Quit Slacking Off!
What are you waiting for? You keep saying that you are going to “step it up” and that this time, is going to be “the time” that you finally crack down and stick to your diet. Ask yourself this…why do you have to say that over and over again? Just DO IT ALREADY!!!! Quit talking about what you are going to do and DO IT! Aren’t you tired and frustrated of always wanting to make change but never being able to actually create change? Who is to blame? It’s not your kids, it’s not your job, it’s not your finances, it’s not lack of time, and it’s not anything but a bunch of excuses and lack of personal initiative. It’s your choice; it’s where you priorities things that is important to you. That’s the truth and you know it. If was really important to you and if it was really a priority, you would find a way to get your workouts done and your meals prepped. I know that it is important to you or you wouldn’t care enough to reach out for help or read this, but you still find a way to justify excuses for yourself. Excuses are easy, commitments are not.
If enjoying that extra slice of pizza or homemade dessert is more satisfying to you than being able to look good and feel great about yourself in a bathing suit then fine… keep doing what your doing. Are you bettering yourself? No! Looking good is not simple. If it was, everyone would look amazing. It takes self sacrifice, commitment, patience and hard work. I am not the first to say that changing your body is a lot hard work! But don’t be afraid of hard work and don’t be afraid of failure. Be afraid of giving up.
Oh and a bit of advice… get over being hungry! Being hungry is part of the “game”. Go find me a “good looking” person with an attractive physique and ask them if they eat till they’re stuffed? It doesn’t happen. Someone who has a good physique makes a very conscious effort to look good and maintain their body weight.
Ask yourself, are those extra few bites going to make you feel better about yourself? Absolutely not! You might “feel” good for a few minutes while you enjoy the flavors of the food, but how are you going to feel afterwards? Full, uncomfortable, guilty. Is that “temporary feeling of enjoying flavors of your food going to make you feel better about yourself? A co worker asked me, “How do you do it? How do you have such discipline?” My response to her was this, “I can be chubby and dream about being g skinny or I can be skinny and dream about food”.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Carbless Flax Muffin
Carbless Flax Muffin
Ingredients:
4 TBSP of Flax meal
4 TBSP water
Dash of cinnamon
Directions:
In a small circle shaped Tupperware, mix flax meal, water and cinnamon together and put in microwave for 2 minutes. After it’s cooked, tip Tupperware upside down and muffin should fall out perfectly! *Optional- drizzle a little peanut butter on top.
Macro’s:
Calories: 120
Carbs: 8
Protein: 4
Fat: 12
Fiber: 8
**Its carb-less because the carbs in flax are all from Fiber (remember they are "net" carbs)
Ingredients:
4 TBSP of Flax meal
4 TBSP water
Dash of cinnamon
Directions:
In a small circle shaped Tupperware, mix flax meal, water and cinnamon together and put in microwave for 2 minutes. After it’s cooked, tip Tupperware upside down and muffin should fall out perfectly! *Optional- drizzle a little peanut butter on top.
Macro’s:
Calories: 120
Carbs: 8
Protein: 4
Fat: 12
Fiber: 8
**Its carb-less because the carbs in flax are all from Fiber (remember they are "net" carbs)
Friday, August 20, 2010
Apple Flax Cake Recipe
Apple Flax Cake Recipe
This recipe is from my friend, Alanna Blanco Foudy
Ingredients:
-one egg
-2-3 tbsp of shredded apple
-3 tbsp of milled/ground flax seeds
-1 tsp of Stevia (I use one packet)
-2 tbsp of filtered water - if you use closer to 3 tbsp of shredded apple, you may just need one 1 tbsp of water
-olive oil spray
- 1/8 to 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
Directions:
1. whisk the egg, apple, flaxseeds, cinnamon and stevia together with the water in a small bowl.
2. lightly coat an omelet pan with olive oil spran and heat over medium heat. (I actually use a griddle)
3. pour the egg mixture into the pan and cook until the bottom of the flaxcake is solid enough to flip, 3 to 4 minutes
4. carefully flip the flaxcake, cookinguntil done, about 1 minute
5. sprinkle with cinnamon and serve
This recipe is from my friend, Alanna Blanco Foudy
Ingredients:
-one egg
-2-3 tbsp of shredded apple
-3 tbsp of milled/ground flax seeds
-1 tsp of Stevia (I use one packet)
-2 tbsp of filtered water - if you use closer to 3 tbsp of shredded apple, you may just need one 1 tbsp of water
-olive oil spray
- 1/8 to 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
Directions:
1. whisk the egg, apple, flaxseeds, cinnamon and stevia together with the water in a small bowl.
