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We are Meredith and Mishelle and together, we are flipping the script on what it means to be an IT girl. Each week we will be discussing topics and questions submitted by YOU, our audience, as we navigate life's challenges together.
Mishelle Kost (00:01)
Hey, fabulous people, I'm Meredith. And I'm Michelle. And together we're here to flip the script on what it truly means to be the It Girl. That's right. Whether you're rocking the runway or embracing the messy bun life, no matter your size, ethnicity, or state of your sweats, you are It. We're diving deep into the realness of life, celebrating the victories, navigating the failures, and sometimes not having a clue while doing it all.
We've got battle scars, heartbreaks, contagious laughs, and an unbreakable bond of love for each other. Join us every week as we unwrap different topics and answer questions brought to us by our amazing audience. That's you. Get ready for a fresh dose of perspective that'll make you think, laugh, and maybe even shed a tear. We're on this journey together, growing, crying, laughing, and fighting for one another, because that's what being an It Girl is all about.
So send us your burning topics and thought provoking questions through our website, itgirllife .com or drop us a line directly at hello at itgirllife .com. Let's make every moment count, embrace the chaos and live our best it girl lives.
Meredith (01:02)
Okay, welcome back. We are coming in this week to talk about what a submitter wrote of eating healthy and the opportunity to eat healthy. So the title of this episode is Who Has the Time? How to Eat Healthy. Who has the time? That's truth. Truth. Coming at you with truth. But as we start, we want to...
Mishelle (01:19)
Who has the time?
Meredith (01:29)
start with an icebreaker question and this one is from Michelle and what is the most underrated city you have ever been have you ever visited Michelle?
Mishelle (01:41)
The most underrated city I have ever visited. So this one I have a funny answer for you because I think I'm probably the only person ever that would classify this city as being underrated. But for me and my family and what we're into, it's pretty underrated. Or we went in with really low expectations and it's Las Vegas.
Meredith (01:59)
you
Mm -hmm.
Mishelle (02:07)
So I know you're like, what? So from like Las Vegas is not somewhere that Brian or I would go by choice. I think it doesn't have the things that we like to do. I mean, we are more of this like outdoorsy camping, hiking, um, type of vacationer and want to do lots of active things. And I would say we're not necessarily attracted to gambling, smoke.
Meredith (02:16)
Mm -hmm.
Mishelle (02:36)
alcohol, the concrete jungle, not really our thing, you know? But we do both like to eat, I will say that. We did eat several $40 lobster rolls, delicious. But we just had such a great time. I mean, we ended up, we took our toddler and it was really fun and maybe it was super fun because we were with her, but she just had the best time going up and down all these escalators. We saw an amazing.
Meredith (02:43)
Mm -hmm.
Yeah.
Mishelle (03:03)
Pet comedy show there was so much to do She slept in her stroller for the first time ever after two years. I was like mind blown and We again, we just had a really great time hanging out at all the different hotels seeing all the sights Yeah, so for me that was the most I guess surprising Underrated city, so I don't know. What about you?
Meredith (03:23)
Mm -hmm.
I first I want to just elaborate a little bit more on yours because I think I agree what you had perceived was Vegas there is so much more that it has to offer than I think you would have anticipated we're gonna have to do a girls trip one time just because there's the Grand Canyon and the Hoover Dam and the things that you and Brian do like to do so maybe couples trip maybe I'll say that so that he can come back.
Mishelle (03:50)
Yes, for sure!
Meredith (03:51)
And I don't gamble, I don't drink, I don't do a lot of those things, but there are a lot of shops and all these things. Agree, not known as the most underrated city, but I could understand why that wouldn't be a destination stop for most. Okay, so for me, Ben and I got married on a leap year.
Mishelle (04:08)
Yeah.
Meredith (04:14)
And our first Leap Year anniversary, we decided to do Washington DC, Gettysburg, Colonial Williamsburg, because we're nerds. Like we like sports and we like history. And so we just did that. But the most underrated... We're nerds.
Mishelle (04:26)
I love it. I love it. Y 'all are just so cute. First of all, can we just go back to talking about how you all purposely got married on a leap year because you wanted to have a leap year anniversary so you always had this fun thing to talk about. And then let's also talk about that you chose Gettysburg, Colonial Virginia.
