It was about a $300 investment up front, and it was a pain to get it into our basement because of our skinny stairs, but it was totally worth it. We even loved it so much that we moved it to our next house!
how to organize your deep freezer
Let me preface this organization part by stating that our deep freezer is ONLY used for meat. Yes, only meat. Yes, we DO have that much meat to store. Remember how I said that I am an avid Costco shopper and have a hunter husband? Well, in addition to those two budget friendly meat sources, we also belong to a few meat CSAs. In my opinion, buying meat in bulk from a CSA is the absolute BEST option when it comes to getting high quality meat that doesn't break the bank. By buying directly from the farmer, you avoid the middle man. Buy buying in bulk you save even more money. By buying local, you're helping out a small business and doing you part to make a difference in the world. You can read more about the number crunching I did about CSAs in this article.
SO, the ability to BUY AND STORE MEAT IN BULK is why a deep freezer is so life changing. Maybe this will sound like you: You are trying to eat healthy, so your meals are centered around a protein, vegetable and/or starch. Meat is the most expensive part of your meal, so it seems like it's the hardest thing to keep on hand, especially when you are limited to only a small freezer. You plan your meals based off what meat you buy at the store every single week, maybe even multiple times a week. You worry about those small sized packages going bad in the fridge if your social plans change throughout the week (like going out to eat unexpectedly), etc. Maybe you can store some bulk items in your small freezer, but you quickly run out of space and get frustrated. With a deep freezer, all you would need to do is take a trip down to the basement (or wherever you put it) and it's like you have a fully stocked meat counter at your fingertips. Sound nice? I promise, the investment up front will pay off in the long run both financially and mentally. On to the organization part. Our deep freezer is 7.0 cubic feet... That's BIG. Luckily, it came with two baskets that slide across the top rail. These baskets were a big selling point for the freezer because it helps to keep all the small items from falling down into the depths of the freezer. I will say though, my freezer is not the best organized at the moment and some extra bins would be nice! Maybe that will be another blog post some day? I think it will!
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Currently, I store small items in the two sliding bins. One contains breakfast meats (bacon from Costco, sausage from CSAs) and smaller cuts from our CSA, while the other contains smaller cuts of meat that I have portioned out on my own (either from CSAs or Costco). The bottom of the freezer is where things are currently the most disorganized and where I do need to improve! What is down at the bottom is venison (from my husband hunting), large cuts from our CSA, and bags of seafood from Costco. Ideally, I would have shallow stacking bins that I could pull out easily and see my entire stock. But like I said, that organization overhaul will be a post for another time!
main takeaways:
If you struggle to eat healthy because you feel like time is working against you and that making multiple trips to the store in a week is just NOT convenient (it's not, no shame there) then I strongly urge you to consider a deep freezer BECAUSE:
Who doesn't want all those things? Do you already have and love your deep freezer? Comment below if you have any organization tips! Pin now and come back later!
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1. get in the zone
The first thing you need to do is accept the fact that this might be a very big change for you and your family. Emptying out a fridge and only keeping the good stuff is hard and can be emotional. So, I ask you to turn up your favorite music and plan at least half a day to embark on this journey and just get excited! Yes... cleaning out the fridge is a lot of work, but it will be so worth it in the end! Being an appliance we see and use multiple times a day, it’s easy to overlook what piles up in it and just let it become the norm.
So, maybe this idea of clean eating is new to you, maybe it’s not. Either way, the health benefits you will gain from it cannot be found in any other health habit. 2. empty it out
Out with the old and in with the new right? You can’t start fresh without seeing all you have to work with. A lot of times, we get frustrated with our fridges because they just seem to fill up so fast! The reality is, they are probably just poorly organized and full of things we don’t need...
I am probably the biggest anti-food-waster out there, it makes me physically hurt to throw out food, but sometimes, it just has to happen. If you’re like me, ask yourself something like this: “would I rather have a half full jar of store bought Alfredo sauce OR space to fit a block of grass fed butter?” I think you know the answer to that one. While you are emptying out the fridge, make two piles on your counter: 1. Food that came from grocery store aisles 2. Food that came from grocery store perimeter 3. Leftovers That's it for now, leave the food on the counter and proceed to step 3! 3. start fresh
Now that your fridge is totally empty, it's time to deep clean. You don't want to put your sorted and nice fresh food in a dingy fridge right? Here's some tips to make that process suck a little less:
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4. sort
Now that the interior of your fridge is clean and your bins are drying in the sun, it's time to tackle those piles of food. You currently have three piles (food from grocery store aisles, food from the perimeter, and leftovers) and it's time to refine those further.
