stick to the plan

green tea! my 'coffee'.

i sipped some on the way to the gym eeeeearly this morning. i drink more throughout the day with some of my meals as well.  be sure to switch to decaf in the evenings though so you can go to sleep at night.

it's always so peaceful at the gym in the early mornings.

i did some cardio, abs, and some much-needed stretching.  working out super early means more family time after work. wouldn't have it any other way.

Chi's breakfast this morning- raisin Ezekiel bread, eggs, and strawberries.  what, no pancakes!?  trying not to burn him out on them lol. i still had mine though! anyway, Ezekiel products have become a staple in our home. we all love them.

i got my meals for the day going starting with some grilled zucchini.

i cut them long ways and seasoned them with lemon pepper, curry, garlic powder, onion powder, and liquid aminos.  then, garnished them with fresh cilantro!  'what can i do to season my food and not add calories'? fresh herbs work wonders.  also, mrs. dash also has a great low/no sodium line.  special seasoning post coming, so i'll stop there!

i open some canned salmon and added a few ounces to each of my containers.  for fat, i used fresh avocado and pistachio nuts.  for carbs, i threw a bag full of La Tortilla Factory whole white-wheat soft wrap tortillas in my lunch kit. i take my condiments with me too- spicy mustard and my TJ fig butters.  i shredded a sweet potato, added garlic powder, onion powder, 1 egg white and pan (burned) fried the cakes on both sides.

for my protein, i mixed the canned salmon, avocado, a little goat cheese, and some spicy mustard together in a bowl, sprinkled some Mc Cormick BBQ seasoning on it and it was SO simple and good!!!!! no cooking required there.  i put some reduced sugar ketchup in my little dipping thingy for my sweet potato cakes.  no i didn't steal it from a restaurant like someone assumed...  came from Ikea :roll:

after i assemble my lunch together at work, it usually looks like this:

or this,

or i'll use Ezekiel's sprouted grain sesame or cinnamon raisin bread and make a sandwich.

just some super quick ideas.

  i am currently in a maintenance phase after my competition last month and loooooving it!!!  a little too much.  i'm totally enjoying my food freedom, can you tell?  however, i'm still keep up with my workouts and staying active.  that'll never change.

 Q: what is your current   workout schedule?

A: goes a lil somethin like this:

less cardio, more weights.  only about 4 hours of cardio a week actually.  a couple weeks before my first show, my cardio capped out around 9-10 hrs a week.  i laugh in the face of four measly hours now, HA!

for my active rest days, i'll either take Chiso out in the jogging stroller for a walk, or i'll take a class at my gym for fun.  i love taking classes from other instructors!!  i get to experience their teaching style and i am always inspired to create different moves for my own classes.

other than growing these baby biceps, i'm content with my current size and body fat.  i have NOT been able to say that, well, ever.  every few weeks, i'll sit down and come up with a new plan to switch things up to keep my body from plateauing.

welp, you know what this means.

empty jars make me smile. back to TJ's.

happy weekend!!

le

cajun crusted tilapia

cajun crusted tilapia sandwich on sprouted grain sesame Ezekiel bread for one of my meals last week. or two weeks ago.  oh whenever that was, idk. it was good though.  i grew up eating deep fried catfish sandwiches on white bread.  you remember those fish fry fundraisers at church lol!  the best.

  i said on IG that i thought this recipe up while i was on the elliptical.  i get some of my very best ideas and recipes while i'm working out. it's usually in the middle of cardio when i have a lot of time to just THINK.  if that's what i need to do to get my inspiration, so be it!

Cajun Crusted Tilapia

the stuff:

• 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Corn Meal
• 1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp sweet dried basil
• 1 tbsp Bragg's liquid aminos
• 1 egg white

that's supposed to be sweet basil on top of the onion powder, not curry. sorry.

do this:

combine the egg and the liquid aminos in one bowl, everything else in another bowl.  with your left wet hand, dip the fillet into the egg white/amino mixture, then drop it into the dry mixture bowl.  using your right dry hand, press the fillet into the mixture, flip it over, and ensure it is covered on both sides or to your liking.  spray your low/medium heated pan with Pam (or any no-stick spray)  if you haven't already, and lay the fish on one side to cook until done, then flip it (about 5-7 minutes on each side.) cooking times and temps vary, so watch it!  *s/n: you can add a tsp of coconut oil to your pan as well, but you'll have to adjust the nutritional stats accordingly.*

don't want a sandwich?  plate your fillet up and pair it with some sides.  i made a sandwich cause i had plenty of Ezek bread to spare and sandwiches are fun to make, eat and take pictures of.

now, about these nutritional stats....i tend to make things way more difficult than they should be so there is prolly an easier way to do this.  i know there is.  and someone will comment on this post and make me feel really dumb.  i'm counting on you.  anyway,  i didn't figure out how to do this before posting and didn't want to wait. i totaled the ingredient list up, then divided it by 4 (fillets).  you never really use ALL the breading when you're dipping stuff, you know? at least i don't.  so you can't include that in the total calories.  you really only use about 2-3 tbsp of the breading, if that.  so the stats below are a little higher than they should be cause it's for 1/8th a cup of breading (dry + wet) + the tilapia fillet. i guess i could figure out what 2 tbsp of breading equals but my head hurts already.  so here are the stats for 1/8th a cup (includes both wet and dry ingredients).  did that even make sense?

serving:  1 crusted tilapia fillet

i love finding ways to eat more food!!!

i got wind of these corn thins via Facebook last week and picked some up at WF this past weekend as well.

i switched sides on ya.  rice cakes on the left, corn thins on the right.

