Hi Friends!

Time to play catchup with weekly eats! I didn’t do any food prep this weekend bc I didn’t get home until 11pm Sunday night, plus hubby left Sunday afternoon to go out of town and didn’t get home until late Wednesday night so it was just me for a few days after I got home from Blend. I’ll get back on it this weekend!

So here’s what I’ve been eating:

1. Loaded sweet potato
2. Lentil veggie mac & cheese topped with salmon and avocado
3. Stir fry veggies with quinoa and egg
4. Flank steak tacos for hubby

1. Lentil veggie mac and cheese, pb & pear butter toast, fruit & egg
2. Leftover stir fry in quesadilla form
3. Hubby’s hummus, salmon & avocado wrap w/ cottage cheese & berries
4. Blue Diamond trailmix for the plane!

{For blend}

1. Salmon sandwich from whole foods with hummus, pesto, avocado, cheese & onion
2. Snack break w/ Attune Foods & Justin’s Nut Butter
3. Appetizers- veggies, spring rolls, delicious black bean cakes & fun cocktails
4. Blend dinner- veggies, quinoa cakes, salad and fish

1. Bagel w/ Laughing Cow cream cheese, fruit, yogurt & Muesli Fusion
2. Healthy Bites!!!
3. Omelet, Chobani pancakes w/ berry compote & fruit.
4. More pancakes!!

1. Salmon sandwich repeat for lunch on day 2
2. Homemade energy bites- dates, pb, almonds & pistachios
3. Jumbo salad w/ butternut squash, beans, corn and spicy avocado sauce
4. Utah scones w/ homemade jam and honey butter. To Die FOR.

1. Airport Qdoba burrito salad for dinner
2. Eggs & toast, berries, avocado & carrots
3. Froyo bites & graham crackers while putting in my Lock Laces- they’re amazing. Check them out if you haven’t already.
4. Post crossfit snack and reading on the deck

1. Salmon, sweet potato w/ salsa, apple and peppers
2. Salmon sandwich w/cheese & pepper- apparently these were my thing this week.
3. Pulled pork & black bean nachos w/ avocado & salsa
4. Amy’s low-sodium lentil veggie soup- added noodles, salmon & spices

1. Oatmeal w/ apples, cinnamon and homemade vanilla cinnamon nut butter from my foodie penpal!!
2. On repeat.
3. Salsa egg, Nuttzo on toast and carrots
4. Pb& j, eggs, carrots & berries
-can you tell we haven’t been to the grocery store in a while?

1. So excited to try this Nuttzo!!
2. Cookies for hubby when he came home- Cranberry Oatmeal Chocolate Chip
3. One of hubby’s dinners when I was at Blend- Chicken, avocado & salad w/ italian dressing.

Let’s chat: 

What do you eat when you need to go to the grocery store?!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Hi Friends!

It’s been a while since I’ve had a giveaway hasn’t it?! I love hooking you guys up with great stuff and I am SO excited about today’s giveaway!! If you’ve been reading my blog for a while now, you may have seen me mention The Shine Project a time or two.

The Shine Project was created by an incredible lady named Ashley and I’ve been following her journey for a couple of years now.

So what is it? From their website:

“The Shine Project’s purpose is to inspire you to live the highest quality of life obtainable, and to motivate you to join our efforts in making this world a better place. We have many events set up around the country, and would love for you to get involved!”

I love everything Ashley is doing to make the world a better place. Most recently, she and her husband adopted two children! How incredible is that?

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Ashley’s most recent project was launching a company called Threads. I’m going to let her tell you about it:

Threads is a cause driven business that changed the future of at risk American youth. They come from various background, but all have one things in common; they want to break the cycle. By employing them, we instill values of self reliance and hard work They are paid fair wages for the bracelets they make, and in turn are able to pay their way through school. Many of Threads employees are first generation college students. They dream of becoming nurses, broadcasters, writers, and engineers.

Your purchase will directly impact a student. Even beyond financial support, your belief in them is a symbol of hope and trust that they can achieve what for so long seemed impossible. By purchasing Threads you are wearing more than just a bracelet, you are wearing change.

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 To see all of the amazing jewelry available SHOP THREADS

To read Ashley’s blog, check out
THE SHINE PROJECT

 For sneak peeks, updates and discounts on Shine products, LIKE THE SHINE PROJECT ON FACEBOOK

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And now for the fun part! Ashley’s giving away the winner’s choice of a bracelet stack to one lucky reader! Check out some of the beautiful bracelets you could choose from:

Wanna win? Enter below- this giveaway is open to anyone, regardless of where you live:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway ends Sunday May 26, 2013 at 11:59pm EST. Good luck!!

Oh, and because Ashley rocks, she’s giving all of you a discount code good for 10% off if you want to order some Threads for yourself!

Just enter LeanGreen at check when placing your order.

Discount code is good until Sunday May 26, 2013 at 11:59 pm EST. 

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Hi Friends!

Today I want to introduce you to some of the amazing ladies I workout with. Remember a few weeks ago when I told you I was partnering with Under Armour and Fitfluential for this campaign? I told you that my What’s Beautiful goal for the Under Armour campaign is “to help women realize that that lifting heavy weights and having muscles is healthy and beautiful, not something to be afraid of.” Well, these women are living proof. They are all different ages, have different body types and are at different stages in their lives…but every single one of them proves daily that STRENGTH is what’s beautiful.

