Get fit like J-Lo

Jennifer Lopez has been a hot  topic ever since her and Shakira’s half time performance at the Superbowl.

It’s left a lot of us feeling like this.....

Although we’d be kidding to think genetics weren’t involved at all, Lopez gives a lot of credit to her healthy lifestyle for the way she looks at 50.

She…

works out  

makes healthy food choices 

drinks a lot of water 

and sleeps 8 hours a night 

It’s not rocket  science; just good ol’ fashion consistency.

In this free E-book, 12 Things You Can Do To Get A Body Like Jennifer Lopez, you can find a more in-depth look at how J Lo keeps in tip-top shape and new habits you can implement into your own life.

I think you’ll find that it’s a totally doable routine for the average person!

Next week I’ll be sharing with you FIVE healthy GREEN recipes to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!

Keep in touch! I'm always here for you

TIPS TO GET BACK ON TRACK

I don’t know about you but for a lot of people the excitement of 2020 is fading and so is the motivation for our New Year’s resolutions. Believe me, I’m feeling it too 😅 We all have those moments where we lose our motivation and struggle to get it back (if we even do!).

We’re only human and life is HARD so we fall off the wagon. But luckily we can get back on! Here are a few ways you can restart your motivation and get excited about your goals again 👇

Focus on the positive ✅

Remind yourself why you started and what you are hoping to achieve at the end. If your goal is to workout 3 times per week what will you gain by doing so? 

Let go of the negative thoughts around the process and focus on the positive. Write what you will have at the end on sticky notes and put them on your mirrors, on your steering wheel and the background on your phone so you are always reminded of what you’re working towards.

Don’t do it alone ✅

It’s a lot harder to find motivation on your own but if you have a core group of supporters it will be much easier to get back on track. Make sure you have a workout buddy or someone you check in with to hold each other accountable. You can’t let the other person down by falling into a rut so some peer pressure will help you to stick to your original plan.

Get off of social media ✅

Social media is great until it’s not. Everyone only posts their highlight reel and it gives a false idea of who we all are. If you feel bad about yourself after scrolling on Instagram it might be time for a break. Focus on yourself and your progress and stay off of any platform that you can play the comparison game on.

Reward yourself ✅

Changing habits isn’t easy and it can be hard to get up once you’ve fallen. Reward yourself with small things as you go throughout the journey. Try to reward yourself with fun experiences, date nights, or new clothes. 

You can even do a reverse award by giving someone $100 and letting them know that you can only get it back when you finish your workout. That way you have the motivation and get rewarded with your $100 back.

Everyone is different and finds motivation in different ways. Find out what works for you and use it to your advantage!

One way you can get motivated is with by surrounding yourself with other people working on goals! If you're having a hard time pressing play on your workout join us in the morning. The workout link is at the top of www.jessicabrownfitness.com

Don't worry your line is mute and everybody is doing a different workout program. Just show and be ready to sweat baby sweat! People jump on and off around 4:30-8am!  I found this even for me is the extra accountability I NEED and it might be yours too. 

You know what else helps with motivation? Seeing inspirational transformation photos! 

“I have abs! I never knew they were there, but after 60 days of Barre Blend, they made themselves known. I loved that the workouts are 30 to 40 minutes–so there is no excuse for not finding the time in your day to dedicate to yourself and make these crucial improvements.” –Marina B. Results achieved in 8 weeks

 —Marina B.

Josh Lost 6 pounds and 9.25 inches! 

Can you say-HELLO ABBBBSSSS!!!! And this was just 20 minutes a day!!!!

Well now I'm pumped! brb, gotta go workout! ;) PS-If you need the extra support & accountability! I’m here for ya! Just shoot me an email jessicabrownfitness@gmail.com

Healthy Ways to Use Thanksgiving Leftovers

The feast is over, but the fun isn’t. Hopefully you have Thanksgiving leftovers! Instead of piling them on your plate for Thanksgiving, Part 2: The Wrath of Stuffing, try these healthy and frugal ways to use them up!

EVERYTHING

• A little bit of all of your healthiest thanksgiving leftovers together in a whole-grain pita or wrapped in a tortilla is really what the day after Thaksgiving is all about.

TURKEY

• Make a turkey hash. Recipe tip: Omit the ground turkey. Cook the onion, pepper, and potato together and then add cooked turkey in the last step.

• Build a sandwich on whole-grain bread with turkey, lettuce, and cranberry sauce.

• Replace chicken with chopped turkey scrambled eggs.

• Use as a topping for chili or in a heartly vegetable soup.

VEGETABLES

• Top leftover green beans or brussels sprouts with a poached egg,

• Substitute chard with your veggie leftovers in a frittata. (Sweet potatoes taste great in this way too!)

• Mix with cooked farro or other whole grains and a touch of feta cheese.

SWEET POTATOES

• This make a pumpkin chili and sub out the pumpkin for sweet potatoes!

• Add your roasted sweet potatoes or yams to a potatoe salad.

STUFFING

• Aadd a scoop of stuffing atop salad greens.