 1 serving = 2 cakes

ingredients for both:

corn thins- whole grain popped corn, sea salt. (gluten and fat-free)

rice cakes- whole grain brown rice, sea salt.

verdict: eat 3 corn thins and STILL come out lower in every stat category compared with the rice cakes.  awesome!!  sure they are a little thinner, but still filling after being topped with some PB2, cottage cheese, or greek yogurt.

look what i found. oh just another item i wasn't even looking for, a yogurt maker!!!

 i actually received this as a baby shower gift.  i sure do appreciate it!  perfect timing.

i was reading the instructions and all that and noticed one of the ingredients required to make yogurt is yogurt :shock: huh? so i have to go buy some yogurt to make yogurt. oh, ok.  riiight... SO, after i google a good homemade yogurt recipe, i'll be trying my hand at *drumroll*

 almond yogurt!!!! i saw some at Whole Foods while i was there and had no idea almond yogurt even existed yet.  the nutritional stats were surprisingly high for one serving though.  i'll see what i can come up with.

guess who had banana pancakes this morning? we all did. everybody. duh :lol:

Chiso tackled his three and so did i.

my random lunch sandwich today:

i just wanted to eat my cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread really bad, lol. i threw some grilled chicken, cheddar almond cheese, avocado and spicy mustard on it and it WORKED.  it fit my macros perfectly, too! that sweet and salty combo can't be beat. i chilled on any fruit butter this time since the bread was already sweet though.

have you ever made homemade yogurt? 

le

@ my desk

no more start/stop- catching up NOW.

good monday that is almost over to you!!

this will be crazy random but just stay with me.

i hope you guys are using and being creative the IG food pics- that's definitely some of my motivation for posting.

this was lunch @ my desk last Friday:

100 calorie multi-grain english muffin, grilled chicken breast, avocado, spicy mustard, and a crispy red bell pepper.  since my job is waaaaaaaaay closer to Trader Joe's than my house, i stopped by there to get a few specialty items on my lunch break that day.

more eggplant humus wish it came in a big TUB.

i can pronounce everything. that's the kind of ingredient list i like to see and the kind you should look for as often as possible.  also, natural, no additives or preservatives means eat it sooner than later! won't last but a few days.

also got some sweet sugar snap peas for dipping! in the car.

 i walked into TJ's with intent to restock my fig butter, but as soon as those double entrance doors parted, i walked straight up to a tower of pumpkin butter.  clever is that seasonal marketing. they also had honey apple butter and i couldn't leave without it.  i did leave the mango butter for next time though.

i hit up HEB, Whole Foods, and Sams this weekend to do my real shopping.  i got my sample on of course,

  *high five*, HEB.  but zero points for presentation.  steak pizzaiola, italian chicken sausage soup, and creamy potato casserole was served at one of their live sample stations. oh God, those potatoes though :shock: . i always grab a recipe card to see just what they put in those samples and they never fail to freak me out.  full-fat heavy cream and cream cheese is what made those potatoes so darn good!  but they were sample size sooooo i proceeded to enjoy.

i got outta there with my usual stuff plus a few specialty items.

my kitchen island stays just like this for the most part.  i like to keep my produce out where i can see it cause i'll forget about it in the fridge and it's more likely to spoil.  gonna go ahead and add 'personal grocery shopper' to my resume, seriously!!! i could do this every day.

i've been using the sesame Ezekiel bread for the past few weeks, so i picked up the cinnamon raisin loaf this time.

i have sweet and savory dishes in mind for this puppy.

fat-free feta and goat cheese are still two dairy cheeses i won't be giving up (will expand on that shortly), but i was inspired to try almond cheese from a fellow health and fitness IGer.  i figure i love almond milk, so i'd prolly like the cheese too. uh, yeah! it melts, grates, and tastes just like dairy cheese and nutritional stats are awesome.  i'm impressed and sold.  gonna try some rice cheese too.

i've been a fan of Blue Diamond brand almond milk since Hungry-Girl introduced me to it a few years ago, but decided to try the Silk brand because of the lower calorie count.

it is so much more creamier than i was expecting! i may have been converted indefinitely...

I picked up some of Sonny's fav granola from Whole Foods - pumpkin flax.  it's the best granola (nutrtion-wise) in the bulk aisle line up.  140 cals and 5g of sugar per serving. read your labels- granola is more like a treat/dessert as the sugar content can be super high for some of them.  a few spoonfuls over some cottage cheese or yogurt or a small serving of it is just enough.

 granola + almond milk = one great bed time snack.  if only i could stop eating bowl after bowl.

lunch today @ my desk:

seeing red today for meal 2-  grilled chicken breast, avocado, red bell pepper, tomato, spicy mustard and honey apple butter.  wrapped all up in a La Tortilla Factory white-wheat soft wrap with some strawberries on the side.

i snuck in some sugar snap peas and eggplant humus too.

we had some GORGEOUS weather in Houston today!! Sonny hates the cold and is already griping about having to stop his outside runs.  he still has time to take advantage though cause it will be hot again like tomorrow.

cajun crusted tilapia recipe coming up next.

le