November 29, 2010

When people get busy and stressed out, clean eating often goes out the door.  I am almost always busy and/or stressed, so I thought I'd share one of my secrets for eating clean on the run!  Eating clean takes lots of prep and planning, right?  Well, usually yes, but if you're in a bind and you haven't packed your whole day of healthy meals and snacks, it can be as quick and easy as popping into Starbucks and getting a bunch of good stuff!  People generally don't think Starbucks could possibly be the answer - they're thinking about all the creamy fatty drinks, muffins, and my weakness- butter tarts (they are awesome there!)... but if you look past that, you'll find pretty good choices for meals at Starbucks!  Almost every Saturday (my very busiest day) I rely on them for my meals... let me break it down for y'all...

8am - Reduced-Fat Turkey Bacon with Egg Whites on English Muffin & Green Tea

Calories 320, Fat 7g, Carbs 43g, Protein 18g


11am - Strawberry & Blueberry Yogurt Parfait
Calories 300, Fat 3.5g, Carbs 60g, Protein 7g

2pm - Egg White, Spinach & Feta Wrap
Calories 280, Fat 10g, Carbs 33g, Protein 18g

5pm - Chicken on Flatbread with Hummus Artisan Snack Plate
Calories 250, Fat 9g, Carbs 27g, Protein 17g

TOTAL 1110 calories, Fat 29.5g, Carbs 159g, Protein 55g

I would normally try to have a good dinner of mostly veggies and protein at home around 8pm after a day like this so I could boost my protein up and keep the fat and carbs lower.  There are many other healthy options at Starbucks - these are just my faves!  Check out http://www.starbucks.com and click on menu at the top for more nutritional info on their stuff!  So, no excuses!  Don't choose the donut and creamy coffee concoction - go for the egg white/spinach. feta wrap with a refresh tea instead!  NO EXCUSES!

 

 

 

 

Nov. 24, 2010

Hello!

I haven't posted for a while here!  I've been really busy trying to find a house, working hard, and spending time with my son.  I am re-committing to consistently eating clean (no slacking on the weekends) and hardcore workouts!  I have a cold right now so I am taking some rest time today, but still eating totally clean to try to replenish my body with the best fuel!  Tomorrow I hope to be back 100% to the gym!  I have decided I will be competing in April at UFE, so I will be focusing on that NOW!  Talk soon!

Sept. 25, 2010

OK, so I have been pretty easygoing with the workouts this week... only one early morning all week, so today (Saturday) I decided I'll be back onto the crazy early morning workouts again!  Got up early and did a good 45 minutes of hard cardio this morning while I did my laundry and read the new FLEX magazine.  Now I'm on the computer checkinh out all the Olympia coverage on bodybuilding.com - awesome, they have tons of videos of the whole event.  Last night was the big ladies night - fitness, figure, bikini and female bodybuilding so it's all the totally inspiring stuff cause I definitely want to be competing there next September!!!  What a way to start my day - so many awesome bodies - WOW!  Got my eye on the prize and nothing is gonna stop me! I've also got some short term goals like trying to look in decent shape for the a few big dance shows I have coming up (one I heard I'll have to be wearing a samba costume in - oy!)  Here we go!!!!!

September 23, 2010

Well, it's been a while since I posted here!  My whole summer has been very busy, I've kept up with my wicked-fun workouts,but have been very off-and-on with the clean eating.  I was trying to learn to be a more regular person, not a competitor always training for a competition.  It was hard!!!  Although I have now decided on some fitness competition goals for 2011, I have made a commitment to myself to do it in a more long-term, healthy way this time.  My first competition will be UFE's Spring Bash on April 9, so I have about 6 months till then to lose about 20 pounds which I think is a good goal for me!  I really want to stick around my competition look (within 5 - 7 pounds) year-round.  I am giving up competing in the figure category all together and will only be competing in Fitness Model and Bikini categories so it's not such a big ripped look and will be more maintainable for me!  Most of all I really want to look fit year-round for my life in general!  Really dissapointed that I'm not at Olympia this weekend and I have made a commitment to be competing there next year!!! I promise to post more regularly here to keep you all posted on how it's going for me!

Thurs. August 26, 2010

Hey!!!!!

