I'm still alive.

Hey everyone, I've been a little quiet on social media lately. I've been busy at work and with the kids and going through some personal stuff. I've been missing the gym and my diet hasn't been great and I've gained some weight because of it. It's been tough to get my motivation back, but I'm taking steps toward getting back on track. Most importantly I'm trying not to beat myself up about my set back. No one is perfect. I'm disappointed in where I am physically, but I have conquered a lot worse. I'm getting my diet back in line and I'm going to resume studying for my CPT. I feel good in the gym and I'm passionate about fitness, I want to get back, I feel like I've lost myself a little. I plan on doing a lot more updates here. 

Diet Break

Post show my trainer recommended I take a week off from the gym. This was really hard for me at first, and then honestly due to some personal things, my daughters birthday party, an upcoming out of the country trip ( Which I am currently at 33,000 feet typing this up), as well as a family vacation right after I get back in the states, I ended up spending a lot less time in the gym then I typically would.

I wasn’t completely sedentary, but I was a lot less active than I usually am.  During this time, I slowly added carbs back into my diet. (If you’ve been following we did a ketogenic diet at the end of my prep you can read my post on that here) 

Once I brought my carb level back up, I kind of took a diet break. I stopped eating at a deficit. Heck, a few days (or so) I probably ate over maintenance. I did gain some weight back, which I wanted to not do, but it’ll come back off. And it wasn’t a lot of weight; the key is to keep everything in moderation. I don't really deny myself any craving that I have, but I do keep portions reasonable and I do still log what I eat. (except when I didn't have internet in India and I lost my steak on myfitnesspal.com ) 

I did this because I have been dieting for pretty much the last 4 years.  Your body adapts to your eating habits, and my metabolism has adapted to my constantly eating at a deficit. Especially toward the end of my prep I noticed my body wasn’t responding as we would like to the changes we made.  I really thought that I could benefit from a break. Basically I am eating at maintenance right now, feeding my body, hoping that it will realize that it can boost up my metabolism a bit. 

I do have plans to compete at least once more this year. I’m hoping that despite this “break” being only a month or so long, it will help my body respond better when I begin cutting for my next show. 

My plan for the next week and a half (until training, with my trainer, resumes) is 

1. Get back into the gym.  After some time off, I'll be starting back a bit easy so I don't hurt myself or get very sore.

2. Continue eating my current calorie intake and logging my food. Taking in balance meals and whole foods.

3. More thoroughly document my next journey to the stage. 

Ketogenic diet

I wanted to share my experience with a Ketogenic diet. About 7 weeks out from my show with my body not responding to the macros I was on at the time, my trainer decided to try a ketogenic diet with me (Keto).  Ketogenic diet is a high fat low carb diet.  Protein is also kept pretty low.  I went from having protein be 40-50% of my diet to about 20% and fats going from 20-30% to 65-80%.  Carbs dropped to 0-5%. 

Obviously this was a MAJOR change to my diet. I’m generally pretty capable of switching things up and keeping my diet interesting while keeping it within certain macros. But honestly, the first couple days I had NO idea how to put together a decent meal on this type of macro split.  I literally ate ground beef with ranch dressing on it.  My coworkers would wait for me to heat up my lunch just to see what kind of random stuff I was eating that day. (Before they left to go enjoy taco bell or burger king or Gates BBQ)

After a few days of trolling the internet for Keto recipes (thank you internet), I was able to actually put together something more resembling a meal. I happen to enjoy braunschweiger (liver sausage) and found that it was a perfect food for this diet.  Also I could eat lots of cheese, pepperoni, salami, make mini no bake cheesecakes. It seemed awesome.. for the first week.  To be honest eating mostly fat gets pretty icky after a while. Though I managed to find some low carb “bread” and muffins, mainly used to deliver butter to my mouth, they weren’t very flavorful and eating butter isn’t as great as it sounds.

We followed ketogenic diet for 2 weeks. Then we reintroduced carbs into my diet. It was kind of like a really big carb cycle, 2 weeks low, 2 weeks high.  We finished my prep with 3 weeks low carb. By the final 3 weeks I had become pretty proficient at making high fat meals but I was getting really tired of eating them.

At the end of the process I don’t even feel that this diet was all that effective.  The first 2 weeks we saw decent change, after that it leveled out and stayed that way for the duration. 

Following my prep, my trainer attended a seminar where ketogenic diet was discussed. It’s shown that the long term health risks of this type of diet far outweigh any short term benefit.  The thing with this type of diet is, it was first developed for short term use in morbidly obese patients in order to get them down to a weight that offered less risk for gastric surgery.

My personal opinion after being on the diet is, it cannot possibly be healthy. Eating mostly fat it’s really hard NOT to eat a bunch of high sodium processed foods.  To keep the protein and carb in take down you can’t eat a lot of whole, close to nature foods.  I love cheese as much as the next person.. but I don’t believe that should be a major part of a healthy diet.

