The Fame of Health and Fitness

MY CLEAN EATS: Tuesday, September 18th, 2012

• pancakes (with one overripe banana), CleanNutCup
• pancakes
• pancakes, baby carrots
• extra lean ground turkey, green beans
• extra lean ground turkey, green beans, brown rice, grape tomatoes
• bell peppers
• Ezekiel cereal, peanut butter
• salmon, mixed greens salad with fig vinegar

WOD: 45 minutes of stepmill. My entire body is sore, especially my glutes! Honestly, it’s difficult to walk on ground level, let alone the stairs. It hurts to sit and worse to get up. It has been a while since I have had this burn but I like it! Pain is temporary and I know I did a good job lifting on Monday. 

2012/2013 GOAL: TIGHTER GLUTES!

MY CLEAN EATS: Monday, September 17th, 2012

• pancakes, CleanNutCup
• pancakes, apple
• asparagus, ground turkey, bell pepper
• asparagus, ground turkey, brown rice, grape tomatoes
• asparagus, mushrooms, onions, ground turkey, celery
• Ezekiel cereal, almond butter
• mixed greens salad with fig vinegar, ground turkey, mushrooms

WOD: 15 minutes cardio + LEGS »> Everything hurts! Especially my glutes!!! 

TODAY’S CLEAN MEALS: Sunday, September 16th, 2012

1. pancakes, bell pepper (odd combo yes but I was feeling like something fresh)
2. pancakes,carrots
3. pancakes, cucumbers
4. buffalo, mushrooms, green beans, whole wheat macaroni, salad with fig vinegar
5. Ezekiel original cereal, peanut butter
6. CleanNutCup
7. Extra lean ground turkey

WOD: Back to back 90 minute Ultimate Frisbee games (180 minutes with subs). Today was a gorgeous day to be outside and I am happy it wasn’t spent in the gym. I am really taking a liking to this new sport…it’s fun, intense, a great cardio workout, and it gives my fiancée and I more opportunity to spend together. I think this might be my new favourite sport aside from fitness. Trying new activities keeps things fresh and during my off season is the best time to do it. No excuses!

MY CLEAN EATS: Saturday, September 15th, 2012

• sprouted grain bread with peanut butter (I ate light considering the night before)
• protein pancake (with 1 overripe banana - the best!)
  
• protein pancakes
• buffalo, celery
• shrimp, salad with fig vinegar
• buffalo, onions, mushrooms, whole wheat macaroni
• CleanNutCup

WOD: 45 minutes cardio + weights +abs

My vacation gave my body a good break to recover but after today I realized how much my body missed lifting heavy. I know I will be sore tomorrow because I gave it my all, not to mention that my abs are already hurting. Good stuff! Here we go baby!

My Clean Meals: Wednesday, September 12th, 2012

• protein pancakes with banana
• protein pancakes with strawberries
• whole wheat macaroni with tilapia + carrots
• green beans with tilapia + celery
• grape tomatoes, almonds, green beans and tilapia
• pancakes

I am still catching up with life since being back from vacation and working full time so I have not had as much time to get fancy with my meals or cook multiple proteins (hence the tilapia). But that’s okay because the bottom line and most important piece is eating my 6 clean meals every couple of hours and including all food groups. My job is done and my body feels amazing when I eat clean.

I know for sure that my body and mind run differently when I eat clean verses dirty. Eating clean is definitely the fuel I need to function and keep up with my busy schedule and training.

Do you find a difference in the way you feel when you eat clean vs. dirty?

So clean it squeaks!

Today’s meals:

• sprouted grain bread with all natural peanut butter + egg white scramble with buffalo
• protein pancakes
• protein pancakes
• brown rice with buffalo + cucumbers
• sprouted grain English muffin with all natural peanut butter + banana
• whole wheat pasta with mushrooms and buffalo

There was a lot of buffalo today but the answer to that is simple, I love it and I didn’t have time to cook multiple proteins. What you see is exactly what I ate, no more or no less. I drank 1 green tea, 1 coffee, and 4L of water.

When I feel disorganized (or not organized to my standards) I will choose to take it OFF from the gym so I can take time to prepare my meals, organize my workouts, my clothes for work and for the gym, run errands etc. That is exactly what I did and tonight I am hitting my bed early and committing to getting more sleep. Last season I learned the hard way that workouts will suffer if I am not rested. I am learning from last season as of tonight.

How many hours of sleep do you get a night on average?

This weekend I went away and these are the clean eats that came with me in my cooler!

• grape tomatoes
• baby carrots
• celery
• bell peppers
• mini Babybel light cheese
• almonds
• protein pancakes
• extra lean ground turkey
• green beans
• sprouted grain English muffins
• all-natural crunchy peanut butter
• blueberry jam
• water
• mint green tea

ROAD TRIP

I’ve got all my necessities packed, Oxygen magazine, runners, and clean eats. What’s in my cooler?