These are the women that inspire me every day. They’re not professional athletes, models or super stars…they’re normal, everyday women who care about their bodies and are working hard to stay healthy. They’re working hard to get stronger. They have muscles. And instead of hiding them, they flaunt them…because they already know that strength is what’s beautiful. Just look at the quotes they gave me when I asked them why they lift heavy weights, or why they think strength is beautiful.

Let me introduce you to them:

This is Jackie. She’s a 29 year old Event Coordinator.

How strong is she?

• Deadlift PR: 175#
• Back Squat PR: 140#
• Front Squat PR: 115#
• Overhead Squat PR: 90#
• Clean & Jerk PR: 115#
• Push press PR: 85#

How she inspires me: Her DRIVE.
Jackie wants to get better every.single.day. I’ve seen her stay late, after completing an intense workout, try literally 100 times to do a muscle-up…and miss each one. But you know what? Instead of giving up, she comes in the next day and does it all over again. Works harder. Tries again. Gets stronger. Because she believes she can..and she WILL.

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This is Sheryl. She’s a 43 year old mother of two and an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney.

How strong is she?

• Deadlift PR:  175#
• Back Squat PR: 155#
• Front Squat PR: 125#
• Overhead Squat PR: 70#
• Clean PR: 105#
• Clean and Jerk PR:  85#
• Push Press PR: 85#

How she inspires me: Her WORK ETHIC.
When Sheryl wants to do something, she is relentless until she gets it done. I’ve seen her try a workout, fail to complete it and then come back just a few days later and knock it out of the park. She believes in herself and it shows in her workouts.

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This is Kasey. She’s a 36 year old mom of two and a Trade Compliance Specialist.

How strong is she?

• Dead lift PR: 185#
• Back Squat PR: 145#
• Front Squat PR: 115#
• Overhead squat PR: 65#
• Clean and jerk PR: 95#
• Push press: 80#

How she inspires me: Her SUPPORT.
Kasey is a terrific motivator and is constantly cheering on everyone else and celebrating their accomplishments. She’s pushed me through several workouts that I’m certain I wouldn’t have finished without her encouragement.

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This is Ashley. She’s a 32 year old mom of two girls.

How strong is she?

• Deadlift PR: 165#
• Back Squat PR: 130#
• Front Squat PR: 85#
• Clean & Jerk PR: 90#
• Push press PR: 75#

How she inspires me: Her COMMITMENT.
Ashley is a stay-at-home mom, which means she’s with her kids all the time. Instead of using it as an excuse to skip workouts, she does whatever it takes to get to the gym, including bringing her kids along with her. I love that she’s teaching them from an early age how important it is to take care of your body.

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This is Vanessa. She’s a 31 year old HRIS Specialist.

How strong is she?

• Deadlift PR: 205#
• Back Squat PR: 145#
• Front Squat PR: 95#
• Overhead Squat PR: 75#
• Clean PR: 105#
• Push Press PR: 105#

How she inspires me: Her COMEBACK.
A couple of years ago, V broke one of the bones in her leg and had to get some metal put in to fix things. Instead of slacking off because recovery was hard, she’s come back stronger than ever! She pushes herself to get stronger every single day and constantly challenges me to do more as well!

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This is Katelyn. She’s a 29 year old Political Fundraiser.

How strong is she?

• Deadlift PR: 210#
• Back Squat PR: 145#
• Front Squat PR: 105#
• Overhead Squat PR: 55#
• Clean & Jerk PR: 105#
• Push press PR: 75#

How she inspires me: Her GOALS.
At the gym we have a goal board where we all wrote down some things we want to accomplish  this year. I think Katelyn has more goals written down than anyone else and I love that. She dreams big and works hard. I have no doubt she’ll reach all her goals.

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This is Marianela. She’s a 38 year old mom of 4 and a restaurant owner.

How strong is she?

• Deadlift PR: 165#
• Back Squat PR: 133#
• Front Squat PR: 113#
• Overhead Squat PR: 55#
• Clean & Jerk PR: 95#

How she inspires me: Her BALANCE.
Mare has 4 kids and helps run a restaurant…yet somehow, day after day, she manages to take care of everyone around her and still find the time to come to the gym & take care of herself as well.

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This is Kelsey. She’s a 27 year old hair stylist.

How strong is she?

• Deadlift PR: 140
• Back Squat PR: 135

How she inspires me: Her ATTITUDE.
Kelsey is always positive. She reminds me every day that working out should be FUN!

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This is Diane. She’s a 56 year old mom of four.

How strong is she?

• Deadlift PR: 185#
• Back squat PR: 85#
• Front Squat PR: 75#
• Overhead squat PR: 45#
• Clean/Jerk PR: 85#
• PushPress PR: 65#

How she inspires me: Her HEART.
Diane may not be the youngest person at the gym, but she never lets that stop her from showing up and doing her best. She’s also recovering from surgery but I’ve seen her show up to do modified workouts the whole time she’s recovering. She keeps us laughing and isn’t afraid to bust out her Zumba moves when a good song comes on at the gym!

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This is Liz. She’s a 47 year old mom of one and an HR professional.

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This is Heather. She’s our coach. She’s also a 31 year old mom of two and an elite Crossfit Competitor.

How strong is she?

