ignitehealthcoach – Page 3 – Ignite Health Coaching

01 Feb

February 1, 2022January 31, 2022ignitehealthcoach Coaching, Development, For Women, Lifestyle, Motivation, Nutrition, Workout No Comments

February 2022 Health Tips

Recipe of the Month
Crispy Baked Chicken Nuggets

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
1-pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 ½ cups Panko Breadcrumbs
Non-stick cooking spray1 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400˚FCut chicken into bitesize cubes
Add panko breadcrumbs to a large baking sheet in an even layer and lightly spray with cooking spray
Bake panko breadcrumbs for 2 minutes
Stir breadcrumbs bake for another 2-3 minutes
Transfer breadcrumbs to a medium bowl, mix in spices, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Set aside
In a separate bowl whisk milk and eggs together.
Spray baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray
Dip each chicken cube into egg and milk mixture then into the breadcrumb mixture with tongs and place evenly on baking sheet
Spray tops of dipped chicken cubes with cooking spray
Place in oven for 10 minutes
Pull chicken out and flip the chicken overPlace chicken back in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes
Pull out and let cool and enjoy with your choice of dipping sauce

These can be refrigerated for up to 4 days and rewarmed (best rewarmed in the oven to keep them crispy) or you can freeze for 2-3 months!

Movement of the Month
Push-ups
Fast and effective for building strength
Easily modified
Helps build your core
Strengthens your upper body muscles
Improves posture

To do a basic push up:
Start kneeling on the floor and bring your feet together behind you.
Bend forward to position yourself with your palms flat on the mat, hands shoulder-width apart, fingers facing forward, or hands turned slightly in (however you are most comfortable).
Your feet should be together behind you.
Your back should be flat. Keep your abs pulled in. Slowly lower your body toward the floor. Maintain a rigid torso and keep your head aligned with your spine. Don’t let your low back sag or your hips hike upward.
Continue to lower yourself to the ground. Your elbows may flare out during the downward movement. (The lower you get the more strength you are building.)Press upward with your arms. Continue pressing until your arms are fully extended at your elbows and you’re back at the top of the pushup position.
Repeat the downward movement. Start with 10 pushups, or however many you can do with proper form, and work your way up as you build strength.

Alternative: If you feel you cannot do a push-up with your legs extended, try to put your hands on something immobile, such as a table or your bed, this will take some of the tension off your upper body.
Focus on your form and your strength will come!

Monthly tip!
“All big things come from small beginnings”

— James Clear

Small things add up, one step in the right direction can and will get you to your goal.
You have to start somewhere
Be patient with yourself
Be kind to yourself
Enjoy the process

31 Jan

January 31, 2022January 31, 2022ignitehealthcoach Coaching, For Women, Lifestyle, Nutrition No Comments

5 Healthy Snacks on the run

Who LOVES to snack? I know that I do, and I am often looking for quick, on-the-go snacks that I can put together in a pinch when I am running to my next meeting or getting to my workout. The problem is the easy snacks are rarely healthy, but they are abundant at the grocery stores. They tend to be high in calories and low in nutrients. I need a snack that is not going to hinder my health or performance; instead, I need a snack that gives me the fuel to get through all my meetings and still be able to perform highly at the gym and keep me satisfied until the next full meal.

Snacks should give you energy and nutrition. The brain needs energy to power through that huge project, your body needs energy to power through that intense meeting with that important client. Snacking is not discussed nearly enough, but it is very much needed for optimal performance throughout your days.

Here are a few ideas of what is healthy and the things to look for in a snack.

Think whole foods, try to avoid processed foods.

Raw veggies and dip
Vegetables are some of lowest calorie foods and highest nutrient foods, so eating vegetables throughout the day are a great way to get your nutrients as well as keep your calories low and bonus they will keep you full longer!
Dips are just for flavor, try to stick to low fat and low sugar, I prefer hummus as it is a good source of nutrients as well as plant-based protein. I also enjoy the low fat, low sugar vegetable dips.
Apples and low sugar peanut butter
Low sugar peanut butter or nut butter is great for your healthy fats, it also has protein helping you get the fuel you need for your brain to get through the rest the day
Apples are high in fiber and will help give you the energy to push through!
Low-fat cottage cheese and fruit
Low fat cottage cheese, is a great source of calcium as well as protein, giving you needed nutrients as well as getting you protein to get you to your next meal.
Fruit is a great source of vitamins and fiber and great little sweet treat
Small low sugar peanut butter and jelly sandwich
A sandwich made with whole grain bread is a great easy filling snack that will hold you over for an extended period. Be sure to use whole grains and low sugar, you don’t want to have a sugar crash!
Fruit and nuts
Fruit is high in the vitamins you need, the more variety you have the better!
Roasted Nuts are not only a great source of protein they also are great for your healthy fats.

