Wellness With Yaz

01/12/2024

Meet some of my new faves ✨

Find them here: yasminebender.arbonne.com

04/08/2024

Guess who’s back?! Back again. Meal prep’s back. Tell a friend 😝

Okay that song has been stuck in my head for days. You’re welcome! But for real, we are bringing back Sunday Meal Prep because MAN do I miss having a routine with my food.

Who else has been eating out of convenience lately?! I know we have… and as the saying goes, fail to plan, plan to fail! And we are balling on not only a grad school budget, but a planning a wedding budget, so you already know this will be budget friendly 🫶🏻So here we go!

Breakfast: Breakfast Sandwiches OR Blueberry Pancakes
💛 Bob’s Red Mill Pancake Mix: $4.98 ($0.38 a serving)
💛 Sourdough English Muffins: $3.48
❤️ 12ct eggs: $2.26 (you’ll only need approx 6 eggs— $1.33)
❤️ Turkey sausage patties: $10.74 (you’ll only need 5 of the approx. 14– $0.77 per serving)
💙 Cheddar Cheese: $2.24
💜 Blueberries: $2.77 (you’ll only need 1/2 the 1pt container)
Cost per meal: $1.27 (pancakes)
Cost per meal: $2.18 (sandwiches)

Lunch: Chicken Salad + Blueberries
💚💚 Greens mix: $2.98
❤️ 3 Chicken breasts: $7.96 (you’ll only need 1 breast)
💜 Blueberries: $2.77
Cost per meal: $1.68

Supper: Kielbasa Sheet Pans OR BBQ Chicken Sliders
❤️ Kielbasa x2: $3.98/each
❤️ 3 Chicken Breasts: $7.96 (you’ll need 2 breasts)
💛 2 Sweet potatoes: $3.02
💛 Slider Buns: $2.68
💚 Broccoli heads x2: $2.52
🧡 BBQ sauce: $1.48
Cost per meal: $6.75 (2 Kielbasa sheet pans)
Cost per meal: $3.16 (dived into 3 meals)

Total grocery haul: (based on my local store)
✨ Cost per day: $9.77
** all prices are based on my local store and meals are planned for two people **

Share this with your on a budget friends and make sure you join my free group for more free meal plan ideas 🩷

03/08/2024

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know how much this state and trip means to me 🩵

We’ve been coming to Michigan every year since before I was born. This state has always held a special place in my heart and it absolutely breaks my heart that I won’t be returning next summer since it’s so close to our wedding. BUT I know it’s not a goodbye, just a see you later 💕

I plan to continue this trip for as long as possible and one day reach our children to love it just as much as I have. The views. The nature. The fresh water. The taller than the heavens trees. The wildlife. The sand between our toes. And yes, even the drive that Google maps says will only take 12 hours but sometimes takes up to 17 🤪

So, until next time you have my heart, Michigan. Let’s do this again some time 💙

09/07/2024

Got all up in my Michigan vibes just from doing the same workout program I was doing while I was at Michigan last summer 🥹🩵💛

But let me tell you a little something about why this trip means so much to me every year…Because I missed it once.

One time I didn’t get to go to my absolute favorite place on earth because I was working a job that told me “No.” and from that day on, I vowed to never work another job that didn’t let me go on vacation, and ESPECIALLY my yearly trip to Michigan.

My family and I have spent one week in Michigan every summer that I’ve been alive… except when I was working for others and wasn’t being valued as an employee… thankfully I work a job where I am valued as an employee, but also I work a second job 😱

For over 4 years I’ve been sharing about my journey with BODi and for the first time ever, I’m running a completely free community for MONTHS to help YOU learn health and wellness habits that not only helped me achieve losing 25lbs I gained after a back injury, but brought me to some of my closest friends in life 🤍

Rest assured, even though I’ll be in Michigan, I’ll be making it a point to make sure that this free community is still popping and I’ll be sharing my workouts from the doc again 🫶🏻

While you might not get to do your workout on a doc in Michigan with me, you can do it from your living room or your backyard or your garage or wherever you want!

This free group will give you free workouts, free meal plans, a community of supportive women, and almost everything BODi has to offer, but for FREE!

To get signed up, either comment “FREE” or click the link 🔗 in my bio! And make sure you get signed up so you can see that you can take health and wellness ANYWHERE, including a tiny boat doc in Michigan 🫶🏻

07/07/2024

I wasn’t sad I just needed a weekend at the river 💙🐟🌀⚓️

02/07/2024

Chapter 6/12 😌

June was the absolute hardest month ever. I was very hard on myself, I didn’t take time to process a lot of loss and grief, I took on a lot, I experienced the most stress I’ve felt in my entire master’s program, work absolutely kicked my ass, I lost the woman who was like a third parent to me and made me realize I could do anything, and I spent a lot of nights struggling to sleep.

