Happy birthday, P

Happy birthday, P

  October 26, 2021    Pratik Bandagale

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Our baby is 6 and for some reason, 6 is hitting SO much harder than 5. She truly feels like a big kid now, and I’m constantly in this mode of wanting to freeze time while simultaneously loving to see these babies grow into such amazing and fun kids.

Some things about our now 6-year old:

– She’s always ready for a snuggle, and I call her my baby koala. If I had a pouch, she’d let me carry her around in there all day… and I would love it.

– She’s our little engineer and can build or create anything. It’s not unusual for her to have tape, scissors, glue, and paper, crafting or making some type of contraption, or building elaborate Lego sets. When she’s in Lego mode, I can’t even go near her until she’s gone through the entire book and built the whole thing by herself.

– Our little comedian; she’s constantly cracking us up with silly voices and facial expressions. Her Zingo victory dance is a gold star, let me tell ya.

– Her favorite foods are avocado toast, poke bowls, scrambled eggs, and sushi.

– This kid is full of hip hop dance moves, soccer dribbling, and can ride a horse better than most kids twice her age. She loves animals and they always seem to love her back.

– She has such inherent goodness in her heart and is always bursting with joy. The first 6 months her life were filled with the most painful and horrifying reflux, and we think that once she realized how great she feels when she doesn’t have reflux, she’s been the happiest little goose ever since.

– She’s super smart and very silly… and watching her and Liv play together is one of my favorite favorite things.

We had her birthday party this weekend (on the Pilot’s actual birthday… sorry Pilot haha) and are celebrating her all day today 🙂 Her party was at TRAK (horse rides, petting zoo, face painter) and we had a blast celebrating with friends and family. It was a double celebration, because the Pilot’s birthday dinner was at our house later that evening. For dinner tonight, she requested, “The place where they light the table on fire and cook your food” so that’s where we’ll be. 😉

Have a lovely day, friends! I’ll see ya in the am with a full post on my experience using Nutrisense.

xo

Gina

P’s birth story is here. Reading it for a good cry today <3

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Protein Packed Peanut Butter Cups

Protein Packed Peanut Butter Cups

  October 25, 2021    Pratik Bandagale

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protein packed peanut butter cups

This LSF Plant Protein recipe is one of the easiest I’ve made in a while and also the most delicious! If you’re a fan of Reese’s you are going to be obsessed with these protein packed peanut butter cups! They take less than 10 minutes to make and will be ready to enjoy in under 30.

Try the recipe below 👇 and make sure to tag me on instagram when you make them!

Protein Peanut Butter Cup Recipe

Recipe makes approximately 8-19 mini peanut butter cups

Ingredients

• 2–3 tablespoons LSF Plant Protein in Vanilla
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 tbsp coconut oil

Directions

Combined chocolate chips and coconut oil in microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30second bursts, stirring regularly, until melted. 

In a separate bowl, mix peanut butter and vanilla protein until well combined and a doughy texture. You my need to add more protein or peanut butter depending on how runny your peanut butter is.

Line a mini muffin tin with silicon cups or use a silicone mini muffin pan. Fill bottom with melted chocolate (about 1/2tsp on each). Place in the freezer for about 10 minutes 

Remove cups from freezer and roll peanut butter mixture into small balls to fill the cups. Use as much of the mixture in each as you want – i like them super peanut buttery so I use larger balls. Place one in each pressing down slightly. 

Fill that remainder of the cups with chocolate to coat sides and top and place back in the freezer for another 10-15 minutes. 

Store your peanut butter cups in the freezer and enjoy!

Want more recipes? Checkout some of my favorites here

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Friday Faves

Friday Faves

  October 22, 2021    Pratik Bandagale

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Hey hey! Happy Friday! How was the week? I hope you had a great one! It was a bit of blur over here: tons of podcast recording, getting new Fit Team plans ready (they go out next week!), and prepping for party weekend. We have Trunk or Treat tonight, the Pilot’s birthday on Sunday, and P’s birthday party…. it’s going to be a festive and wild weekend. I hope you have a wonderful one, too.

(Painted these skulls with the girls last weekend)

Maisey, the unofficial soccer mascot:

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party! This is where I share some faves from the week and around the web.  I always love hearing about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below 🙂

Read, watch, listen:

I love the idea of a restaurant surprise.

Check out this week’s podcast interview here!

The paradox of “less is more” and how it can improve your life.

Great list of productivity tips.

Fitness + good eats:

HallowLEAN workout

Making a batch of this pumpkin oatmeal bake for easy breakfasts next week

LOVE this twist tie top from Carbon38 and wear it all the time. Code GINAHAR gets you 15% off orders over $100.

Apple crisp with oatmeal topping

This my go-to chicken tortilla soup recipe

Fashion + beauty:

Omggggggg friends. One of my favorite companies, HigherDOSE (they make my beloved sauna blanket) just released a red light face mask. I’ve been on the fence about investing in one and have been reading reviews, but decided to wait. I’m glad I did because as soon as I saw that they had released one, I knew it would be the winner. The price is significantly lower than other brands I’ve checked out, and it has all of the same benefits. It includes red and near-infrared lights that can help to boost mood, collagen production, skin healing, and can help to reduce wrinkles and sun spots. Bonus: it’s cordless!! You can put it on and walk around like a creeper lol. Just in time for Halloween! Check it out here 🙂

Beautycounter is 20% off for new clients (code CLEANFORALL20 and email address not associated with a previous order) and holiday sets are included!

