2018-11-21
Tessa Mini and her husband Matt are owners of an amazing new fitness studio in Napa, Bare Health and Fitness. They focus on training their clients proper real food nutrition, importance of postural analysis, and consistency. The best part? They host wellness retreats in the Napa Valley and Bali for those who want to reverse bad lifestyle choices and focus on improving their overall well being.
I had the pleasure of meeting Tessa of Live Fit Live Bare this year at a fabulous gathering put on by our mutual girlfriend Mallory of Vine Living. We immediately connected because we both love all things health related, being physically active, and we’re both vegan! So of course I asked her to be a guest in my "What I Eat" series. I hope you enjoy reading her post as much as I did!
As a plant-based personal trainer and studio owner I am always trying to promote eating plant-based to my clients and living out exactly as I preach to my clients. I am a firm believer that eating wholesome, organic fresh fruits and plants on a daily basis can tremendously change your health, help with disease prevention, and overall help you live a more active healthy life. I believe most people have become to far removed from the foods that they consume and if we can just get back to basics and keep it simple all of our nutritional questions wouldn’t be as complicated. Anyways my lovely friend Jenn asked me to blog a day in the life as a vegan trainer and I was so excited to share to you all what I eat on a daily basis. I hope this gives you some insight that being plant-based is obtainable and doesn’t need to be overly complicated.
Every morning I like to start my day with a lemon and chlorophyll drink. Chlorophyll is one of those not so common superfoods that is truly powerful and amazing! It is a super potent antioxidant and also detoxifies our body. It helps bind to harmful carcinogens and toxins and stops them from being absorbed into the intestines. Chlorophyll doesn’t taste like much when you mix it with lemon or lime but be prepared it is quite green. You can use 2-8 drops to get these benefits from chlorophyll - this photo has only 2 drops to give you an idea about the amount of green in chlorophyll.
After I let the chlorophyll and lemon sit in my stomach for about 20 mins I ALWAYS have a green smoothie. As of late I have really been into smoothie bowls just to mix things up and because I was inspired by our recent trip to Bali which we had an abundance of smoothie bowls. Regardless if I make a smoothie or a smoothie bowl the ingredients and quality of ingredients always remain the same. This recipe was developed by my husband and I whom own Bare Health, a wellness studio in Napa. Each ingredient serves an important component to better serve our health and longevity.
2 scoops of wheatgrass or 1 scoop of green vibrance - Of its 17 amino acids, eight are considered essential, meaning your body cannot produce them and you must obtain them from food sources
1 tsp of chia seeds - omega 3 fatty acid
1 tsp cacao nibs - powerful antioxidant
1 tsp - 1 tbsp of turmeric - to reduce inflammation
1 tsp - 1 tbsp of cinnamon - to level out our insulin and insulin crashes
1 tbsp flax seed oil - omega 3 fatty acid that helps vitamin absorption
5 ounces of kale/spinach or any leafy greens mix - more phytonutrients
2 cups of various fruits preferably with skin peels like blueberries, cherries, cranberries but mix up your fruit and always have a variety I love MANGO - polyphenols
½ - 1 banana - aids in digestions
Unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk (enough to mix for desirable texture) - obviously isn’t cow’s milk so it is not as nutritious but it also doesn’t have the harming inflammation components of cow’s milk
Mix everything up and enjoy :)
Now if I had the most perfect schedule in the world I would actually workout first and not eat until after my workout. But since my studio is still relatively new my schedule is dictated upon clients. My first client usually starts at 5:45am and I do not have a break until about 12:30-1pm. Therefore I really try to make my morning smoothie last me until lunchtime. However if they do not last I will generally carry an apple or a packet of raspberries on me and have that as a snack.
Today I was starving so I had a packet of raspberries.
I generally have a break between 1pm-4pm and this is when I do all my administrative work and get a workout in. Now my favorite workout in the WORLD to do is 90 mins of low intensity cardio. I generally perform this on the elliptical or on a run trying to keep my heart rate within my aerobic lipolytic fat burning state which for me is between 128-132.
My husband and I have the blessing of working together. Now some think we would grow tired of each other at work but really we are so occupied with our clients and the battles our clients are going through that we don’t get to have much quality time at work. Therefore we like to take our lunch break as an opportunity to run together. He could definitely out run me but he has always said from the beginning of our runs, "It’s not about the pace it's about the distance, lets just get our mileage in." And that is when we take off on our 6-10 mile runs. Today we only managed 7 miles.
When it comes to lunch I am generally a little bit lazy about it. I say lazy in that I do not pre-pack my lunch and instead have it delivered to the gym so I can continue training clients. I do have a favorite that I eat nearly 3 times a week. In Napa we have a organic mexican restaurant that serves a field green salad topped with oranges, avocado and roasted sweet potatoes tossed in a cumin pineapple dressing. It is my absolute favorite salad and is actually quite filling. Now if you do not have a place like this to order a salad I would highly suggest making your version of this salad.
After lunch I started clients back up till about 7pm. Once I get home my husband and I generally eat the same thing every night - zoodles with some tofu! My favorite topping is coconut aminos or a marinara sauce! SO GOOD! We mix our zoodle’s up from having zucchini, butternut squash, beets or sweet potatoes and we always add in a few extra vegetables such as broccoli or spinach. Also whole foods as zoodles pre-cut so it makes life real easy!
