clean eating

Counting Macros

01.27.2014

Counting macros. Who does it? Who is against it? Who has no idea what that is?

I have officially gone crazy and am on my first week of counting macros. Macros including how many grams of proteins, carbs, and fats my meals consist of. Wow, this is harder than I thought, requires a lot of brain power and prep time! I just purchased my first food scale and have officially gone off the deep end. 😉 Just kidding, but seriously wondering if any of you count protein, carbs, fats etc? It is not an easy task, but so far so good. This is my first week testing the waters, and I’m not 100% sure I’m doing it right, but I’m sure it will get easier with time. Hopefully in no time, I can just know exactly what to eat and when without having to think about it.

I’m not competing, nor am I obsessing, I’ve just been very curious and want to see how my body reacts. I love the whole learning process of it all, and actually paying detailed attention to what I eat. The prep time is more tedious, but if we want the body of our dreams, we have to work for it! Not only am I wanting to see what physical changes I see, but also how this affects my training runs for the marathon. Food is power, and so far I feel like it may be the key to getting me through grueling 15/20 mile runs. I’m in the muscle growing stages, and to gain muscle I eat, eat, eat. (Turns out this isnt so bad after all) 😉

I’ve been following a truly inspiring instagram account called “Passion2befit”. Ashley (passion2befit) and I have been emailing back and forth and I’ve grown to get to know her through social media. She is an amazing athlete who shares her bodybuilding life through pictures and sets out to help as many people as possible. (I am very excited to have her featured on the blog soon!) Ashley created a meal plan for me, taking in about 1900 calories/day. Here are some pictures that capture my meals (a few snacks not pictured):

(4 eggs white with spinach; oatmeal with cinnamon; non fat greek yogurt; chicken, broccoli and quinoa; stuffed pepper from Trader Joes with salad; rice cake with cake batter protein powder and blueberries)

I’m sure some of you are thinking, why the heck is she doing that? My intention is to take a peek into a life of a competitor/athlete and learn how to nourish my body, get to know my needs and watch the positive changes that may occur. This is all a learning process for me and so far, I’m loving the journey! Really excited to update you guys on my progress.

Don’t forget to enter the Michelle Bridges program giveaway. (She doesn’t count macros, but gets you on track with a delicious meal plan!)

Finding Balance This December

12.02.2013

Happy December loves! My favorite month of all….who doesn’t love the holiday season?! I wanted to share a quick post from my IG and Facebook page with you guys:

December is the HARDEST month of all to stay on track! It’s so easy to let your health and fitness go by the wayside during the holidays. Tis the season to feel like we need to gorge ourselves for being “good” during the summer months. Trying my hardest not to feel guilty during this time, but I’ve decided that it’s best to enjoy the season full of holiday food and drink. All in MODERATION. The challenge this month is finding that healthy balance. No starving, no binging, but eating right most of the time and exercising. Exercise makes you feel good, AND improves your physique. Score! The holidays are no excuse to give up on workouts and meal plans. So whose with me to work hard and stay committed?!

What’s your goal during the month of December? I will be on a mission to finding that healthy balance while not missing out on any holiday fun. 🙂

What I Ate Wednesday / Grocery Shopping Tip

08.28.2013

I am linking up for another What I ate Wednesday! Hopefully this gives you guys some ideas of what I eat, as I am constantly looking for new meal recipes! Head over to Peas and Crayons for more clean eating ideas! She makes master pieces over there, where as my cooking skills are slowly but surely progressing. These pics are lacking veggies which I ate but are not pictured, so here is the gist of my meals:

Breakfast: post workout protein shake with my fave yogurt. Fage Total 0% greek yogurt is my go-to. I buy at least 5/week, love!

Lunch: I bought this chicken pre-packaged at Trader Joes. These are SO good! This one is a lemon flavor, but they have plenty others also. I usually shop on Sundays or Mondays and prepare my meals for the week. My lunch will look very similar to this all week.

A little peak into my desk drawer at work…full of Quest Bars! The perfect afternoon snack. This is my fave flavor also! YUM!

