Forget the Past, Live in the Moment.

Good morning!

Last night I hit a pretty big realization which just motivated me to the max. What I most realized was that I had probably one of the best cardio work outs on my own that I’ve had in a loooooong time. And that was mostly due to the fact that my other cardio day this past week was complete crap. I made excuses after excuse that day, “my legs were tired from my leg day Monday”, “It’s snowing really bad out and I shouldn’t stay long”, “Well I did this many sprints, sooo that should do the trick”. GRRR just thinking about it makes me so mad!

I’m not one to not put my whole effort into things anymore. That was the old me, and it made me so mad that I let the old me slip in and make excuse after excuse to make myself feel better about the situation. The main reason why I’m frustrated is because my trainer gave me a goal weight to hit by February 14, which I know I can do! But if I continue to have crappy cardio days like that, then someone might as well hand me a donut because it just won’t happen…(I have donuts on the brain because tonight is my card night 🙂 !)

But thats why last night I knew that I needed to forget about Tuesday, I can’t change what happened, and hey I slipped up it happens. BUT NO MORE! I woke up yesterday on a mission, a mission to kick my own butt harder than I’v ever before!

I focused on my eating, went to work, then on my way from work I was off to the gym. I snacked on some sunflower seeds to get a little energy kick. Mind you, my drive from work to my gym is about 35-40 mins depending on traffic, and usually I can time my eating before workout out right. But anyway, I put my motivation cap on, put my handy dandy Polar Watch on so I could keep track of calories, and off I went!

I first attacked the rowing machine because treadmills were all taken, (I do HIIT [High intensity interval training] on all the machines I use). Then I ran over to a treadmill, when I saw it was freed up! SCORE! Now we can get this party started with some sprints! Whelp, as soon as I started going, I got a major you didn’t digest those stupid sunflower seeds you just ate cramp! I tried to keep sprinting through it, but it was useless. Beyond frustrated I knew I had to switch gears. This was NOT going to stop me, NO excuses here!

I decided to kick my butt in other ways…I did HIIT on the stationary bike and battle ropes. Did some ab work then light arm work. Then went back over and did more battle ropes and decided to finish with some HIIT on the stair master (which by the way, as much as I love that burning feeling, the stair master is the devil).

After an hour and a half I believe I was successful and it felt great! I got in a nice stretch afterwards, went home, had some isopure, ate dinner, and was lights out at 10:00.

Basically, we just have to remember that you can’t change the past, so why dwell on it?? Why waste all that time when you can enjoy the present moment? We never know how many present moments we are going to have (morbid, I know) so make them meaningful!

Oh by the way, I’m off from work today so……I’ll be back. 😉

Fats, a Carb Nighter’s Best Friend.

Goooood day good day!

All morning before my workout, I’ve been doing a little cooking and catching up on some How I Met Your Mother. I figured I’d start waking my brain up a little and do a little post about how I have really started to acclimate to carb night. Annnnd if any of you follow my instagram you saw that I made egg bacon muffins with some deliciousness inside, which I shall be sharing with what exactly that is here!

Lets see, it has been almost 2 months now that I have been venturing on this carb night diet. I have made noticeable progress in my muscle mass and weight loss. The scale might say that I have made minimal progress with only losing about 9 lbs, but thats because I am also gaining lean muscle mass! I recently checked my BMI and Body Fat and that has been decreasing!! I am proud to say that I am not longer in the Obese category yay! I also started to measure myself and take more progress pictures and those have reallllly showed me how far I’ve come! So guys don’t always trust the scale! I REPEAT don’t always trust the scale!!

Annnnyway, I am now understanding the way ketosis works and understanding what my body needs if this way of eating is really going to work and keep me fueled. I have noticed a HUGE difference in how I used to eat when starting this diet to what I consume now. I started off with thinking “oh ok so low carb aka no grains…meaning meats, cheeses, and fats” aka I ate bacon, cheeses, eggs, chicken, cheeses, red meat, cheese, ground turkey…and did I mention cheese?? Then after just feeling tired most of the time and lethargic, I was constantly asking my trainer questions about the diet almost every day! But he was very knowledgeable abut carb night, because he used to do it, and I wanted to make sure I was doing it right!

