Chocolate Chip Blondies

I have never made or eaten blondies that I know of in my life, but I have always been curious.  I've seen a lot of recipes for them through fitness accounts and such on Instagram.  Many of them were fairly similar, so I kind of made my own based on the recipes I saw.  There is one more different blondie recipe that uses dates that I want to try eventually as well, but this one was extremely delicious!  It actually reminded me of the Jazzythings Chocolate Chip PB cookies from a previous post.

Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/3 c natural peanut butter
1 egg
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1/3 c sugar free maple syrup (I used Walden Farms pancake syrup.)
1/4 t baking powder
2 t vanilla extract
1 T Stevia, or more to taste
1/3 c dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  The first step of this recipe is to rinse and drain the chickpeas.  Be sure to dry them off pretty good as well, so there is not any extra moisture when it is put into the food processor.  I food processed the chickpeas pretty well first to get as smooth of a batter as possible.  Also, if you're making a double batch like I did, make sure to use the big bowl.  I started with the smaller food processor, and it got way too full.

Blend in all of the other ingredients except the chocolate chips.  I stirred in the chocolate chips; however, I would suggest sprinkling them on top.  When I poured the batter into the 8 x 8 greased pans, the chocolate chips kind of all sunk to the bottom, so I would sprinkle them on top instead!

My double batch made 2 8 x 8 pans.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Cut into 16 slices and enjoy!  I calculated these babies out to be about 73 calories a square and they were super delicious!

LiveFit Trainer Phase 2 Days 52 & 53

I am doing a two day combined post, since I will be making another post with the recipe for the dessert I made for the overnight I worked last night.  Overnight shifts make it super difficult for me to keep up on my diet and workouts.  Yesterday, I tried to sleep as late as possible and ended up waking up around my usual time.  Go figure!  My body is so used to waking up to go to the gym around 9 or 10 AM!  I busted through my chest workout and planned my meals accordingly so that I would have plenty of food to eat during the overnight, and I wouldn't be tempted with everyone else's delicious food.  I did fine food wise throughout the overnight.  My issues began when I woke up today.  After going to sleep at 6 AM, I woke up around 1 PM to eat "breakfast."  I had an absolutely delicious breakfast burrito, but then I was still hungry.  Therefore, I got out the jars of peanut butter!  I may or may not have eaten like half a jar of peanut butter, but all in all, I ended up eating 2300 calories total.  I was super depressed when it came time to go to the gym, and even though I was incredibly tired, I set my mind to working off all of the extra calories I ate, which meant that I needed to burn around 850 calories to bring my net calories back down to 1450.  I would not suggest this as a dieting technique, but I felt a lot better about eating those peanut butter sandwiches after my gym session.  Today was shoulder day by the way, which is my second favorite.  I am now sitting in my kitchen waiting for my chicken to finish baking so that I can cut it up and weigh it for this week's meals.  I got a really great deal on boneless skinless chicken breasts at Wal-Mart.  They were only $1.99 a pound, so let's just say I bought a lot!  Hope everyone's week is going well!  After this chicken cooks, I will be calling it an early bed time.

LiveFit Trainer Phase 2 Day 51

Today was a busy and exhausting day, but it was leg day, which makes everything better!!  I worked today from 10-5 and went straight to the gym after work.  I busted my ass (pardon my French, but I'm really excited!) at the gym with my leg workout.  It was legen...wait for it....dary!!!!

I squatted my BODY WEIGHT!!!!!  For two sets!  It was epic and awesome!  I also upped weights on the leg press too!  My quads were on fire for the whole workout.  I felt like my legs were going to give out!  Surprisingly though, I only burned 340 calories.

I had promised my mom that I would attend a Zumba class with her at the local food market downtown.  I burned another 350 calories during this workout session, so I'd call it a successful workout evening.

I will be working another overnight shift tomorrow night, so tomorrow will consist of sleeping as much as possible, grocery shopping for the family, baking blondies for my co-workers, and obviously going to the gym!

I guess tonight is going to be a short post, but I will be doing a double post on Thursday with the blondie recipe!

Chocolate PB Protein Cookies by Jazzythings

Let me start out by saying that my cookies did not turn out anything like Jazzythings described or pictured on her Instagram with her original post of the recipe.  They were quite dry, which I am thinking may have been caused by the type of protein powder I use.  My protein powder has an exceedingly large scoop, so I may have ended up using a lot more than necessary.  It could have been because I substituted oat flour for almond flour as well, but I didn't have enough almond flour and didn't want to spend $11 on another bag.  I also felt that I needed to add more peanut butter to mine.  Other than those two things, the flavor was really good.  I had one as a post workout snack today with my protein shake, and it was delicious with the almond milk.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c almond flour or I substituted oat flour
4 scoops chocolate whey protein powder
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t baking powder
1 egg
1 egg white
1 t vanilla extract
1/4 c honey
1/2 c unsweetened natural applesauce
Peanut butter

Blend all of the ingredients together in a food processor.  I used my Ninja.  Make sure you have a food processor bowl that is big enough.  I tried to use the smaller food processor inner bowl, but it didn't all fit.  So I had to transfer it to the XL food processor bowl.

Scoop out portions of batter onto a greased cookie sheet.  I used my scooper and put a whole scoop down for each cookie first with about 6 cookies on a sheet.

Jazzythings describes the next step as making little bird's nests in the cookie batter for the peanut butter, but I just kind of scooped it on top.  My batter was sticky, but it was not thick enough to make a bird's nest of sorts.  I measured out about 1 t of peanut butter per cookie, but they definitely needed more.

Next, add more cookie batter on top to cover the peanut butter so that the peanut butter becomes like a filling in the cookie.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes.  Each new sheet I baked for less time to try to avoid the dryness, but it didn't help.  So I'm guessing it's an ingredient problem rather than a baking time problem.  The batter tasted amazing though too, and it could have definitely been used as an ice cream topping of some sort.

Now go give these cookies a whirl!

Soft Coconut Choco-Cookies by VMFitness

This was another Instagram recipe find, and it turned out to be absolutely delicious!  These are right up there with the Jazzythings chickpea cookies!  So good!  @VMFitness has so many delicious recipes, and she is a Quest bar lover like myself!  I brought these as one of the goodies for my overnight on Saturday, and they seemed to be the crowd favorite of the two.

