A Faster Way 4/29/13

Hey there, hi there, ho there! Happy Monday, ya’ll. People get so upset when Monday comes but, for the most part, I love it! The start of a new week presents an opportunity to start a new routine, a new challenge, a new anything! I love it. J And, what do you know? I have some new things starting this week! I start a new (awesome!) job with a great catering company, a new fasting plan (I’ll go into further detail in a minute) and I’m preparing for a new semester at school (starting next week)! My body feels great, my brain (though slightly tired) feels great – and it feels great.

Let’s talk fasting, shall we? Intermittent Fasting (IF), to be specific. Basically, the idea behind IF is that for a period of time, rather than feeding your body energy through food, you force your body to utilize the energy that it is storing, thus burning glycogen, fat etc. The idea is that it will help you slim down and/or maintain leanness. A friend of mine does a 24 hour fast once every two weeks, so I gave it a shot. I did my first fast this past Wednesday and, well, I lived. Apparently I was pretty mean towards the end of the day (I have a hard time remembering?) and I know I was miserable. However, I woke up the next morning, ate ½ of a banana and then went and had a great workout! My body felt great, my brain felt great and I was in a fantastic mood! Furthermore, even after only one round of fasting, I looked at food differently… almost more as a privilege than anything else, thus making me be more conscious of and respect what I was putting into my body even more than normal. Since the first round, I’ve done more reading on the subject. I’ve seen various suggestions and timing plans that people have used and I have decided to try a different approach. For the time being, I will be fasting for 16 hours twice per week and 24 hours once every two weeks. So – on Sunday and Thursday, I will stop eating at 4pm and not start again until 8am. Then, once every two weeks I will go a full 24 hours without food. Within this time frame I drink a detox water (see below) and additional plain water. Some people call me crazy, (well, a lot of people call me crazy) but for some reason I enjoy the restriction and the challenge to my mind and my body. I’m also hoping that by training my brain to see the fasting as a benefit, it will help to curb my tendency to over eat and to actually STOP eating when I know that I need to. Only time will tell. J

Detox Water

6 lemons, sliced

½ cucumber, sliced

Handful of mint leaves

1 gallon of water

In a pitcher, combine all of these things and put in the fridge overnight. Drink this throughout the day to help clean out your body during the fast, in addition to regular water… and don’t choke on the mint leaves J

Seeing as how today is Monday, that means yesterday was Meal Prep Sunday! I took about three hours (I was taking my time) and prepped my meals for this week. Here’s the menu:

Breakfast:

½ c cooked quinoa w/ 1tbs raisins and pinch cinnamon. Microwave for 1-2 minutes then add 1tbs of fresh berries.

1 sprouted grain tortilla, 1 banana and 1-2 tbs PB2. Spread the PB2, lay down the banana and wrap. Then eat.

Lunch/Dinner:

Quinoa and Grilled Veg

½ c cooked Quinoa, 2 portabello mushroom caps (medium, ribs, stem and skin removed) and broccoli grilled with onion and blackberries. Seriously. Delish.

Mexi Salad

Handful of Mixed Spring Greens, ½ c black beans, 1/2 – 3/4c grilled tomato/onion/mushroom/bell pepper/poblano pepper with 2tbs pico de gallo

Tempeh and Chickpeas

1 c sautéed tempeh and chickpeas with ½ c tomato and cucumber salad and 2tbs homemade hummus

Snacks:

Snap Peas w/ hummus

Cucumber Sticks w/ Hummus

Sliced apple (skinless) with almond butter

Oh it’s gonna be a yummy week!

