Thursday, December 17, 2015

Uncomplicating the Complicated


Have you noticed how complicated nutrition has become today? Every time you turn around there is some study saying something is healthy, then it is unhealthy, turn around again and it is healthy....
Carbs are healthy.
Carbs are the devil.
Eat some carbs.
Do not eat any carbs.
Rice is healthy.
Rice is terrible for you.
Potatoes are good, eat them.
Potatoes are bad.
White potatoes are bad, but sweet potatoes and yams are good, but only eat some.
White potatoes are can be healthy.
Fat is good, fat is bad.
Red meat is the devil.
Red meat is healthy.

That is all simple stuff. Then we get into macros, when is the right time to eat, eat before bed, do not eat after a certain time... We could go on and on, but I know you already know all of that. That is why to many of us through our hands in the air and say, I give up. It is to complicated. It does not make sense. No one knows what they are talking about, and I do not care.

The big questions is, does it have to be this complicated?
No, I do not think so.

Are there better foods for you to eat? Are there foods that are not going to be the best for you? Yes, of course. But, it still does not mean eating healthy needs to be complicated. It really comes down to simplicity, eat real food. As close to the source as possible, as little processing as possible, keep it simple.

I think one of the best ways to keep it simple is to focus on single ingredient foods: eggs, butter, milk, beef, chicken, liver, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, basil, mint. Things like this are going to be real food. Take single ingredient items, put them together and enjoy the benefits of eating real food.

Once you have began eating real food, then you can begin seeing which of those foods are best for your body, what helps your body thrive. Sweet peppers might give you heartburn, then do not eat them. But, eating white potatoes gives you lots of energy and you sleep better when you eat them at night, eat them. It is not what is right for any one else's body, it is about what is right for yours.

You have to begin though. I cannot tell you what will and will not be right for your body, other than processed, dead, junk, spuedo, processed foods, those are bad for us. Once you begin eating healthy foods, then we can begin the journey of figuring what is best for you, what amounts of foods you need.

Any real food can be healthy. Any real food can be bad for your body. It is about what is right for you. Go enjoy some real food and stop worrying so much.

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn

Monday, December 7, 2015

How Committed to Your Goals Are You?


How committed are you to what you want to achieve, in any area of your life? Have you ever stepped back and thought about this? Asked yourself some of the hard questions, those questions we do not want to ask.
What are you willing to do for your goals and dreams?
What would you give up?
What would you try?
How far would you go?
Why is this goal important to you?
Why do you want this goal?

These last two questions might be the more important ones.

You could have the best coaches, trainers, chiefs, the best of everything money could buy to set you up for success with weight lose, muscle gain, loving yourself, building self confidence, self esteem, obtaining high success with your career, whatever it is you are looking for. However, if you are not committed to yourself and your goals, all this will not make much difference.

You have to have a commitment to yourself.

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

The Magic, Secret Bullet to Weight Lose

Hubby took this at my last competition, great shot Hubby!

We all want the quick fix, the easy road, the magic bullet that will stop your cravings, make you lose fat, you know the song and dance from all the infomercials, eat whatever you want, lose all the weight you want, never make any sacrifices, and look like bikini model/men’s underwear model. The next secret is: sign up for one more email news letter, watch a 20 minute video, that never really says anything, go through how this product should coast this much, but a very limited time we are giving it to you for not this much, not this much, but this price, blah blah blah….. There are diet pills out there, fat blockers, physic enhancing substances, steroids, drugs, you name it and it is on the market, it very could be some of your Pinterest fitpo’s are taking many of these to look like they do. However, all they want to tell you is, have the determination, self control, will power as me, and you too can look like them. Don’t forget you have to take all the drugs.

There are those drugs, magic pill, that can give you a good body, you have to put some effort into, eat 500 calories a day, replace meals with pre-packaged fake food and shakes, but how safe are they? What are you doing to your health? What is going to happen to you in 10 years, 20, 50 years? The truth for some of these is, we do not know. Is it really worth your health? I hope no.

The secret, the magic pill, is your food, physical activity, your thoughts about yourself, what you think and put your time, thought and energy into. The perfect body, is yours. The one you nourish at a cellular and genetic level, that thrives when you nourish it and love it.

