What I Ate Wednesday- #1

What I Ate Wednesday is hosted by Peas and Crayons and I am very excited to participate in my very first...

What I Ate Wednesday

I start my day between 4:30AM and 5:00AM in order to get to the gym before work to get my workout in! I eat every three hours (usually) unless I start to get hungry... then I eat a snack or my next meal a little early.

Pre-workout- 100% whole wheat toast with a teaspoon of natural peanut butter.

I am also sharing my pre-workout I take. We get these green tea pills at Costco and I love them. I have used numerous pre-workouts that are advertised and the green tea pills are by far my favorite.

Post-workout- I usually have about 5-6 egg whites and a veggie or fruit.

This morning I added a handful of spinach and 1/4 zucchini to my egg whites. I also made a veggie smoothie- half a mango, 8 strawberries, 1/4 C. blueberries, 1/2 banana, handful of Kale & Spinach and a teaspoon of ground flax seed blended with cold water and 10 ice cubes.

10:30AM called for a tablespoon of this peanut butter (which I LOVE), 1/2 cup of oats and 1/2 a banana. I didn't take a picture of my oatmeal mix because well... It looks unappetizing, but it is so good!!

Lunch Time 1:30- I LOVE the Ziploc Steamer bags to cook my chicken and veggies. For lunch I cut up a whole sweet potato put in the steamer bag and put cinnamon and all spice. I microwaved at 3min 30sec. I removed the sweet potatoes and added a 1/4 zucchini and microwaved 3min.

4:30PM- My "wings" meal!

They had wings at work today and I was determined to kill my cravings with a clean version.

Here goes--- 3 chicken tenderloins in a Ziploc steamer for 6min 30sec. I seasoned them after they were cooked with paprika and pepper and added a tablespoon of Franks Red Hot Buffalo Sauce. The sauce is somewhat high in sodium so I am very careful to make sure I measure it. I cut up 3 full stalks of celery and made my own dipping sauce.

Tablespoon Greek Yogurt with pepper, Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb, onion powder, Italian seasoning and dry mustard. I don't have an exact measurement I just put a dash of everything until it begins to taste like a sour cream dip.

7:30 DINNER TIME

Taco Beef Salad- plate of lettuce, sprinkle of fat free Mexican cheese, 5 grape tomatoes, 1 1/2 cup lean ground beef, 2 tablespoons salsa and a teaspoon of Greek Yogurt.

I made my dressing with a teaspoon of lime juice, tablespoon olive oil, tablespoon red wine vinegar, chili powder, pepper, onion powder, red pepper flake... all to taste!

I am loving peach iced tea right now. I don't drink any caffeine after 4PM so this caffeine free tea is perfect ice cold. I put a little hot water in the bottom of the cup with 1 tea bag. Let sit 2 min and then add cold water to fill.
And there you have it, my first What I Ate Wednesday!!
Comment and let me know your thoughts and if there is anything I can add to my weekly W.I.A.W.!!
I love hearing from you all!! Thank you for your kind words and support!
As always, thank you for listening!
*Keep up with me all day- Pinterest - Facebook - Instagram @anna0301

Xo
Anna

Music Monday-On a Tuesday =)

Nicholas surprised me with a mini-vacation trip this past weekend and well... I fell behind on my blog posts and just about everything else. Our Friday night drive to Laughlin, NV, weekend vaca, then our visit to the Hoover Dam Sunday put me behind on Monday night and I was unable to do my new Monday series...

MUSIC MONDAY!

Picture at the Hoover Dam, Boulder City

So here it is MUSIC MONDAY... on a Tuesday! =)

I love music in the gym. I recently posted a blog with a list of all of my favorite songs on my current IPod playlist. The post was a hit and I decided to post a weekly blog listing my new favorite songs for the gym... This will now be called MUSIC MONDAY!

I recently stumbled upon DJ Rolemodel and mixes he posts on ITunes. One of my favorite bloggers, Monika at Fit Foodies posted about DJ Rolemodel's music and I've been hooked since.

