Green Morning Smoothie

(I PROMISE this tastes better than it looks!) I was on a shake/smoothie kick this weekend. I’ve basically been eating the same meals every day so shakes help satisfy my sweet tooth and they also switch things up a little bit for me. Most mornings I’ll have oats for breakfast, but I figured I’d throw my usual oatmeal ingredients into a shake and be done with it (and then I can just sip it on my way to work instead of having the cars next to me look at me like I’m crazy while I try to eat my oatmeal and drive at the same time).

What You Need

• 3 leaves of kale, stems removed
• handful of spinach leaves
• 1/2 avocado
• 4 – 5 mint leaves
• 1 cup coconut water
• 1 frozen banana
• tsp black chia seeds
• tbsp flaxseed meal
• tbsp ground cinnamon*
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• tbsp matcha
• 1/4 cup oats
• 1 tsp organic honey
• handful of ice

So, listen… really all you need for this green smoothie is the first five ingredients. The rest I added out of personal preference. These are all things I already had in my pantry and each of them has their own great health benefits so don’t sweat it if you don’t have some of this stuff because it’s really not necessary.

What Now?

• Throw everything in the blender, and blend!

*If you don’t absolutely love cinnamon, you might want to add just a tsp instead of a tbsp. I try to incorporate cinnamon into my diet where I can and here’s why:

Cinnamon has a regulatory effect on blood sugar levels and simultaneously increases insulin levels in the body. It imitates the biological activity of insulin and increases the metabolism of glucose. Since high blood sugar levels can lead to increased storage of fat by the body, cinnamon helps prevent this increased storage of fat and enables you to lose weight. In addition, it influences the manner in which sugar is metabolized by the body and prevents the transformation of the metabolized sugar into fat. Cinnamon also delays the passing of food from the stomach into the intestine. Hence, you feel satisfied for a longer time and eat less. This helps you lose weight. Cinnamon also helps the body to process carbohydrates more efficiently and this assists you in losing a few pounds. Studies show that abdominal fat is more sensitive to the effects of cinnamon than fat from other parts of the body. (FITDAY)

Nutrition facts below from MyFitnessPal. If you are looking at that big number next to potassium and kind of freaking out a little, here’s a link to a great article that will put your fears to rest 😉

Another Coffee Protein Shake

What You Need

• 4 oz black coffee, brewed
• 4 oz unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 2 oz egg whites (pasteurized)
• 1 tsp black chia seeds
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed meal
• 1 scoop protein powder

Now What?

• blend all ingredients together!

I drank this along with two whole eggs, fried in coconut oil for my breakfast this morning. Below is the nutrition facts that I calculated using MyFitnessPal – love that app!

Vanilla Coffee Protein Shake

This post comes to you from my kitchen where I’m using the dishwasher as a table because it’s the only place I can use my lap top without my kid trying to “help me” use it. I have to be on my toes anyway because we’re potty training and you never know where she might decide to pee – usually anywhere except in her potty works for her.

That’s kind of irrelevant, huh? What’s relevant is… I’ve never been a breakfast eater. Not to say that I don’t enjoy breakfast food – I do! It’s my favorite, actually. But I’ve never been the kind to want to eat anything when I wake up. Well, you know what they say: breakfast is the most important meal of the day! So instead of trying to force feed myself, I tried to get my nutrients in through a shake this morning.

What You Need (this will fill 4 glasses – I swear I don’t drink that much first thing in the morning… this was my first time making this)

• 1/2 cup cooled, brewed coffee
• 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 2 scoops vanilla protein powder
• tbsp cinnamon
• 1/3 cup egg whites, pasteurized (this equals two large eggs)
• 3 cups ice
• 1/2 banana

Now What?

• combine all ingredients together in blender and blend!

* This is a good shake to put in your Blender Bottle because it likes to separate a little as the ice melts

Progress Update (Week 7)

 

Some people quit due to the slow progress, never really grasping the fact that slow progress…

…is still progress.

 

P.S. It’s not always about the number that’s on the scale!

Neon Sport VOLT Pre-Workout (Insight)

Yesterday I had my first experience with pre-workout. I’ll admit I was a little nervous. I opened it, sniffed it, put it in my water, sniffed it again (it smelled delicious!), tilted my bottle back and forth staring at it, smelled it again (okay, I was a lot nervous) and then after a mental pep talk, I downed it. It literally tasted like liquefied jolly ranchers, not too bad. I figured it wouldn’t really do anything for me – probably because I’m a huge skeptic of everything. So I was like cool whatever and headed to the gym.