So here I am, yes it took me over a month to finally get it but hey at least I got it! I know, not only focus on my carbs but also on the fats I eat and the amount of fats! I no longer eat a boat of cheeses during the day to get my fat contents, instead I eat and cook with oils (extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, saffron oil), I snack on seeds and nuts, and I have a half to a full avocado every day! I even eat a little chunk of coconut oil before my workout and throw a little chunk into my morning green tea. I may add some cheese in my omelet or meals every now and then, but the majority of my of fats are coming from healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats! And let me tell you what a difference it has made! I feel energized, and I don’t feel like I could have a heart attack at any minute with all the saturated fatty cheeses and meats I was eating. SO TIP for eating carb night…keep track of those fats!! They are a carb nights BEST FRIEND!

Nooooooow recipe time! Yay!

Turkey Bacon Egg Muffins

1 muffin=10g fat and 1CARB THATS RIGHT 1 CARB!

Serving size: 6 muffins

Ingredients:

-6 stripes of turkey bacon

-a half a habanero pepper

-6 eggs

-1/2 cup of baby spinach

-4 breakfast turkey sausage links

-about a 3/4 cup of parmesan cheese

-Start by buttering your muffin tin and setting your oven to 350.

-Then take your sausage links and slice to casing in half and take the meat out of the casing so you can have ground breakfast sausage. Heat up and brown the turkey in sausage in a pan.

-Next crack your eggs into a bowl and add in the diced habanero pepper, chopped spinach, salt and pepper, cayenne pepper (I like my food spicy), some crushed red pepper, and some of the parmesan cheese (as much or as little as you want).

-Wrapped your turkey bacon around the muffin tip

-Pour your ground turkey into the bowl with your eggs.

-Then pour your mixture into the muffin tin and top it with a little more parmesan cheese

-Then pop in the oven for about 15 or so mins and BAM!

Turkey Bacon Egg Muffins!

I added some sriracha sauce at the end 😉

Peanut Butter Cup Lovin’

 

Now if your life me then you are a peanut butter cup loveeerrrrrrrr.

If there is one thing that is constantly a battle with my new way of eating, its my persistent sweet tooth! But I try to trick it with sweet things that have a healthy low carb twist to them. Today while I had a lot of time to get things done at home I decided try and make some peanut butter cups!

And let me tell you! They turned out to be pretttttty good if I do say so myself 😉

They are of course VERY easy to make with only 3…count them 3! ingredients.

Ingredients:

-PB2

-Dark Chocolate (I used 90 % Cacoa by Lindt chocolate–has less carbs)

-almond milk

Heres the recipe

Serving size is for 6 larger peanut butter cups in a muffin tins

-Butter your muffin tin

-Take half of your chocolate bar (should be about 4-5 squares) and put in a small pot with some almond milk. Stir while chocolate melts and add more almond milk if needed so that chocolate is liquified.

-Pour chocolate into in the bottom of each muffin tin filling a quarter of the way.

-Pop the tin in the freezer until chocolate is hard

-After chocolate is hard take your PB2 and scoop our 6 tablespoons into a bowl.

-Add in some water and almond milk till its smooth and liquified. Then pour on top of the chocolate and pop it back into the freezer for another 10-15 mins

-Take the rest of your chocolate and melt it the same way you melted the first half. Then take the tin out of the freezer, pour the rest of the chocolate on top of your cups, and pop them back into the freezer for about 30 mins.

-When cups are hard take a knife and pop the cups out of the tin, throw them into a baggie and store them into the freezer!

Love Yourself.

Hello Hello!

Last week and these past couple days have been a huge realization to me of how much I have grown. More specially, how much I have grown to love myself. I’m not saying I ever hated who I was, but I was definitely one of those girls in high school who would be in awe of other people and wish I had something they had. Whether it be their hair, their body, their humor, their ability to talk to a guy and charm them immediately. You get the point.

I did A LOT of growing through high school and mostly through college. In college where there are no groups, cliques, or identities, you are your own little person in a new world. Some people will say college is a place where you can redefine yourself and start over. I didn’t want to start over. I just wanted to (as cliche as this is) find myself. When I say that, what I mean is, I wanted to be able to be as comfortable around everyone I meet, as I am when I’m around my friends, and not be a shy quiet girl anymore.

