Protein is involved in nearly EVERY process in the body! It’s essential for muscle, cell, and tissue growth, as well as repair. It’s involved in cell structure, enzyme function, and transport in the body. It improves recovery and increases strength. It even strengthens our immune function!

Most people know that protein is essential for body composition, performance, and muscle gain, but they’re unaware of how important it is for optimal health. With so many functions, adequate protein consumption is incredibly important.

It's tempting to wake up and rush to make your morning cup of coffee. You need the jolt. It's part of your ritual. Water doesn't even cross your mind. Breakfast and two cups of joe later, and suddenly it's 10:30 am...and you realize you've had NO water yet today. It happens to the best of us. And that's what inspired our October Habit of the Month - Drink 20 ounces of water FIRST thing every morning!

Here’s a secret for you: When I first started flexible dieting, eating around other people was really hard for me. And where do I eat around other people the most? At work! When I ate alone, I felt in control. When I ate at home, I felt safe and had the support of a loving partner who was willing to accommodate all sorts of weird requests as I sorted through what did or did not fuel my body effectively.

All in, the recipe took less than 30 minutes and I only had to use one pan! You could sub out the chicken tenderloins for chicken breasts or thighs, but make sure to either butterfly your chicken breasts or pound them out a bit in order to make it thin. Chicken gets dried out easily, so I find that using thin slices and cooking at higher temps gets that awesome flavor but keeps it moist.

This recipe is great for anyone looking to enjoy a refreshing summer mocktail while abstaining from alcohol. While you certainly can add tequila and triple sec if you prefer, I promise it is just as enjoyable without the alcohol.

One of the most frequent questions I find myself answering when coaching my nutrition clients is “How do I make this work when I travel?” or “In this situation I find myself running around and need to grab something quickly, where should I go?. Although I always recommend cooking your own fresh food as much as possible, I am human, and I understand life gets busy and these situations are all too common. One of the biggest pros of following a Flexible Nutrition program is that when life gets in the way and food prep isn’t an option, we know what to do!

As nutrition coaches, we see a lot of different habits that work for different people. As coaches, it’s our job to design a program that helps add to a client’s life and to make sure it enhances their lifestyle, as that is a pretty good indicator of sustainability and success. After coaching hundreds of clients, I have found a few characteristics that successful clients have in common.

We talk all the time about how consistency is king/queen, but if you’re someone who is struggling with consistency you might be missing out on the piece that comes right before it: TRIAL & ERROR

I get it, you just signed up for a coach and you’re ready to GET. TO. WORK.

Many of us have been told that too much salt is not good for us, kind of like how we’ve been told saturated fat isn’t good for us (but that’s a topic for another day). Well, I’m here to let you know that much of what you’ve heard about sodium isn’t quite true for a lot of us. If you’ve ever talked to anyone in the health world, you know that as with most things the answer to, “How much sodium do I need?” is, “It depends” on the situation and the individual.

Quick fried rice with frozen veg for those days that regular rice just won’t cut it.

By keeping some staples on hand you can almost always pack your rice with a ton of flavor. I had a bag of frozen veg, a couple of bags of frozen rice (leftover cooked rice also works great!), jarred ginger and garlic hanging out in the fridge along with their saucy friends and eggs on deck.

I’m trying to limit our eating out as much as possible and it’s amazing how much money you can save! While this isn’t quite as good as the real thing, it’s still amazing! (You can see mine in the background with just cheese & bacon cause I’m basic like that).

This is my attempt at copying my wife’s favorite salad, which happens to be from Blaze Pizza!

The balsamic glaze is super versatile so throw it into a small jar and save it for other things as well! I like to keep honey to a minimum in order to bring carbs down, but you could also reduce the balsamic on its own, it will just take longer. Once it cools it will thicken up a bit, so don’t reduce it too much!

Sometimes it’s hard to add veggies to your breakfast. The best way to do it is to mix it in with other food and let it absorb the flavors! With kale, I find that if you let it cook enough the texture is SO much better, and the bit of fat from the sausage really makes it more flavorful.

With this recipe, you can definitely customize it to fit you best! More or fewer potatoes. Egg whites to increase lean protein. Add in other veggies like bell peppers and onion. Take out the ricotta. I just used what I have in my kitchen, but that’s really the beauty of a scramble!

Looking to load up on protein and carbs for that training day but don't have much wiggle room in fats? This paella recipe is great for those who need a high-protein and high-carb meal.

Have you ever been stuck in a meal prep rut? Maybe you’ve been eating the same thing for a week straight, maybe you were never “all about that broccoli and chicken lifestyle”, or maybe you are a little intimated by cooking altogether. Whatever your particular hurdle maybe, I have always found that a good cookbook (or two) can really help shake things up, provide some inspiration, and help guide you towards your next culinary success. Here are the top five cookbooks that I keep in my kitchen…

I firmly believe that now more than ever, it’s important for us to prioritize our health and nutrition. Having support and accountability during this time is what many of us need right now. You can work with your coach on…

If you are able to––or when you are able to if it isn't quite time yet––try to slowly begin to get back to a normal (ha!) routine as much as possible given the circumstances. Our minds and bodies thrive off of routine and structure. It makes us feel secure, safe, and stable. Uncertainty causes large amounts of stress on us both physically and mentally. Humans are creatures of habit.

It’s all too common to see clients believe they can ONLY improve their health and/or sports performance by LOWERING their weight - that a lower body fat percentage and improving sports performance and/or health markers are directly connected. Heck, I used to be one of these people!

3 things will optimize your muscle gain: Resistance training, A calorie surplus, Adequate protein intake.

Each of these things plays off of one another. You can gain muscle in a calorie surplus without resistance training, but you’ll likely put on more fat than you will lean body mass if you don’t lift. If you don’t eat enough protein, you won’t put on as much muscle as you could.

Probably. Creatine is popular in strength athletes but it does so much more. Creatine is produced by your body and found in foods like meat and fish. Creatine is a combination of different amino acids and helps produce energy!