The Best Way to Satisfy Cravings

I just got home from teaching my fitness class and now the 3 littlest kids are all down for naps. How they’re all sleeping at the same time is beyond me! I think persistence and a lot of luck went into each of their sleep training. HA! All of the kids love tagging along with me to exercise. They request to go to “the yellow gym”, or “the slide gym” every single day. Whether it’s a walk to the neighborhood park or a drive to the gym the kids LOVE to remind me to get my exercise in!

I’m exercising 2-4 times each week. Once my oldest starts Kindergarten in a few weeks our schedule might become more predictable. I still can’t believe school will be starting soon. My mind can’t even wrap around it! It has honestly been one of my favorite summers with the kids! The twins are now 3.5 and that has made being on-the-go SO much easier. They’re finally out of diapers and they love to hang out together (and tease the heck out of each other) whether we’re at the pool or running errands around the city. Since I’m still nursing my 4.5 month old every 3 hours, time is incredibly limited for making meals for the kids and myself. I’ll usually prep their lunch after getting home from the gym and then will need to nurse Avery right away. I try to get protein soon after working out so I go for what’s easy and yummy and full of protein. I’ll usually grab a protein bar and/or a protein shake. It’s the best way I’ve found to maximize my post-workout recovery, build lean muscle, and not eat an entire sea salt dark chocolate bar. For me, I see a huge difference in my body composition (fat to muscle ratio) when I make protein intake a high priority–which is why I try to get protein in every snack and meal throughout the day. When I’m hitting my protein goals I aim for 35% of my diet to come from protein. I’ve been drinking chocolate Premier Protein for years and I always recommend these shakes as a great way to get 30g of protein with only 1g of sugar! (Plus they’re ready to drink, so if I’m crunched for time–which seems like always these days–I can grab one straight out of the fridge and start sipping 🙂 ) And right now Costco is offering $5 off their 18 packs through August 17th! This is always the time when I stock up on these 18 packs! The kids and I especially love the Berry Banana Shake using the Banana’s and Cream Premier Protein + Strawberries + Blackberries. I’ll include the recipe for you to try!