Low fat angel food cake

It's the Fourth of July weekend. Time to eat, enjoy family and blow some stuff up.  But if you don't want to be blowing the button off your jeans, you're going to need to pace yourself or swap out some healthier choices for unhealthy comfort foods.  

Increasing lean meats, vegetables and fruits are a good start. Limit the quantity of the processed foods you eat. Generally speaking these holiday weekend meals are filled with carbs AND fat.  I usually try to pick one or the other.  So I baked this lovely flag themed LOW FAT cake to enjoy guilt free. 

It's not low carb, but it's really not a diet killer, even for a pretty generous portion (1/12 of a 13x9 cake) 2 ingredients doesn't get much easier either!

Let's get to the Ingredients:

For the cake:

Box of Angel Food Cake Mix

20 oz can of crushed pineapple in juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Mix the pineapple (un-drained) with the cake mix until fully incorporated.

        Mixture will be very foamy and fluffy.

Pour the mixture in a 13x9 ungreased pan 

Bake for 30-40 minutes (mine was done at 30 minutes)

Cool completely.. scroll down for topping

IF you wanted to enjoy the cake as is, the macros for 1/12 of the cake are as follows:

Calories: 167

Fat: 0g (yes ZERO) 

Carbs: 37.5g

Fiber: 0.7g 

Protein: 3g

This would be a pretty awesome post workout recovery meal... 

If you want to go all out topping and decorating you'll need the following:

Small box of dream whip

Milk of choice (I used 1% good old cows milk) 

Extract of choice *Optional*

Fruit of choice (I used blue berries and strawberries)  

Keep scrolling for directions 

Mix the Dream whip per the box directions.  I used both envelopes and 1 cup of 1% milk. I used a cherry flavor I had to give it just a hint of sweetness. 

The box recommends vanilla extract.

Whip until peaks form

Spread on top of the cake (I left mine in the pan)

Decorate with fruit if desired and ENJOY! 

Macros for cake and topping (I left the fruit off, but I only ended up with about 1 strawberry on my piece so it wouldn't drastically change the macros.

1/12 of cake w/ topping

Calories: 196

Fat: 1g

Carbs: 43g

Fiber: 1g

Protein: 4g

This comes in at about 1/2 the calories of a traditional cake with buttercream and with SO much less fat.

Hope you have a safe 4th of July and remember, you don't have to ruin your goals to enjoy your life.

Why my routine MIGHT not work for you

I want to get really real here for a minute. I like to share recipes and have no problem sharing my workouts. The truth is, I do this more for me than you.  I do it because it makes me plan, it makes me accountable and it motivates me to make good choices. In addition to motivating me, it gives ideas to others on the same journey.

I know what it's like to be struggling to lose weight. I worked hard for 2.5 years to lose over 100 pounds naturally. That's only the beginning of the struggle though.  When my life got a little messy, I immediately took the focus off my healthy habits and became very sedentary and ate a lot of convenient foods.  I gained weight pretty quickly. I cared, but not enough to really consider what I was putting in my body OR care enough to get active to counter a little of the junk I was eating. Now I'm starting over again, not from the place I started from before. But definitely from a place I thought I'd never be in again.

I know as much as anyone who has struggled with weight how much you want an easy fix. A quick weight loss solution to get you back in shape fast.  So you look to others. I can't tell you how many super skinny model type with thigh gaps I used to follow on social media. I followed them because I wanted to look like them.  I wondered what they were eating, how often they workout and what they were doing.  The truth is, I hoped that I could mirror their routine and look just like them.  But I won't look like them. And their routines MIGHT not even get me into the best shape I can be in.  Most of those girls are ectomorphs. They are naturally thin and have a hard time gaining weight.  That's not to say none of them have ever been over weight, but a lot of them haven't. And if they were slightly over weight, it's not to the degree that I can quickly and easily gain weight.  We are different. Doing what they do, will not yield the same results.

