12 Weeks out - Emerald Cup, May 3rd

Ok, So I am starting out at approximately 133lbs, and 19% Body Fat. I am adding my cardio back in(I had given up my bike in Cycle class so that more members could take my class) and cutting my cheats down. I have gotten tired of chicken so I am switching those 2 meals to 1) Salmon and 1) Tilapia. Because the Salmon also has fat, I will be cutting the fat serving(either almonds or avocado) out of that meal.

I just peeked at my new workout plan! I am now starting Month 5 of the Advanced Muscle Tone & Firm on the Workout Trainer by Muscle & Fitness. It is a LOT of stuff I do NOT do, which is also why I like it. It challenges me, teaches me and pushes me. This month there are Plyo's and Olympic Lifts. It looks like HEAVY on the legs(and other areas) because there are some SHORT sets of SHORT reps! My legs need it! My arms are pretty 'big' now, I'm happy with my shoulders...abs need to lose the fat a bit more over them...the legs are getting lines just want them to be a little fuller. I don't want to lean out and just look 'stringy' if that makes sense?

Training Week 1 of 2013

 

Here it is, January 4th, 2013. This is the first week of my Official Training. What does that mean? That means NO EXCUSES! No cheating, no missed workouts. GET IT DONE. I started my lifts on Monday, so today was my 4th lift, and 3rd DOD. (Day Of Diet). I am ON POINT!

I've posted my full meal plan. Now this is based on me, currently at 138lbs. This is also my plan for my TRAINING days(on these days I have 300-400cals extra). My food is logged in MyFitnessPal (CoachNicT).

 I lift (ideally) M-F, and teach 8 classes throughout the week. I am doing no extra cardio(7hrs is quite enough thank you, lol). If I miss a day during the week, I hit the gym Saturday(which will be this week). I will post when I have my off day. My 'cheat meals' are TBD. They will most likely not be a binge or junk of any sort, but like my lunch today(Chili's Lighter Choice 6oz sirloin & Broccoli, 250cals) - a healthier option I can choose and be able to have my dinner with family. Any real 'cheat' or 're-feed will be determined by my progress....and sanity ;)

My starting goal weight is 125lbs, 10% Body fat. I haven't been down to 10% in a while so I'm giving myself plenty of time. Our first show, Emerald Cup, is 17 weeks away. Typical leaning phase/prep starts 12 weeks out, but I'm heavier than usual and I don't want to worry at the end. And, if I need to do an earlier show to qualify, I'll have a shot at that as well. My birthday is also in between, and last year I did a show literally for my birthday. It was 4 days after, so ON my actual birthday, I was on my 3rd day of carb depletion. Then the show got sold out and my Dad and my Best Friend didn't even get to see me at Finals, or get my trophy. :( So, I really wanted to do something fun this year, lol. Maybe I can have a cheat meal lol. Looking good ROCKS, so there's that!




Meal 1: 1/2c oatmeal, 1/2c Lana's Egg Whites, 1 whole egg, 1/2c Pure Pumpkin, spices to taste
Picture 2: All ingredients, mixed & microwaved 2-3 mins for bread pudding/bread
Meal 2: Isagenix Isalean Pro w/Ionix Supreme(this is a high protein meal replacement shake I use for post workout.
Meal 3: 4 oz chicken breast, 4oz sweet potato, 15 almonds
Meal 4: Isagenix Isalean w/Want More Energy (this is a meal replacement shake.)
Meal 5: 3 oz chicken breast, 12c brown rice, 6 asparagus, 1/4 avocado
Meal 6: 1c Lana's Egg Whites, 2c Spinach, 1/2 avocado

Clean French Toast

2 Whole Eggs

2c Egg Whites (I use Lana's Egg Whites)

6sl Alvarado St. or Ezekiel Bread of your choice

* Originally I actually made this with Eggos. ;) Low Fat Whole Grain, sometimes the cinnamon or other flavors. 

Super quick & easy! Here I used Alvarado St. Sprouted Wheat Cinnamon Raisin. Because it has flavor, I didn't add anything to my eggs. If I use plain Ezekiel Bread or Alvarado St. I'll add sweetener, cinnamon or whatever spices I feel like that day.  