Of course there are people who would disagree with my assessment that a balanced diet is better than a ketogenic diet. There will always be differing opinions. I feel like carbs always get such a bad rap. As I study to get my personal training certificate and eventually a nutrition certification, I look forward to learning more about how the body responds to certain macro splits and different theories on nutrition. Fitness and healthy lifestyles are always changing, there are new developments all the time and you have to constantly change and push yourself to continue to be successful.  As I near the beginning of my next prep, I am anxious to see how this goes the second time around. I plan on documenting more thoroughly how my body responds to the process and how you can get lean on a balanced diet that includes carbs.

my first figure competition part 3

Show day

Show day started for me at about 5am.  Having done one coat of tanner before bed (Jan Tana  base) I had to do 1 more coat (Jan Tana competition color).  My hair/Make up lady was coming at 6 am so we needed the tanner to be on and dry enough for me to be clothed and seated.

We applied tanner, when Lindsay showed up to do my hair and makeup, Julie went down to have breakfast. Hair and makeup took a little over an hour to do!  I guess it takes a while to make me pretty J  We were supposed to report to the show by 7:45 but we were told by the show promoter at check in that figure competitors could come later because we wouldn’t go on until after women’s physique and all bodybuilding (and boy he wasn’t kidding). 

After hair/makeup I ate breakfast which was

1 sweet potato pancake See recipe here

1 “schmear” of natural peanut butter (it was about a tablespoon)

1 small apple

5 hardboiled egg whites.

I scarfed this down (carefully to avoid messing up my lipstick, as carefully as you can scarf food!  We packed up everything and headed to the show.  We arrived late.. after 8 for sure. My husband, dad and trainer were there waiting for us.  If you haven’t read my preceding posts, I suppose I should say the show was in a different city so I had just a small group of people there with me.

This is when we began the hardest part, the waiting.  The show was scheduled to start at 9. It didn’t.  In this post I posted a packing list. I mention food.. Lots of food. More food than you think.  Seriously. BRING IT! And tell your supporters to bring some snacks too. Most these shows don’t have any food at all and if anything, they only have some supplement companies/stores selling protein bars or something small. My Dad, husband and trainer at breakfast around 7.. they didn’t eat again until dinner time.  My friend Julie shared a pump up pop tart with me but that wasn’t really a lot of food.

So basically for the next 5 hours I waited… Touched up my tan, tried not to pee on myself. Peeing while in a posing suit it quite an adventure. I suppose I could delve into that experience real quick and give my two cents.  So some of you have heard the punch the bottom out of a Dixie cup in order to direct the stream and spare your tan. Well, I did pee, once..it was much more difficult that you would imagine and although I managed to spare my tan, I think the Dixie cups are more trouble than they are worth.  See, once you put your suit on, you don’t take it off until your done. So you kind of just pull it to the side to pee.  So imagine trying to  pull your suit to the side and hold a Dixie cup in place.. mind you the Dixie cup won’t hold the suit… anyway. In the future, I’ll be using both hands to pull the suit out of the way and forget the whole Dixie cup business.

Finally around 1 pm it was time for figure.  I think I must have been pumping up back stage for 20 minutes at least. They did an intermission that gave me a bit longer time. I didn’t really know what else to do.. at this point I’m just really ready to go on stage.  I should say for those who don’t know me, I’m an introvert. So don’t think you have to be this bubbly, outgoing, extrovert personality to do this sport. Now you do have to fake it a little on stage. Appear confident and comfortable, which I am still working on.  And it would be a total lie if I said I wasn’t terrified a little bit when I walked out on stage. Really most of it was because I knew my conditioning wasn’t what I wanted. I decided to do the show anyway for the experience, but being less than comfortable with the package I brought was really a challenge.

Regardless, here I was, lined up with a group of girls wearing teeny bikini’s and 5” heels.. and I was about to walk out and be judged.  Figure does a series of quarter turns.. so you’re thinking, you go out, turn, turn, turn, turn and you’re done.  Well it’s not quite that simple.  We had the smallest class, 6 girls. I’m not sure exactly how long we were out there but it feels like an eternity. You turn, the judges move people around, you turn some more.  Your cheeks are shaking.. honestly most of you shakes. I’m proud to say mine was due to nerves as I had been practicing posing a lot. (However my stage shots show I had pulled my shoulders forward so I was a bit disappointed that my posing wasn’t on)

I entered 2 classes, novice and open. You do the same process in each. Then you do a T-walk (I was competing NANBF).  I was so so nervous during my Twalk.  It’s just you out there, ALL ALONE. I’m not sure if I looked nervous but I shook like a leaf the whole time.

At the end of the day I walked away without any hardware. I walked away with experience that I will take with me in future shows. Yes, there will be future shows. Next prep begins in about 3 weeks.  I’m excited to do this all over again and hope to bring a leaner package next show.  

Show Day Sweet Potato Pancake

For breakfast the day of my show I had a sweet potato pancake with a tablespoon of peanut butter, a small apple  and 5 hard boiled egg whites.

The recipe for my sweet potato pancake is below

Ingredients:
56 g (2 oz) Baked, mashed sweet potato
46 g (3 Tablespoons) egg whites
15g (1/2 Tablespoon) coconut flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Procedure:
Mix all the above ingredients in a blender, mixer or by hand until a batter forms.
Pour on to a heated skillet.