Ignitehealthcoach.com

Reach out to me if you want to learn more about healthy snacks, and healthy eating.

24 Jan

January 24, 2022January 24, 2022ignitehealthcoach Coaching, For Women, Lifestyle, Motivation, Nutrition, Workout No Comments

Staying Healthy Through the Grind

Do you ever get that elated feeling when you are doing it all and killing it? And then almost in the blink of an eye get overwhelmed with everything you have going on? Well, you’re not alone!!

We are all doing so much, from handling at-home duties, cooking, cleaning, and paying bills. We are all just trying to keep it together, from going to work and having endless amounts of meetings to dealing with that one co-worker who seems to make it a goal to be a bigger pain every time you see them. We haven’t even touched on trying to see your friends or at the very least have a phone call with them or remember to send them a Happy Birthday text (Jen, sorry about that)! There is always so much going on, and if you are anything like me your brain is always stuck in hyperdrive just thinking of the next thing that needs to get done. I know, I know! When you stop, think, and look back, how in the world do we do it all? We can all make jokes about how hard adulting is, but dang! Nobody ever told me it was going to be this hard. My parents certainly never made it look this hard!

Now let’s talk about how crazy it sounds to add something into an already packed schedule – but if your health is not already included in that schedule, it absolutely needs to be. Staying healthy is exactly how we can keep doing everything we do and make sure we are doing it well. We need our health to go to work, we need our health to be able to run that meeting like a boss babe! Our health is the one thing that is holding it all together, but we all know it is the easiest and the first thing on the list of things to do that fall to the wayside. Luckily for you, you are reading the right person’s blog because that is the one thing, I understand how to take care of. I used to work in a stressful, full-on 100% of the time, petal to the metal go-go-go environment, so I understand what you are up against, and it often seems almost impossible to keep it all together and make time for you and your health.

So, let’s slow it down for a moment and talk about the little things we can do to help our health out and keep ourselves going so that we can get through our crazy schedules!!

I like to think that there are two major places in our health where we can focus our energy. Luckily, these two areas help with your stress levels, your brain functionality (help get rid of that brain fog we are all so fond of), help you sleep better, and give you more energy to go coach your kids or focus on your family! These two areas are Nutrition and Exercise! SHOCKING, I KNOW!!!

We will start with nutrition! Nutrition is my favorite thing to talk about, mostly because I LOVE food, but also because I love what it does and how it can impact our health. I think food is an underappreciated part of health. We know we must eat to survive, but did you know eating the wrong things cause all sorts of issues in your body. For example, the classic sugar rush and sugar crash dilemma; you have that candy bar at 2:00 pm daily, but you are forcing your body to rush around trying to deal with the sugar until you experience the inevitable crash at 3:30 pm. Let’s not forget you still must get home from work, make dinner, get your kids to practice, or help them with their homework. Now wouldn’t it be better to eat a well-balanced snack like apples and peanut butter or cheese and fruit that will give you a more sustainable boost of energy to get you to the end of the day and beyond. Yes, we all must eat to survive, but we also must think about what we eat to keep ourselves moving, keep your brain and body optimally powered. This means we must stop skipping healthy snacks and meals and actually eat throughout the day. I like to start with protein to help my brain and body keep moving and maintain high levels of energy, then I add a variety of vegetables to help me get the proper nutrients throughout the day as well as keep me full. Did you know that most of the American population do not get enough vegetables in their daily diet causing all sorts of other health-related issues we do not have time to discuss today? Long story short, eat your vegetables and keep the variety. Do NOT forget to stay hydrated! I know you must start your day with coffee, and let’s be real so do I, but be aware of your thirst! You do not need to be drinking gallons of water each day even though if you do you will get your step count up with all the trips back and forth to the restroom. Your body is actually pretty cool, it will tell you if you need water or not, if you are thirsty that is your body telling you that you need some water. Water is prevalent in a lot of different foods, but as we all know our bodies are made up mostly of water so pay attention to your body’s cues and drink up!!