I don’t think it was until my sophomore year of college when I started to not care. I didn’t care what people thought about me, and my shyness shell slowly started to crack. I basically found this new thing called confidence. I was like that little raptor dinosaur in Jurassic Park that Sam Neil watched break out of its shell all on its own.

Now I can’t say I did this all on my own. At that time I was starting to endure on something that would ultimately change who I was from then on. Nothing huge (for most people) , just my very first actual long term relationship. Going into sophomore year my and me boyfriend had been dating for about 7 months at that point. In my “About Me” section, I had only explained a small part of my break up, and for you to understand my whole story, I feel its necessary for you to hear my beginning…(Also because its snowing so I have A LOT of time tonight…LUCK YOU! 😉 )

My relationship with my boyfriend was a HUGE roller coaster ride. Of course it started off steady and it was the “getting to know you” period. Meeting each others families and take everything at a nice slow pace. Because I was shy I really didn’t let him see who I truly was till about a year and a half into dating. And he was very patient and kind about that.  He grew to become my best friend. We loved the same movies, listen to pretty much the same music, loved the same sport, lived 15 mins away from each other (which was weird since we met at school in New Hampshire 2 1/2 hours from home). We had the same humor and even grew comfortable enough to fart around each other. I have honestly never felt THAT comfortable around someone, where you could share a silence and it never be uncomfortable.

He opened me up and let me feel  every emotion…loved, happy, and beautiful…But of course when I say every emotion..I mean EVEY emotion. I also felt pain, anger, and disgust. As perfect and amazing as our connection was, our relationship was farrrrr from perfect. I was a victim to being in a relationship where there was no trust. Now as for how he caused the pain and hurt I am going to keep to myself (but don’t worry it wasn’t psychical abuse, he would never hurt a fly). But I had become one of those girls who didn’t get out of a relationship because they “didn’t want to be alone” or because “the connection was there and they belonged together” and “afraid they aren’t going to find anyone else”! I used to think those girls were crazy and why would they stay in a relationship where they weren’t happy, didn’t trust their boyfriend, and crying more than smiling!?! And now I know.

It had gotten to the point of where even the littlest thing would set me off, because I just couldn’t let go of all of what he had done to me through our time of dating. It was like every time we would have a fight it would get worse and worse like a snowball affect. I drove myself crazy, and when the trust isn’t there, thats what happens. Once one thing happens where the trust flies out the window, theres no getting it back. And as much as I tried to not accept it, it was true. I held on to that relationship for four years…four years, of being a weak girl who was in this spell of wanting something so badly to work out, that she would keep torturing herself by accepting and forgiving the pain that he caused her. Then try and move on and keep going with the relationship.But it inevtiable that this HAD to stop. This relationship had become far from healthy.

And so last December thats exactly what happened. After starting our weight loss journey together, he broke up with me. After hearing that he didn’t love me and maybe after four years never did, I can tell you right now I have never felt anything like what I felt that day…Orrr for the next 5 months that would follow for that matter. And by no means do I EVER want to feel that way again. But I’ll admit, as much as I cared for him for those past 4 years the only time I felt like I really loved him was maybe for a little less than a year. It wasn’t real love, and I know that. How could you when it’s that same person who broke your heart over and over again??

Now I shall try and wrap this up, because this is getting sappy and sympathetic and the last thing I am looking for is sympathy! A little over a year later I am here, still growing, but truly happy, healthy, and single. Last year, if you told me that I’d be where I am not doing what I’m doing (which most of the people who I’m close with did tell me at that point) I’d never believe it! But honestly, when your at your toughest times you CAN overcome all! I honestly didn’t think I’d ever recover after my breakup (as stupid and girly as that sounds). I was severely depressed and HATED myself. I thought I was the ugliest person who no one would EVER want to date. I mean sitting in the Khols fitting room crying while out shopping with my mom. Not being able to listen to a love song or watch a romance movie without sobbing through the whole thing. But with the encouragement and help from my family, close friends, and a little voice inside of me, I am who I am today. And after crying so much, that I’m pretty sure my tear ducts are now dry… I knew that I NEEDED to move on.

