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3 Ingredient Plantain Crusted Halibut

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Wild caught halibut, plantain chips, and a pasture-raised egg make the golden trio of ingredients needed to create this Pescatarian-friendly meal. Given you have some cooking staples on hand like avocado oil for frying, pink salt, and fresh cracked pepper for seasoning – you’ll have this sophisticated, restaurant-style entree on the table in no time!

The plantains give a buttery and crunchy exterior to the hearty flesh of the halibut. This technique proves you don’t need traditional breadcrumbs (made of highly processed and gut-irritating ingredients) when you can opt for nutrient-dense whole superfoods instead.

The subtle banana sweetness elevates each crispy bite, transcending you off to a Caribbean vacation without even leaving home…

Click HERE for a video demo of how it’s done!

Plantain Crusted Halibut

This 3 ingredient recipe is my favorite way to eat halibut. This will remind you of a Caribbean fish fry that tastes perfectly light, crispy, and incredibly satisfying.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 12 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine caribbean, coastal, latin
Servings 4

Equipment

  • cast iron skillet

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb Halibut filet fresh & wild caught
  • 5 oz Plantain chips
  • 2 tbsp avocado oil
  • 1 egg pasture-raised
  • 1/2 tsp pink salt
  • 1/4 tsp cracked pepper

Instructions
 

  • Rinse Halibut filet and pat completely dry. Season with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper and set aside to come to room temperature.
  • Heat 1 tablespoon of avocado oil in cast iron skillet over medium heat.
  • Pour plantain chips into a resealable bag and mash into very fine crumbs.
  • Pour plantain chips into a shallow dish and spread out in an even layer. Set aside.
  • In another shallow dish, whisk egg and season with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper.
  • Begin the breading assembly. First, thoroughly coat both sides of the halibut in egg mixture.
  • Next, transfer halibut to the plantain crumb dish. Firmly press the fish into the crumbs on one side, then gently flip to coat the second side. Make sure as much of the halibut is covered in crumbs.
  • Carefully transfer plantain-breaded halibut to heated cast iron skillet skin side down. Fry for about 6 minutes, or until about halfway cooked and crispy. This will depend on the thickness of your filet.
  • Slowly flip the halibut to finish cooking on the second side. Leave heat on for about 4 minutes, then turn off heat and allow to cook for another minute or so. The halibut is cooked when the inside flesh flakes apart and no longer is opaque.
  • Finish the halibut off with another sprinkle of pink salt and a few drops of your favorite hot sauce to enjoy!

Notes

Be sure to use the highest quality plantain chips cooked in coconut oil and seasoned only with sea salt. I love using these.
Steer clear of the brands that use highly refined vegetable oils that inflame the body.
When coating your fish in the plantain crumbs, if you find some crumbs don't fully stick - don't fret! Totally normal. The breading isn't supposed to be perfect. I like to take the remaining crumbs and egg mixture and fry it all together in the pan for an extra crispy scrambled egg snack!
Keyword breaded fish, cast iron, fish, fish fry, gluten free, grain free, halibut, paleo, pescatarian, whole 30

Easy Cheesy Italian Turkey Meatballs

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Italian Turkey Meatballs

An easy (and cheesy) way to satisfy your Italian food cravings in the healthiest way. These juicy meatballs are packed with protein and make a perfect weeknight comfort meal.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 3

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb lean ground turkey organic
  • 1/3 cup raw Gruyere cheese grated
  • 1 handful fresh parsley leaves chopped
  • 1 whole egg pasture-raised
  • 2 tbsp plant-based yogurt plain flavored, unsweetened
  • 1 tbsp dried Italian seasoning blend
  • 1 tsp pink salt
  • 1/2 tsp fresh cracked pepper

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • In a large bowl, add ground turkey, egg, cheese, parsley, yogurt, and dried seasonings.
  • Using your hands, combine all ingredients until evenly incorporated.
  • Spoon 1 to 2 tablespoons of the meatball mixture onto parchment lined baking sheet. Gently even out and round to form meatball shape.
  • Continue forming meatballs with the remaining mixture, leaving about an inch of space between meatballs.
  • Bake meatballs in oven for about 10 to 12 minutes.
  • Remove meatballs from oven and simmer in your favorite marinara sauce to finish.
  • Serve over a green salad or on top of a grain-free pasta!

