Hey hey! How are ya? Happy weekend!! What do you have going on? We have a friend’s Air Force retirement party and a soccer team outing. I’m also hoping we can catch a family hike. I hope you have an amazing weekend!

Some exciting news: I finished my Integrative Practitioner Level One Certification! Aaaand I’ve already started on Level Two 🙂 I have so much to say about the program so far, so I’ll definitely do an updated post, but if you have any questions you’d like to me to answer, please leave them in the comments section. I’ll also be restructuring my 1:1 coaching options, so if you know you’re interested, you can apply and get on my wait list here.

A little Caro update:

Caro saw the vet last Friday and has congenital heart failure and her little body was full of fluid. She started a couple of meds, including a diuretic, and they’ve made a huge difference. Unfortunately, she’s still not eating much. She was eating if I hand fed her, but now she’ll only eat every few bites or so. The vet is coming again this afternoon, so we’ll see what she has to say.

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

Read, watch, listen:

What ideal blood glucose might look like, and the value of using a CGM.

How to reprogram your brain to make healthy choices.

Check out this week’s podcast episode here, especially if you feel like you’re in a cooking rut!

Fashion + beauty:

Amazon fashion finds! I was so pumped when Amazon invited me to join their fashion program and picked out a few new fashion-y things to enjoy for the month. They have SO many awesome picks for fall (at amazing prices) and you can’t beat the Prime shipping. I find myself ordering more fashion and household items from Amazon because they’ll get here so quickly.

Here’s what I picked out this month:

Read more

Hi friends! I’m so excited to be chatting with Laney Schwartz from Life Is But A Dish on the podcast today.

Here’s what we’re talking about:

– Her tips for getting out of a cooking rut

– Meal prep tips and kids’ lunch ideas

– Her go-to ingredients and staples

and so.much.more.

110: Getting out of a cooking rut + meal prep tips with Laney Schwartz

Here’s more about Laney and her background:

Laney Schwartz is an everyday mom, founder and creator behind the food blog Life Is But A Dish, and a girl who’s obsessed with food. Born and raised in Maryland, Laney now lives in Los Angeles, California with her two daughters Zoe and Ava, her husband Zach, and her dog Lou. Laney is on a mission to help busy home cooks across the world gain confidence in the kitchen, create simple and delicious meals and cook without being tied to a recipe. After 7+ years of blogging Laney has over 600 reliable recipes on her website, all using simple everyday ingredients. Laney created a program called Cook with Confidence to help the overwhelmed and anxious home cook learn how to build foundational cooking skills for life. She has successfully moved over 200 students through the program, changing people’s relationships with the kitchen.

Connect with her on Instagram and check out her course, Cooking with Confidence. HIRL listeners can get $100 off at this link!

Resources from this episode:

I love love love the meals from Sakara Life! Use this link and the code XOGINAH for 20% off their meal delivery and clean boutique items. This is something I do once a month as a lil treat to myself and the meals are always showstoppers.

Get 15% off Organifi with the code FITNESSISTA. I drink the green juice, red juice, gold, and Harmony! (Each day I might have something different, or have two different things. Everything I’ve tried is amazing.)

The weather is cooling down, and I’m still obsessed with my sauna blanket. It feels even BETTER when it’s chilly outside and you can use the code FITNESSISTA15 for 15% off! This is one of my favorite ways to relax and sweat it out. I find that it energizes me, helps with aches and pains, I sleep better on the days I use this, and it makes my skin glow. 

Sharing my top tips for hosting an awesome dinner party + some of my favorite cooking hacks.

Hi hi! How’s the morning going? I’m off to mass with the kids and then hitting an F45 class. I hope you have a great day, too.

For today’s post, I thought we could talk a bit about dinner party tips and cooking hacks. Please keep in mind that I’m NOT a professional (even though we have some people in my family who are professional cooks and others who cook like they’re professionals). I’m just a home cook who enjoys it and also happens to LOVE feeding people. When the Pilot and I first got married, a friend said I needed a kitchen sign that said, “Never leave hungry” because that seemed to my motto. It brings me so much joy to enjoy awesome meals with the people we love, so we love having friends and family members over whenever we can.