Meredith (04:35)
Yep, we did.
every four years.
Well, so we started in Washington, DC, because, yeah, and we caught we caught a caps game. They're playing the penguins, the capitals of paint. We caught a Wizards game. We were supposed to go to a Nationals game, but in April, it was 32 degrees and snowing, which I packed shorts to wear because I was like April East Coast spring. Yeah, nope.
Mishelle (04:54)
Okay, okay, okay, okay, got it.
Okay.
It's hot! Yeah.
Meredith (05:14)
I was in, where was I? I was in all of these different areas wearing shorts, didn't even want to buy new clothes. Anyways, so I think the most underrated areas.
Mishelle (05:28)
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, Meredith. So you're telling me the planner of all planners didn't bring a pair of pants for this particular occasion? You just didn't wanna wear them? Okay.
Meredith (05:36)
No, no, I had a ton of pan. Yeah, I had pants. No. Nah, nah. That was too practical. Yeah, I was too committed to baseball wearing a tire. And then we were going to stay had a washer and dryer, all of these things. So Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia area is by far the most beautiful country I've
Mishelle (05:45)
You're committed to the shorts. You're committed to the shorts. Got it. Okay. So, got it. Okay. Back.
Meredith (06:05)
been able to see. Alaska would be second, but that's not underrated. I think everybody knows that about Alaska. And like Massachusetts main area, people know that about those locations too. So no disrespect to any other state. Love to hear what other people think might be underrated. But if you haven't, if you venture to Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, that area of Virginia, I don't think anybody would be disappointed. It is absolutely gorgeous. It is on the water.
Mishelle (06:08)
Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
Meredith (06:35)
Um, it's just some, some really deep roots in the history that there's some areas that have not been built over. And I don't know, it just was a really cool experience to be on that side of the country and experience that. I feel like I could retire there.
Mishelle (06:51)
I can back you up on that. I can back you up on that. So I grew up right outside of DC in a town called McLean, Virginia, and we would go on field trips to places like that. And it is beautiful. You're absolutely right. It's gorgeous. It's beautiful. It is. I do feel like you're this surprising because you wouldn't expect that out of there, but it is beautiful. Agreed.
Meredith (06:54)
Yeah.
Mm -hmm.
No. Yeah. Ben was like, let's retire here. I'm going to like he was like saying huzzah at Colonial Williamsburg to people.
Mishelle (07:20)
Huzzah! So, would you guys, in your retirement, I could totally see you going and being in part of the enactment of the war.
Meredith (07:29)
Yeah, it'll be a no for me, but a hundred percent vacation Ben. Yeah. Yeah. Learning better. In my wooden shoes. In my wooden shoes. Yeah. Um, Ben. Yeah. Huzzah. Good day, sir.
Mishelle (07:35)
can see you like with the white cap the white cap with the elastic around the band you're gonna like be in the museum like churning butter churning butter like hi yes okay be on the lookout for Meredith in Colonial Virginia huzzah okay okay great okay great
Meredith (07:57)
Please no. Anyways.
Mishelle (07:59)
Anyways, moving on to the question and the topic of our episode, which is such a fun one. So it really, it's about eating healthy. Who has the time, honestly? But the question really is around needing some practical, not radical tips on helping her family eat healthy throughout the week. She shared that she's so exhausted by 5 p .m. that she feels too tapped to make dinners.
Meredith (08:05)
Mm -hmm.
Mishelle (08:25)
but eating balanced meals is important to her and her family and she doesn't wanna eat like plain chicken, rice and vegetable meal prepped meals every single day. So first of all, who else honestly is in this bucket with her? I think we all are.
Meredith (08:41)
Thank you.
Mm -hmm.