2. lightly coat an omelet pan with olive oil spran and heat over medium heat. (I actually use a griddle)
3. pour the egg mixture into the pan and cook until the bottom of the flaxcake is solid enough to flip, 3 to 4 minutes
4. carefully flip the flaxcake, cookinguntil done, about 1 minute
5. sprinkle with cinnamon and serve
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Stairmaster Success
There are numerous reasons why to incorporate cardio into your training program.
Without getting too complicated, a few of the benefits associated with cardiovascular exercise is that it burns immediate calories, revs up our metabolism for about 45 minutes afterwards, conditions our leg muscles and keeps us “heart healthy”. Our heart is forced to pump rich, oxygenated blood to our cells, flushing out toxins within our body. Our body improves its ability to function properly to metabolize fat and improve our cardiovascular performance. Not to mention the fact that when performed intensely, it is mentally therapeutic because of the release of hormones that occurs, making us feel better when it’s finished.
When done properly, I believe that the Stairmaster is the best man made piece of cardio equipment; it’s my personal favorite and it is almost always my first choice. I always make sure I’m challenged and that I’m training my body and giving it exactly what it needs in regards to intensity.
There are definitely days when I have to “force” myself to get through a cardio session. I don’t really like to use the word “force” because really, I want to be there, I want to do it, and I know it’s good for me and I know I’ll feel so much better once I get started. None the less, I’m human and there are days that I would rather not, but I do it anyways because it needs to get done and integrating a healthy cardiovascular training program into your training is important.
When I’m training for a show, sometimes I have to do an hour of cardio at a time. An hour is not always recommended for everyone. But for me and my training goals for my competitions, it is important because in order to enhance the abundance of fat metabolism at a given time, cardiovascular exercise programs need to incorporate long duration and light intensity.
I can generally tolerate 30 minutes of cardio with no problem. Anything longer than that, and I have to start bribing myself. An hour long session of straight cardio is a long time and believe me… I get board! I don’t like splitting up cardio machines, because as I mentioned, I believe that the Stairmaster is the best and often times it is inconvenient for me to get off of on machine, rest and then get started on another; I’d rather just keep going without stopping.
What’s my bribe and what do I do get through it? Aside from a powerful mind and a commitment to myself that I am going to get it done, I am a serious gum chewer! I tell me self that I will give myself a fresh piece of gum every 15 minutes. That’s my trick and it works for me! When I think I can’t do any more or that I don’t want to do anymore, I just tell myself that I’ll get a fresh burst of flavor in a few short minutes! It’s like a treat and it mentally breaks up my cardio sessions every quarter. Seeing my cardio sessions in bouts of 15 minutes is whole lot more “mentally” attainable. It’s like setting 4 mini goals to achieve the bigger goal of finishing an entire hour.
Other tricks that motivate me are having my iPod loaded with good tunes, a good magazine and a buddy/friend to sweat with.
Without getting too complicated, a few of the benefits associated with cardiovascular exercise is that it burns immediate calories, revs up our metabolism for about 45 minutes afterwards, conditions our leg muscles and keeps us “heart healthy”. Our heart is forced to pump rich, oxygenated blood to our cells, flushing out toxins within our body. Our body improves its ability to function properly to metabolize fat and improve our cardiovascular performance. Not to mention the fact that when performed intensely, it is mentally therapeutic because of the release of hormones that occurs, making us feel better when it’s finished.
When done properly, I believe that the Stairmaster is the best man made piece of cardio equipment; it’s my personal favorite and it is almost always my first choice. I always make sure I’m challenged and that I’m training my body and giving it exactly what it needs in regards to intensity.
There are definitely days when I have to “force” myself to get through a cardio session. I don’t really like to use the word “force” because really, I want to be there, I want to do it, and I know it’s good for me and I know I’ll feel so much better once I get started. None the less, I’m human and there are days that I would rather not, but I do it anyways because it needs to get done and integrating a healthy cardiovascular training program into your training is important.
When I’m training for a show, sometimes I have to do an hour of cardio at a time. An hour is not always recommended for everyone. But for me and my training goals for my competitions, it is important because in order to enhance the abundance of fat metabolism at a given time, cardiovascular exercise programs need to incorporate long duration and light intensity.
