I Need to Cheat

Hey friends,

Hows your Saturday?

I can't stop thinking about cheat foods... gahhh! I might have to have one (besides the mac and cheese you're gonna see) soon. I'm thinking a burger... 


I waited for that oil change I mentioned earlier for 2 hours! ugh.... not my favorite way to spend a Saturday morning. I did finish my paper while I waited though! :)

I came home and cooked up this yummy bowl of goodness (by cooking I mean I turned on the microwave).

- not exactly low carb, high protein. But it sure was delish.

This was Amy's frozen mac and cheese. I added nutritional yeast for more protein and paprika for spice.

Then I enjoyed a lovely carb induced two hour nap. I don't like napping because I always end up sleepier after, but I decided I'd just make a pot of coffee - does the trick for me!

Chocolate Blueberry Smoothie (umm... YES PLEASE!)

• 1 cup UVAB
• 1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 1/4 cup frozen blueberries
• 5 ice cubes 

I'm taking a day off from the gym today. I think this is a good plan since tomorrow I'm supposed to run 6 miles - we'll see how that goes. 

I Need a Rest

Evening to all,

Today has been quietly productive. By that I mean, I've checked off about half of the things that were on my to do list. I still have that horrible paper to finish.

One of the things I checked off my list, was my workout. About an hour after my breaky I headed to the gym for light cardio, abs and lower back.

My cardio was 20 minutes of the stairstepper. It got my legs burnin!

Then I hit the mat for abs and lower back.

• long arm crunches 
• reverse crunches
• supermans
• crunches on stability ball
• knee tucks 
• russian twists 

2 sets of 20 

Not bad... but I didn't get through all of the exercises I wanted to, and I wanted to do 3 sets of 20. I think my day off is really needed. I need to get back some energy!

Food

Post workout was the usual. 

• 1 cup UVAB (unsweetened vanilla almond breeze) 
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 4 ice cubes

See that red make on my wrist. That's a burn. I ALWAYS burn myself when I make quesadillas. I have a few other burns on my right arm. I might start wearing oven mitts for all cooking techniques! 

In a few hours it was time for lunch. 

Ingredients sauteed together:

• 4 oz chicken breast
• 3 brussels sprouts
• 3 oz mushrooms
• 1/3 cup brown rice 

Vinaigrette to pour over everything:

• 1 tsp mustard
• 1/2 T olive oil
• 1/2 T white wine vinegar 
• stevia
• pepper 

Nestle everything over 2 cups of spinach and enjoy!

So yummy, and so good for me. 

I decided to try a new recipe as a snack. 

This is April's recipe. It was so good! Moist and rich. Mmmmmmmmmm...

Here's dinner. 

I can't believe it was just a few days ago that I wasn't eating meat! I love not having that restriction over my head. 

This was a canned tuna dish. 

• Chop of 1/4 green bell pepper and 1 clove of garlic. Saute them in 1 tsp of olive oil. 
• In a medium size bowl add 1 drained can of tuna (packed in water), 1/2 T mustard, 1 tsp capers, 1/4 lemon's worth of juice, and pepper. Mix these ingredients well. 
• Add the cooked bell pepper and garlic into the tuna. 
• Add the whole mixture back to the pan. Cook till it's all heated through. 

I served asparagus on the side. In my opinion this was the perfect side dish. It was still crunchy, which added a needed textural element to this dish. 

Now, I really need to get this paper down. Tired of hearing that yet? I'm tired of saying it... 

A Better Day

I'm so close to perfect with my macros today! Whoot Whoot.

After I gave my breakfast a few minutes to settle in my tummy, I hit my yoga mat for about 40 minutes of yoga. I did a yogadownload.com sesh... no surprise. Thanks to the Fitnessista, I got 35% off my purchases. Can't beat that :)

It was killer today. My body has felt super tired these last few days, and this workout didn't help make it feel any more perky. I did the Yoga for Runners download. It's their daily deal - quick go buy it! It's awesome.

Here are the daily goods.

