Hi friends! Happy Friday! How are you? I hope you’re enjoying the morning so far. Today, I’m off to a barre class and then meeting up with a friend for lunch to talk about some exciting upcoming plans. What are you up this weekend? We’re having friends over for sushi night, and I’m going to start ordering the kids’ uniforms and supplies for back to school. I can’t believe it’s less than a month away and wish it could just be summer forever. I’m definitely enjoying the slower pace. I hope you have a fun and 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.

Exciting news:

I finished IHP Level 2! WAHOO! While it took me a long time to finish – I really wanted to learn and absorb as much as possible, and didn’t take the course to simply pass the tests – it was so worth it, and I’m honestly a little sad that it’s over. It was over 100 hours of learning, and I’m so pumped for this new certification and the ability to offer functional labs for my 1:1 clients (and also in the new group coaching program I’m working on creating). If you’re interested in learning more, send me an email at gina@fitnessista.com with the subject COACHING and I can share the different options with you.

If you’re interested in exploring a new career or if you want to take your current fitness or wellness practice to the next level, I can’t say enough great things about IHP. You can check out the details here, and if you use the code FITNESSISTA, you can get up to $250 off levels 1 and 2.

Celebratory dinner at Vivace:

Creamy cookie monster ice cream filled with chunks of Oreo and chocolate chip cookies is a hit with all cookie-loving kids and adults!

Blue Cookie Monster Ice Cream

What is cookie monster ice cream? Sweet vanilla ice cream is absolutely loaded with cookie chunks to create this ice cream. It’s cookie monster’s version of cookies and cream ice cream and it has been a win with everyone who tries it.

Not a fan of food dyes? Just skip the blue coloring. The ice cream tastes every bit as delicious with or without it.

I highly recommend serving this ice cream in cones, preferably Oreo or chocolate chip cookie ice cream cones if you can find them in the grocery store, for the ultimate cookie monster ice cream flavor!

Cookie Monster Ice Cream

You’ll need the following ingredients to make this recipe:

• heavy cream
• milk
• sugar
• kosher salt
• vanilla extract
• blue food coloring OPTIONAL
• chocolate sandwich cookies
• chocolate chip cookies

The most popular question I get is whether it’s possible to make ice cream without a machine. The answer is YES. You can make ice cream without a machine. Find the full directions here!

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Hi friends! I hope you’re having a wonderful day!

I’ve got a new podcast episode up this morning, and am chatting with Sara Frenza about changing body composition.

137: Top 3 body composition mistakes to avoid with Sara Frenza

Here are some of the things we talk about in this episode:

– Top mistakes we see when it comes to changing body composition

– What body composition means

– Different factors that affect metabolic health

– How to eat more protein

and so.much.more!

Here’s a bit more about Sara and her background:

Sara Frenza is a published fitness model and writer, nutrition and body transformation coach, and the owner of Sara Frenza Fitness and Nutrition. After overcoming her own struggles with chronic dieting and post-pregnancy weight gain, Sara discovered a sustainable approach to losing over 50 lbs. and transforming her body composition. Now, she helps women achieve their dream bodies through her 1:1 coaching program, focusing on the exclusive Restore, Lean out, and Sustain body transformation protocol. With a passion for empowering women, Sara has been published in top fitness magazines and graced the covers twice. Her journey from avoiding mirrors to becoming a fitness model in her 40s serves as an inspiration to women worldwide.

You can connect with Sara on Instagram and on her website. Download a copy of her free recipe ebook here.

More resources from this episode:

Check out this podcast episode about progressive overload training and how it works.

If any of my fellow health professional friends are looking for another way to help their clients, I highly recommend IHP. You can also use this information to heal yourself and then go one to heal others, which I think is a beautiful mission. You can absolutely join if you don’t currently work in the health or fitness industry; many IHPs don’t begin on this path. They’re friends who are passionate to learn more about health and wellness, and want to share this information with those they love. You can do this as a passion, or start an entirely new career.

You can use my referral link here and the code FITNESSISTA for up to $250 off the Integrative Health Practitioner program. I highly recommend it! Read more

Sharing a recap of our time in Rome! We were able to spend four days in Rome in addition to our Mediterranean Disney Cruise. Since these posts are super lengthy, I split the recaps into two posts and will share a Disney cruise post next week!

Where to even begin?! It’s been two and a half weeks since we’ve been back in the states and I’m still missing Italy every.single.day and probably will until we make it back again. We had the most magical time and I’m still over here wishing for a Nutella croissant and espresso.

Since we were last in Rome, I dreamed of the day that we would take our babies to see one of my favorite places in the world. It was so exciting to finally be able to do it! It ended up being perfect timing because they’re the ideal ages for a bit longer travel and lots of exploring.

We ended up doing two red eyes on the way to Italy, which I would not recommend for anyone lol. Our first flight was an overnight from Phoenix to JFK, and no one slept on the way there. We ended up getting a day pass at the TWA hotel at JFK airport so we could nap for five hours before our next flight from JFK to Rome.

The TWA hotel was amazing; I highly recommend it if you have a super long layover at JFK and want to sleep! The rooms were dark, clean, and comfy, they had a cute food court with tons of options, and we all loved the vintage vibe.

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Jalapenos and cheddar cheese make this Jalapeno Popper Potato Salad a guaranteed win. With a creamy, spicy dressing and smoky bites of bacon and egg throughout the salad, it’s a crowd favorite.

Jalapeno Popper Potato Salad

I’ve been playing with the idea of combining the spicy flavors of jalapeno poppers with the creamy goodness of potato salad for some time now, and I’m glad to say that this recipe is a hit.

While traditional jalapeno poppers are made with cream cheese, we weren’t big fans of the cream cheese flavor in the first recipe attempt I tested for this potato salad.

So, in lieu of the cream cheese, I’ve bumped up the cheddar cheese here and the potato salad earns two thumbs up from everyone now.

If you want some extra heat, toss in a generous portion of sliced jalapenos in addition to the finely chopped jalapenos in the dressing. I typically add an additional 2-3 tablespoons of sliced jalapenos to our salad.

Be aware that the heat in this salad will increase after resting overnight in the refrigerator. When I tasted the salad again after storing it for the night, my tastebuds were surprised – and this officially became my oldest son’s favorite potato salad due to that extra heat.

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