Now let’s wrap it up by talking about exercise, you know the thing that I like to do when I am bored, oh wait I am usually too busy to sit down and breath! I get it, exercise seems like a great thing to do when you actually have the time. There are a million ways to get yourself to the gym or even downstairs to your home gym if you are lucky enough to have one or at the very least out for a walk, run, or bike ride. It is hard to make exercise a priority, and the only way I seem to make time for exercise is to block out time on my calendar. I like to schedule an appointment with myself because the time scheduled with just me is just as important if not more important than that meeting at 10 am next Tuesday, so why would I cancel a meeting with myself if I cannot do the same for any other meeting? What about those days that it is literally impossible to get a workout in? Think NEAT – non-exercise activity thermogenesis. What this equates to are the calories or movements you get in when you are not working out. These movements account for the majority of the calories you burn during any given day. So, when you can’t get to the gym, do some of those drills at your kids’ basketball practice, take the dog for a walk, park further from the door, take the stairs because these little things add up and in the long run will help you stay active and healthy!

17 Jan

January 17, 2022January 17, 2022ignitehealthcoach Coaching, Lifestyle, Motivation, Nutrition No Comments

3 easy steps to help choose meals for your family

I know what you’re thinking, cooking at home is so tedious, so time-consuming, and maybe you even find yourself wondering where to start. We have all been there, sitting around asking the question, “what should we eat?” or had the moment when we open the refrigerator and stare inside with an empty gaze because we have no idea what to make. My weekly thought is I wish there was an easy way to decide what to cook?

Here you go – 3 easy steps to help choose meals for you and your family.

Meal planning plays an integral part in keeping your health and budget in check. Meal planning is necessary to avoid running out to eat every night of the week or ordering Door Dash or making a “quick stop” at the grocery store. Meal planning helps take the stress out of dinner and helps make it more of an enjoyable time with your family at the end of the day.

Last week we talked about how to meal plan, but I think an equally important question is how do you choose the meals? Yes, you want the food to be something you and your family will enjoy but you want to be sure it is also nutritional, containing all the vitamins and minerals and healthy nutrients so that your family can be the best versions of themselves.

We all feel like we are running on fumes the majority of the time and are trying to do everything correct both at work and in our personal lives. Trying to keep it all together takes a lot, a lot of energy, and a lot of focus. I would like to think this is one little thing that can give you the starting point for an easier day-to-day.

Nutrition is one of the most important parts of losing weight, maintaining a healthy weight, keeping your brain focused on tasks, keeping your body fueled for that workout or that long day at work. Having a well-balanced meal will help you and your family have a more efficient and impactful life.

Below are the ways I choose a meal to be sure me and my boyfriend are getting the most nutrient-dense meals we can have while fitting into our lifestyle.

What should be on the plate?

This question has become one of the hardest questions when choosing a meal, and this is partly due to the controversial debate about carbs and fats. We have all heard carbs are bad, carbs are the enemy and fats are not good for you. Well, what is good for you? As a matter of fact, carbs and fats are both necessities for a healthy diet.

Let’s start with the least controversial part of the meal, the protein. It does not matter if you are a meat-eater or not. Your plate should be about a quarter of protein, this portion should be about the size of the palm of your hand.

Let’s now move on to carbs, while carbs have a bad reputation, they are necessary for your body to function healthily. Carbs will come from all sorts of places, they come from vegetables, fruits as well as grains. When you are looking at grains for your carbs you want to be sure these are whole grains. An easy rule of thumb is to think the less processed something is the better it is for you. Carbs should be about another quarter of your plate being about a fist size.

Now for the good stuff, FRUITS and VEGGIES. Fruits and vegetables should make up about half of your plate, so do not be afraid, the more the merrier. This portion of your plate is very nutrient-dense and necessary for a healthy body and body function. While fresh produce is generally preferred, it can be hard to always have fresh with living in suburban settings, so frozen is awesome and stores for extended periods of time and canned vegetables such as green beans are also great once rinsed.