Does it work, to nourish your body at a cellular and genetic level? Look at my photos from my last competition, both of them on this page and tell me if you think it works. Yes, I am tapping into my full genetic potential, nothing extra on the side. I eat to nourish my body to express the best of my genes, with real, whole, nutrient, dense rich foods. I do not take protein shakes, BCAA's, branch chain amino acids, creatine, fat or carb blockers, pre/post work out supplements, nothing band by the FDA, cannot use any band substances when competing in the NGA. I eat real food. Yes, I had to drop calories, cycle through low and normal calorie levels to lean out for competing, you need to be learner that what you can effortlessly maintain, but I did it all with food, nothing crazy, other than some low calorie days.

Do I look like this today, no. I have put healthy weight back on, and feel great. I eat when I am hungry, training smartly and maintaining a healthy body, effortlessly. Am I saying anyone who eats a Primal, Ancestral, nutrient dense rich diet is going to a physic like mine, nope. You will have the body that is right for YOU, no one else. Your genes will express themselves optimally to your genetic, full potential. Learn to love that person in the mirror and deep inside of you.

Magic bullet, Secret: THERE ISN'T ONE. Eat real food. Move your body, challenge your body. Stop listening to all the garbage. We all have different body shapes and sizes, that is beautiful. Stop comparing yourself to everyone else. Love you.



As a side note, maybe you need to take a break from looking at the fitness Pins, FaceBook, Instagram FitPo stuff, is it really helping you? Do all those images make you feel worse about yourself, your body, that you are not good enough? Most of it is not real anyway. They take hundreds of photos, don't eat, who knows what they are taking as far as substances and such, Instead, begin looking in the mirror and loving yourself, I know this has done me good.

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Attitude of Gratitude


I know I have talked about this before, and I will continue to talk about it, learning to be grateful. We live in a society today that is more selfish, self absorbed, narcissistic, extreme selfishness, coveting what others have, constantly comparing ourselves to others in all things, how dare someone, I want, I never have enough....... The list just goes on and on and one. It is time to end this. It has to end with ourselves. To have a change, we need to make a change in ourselves.

How are we going to do this, simple, change our attitudes. We tend to think solutions need to be complicated, complex, we think the simple solution is not the right one, because it is too simple. In the end, simplicity usually is the right path. Generally speaking, it is the hardest path though and I think this is why we poo poo it and do not want to take the path of simplicity. We do not like things to be hard.

How do we change our attitude?
Here are a few things to try:

  • Keep a grateful journal, every day take a few minutes to write down at least three things you are grateful for.
  • Put your technology gadgets away and have interactions with the people in your life, be present to them, not your phone or whatever it is. 
  • When you think of something negative, towards yourself, others, see something, combat this with three positive things.
  • Instead of automatically looking for the bad in someone, try to see the good first. Treat them with the same respect, honor, and good will you want to be treated with. You know the "Golden Rule" do unto others as you would have done unto you. Good way to treat people.
  • Stop watching the news all the time, keep up with what is going on, but also what is good that is going on in the world, in your community, around you. If you cannot find something, then you start something good.
  • Remember, it does not have to be some big grand, instant fame, viral pictures, video or anything like that to make a difference, to impact someone else's life in a positive way and yours. It can be as simple as genuinely talking to a worker in a grocery store, coffee shop, where you are. Most of these workers will tell you they are not treated like a human, having someone talk with them, makes their day. Go to a nursing home or assisted living and talk with the residence. So many of them have no one that comes and visits them. They have a story to tell and would love to tell it.        
  • See someone struggling, stop and help them.
  • Strive to do one thing for someone you love everyday that will make them happy. 
I remember hearing this story a long time ago and it has stuck with me ever since. There was a man walking along the beach one morning and in the distance he saw a little boy playing. When he came closer to the boy, the man realized he was picking up the starfish that had washed up on shore with the tide and throwing them back out into the ocean. The man looked at the boy and said him, you cannot help all these starfish. There is no possible way you can save all of them. The young boy looked up at the man as he threw another starfish back into the ocean and said, I helped him. I made a difference in that one's life.

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn


Thursday, September 24, 2015

It Is About A Journey


I am in-prep for my next competition the end of October and the thing that keeps standing out to me this time around is: this is a journey. Getting down to competition weight, prepping, seeing results, it all takes time. I have to continuously remind myself that my competition is not this weekend, not next weekend, it is still many weeks away. I have to trust the processes. Continue on the journey of steady weight lose to keep healthy and do what needs to be done. If I drop all the weight immediately, I have to maintain that weight and that is hard on the body. I also risk losing too much weight, not a good thing.

This journey for me of weight lose is no different than it is for anyone else trying to lose weight and find a healthy lifestyle. It is a journey. It is a process. It takes time. You have to keep your head in the game and continue moving forward. It is not about losing all the weight today or tomorrow, it is about finding a lifestyle that works for you, that you can maintain for life. Not a quite fix, yo-yo diet of losing and gaining.