Notes

I like to use So Delicious unsweetened, unflavored coconut yogurt for this recipe. It doesn't give off a coconut flavor and adds the perfect amount of moisture to keep the meatballs juice.
Choose a raw, unpasteurized cheese to reap the full nutritional benefits when eating dairy. Raw products are activated with gut-boosting bacteria that are easier to digest as opposed to processed, gut-irritating pasteurized dairy. Simply ask your local cheese monger to help you find a raw cheese option, and you'll be surprised how much there is to choose from!
Keyword gluten free, grain free, ground turkey, keto friendly, lean protein, low carb, meatballs

My Fitness Faux Pas

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It’s easy to assume health and wellness comes “easy” to us fitness professionals when you’re usually only seeing the sliver of highlight reels. But let’s get real here. Reaching any level of excellence and high performance requires commitment, self-awareness, and plenty of growth! 

My journey to becoming the Health Coach and Nutritional Strategist that I am today began with trials and errors, bumps, and awkward turns. I’m sharing a handful of the fitness faux pas I made so you can take the fast track to achieving YOUR fitness goals! 

When we choose to honor the struggle, we give ourself permission to make those mistakes and get stronger from them as we press on.

  1. I only did isolation work. 

    In the beginning, my workouts consisted of trick-or-treating around every single weight machine the gym had to offer. I’d rarely pick up a dumbbell and I wouldn’t dare step onto that mean looking squat rack where I might risk collapsing beneath an overloaded barbell. Talk about embarrassing!

    The truth was that I really didn’t know any better. When you’re just starting out, weight machines can be a helpful tool to kickstart your confidence as you build in the habit of exercising. If you’re looking for sustainable results, though, you’ll gain far more benefit from a training program made up of more free-weighted and compound exercises that work your entire body.

    What most people don’t know is that weight machines are predominantly designed for body builders looking to grow specific muscle groups, which makes isolation work ideal. 

    When I switched to more integrative movements like the infamous pull-up, deadlifts, and push-ups, I challenged both my mind and body, which helped me burn more fat while adding muscle! #WIN

  2. I thought more always meant better. 

    Instead of spending time contemplating the quality of my training program, I wasted hours away at the gym parading around machine after machine which became extremely time consuming.

    I used to think the more reps, sets, and hours I put in at the gym had to equal more progress…right? Negative. At the time, I was ignorant to the importance of delicately balancing the ultimate trio: training, nutrition, and recovery. 

    I’d go for weeks without taking a rest day and wear it as a badge of honor. Little did I realize downplaying my recovery was actually hindering my performance and preventing me from reaching the next level of my aesthetic goals. 

    Later, I learned that with strategic programming of loaded and unloaded training, along with mobility, and a self-care routine – I could feel more energized, in control of my stress levels, and my body responded, looking and feeling better than ever. All with essentially less effort! 

  3. I was scared of lifting heavy.  

    Did you ever worry that if you started lifting anything but the baby weights you’d get bulky? Join the club! I didn’t want to look like a man and lose my feminine shape, but I also wanted to sculpt, tone, and strengthen. 

    After educating myself and easing my way up to heavier weights, I learned that the bulkiness many of us fear is not actually a result of picking up the weight. Often, people get bulky, or become overweight, when they simply overeat an excess of poor quality foods. So let’s not get it twisted!

    Lifting weights is hands-down one of the best things you can do for your body, especially as you age. You not only provide your bones with more support, you also gear up your body to be a fat-burning machine as you continue to add more lean muscle to boost your metabolism function. 

