compound movements + let's RUN!!!

how it went down eeeeearly this morning...

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i double (tea) bagged it (+ water, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and stevia). i had to.  didn't get much sleep cause i've been grinding on these cook books and they WILL NOT DEFEAT ME!!!! :twisted:  i'm not yelling at you. i'm yelling at the cook books.  a little sleep deprived but the sacrifice will be worth it. it better beeeeee :lol:

let's talk about something i incorporate into pretty much all my classes at the gym:

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can't get enough of compound movements and there are TONS of them. what are they?

'multi-joint movements that rely on the coordinated actions of several muscle groups to move two or more joints through a range of motion'

the featured move of this post (up ^ there) combines squats (which is honestly a compound movement by itself since it works multiple parts of the body) and over-head presses.

Squats + overhead press

  • start with feet shoulder width apart, weights on either side of your body.
  • perform a low squat, pushing your glutes back, weight in your heels, knees behind your toes, back flat, head up, chest up.  have a seat in that imaginary chair!
  • bear all your weight on your left heel and while driving it into the floor, lift your right knee straight up towards your chest and perform your over head press simultaneously. keep your core tight, and squeeze the glute of the heel that's on the floor. hard.
  • repeat on the right and make it a continuous, fluid movement by alternating your knees from left to right.

the heavier your dumbbells, the harder you work, and the more you burn!

 *tip: working upper and lower body together is one of the best ways to burn fat.*

IMG_20130319_091205class went well this morning, can't you tell from those disgusting sweat stains!?!?  i didn't even notice them until after i posted the pic to IG. but that's just how it goes down in my class :lol:.  if i could bottle the feeling exercise gives me....i'd sell it and retire at 30. good music gives me so much energy- i got a new cd and i know my members can tell i love it cause i keep playing it! good, loud music gives me energy through the roof!  i need all the energy i can get at 5:30am.

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then i came home to these babies. NOM. i threw the recipe together, but the base of it stemmed from the banana blueberry pancakes, if you're wondering. 20130319_084356

i subbed the banana for 1 packet of stevia, then topped them with sliced almonds, raw, unsweetened, shredded coconut, and that big vat of walden farms pancake syrup back there.

WELL, i am so excited about the response concerning the Houston Color Run THIS Sunday, March 24th!  Thank you for your emails!  if you'd still like to run, you haven't missed a thing- email me @ le@fitfoodiele.com and i'll send ya the link to join team Fit Foodies.  however...my sincere apologies for not giving enough notice.  there were several people who wanted to run with Fit Foodies but the timing was just not right.  even for a 5k, training is very important, and some of the 1st timers need more of it.  i understand completely.  also, the race rates are cheapest when you register super early, and 6 days pre-race day is pushing it, i know!  so i'm super grateful, and thankful to all who have committed to running with Fit Foodies.

WITH THAT SAID,

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let's do it right this time!  remember my Conn's Green 10k post from last year??  if you'd like to get your run on with Fit Foodies for this event that is near and dear to my heart, come on then!  it's special because it starts and ends in City Centre, one of my fave Houston hangouts, and also home to the best Lifetime Fitness in the entire universe!  #ithoughtyouknew.  if you're interested, hit me up at the same email addy, and check out their site for details!

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 race date is Saturday, April 27th, 2013, and as always, same rules apply: walk, run, skip- however you gotta cross that line, just FINISH!

le

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

products that change the game

goooood morning!

i'm feeling pretty darn good today- had an energizing, stick-to-your-ribs breakfast:

 i can eat peanut butter by the spoon and jar-full. sucks that it's almost 100 cals per tablespoon and 8 grams of fat (2 saturated) though.  i've tried adding it to my oats before, but 1 tbsp doesn't provide a strong enough pb flavor, and anything over 2 makes the nutritional stats of my oatmeal skyrocket. you can't just get all willy nilly with your pb serving sizes- it adds up so fast.  even nutella- it's DELICIOUS (although way too high in sugar) but i honestly can't stay under the recommended serving size sometimes.  let's be real.  which brings me to a product that has very well changed my LIFE, overnight. thanks, Alli!!!

 PB2.  i can't tell you how many times i walked past this stuff in the store thinking 'uh, i bet that fake, powder pb crap tastes horrid.' well my friends, let's just say i was in my kitchen toasting bread at 11pm just so i could slather this stuff on there.  it comes in two flavors- original peanut butter and chocolate.  it's in powder form, so there's a little mixing required. no big deal.

2 tbsps of PB2 +

 1 tbsp of water and..

 BAM.  sweet, creamy, peanuty, chocolaty, the real deal.  i was immediately reminded of a pb smoothie my college roomy introduced me to @ Jamba Juice- Peanut Butter Moo'd.  i went to their site to check the nutritional stats on that thing and i was completely blown away.  it's a DIET DISASTER.  for the original size, it's 770 cals, 20 grams of fat, and 126 carbs.  however, can you believe we both used to get the Power size (one level above that)?! and NO we didn't buy one and share either. my goodness- i don't event want to know what those stats look like.  ironically, the power size isn't even available anymore- maybe JJ saw just how ridiculous a 1000 calorie smoothie is. *shrugs*. man, we must've had crazy high metabolism back then. nevertheless, peanut butter everything (cookies, smoothies, etc,) seem to always be calorie/fat loaded...but now, just LOOK at these stats:

2 TBSPS

PB2 Peanut Butter Nutella

Cals

45 200

200

Fat

1g 16g

11g

Sat. fat

0g 3g

3.5g

Carbs

6g 6g

22g

Sodium

70mg 110mg

15mg

Protein

4g 8g

3g

Fiber

1g 3g

1g

Sugars 3g 3g

21g

all natural.  i can recognize and pronounce every single ingredient.

*faints*

i'm ok. next up, green tea. i am SO on the green tea kick.  i was going hard with coffee before i got preggo.  my OB told me to cool it, so my 'addiction' eventually wore off after going so long without it.   besides, i was only adding coffee to my cream and sugar- it has to be super sweet.  sure i used low cal sweetners like torani's sugar-free vanilla syrup (great stuff) but ultimately, coffee does nothing for me but stain my teeth.  i occasionally have a treat from starbucks- a tall skinny vanilla latte when it's cold out, and any of the light frappucino drinks in the summer.  but now, green tea is def my daily drink of choice these days.  i tried a different brand at WF- the 'with white tea for a smoother taste' sold me because green tea can leave quite a bitter aftertaste.

why you should drink green tea every day too:

  • aides in burning fat!!!! EGCG speeds up the rate at which fat is burned in your body which produces a faster metabolism.  music to my ears.
  • calorie free. long as you stick with those zero calorie sweeteners:)
  • provides stable energy. no spiking of your insulin levels which means no crashing and/or burning.  also wards off fatigue, irritability, and fatty food cravings. helps keep your appetite in check!
  • aides in lowering the risk of several types of cancers, including heart attack, and stroke.
  • antioxidant loaded = cell regeneration = 200 times more powerful than vitamin E when it comes to destroying those skin damaging, wrinkle causing free radicals.
  • the tannins in green tea help with digestion after a meal.  however they also give it that bitter aftertaste.  that's nothing a little squeeze of lemon or lime can't fix though!

*just a tip:  green tea contains less caffeine than coffee, but consider switching to decaf if drinking before bed so you can get to sleep.  for real. staring at Sonny getting some good sleep gets old real fast.

le