Sharing some tips for easy meal planning for the busy moms out there + a template you can use.

Hi friends! How’s the day going so far? I hope you’re having a good morning! I’m getting things ready for Fit Team (join us here and get your new workouts on the 28th!) and have a podcast interview later today. Thank you so much for letting me know that you enjoy the old school more conversational type blog posts. I will definitely add them more frequently into the content rotation.

For today post, I wanted to chat a bit about meal planning because it is SAVIN.OUR.BACON right now. (Time-wise and money-wise!) We are in the thick of evening activities and events, and if I don’t know what we’re going to eat, it leads to random hodge lodge meals or takeout. It’s absolutely worth sitting down each week to plan our meals (at least our dinners) and making a list for one big grocery stop.

Taking some time to meal plan each week takes the guesswork and last-minute dinner stress out of the equation, and is a great way to save time, money and effort. Planning, preparing, and cooking healthy meals takes time, and meal planning in advance can help us make healthy meals for the family on a more consistent basis. It also maximizes trips to the grocery story and makes mom life a bit easier overall! I figured it was time I dedicated a post on practical meal planning for my busy mom friends out there.

Easy Meal Planning For Busy Moms

Setting aside time to make a weekly meal plan

Set aside 30 minutes or so each weekend to create your plan for the week. For us, dinners are the most important, but I also have an idea of what I’m going to pack in the girls’ lunches and make for breakfasts. Plan out as many meals as you’d like for the week, emphasizing dinner and weekly staples.

Create a master list

After you’ve planned out your meals, make a master grocery list including all of the ingredients. Take inventory of your pantry and fridge to avoid buying duplicates, unless you like having backups on hand.

Keep track of meals that work

If you find a meal that’s a home run for the family, hold it in your heart FOREVER. Until you make it again and they don’t like it the next time? (Kids can be a mystery sometimes, I tell ya.) I keep a running cheatsheet in my phone of meals the kids have really loved and will come back to them. We also have some staple dishes (like the ones in this post) that I know will always be a hit.

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Hi friends! How was the weekend? I hope you had an amazing one. This blog post is a way to bring it back old school and share some more real-life adventures. Quite a few of you let me know that you missed the style of blogging from the past (I do, too!) so I’m trying to do it in a way that’s low-key and still focused on my experience, instead of the kids’ experience if that makes sense? It can be tricky because the kids are obviously a huge part of my life (and by far the most exciting and such an enjoyable part of my life). I’m still trying to navigate blogging in a way that feels authentic to me without overdoing it on kid content, while continuing to create value-driven posts, too.

If you guys enjoy this and want more everyday-style posts, let me know!

This weekend was a wild one and packed with so many fun adventures. Friday night, we went to a local fall festival with the fam. My dad, stepmom, aunt, cousins, Kyle and Meg, and their kiddos were all there.

We also ran into so many familiar faces that evening! Tucson is a small world, but feels smaller the longer we stay here.

BEFORE fall festival, the Pilot took P to a birthday party while I took Liv to dance, so P had double fun times. The kids played in the obstacle courses, got their faces painted, did the cake walk and bingo thing, and it was a blast.

Saturday morning, P had a soccer game, I took care of some work stuff and chores, and then one of Liv’s best friends came over for a sleepover.

We took the crew to sushi at Ginza,

(dress is here! Heads up that it runs big, so if you’re in between sizes, I’d size down)

and then picked up one of P’s friends so she would have a buddy, too. We headed to the mall, where the younger kids hit up the giant arcade with the Pilot, the older girls and I went to Claire’s and got boba teas.

We made it back to the arcade for some motorcycle races, Dance Dance Revolution, and then grabbed ice cream before P’s friend went home.Read more

Hi friends! Happy Friday!

Before I head into the usual Friday Faves post, I wanted to send a huge hug and thank you to all of you for your wonderful messages, emails, texts, and comments about saying goodbye to sweet Caro. All of your lovely messages lifted us up during a hard week. I hope you know how much we appreciate you.

While I was heartbroken over everything, I feel a sense of peace this week that she’s pain-free and hanging out with Bella and my Tata Gene.

What do you have going on this weekend? It’s going to be a fun one over here. P has a birthday party, we’re headed to a fall festival, Liv’s friend is sleeping over, and we’re seeing Lion King. Whew! Packed as much fun as possible into the weekend. 🙂 I hope you have a great one ahead, too.