It's been a while since I posted here!  A lot has happened and I wanna update you all first... SOOOOO, I have decided to take some time off from competing in fitness and figure competitions.  I was prepping for one in June and it just was not feeling right.  I think I've screwed up my metabolism and mind a bit from doing too many in too short a time as well as not maintaining my weight throughout... I tend to lose quick for a competition, then gain it all back right after.  This is definitely not a healthy practise I know, so I have decided to take at least 6 months off from competing and work towards a more healthy and balanced lifestyle.  So far it has been ok, but I feel I let myself off the hook a whole lot when I don't have a scary deadline like a competition looming, so I have put on a bit of chub.  I am now working at losing that chub slowly and consistently by exercising (though not 3 times a day anymore) and eating right (my biggest challenge)!  I have come to the realization that I really just need to take my own advice that I give clients/students who want to make lasting changes to their body and life!  Summer has been awesome and I've been filling my life with other things to fill the void that competing left... playing with my son more, planning my dance and fitness classes, performing with my dance troupes, writing articles, working on a new site for my studio, and more!  I plan to keep you all posted on how my journey goes.  Someone said something wise to me when I said I'm trying to be LESS goal oriented in terms of competing (like not having a date for an upcoming competition so I don't have a bad type of pressure), and he said you just need to have a longer-term goal - like competing in a year and start working slowly towards it now (not a month before the competition how I tend to!)  I will keep this in mind as I set goals for myself and really stop procrastinating! You too?

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

So, my eating has been clean and my workouts have been hardcore for the past two weeks which I'm proud of... BUT... I'm experiencing something very new and irritating - very very slow results :<  Usually as soon as I start eating right and cut the junk I see huge fat loss results right away, but this time I'm just not getting the rewards I want for all this hard work.  I only have three weeks until my competition and I'm so far from my goal for it.  Maybe this is the universe giving me a few hard lessons 1) don't procrastinate! 2) don't let yourself get so far out of competition shape ever - eat clean year round! 3) be more understanding that lots can be going on with people's bodies and not everyone loses weight the same way even if they're doing everything right, and 4) it's not always playing the blame game when you try to figure out other factors (other than diet) that could effect fat loss. 

So, I'm trying to stay positive through this difficult time and realize I'm learning and growing through this process!  I have tightened up my diet even more this week by cutting carbs further and adding a bit more cardio.  I'm trying to think that if I don't make my ultimat goal for Aug. 7, I want to know that I did EVERYTHING possible to try to get there - no regrets (other than starting too late I guess)!  A little worried that I'm overtraining and undereating and that could be the cause of slow results - hmmm.... what can I do at this point though? I'm not gonna sit around doing nothing and eating more!  I am trying to take naps so I get some rest that way!  I'll keep you posted!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

OK, this week's vlog is up:

and if you've watched that already, this might bore you a bit...

sooooooo, last week was a bit of a write-off (other than a learning experience for me I guess). Yes, my eating was all over the place... some days would be full of junk, others were totally clean - it really was a mess! Then around Thursday I started feeling a bit unwell... my tummy hurt (and instead of taking a cue from this and eating well, I convinced myself I NEEDED carby carbs to settle my stomach) and I was feeling really exhausted especially in the morning when I usually hop outta bed for a good workout. I think it turns into a vicious cycle when you get off your regular healthy routine and start feeling yucky and then wind up not feeling like doing healthy things. I also was very busy over the log weekend with dance performances at festivals, classes, rehearsals, reno work at the studio, plus a bit of hanging out with friends and family. I managed to dehydrate myself pretty bad due to long hours of work over the weekend... I was going 8 or 9 hours without food and little water (which is VERY unlike me!) and I knew something was very wrong when on Sunday afternoon I started feeling dizzy and shaky! I started cramming all sorts of fruits and glasses of water down my mouth and was feeling better, still a little nauseous, but much better after that!

So my weight has not changed - I'm at 157 pounds still, but I have made a promise to myself that I WILL get to 155 by this Saturday no matter what!!! I got up early today and did a killer lower body workout wit da boyz in the gym and followed it up with 30 minutes of cardio. Will run to the studio tonight to teach my classes.

Feeling so much better today!!!