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

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! ;)

Veggie Mash

I DISlike veggies. I'm like a kid. Give me peas or corn, I'm fine. But this GREEN STUFF??? yeck. Here's a recipe I came up with to trick myself into eating them. There's no specific amounts, use as much as you need and flavor to your own taste preference.

Mixed broccoli and cauliflower
Garlic Salt mix
Red Pepper (cayenne)
Cloves Garlic

Put the broccoli and cauliflower in the steamer.

Use a large fork and mash.





Brown/roast garlic cloves in a pan with just a little olive oil

Add garlic cloves, garlic powder seasoning, and red pepper to taste.

 That's it! Pretty short and easy, but MUCH easier to eat. Gotta LOVE Garlic! ;)

Protein Pancakes

This is one of my Absolute Favorites!
I made a double batch today, and then I just split the pancakes into 2 servings. Ill do this 2x so that I can get through the week(4 servings) and then maybe do my Oatmeal Pudding the rest or eat separate.

1/2c Egg Whites(I use Lana's)
1 whole egg
1/2 scoop protein powder(any flavor, im using vanilla here)
1/2c oatmeal
 *if you're allowed fruit, 1/2 banana gives great moisture & consistency, 1/2c strawberries would be leaner.

So im making a DOUBLE batch. I have one fruit in the morning. On my heavy workout days (2hrs or more) I have the banana, on off or single workout days I have berries. Because this is for 2 day I split it and did one serving of each. And I wanted to try it! ;)

Put all ingredients into a blender. You can use salt, sweetener, spices(cinnamon, nutmeg, etc) to taste. I didn't use sweetener this time as I thought the fruit & protein powder would be sweet enough. (Especially if your bananas are ripe) I set my stove top to level 3  and lightly grease the pan with coconut oil. Once you see the bubbles start to come through, its time to flip. Doesn't need much on the 2nd side. I split my cakes into 2 plates, one I eat (YUMMM!) And the other I pop into the fridge to eat the next day. The size I made turned out to be 4 pancakes per serving.

Time to flip!

    OPTIONS: (oh boy - lots!)
-Different fruits
-Different flavor protein powders
-Add a touch of extract(coconut, vanilla, rum-get crazy, lol)
-Add spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cocoa powder, pumpkin spice, etc)
-Higher cal/building program- Add almond butter to make it a roll or sandwich. I LOVE the fresh ground at Whole Foods!


So with ALL the options of protein flavors, fruits (if allowed), spices and other flavorings, you should be able to make yourself a Happy Meal for Breakfast! (Hehe, aka, "Meal #1")