Over time, I’ve learned some good dinner party tips and cooking hacks, so I wanted to share with ya this morning. If you have any you can add to the list, please chime in in the comments section so we can help each other out! (* = ones that were submitted from Instagram! Thank you to those of you who chimed in)

15 Tips For Hosting A Dinner Party

Make anything you can in advance

I learned this one from my nana, who will make and freeze as many meal components as possible before a family get-together. She used to own a catering company, so she’s pretty used to making large quantities of amazing food. Anything you can make before a party, do it. This means things like dips, desserts, side dishes, anything. I usually try to pre-make anything I can, so I’m not cooking as people are arriving.

I learned this one the hard way. We invited friends over the first time we lived in Valdosta, and I hadn’t prepared a single thing. They all sat at the kitchen table as I ran around the kitchen, stressed, and sweating from the hot stove and burners. Learn from my mistake, friends.

Never try a new recipe the night of a dinner party

It can be tempting to want to try a cool new recipe you see on social media or a website, but always give it a test run before serving it to another group of people. I’ve had a handful of Pinterest fails and I’m so glad I took the time to try them out in advance. Serve options that you can cook easily and that you know are a hit.

Set the menu strategically

Check in with guests to see if there are any dietary restrictions. Plan out the menu in advance depending on the occasion and them

grow your booty

Get ready to wake up your glutes! The 2022 Booty Challenge is going to help you lift, tone, and build your best butt in 3 weeks. We start September 26th!

We’ll be working out daily together using my 3:1 method in my training app MOVE by Love Sweat Fitness and I’ll be giving you a FREE eBook with brand new booty building recipes + pre & post workout nutrition tips just for signing up! Not only that, there’s a chance to win some amazing prizes! I can’t wait for you to join us!

I know getting and staying motivated can be tough, so I’ll also be sending you weekly emails and texts sharing tips and lots of inspiration to help you reach your goals!

Your Daily Sweat

On September 26th you will find your Booty Challenge workouts in the challenge section of MOVE

Your Workouts

You will see you three-part challenge designed to strengthen and tone your glutes.

Here’s the breakdown of what to expect each day to help grow your booty in 3 weeks!

1: Sweat Sesh

This is your main workout that is personalized for you, based on your fitness level (beginner, intermediate or advanced)

2: Daily 10

10 min workout that is great as a dynamic warm-up or a quick workout anytime, anywhere!

3: Bonus Move

This is the Booty Bonus Move that will target your glutes every day!

The Grand Prize

As if that new booty wasn’t enough, you could win a grand prize package valued at over $400 just for committing to yourself for the next 3 weeks!

How do I win?

• Take your “before” photos on day 1, so you’ll have an amazing transformation story to share with us at the end! Find all the pro tips here.
• Create an LSF Instagram account to engage with the #TeamLSF

Sharing my full (non-sponsored) review of Book of the Month and if it’s worth it. If you’d like to try it out, my referral link gives you access to your first month for $5!

Hi friends! How’s the week going so far? I hope you’re having a great one. It’s been cloudy and rainy here (so lovely!) and it’s been a pretty normal week taking care of Caro (the meds seem to be helping), doing the work thing, and shuffling the crew to activities.

For today’s post, I wanted to talk about Book of the Month since I’ve been using it for over a year now! A couple of years ago, I vowed to start reading three books per month, and it’s ended up being a realistic and attainable goal that’s brought more joy into my life. Book of the Month has been a huge part of that. It’s a monthly subscription that enables me to try out new books and authors, and I’m pumped to share more details about it with you.

*Note: this review is not sponsored and my membership is not gifted. If you’d like to use my referral link, you’ll get your first month for $5!

Is Book of the Month worth it?

(my fave hoodie in all the land)

What is Book of the Month?

Book of the Month is a monthly book subscription. You can select from a handful of new curated titles each month, or browse previous reader faves. If you don’t see something that you want to read, you can skip that month and resume the following month. I currently pay $16.97 per month and have read 14 books through my subscription.

They have BFF rewards along the way and you can earn rewards like pins, a book bag (I love mine!), birthday book, Book of the Year book, and a 20% discount in their online boutique.

Benefits of Book of the Month

You expand your reading horizons

The main reason I joined to Book of the Month was to try new authors and titles that I otherwise might not find. They provide a thorough synopsis for each book, and add excellent emoji descriptors for each option (like emotional, social issues, book length, decade, LOL, light read, slow build, quirky, rural, action-packed, non-linear timeline, supernatural, etc.)

I discovered some new favorite authors and all-time favorite