Ingredients for a double batch of 24 cookies:
2 large ripe bananas
2 eggs
2 T almond flour
6 T coconut flour
4 T unsweetened almond milk
2 T melted coconut oil
2 t baking powder
1/2 c chocolate chips

I started out by blending up the bananas in my Ninja, so that they were mashed up to a smooth consistency.  Then, I added each ingredient following in order and pulsing the Ninja to mix it up.  Once it was all blended together, I mixed in the chocolate chips.

Since VMFitness said that a single batch of the recipe would make 12 cookies, I did not use my scooper like I normally do.  Instead I just spooned them out until I had 24 cookies.

Bake at 360 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes.  I baked mine for 10-12 though, because I felt like they were too mushy after only 8 minutes.

If you love banana and chocolate chips, these are a must try.  They don't taste like your average chocolate chip cookie.  They are very moist, but they have a lot of flavor too!

LiveFit Trainer Phase 2 Days 48, 49, & 50

One more week left in phase 2!!!  I'm super excited yet also scared to death to start phase 3, because it's going to be intense.  I am combing Saturday, Sunday, and Monday's posts, because I will be making separate posts for the two recipes I tried out for my overnight Saturday night.  Therefore this post will be a teaser for these delicious creations.

I also still need to detail Saturday's workout.  Saturday was Back and Cardio as follows:

• Barbell Deadlift: 4 sets of 8
• T-Bar Row: 4 sets of 8
• Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown: 4 sets of 8
• Seated Cable Rows: 4 sets of 8
• Straight Arm Pulldown: 4 sets of 8
• Reverse Flyes: 4 sets of 8
• Seated Bent-Over Rear Delt Raise: 4 sets of 8
• 30 minutes steady state moderate intensity cardio--elliptical

This workout was my first time ever doing deadlifts, and I have to say I kind of liked them!  My back was definitely sore after this workout.  I was still even a little sore this morning!

Sunday was a rest day as usual, and I ended up making it an unplanned cheat day as well.  My good friend is having twins, and her baby shower was Sunday.  After working the overnight, I woke up after roughly 5 hours of sleep and went to her shower without eating.  The last time I ate was a cookie at 4 am.  The shower started at 2, and I began to get dizzy.  I was still dizzy after eating just the sloppy joe meat, some veggies, Chex Mix, and some fruit, so I had a couple cupcakes and chocolate covered pretzels.  After that, I felt fine!
Today was just like last Monday with workout, and I got right back on track with my diet!  Alright I know you all really just want the recipes so stay tuned and read on in my next two posts!

LiveFit Trainer Phase 2 Day 47

This post is probably going to be fairly brief, but this weekend's post will include two new cookie recipes that I will be trying out for my overnight shift at work.  So I promise I will make up for it.  Today was a 1750 calorie day as it was leg day number 2, but despite going out for dinner, I didn't make it to 1750.  Here's what was on the menu:
Breakfast:

• 2 cups of Hazelnut coffee from one K-cup sweetened with unsweetened almond milk and Stevia
• 1 La Tortilla Factory Low Carb High Fiber Wrap
• 8 T liquid egg whites
• 1/4 c. Hunt's fire roasted tomatoes (because I ran out of salsa!)

Lunch:

• 1 can Chunk Light Tuna in water
• 2/3 c. whole green beans
• 1/2 c brown rice
• Walden Farms Alfredo sauce
• Frank's red hot sauce
• No Sugar Added Bread and Butter pickle chips

Dinner:

• Longhorn Flavorful Under 500 meal-6 oz. Renegade sirloin with steamed mixed vegetables and a side salad with no croutons and Raspberry Vinaigrette on the side
• Quest bar Chocolate Brownie (that I brought with me in my purse)

Snack:

• Lemon Cream Pie Quest bar

In total this was about 1386 calories according to myfitnesspal tracker, and I burned about 350 today in the gym doing legs and an extra 20 minutes of light cardio on the elliptical.
Leg Workout Number 2 is as follows:

• Leg Extensions: 2 warm-up sets of 30 reps
• Wide Stance Barbell Squat: 6 sets of 8
• Seated Leg Curl: 4 sets of 8, last set to failure
• One Leg Barbell Squat: 4 sets of 8
• Barbell Glute Bridge: 4 sets of 8
• Leg Press Calf Raises: 3 sets of 20
• Seated Calf Raises: 3 sets of 20
• Standing Calf Raises: 3 sets of 20

Tomorrow is the last day of working out before a much needed rest day and get excited for cookie recipes coming tomorrow or Sunday!!

LiveFit Trainer Phase 2 Day 46

How is it that I go from two days of eating closer to 1750 calories then drop to a day of under 1450, and I feel like I've eaten way too much today?  Sometimes I do not understand at all how my body works.  Actually it is days like today that really make me want to take classes to learn more about nutrition and dietary needs.  It also makes me realize that I really need to go to the grocery store or I will have to start making some pretty interesting substitutions in my meals.  So here is a layout of what I ate today:
Breakfast:

• 2-10 oz. mugs of Hazelnut coffee made from the same K-cup sweetened with unsweetened almond milk and Stevia
• 1 La Tortilla Factory Low Carb High Fiber wrap
• 6 T liquid egg whites
• 2 T salsa

Lunch (Post-workout):

• 4 oz. baked chicken breast
• 2/3 c. sugar snap peas
• 1/2 c. brown rice
• Frank's red hot sauce

Snack:

• 1 slice Cinnamon Raisin Ezekiel bread with spray butter and cinnamon
• 1/4 c. raw unsalted almonds

Dinner:

• 1 can shredded chicken in water
• 2/3 c whole green beans
• Yellow mustard

Snack:

• 1/2 c non fat plain Greek yogurt
• 1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
• Walden Farms pancake syrup
• 1 banana
• Banana Nut Muffin Quest bar
• A couple of handfuls of Planter's peanuts

This was all roughly 1400 calories in total.