Mishelle (08:44)
Um, okay. So her question was wanting some practical, not radical tips on helping her family eat healthy throughout the week. So she's not exhausted by 5pm. Um, she's feeling tapped to make dinners by that time, but eating a balanced meal is really important to her and she doesn't want to eat like the same meal prep meals every single day. So totally get it. Who else isn't in that same boat? I feel like there's so many people that struggle with this and I will say, I even struggle with this. And I think the biggest.
thing that I've learned over my journey and with health and fitness and nutrition is, which by the way, I do want to share that I used to own two health food restaurants, like fast casual dining concepts, because eating healthy was really, is really important to me. And I really wanted to offer a way for people to eat healthy on the go, because I wanted people to know that it is easy to eat healthy. Cause I sometimes I think people think eating healthy is hard or it takes extra work.
or whatever it may be that's keeping them from eating healthy, but you can do it easily if you know what to do and you know the basics and can pull it together. So anyways, back to the topic. I think the biggest thing that I've learned along my journey is, and this is kinda cheesy, so I'm a cheesy person, but it's if you plan to fail, or if you fail to plan, you're gonna plan to fail. And that's so true because I think the times that I find myself eating the
unhealthiest is when I don't have an option. I don't have another option because I will say the quickest and easiest thing to do is to eat unhealthy because ordering a pizza, go getting fast food, like those are the easy things to go do. So if you're not already prepped and planned to eat healthy, like that's just what's going to end up happening because it's easy, it's quick and you don't have to think about it. So how can you set up your healthy options in the same way? Easy.
and you don't have to think about it. And a couple of things that I do that really help support that is once a week, obviously I do a big giant grocery order. You can do it once a week or twice a week. I would say if you're gonna break it up into two days a week, do Sunday and Wednesday because that gives you a couple of days in between and then really you're only cooking and prepping twice a week, which feels not that hard really. So it's like, okay, order all your groceries, get everything chopped.
like vegetables and fruits chopped and washed and in your fridge so that it's easy to pull out and go. Because I think night of you get home from work, you're exhausted. The last thing you're gonna wanna do is start chopping and washing and getting out all your pots and pans and like doing all this stuff. So get all that stuff done so that everything's just like a dump. Like dump it into your, into your like one pot. I'm a big one pot type cook.
like whether that's like air fryer or a slow, like a, not the slow cooker. I do like the slow cooker, but what's not the slow cooker? The, yeah, it is a ninja, but what is it? It's like a pressure cooker. Yes, yes, it's the pressure cooker. I love that thing. It's like, you just like set it, forget it, you go. And it's like, everything's in there and it's done. And it's quick, it's like 20 minutes. Or like I have this big giant like,
Meredith (11:45)
Ninja?
Pressure? The pressure? Okay.
Mm -hmm.
Mishelle (12:06)
like stir fry pan and I just throw everything in there. But anyways, so have all your things chopped, washed and ready to go. And then precook your proteins. I would say like chop up your chicken, get all your chicken precooked. Get all your ground beef precooked so you are just ready to go to just throw things like I said in a pan and maybe you're just preparing a quick sauce. Another thing that's really easy is like a salad, always having salad options. So like pulling together a salad and throwing on some chopped up rotisserie chicken.
is also a quick thing to do. And then the other tip is just have your go -tos. Like don't try to, I don't know, for me, I don't try to experiment during the week. It's not like I need to come up with some fancy recipe that I need to like open up my phone and like be following while trying to cook. Like no, it's just these are the things that I know how to cook. I don't need a recipe book. I can just do them. I can do them quickly. And my family likes it. So maybe I have like five and I put them on rotation.
And so we don't always eat the same thing every day, but we do typically eat the same thing every week. So, but that's just me and Brian. Like we, we don't care if we eat the same thing every week. And then if you get sick of that, then rotate something else in. So maybe like overarchingly, you have like 10 things that you like to cook or that are easy and you just keep rotating them. Like those are the things that I do. I don't know anything. I feel like you would have lots of good tips around this cause you're such a planner.
Meredith (13:09)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah. Well, I also have a lot of good tips because welcome everybody to my side, which is the trash panda side of meal prep and who you have become.
Mishelle (13:40)
Trash Panda! I think we need a shirt, Trash Panda. That's so funny.
Meredith (13:43)
Yeah, yep. So I'm a complete trash panda who has the palette of like an 11 year old boy sometimes. And I stress eat and I stress, like I eat when I'm also happy and I eat bad foods when I'm sad and depressed and stressed out. So this has always been a struggle. And what I find interesting is I never grew up in a household that diet and nutrition was a conversation.