When you want to give up, you are frustrated because you are not seeing the results you want, remind yourself:
This is a life long journey
It takes time
When you are doing this weight lose thing right, results can be slow, and that is good and healthy
It will be worth it in the end
Remember your goals and why you are doing this
Maybe you need to re-evaluate what you are doing and make some changes
Most importantly, do no give up!

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Pesto, Spaghetti Squash with Sea Food

A dinner I made the other night, simple, easy, delicious, and nutrient dense. What more could you ask for, all the produce came from our garden and it is Hublet approved. Life is good.

 tilapia  

Ingredients:
Spaghetti squash 
Pesto, recipe to follow
Garlic
Salt and Pepper
Tomatoes, diced 
Protein of choice, I used tilapia, salmon and shrimp
Butter for cooking

Pesto:
Fresh basil leaves, I used piccolo and sweet, about 2 cups roughly packed
Olive oil, to taste and liking, I do use more when using as a sauce
Garlic, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
Asiago cheese, medium pinch
Pine nuts, small hand full 

How to:
Cook squash, I do this by piercing the skin of the squash with a fork all around, place in a baking dish and cook in the oven at 350, this usually takes 45 to 60 minutes. The squash is done when you can easily squish it with your hand. While the squash is cooking, make the pesto. Place the basil, salt, pepper, garlic and olive oil into a blender or food processor and blend down. Add cheese and nuts, blend some more. Check for flavoring, adjust flavor as needed, and blend to your liking, basil all chopped and kind of thick and creamy. 
Once the squash is cooked, take out of the oven, cut off the stem end and slice in half, should be easy to do at this point, if cooked. Allow to cool some with butter inside. Once you can handle, scrap out seeds, with a fork scarp the squash and break up like spaghetti, place in a bowl with some pesto, mix well.
Cook protein. For the shrimp, mince garlic, heat pan with butter, salt and pepper, add the garlic and allow the garlic to brown. Once browned, add the shrimp and cook to liking. Do not over cook, the shrimp becomes rubbery. For the fish, I cooked it the same way as the shrimp. 
Layer it up, squash, protein, tomatoes and more pesto. 
Give thanks and enjoy! 


 salmon 

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
blessings
Jenn

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Stop Exercising for Fat Lose


Are you in the camp who thinks they need to "exerciser for fat lose"? Aren't all of us? I mean, duh, we have to exercise to lose fat and build muscle so we can increase our metabolism, that is what they tell us.

Is it working?

How about we have a change in thought? Exercise for hormone adaption and eat for fat lose
What do I mean by this:
Exercising is actually a stresser to the body. This stress can be either good or bad.
  • If good, creates a genetic response in the body to adapt, be healthier, get stronger, produce favorable genetic responses and has a positive impact on hormone production. Due keep in mind, fat lose is about hormone adaption, not calorie counting. This all makes the body stronger, happier and healthier. To be in a good stress adaptive state from exercise, it is not chronic, you fully recover between workouts, if you are tired, like we talked about in the last post, you do not work out. You push hard in a workout, such as sprinting, weight lifting or body weight exercises, but not to the point of exhaustion. You should feel energized after a workout. 
  • If bad the exact opposite happens to the body. The body is under stress, produces stress response hormones, which makes the body gain weight, be fatigued, not sleep well. You can go into a catablic state, your body breaking down muscle. You begin not seeing the results you want. Genetically, you are not producing genes that will not help you thrive, but cause disease. You will be stressing the adrenal glands, causing them to produce stress response hormones, and potentially burning out the adrenals. Not a good place to be here, avoid.
I know this is a completely different way of looking at exercise and takes some time to wrap your head around, especially for athletes. We are constantly told to lose weight you have to exercise more and more, do this workout for weight lose, do these exercise to get a six pack, burn off those thighs, take a look at Pinterest or Face Book, not saying these are bad places, I use them as well, but, isn't what you read and see all the time? I roll my eyes, makes me cringe. Yes, we can build muscle, strengthen the muscles, be healthier and stronger and that is what you should be focusing on with exercise, not weight lose.

You can build a healthier, stronger body by working out less, listening to the body, training smartly, and nourishing the body with food. You will have lasting results, be healthier and have the energy to enjoy this beautiful life you have been blessed with. By making these changes, looking at training differently, I feel better and I am getting the results I want from my body.