Dinner: Egg whites, extra lean chicken sausage and tomatoes for me, cheese for my boyfriend. We almost always eat the same dinner, just different variations. (It’s not the prettiest pic but this is reality) 🙂

Dark chocolate after dinner is my guilty pleasure…alright secrets out. I just discovered this new store here in SF called New Tree. Its more of a coffee shop but they make these delicious chocolates!

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Have you guys seen the show Extreme Weightloss? I am obsessed! It is so educational and the stories very inspiring. One take-away from the show: shop the outside of the aisles in the grocery store. Everything you need is on the outer parts of the store. No need to go within the aisles. This is SO true and one of the best grocery shopping tips. Also, the junk is right in front of you, you must search for the healthy items. This reality is unfortunate, but go with a list and search for the items you need instead of spur of the moment shopping which often leads to buying more unhealthy items.

Head to Rocco Dispirito’s website and check out his healthy cookbooks. I am so anxious to try his recipes. Let me know what you think!

A Few Clean Eats / Talking Yourself Out of Cheats

07.29.2013

My #1 struggle, and I’m sure we can all relate: controlling what goes on the plate! I have no issues getting to the gym and loving my workout, but staying on the clean eating train is not easy! My biggest down fall is seeing something and not having the willpower to say no. Cheese, chocolate, you get the point. Sometimes I’ll just go for it, but others I’ll contemplate and talk myself out of it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for indulging here and there, but definitely not all the time.

Some thoughts that run through my head in the “contemplation stage”:

Don’t waste that workout on something that will be satisfying for .2 seconds.
Think about where you’ll be if you have no cheats for the next how many days.
I don’t want to feel guilty, I want to feel satisfied!
I want my dang abs to show through, and these cheats will not get me there.

Question: Are you able to talk yourself out of cheats? Or is this something you struggle with?

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Chicken & Veggie Casserole: I came across this AMAZING recipe from Little B’s blog and had to try. It is seriously so good, and even one of my boyfriends favorite things I’ve cooked. Get the recipe here.

I over-did it on the cheese, but that was mostly my boyfriend’s side. 😉 Also- best to use a glass pan. I don’t have one so used a baking sheet, surprisingly it still turned out great.

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Love, love, love visiting my parents for a yummy BBQ. As you know, we have no sun here in San Francisco, so heading to Sonoma once in awhile is essential, and love that my mom is all about clean eating also. Here are some of our dishes:

Hope you all had a great weekend!! We just got back from Napa. Jeff surprised me with a weekend getaway of wine tasting, sun basking and spa treatments for my birthday! So much fun, but back to reality. New job, trying to get back into a routine, working my butt off in the gym and TRYING my hardest to eat clean. It’s a new week peeps, we can do it!! xo

FITzee Meals Arrived / Chest & Tris Workout

07.12.2013

Woohooo it was a good week! My workouts have been on point and my FITzee meals came in the mail! (THANK YOU SO MUCH FITzee!) I’m seriously obsessed with FITzee foods. If you don’t have time to meal prep, you just throw one of their meals on the stove and bam there it is, a healthy and delicious meal. FITzee is gluten-free, non-processed food with extra attention given to fitness peeps and their nutritional needs. Tons of protein, veggies, and complex carbs. NO JUNK! They are so engaged with the fitness community and even host yoga classes near their store in San Diego.

Here’s what my box consisted of this time:

Black bean breakfast bowl (LOVE)
Breakfast pita pizza (can’t wait to try)
Paleo Thai Coconut Curry Chicken (delish)
Red Mole Chicken (yum)
Paleo BBQ Salmon with steamed brocoli and carrots (can’t wait to try)
Red Chicken Enchiladas (one of my faves)
Green Chili Chicken Enchilada Bake (another fave)
Shredded Chicken mac n’ cheese (can’t wait to try)
(and I’m missing a bunch because they have already been eaten!)

If you order anything from www.fitzeefoods.com make sure to tell them Jenna sent you!! 🙂

Now for my chest and triceps workout:

Remember to lift heavy! I am using 15lbs in the pic, but the weight depends on your strength. Some days I do more, some less. You can also use more weight, less reps on the last set to give you an extra pump. But don’t compare, set your own goals!

Enjoy your week!

clean eating

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