FITNESS

I like when things just work themselves out .. probably a pretty obvious like :p Today’s workouts just fell together..

30 min. SS Cardio: 15 min. 10% Treadmill quick walk, 15 min. medium-resistance Elliptical

Shoulders & Back: Upright BB Rows, DB Front to Side Raises, pulley High Rows, pulley Front Raises, Lat Pull-Downs, Single-Arm DB Shoulder Press, cable-cross Front Rows, Rear Delts

30 more min. SS Cardio: 15 min. 10% Treadmill quick walk, 15 min. medium-resistance Elliptical

Done by 11am And while driving home I realized, Awesome!.. that means I can make Yoga tonight

I hadn’t been to Yoga in almost 2 weeks and have been missing it like crazy! As ever, it lived up to expectations, and the 80 min. Flow class flew by. I always leave with a smile on my face

NUTRITION

Banishing the Bloat

So a seriously un-sexy side of eating healthy..

Maybe it’s the alignment of the stars at the moment but in the last week a handful of people have asked me for advice with regards to preventing bloating & gas when making diet adjustments. Whether you’re already a pretty healthy eater and you try a new food, are increasing protein or veggies, or reducing carbs, or you’re just getting into clean eating and making major nutrition changes, your body is going to go through an adjustment period. There are foods that are particularly troublesome, such as beans, broccoli, spinach, cabbage, corn, onions, peppers, and even whole grains. I always notice a difference when I first start carb-cycling to get ready for a competition, and last week, when I added more carbs back in, I felt like a walking bloated bubble! haha.. told ya it wasn’t sexy :p ..

So what to do?..

One strategy some people use is to avoid eating particular food groups at the same time. To be honest, this isn’t my thing, and this is why..

1. Never eat carbohydrate foods and acid foods at the same meal.
2. Never eat a concentrated protein and a concentrated carbohydrate at the same meal.
3. Never consume two concentrated proteins at the same meal.
4. Do not consume fats with proteins.
5. Use fats sparingly.
6. Do not eat acid fruits with proteins.
7. Do not combine sweet fruits with foods that require a long digestive time-foods such as proteins, starches and acid fruits.
8. Eat but one concentrated starch at a meal.
9. Do not combine fruit with any vegetables except lettuce and celery.
10. Do not drink Milk or eat Milk products with anything else.

ahh, what?! So.. ahh wait, what? .. what do you want me to do? Besides just eliminating the majority of my favorite meal & flavor combinations, I just don’t have the time to figure all that out on top of doing on the meal planning I already do.. but more importantly you just told me I can’t have a sandwich, or Oatmeal with Greek Yogurt.. yeah.. definitely against this one.

So then what.. first, if you just changed up your diet, it will take a little patience, your body needs time to adjust to the new foods. But even with that, there will always be some, usually those heavy in fiber, which is super healthy and you don’t want to miss out on, that will cause a problem. I recommend trying a natural digestive enzyme supplement. Beano is of course the most common brand, but check out your local health food store or Whole Foods for a lot of other options. For example, Papaya is said to aid in digestion and can be found in tablet form..

Or you can try an enzyme blend, such as this one by Udo’s Choice..

And of course, drink water, topped with water, sprinkled with water!

Daily Eats

As soon as my eyes opened I was ready for breakfast, and went with the standard PB Protein Ice Cream Sundae (minus the puffed Millet)..

Post-workout was another breakfast-food beauty.. Protein Pancake .. so nice and fluffy with the new/back to original blend..

..topped with Almond Butter and WF 0-cal Maple Syrup..

I spent the early afternoon cooking and portioning out food for this weekend. I put everything for 2 days into pre-measured/weighed baggies. So lunch was what was left..

A Diet Spinach Bar, 2 oz Chicken Breast & 1.5 oz Tilapia..

In the afternoon I snacked on a Fit-uccino. This was just 3/4 c H20 + 1/4 c Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze + 1 tbsp WF Chocolate Syrup + 1 tbsp Sugar-Free White Chocolate Syrup + 1 packet Starbucks Via + 1/4 tsp Xantham Gum + 1/2 tsp Guar Gum + Ice.