Go exercise smartly!
Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Resting the Body

 Enjoying the beauty of Banff Canada 

After my last competition, I decided to take time off from training and rest my body about four to six weeks. When you are an athlete, it is important to have down time, hard training time, maintenance and everything in between. It is important to listen to the body.

There are the days you have that you are tired and do not feel like working out. If this is a one time, occasional thing, no big deal. Pushing through can turn into some of your best workouts. If it is just a day you are unmotivated, pushing through and digging deep is a good thing. However, if it is happening more and more frequently, you are tired, no motivation, muscles are sore, you just do not have it in you to get through the workout, no interest in working out, some evaluation is in order. The body is giving you all these symptots for a reason, not just to make you crazy.
It could be just over worked, need more sleep, the body is not being nourished.
It could be going further, you might be over trained
You could be in adrenal fatigue, exhaustion or burnout.
There is a reason your body is tired and unmotivated, listen instead of pushing through when these signs are persistent.

I am beginning to slowly add training back into my routine and feeling great. My workouts are stronger, my body feels better and is responding perfectly to my training. All a good thing with prepping for my next competition in October.

Do not be afraid to listen to your body and take a break. It could be the best thing you do for your body. Remember, exercise is stressful to the body. If you exercise too much and put your body into a stress response, you risk gaining weight, and putting the body at risk for a host of problems due to stress hormones. Be mindful. Respect your body. Enjoy life!


Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

The End of Our Challenge

My finale photo for the challenge

Can you believe it, our challenge is over....! How time flies.
What did you learn about yourself?
Did you find any new recipes you like?
What did you find to be the most challenging aspect?
Were you able to confront some of your body image issues and struggles?
At the end of it all, I hope you learned about yourself, grew as a person and you are ready for summer!

Here are a few more recipes, just because:
Cherries dipped in white chocolate it is cherry season after all.
Strawberries in vinegar and cream
Lime and fish tacos

Be sure to send me your after photos for the chance to win a month of free health coaching with me!
Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Lighter, Summer Meals Make a Splash Plus a Powerful Practice


We are beginning the wind down of our challenge. With that said, it is time to add one more thing to our challenge for you to work on. The next step is, mirroring

Mirroring is simple, very difficult, but extremely powerful. Stand in front of the mirror with minimal to no clothing. Pick three things you like about yourself. Verbally, out loud, tell yourself what you like. Start with at least one thing and go from there. Try and see what other's see in you.
Let me know how it goes.

Here are you recipes for this week. Enjoy!

Raw Pad Thai
Cucumber Roll-Ups
Grilled Cauliflower, give the cauliflower some love, grilling it can change the texture and flavor, that you just might like.
Turkey Kebabs

Saving the world one stick o butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Why Are You Doing This?


How are things going for you for the challenge thus far? I hope you have found some new recipes you can enjoy.

I think this is a really great time to check in with yourself and ask why are you truly doing this challenge? Why do you want to lose weight, get into shape, become healthier? What is your motivation for wanting to make a lifestyle change? Making a lifestyle change is very difficult, it takes perseverance, commitment, time, but if you do not keep in mind why you are making these changes, it will make it to easy to fall off the wagon. Instead saying, I will start again tomorrow. This is not worth the struggle and what it takes to make all these changes.

If you do not have a clear reason as to why or a reason that is important enough to you, making the changes will not be important. It is too easy to give up.

Take the time to check in with yourself. Ask the hard questions, how important is this to you? If you do not change, what difference will it make, if any? What obstacles are you willing to face and push through to reach your goals? Recommit to yourself, to your goals, and push forward to reach what you want.

Here are this weeks recipes:
17 different grilled chicken ideas
Spicy pineapple chicken skewers
Garlic herb potatoes
Tomato cucumber avocado salad

If you missed last weeks recipe list, here it is!

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn

Monday, May 11, 2015

Ever Wonder What I Eat....?


I am frequently asked what my food intake looks like? How am I prepping for my next competition? What do I eat, how do I eat? How much? This is a weeks worth of eating for me. I am not trying to cut too much yet for my next competition, which is on June 6th. I will be doing that soon, but my food intake is not going to change drastically from this. 

Something to keep in mind, this is what WORKS for me. It does not mean it will work for you nor is it how you should eat. What it gives, is a good idea of healthy food choices and clean eating. 