I made 1 large pancake, you could make a couple smaller ones.

Macros for entire recipe
Calories: 97
Fat: 0.6 g
Carbs: 14.2 g
Fiber: 4.1 g
Sugar: 3.9 g
Protein: 6.1

My first figure competition part 2

Hi there! I'm back with the continuation of my first figure competition experience. I need to get better about documenting my journey in here!

So let's pick up where I left off.. I covered packing last time. I'm going to start chronologically starting with Friday night, before show day. 

My show was out of town, so my friend, Julie, and I drove the 3 hours to Omaha. Arrived, checked in to the hotel and then headed to the competitor check in. I would say this is when the nerves really kicked in. It was all very very real! Being there with all the other competitors really made me feel, anxious. Really that's the best way to describe it.

I really didn't know what to expect having never done this before.  There was a lot of people there.  Thankfully my posing coach was there with a bikini competitor she was training so I knew at least one other person.  I'm not really an extrovert. So although a lot of people make a lot of new friends at these type of events, I'm not the type to just go talk new people.  That's one reason I brought Julie, so I wasn't just there by myself.

At the check in I received my number, Tank top from the show and the promoter gave us some information about how the show was scheduled and when to show up etc.  Then we left.

Since I was going to be putting tanner on, we had to prepare the hotel room so I didn't stain anything. I had my own dark colored sheets and had brought my own pillow with a dark pillow case.  I wrapped plastic wrap around the seat and lid of the toilet as it can soak up the color from your tan.

Next, I laid out everything I needed for the following day. Then double and triple checked that I had everything. 

Then we began applying my tan.  I used Jan Tana and I think it went on pretty well.  I'm pretty pale and it's amazing how you paint it one and boom, you're brown!  We actually painted 1/2 my body first just because we were so amazed at how it instantly tanned me.  I'd say it took about 45 minutes or so to completely cover me. Later we discovered bigger applicators would be faster (So next time I know).

After it was applied I waited for about 30 minutes or so for it to dry before putting on some dark colored clothes for bed. 

By this time it was probably near 11 pm.  I was a bit hyped up and had trouble winding down to sleep. 

To be continued...

3 ingredient protein pancakes

1 week post figure competition. My trainer ordered a week of rest. I've been going a little crazy. But I've complied. I have however, also allowed myself to indulge in goodies over the past week. Most were ok, but others were no where near as satisfying as I hoped. And yesterday's Pizza Hut lunch is really making me regret it! 

So this morning I wanted to eat something clean. Nothing "bad" even sounds good. But pancakes.. Who doesn't love pancakes on Saturday morning? 

If I can get off track real quick, I hate to reference "bad" or "good" foods. Of course there are foods that should be limited while living a healthy lifestyle. But I am a firm believer in "everything in moderation." I think it's unrealistic to stop all sugars or carbs or fats or anything for the rest of your life. So unless you have a legitimate reason to remove a food group or allergen, I recommend limiting but not removing completely. 

So.. Back to breakfast. 

I always have egg whites, they're a quick easy, healthy protein.  I of course also have protein powder. I had some baked sweet potato too. And there you have it. Easy peasy gluten free protein pancakes. 

The worst part of making pancakes is the waiting!! So I'm not going to lie. A few got eaten during the cooking process. 

So what's the process? 

First in a blender, food processor or magic bullet (or mix by hand if you want) 

Mix 

2 servings egg whites (92g)

About 6oz sweet potato (150g) 

1 scoop of protein. I used core fit cinnamon bun. 

You can get it at www.livecorefit.com discount code: Jennibean 

Blend that all together until a smooth batter forms. If it's a little thick you can add a table spoon or 2 of almond milk (or your choice of milk) 

The batter is very moist and very delicate. So don't rush the cooking process. 

Pour a little batter on to a heated skillet or griddle.

Wait to flip until the bubbles form and stay hollow. 

Once you flip it, the pancake will puff up a bit. Leave it until it collapses flat. Then it should be cooked through. 

Repeat and stack them up! 

The macros for the entire recipe are

Calories: 284

Fat: 3g

Carbs: 30g

Fiber: 3.8g

Sugar: 10.6g

Protein: 34g

You can divide as you see fit or eat the whole stack yourself. 

I wanted to add some more fats to my breakfast so I drizzled a couple tablespoons of almond butter on mine. Don't forget to include your choice of topping in your food log. 

My first figure competition part 1

So I just competed in my first figure competition. It was an amazing experience. I called this post part 1 because I plan on breaking down the experience in to pieces to avoid a CRAZY long blog entry.  So let's start with "peak week"

Peak week was a bit different than the rest of my training. We did full body circuits Sunday and Monday. Cardio only Tuesday and light cardio Wednesday with my trainer. Then nothing else. That was hard. Partly because I hadn't peaked. I was far from peaking. We hadn't reached our goal. Also, working out has become an important part of my life and I enjoy it. 

So I spent my last couple days before making a list of items I needed for my show and packing my bags. The show I competed in was the Heartland Classic in Omaha which is about 3 hours from where I live.  I was going to be out of torn for less than 36 hours but I had 2 very full bags to take with me. There's a huge list of items I took with me and most came in handy. Below is the list I used when packing. 