You can use the link here to download his mixes free! I love mixes and upbeat music for my workouts. The mixes are great for mornings in the gym for me and enough motivation to get me through the entire workout.

My favorite DJ Rolemodel mix right now is the May 2012 mix and the January 2012 mix.

I have been researching new recipes and finding new recipes on Pinterst (Follow Me).

I am very excited to start trying new recipes and sharing them with you all.

Follow me on Facebook for daily updates and motivation.

Thank you for listening and being patient with me while I have been behind.

Weekly Challenge... #1

I wrote in a previous blog about me setting weekly goals. I have decided to take it a step further and see if I can get you all to join me as well.
This week I have set the challenge (again) to

DRINK A GALLON OF WATER A DAY!

Drinking more water helps you reach your weight loss goals. I feel so much better overall when I do this and my skin looks 100% times better also. So see, there is a plus to drinking more water!

Meet my partner in crime for this goal... my Tervis Tumbler. He is at my desk all day and I fill him at least 5 times throughout the day. The Tervis cup is 24 ounces and a gallon is about 128 ounces. When you do the math ((Yes I did the math ;)) it is about 5.3 Tervis cups. Aim for 5 and a half by 4PM this entire week.
Looking for another helpful way to consume the gallon a day? Buy the gallon water bottles and take it with you. I pour mine in to my Tervis cup throughout the day. I even draw motivating pictures on the container. Yes, that's me with big guns on there! ;-)

No matter how you do it you can accomplish this goal. Write it in your planner. Use an expo marker and write it on your bathroom mirror or rear view mirror.
Do you know WHAT your goals are? Is it to lose 5 extra pounds before the Summer weather comes? Is it to completely eliminate junk food and sugars from your diet?
What holds you accountable and motivated? I know for me it is sharing my goals with people and finding motivation in others I look up to. I follow MANY of the fitness industry's best on Facebook. Find your favorites and look to them for motivation. We are all constantly browsing through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Following people that are motivating and post things dealing with your goals is a completely different kind of motivation.
Find me on Facebook, Fit From the Inside Out or on Instagram @anna0301. I am still new to Instagram, but I'm beginning to use it more! =)
I always love when people share their goals with me! There IS strength in numbers!

Thank you for listening!

I will check in with our weekly goal a little later this week!

Coconut Mocha Protein Frappuccino

Starbucks has a Frappuccino that is mocha & coconut. I love it. In fact it's a weakness.

I made it my mission to create a healthy, clean version. After trial and error I mastered my concoction. Except this one was FULL of protein, healthy fats, & sufficiently lower in sugar (62g in the Coffee House version, 4-6g in this version- depending on your protein powder!).
First I wanted to post the benefits of coconut oil. The recipe calls for a Tablespoon of coconut oil. At first glance the fats in coconut oil will scare anyone away, but I carefully researched coconut oil and I've found many benefits and it to be okay to consume on a clean diet. ;)  
I was concerned about the fat levels in Coconut oil at first. Research shows that the fat in coconut oil is made of short- and medium- chain fatty acids. In simpler terms, fat in coconut oil is easily digestible and is converted faster in to energy, instead of being stored. The short- and medium- chained fatty acids are used immediately by the body. Although, this doesn't mean we can consume 3 of these bad boys in one day either. ;)
I have included sources/links at the bottom for coconut oil research. The websites list the many benefits, including some beauty benefits of coconut oil.
I loved this coffee drink as a post workout in the morning. Try it and let me know what you think. I am working on new combinations for you all to try and will be posting more as I perfect them.  

Coconut Mocha Protein Frappuccino 

In a blender combine-

1 1/2 Cups Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

1 Tablespoon Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

1 1/2 Teaspoons Instant Coffee Granules

1 Scoop Chocolate Protein Powder

A Pinch of Unsweetened Coconut Shavings

1-2 Packets Stevia in the Raw

Ice (about 10 cubes)

Follow me on Facebook for daily posts and motivation!

www.facebook.com/fitfromtheinsideout

Thank you for listening!