I don't sell "my workout" or "my diet" because I constantly mix up my workouts. And I am still experimenting with the best macros for me. Frankly it makes me sad when I see social media fitness "celebrities" selling a cookie cutter diet or workout plan.  Because I know that people who are desperate to lose weight will pay $5, $10 or more for a cookie cutter plan.  While I haven't seen these plans, I would bet that some of these little waifs eat as little as 1200 calories a day.  If you're an overweight person doing any activity at all, that's simply not enough calories. Your body will not be happy or you'll end up starving and binge. They might be low carb, high fat diets.  I found out the hard way that my body type is programmed to store fat eaten.  So when I tried Keto (atkins) my results were mediocre at best.  It just doesn't work for me. If you're 160, 200, 250+ pounds, you simply cannot just do what a 110 pound person does and look like them.  In theory, you can eat healthier foods and portion sizes, you can increase activity to burn calories and shape your body. But you need to cut calories gradually to avoid slowly the metabolism too quickly.  I feel there is simply too much comparison going on. If you don't have a thigh gap, you're not less valuable than someone that does. (and visa versa). The idea of a fitness journey should be finding your best self, not trying to turn into someone else.

I share my journey (for free) to motivate others to find what works for them and give them ideas along the way. I want everyone to know that you can work hard and get in the best shape of your life. You don't have to buy a cookie cutter diet plan. You don't have to cut out all carbs. (Carbs are a very important macronutrient) You CAN eat more than 1,000 or 1,200 calories a day and achieve your fat loss goals. I want to help others in their fitness journey and I want you to be successful. Not because it's good for my pocketbook, but because it makes me feel good to help someone else and see them happy and comfortable in their skin.  So I'll happily continue sharing my journey in hopes to inspire others to start a journey of their own to reach their own goals.

Carb Quik banana muffins

I've decided in order to stay motivated and watch my macros, I will start posting some healthy recipes so I have less excuses to eat healthy food.  After all, If I making it for my blog.. it's there and I don't need to go out for some convenient junk food.  

I bought some carbquik mix a while ago on Amazon (my favorite lazy girl website).  I didn't really have anything in particular in mind when I ordered it.  I am NOT against carbs at all.  For me personally, I found lower fat, high protein and moderate carbs is best for losing weight. Also I LOVE carbs.  I am always looking for ways to enjoy my favorite carb heavy foods in a healthier way. 

I hadn't even opened the mix. I've been kind of slacking off diet (and exercise) wise lately. But I found a relatively easy recipe for banana nut muffins and I modified it based on what I had in my kitchen. 

So.. without further delay.. lets get to the recipe!

Ingredients:

2 cups Carbquik

1 ripe banana

1 egg

2/3 cup unsweet almond milk (can sub in whatever kind of milk you drink)

1 Tablespoon olive oil

8 packets of Truvia

1 teaspoon baking powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl until moist. (up to 1/4 cup water can be added if needed) I didn't need to add any extra water. 

The batter is very light and airy.

scoop the batter in to 12 regular size muffin tins. 

Bake for 8-13 minutes.  (I checked at 10 min and ended up baking all 13 minutes)  

They are very light and fluffy! Makes a great pairing with a protein shake or some eggs or egg whites. 

Macros for the muffins (based on my ingredients) 

PER 1 MUFFIN

Calories:  71

Fat:         4.8g

Carbs:     9.9g

Fiber:      7.3g

Protein:   3.7g

I failed spectacularly

First, it's been ages since my last post. I've been pretty busy with things in my personal life. Unfortunately a lot of things that don't include the gym or eating healthy food. I've gained a lot of weight over the past year. I feel like a perfect storm of circumstances hit and I just kind of surrendered to it. There were times when I would attempt to get back on track, I failed. 

There's a few things that led to where I find myself today. 

1. My keto diet during show prep last year primed my body for quick regain. And I wasn't careful to avoid it. After my show I took a break from the gym and basically binged on whatever foods I wanted. Zero regard for nutrition. That slippery slope is hard to come back from. 

2. I went through a divorce. Although it was amicable, it wasn't easy and it's still something I am working through emotionally. I am an emotional eater so when I felt stressed or guilty or anything I would fill myself with sweets and processed junk for a temporary good feeling. 

3. I worked two jobs. Ok I'm still working two jobs. But tax season was busy for me this year. I used it as an excuse to skip the gym and grab fast food meals between jobs. As an accountant I sit most the day anyway, adding additional work hours, more food, less activity.. It's really a recipe for disaster. 