Mishelle (14:01)
Okay, me too.
Meredith (14:12)
And so I was always in a place where I had a good metabolism because I was always in sports and I never had to worry about it. But now as I'm getting older and I it's harder for the weight to come off, regardless of I work out, regardless of what I eat, I really have to be mindful of portion sizes and process things versus fresh things.
And in a world right now where we know things are expensive and people are like to get organic or to get a lot of the good ingredients that you want to do, it's really just utilizing resources that are out there that help you either something that's less than 30 minutes on Pinterest, on Google. What are meals that we can put together that are under 30 minutes?
But to your point, I do. I plan every Sunday, I create our menu for the week, and then on the side of that, I create the grocery list and I grocery shop. So I'll do that Saturday, Sunday, I'll do all the shopping on Sunday, and then I do all of the work to prepare or bundle them in the fridge so that I know Monday, if it's me cooking, Monday, take out the Monday thing and just put it in the oven and everything's ready to go. Put it on one baking sheet, put it in the oven.
Mishelle (15:29)
Yeah, yeah. So similar to me, kind of, yeah, yeah.
Meredith (15:30)
if it's the summer and it's hot. Yeah, yeah. But I think that our menus would differ because I try at least a pasta, I try at least one red meat, I'll have one like chicken, and then I'll have, you know, I don't think I've ever go veggie, and that's just not who I am. But we also do a leftover. So I'm actually only cooking three times in the week, or if I do seven days.
will cook four times in the week and then have leftover the following day. And so like this week it was like simple sausage, peppers and onions. And I eat them without the bun because I don't want the carb or anything like that. But then my husband will eat them with the bun, but just chopped all the peppers, all the onions, all that stuff. And.
being really mindful of you can still eat the things you want to eat just make sure that the portion sizes are smaller so chips i'll count out 13 chips because i still want to eat those dang chips or i'll get a happy meal
Mishelle (16:29)
Wait, girl, that's impressive. Go you. Not me, go you.
Meredith (16:31)
Yeah. Yeah. But that's what I mean. But it's a conscious effort of if you want to, who has the time, but also if you want to eat healthy, but still don't want to fall off the wagon because you cut everything cold turkey and I'm only eating this, then really have either the money to get the individual serving sizes because it will.
Mishelle (16:38)
Yeah.
Meredith (16:57)
or if you don't have that type of money in your budget, then you have to consciously count out the serving size. Mm -hmm, mm -hmm.
Mishelle (17:02)
Yeah, create your own individual servings basically. I mean, that's a good tip. I will say I used to do like bodybuilding. I know it was kind of funny, but I used to compete in that. And in that arena or fitness area, it was actually really unhealthy for me personally because it was so restrictive. And what would end up happening from restricting so much would be binge eating.
Meredith (17:23)
Mm -hmm.
Yeah.
Mishelle (17:30)
So much binge eating, which was literally me head first, feet in the air. I just want you to picture like me head first, feet in the air in a whole bag of bread. Like one time I ate an entire loaf of bread because I was so restricted. I would never eat an entire loaf of bread right now. I'd be sick. But because I was so restricted in carbs and everything that I wanted to eat, I just ate the entire loaf. So definitely I'm not a huge fan of restrictions.
Meredith (17:37)
Mm -hmm.
Mm -hmm.
Yeah.
Mishelle (17:59)
And I think too, when you're trying to start a new healthy lifestyle, it's like, people are always telling me like, they're gonna cut out this, they're gonna cut out that. And I'm like, but is that sustainable? Are you gonna be able to do that for the long term? Because if you can't do it for the long term, then it's not a good idea to start. Because you're just gonna end up crashing and burning, or maybe you're gonna have all this great success and have all this weight loss, but it's gonna come back because you're gonna go back to your old habits. So small changes, small things like letting yourself eat a piece of chocolate, letting yourself have a...
Meredith (18:21)
Yeah.
Mishelle (18:28)
a cookie in moderation in the right portion size so that again you can just like have balance I think is what yeah I think that's really important too.