• Deadlift PR: 350#
• Back Squat PR: 290#
• Front Squat PR: 235#
• Overhead Squat PR: 195#
• Clean & Jerk PR: 210#
• Push press PR: 250#

How she inspires me: Her PASSION.
Heather loves teaching and it shows every day in class. She is always willing to go the extra mile to help us succeed, whether that means coming early or staying late so we can practice our lifts, giving us advice or patiently correcting our form over and over again. She genuinely wants all of us to succeed, improve and set new PRs. And when we do, she gets just as excited about it as we do! She’s also extremely passionate about her sport, a fearless competitor and isn’t afraid to throw heavy weight around. Such an inspiration!

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 This is me. I’m a 28 year old Registered Dietitian.

How strong am I?

• Deadlift PR: 185
• Back Squat PR: 155#
• Front Squat PR: 125#
• Overhead Squat PR: 105#
• Clean PR: 120#
• Clean & Jerk PR: 105#

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I wrote this post to show you guys that strength is what’s beautiful…at any age…in all shapes and sizes. I hope it inspired you to go lift some weights!

Let’s chat: Complete one of these sentences:
“I lift heavy weights because…” OR “Strength is beautiful because…”

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Hi Friends!

As promised, I’m back to share a recap of my weekend in Park City, Utah at Blend Retreat! Just like last year, it was spectacular. Lindsay, Katie & Janetha are planning experts and do a great job putting together a weekend that has a little something for everyone! I had such a great time meeting so many of the amazing ladies I interact with on a daily basis.

If you follow me on social media, I’m sure you were flooded with Blend pictures this weekend, so I apologize for that…but I was doing my best to capture all the happy memories!

I left early Friday morning and arrived in Salt Lake City around 11:30. I met up with Amanda and Lisa and we picked up our rental car and headed to Park City, which is about a 40 minute drive from the airport.

After stopping for a lunch at Whole Foods, we headed to the hotel to check-in and pick up our swag bags before snack time! There were tons of great sponsors for the weekend and they were all extremely generous. Here’s a peek at just some of the swag! I didn’t bring everything home because some of it was protein powders/bars/other products I don’t use so I let my roomies take their pick of the things I didn’t want.

I stayed in a GIGANTIC suite with 4 bedrooms and a pullout couch. All of my roommates were fabulous and the rooms were incredible. My actual bedroom roomie was Heather, who I didn’t know before this weekend, and she was awesome! Go check out her blog- Girly Ever After. Totally adorable!

After dropping off her stuff, we headed downstairs for a meet-and-greet snack break sponsored by Justin’s Nut Butter & Attune foods. It was great to chat and catch up with people as they arrived!

{with Annette & Paige- my fellow tall ladies!}

A couple hours later, we headed upstairs to get ready for dinner. Lisa is an AMAZING hairdresser and she made my hair look pretty for me both nights. I loved it! We had a cocktail hour sponsored by Silk that included some fun cocktails and delicious appetizers…and then we headed to the ballroom for a buffet-style dinner.

1. Amanda, me and Lisa
2. With Lori, Paige, Michelle
3. Reunited with Brittany
4. Love her

{One of my all-time favorites- Lindsay}

{Photobooth fun}

{with Laura, Christine & Lisa}

Since a lot of us were coming from the east coast, by the time dinner was over around 10 (midnight our time) we were pretty beat and headed to bed.

Saturday morning we were up early for a 7am bootcamp class with the awesome trainers from GPP Fitness. Janetha works out at GPP and they were nice enough to come in and put us through some awesome morning workouts. The weather didn’t exactly cooperate and it was a bit cold and rainy so we did the whole bootcamp inside…but let me tell you, I worked up a SWEAT! GPP is similar to crossfit so I absolutely loved it!

After bootcamp, we headed to breakfast, sponsored by Muesli Fusion and The Laughing Cow, where we ate some great food- lots of fresh fruit, bagels with cream cheese and a muesli bar. (All the food pics are coming in my Weekly Eats post!)

{Waiting for breakfast with Lauren, Sonia, Alex, Lauren, Mollie & Julie}

Next up, a hike! It was still a bit rainy but a large group of us decided to hike anyways. I mean, we were in Utah after all! Others opted to stay inside and do zumba or yoga. The hike was awesome. It was about 4.5 miles total and the sun even came out by the end of it! The trail itself wasn’t muddy but the road leading to the trail was a slippery, muddy mess!

So muddy.
With another awesome Lindsey at the top!

{The whole hiking group}

{Take me back}

After the hike we showered and headed back to whole foods for another lunch. My sandwich was so good on Friday that I repeated it on Saturday After a brief stop at the outlet mall, we headed back to the hotel for another snack break and got to meet Janetha’s dogs. Randy is my favorite. So loveable and droopy!

{With Debra & Lisa!}

With an hour or so to kill before dinner, I took a little walk to enjoy the sunshine and snap a few more photos.

Then, a group of 20 or so of us headed to a Mexican restaurant that was within walking distance from the hotel. Our waiter left something to be desired, but it was great company and to food was delicious.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel where we changed into pj’s and headed to one of the other suites. Janetha’s mom made these INCREDIBLE Utah scones, with honey butter and homemade strawberry jam. They were a big hit! We enjoyed a couple more hours of chatting and then headed to bed.

{Momma B in action. She was awesome!}

Sunday morning we were up early again for another 7am bootcamp. This one was a little less crowded than the day before It was another great workout- we even did cartwheels!

{Rocking our Living Proof Fit Gear tanks}

1. with Christine & Lindsay
2. with Bonnie & Lindsay
3. Lindsay squared
4. with Bobbi

We had about 30 minutes until breakfast, which of course meant time for more pics!