Dinner was a simple Frittata made with just 3/4 c Egg Whites, 2 oz Baby Spinach and 2 tbsp Pico de Gallo..

Since I’m still looking forward to it every night.. same old dessert, Protein Ice Cream & Cookie.. yet to decide tonight’s version

FUN

I’m just excited for Vegas tomorrow! I’m not sure what sort of internet access I’ll have, but if it’s there, you know I’ll post show updates! GOOD LUCK to all the competitors!!

Whatcha up to this weekend?

FITNESS

I started the day of working Shoulders & Back with my trainer. Nothing crazy to report there. But this weekend he’s having a Glute Camp workout for people interested in competing.. should be a great workout! From there I headed to checkout a new potential gym, and holy crap… this thing was ridiculous! It totally reminded me of Ben Stiller’s gym in Dodge Ball. They had everything including an impressive cafe, hair salon, spa, huge rock climbing area, multiple pools, etc. Frankly, I probably would never use most of those crazy services, but am instead won over by good classes. So I’m doing a 14-day trial to try out as many classes as possible. Updates to follow!

Yoga Flow class tonight was amazing. I don’t really know how else to describe it. I also did a new combination I’d never done before, so I was super excited. I left the class after 90 min. completely soaked. Beautiful

NUTRITION

Pre-worked I just had a quick Mocha Protein Shake (1 scoop Rocky Road Protein Powder + 1/2 c UVAB + 1/2 c Iced Coffee + Ice).

But after workout I whipped up a new item for me.. a Frittata! I actually think I’ve never managed to make one of these before, but they’ll be making many more appearances. I mixed up 3/4 c Egg Whites + 1 oz Baby Spinach + diced Tomatoes + 1 tbsp Nutritional Yeast and cooked that stove top, only flipping at the very ended to finish it off. I topped that with ~1.5 tbsp Hummus and 3 oz Lox.. so good!

Check out those veggies..

Afternoon snack was a Cherry Protein Green Monster (1 scoop Vanilla Sport Vega + 1/2 c TJ’s frozen Cherry Mix + 3/4 c UVAB + Ice)..

Dinner was quick & easy. So easy, that I didn’t even bother to take it out of the mixing dish. Simply Baby Spinach + 4 oz Chicken Breast + 1/2 Avocado + a couple Grape Tomatoes..

I Scream, You Scream

I recently inherited my parent’s old Ice Cream Maker.. oh the possibilities! Tonight I gave it my first shot, and of course made Protein Ice Cream. This was pretty good, but I know I can make it even better. I mixed together 2 c UVAB + 2 scoops Vanilla Protein Powder + 3 tbsp SF White Chocolate Syrup. It went into the Ice Cream Maker for ~20 min., and near the end I mixed in 2 tbsp Reduced Fat Unsweetened Shredded Coconut.

Topped with a little Calorie-Free Chocolate Syrup..

Have you tried any new recipes lately? Do tell!

Today I chose to stick with safe foods (edit: or so I though) but still tried to keep them interesting! After a couple days of no sugar/simple carbs or dairy, but mid-morning today I felt sooo much better.

WORKOUT

Today was just a cardio day. I started with a 5 min warm-up walk (4.0), then did a quick 10 min. HIIT alternating 1 min at 6.0 with 30 s at 9.0. Got my heart rate going, then I headed down to spin. Class was pretty good, not the best but not bad either. But I found a new Spin & Yoga dedicated studio and I am SO excited to try it out. I have it on my calendar for Friday morning, I really hope it’s great!

THE FOODS

Safe & Orange

For breakfast this morning I visited an old friend, the mighty Pumpkin Protein Pancake. It was a good one too, nice & fluffy, topped with Walden Farms Maple Syrup and Pumpkin Spice.

she's a beauty (why 'she'.. no idea)

But today my pancake had new company… I picked this up at the Borders’ Cafe over a month ago and was just reminded of it the other day. Grade: A~ So good! I added a tbsp of Peppermint Mocha Creamer and the two were meant to be..

don't they make a beautiful couple?