Meredith (18:36)
Yeah. Well, and I think that we, this is much as a mental game as it is a physical thing that we're trying to get through. And when we deprive ourselves, the chances of us failing are more, are just more susceptible to failure because mentally I want a chicken nugget and French fries. And I want that. And if the longer I deprived myself, I will be like you.
where I end up eating an entire bucket of chicken because I deprived myself and my body's like, hey, but that chicken nugget. And so I will go get, I hopefully in the beginning, it wasn't, I would say off the normal path for me to eat fast food several times a week. And then I started with like one happy meal one day a week. Or now I maybe go every other month if I'm craving it.
Mishelle (19:09)
Yeah.
Meredith (19:29)
women and us hormones, we crave things every now and again. And so I'll just make sure it's a happy meal. And I'll make sure if with that happy meal, if I'm craving sweets, I'll get a chocolate milk, except for the last time I got a chocolate milk, it was fat free and no sugar. And I was like, what is this brown water they just gave me? So highly do not recommend this.
Mishelle (19:32)
Yeah. Yeah, that's true.
The trash panda was not satisfied.
Meredith (19:53)
I was like, excuse me, this is offensive. So I think that that's really just the meal prep portion is you can eat leftovers. You can, even on those days, like you said, if I'm exhausted, even to eat the things that I planned, I put healthy frozen choices in my freezer. And I know that that's still a little bit more processed, but I'll put like a California pizza, thin chicken and a barbecue pizza.
Mishelle (20:15)
Yes.
Meredith (20:22)
or the ones with the cauliflower crust, or have some of those all -natural steamable meals, or just something from a family perspective, because if you have kids, it's unrealistic for you to prepare something for yourself and for them. So really just trying to curate that menu around what you all like to eat, and then modify it a little bit to make it a little bit healthier. Sweet potato fries instead of regular fries, or sweet potato mashed potatoes that they sell already. Just...
Mishelle (20:25)
Yes.
Meredith (20:51)
How do you flip it a little bit to make everybody happy so that you're not exhausted to do several different meals?
Mishelle (20:58)
I agree so much on that and I do the same thing. So I will in my grocery cart always throw in thin and mighty. I think that's the brand name, or a mighty crust or something like that, but it's a cauliflower crust pizza and it's pretty good in terms of ingredient list. And sometimes we don't eat it throughout the week, but there are times where it's like, we're in a pinch. There's no time to do anything. I really don't have time.
Meredith (21:17)
Mm -hmm.
Mishelle (21:26)
And so just to have that option to throw that in the oven and put something on the table is good because then I'm not, at least I'm not then ordering a pizza or doing something else that could be worse. So sometimes it's good to have, like you said, like not the healthiest option, but not the worst option, but it's still a quick option and an easy option that still sets you up for success.
Meredith (21:29)
Mm -hmm.
Mm -hmm.
Yeah.
Mishelle (21:52)
So having those like go -tos in your house is also a great way for you to plan to succeed in trying to eat healthy. I agree.
Meredith (22:01)
Lastly, in the summertime when it's hot, we grill several different meats on Sunday. We'll grill steaks, we'll grill bratwurst, we'll do chicken, fish, and then sometimes we'll under cook it just so that we can reheat it and it will reheat better, whatever your reheat method is. But then now all you're only responsible is for the sides and then we'll pick a fresh coleslaw or a nice salad and then put the meat on top or a
Mishelle (22:06)
Yes.
Meredith (22:30)
potato salad or pasta salad, something like that, that you don't even have to think, I have all of these meats, you guys eat whatever you want. And one day someone will eat chicken and one day someone will eat this and you just do several different iterations. I also love to put my meatloaf, if I make a meatloaf in my muffin tins, they'll cook like a brownie pan or a cupcake pan because they'll do individual sizes and easy. It will cook in 15 minutes instead of 30 to 40.
Mishelle (22:53)
Hello, yeah that's a good call. Mmhmm. Mmhmm. Yeah.