So, I failed. I failed to keep off the weight I fought so hard to lose. But I'm ready to get back on it. I'm tired of feeling sluggish and icky. When I do workout I fatigue quickly. I know I've lost a good bit of strength. So I've made a couple decisions and set some goals. I'm going to blog real time weightloss. I'll start on June 1 with a current photo. I'll record what I eat and what workouts I do and every week I'll update my photo. 

I'll be taking weights and measurements as well. I may or may not post those right away. I probably will, it's more motivation for me to stay on track and have changes week to week. 

My goals right now:

1. Resume consistent workouts to build muscle and lose fat 

2. Get down to a comfortable maintenance weight and maintain for 6+ months 

3. Compete in another figure show 

First step is getting back on track and down to a healthy weight again. I'm ready to do this. 

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. 

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.  

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. 

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 

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

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.

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 

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. 

7 weeks out and Diet info

Hello everyone!

It's been a while.. where does the time go??  I've been super busy working and hitting the gym. We've been doing a lot of decision making.  So I posted about a month back that we decided to delay our original "debut" show date.  We hoped the extra time would help with my conditioning (leaning out for the stage)  It's still been REALLY slow coming on the fat loss and progress.  We have been carb cycling but I still haven't had much success.  This week we are starting a keto diet. Half way through Day 1.. I'm not as hungry as I thought I'd be. However, my meals have been pretty interesting. Switching from high protein to high fat has really been difficult.  I think I'm getting a better handle on it. I even found some flax meal muffin and pizza crust recipes I'm going to try out. (will post them if they are edible!) :)

So, I wanted to post a little bit more about my diet. Now keep in mind if you're not cutting for a show you probably don't have to be SO strict but I've had a lot of people comment on how lean I'm getting and ask me what I've been doing.  So carb cycling. The last several weeks we have been carb cycling. I started with 6 low and 1 high day, and we moved to 3 low days, 1 high, 2 low, 1 high rotation. I prepare 99% of my own food. Even on my high carb days I rarely went out to eat because you really can't be sure what you're getting. I think I had some decent progress doing carb cycling. I count all carbs (even veggies) I guess a lot of people don't.. I'm not sure if it would have been more effective to get more starchy carbs and feed my metabolism that way?? BUT...

We are getting into super crunch time here and my legs especially have a way to go. We are going Keto.  I also started tracking my macros and water more diligently with my weight fluctuations so we can track changes more effectively.  This whole process is a lot of trial and error. There is no right or wrong way to do this.. ok, there are probably a LOT of wrong ways, but different things work for different people. This is the first time we are doing this so it going to be a HUGE learning experience. I've already learned a lot and we still have so far to go.  I'm going to post below a few examples of what I ate on different low and high carb days.  You can follow me on myfitnesspal (Username: Jennibeanxo ) to see what I'm eating everyday.  (but please don't follow it blindly, it's based on my height, weight, goals and activity level)  I've also started to track ALL my cardio with my Polar watch too. Because those machines and even the myfitnesspal estimates are not accurate to each individual.

Low carb day 

High carb day:

Just a note.. I kept my fats relatively low and protein high. This isn't typically how carb cycling works. Protein stays consistent and fats and carbs cycle (one high, the other low). This might be why I didn't see the results I hoped for. I think when I try again in the future I'll have a better handle on the process. It's all a lot of trial and error. The key is to stick with it and continue to make adjustments. 

What I ate today. High carb day.

Hello there fitfam. So a little update. I've been hard at work (at my job and the gym) things are progressing slowly. I am carb cycling currently. Today is a refeed/high carb day so here's what I ate. 

Meal 1 

I made baked French toast with 1 egg, 2 egg whites and the wheat bread. 

Meal 2

Meal 3

Ok. I got a little hungry and forgot to take a picture. But this meal is pretty self explanatory. :) 

Meal 4 

 

I think I've posted the truffle recipe on my Instagram.. I intend to post more recipes here for easier access. If you want to

See this one (or any others) comment below and I'll add it to my list. 

Meal 5 

Meal 6 

And meal 7 (the Casein logged in with meal 6.. My fitness pal only has 6 meals) 

Casein pudding. 

To recap, I eat every 2-3 hours. The casein pudding I ate right before bed. I'm also putting my daily totals below so you can see how it all adds up at the end of the day.  I'm wrapping up my super busy time at work so I plan on posting a lot more often. If you have questions or things you'd like to see. Leave me a comment.