One of the first things you will notice, I do not eat 5 or 6 small meals through out the day. I usually eat 2 meals, they are big meals, when I eat, I eat. There is no messing around, I nourish my body. Sometimes I do have a snack and sometimes I eat three meals, depends on how my body feels and when I am hungry. Again, this is what works for me.
I also will eat a lot of the same things in a week. It is easy to cook a large portion and then have it for several meals. The next week, I try to have different foods, gives variety and a good nutrition profile.
First thing in the morning, I drink a glass of water and take my thyroid medication. Then, I take the Boys, my dogs, for their walk, open run time, this is about an hour and half to two hours of exercise. I eat breakfast after this, so I am fasting several hours before eating my first meal. 
Supplements I take: Vit. D, desiccated liver, gelatin, Mega-Mag

Here you go!

Monday: 
Breakfast, bullet coffee, about 2 TBS of butter and 3 TBS of coconut oil, this is about the same every time I have it
3 medium eggs, scrambled with home made salsa, cheese and seasoning on a coconut tortilla that I made  


After workout snack/lunch:
Bone broth with gelatin and some nuts

Dinner: Chicken with seasoning, an Indian dish and Brussels sprouts with rhubarb 


Tuesday:
Breakfast was bullet coffee with 2 eggs, blended in the coffee, raw eggs
Coconut tortilla with almond butter 


Lunch:
My Grandparents!
I went out with my Grandparents! I try and visit with them once a week, it is very important to me to spend this time with them. They were so excited to take me out for lunch, new restaurant in their city. I had a salad at Costa Vida, pork, no rice, and I did not eat the shell 


Snack, coconut oil about one tsp, one hard boiled egg and some guacamole 

Dinner: beef stir fry, rice, variety of veggies, red curry with full fat coconut milk


Wednesday:
Bullet coffee, bacon and protein pancake with butter, honey and a kiwi 


After workout snack/lunch
Bone broth with gelatin and half coconut tortilla with almond butter


Dinner: 2 Brawts and a rice dish, veggies black beans, meat and seasonings


Thursday:
You guessed it, bullet coffee and protein pancakes, with almond butter, a kiwi and honey


Dinner was mixed green salad with veggies and chicken, in my own marinade.

Friday:
Before a morning workout I had coffee with full fat cream


Lunch, protein pancakes with butter


Dinner, I did not take pictures, we went out to dinner with my mom, very unusual that I ate out twice in a week. We had sushi with tempura veggies and some fried things. It was very tasty. I love sushi.
 I had a hard boiled egg, some pineapple when we came home and then popcorn and a grapefruit margarita, while we watched a movie  

Saturday:
Before my workout, I had coffee with cream
Brunch, coffee with cream, bacon, eggs and pancakes, we put real maple syrup on our pancakes, nice change



Dinner: Slow Cooker Kalua Pig salad with peppers, radishes, cheese and guacamole
I have extra of the pork so it will be used for the next week's meals.


Mother's Day, Sunday:
We had breakfast at Church, eggs, ham, orange slices and coffee.
Rest of the day:
Jello shots, chips and salsa, a couple of other drinks, hamburgers without the bun, large lettuce salad and a slice of cake for dessert.


Not pictured, most nights I also had a beer that my Hubby brews with dinner and other times I had a margarita of some type. Yup, I have had a drink even while prepping for my competition. 

That is it, my week of eating. None of it is hard, it can take some planning and adjusting at first, but once you are used to it, it is normal life. I hope this gives you some good ideas and help you see eating healthy is easy, fun and very tasty.

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Next Step In the Challenge: Get Moving


Four recipes for this week:
Squash Ravioli
Blackened Fish Tacos
Curry Coconut Milk Grilled Pork
Thai Mango Salad

Hopefully with these four recipes you will find something you enjoy and can make again and again!

The next step in the challenge is to get moving. Remember, about 80% of your physic, how your body looks, is your food intake. If you can get this on target, you will find yourself reaching your goals faster than you thought possible. With this being said, moving the body is very important. Our genes expect to move frequently at a slow pace through out the day, not sit for hours on end.

If you already have your workout plan, keep it up. Maybe you want to try something new, shake things up a bit. You never know, you might find something you enjoy that you never thought of.

For those of you who do not have a workout plan, here a few ideas:

  • Pick four exercises, squat jumps, push up, walking lunges and bicycle abs. Do a set number of reps, maybe 10 to 20, and do four or five sets/rounds. Try not to stop between exercises or sets. 
  • Walk
  • Take the stairs instead
  • Park at the back of the parking lot
  • Sprint
  • Go for a hike
  • Play with your kids, in the yard, at the park, do not just sit and watch them
  • Find something heavy around your house, a dog food bag, full laundry basket, large bag of rice, really anything that is "heavy" carrier it around for 10 minutes, squat with it
  • You do not need to go to a gym
  • You do not need to have expensive equipment or clothing and gadgets
  • Your body weight can give you a great workout
  • Sometimes all you need to be is a little creativity! 

