ever seen, Glacier National Park in Montana! 

I wasn't and I still am not very competitive. I never played sports in school. I did cheer and play softball for years but it was just a rec league. I never tried out for anything. I never worried about my weight or my appearance either. I was never that girl in the gym running for two hours and eating 800 calories. I never counted calories and cardio bored the crap out of me. It wasn't until my husband introduced me to weight lifting that I actually found something that I wanted to do. But even then I still wasn't competitive. People would tell me all the time "You should compete" but I have never wanted to do a competition. Nothing about getting up on a stage half naked, having my body compared and critiqued against others appealed to me. I want you to understand that this is coming from someone with a completely blank fitness and nutrition background - I wasn't your all-American athlete in school or someone who has struggled with body image issues before.

With that being said, after entering this "health and fitness world" and having people ask me questions about what I do I quickly learned that every one seems to be looking for that magic pill or the quick fix that will make all their worries and extra body fat disappear. Well, you probably know by now that there is no magic pill, it's all up to YOU.

This might surprise you but the first place you have to start is in your mind.

So, without further ado this is how I achieved the body of my dreams:

1. Positive Thinking AND Talking

When I decided to change my lifestyle I also changed my thoughts. I started looking at things from a different perspective. This isn't to say that it was all sunshine and rainbows but I always tried to find the good in whatever it was. I did this while working a high-stress job that I hated so I know that it can be done! I would also talk to myself. Yep, I would talk to myself. POSITIVELY. Even if it had nothing to do with being healthy - it could even just be "wow my hair looks good today" or something similar. I started each day with positive thoughts and talks!

2. One Day at a Time

I took it one day at a time. I didn't care what I was going to look like or be doing in a month or three months down the road. I was just living my life, talking and thinking positively and living in the moment. I did go on to prepare for a photo shoot (as the picture above shows) but that was only for a short period of time. The rest of the time was spent just living life. It was always just one foot in front of the other. One meal. One workout. One day. It was a lifestyle. There was NO finish line.

3. NOT Comparing Myself to Others

I started blogging about my journey in March 2012 on my personal blog and I didn't go back and read through all of the posts but from what I can remember (and what I saw) I only posted ONE picture of someone who I "wanted to look like". As I mentioned in my post on how getting into fitness ruined my body image, it wasn't until Instagram really took off in the fitness industry that I fell into the comparison trap and it's truly been one of the most difficult things I've had to deal with. I never thought anything could consume someone so much. I'm so thankful that I haven't lived my whole life like this though and really hope to help others work on getting out of this same trap. Bottom line - I didn't compare myself to others. I wasn't competing with anyone. I wasn't even competing with myself. I was just living a healthy lifestyle.

4. Hard Work

I worked hard. I loved it. I was passionate about it. I trained 4-6 days per week (4-6 days per week weight training and 2-3 days of cardio). I didn't ever "over-train" but I was pretty much always on target with my workouts. I also had a personal trainer for about three months before my photo shoot. Same thing with my eating. I didn't ever restrict my calories (again, I am NOT a girl that will starve herself to be thin) but was always on target with my meals and we didn't eat out often.

5. Determination AND Consistency

As the ones above show, I was (and still am) very determined and consistent. I never had a goal date or finish line when I started. I wanted to be happy and healthy. Giving up has never been an option. Sure, I'll skip a workout if I'm sick or just not feeling it but giving up on a healthy lifestyle is never going to happen. What would I be giving up on? Basically everything I love and enjoy. If you don't feel the same way you should try to find an exercise routine that you do enjoy (try one of our She Sweats workout plans!) and find healthy meals that you do love! To me, there is no other option.

To be completely honest with you though...

I don't know if I would have made the transformation I did if social media was the same back then (I know it was only 4 years ago but so much has changed - and I sound really old saying that). Social media is one of the main reasons that I fell into the comparison trap and why, for awhile, I was only accomplishing 3 out of these 5 things. I forgot the most important two...positive thinking and not comparing myself. Although I am healthy, a size four (definitely the smallest I've ever been, aside from my photo shoot), workout 4-6 days per week, and eat healthy I would still find myself falling into the comparison trap because of social media. I would not change anything about my journey because I consider everything a learning experience and I honestly think I went through this in order to help others. It's definitely been an amazing ride these last 4+ years and the fact that my husband and I still continue to live a healthy and balanced lifestyle shows that we have been successful!