I burned off roughly 550 calories today with exercises in doing my Shoulders and Cardio workout from the trainer, which I will bullet point out for you all, and I went for a brief 20 minute jog around my neighborhood after work just because I felt like it.  I have no idea why I felt the need to go out running after work, but I had been thinking about doing it for a couple of days now.  When I feel like running, I know I should go, because that feeling does not come to me often.  I still hate running.

Shoulders/Cardio:

• Arnold Dumbbell Press: 4 sets of 8
• Seated Bent-Over Rear Deltoid Raise: 4 sets of 8, last set to failure
• Standing Palms in One-Arm Dumbbell Press: 4 sets of 8
• Superset: Front Dumbbell Raise at 4 sets of 8 and Standing Dumbbell Upright Row at 4 sets of 8
• Side Lateral Raise: 4 sets of 8, last set is a drop-set
• Reverse Flyes: 4 sets of 8
• 30 minute moderate intensity steady state cardio---elliptical

Tomorrow will be interesting for many reasons.  I am going out to dinner at Longhorn, which kind of stresses me out, but I need to push myself to be able to eat healthy and enjoy my life.  I need to get groceries.  And it's leg day with a 1750 calorie budget.  Wish me luck!

LiveFit Trainer Phase 2 Day 45

Today's post is going to be pretty simple with an explanation of today's workout and meals, since I didn't have anything cool to take a picture of.

Chest/Abs/Cardio Workout:

• Barbell Bench Press: 1 warm-up set of 8
• Reverse Tricep Bench Press: 4 sets of 8
• Superset of Dumbbell Flyes: 4 sets of 8 and Dumbbell Bench Press: 4 sets of 8
• Superset of Incline Dumbbell Press: 4 sets of 8 and Bar Dips: 4 sets of 8
• Cable Crossover: 4 sets of 8
• Medicine Ball Crunches: 3 sets of 25
• Hanging Leg Raise: 3 sets of 15
• Reverse Crunches: 3 sets of 15
• 30 min. moderate intensity steady state cardio--treadmill

Today was a 1750 calorie day, because it was a heavy chest day.
Breakfast:

• 2 cups Butter Toffee coffee from a single K-cup with unsweetened almond milk and Stevia
• 1 La Tortilla Factory Low Carb High Fiber wrap
• 12 T liquid egg whites
• 1/4 red bell pepper
• 3 T salsa

Lunch (Post workout):

• 4 oz. baked chicken breast
• 2/3 c. sugar snap peas
• 1/2 c. brown rice
• Frank's red hot sauce

Snack:

• 1 slice Cinnamon Raisin Ezekiel bread with spray butter and cinnamon
• 1/4 c. unsalted raw almonds

Dinner:

• 4 oz. baked chicken breast
• 2/3 c. sugar snap peas
• 1 can chicken in water (about 5 oz.)
• Yellow mustard

Snack:

• 1 Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Quest bar
• 2 c. unsweetened almond milk
• 1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
• 1 Strawberry Cheesecake Quest bar

All of this food ended up being about 1654 calories, so not quite 1750, but I don't feel like I need anymore food.  Tomorrow is my second favorite workout day: shoulders!!  It is also a lower calorie day, which I'm actually interested to see how I'll do on after two days of 1750!

LiveFit Trainer Phase 2 Day 44

Today was my first high calorie day, and it was definitely an interesting experience.  I have learned that through dieting for so long, I've figured out what foods I can eat more of, because they are low in calorie.  However, now that I can eat higher calories, I'm eating insane amounts of food!!!  I will admit right from the start that I did not meet my goal of eating 1750 calories, but man did I try!  I got to 1586, and I am lying here so full right now!  I cannot even think about eating another thing, even if it was a delicious Quest bar, and we all know those are my weakness!  Anyway, without further ado, here was my menu for today:
Breakfast:

• 2 cups of Butter Toffee coffee made from the same K-cup with 1/4 c. unsweetened almond milk and Stevia
• 1 La Tortilla Factory Low Carb High Fiber wrap
• 12 T liquid egg whites
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 4 T salsa

Lunch (Post Workout):

• 4 oz. baked chicken breast
• 1 c steamed broccoli
• Yellow mustard
• 1/2 sweet potato
• 1 T Better n PB 
• Cinnamon

Snack:

• 1 slice Cinnamon Raisin Ezekiel bread
• 1 T Better n PB

Dinner:

• 4 oz. baked chicken breast
• 1 c. steamed broccoli
• Yellow mustard

Snack:

• White Chocolate Raspberry Quest bar

Evening Dessert Fantasmic Creation:

• 1 PINT Arctic Zero Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream
• 1 scoop chocolate whey protein mixed with unsweetened almond milk and Walden Farms pancake syrup
• 2 T PB2 mixed with almond milk and pancake syrup
• 1 Quest PB cup
• 1/4 c. raw unsalted almonds

I was definitely well fed today, and usually on leg days, I want to eat everything in the entire kitchen!  I'm taking that as a good sign that I'm finally feeding my body right!
Here is the leg workout for the day:

• Narrow Stance Barbell Squats: 2 light sets of 15, 2 heavier sets to failure
• Narrow Stance Leg Press: 4 sets of 8
• Barbell Step ups: 4 sets of 8
• Walking Barbell Double Lunges (Step-down-up-down): 3 sets of 20
• Single Leg Barbell Squat: 4 sets of 8
• Seated Calf Raises: 3 sets of 20, last set to failure
• Standing Calf Raises: 3 sets of 20, last set to failure
• Leg Extensions: 3 sets of 10, last set to failure

I upped all my weights today and felt awesome after burning over 400 calories just by lifting.  I did absolutely no cardio today!  I may, however, have gotten a few odd looks for wearing one of my favorite t-shirts to the gym, but I was repping my favorite drink ever: Arizona Green Tea!!

Overall today felt awesome!  I loved being able to eat more food.  It actually made me think that I could do this without counting and tracking every little thing.  I also felt pretty lean today, despite eating more than I've ever eaten while dieting!

I am not one of those girls that wants to be stick thin.  I want some muscle, and I want to keep my booty!  I can't wait to see the changes the next 6 weeks will bring.  It is a slow process, but it is just that: a process!