{with Krista and Meighan}

More Lindsay love! with Itz Linz
With Miranda- the creator of our tank tops. She is AMAZING. So fun to meet her in person.

Then we headed to breakfast, sponsored by Chobani, which was awesome.There was a made-to-order omlette bar, an oatmeal/parfait bar, smoothies and chobani pancakes. I ate SO MANY PANCAKES! I also had a chance to meet the sweet ladies that work for Chobani who I’ve gotten to know through social media. It’s always fun to put faces with names.

We had about an hour to pack all our stuff up and then it was time for the closing ceremony and raffle! The closing ceremony was sponsored by MY sponsor, Blue Diamond Almonds, and I gave a little speech about how awesome they are and everyone got to take home lots of samples of their new flavored almonds- Strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and toasted coconut!

{thanks Bobbi for the speech pic!}

There were some great prizes in the raffle. I gave mine away because I wasn’t in the mood to pack anything else! We had to head out before the group picture, sadly, but we had an easy drive back to the airport and arrived in plenty of time for our flights!

All in all, it was an amazing weekend. It was so much fun to meet some new bloggers and connect further with ones I already knew! I’m already excited for next year! If you were thinking about coming this year and didn’t, hopefully seeing this and all the other recaps have convinced you it’s worth it. Because it is. It’s an incredible, one-of-a-kind opportunity to get together with other bloggers & readers and just enjoy life! There are no sessions to go to, no notes to take, just lots and lots of time to deepen relationships and form new ones.

Huge thank you to Blue Diamond for making it possible for me to attend this year and to Lindsay, Katie & Janetha for making it happen!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Hi Friends!

I’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with a full recap of Blend Retreat! But for now it’s time for Bean Bytes

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Link Love
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Monday

Everyone needs this reminder:
It’s just weight via Strong Inside Out

This lady is doing amazing things:
My current thoughts on motherhood via The Shine Project

So so true. I love this post:
My Week Without Social Media via Our Freaking Budget

Which is worse?
Christie vs Abercrombie via Foodtrainers

Great tips for using your run sherpas:
Using your sherpas via Mile 26 and More

Tuesday

Def trying this:
DIY Canvas Quote via DIY Playbook

Love this:
The “no shit” diet via Sprint 2 The Table

Even a few minutes helps:
Tips To Improve your Health In Minutes a Day via Lindsay’s List

For all you runners:
Tips & Tricks Running Style via Olive to Run

Your thoughts?
Strong is not the new skinny or sexy via Run to the Finish

A great reminder:
The pregnancy weight gain comparison trap via Enjoy Your Healthy Life

So interesting:
“Ugh, I’m huge”: How fat talk affects the way we’re perceived via Greatist

Do this:
Delete “I can’t” from your vocabulary via Crazy Running Girl

Worth a read:
Unplug via Run Faster Mommy

Wednesday

The positive side of injury:
Injury Rocks via Best Body Fitness

Beautiful post about the benefits of exercising with your kiddos:
Running with my daughter via Run Wiki

A cheaper alternative to TRX straps:
Sirius Strap Review via Comeback Momma

On hydration:
Are you water-logged? via Miss Zippy

What are your thoughts?
Do you avoid the F word? Talking to kids about obesity via FitKnitChick

A MUST READ, very well written rebuttal:
Me, Angie & what it really means for BRCA via Darwinian Fail

Thursday

Some of my fav moves:
Double up your training with combo exercises via Your Trainer Paige

A great salad in a jar tutorial:
Canning Jar Salads via Sweet Foodie

A much needed reminder for many:
Give Yourself a Break via Through Heather’s Looking Glass

An interesting perspective:
What if work isn’t supposed to make you happy via Erica House

Friday

Sorry! Travel day! Didn’t do much blog reading Friday (or Sat or Sun)

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Twitter Favs
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7 Ways GMOs are Hiding in Your Foods 
H&M Plus Sized Model Puts Fame to Good Use
Tips to Stay Safe While Running in the Summer
Does Trying to Be Happy Make Us Unhappy
Can Jodi Arias Ask for the Death Penalty
Branding Your Business- Five Steps for Success
Eating to Fuel Fertility
The Other Cleveland Victim
5 Tips for Converting Your Favorite Recipe to the Slow Cooker
The Coca Cola Campaign and Happy Calories
How to Print on Post-it Notes
An Epic Brand Meltdown on Facebook
The Ups and Downs of a PR
5 Tips for Making Real Friends Through Blogging
65 Books You Need To Read in Your 20′s
We’re Overweight, Fortunately Weight is Irrelevant
So You Want to Become a Fitness Professional?
Targeted fat loss- myth or reality?
The 1% club- more exclusive than abercrombie
How to fix health problems with food
In defense of Jeffries
Making vegan the new normal
19 things successful people do on social media
The rest of the story about blogging business trips

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Scenes from the Week
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 Grandma sent the boys a new toy. Abner isn’t quite sure what to do with a giant purple hippo.

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In the News
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10 yoga apps for stress relief
Angelina Jolie gets a double masectomy
Eggs are a good source of protein for most people
Best workout partners kept verbal encouragement to a minimum
Small restaurants serving more calories and salt
How to get out of your own way
UN says bugs are good for you
Waist-height ration beats BMI in gauging early death

That’s all for today, friends! Happy Monday!

Time to play catch-up! Let’s chat:

• How was your weekend?! 
• What’s the best post you read last week?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Hi Friends!