Before we begin, think about the real purpose of a fridge: it keeps food with a short shelf life COLD. Again, it's for food with a SHORT shelf life. Haven't we heard the advice of staying at the perimeter of the grocery store while we shop? All the foods at the perimeter NEED the fridge right off the bat right? The following organization will help to solidify this notion:
5. organize
Now that you are left with only the “good food”, it’s time to organize so that you can make the most of it! You want your fridge to be visually pleasing so that when you open it up, you’re not left feeling overwhelmed. I organize my fridge similar to how a grocery store is organized, and these five categories are: PRODUCE, “DAIRY”, DRINKS, LEFTOVERS and “CONDIMENTS”. Each category has its own space and I try to keep similar shapes of items together too. I encourage you to stick to these categories as best you can and I will explain the quotes later. Let’s start from the bottom of the fridge and work up.
6. restock
This is the fun part! Take inventory of what you have and plan a few meals using what is already in your fridge. If there is anything else you need, buy it and take a second to see if there are ways to make some parts from scratch, like sauces or sides. If that is overwhelming, just remember that the more you cook, the better you get!
what about the freezer?
Congratulations, you tackled your fridge!!! Freezers are just as important, so stay tuned next week for the next part of this post!
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why not every day?
Yes, I know, hearing anything that talks about "muscle confusion" seems like a great idea and the best way to get your body to respond. But is there such a thing as too much muscle confusion? YES. Think about it this way: if you performed all new exercises EVERY SINGLE DAY, wouldn't you get frustrated when each exercise felt like a new skill to master? Wouldn't you like to go to the gym knowing that you have good form on at least some of the exercises in your routine? I know I do... AND, let's take a second to talk about soreness. You know how sore you get after doing a new exercise for the first time? Do you REALLY want to be that immobile every day of your life? NOPE.
So if we aren't going to change things up every day, how do we know when to change things? It's a fine line here, because you want to change things the least amount of times you can WHILE STILL challenging your body. So: why not every 3 months?
Every 3 months seems like it would be a good idea, because you would give your body plenty of time to master a movement, but honestly, your body is WAY smarter than that. 3 months is a long time to do the same thing over and over and I promise that your body will get bored and plateau! No one wants a plateau.
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why not every month?
Yes, your body IS amazingly capable of adapting, but one month doesn't give it that much time to master something. Think about it, if you perform a two day split routine for 4 weeks, you are only performing each exercise 4 times before you move on to new exercises. It sure takes me longer than 4 tries to learn something new!
the "perfect" number:
This leaves us with the middle ground... somewhere between 4 weeks and 12 weeks. Let's continue with our example from above: if you perform that two day split for 6-8 weeks, you get 6-8 days to master each exercise! That's plenty of time to progress.
What about getting bored? The longer you perform a workout, the more likely you will get bored. One way to eliminate that is by performing the same exercises in different ways throughout your routine. This is the exact reason I designed my workout cycles to progress like this. Each of your 6 weeks contains the same exercises, but each week has a slightly different goal. If that kind of layout sounds appealing to you, take a second to look more in depth look at how my plans are organized here! Alright, you are now READY to tackle your workout routine with CONFIDENCE. Go forth and LIFT YOUR LIFE! Pin now, reference later!
I tried making my own cleaners at home. You've probably seen all the recipes on Pinterest for natural cleaning products you can make with just a few ingredients (lemon juice, castile soap, essential oils, white vinegar, etc). I got all excited, bought my supplies and... it was kind of exhausting! Yes, I knew what was going into my cleaners, but I felt like I had so many "supplies" around the house that I was left with the same mess of bottles and potions that I had before I started. It was too much measuring too, and being an anti cooking book kind of home cook, measuring is just NOT my thing. Anyway, I tried to stick with it, but one day I happened to listen to a life changing podcast from an awesome girl.
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she recommended... Branch Basics.
I promise you, the day I listened to the podcast I checked out their site. A couple days later... SOLD. At the time, we were renovating our dream home and I felt like it was the perfect chance to get a fresh start in creating a healthy (and clean) home environment. Once my shipment arrived, I was HOOKED. I filled all my bottles, started cleaning and HOLY CRAP does this stuff clean well. Their "streak free" bottle really does live up to its name! Our granite counters? Sparkling. Here is the REAL test though. This might be a bit TMI, but I'll tell you anyway. I have a workout top that I have had for a while now, and let's just say that the pit stains on the inside of it are pretty nasty. These pit stains have been there forever (you can't see them from the outside of the shirt), but one day I decided to spray a bit of the "all purpose" bottle onto the stains. I let it sit for about two days before I put it in the wash. Once it came out... the stains were gone.