I had the pleasure of meeting Tessa of Live Fit Live Bare this year at a fabulous gathering put on by our mutual girlfriend Mallory of Vine Living. We immediately connected because we both love all things health related, being physically active, and we’re both vegan! So of course I asked her to be a guest in my "What I Eat" series. I hope you enjoy reading her post as much as I did!
 |
As a plant-based personal trainer and studio owner I am always trying to promote eating plant-based to my clients and living out exactly as I preach to my clients. I am a firm believer that eating wholesome, organic fresh fruits and plants on a daily basis can tremendously change your health, help with disease prevention, and overall help you live a more active healthy life. I believe most people have become to far removed from the foods that they consume and if we can just get back to basics and keep it simple all of our nutritional questions wouldn’t be as complicated. Anyways my lovely friend Jenn asked me to blog a day in the life as a vegan trainer and I was so excited to share to you all what I eat on a daily basis. I hope this gives you some insight that being plant-based is obtainable and doesn’t need to be overly complicated.
5:00 am
Every morning I like to start my day with a lemon and chlorophyll drink. Chlorophyll is one of those not so common superfoods that is truly powerful and amazing! It is a super potent antioxidant and also detoxifies our body. It helps bind to harmful carcinogens and toxins and stops them from being absorbed into the intestines. Chlorophyll doesn’t taste like much when you mix it with lemon or lime but be prepared it is quite green. You can use 2-8 drops to get these benefits from chlorophyll - this photo has only 2 drops to give you an idea about the amount of green in chlorophyll.
 |
- Calories: 5
- Fiber: 0
- Carbohydrates: 0
- Protein: 0
6:00 am
After I let the chlorophyll and lemon sit in my stomach for about 20 mins I ALWAYS have a green smoothie. As of late I have really been into smoothie bowls just to mix things up and because I was inspired by our recent trip to Bali which we had an abundance of smoothie bowls. Regardless if I make a smoothie or a smoothie bowl the ingredients and quality of ingredients always remain the same. This recipe was developed by my husband and I whom own Bare Health, a wellness studio in Napa. Each ingredient serves an important component to better serve our health and longevity.
 |
Bare Health Smoothie Recipe:
2 scoops of wheatgrass or 1 scoop of green vibrance - Of its 17 amino acids, eight are considered essential, meaning your body cannot produce them and you must obtain them from food sources
1 tsp of chia seeds - omega 3 fatty acid
1 tsp cacao nibs - powerful antioxidant
1 tsp - 1 tbsp of turmeric - to reduce inflammation
1 tsp - 1 tbsp of cinnamon - to level out our insulin and insulin crashes
1 tbsp flax seed oil - omega 3 fatty acid that helps vitamin absorption
5 ounces of kale/spinach or any leafy greens mix - more phytonutrients
2 cups of various fruits preferably with skin peels like blueberries, cherries, cranberries but mix up your fruit and always have a variety I love MANGO - polyphenols
½ - 1 banana - aids in digestions
Unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk (enough to mix for desirable texture) - obviously isn’t cow’s milk so it is not as nutritious but it also doesn’t have the harming inflammation components of cow’s milk
Mix everything up and enjoy :)
- Calories: 403
- Fiber: 16.8
- Carbohydrates: 43.1
- Protein: 5.5
Now if I had the most perfect schedule in the world I would actually workout first and not eat until after my workout. But since my studio is still relatively new my schedule is dictated upon clients. My first client usually starts at 5:45am and I do not have a break until about 12:30-1pm. Therefore I really try to make my morning smoothie last me until lunchtime. However if they do not last I will generally carry an apple or a packet of raspberries on me and have that as a snack.
11:00 am
Today I was starving so I had a packet of raspberries.
- Calories: 88
- Fiber: 11
- Carbohydrates: 20.3
- Protein: 2
I generally have a break between 1pm-4pm and this is when I do all my administrative work and get a workout in. Now my favorite workout in the WORLD to do is 90 mins of low intensity cardio. I generally perform this on the elliptical or on a run trying to keep my heart rate within my aerobic lipolytic fat burning state which for me is between 128-132.
12:30 pm
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My husband and I have the blessing of working together. Now some think we would grow tired of each other at work but really we are so occupied with our clients and the battles our clients are going through that we don’t get to have much quality time at work. Therefore we like to take our lunch break as an opportunity to run together. He could definitely out run me but he has always said from the beginning of our runs, "It’s not about the pace it's about the distance, lets just get our mileage in." And that is when we take off on our 6-10 mile runs. Today we only managed 7 miles.
Calories burned 810
When it comes to lunch I am generally a little bit lazy about it. I say lazy in that I do not pre-pack my lunch and instead have it delivered to the gym so I can continue training clients. I do have a favorite that I eat nearly 3 times a week. In Napa we have a organic mexican restaurant that serves a field green salad topped with oranges, avocado and roasted sweet potatoes tossed in a cumin pineapple dressing. It is my absolute favorite salad and is actually quite filling. Now if you do not have a place like this to order a salad I would highly suggest making your version of this salad.
3:00 pm
 |
- Calories: 554
- Fiber: 16.5
- Carbohydrates: 81.8
- Protein: 10
After lunch I started clients back up till about 7pm. Once I get home my husband and I generally eat the same thing every night - zoodles with some tofu! My favorite topping is coconut aminos or a marinara sauce! SO GOOD! We mix our zoodle’s up from having zucchini, butternut squash, beets or sweet potatoes and we always add in a few extra vegetables such as broccoli or spinach. Also whole foods as zoodles pre-cut so it makes life real easy!
 |
- Calories: 400
- Fiber: 8
- Carbohydrates: 26
- Protein: 27