LiveFit Trainer Phase 2 Day 43

Welcome to week 3 of Phase 2, a.k.a. week 7 out of 12!  Today was the first day according to the trainer that I am supposed to calculate calories.  In order to calculate your calories, Jamie Eason says to start with your goal weight and multiply it by 10.  Then, for arms, shoulders and rest days add 200 calories to that number.  For heavier days like legs, chest and back, add 500 calories to that.  So since my goal weight is 125, my low calorie number is 1450, and my high number is 1750, which for me on a diet is an insane amount of calories!  It is going to be extremely difficult for me, but I am going to do it, because it will become important in phase 3 when the carb cycling starts.

Since today was Arms, Abs and Cardio day, I was supposed to eat 1450 calories.  According to myfitnesspal, I made it to 1435, which is close enough for me, since there could be some margin of error.

Breakfast:

• 1 La Tortilla Low Carb High Fiber wrap
• 6 T liquid egg whites
• 1/4 red pepper
• 2 T 505 Wounded Warrior project salsa
• 2 cups of Hazelnut K-cup coffee with 1/4 c unsweetened almond milk and Stevia

Lunch (Post workout):

• 1 can Chunk Light Tuna in water
• 1 c. spinach
• Walden Farms Honey Dijon dressing
• 1/2 sweet potato
• 2 T Better n PB peanut butter
• 1 banana

Snack:

• 2 c. unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
• Walden Farms caramel sauce
• PB&J Quest bar

Dinner:

• 1 can Chunk Light tuna in water
• 1 c. spinach
• Walden Farms Caesar dressing

Bedtime Snack:

• 1/2 c non fat plain Greek yogurt
• 1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
• Stevia
• 2 T Better n PB peanut butter
• 1 Quest Cravings PB cup

Also, if you can't tell I finally got another shipment of Quest bars!!!

Love when I come home from a workout to find this on my front porch!  I got 25 bars and 2 packs of pb cups.  There is at least one of every flavor bar in those boxes!!

Now on to the really fun stuff: my workout! Like I said, today was arms, abs and cardio.

• Narrow Push-ups: 4 sets of 15
• Tricep Press: 4 sets of 8
• Superset: Cable One-Arm Tricep Extension 3 sets of 8 and One-Arm Reverse Grip Tricep Pushdown 3 sets of 8
• Superset: Skullcrushers 3 sets of 8 and Close-Grip Barbell Bench Press 3 sets of 8
• Incline Dumbbell Curl: 4 sets of 8
• Dumbbell Alternate Bicep Curl: 4 sets of 8
• Barbell Curl 21's: 2 sets of 21
• Stability Ball Crunch: 3 sets of 25
• Jackknife Sit-up with Stability Ball overhead: 3 sets of 15
• Stability Ball Reverse Crunches (Ball between feet): 3 sets of 15
• 30 min. moderate intensity steady state cardio: Elliptical

I upped most of my weights with this workout and found the ab workout to be simple but difficult.  I will give you all a little tip: I truly believe wearing superhero shirts to the gym totally makes you workout harder!  Today I wore a Captain America shirt!

Tomorrow is a new leg workout and a 1750 calories day.  I am trying to plan ahead and so far I'm up to 1699, so we shall see how tomorrow goes!

LiveFit Trainer Phase 2 Days 37-42

I know!  I know!  I've totally been neglecting this blog, and I'm writing a combined post for 6 days.  I had closing shifts at work every night for the last 6 days, so it made it very difficult to write the posts when I got home.  I am not going to promise now that I will post every day from now on, because I want these posts to be useful and fun to read.  If nothing truly interesting happens I may skip that day and combine it with another day's post.  I don't want to just post every day to have a new post.

Here is the run down for this past week:

Tuesday (Day 37): Chest, Abs and Cardio
Wednesday (Day 38): Legs
Thursday (Day 39): Arms, Abs and Cardio
Friday (Day 40): Shoulders and Cardio
Saturday (Day 41): Legs and additional Cardio
Sunday (Day 42): Rest Day

These were all the same workouts as last week, which have daily posts and bulleted lists.  The workouts will change again next week, which means new exercises to try!  I haven't really checked the trainer fully yet for tomorrow, but I will be doing so once this post is complete!

I am still going by my goal of not weighing myself until the end of phase 2!  It is extremely difficult, but I will meet this goal.  I feel like this is important to my mental health, so I don't get so obsessive.  There are some days when I feel skinnier, and some days when I don't.  So I'm not sure if I have really lost much weight or not.  I'm hoping when I step on the scale in two weeks it'll say 146 or lower.  On the bright side, I'M HALFWAY THROUGH THE TRAINER!!!!!  This week completes week 6, so I am halfway there!

I was also really excited this week, because I purchased a Keurig!  One thing that I've noticed since I started dieting and eating healthier is that I have a new love of peanut butter, as well as coffee.  I never really had either all that much before dieting, but now I want some every day!  I was spending entirely too much money at Starbucks, and since Kohl's had associate shopping days, I decided now was the time to buy!!  I absolutely love it, and for the last two days since I bought it, I have had amazing flavored coffee every morning.  I sweeten it with Stevia and unsweetened almond milk!  MMM!!! So good!

Well I guess that is all I have for this post.  Next week will definitely be more interesting with the new workouts, and I will be trying out at least one new recipe as I will be working an overnight next weekend!!

LiveFit Trainer Phase 2 Day 36

Day after Warrior Dash and back to the old grind!  I cannot describe how important yesterday was for me.  I needed that!  I needed to know that I could do it, and I needed the small break from crazy tracking everything I eat.  I was getting too obsessive about how I was eating, but today was so easy to get back into the swing of things.  Normally when I cheat, I feel sick, guilty, hateful and broken.  I also struggle to get back into healthy eating, but yesterday and today was not like that!  I don't feel guilty about yesterday.  I didn't get sick or hate myself.  I felt satisfied and ready to get back into the gym!  I just indulged a little bit, and now I feel so much better.  I am totally rambling now, but seriously I felt amazing today!  I ate well, wasn't hungry, didn't feel deprived and kicked ass at the gym.  Although the kicking ass part may have been due to my new gym clothes, a.k.a my Warrior Dash tank and new Adidas shoes!