I will be posting other posts of how I did that part exactly, but lifting was definitely a large part of that. And all I’m saying is that right now I’m proud of myself and truly LOVE myself. I love the path I’m on and the focus I have gained. I love being single and letting myself accomplish so many goals and continuing to accomplish more. I’m learning who I am and what I can do. I am so much stronger inside and out and know that I will NEVER EVER EVER allow a guy to treat me like that. Do I regret my relationship? Never. It let me grow to become stronger, and let me know what it is that I want and don’t want within a relationship. I take every experience I go through and now make a decision that is best for me, because after all, this is MY life..and I’m going to fearlessly live it how I want to. I am now confident in myself, more so than before. I’m no longer meek and unsure. The best thing you can do is to love yourself, before you allow someone else to do you. Because riddle me this…How can you even truly love someone else or let them love you, if you don’t love you?? Be confident in who you are and know that you are smart, beautiful, and Independent person who can and will conquer all! p>

Welp, I need to give my fingers a rest. And will be back with some recipes later! 🙂

My New Year’s Resolution – To Get A Divorce

I LOVE this blog and LOVE this post!! I am so doing this. I used find myself too often checking my phone to see if I received a message or anything like that. But now a days with my head in the right place and my focus on me myself and I, I don’t need to keep checking out the outside world. I’m not saying I’m constantly attached to my phone, becuase I’m not. I now just keep it in another room during social gatherings or if I’m in someone else’s company at most times. It just feels nice to have my focus directly on the person I’m interacting with thats front of me, rather than trying to do that AND have another conversation at the same time with someone who could be 100 miles away. A: Just seems rude and B: How are you fully absorbing that moment with that physical person in front of you if your constantly checking your phone??

Last night I went to see the Spike Jonze film Her. First off, it was great! Beauuuuutifuly shot with great color, and portraying the overall emotion of Joaquin Phoenix’s character. But basically he begins to have a relationship with a computer operating system (mind you this film was set in more of a futuristic time period) where it’s almost like your talking on your phone the whole time and see the operating system can view the world through a little camera. Now in the beginning of the film you see Phoenix’s character with an earpiece in, and talking outloud to a voice activated computer system. Telling it to change the music option, check emails, write emails. Now to us, this in real like would look weird, and probably confuse me, thinking that someone would be talking outloud to me, when really it’s to their computer. But everyone in the film had one of these. It was like there was more computer interaction happening than human interaction. I honestly hope to never live in a world like that!!

And so for now, I choose to, for the majority, of my days keep my phone away….unless I’m listening to music at the gym ;-). But focus on what’s all around you! Store every little memory in detail that you can of what your physically doing! Instead of constantly staring at a little screen all day and not looking at this beautiful world around you.

And So it Begins!

Yesterday I had my first training session with Strongman equipment! At first sight it is definitely intimating. I mean going from a regular 45 lb barbell to a thick 65lb bar with a barrel in your face, your bound to be a little intimidated. But after my trainer went over the motions of how to do each step, I slow yet surly became more and more conformable with it.

I’m about to get all metaphorical on you guys right now, but I definitely see that training session as a step to getting out of my comfort zone not only in training sessions, but in life too. Going from seeing something that intimidates you and that your not comfortable with, to take baby steps and realizing that not only can you do this, but that you really enjoy it (which is a good thing too since it’s only just the beginning 😉 )! Why stay in a box of comfort your whole life, when there is SOOOOOO much more out there. And maybe even things that you could potentially love, but will NEVER know until you break that box and take a leap.

This is what I see my whole journey as. Yes I have been lifting since age 14, so what I’m doing may seen relevant to the thing that I am training to do. But, so far for me, it’s been a completely different lifting world than what I’m used to. This challenges me and pushes me mentally and physically every single day. Learning new things can be scary, but it can also be exhilarating, which is how my journey has been so far. Trying new things and pushing yourself is definitely something that I highly suggest everyone do, even maybe just once a week!

Anywayyyyyyy I have a video! Of me training with the log press yesterday (and my workout outfit just so happen to coordinate with the log press and weight colors 😀 )

Check it out on my youtube or my instagram page (this will hopefully be the first of many)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀Keeley Moffitt (@kekebball7)

Today I end with another easy low carb (practically carb free) meal! And progress pics!

