Connect the Dots Ginger | Becky Allen

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

How To Buy Healthy Foods And Save Money At The Grocery Store

SLOWLY TRANSITION INTO BUYING HEALTHY FOODS
There are some people that say, "go through your cupboards and throw away all the bad foods in your house." It's okay to slowly transition to healthier eating. Use those foods up, eat them but once they are gone, don't buy it anymore. You spent your hard earned money on those foods. Finish it up. Next time you go to the store, is when you start to buy more veggies, or different kinds of veggies.
LOOK AT THE INGREDIENTS
Skip the nutritional info and go straight down to the ingredients list. You might be surprised to find how many ingredients are in a food you love and enjoy! Or even wonder why the heck they add sugar to canned fruits! If you don't know the ingredients, don't buy it. Look for short ingredient lists and avoid the super long ingredients lists. Think about that the next time you buy bread, compared to what you put in bread when you make it homemade.

PICK AND CHOOSE WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO BUY
One of the biggest mistakes that people make when making the change to clean eating is they go to the store and stock pile up on every veggie or fruit they can get their hands on. No wonder why most people think eating healthy is expensive. To save money, you HAVE to pick and choose what fresh fruits and veggies you are going to get a week. Yes, having variety is great, but what if you don't like a veggie you get? What if you can't eat it all? You just wasted all that money. And you won't want to do it again. I personally have "must buy items" every week: 8-10 Apples, and a pack of grapes for Mason's lunch. I also am getting 4 bananas for Elyse now too. And 3 bags of spinach, bell pepper, onion and a bag of baby carrots. Any other fruits or veggies are what I consider "splurge" and I rotate through them. For fruits: one week I will get strawberries and blueberries, the next week I will get pears, or pineapple, or mangos, or oranges. And so forth. Veggies, my splurge items, fresh broccoli, fresh asparagus, rainbow carrots, corn on the cob, cabbage and so forth.

SHOP THE PERIMETER OF THE STORE
Try to avoid the inner isles as much as you can. Those inner isles are the ones with the packaged foods, preservative laden foods, chemicals and additives. Items that you want to get from the isles, old fashioned rolled oats, quinoa, lentils, brown rice. Avoid pasta, canned fruits and veggies (a lot of them have added sugar. Check out the ingredients!) cookies and candies.

BUY FROZEN FRUITS AND VEGGIES OVER FRESH
You tend to get more frozen than you get fresh at a lesser price or for just about the same. But you get more product for your money. To me that is a win win.

DON'T GET PRE-CHOPPED OR PRE-PREPED FOODS
Those pre-chopped, cut or cleaned foods are more expensive than doing it yourself at home. I know it is so nice to have an onion already chopped for you but when it is upwards of $.50 or more just for it to be cut up for you, in my world, I can cut the foods up myself. Save the money! Some foods it might be necessary but just know that you will save a lot more if you buy the whole fruit or veggie over the connivence packaging. I do get the "salad in a bag" at Trader Joe's, but I limit how many I get and I see it as a "splurge item" and I have to be under my budget to get it.

Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! Don't forget to follow me on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Self Guided Workbooks

Are you ready to take your result to the next level? I have opened up my store with my personally created guides and workbooks. These are the very tools that I have used to help me not only lose weight, but to change my lifestyle to a healthy lifestyle and reach my goals! Use these as a self guided study to help you reach your goals in whatever program you are doing to help you stay on track. Be on the lookout for more ebooks to come!

https://connectthedotsginger.squarespace.com/ebooks

To celebrate the opening of my new store take 20% off your purchase using the discount/promo code at checkout: NEWSTORE (limited time only)

Featured Ebook: 30 Days To A Healthy Lifestyle Change
Daily action step workbook to help you create healthy habits for a true, lasting, lifestyle change. 58 pages.
Love Yourself Fit
Tips on how to learn to love yourself fit through 7 simple steps! Building your self confidence, self love, happiness, joy, self respect, forgiveness an positive body image.

 #GOALDIGGER Weekly Goal Setting Workbook
Month long goal setting journey starts here! Goal setting strategies. Action steps brainstorming. And Weekly checklists using daily action steps to help you achieve 4 goals in just 1 month!

Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! Don't forget to follow me on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

Monday, June 5, 2017

5 Tips To Tone Your Body This Summer

Are you looking to lean up your body this summer. I AM for sure! It is my whole goal this summer with my Summer Slim Down Program available in my Exclusive group with me as your coach. To help me lean down and sculpt my body more I am following these 5 tips:

1) 150 minutes of moderate cardio workout per week
That comes out to 30 minutes, 5 days a week. My goal is to do some sort of cardio every single day. Even my strength training exercises will be more cardio based super sets. Going from one exercise to the next with little rest between. Cardio burns calories and calories burn fat. Good cardio exercises to do: jogging, running, bike, dancing exercises, swimming. You want to maintain a pace which you can still talk during.

2) HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) Cardio 2 days a week
With my cardio, 2 days a week I will be doing Higher Intensity Interval Training. HIIT means that you alternate short bursts of high intensity exercises with moderate exercise. I loved doing interval training when I was running. Run a moderate pace for 2 minutes, then a faster pace for as long as I could. Core de Force does it perfectly. Core de Force is broken down into 3 minute blocks. They do 2 minutes of exercise then 1 minute of HIIT.

3) Strength Training 2 days a week, not consecutive days
Total body strength training or breaking it down between upper body one day and lower body the next time you have strength training. Strength training is necessary to build lean muscle. And muscle burns fat when you are resting. To build muscle you lift heavy weights with less repetitions. To lean out you use lighter weights and more repetitions.

4) Ab exercises once a week
Ab exercises help to support our back and our whole body. I haven't done much ab workouts for awhile. why do I need to when I have so much fat covering them. They will never be seen. Was always my excuse. But the more I am learning about how important they are the more I realize I need to be doing them. Do you have low back pain, do more core work! Do you struggle with balancing? Do more core work. Carrying around a baby and even my older kids, I need my core to help me lift them and hold them so I don't throw out my back or hips. 10 minutes of ab work is a good goal to start with and you don't have to do traditional ab workouts either. There are plenty of programs out there that do core strengthening without even getting on the floor. PiYo Core is one of those! Avoid ab workouts while pregnant and if you have diastasis recti.

5) Can't outwork a bad diet
To truly tap into those results the diet MUST change! Do not expect to lean out when eating doughnuts every day, or candy, or cake. In this case you can't have abs and eat cake too. Live the rule of 80/20. 80 percent of the week eat as clean and healthy as possible. Avoiding simple carbs (white flower, pastries, pasta)  and sticking with complex carbs (oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice). Try eating your carbs earlier in the day, breakfast and lunch, so that your body uses the energy they create during the day. Eating at least 3 servings of veggies a day. My personal plan with the Nutrition Fix calls for 6 servings of veggies a day! Choose lean protein like chicken, egg whites over fatty protein like certain types of steaks. Then one meal a week, let yourself indulge and enjoy the fun meals. Having this balance allows you to lose weight because one bad meal won't derail your results. More than one meal will though. If you truly want results, STICK WITH YOUR NUTRITION!
Are you ready to make that complete healthy lifestyle change but don't know where to start? I have created a 30 day workbook with daily action steps to help you make a complete healthy lifestyle change. 30 Days To A Healthy Lifestyle Change is available in my EXCLUSIVE private Facebook group as part of my Summer Slim Down To Success 60 Day Program as a TOOL to go along with your Beachbody On Demand All Access Pass workout programs and journey. If you are interested in joining us and are ready to order CLICK HERE and I will send you an email after you order with your materials and get you added to the group!

Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! Don't forget to follow me on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

Friday, June 2, 2017

Tips To Staying Dedicated With Working Out At Home

Do you struggle with staying motivated and dedicated to working out at home? I hear from people every day, "I can't workout at home I have to be at the gym" But what if you can't go back to the gym for money reasons. It can be a hard transition to most, especially new moms who can't get back into the gym after having a kid. I personally stopped using the gym after having my second kid because one of my kids would get sick, then the next and before I knew it, 2 weeks had gone by where I couldn't go to the gym because of sick kids.

