"Living An 80/20 Lifestyle" By Our Friend Jennifer!
Hey AC!!! Meet our friend, Jennifer, who lives in North Carolina! Jennifer is a certified group fitness instructor and has extensive knowledge on living an 80/20 lifestyle while juggling family and life. There is a lot we can learn from her and we’re so excited to have her in our world.
Jennifer, take it away!
Hi! My name is Jennifer Wolters and I live in Mooresville, NC. I have been married to my best friend and husband for almost 8 years. I am a mom to 3 wonderful children ages 6, 3, and 9 months old. I grew up dancing and danced collegiately at the University of Tennessee. After college, I taught dance and coached a high school dance team so when I decided to stop teaching dance, group fitness was the perfect fit for my active and new motherhood lifestyle.
After almost 2 years of attending classes at the local YMCA, I decided to get certified to teach myself. I am an ACE certified group fitness instructor, certified HIGH Fitness instructor, and am also certified in Mat Pilates, Pilates Reformer, and R.I.P.P.E.D. I started teaching one class per week (and was also everyone’s go-to sub). Overtime, I started teaching more often and currently teach 7 classes per week: Tabata, HIGH fitness, weight lifting, cardio, HIIT, boot camp, mat Pilates, Pilates Reformer, and small group classes.
I have always loved coaching, teaching, and helping people reach their goals so group fitness was the perfect venue for me. Outside of the gym I also practice a healthy 80/20 lifestyle, where I meal plan and prep weekly and consciously think about what I put into my body, all while still living my busy mom life!
80/20 for me applies to my life in two ways: 1.) 80% in the kitchen/20% in the gym and 2.) 80% of the time I eat healthy/20% of the time I indulge in whatever food/drinks I want. You always hear that abs are made in the kitchen and not the gym. I believe that is SO true!! I have never been a fan of “diets” or “you CANNOT eat this or that, so that’s why the 80/20 lifestyle works so well for me.
I meal prep 3 recipes per week (making about 6 servings of each meal) and I use those for my lunches and dinner throughout the week. I cook once a week and then just reheat which is super convenient with young kids. I find that if I have healthy food prepared I will eat it. 80% of the time I eat my prepped meals and 20% I order pizza, grab candy from the pantry, or drink a margarita while I eat 100 chips at a Mexican restaurant. Because that’s living my best life, do you relate?
One of my favorite meal prep recipes are egg muffins. They are so easy to make, prep, and reheat each morning for a HOT, delicious, and complete breakfast. You can customize them with your favorite veggies too! Here’s the recipe:
EGG MUFFINS
Makes roughly 36 for 2.5 weeks of prepped breakfast! Just reheat the muffins (2) for 55 seconds and enjoy! Fastest omelet for a delicious, nutritious breakfast! I eat 2 per morning, plus 1/3 cup of Old Fashioned oats with cinnamon and truvia.
INGREDIENTS:
3-4 small cartons of egg whites
1-2 packages breakfast sausage
Diced veggies of choice (I used bell peppers, green onions and mushrooms)
Spices of choice (black pepper, Mrs Dash Extra Spicy, parsley)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Cook sausage
Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl
Generously spray muffin tin pans with PAM
Use 1/4 measuring cup to pour the mixture of all the ingredients into the muffin pan
Bake at 350 for 25 mins.
Use spoon to scoop out and let cool.
I wrap them individually in saran wrap then put them in a freezer gallon bag. Put one bag in the fridge and put the rest in freezer.
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Wherever you are in your fitness journey, my advice to you would be to not compare. Everyone has a different starting point, finish line, and ultimate goal in their fitness journey. Focus on your goals and you’ll not only be successful but happier!! You can follow me on Instagram @jay.life.fitness for more free recipes, meal prep ideas, accountability, workouts and motivation!
Cheers,
Jennifer
“Add positivity to the world!”