Sources: 

The Truth About Coconut Oil

Coconut Research Center

I Love To Shop

Yes... Like all women I LOVE TO SHOP.
BUT! More than shopping for clothes, I love to grocery shop each week.
I look forward to finding great deals on healthy foods and checking out the weekly add at our local Farmers Market Grocery Store.
Each week for our shopping cart is different depending on what is in season or what is on-sale.
Eating healthy does not have to be expensive IF you know what you are looking for or how to will eat/prepare it throughout the week.
I get a lot of the same questions often and one of them is "what do you eat?".
Well, I took a picture today after grocery shopping.
We have most of the meat we will need that we already bought (chicken, lean ground beef, etc.)

and we have oatmeal, almond milk, and eggs already... so the picture below isn't the complete picture.

Grocery Shopping :)

I bought a ton of produce today- Kale, spinach, bell peppers, apples, mangoes, blackberries, oranges, cauliflower, romaine lettuce, celery, mushrooms, yams, pineapple (already cut up)

I bought frozen strawberries and frozen raspberries. Plain Greek yogurt, fat fee cottage cheese, Udi's Gluten Free Pizza crust and 2.5 pounds of ground turkey.

Finally, canned pumpkin, instant coffee (for my protein shakes... recipe soon), cocoa roast almonds by Emerald (you have to try these), Ezekiel Bread, Tazo Tea and Quinoa.

I love fresh spinach or bell peppers in my egg whites in the morning.

I have recently discovered veggie smoothies. I put a handful of spinach, kale and different fruits in a blender. When you think veggies in a smoothie I'M SURE you think... "grossssss!"... I defiently did, but I tried it and now I can't get enough!!

Frozen Raspberries, Blackberries, Kale, Spinach, Half of A Banana, Water & Ice

Today I bought Tosca Reno's new The Eat-Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook and saw a recipe for a veggie smoothie. I will have to share with you all after I try it.

I am still flipping through the cookbook, but everything I have seen so far looks so delicious.

Fresh, whole, clean foods are really fun to cook with. Everything I have ever made from these cookbooks or clean recipes I have found taste SO GOOD! I don't use salt in my cooking and shy away from sugars.

Pick up an Oxygen Magazine or an Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook... I promise you won't get "bored" eating clean and healthy.

It's not a diet... It's a way of life!

Thank you for listening!

If you are on Facebook... go check out my Fit From the Inside Out fan page. I update it daily!!

Watch Your Language

I recently read an article in the Summer 2012 Bookazine (Pg. 115) on the power of words. The article talks about having a fitness mantra personal to your goals. There is also a version online at Oxygen Magazine!
I loved both of the articles!
I had just gotten my first Firedaughter shirt in the mail and I was attending my first spin class. LOVE my Firedaughter gear!

The shirt read "It's not luck. It's hard work." Pink with black writing. I was ready to go and felt great!!!

Well, I don't know if you have ever been to a spin class, but 20 minutes in I was DYING! Gasping for air, trying to keep it together, and I had already finished my ONLY bottle of water! I caught my shirt in the mirror. Although the words were backwards... I thought to myself...

"It's not luck. It's hard work."

I pushed through the rest of spin class constantly telling myself...

"It's not luck. It's hard work."

It got me through the rest of the class and numerous workouts in the past few weeks.
Self talk is an amazing thing. I never realized the impact positive mantras or sayings have on my workouts. When I am ready to give up I think... One more rep!
When I'm running (I hate cardio) I think... Push!
The positive mantras you or I can have are endless, but what pushes you? What helps YOU get through and closer to your goals?
I loved this article in the Bookazine. I have to say... it really has changed my workouts.
The article talks about creating a mantra unique for you and walks you through having POSITIVE self-talk!
Thoughts can make or break you.

"Whether you think you can or you think you can't... you're right!"

-Henry Ford

Thank you for listening!