Nutritionally we kept everything the same for peak week. I was doing a keto diet  and we kept it the same through Friday. I did a bit of carbs for breakfast Saturday morning and for pump up before going on stage. 

So let's get to the packing list. Here's what I brought with me and things I highly suggest anyone doing any kind of physique competition consider bringing. 

1. Alarm Clock

2. Beauty Blotting Papers or powder if face gets shinny

3. Bikini Bite (to keep your suit in place) 

4. Bottled Water

5. Bras

6. Camera

7. Cash

8. Clothes - dark colored  

9. Competitor Number/Contest Registration

10. Contact Lenses/solution 

11. Cooler – soft sided or hard sided

12. Copy of entry form 

13. Crazy Glue

14. Dental Floss

15. Directions to and from the venue, hotel and any other necessary locations

16. Dixie Cups with Bottom Punched Out (for peeing)

17. Extra Competition Suit – having a back up can be a life saver

18. Flip-Flops

19. Food – premade and premeasured (bring a lot more than you think you need.)

20. Hair Spray

21. Hair Ties, bobby pins, hair clips

22. Hairbrush

23. High Heels for competition

24. Jewelry (competition) 

25. Laundry stain remover stick 

26. Lock for Bag

27. Loose, dark comfy clothing to sleep in and wear around

28. Lotion (for after the show) 

29. Mini sewing Kit

30. Mouthwash

31. Nail File/ Clippers

32. Old dark sheets - tan will stain sheets and hotels will charge you if you ruin theirs

33. Organization Membership Card

34. Panties 

35. Pillow case – tan will stain sheets and pillow cases (or just bring your own pillow with a dark pillow case like I did) 

36. Plastic food wrap – for wrapping toilet seat in hotel room – tan will stain seat

37. Plastic gloves

38. Portable food heater for car if driving

39. Posing oil

40. Posing Suit / Competition Bikini – packed separately in labeled plastic bags so they stay clean and organized 

41. Q-tips

42. Razors or hair removal stuff

43. Robe – to wear after tan application

44. Safety Pins

45. Schedule for the day (received at registration)

46. Scissors

47. Small Mirror one that stands on its own on a table

48. Snacks &  Food 

49. Spare Hand & Face Towels

50. Stage Makeup (even if you're getting your make up done, extra bronzer and lipstick for touch ups are important) 

51. Sugarless Gum

52. Supplements

52. Toothbrush/Paste

53. Tubing to pump up prior to stage

54. Tweezers

55. Umbrella

56. Vaseline for Teeth

57. Vitamins

58. Wipes for quick clean ups

59. First aid kit

60. Deodorant (for after the show is over) 

61. Tanner (if you're doing your own tan, I used jan tana and I liked the result) 

This seems like a lot of stuff, but I used most of it. Didn't need the back up suit thank goodness but it's better to be prepared. 

I think that's enough for this post. I think it's good to leave off at the list. This will for sure be something I refer back to as well as tweak for future competitions. 

Orange cream protein pancakes

You never realize how much you love to eat something until you're told you can have it. But let's get real.. I've always loved my carbs. So while I do okay on Keto. I love my Sunday carb up. I was planning out my day and I was determined to make some protein pancakes. I searched tons of recipes and settled on one from proteinpow.com  As usual I adapted the recipe a bit. She almost always measures protein in cups and I prefer to measure in scoops so I think it leads to slight variances but I haven't had any failures yet. I would call these a success too! 

So here's the base recipe from proteinpow.com 

Ingredients

3/4 cup oats

1/4 cup egg whites 

1 scoop whey (I used orange creamsicle) 

1 scoop vanilla pea protein 

1 cup almond milk 

 

I added:

1 tablespoon coconut flour 

I found the original recipe was a bit funny for my taste. The few pancakes I made before adding the coconut flour were fine, just a bit thin. 

The directions are simple.. Throw all the ingredients in to a blender, blend until smooth, cook on a hot skillet. I spray a little olive oil spray between every other pancake or so and use a non stick skillet. 

I topped mine off with Waldon farms calorie free pancake syrup. They were sooooo moist and delicious though and probably could be eaten solo.

Macros for the entire recipe (easily could split and serve 2 .. If you're the sharing type) 

Calories: 543

Fat: 12g

Carbs: 61g

Fiber: 11g

Sugar: 5g

Protein: 51g

Avocado fudge

After my accidental avocado fat bomb incident. See previous post 

I decided to try again to make the avocado fudge I intended to make. I got the idea from chocolatecoveredkatie.com  

The original recipe called for coconut butter.. I usually try to sub out things I dot have with things I do.. So I just used regular butter. And they came out SO GOOD! 

They are way more delish than the fat bombs and they are a little bit less calories too! 

Fudge Ingredients:

6 tablespoons of butter

1/4 cup (about 56g) of mashed avocado 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

2 Tablespoons Waldon farms syrup (or honey or agave but this will add more cal and carbs) 

Pinch of salt

1-2 packets of stevia 

Optional chocolate layer 

2 tablespoons coconut oil

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa 

2 tablespoons Waldon farms chocolate syrup (or honey or agave) 

Directions below this yummy picture

Directions: 

Melt the butter, mix the fudge ingredients in a blender until smooth and creamy. Pour into a small pan or container. Put in the freezer at least 3 hours. 