  4. I didn’t explore pain or discomfort 

    At some point in our fitness journey, we will most likely experience some type of pain or discomfort. It’s unfortunate, but usually (hopefully!) it’s a brief moment that passes, and here are some suggestions to help you work through it.

    Rather than avoiding and ignoring pains you notice, use them as a compass to navigate your attention. When we feel pain, it can serve as an invitation to balance our natural asymmetries. We can relieve our pain and improve by adjusting our training program accordingly. For example, if you experience chronic pain on one side of your back, you can work on more single-leg movements like lunges to strengthen both sides.

    You can also use pain to learn about where you may need to correct your technique and exercise form. When I would feel shoulder pain after my arm days, I wouldn’t take the time to understand which exercises could be making it worse. Now, I know to use trigger point therapy and mobility as healing tools.

    And if you’re feeling pain outside of the gym, this could be a great opportunity to reflect on how your daily activities could be optimized so you can feel your best! Consider how often you’re sitting and your body position while working or using your cell phone and computer. Just by improving your posture can help painful symptoms subside. 

If you take anything away from my Fitness Faux Pas, let it be a reminder to first, give yourself some grace when you’re feeling stuck or frustrated. Second, consider quality of your output and not just quantity. And finally, be courageous enough to embark on some self-discovery so that you can continue upping your game and reaching your biggest goals! 

Smoothie Glory Bowl

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Satisfy the ice cream craving, work on that bikini bod, and load up on veg with THIS. My Smoothie Glory Bowl is about to become your new BFF. 

This isn’t like every other Instagram smoothie or açaí bowl (usually lacking in fiber, protein, and healthy fats).

This is one of the easiest ways to create a quick and completely balanced meal that tastes fresh, creamy, and decadently rich – like ice cream, but a thousand times healthier.

Not to mention, it’s jam packed with lean muscle building protein and collagen to get you strong, stay on track with your fitness goals, and keep you satisfied for hours – unlike the usual energy crash we get after eating traditional dairy ice cream. 

Raise your hand if you’re ready for some dessert for breakfast (or lunch or dinner or dessert!)

Smoothie Glory Bowl

Nice cream meets a meal-in-one. Every spoonful of this chilled, creamy goodness adds up to a perfectly balanced and nutrient-dense breakfast, post-workout, or healthy dessert. You don't have to sacrifice flavor or texture to indulge like a queen!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 5 mins
Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Servings 1

Equipment

  • High-Speed Blender

Ingredients
  

  • 1 egg organic, pasture-raised
  • 1/4 cup nut milk unsweetened
  • 1/4 cup plant-based yogurt unsweetened, soy-free
  • 1/4 cup berries frozen
  • 1/2 banana ripe
  • 1 fist fresh spinach or kale leaves
  • 1 fist medium carrot chopped
  • 20 g vanilla protein powder
  • 10 g collagen powder
  • 1 tbsp cacao powder heaping
  • 1 tsp chia seeds
  • 1 tsp sprouted flaxseed meal
  • 1 tsp hemp seed hearts
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 pinch pink salt to taste

Instructions
 

  • In a high-speed blender, add all ingredients in order listed. Liquids first, powders last.
  • Allow mixture to blend until evenly incorporated and smooth.
  • Texture should be thick, creamy, and scoopable with a spoon.
  • Pour smoothie mixture into a deep bowl and adorn with your favorite toppings. My favorite are cacao nibs, crunchy unsweetened nut butter, and homemade granola.

Notes

For a thicker smoothie bowl, add more frozen ingredients and less nut milk.
If you're on-the-go, add more nut milk for a more liquid, drinkable consistency.
My favorites:
MALK Unsweetened Vanilla
Plant-based yogurt
Nut Butter
Collagen
Vanilla Protein Powder
Keyword dairy free, frozen treats, high protein, high speed blender, ice cream, meal in one, nice cream, smoothie, smoothie bowl

After countless experiments, this recipe is by far the very best I’ve come up with! Once you get comfortable with the technique, get creative and try swapping out different fruits and toppings! 

