FITNESS

So today was check-in. Like I mentioned yesterday, I was a little nervous because I really didn’t feel like, and it didn’t look like, I made much progress this week. With the increased Carbs, I noticed that I looked “fuller” and was just feel bloated all well. Well as it turns out, it was a little more of the same.. my body fat % went down (yay), weight didn’t budge (boo). I’m thankful for the positive changes, but gah, it’s frustrating. It’s great for me to be holding onto muscle, but I have to get rid of some of the weight in order for judges to see that muscle when I’m on stage. So more nutrition adjustments are being made..

Weights: Arms & Shoulders & Abs .. Chin-Ups, Tricep Push-Ups, Bench Dips, Bench Plank Toe Touches, Inclined DB Curls, Pulley Curls, Tricep Pressdowns, Lat Raises, Reverse Delts, Front Raises, Incline Crushes

Cardio: 60 min. Spin

NUTRITION

The latest shipment of MGN Cake Batter is back to it’s normal formula.. yay! And it reacted much differently in the waffle maker .. :p

But still tasted great

Protein Waffle topped with 1 single serving packet of Justin’s Natural Almond Butter, and WF 0-cal Maple Syrup..

A Diet Spinach Bar with a Turkey Burger and Fake Queso (1 tbsp WF Onion Dip + 2 tbsp Salsa)..

For an afternoon snack, I went with the usual Slimmed Down PB Protein Ice Cream..

For dinner I ended up going to one of my favorite restaurants, Green, for dinner with a friend. Their vegan pizza are unbelieveable.. and I drooled over the BBQ version my friend got. I stuck with a plain salad with mock chicken. It tasted good and all, but half of it was these crispy chip things, which I wasn’t able to eat, so it wasn’t too filling.. I had ~3 oz of Chicken Breast approximately 45 seconds after walking in my front door :p

Desert was Nutella Protein Almond Milk Ice Cream (used 1 tbsp Unsweetend Special Dark Cocoa and 2 tbsp Sugar-Free Hazelnut Syrup) and a Protein cookie of course..

FUN

Big weekend coming up! I’m heading to Vegas Friday morning to watch NPC USA’s and go to the Muscle & Fitness HERS Camp.

I’m bringing all my food with me, but since I’m staying in a condo with a few friends who are competing, I’ll have a full kitchen too, which rocks! When I was in Vegas for Fitness America last November I had to just keep refilling my cooler with Ice.. not the best system, haha.

I’m really excited for the camp too! I think there will be a lot of girls, and I’m just looking forward to meeting people and getting to learn from such amazing competitors, judges & indjustry experts.

Pheww.. I still have a project to finish up tonight.. so off I go..

Have a wonderful Thursday!

FITNESS

First & foremost.. If you’re in Arizona come to the NPC Desert Muscle Classic tomorrow and visit me at the Scott’s Training Systems booth. I’ll also be tweeting about it throughout the day @ScottsTraining!

As for today’s workouts.. I worked shoulders with my trainer in the morning, then did a Flow Yoga class this evening. I’m a little disappointed I missed spin, but tending to the brakes on my car took priority.. after all I won’t be able to do any cardio if I crash when my brakes fail :p Yoga tonight was just what I needed after a week off. I went to the studio that’s actually in the spa of a luxury hotel. The room where we do Yoga overlooks Camelback Mt and the class is right around sunset. It was the perfect way to start the weekend!

NUTRITION

After lifting I knew exactly what I wanted.. a beautiful bowl of  stove top Pumpkin Oats. In the mix: 1/4 c Organic Oats, 2 tbsp Oat Bran, 1/4 c Pumpkin Butter, lotsa Pumpkin Spice, 1/2 tbsp Chia Seeds, topped with 1 tbsp Hazelnut Butter.

And wow, Hazelnut Butter is amazing! It has a slightly sweeter flavor than Almond Butter and actually has less saturated fat than Peanut, Almond or Cashew Butter!

While waiting for my car to get fixed I set up shop at Starbucks. It was freezing in there so I had not 1 but 2 drinks: a tall Sugar-Free Cinnamon Dolce Soy Latte and a grande Vanilla Roobios tea.

I also brought a few slices of Acorn Squash with 1/4 c Cottage Cheese & 2 tbsp Pumpkin Hummus to snack on..

2nd Serving

Lunch was Vanilla Chai Vega Overnight Oats (1/2 scoop Vanilla Chai Vega, 1/4 c organic Oats, 1/2 c Greek Yogurt, 1/3 c UVAB), topped with fresh Strawberries. This totally hit the spot!

I also enjoyed a 1/2 Caf-1/2 Teeccino latte in my new Valentine’s themed mug. I brewed equal parts Vanilla Nut Teeccino with Vanilla Brulee coffee, then mixed in 2 tbsp UVAB & 2 tbsp Sugar-Free Vanilla Syrup. So good and a wonderful healthy alternative to higher calorie & sugar Lattes.

Salad Addition

Today’s dinner salad was fantastic! I picked up these at Whole Foods yesterday and threw them in to a Spinach salad. They come in a few different flavors, and I look forward to trying them all. The grill flavor is quite strong, but very tasty.

The rest of the mix: Baby Spinach, Savory Tofu and Avocado.. yum!