Once the fudge is in the freezer you can mix the chocolate layer now or later. I did mine right away and as you see it stayed right on top. 

Melt the coconut oil and mix together with the cocoa powder and syrup of choice. Pour over the avocado layer and let set. I left mine overnight. 

Macros for 1/8 of the recipe 

Calories 119

Fat 13g

Carbs 2g

Fiber 1g

Protein 0.1g 

Accidental avocado coconut fat bomb

Just over 2 weeks to go and I'm doing a Keto diet for the remainder of prep. For those who don't know that's a low carb high fat diet. So looking for recipes I found an avocado fudge recipe. The problem was 1. I can't read I guess. And 2. I didn't have coconut butter. 

These 2 factors led to the creation of avocado coconut fat bomb. They're still delicious. But not very fudgey.

Ingredients :

1/4 cup mashed avocado 

6 tablespoons coconut oil

2 tablespoons Waldon farms syrup (or agave or honey) 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

Stevia to taste. (I used about a tablespoon ) 

Mix it all in a small blender, pour into a container and set in the freezer 3 hours or until set. 

If you want to add the chocolate swirl 

2 tablespoons Waldon farms

2 tablespoons cocoa

2 tablespoons coconut oil 

Pour on top and swirl through with a knife 

Macros per 1/8 

Calories 134

Fat 15g

Carb 2g

Fiber 1g

Protein .4g

Low carb Oopsie rolls attempt 1

3 weeks to go and we are doing Keto for the remainder of my prep. It's always tough adjusting diets. I starting looking in to some low carb recipes and found oopsie bread. 

I read some horror stories about how difficult these were and although it takes some care, I didn't have too much problem.  I found several recipes and though the one I used came out well, I think I will cut out one ounce of cream cheese cause I found a lot that only called for 3 instead of 4.  So, lets get to it..

Ingredients

3 eggs

4 oz of cream cheese (or 3)

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

optional: spices/seasonings to taste

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit 

Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites

Mix the egg whites and cream of tartar until the whites form peaks

Mix the yolks and cream cheese and any seasoning. For this first run I opted for just 1 packet of splenda.  You can use italian herbs, splenda and cinnamon or any combo of spices you choose. 

Gently fold the yolk mixture back into the whites mixture, take care not to break down the whites.

Gently scoop 6 dollops of the mixture on a baking sheet, I used parchment paper to ensure they didn't stick.  You should use all the mixture making the 6.

Bake for 35 minutes.  Let cool, can be stored on the counter for several days or in the fridge, though the fridge will keep them SUPER moist so I recommend pulling them out and letting them sit before you want to use them.  Mine are still on the counter and I made them 5 days ago.. Still fine.

I'll be trying these again and will post up any other variations I come up with. 

Macros per the 4 oz recipe are, Per 1 of 6

Calories 102

Fat 8.5g

Carbs 2.2g

Fiber 0  (I'm toying with adding fiber powder to this next time)

Protein 4.3g

Peanut butter Marshmallow French toast

Hello fitfam!  I'm about to start 3 weeks of keto. Which means I'm saying goodbye to carbs for a few weeks until I carb load for my show. So I decided to make myself some french toast as a farewell to carbs.  I'm not going to lie.. it was AMAZING. 

I'm going to share the basic recipe as well as the toppings I chose to use so the macros will be for exactly what you see pictured: 

Ingredients:

1 whole egg (large)

1/4 cup egg whites

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

2 slices whole wheat bread (I used Sara Lee, you can substitute any bread you like but the macros will change)

Toppings:

2 tablespoons natural peanut butter

2 tablespoons Waldon Farms marshmallow fruit dip

1 tablespoon Waldon Farms strawberry syrup

Directions:

Mix the first 4 ingredients together in a wide shallow bowl. Preheat a skillet to medium/medium high heat. Lay one piece of bread in the egg mixture letting it soak it up, flip it letting the other side soak up some mixture. Place the bread in the skillet, flip after about 1-2 minutes (once the egg mixture is cooked on that side)  While piece 1 is cooking, start soaking piece #2 in the egg mixture, it should soak up pretty much all the egg mixture. (So you're getting ALL the protein from the eggs) 

Once piece #1 is cooked transfer it to your plate and layer 1 tablespoon of peanut butter and 1 tablespoon of marshmallow dip.  Cook the second piece like the first.  And lay it on top of the first piece.  Add your layers of peanut butter and marshmallow dip. Drizzle a tablespoon of Waldon farms strawberry syrup on top and ENJOY!