Who needs a carby flour tortilla when you can have this colorful fiesta in your mouth!! Just some….

-ground beef with some taco seasoning (from a packet, use as much or as little as you want just check the nutrition facts on the bad so see what the carbs are)

-Half an avocado

-Monterey jack cheese

-Lime juice

-A little bit of habanero pepper (Side note, use real hot peppers instead of hot sauce. Don’t get me wrong I LOVE my Franks Red Hot, but it tastes fresher with real peppers!)

-And lastly some cilantro.

And now for some progress pics! 

DON’T FORGET TO DRINK YOUR H20!

Preparation is Key!

Goooooood Morning!

  Today we shall focus on being prepared when it comes to dinning out options.

First, twice this week I will be having dinner out… aka not prepared by yours truly…aka menus filled with the overwhelming amount of carbs! But no need to fear, there are ways to go about this without feeling the dread of the possibilities of those sneaky carbs getting into your “clean” meal!

Numero Uno! Find out where you will be dining. This way you can look up the restaurant and know what kind of cuisine they serve. Along with checking out their menu to see what options you have to pick from. Tonight I will be going to a pub type place, which I’m a huge fan of because pubs tend to always have a variety of options of their menu. You can get a burger and hold the bun and add your own carb free/ low carb toppings, with a vegetable side (tell waiter/waitress NO FRIES pretty please and get a substitute, that way they aren’t just sitting there staring at you and tempting you). Or if you want fries and only want like 2, to try them, then have two and IMMEDIATELY throw something gross on them so you won’t eat anymore!

Numero Dos! WATCH OUT FOR THE “LOW CARB” MENU OPTIONS! It may say low carb, but if you doing carb night and have a VERY limited amount of carbs you can eat during the day, then look closely, because in reality its not carb night low carb. Just because they remove the bun and add a lettuce leaf instead, doesn’t immediately make it low carb. You gotta watch out for those onions, tomatoes, and other carb loaded toppings! Restaurants are usually good about adjusting the meal to fit your needs, so don’t be afraid to ask if you can eliminate and add things.

Number Tres! Get a gooooood workout in! Today I have a cardio workout, and not that I’m a slacker when it comes to doing workouts when I don’t go out to eat, but I like to just kick it up a notch. I always go hard at the gym no matter what day it is, but if I know I am going to go out to eat and if there is a chance that sneaky carbs get in, then I go bigger and harder during my workout. Adding extra sets, extra minutes, extra sweat.

And last but not least, if you know your going to be going out to eat, and it’s not impromptu, then plan your day. Plan out what your going to be eating through the whole day, so that you know when dinner comes you have extra carbs to use at dinner …just in case. And if it is impromptu, and you have smart phone, and you  have the myfitnesspal app, then while your looking at the menu take your time by checking eat ingredient in the meal your interested in to make sure it fits your diet! And if you don’t have the myfitnesspal app THEN GET IT!!! IT’S A LIFE SAVER!

Basically when going out to eat, check out the menu and find something you would like that follows your diet plan before your get there, don’t be fooled by the “low carb” menu option, get a good workout in prior to, and lastly plan out your day! All simple things!

Now I wanted to put up a quick recipe!

Dark Chocolate Black Raspberry Sneed Bars

These high fiber and low carb gluten free bars are great for keeping in your fridge, and grabbing to go when in your in a hurry! I have been eating them before workouts to get some of the carbs that I need to get fueled. And because some of the carbed ingredients contain fiber as well, that cancels out the carbs and makes it low carb! It’s like magic! And the best part is, it only takes like 5 mins to make!! LOVE IT.

 This recipe should make 12 muffins (or in my case because I couldn’t find my muffin tin, I made 12 bars)

-100g. almonds

-50g. sunflower seeds

-50g. sesame seeds

-50g. flax seeds

-50g. pumpkin seeds

-1 handful of blackberries

-50g. of dark chocolate (yuuum)

-1tsp sea salt

-1/4 cup of oil (olive or sunflower)

-3 eggs

preheat oven to 390 degrees F. Chop the almonds and dark chocolate coarsely. Mix together almonds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, blackberries, chocolate, and salt. Add in the oil and then the eggs and mix well. Pour mixture into nonstick muffin tins (or baking dish) and bake in the oven for about 15 mins. Allow to cool and store in the fridge in an airtight container.

