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")

Being 'mostly good' just doesn't cut it!

"Bread Pudding" Oatmeal, Egg whites, whole egg, oatmeal & Strawberries

 So many times the questions I get start with "I eat mostly clean..." or "I'm pretty good with my workouts"....and end with "how can I get results?" How bout you start with actually following something? If you can't stick to one plan, you will never know what you need to adjust to creat change. You can eat 'healthy', but that doesn't mean you will build muscle or get lean. You have to train and diet for that SPECIFIC purpose. Just because someone is a vegetarian or vegan, does not mean they can't be fat. Just because it's a "whole food" doesn't mean it doesn't have a ton of sugar or fat.

When I am prepping for a show, I can eat 100% clean, but not get the results I am looking for if I am not 100% on target. I eat the same thing every day. Firstly, it makes things much easier to buy in bulk and cook for the week. And i'm a creature of habit so that's fine with me.This way I can' eat the same thing for a week, and change ONE thing(ie: switch from sweet potatoes to brown rice, or from salmon to tilapia at a meal) and see the difference. This is how you learn what works for your body and how. You can get SOME results from just picking and choosing clean foods, and that is fine if your goal is to maintain where you are at. But to create CHANGE, whether building muscle or leaning out, you need to CHANGE. Most times it's not that the program fails, it's that the client isn't following it. They are not FULLY committed, so they will not see the results.

Lana's Egg Whites

Food prepped & ready

Protein Shake, brown rice cake, peanut/almond butter

The FIRST thing I cut out is alcohol. If you are training hard and dieting hard, the last thing you want to be doing is be up all night socially with no more food or carbs, lol. I've done it, on caffeine but not very often. Alcohol witllscrew with your gains, your metabolism, your bodies regulating capacity, more than anything and affect your body for a few days. The SECOND thing is sugar. Candy, break, white bleached flour, etc. Anything that spikes your blood sugar level, causes a crash and is empty calories. That means that you are eating something with NO nutritional value to you. If you are on a restricted diet, they BETTER be GOOD calories or you will not function well.

Salmon, Sweet pot & asparagus

So don't ask your trainer for a 'new' plan, if YOU are what is not working. Don't say to be 'harder' when you can't follow the easy plan. Don't ask if you can have x, y and z...just follow the plan! If you REALLY want this, the is NO OTHER OPTION!

Egg White & Spinach Omelet

Chicken, brown rice & broccoli soup

My CRAYZEE Schedule!

Every day I get up, and my day is daunting. I start trying to think of how I can get home earlier. Then I feel like I"m being lazy or slacking. But when you get up and look at my day, I go to my job, I teach classes, I train, and I train myself. Yesterday I left my house at 7:30am, and returned at 10:30pm. And whose fault is this? mine. lol. My mom says that whenever I get a free slot, where I could rest or catch up, I just fill it with something else. It's totally true. Squeeze in an extra client here, sub a class there, snag some catch-up time with an old friend somewhere else. It's kind of ridiculous What can I say, I like being busy, maybe it's just the challenge. Maybe I'm masochistic, lol. I'm definitely tired! But I've always found most Group Ex instructors, and competitors especially, tend to be overly driven like this. You have to be to be able to fit in all we do and stay determined and dedicated. So when I(we) hear clients complain about THEIR diet being 'hard', well, gotta bite my tongue. Can't get a workout in....REALLY? hmmm...unless one's schedule is like mine,...I'm not gonna cut much slack. So this is an idea of my schedule. Yesterday I busted out a 20 minute HARD lift. I'm sore, so I"m happy, but I don't like having less than a full hour so I can get it all in. I dunno, what do you think? It's actually color coded but wouldn't let me post in color. Crazy or lazy? lol ;)

HELL WEEK - "Miracle"

  So I was behind for this show, the Iron Man Magazine Naturally NPC Competition. I never diet through the holidays and this was very rough for me. I also had gained a lot after San Jose. Coach told me not to do this show, but I'm not a quitter. These pics are taken 9 days out, Wednesday.

 

I went through 2) 3-day carb depletions, with very little carbs in between and leading up to the show.  It was crazy. I dropped a lot of water, and NEVER want to have to do that again. SO glad I have that behind me and 8 more weeks to train for Gov Cup. 

The back pose was very painful for me to see, as I was shocked to see it this obvious at a heavier weight. I need to keep building muscle but I'm worried about how much more my body will shift, and how it will affect my spine. 

Quick pre-blurb of Iron Man Magazine & Fit Expo

O_M_G! We had SUCH an AMAZING weekend! Although we did not bring home trophies, we have made some GREAT progress! I personally made eye contact with each judge and did NOT shake! First time ever. I did notice the changes in my body have definitely made my scoliosis more apparent and I am dealing with it as best I can.