On top of Branch Basics working so well, I think what I like the most is that I have full control over how I mix the formulas. I love the color coded system, and I like how all I need is ONE bottle of concentrate, so I only have to worry about running out of ONE thing! I also love that it's fragrance free because I have super sensitive skin and avoid strong fragrances. I can use this stuff without dish gloves! I will say though, I do make my potions a bit more customized than just altering the level of concentration (per bottle instructions). Even though I am sensitive to synthetic fragrances, essential oils are something I love. So what do I do? I just add some drops of oils (lemon, lemongrass, lavender, eucalyptus, etc) to the bottle. The smell fills the room as I clean, I know it's safe and it adds some extra cleaning power! What's not to love, especially when you get get $10 off your first order with the link below!
Click here for $10 off your first order of Branch Basics!
Alright, here's the summary. Typical cleaners aren't safe. Most "green" cleaners aren't actually healthy either. Making your own cleaners (while effective) can be a pain in the butt. Branch Basics comes in and saves the day with an easy system, awesome product, pretty packaging, and great customer service! Are you sold yet? If you are, awesome! If you aren't, try their starter kit, it's only $5!
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how to use visualization to turbo-charge your morningconclusion
Use your evening to set up for an awesome morning. How? Visualize it. No, I'm not saying that everything we visualize will come true, but most of the things will. What about what doesn't come true? Well, all we did by visualizing is just leave some extra space in our minds to deal with the stress and overwhelm!
-always lifting your LIFE, Laura pin me!
enter: collagen
Like most of the world, I love coffee (or some sort of hot beverage) and that is something that is part of my morning, NO MATTER WHAT. I am going to make it, I am going to drink it, it's definitely happening. More often than not, I also drink my coffee black. If you've ever tried adding whey (or pea, egg white, brown rice, etc) protein to black coffee, you know how gross it is. It doesn't dissolve well, it clumps, the taste is overpowering, it's just nasty. All those things made me give up on protein powders for a long time and try to eat it only from real food sources only. This can be VERY hard if you are trying to get almost 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. That's a lot of food to eat! During that time, I am pretty sure I noticed a loss in muscle mass because it was just so hard to eat that much protein from real sources without constantly cooking or sitting down for a real meal. We all know that sitting down and eating is hard to do 3+ times a day!
This brings us to the amazing supplement that is collagen peptides. You might end up liking it so much that you buy it in bulk at Costco like I do! Instead of having to make a special shake as you would with a typical protein powder, all you have to do is add the collagen peptides to your daily cups of coffee. The collagen dissolves so smoothly and gives you (almost) NO weird taste. I say almost because there I feel there is a slight taste when I add two scoops (a full serving) to ONE cup of coffee, but if I only add one scoop to that ONE cup of coffee I don't notice a taste at all. This means that your first cup of coffee has one scoop, your second cup has the second scoop. From those two cups of coffee (that you were going to drink anyway) you get 20 grams of important muscle building protein in your diet with no extra time required. Try it out, there's even single serve packets! You will love how filling it is and your growing muscles will thank you!
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you need a mix from online training/coaching if...
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conclusion:
The goal of this post was not to sell you on a plan of mine or to convince you that I am the most knowledgable trainer out there. My main goal was to give some advice when it comes to embarking on a health and fitness journey. Do not sell yourself short and try doing things the “free” way because it will only take more time in the long run. You deserve better. I also ask you not to pay for something that will burn you out and cause you to feel farther behind than you were before just because someone has a fancy tagline or software. I urge you to do your research and find your perfect middle ground with someone who aligns with your goals, aligns with your budget and gives you the freedom to make mistakes, grow, and build lasting healthy habits.
-always lifting your LIFE, Laura
say what?
Yes, you already honor yourself in some way. I know you do. Do you have anything that’s even remotely “fancy” in your life that you do? Maybe you have a hair masque you love, a special breakfast you make after a workout, an extensive skincare routine, or a special candle you burn in the evenings. Or, maybe you’re like me (and most of the world) and have a special way you make coffee or tea in the morning. All these things are specific to you. You chose them for a reason. You chose the process, the products, and the timing all because they make you happy and they offer you some benefit. You already do the legwork, now it’s time to make it work for your emotional health too and turn it into self-care.
here comes the lesson in mindfulness
Just like my coffee, my tea has a special "art" too. Tea tends to be more relaxing for me, and is thus saved for the weekends or days off with my hubby. I have a gorgeous gold press for my loose leaf tea and the same mental notes happen here too. I admire the color of the press, the shapes of the tea leaves, the sound the water makes as it fills the carafe, the steam hitting my face, and the color changes of the steeping tea. Again, all those steps would happen no matter what, but being mindful of what is happening and what you are doing makes the difference.
