Your Top Bikini Series Questions Answered!

Hey babe! How amazing are you feeling?! We hope you are loving the Bikini Series meal plan as much as we are 🤗 You girls have been rocking the first week of the challenge! Karena and I love seeing all your checkins, you babes give us serious motivation🙌🏻 Before we kick off week two Karena and I wanted to make sure we answered the top questions we've been seeing on Instagram! We hope these Bikini Series tips help! Keep up all your hard work babes💪🏻

 Can I sub in my own meals? 

YES! The plan is all laid out for you so you don't have to think about planning, but if you know you're traveling, dining out, or want to make something else, go for it! As long as it's healthy and part of your Tone It Up Guidelines, you're golden girl! ✨

I'm super active and I feel hungry ~ can I eat more?

YES YES YES! The goal is to never be hungry -- ever :) We want you to always feel satisfied! For all of you who are on your feet all day or who burn more calories either through sports training, more activity, or breastfeeding, you can easily add healthy calories to your day. We love grabbing a handful of trail mix, having peanut butter on an apple, getting a fresh juice, grabbing a Tone It Up bar, or incorporating more snacks during the day. If you want to add calories to your meals, it's easy to do it with healthy fats like oils, nuts, seeds, and avocado. You can also add beans and more protein to meals. We also love adding coconut shavings, flax seeds, and chopped walnuts to smoothies and yogurt! Basically, if you're hungry, we want you to add a lil' somethin' somethin' to your meals. Everyone is unique — especially with activity levels and metabolisms. Check the 'Calorie Add-On' page in your Bikini Plan for more ideas! Breastfeeding? You're burning through an additional 400-600 calories a day, so increase those calories for more energy mama! And of course, check with your doctor, because every woman is unique! 💗

How do I make dinners family friendly? 

Making the entire family happy with a variety of food and sides can sometimes be a challenge. We really want you to personally make your evening meal before bed about lean protein, veggies, fibrous foods, and healthy fats~ but that may not be what your family wants, and that's okay! Just last night I was good with the dinner on the plan (I sautéed chicken, Brussels sprouts, garlic, and mushrooms in olive oil and spices and served it with pico de Gallo), but Brian wanted a little bit more, so he added a brown rice and quinoa mix. Sometimes I'll do that too, but I was satisfied with what I made, so he added it after I already served my plate. He also added his favorite barbecue sauce while I wanted my salsa on top. So if you make your meal, and your family wants to serve it over pasta, add some rolls on the side, or mix it with rice and a different sauce, more power to them! Just serve your plate first and then mix in what they want!

I always tend to crash in the afternoon and reach for unhealthy snacks - what can I eat that's TIU approved?

We all crash at about 3:30/4pm...it's that afternoon slump! First, make sure you're having your protein, healthy complex carbohydrates, fats, and fresh fruit at lunch. That way you have energy for the afternoon. As soon as you want a snack, we recommend grabbing something that won't spike your blood sugar...aka simple carbs or sugar! This is why M4 is designed in your meal plan to keep your energy levels steady. If you eat something sugary, your blood sugar levels will skyrocket, causing your insulin levels to go up. That leads to a crash and an even bigger slump - making you feel ravenous for dinner. So think about your afternoon snack as an opportunity for healthy fats and protein. This is why meal prep comes in handy, because when 4 o'clock hits, you'll want something right then and there. 😜

We like to pack the below for days at the HQ or when we're out and about!

✓ Tone It Up Muffins - these are great for meal prep! Plus the protein helps lower the glycemic index of the meal, keeping you energized longer!

✓ Trail Mix - we like buying the pre-divided small packets. It makes it easy to grab and go, plus it's pre-portioned.

✓ Peanut butter on celery - why is this so good? 😍 Haha. We love 1 Tbsp. peanut butter (or almond butter) on celery or an apple. If you're having fruit, make sure you combine it with a healthy fat to help balance the sugar.

✓ Smoothie - best afternoon smoothie is almond milk + 1 Tbsp. nut butter + ice + protein + cacao nibs. SO YUMMY! We also love adding cinnamon!

✓ Hummus + Carrots - this is such an easy go-to!

✓ Chicken salad (or tuna or tempeh) - Mix chopped protein with almonds, 1 Tbsp. coconut yogurt, celery, lemon + fresh ground pepper. Serve with seed crackers or make lettuce wraps.

✓ Sliced cucmber + guacamole + salsa

✓ Chia seed pudding

✓ Sometimes...a little dark chocolate just does the trick! We love having some dark chocolate with a coconut yogurt! 😋

Can I have a cheat meal? Or is that off limits?

First off, we never call it 'cheating' at Tone It Up! Cheating has a negative connotation — we don't want you to ever feel bad. It's just called treating yourself and living life! You know that we're the last trainers to ever tell you that you can't have something that you love and enjoy! Just incorporating it with balance in your plan is the goal! We love saying yes to birthday cake, cupcakes, homemade cookies, ice cream dates, popcorn at the movies, champagne at a celebration, and pizza on a date night! 🎂🍿The biggest thing is, we don't want you to ever feel guilty. As soon as you feel guilty, you might give up on the week and feel like you just need to start over on Monday, but really it's not about starting over, it's just about making the next meal light and healthy and staying active. You don't have to wait 'til a Monday. You can just bounce right back! Treating yourself is all part of the plan ~ whether it's a birthday, date night, or a fun girls' night -- enjoy every moment and every bite! Since you're working out and making healthy meals most of the week, you'll feel amazing and you'll still reach your goals - we promise you're going to do great. We like to have dessert a couple times a week. We just recommend balancing it with the rest of your lifestyle. 💃

I work nightshifts —how can I follow the plan?

With so many different work schedules in the community, we recommend spreading out your meals and snacks every 2-3 hours. If it's hard for you to grab a meal during your shift, have easy snacks like Tone It Up bars, the new bites from Target, a piece of fruit, or a smoothie that you can grab.

TIP: Store your pre-made smoothies in your Tone It Up water bottle before work and shake before drinking! Smoothies stay cool for hours and are delicious! When I did my yoga teacher training, we couldn't leave the room for hours at a time, so I would make a smoothie and keep it in my bottle! It was perfect, especially since we were moving around so much ~ or holding a plank for what felt like hours! Namaste real quick...this girl's gotta FUEL UP!

How do I check in with my meals?

We love seeing your posts and watching your stories! Adding it to your story may be easier ~ so make sure you tag @ToneItUp and add the hashtag #TIUbikiniseries! 👯‍♀️📲

PS - We wrote a whole post about cookin' for your boo...check it out HERE :)  ✨

Anddd remember we're always here for you for any questions! We're so proud of you!! 🤗

xxo,

K&K