healthy

Homemade Almond Butter / New Etsy Find

09.03.2013

Hope you had a terrific Labor Day weekend! We spent the weekend in Sonoma visiting my parents, soaking up the sun and relaxing. While there, my mom and I decided to make homemade almond butter. I don’t think you guys understand how easy it is to make. Why buy it at the store when making your own is SO simple and nutritious!

DIRECTIONS: put your almonds in a food processor and let it run. That’s it, seriously! After 1 minute your almonds will start to resemble almond meal. They will then start to build up on the side, so every 2-3 minutes you will want to stop and push the almonds down before continuing. After a couple minutes the almonds will start to get clumpy and sticky. This is when they finally start to release their oils. After 10-12 minutes your almonds will then resemble almond butter, but don’t stop there! After a couple more minutes of processing your almond butter will magically release more oils and become creamy and smooth. Add a pinch of sea salt if you wish and give it one last swirl. Easy, right?!

I had mine with some pears, while the fam enjoyed some it on some whole wheat bread. My fave is toasting a piece of Ezekiel bread with a spread of almond butter on the top and enjoying while warm. Remember, almonds are a “good fat” and should be included in your diet. Peanut butter is much higher in fat therefore I personally prefer almond butter to peanut butter. 🙂

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How freaking cute is this notepad?! I got it from an adorable Etsy shop called Charm and Gumption. They have a lot of cute paper products, notepads, stationary, invitations and more. When I saw this fitness notepad I had to have it and can’t wait to order more! Visit the Charm and Gumption website here.

Follow me on instagram if you don’t already, I share a ton more photos on there! : @fitnessandthecity

Have a great week! 🙂

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!

Dream BIG and start NOW!

08.23.2013

I know I talk about sets, super-sets, to failure and all these terms I’m sure you haven’t heard of, right? Thing is, I just learned what they are myself, so I hope you’re not reading this feeling discouraged because you don’t know what a tricep extension super-set with a bench tricep kickback is. Everyone starts as a beginner, including myself about a year or so ago. Heck, I still don’t know a lot of different terms or the perfect way to do this or that. Its been a long process for me and I wish that I had more time to study and get certified. The more you read, research and practice the more it will make sense, I promise!

I remember the first time I stepped foot in the weight room, I was terrified! Had no idea what to do, didn’t want to look like a total nerd for bringing in a notebook full of exercises and hated the fact that every boy stares at the girl in the weight room. As time went on, you kind of get used to it. Gain confidence in your workouts, get ideas from watching other people do exercises and get comfortable with it. I assure you, if you are feeling like I did in the beginning, it gets better! Keep at it, get in there and lift with the boys! You will be kicking major a$$ in no time! 🙂

Since we’re talking about different levels of fitness, another thing I mention a lot is 100% clean eating and exercising 6 days a week. I know this is not a normal routine for the average person, so make if fit into your lifestyle. For those starting out, try exercising 3-4 days a week and see how you feel. Take baby steps. No need to start off full force. If you are on the quest to eating healthier, try eating 2-3 sweets a week or cutting back your favorite junk food. If that seems like a lot, try to limit to once a day. Work your way towards the 100% clean eating. Make that your goal. I have slowly progressed to the stage I am at now and would have never imagined I would be running the full marathon (literally). Your metabolism will speed up with time and nutrition will become a cinch the more you practice. My biggest advice is to research. Use google, use the internet, there are tons of millions of articles out there about fitness and nutrition. Even magazines have helped me learn a new exercise or what or what not to eat when. No matter what fitness level you’re at, do your research! (bodybuilding.com has been my go-to resource)

Bottom line, all fitness levels welcome here!! We all start somewhere. Don’t get discouraged by your level of commitment or knowledge. Every expert was once a beginner! Make fitness FIT into your lifestyle. Set small goals and work towards the larger ones. Start NOW, so you can look back and see how far you’ve come. 🙂

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!

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