June was so hard. And it was so easy for me to create a mile long list of everything that went wrong. So I decided to use that as a teaching moment for myself. June had a lot of learning moments. And while have a list a mile long of all of the bad, I’ve decided to make one even longer of all the good 🤍

In June my garden grew so big and we got our first strawberry and cucumber. In June I got to watch two close friends and family members get married and start their journey as husband and waifs. In June I got to go home and spend more time with my family than I have in a long time. In June Isaiah and I went on so many scooters runs and got so many free drinks 😂 In June I got to see and all my close friends. In June I got to use A LOT of my counseling skills. In June I got to spend time with my fiance binge watching our new favorite show— suits. In June I got to grow closer to Jesus and try new things on my journey to find myself on the hard days. In June I got to move my body every day. In June I got to experience happiness.

It’s so easy for us to pick out the bad. But I promise, life has silver linings. You can find them if you look for them. And you’ll only find what you look for too, remember that. If you only chose to see the bad, that’s all you’re going to see.

22/06/2024

Free Group Link 🩵

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22/06/2024

I’m sitting at home this year instead of being at Summit and it breaks my heart 💔

I’m so sad I don’t get to hang out with my friends and experience all of the trainings, workouts, product drops, and sisterhood activities this year.

This year has been hard on my business, to say the least. But I haven’t given up on it. A few weeks ago I decided to do a major reset with my business and to surround myself with people who will lift me higher and encourage me to reach the goals I’ve set in life. I didn’t think missing Summit would hurt as bad as it does right now. But after making even the smallest connections with my team, I’m devastated knowing I can’t meet them all in person.

I could have easily quit.
I could have easily hung up the towel.
I could have easily let my anxiety and depression get the best of me and chose to have start completely over, but I decided to just take a turn on this road trip to success after I realized that everything that is worth it comes with struggles.

While I go through this business reset, I’m running a free group to help YOU learn health habits that will fuel you and light your soul on fire. You can find the link in my bio 😉

I might not get to promote this reset from San Antonio, but I know that next year I’ll be celebrating this decision in Anaheim 🤍

So come see what my free group is all about. We start officially on July 1st.
🩵 Free Workouts
🩵 Free meal plans
🩵 A community of supportive women
🩵 Prizes and give away
🩵 The chance to feel good in your skin from just 30 minutes of movement 5 times a week.

Fill out the link in my bio to get started with us 🫶🏻

And, if you enjoy it, you can earn a spot with me to go to Anaheim next year 😉

21/05/2024

This might ruffle some feathers but we are going to say it all anyway.

It doesn’t matter how you move your body, as long as you’re moving it.

It doesn’t matter where you move your body, as long as you’re moving it.

It doesn’t matter what time you move your body, as long as you’re moving it.

It doesn’t matter how long you move your body, as long as you’re moving it.

It doesn’t matter if you’re doing yoga or doing strength training. As long as you’re moving your body in a way that makes YOU FEEL GOOD.

Somewhere along the way I think we all got really hung up on the “right way” to do a health and wellness journey. Fun fact. There isn’t a universal right way. There’s only a way that feels right FOR YOU.

So weather you’re doing Pilates for 15 minutes and then taking a walk, weather you’re strength training for and hour, weather you’re walking on a walking pad in your office, or weather you’re rubbing and training for your first 5K it doesn’t matter what anyone else is doing.

Your journey is YOUR journey.
You are in charge of moving in ways that bring you JOY.
You are responsible for the path you take to feel good inside and out.

Stop trying to fit a certain mold of an influencer you follow. Heck. Don’t even try to fit the mold that I follow. Especially if it doesn’t work for you! If you want to workout at home? DO IT! If you want to join a gym then join the gym! If you want to do cycling classes then do that! If you want to combine things that I do with things your favorite influencer does because that sounds like it’s going to fit what you need and will make you the most happy, then do that!

The point is… your journey is your journey. And there isn’t a certain way you need to be doing it other than the way that feels best for you and the way that God shows you is best for you.

Stop letting others tell you what your journey should look like. It’s all up to you babe 🩵

01/05/2024

May means a lot to me.

Not only was this the month when I said yes to partnering with BODi four years ago, but it’s also mental health awareness month.

I started this wellness journey to improve my mental health. I knew I was never going to “get rid” of my anxiety and depression, but I did know that exercise could help me learn to coexist with my diagnoses.

l used to wake up in the middle of the night shaking uncontrollably and not be able to fall back asleep the rest of the night. I’d stay up until I had to go to school, and at some point in the day l’d have an anxiety attack. And that night l’d be so embarrassed about it all that the process would start all over again at 2AM.

I started these workouts my freshmen year of college, partly because I wanted to knock off my freshmen fifteen, but mostly because I wanted to be able to feel good mentally and alleviate any and all symptoms I suffered with that were linked to my diagnosis.

I can proudly say that after just the first week of focusing on myself, I already started to feel the effects.

After six months, I hardly had anxiety attacks (I’m never going to not have them at some point), and I was able to sleep through the night without shaking anymore (I used to shake in the middle of the day for almost no reason at the beginning of freshmen year).

The point is, this journey has changed my life. And I want to take this time to advocate for mental health and its importance.

Stop telling people it’s all in their head.
Stop telling people to suck it up.
Don’t make fun of people for attending therapy or going on medications.

Good mental health is what keeps the rest of your body physically and emotionally healthy. It’s not something to “fake it until you make it”. Mental health is important. And not just for those with a diagnosis. Take care of yourself. Because we all have mental health, and we all need to make sure that it’s a priority.