Meredith (23:00)
So just really small hacks that you'll get on Pinterest. I sold Pamper Chef for a long time. I'm not promoting it. I don't, I did. So I sold Pamper Chef, but they have recipes and different hacks and tricks on their sites. So just the things that you like to eat, go on Pinterest. I love one sheet pans. Like you like a one pot. I like putting a flank steak with potatoes, asparagus, fresh vegetables and carrots in the oven for 30 minutes.
Mishelle (23:07)
You did? So random.
Meredith (23:29)
Set it and forget it and it's done as well.
Mishelle (23:31)
Oh yeah, that's actually really good. Also tacos are so fast because you could do that and just have those tortillas. Yeah, you could put a whole thing of chicken in the crock pot, just like in the chicken in the morning before you leave for work through all the spices, put the thing lit on, come home. And all you have to do is open up the crock pot and put out the tortilla strips and like the lettuce and stuff. And then people just build their own tacos. That's a really quick, that's such a good one. That's.
Meredith (23:36)
Those are so fat. In the crock pot.
Yep.
Mm -hmm.
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Yeah.
Mishelle (24:00)
That's a really good one. There was another thing I was gonna share around another thing you could do. And I just like, it's leaving me now about eating fast or cooking healthy. I can't think of it.
Meredith (24:13)
Mm hmm. Yeah, I do think that especially the things that you grow gravitate towards going out to eat, see how you can do a replicated version of that at home and then prep and do that mindset on Sundays. And so I love to eat Mexican. And like you said, so like the tacos, we did have shredded tacos and.
Mishelle (24:26)
Yeah.
Meredith (24:35)
I made a shredded taco nacho plate while Ben used the tortillas and then just had like some black beans and different things on there. And so it just makes it fun. Build your own pizza with the cauliflower crust so that everybody can put whatever toppings they want and all you gotta do is bake it. And so it just still makes the cooking not just your responsibility, but a kind of a group effort and get people in there because I think the thing is you are exhausted and then you are just responsible for probably...
Mishelle (24:40)
Hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Meals. Yeah.
Meredith (25:05)
again, then you come home and you're responsible, but you had to make decisions and be responsible all day and then cut to you come home and you just want to relax. And that's what we're really hopeful you can get to.
Mishelle (25:15)
Yeah, okay, I remembered what I was gonna say. I was gonna say too, if you cook in large batches, like I'm a huge soup person. I also really love a casserole or a pasta dish. And you can make pastas healthier. I think people get a, pasta gets a bad rap, but you can buy the protein pasta. And pasta's fine in a moderation. You just have to follow your serving sizes. But what I was gonna say is, if you cook on Sunday a large enough meal that will last a little longer so that you have like,
Meredith (25:17)
Good.
Mm -hmm.
Mishelle (25:44)
Cause your pre -prepped meals don't always have to look like chicken, broccoli, rice. It can, your pre -prepped meals could look like the casserole that you cooked. And so you have several portions of that ready to go that you can just throw in the microwave. And then you really only, you could do that on Sundays and then you could do that on Wednesdays. So then you just like cook this giant thing on Sunday and Wednesday, and then you're not really cooking the other days. You're just like throwing things in the microwave. So that's another hot tip or something that you could do to make it easier. So.
Meredith (25:59)
Mm -hmm.
Mishelle (26:13)
Anyways, those are all of our hot tips and tricks. I hope that that makes it feel somewhat easier to get in your healthy meals and to not feel as exhausted. But the other thing to know is we hear you, we feel you, we are you, and that is a struggle of the everyday life. And if you have to eat unhealthy because your life is busy, then give yourself grace and just do it is what we're saying is.
just go for it, don't beat yourself up over it. It's not your full responsibility, get others involved. And I mean, just do your best is really, I think the bottom line. So hopefully that that helped. Again, we would love to hear your other burning questions and topics for us to discuss as we all navigate this It Girl Life. So you can find us at the itgirllife .com on our website, or you can send us an email directly or just at hello at itgirllife .com or find us on our
Meredith (26:48)
Mm -hmm.
Mishelle (27:07)
social media at our Instagram handle and just send us a DM. But we would love to continue the conversation of whatever else it is that you guys are walking through or struggling with because we're here for you and we're also doing the same thing. So hope to hear from you soon and we'll see you later.
Meredith (27:27)
Bye.