Counting My Macros

Alright, so I’ve been really into weight lifting and watching other body builders and trying to get myself motivated, when I noticed that they all count “macros”, so I decided I was going to start counting my macros too. I really didn’t know too much about them, so I did some reasearch and found some articles on Bodybuilding.com about it , I even downloaded some apps on my phone to help me figure out exactly what macros I was going to need for my body weight. Which has sadly gone up the past year.

Yesterday was my first day tracking my macros, what I discovered was, even though I had THOUGHT I was eating a lot of protein, I wasn’t. Below is the chart, the top line is what I ate, the bottom line is what they told me I need to eat in order to lose weight and gain muscle.

(If you know anything about macronutrients, it just told you how much I weigh, so, there’s some honesty).

Today, I tried to make a super protein breakfast, 3 eggs, 3 pieces of canadian bacon and 1 bagel (which surprisingly has 10g of protein in it). That’s when I quickly realized there was no way I was going to be able to get the required amount of protein in per day without some help. With all of that protein, which was 38g of protein, I still have 192g of protein to go.

But I have to be honest, even though I’m suffering from a miserable cold, eating all of that breakfast food made me feel way better. I didn’t finish the bagel though, I felt like I was on Man vs. Food trying to eat all of that. Which really goes to show that I wasn’t eating enough in the first place, which means my body was/is probably in starvation mode, hanging on to all of the calories as fat. Yuck.

Anyway, as far as the help for protein goes, I’m turning back to my trusty Jay Robb Protein Powder. There’s no crap in it, it’s GMO free, it tastes great, it is sweetened with stevia (which is a plant) which I am normally allergic to, but for some reason when it’s mixed in with this powder it doesn’t affect me, so I’m guessing that it’s just a small amount that is in it.

So that’s what I’m up to these days, what about you?

1 Minute Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Mug

It’s Wednesday, middle of the week, we all need a pick-me-up, so here you’ll find the 1 Minute Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Mug!

 

 

What you’ll need:

3 tbsp almond flour
2 tablespoons Truvia baking blend or 3 packets of Truvia 1 tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
tiny sprinkle of salt
1 egg yolk
Chocolate chips (I use 70% dark chocolate)

Mix it all together, microwave for 1 minute, and enjoy!

3 minute Pumpkin Pie in a Mug

Okay, seriously everyone, this 3 Minute Pumpkin Pie in a Mug is my favorite recipe so far. It’s soooo good. Yum! I actually had to make one for each person, because everyone wanted some when they tasted it!

What you’ll need:

1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree
2 tablespoons oat flour or 3 tablespoons oats (oat flour is just ground oats, super easy if you have a blender!) 2 tablespoons Truvia Baking Blend (or 2 packets stevia)
1 egg
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice – I actually didn’t have this, but I assume it would be easier, I used about 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp clove, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp all spice
1/4 tsp baking powder

Mix it all together and microwave for 3 minutes (900 watt microwave). Add some whipped cream and enjoy this treat that seems like it should be bad for you, but is totally healthy!

Gluten Free Red Velvet Cake in a Mug

Today I bring you Gluten Free Red Velvet Cake in a Mug!

 

Red Velvet cake is my husband’s favorite, so I figured why not have it for breakfast!?

 

What you’ll need:

1/4 cup almond flour

2 tsp unsweetend cocoa powder

3 tbsp butter

4 packets of Truvia (or about 2 teaspoons)

1 egg

1/8 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp vanilla

Tiny bit of salt (just a little!)

1/2 tsp red or pink food coloring

Mix it all together, microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds, top with whipped topping and there you have it, delicious red velvet cake that is gluten free and sugar free and good for your waistline!

