Clean Eating

We have fitness guru, Jen Senecal with us as our real mom. I bet you can’t stop staring at her abs. Jen had 3 kids in 3 years! She has been an extremely busy mom but she didn’t let that stop her. She dedicates 1 hour a day to her fitness program and sets up meal plans every week to keep her family eating healthy. I follow Jen on instagram and she has motivated me in a huge way. I make her  healthy salads for lunch (use her super seed mix) and I love her coconut popcorn. She eats clean throughout the week but also indulges. Read her tips below and check back for a fitness post. She is such an inspiring person. Thanks Jen for sharing!

I’ve been an exercise junkie for as long as I can remember.What started as tennis and soccer at age 5 turned into my first gym membership at age 13. I was addicted to the endorphin release and powerful feeling of happiness after I exercised. From there, athletics and sweat sessions became a way of life, for a very long time. 

Until I got pregnant. 

I had three daughters in a matter of 3 years and while none of my pregnancies were particularly hard on me, I quickly fell into what most new moms do—survival mode. All that health and fitness took a backseat to desperate attempts to shower and sleep. It wasn’t until the beginning of this year, after a 5-year hiatus, that I’d decided to take control and get back to the woman I was before I was a mom. My energy was depleted, my muscles felt weak (most likely from carrying those 50,000 pound infant carriers for the prior 5 years), and I just was tired of feeling like the world was kicking my ass. 

I needed to be that strong, fit woman I was before, so that my three daughters would grow up with the same drive. I wanted to lead by example, more than ever, so I joined a gym and floored the gas pedal. 

If I’ve learned anything, it’s that excuses will get in the way of any healthy journey. I didn’t “have time” when I actually didn’t “have drive.” I head to the gym at 8:15 pm at night now, after the kids go to bed. I read all that I can about fitness and health. I follow fitness FB pages, Instagram feeds and Twitter accounts. I look to my friends for their awesome healthy recipe ideas and we join athletic challenges together to motivate one another. There is an entire support team out there, waiting for you to take the plunge. You just gotta take it.

Because it’s life-changing. 

It wasn’t until this year that I began to learn what it really meant to eat well. I’ve always been decent in my eating habits, but my 20 year-old self had different versions of what that meant. Now, as a 35 year-old mom, I am adamant about knowing and understanding food and how it fuels your body and mental state of mind. I’m a label reader. I did a pantry overhaul. I researched and learned and took bits and pieces from it all to create my version of what healthy is. (My version might be totally different than yours, which doesn’t mean mine is right. This is just what works for us.) 

For us, it means a lot of lean meats, veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds, heart-healthy fats, using only coconut or olive-based oils, some dairy and a handful of complex carbs.

It also means trying not to eat processed foods, GMOs, refined sugars or artificial sweeteners. But, let’s be real, if I’m going to a party, I’m eating a cupcake. Or some pizza. Or whatever I want on that day because this lifestyle we’ve created isn’t about restriction or deprivation. It’s about feeding your body with foods that make you feel happy. If a slice of cake makes you feel happy at the end of the week, eat it. No one is keeping tabs. There can’t be any guilt. I also don’t compromise on some pieces of my “happy place,” like my coffee. My coffee is my coffee- cream and sugar. No one messes with my coffee! You have to be real with yourself and find that attainable, everyday lifestyle that will work. Yes, you’ll still have to make hard choices in order to work at that lifestyle (seared tuna vs. pasta alfredo), but if you want a cup of coffee with sugar in it, DRINK THAT CUP OF COFFEE WITH SUGAR IN IT. Just don’t drink 20.

Creating a healthy menu plan and planning out meals was a huge step in the right direction back in January. I used to wing it, week to week, which was a major pitfall for us. 

Here are some tips on how we meal prep: 
– On Sunday, we jot down our meal ideas for each night of the week and make a list to shop from and we stick to that list in the market. Also, don’t go food shopping when you’re hungry!

– Sunday night, after the weekend’s events are over, we hard boil a dozen eggs, chop up fresh veggies and fruit (peppers, carrots, cucumbers, watermelon, etc.) for easy snacking and lunch-making for the kids, grill up a few packages of chicken (using Mrs. Dash as a seasoning) to throw on salads.