Salmon Salad

• 4.4 oz salmon (leftovers from last night)
• 2 hard boiled egg whites
• 1 T light mayo
• 1/2 tsp mustard
• 1/2 celery 
• 1/4 cup cooked brown rice
• dill 
• pepper

So yummy... especially since I cooked the salmon with lemon the night before. :) 

This was my before class lunch. After class I ate this grapefruit as a little pre workout snack.

Then I hit the gym for some triceps and shoulders. It was killer. I was so tired afterwards. I really wanted to do at least 30 minutes of cardio, but I just didn't have it in me. 

Workout:

• Pushups 
• Overhead Press 4 sets of 10
• Upright Row 4 sets of 10
• Bent Over Lateral Raise 3 sets of 12
• Skull Crushers 3 sets of 12
• Bench Dips 15 slow reps

Now that I'm writing it out, this seems so short. Maybe I need to take  rest day tomorrow to get back my energy.

Post workout smoothie:

D's beer cups are perfect for the size of my smoothies. I'd take a smoothie over a beer any day!

• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1/2 frozen banana 
• 4 ice cubes

Perfect and filling! 

Not long after this it was time to think about dinner. I made D this turkey ragu. 

Wow... sorry about the lighting here.

This was my dinner. 

The only thing new here is the added chicken breast. 

• 4 oz chicken breast
• 1 cup broccoli 
• 2 cups cabbage 
• worcestershire sauce 
• tons of black cracked pepper
• hot sauce

So good. My lips were on fire by the time I was finished - gotta love that hot sauce. 

So by the end of the day my macros looked like this - 46% protein, 28% carbs, and 26% fat. I'm getting better! 

Time to start writing for my school work - bla, bla, bla. I just wanna be done! 

Fish for Dinner

How's everyone's day been thus far? Mines been good.

I have a few more things I've been thinking about today. My brain just doesn't stop ;)


More Changes

So you all know how much I adore seafood. I've been missing it oh-so-much. The new macro combination has been crazy hard to do (as I suspected it would be), with my experimental vegetarian diet. I think you can tell where I'm headed with this...

I wanted to try out vegetarianism to see if my body would feel any better, not that I was feeling poorly to begin with. Perhaps this is why I haven't seen the results I thought I was going to. People say that it affects their skin, they feel less lethargic, and lighter when they don't partake meat. To be honest, I didn't see these results. It was easy for me to give up meat, especially red meat, since I'm not a fan to begin with. As of late, I've really been missing the fish and the chicken breast. So I've decided to start adding lean protein (from meat) back into my diet. I think this will help balance out my new macro requirements.

If you can't tell, I'm all about experimenting with what works best for me, and I'll keep experimenting until I find the perfect balance!

Now! Let's get to the good stuff - the food.

My pre workout snack was new for me.

• 1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese
• 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1/3 cup Kashi puff cereal 

For my workout:

Eliptical:

1-10 minutes at level 6

11-20 minutes at level 8

21-30 minutes at level 10

Stairmaster:

30 minutes at level 4 

My legs were burning by the end of my workout. It was great! 

My post workout snack was a smoothie. 

• 1 cup spinach 
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder 

It was SO good. I loved the change of protein flavor. Chocolate is so much better than vanilla. I made the smoothie in our food processor, since both our blenders are broke. :( 

An afternoon snack

A hard boiled egg. Love these, I forgot how much till this afternoon. 

Can you tell I'm trying to keep my protein levels up? 

Dinner looked something like this. 

Tons of greens and SALMON! Oh how I've missed thee fish.

5.5 ounces of salmon:

• wrapped in foil with coconut butter, lemon, and pepper
• baked (for far too long, it was over cooked) at 375 degrees

Broccoli and asparagus - steamed 

Green salad with about 2 cups of mixed greens, 1/2 cucumber, and balsamic vinaigrette. 

It filled me up to the brim. So much good filling food. 

So what do you guys think of my diet changes? I welcome all of your thoughts!

New Gear

Finally, I get a chance to spend some time with you!

Sorry I've been away, and missed a few posts. It's been a little busy over here.

We had friends over for dinner last night, and then this morning I left early to go to a wives get together for D's work. I gotta keep this top secret for the time being, but all will be revealed in time ;)

I did manage to scarf down a bowl of overnight oats before I left for the get together.