Time for more food prep talk! One of my fav subjects

 I had a pretty good prep session last weekend. I was NOT in the mood at all after being sick all night Saturday…but I had about an hour before we headed to my in-laws for a Mother’s Day dinner so I forced myself into the kitchen to see what I could get done!

Here’s what I prepped in one hour and fifteen minutes:

• Sweet Potato Bites
• Carrots
• Green Beans
• Massaged kale for salads
• Baked salmon
• Quinoa
• Tuna Quinoa cakes to bake for dinner Monday night
• HB Eggs

When we got home from dinner, I ended up throwing 6 chicken breasts in the oven and baking them for hubby and cooking those quinoa cakes as well! With that, the fridge was stocked and ready to go for the week. This just goes to show that you don’t have to spend hours and hours in the kitchen on the weekend to give yourself a headstart during the week.

And now let’s see what some of you all have been up to in the food prep department:

Morganne at Nut Butter Runner :

What goes into my food prep for the week? I spend about 30 minutes writing down ideas of what I want to do for the week, go to the grocery store with a plan, and spend 2-3 hours actually making everything.

The first step in the equation is what protein sources I want around the house. Hard boiled eggs and baked chicken are pretty much a given. You can easily add these to salads, wraps, sandwiches, etc. I also love snacking on hard boiled eggs. This week I also included roasted veggie burgers and meatless meatballs.

The next step is what kind of bases will make for an easy meal. I am pretty much obsessed with salads and spaghetti squash, so these are typical. Quinoa is really easy, too…make a simple quinoa salad with vegetables and protein, or use it as a rice substitute.

For quick breakfasts on those “short on time” mornings, I included individual egg frittatas and individual oat packs. In the past, I’ve done individual baked oatmeal and pancakes to go.

And lastly, snacks! I’m a snacking queen, so this is probably my favorite part! I love these quinoa breakfast bars and chocolate banana nut muffins! I also had to try new recipes so I made an apple spice bread and chunky monkey oatmeal cookies.

Samantha at Sparkly and Slimming :

Chopped, roasted and peeled veggies for the week! Hearts of palm, roasted red peppers, broccoli, brussel sprouts and cauliflower. Sunday food prep for the win!

Severin at My So Insta Life:

Roasted beets with coconut oil & sriracha – added nutritional yeast & ACV when they came out of oven.
Quinoa (red & white) & cous cous to add to salads.
Veggie crudités – red pepper, yellow & orange & purple carrots, yellow squash, green zucchini.
Egg “muffins” – scrambled eggs with almond milk, red pepper, yellow squash, green zucchini & the quinoa/cous cous mixture.

Robyn at Robyn Baldwin :

Bags: daily smoothies – spinach / kale, pear, apple, lemon, ginger (I drop it in my Vitamix, add fish oil & coconut water and blend)

3 daily meals: chicken & snap peas, kale, quinoa & shrimp, chicken and cucumbers

Big bowls: one of shrimp & one of ground turkey

Not pictured: I had fish in the oven and almonds soaking for fresh almond milk as well

Lindsay at A Runnaroundd Life :

This was my first time prepping food for the week, and it was awesome! I chopped, sliced, cut, scooped, boiled, bagged and taste-tested my way to a fridge full of eats for this week. And it took me just under two hours. I started to have a lot of fun with it, too. Once I got done with one thing, I looked in my pantry to see what else I could prep and have ready for the week! I am always scrambling in the morning, trying to get something – anything – together to bring to work for lunch. Sometimes when I’m in a hurry, I don’t bring anything and end up buying lunch even though I have a full fridge at home. Well, not this week!

Here’s what I did:

-Chopped carrots
-Chopped celery
-Chopped tomatoes
-Chopped mushrooms
-Bagged spinach
-Chopped and bagged iceberg lettuce
-Cooked spaghetti squash
-Chopped bananas for the freezer
-Washed apples
-Cooked black beans
-Boiled some whole wheat rotini pasta

This was the first time I’ve ever “prepared” my own black beans. I usually buy beans in a can so this was, well, a learning experience. I now have enough black beans to feed all of Florida! I will definitely be making this prep work a weekly tradition.

Kiersten at Twenty-Six for a Twenty-Something :

I made a giant pasta bake with whole wheat pasta, butternut squash, spinach, kale, and Cabot 50% reduced fat cheddar. I buy the cheese in giant blocks at Sam’s Club and shred it in the food processor. I shredded some to use in the pasta bake and then an extra container to use for grilled pizza later in the week. While I was making the pasta bake, my bread machine was working on the pizza dough. I also made a batch of Cooking Light’s blueberry muffins and while those were making threw together some oatmeal, banana, and cranberry bowls to eat for breakfast during the week.

Carissa at Fit 2 Flex :

The husband and I are trying to eat really clean this week so I made a lot of stuff on Sunday. I roasted a chicken in the crockpot and roasted asparagus snow peas and brussel sprouts. I also chopped tap cucumbers for snacks and use my rice cooker to make quinoa.

Emily at The Good Era :

This weekend’s food prep included:

Lots of salads for lunches, fresh fruit, salad dressing, chopped and washed Brussel Sprouts and broccoli, grilled tempeh for salads, and a big pitcher of Lemon, Lime, and Mint water.

Pretty impressive, right? So what are you waiting for? Head to the kitchen and get started!

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Are you food prepping this weekend? Want to submit a pic to be featured in an upcoming post?!

Here’s what I need from you:

Email me the following:
1. Your Name
2. Your Blog URL (if you have one)
3. A photo of your food prep
4. A short description of what’s in the photo. Tell me what you prepped and how you’re going to use it during the week!