What I love about this recipe is that, more than anything, it serves as a template for you to build out your own smoothies as meals however you like! 

A few notes on intentional ingredients:

– To keep this smoothie as nutrient-dense and balanced as possible, make sure you select all unsweetened and minimally processed milks, yogurts, and toppings. You really want to let the natural sweetness and flavor of the fresh fruits to shine! 

– If the raw egg freaked you out at all – have no fear, friend! When you purchase the highest quality, organic, and pasture-raised eggs, it is completely safe to consume raw. When you blend up your smoothie mixture, you don’t taste it but it adds a wonderful whipped texture, healthy fats, and more protein goodness! 

– Looking for a healthy granola? I’ve got you covered! In my E-cookbook HERE, I’ve included my famous sprouted nut-based granola recipe bursting with activated nourishment in every crunchy bite. 

3 Reasons To Add Resistance To Your Workout

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If you spend any time scrolling on Instagram or Tik Tok, chances are you’ve been exposed to some kind of resistance band workouts. You hear the fitness influencers swear by their powers, giving you that unforgettable sting, helping you target all those little muscles you never knew you had. But maybe you’re not quite convinced. How could one skimpy band of elastic really kick your butt in the same way as your usual weighted routine at the gym?

While I encourage you to challenge what you see and believe from the internet, I’m here to share 3 reasons why you should be adding resistance into your fitness regimen. Whether you’re sticking to the home workouts, virtually training, or easing your way back into the gym – Resistance bands will become an asset to your performance, increase your workout intensity, and prevent injury so that you can look and feel your most vibrant self!

Movement Preparation & Activation: 

In order to reap maximum benefit from a workout, a warm-up or movement preparation routine is non-negotiable. Properly warming up your body temperature, softening your muscle fascia, and pumping up your circulation set you up for an epic workout and prevents your body from injury. You can use any level resistance band to ease this process by practicing unloaded (or unweighted) versions of the movements you plan to perform in your workout. The resistance creates just enough challenge to wake your muscles up, refine your mind-body focus, and elevate your heart rate to prepare you to train.

  • Try looping a low level resistance band between your hands, Gently pull in and out to prep for horizontal rows; pull overhead and down to prep for vertical pull-ups.
  • Slide a higher level resistance band above both knees. Sit back in a hinge and march in place, working on keeping your hips from shifting from side to side. This is an excellent prep before squats, deadlifts, and lunges.

Strengthen & Tone: 


When you’re traveling or without your usual selection of weighted equipment, resistance bands provide an alternative way to intensify a variety of exercises for the upper body, lower body, and core. When placed above or below major joints such as the ankles, hips, and wrists, your body has the opportunity to get full muscle fiber recruitment. This helps you contract your muscles more completely, enhancing strength for both the muscles and bones.

 Resistance bands can be useful for toning as they help target specific muscle groups. Unlike traditional static weights, when you use resistance bands you can play with dynamic variations of movement patterns while increasingly adding challenge.


  • Try super-setting a loaded deadlift with a mini band hinge. The added resistance helps you kick up your glute engagement and strengthen your deadlift technique.
  • Slip a low resistance level mini band around your wrists, get into plank position on the floor, and travel laterally taking small steps out to the side. Shoulder will be burning in no time!

Balance Asymmetries:


Ain’t nobody got time for pain and discomfort! As humans, it’s totally normal to have a more dominant or stronger side on the upper body, lower body, or both. While it isn’t realistic to be perfectly balanced, it’s certainly worth the effort of working towards symmetry. Resistance bands give your body feedback to help you correct your natural movement tendencies to favor one side. When used consistently as part of a structured routine, using mini bands help strengthen your body more evenly across both sides. That means you’ll be less likely to overcompensate on one side, which can lead to complications such as low back pain, unstable ankles, and shoulder impingement.