Go out and get your body moving! You will feel better about yourself, look better, have more energy, sleep better and the list of benefits from working out will go on and on. Over this next month, find several types of activities you enjoy doing and get active. If you are enjoying what you are doing, it will not feel like a workout, it will be something you want to do. By having several things you enjoy, will not get bored and you have options.

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn

Monday, April 27, 2015

Easy Recipes to Cook Once and Eat Twice

This week I have three great recipes for you to try with an added bonus of an abundant resource for recipes. You could try a different recipe every day and it would take you months to get through them all.

With summer right around the corner, I thought grilling recipes and salads would be great. If you are like me, I do not like cooking inside once it gets hot out, I would much rather grill and have salads and such. With the warm weather around the corner, here in Utah, once again, grilling is what we are doing. However, do not be afraid to take out that slow cooker.

The first one on the list is: Mediterranean shrimp quinoa salad. This is a great easy salad to put together. You can do shrimp, chicken, no meat, whatever you would like. For the veggies, you can leave them raw, grill them, combinations, try different ways of preparing them, this will give the salad a different taste each time.

I have become a lover of steak over the last five plus years. With that being said, I am not a huge fan of plan steak, I like mine marinaded and with a dipping sauce. This might make me, not a true steak lover, but I am OK with that. The nice thing with this marinade, is it does not have to be marinaded for a  long period of time, 20 minutes can be long enough. Lime and rosemary steak.

I honestly have not tried this salad yet, but it looks really tasty. I have it on my Pinterest page, a great place to follow me for recipes. Cranberry avocado chicken salad, instead of the canola oil in the dressing, use extra olive oil or avocado oil. This would also be an easy way to batch cook chicken, grill a whole chicken or extra chicken one night and the next day or two, use the extra chicken in this salad, cook once, eat twice.

A great resource for recipes that are Primal/Paleo, super delish and most are easy without crazy ingredients. I have found many meals we truly enjoy from this site and when I am looking for something new, this is one of the places I go.

I hope you enjoy these meals. When making any of them, think about making extra for lunches, or cooking extra protein and having it for several meals instead of just one. This will make your cooking much easier and more efficient and gives you more than one meal. Around here, lunches are typically leftovers. Yummy

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Summer Body Lovin Challenge, Recipes


I hope you are all enjoying the challenge so far. What have you learned about yourself? What are you going to take with you once the challenge is over? Truly, my hope for you is beyond the challenge, that you are able to learn, grow and implement changes that can become a part of your lifestyle, beginning with the challenge and then beyond.

One of the biggest complaints I hear from my clients and others trying to make a lifestyle change is, what to cook. I need recipes. I need ideas of food to make instead of the same thing over and over.
Well, I hope to give you good recipes, resources to find recipes and healthy food you can enjoy. Each week for the remainder of the challenge, I will send you three recipes. Pick at least one and give it a try. This will give you a chance to try new recipes and have some in reserve to try later.

To begin with, lets start with breakfast:
First up Chocolate Muffins I made these the other day and I thought they turned out tasty. One of the things you will find with this recipe, is that it has beets in it. Keep an open mind, maybe start with less is you are nervous about the flavor. This is a perfect way to hid veggies you might other wise not eat and have all their benefits.

Next on the list is a fritta. The great thing about frittas is their versatility. The base is always the same, eggs. From there you can add whatever you would like, cheese, cream, meats and veggies. It can be different every time you make one.

Finally we have protein pancakes. Just like with the muffins, these are another great way to add veggies and fruit for their health benefits. You can also make a large batch of these for breakfast for the week, makes for quick and easy meals.

You can always have bacon and eggs or bullet coffee, butter and coconut oil blended into coffee, add eggs for a complete on the go breakfast.

If you are someone who is not hungry in the morning, never fear, fast through breakfast. You need to do what works best for your body. Just be sure when you are ready to eat, it is something healthy and nutrient dense. Do not binge on sugary foods.

A tip, when you eat breakfast, or any meal for that matter, you want to base it on fat, protein and veggies along with some in season fruit. By keeping the sugar low in all of your meals you keep your insulin levels low, which will help with weight lose and/or maintenance. Weight lose is more about insulin levels than the number of calories you eat. Breakfast is a great place to start with low insulin levels by avoiding excess sugar. Some fruit, honey, real maple syrup are OK, just do not go over board on them. A healthy amount of fat and protein at each meal will keep your insulin levels low and stable, give you more energy through out the day and keep you full for longer periods.