Macros for my recipe:

Calories:426

Fat: 22g

Carbs: 34

Fiber: 8

Sugar: 7

Protein: 27

Diet.. It's always a struggle

I hear it so often, and I've been through the struggle myself, I can get to the gym but I struggle with my diet.  Everyone is always looking for the secret to avoiding temptation or not craving "bad foods." Well.. the secret is willpower.  I will share some tips for keeping on track but ultimately it comes down to the choices you (and only you) will make for yourself.  Here's a little story from my day today:

I'm 3 weeks out from my debut show and I'm not quite where I want to be yet.  I'm not sure I'll get there in 3 weeks, but I'll get as close as I can.  I plan and track my food diligently but I'm human. I have cravings and sometimes I give in, most times I don't.  At work this morning, having eaten my breakfast before and snack 3 hours later, I still felt hungry.  I walked down to the vending machine and looked at my options.  I have a few calories to play with today, often my food doesn't come out EXACT to my calorie goal. I have 12-15g of protein, 6g of carbs left.  Nothing in the machine suits what I have available. So I walked away.

As I stared blankly into the vending machine I told myself "3 weeks.. you have 3 weeks to burn as much fat as you can before your stage debut. Nothing in this machine is going to help you do that."

I've been dieting for almost 4 years. Part of that has made me better at saying no to things I shouldn't have and part of that has left me wanting to just go eat food without considering the macros or what it's going to do to my body. It's a double edged sword and there's always a struggle between making a healthy choice and choosing convenience or just deciding, you know what? I'm going to eat a candy bar today.  For most people making that choice is fine.  One candy bar isn't going to make or break you.  I could've bought something, justifying that 3 weeks isn't enough time to make a change.. But I know that isn't true.  And to make a change everything has to be on point.

I'm trying to get extraordinarily lean so I don't have the flexibility I'm used to. I still get to get foods I like, luckily I don't mind healthy foods. :)
This process is not for everyone. I knew going in that it was going to test me. I think I've handled it all pretty well. Though I'm not sure how my experience on the stage will be, I've already started thinking past the stage. Carefully reverse dieting to avoid excessive weight gain and looking ahead to the next show I might do.

I'm not immune to cravings. I love sweets. I love to bake.. I stopped doing a lot of baking when I got really serious about getting back in shape.  Now I bake healthier recipes and find ways to satisfy sweet cravings without a lot of added sugars keeping either carbs or fats low.

So let's get to some tips for keeping on track

1. Have a cheat meal every 1-2 weeks.

I said A cheat MEAL.  Not a cheat DAY.  One meal. Don't eat yourself sick, but use it to eat something you've been craving.  This serves 2 purposes. First, the increase in calories will boost your metabolism. (more calories in means the body has to burn more to keep up).  Second, it keeps you sane. If you know you have a cheat meal coming every week or two, it's a lot easier to turn down tempting offers for naughty foods and you're much less likely to go crazy and binge.

2. Make sure you are eating enough day-day.

You have NO idea how sad it makes me to see girls eating 1000-1200 calories a day. Especially if they have a lot of weight to lose or are killing it in the gym.  You NEED to fuel your body.  The idea is to eat as much as you can and still lose weight.  Not cut calories as drastically as you can.  As the boost in calories from your cheat meal boosts metabolism, your metabolism adapts to your calorie cut as well. The more you cut, the more your metabolism adapts.  DON'T cut yourself from eating 3000 calories to 1200 right away.  It's only going to hurt you in the end.   **Trust me.. I did this to myself.. more than once!  It's not the right way and your results will not last cause you can't keep that up forever**

3. Find healthy alternatives

Craving chocolate?  Try mixing chocolate protein powder with greek yogurt for a protein packed chocolate treat.

Pancakes? Get some mancakes and waldon farms calorie free syrup.  Or make your own healthy version with oat flour (blend up oats) and egg whites.
Mancakes can be bought  here
Waldon farms makes TONS of calorie free products check them out here (My grocery store carries several of their syrups, sauces and marshmallow dip!)

Just want something sweet?  Try fruit instead of candy. Check out my protein fluff for a protein packed ice cream like treat right here

Check out http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/ For a TON of healthy recipes.  I LOVE her site. I get a lot of ideas from there.

4. Get accountability/Support system

Tell somebody your goals. It will make you more likely to stick to them.  Also if you find yourself craving something you can talk to those who you shared your goals with.  I know I have some friends that have been instrumental in keeping me on track.  When you're having an off day, these people will remind you how awesome you are doing and why you don't want to revert to old ways. There are going to be days that you just don't feel like working out or you really want to eat something processed and bad for you.  Your support system will help you stay on track OR get back on track after you've given in.

5. Remember you are human.

Perfection doesn't exist. You're not going to look like the photoshopped people in magazines and you're going to have slip ups, days you can't get to the gym or other obstacles.  The key is to accept these and move on. Everyday is a new opportunity to make better choices, workout a little harder and get closer to your goals.  This is a lifestyle, there's no finish line.

Protein Fluff Recipe

Here is a yummy post workout treat that would be especially refreshing on a hot summer day and is super easy to make protein fluff.  It's a protein packed low carb ice creamy marshmallow-y fluffy treat.

Ingredients:
1 cup frozen fruit (I used raspberries for this one)
1/4 cup almond milk (or milk of choice)
1 scoop of whey protein.