Today's workout was Back and Cardio, same as last week.  I decided that I love wearing tank tops to the gym now, because I can see so much progress in my upper body.  I used to wear giant sweatshirts to the gym to cover myself up and sweat more, but now I'm comfortable in clothes like the above.

Today's meals were pretty simple but delicious, because I didn't have anything pre-prepped.  I have since prepped some baked chicken breast, black beans, brown rice, broccoli and green beans for the coming week, because I have closing work shifts almost every night!  It's going to be a busy week, and I am glad I took today off.  My meals today were as follows:
Breakfast (9:00AM):

• 1 La Tortilla Factory Low Carb High Fiber wrap
• 6 T liquid egg whites
• 1/4 green pepper
• 1 slice Go Veggie!  Pepper jack cheese
• 1 serving jalapenos
• 2 T Tostitos chunky salsa

Lunch (1:00PM):

• 1 can shredded chicken in water
• 1/2 green pepper, sliced
• 1/2 sweet potato
• 1 T Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter
• Walden Farms Honey Dijon dressing

Snack (4:00PM):

• 1 White Chocolate Raspberry Quest bar

Dinner (7:30PM):

• 1 cup Oikos non fat plain Greek yogurt
• 1 scoop Body Fortress vanilla creme protein powder
• Stevia to taste
• 1 square of my Chocolate cake
• 2 T Peanut Butter and Co. Cinnamon Raisin peanut butter

I have also been chugging water all day to get rid of the excess sodium and water retention from my cheat day.

I also was very excited today to see that the race results were posted.  Here are my results if anyone is interested:

It's hard to see, but this is my overall placement.  I placed 2846 out of 5572 people.  I ran the race in 53:51:30 minutes.

This is my placement in the female age group of 20-29.  I placed 414 out of 984.

Since I completed some of my goals that I previously posted, I now have some new ones.

• No big cheats until after phase 2.  (My friends and I are planning a trip to Olive Garden for my cheat after phase 2.)
• I won't touch a scale or measuring tape until after phase 2.
• I won't become obsessive about what I eat.  I will follow the trainer and eat clean, while tracking, but I won't deprive myself if it will put me over 1200 calories.

I've got three weeks left of phase 2, and I am feeling great!  I can't wait to see my progress by the end!

LiveFit Trainer Phase 2 Day 35 and WARRIOR DASH!!

On the trainer today was supposed to be a rest day, but who needs those, right?  I signed up to run in the Warrior Dash Ohio II race in at Clay's Park Resort in April with my knee newly injured.  While enduring physical therapy, my goal the whole time was to be able to run in this race and complete it!  Today I DID IT!!!

I will reiterate for those who don't know me: I AM NOT A RUNNER!  I loathe running with a passion, but when you add in obstacles to climb over and mud to swim through, you are calling my name!  I don't exactly remember how I first heard about the Warrior Dash, but I knew immediately that it was something that I would eventually want to do.  I figured the obstacles would break up the running enough that it wouldn't feel like so much of a chore like the other 5Ks I have done.  Plus it's for the amazing cause of St. Jude's Children's hospital.  I had talked to people who have previously completed the race, and they told me that while you need to be able to run a good distance endurance wise, you need a lot of strength for the obstacles.  I have gained a lot of muscle doing this trainer, and the obstacles were tough but smooth going.  However, I will start at the beginning.

My wave started at 9:30 AM, and there were three waves before mine.  I wanted to get there early for packet pick up and to watch the other waves, so my mom and I got there around 8:15.  I got my over 21 ID bracelet, my Warrior t-shirt (which I am wearing as I write this post), my race bib, a shoe tracker and a fuzzy Viking hat!

I started to get a little bit nervous when it came time for me to line up, but I started talking to people at the starting gate.  Everyone was so friendly!  At 9:30 on the dot, we set off!  I started out toward the front of the line, but as I am not a very fast runner, I ended up kind of in the middle of the pack through the first stretch into the woods.

As you can kind of see from the course map, the first stretch is pretty long, so I made it my goal to run the whole way to the first obstacle.  Met that goal!  I climbed over a bunch of walls, swam through the lake, dove into some muddy trenches, trucked it through some tires and ran my butt off until I finally made it to the last three obstacles by the finish line.

The cargo net climb and the Warrior Roast.  That's me in the black pants and grey tank jumping over the Warrior Roast.  Then came the epic mud pit.

I was the most dirty I have ever been in my entire life, but it felt so good!  I didn't care how dirty I was!  I cannot even describe the fun I had during this race.  I actually caught myself smiling a few times while running!  Plus it didn't hurt that I had good friends and family there to cheer me on!

This was the perfect thing for me to do after completing phase 1 of the trainer.  I feel like I have renewed motivation to continue on with phase 2.  It also gave me a chance to have a much needed cheat day filled with a giant turkey leg, beer, loaded frozen yogurt and homemade pizza!

I am so proud of myself today, and I can't wait to get back in the gym tomorrow!!

LiveFit Trainer Phase 2 Day 34 and CAKE

I know you all have seen the title of this post and noticed that the word "cake" is in all capitals, so you're probably wondering why.  Well you're going to have to wait, because I must talk about my last workout of the week first.

Today was leg day again but a different workout from Wednesday.  I chose to do lighter weights and not over stress my muscles, because I don't want to be sore for my race tomorrow!  I still can't believe I will be racing in Warrior Dash tomorrow morning!

The second leg workout for Phase 2 is as follows:

• A superset of Seated Leg Curls at 3 sets of 10 reps and Leg Extensions at 3 sets of 10 reps
• A superset of Barbell Lunges at 3 sets of 20 reps and Abductor Machine at 3 sets of 20 reps
• A superset of Lying Leg Curls at 3 sets of 15 reps and Adductor Machine at 3 sets of 15 reps
• Stiff-Legged Deadlift: 3 sets of 10 reps
• Single Leg Barbell Squat: 3 sets of 10 reps (I chose to do this on the Smith Machine, because I didn't trust myself to do it free standing.)
• Leg Press (wide stance): 1 giant drop-set to failure (I ended up doing 30 at 200 lbs.)
• Seated Calf Raises: 3 sets of 20 reps
• Standing Calf Raises: 3 sets of 20 reps

Yes, you read that correctly.  There were three supersets in a row for this workout!  I can't wait to actually do this with heavier weights next week when I'm not worried about my race!  It's going to be so intense!