Every Sunday, I’ll post a roundup of the photos I received that week so that you guys can see what others are preparing and hopefully get some inspiration and ideas! I’ll keep this series going for as long as I receive photos, so send one every week if you want to!

Send to: theleangreenbean <at> gmail <dot> com

Tweet and Instagram your pics as well to inspire others!! Use the hashtag #sundayfoodprep . Remember that in order for a pic to be included in the post, you have to email it to me! If you have more than one pic, please make them into a collage before sending!

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Want more inspiration and tips? Read these:

How to Prep Food on the Weekend
Weekend Prep for Easy Weekday Meals
How to Eat Healthy in College
How to Eat Healthy During the Week

And check out the Food Prep Tab for links to all the previous Sunday food prep posts!

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Let’s chat: Are you prepping food today? Whatcha makin’?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Hi Friends!

It’s Friday!!!! And a special Friday at that…because I’m on my way to Blend Retreat- Round 2.

If you’ve been reading long enough, you may recall that I went to this retreat last year when it was in Colorado and had an absolute blast! This year it’s in Park City, Utah and I’m so excited for the chance to attend again.

A few months ago in my Smart Snack: Almonds post, I told you guys that Blue Diamond is actually sponsoring my trip this year and I couldn’t be more grateful.

Like I’ve said a million times, they’re a company that I truly love and believe in, and I’m honored to represent them this weekend. Since they’re a conference sponsor as well, I even get to give a little speech about them at our closing get-together…so that will be fun

So, besides repping a great brand, I also get to meet some AMAZING ladies!! Some of my favorites, who I met last year, are coming back again this year and I’m thrilled that I get to see them again…and to make the weekend even better, NEW friends are coming as well. Here are some of the pretty ladies I can’t wait to meet for the first time!

So many of my fitfluential ladies are coming, plus some fun friends that I’ve started chatting with more on twitter lately:
1. Lisa
2. Amanda
3. Laura
4. Lindsay
5. Paige
6. Christine
7. Bonnie
8. Lindsay
9. Lori & Michelle
10. Meg
11. Debra
12. Sara
13. Becky
14. Lindsey
15. Julie
16. Lauren

AND MORE THAT I COULDN’T FIT ON THIS LIST!!! Really, I’m just excited to meet and hug every single person that’s gonna be there! Plus there’s some people coming whose blogs I don’t read and don’t know much about…which means even MORE new friends! Wheeeeeee!!!

PLUS…I recently found out I was selected to be an ambassador for one of my favorite small businesses- Living Proof Fit Gear.

Some of you may remember when I got my first tank from them several months ago…and then hubby bought me a second one for my birthday!

I love supporting small businesses and the amazing lady behind this one is 100% fabulous. Her name is Miranda and not only is everyone getting sweet tanks in their swag bags at Blend, but Miranda is actually going to be there! I can’t wait to hang with her Check out her Etsy shop if you’re not going to Blend and want to buy a tank of your own!

We have an action packed weekend ahead of us that includes a cocktail hour and 4 course dinner buffet on Friday night, bootcamp and a hike on Saturday morning, time to explore Park City on Saturday night and bootcamp Sunday morning, followed by breakfast and a closing ceremony before we head home.

Look for LOTS of pictures on Twitter, Instagram & Facebook (click the links to follow me if you’re not already doing so!) and a full recap to come next week!

Let’s chat:

• Who are some bloggers you wish you could meet in person?
• Are you doing anything fun this weekend?!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Hi friends!

Time for a quick recap of my weekly eats. We’re a little lighter on pics this week than normal because I spent about 48 hours eating literally nothing but plain toast after getting sick on the weekend…but that’s ok. Still some good stuff to share!

1. Black Bean Meatless Meatball wrap with veggies, cheese & avocado.
2. Spaghetti squash with a Greek black bean burger, plus fro yo bites
3. Hubby’s dinner: 2 bean burritos topped w/ corn, tomato, avocado & leftover fish
4. Tuna salad make with avocado and hummus on toast (i’m gonna do a post about my tuna salad soon bc people always ask how I make it!)

1. Tuna salad topped with a fried egg x 2
2. Lentil veggie mac and cheese with salmon
3. Eggs & toast with applesauce and tea
4. Tuna quinoa cakes with lentil veggie mac and cheese

1. All the deliciousness we enjoyed with friends, right before i got sick and it all came back up
2. Quesadilla night- Smash black beans and hummus together, spread on tortilla, top with salmon and cheese
3. Fun snack! Cut and apple into rings, top with peanut butter and chocolate chips, or yogurt and granola/almonds
4. Tuna quinoa cakes over kale, with mac & cheese and berries

1. Grilled sweet potato topped with grilled peppers, black beans, avocado & salsa
2. Lentil veggie mac and cheese topped w/ salmon & avocado
3. Veggie stirfry with quinoa, lentils and eggs
4. Hubby’s lunch- flank steak tacos

Quick tip!

If you have spinach or kale that’s about to go bad, blend it with a little water, pour into ice cube trays and freeze. Then add to your smoothies!

That’s all, friends!

Let’s chat: Tried any new recipes lately?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Hi Friends!