 

 When picking a Whole Grain bread there are a few things that are KEY. First, it should not list 'flour' as a major ingredient. Flour is overly processed. As you can see on the label above, this bread is made of whole grains. The LARGEST contributing ingredient is listed first and then in descending order. The main ingredient above is Organic Sprouted Whole Wheat Berries. I had fiber and protein, some breads have a little more protein. 

Here are the ingredients - very few. 

You have your carbs(bread), fat(yolk/coconut oil), and protein(egg whites). 

Just soak your bread in the mixture for a minute or two until soft.

I used coconut oil which has MCTs (Medium Chain Triglycerides/fats)

Brown on both sides as desired.

This made 3 servings for me, and one piece to try! ;D

Protein Crepe Almond Rolls

I made these the night before my fitness conference and they were great to eat on my way out the door!

1c Lana's Egg Whites
1/2c Oatmeal
*Cinnamon, Splenda, Pumkin Spice, dash of salt to taste
1T Almond Butter (BEST is FRESH ground from Whole Foods!)

Mix 1st 3 lines of ingredients together in Magic Bullet (or other blender). Pour in pan (I used coconut oil) Mades approx 2-3 crepes depending on your desired thickness. Lightly coat crepe with almond butter, roll, but in 1/2 and place in tupperware. Next morning just heat it up for approx 1 minute in the microwave and go! ;)

Protein Crepes (cleaner than pancakes)

 So I can't really take credit for some of these, they are things that get passed around. I would like to share how I have made these after my client told me how she made hers. These are great when you are eating cleaner and can't have protein powders or fruit. SUPER EASY! Here are the instructions for a quick and simple Single Serving.

1c Egg Whites
1/2c Oatmeal
cinnamon, pumpkin spice, Splenda to taste. (those were my choices, but you could add your own favorite sweetener, or cocoa powder, even a flavored Crystal Light or equivalent - I got lemon to try at a later date!)

Blend in a Magic Bullet (or other blender)

Lightly grease the pan with coconut oil. Like with the Protein Pancakes, once you see bubbles on top, it's time to flip. Should make 2 large crepes or 4 small crepes depending on the size pan you use.

IDEA: If you need your healthy fat at this meal, add Almond Butter into the crepes and roll! My favorite is the Fresh ground from the machine at Whole Foods. YUMM! :D

DONUTS?!?!

Who says a Competition Diet can't be fun?

 
I was at Target the other day and scoffed at a donut maker I saw. Then, Thursday night I was thinking about how Fridays are donut day at work. I so missed that. And I had an epiphany - I was going to make my own donuts. It's a mental thing, lol. Being able to have MY donuts, feel part of the Friday fun and still be good. I have posted all the photos below.

I started out with the same recipe as my Protein Pancakes(Pic 1). However, I accidentally put in 2x the egg whites, so i then had to double everything else to make it right(Pic 2). I usually bake a double-batch, so this made a Quadruple batch!! No worries, food for 4 days! 

Single Serving (multiply as desired)
1/2c Egg Whites (I use Lana's Egg Whites)
1 Whole Egg
1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
1/2c Oatmeal
1 fruit (I split it, so 1/2 banana, 1/2cup strawberries) -lol easier to double the batch
   * the banana gives it the consistency of bread and holds better. I split
      the fruit as I have bananas on heavier workout days & strawberries
      when I need a leaner breakfast. I call it my compromise ;)
 Seasonings as desired (I like cinnamon, Vanilla extract, you can use cocoa power, diff protein flavors, etc)

Blend all ingredients in blender. Pour into donut maker. I got this one at Target for $30. If you want to see it, it's the Sunbeam Donut Maker. I tried to make a glaze....I will need to keep working on it. I used some coconut oil as it hardens as it cools, and tried to use Truvia and cinnamon. Doesn't quite work like sugar, lol. I tried dipping the donuts in, and it cooled on those, but hard to get it on the donuts.

My quadruple batch made approximately 4 servings of 9 or 10 small donuts each. 