  • Slide a band above both knees and practice split squats on both sides before training loaded lunges. This will fire up both glutes to perform at their ultimate capacity.
  • If you struggle to keep your knees moving out during squats, use a mini band around the knees to remind yourself to push outward and fight the pull of the band.
The key to continuous fitness progress is variety – and resistance is one tool to give you just that! By incorporating some bands into your warm-up and workout routine, you’ll amplify your fitness technique, become more balanced, and grow stronger. Bands allow you to perform with more quality and control so you can smash more workouts and dominate those big goals of yours!

Why Artificial Sweeteners Aren’t Freebies.

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For so many years, the standard American diet strategy to lose weight, burn fat, and improve overall health could be boiled down to eliminating sugars at all costs. 

 

The food industry recognized we were in trouble with rising obesity and metabolic disease rates, so highly processed diet alternatives were produced to trick us into thinking that by eating these artificial sweeteners, we would lose weight, feel better, and have happier endings.

 

The diet food brands made sure we knew we weren’t in danger of consuming any sugar or calories slapping a shiny “0 calorie” on the label juxtaposed with vibrant ad colors. But they forgot to mention the slew of other toxic ingredients we were consuming in place of the sugar.

 

First, let’s identify the red flag artificial sweeteners. You’ll want to make sure you read labels for Splenda, also known as sucralose, and aspartame. These artificial sweeteners are the worst of the bunch because unlike some of the more earth-derived sweeteners (we’ll chat about those in a moment), they are chemically produced with harmful ingredients our bodies are not designed to digest. The more processed ingredient we eat, the more our body perceives that ingredient as foreign threat.

 

So while it might seem all well and good to have your favorite soda and skip all the sugar and calories, inside your body is on guard working to protect itself from the unnatural ingredients. This often explains the commonly reported negative digestive symptoms associated with artificial sweeteners. If you’ve ever experienced bloat, constipation, acid reflux, or general sensitivity to artificially sweetened foods – that would your body’s inflammatory response kicking in. When in eaten in excess, artificial sweeteners put you a higher risk of developing metabolic disease, cancer, disrupt hormonal balance, and increase insulin resistance making weight loss much more difficult.

 

Day to day, artificial sweeteners can also be detrimental to your eating habits, which can have a negative long-term effects on your metabolism, performance, and fitness goals. Sweeteners like Splenda, Equal, and Sweet ‘N Low can be hundreds of times more sweet in taste than table sugar. When eaten in excess, our satisfaction for the natural sweetness from fruit and vegetables significantly decreases. Fake sugars become like a drug, where we need more and more of them in order to be satisfied.

 

By eating artificial sweeteners rather than real, wholesome sugars from natural foods we also desensitize our appetite awareness. It becomes far more difficult to sense when we’re truly hungry, satisfied, or stuffed. Diet foods flavored with artificial sugars are highly processed, therefore, low-energy foods. This is why it’s so easy to plow through a bag of chips or slurp down a sugar-free latte. Each bite and sip is essentially empty and void of nourishment.

 

While it is absolutely correct that eating a diet of excess low-quality and highly refined sugars will certainly increase your chances of putting on fat and gaining weight – this piece of advice, like most other nutritional information out there, has been severely distorted and thrown out of context. 

 

The food industry wants us to think by making a quick-fix swap for sugar-free anything automatically makes it healthy. Rather, the real nutritional strides is when you take the courageous step to change not just what you’re eating, but HOW you’re eating and why. 

 

How to SWEETEN with SAVVY: 

Enjoy more of Mother’s Nature’s natural sweetness from whole foods like fruits, sweet potatoes, and squash.

 

When needed for baking or cooking, choose an earth-derived sweetener such as honey, maple syrup, or coconut nectar in small quantities to taste the sweet without throwing off your blood sugar.

 

Monk fruit and stevia are much healthier alternative to lower calorie sweeteners. They are far wiser upgrades than Splenda since they are completely natural and derived from plants.