Some of my top picks: 

Mini lip gloss set (love breaking these apart for stocking stuffers and little gifts for Liv’s friends), Clean Dreams (comes with the cutest sleep mask), Mini Must-haves, Good Scents Hand Cream trio (another one you can break apart, and love having these in my purse and the car for the colder season), Best in Clean Heroes (mini versions of our bestsellers! A great way to try out the brand if you’re new).

Happy Friday, friends!

xo

Gina

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089: Balancing Fitness and Motherhood with Courtney Alcala

089: Balancing Fitness and Motherhood with Courtney Alcala

  October 21, 2021    Pratik Bandagale

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Hi friends! Today I’m chatting with Courtney Alcala all about balancing fitness and motherhood. It can be tricky to do all the things, but she has some great tips and insight.

Here’s what we talk about:

– Balancing a corporate career, training, and life as a mom (her baby is 5 months old)

– Her background in health and fitness

– Behind the scenes of the bikini competition world

and so much more.

Here’s a bit more about Courtney: 

Courtney received a double dose of determination and grit growing up as an Army brat. The child of an intelligence analyst and a Green Beret, she learned how to assimilate, make friends quickly, and do things that were uncomfortable at a young age. In her youth, she was very involved with youth group, showing horses, dance team, competitive canoe racing, and salsa dancing.

Courtney’s mission is to build and nurture a fitness community of busy bee women who desire support in balancing their wellness goals with their career and family obligations. She works full-time as a traveling clinical research monitor, and remotely as a fitness coach/community leader. Courtney is a signed fitness model and winner of the 2020 Arnold Classic Model Search, which led to her first magazine cover. She has experience teaching a multitude of GX classes (Pilates, boot camp, body bar, barre, cardio dance, salsa, bachata, cha cha); summits; seminars; and opening gyms.

Courtney is an ACE certified personal trainer and holds her M.S. in Health Education. Her dedication to provide quality education to her clients has led her to work with renowned athletes and athletic trainers.  Courtney and her husband welcomed their first baby into the world in May of 2021. She looks forward to leading her first STRONGCAMP postpartum in Spring of 2022, and is currently working with groups of women in her Fitness App to help them fit “fitness” into their busy lives.

You can connect with Courtney on her Instagram.

Resources from this episode:

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 FITNESSISTA75 for $75 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. Link to check it out here.

Get 15% off Organifi with the code FITNESSISTA. I drink the green juice and red juice daily, and also love adding the gold powder at night for relaxation and sleep.

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. The goji rose donut is my very fave and the salads and enormous and delicious.

Thank you so much for listening and for all of your support with the podcast! Please leave a rating or review if you enjoyed this episode. If you leave a rating, head to this page and you’ll get a little “thank you” gift from me to you. 

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Fitness Favorites For Fall & Winter

Fitness Favorites For Fall & Winter

  October 20, 2021    Pratik Bandagale

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I’m sharing fitness favorites – from cozy layers and leggings to soft sports bras and beanies – that I’m loving for fall and winter.

With fall in full swing and winter not far off, I’ve switched out my summer shorts and breezy tanks in all the bright colors for some of my favorite layers and leggings! If you’ve been wanting to revamp your fitness attire and gear for the cooler months ahead (it’s jogger season!), I’m sharing some fitness favorites that I am loving lately. I am really into the rusty brown color palette that’s trending!

Whether you’re doing at home workouts, or back to hitting the gym, these comfy finds will help you feel good no matter how you’re moving.

Fitness Favorites For Fall & Winter

Lululemon Invigorate Training Tank Top in Aztec Brick – The ideal cropped tank for weight training or Peloton rides. Adding a couple to my shopping cart now!

Lululemon Align Joggers in Copper Brown – Obsessing over this copper brown color and Align is one of my favorite fitness fabrics. It’s the softest and wears well for a long time.

Lululemon Align Reversible Bra – Cute tie dye sports bra for my fellow smaller chested friends. I have two of these and love them.

Athleta Coaster Luxe Sweatshirt – I’ve heard great things about this Athleta sweater. You can definitely dress it up or down and it’s the perfect layer to throw on after yoga.

Athleta Kinetic Beanie – Versatile beanie to keep warm on winter walks!

Century Leggings 2.0 – I have these and get compliments every time I wear them. (Also, can leopard never go out of style, please?) You can use my code GINAHAR for 15% off your Carbon38 order over $100.

These short-sleeve tees are my fave (also from Carbon!). I wear them constantly to train clients and they’re cute with leggings and a sweater tied around your waist.

Free People The Way Home Shorts – I’ve been eyeing these popular shorts for a while and might snag a pair. They come in a million colors, have a flattering high rise and would be perfect for fall hiking in Arizona.

Free People Full Hearts Tank – I like the details of this flowy, almost peplum like, tank with a V-neck.

Aerie Twist Headband – Cute accessory to keep the hairs from going wild during a sweat sesh.

 

Where do you get most of your fitness gear these days? Any faves you’ve found lately? Hope you have a great day and I’ll see you soon!

xo

Gina

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