I Almost Forgot

Desert! I’ve been eyeing this for years.. literally. It’s one of those items I see at the store, pick up, then don’t end up buying. Well I finally gave in.. And wow, soo good! I really like Rice Ice Cream. It does have a different, almost drier, texture than regular ice cream, but I guess sometimes that’s just the texture/flavor that I want ..

Protein Bar Success

In an effort to increase my protein intake I thought I’d again try my hand at homemade protein bars. Last summer I experimented a bit but did not have much success. This time around, I adapted a recipe from Lean Bodies Health & Fitness..

Hazelnut Cupcake Protein Bars

4 scoops Cupcake Batter Protein Powder

1/4 c Hazelnut Butter

2/3 c ground Flax Seed

1/2 c H20

Stevia

Place in the freezer until hard. Cut and wrap individual portions (4 large or 8 small bars).

Nutrition Facts for 8 serving portion..

Love the flavor of these! Though maybe they’re not particularly pretty :p ..

FUN

I had a great phone call with OpenSky today. Exciting stuff coming soon!

What’s your favorite Protein/Energy/Snack bar recipe? Or product?

FITNESS

I started today with a great leg workout with my trainer, followed by a meeting to discuss future STS events & promotions with regards to the social media work I’m doing for them. It’s so wonderful to be working with a company (and people) that I so strongly believe in. Everyone at STS has been amazing to me, so I love being able to help them grow! I also had to talk with my trainer about a decision I was struggling with..

Plans Change

After a lot of thought I decided to skip Jr. Nationals in Chicago in June and instead aim for the NPC Jr. USA Championships in August in Texas. It was a tough decision but it was based on a number of factors:

1. Training for the Nov 09 shows, everything else in my life got put on the back burner, including work & school. I’m graduating in May and my job search efforts absolutely cannot be given anything but full effort & attention.
2. Related to the job search, there’s a chance I’ll need to be interviewing and/or moving right around cut time. I don’t want to give anything but my best effort towards preparing for a show and traveling/moving would seriously throw a wrench into the works.
3. $$$ Fitness competitions are crazy expensive! It would be completely irresponsible of me to try to do the June show if I didn’t have a job. And even if I did, I wouldn’t have much money saved by then anyway.

So although I’m a bit disappointed, I know this change of plans is for the best. Now I can both focus on taking care of the other aspects of my life and know I will be able to give my all to being the most prepared I can possibly be when I compete on the national level.

I actually ended up skipping my usual Wednesday Spin class because I could already feel my legs getting sore. Sooo, I went to yoga instead I hadn’t specifically planned on it, but after the first class I decided to stick around for the next, so I ended up doing 2.5 hrs! It’s amazing how fast the time flies. Needless to say, I’m anticipating full body soreness tomorrow :p .. which should be interesting considering I’m planning on going hiking, haha.. oh I never plan these things well.

NUTRITION

Today was one of those bottomless pit days.

Breakfast was lovely Pumpkin Overnight Oats topped with a tbsp of Coconut Butter..

Post-lift session I attempted to refuel with this gigantic Kabocha Protein Pancake! This is deserving of a laid out recipe..

Kabocha Protein Pancake

1.5 scoops Cake Batter Protein Powder

100 g Kabocha

1/4 c Egg Whites

1/8 tsp Cream of Tartar

1/4 c H20

Topping Options: WF Maple Syrup, Walnut Pieces, Coconut, Coconut Butter, Nut Butter

If the Kabocha is cold (I used slices) reheat in the microwave for ~1 minute, then purree in a food processor or blender. Mix all ingredients together on medium speed (definitely helps to use a hand mixer). Cook stovetop like a regular pancake. Enjoy the fluffy sweet awesomeness!

Pre-yoga I snack on 1/3 c Cottage Cheese topped with 1/3 cup Homemade Museli.. It’s not pretty, but it’s a tasty snack with a wonderful nutrition profile.

After Yoga, I almost always crave veggies, and tonight was no different. So into the Salad bowl went: Baby Spinach, Savory Tofu (TJ’s, which I am loving), Dried Tomatoes, Kabocha Squash..

Continuing on my granola experimentation, tonigh I baked up Apple Spice Granola, roughly based on this recipe by Steph Chows.

Apple Spice Granola

1 c Oats

1 c Kashi Go Lean

1/4 c Unsweetend Shredded Coconut

1/4 c Walnut Pieces

1/4 c Apple Sauce

1 tsp Cinnamon

2 tbsp Walden Farms 0-Cal Maple Syrup

Mix first 4 ingredients together. In a separate bowl combine Apple Sauce, Cinnamon & Maple Syrup. Then mix the 2 bowls together. Spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 325 F for 20 minutes.

Oh, I also threw in a few leftover Maple Apple pieces

For dessert I made Vega Chocolate Protein Pudding and topped it with fresh out of the oven granola.. yum!

Fun Links

Check out Eat Right NYC’s post for a fantastic giveaway.. Spiritual Gangster tees! This company was actually started by the same people who own the yoga studio I go to. Both companies are fantastic, and the clothes are super cute

As of tomorrow we’re 1/2 way through January. How are your goals &/or resolutions coming?