Alright! Alright!  Now for the moment you have all been waiting for: CAKE!!!  This is what happens when I have crazy chocolate and peanut butter cravings (which is basically all the time), and I have free time to mess around in the kitchen.  This recipe was inspired by Jamie Eason's Carrot Cake Protein Bars which I posted earlier.  I adjusted the recipe to what I had in the house and what my taste buds wanted, which was a lot of chocolate!

Ingredients:
1 c. oats
2 scoops vanilla whey protein powder
1/2 c Stevia or other natural sweetener
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t sea salt
1 c canned pure pumpkin
3 T unsweetened cocoa powder
9 T liquid egg whites
1/2 c unsweetened vanilla almond milk
4 T Peanut Butter and Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a food processor, blend together all of the dry ingredients (oats, protein powder, Stevia, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt).  Once mixed together thoroughly, add in canned pumpkin, egg whites and almond milk.  Blend until smooth.  Pour into a greased 9 x 9 dish.

It will most likely have a little bit of chunkiness to it because of the oats; however, if you blend the dry ingredients longer, you can avoid this.  You can also avoid this by using oat flour instead of rolled oats.  Next, put the 4 T of peanut butter in a bowl and microwave for about 30 seconds until it is all melted.  Drizzle this on the top of the cake batter and swirl with a knife.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.  I baked mine for 24 minutes.  It's really hard to tell when this is cooked all the way through, because the peanut butter stays gooey and the knife never comes out clean!  Let cool and enjoy!

I cut mine into 16 squares and ate 4 in one sitting.  I took some to my friend Des and got a text a little later saying that they were amazing!  I love getting recipe approval from people who don't follow my same lifestyle of healthy eating!

Macros per 1 of 16:
69 calories
2.3 grams of fat
7.1 grams of carbs
1.8 grams of dietary fiber
1.7 grams of sugar
6.5 grams of protein

I don't want to toot my own horn, but seriously make this cake!  It is delicious, and you will think that you should feel guilty about eating it!  But obviously there is no guilt in those macros!

LiveFit Trainer Phase 2 Days 31, 32 and 33

I am so sorry that I suck at these daily posts!  The last few days have been crazy busy, and I truly just needed to enjoy my free time with my friends rather than worrying about posting.  So you will be getting three days in one post.  I will keep it simple, since I know my weekend posts will be super long this weekend!  Want to know why?  Because WARRIOR DASH IS SUNDAY!!!!!!  Ah!! I'm so excited!  I'm nervous, but I cannot wait.  Some of my best friends and family are coming to watch, and I feel very blessed that they are all coming to support me.  I promise you that post will have plenty off awesomely muddy pictures!!

First of all, my diet sucked for days 31 and 32; however, it made me realize that I was becoming entirely too obsessive about what I eat.  I have since done some research and noticed that a lot of the people who inspire me on Instagram and on bodybuilding.com don't really count calories.  They track what they eat and eat foods with high nutritional value, but they do not count calories.  I also looked ahead into phase 3 of the trainer which does some calorie and carb cycling.  The lowest Jamie Eason would have be go is 1450 calories, and I was eating around 1200.  So I was feeling extremely lethargic, hungry and had crazy cravings.  Today I just decided to follow the trainer meals exactly, except for the egg whites at night, because that's just gross!  I feel so much better today, so I think I'm going to stick with this.  I am also starting to see some definition in my arms and upper abs, which is super exciting, because I've never had any definition there before!

Here are my workouts for the last three days:

Day 31: Legs

• Leg Extensions: 2 warm up sets with lighter weights for 30 reps
• Wide-Stance Barbell Squats: 2 lighter sets of 15 reps, 2 heavier sets to failure
• Leg Press: 4 sets of 8 reps (I PRed on this at 200 lbs!!)
• Walking Barbell Lunge: 3 sets of 20 reps
• Barbell Step Ups: 3 sets of 10 reps
• Plie Dumbbell Squat: 3 sets of 15 reps
• Standing Calf Raises: 3 sets of 20 reps, last set to failure
• Donkey Calf Raises or Leg Press Calf Raises: 3 sets of 20 reps, last set to failure

This was probably one of the hardest leg workouts I have ever done!  My legs actually gave out!

Day 32: Arms/Abs/Cardio

• Barbell Curl: 3 sets of 10 reps
• A superset of Overhead Cable Curls at 3 sets of 10 reps and Cable Hammer Curls with the rope attachment at 3 sets of 10 reps
• Alternate Hammer Curls: 3 sets of 10 reps
• Bench or Parallel Bar Dips: 3 sets of 15 reps
• Skullcrushers: 3 sets of 10 reps
• Seated Tricep Press: 3 sets of 10 reps
• Tricep Pushdowns: 3 sets of 10 reps
• Air Bike: 3 sets of 25 reps
• Jackknife Sit-Up: 3 sets of 10 reps
• Hanging Leg Raise: 3 sets of 10 reps
• 30 minute of moderate intensity steady state cardio--I chose elliptical.

Day 33: Shoulders/Cardio

• Smith Machine Military Press: 1 warm-up set, 3 sets of 10 reps
• A superset Upright Dumbbell Rows at 3 sets of 10 reps and Standing Dumbbell Military Press at 3 sets of 10 reps
• Incline Bench Front Dumbbell Delt Raises: 3 sets of 10 reps
• Lying Rear Delt Flyes: 3 sets of 10 reps
• Lateral Raises: 3 sets of 10 reps
• Rear Deltoid Raise: 3 sets of 10 reps
• 30 minutes moderate intensity steady state cardio - I chose treadmill.

Well that is all for now, I promise I will be better at getting these posts up the day of!