 

Be good to your body by fueling it with the highest-quality and highest energy foods that the Earth provides to us in abundance. When you choose real food, your body can more naturally regulate proper portions and intuitive satisfaction. And when you want the occasional ice cream scoop or an artisanal doughnut – DONUT regret it! A little indulgence is also a healthy and necessary part of your vibrant lifestyle.

 

By making the commitment to improve your eating habits and cultivating a healthy mindset about food, you’ll accomplish your biggest goals with strength, grace, and mega self-love!

Instant Pot Pork Carnitas

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By now you’ve probably heard me preach about protein – and for good reason, friend! 

Eating a protein-dominant diet not only provides our body with the nutrients we need to nurture our muscles, helping us to maintain a healthy metabolism, and fight weight gain. 

Incorporating protein with every feeding also gives us the opportunity to feel more satisfaction from our meals. When we combine quality sources of protein with colorful veggies, high energy carbohydrates, and healthy fats we stabilize our blood sugar and optimize our energy levels. Goodbye cravings, mood swings, and hanger!

Since we’re eating protein all the time, we might as well make it taste delicious and indulgent! This is my prized Pork recipe I love to make at the beginning of a busy week. It requires minimal prep work and cooking with the Instant Pot is super low-maintenance – you literally set it and forget it. 

Thicker bone-in cuts like this Boston Butt are especially convenient as they yield larger portions so you’ll be able to repurpose the leftovers for more meals throughout the week. 

This recipe was inspired by the irresistibly juicy and tender carnitas you’d find piled up on a toasted corn tortilla of an authentic Mexican taco. As per usual when I get a craving, I dream up of a healthier way to recreate it at home. 

The dried seasonings are vibrant and fragrant, filling the kitchen with that inviting aroma of love and Latin hospitality. 

The rest of the flavorings are simple but pack a punch. I chose olive brine, really just because it was the only salty acid I had on hand! You could certainly use a red wine or apple cider vinegar instead. The sweetness of the maple syrup and low-glycemic coconut sugar offset the spice and smokiness of the Chipotle hot sauce. 

This entree is sure to please the bacon lover or the pork skeptic. I’m all about getting as much bang out of one recipe – and this one definitely delivers. Each bite of these Carnitas explodes with mouth-watering flavor and a luxurious softness that tastes like your grandma was cooking it all day long. 

Comment your questions below and let me know how you like these!

Instant Pot Pork Carnitas

For when you're craving that Chipotle burrito bowl or have a taste for Mexican, this melt-in-your-mouth pork recipe will become a regular on your weekly menu and is perfect for entertaining a crowd.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 45 mins
Cook Time 40 mins
Total Time 55 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 6 servings

Equipment

  • Instant Pot

Ingredients
  

  • 1 2 lb Boston Butt Bone-in
  • 1 tbsp Avocado oil
  • 1 tsp Turmeric Ground
  • 1 tsp Mustard seed Ground
  • 1 tsp Cumin
  • 1 tsp Smoked paprika
  • 1/2 tsp Coconut sugar
  • 1/4 tsp Cayenne
  • 1/4 tsp Pink salt
  • 1/4 tsp Black pepper Freshly cracked
  • 1 tsp Maple Syrup
  • 1/4 cup Olive brine
  • 1/2 cup Cholula Chipotle Hot Sauce
  • 1/2 cup Water

Instructions
 

  • Set out Boston Butt on counter for about 30 minutes, allowing meat to come to room temperature.
  • In a small bowl add turmeric, mustard seed, cumin, smoked paprika, coconut sugar, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Mix well to evenly combine and set aside.
  • Select "Saute" mode on Instant Pot. Heat avocado oil on high for about 15 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, use a sharp butcher knife to trim the excess fat off the Butt. Working around the bone, cut the Butt into as many 1-inch bite size chunks as possible. Reserve the bone!
  • Working in batches, add pork chunks to heated Instant Pot to sear until golden brown on the outside. Remove seared chunks from Pot and set aside.
  • Turn off the Instant Pot. Then deglaze the Pot by adding in the hot sauce, water, olive brine, and maple syrup. Scrape the surface of the Pot to remove any cooked bits of flavor from sticking.
  • Add all of the seared pork chunks back into the Instant Pot along with the bone and the dried seasoning blend. Stir to combine.
  • Fasten the lid onto the Instant Pot with the valve in sealed position.
  • Select "Pressure Cook" mode on Instant Pot and cook for about 30 minutes. The pressure will naturally release.
  • Once finished cooking, use a fork to break up the pork chunks if you want more of a shredded texture. You shouldn't have to do much for the meat to fall apart!
  • You can discard the bone or save to make your own nutritious bone broth.
  • Serve Carnitas with its juices atop Cilantro Quinoa, greens, or your favorite veggie!