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn




Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Summer Body Loving Challeng

Well, you might have figured it out, but summer is around the corner, or maybe where you are it is here already or early. Summer means, shorts, tanks tops, short sleeved shirts, swim suits, backless dress, all the fun summer clothes. That entails us preparing our bodies, beginning know.

I know there are countless challenges out there to slim down by summer, get in shape by summer, whatever they are.  These are well and good, but what is more important to me, is that you love your body, you are comfortable in your skin, you concur your demons, or at least face them as I did mine with my bikini competition. Weight lose is a side effect, not the goal. Being healthy and loving your body and self is the goal.

So, by summer, I want you to be comfortable in your skin or at least begin to be, be able to say you love your body, you are proud of yourself. I want you to be able to confidently go out in your short shorts, bikini, summer dresses, tank tops, strut along the beach or pool side because you have worked hard, to love yourself, accept your body, flaws and all for where you are and know you have done all you can to be healthy for yourself, not me, not some fake model in a magazine or a photo shopped model who does not look like that in real life. Lets be real women and men and love our bodies and all their imperfections, all their glory, the amazing feats they do every day. The standard of beauty is no standard at all, who can compete with something not real? Lets be real.

Lets begin our challenge on Monday, April 13 and end it on June 15, that is eight weeks, a good amount of time to make a lot of progress and see changes in the body.

To begin:
We will start with the first part of the sugar challenge, no sugar. This will include no alcohol, fruit, any type of sugary foods, artificial sugars and sweeteners. Some honey is OK, do not exceed a table spoon a day. Really try to not eat grains either, remember these are sugars to the body. Two weeks of going grain free is very doable. This will help kick start our bodies out of depending on sugar for fuel and relying more on fats and protein. Be sure to concentrate on fats first, butter, coconut oil, fatty cuts of meats, whole eggs, avocados, some nuts and seeds and then on protein and healthy carbs from veggies, once the two weeks is up, you can go back to some fruit.

The second part, picking one to three areas of your body you do not like, that should be easy for most of us. I want you to take a picture of yourself, share it with us, you can hid your face, on my face book page however you are comfortable sharing. We are going to work on loving these body parts, seeing them for what is really there, not what we have made up in our heads that might not be the truth. We are going to work on accepting these parts of ourselves we do not like and track the progress. You will have a whole community to help support you, to help you see what is really there, not what you have made up in your head. We need to learn to see ourselves through the eyes of others, not our misconstrued self. 

After the first two weeks, of the sugar challenge, deciding the one to three areas of our bodies we want to work on and our pictures, each week will entail different challenges to help you grow, accept yourself, love yourself, challenge yourself to grow as a person and by the end, see yourself in a whole knew light. You will be confident in who you are.

Are you ready to join me? Lets begin.

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn



Monday, March 30, 2015

Journey to a Bikini Fitness Competition, No Calorie Counting

Something I think most of us as women forget or do not realize, the women in fitness magazines, models and such do not look like they do in their shoots, cat walks, competitions all the time. They pre-pare for months to be that lean. They diet down, cut calories, dehydrate themselves, and unfortunately some even go so far as starvation, bulimia and causing permanent damage to their bodies. But, these are the images we are bombard with and think we need to achieve to be beautiful, self confident, sexy.

With that being said, I decided to be really crazy and entered into a physic/bikini competition. I did this for many reasons, but in the end it was to compete, push myself and have fun. I know, we all have different definitions of fun, but entering a bikini fitness competition was fun, to me!
I took some photos to document my journey, the first one is from July 2014 and my competition was in March of 2015. I put some of the changes to my eating habits, I did not do anything to extreme. I wanted to come out of the competition with my health, that was my top priority, along with my sanity and not making my hubby want to divorce me because of this. I manage to do them all, kept my health, stayed happy, up beat and good energy levels and my Hubby is still my Hubby! He thought I was normal through out it, did not notice a difference other than a day or two, something unheard of in the competitive fitness industry.

What I hope to show you through this journey is:

  • what a healthy maintained weight looks like, this is not stage or photo ready for most of us.
  • what is takes to diet down and lean out to put your ass in a teany tiny ittsy, bittys bikini for stage.
  • this stage ready look is not maintainable, realistic or healthy.
  • show some of my own personal demons I had to face.




First part of July out boating with some close friends. I trained hard and enjoyed my life, eating mostly Primal, ~90% nothing strict or extreme.


