it's no secret...i live in the middle of nowhere so it' not like i can pop into the store every other day to pick up fresh ingredients for this or that.

and since i'm doing the tone it up bikini challenge i have to be on my a-game in the meal prep department.

i also have to use my time wisely. i'm juggling working from home // tending to my two best gals // working out // endless meal-making...and getting my house ready to host mother's day brunch.

i'm only slightly exhausted.

but before i tire myself out even more - here's whatcha gotta do...

1 | grab this here snazzy spring-themed button and link back to Sept. Farm.
2 | link up your post at the bottom of this post.
3 | tell all your friends + have a fantastic friday.


my five strategies for staying on track - #fitnessgoals

 1 | amazon
one of the best strategies i've latched on to is amazon. (no...i'm not pitching for amazon...it really just makes life a little easier.)

when you're trying to eat healthy some of those ingredients are hard to find. cacoa nibs? no sugar added coconut flakes? flax seed? save yourself a trip to the health food store...just go to amazon. they have a trillion options AND you don't have to wander up and down aisles with two children who are going to crack any second.

2 | wake up early - get shi...stuff done.
i know this sucks. i know! but it's an absolute necessity. let me tell you how it goes down on the farm -

first - i wake up at 5:00 am-ish. i sit down with a giant cup of coffee and hammer out edits that need to go out to clients. by getting edits out first thing in the morning, the client has all day to respond and i can work on the projects in the evening after the gals go to bed.

second - the girls wake up around 7 am-ish. i always make their breakfast first (duh) and while they're eating i make whatever it is that i'm supposed to eat. they certainly don't need protein powder in their pancakes.

third - when the girls are still in their pj's they get to do whatever. play with toys // watch cartoons // color // play-doh...or they come into the bedroom and workout with me...because they're all about their fitness too.

fourth - nap time for sawyer is when i get my cardio in. luckily i'm not training for any sort of race, so the longest i ever run is four miles and that usually takes about 32 - 34 minutes. not too terribly long for kaye to look at books // play on the ipad // or run around the basement playroom like a lunatic.

and the rest of the day is what it is. it usually involves a substantial amount of outside time where kaye makes me work out more by jumping on the trampoline. someone save me.

but seriously - wake up early. you don't necessarily have to workout first thing, just get other stuff out of the way so you don't feel pulled to that. it opens up extra time in other parts of the day for your workout!

3 | stop eating your kid's food
i am so terribly terribly guilty of this. i don't know why, but whenever kaye and sawyer don't finish their food i'd just pop it in my mouth. keep in mind...i don't feed them crap food. it's usually nutritious, but even nutritious food can be loaded with calories. calories i didn't need.

i read some crazy stat once that stay at home moms consume several hundred more calories a day...just from eating their kid's scraps. ummm...did that P B + J crust taste that good?

if you find yourself doing this, try putting all those scraps in a bowl throughout the day, just to see what you may have consumed in addition to your regular intake. if it were me, i'd have quite the pile by the end of the day.

this has been a hard habit to break...but it's broken.

4 | put on your workout clothes first thing
just do it. getting dressed is half the battle, right? riiiiight. oh! also...get yourself some cute workout clothes that you wouldn't mind getting dressed in...and then wearing all day long because all of a sudden it's evening and you still haven't worked out. this happens to me all the time.

i snagged myself this top and i loooooove it. i plan on buying it in an additional color. this one is super cute too.

5. you don't have to be perfect
seriously. you don't have to be perfect, but you do have to be consistent. consistency is key. also...you can't outwork bad nutrition. trust me...i've tried. honestly...you can make way bigger improvements to your body by just changing your nutrition and not working out. so really...nutrition is the most important piece. this doesn't mean you can't have a slice of birthday cake or enjoy a beer or wine...but it does mean you can't do these things every day.  moderation + consistency. do it.

off the soapbox. linking up. happy friday.