Today I’m continuing wellness week with a few things
I love to use for keeping things healthy at home.

:: FITNESS ::

The basics for working out at home for me are a cushy mat, light hand weights, and resistance bands.  The bands I use come with gliders which I love – the bands and gliders are super easy to pack in a suitcase if you travel, and whenever I do ab work with gliders it feels so much more intense (you can do movements like you would do on a pilates megaformer machine, which are classes I loved to go to but haven’t done since I first found out I was pregnant.)  I only lift 2-3 pound weights for the workouts I do so they are easy to stash in the built-ins under the TV.
I also have ankle weights (1 pound) which I do love to take a workout to the next level (sometimes I wear them, sometimes I don’t, but when I do express workouts like a 10 minute legs video I’ll strap them on to get more out of those 10 minutes.)
I also like to have a foam roller even though I’m bad about using it….. one of my goals is to stretch more and do the foam roller more because I don’t do it nearly enough!
If you love barre classes, a barre ball is great to have too.
If you like to have a scale, we’ve loved this scale that is under $30 and can track anything through an app on your phone.

:: COOKING ::

For about 6 years we have used a rice cooker and we LOVE it.  It’s only $12 on amazon and it makes it really easy to make healthy meals fast.  We use ours to cook quinoa and will make bowls for dinner.  You just set it and forget it and then can toss in any protein, veggies, etc.  It was a gift years ago and I remember thinking “when will I ever use this?” and it’s probably our most used kitchen tool. (Quinoa Bowls I make often.)

I finally stopped being afraid of our instant pot and I really love it! It’s a slow cooker and instant pot in one, and at the very least it’s so simple to toss in chicken and a jar of salsa and have the base for a meal with ZERO effort.  I have loved the instant pot for being able to sautee and cook all in one with only one dirty dish (that you can throw into the dishwasher!) I’ve been using it a few times a month and am hoping to try out some more recipes with it.

I do *not* have an air fryer because our kitchen storage is limited and the only bulky item I really have room for is the instant pot, but I am hoping to try one out because people LOVE them.  (My friend has one and we’ve talked about swapping my instant pot for her air fryer for the week!)  It seems like such an easy way to air fry some sweet potatoes or brussel sprouts, chicken tenders, etc for easy healthier meals.

Another one of the most used kitchen gadgets in our house is the Nutribullet.  I used it every day for years to make my Fab 4 Smoothie and it’s cheap and get’s the job done.  I haven’t been into smoothies lately so it hasn’t been getting used, but I really love it. (Favorite Smoothie that was my breakfast for years – but started doing spinach instead of powdered greens.)

In my former pre-twins life I made celery juice every morning and LOVED IT.  I got this juicer off of QVC (the Breville) and it worked great and was reasonably easy to clean, too.  If you are thinking about a juicer you can try any of them for 30 days and return it to QVC if you end up not liking it. (post about Celery Juice)

:: LEGGINGS ::

I love the Zella Live in Leggings so much.  Can’t go wrong.
I also love Colorfulkoala brand from Amazon.  They are buttery soft and I can sleep in them, lounge in them, workout in them, all of the above.  They aren’t as tight and “control top” as the zella if you are wanting something with more stretch.

:: SUPPLEMENTS ::

My favorite protein powder for years and years have been the Tone It Up protein powder.  I buy the vanilla and would use it in smoothies and also use it to make my protein waffles – which is one of my favorite things to eat of all time.  I truly love protein waffles and pancakes.  For a solid few months during my pregnancy it was all I could eat (I would make them savory with greek cream cheese and everything but the bagel seasoning, or cream cheese and grape jelly – recipe for the waffles and pancakes here)

If you are wanting to up your water intake (or have a hangover…just sayin…..) and looking for a great, healthy all natural ZERO SUGAR added supplement, GoHydrate is the best option. (If you are drinking LiquidIV please turn that packet over and check out all of the ADDED SUGAR that are in those).  You can use code TAYLOR for a discount on their site or can order straight from Amazon!

I love magnesium as a supplement to help you go to sleep at night and also to help keep things regular and moving…..you know what I mean…. (it wouldn’t let me link in the post, so here’s a direct link.)

8G : I used to drop these tabs and have them dissolve into my water to get a big dose of vitamins, and now they make a GUMMY version which I found out about through Molly Sims (I started following her after she was on a podcast and love her wellness tips and tricks.)

Elderberry Gummies : I found these though Things I Bought and Liked and even if it’s just a placebo affect, I like to think this helps keep me from getting sick.  I’ll do anything during cold and flu season!

:: BOOKS ::

There are tons and tons of great people to follow for all things health and wellness, but the only nutrition BOOK I have ever read and really loved was by Kelly LeVeque.  It breaks everything down into FACTS not fads or diets and talks about why you crave xyz and how to keep your body full between meals.  I truly loved it.  I revamped my morning smoothie after reading her book and it was the first time a smoothie or meal would actually keep me full long enough to not need snacking at all hours of the day.
She also has a newer book called Body Love Every Day that I want to get my hands on next!