So let's get to the directions and pictures shall we? :)


1. measure out 1 cup of frozen fruit (berries or banana will work for this. I have done pineapple but it's really hard to break it down when it's frozen)

2. Add 1/4 cup of milk of choice to the berries.

3.  Add your protein.  I used Core Fit protein. I love the handy prepackaged scoops and the flavors are delish!!  You can buy it here and you can save 20% with coupon code Jennibean

4. Smash it all up.  I used this attachment to my hand mixer. I usually smash it all a bit before I turn the mixer on and smash it some more. 

5. Smash it all until it looks like the pic below.  Basically until it's well blended and no large pieces of the fruit remain.

6. Then switch to a whisk attachment and fluff it. You want to try to add a bit of air and make it a frozen-y fluffy yummy treat.  It should look like the pic below.

7. Enjoy your delicious healthy treat.

Macros below are for 1 recipe. It pretty much makes 1 serving so you don't have to share :)

Calories: 201
Fat: 4 g
Carbs: 20 g
Fiber: 9 g
Sugar: 8 g
Protein: 24 g

Sweet Potato Protein Cupcakes

So I have a little something to celebrate. I just accepted a new job. I'm super excited to be taking my career to the next step.  Unfortunately, 4 weeks out from my debut show isn't the greatest time to have a celebratory meal or treat.  Fear Not!  Here's a healthy treat that tastes so naughty but is actually packed with protein and good complex carbs!

I adapted this recipe from one I found at www.proteinpow.com  I usually don't have everything on hand or the exact ingredients but I've been pretty successful at getting some amazing recipes from there.  It's a go-to site when I need a protein packed recipe.

These really hit the spot!  I didn't even feel like I was eating something healthy.. it was totally delicious and tasted like a naughty treat, but without the guilt.  I actually got to eat 2 and will have the other 2 tomorrow.. I can't wait!

So let's get to the recipe, then we can get to a couple more pictures!

Ingredients for cake:
212 g Sweet potato (cooked and peeled) this is about 7.5 oz
1/3 cup whey protein (this is about 1 scoop)
1/3 cup egg whites
1 Tablespoon coconut flour

Ingredients for frosting:
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 scoop protein powder (I used core fit cinnamon bun you can get it at www.livecorefit.com save 20% with the coupon code JenniBean )
2 Tablespoons coconut flour
1/4 cup almond milk (add this 1-2 tablespoons at a time as needed until the desired consistency is reached)

Directions for Cake:
Preheat your oven to 325 F.
Mix all the cake ingredients together into a thick batter
Scoop into a pre-sprayed cupcake pan  (recipe makes 4 cupcakes)
Bake about 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean

Allow the cupcakes to cool before frosting.  I kept mine in the refrigerator overnight.

Directions for Icing:
Mix the first three ingredients together, slowly add almond milk until the desired consistency in reached.  Put the icing into a ziplock back and cut a corner and pipe on to the cooled cupcakes.

I garnished with a dusting of cinnamon.

Macros for 1 cake (out of 4)
Calories:  173
Fat: 2g
Carbs: 19g
Fiber: 4g
Sugar: 6g
Protein: 19g

They are also kid approved. Note the tiny toddler finger photobomb 

4 weeks to go!

It's been several weeks since I did a show update.  I've been working away.  We made diet changes doing a Keto/traditional split cycle.. almost like extreme carb cycling, 2 weeks low following by 2 weeks moderate/high.  I just finished the first week of moderate/high carbs. I missed my carbs.  I'm avoiding breads/pastas, sticking with oats, sweet potato, corn, and green things (green beans, celery, cucumbers etc)

The hardest part by far is getting enough sleep.  I didn't realize how important sleep was and it's SO SO hard for me to get everything done and still get 8 hours. As I type this I have about 30 minutes to get to sleep to get 8 and I don't have my food planned out for tomorrow at all!  I pride myself on being pretty organized and getting everything done. This process will test you mentally, physically and emotionally.  It's stressful.  There are a LOT of things to do. I have a busy life already and this adds a lot to it.  I really enjoy pushing myself in the gym.  I think the most difficult part for me is really planning all the food. Planning it all and prepping all my meals, it's time consuming. It's absolutely worth it, but I think I need to have a little less variety.  Some is nice but too much is just more work.

Continued.. When I typed the above it was almost a week ago. Juggling contest prep and family is no easy task. I'm sure I will get the hang of it with each additional show but for now it's pretty tough. This takes a lot of commitment. I will say though, going through this process has proved to me that you CAN do anything you set your mind to.  A few years ago I "couldn't" find time to get in a workout or prep a meal. I lived off fast food and watched TV for hours a day. This has truly showed me that it's all about choices and priorities. I've come a long way.. I have a long way to go. But I'm getting closer everyday.  4 weeks to show 1.. 6 weeks to show 2.  It's going to get harder from here, but I'm ready to soak it all in.  

5 week out posing practice 

Keto mini no-bake cheesecake

Hey there FitFam! Work is finally easing to a slow steady crawl after tax day, I'm a CPA for those who don't know. This was the first time I've actually been in the office doing taxes on tax day (normally I'm out working on an audit).  It was CRAZY!!  So even though I've been a bit quiet I have still been hard at work in the gym and in the kitchen making all my foods for my ever changing diet.  We are having pretty good success with Keto, but we are going to cycle off for a couple weeks. Before I do though I wanted to share a few recipes with you that will always be my in my Keto back pocket.  Today I want to share with my coffee lovers out there.  (Not a coffee lover..keep reading, I've got you covered too!)  If you're not keto you could sub low fat cream cheese and sub almond milk for the heavy cream to make it lower fat friendly.

