Bad, bad blogger

Hey guys,

Sorry for being MIA. I was away from home for a few weeks visiting family, and now that I'm back I'm playing catch up with school - doesn't leave me much time to blog.

But any ways... I've made a few changes to my workout plan and diet plan I can share today. Tomorrow I'm planning to post meals that I've been eating a lot of lately. I know the food post are always my favorite!

So I've made changes to my plan because I'm trying to cut out about 4-5% of body fat. I never wanted to gain a ton of muscle, in fact, I'm more than happy with how much muscle I have now. I just want to trim off the fat. So I'm trying new ways of doing that.

Workout plan: I've added lots of intensive interval training to my current plan. Bodyrock.tv has been amazing site to get my workouts!

I love Zuzana's approach to fitness. The short workouts are super tough and often times leave me feeling shaking and sick to my stomach. So don't try them thinking they're too short or easy.

Eating plan: I've dropped my carbs significantly! I've taken on the "earn your carbs" approach. This means that I have to complete a workout before I can eat oatmeal, bread, and most fruit (excluding berries and green apples).

                                   (I just love this picture haha)

If you haven't noticed from my blog, I get bored easily. I need to keep on changing things to keep myself interested in fitness and eating right. There's nothing wrong with trying new things (I encourage it!). Go out there and try something new today! It's the best way to get out of a rut.

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 Plans

Hey gang,

I have a few things on my mind regarding fat loss. But before I get to them, let's discuss breakfast.

Pumpkin Oats

In the pot:

• 30 grams oats (that's a little less than half a cup. Half a cup is the equivalent to 40 grams in theory, but I weigh the oats, just to be sure I'm not getting more than I need)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 banana
• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree 
• 2 egg whites
• cinnamon 
• nutmeg
• cloves

Topping:

• 1 T natural PB
• 1 T 1% cottage cheese 

And coffee.

I had enough coffee to make half the amount I normally do. SUCCESS! 

The Few Things on my Mind

Carbs, Fats, and Protein

I've heard so many different things about carbs and fat loss. Some people forbid carbs in their diets, other eat them limitlessly. So I've decided the only way to see if less carbs are effective for fat loss is to try it out myself! 

Right now I eat about 55% carbs, 20% protein, and 25% fat. 

I'm thinking of switching to this combination - 30% carbs, 50% protein, and 20% fat. 

I'm not exactly sure if it's possible to do this as a vegetarian, without eating half a tub of protein powder a day. But I'm gonna give it a go!