– We usually plan a meal for Monday night that contains something that I can make extra of so that we’ll have leftovers for the week. Like lean ground turkey sautéed in coconut oil with any types of cut up veggies. We’ll stuff peppers or lettuce wraps for part of our dinner and then use the leftovers to throw over a salad or have on its own with avocado on top for lunches. A friend of mine (Housewife Heather) comes up with a million ideas on how to stuff large portabello mushroom caps and other healthy meals, as well. 

Coming up with meal ideas, for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, is part of the challenge, too. Here are some of our favorites for all four. 

Breakfast: 
– 1 cup of cottage cheese (full fat) topped with 1 sliced banana, 2 tbps 
almond butter or natural peanut butter, 1-2 tbsp of local honey, 2-3 tbsp of 
cinnamon. It’s a calorie & protein packed meal that will keep you full through 
or
– 1 serving of gluten-free steel oats with the same toppings as above
– 1 cup of Greek yogurt topped with ¼ cup granola or shredded coconut or any kind of berry and/or variations of the above ingredients.

Lunch:
– All kinds of good salads. Mixed greens topped with any handful of toppings—
red peppers, egg (that are already hardboiled), avocado, grilled chicken (already done), cucumbers, black beans, roasted asparagus (another one you can roast by the batches on food prep day), black olives, tomatoes and SEEDS. I use an awesome superseed mix by Gerb, and it contains sunflower, pumpkin, chia, hemp and flax, and I put it on every single salad I make. I usually top my salads with some olive oil and fresh lemon juice and cracked pepper. Or with a splash of balsamic, too.

– Shredded broccoli or cabbage (pre-cut from the store) topped with tuna or chicken, avocado and a quick cilantro chimichurri sauce (throw cilantro, garlic cloves, olive oil, a teeny bit of red wine vinegar, juice from a lime and sea salt/cracked pepper into a blender—make a bunch to keep on hand). 

– Grilled chicken, shredded, with an avocado/cilantro sauce made in the blender—to make “chicken salad.” I just recently stole this idea from a friend who posted it on FB. INSPIRATION (or “Fitspiration,” shortened as Fitspo)

EVERYWHERE.
– 2 scrambled eggs, sliced avocado, black beans or asparagus or sweet potato 
on the side. All topped with hot sauce. 

Dinner:
We are simple creatures when it comes to dinner. Almost always, it’s chicken, steak or fish with 2 veggie sides or a veggie and a good carb (quinoa, black or brown rice, sweet potato) 
Meats:
– Marinated steak tips (Google “clean marinades” and a billion come up) 
– Chicken 3 ways- 1.) Grilled; 2.) Sautéed in coconut oil with a “breading” of egg, almond flour and shredded coconut; 3.) Cut into small strips and sautéed in a pan with a tiny bit of quality balsamic vinegar and topped with seasonings. – Fish- Grilled or baked salmon w/ seasonings & lemon, grilled “fish packs” of haddock that are wrapped in foil balls with lemon, baked cod with olive oil and seasoning or grilled shrimp with any combo of seasonings. (Grilled shrimp tacos are quite delicious—just throw shredded cabbage and the above-mentioned cilantro chimichurri on them and you’re good to go.)

Veggies:
– Coconut carrot fries. I got this recipe from a cookbook and it’s a HUGE hit. Simply, slice carrots into “fries” and sauté them in coconut oil until tender and sprinkle with sea salt. (A friend suggested adding dill to them, too.) 

– Sliced sweet potato disks, coated in melted coconut oil, sprinkled with cinnamon and roasted in the oven.
– Roasted broccoli or cauliflower
– Kale, in any form
– Sauteed brussel sprouts in shallot and garlic. 
– Blanched green beans with juice from a lemon, olive oil and cracked pepper 
or garlic powder
– Roasted asparagus
– Grilled red peppers, onions, mushrooms. 

Snacks : (as in, don’t tell me carrots):

– Almonds. Wasabi, roasted, etc. If you have a sweet tooth and need that fix at the end of the night, try the cocoa almonds or honey crunch. 
– Dark chocolate. The cleanest, fair-trade dark chocolate I’ve found is by Equal 
Exchange. And it’s heavenly. 

– COCONUT POPCORN. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a popcorn FANATIC. My current obsession is popping organic kernels in coconut oil (I’m a stove-top girl) and top it with sea salt. The highlight of my week!

** Jen Senecal is a mom to three girls, a writer, blogger and graphic designer. Read more on her foray into parenthood at keekoin or visit her at Rhody Mamas. Find her on Instagram and Twitter at 
@JenSenecal.