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have I lost you yet?
I sure hope not. I know this tip sounds silly at first, but think about it... All I am asking you to try is change the way you think about your face wash, your candles, your conditioner, even your scrambled eggs. All you need to do is be more mindful. Although these daily acts are simple, they are repeated for a reason: they give us comfort, love, satisfaction, etc. Let those feelings bubble up even more and enjoy not only the final product but the PROCESS you took to get there. Those 5 - 10 NOT extra minutes will definitely change your day.
This is where CSAs (short for Community Supported Agriculture) comes in. When you participate in a CSA, you are essentially paying a farmer in advance for their product whether it be produce, meat, honey, eggs, etc. By paying them in advance, you are giving them a BIG BENEFIT by offsetting some of their upfront costs from running a farm. Think about it, by the time you get to their farm stand or their produce gets to Whole Foods, they already have had A LOT OF WORK TO DO. Farmers don't get paid all year...
So... let's move on to the math... I participate in two different CSAs (one is for produce and one is for meat). produce CSA breakdown
I was able to sign up for 2019's growing season early (which got me a discount) and paid the cost up front (another discount). That payment gives us 12 deliveries, one every other week. Each delivery lasts us 2 weeks (just two of us at home) for a total of 24 weeks. My purchase price (with discounts) was $285. So:
$285 / 24 weeks = $11.88 per week for certified ORGANIC and FRESH as can be produce. UM HELLO. Major win. Could you spend $12 at Whole Foods or even Walmart for all your weekly organic produce? I think not. meat CSA breakdown
My meat CSA works a bit differently. Instead of signing up for a "growing season" you pay for meat in 10 lb increments to get a "bulk price". 10 lbs of meat is $85. On top of that, you get a free dozen of eggs from pasture raised chickens ($6 value at the Whole Foods near me). If we subtract the $6 from $85, that leaves us with $79 towards the 10 lbs of meat.
$79 / 10 lbs = $7.90 per pound for free-range, pastured, grass fed/finished meat! I know that price might seem high for ground meat, but that's not all you get... I get filet mignon, bacon and whole chickens in my mix too!
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final notes
Again, I am not telling you that you need to go broke to get the best food you can. What I am telling you to do is think outside retail grocery stores. I want you to do your research and find a local farmer/CSA who needs your support. CSAs are great opportunities to feed your family the best food you can get and to learn about so many new ingredients. I had no idea what a kohlrabi was before our CSA, and now it's one of my favorite foods! These CSAs have been huge time savers for me too. Imagine stopping somewhere only every other week to get all your produce for the week? Imagine going to the freezer and pulling out anything you'd like? For the variety, the price and the value of their food, CSAs are always a win and you are ALWAYS deserving of that value.
-always lifting your life, Laura ![]()
I know. You're overworked, spread thin, stressed, tired and have too big of a to-do list. You see all these posts about self care, about giving yourself time and space and on top of that you NEED to get a workout in AND meal prep...
You think "how the heck am I supposed to do that PLUS all the other crap I have to do PLUS be the best for the people in my life that rely on me???" Well, I have some news for you: If you do not focus on yourself and push through your exhaustion to help and serve others with no break, you WILL get burnt out. You might not be burnt out now, but you WILL get to that breaking point some day. And when that day comes, all hell will break loose. Why? Because you will be so fed up, tired and drained to do all the things that you do for others (which we all know is pretty much EVERYTHING). I know self-care gets pushed to the bottom of the list. It feels like it something we do only when given permission... Permission? Really? You're the one taking care of everyone and doing everything, you DESERVE that time to build yourself up, to learn more, to grow more. Give yourself your own permission. Self care should never be viewed as just a treat. It should be viewed as the thing that keeps us vibrant, renewed and ready to serve the world in the best way we can. Please, take this thought with you today: "You can only give others what you give yourself." Give yourself the gift of time to breathe, the gift of reflection, and the gift of time to honor yourself. -always lifting your LIFE, Laura
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AuthorMy name is Laura and I help overly tired 20something women overhaul their lives, energy and confidence without overwhelm. Categories
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DISCLAIMER:
Although I am a Certified Personal Trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and write to the best of my knowledge on fitness, nutrition and lifestyle practices, I cannot be made liable to know all information on a particular subject. Knowledge gained through this blog is to be used at your own risk and all lifestyle changes should be discussed with a doctor before starting. I am also a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. I do receive a small reimbursement for sales made through the links provided on my blog. |