Starting Your Losing Path 03/21/14

Recently, a friend of mine who is working on getting her life to a healthier place asked me how I got started on my journey. After thinking for a while, I actually had a hard time remembering… it literally feels like an entire lifetime has passed between the ‘old’ me and the ‘now’ me! So, I went back and re-read some of my very first blog entries and wow – I don’t even know that person anymore! I found a person full of excuses and complaining about having to ‘dance around the meatheads’ in the gym… ha! And now, I’m one of those meatheads! Lol Anywho….

The first step to changing your life is probably the hardest – making the decision to change and committing to that decision. Before finally committing to my decision, I made quite a few failed attempts at changing my life… failed attempts because I never fully committed to the changes and I always regressed. While it may seem like an easy thing to do, this is one of the most difficult aspects because you are committing to changing everything. Your eating habits, your lifestyle/activity habits, your mindset etc – and those are big things! I hear a lot of people saying that they are ‘making healthier choices’ and while that is commendable and definitely a step in the right direction, keep this in mind: if you want to see a big change, you have to MAKE a big change!

Once you’ve made the decision, you just have to honestly evaluate your life as it is… what are you eating? How often are you moving? Why have you not made any changes up to this point? Once you figure out the honest answers to these questions, make a plan of attack to decide how you’re going to approach your new life! It takes some work – do the math to figure out how many calories you need per day and how you’re going to get those calories in the most nutrient-dense way. What kind of workouts do you want to do? It’s important to stay positive and re-train your brain to think positively and proactively. Don’t make excuses to skip workouts or cheat on your diet – remind yourself of reasons why it’s important to stay disciplined to those changes!

Food:

Food has always been the hardest part for me, as it is for many people. The majority of the population looks at food as this beautiful romanticized thing that can bring you so much pleasure through your taste buds and blah blah… (which is good considering I’m a chef and my career depends on this lol). BUT as a person on a plan to improve their health, your mindset has to change. Remember this: FOOD IS FUEL. Your body is a machine and the food that you eat must fuel your body appropriately to give your machine the power that it needs to achieve your goals. This may sound asinine to some, but it is a necessary way of thinking. Now, just because we are now using food as a fuel source doesn’t mean that it has to be bland and taste like crap! There is certainly a way to eat healthy and still enjoy what you are eating.

My nutritional habits have changed many times over the years. While I have had a relatively stable nutritional personality for the last year or so, it took a lot of experimenting to get to this point! When I started my Losing Path, I was mostly just watching the labels… trying to keep my calories, fat, sugar, protein and sodium in check. While I still keep all of these things in mind when I choose my foods, I also take into account the QUALITY of food that I am eating. While a Lean Cuisine meal may be in line with my calorie/fat goals, the food is shit and I’m not adding anything to my health by eating processed stuff. I can get the same amount of calories/fat etc by making the food myself using whole, natural ingredients... so I’m benefiting my overall health while still adhering to my goals.

So, what to eat? In order to help your metabolism speed up, it is important to let go of the ‘3 Meals a Day’ standard mentality. Split your meals into 5-6 smaller meals throughout the day. Eating on this schedule will help jump-start your metabolism and get to burning that fat! Personally, I eat 5 meals per day, spaced 3 hours apart. Currently weighing roughly 235lbs, I shoot for around 1,600 calories per day. Each meal has a lean protein source and a complex carb. I get my carbs from vegetables, brown rice (½ c per day), black beans (1/2 c per day) and oats (1/2 c per day). Your lean protein source can be boneless/skinless chicken breasts, lean turkey, lean ground beef (although I am never a fan of red meat), lean fish, eggs or protein powder. As I said, I use mostly vegetables for my carbs but it is important to use low-glycemic veggies. For instance: broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, leafy greens, green beans etc. It is super important to measure your portions when doing your meals as well! There’s no sense in spending the time to calculate everything just to approximate on the actual amount you’re putting in your body!

Something else to consider is what you are drinking! For me, my only options are water, black coffee, organic unsweetened green tea or my supplements (protein, glutamine etc). Stay away from juices, soda etc... So many hidden calories/sugars/sodium! Shoot for 1 gallon of water per day… you’ll be peeing a lot but that will help to keep you hydrated, keep your belly full and flush out some bad stuff!

