In the pursuit of happiness Austin, Texas, life coach Bryan Daigle helps people see big life changes more clearly—from career jumps to relationship overhauls. Here’s some of his sage advice—free of charge.

How to Chase the Pursuit of Happiness
1. IDENTIFY YOUR MOTIVATION FOR CHANGE
“There are two types of energy,” Daigle says. “The energy to move away from something, and the energy to move toward something else.” Say you want to relocate across the country because your wife just filed for divorce. Is this a catalyst for change you’ve been too complacent to act on, or are you running away?

2. KNOW IT’S NEVER TOO LATE
“You’re capable of more change than you think, but that voice in your head inspiring a revolution will get only quieter the more you suppress it.” Heed that internal monologue, and don’t shy from shifting gears. Give yourself permission to ditch your current track to pursue your real passion, or reconnect with someone with whom you’ve lost touch.
3. THINK BACK FROM YOUR FUTURE
Not to get too morbid, but think about your life from your deathbed. “What decisions will you be most proud of? What will you wish you had done? What things seem so important now that are actually inconsequential?” This can shuffle your priorities in a big way.

4. NAME YOUR EMOTIONS
Fear is one of the biggest roadblocks to change. “By naming it and putting it in front of you, it can’t sabotage you from behind. Afraid of not making as much money in a new career? Say it out loud, then you can assess it.”
5. STEP OUTSIDE YOURSELF
When making a big decision, you want to be in the right frame of mind. “Sometimes that means going into nature or embarking on a road trip. Find something that grounds you, so you’re not coming from a place of high emotionality.”

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This article was produced in partnership with Healthy Choice.
So, you had an incredible workout, and now it’s time to follow up the effort with a meal to match. But finding the right balance among protein, carbs, fiber, and fats can have you wishing you were hitting the squat rack again instead. Thing is, eating right isn’t as complicated as it might seem. Enjoying a great post-workout meal really just comes down to planning. In fact, no-prep meals like Healthy Choice Max Bowls make it downright simple, not to mention tasty (more on this below).
Step one, according to Scott Tindal, a performance nutrition coach and co-founder and chief nutrition officer at Fuelin, a company that provides personalized, sport-specific nutrition guidance to athletes, suggests identifying the purpose of your workout. “Is it high performance, such as training for a sporting event, or is it focused on body composition? That’s going to dictate overall caloric intake and the way you’re going to feel on a day-to-day basis,” he says.
Before we get into the specifics of what makes a quality post-workout meal, it’s important to understand that your training and nutrition go hand in hand. “The training is only going to be as good as the nutrition that supports it,” Tindal says. “Don’t expect eating more protein to make you some sort of Adonis. You gotta put the work in.”
Here’s how to reach for meals that optimize your body and, as a result, your overall well-being.
1. Look for high-protein foods
While protein isn’t a magic muscle-maker, it is one of the keys to refueling after exercise. For muscle growth, around 1.6 or 1.7 grams per kilogram of body weight is recommended. But to avoid undershooting, Tindal suggests going for somewhere around 2 to 2.5 grams per kilogram. When you eat protein, a higher percentage of those calories are used to metabolize what you’re eating (known as the thermic effect of food) than when you eat carbs or fat. Plus, high-protein meals tend to improve feelings of fullness and satiation. With 33 to 34 grams of protein per serving, Healthy Choice Max Bowls are an excellent option to help hit your ideal daily protein quota.
Keep in mind, Tindal says, this formula assumes there aren’t any underlying health conditions that might prevent you from taking in high amounts of protein. If you’re not sure, ask your doctor.
2. Fill up on fiber
Tindal notes that the average daily consumption of fruits and vegetables in the U.S. is low, around 2 or fewer servings per day when it should be between 5 to 9. He advises aiming for 6 servings, or “six fists,” if you need a visual. This will also help you get an optimal amount of fiber in your diet, ideally around 25 grams or more. With ingredients like black beans, roasted sweet corn, red bell peppers, edamame, leafy greens, and zucchini, Healthy Choice Max Bowls are an excellent source of  fiber. Healthy Choice Max Tex Mex Chicken Bowl, for example, has 12 grams.