I’ve noticed my body starting to change again and I am PUMPED! I feel like it’s getting back to progressing toward a more firm and attractive shell, and that makes me feel great. I may or may not have been checking out my butt in the reflection of a window as I was walking down a hallway at school today and dammit if it didn’t look good! I’ve been lifting a lot but I’m trying to add more cardio back into my life. I know I need to cardio, I would just rather lift.. like all the time. So I’m trying to focus more on the HIIT cardio that I’ve mentioned previously. Today, I did the stair mill: 1 minute at level 15 and 2 minutes at level 3, repeating for 15 minutes. I’m not going to lie, I almost threw up. BUT I loved the burn and I’ll be doing it 2-3 times per week so I can get better and decrease the amount of down time J

Anyway, I’m going to keep on keepin on with my goals and my mission of developing the best me I can be! Thanks again for either continuing to follow me or making the decision to read for the first time, it’s certainly appreciated!!

Keep it fresh, keep it healthy, keep it clean. J

Until next time, folks!

 

Getting Summer Ready! 4/25/13

So, a few weeks ago, the beautiful miss Akilah posed a very good question: what do we need to do to get our bodies right for the summer?

While I’m a firm believer that there is no healthy or permanent ‘quick fix’ for any physical aesthetic issues we may have and also that one should maintain a healthy body year round, I know that this is a question that comes to the majority of women this time of year.  

First and foremost, I’d like to reiterate what I’ve already said about nutrition – it is single-handedly the most important part! You can go to the gym and sweat your ass off for two hours a day but if you come home and eat like crap, your body will still look like crap. Here are a few easy changes to make:

Sodium: Watch out for it! Sodium (salt) will make you retain water and look/feel bloated. You’ll find a load of this stuff in any pre-packaged or processed foods. This includes soups, instant pasta dishes, frozen meals, pre-mixed spices (aside from those made without salt), sodas etc. I don’t have to mention chips and stuff, right? Just don’t do it. Dining out can also be a big issue. There are tons of hidden calories and sodium in restaurant food… just think of where the food is coming from when the restaurant prepares it – are they using fresh ingredients or are they taking things from a can/bag/box and mixing them together? My rule of thumb for dining out? Don’t. While I love enjoying a nice meal at a restaurant just as much as the next foodie, it’s much easier to control what goes into your body when you are preparing the food.

Carbs: Oh, the dreaded carbs. While carbohydrates are absolutely essential for a healthy life – be mindful of how much you’re eating and where they’re coming from! Simple carbs like white rice, white flour, white potatoes (are you seeing a trend here? [hint – white]) basically turn to sugar when they process in the body and, when not burned, sugar turns to fat. Yuck, right? SO when you’re eating your carbs make sure that they are complex carbs and as whole as possible! I love to use quinoa (a complete protein as well as complex carb), brown or black rice on the occasion (black rice is a super food and is delicious!), and beans (I prefer black, again a great protein as well). Aside from the issue of simple carbs eventually turning to fat in the body, they will also make you bloat and retain water if eating too much. I like to keep my carbs at about ¼ of my total food intake. This is lower than the official suggestion of 60%, but with my goals, 25% or less works for me.

Fats: Okay, let’s get something straight – fat is not all bad. There are good fats and there are bad fats, we obviously want to stick with the good ones. Good fats can be found in extra virgin olive oil (make sure it’s extra virgin and of good quality!!), nuts (almonds, walnuts etc – be cautious of cashews, they’re like the French fries of nuts), good quality fish (if you eat it) like salmon, avocado etc. Stay away from anything that is ‘Fat-Free’ when shopping for foods. When they take out the fats, they supplement with extra sugar (in most cases) and you certainly don’t want that. Go for ‘Low-Fat’ instead although, honestly, I haven’t bought anything that needed to be ‘low-fat’ in QUITE a while. I’ll speak more on this in a minute.

Sugar: Stay the hell away. White sugar is the devil. It turns to fat and has been proven to cause cancer. Need I say more? While some foods (most fruits, for example) have natural sugars, you want to avoid added sugars. If an ingredient list reads any of the following: sugar, sucrose, corn syrup, glucose etc – don’t buy it. Especially if it’s one of the first things listed. Something that a lot of people don’t realize is that food packaging lists ingredients in order of proportion. So if sugar is the first thing listed, that means that that food item is mostly sugar. And you don’t want it. Also try to avoid artificial sweeteners as much as possible! That’s just like throwing a bunch of chemicals down your throat. If I absolutely need a sweetener for something, I go for raw agave nectar or brown rice syrup or something along those lines. Again, I avoid it like the plague but if I’m going to use it, it’s going to be from a whole, natural source.