1. Baby carrots

2. Grape tomatoes

3. Celery

4. Cucumbers

5. Green beans

6. Bell peppers

7. Extra lean ground turkey

8. Tofu

9. Chicken

10. Protein pancakes

11. Almonds

12. Light Mini Babybel cheese

13. Apple

14. sprouted grain English muffins with all natural crunchy peanut butter

15. water

CLEAN BREAKFAST: 1 sprouted grain English muffin with 1 TBSP all natural crunchy PB and 1 TBSP of blueberry jam with a mushroom, extra lean ground turkey egg white scramble + Frank’s.

BLACK COFFEE UPDATE: For roughly the last two weeks before my show I did not have dairy which meant I had to drink my coffee black. During the time it was doable but now that my dairy is back in my diet I still prefer to drink my coffee with 1/4 cup skim milk. But to be fair, only drinking my coffee black was two weeks was not a fair go, four weeks would be more sufficient. I might still give it a try and go black for a month and see if it sticks and if it does I will use that serving of dairy somewhere else in my diet like having a larger portion of Greek yogurt for example. Even if I go black I will never give up my non-fat Americano Mistos.

It took me a very long time to get used to green tea and if I can used to drinking that (which I don’t go a day without) then I can get used to drinking my coffee black. To be continued!

As per requested!

Here is what a STARCHY CARB FREE DAY can look like for me:

1. cod, brussels sprouts, strawberries, ‘chocolate’ protein cups, coconut butter
2. extra lean ground turkey, yellow bell peppers
3. cabbage, extra lean ground turkey, cucumber salad with flax seed oil
4. extra lean ground turkey, brussels sprouts, cucumbers, almonds
   
5. extra lean ground turkey, cabbage, celery
6. cabbage, grape tomatoes, cod, ‘chocolate’ protein cups

Drinks: WATER, decaf green tea, black coffee

NOTE: It appears to be a lot turkey on this day and I have more protein options than this but my favourite lean protein is extra lean ground turkey so I tend to eat it a lot.

Remember: These starchy carb free days are in preparation for my competition coming up. I usually include carbs in 3-5 meals a day.

Today’s clean lunch: spinach salad with white tuna, 2tsp flax seed oil and 1 TBSP Fig vinegarette + cucumbers and toasted almonds on the side. Complimented with water and Cucumber white tea

What’s on your plate?

Third clean meal of the day and it’s only 10:30AM: tuna steak with bell peppers and cucumbers on the side!

Yesterday’s Clean Eats!

• protein pancakes topped with blueberries, strawberries, coconut butter
• tuna steak spinach salad with flax seed oil + oatmeal and blueberries on the side
  
• extra lean ground turkey, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and pancakes with coconut butter on the side
  
• extra lean ground turkey with broccoli +grape tomatoes and cucumber
• extra lean ground turkey, Brussels sprouts + bell peppers + almonds
  
• tuna steak with long grain grown rice

Drinks: water, black coffee, green tea

[Note: I mixed 1 can of tomato paste into my extra lean ground turkey to keep it moist while baking + Frank’s + Mrs. Dash. Also, my tuna steaks were marinated in fresh lime juice, chili pepper flakes, ground pepper, and Bragg]

POST-WORKOUT MEAL: Chocolate protein pancakes with Coconut Butter, blueberries, and sugar-free syrup

38 DAYS OUT WAS DELICIOUS!

Today’s meal:

1. Pancakes (egg whites, cottage cheese, MAGNUM vanilla isolate, chia seeds, oats +coconut oil)) + one of Leslie’s CleanNutButterCups
2. Two hard boiled whole eggs, melody grape tomatoes, cucumber
3. Brown rice and shrimp with Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and Bragg, and baby carrots
4. Banana, Dara’s chocolate pudding (+ crunchy PB) and Ezekiel Original cereal
5. Pancakes
6. Turkey, onion, garlic, mushroom, and tomato sauce stir-fry + CleanNutButterCup

Food is my fuel. I enjoy every bite, feel satisfied, and never feel weighed down. Don’t ever deprive your body of food. All food is important but it always seems that people restrict two main types of food: carbs and healthy fats. You need these!

Diets and starvation don’t work and if you find temporary ‘success’ just know that this will all come to an end and when the end arrives you will have done damage to your system. Treat yourself with respect and love and give your body what it needs. Practice clean eating and you will see a difference in how you look and feel. Eat clean for health, not to lose weight. Focusing on eating clean for health benefits instead of weight-loss is what helped me stay focused on making this a lifestyle. If you’re not already eating clean and begin to, you will soon notice that losing weight and inches is a side effect, in addition to increased energy, happiness, and confidence.

Did you know before I started to eat clean that I thought taking a nap after dinner was normal? It’s not.

Get on board people, stop looking for a quick fix and start eating wholesome foods.

It’s time to start living!