They are cute and fun and make me happy! And will TOTALLY trip out any other competitors who see me eat them, haha 0;)

 

Spinach & Egg White Omelet

This is one of my favorites lately. I started out with a quick recipe which I'll summarize at the end. I will give you my current spiced up recipe to start.

2-3 cups Spinach
1 cup egg whites (I use Lana's Egg Whites)
Tony Cachere's Creol Seasoning
Lawry's Garlic Salt seasoning
Salsa (if allowed)

Heat pan with Olive oil (extra virgin).
Add 1 chopped clove of garlic to brown and lots of spinach.
Sprinkle with Garlic Salt.
Cover and allow spinach to steam.
Stir spinach, garlic and seasoning and place to side.





Pour in 1 cup egg whites(I use Lana's Egg Whites).
Sprinkle in Garlic Salt and Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning.
Place spinach on egg whites. (In this picture I had to add more spinach because it shrinks a LOT!)



Fold egg whites over and brown.
Sprinkle seasoning on top if desired. 

-Ok, so the Quick & Easy way?
The first time I did it, I just poured in the egg whites, sprinkled the seasoning, tossed in the spinach, let it cook and then folded it when ready. The spinach will cook on its own in the egg whites.

Top with Salsa if allowed/desired.

Season your food!

When I first started competing I had no clue. I was given a mealplan, and quite frankly, was in shock. I thought I ate healthy! I didn't think I could have anything not on that piece of paper. I didn't think to how to cook it. It didn't help that our kitchen was being remodeled so all i had was a microwave in the garage, and a little plug-in pan. I ate a lot of my veggies raw, or my food plain. I ate tuna out of the can. Sometimes on spinach, usually dry. By the end my mom took pity on me and started cooking some of my food. I got better and realized I could use some salsa and seasonings. Some of the stuff I don't use during competition season now, but you can use off-season or for general healthy recipes. Today I'm going to go over what you CAN use, because as easy as it sounds, we just don't think about it until someone mentions it.

If you are off-season, or just eating healthy here are some great spices to try. They do have salt, so watch how much you use, make sure to drink plenty of water. Your body will hold water the more sodium you have, but also will adjust to the level you take in. As you get closer to a show, you will want to use less, and especially as you drop water the last week these come out for sure.
I LOVE Garlic Salt! I get the kind that has the parsley in it as well. I use that on pretty much everything. Garlic Salt and Lemon pepper(Black Pepper, lemon peel, salt, onion, garlic) are great on fish, especially together! Old Bay is a seasoning a client shared with me, great for fish and other items. It has celery salt, red pepper, black pepper and paprika.(another favorite spice of mine) Lawry's Seasoned Salt, also some paprika, turmeric, onion and garlic. Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning is nice and spicy! It has salt, red pepper, black pepper, chili powder and garlic.

 

Some other items I never knew I loved. Cholula! This I discovered at IHOP, and would use it on my eggs. Its a great hot sauce. Mustards - I never was much for them. But now...oh my! The flavors! This one I show, French's Honey Mustard is the one I found that has <1g sugar per serving. Some can have a lot of honey and hence, a lot of sugar. Check the labels. Dijon, honey dijon, many flavors to choose from. These definitely have salt, make sure no sugar. These along with the above get taken out closer to show depending on your training. 

 These are your plain spices, no salt added. Black pepper, Red pepper, Paprika, Garlic Powder, Basil, Parsley, Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Solute, anything in the seasonings that does NOT have salt. These are ok pretty much up to the show. Especially with fish you can use lemon with the garlic powder and parsley and brown in the pan...delicious!

 

And of course, ANY vinegar is ok up to the show. They have 0 cals, 0 sugars, 0 salt, etc. Balsamic(great on salads, tuna), Apple Cider(hunger/sweet cravings, very close to the body's natural pH balance so has MANY uses), Malt vinegar(on white fish, pretend its fish 'n' chips!), just make sure its PLAIN vinegar with nothing added to it.

Of course, I will have more quick and easy recipes with these seasonings coming soon! ;)