I can generally tolerate 30 minutes of cardio with no problem. Anything longer than that, and I have to start bribing myself. An hour long session of straight cardio is a long time and believe me… I get board! I don’t like splitting up cardio machines, because as I mentioned, I believe that the Stairmaster is the best and often times it is inconvenient for me to get off of on machine, rest and then get started on another; I’d rather just keep going without stopping.
What’s my bribe and what do I do get through it? Aside from a powerful mind and a commitment to myself that I am going to get it done, I am a serious gum chewer! I tell me self that I will give myself a fresh piece of gum every 15 minutes. That’s my trick and it works for me! When I think I can’t do any more or that I don’t want to do anymore, I just tell myself that I’ll get a fresh burst of flavor in a few short minutes! It’s like a treat and it mentally breaks up my cardio sessions every quarter. Seeing my cardio sessions in bouts of 15 minutes is whole lot more “mentally” attainable. It’s like setting 4 mini goals to achieve the bigger goal of finishing an entire hour.
Other tricks that motivate me are having my iPod loaded with good tunes, a good magazine and a buddy/friend to sweat with.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Recipe: Carb-less Flax Wrap
Carb-less Flax Wrap
Ingredients:
2 TBS flax meal
2 TBS water
1 egg white
Instructions:
Mix all three ingredients together, and pour into a skillet. The batter may come out a little thick; if this happens just spread it out in the pan end to end. Flip and cook both sides thoroughly.
I am really enjoying these! You can use them anyway you would use a tortilla! I like to use them to make tuna or chicken wraps. I also really like them for breakfast to wrap my eggs in! It’s like a healthy burrito omelet! They are even great with a little almond or peanut butter spread on them.
Macro's:
Calories: 77 grams
Carbohydrates: 4 grams
Protein: 5.5 grams
Fat: 6 grams
What’s so great about Flax? Flax is great for our digestive health since it has lots of fiber and healthy fats which is important for our digestive health and the overall function of our cells. Only 2 TBS of flax has only has 4 grams of carbs, but since Flax is very fibrous all 4 grams of carbs in Flax are “fiber” carbs. Therefore, they count as “net” carbs. In other words, the carbs get passed through your digestive track and are not necessarily metabolized as energy.
Ingredients:
2 TBS flax meal
2 TBS water
1 egg white
Instructions:
Mix all three ingredients together, and pour into a skillet. The batter may come out a little thick; if this happens just spread it out in the pan end to end. Flip and cook both sides thoroughly.
I am really enjoying these! You can use them anyway you would use a tortilla! I like to use them to make tuna or chicken wraps. I also really like them for breakfast to wrap my eggs in! It’s like a healthy burrito omelet! They are even great with a little almond or peanut butter spread on them.
Macro's:
Calories: 77 grams
Carbohydrates: 4 grams
Protein: 5.5 grams
Fat: 6 grams
What’s so great about Flax? Flax is great for our digestive health since it has lots of fiber and healthy fats which is important for our digestive health and the overall function of our cells. Only 2 TBS of flax has only has 4 grams of carbs, but since Flax is very fibrous all 4 grams of carbs in Flax are “fiber” carbs. Therefore, they count as “net” carbs. In other words, the carbs get passed through your digestive track and are not necessarily metabolized as energy.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Your Stairmaster Workout is Not working... Here's Why!
Get your hands off of the stair master! Just barely touching the Stairmaster with your finger tips will save you from lifting 30% of your own body weight! How much work do you think you are really doing when you’re hanging all over it?
Do you want to work out or just look like you are working out? One of my biggest pet peeve’s in the gym is when I see people on the stair master hunched over, slouching, leaning on the rails or holding on for dear life. It seriously drives me crazy!!! Great you’re sweating and huffing and puffing. Great you’re on a really high intensity level. Here’s what I have to say… Get real and move over so someone else can properly use it! What are you trying to do here…impress yourself? You’re looking like a mess and like you don’t know what you’re doing.
Here’s what you’re not doing. You’re not giving yourself a good workout, you’re not being honest with yourself and you’re NOT getting results! Your totally cheating and devaluing (in my opinion) the best man made piece of cardio equipment for fat burning!
You are totally ruining its purpose and function when you don’t practice good form. If you think you’re training hard when your slouching and sweating all over the machine, imagine how much better of a workout you’ll do if you actually do it right. Imagine how much faster you will drop body fat and improve your cardio respiratory function if you train your body to lift itself instead of hanging on the rails.