A bright spot in the week: seeing Michael Bublé for the second time! The last time I saw him in concert was 2019, and it was a DREAM to see him again on Tuesday night. Madre watched the kiddos and the Pilot and I headed up to Phoenix for dinner and the show. It was everything. He’s so incredibly talented, the musicians were incredible, and I LOVED his backup singers/dancers. They were up there killin’ it the entire time.

Naturally, I screamed my face off and croaked all day on Wednesday. It was worth it and 10/10 will do it again.

We had amazing seats! Also, there was a woman in the audience who has been to 52 of his shows! GOALS.

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

Read, watch, listen:

What has made you laugh lately? For me, it’s been these chipmunk videos. I could watch them for hours.

Aging isn’t about lost youth.

Fashion + beauty:

Beautycounter’s fall sale is heeeeere and ends on Sunday. Enjoy 15-25% off sitewide (exclusions apply).

Some of my top picks:

Color intense lipstick. Brunch is my go-to for the perfect pinky-nude.

The best body polish. I use this before applying sunless tanner (and use this one or this one).

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I’m writing this post with tears streaming down my cheeks and the biggest knot in my stomach… because sweet Caroline is gone.

She crossed the rainbow bridge on Monday, and devastated is an understatement. She hasn’t been doing well for a couple of years – she’d have a rough week and always seem to pull through – but knowing that it was coming didn’t make it any easier. In some ways, it’s made it even harder and more heartbreaking.

We got Caroline from a Cavalier Kings Charles rescue when Liv was a toddler. We drove to Phoenix, where they had multiple cavaliers running around from the puppy mill in Arkansas that had been shut down, and Caroline was the one Liv had to have. She was the smallest, most timid one, hiding in the corner, shaking.

“Are you sure you want this one?”

“Yes, I want this one.”

We drove her home and gave her lots of snuggles and food. For the first year or so, she remained timid, yet extremely sweet (even while receiving some occasional harassment from Bella). When we adopted Caroline, she was used to doing everything in a crate outside: it’s where she ate, did her business, and also birthed multiple rounds of puppies, as she was a young mama dog for the puppy mill.

When we brought her home, she had never walked on grass.

While she was still recovering from everything she endured, we quickly learned about Caro and her two favorite things: sleep and belly rubs. The girl could snore, too. She had the loudest, most satisfying snores, and it made my heart happy that she was able to fully relax after the horrible first couple of years of her life.

She rode in the wagon with Liv on our daily walks,

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Sharing my review (so far!) of the Integrative Health Practitioner certification and my thoughts on the program. I’m so thrilled to be partnering with Dr. Stephen Cabral on a few podcast episodes, and he also generously gifted access to my level 1 and level 2 certification programs. In this post, I’ll be sharing an update on the course and my thoughts on level one now that I’ve finished. If you’d like to join me as a study buddy, head here and use the code FITNESSISTA for $100 off Level 1 and $250 off levels 1 and 2. 

Helloooooo. Happy Monday. I hope you had a lovely weekend. We’re here enjoying our last moments with Caro before we have to say our goodbyes later today 🙁

For today’s post, I wanted to share an updated review of my experience with the Integrative Health Practitioner course and how I plan to use this certification. I recently finished level one and have started level two. I’ve loved diving into these modules and know that it will be an entirely new layer to my coaching.

There have been times when I’ve worked with a nutrition client online and wished I could suggest specific labs (it’s NOT in the scope of practice for a nutrition coach or personal trainer to do this. All you can do is refer out to an RD or doctor). I’ve added other members to my coaching team who are able to run these tests, but as my online practice continues to grow, I’ve wanted to be able to learn how to do all of this myself.

Integrative Health Practitioner Certification 

What is the IHP certification?

The Integrative Health Practitioner certification was created by Dr. Stephen Cabral. If you’re not familiar with his work, Dr. Stephen Cabral is a Board Certified Doctor of Naturopathy and founder of the EquiLife & the Integrative Health Practitioner Institute, and Author of the International Best-Selling Book, The Rain Barrel Effect. After almost 20 years and over 600,000 pages of research study completed, dozens of certifications in the natural health field, over a quarter of a million private client sessions, and a doctoral degree in Naturopathy – Dr. Cabral‘s knowledge, experience, and passion are at the top of his field.

I’ve been following him on Instagram for a couple of years and recently had him as a guest on the podcast. I’d looked at this certification