Water: Drink the hell out of it! Seriously. Just don’t stop drinking it.

In general: I always always always recommend that you keep with a natural, whole diet. Eat as many fresh (organic, if possible) veggies and fruits as possible! Fill up on these naturally low-fat and low-sugar foods, then get your energy from whole and healthy carbs and proteins like quinoa, black rice, beans, or fish, lean poultry and egg whites if you eat it. When I said before that I haven’t had to buy anything ‘low-fat’ in a long time it’s this simple: the majority of the food that I purchase doesn’t have a nutrition label. If you were to see my grocery cart, you would see that it is 85% fresh produce. Aside from that, you’ll find beans, quinoa, sprouted grain tortillas, nuts, etc. Fresh, whole, healthy. J

OKAY – I’ll get off of my nutritional soapbox now and move on to fitness! There’s a common misconception that if you just go run for an hour, you’ll lose weight. Studies have proven that shorter bursts of higher-intensity cardio sessions will burn fat much faster than longer, lower-intensity sessions of cardio. This is called High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT. I absolutely LOVE this kind of training. Is it hard? Yes. But it works. Not to mention the fact that your cardio sessions are much shorter, and who doesn’t love that? I’m certainly not saying to NOT go take a long walk or a jog  or bike ride or whatever your pleasure may be – I’m saying to add-in some HIIT to ramp-up the fat-burning. A good addition to a routine is a Tabata. Tabatas are only 4 minutes in length – 20 seconds at max intensity, 10 seconds rest for a total of 4 minutes. Who doesn’t have an extra 4 minutes? Take caution though, it may sound easy enough but it is difficult and I recommend that you do some research before trying. J

In addition to cardio, you’re going to want to do some sculpting. There’s no reason that you have to go to the gym for this, you have your own weights between your face and your feet! Bodyweight resistance can be just as effective when your goal is to tone what you have. Here’s a sample circuit:

10 pushups

20 crunches

30 second plank

30 second wall sit

10 tricep dips

20 squats

10 lunges each leg

Repeat 3x

This shouldn’t take you more than 15 minutes or so and can easily be done anywhere!

 

If you know that you have trouble areas that you want to focus on for the summer, then go for it. Worried about your arms? Start doing pushups, tricep dips and planks. Legs? Squat and lunge it out, girl. Abs? Planks, crunches, high-knees, leg raises etc. (all of this in addition to cardio – cardio burns the fat off so the toned muscles can be seen J)

 

I know this is a lot of information but what it all boils down to:

Eat healthy

Drink Water

Move your body

 

Really, it’s that simple. Any questions? Just ask. J

 

Keep on Keepin on! 4/22/13

Oh hiiii! Well hell, there sure have been some things going on! I have wanted to post for quite some time but I’ve been running a little crazy! Finals were last week and I also had to work every night so I was pretty much pooped and out of time.

 

Anyway – I’ve had some pretty good workouts lately! Saturday I got in the gym and did the following:

25 minutes run/walk on the treadmill (2m run / 1m walk)

Circuit (5 rounds): 10 pushups / 20 mountain climbers / run 1 lap

Stair Mill: 5 min (speed intervals – my legs were killing me)

Swim: 25 minutes

 

I went into the gym with the intention of strictly doing cardio but the issue with that plan is that, well, I hate doing cardio. Hence the reason I did a bunch of different things for shorter periods of time. Either way, the workout worked! It kicked my butt and I left there feeling sufficiently beat down… and then I went to bellydance for two hours! We have a special performance next weekend so we’ve been squeezing in practices as much as possible.

