and let’s get some momentum as we head into fall!

Hi friends! How’s the week going? Ours has been a good one so far. Things kind of got shuffled around this week, but I’m here doing my thing and using this extra time to clean and study.

For today, I have some very exciting news: I’m Fit Team enrollment is open, and I would love to invite you to join us!

Fit Team – monthly strength training plans

Join here and take the guesswork out of your fitness routine for the next 6 months. It’s a 6-month subscription and you can cancel anytime.

So what is Fit Team?

Fit Team is my monthly training program to build lean muscle, burn fat, and get accountability for maximum results. No more wondering what the heck to do, or puzzle-piecing your routine together. You can get a phased, strategically-designed plan so you can finally get the results you deserve (!) and stick with a it for the long haul.

I post a brand-spanking-new fitness plan on the 28th of each month. It typically has 6-8 new strength workouts, along with cardio guidelines, bonuses (playlists, live classes with me, recipes), and video tutorials (with modifications) for each of the exercises. All workouts can be done at home with a pair of dumbbells. (I will be adding a gym-based track using gym equipment in the fall and also plan to post more follow-along videos in the platform.)

Here’s what special about this plan:

The workouts are phased and include progressive training strategies. They’re intentionally-designed and progress over time to help you achieve your body composition goals and strength improvements. They’re designed like this so you won’t plateau and you won’t get bored. Each 90-day cycle includes endurance, power, and strength components with a different focus each month.

Puzzle-piecing your routine together from online workouts and YouTube is great for general movement. But, if you have specific fitness goals or you’ve noticed that you’ve hit a wall and plateaued, it’s because you need a phased plan. I will help you continually add stressors and rep variety into your routine, so you can get the results you deserve from your efforts. If you feel like you’re doing “all the things” and not seeing results, it’s not from your lack of effort – it’s because you need a different strategy. 

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Hi friends! Happy Friday! After hanging out at home this week, I’m excited to be back into things this weekend. I’m definitely bummed to be missing IDEA but looking forward to our Hawaii trip. I’d love to hear what you’re up to! We’ll probably do movie night at the pool, get school supplies (whaaaaattt), and I’m teaching a barre class. I hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead!

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.

Friday Faves

Life:

Last week, the Pilot and I did a spa day at one of my favorite spots: Miraval. I’ve been do Miraval a few times and it was his first time; I was so pumped to show him around and introduce him to the magic (and also get him hooked). It was the most perfect, most relaxing day; it was a huge treat.

We checked and received our backpacks and water bottles, and then the Pilot enjoyed breakfast while I took a cardio drumming class. Funny story: I used to teach this class when I worked at another local health resort, and DREADED teaching this class. It was just a lot of choreography that didn’t transfer to anything else, and I was never super excited about it, even though the guests seemed to be having a blast.

I really wanted to try it from a guest perspective and see if it could redeem itself. Confession: I loved it. Cardio drumming involves hitting a stability ball with drumsticks to music, and moving around the ball (like hitting the base of the ball, the middle, the top, and then clicking the drumsticks overhead, or marching around the ball as you hit the ball in various directions). It was a blast and I got in an awesome sweat.

After that, the Pilot ran on the treadmill while I lifted weights, and then we headed to an early lunch. The food at Miraval is INSANE. They source many of the ingredients from their own garden, everything is so fresh, and they include lots of gluten-free and vegan options. I had a sampling of the buffet offerings, and the Pilot and I also shared the chef’s special: a striped sea bass with veggies and risotto.

Post-lunch, we went to the pool, where we spent over an hour floating on pool noodles, chatting, and reading. When we’re at the pool with the kids, I’m hyper focused on the water the entire time, so it’s a mental break to be near a body of water and not have to worry about the kids.

When we were do

Sharing this quick and healthy snack recipe for crispy ranch air fryer chickpeas!

Hi hi! How is the day going? We’re chilling here at home and taking it easy today. I’ve been studying, cleaning, participating in retail therapy, and cooking some tasty eats. I made these super delicious air fryer chickpeas and wanted to share the recipe with you.

The kids and I LOVE the Bienas chickpea snacks (we order them from Thrive Market!) but they tend to be a little on the pricey side, especially when the three of us consume a bag in a single sitting. I was looking at them the other day and thought it would be a fun experiment to make them on my own.

It was way easier than I thought and I made a giant batch that we enjoyed yesterday afternoon. These will definitely be making another appearance as part of meal prep and packed lunch snacks for the kids.

Crispy Ranch Air Fryer Chickpeas

Here are the ingredients to make these lil beauties:

2 cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Avocado oil (you can also use olive oil)

Seasoning of choice. Since I did a ranch version, I included onion powder, garlic powder, dried parsley, dried dill, dried chives, salt and pepper. You can also get wild and use Everything But the Bagel Seasoning, Dill Pickle seasoning, curry, anything you like!

How to make crispy air fryer chickpeas

Step one

Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Gently pat dry with a paper towel. Preheat the air fryer to 390.

Step two

Lightly coat the chickpeas with a drizzle of oil and make sure that they’re fully coated.

Step three

Make the seasoning mix in a separate bowl. Stir well and sprinkle the chickpeas with the seasoning mix.