The next time you climb the stairs, let me challenge you to challenge yourself. Turn down the intensity, stand tall with your chest up and shoulders down and back. Plant your feet so that they are flat on each step and keep your hands off the rail! Don’t even touch the stair master with your finger tips…not once! If you feel awkward about what to do with your hands, place them on your hips or practice good posture by keeping them at your sides. If you’re a real rock star and you want to challenge yourself, slow down the speed, grab a pair of dumbbells or a barbell and very carefully and with perfect posture, do overhead shoulder presses as you step. Tell me you don’t sweat and feel like you had a hard workout after this.
Do you have a pet peeve at the gym? Are you the “sloppy Stairmaster” person that I’m describing or do you do it right? Do you disagree with my opinion? Let me know.
What motivates you?
Do you want to work out or just look like you are working out? One of my biggest pet peeve’s in the gym is when I see people on the stair master hunched over, slouching, leaning on the rails or holding on for dear life. It seriously drives me crazy!!! Great you’re sweating and huffing and puffing. Great you’re on a really high intensity level. Here’s what I have to say… Get real and move over so someone else can properly use it! What are you trying to do here…impress yourself? You’re looking like a mess and like you don’t know what you’re doing.
Here’s what you’re not doing. You’re not giving yourself a good workout, you’re not being honest with yourself and you’re NOT getting results! Your totally cheating and devaluing (in my opinion) the best man made piece of cardio equipment for fat burning!
You are totally ruining its purpose and function when you don’t practice good form. If you think you’re training hard when your slouching and sweating all over the machine, imagine how much better of a workout you’ll do if you actually do it right. Imagine how much faster you will drop body fat and improve your cardio respiratory function if you train your body to lift itself instead of hanging on the rails.
The next time you climb the stairs, let me challenge you to challenge yourself. Turn down the intensity, stand tall with your chest up and shoulders down and back. Plant your feet so that they are flat on each step and keep your hands off the rail! Don’t even touch the stair master with your finger tips…not once! If you feel awkward about what to do with your hands, place them on your hips or practice good posture by keeping them at your sides. If you’re a real rock star and you want to challenge yourself, slow down the speed, grab a pair of dumbbells or a barbell and very carefully and with perfect posture, do overhead shoulder presses as you step. Tell me you don’t sweat and feel like you had a hard workout after this.
Do you have a pet peeve at the gym? Are you the “sloppy Stairmaster” person that I’m describing or do you do it right? Do you disagree with my opinion? Let me know.
What motivates you?
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Chocolate Protein Pancake Recipe
One of my favorite things to eat and enjoy is a protein pancake! So good! I promise that you will love them too! I actually learned this from a friend of mine when were competing together. Now there are LOTS of different recipes to follow for making protein pancakes. I prefer this one because it’s quick, simple and requires just a few ingredients.
Ingredients:
1 scoop of flavored protein powder
2 egg whites
¼ cup of pumpkin
1 tbsp Coco powder
Ingredients:
1 scoop of flavored protein powder
2 egg whites
¼ cup of pumpkin
1 tbsp Coco powder
Directions:
Mix ingredients together in a bowl and then pour into a pan. You may have to add a little bit of water to the batter or “pat” the mixture down in the pan, as it will come out pretty think. Cook in the pan over medium heat (about the same as if you were cooking eggs) about 2 minutes each side. The taste great warm, cold and are even great to save and keep in the fridge for a few days to enjoy later.
** Make it like a sandwich and add a table spoon of peanut butter or almond butter…YUM!
Tip: Use a “casein” protein rather than a whey protein… it cooks/bakes much better because the protein molecules don’t break down as fast as in whey and it binds well with the egg whites to make a thick cooking batter.
Flavors I enjoy are chocolate, vanilla, and pumpkin. Just add a little coco powder, cinnamon spice or pumpkin spice to your batter to enhance the favors.
Maco’s for 1 protein pancake:
Calories: 190 calories
Carbs: 9g
Protein: 31g
Fat: 3 g
Tip: Use a “casein” protein rather than a whey protein… it cooks/bakes much better because the protein molecules don’t break down as fast as in whey and it binds well with the egg whites to make a thick cooking batter.
Flavors I enjoy are chocolate, vanilla, and pumpkin. Just add a little coco powder, cinnamon spice or pumpkin spice to your batter to enhance the favors.
Maco’s for 1 protein pancake:
Calories: 190 calories
Carbs: 9g
Protein: 31g
Fat: 3 g
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