In the bowl overnight:

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
• 1/3 plain nonfat yogurt
• 1/3 cup enriched rice milk
• a few raisins 
• cinnamon

Toppings added in the morning:

• a little honey
• 1 tbsp natural PB

It was tasty. My favorite overnight oats ingredient is raisins. They make everything so sweet - naturally. 

Like I said, my meeting today is top secret, but I can't wait to tell you all about it! So I couldn't take any pictures of the lunch... my apologies, but I couldn't help it. 

Yesterday I bought shoes!! I'm so happy about them too. 

Aren't they gorgeous! Brand new asics. My old pair were over a year old, and I found these new ones on sale. 

Sale on shoes = happy happy Shayna 

I also found a pair of these on sale.

Nike Tempo shorts. 

LOVE these. They are my first pair, and I couldn't be happier with them. It's so tempting to go back and by one in every colour!

All this new running gear called for a great run! So I hit the gym for a 4.5 mile run. 

I did 4.5 miles in 41 minutes. Not too bad, eh? I was pretty proud of myself :)

• 1 cup enriched rice milk
• 2 cups spinach
• 1/2 scoop protein powder
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 1/2 cup mixed frozen berries

This is what I drank to refuel myself. I didn't make the mistake I made a few days ago. Liquids are so much better than protein bars after a tough workout! Lesson learned.

I think we're all caught up now. Time to study...  

Portobellos and Body Image

Good evening!

I hope everyone had a great day. The day went by so fast again. I feel like I missed some hours or something.

Class was ok. We had an in-class assignment. They are never fun, but I feel pretty good about this one.

Here was my post workout smoothie.

• 1 BIG handful of spinach
• 1/2 scoop protein powder
• water 

At this point I blend it. Just to make sure all the spinach gets dissolved (for lack of a better word). 

• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• ice

Blend it all up again, and it's ready for inhalation! 

It was the perfect way to fuel my body after my 4 miler. It felt so great to get my sweat on this morning! I'm trying to convince D to come with me for my 8 miler on Friday. I want to run in our city's river valley and I'm not a huge fun of running there alone. So we'll see if I can budge him. I'm nervous about this 8 miler. That's quite possibly the farthest I've ever run! I'm trying not to doubt myself. Running is all about the mind games, well at least for me it is. 

Next up, lunch. 

• Half a cucumber
• 5 dried apricots
• 1/2 cup granola
• 1/2 cup nonfat cottage cheese
• 3 strawberries

I packed it all up to take to class with me. 

My appetite has been cranked up over the last couple of weeks. I'm pretty certain it's due to my ramped up workout routines. So it was no surprise that I was hungry around 3 p.m. and ate a protein bar I found in my bag. Sorry - no pic. 

Dinner was marvelous tonight! 

• 1/4 cabbage head
• 1 BIG handful of spinach
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes (I like things spicy)
• 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce 
• tons of cracked black pepper

I sauteed these ingredients for about 15 minutes. While they were cooking, I got to work on the pretty portobello. 

• 1 portobello mushroom
• 1 minced clove of garlic
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil (I'm not quite sure why I used two kinds of oil...)

I baked the mushroom until I could smell the garlic, give or take 15 minutes.

I plated the veggies and poured about 1/2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar over everything. It balanced out the heat of the red pepper flakes. 

And walla! You have an amazing dinner. 

I gotta finish a paper tonight. It's on a topic that I'm actually excited to write about -- the media as a source of women's body image issues. I'm looking forward to all the dirt I can find on the subject! 

Have a great night :)

Question: does anyone have anything topics/points that they think are important to address when talking about the media and women's bodies? I'd love to hear about them!! Thanks :)

Deceivingly Delicious

How was your Friday? Mine was so laid back. I always feel guilty after Fridays for wasting my time, but they are my Saturdays, so I guess I shouldn't feel too bad. 

I had this smoothie as my afternoon snack. 

It tasted just like dessert. 

• 1/2 frozen banana
• 1/2 scoop vanilla whey
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• cocoa powder
• 3 ice cubes

It was amazing! 