safe & delicious

Not So Colorful, but Still Tastey

Even though it’s something new, I was pretty sure it would be safe.. enter Quinoa Flakes! I cooked up 1/3 cup flakes in 1/2 c UVAB + 1/2 c H20, then mixed in a scoop of Chocolate Protein Powder along with 1 tbsp Better n’ Peanut Butter and brought it with me for a morning snack. It was definitely different but I like it. The flakes are so much softer than oats, but I can see it being worked into the breakfast/snack rotation. I forgot to take a pic earlier and I ended up eating it during class, at which point I thought a camera flash might be a bit distracting :p

Coloring it Up

I threw a couple fun items into an comp-diet staple. Here we have:

2/3 c Egg Whites

1.75 oz Tilapia

~1 c Baby Spinach

~2 tbsp Pico de Gallo

pre-nuking

rainbow eggs

More Orange

After my stomach felt better I was completely craving Sweet Potato. So dinner ended up being 1/2 a medium Sweet Potato mixed with refrigerator odds & ends in the form of: 3 oz Chicken Breast, 1/2 Avocado, 1/4 c Black Beans (think that was a bad choice ), 2 tbsp Rice Shreds, and Pico de Gallo. It ended up being bigger than I planned, but I guess I was making up for having my appetite back because I wolfed it down! Bad idea though, something was in there I shouldn’t have eaten, was it the tomatoes, avocados, beans? gahh, I have no idea! I do however have a new found empathy for people with real, permanent, food allergies :/ .. I’m learning and will try again tomorrow

.. It looks oddly similar to lunch .. This makes me realize how much I’d like a new serving set!

Southwest Sweet Potato Mix

Holiday Festivities

Two fun Holiday events to look forward to over the next couple days. First, tomorrow we’re (roommate & I) hosting a Holiday Movie & Cookie Night. Plans are to make cookies/desserts, watch ‘Love Actually’ and enjoy a spiked beverage. I carefully picked out recipes to use the leftover, unopened baking supplies still floating around my cupboards. On the menu is:

Iced Cinnamon Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Pie

Brownie Mint Pie

The great thing is, these will be out the door by Friday afternoon to go to the next fun event..

On Friday, it’s my Grad program’s annual Holiday Party. It was a lot of fun last year, and I’m sure I’ll have fun again this year, though I know the experience will be much different being that I’m not really able to drink these day. But with my crazy schedule over the last few months I was a complete hermit, so it’ll be really nice to get to hang out with everyone outside of school.

On another note, I totally spaced on “attending” a webinar tonight because I was watching Top Chef. Are you a fan do? Do you agree with who won?

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Most important comes first! .. Weigh-In

As you know I had a rough week and I was super stressed about weigh-in and measurements on Friday. But apparently I shouldn’t have worried, because I went down in weight, bf % and measurements! I’m now at about 8.6% I was soo excited and relieved!

Party

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Because before Friday’s check-in was the Party! Ok I have a confession..  yes.. I was slutty.. I feel slightly bad about taking the stereotypical-girl route, but I have 3 excuses: 1) I didn’t have time to go costume shopping for something new, 2) I’m not particularly creative with that sort of thing, and perhaps most importantly.. 3) I figure I’m only going to be below 10% body fat so many times in my life AND my fitness suit and costume are far more revealing than this costume. Here are just a couple pics, there are many more, but I would probably need a lot of people’s consent to post them, so I’d rather just not, but you get the idea!

A few of the ladies

Yeah this happened

I didn’t take a pic of ‘the morning after but it was pretty much candy wrappers and orange cups as far as you could see. It was sorta like this times 100. I figure it’s a sign of a good party.

Friday Comes

Friday morning I was up and out the door by 9:30am to head to the gym for cardio:

Stead State:

Treadmill: 5 min WU at 4.0, 20 min. jog at 6.5

Elliptical: 20 min. resistance hills

Bike: 5 min at 8 resistance

As you can tell I have MAJOR Cardio ADD. I get bored so easily with steady state, so when the gym’s not too busy I take advantage of being able to jump around while still keeping my heart rate up (never workout without my Polar HR Monitor). Then it was off for a leg workout with my trainer. I was completely drained! I definitely feel myself getting a little weaker and there are some days where my body doesn’t seem to want to cooperate. But I pushed through and it felt great!

