How to be a healthy mama!

Note from Joy: I'm so thrilled that Angela Peters agreed to write a guest post for me. I met her a few years back when she came to my very first workshop I ever taught at 889 Yoga. I remember her very well because she was glowing from head to toe. For those of you who know her, you know what I'm talking about! She exudes health and happiness and this is because she practices what she preaches -- as you will see below. Enjoy these tips!

I am honoured to be a guest here today in the land of joyous health! I have much love & respect for the girl behind this corner of the web - she is the real deal and has been a real inspiration to me since we first met a few years ago.

Today I want to discuss with you my favourite topic of all time: ...Healthy Mamahood.

As a mother of 2 young girls and a personal trainer/soon to be holistic nutritionist, I am super passionate about raising our daughters to experience life in the healthiest, happiest way possible.

And I'm also pretty blessed to have the opportunity to inspire other women to do the same through my role at Rebirth Wellness Centre in London, ON.

A question I am often asked, is how to find the time to be healthy when there are so many demands of you as a mother. Well, I first of all believe that you will always make time for what's important to you. And secondly, it all comes down to some good ol' healthy habits built into the day to make it all come together.

So in Top Ten fashion, here are my best tips:

1. Sweat daily: Especially important if you're a new mom! Find a time that's going to work for you most days and stick to it. If you take even 20 min a day to exercise, you will be fresh, strong & so on top of your game! I've provided a great circuit training workout for you in the video below that will get your muscles pumping, burn off about 300 calories and takes under 30 min!

2. Involve your kids in your workouts: When the weather is nice, we strap our girls in the double jogger and get out for a family run or I'll bring them with me for the Stroller Bootcamp classes I teach twice a week.

3. Meal Plan: Every Sunday, I take 10 min to plan out what I'll be cooking each night using this awesome online tool called Plan to Eat. I have almost 800 clean/plant based recipes stored on there and I simply drag/drop them into my calendar and then it creates my grocery shopping list! This habit puts time, money & calories back in your pocket and you aren't left doing the cupboard staredown at 5pm.

4. Batch Cook: Also on Sunday, I cook up: 4 cups of quinoa/brown rice, 2 cups legumes, a monster salad and bake either granola bars or muffins. That way there's always something healthy in the fridge and this can all be done while prepping a nice dinner on Sunday night.

5. Daily Smoothie: I love liquid nutrition in the form of green juices & smoothies. And when all else fails in trying to feed your kids healthy foods - you can sneak a whole lot of superfood goodness into a glass. Here's our family go-to recipe.

6. Don't Buy the Junk: I am a big fan of the 80/20 rule - our fam eats clean, whole foods 80% of the time. But I don't want my kids to feel deprived or stressed when it comes to eating. So we have a treat every day - but I try to make sure it's something that's come from our kitchen and isn't processed. My 20% usually happens at 10pm in the form of dark chocolate ;)

7. 10 Min Prep @ Night: Lay out the gym clothes, prep breakfast, fill your 20 oz glass water bottle - do whatever it takes to set the next day up for healthy success.

8. Green Plants: Have 1 green plant in every room of your house: they not only filter your air and detox your home, but having your kids water them for you is a great way to prepare them for taking care of that pet they ask you for 500 times a day.

9. Vitamin B Present: When you're doing the first 8 things on this list, you will find yourself with a surplus of energy cause you'll feel so darn good. This is why #9 is so important....especially to your kids. Tune out the world and just be in the moment: doing, talking, playing with them. This has been my biggest learning

10. Vitamin L: the only supplement your kids need (besides a good fish oil & probiotic). And this is the love vitamin. It's the biggest nutrient your child gets out of every home cooked healthy meal you make!

Now that you made it through that list, I know you're feeling super motivated to kick it into high gear! So go clear a spot in your living room and let's burn some calories togetha: Check out this video here!

Come visit me sometime over at www.hol-fit.com

Till next time health lovers,

Ange