Nutrition Revamp

Since I am embarking on a little journey to my next 140.6, and then doubling it, I decided to get serious about my nutrition.

 I spent some time last week with Ilana Katz, who I have worked with before.  Her guidance has gotten my body fat down (in the past, not now). I remembered that when I actually LISTEN to her and ACT on her advice, I am leaner, and ultimately faster!

I have lovingly named this effort "too much chub for the dub." (double IM!)

Here's the thing though....it's hard. So I don't always do it. In fact, the last couple of times I tried, I quit after a couple of days.

So I set a couple of appointments so that I have some accountability and decided to commit.

I went in to see her, and we mapped out a periodized nutrition plan.

Of course the first four weeks are really really hard. 

I went home and moped about it for a while. I stuck to it grudingly for a couple of days.

And then I decided to flip my attitude around and have a cooking day. I will post more about my day to day later. Today's post is about taking on this challenge with a GOOD attitude and finding foods within the plan that I can get excited about.  There is a lot more fish and egg whites (I don't eat other meat), which is really hard for me, so I tried to make it fun!

I snapped a couple of pictures straight from my lunchbox. I am not a photographer.


I made:

*Lots of brown rice for the week

*Steel Cut oats for the week

*Salmon and Egg Salad (to put with tomato, avocado, and sprouted grain toast for lunch)
-12 Egg whites with a 3 yolks
-Plain Greek yogurt
-Mustard
-Spices (dill, mustard, lemon salt, pepper)
-Stir!




*We bought a tiny George Foreman grill for grilling fish. It's just nice to have a different way of cooking it. Last night's salmon was great!

*I invented these egg white cups.
-3 cups egg whites
-Lots of cut up veggies (tri colored peppers, broccoli, spinach, mushrooms)
-Salt and pepper
-I put them in 12 muffin cups (I sprayed silicon cups) and baked at 350 for about 25 minutes
-I brought 2 for a mini-quiche snack with an apple for mid morning.



*Ilana's Protien Bar Recipe--I did two variations, one with chocolate protein powder, almond butter, and dried cherries (George's favorite), and one with vanilla protein powder, peanut butter, and mixed dried fruit which was cranberries, blueberries, and mangoes. Both are tasty!

-1 cup protein powder
-1/2 cup oat bran
-1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or any other flour if you are gluten free)
-1/2tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cup dried fruit
-1/2 cup unfiltered apple juice
-1 package of tofu (silken is the easiest to wisk, but it doesn't matter!)
-1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
-2/3 cup nut butter

+ Spray a 13 x 9 glass dish with nonstick (important step! I forgot one of them, and I am regretting that!)

+ Mix together protein powder, oat bran, wheat flower, wheat germ, and salt in a big mixing bowl.

+ In a different bowl wisk (or use a mixer) tofu until smooth. Add in apple juice, brown sugar, eggs, and nut butter one at a time and wisk them each together.

+Add the wet to the dry ingredients.

+Fold in the fruit

+Back at 350 for 35-35 minutes until your knife comes out clean!

Here's a sideways picture for you of my chocolate one:


*Pumpkin Almond Butter "Brownies:" So my real treats are really limited right now, but this recipe feels like a dessert, though all of the ingredients are "legal" on my plan. I found this recipe from here the last time I actually listened to Ilana.:
-1 cup almond butter
-3/4 cup canned pumpkin
-1 tsp baking soda
-1/3 cup honey
-1 egg
-Mix all of the ingredients, spray an 8 x 8 baking dish, and bake for about 30 minutes at 350 until knife comes out clean.

No picture, since I am saving this for tonight!






So, I'm sticking  to it. I am doing my very best to really focus on my nutrition.

If you have any questions about my recipes, feel free to ask!

If you have any suggestions for me, let me know!

If you have any motivation for me, send it my way!

I will post more about the actual plan later on!