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