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 😉

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.

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!

Puttin’ my Big Girl Pants on.

   Hiya guys! Today is NOT going to be another lazy day for me! I’m puttin my big girl pants on and keeping myself busy today. No I don’t have work today, but my throwers that I coach do have a novice track meet this evening that I am VERY excited for! Its been a while since I’v been to a track meet, and I definitely miss going to them. To get out of the house before that, my friend and I are going to an early movie! I love love movies…who doesn’t?! My friend and I used to have what we call “special lady days” all the time over the summer when we had more time. Now with us both being super busy, it’s hard to find times for when we are both free, but when we do, it now makes “special lady days” EXTRA special and exciting!! 

 

 

      After all is said and done, I have my 2nd training session with Rob and I am super pumped!! I’m making sure I get enough protein and fats today to prepare for it. That being said, I had a BIG GIRL breakfast. A little bacon and egg action, and a couple slices of cheddar cheese on top of the eggs for some extra pazaze! 

 

 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention….TWO DAYS PEOPLE! TWO DAYS TILL I CAN HAVE A MOUTH FULL OF CARBS INSTEAD! 

“I hate food!” Said no one ever!

 Since today is a snow day, I figured I’d keep myself occupied and do another post, lucky you! 😉

And the main thing that has been on my noggin is foooooood. I love food, who doesn’t?? Especially these days where I have been very strict about the things that I throw into my mouth. Thanks to myfitnesspal it has made it a lot easier in seeing what foods have carbs and which don’t. Because let me tell you, there are a lot of foods that I wouldn’t have even guessed have carbs, but do. For example, carrots, peas, and onions! Now I know your probably thinking, those aren’t bad carbs, those are the good complex carbs. I understand that, but with this diet of eating only 30 grams of carbs or less a day, I don’t want to risk anything and try to stay away form carbs as much as possible! If I do eat carbs, I make sure that they give me other benefits as well like, fiber, protein, and fats (good fats).

      One carb food I always make sure to eat everyday is a half an avocado a day! An avocado is a power food, with good fat that includes the fiber I need to have a successful morning poop (yes, we get real personal at this blog). A couple days into this diet after being very strict with no carbs and eating around 20-23 carbs a day, my poops were less than sub par! I reached out to a friend (who did the Keto diet) and asked what the hell is going on here! He told me I needed fiber to make sure that everything comes out as smoothly as it goes in. After I incorporated the avocados back into my diet (which made me a very happy girl because I LOVE avocados) my morning poops were back to normal!

I shall now show you some of the recipes I have been making to survive these ten days! A BIG help from food gawker  and pinterest for the ideas for some of these meals!

This deliciousness is a low carb pizza. Probably my favorite recipe so far! It most definitely helps with my pizza cravings! You can find the recipe here! It may seem strange and may seen like it just won’t be the same as regular carb loaded yummy pizza, but trust me it is! You also get your proteins and fats from this meal! Now if you are going to do this diet, because this pizza does contain some carbs your gonna wanna just watch how much of it you consume. But it’s rather filling, so that might not be a problem anyway.

 These next two recipes, are my bacon wrapped inspired recipes! Now one of the things that I am enjoying about this process is that I can have all the bacon I want! I’ve been trying to keep it to turkey bacon so that my calorie intake isn’t too high from just one meal. But let me tell you, these were deliciousssss.

The top photo are my low carb jalapeño poppers! So simple: cut jalapeños in half. Take 1/3 the fat cream cheese and spread it inside. Wrap in bacon. Bake at 375 until bacon is cooked!

The photo on the bottom is my bacon wrapped stuffed chicken: Take some chicken cutlets and pound them flat. Spread cream cheese on one half the chicken. Add in some jalapeños for spice. Then fold the other half of the chicken on top (so it kind of looks like a taco). Then wrap the chicken up in bacon (I tend to use 2 slices per breast). Then Bake at 375 until chicken and bacon are cooked. This meal is low in carb, and high in protein!

With these next photos obviously the one on the left is NOT low carb at all! This was a temptation test after a coworker brought in a container of soft baked chocolate chip cookie heaven. My week was full of temptations full of sweet things! I have a HUGE sweet tooth, so this is particularly hard for me to say no to. Plus they smelled so gooooood, but I didn’t even have 1!  Instead I went home that night and made myself a low carb cheesecake. Another super easy recipe here that can help out any sweet tooth. Whats nice is you can also adjust the serving size depending on how much or little you want to make.

Welp the countdown continues with 3 more days left until I can have some legit carbs! YUM! If you interested in some more info via photos check out my instagram

New Chapter

   This week I start a new chapter in my life. After have been regularly lifting for the past 14 weeks and feeling stronger by the day, I now take a turn and start working out towards something. Before, I was lifting to change my body into a body that I would love. Now I’m lifting to gain strength and to bring my competitive side back! I’v have truly missed being a part of something athletic wise. Growing up I always played some sort of sport. And in college I played rugby and threw for track and field. Throwing was always a passion of mine since my freshmen year in high school, and that was originally one of my goals at the beginning of my lifting plan. Get strong so I can throw farther and compete at a higher level. But things change, life changes, and my passion is included in that. Now I will always and forever love and be passionate about throwing. But these days, lifting is my new passion.

 

         I take all my stress, all my emotions, anger, frustrations, anything I’m feeling that day, I take it out on lifting. I leave it all in the gym and walk away feeling cleansed. These days I’m pushing myself to new heights to start competing in Strongwoman competitions. To take what I’ve accomplished so far, keep working, and then put it all to the test! I’m beyond excited to start training for this!! With the help from my new trainer Rob, who has competed in Strongman competitions, I know when the time comes I will be prepared and stronger than ever!

 

        Of course I know this isn’t going to be easy at all, most definitely will it be full of hard work and dedication, which I am totally prepared for. Currently I am already in the process of changing my diet to carb backloading.  This way I can get leaner, maintain my strength, and keep building muscle. Basically you go through a 10 day recalibration phase of eating 30 or less grams of carbs a day, which means you end up eating mainly proteins and fats. Then on the 10th day after your have a resistance workout (try to workout between 5 and 6pm) have your protien and then have whatever carbs you want until bedtime. Pizza, ice-cream, and all that yummy stuff you couldn’t eat during those 10 days! And with this diet you want to keep it so that the carbs you inhale on your carb nights are the greasy bad carbs you usually try to stay away from on other diets. No brown rice or sweet potatoes here! Check out the link and see why!

 

     For me I am on day 7 of my recalibration phase, and I CAN’T WAIT TO EAT CARBS ON CARBS ON CARBS ON FRIDAY!! I have been dreaming of cheesecake and pizza! With so many temptations everywhere this has definitely been a challenge! I have done a lot of different kinds of diets before, including a low carb diet, but I have never been this strict about it before. I’m on a mission and no carb is going to get in the way of that! But I’ll go into that more later, including pictures of some of my meals that I have been eating while on my no/low carb diet! And some progress pictures, even though I am always nervous to show whoever looks at this those things. But I figure, this blog is for myself and pictures help me see that all my hard work pays off!

 

    If you are following along with my journey and have any questions or comments, I always love feedback!