Toastless French Toast in a Mug

I love mug recipes, they are simple, fun and delicious. Today’s recipe is Toastless French Toast in a Mug! Low carb, high protein, good fats, no sugar, no flour! I actually learned this recipe from my grandma who is gluten intolerant and so she has to avoid bread or flour, she made this because she still wanted to eat french toast and this was a good substitute 🙂 This tastes delicious, but it does have an egg texture since we are making flavored eggs. If you’d like more of a toast texture, you can add 1/4 cup of almond flour to keep it gluten free and low carb, or you can add 1/4 cup all purpose flour if you don’t have any dietary restrictions. 🙂

What you’ll need:

1 egg
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp coconut oil
3TBSP heavy cream
dash of cinnamon
dash of pure vanilla
dash of maple flavoring
2 packets of Truvia (or 1/4 tsp stevia)

 

Mix everything together, microwave for 1 minute 50 seconds (900 watt microwave)

 

Enjoy!

Pancake in a Mug

Good morning everyone! I’m here to give you an awesome recipe, Pancake in a Mug. This is super easy and one of my daughter’s favorites! It’s also sugar free, gluten free, low carb, high protein, you know, awesome!

What you’ll need

1 mug (the mug I used in the picture is 12oz, you really only need a 6oz mug for this recipe 🙂 )

1 egg
1/4 cup blanched almond flour
2 packets of Truvia (or 1/4 tsp stevia)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp maple flavoring (optional, my daughter loves this and it cuts down on needing syrup!)
2 tbsp buttermilk or heavy cream (optional)

Put all of the ingredients in a mug and mix and cook in the microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds.

 

Enjoy!

Get Sexy Summer Abs

Photo by Russ Anderson

It’s spring time! That means everyone is going to be working and doing their best to achieve those sexy summer abs! A lot of people start doing those situps and crunches in the hops that a 6 pack will pop up. But I’m here to tell you a secret, you can do 8 million crunches but if you have fat over top of your abs you’re not going to be able to see them! So in order to get that 6 pack that you’re dreaming of you have to clean up your diet!

Here is a sample 1 day menu for ridding fat from your body.

Breakfast
2 scrambled eggs
1/2 fresh grapefruit

Snack
1oz of almonds

Lunch
Salad with avocado and grilled chicken

Snack

Low fat Greek Yogurt

Dinner

Lemon pepper salmon with sweet potato fries

Foods that target weight loss and help things like intestines and reduce cortisol levels which will specifically target the fat loss in the stomach area.
Note: Make sure you are eating proper portion sizes!

Almonds
Avocado
Dark chocolate
Flax seed
Olive oil
Peanut butter
Nonfat Greek Yogurt
Mushrooms
Eggs
Berries
Grapefruit
Sweet potatoes
Salmon
Garlic
Quinoa
Lemon
Grapes
Peppermint
Lean protein; chicken/beef

Make a menu for a week, pre-plan your meals for the week and you’ll be on your way to a flat belly in no time!

For more in-depth information check out the Flat Belly Diet from Prevention!

My Simplified Plan for Losing Weight

Photo by: Steve Johnson

So it’s the middle of January, are you still following through with your New Years Resolutions? Did you even make them? Maybe you’re like a lot of people and you make them, but you don’t share them with anyone.

I wanted to come up with a simplified way to lose weight. The more simplified something it is, the easier success will be with it. If you ask anyone, weight loss is 90% what you eat and 10% exercise (some people say 80/20, but you get the idea). So if the most important thing is what you eat, then I need to focus on eating healthier foods and make it a habit.

I’ve started with breakfast, I have eggs and bacon every single day. It’s 140 calories and fills me up with protein. For added health benefits I mix in some ground flax and turmeric in with the egg (both of those things have anti-cancer properties!)

Now that eating eggs and bacon for breakfast is a habit, this week I’m going to focus on lunch. I think that I will switch between tuna salad and protein shakes. I could probably eat tuna every day because I like it, but it’s really only safe to eat it 3x a week because of the mercury content.

For dinner we usually have protein and vegetables, but I saw this super disgusting article on how the FDA now approves diseased meat that has pus coming out of it and cancerous tumors, so I think for now I will be going mostly vegetarian until I can get some grass fed beef from a local farmer. (PS another good place to order meat from is Tropical Traditions).

