magic pop — Blog — Fit Foodie Le

how it starts....

how it ends.

i got the baby basket on purpose but i stuffed it full like i knew i would. going in and coming out with one thing is a complete joke. there is always something else we need!! or want.

the journey to clean(er) eating starts in the grocery store. remember these tips when you go shopping:

MORE fresh fruits and vegetables

LESS processed foods (low to no)

lean proteins - chicken breasts, ground turkey, seafood, beef,

healthy fats - avocados, mixed nuts, olive/coconut oil, natural peanut butter

whole grains/fibrous carbs - oatmeal, sweet potatoes, quinoa, beans, whole wheat pasta, high fiber cereal

on Sunday's trip, i got everything on my list plus a few more items:

oh and Ezekiel sprouted grain sesame bread. left it off the list, oops. aaaand i did get a few indulgent items for Sonny for winning his show this past weekend... i know you see them :shock: oreos, gummy bears, and cookies n cream ice cream.

i have always wondered why pumpking pie spice is so freakin high!!! this 1.12 oz jar is like 4.99. for no reason. this is what i've always bought. i was on my way to get some magic pop when i passed a table of seasonings and saw a big bucket of this:

what! now 4.99 a POUND is more like it!! i grabbed a couple bags. man i love finding great deals.

yesterday, i applied that same 'squeeze the muscle with every rep' technique to my upper body workout and man did it give me a good muscle pump. try it!!

one of my fave exercises (i'm sure my class members HATE them by now lololol) are W presses with dumbbells. make a W with your arms (similar to my pose above) holding a heavy dumbbell in each hand. move both arms up / out simultaneously without going higher than your head with the weights. then, retract them back in towards your head. keep your elbows in front of your body. makes for great shoulder/collar bone/back definition! the racerback style is my absolute fave to wear, regarding my tops, and this exercises targets that area nicely.

dinner that night was a baked sweet potato stuffed with seasoned chicken breast chunks, green onion, and topped with fromage blanc. french cheese! i also had a side of steamed zucchini.

yum.

i found the fromage blanc at Whole Foods while looking for the quark that they didn't have. the cheese lady told me that fromage blanc was the closest thing to it. i picked it up and read the stats,

and they were even better than the quark! heck that's better than sour cream and greek yogurt! greek yogurt does have a ton of protein, but it also has sugar too. anyway, awesome find. HEB has it also.

today...cardio, legs, and stretching.

i could not WAIT to get home to dinner to make me a sandwich. that was all i could think about.

i made a big pan of baked chicken breasts this morning, so all i had to do was cut it up and put my sammich together. i seasoned each breast with something different (bbq, lemon pepper, garlic and herb, smokehouse maple, and montreal steak seasoning) and some dried parsley. 350 degrees for 1 hr.

finally! seasoned chicken breast, avocado, tomato, almond cheese and Trader Joe's pumpkin butter all on toasted Ezekiel sprouted grain sesame bread. i also had half a sliced apple and some Justin's maple almond butter for dipping.

lastly, i munched on some of that vegetable medley bagged salad with some roma tomatoes on top.

sooooo, turkey day is in like 2 weeks!!!

are you hosting, going to someone else's house, or going out to eat for TG?

that post title is false advertisement. i was so excited to blog from our plane headed to Jamaica to celebrate our 5th anni that i started the post early, from home! however........ after all the hustle and bustle of the previous night (we had a FANTASTIC time and did well at our first bodybuilding show!!!!! details in my next post) that we naturally *sigh* overslept and missed our WI-FI enabled first flight. UGH. the second flight, which only left 1 hr later, was not wi-fi enabled because well, that's just how things go. SO, Sonny and i actually spoke to one another (cause people still do that :shock: ) about the weekend's events, the highs and lows of training under one roof, our bodies then and now, how we felt on stage, how each other looked on stage, future shows, etc... yeah we had lots of time to catch up as life has finally slowed down a little.

i can't shake this 'i need to be prepared for anything' feeling, which is a good thing though. i knew i wouldn't go completely HAM on sweets so soon after the show, so i packed some healthy stuff for our trip a few days beforehand to make this a gradual thing:

strawberry flavored magic pop, some shelled pistachios, light tuna packed in water, apples, chocolate PB2, canned salmon, and a stack of Food Network magazines i never found time to sit down and crack open.

not gonna lie- even though we woke up super late and rushed out to miss our flight, i still had my oats and bananas lol! i really WANTED them though and didn't have time to get creative and make something else anyway. we had a quick layover in Charlotte, NC, and it was there where i was reunited with the dairy food group again after over 3 months. i had an unused Starbucks gift card from Christmas, so i whipped it out and ordered a fruit cup and one of my fav drinks- a skinny vanilla latte.

so, even on vaca, and i said i was gonna try and stick to 5-6 balanced meals a day, but also indulge and live a little! with everything being all-inclusive (unlimited food and drinks EVERYWHERE) this is hard. not doing TOO bad so far though- there are different menus everyday, so i'm grateful for the variety. for breakfast, there's a live omelette bar- was so excited to see that!! can you guess what i've been ordering? haha

they only have *GASP* instant oatmeal which is disgusting and tastes and looks like wall paper paste. maybe even worse. i see why some people might be turned off by oatmeal if they ever have this stuff when eating oatmeal for the first time, my goodness. i mean it was BAD. there aren't enough toppings in the world to mask a bowl of that stuff :shock:

my lunches and dinners have been looking a little like this: salad,

fruit / veggie plate - raw celery, tomatoes, artichokes, watermelon, cantaloupe.

and yes that's a slice of cheese pizza lol- i said on IG that i've had a slice with every meal so far except breakfast and that is still in effect!

random lunch plate - curried tilapia, roasted yellow potatoes, sautéed green beans/onions, jerk chicken.

random dinner - grilled jerk chicken, beet salad, raw tomatoes, zucchini, and chicken/tomato pizza;)

have we been indulging? DARN RIGHT. they don't just put out one dessert as you can see. i made us a sample plate and well, we got our sample on.

rum cake, chocolate chip cookies, strawberry cheesecake, vanilla mousse cake, and chocolate cake.

there is a poolside grille that is open til 1 am (they shouldn't have told us that) and we took advantage right away. fried fish and french fries - we split this though!