 

After dance, twas time for meal prep! Here’s what I prepped this week:

Breakfast:

·         1c cooked Quinoa w/ 1tbs raisins and cinnamon

Snacks:

·         1/2c sugar snap peas (delish – try them!)

Lunch/Dinner:

·         Tempeh Lettuce Roll-ups with roasted Broccoli and Purple Cauliflower

·         Roasted veg with quinoa

·         Mexi Quinoa Bowls

Yum!

 

I posted a picture of my meal prep from last week but never got around to posting what It was so here it is:

·         Bell peppers stuffed with quinoa, chickpeas, and other veg served with roasted broccoli and purple cauliflower

·         Poblano peppers stuffed with quinoa, black beans, tomatoes etc served with roasted asparagus, broccoli and purple cauliflower

·         Mexi Qunoa bowls

Everything was really yummy!

 

As I’ve said before – meal prep is so incredibly important! I think people tend to forget that your nutrition is even more important than your workouts. I’ve heard it 1 million times and it is completely true, “Abs are made in the kitchen.” It is so important to keep it clean and keep it lean, folks! A rule that I try to follow when shopping: if I can’t readily purchase all of the ingredients listed on a food, I don’t buy it. The foods that have all of the added chemicals and fillers are only going to hurt your body so, quite simply, stay away from them!!

 

I don’t have a ton of time tonight (as usual) but I will do my best to continue to post pictures and quick tips on my Facebook page!

 

Also, some work friends have begun a ‘Biggest Loser’ challenge! We’re all weighing-in every Monday and the person that loses the largest percentage of body weight at the end of the 3 month challenge gets the money! (we all paid $20/person + $1 for each pound gained at weigh-in) I didn’t really have a loss this week (.4lbs ha!) but I was beyond stressed last week and to be honest I wasn’t all that concerned. I’m far more focused this week and ready to see that number go down!

Alright friends, keep it healthy! If anyone ever has any questions, feel free to contact me via this blog, Facebook or my email thelosingpath@hotmail.com.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

It Feels Good to Feel Good! 4/2/13

Hello there! Man, today was a good day. I stuck to my nutrition yesterday and woke up and had a great workout (see below) and another great day with my nutrition!

Very exciting to report the following news: When I weighed in over the past week, I’ve been averaging around 240 – and even hit 244 during one weigh-in. After only 48ish hours of well-planned and disciplined nutrition, I weighed-in this morning (pre workout) at 234.6!! Oh HI 5ish pound loss! I’ll take that! I was beyond thrilled to see that number and actually stepped off and back on the scale to make sure that it was correct. J This just goes to show, AGAIN, how incredibly important nutrition is!! I have been preaching that for quite some time and it feels so good to finally be ‘practicing what I’m preaching’ again!

Here is my workout this morning:

Bent Over Row (barbell) 2x20x50lbs & 2x15x60lbs

Dumbbell Delt Flye 4x20x15lbs

Dead Lift 4x10x115lbs

Straight Bar Cable Pull Down 4x20x35lbs

Single-arm Cable Lateral Raise 4x10x10lbs

Delt/Lat Hammer Pulldown 4x15x55lbs

Treadmill: Run/Walk total of about 16 minutes… I got a bad cramp and had to stop L

Abs:

Dumbbell Side Bends 2x20x40lbs

Decline Bench Cross-punch 2x20x5lbs

 

Overall I felt great after my workout! I even took some flex pictures when I got home J See…

 

And on the menu today:

1 scoop protein w/ water immediately following workout

Breakfast:

2 scoops protein w/ 8oz coffee & 8oz water

1c cooked oatmeal w/ cinnamon and 1tbs raisins

Lunch:

Black bean burger patty w/ scratch-made pico de gallo, roasted asparagus and quinoa with hot sauce and chopped greens (spinach and various spring lettuces)

Snack:

½ banana w/ almond butter

Snack:

4oz roasted veg w/ 1tbs hummus and hot sauce

Dinner:

Roasted cauliflower steak w/ smokey tomato sauce, roasted asparagus and quinoa mixed with chopped greens and salsa

 

The whole day was quite nutritious and very delicious!! I have found (especially during downtime at work) that I am still snacky. Where I would normally grab shitty food (at work… pub chips, etc) I am instead taking a slice of cucumber and pouring some salsa on top. It’s tasty and basically free (nutritionally)! I am hoping that over the next week of being on my nutrition plan that my stomach will shrink down a bit so I don’t feel hungry all the time. I’m trying to also drink as much water as possible so that I feel fuller and don’t want the food. It’s not that I’m starving myself or anything, I just know that I feel mentally hungry more so than physically hunger far too often… and I’m trying not to feed that mental hunger. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I have a food addiction, and discovered that the best way for me to handle it is through restriction. I don’t know how to ‘just have a taste’ or have ‘only one’ of anything, to be honest. So, if I don’t think I should be eating it, I have to cut it out of my diet completely. And so I have. J Sugar is gone, fried foods are gone, breads and pastas are gone. Only nutritious and lean whole foods shall be passing my lips. Actually, I've taken on a 30 day sobriety challenge, as well! And I tell ya what, I’m loving it!

 

Let’s talk meal prep! Total time to get everything together was about 3 hours or so, which I didn’t think was bad considering I was cooking meals for an entire week. I didn’t do the different sauces as I indicated in my last post. I made the first Smoky Tomato Sauce and I ended up making enough for everything that I needed so I didn’t see a point in making another. Here’s a breakdown:

Item 1:

Roasted Cauliflower Steaks

I took one large head of cauliflower, removed the leaves and sliced it through the stem into approx 1” steaks. I then poured enough low-sodium vegetable stock in the bottom of a baking dish to coat the bottom (with a little extra), placed the cauli steaks in the broth and sprinkled minced garlic over top. I covered the dish with foil and roasted at 375-400 for about 45 minutes, until the stock was dry. (I ate this dish tonight and the cauliflower was GREAT!) There will be excess cauliflower after getting the steaks (I got 3 steaks out of my head) and you can use the excess for roasted veggies!

 

Item 2:

Roasted Veggies

In addition to the cauliflower (broken down/chopped to appropriate-size pieces), I chopped red bell pepper, red onion and zucchini. As with the cauliflower, I poured low-sodium veg stock in a baking dish and poured the veggies in the stock (a bit more than cauliflower). I then seasoned the veg with cumin, minced garlic and smoked paprika, tossed it all together to coat, covered with foil and roasted alongside the cauliflower steaks, stirring occasionally.

 

Item 3:

Roasted Endive

I took four Belgian Endive heads, quartered them and then roasted them on the same baking sheet as my asparagus, tossed in the excess oil left from the asparagus. Roasted at 400 for about 10 minutes, turned and roasted for another 5-10 (tender-crisp).

 

Item 4:

Quinoa. SO simple! One part quinoa to two parts water, add in a cold pan together and bring to boil Once boiling, reduce to slow simmer and cover with lid. Simmer until liquid is absorbed, fluff with a fork and it’s ready!

 

Sauce:

Smoky Tomato Sauce

1can Fire Roasted Tomatoes

1tsp Agave nectar

1tbs Garlic, minced

1tbs Smoked Paprika

1tbs EVOO

½ small red onion, diced

Squeeze lemon juice

Blend everything together in blender, strain into saucepan and simmer over low/medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Taste to adjust seasonings.

 

For the asparagus, I roasted as indicated in my previous post. (EVOO, salt and pepper, 400 degrees, 20 minutes)

 

And that’s it! Nothing was overly complicated or time-consuming… but it’s all delicious! I portioned ½ cup quinoa with every dish as well as the accompanying vegetables/sauce.  Here’s my finished result:

 

 

Great, right?! I love it and can't wait to do it all again on Sunday!!

Alright kids, my bed time has come and gone and I am sreeeeeepy! Good night!! Here's to health and happiness. :)