Once these become habits, it means my calories will be under control and I can start switching things up a bit here and there. You can create your own simplified diet based on the foods that you like, have protein and veggies for the first few weeks and then you can start adding in some carbs, I plan to break up breakfasts with some oatmeal on occasion.

 

So that is my simplified plan, I’ll let you know how it works out! I will be documenting myself for 100 days and post the results when I’m done 🙂

 

Cherise

Delicious Berry Streusel Muffins!

This amazingly delicious Berry Streusel Muffin recipe comes from my friend Ashley who has her own mommy blog over here; http://www.agturley.blogspot.com/

Berry Streusel Muffins

What you’ll need:

1 1/2 c flour,
1/4 c sugar,
1/4c brown sugar,
2 tsp baking powder,
1 tsp cinn.,
1 egg,
1/2 c plus 2 TBSP milk,
2 TBSP melted butter,
2 c frozen/fresh berries (I used mixed, but also like just raspberries as it makes it tart!)
Combine all the dry ingredients, and stir. Combine the wet ingredients and mix into the dry until moistened. Fold in berries. Place muffin liners in muffin pans and add batter until 2/3 full!

Topping-

In a bowl mix

1 TBSP melted butter,
1/4 c brown sugar,
2 TBSP flour,
1 tsp Cinn, and 1/4 c pecans (I don’t like the nuts but that is just a preference)

Add to the top of the muffins bake at 350 for 18mins let cool for about 5 mins

glaze:

1 TBSP lemon juice,
1 c powder sugar (no milk-makes it healthier right? lol), pour on top of the muffins. ENJOY!

 

Thanks Ashley, for that awesomely delicious berry streusel muffin recipe! It’ll make a great birthday breakfast!

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Ask me how I lost 4 dress sizes while still being able to eat delicious foods like this berry streusel muffin! 😀

 

Homemade Water Bagels – Super easy!

I bet you never thought making homemade bagels would be easy, well you’re wrong! They are SUPER easy to make and don’t take that much time (an hour total, including cook time!)

The original recipe is from a guy who used to wake up at 5am and make them every day for his bakery, and I was pleased not to have to adjust the recipe all that much, I think you may need a little more than 4 cups of flour, but not by a lot.

What you’ll need;

4 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons instant yeast (or 1 packet instant yeast)
1-1/4 cups of water

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. You don’t have to worry about soaking the yeast when you use instant yeast (most yeast sold these days is instant yeast). The dough should feel stiff, but add the extra water if it’s really stiff, or you can’t get all the dry flour incorporated.

Plop the dough down onto the counter, and knead for about ten minutes, or until the dough is uniform and smooth.

Cut the dough into 8 equal sized balls, and let rest for 10-20 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 425.

Now, take each of the dough balls and using two hands, roll it into a little snake on the counter. When the snake is longer than the width of your two hands, wrap it around your dominant roiling hand. The dough rope should be wrapped so the overlapping ends are together at your palm, near the start of your fingers. Now take the two overlapping ends, and use your palm to squish/roll these two ends together. Once the dough is fused, you should have a perfectly circular bagel-to-be! This is the only part of the process that can take a little practice before your bagels will look really professional. Don’t get discouraged if they don’t look perfect, it just takes practice!

Let your bagels rest on the counter for about 20 minutes, and meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil, and grease a large baking tray lightly. You can just rub a splash of vegetable oil and rub it around.

After the 20 minute wait, your bagels will start to look puffy, and it’s time to get them boiling! Add them as many at a time as you can to your boiling water without crowding them. Boil for about a minute, turn them over, and boil for another minute. Take them out a let dry for a minute and then place them on your oiled baking tray. Repeat until all the bagels are boiled.

Add the tray to the oven, and after 10 minutes, flip the bagels over, bake for another ten minutes; and they’re done!

 

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