January Whole30 Group Guest Speaker #1--Kat Marris
You guys…I am SO excited about my 4 guest speakers for my January Whole30 Group! They will be sharing their expertise to help you EAT, MOVE & LOVE yourself. *Reminder that we start with prep on January 2nd, our Whole30 will start on January 7th and then conclude with reintroduction and food freedom guidance. You can still sign up HERE!
I’ve been following my first guest on Instagram for awhile now and I’m always SO inspired by her beautiful meals she preps every week (she’s so consistent—every Sunday I LOVE watching her stories and getting meal prep ideas!) Meet Kat Marris!
Tell us about yourself, what’s your story?
Hi everyone! My name is Kat Marris and I am a chef that focuses on making healthy food delicious and easy to meal prep! I write and develop healthy recipes for my blog freshandbalanced.com as well as share healthy eating and meal prep tips and tricks on my Instagram (@katmarris). I also teach private meal prep cooking lessons and present group cooking demos that focus on basic cooking skills, healthy cooking techniques as well as meal prepping and other healthy cooking topics. I’m also super excited about my Ready, Set, Go! Meal Prep Program that just launched in the spring! It’s a weekly email where you receive a fully planned menu, recipes, grocery lists and more to get you meal prepped for the week.
How I became a chef is through my own personal health journey. After completing my Bachelor's Degree in Communication and working in marketing for several years, I found my passion for healthy cooking through my own weight loss experience. As I slowly began to lose the weight I had gained after college, I saw the power of eating fresh, wholesome foods in a balanced diet and exercising. One of my biggest struggles was making healthy food taste good! I ate so many dinners of boiled chicken, sweet potatoes and broccoli that the combo still makes me gag today! So I went to culinary school to become a chef to teach others how to make healthy food taste awesome! Now, I combine my communication skills and my love for healthy food to get you meal prepping!
What is your relationship like with food today?
Today my relationship with food is in a good place. I eat balanced meals that contain lean protein, healthy carbs, lots of green veggies and plant based fats. I don’t count calories or macros anymore because for me they caused me to binge eat bad for me foods because I would feel so restricted by the numbers!
What is your fitness routine like?
I’m in love with CrossFit! I find the challenge of learning and improving my weightlifting skills and pushing myself through tough workouts to be mentally and physically stimulating! I do 3-4 days of CrossFit and 2 days of a cardio class which is light weights and either biking, rowing or running. I always take Sunday’s off as a rest day and so I can get my meal prep for the week done!
Do you have a favorite personal development book or podcast you would recommend?
I have really been enjoying The Life Coach School podcasts by Brooke Castillo. She has wonderful advice for setting goals and creating a vision and path for your life. I listen to them in the morning as I get ready for my day!
Have you ever done a Whole30 and if so, what did you learn from your experience?
I have done one round of Whole30! My husband and I wanted to give it a try to help break our sugar addiction. It was a great experience for us! We learned to read labels better and find where all the hidden sugars lurk in products we thought were healthy. We were able to reduce our sugar cravings and not feel like we had to have sugary desserts anymore!
I think one of the most interesting things we learned was how much we relied on dinners out and drinking as a source of weekend fun. On Whole30 we discovered that we love rock climbing, trail running and painting together! It was cool to see all of the new date night adventures we had!
What advice would you give someone considering the Whole30?
I have three pieces of advice that really helped me when I was on Whole30!
1. Have a support plan in place! Whether you have your significant other participate in Whole30 with you or just telling your friends, having support in place is key! They can celebrate your accomplishments with you and help talk you out of eating that piece of cake!
2. Take Whole30 a day at a time. Don’t look at day 30 when you’re on day 5. Tackle each day with a positive mindset! If you get discouraged, focus on the next best decision you could make for yourself in that moment.
3. Keep your food simple! I found that keeping my meals basic and low key helped me not feel overwhelmed as I was totally changing how I ate! Now is not the time to try and create a gourmet Whole30 dinner, just do the basics really well!
Favorite Quote:
The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.
Where can everyone find you and learn more about what you do?
You can connect with me through:
Instagram: @katmarris
Facebook: Fresh and Balanced
Website: https://www.freshandbalanced.com
Seriously, you guys! Kat is SO awesome and has already provided you SO many great tips about Whole30. She’ll be sharing in my January Whole30 group more about meal prep and how to not complicate it. Her business is a MUST if you struggle with coming up with new recipes and meal prep…and HELLO, she is a chef so she KNOWS how to make a delicious meal.
Thank you, Kat!
Ready to meet Kat and my other amazing guests during my group January Whole30? Sign up HERE!