Let's start with the odd fact that I am NOT a coffee lover! I drink a little.. I like to add a lot of milk and sugar so, I haven't had coffee in quite a while.  But I do have some mocha cappuccino mix and thought it would be an excellent addition to the mini no-bake cheesecakes I've been making. This is something pretty simple to whip up and since I'm the only one in my house I make a lot of single serve dishes. If you wanted to make a few at once you can just multiply the recipe by the desired number of servings, easy-peasy!

Ingredients:

Basic recipe:
2 oz cream cheese
2 tablespoons heavy cream (I've also used 1 so if you need a bit less fat 1 will work!)
sweetener of choice to taste (this is optional if you're a cream cheese lover you might omit this)

Flavor options:
2 tsp mocha cappuccino (for the coffee lovers.. this had a pretty strong coffee flavor, you could easily cut this in half if you wanted to tone it down)
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder (if you like a chocolate cheesecake)
1-2 tablespoon(s) waldon farms strawberry syrup (calorie free, carb free and delish!!)  I find mine at the local grocery store but you can get their stuff here https://www.waldenfarms.com/

I like to garnish with a little waldon farms syrup too!

Procedure:

Pick your flavor above and mix all the ingredients. If your cream cheese is straight out of the fridge then pop in the microwave for 10 seconds oro so to soften it a bit.

Once its all blended, pour the mix into a small container or glass or however you wish to serve it, and place it in the fridge to set. (30 minutes should do the trick, but I tend to make mine a bit more in advance and let it sit longer)

It should be about a 1/2 cup serving size.  Perfect to satisfy a sweets craving and excellent macros for a keto diet!

Weight loss and Nutrition

Probably one of the most common questions I get is, "What do you eat?" (or "What should I eat to lose weight?")  Well the answer is actually really simple, I eat everything, in moderation. Truth is I didn't have my nutrition totally figured out during the majority of my weight loss.  I was keeping myself at a deficit (if I was diligent about tracking my food). So I lost weight.  However when I found IIFYM (If it fits your macros aka flexible dieting) I had much better success and the results came a lot quicker.  Because I was eating a deficit but also a balanced diet.  I personally have a HUGE sweet tooth so I do treat myself to the occasional "bad" treat. But it's all good if it's done in moderation.  If you're eating on plan 90-95% of the time 1 candy isn't going to set you back.

Anyway, I thought I would do a few posts on nutrition and how to lose weight while still eating normal food.  That being said, I don't eat out often. Mainly because I follow my macros strictly (It's really necessary when trying to get stage ready lean) and I need to know EXACTLY what I am putting in my body.  I do have the occasional meal out but I keep it to a minimum right now.

So my husband did a big costco run this weekend and I took some pictures of the fridge, freezer, pantry and fruit/veggie bowls so I could kind of summarize the "staple" items I always have.
I do not eat the exact same thing day to day.  If you follow me on  www.myfitnesspal.com (user name JenniBeanxo ) you'll see that.  All my meals are pretty similar day to day, but rarely exactly the same.  But I do have basic foods you'll always see (chicken, egg whites, green beans/broccoli etc)

So.. let's go to the pictures shall we?

Ok so it's all pretty normal stuff. Fruits (I limit to 1 a day or less), veggies (sweet potato, white potato, celery, asparagus, bell peppers etc), egg white, eggs, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, almond milk, lean meats (chicken, turkey, lean ground beef), natural nut butters .. Not pictured, whole wheat bread, wheat pasta. Which are also added in very sparingly right now.

Of course there are 3 other people that live in my house (note the toddler photo bomb in the last pic). So there are things in there that I don't eat. Also I'm trying to get incredibly lean for a show so for an overall healthy and fit physique you could still be a little more flexible than I am right now. 

What I ate today. Ketogenic.

Hi there #fitfam .. Just over 5 weeks out O_O .. About to wrap up 2 weeks in keto and go back to a "traditional" 40/40/20 bodybuilding split. I've kind of gotten the hang of keto. Still sometimes have a hard time getting all the fat without many carbs or the protein level I was used to. I took pics of all my food yesterday so you could see what keto is looking like. 

So here's everything I ate and a total from myfitnesspal on macros for the day. 

2 pieces of bacon, egg white and cheese omelet 

Homemade keto "mounds" bar.. I skimped on the "chocolate" a bit :). And mozz stick 

Chicken and asparagus. (Probably the least keto of all my meals) 

OMG these were delish! I have a bad sweet tooth and these hit the spot. 

Mini mocha cappuccino cheesecake and a mozz stick 

Green bell pepper with some ground beef and cheese. 

My carbs are a bit high.. About half come from fat sources though so it's not like I'm eating startchy things. Still figuring it all out. After 2 weeks on 40-40-20 I get to try my hand at keto again.  Will be looking up some recipes and things getting ready.