The Expo...I have no words. I learned a LOT from the Pros who were helping & prepping us backstage, UNHEARD of at the amateur(NPC) level. Totally changing my Tanning procedure. Also, we got to meet and take photos with Jay Cutler(also learned a lot at his Q&A!), Ronnie Coleman, Alicia Marie(and got a sneak peak at her new Booty book which isn't even out yet!), and I got to meet one of my heroes Jim Stoppani, PhD from Muscle&Fitness and Flex Magazine and score some awesome 6-pack coolers from him! I can't wait to post pictures on my Page tomorrow, www.facebook.com/nmtfitness We took a LOT of great ones!

Well, now 8 weeks until Governor's Cup in Sacramento, March 24th. Crock pot is going and Im ready to Lift like an ANIMAL!!!! See what I got cookin' below.

I will follow up with separate blogs over the next few days covering the Competition, and the FitExpo and all our experiences.

Mashed Cauliflower: cauliflower, chicken stock/broth, garlic clove,
garlic salt. Crockpot low overnight, mash&mix.

 

Chicken Soup: chicken, short grain brown rice, broccoli, chicken
stock, garlic salt, paprika. Crock pot Low overnight

 

Ironman Naturally, -3 Days

Well, they're comin'....want some DEEP cuts for the next Comp!

Wow, today! I had originally thought I would be okay working through this week. I'm even teaching my classes, at least through tomorrow(Wednesday). But there were a few things I needed to do so I thought I'd give myself breathing room, boy did I NEED IT! I took today of and first item was SLEEP! I woke up at 11am. what?! Already behind. Guess what? I had forgotten to move my food from the freezer to the fridge or leave out to thaw. I needed to workout, but needed to eat food first. So, off to the store I went to get fresh tilapia and chicken for today.

Got my 4oz of chicken on my new scale. (Haven't unwrapped it yet, lol)

So I did a lot of cooking, did my YouTube blog for Today, went to the gym with mom, went to the chiropractor(I think she got my shoulder back even with the other), got my eyerows waxed, then came home and did some more cooking while doing a little Zumba in between. I vacuumed and am aiming to put some clothes away and pack a lil. Or add to my packing pile.

Looks like my spot's been taken... <3

My "Packing Pile" - Hmmm....what to wear. to party w/the girls after the show? ... ;)

I'm trying to catch up on meals. I am just about finished with my 2nd fill of my water jug(2.2L) This is Day 1 on my second carb-depletion. I won't have to do this again. I can NOT get behind and go crazy. I need to stay where I am at and continue my fine-tuning and progress from here to the next shows.

(2.2 Liters) x 2 !

Tomorrow I will go to work, then teach cycling @ Bally Total Fitness, then back to work, then back to Bally to teach BOSU, then back to Ray's Built Tuff for posing practice with Robin and train Leslie for her last workout. Tomorrow is the last workout day. Thursday and Friday we rest. Thursday I JUST go to work. Sounds SO simple! :D We do go to check in with Fatima at Ray's Built Tuff after work. Then we should be able to have some carbs to fill out. Friday we fly out. There will be me, Leslie(we are the 2 competing), Cori, Brenda(my former client and Bally class member) all on the same flight. SUPER fun! Becky might also be driving down, and my dad should be driving down.

4 DAYS(3 really)!! - Ironman Mag Naturally

Ok, I'm close! I checked in today and coach said I looked a LOT better, not there yet, but i will be! I got CARBS!!! So my last 4 meals today I got salmon(OMG, I used to HATE fish and I can't tell you how happy I was to get that, haha) and Brown rice/oatmeal. SO great! Tomorrow I go back to my carb depletion for another 3 days and we will check in again Thursday night. We will be getting our next food in preparation for a lil carb load Friday.

I loved working out today! Well, visually, lol. I have dropped 4lbs so I'm now 126lbs. And I got a mystic tan last night so I'm a bit darker. I'm starting to look like a competitor again. PHEW! When we check-in next I will post before/after pics so you can see the changes made in this last week. It's AMAZING what happens in the last week! :D

We basically workout to just maintain the muscle we have and get rid of the water. We workout through Wednesday, then Thursday and Friday we rest and carb-load while weaning the water. So I'm taking tomorrow off. Workout on my own, go to the chiropractor for an adjustment, prepare my food for the next few days and start packing.

I also sold my tubs of Lana's Egg Whites, so I will be ordering more. Such a great deal for people who use egg whites. I got them from her and sell them for $30 so they save the shipping cost. I will get to add my eggs and protein shakes back into my diet after this show since I am now lean again. Then I can just fine-tune for the following shows.