Please use these tips and by learn how to love YOURSELF so you can be on your way to a healthy "Dream Body".

What is Nutrition Moderation and Balance?

Moderation. Balance. Those are words you probably hear or see a lot in the fitness community. Every one is preaching moderation and balance. What does moderation and balance really mean? What does it mean to them? What does it mean to you?

This is another post that has been on my mind lately and actually in our draft folder for quite a few months. I realized that these were becoming "fitness buzzwords" (we use them too!) but saw that many people were completely lost on the entire topic. I decided to finish and post it after we had ice cream (yes, REAL ice cream) last night in Annapolis. I posted the photo below on Instagram (@heandsheeatclean).

What is Moderation and Balance?

According to dictionary.com:

Moderation: the quality of being moderate; restraint; avoidance of extremes or excesses; temperance.

Balance: a state of equilibrium or equipoise; equal distribution of weight, amount, etc. or mental steadiness or emotional stability; habit of calm behavior, judgment, etc.

What does Moderation and Balance Mean to You?

When someone posts a picture of their cookies - are they just eating two or three? Could you do the same or would you devour the whole bag? When they post a picture of their ice cream is it one scoop or four scoops?

Just like we have mentioned numerous times previously, you are NOT like anyone else. Just because someone eats two cookies per day and then puts the rest of the bag back in the pantry without thinking about it doesn't mean that you have to force or even train yourself to do the same thing. It doesn't mean that they are any better than you or more disciplined than you (or vice versa). We each have our own personalities. We need to learn how to work with our personalities instead of against.

Some people can have a bag of candy or pretzels and only eat that "one serving" or a few at at time. Others can't. It's okay. Maybe you are one of those people who can just eat a few at a time but my guess is that you've tried over and over again to "practice moderation" or count calories, points, or macros to allow for those "treats" but still end up devouring the entire bag. Don't beat yourself up.

The solution? Don't keep the cookies or pretzels in your house or at your desk. Just because you don't have junk food in your house doesn't mean that you are too strict or don't enjoy your life or food (These are comments that many of us get!). There is a place and time for everything - when, where, and how much is up for YOU to decide. 

80/20 Rule

Our overall lifestyle (traveling or not) is 80/20. 80% of the time we eat what we consider clean/healthy foods (lean protein, complex carbs, healthy fats, lots of veggies, etc.) and 20% of the time we may consume food that has more sugar, fat, etc than we normally would.

We never want anyone to feel deprived. You can still enjoy your favorite treats! Just like I posted that picture of our ice cream while we were traveling, we get our treats outside of the house. Order dessert at a restaurant (and split it with someone else), get small portions of your favorite treats while traveling, etc. In that picture, I had one scoop (which is more like two scoops at most places) of cookie dough and Scott had two scoops of peanut butter cookie. We didn't think twice about getting it. We live a healthy lifestyle and have a healthy relationship with food. This doesn't mean that when we are traveling we eat junk 24/7. This means that a majority of our meals are still healthy but we don't worry about what we are eating the whole time (more to come on this topic later).

As always, we want to caution you about comparing what others eat to what you eat. How your body will respond to certain foods is different. How often and how much you can eat will depend on your body. Just like everything else with health and fitness this takes time and trial and error! Maybe you have that "treat meal" once a week or once a month or maybe you do eat that small portion of chocolate each day. How often you need to have it will depend on your personality and your goals. Find out what timing works for you so that you do not feel deprived because that will just lead to bingeing.

Keep in mind that just like everyone has their own definition of eating clean, everyone has their own definition of moderation and balance. Some people think that eating a rice cake with peanut butter is balance. Some people think that eating three scoops of ice cream is balance. Some people think that eating a slice of pizza is balance.

"Trigger foods" will also vary for each person. I can devour an entire bag of Sour Patch Kids in one setting but I don't really ever crave (or even care for) breads or pastas. My easy solution? I don't buy Sour Patch Kids and keep them in the house. I don't care to try and "train" myself to only eat 6 Sour Patch Kids. If I want them, I will eat them outside the house where I can get a smaller portion instead of a large bag (or I will make my "Sour Patch" Grapes!).

Where do you fall on this? Have you tried over and over again to incorporate these "treats" but still end up over-eating? Or are you one that can only eat small portions and leave the rest alone?