Coach Jen B

7 more school days.  I can do it.  To be honest, the last few days have been incredibly crazy.  The seniors are done (with school) but planning project graduation and doing all of the last minute organizing is absolutely overwhelming!  Thankfully I have incredible co-workers who allow me to ask them 6,000 questions a day.  I am so thankful my class officers helped out as much as they did...but now is the time that they need to be focused on themselves and enjoying the last few days!    I just need to get through until 7am (ish) and hopefully not too much longer after that....   It's going to be tough, but a ton of fun!   They did the senior prank last week and my room got hit.   I actually thought it was funny!    Now.... you know I love my smoothies!  You also know I love chocolate.  So, when CocoaVia offered to send me samples of their daily cocoa supplements, I had to try them out!  Um HELLO d...

In February, I kicked off a Smoothie A Day routine.   My smoothies usually consist of a liquid (like almond, coconut or cashew milk), a green (like kale or spinach), a fruit (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, bananas, etc), and a source of protein (protein powder or greek yogurt).  I had no idea that Hemp Hearts were a great source of protein until I had the opportunity to review a sample of Manitoba Harvest's Hemp Hearts .   Did you know that they have 10g of protein/30 g serving?  I was shocked!  After I read about their protein content, I had to experiment with them in my morning smoothie.....  and guess what?  SUCCESS!  So much success, I wanted to eat more Hemp Hearts and through together a salad for lunch and tossed the remainder of the sample onto my kale and tahini salad.  Again, SUCCESS!   I've been so sad about not having Hemp Hearts, and haven't been able to find it sold locally. ...

Happy Friday!  This week has been quite a nice week off from school.  I haven't done a single thing for school and will definitely regret this decision come Sunday night, but that's okay with me.   We all need a week to recharge. The kids and I have had a nice laid back week and that is exactly how I like it.  I want them to be well rested as well. Smoothies!  I decided at the beginning of February I needed to go back to my morning smoothies.  During the summer and fall, I was very good about them but then the cold weather returned to Maine and my desire to drink something cold in the mornings disappeared.  I noticed a huge lack of energy and some extra poundage coming on - perhaps too much pizza, chips and beer.  Then I remembered how many extra yummy, good for you ingredients go into my smoothies and I knew what I was going to do!  I keep my smoothies simple - I usually have coconut/almond milk (or cashew if my grocery sto...

Training in general requires so much more than a plan.  For me, it's about making healthy choices with my eating, taking vitamins and supplements, proper hydration and getting enough rest. EAT HEALTHY I try my best to make healthy choices most of the time.  I do have my faults - like chips and pizza.  But for the most part, I consider myself to be fairly healthy eater.  One easy way to add a punch of healthy food to your diet is to enjoy a smoothie.  I do enjoy protein smoothies for breakfast or post workout.  Something about them is incredibly satisfying and refreshing.  My most favorite smoothies have spinach, banana, protein power, almond milk and chia seeds.  Talk about a glass of goodness.  If there is ever any left in the blender, I cannot bear to dump it out.  Never ever waste a yummy smoothie. HYDRATE! Our bodies need water to operate.  It's really that simple.  I have found I feel best when I'm well hydrated...