• Bread stuffing can be mixed with leftover green beans and brussels sprouts and re-baked in muffin tins for perfect portions.

• For savory pancakes mix ¼ cup stuffing with 1 egg white. Form into a patty shape and cook in a nonstick skillet for 2 minutes. Flip and cook 2 minutes more.

CRANBERRY SAUCE

• Stir a tablespoon or two into into plain yogurt or oatmeal.

• Add a spoonful to your Shakeology®.

• Use as a topping on healthy waffles

TIP: If you add cranberry sauce to yogurt or Shakeology, make sure you consume it within 5–10 minutes, as the acidity in cranberries may cause dairy to curdle.

GRAVY

• Freeze leftover gravy in ice cube trays. These are perfect portions for future dinners.

How to get your kids to eat those greens!

Do you have a hard time getting your family to eat veggies? Have you tried EVERYTHING? Here are some of my tips to help your family get those veggies in.

1. Lead by example. Monkey see monkey do!

2. Get them involved. Have them help you make lunch or dinner. Children are more invested in a meal if they help with it.

3. Enforce the one bite rule. Then introduce that veggie at least 8-10 more times. After enough exposures, the food will be more familiar to the child and usually, they begin to rate it more favorably.

4. Don’t make the decision for them. Don’t assume your child doesn't like certain veggies. For example, I eat spinach a lot and never thought to give some to my children some until one day they asked if they could try it. Now they love to eat raw spinach. I guess this is where I can go back and say start with number 1 (lead by example).

5. Make it cute! The teacher comes out in me here. Assemble cute smiley faces, ants on a log, pretend to be a walrus, you get my drift. When you make things fun it gets your children excited and creates a fun feeling around healthy foods.

6. Hide spinach. It’s one vegetable you can’t taste when hidden in a smoothie.

Being a mom of 3 small kids I get how hard it can be, trust me, I’m far from perfect but every day it’s a learning experience & I’ve learned to be thankful for it. Remember when introducing these new rules/foods consistency WILL always win the race. Don’t get mad, remember this is new to your child, make the most of it.

My best tips for healthy eating - Family edition

I get these two questions a lot:

1. How do I keep my family of 5 on track with our health and fitness? 
2. How do I make healthy dinners FAMILY APPROVED? 

First I have to mention, yes our family does eat healthy but never mistake this for we are PERFECT when it comes to our meals. Truth be told I could actually eat like a toddler and be ok with it IF a good feeling came from it.  Problem is being a mom of 3 I NEED the energy and I want to teach my kids to have a healthy relationship with food. 

Here are a few tips that have helped me along the way. 

Learn to have a healthy relationship with food and share that relationship with your family. One way to create a healthy relationship is to stop focusing on everything you shouldn’t be eating and start focusing on everything you should be eating. Where our focus goes our energy flows. Start to focus and pay attention to food that will fuel your body properly. 

Remind yourself food is FUEL and we need our tanks on FULL to perform at the best of our abilities. Same goes for our kids. If your kids start to crash or have outburst know this could be due to the amount of sugar in their diets. 

Think of it like this….You wouldn’t put regular gas in a diesel truck and expect for it to perform. A diesel truck needs healthy “diesel” fuel that will make it run without crashing. Think of your body as a well-oiled diesel machine that needs the good gas! 

#KHSS-Keep Healthy Stupid Simple and stop overcomplicating.  For dinner, I like to make sure my family is eating a protein, healthy carb & veggie for dinner. That’s it! No rocket science here just a well-balanced meal. If you're wondering what’s a healthy carb, protein and well all veggies are healthy here’s a list for you. (start following this hashtag #KHSS for my healthy meals) 

Please remember ANY type of change resistance will be created. Not only with you but your family! STAY FOCUSED on what you want for yourself and your family. 

Making Healthy Easy 101

I think we can all agree we overcomplicate a lot of things in life but staying on track with healthy eating doesn’t have to be one of them. I like simple. I like easy. I like straight to the point…. So if this is you keep on reading!

I was someone that didn’t always know how to fuel my body properly. I thought that eating 100 calorie snacks, reduced fat foods, lower calories foods was the way to go. Boy! Was I wrong. My energy always felt depleted, my eczema would flare up and I knew something had to change in my life.

My goal for today is to teach you what I’ve learned that has changed my life completely around. This is the basics of HOW TO FUEL YOUR BODY PROPERLY.

Yes, you heard me -- YOUR body! We are all different and require a different amount of food to keep us going in order to perform to the best of our abilities. It truly can be as simple as "I need x amount of each food group to fuel my body properly." Every day I now say to myself...Jess did you eat x amounts of fruits, veggies, proteins, carbs, healthy fats, etc. 

Go HERE -  I broke down the first seven days of your health and fitness journey. Please pay attention to day #2! NUTRITION!

On day #2,  I’ll be teaching you how much of what to eat each day and the portion of each food group. Meal plans &  master food list included.

Learn a lifestyle change that will change the course of your life and families life forever.