Healthy Choice Max Tex Mex Chicken Bowl Healthy Choice
3. Top it off with good carbs
After protein, carb-rich foods are going to make up the rest of your caloric intake. Tindal advocates for a carb target that’s balanced with the amount of protein you’re eating—so if you’re aiming for 150 grams of protein, a similar amount of carbs is a good starting point. More importantly, you should focus on whole foods, with “a majority of those carbohydrate sources coming from vegetables and salads,” he says. After veggies, Tindal recommends eating root vegetables and fruit, as well as rice, grains, pulses (think beans, lentils, and peas), and pasta, particularly if you have more body mass and need to consume more carbs to hit your daily quota (2 to 5 grams per kilogram of body weight). Carbs will also prepare your body for tomorrow’s workout by replenishing glycogen stores.
4. Avoid high-fat foods
“Fat is the most calorie-dense macronutrient,” Tindal says. Fats certainly aren’t bad, but they offer the least bang for your buck in terms of helping you feel full and delivering energy. Choose your fats wisely and opt for monounsaturated fats like olive oil, avocados, and almonds along with omega-3 fats found in small, oily fish. Aiming for somewhere around 0.8-to-0.9 grams per kilo of body weight is a good place to start. With just 4 to 7 grams of monounsaturated fat and 9 to 14 grams of fat per serving, Healthy Choice Max Bowls fit the bill.

Healthy Choice
5. Eat complex and complete meals
While improving your body composition and building muscle requires that you burn more calories than you consume, that doesn’t mean you have to be hungry or eat small meals. Oftentimes the opposite is true. “If you’re not eating, then you’re not going to feel good about your training,” Tindal says. This could lead to inconsistencies in your routine, low energy levels, reduced effort and, in turn, prevent you from achieving your workout goals altogether. Tindal says, “If your protein intake is high and you’re eating lots of fruits and vegetables, you will eat a lot of food, probably more food than you’re used to eating.”
6. Save time with the right pre-made meal
Between commuting, work, working out, and your other daily obligations, you likely don’t have time to cook every meal from raw ingredients. But that doesn’t mean you need to succumb to that temptation to order delivery. “You may have no way of quantifying the amount of food or calories you’re eating if you’re eating takeout,” Tindal says. So how do you make eating healthy less of an onerous task? Reach for frozen meals like Healthy Choice Max Bowls, which meet the rest of the above parameters for a healthy, active lifestyle, and are ready in the time it takes to place an order.
For more inspired post-workout meal ideas, visit Healthy Choice.com or shop now on Instacart.

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If you are a regular at the gym, then you know that bulking up isn’t just about picking up the heaviest weights you can handle. It’s about fueling up with protein powders. That way you get the energy and endurance you need to go as hard as you can, as well as all the nutrients you need to make those muscles improve more than you thought possible. The only issue is that a lot of protein powders don’t taste good. That’s why you need to find the best-tasting protein powders around.
Our Top 3 Picks
There are a lot of protein powders out there, but not all of them taste good. This can be a bit of an issue, because you might have a hard time getting those drinks down. And at a certain point, you might just give up on them entirely. But you can get great-tasting protein shakes that won’t hinder your progress. If anything, they’ll make the whole process go a whole lot smoother.
Looking for the right protein powders that come with great flavors is not easy, if only because there are so many protein powders to look at. And they all come in different flavors. There are the old standbys of Chocolate and Vanilla. But you also get some great alt options like Fruity Pebbles flavoring. Not to mention having to look for the right one if you are a vegan or not. It’s not easy. But it can be done.
It can be done because we have gone and done. Below you can find 5 of the best-tasting protein powders around. All of which will do the job of fueling and bulking you up at the gym while making the process of drinking these shakes down as easy as possible. So all you need to do is check them out and see what each is good for and then pick the one that catches your eye. Whichever you pick is sure to be a fast favorite.
The Best Tasting Protein Powders More

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