Exercise:

Frankly, this is the easy part. Its pretty simple- just move! When you’re starting your journey, you have to decide what is right for you. Although I wasn’t in good shape when I started, I have always been a relatively active and athletic person and always really enjoyed working out, so it wasn’t a big deal for me to get back into the gym. Some people just aren’t gym people, though! Figure out something you can do to get your heart rate up that you will enjoy! Take a walk, ride a bike, go to zumba etc… Just start somewhere. When I started, I got on a treadmill and could only run 2 minutes before I had to stop. So I would get on that treadmill a few times a week and continue to push myself and eventually I got to the point where I could run 5 miles. Consistency and persistency is so important when it comes to fitness! Also – keep in mind that while cardio workouts are important, strength training is super important as well! Lean muscle mass helps to burn fat… so the more muscle you have, the more fat it is going to burn! I’m not recommending that everyone jump into the weight room and start bench pressing – just doing some sort of strength training (which includes body weight resistance training) should always be a portion of your fitness plan.

 

While I realize this information is all relatively vague, it kind of has to be. Every person is different and will require a different plan to achieve their goals… this is just a guideline! If anyone has specific questions, feel free to contact me! I’m always always happy to help and to answer any questions! My Facebook page is Ali’s Losing Path.

A before/after from before I began my journey to now :)

 

That’s all for today, folks! Keep it happy and healthy!

 

Confined to Recline 03/18/14

Well, here I am… on the couch. The last two weeks of my life have been confined to a reclined position. As many of my followers know, I have been having back issues since an injury in October, 2013: I was doing deadlifts at the gym and in standing up on one of my reps, I felt a very sharp pain in my lower back. I immediately racked the bar, and stepped away, as I knew something wasn’t right. I went over to the dumbbell rack and attempted to do bent over delt flyes, but didn’t last through more than two reps without severe pain. At that point, I gave up. Not knowing what was happening with my back or really what to do to help it, I decided to sit in the sauna for 30 minutes – thinking that would help to loosen things up and I could just stretch it out and be good as new. Boy was I wrong. I got out of the sauna, took a shower and got dressed... and at that point I knew something was really wrong. I limped out of the gym, went to my house and immediately lay on the floor and started sobbing. That day, I ended up going to the chiropractor and spending the rest of the day laying on ice packs and taking copious amounts of ibuprofen, ginger and turmeric. After about two weeks of rest and eventually getting back to my workouts, I ran the Tough Mudder race.

Over the course of the next few months, I experienced similar experiences two more times; once while doing squats and another while doing bent barbell rows. Neither of these occasions was as severe as the first, but still put me out of commission for a bit. Growing very frustrated, and with the advice of my training partner, I eventually decided to give my body a rest. Beginning on a Tuesday, I vowed to take 6 weeks off of lifting and just work to strengthen that which was ailing me – my back (and also my hip – due to my back). That Saturday, I woke up for the first time in a long time with almost no pain at all! I felt awesome! I went to work, worked in the kitchen all day and then worked a party that night. The next morning, I woke up in quite a lot of pain… and pissed off. I went to The Arnold that day so I drove up to Columbus, went to the expo and drove home. The next morning I woke up super stiff and in more pain. I worked for a few hours then went to the chiropractor for an adjustment… then Tuesday happened. I woke up Tuesday morning in excruciating pain, unable to stand up or walk without sobbing and crying. My mom took me to the ER where I was examined by a doctor and had an x-ray. After reviewing the x-rays, the ER doctor then recommended that I go see a spine doctor ASAP as it appeared as if I had significant damage via herniated disc(s) and some other wear-and-tear. I left the hospital with Percocet, an anti-inflammatory and steroids. The next few days were absolutely horrendous – the most intense and severe pain I’ve ever felt in my entire life. A trip to and from the bathroom (on crutches) would leave me sobbing and shaking in pain.

I got in to see the doctor that week and had an MRI. Turns out, I have two herniated discs – one of which is “pretty massive,” according to my doctor. I had one steroid injection into my spine and have since been doing decompression therapy with a chiropractor. Unfortunately, I’m not noticing much of a difference. I’m still on crutches, still can’t sleep. I would say that some of the inflammation has gone down as the pain isn’t as severe as it was (I can usually get to the bathroom without tears) – but a lot of that is my figuring out the appropriate Percocet schedule to keep me comfortable.