LiveFit Trainer Phase 2 Day 30

Day 2 of Phase 2 and still going strong!  I have noticed that I was a little bit hungrier today, because I woke up a couple of hours earlier than I usually do to workout before work.  However, I was able to work my meals around to have 6!  I still haven't even eaten my last meal yet today!  While I am on the topic of diet, here is what I ate today (very similar to yesterday):

Breakfast (8:00 AM):

• 1 La Tortilla Factory Low Carb High Fiber wrap
• 6 T liquid egg whites
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 slice Go Veggie Pepper jack cheese
• 2 T Nash Brothers organic salsa

Mid-Morning Snack (11:00 AM):

• 4 oz. 99% fat free Honeysuckle White ground turkey
• 1/2 c brown rice
• 1 c steamed broccoli
• Walden Farms Italian dressing

Lunch (2:00 PM):

• 2 c. romaine lettuce
• 1 can chunk light tuna
• Walden Farms Italian dressing

Mid-Afternoon Snack (5:00 PM):

• 4 oz. 99% fat free Honeysuckle White ground turkey
• 2/3 c. edamame
• Walden Farms Italian dressing

Dinner (8:00 PM):

• White Chocolate Raspberry Quest protein bar (We will get back to this!)

Evening Snack (11:00 PM):

• 1 c. unsweetened almond milk
• 1 scoop Body Fortress vanilla whey protein powder
• Walden Farms caramel syrup

I was so excited that I finally got my order of Quest bars in the mail today, and they gave me an extra bar for free!!!

I absolutely love these bars!  So far the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough is my favorite, but I haven't tried all of them yet!  I have a sample of each of the flavors in this box, including the new White Chocolate Raspberry, which I tried today!

Amazing!!  You could totally taste the white chocolate and the raspberry in this bar.  I heated mine up in the microwave for like 20 seconds, which made it like a cake!  Melt in your mouth goodness!  To top it all off, these bars are made with natural ingredients.  They are high in fiber, low in net carbs, gluten free, high in protein, low in sugar, you can bake them, microwave them...Need I go on?  I had to go a week without them, because I was low on money.  It was the worst week of my life!!!  I used to get them from GNC locally, then I realized it was cheaper to buy them directly from the company.  The only problem was waiting for the shipping.  I ordered them on Wednesday and I got them today.  I will not be making that mistake again.  The second I get paid Friday, I am ordering another box!  Check out their website at www.questnutrition.com.  Alright I'm getting hungry again, time to talk about my workouts!

Today was Chest/Abs and Cardio as follows:

• Wide-Grip Barbell Bench Press: 5 sets of 8 reps
• Push-ups: 3 sets of 15 reps
• Cable Crossover: 3 sets of 10 reps
• Smith Machine Incline Bench Press: 3 sets of 10 reps
• Side-to-Side Push-ups: 3 sets of 10 reps (I had to watch a YouTube video of these, because I had never heard of them.  They are so freaking hard!!!)
• A superset of Toe Touchers at 3 sets of 20 reps and Crunches with legs straight up at 3 sets of 20 reps
• Roman Chair Knee Raises: 3 sets of 10 reps
• Cable Crunch: 3 sets of 10 reps
• 30 min steady state moderate intensity cardio (Today I did this on the elliptical to give my knees a break.)

That will be all for today!  I have a day off work tomorrow and am super excited to hang out with friends, but I have already planned ahead and will be bringing my trusty lunchbox(es).

LiveFit Trainer Phase 2 Day 29

Welcome to Phase 2!

I was so excited to go to the gym today, because I absolutely love new workouts.  In this trainer, as the phases go on the workouts increase in intensity level and difficulty, and I am so ready to challenge myself!  Today was a new Back workout with added cardio; it went as follows:

• Wide Grip Overhand Pullups: 3 sets of 10 reps
• A superset of Bent-Over Barbell Rows at 3 sets of 8 reps and Seated Cable Rows at 3 sets of 8 reps
• Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown: 3 sets of 10 reps
• One-Arm Dumbbell Row: 3 sets of 8 reps (I just realized I did 10! Oops!)
• Hammer Strength Lat Pull: 3 sets of 10 reps
• Hyperextensions: 3 sets of 8 reps (Again, I did 10 reps.)
• 30 minutes of medium intensity steady state cardio, i.e. running, elliptical, step-mill

First, I want to talk a little bit about supersets.  Supersets include two or more workouts that you complete without rest in between.  For example, today I did 8 reps of Bent-Over Barbell Rows, then ran over to do 8 reps of Seated Cable Rows before resting between sets.  Supersets are higher intensity, because you have less rest time.  Let me just tell you my back is so tight after this workout today.  Seriously, putting on a bra is difficult.

Now with the medium intensity steady state cardio, I chose to run on the treadmill.  Again I stress that I am not a runner, but I wanted to challenge myself today.  I chose to run on the treadmill at a steady speed of 4.4 mph.  For me, this is pretty moderate intensity as I knew it would be difficult for me to run at the speed non-stop for 30 minutes, but I did it!!  I was sweating like a pig but so proud of myself afterward!

In looking at the diet for phase 2, it is very similar to phase 1, except the mid-afternoon snack and dinner are flip flopped.  The goal here is to get your starchy carbs in even earlier in the day to really help burn up the fat.  So here was what was on the menu for me today:

Breakfast (~10:00 AM):

• 1 La Tortilla Factory Low Carb High Fiber Wrap
• 6 T liquid egg whites
• 1/4 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 slice of Go Veggie! Pepper jack Lactose Free cheese
• 2 T Organic Nash Brothers salsa

Lunch (~1:00 PM):

• 4 oz. 99% fat free Honeysuckle White ground turkey
• 1/2 c. brown rice
• 1 c. steamed broccoli
• Walden Farms Balsamic dressing

Mid-Afternoon Snack (~3:00 PM):

• 4 oz. chunk white tuna in water from a can
• 2 c. romaine heart lettuce
• Walden Farms Italian dressing

Dinner (~7:30 PM):

• 4 oz. 99% fat free Honeysuckle White ground turkey
• 2/3 c. edamame
• Walden Farms Italian dressing

Evening Snack (~10:30 PM):

• 1 1/2 c. unsweetened almond milk
• 1 scoop Body Fortress vanilla creme whey protein powder
• Walden Farms caramel syrup

I will need to make a quick grocery run tomorrow as all of my Walden Farms stuff got used up!  If you haven't tried Walden Farms, I suggest you go out and do so now!  It is calorie free, sugar free, carb free, fat free, gluten free and just about everything free, except for the price.  I have probably tried the majority of their products.  The only one I really don't like is the peanut butter.  I use the chocolate syrup, pancake syrup, caramel syrup, salad dressings and BBQ sauces frequently as I don't change my meals around too much.  Using the different sauces really helps to change up the flavor without adding extra calories!

