Congratulations, you just completed your 14-day EA Challenge!

We’re so proud of you and you should be too. Where do you go from here you may ask? We know it’s not always easy to keep up these daily habits, but you are well on your way on building a strong foundation (they say it takes 21 days to make a habit and 90 days to make it a permanent lifestyle change).

We suggest continuing to take small, manageable steps, and figure out what’s most sustainable for you. You will probably not eat, manage stress, exercise, or sleep perfectly every day, but that’s ok, you’re in it for the long run, and it’s all about balance. Keep trying your best to make good decisions about your health and you’ll start to see changes that will motivate you to keep going!

Remember patience, consistency and self belief are the 3 key ingredients to make your goals a reality. Anyone can set a goal, but being consistent, showing up day-in and day-out is what really separates success in the long-term.

High-five team, you did it!

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If you have made it this far, you are certainly on the right track! We hope you can use the information we’ve posted over the past 14 days (and refer back to it whenever needed) to continue to learn, as well as know your body and its needs, after all your body does so much for you. After all fitness is a journey not an end goal, so be patient with your process, celebrate your victories and enjoy the ride!

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One more reason to add those delicious fruit to your meals or snacks! We just wonder if wine counts! Just kidding…

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We all know how important it is to drink water,  over half our bodies are made up of water, and it’s necessary to keep us functioning! Here are some of the signs you may be dehydrated and need to drink more agua:

5 Tips for drinking more water and reaching your 2L a day challenge: 

1. Drink a full glass of water before your coffee in the morning – you may even find you don’t need that coffee anymore
2. Keep a reusable water bottle close by, where ever your go
3. Set reminders to drink water throughout your day
4. Add fruits to your water for extra burst of flavour
5. Eat water-rich foods: add fruits and veggies with high water content to your meals, some great choices are cucumber (96% water), zucchini (95% water), watermelon (92% water), and grapefruit (91% water).

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Keeping routines short and sweet helps you be consistent and build better exercise habits. The good news is, our workouts are an average of 30-min, so perfect to add in to your weekly schedule! Here are a few we recommend:

1. The Do Anywhere Workout: No equipment workout you can do anywhere!
2. Total Body Dumbbell Workout: This class challenges and strengthens your entire body using only a set of dumbbell
3. Lower Body Torch: This lower-body workout will sculpt and strengthen your legs, glutes and core
4. Strong Arms & Core: Not only will you build arm and core strength during this workout, but you’re going to get your heart pumping and burn some major calories

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Hello day 9! We have a short and sweet post today, if you are looking to up your protein (but not necessarily increase your meat intake), here are 9 top vegetarian protein sources that you can incorporate into your meals this week, beans and greek yogurt are out favourite!

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Day 8 here we come!

Have your ever wondered what in fact makes you happy? It’s human nature to want to be happy, but people know relatively little about the science behind the emotion.

Ok, so these 4 point help feel happy, but how can we put it into practice? Well, emotions are complicated, but they are ours to understand and own. Rather than being at the mercy of our feelings, we can be aware of them and remind ourselves of our power to influence how we see things and react. Here are  6 tips that we’ve learned through our own mindfulness practice:

1. Practice gratitude
2. Enhance your social connections: “Good relationships actually keep our bodies healthier and help us live longer.”  –Robert Waldinger, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development
3. Exercise: when we exercise, it increases endorphins, dopamine, adrenaline and endocannabinoid, look familiar from the list about?
4. Practice mindfulness: Just like exercising your body, meditation exercises your mind and teaches your brain to focus on the present rather of the past or future. “The idea is to be present — don’t judge your emotions, but recognize them” -Elizabeth Dunn,  psychology professor at the University of British Columbia.
5. Smile often: a smile can actually stimulate a chemical reaction in the brain, releasing certain hormones including dopamine and serotonin.
6. Eat chocolate: isn’t that the same thing as happiness 🙂 Chocolate (or specifically the cocoa plant), has  different chemicals that produce a positive feeling in your body and mind.

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You are half way through your challenge, you are doing great!

Treat yourself to a cozy, comforting and healthy chicken parm stuffed zucchini dish (a delicious alternative to traditional lasagna) this weekend. It’s also a great way to get your greens in while enjoying a deliciously meal that’s packed with protein and loaded with flavour! Check out the recipe below.

Serves: 2  Cooking Time: 40min

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 lb. lean ground chicken
• 1 cup Pasta Sauce or Homemade Tomato Sauce (when time permits, we like to make our own tomato sauce, check out the recipe below )
• ¼ tsp. sea salt
• ¼ tsp. ground black pepper
• 2-3 medium zucchini
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• ¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• Basil to garnish

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400°F

2. Lightly coat a baking dish with spray; set aside.

3. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

4. Add chicken, breaking apart with a spoon as it cooks for about 5 minutes, or until no longer pink (*Note, if we are using pre-made pasta sauce, we add 2 garlic cloves minced to the chicken, cooking for a few minutes before moving on to the next step for additional flavour).

5. Add Pasta Sauce or Homemade Tomato Sauce, salt, pepper and stir to combine. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes and remove from heat.

6. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise and scoop out centers with a spoon (you can use the scooped centers for extra nutrients in a smoothie, you won’t even notice it)

7. Divide chicken mixture among the zucchini, top each with parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese.

8. Place zucchini in prepared baking dish, cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and place under broil for an extra few min.

9. Serve warm and garnish with basil

Homemade Tomato Sauce

We don’t know about you, but we love making our ow sauce. If you have some time, here is our go to recipe, nothing beats freshly made tomato sauce.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 oz. tomato paste
• ¼ cup red wine
• 2 cans whole peeled tomatoes (we like using San Marzano)
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• ¼ tsp. ground black pepper
• 3 oz. Parmesan cheese rind
• 3 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh basil

Directions

1. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat.

2. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, for 4 to 5 minutes

3. Add garlic and tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Add wine, stirring constantly

5. Add tomatoes, sugar, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low and gently boil, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes.

6. Add cheese rind, cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally for 1 hour.

7. Remove cheese rind. Add basil, mix well and enjoy!

There you have it, let us know how your Chicken Parm Stuffed Zucchini turned out!

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Let’s forget perfection for a while, let’s focus on progress!

Focusing on progress, instead of perfection, can make it much easier and enjoyable to reach your goals (or complete a challenge). So give yourself a pat on the back, you’re almost half way through, and that my friend is progress!

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How is your daily challenge of drinking 2L of water going? We know it can be challenging, so here are a few tips on some of the best times to drink water throughout the day, and why!

There are many guidelines about how much water to drink, in general 2L is a good rule of thumb. If you would like a more precise guideline, the water intake recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine suggest men drink at least 13 (8 oz) cups of fluids per day and that women aim for 9 (8 oz) cups of fluids or more. It’s not just water that keeps you hydrated, any beverage containing water contributes toward your daily intake, but of course there are many reasons why water is still the better choice.

Regardless of your hydration goal, drink consistently throughout the day to keep every system in the body functioning properly 🙂

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