So what does this mean for my life? Honestly, I’m not sure. The ER doctor suggested that I would have to give up heavy weightlifting forever. That hurt to hear. I know that this is going to be something I will have to be mindful of for the rest of my life – but I do hope to get back into my training at some point.

My goal for right now is to get the problem resolved and regain the strength in my back. Having a young and strong body going into the injury should work to my benefit in regards to recovery… I’m just ready to get to recovering already!

 

So what does it feel like? I have a dull aching in my lower back with a pinpoint pain at the spot of the herniation… however, the real pain is in my right leg. I have constant pain radiating all through my leg. Debilitating pain. It goes from my hip all the way down the front of my leg to my ankle, and sometimes the top of my foot. The constant pain feels like a strong ache, and then I have waves of shooting/burning pains that are typically focused in my shin and ankle. The last couple of days I’ve gotten a new one where there’s a huge amount of pain focused directly around my ankle and it seriously just feels like my ankle is broken. But again, this all comes in waves… so the intense pains will last for 5-10 minutes and then it goes back to the regular ache. One thing I can say for sure – I have had multiple muscle issues… torn meniscus, stretched shoulder capsule, strains and sprains etc as well as broken bones… but NOTHING compares to the pain of a damaged nerve. This shit is serious.

 

So how can you keep your back safe? There are a few things I’ve picked up over the last few months that I will most certainly be continuing to practice for the rest of my life:

1. Stretch! It is so important to be flexible. If you don’t maintain flexibility in your muscles and spine, you become far more susceptible to injury! A stiff body is more easily damaged. So do some yoga or at the very least, make sure that you are working in the time to each workout for a warm-up and a pre and post workout stretch!

2. Be Mindful that your back is there! After my injury, I started paying much closer attention to my back and spine and how I was treating it... and I noticed that I was really just ignoring it. Pay attention to your posture, whether you’re sitting or standing, moving or still. Always keep your tail bone tucked under and your core engaged, putting your spine in a neutral position and creating a trunk of strength to support any movement you attempt. Always squat, rather than bend at the waist and when you’re standing up, push through your heels to engage your hamstrings/butt more than your lower back. Practice by standing still and tucking your hips under… feel the difference in your spine! It takes practice and you’ll have to think about it but it is so worth it!

3. Strengthen your core! The best support system for your back is your core muscles! If your core is weak, your back will have to compensate and can easily be damaged. Remember to work all parts of your core doing exercises targeting upper and lower abdominals as well as your obliques.

 

Well, it’s about lunch time here in couch land, so I’m going to wrap this up. Thanks for reading and continuing to support me. As I lay here with all of this extra time on my hands, feel free to ask any questions or suggest any blog topics about which you would like to read!

 

Keep it happy and healthy, folks! Until next time…

Protein Bar Recipe

After posting pictures of my homemade protein bars last night, I had quite a few recipe requests! So here it is :) I used homemade almond butter in mine!

 

Protein Bars

Ingredients

¼ c organic cane sugar

¼ c water

½ c Almond Butter (preferably homemade – no added sugar/oil/salt)

1c water

½ c vanilla protein powder

1tbs vanilla extract

1tsp dark chocolate cocoa powder

½ tsp cinnamon

1 ½ c quick oats

¼ c flax meal

¼ c raisins

Loaf Pan

Saran/Cling Wrap

Directions

In small sauce pan, whisk together cane sugar and ¼ c water over high heat. Bring to a boil; once all sugar is dissolved, turn off heat and set aside.

In medium sauce pan, whisk together almond butter and 1c water over medium heat. Once combined, add protein powder, vanilla, cocoa powder and cinnamon and whisk thoroughly. Add cane sugar syrup and again whisk until combined. Mixture should be gooey but pourable. If necessary, thin with additional water or thicken with additional protein (small amounts at a time!)

Combine oats, flax and raisins in large bowl. Pour almond butter sauce over oats and combine with spatula or spoon.

