Hi friends! I hope you had a wonderful weekend! We spent it at the Princess in Scottsdale and also saw The Nutcracker at Ballet Arizona. The Princess is one of my favorite holiday traditions and always puts me in the Christmas spirit. 🙂

I’m taking a few days off to enjoy time with the fam. I hope that my friends who are celebrating this week enjoy a beautiful Christmas (and happy Hannukah to my friends celebrating!), amazing food, time with those you love, and space to rest and enjoy. I understand that the holidays aren’t holly jolly and easy for everyone. If you’re going through a difficult time, I’m holing you in my heart.

I’m thankful for your support, comments, emails, DMs, and friendship every single day. Thank you for being a part of my life and hope you have an amazing week!

I’ll be back on Friday with some faves, so I’ll see you then!
xoxo

Gina

Photos by Kristi Harris

The post have yourself a merry little Christmas appeared first on The Fitnessista.

Hi friends! Happy Friday! How was your week? Ours was a good one. Lots of fun events with the kids and we’re headed off on a holly jolly adventure this weekend.

I can’t even believe Christmas is a few days away. How are we feeling, friends?? Are you ready? I totally feel like it snuck up on us this year, and while I think I’ve done a lot, I still feel like there’s so much to do. I’m trying to just take a step back, breathe, and rememebr the true reason for the season and not get too wrapped into the stress behind it all (even though it can be a lot). We’ve got this, friends!

Friendly reminder: it’s not too late to join in this year’s Favorite Things giveway! There are SO MANY amazing prizes up for grabs – the winner will get over $1800 worth of goodies.

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party. This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love to hear about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below.

12.20 Friday Faves

Fashion + beauty + random:

(Holiday nails with Liv! While this won’t be a regular thing – dance competitions start in January and she can’t have anything on her nails – it was a fun little Christmas activity)

If you’re shopping for last-minute gifts, here are some ideas from this year’s gift guides:

– For Her

– For Him

– For Teens

– For the Kids

–

Healthy Holiday Potluck Ideas

‘Tis the season:

to deck the halls,

spend time with those you love,

don your ugliest Christmas sweater,

(my own Dick van Dyke!)

shop it up

and enjoy festive feasts 🙂

I’m not sure about you, but our schedule is jam-packed until after New Year’s with holiday events! Many of them: bring a side dish or dessert.

Anyone else experiencing a pot-lucking overload?

What to bring?!

I always debate what I should bring to a holiday party. I’d like to make something semi-healthy, since I know I’ll be indulging in the treats and libations at the party, something festive/seasonal, and something that guests will enjoy and remember.

So, as I pick my brain, I thought I’d share a list of my favorite crowd-pleasing healthy potluck recipes and those I have yet to try, but have been scoping out.

Most of these healthy holiday recipes tend to be on the savory side since parties this time of year are heavy on the sweets.

Healthy Vegan Artichoke Dip

I often think about this dip during conversations about the best comfort foods. It’s gluten free and dairy free, and one of our favorite vegan recipes to bring to parties.

Bring it in the slow cooker with tortilla chips or a crudités platter.

My Favorite Fall Salad

My favorite fall salad comes together in just minutes, and it’s loaded with flavorful and nutritious ingredients.

All you to make this crowd pleaser is greens, goat cheese, dried cranberries, candied pecans, and balsamic dressing. If you actually do need to feed a crowd, make a bunch, because it always disappears fast!

Red And Green Quinoa Lentil Salad

Cheezy Quinoa Bake

Goat Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

Greek Layered Dip

Buffalo chicken dip and Tuscan white bean dip (both dairy-free)

Read more

Sharing a roundup of some of my favorite post workout snacks and ideas for fueling around your workouts. 

Hi friends! How’s the morning going? I hope you’re having a great one so far! I’m over here editing podcast content and have client calls the rest of the day.