It’s been FOREVER since I did a Fitness Friday post hasn’t it?! I mean like, I’m pretty sure it’s been a full month. That means I have lots of workouts to catch you up on…and since I have another post planned for this Friday, I thought we’d just do it today.  Let’s get started shall we? Here’s what I’ve been up to at the gym lately:

1.  Loved this one! I finished 6 rounds with the Rx weight, used 2 abmats for the HSPU.
2. Oh Helen…you slay me. 12:05 Rx. Last time We did this I did banded pullups so I was happy I could do it Rx this time!
3. Hubby and friends helped put up some racks to hold our bars at the gym.
4. Hubby testing out the watt bike. Look at that tricep

1.  Holy shoulders. 12:31 with 55# for the first two and 65# for the rest – plus a 90# bench press PR and 115# hang squat cleans!
2. This was a rough one on the wrists. 11:05 with 55#.  We subtracted the 4 min of rest from our time to get our final time
3. This was the worst. 15:32 rx plus I got two 125# front squats! I hate toes to bar.
4. This one was a challenge. My hip was bothering me so I chose to do 85# instead of 95#. Finished in 11:54. Plus I got a 120# power clean PR!

Just hangin’ out at the gym with some super stars. That’s our coach Heather Welsh in the shorts…to her left is another top Crossfit Games athlete- Talayna Fortunato. She finished 3rd at the games last year. No big deal! The shorter guy is Doug Katona. He coaches Heather and Talayna, along with several other athletes, and the guy on the right is Darnell Sanders. He played football at Ohio State and went on to play for the Cleveland Browns. Celebrity central I tell ya!

1. Freakin’ killed this #wod - 6:20 rx plus a 25# PR for overhead squats!! I did two at 100#! I LOVE pistols!
2. Spicy Fran conquered! This was the traditional Fran benchmark workout with kb swings added at the beginning and end. I finished in 10:45 Rx, which means I smashed my previous Fran time. Last time I did Fran, my time was 12:05. This time, I finished 25 kb swings, plus Fran in 9:53, which means if I’d just been doing Fran alone, I would have gone sub 9 min, which is awesome!
3. Finished in 6:09 with 125# back squats and 35# kb swings. Plus 95# overhead squats for skill/strength!
4. This was a good one! 11:59 rx plus a snatch PR- 85#

One Saturday I tackled this workout with another guy from our box. Let me tell you, it was brutal:

I finished in 38:57 with 70# thrusters, 145# deadlifts and 53# kb swings. If you can’t tell by how red my face was afterwards, it was HARD. But I did it!

We’ve also been sneaking in some walks with the buddies!

But mostly, it’s just been crossfit, crossfit & more crossfit. LOVE IT:

1. Holy shoulders! 115# hang cleans for the strength/skill, then did the #wod in 11:33 rx.
2. 6:59 for the first part, 6:05 for part two, plus 5×10 95# back squats
3. Snatches and sprints
4. Saw this on twitter last week and loved it.

1. We did this one on Saturday. It’s HALF of one of the Crosfit Games Regionals workout. Our coach was doing the whole thing to practice since she’s going to Regionals…so she did 100 wall balls, 100 chest to bar pullups,  100 pistols and 100 one arm 50# dumbbell snatches. It was ridiculous. The rest of us did this modified half version and it was still killer. I finished in 12:15 Rx.
2. This one was harder than it sounds. We did 8 rounds of each exercise, 20 sec on, 10 sec rest and you counted your LOWEST score. So my scores were 5 pullups, 6 pushups, 10 situps, 14 squats.
3. This day almost killed me. I was shaking like a leaf when we finished. I got up to 105# front squats for 8 reps and finally got the motion of butterfly pullups! Then I did 3 rounds +24 reps of round 4 for the wod.
4. Strength is beautiful

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WHEW! All caught up. In other news…tickets for the Crossfit Games went on sale on Monday and hubby and I bought some!!! CANNOT WAIT to go to the games and see all the amazing athletes! Plus, they’re in California…so that’s awesome!

Let’s chat: How have your workouts been lately? Done any good ones? Leave me a link!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Hi friends!

Let’s talk about the best WordPress plugins for a minute. As a blogger, plugins can quickly become your best friend. They basically do things to make your life easier, which is great, but there are SO many to choose from!! After our Blog Smarter chat last week, I was inspired to put together a list of some of the plugins that I use and share it with you guys.

Remember that these are NOT the only plugins out there…just some that I like. Also remember that I’m totally tech challenged and this is not my area of expertise…so I’ll do my best to explain them, but don’t judge me! You should be able to click on the plug-in names to learn more about it. If that doesn’t work, click “plugins” on your sidebar, then “add new” and then search the name of the plugin.

Ready? Here we go:

1. Akismet: In my opinion, this is a MUST to help reduce spam. It checks all the comments that come in and keeps them from publishing if they look like spam. You can easily remove comments from the spam folder if it makes a mistake, but it generally does a great job.

2. All in One SEO Pack: This is great for helping with SEO. It optimizes your titles for SEO and generates meta tags…and probably does a lot more things that I don’t even understand. But the bottom line is, it’s easy to use and does good stuff. Even just a quick read on the basics of SEO and you should be able to put it to good use by filling in the title, description and keywords for each of your posts.

3. Alpine Phototile for Instagram: This one takes a minute to set up because you have to authorize it through Instagram, but the instructions are super easy to follow. Basically, it displays your most recent instagram photos on your blog’s sidebar. You can customize how many pictures you want to show, and play around with different displays, sizes, etc. *Note, there’s also one to display your recent pins from the same developer….called Alpine Phototile for Pinterest

4. Blogger to WordPress: If you started on Blogger (like me) and now use WordPress, this is a must. It automatically redirects all those early posts that I wrote on Blogger to the same post on WordPress.