Line loaf pan with saran wrap and pour mixture into pan, pressing firmly into all sides. Cover with wrap, pressing directly onto mixture and refrigerate overnight.

Once set, flip pan over to remove mixture, peel off plastic wrap and slice – mine made 10 bars.

 

My Addiction 7/25/13

What makes a fat person fat? Why can't that person just stop eating bad things or large quantities of foods if they know it's bad for them? Well, they're obviously just lazy, right? Not necessarily. Far too many times have I heard this excuse/blame given to overweight people - that they are fat because they are lazy or they simply don't care about or respect themselves. Sure, some people don't give a shit and just like to eat food because it tastes good... and then there are people that DON'T want to eat the food, but have a huge struggle between what their brain knows and the power of what their brain wants, and don't always win the battle. I am one of those people. I am an addict.

Food addiction is a real thing, my friends. I have struggled with the beast my entire life - and will continue to do so for the rest of my existence. Science has proven that, in certain people, certain types of foods can cause the same brain reaction as a highly addictive drug like heroin or cocaine. As with the drugs, the foods trigger increased transmission of 'feel-good' chemicals such as dopamine in the brain, which gives the immediate urge to eat again. And again. And that urge is strong. I've spent my entire life over-eating and not understanding why. Not understanding why my brain would focus so hard on an item of food and not allow any thought to overcome the desire for that food until I ate it - and the feeling that happened in my brain once I ate whatever it was (and this is regardless of whether or not I was actually hungry). Not understanding why everyone else could just have "a bite" or "a taste" of a piece of cake, and my brain would almost hurt if I didn't finish the entire thing. I would cry myself to sleep at night because I hated who I was and what my body had become/was becoming, but I felt completely powerless over what was happening. Being a teenager sucked. As I grew older and I became more knowledgeable about this topic and started to understand more about myself and my addiction, I quickly realized how hard I was going to have to work for the rest of my life to overcome this obstacle.

Food addiction is a tricky thing in a few ways:
  - Food is the most widely available drug in the world. Unlike any other controlled substance, it is something that can be attained nearly anywhere, by anyone, in any quantity and is constantly pushed in your face by advertising. Especially in America, the land of plenty, it is often used as a marketing tool or incentive (complimentary meals/food items, etc), not to mention it is a means of celebration.
 - You have to have food to live. It's that simple. Unlike most of the other common addictions, to quit cold turkey is an option. To remove yourself from an enigmatic environment is an option. Not with food. This is the most tricky (and irritating) part of this addiction - for myself, at least.

My relationship with food is interesting, to say the least. I have learned that I must instill certain restrictions on myself in order to no longer allow the food to control me, but rather I control the food. Two years ago I transitioned into veganism. This choice wasn't made because I care about furry animals, it was made because I wanted to feel better. By going vegan, I kind of set a trap within my body. If I eat shit - I will feel like shit. If I give-in to the temptation of a cookie or unhealthy/conventional food, I will be punished for that poor decision almost immediately with a giant headache, nausea and sometimes even slight tightening in my throat. While this may sound extreme to some, it works for me.  True to my masochistic ways, I have chosen a career that challenges my addiction every. single. day. I have chosen to be a chef and surround myself by my drug. So often I'm asked the question, "how do you not eat everything you cook?!" Well, because I know I can't. Because I know I don't want the 'dairy hangover' that comes within 10 minutes, and follows through to the next morning.

Don't get me wrong - I don't have this thing all figured out. As with any addict, I have my good days and my bad days. Yesterday was a bad day. I was tired, I was upset, I was not in control of my mind. I ate a bunch of shit I shouldn't have eaten and then I woke up this morning feeling like I had been hit by a truck and couldn't remember WHY I did that to myself. I have accepted the fact that days like these may come, but I intend to be as prepared as possible.

Why did I write this? I didn't write this to provide an excuse for myself - or for anyone else, for that matter. I wrote this because I know there are people out there that have never even considered that this is an actual thing. That this addiction even exists. Because I have encountered so many times in my life when people very close to me have said "then just don't eat it." as if it were that simple. I have accepted and feel that I have a control over my addiction and have no problem speaking about it. I also wrote this because I know that there are people that struggle with the same issue, but are too embarrassed to speak.