For today, I wanted to chat a bit about workout fueling and some pot workout snacks. While I am a certified nutrition coach, personal trainer, and Integrative Health Practitioner, these are just friendly general suggestions. As always, reach out to your personal RD or health team for personalized advice.

As we all know, I looove working out. Some days are easier than others, but I experience so many amazing benefits from taking the time to move my body each day; I’m sure many of you can relate. It gives me mental clarity, energy, strength, confidence, and I love checking the box towards long-term health. After I work out, I usually have a meal or a healthy snack. Fueling yourself post exercise can maximize performance, speed up muscle recovery, and restore energy levels.

Just a heads up that not all snacks are created equal—some can derail progress.

Today I wanted to share a roundup of healthy post workout snacks that will help refuel, rebuild muscle tissue, and help you feel satisfied after sweaty workouts.

10 Healthy Post Workout Snacks

There’s a lot of nuance to workout fueling: how hungry are you? What time of day is it? What type of workout are you doing? What did you already eat today?

My very general rule of thumb is nothing or a little carbs before a workout, protein + carbs afterwards. When you include carbohydrates and protein, this can help restore glucose levels, support muscle repair and post workout recovery.

Here are some ideas for store-bought snacks and homemade recipes that include both plant-based and traditional meat protein sources.

Is It Healthy To Eat After A Workout?

Eating after a workout is one of the keys to recovery, whether it’s a snack or a meal. It depends on the timing of your workout.

Intense workouts break down muscle tissue and deplete glycogen stores.

Some of the benefits of eating after a workout:

Muscle recovery and repair – Provides essential amino acids for protein synthesis.

Restores energy – Replenishes glycogen through carbohydrates. When you combine protein and carbs, this can potentially enhance this.

Reduces muscle soreness – Supports faster healing and reduces inflammation.

Optimizes performance – Fuels the body for future workouts. You can crush your workouts if you’re depleted!

Sharing a roundup of my favorite wellness products from 2024! If you’re looking to use FSA/HSA credits before they expire, I’ve included these little asterisks *** for companies that will accept FSA/HSA or can be potentially reiumbursed with a medical letter of necessity. Of course, check with your doctor and insurance provider!

Hi friends! How are you? How was the weekend? I hope you had a great one. Ours was low-key and lovely. We went out to dinner with friends, I taught two barre classes and we did some holiday baking.

For today’s post, I wanted to share a roundup of my favorite wellness products from 2024! These are perfect as we finish out December, start to make health and new year’s goals, and also use up any FSA or HSA credits before they expire. I’d love to hear about your favorite health/wellness products that you’re loving, too!

Just a heads up that I don’t use an FSA or HSA, but I know so many of you do, so if you have any helpful tips, please share them in the comments.

(Note: I’ve also tried to include newer products for this year, but am also featuring some tried and true faves that I still use all the time. Because I love all of these products so much, I’m an affiliate for many of them. These links enable me to earn a small kickback and they support our family and this little blog. Thank you so much to those of you who shop through my links!)

My favorite wellness products from 2024

***Nutrisense CGM

This is a fairly newer find – I’ve been using them on and off for about two years – and I think it’s one of the most valuable things you can do for your metabolic health. SO many of us are insulin resistant, and by wearing a CGM, you can get instant data on how your workouts, sleep, nutrition (especially sugar and alcohol), exercise, stress, and habits affect your blood glucose levels. I like to wear one every couple of months just to check in, and my blood sugar is something I’ve been trying to monitor since my numbers are often a little higher than I’d like them to be.

They also offer nutriitonist calls that are often covered by insurance! I have one booked and can’t wait to try it. Check out the CGM plans here and use the code GINA50. It’s perfect timing to order now and then you’re ready to go after the holidays.

Clearly Filtered pitcher

This pitcher filters out 360+ contaminants and is super easy to use. I just fill it with water from the fridge and structure it next to my Somavedic. I like these filters because they’re inexpensive (about $1