Notes

Feel free to adjust spice by either eliminating or decreasing the cayenne and black pepper. I recommend keeping the same hot sauce measurements as it adds so much rich flavor to the dish! Plus, the Chipotle Cholula is actually quite mild in heat.
Great option for batch cooking and meal prep.
To store leftovers, allow Carnitas to fully cool then place in a glass Tupperware and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
To reheat leftovers, skim any excess fat from top of Tupperware container. Spoon out desired serving onto a baking sheet and warm at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 25 minutes. You can also reheat in a saucepan over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes or until warmed through.
Keyword carnitas, dairy free, gluten free, high protein, instant pot, lean protein, low carb, low fodmap, low sugar, pork

5 Signs You Should Take a Rest Day

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1) You can’t remember the last time you didn’t work out (AKA too many consecutive days of working out). 

Maybe you’re the type who never misses a training. If that’s you then, you should be incredibly proud of your consistency and for an established routine most people only dream of! Keep in mind, though, it’s just as important to schedule in dedicated days of lower intensity in order to properly recover your mind so that you can hit it even harder the next time. 

2) You’re not in the right headspace (i.e. severe overwhelm, emotional distress, anxiety). 

Imagine the last amazing workout you had. You were in the zone, so focused nothing could stop you. Now, try reaching that same level of flow if your mind is distracted with a slew of negative thoughts. We all get them, but if you notice a darker, heavier shadow than normal, you could be putting yourself at higher risk for injury if you jump into a heavily weighted or intense workout. Choosing an unloaded form of movement won’t further stress your body and will still give you that burst of happy hormones you need! 

3) You didn’t sleep well and feel at best 6/10 energy (1 is dead, 10 is fully charged). 

Our sleep is essential for all body functions. It cleans out the junk from our body and mind which allows us to perform at our best the next day. When you’ve noticed your rest has been significantly compromised, it’s never worth forcing a workout. At the very least, try to sneak in a short nap into your day to boost your recovery and mental clarity before exercising.

4) You feel under the weather or off kilter. 

Us fitness freaks already know the sweet burn that naturally comes with a great workout. That means, we don’t need any additional strain or stress on the body. Plus, if you’re already feeling symptoms of illness such as a headache, tummy trouble, or congestion, adding a workout will often only amplify those symptoms and keep you sick for longer. So, no – don’t just sweat it out. 

5) You are experiencing pain or discomfort in your body. 

Occasional nicks and pains are expected from time to time. Tune into your body to differentiate between soreness and pain. When you notice burning, shooting pain, or discomfort to the degree that your range of motion is decreased, it’s highly recommended you second think a workout. This would be a great opportunity to consult your Health Coach or other trusted fitness professional to guide you to safety and pain relief. 

Coming from someone who spends countless hours studying and coaching exercise, I’ve learned that our workouts, though essential to a healthy and vibrant life, are just one small part of a much larger and complex structure that determines how we look, feel, and perform day to day.

A rest day will look different for each person based on their goals and exercise history. For example, you could use a rest day to take a leisurely stroll outside, focus on a whole hour of stretching, or take a Vinyasa Yoga class. The main takeaway here is you want to avoid heavily loading, which adds weight and stress onto the spine.

What would your ideal rest day look like? Remember friend, there is always tomorrow to crush another epic workout!