Thus came my need to transition to working out at home. Now I exercise on my own time, with or without the kids. And I am still getting a great workout! Check out the following tips to help you stay motivated with working out at home.

Find an exercise program that you LOVE! 
This is why I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Beachbody on Demand. With over 32 full programs to choose from and 500 actual exercises there has to be something that I will enjoy doing. And you don't have to do 1 specific program. You can pick and choose what you want to do! Plus there is a the Challenge Du Jour that has a different program to do every day while still following a weekly workout schedule of cardio, upper body workout, lower body workout, stretching, strength training and so forth.
Keep a tracker
Use a tracker to help you stay on track with your goals. Drinking enough water every day. Eating enough veggies. Keep a food log. Use something, anything to help you stay on track.

Have a LAST DAY goal
Start with a 30 day goal and have a non food related reward in place that you get when you complete your 30 days. New workout outfit, new tank, new clothing, purse, shoes, whatever you want and will work toward. Make it your reward for kicking ass in the month!

LOVE and CELEBRATE Non Scale Victories
Pants feeling loser. shirts not tight at your belly anymore. Rocking your swimsuit. Being able to chase your kids and not feel winded. Getting up and down without any pain. These are examples of non scale victories. Celebrate each and everyone. Because these are what count and help you keep going especially on those days that your excuses pop into your head!

Stay Positive
There are going to be days that you struggle with your workout. That's ok. Those days are the days that you will grow more and feel more accomplished after your workout. Remember why you are doing this and what your goal is at the end of your 30 days.
Have Support
Get a workout buddy to help keep you accountable. When you have someone to keep you accountable you will reach your goals. I have my free group and specifically my EXCLUSIVE group, which you get automatic entry to when you join my programs! It filled with women who want a buddy, need accountability and daily motivation to keep them going every single day. It's different than my free group as it has my personal tools, more tips and advice to help you stay on track, plus access to me as your personal motivator and supporter.

Want more daily motivation and inspiration just like this? Click here to join my private online community where you get info, tips, support and encouragement + a free gift with tips to help you get started with the right mindset for healthier nutrition choices TODAY!

Thursday, June 1, 2017

8 Months: Postpartum Update




Exercise: This past month I did not do what I had planned on. I tweaked my knee mid month took off a week to let it heal. Then I got super sick at the end of the month so no working out while I was sick with a GI bug. But the 1st 2 weeks I was doing P90X3 using the Beachbody On Demand with the all access pass. 
Weight: Pre-pregnancy weight:237.7. Weight morning of birth: 265. Current weight June 1: 243.5. Just after I was sick I was down to 239.9 but I basically wasn't able to eat for 5 days and my body flushed EVERYTHING out of my body. I had a natural cleanse!
June Goals: I am taking these results from my natural cleanse (Since I can't do the 3 Day Refresh yet) and run with them! I am going to be doing cardio galore. I want to lean out and slim down this summer! Of course I will be doing strength training but only 2 days a week. Everything else will be without weights so I can go faster to help me lean out. Aiming for 5 days a week of active exercise and using the weekends to do healthy activities with my family. Like going to the park and running with the kids or walks. I am so thankful for the habit I have built for myself, a natural drive to exercise and eat right, but I have even more of a kick to just KICK BUTT and show everyone that it is possible to lose weight while breastfeeding thanks to my accountability groups. The accountability from sharing my journey and in my groups is what is keeping me going everyday. Interested in joining my private online support community? CLICK HERE TO JOIN: CONNECT THE DOTS TO YOUR HEALTH, FITNESS AND LIFE Private Online Community.
Are you ready to make that complete healthy lifestyle change but don't know where to start? I have created a 30 day workbook with daily action steps to help you make a complete healthy lifestyle change. 30 Days To A Healthy Lifestyle Change is available in my EXCLUSIVE private Facebook group as part of my Summer Slim Down To Success 60 Day Program as a TOOL to go along with your Beachbody On Demand All Access Pass workout programs and journey. If you are interested in joining us and are ready to order CLICK HERE and I will send you an email after you order with your materials and get you added to the group!

Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! Don't forget to follow me on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!
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