Roughly two and a half years ago I began my Losing Path and through discipline and determination, have managed to lose around 110 pounds, despite this obstacle. Has it been easy? Hell no. Am I happy I'm doing it? Absolutely. I hope to some day spend my life helping other people do the same

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

 

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. :)

 

Whirlwind Workout

Hello world!  Happy Thursday!  It's almost Friday, which means it's almost Saturday!  I love the weekends, especially when I have NOTHING planned!  (that rarely ever happens)
I woke up bright and early at 4:30am and made it to the gym by 5:06am.  Getting there took some talking into..  I was up a few times with Nora last night and I was just drained when I woke up.  I kept trying to make excuses for not going from the moment I woke up.. I went to the bathroom and I said "if Branden didn't get the laundry last night, I'm not going".. but Branden did get the laundry and it was folded neatly on my couch.  Then I said "if I can't find his car keys, I'm not going".. but they were sitting in plain sight.  So then I said to myself "get your ass to the gym."  So I got my ass to the gym.  I figured any workout is better than none!  Unfortunately, my lack of energy effected my 'Cardio Killa' motivation, so I did more weight training today.  I'm not necessarily saying that it's a bad thing, considering I've really neglected it so far this week.  I was a little all over the place but my workout went as follows:

TIME	EXERCISE	REPS	LBS	SETS
2 MIN	TREADMILL	WALK
3MIN	TREADMILL	JOG
	DUMBBELL HIGH PULLS	15	10	3
	TRICEP EXTENSIONS	7.5	15	3
	TRICEP DIPS	10	BODY	3
	ONE LEG BICYCLES	15 EA SIDE	N/A	3
	6 INCH KILLERS	10	N/A	2
	TWISTING BICEP CURLS	15	10	2
	CROSS BODY BICEP CURLS	15	10	2
10MIN	ELLIPTICAL	MEDIUM
2MIN	TREADMILL	WALK
3MIN	TREADMILL	JOG

I'm super proud of myself for doing 2 sets of the treadmill this morning!  Even if it's only 3min sets of jogging, I'm doing it!  I decided I'm going to jog for 3min per day for the next week or so and then steadily increase it by 1 minute every week or every other week, depending on how my endurance builds. 

Dinner last night was NOT the most healthy.  We have a freezer full of meat at my house and Branden said that he wanted me to cook through what we had, rather than buying new/different proteins every week - which is what I was doing.  His mother gave us 2 bags of chicken leg quarters (3 in each bag) so I made one of the bags last night.  I baked it with a little S&P and Granulated Garlic for 1 hour, then put a touch of BBQ sauce on top of each and baked for an additional 15 minutes.  I also served roasted eggplant (recipe below) and brown rice w/ garlic and lemon juice. I really do not advocate bone-in, skin-on chicken as the fat content is MUCH higher than boneless/skinless.. but I was just following orders :)  Of course, we both pulled off the skin and cut around the fat on our chicken.
Roasted Eggplant Recipe: (serves 2-3)
1 Eggplant, peeled and sliced into 1/2" rounds
Fat Free Feta Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
Non-Stick Spray
Minced Garlic

Pre-heat oven to 375
-Line cookie sheet with foil and spray generously with non-stick spray
-Spray each side of eggplant slices with non-stick spray and season with S&P
-Roast for 15 minutes
-Remove from oven, flip eggplant to opposite side and sprinkle garlic and feta
-Roast for additional 15 minutes

It was pretty yummy!  Anything with Feta cheese gets my approval :)  The original recipe did not include the garlic but I know adding it will make it much better, as I found it a bit bland.

Food Today:
Breakfast
Choc Protein shake w/ Skim Milk
1egg white with a little skim mozzarella cheese

Snack:
Tuna w/ 1tbs Miracle Whip, 1tsp Mustard and diced Pickles

Lunch:
Chick Pea salad over baby spinach (LAST day of this!  I finally ran out lol)

Snack:
Cytomax
12 raw organic almonds

Dinner:
Taco Salad

I'm cooking a big healthy taco salad at mom's tonight!  I'm excited :)  More details about it tomorrow!

Well I think that's all I have for now!  30 days until my birthday! Whoop whoop!

Adios!