By the time I was walking through the doors I felt like I had snorted a mountain of crack (or maybe cocaine? which one do you snort, because I don’t know?). My nose was itchy and my ears were itchy and I just wanted to pump some iron LOL. I impatiently switched my weight from foot to foot between each set, waiting for my workout partner to finish his set. I wanted to do more and more and more. My mind was like, “You have 100 reps left in you!”, but my body was like, “OMG HOLD UP WHAAAT?! CHILL!” It was the hardest I’ve ever pushed myself.

So, I guess you could say it went well. My only regret is that I didn’t start using it sooner than seven weeks into my training, uhhg! I’ll leave you with a meme.

Matcha (Insight)

Introducing the newest member of my pantry: MATCHA!

Matcha is straight, stoneground green tea leaves. Water can only extract so much from tea leaves, but the majority of the benefits are in the leaves themselves. You would have to drink at least ten cups of brewed green tea to match the potency of one serving of matcha.

Here’s an excerpt from one source:

Firstly, matcha is packed with exponentially more antioxidants according to the latest innovation in antioxidant research. Using the testing method known as ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity), experts at Tufts University discovered that matcha possesses an amazing twenty times more so than pomegranates or blueberries. Matcha’s ORAC rating is a mighty 1300 units per gram, compared to pomegranates 105 units per gram or blueberries 91 units.

Here’s a quick list of the benefits of adding matcha to your diet:

• Is packed with antioxidants including the powerful EGCg
• Boosts metabolism and burns calories
• Detoxifies effectively and naturally
• Calms and relaxes
• Enhances mood and aids in concentration
• Provides vitamin C, selenium, chromium, zinc and magnesium
• Fights against viruses and bacteria
• Is rich in fiber
• Lowers cholesterol and blood sugar

Now, let me be honest with you real quick. Matcha does not have an appealing taste, but it’s not an appalling taste either. It literally tastes like dead leaves. But the great thing about it is that you can add it to anything so there are several ways to disguise it. I bought mine at Teavana this past weekend and the sales associate helped me pick out the berry kiwi colada herbal tea to go with it and I love it! I tried the tea before adding the matcha and actually like it better with the matcha added. If you’re a Louisville resident like me, there’s a Teavana in the Oxmoor Mall or you can buy both of these items through the Teavana website.

Six Pack Sit Ups

The truth, the whole truth, and nothin’ but the truth. Have to master those planks.

Inside The Cube

Time and again I hear from clients and those just wanting a little bit of help with their training that they’ve been doing x amount of sit ups but still don’t have a six pack.

“Tim, I really want a six pack for the summer so I look good at the beach…” “What ab routine should I be doing?” Or “Tim, how many sit ups do you do to get a six pack like that?”

My answer to the second questions is, none. I don’t do “sit ups”. Always gets a great reaction that one. My answer to the first question, will usually start with a question to the client, “what did you have for breakfast/lunch/dinner?”

A six pack isn’t created in the gym, the hard work has to be done outside of the gym first. If you continue to fuel your body with the same old rubbish then that…

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Jam/Jelly Substitute

This morning I was really wanting some whole wheat toast with jelly on it, but I refrained. Instead, I grabbed a handful of blueberries and chopped them up and stuck them in a ziplock bag. Then I added a spoonful of strawberry Greek yogurt to the bag and mushed it all together. Wah-lah! A perfectly healthy substitute for jam/jelly. And it helped me sneak those blueberries in that I don’t really like the taste of.

Progress Update (Week 6)

Slowly, but surely I’m getting a little more muscle definition all over. My goal is to have abs before it’s time to put on a bikini. Eating clean is the very most important part. It’s been six weeks and I see improvement already. Small progress, but progress none the less. Getting close!

Greek Yogurt Chicken Parm Bake

It’s 11 something pm on a Saturday. I’m not sleeping. I’m not partying. I’m cooking. And as a result, I’ve made the best chicken I have ever eaten in my life, hands down. If you don’t like this chicken then you’re either a liar or a liar. Prep time was literally five minutes. Here’s how I did it:

What You Need

• 6 chicken tenderloins
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Now What?

• preheat your oven to 375 degrees
• grease your baking sheet – I highly suggest using aluminum foil, because this stuff is a pain to clean up
• mix the Greek yogurt*, egg, parmesan cheese, garlic, salt, and pepper together in a wide bowl
• coat each piece of chicken in the mixture and lay on the baking sheet
• pop into the oven and wait 30 – 45 minutes depending on the way your oven cooks

*I didn’t have plain Greek yogurt so I used what I had which was strawberry honey Greek yogurt