Off to bed now!  I will be getting up early for Chest/Abs and cardio before work!

LiveFit Trainer Phase 1 Day 28

I cannot believe phase 1 is over!  Before I post my new measurements and progress pictures, I want to begin by saying that there wasn't much change in this phase.  Initially, I was very disappointed with that, but then I did some Googling about others who have completed the trainer.  They all seemed to have similar results after phase 1.  I have found that many people don't lose much weight in the first four weeks, because it is purely weight training with no cardio.  However, it is important to take this step in order to build good quality muscle that will be exposed through the addition of cardio, supersets and plyometrics in the next two phases.  I am anxious to see the changes after the next four weeks, but I have promised myself that I will not touch a scale or measuring tape until the end of phase 2 when I am ready to put up my next set of progress pictures.  I end up obsessing over the numbers too much when I should just look in the mirror and notice the changes in my body.  I have noticed muscle growth and changes in where I am holding weight on my body.  Now here is a comparison by the numbers:

                   Pre-Measurements:                                       End of Phase 1:
Weight:              151.8 lbs.                                                   150 lbs.
Waist:                 30"                                                            29.5"
Hips:                   40"                                                            39.5"
Chest:                 36"                                                             35"
Thighs:                21.5"                                                          21"
Biceps:                12"                                                             12"

Tomorrow begins phase 2 which is the introduction of moderate steady state cardio.  I am going to be extremely strict with myself this coming week, so that I can have fun at Warrior Dash.  I have plans to have a beer, a turkey leg and some frozen yogurt.  I did treat myself with a peanut butter and banana sandwich after work this evening for the completion of day 1, but other than the peanut butter, it was all clean and healthy.  I look forward to what tomorrow will bring!

LiveFit Trainer Phase 1 Day 26 and 27

It has been a busy couple of days with work and family stuff, so I haven't gotten to really do much blogwise.  I apologize for another double post, but I hate to post unless I really have something to say.

This week has been a struggle for me.  It is the last week of phase 1, and I kind of expected myself to be about 6 pounds lighter than I actually am.  I don't think I've lost any weight at all, but I guess we will see when I do my measurements and progress photos tomorrow.  I keep telling myself that it is a process, that I am only 1/3 of the way through, that I am building muscle and once cardio gets put in and the phases continue, the weight will begin to come off.  Warrior Dash, this blog and some truly amazing friends have kept me going.  I am pleased to say that I have one more week until Warrior Dash, and since I made the goal of no cheats, I have not eaten anything "unclean," so to speak.  I have eaten some things outside of the phase 1 diet plan, but that mostly consisted of bananas and natural peanut butter, which is my favorite combination of flavors!

Yesterday was Shoulders and Abs (same as last week).  I chose not to do any cardio in order to give my legs and my knee a good three day rest before phase 2 starts.  I will say that I am so glad I found that Pumpkin Cheesecake Protein pudding recipe, because without Quest bars, I am going crazy!  I'm so used to eating at least one a day, and until my new shipment comes in, I don't have any!  The pudding has been a good replacement.  I even used up the last of the cottage cheese today, and I've already bought more.

Today is a rest day, and usually on rest days, I want to eat all of the food in the kitchen.  However, I don't really feel like that today, which I think is a good sign.

I guess that's all I have today.  Sorry for such a brief post again with no pictures.  I have some recipes I'd like to try but will probably wait until Warrior Dash is over before I try them.

LiveFit Trainer Phase 1 Day 25 and Protein Pudding

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love leg day!!  I did the same workout for legs as last week plus about an hour on the elliptical.  I still feel a little guilty about yesterday and for the few bites of jambalaya I ate while my turkey burger re-heated.  My daddy makes the best jambalaya in the world, and I just couldn't resist the spicy goodness.

I still felt pretty good most of the day though with all of the endorphins from leg day, and I got my hair done.  Back to being a redhead!

I also found and tested out an awesome new recipe today.  I found the original recipe from @youngnhealthy, but I adapted it to my liking.  If you know me, you know I have an issue with the texture of foods, and cottage cheese is one of the foods I tend to have issues with.  It's just something about chunky milky stuff that doesn't sound appetizing to me at all, but it is very good for you and high in protein, like Greek yogurt.  I use it in pancakes, because I can blend it all up and cover up the fact that it's chunky milk.  However, my mom was being nice and got me some cottage cheese at the grocery.  I felt bad that she bought it, and I was going to eat it.  But scrolling through Instagram, I saw youngnhealthy post a recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake, which used cottage cheese blended until smooth.  It looked delicious, so I figured why not try it.  I had all of the ingredients in my house!  I'm really glad I did, because it was awesome!

Ingredients:
1 c fat free cottage cheese
1/2 c pure pumpkin
1/4 c unsweetened almond milk (or any milk of your choice)
1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder (originally the recipe called for sugarfree butterscotch pudding mix)
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t pumpkin pie spice
Stevia, to taste

All of the ingredients get blended together until smooth.  I used my single serve smoothie maker on my Ninja, and this stuff was thick!!  I would suggest filling the cup with the thickest ingredients first, because the blades will get slower with how thick it is.  This makes a lot of mixture and is very filling.  I would say it could serve 2-4 people.  I ate it in two servings and froze the second half to eat as ice cream at the end of the night.  It is delicious both ways.

I topped mine with a crushed 1/8 c of Envirokidz Koala Crisps and some sprinkled Stevia.  Youngnhealthy topped hers with some ginger snaps, but it would be good topped with crushed almonds or graham crackers too.  She also called it Pumpkin Cheesecake, which with a crust and chilled, it probably could be a cheesecake.  However, I think the way I made it, it's more like a protein pudding or protein ice cream!

Macros for whole mixture, without toppings:
340 calories
1.6 grams of fat
22.8 grams of carbs
5.8 grams of dietary fiber
13.5 grams of sugar
58.2 grams of protein

I will definitely be making this stuff again in probably a few variations until all that nasty cottage cheese is gone!