Fats are the discussion that becomes the most complicated. There are “good” fats and “bad” fats. We tend to think fats give food flavor, which perhaps they do, but fresh produce and a good cut of meat need little fat to be amazing. Let’s first stop and think about where healthy fats come from. Healthy fats come from things such as avocados, nuts, and seeds. If you want to get the best health benefits from fats, eat whole nuts and avocados. If you need some oil to sauté those veggies in to add a bit of flavor to your chicken, try to use things like Avocado oil, olive oil, or sesame seed oil these are easily found at most grocery stores or bulk stores and have the same effects as other oils.

2. How much time do you have to cook?

I like to plan out my week, so I know with each meal how much time I must cook the meal, or if it needs to be premade. For instance, during the week we know that lunches and breakfasts generally need to be made in 5 minutes or less otherwise they need to be premade and easily rewarmed and assembled. Dinner tends to vary night to night depending on the meal that we choose, some nights it can take an hour to cook and other nights it could only take 20 minutes.

3. What sounds good?

I think when cooking for not just yourself but other people, it is hard to make the decision what sounds good. I have a pretty good idea of things my boyfriend enjoys eating and I know what I like, so I can usually make an educated decision, but when I am really stumped, I begin to think about what category we haven’t had in a while or what category is always good, such as Italian food or American food or breakfast food. Once this decision is made, it is time to start finding the recipes. If you remember from last week, I prefer to find these on Pinterest or Google, and to be sure I have them saved somewhere for easy access.

Alright, you have chosen your meals! Now get ready to go grocery shopping!!!

Reach out to me if you are looking for more diet information or want to stay accountable!

Jordan@ignitehealthcoach.com

10 Jan

January 10, 2022January 10, 2022ignitehealthcoach Coaching, Nutrition No Comments

5 Easy Steps to Meal Planning

5 easy steps to meal planning for the person who is always on the run.

One of the largest struggles that I contend with constantly while trying to meal prep is being too busy. I finally had that irritating moment a few years back when I found myself going to the grocery store on a Thursday night for the fourth time that week. A normal full grocery trip on Sunday followed by three “quick trips” after work. I walked into the grocery store thinking about how much time I had spent at that very store in the last seven days. Yeah you say it will be a five minute trip in and out, but then you get to the item you are there to grab and are hit with multiple options, and you don’t know which one to get so you take a few minutes to make a decision, then you have to get in line, and guess what you’re not the only one there just to grab a few items to make dinner, so now your five-minute trip turned into 10 minutes and that is not even factoring in the craziness of an after-work grocery store parking lot. I don’t know about you, but I do not have an extra 30 minutes for three additional trips to the grocery store. If I had just gotten all these items on Sunday during my normal grocery shopping time, I may have added 15 minutes to that trip, but it would have saved me time and effort in the long run. I realized I was wasting my time by not planning my meals and grocery list ahead of time. By meal planning, I am now spending more time on the things that matter and saving money by being aware of what I have and what I need.

Planning ahead is difficult, you have to think about what is happening a day or even a week ahead, and let’s face it most days don’t go as planned. When I say meal planning, I know a lot of people roll their eyes, but as Benjamin Franklin said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail”. I get it, we have all been there when you are running around like crazy and you can’t even imagine what the next week of your life is going to be like, you feel frantic and stressed out. This is why it is so important to find one thing that you can try to control and why not make it something you need to live as well as something that can bring you joy, FOOD! Think back to one of your first meal you made for yourself, not so far back that you are only thinking about that one meal that had no flavor and was literally like eating cardboard but think about that one meal that you made that you thoroughly enjoyed! Maybe you were making it for your friends, or a family member and they bit into it and ate it without a pacifying expression, so you took a bite, and you were shocked at how good it was. We are not all gourmet chefs, but that first meal you made that was edible, how did you feel? Proud of yourself, excited, happy? I try to replicate that feeling once a week with a new recipe I am trying out, just to keep the thrill and enjoyment in the kitchen and eating at home.

Meal planning is one of the hardest parts of cooking at home for me. Meal planning always gets forgotten in the hustle and bustle of everything else, between work, seeing family and friends, and everything in between. Meal planning can also be a struggle for a lot of people without knowing how to cook or feeling like they are always making the same things. It is hard to know where to start and how to keep it healthy for you and your family.