Beginning of October 
The largest change I had made from the top photo to this one was adding in CrossFit with the heavy weights, about the same on my Primal eating, other than I began eating more. I actually increased my food intake. If you are not eating enough, you will not lose weight.

End of December
From this pic and the one above, there were several changes, my body went through some good detoxing, nothing crazy or scary, feeding my body at a cellular level with nutrient dense food, adding in desiccated liver supplements as well as a specific liver detox supplement. Both from this company: Perfect Supplements. I also started watching more closely what I was eating, things like only having one glass of wine or nothing to drink at night, one serving at a meal instead of seconds cause it was tasty, but I was not really hungry for more and reducing my over all carb load. I always felt nourished and satisfied. I was not depriving myself of nutrition or health, I just stopped over indulging, even on healthy foods. I had super high energy levels and trained hard, heavy and fast in the gym. I tried keeping up with the big boys at our box, tried is the operative word, but this made me push hard. It was always fun! 




Obvious changes 
Working on my front pose. From this pic to one above, a lot changed, I am just under 3 weeks out from my competition, guess I forgot to take more photos in between, sorry, this is the end of February. I used my sugar challenge to really kick off my prep for the competition and once it was over, I continued eating about the same way as I was on the challenge. I did go into fat ketosis much further and began decreasing my over calories. I was eating a lot of fat, moderate protein and low carb along with fasted workouts. My body really liked ketosis, so did my brain, other than the low calories. Due to fat ketosis, I was able to stay really stable in mood and not go crazy. Most people could not believe how happy I was and sane. If I had not told them about my competition, they would not have known. Ketosis was good, something I will keep up once the competition is over, just not as low on the over all calories, eat when I am hungry and until I am fully satisfied.
Idea of how I ate:
Breakfast was several hours after waking and some type of workout, walking the dogs, plyometric workout, something to get the body moving, most mornings
 Bullet coffee, at least 3 TBS of both butter and coconut oil and 2 whole eggs
Sometimes I scrambled my eggs, sometimes I did protein pancakes, just depended.
Lunch was hit and miss, depending on how hungry I was and when I worked out. I did eat a lot of salmon during my prep, about 3 times a week, usually for lunch with a salad or some other veggies, cooked in fat and drizzled with olive oil salt and pepper. Other times I did left overs.
Dinner was always from scratch, typical healthy, primal meals. I would say most of my eating came at dinner time. It was a combination of fat, meat and veggies. I did eat a lot of sweet potatoes until the last two weeks or so.
I drank bone broth with gelatin almost every day as well.
Snacks were not eaten often and if I did snack it was usually coconut oil or hard boiled eggs. The fat and protein kept my energy up and my mood stable.
For all of you who think you need to count calories, weigh your food, follow the flowed common wisdom, I NEVER counted a calorie, weighed my food, measured, counted how many of something I ate. I just ate real, nutrient, dense, rich foods, just not as much as normal. Calories in verses calories out only works on paper, not in real life. These pics are proof. You do not need to count calories, weigh your food, say you ate 5 asparagus sprigs, just eat real, nutrient dense, foods, feeding your body at a cellular level. Focus on healthy fats first.

Working with my posing coach, 2 weeks to competition 

                                                              Inside the two week mark



I honestly freaked at this point and did not think I would be lean enough for stage and decided I really needed to lose another 5 lbs. This is my demon and it got the best of me. Everyone was telling me I looked great, but I could not see it, more on this later. I did lose the 5 plus pounds by going deeper into ketosis, fasted cardio workouts and getting lots of sleep. I would not recommend this to anyone. I lost it healthy, but did not need to lose the last 5 lbs. I was too lean for my competition. I can see it know, but I could not then.

Competition Day!
It all came down to this....



                                                
Following day cheat! It was tasty.

At the end of all this, I am truly happy with myself, in fact I am proud of myself. I am still blown away by the body I created, but I have also learned and grown, more on that to come. I hope you can see, it takes a lot of work, dedication, will power and desire to compete and lean down to what I did. I hope you can see you do not need to lose those last five to ten pounds. Learn to love your body, what is really there, not what you are making up in your head.

                                                    
No flexing

Here I am about two weeks out from my competition. I have put back on some of the weight. I took a week off from training, my body was truly grateful for that and re-nourished my body. I went right back to my Primal eating, with loads of fat, maybe not as much, but still a good amount. Where my body will stabilize, I am not really sure, but I will continue to nourish it at a cellular level.
Learn to be happy with your body, love it, enjoy it, it is the only one you have to take you through this amazing journey called life.

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God's abundant blessings,
Jenn