Step four

Add the chickpeas to the air fryer, and make sure they’re evenly spread out. Gently season with salt and pepper.

Step five

Air fry for 12-15 minute

Sometimes we find ourselves in need of a little pick-me-up. I get it! We all have those days. 

Maybe you’ve had a long week or you didn’t sleep great last night. Maybe your hormones are throwing you off. You could be stressed, traveling, under a tight deadline, or not getting the nutrients your body needs from your diet.

There are pretty much a million things that could be making you feel tired. So if you’re looking for a way to fight your tiredness and boost your energy naturally, add these things to your arsenal.

#1: Eat a nutritious diet

Your body is a complicated system and it needs a lot to keep it functioning at its best. If you’re filling it with junk like sugar or alcohol, it’s going to make you pay for it, usually with fatigue. And if you’re not getting the nutrients you need from your diet, the same is true. Making bad food choices is like putting only a tiny bit of gas in your car — and then expecting it to make a major road trip. 

You might already know that I recommend eating whole foods above everything else. The closer you can get to the natural source, the better. That means choosing food with limited processing and added ingredients — and loading up your plate with lots of fruits and veggies. If you’re not quite sure what you should be eating to feel like your best, most energized self, I can help. All of my nutrition plans include meals that will supply your system with the nutrients it needs. And when you need a quick and easy way to get more goodness in, you know you can always turn to our LSF Plant Protein.

#2: Get Pep (Rally) in your step!

We all have days where you need a pick-me-up. I mean, I do!

That’s why I made our newest boost, Pep Rally! I teamed up all the natural energy-boosting powerhouses, like matcha and ginseng, to give you a pep in your step when you need it most. I can’t wait for you to try it!

#3: Move that body, girl!

A sedentary lifestyle (that basically means sitting around a lot) makes you feel even more sluggish. You don’t have to take my word for it. Studies show that getting moving on a regular basis can decrease your fatigue by 65%. That’s a pretty big drop!

My general recommendation is to get 30 minutes of exercise with the LSF App five or six days a week. But I know that if you haven’t been moving much, that can sound like a lot. Don’t be afraid to ease yourself in. Even 10 minutes a day can still do wonders — and I legit have the Daily 10 for this purpose. Getting moving can be way easier than you might think. A brisk walk around your neighborhood counts. So does literally any workout from our LSF App

It’s def possible to have too much caffeine. On top of that, certain situations — like coffee on an empty stomach — can give caffeine a bad rap, even when it’s really the other things at play causing the problems. 

All this said, I’m pro caffeine, just in moderation. Too much caffeine is going to literally jack you up, especially consuming too much at one time. But how much is too much? I’ve got you, girl.

Your recommended daily dose of caffeine

The FDA says people shouldn’t have more than 400 mg of caffeine each day. That’s roughly equal to four eight-ounce cups of coffee. 

Note that we’re saying eight-ounce cups. That’s pretty small. And if you opt for an energy drink, be extra careful. A lot of options can have as much as 250 mg of caffeine in one eight-ounce serving. 

Is going over that cap really a big deal? If you only do it every once in a while, probably not. But if you do it too much, you risk caffeine toxicity.

Plus, even a single day with too much caffeine can leave you with some pretty unwelcome side effects.

Side effects of excess caffeine

No surprise here: one of the main issues with too much caffeine is sleep problems. Besides insomnia, though, too much caffeine can cause:

• Jitters
• Anxiousness
• Dehydration
• High blood pressure
• Heart palpitations
• An upset stomach
• Heartburn

Clearly, too much caffeine can cause a bunch of problems that leave you feeling way worse than you started. You’d probably didn’t want to trade that tiredness for the side effect you’re feeling, right?

To help you avoid these nasty side effects, I recommend:

• Mixing in other stuff with caffeine. Consider what you consume along with your caffeine. I love matcha green tea because it has caffeine, but it also has L-theanine, which has a calming effect. Or you could always add some ashwagandha into the mix to ward off jitters. 
• Timing your consumption. When you have coffee or tea on an empty stomach, it can upset your digestive system. If you start your day with caffeine, eat something with it. This could be as simple as a quick shake with our protein powder or a banana. Then, mind your caffeine intake at night. It can take your body as long as six hours to metabolize even half of the caffeine you’ve consumed. If you’ve been having sleep problems, you might be able to blame your afternoon consumption. Some people are more sensitive to caffeine than others, so pay attention. If cutting out caffeine after noon helps you get good sleep, that’s well worth it. 
• Avoiding too much at once. Too much caffeine can literally be toxic. And even when you don’t reach potentially health-hazardous levels, a lot all at once is often behind the jitters or nausea. Stick with about 75-160 mg at a time. That’s roughly one or two eight-ounce cups of coffee. Wait for about half an hour and see how you feel. If you’re still pooped, you can always have more. But there’s no way to undo too much caffeine other than to wait it out (yikes). 
• Getting smart about where your caffeine comes from. Some caffeine sources (looking at you, energy drinks and pre-workout) have so much that your risk for side effects is already super high. To give your body a boost without having to pay for it, look to natural caffeine sources like matcha green tea, smaller cups of coffee, or our NEW! Pep Rally Energy Boost!

Just