Truly a Break-Fast

Goooood day!

      Ok this post will be quick, I say that now but of course paragraphs later and I’m still going ;-).

        This morning I was definitely feeling extra tired from this past weekend. It was one of my best friends birthday and we went out Friday night and so yesterday I was beyond tired and very thrown off of my regular routine. Which hey, it’s not always gonna be perfect, just means I have to suffer the consequences and get back on track. But it was definitely worth it, we had a blast!

Were crazy, but we don’t care.

       Anyway after working late last night and having to get up early this morning, I was slow to get out of bed and tired of eggs! But I definitely needed to eat something. So after a quick brainstorm I decided to throw together a smoothie. Of course when your going low carb a smoothie is a difficult task because most fruits are high in carbs. BUT I recently found out that blackberries are free game! And luckily I had some left over after making this blackberry dark chocolate sneed (nuts and seeds) bar (I’ll be most definitely sharing the recipe on that on in another post).

   I did a nice simple smoothie full of protein and nutrients.–> About a cup of blackberries, a cup of baby spinach (you can’t even taste the spinach I swear!), some ice, some almond milk, a scoop and a half of isopure strawberry and cream zero carb protein powder (you can use any protein power of course), hemp seeds, and chia seeds! –>For a little tip next time I’m going to freeze the blackberries instead of using ice so you don’t have tiny ice bit and so it’s doesn’t get watery.

About a cup of baby spinach

Some blackberries

A scoop and a half of protein

And BAM! Smoothielicious with chia seeds on top!

Basically what I wanna get at is to not skip any meals with the excuse of “I didn’t have enough time”. When I was in high school I would rarely eat breakfast, and if I did 9 times out of 10 it was some sort of granola bar. No bueno. You can make breakfast in seconds if you just take a second and use what you have and whip something up. And even though we all have in are heads what the typical breakfast food is, breakfast can consist of anything you want to eat! Don’t get stuck in the mindset that you have to have eggs and bacon! Have a burrito! Have some grilled chicken and spinach. Just make sure to eat something! Put fuel in your body to start your day off right. Ever since starting my carb night diet I haven’t skipped breakfast once. I make it a point to have something even if its going to make me late to work. Theres no way I am going to stat my day off with an empty stomach, not allowing my metabolism to get roaring, and feel tired and sluggish. Plus with the amount of calories I burn each workout, I need to stay energized with food and need my body to burn something while I workout!

In spite of what I said I do tend to make eggs…alot. Its just a really easy fast breakfast, and I make them in different ways to keep it interesting. But after having my smoothie this morning, it inspired me to take the next step and check out other fruits that are on the lower carb side and experiment with some smoothie options!

But all in all, EAT! Nothing makes me more frustrated when people think that skipping meals or not eating breakfast is going to help them loose weight. WRONG! But that will be in another post…And I promised to keep this short. So until then! Happy eating! 🙂

Head, shoulders, back, and legs, back and legs.

New Progress pics time!!

     Lately I have been so focused on what my goal is, I don’t even think about cheating on my diet or skipping out on a workout. I have no excuse to do so. The other day I was driving home from work and passed a McDonalds, and thought to myself “imagine if you caved in and had some chicken nuggets??” Just the thought about having fast food and ruining what I’v worked so hard for makes me sick to my stomach! Cheating on my diet is NOT even an option for me! I have gotten to the point where when I see a temptation I kick it in the shins and walk away!

      I literally plan my life around my gym time. If someone asks me to do something or if I have work, my first thought is, “ok well if I go to the gym at this time then that can work!”. If your a busy bee like I am sometimes, you can take 30 minutes or even 20 minutes out of you day to get some exercise in! Go for a walk! Get up off your couch…DO SOMETHING! This will also just help you clear your head, get the stress out, take the world off your shoulders. Believe me, yesterday I had work at night, so during the day I was cleaning, eating, and watching TV. Damn Dance Moms got me carried away and before I knew it I had work in less than 2 hours! Thank goodness yesterday was cardio and ab day, I ran to the gym busted out a 45 min workout and felt awesome and accomplished afterwards!

