Meet Elissa AKA Food. Fitness. Function. PLUS GIVEAWAY!

Let me introduce you to the gorgeous Health Coach / Personal Trainer / Barre Instructor extrodinaire, Elissa! I had my first ever Barre class with Elissa back in September, and basically spent 80% of the class wondering how the heck she looked so good. Well, obviously all that exercise has something to do with it, but Elissa is also a whole foods gospel spreading health coach. 

I started seeing Elissa for health coaching back in December, in an attempt to find out all of her skinny secrets. Having always been a fairly healthy eater, I knew I wasn't going to be starting from ground zero but I really wanted Elissa's help to take our nutritional intake to the next level. Plus, with a beach vacation coming up, it wasn't going to hurt to drop a few lb's in the process. 

Anyone who has been on a "meal plan".... Ok, we're all friends here, we can just say that's a DIET, will appreciate Elissa's realistic approach to food. The first time we sat down (which by the way is complimentary) Elissa and I chatted about why I am interested in nutritional coaching and what kind of things I wanted to change. My list wasn't too extensive, it mostly had to do with keeping myself from going off the rails on a sugar train. From there we broke it down into small, manageable steps in order to reach my goals.  Since not one diet is right for everyone, it has been so great to meet with Elissa on a bi-weekly basis to discuss what is working, and what is not (like that time we sautéed kale with the stems, yeah, you don't want to do that). She works around what foods you like and dislike, and helps you to put together balanced meals and all kinds of tips and tricks for sticking to it during your day to day. 

Another super fun service Elissa offers is her Grocery Shopping Tours. I was finally able to do one with her last week and LOVED it! I will be sharing tidbits with you now, but Elissa has also offered up an awesome little giveaway! A tour for you and your bestie, BF, hubby, or frenemy. See below for more details!

Some highlights of the tour for me included: 

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Wild Salmon VS Farmed: 
We've all heard the benefits of fresh salmon, it's much higher in nutrients and lower in toxins. Have you ever grabbed a fresh one and looked at it next to the farmed? The color difference is almost unbelievable!

If you're an organic eggs lover like me, you know the taste is completely different, but so is the look of the eggs. When you open the carton to check for cracks, also look for colour variation. This shows a range in the hens diet. With that range includes more nutrients than all grain fed hens, and more nutrients passed along to the end user, us! 

Side note: You can tell this lady gets her nutrients, no normal human's skin looks like that under cooler lights.

In total Elissa and I spent an hour going through Safeway, By the end I had my meals planned out for the week, and everything I would need to make them happen. Now every time I go back I know i'm going to have little Elissa on my shoulder, and thaaaank goodness for that!

Now, for the giveaway! Just in time to kick yourself into high gear for shorts and tank top season, enter here for your chance to win a grocery tour with you plus one.