I drank this and hit my yoga mat for a little hip opening flow session. It made my hips feel so much better! I love YogaDownload.com 

Dinner time. I made myself the pictured items, and made D some white chicken enchiladas. He liked them.  

My dinner was not so much aesthetically pleasing, as it was completely delicious. 

For the cabbage:

• 1/4 head of cabbage
•  worcestershire sauce
• tons of black cracked pepper

Saute all three ingredients till cabbage is soft. 

For the veggie pancake:

• 1 carrot shredded
• 1 zucchini shredded
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup water

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Heat oil in a medium size skillet over medium heat. Cook the batter just like you would a pancake. This recipe makes 2 servings. 

I made this sauce to go along with it. 

• 1 tbsp mayonnaise
• tuong ot sriracha sauce (hot sauce)  

I spread this sauce over everything. It was amazing; my tongue was on fire the whole time! I'll be using this a lot from now on. 

D and I rented Up in the Air. It's ok. I'm glad we waited for it came out on DVD. It's not worth $25 dollars to see it in a theater. 

• Chapman's chocolate frozen yogurt
• 3 chocolate covered almonds
• 1/2 tbsp granola 

Ok. This is the last bowl I'm having for a while. That's mostly due to the fact that it's all gone now. So until I buy another tub, I'm done with the Chapman's. :( I've had frozen yogurt three days in a row - I could use the break from the sweets. 

Dreading the Predestined

Afternoon to you all,

I hope your morning was great! Mine was and it wasn't all at the same time. I had to say goodbye to D's grandma and cousin. They went back home to Ontario today. I loved having them here with us.

Right after breaky I hit the gym. I did 3 miles in 26.40 minutes. It was a super fast, sweaty run. The kind I love! I'm thinking about going to a group pilates class at my gym tonight. We'll see how the day pans out.

About an hour later I drank this.

D and I joked that it looked like nasty swamp water. Thank goodness it didn't taste like it!

• 2 cups spinach
• 1 cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk
• 1/2 scoop vanilla whey powder
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1/2 banana
• a little cocoa powder

It was delightful. 

Then I chugged a few cups of tea to bring my temperature back up. 

I did some work on my paper I mean, I checked out all my favorite blogs before I decided it was time for lunch. 

A sliced up tomato, sprinkled with pepper. A 1 egg, 2 egg white, red pepper breakfast burrito. And organic hashbrowns. YUM! 

I doused the eggs in hot sauce before wrapping it up. It was a great, filling lunch. 

It's now just about time to head to class.... anyone want to go for me?? I didn't think so. I have to hand in a paper.... I'm not happy with my paper. Why am I such a procrastinator?! This is something I really REALLY need to work on.

Have a great afternoon! :)

What is Wrong With My Appetite?!

Good afternoon blog friends,

Today has been an great day! I went to the gym shortly after finishing my breakfast this morning.

I did a biceps and triceps workout:

• warm up - 5 min elliptical 
• overhead tricep extensions (using one 17.5 lb dumbbell) 
• 21s (12.5 lb dumbbells)
• dips 
• hammer curls (10 lb dumbbells)
• tricep pushups
• dumbbell concentration curls (10 lb dumbbells)
• one arm kickbacks (10 lb dumbbells)

After I warmed up, I did 12 reps of each exercise three times. My arms were shaking by the end! 

This came after the workout. 

Green smoothie:

• 3 cups spinach
• 1 cup vanilla unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
• 1/2 banana
• 5 ice cubes

I downed it fast, so I wouldn't be late for class. I packed up a few things for lunch. 

A key lime larabar, a pear and more goldfish (I seem to be a tad bit obsessed with these lately). 

After my class I hit the gym again. This time for a little cardio sesh. I did 20 minutes on the stair climber and stretched out really really good. It felt great. That stair climber works my legs like nothing else. I was huffing and puffing, while my legs were on fire! 

When I came home I snacked AGAIN! I usually don't eat this much. It much be the two-a-day that's got me starved. 

• 1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese
• 1/4 granola 

Now I'm catching up on some blogs and emails. I may or may not be snacking (again), on a bowl of goldfish. Have a great afternoon!