    You can make it work!

       I have also gotten to the point in my carbnight diet where, I am not craving carbs. I didn’t even realize till a little bit after waking up that tonight is my carb night! I have gotten so used to eating low carb and loving it that it doesn’t even phase me for when my carb night arrives…Such a drastic difference from when I first started carbnight. Don’t get me wrong I still love my carbs and love having some cheat meals, but it’s the fact that I also love eating clean and seeing the results that I work hard for!

Ok time for some progress pics!

Left picture is from October when I was starting to lift and eat somewhat clean. The top is from last week and the bottom is from this morning 🙂

My shoulders are my weakest point. The to image is from October and the bottom is from this morning. You can see my strength growing in my shoulders and my traps.

Legggssss. The left two photos are from December when I started to really train harrrd. I mean every leg workout I had I was DYING and sweating all over the place feeling that deep burn. Which is why my legs now look like the right photo taken two days ago!

It Ain’t easy bein’ Peasy

Ello ello!

          Recently my mom has gotten into baking things…things  like brownies, cookies, and bread. Aka everything I CAN’T eat. And I know some people are probably like, this is why diets are stupid, just enjoy life and eat it! But for me I consider that taking the “easy route”and I knew from the beginning that I didn’t sign up for easy. Unless you have done carb night before or understand bodybuilding diets a lot of people don’t understand why I am eating like I am. And believe me, sometimes (when I am craving something that I can’t eat normal) I think to myself, “why am I doing this??” and “will this really make a difference if I have just a small amount?” and other thoughts like that. But then I have to remind myself that its JUST food. Food you can have when you have reached your goal.

When I look at something delicious that isn’t a part of my diet I think, “ok, was this cooked by a world renowned chef? Is this something that won’t ever come by way again?” If the answer to both those questions are no, then it’s not worth it to eat and jeopardize how far I have come.

Now this is definitely easier said than done. Especially when you have these guys just sitting on your kitchen table!

But again, they are nothing special (not that my mom doesn’t know how to cook some mean brownies, cookies, and jalapeño cornbread….because she does) they are something that I will always have access to…well unless something tramatic happens, like all the chocolate in the world burns to a crips! But, you get what I mean. And with the diet that I’m on, it allows me to enjoy and really savor delicious treats like these once a week.

And I do get the “a little bit won’t kill you” from people or the “its [instert occasion or holiday here]!” But what most people don’t understand about me is that I also used to make those excuses. Saying “well it’s so and so’s birthday so its ok!” Or “it’s flag day so it’s ok to eat this and that!” But all these things add up. And if I give in one time, then I get the taste of what I’v missed out on and will want more. There will always be obstacles and temptations, but if you are really serious you have to learn to say NO! You have to understand that what you feed your body does matter, and if you start to give into a little temptation then you might start to go down a bad path allow other temptations and obstacles to run you over.

Carb night really took some time to get used to, and to learn about the foods that have carbs that I can’t have, and the ones that have carbs AND fiber which cancel out the carbs, like avocados. It pushed me to get more creative with what I eat, especially since I am one who is all for easy meals. I try to add flavor in more simplistic ways. It has also forced me to eat at home and cook pretty much 99% of my meals. I honestly can’t even remember the last time I went out to eat when it wasn’t a carb night (definitely saving me a lot of money). And this is because not knowing what exactly is in my food when I’m not cooking it raises too many questions and thoughts of, “what if there are carbs in my meal that I don’t know about?” and “how much of said ingredient did they use so that I can calculate it into myfitnesspal?”. It just makes it ten times easier if I prepare and make the meal all on my own. That way I know for sure what goes into it, and how much of something goes into it and can get the results I’m looking for without raising implications.

My advice for anyone who wants to do carb night….Know that this won’t be easy, but you will surely get used to it! Don’t let food control you, control your food and don’t be afraid to say no! And lastly, make your own meals, it might take some time to learn what foods have carbs and what foods have carbs and fiber, but once you get it, it will save you money, and in the end you’ll be much happier when you see the results come in!