5. CommentLuv: One of my favorites. When I comment on other blogs, this plugin displays the title of my most recent post below my comment. If other people are reading the comments on that blog, they might be interested in your post title and click over to check out your blog! *Note, another thing you can do when commenting on other blogs is include your blog name in your name…so instead of just writing Lindsay, I always write Lindsay @ The Lean Green Bean. This shows people reading the commets that you’re a blogger and they might click the link to your blog! (In the pic above, you can see Christine does the same thing, and then comment luv shows her most recent post “Why I won’t give up beer”)

6. Comment Reply Notification: Please use something like this. When you respond to someone’s comment on your blog, this sends them an email letting them see your response. Most people do not come back to check and see if you responded to their comment so this is a great way to increase communication with your readers, answer questions, etc.

7. Facebook Like Box Widget:  It shows readers how many people like your blog’s Facebook Page and allows them to “like” the page right from your blog.

8. Google Analytics for WordPress: Google Analytics is one of the gold standards for tracking pageviews, etc on your site. This plugin allows you to see all that data without going to the google analytics website.

9. nRelate: This is one option for displaying links to related posts at the bottom of each post. I use Shareaholic for this feature, but a lot of people like nRelate. It will show thumbnails of related posts that can encourage readers to stick around and check out more of your blog posts. *Note- you can also check out nRelate Flyout which does something similar, but creates a pop-up box that “flies out” into the corner of your screen and shows a related post.

10. Pinterest Pin It Button For Images: If you have ever hovered over an image in one of my posts, you may have noticed the little “pin it” that shows up when you do that. That’s this plugin. It makes it super easy for people to click that button on whatever image they like and Pin it!

11. Shareaholic: Hands down one of my favorite plugins. This is what I use to make it easy for people to share my blog posts. It has several features: 1) When you scroll down on my posts, that black bar pops up at the top that allows you to easily tweet that post by clicking a button.  2) When you get to the bottom of a post it says “share and enjoy” and provides buttons for you to click to share to whatever social media site you want. You can customize what buttons show up, and you can also set it up so that when someone clicks the button, it automatically includes the title of the post AND your twitter handle. DO THIS!!!!!!! It makes it so much easier for people to share when they don’t have to dig for your twitter handle. 3) It shows the three related posts with images people may want to click on. *Note: If you want to check out some other sharing plugins, you could try Flare or Digg Digg. I haven’t use these, but they both allow you to set up a floating sidebar that show up on the side of a blog post with sharing buttons.

12. All in One Favicon: This allows you to create a little image that shows up to the left of your blog title in a tabbed browser. Mine is a little square with the stripes from my header and the letters LGB. I actually use Shockingly Simple Favicon plugin but it doesn’t look like it’s been updated for a while…the All in One Favicon should do the same thing and looks newer.

13. Tweetily: This is one that a lot of people ask me about. It’s the plugin I use to automatically and randomly tweet links to older posts throughout the day. Sometimes it chooses posts that are no longer relavent…like giveaways…but it also brings up a lot of old recipes I’ve posted and forgot about and it’s good for getting those posts more exposure on Twitter. You can choose how many you want it to tweet per day and what you want it to say before the post title.

14. Vaultpress: This one is not free, but I think it’s worth every penny. It backs up  your blog in real time and  gives you peace of mind. I learned about it from Katy Widrick. If you don’t want to pay for it, you can read her post about backing up your blog…and if you want to know if it really works, you can read about how it saved her blog. Thankfully, since I signed up over a year ago, I haven’t had to use it…but I’ll gladly pay the $15 a month to keep my blog safe!

15. WordPress Editorial Calendar: This one changed my blogging life. Seriously. It makes it so easy to layout all your post for the next several weeks and you can easily drag posts around to different days. I always have several draft posts saved and this makes it easy to lay them out and come up with a posting plan instead of just seeing them in a list.

16. Display Recent Tweets: I don’t actually use a plugin for this, I use a widget. I used this post to set it up and it was super easy. You can see how it displays recent tweets on my right-hand side bar and also allows people to follow me on twitter directly from my blog. *Note: If you’d rather have a plug-in, you could try Recent Tweets or search for others.

17. WP Smush.it: Automatically reduces image file sizes behind the scenes.

18. SEO Friendly Images: Adds alt and titles to your images to help improve your SEO

19. W3 Total Cache: I have no idea what this does, I just know I have it

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Here are a few others that I don’t use, but that you might want to check out:

• Recipe Card: Makes it easy to create pretty recipes that readers can print and save.
• Easy Recipe: Another recipe plugin that makes them look pretty.
• WordFence: A security plugin
• Better WordPress Google XML Site maps: Helps google find your content
• Broken Link Checker: Helps you find broken links
• WPTouch: Transforms your site to be compatible on mobile browsers
• WP Greet Box: Displays a greeting to visitors depending on how they got to your site (ie twitter, fb, etc and can encourage them to subscribe in a reader or follow you on twitter or whatever)
• Fancier Author Box- A little bio about you at the bottom of each post. You can include your social media info as well to remind people to follow you.

And if you’re looking for even more, this article has tons of suggestions:
The Best WordPress Plugins 

Remember, using too many plugins can slow down your site, so don’t go overboard! Pick the ones that will help you and your site out the most and be sure to keep them up-to-date!

Let’s Chat: Do you have any favorite plugins that aren’t on this list? Share them in the comments!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–