Meal planning is overwhelming, not only do you have three meals in a day you have to plan for, you also have to be sure you have some healthy snacks around so you don’t end up ruining that meal you are making in two hours with a giant bag of potato chips or worse a quick trip down to Taco Bell. I am going to share five easy steps to break down the meal planning process and to help you make your meal planning healthier.

I know it seems like a lot, but it goes faster than you may think, and as with everything, a little practice makes you better. Each step below is a guide to follow with each meal, every day of the week.

Start with your favorite meal.

I love dinner, it is usually when my boyfriend and I can sit down together, catch up on the goings-on of the day and spend some time together. Sometimes it is a little later in the day as work takes precedence, or it is earlier as we are trying to make it out the door to support our nieces and nephews in whatever sport is going on at the time.

2. Think about how much time you have available to cook and eat each meal.

Breakfast, lunch, dinners, and snacks each day have different time constraints. Some mornings you may have time to make yourself the full breakfast with eggs, bacon, and pancakes, and other mornings you are lucky if you even have time to eat anything at all. Knowing what your time frames look like helps you plan for those quick on-the-go meals as well as the meals you get to enjoy cooking and eating with your loved ones.

3. Think about what sounds good.

Every person and family has a variety of preferences, nutritional needs, and allergies. When meal planning it is very important to take this all into consideration. If I decide to make something that I don’t typically enjoy or doesn’t sound particularly good, for instance, a huge heavy thanksgiving type dinner in the middle of summer when it is 100˚F out, I will not make it or eat it and all the food purchased for that meal will go to waste, which then leads to choosing an unhealthy meal instead. Choosing what you and your family enjoy is very important. Nobody wants to make two meals for four people because someone doesn’t like mushrooms in their pasta. Not only is it a waste of food, but it is also a lot of time and energy, and those are valuable resources we cannot waste.

4. Find the recipes.

Personally, I LOVE Pinterest, I think they have figured out how to make it easy to find exactly what you are looking for and have made it easy to save recipes so you can find them later when you decide you want to make that recipe. I know many people who do not have Pinterest accounts which I get, who want another account with one more password that you are going to forget. Google works too, you need to be a bit more specific in what you are looking for, but it works, and you can bookmark it, print it, or save the website elsewhere so you can access it later. This is also where you can test your ideas, I like to send recipes I want to try to my boyfriend to see if he thinks they sound good. An added benefit to sharing recipes is both of us have the recipe so when life inevitably tells me one day, I don’t have time to cook he can step in and make it for us.

5. Make the grocery list.

You have each day planned with your meals and snacks, and your recipes stored, all that is left is going to the grocery store. Grocery shopping is one of my least favorite adulting activities, it is expensive yet necessary for survival, much like the electric bill. The only way that I have found to make grocery shopping as painless as possible is by making a grocery list, so we can get in and out. Luckily, you have put in the leg work already, so the grocery list is easy to put together. You will now go through your recipes and decide what you still need outside of what you already have in your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. I know in our house we always have a stockpile of pasta, so when I am making a pasta meal, I usually don’t need to add spaghetti noodles to the list. We do often run out of breadcrumbs (they don’t usually make those containers big enough), when I am doing baked fish sticks or chicken nuggets, so I usually need to check to be sure I don’t need more. If you are making this list while not at home (sitting at your desk at work, where I often make my food plans for the next week) I add everything I am unsure of needing and mark it in a different color or with a symbol next to it, so I know to double-check if I need them prior to heading out to the grocery store.

Meal planning does not have to be the daunting task that we often view it as. As with anything a little preparation, thought and care throughout the week can put you in a position to be eating healthier, saving time and money along the way. I know by planning out our meals, snacks, and grocery list we can control one thing in our busy lives, which sets us up for success in other areas of our days.

Reach out to me for more information on meal prepping and building a sustainable healthy lifestyle for your busy life!!

03 Jan

January 3, 2022January 4, 2022ignitehealthcoach Uncategorized No Comments

January 2022 Health Tips

04 Oct

October 4, 2021October 5, 2021ignitehealthcoach Business No Comments

Fuel the Workday!

Providing high quality information and resources that help you learn and develop the skills you need to make the most of everyday life these resources will help you to improve your personal and professional life.

04 Oct

October 4, 2021October 5, 2021ignitehealthcoach Business No Comments

How can I get any Exercise?

04 Oct

October 4, 2021October 5, 2021ignitehealthcoach Business No Comments

Stressed Out!

1 2 3