Recipe Find: Jennifer Garner's Go-To Smoothie

This month I have been diving into plant-based eating. I'm doing this for a couple of reasons:

1. February is heart month and it is said that eating more plants and less meat is good for your heart among many other things like cancer prevention, boosted energy, neurological disease prevention

2. My step-daughters live plant-based lifestyles, so this will give me more insight into what they are eating and what we can prepare when we are together

3. I'm taking on this challenge with the FASTer Way community, so I am not alone as I navigate my way into a new way of eating.

Most of my recipes are found online or come from the FASTer Way meal plan. I love this smoothie that Jennifer Garner shared on social media. Plant based, great for low carb days and I almost always have all of the ingredients on hand!

Now, you don't have be a plant-based eater to enjoy this smoothie. I made it plenty of times before taking the plant-based challenge. I mean, it's just packed with healthy whole foods. Plus, it is absolutely delicious!

• 1 or 2 scoops chocolate protein (I love this one because it’s even good as a shake with just water!)
• 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed 
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds 
• 1 tablespoon almond butter (this one is my favorite - 1 ingredient!)
• 1 1/4 cups unsweetened almond milk 
• Handful fresh spinach
• Small handful ice
• Small handful blueberries

Blend and serve!

Full disclosure - it is a green smoothie, but I promise it tastes better than it looks. And that is also why I have not included a picture of it blended :) Enjoy!!

Let me know if you have any questions or if you give it a try!

Weekly Wrap | As Many Reps As Possible

AMRAP, as many reps as possible. I've seen this fitness term tossed around my social media for years and always felt a little intimidated by that kind of workout.

When AMRAP showed up in all of my strength training workouts last week, I figured it was finally time for me to give it a try. And, you know what? It wasn't bad at all. My body and my mind were clearly ready for a new challenge.

This got me thinking. Timing is everything.

Last week things just seemed to be falling into place. The timing was right for a lot of things in my life and it felt really good.

• I took on those timed AMRAP workouts like a champ 
• my FASTer Way To Fat Loss VIP group monthly topic is MINDSET. We're talking about the power of positive thinking and how to avoid the self-sabotage trap (I do this A LOT)
• I took a step toward learning something new (not quite ready to share what it is yet, but it is definitely something I have wanted to do for awhile and now is the right time for me)

It was a good week all around. Here's a look at my workouts for the week:

Interval Training
I loved the workout space for Monday's HIIT workout! "Up by 10" is a tough one ---> I may have cheated on the in & outs and the plank pushups, but I still got in plenty of the total 550 reps! Tuesday's sprint workout seemed tame in comparison, but I still felt a good burn.

Strength Training
Like I said, first time doing AMRAP workouts. I don't know what I thought was so intimidating in the past, but I liked this type of workout. I was surprised to see how many or how few reps I could do in the timed portions. I also tried my new weight lifting gloves...I like the fit, but I'm on the fence on how I feel about wearing them.

Active Rest Days
For my Friday yoga session, I did Yoga with Adriene's Stretch and Soothe. We had perfect weather for our Sunday SUP session. I am so grateful that I've learned to embrace my active rest days. I used to think that I needed to work out EVERY day hard. I didn't realize that I was actually hurting my body. Making progress means taking rest days and giving your body time to recover.

Have you ever felt like something was perfect timing?

I’m linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap!