Pamela Lessard is a personal trainer, obstacle race athlete, group exercise instructor and one fit mama to her daughter, Haley. I mean, look at those shoulders! She's a trainer at Washington Sports Club in Arlington, Virginia and teaches kettlebells, obstacle race conditioning, bootcamp and UXF Circuit training. Staying fit in both mind and body is her philosophy and I'm SO excited to share with you how she does it in my first ElleBeing interview! You can find out more about Pamela's personal training here. 

ELLEBEING: Pamela, you are in such awesome shape! Tell us a little about yourself. How did you get into fitness and personal training? 

PAMELA:  I left my job as a director of communications after realizing how unhappy I was in that job. I didn't want another stressful desk job so I decided to follow my passion...fitness.  I've always been an athlete and wanted to share my knowledge and passion.  Also, it's very hard to have a full time job and be a mom if you truly want to have a solid connection with your child.  But studying to be a personal trainer and passing the exam is no joke. This has been my most rewarding job ever. ​

ELLEBEING: How often do you recommend to your clients to work out? 

PAMELA: I think people should move their bodies every day. That doesn't mean do a hard core workout every day, though. Some days are just meant for walking or taking the stairs. But a solid workout that incorporates weights and gets your heart rate up is necessary at least three days a week. 

ELLEBEING: Good to know -- three days is manageable! What are the best exercises to burn fat and tone up? 

PAMELA: People make the mistake of only running or getting on an elliptical. Weights burn more calories and build lean muscle mass. 

ELLEBEING: I am guilty of this mistake. I am always trying to remember to incorporate more weights! How heavy should the weights be without bulking up? 

PAMELA: It's hard for a woman to bulk up unless she's taking a lot of supplements AND lifting very heavy.  I encourage my female clients to try to use heavier weights than they are used to. You're not going to get a lot of definition with 5 pound weights. If women use 10, 12, 15 and even 20 pound weights, they'll notice some subtle definition and nice curves. 

ELLEBEING: What sort of diet do you follow or recommend? 

PAMELA: I've never dieted in my life, but I've always eaten clean and healthy. I'm a big proponent of the Mediterranean diet. Think lots of whole foods, fruits and vegetables, complex carbs, and lean protein like fish, chicken and turkey. 

ELLEBEING:  What's your favorite pre and post workout snack? 

PAMELA: It depends on what time of the day I workout. Before a race I need something gentle like oatmeal and fruit. After working out, a good mix of carbs and protein is key. I like plant based protein powders. 

ELLEBEING: Me too! I love PlantFusion and usually buy it on Amazon to get it cheaper than Whole Foods. I am going to share a smoothie bowl with this stuff ASAP.  Okay, what's your favorite splurge?! 

PAMELA: Wine :) 

ELLEBEING: Me too. With dark chocolate of course. Cheers! Thanks for the interview, Pamela! 

Happy Friday! What are your plans this weekend? I am headed to the Notre Dame vs USC game in South Bend! It's going to be super cold so we had to get our winter coats out of storage last night. Eeek! Going with my brother who went to ND and my husband --- looking forward to a fun weekend! Goooo Irish! If you don't have any plans this weekend, I suggest you try out this fun recipe. It's a great one to do with some girlfriends or for a date night. I actually learned this recipe at a cooking class at one of my best friend's bachelorette parties in Hudson, NY! It was such a fun idea. Usually I leave weekends like that feeling gross from eating a bunch of crap, but my friends organized a nutritionist (Erika Laurion - check out her website!) to give us a cooking class with a few yummy, easy, and super healthy recipes! This was one of them.  

Here is the recipe for your spring roll party: 

Ingredients:

• Veggies - shredded carrots, cucumbers, radish, avocado, bell pepper, you name it!
• Shrimp or imitation crab or real crab (I bought my crab from Trader Joe's for spring rolls last time) 
• Spring roll wrappers - any brand is fine! I've used Blue Dragon rice paper that comes with 15-17 in each pack
• For sauce: peanut butter, sriracha, fish sauce (warning: this stuff smells nasty by itself), lime juice 

Directions:

1. Cut up all of your veggies into small pieces
2. Make your sauce in a blender or food processor. All of the  sauce ingredients are to taste. I would recommend using 2-3 tablespoons of peanut butter, 1/2 lime, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce and 1 teaspoon of sriracha to start and you can tweak from there and add more hot sauce if you like things spicy! 
3. Put water in a pan and bring to a pretty warm temperature (not too hot or paper gets sticky!) 
4. Place rice paper in the water and move around with your fingers until it becomes soft 
5. Take out the paper and put it flat on a surface to build your rolls 
6. Stuff the rolls with whatever you like and roll it up tightly like a burrito! ENJOY! 

When it comes to week night meals in our household, quick and easy are SO key! This is an easy go-to recipe of mine because you can really adjust it depending on what you have in the fridge. For this particular recipe I used lean ground turkey, a veggie pack from Trader Joe's that included pre-cut onions, asparagus, and mushrooms. To add some more greens (because you can never get enough of those!), I also cut up a package of brussels sprouts and added some kale. You can use chicken instead of turkey, or any of your favorite vegetables. You can also use chicken broth instead of vegetable broth. This is the most forgiving recipe ever! 
Here are all of the ingredients I used pictured below: 

 
Ingredients:

• Lean Ground Turkey (or chicken if you like)
• 1/4 cup of broth (veggie or chicken) - can add a little more if you have a TON of veggies like me 
• Unlimited veggies of your choice 
• 1 16 oz can of coconut milk (Thai Kitchen organic lite coconut milk is my favorite) 
• 1-2 tablespoons of curry paste (green Thai kitchen paste if my favorite) 
• Salt and peper to taste

Directions:

1. Cook protein all the way through on medium heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper 
2. Add in your broth and veggies and cook until broth evaporates and mixture is cooked through 
3. While veggies and protein simmer, boil 1 can of coconut milk in a small pot 
4. Add curry paste to coconut milk and stir. Reduce heat and let it simmer for about 5 minutes 
5. Add curry mixture to the protein and veggies and let it all simmer a 2-3 minutes longer 
6. Add salt and pepper to taste. We love to pour the mixture on top of some brown rice :) Enjoy!