Game Day!

Today I tailgated then went to the ASU vs. Cal game. I of course brought snacks with me: Scrambled Egg Whites & Smoked Salmon, and Mocha Oats. Again I spaced on taking photos, but you’ve seen it before. I ended up leaving the game early primarily due to my stomach pleading with me for food, so eventually I gave in, rushed home and enjoyed Sweet Potato mixed with 1/2 a scoop of Cake Batter Protein Powder. Yum!

Then when catching up on my Reader cache I saw Pumpkin Pie in a Bowl at Whit’s Getting Fit and was inspired to make a protein version. It turned out fantastic!

Protein Pumpkin Pie in a Bowl

1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree

1 scoop Protein Poweder (I used All the Whey’s Cake Batter)

1 Egg White

Pumpkin Spice to taste

Dash of Stevia Extract

* Mix everything up and pop it in the microwave for 2 minutes.

I top mine with a little Walden Farm’s Maple Syrup and more Pumpkin Spice

Perfect Halloween Night Snack

As you can tell. It is certainly a carb day!

Plans for Halloween night? — chillin, watching football and handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. I haven’t lived someplace with kids to t-o-t since I lived at home with my parents, so I’m looking forward to it. Though I must admit, it sorta makes me feel old :p

Going to the Cardinals game tomorrow! I worked the games last year so I excited to get to go for fun this time! Hope everyone is having a wonderful Halloween!

Celestial Seasonings - Roastaromma

Tea that tastes like coffee?!?  I added just a couple tablespoons of Unsweetened Almond Breeze and a couple tablespoons of Sugar-Free Pumpkin Spice Syrup with a few dashes of Pumpkin Spice = Amazingness

I also picked up a couple variety packs I’m looking forward to testing out

So onto my Sunday, which like Saturday, was completely taken up studying for finals. However, my day started out fantastic with a Protein Pumpkin Pancake. I think it’s official, I’ve perfected it! Adding the pumpkin puree really helps keep them moist, and the tablespoon of flavoring syrup give it that little something extra!

Alyson’s Protein Pancake

1- 1.5 scoops Protein Powder (depending on the type of powder and your protein needs)

1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar

2 tbsp Pumpkin Puree

3 tbsp Egg Whites

H20, if needed to thin batter (amount varies based on the type of protein powder you use)

1 tbsp Sugar-Free Flavor Syrup (this is optional but adds  nice extra flavor)

Spices (Cinnamon, Pumpkin Spice, Vanilla/Coconut/Almond Extract) to taste.

Blend everything with a hand mixer. Cook over medium heat in a large skillet. Top with Sugar-Free Maple Syrup and a few dashes of your favorite spice.

Variations:

- Pumpkin: Use more Pumpkin and less EW, Pumpkin Spice SF-Syrup and lots of Pumpkin Spice

- Chocolate: Use Chocolate PP and a tbsp of iced Coffee (instead of the flavoring syrup)

- Cake Batter: Use Cake Batter flavored PP, extra dash of Stevia, Cinnamon and a tsp or so of Coconut Extract

lovely :p

After stopping by the Tempe 1/2 Ironman to cheer on a good friend’s boyfriend, I headed to the gym, and ended up having a great workout!

Cardio: 5 min. 4.0 warm-up walk

30min Inclined HIIT: 10% incline, 4.0 for 2 min, 8.0 for 30 sec.. repeat

10 min. jog at 6.0

Weights: Triceps & Biceps

But then it was back home, and this was my view for most of the rest of the day:

I took a couple breaks for lunch, to run to Whole Foods for fresh fish (wild coho salmon and tilapia) and discovery of my new love, and dinner. Lunch might not be pretty, but it was fantastic: Eggs Whites, Tilapia and Smoked Salmon (homemade by my Dad!):

Dinner was even more fish, guess I was in the mood today. Grilled up the wild Coho with a Spinach Bar:

Ok, back to the books for me! Have a wonderful Monday everyone!

Also:

Check out Julie’s Nature’s Path Giveaway: If I was lost on a dessert island I’d have their fantastic Pumpkin Granola with me!