Fuck your standards....

"Oh, you're a health food nut."
"I prefer the term sympathetic."

I don't feel as though I starve myself.  I pretty much eat whatever I want.  Ask the boy, he's always trying to stop me from eating chocolate and ice cream.  However, I do try to eat every three hours, a clean carb and a protein.

My rant today is all about the fact our society finds it more acceptable for people to eat McDonald's instead of healthy.  Why didn't she say to the guy beside her, "Oh, you're consuming fake synthesized food!"  Instead, she directed her energy on my food.  

Is it acceptable to eat McDonalds because its fast and cheap?  And that has become the norm of our society?  Fast.  Cheap.

I enjoy my prep time on Sunday nights.  I don't mind making sure that my bag is packed so that I have food all day.

So to you, who are shocked by my salad and chicken, I say, I hate your standards.   They are fucked up.  And I believe I am what I eat.

Week One of Jamie Eason's LiveFit Program

Today as I sit and write, I weigh 69.3 kg's with an approximate body fat index of 25%.  My goal weight is 67.4 kg's with a 20% body fat index.  This will put me where I was two years ago when I was lifting.  I was the happiest with my body at that time and I'm keen to get there again.

Jamie has been a massive role model for me for so very long.  She's an absolute beauty in the fitness industry.

Her program is broken down into three phases.  I'm currently working on phase one.  It looks a bit like this:

My first work out:

If you'd like to follow this program yourself, sign up for free at bodybuilding.com and search for Jamie Eason's LiveFit Program.

You won't regret it.

Can't wait to start showing progress photos!!

Can't wait to make these

I have quite a number of friends who are on facebook who are trainers.  I always enjoy when they post recipes that I'd like to try.

Here is one for blueberry oatmeal bakes.

Karen, from BLPF, posted this.
2 C of uncooked oats
2 oz of fresh blueberries
1 tsp of baking powder
2 egg whites
1 1/2 C of skim milk
1/2 C of unsweetened applesauce
1/2 tsp cinnamon. 

Preheat oven at 375. 

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl with fruit and wet ingredients in another bowl. Add it all together and stir. Line muffin tin and pour 1/4 C of batter into each muffin cup. Batter will be runny... don't worry!! 

Bake 20 to 25 min or until edges are brown. Cool for 10 min.

Can be stored in the fridge up to a week.

I'm headed to the grocery store right now!!! YUM!! 

Cheat Meal: Chicken Stromboli

Dinner time is, Stromboli time!!

I took this recipe from here. 

 

1 cup broccoli florets

11 oz package thin-crust pizza dough

1 cup cooked chicken

1 cup cheese 

Green Pepper                                                                                              

  Tomato

 

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(I modified this recipe a bit, we also made homemade pizza dough)

Directions

1.

Heat oven to 400°F. Steam 1 cup broccoli florets until just tender. Stretch an 11 oz package of dough to form a 16" x 12" rectangle on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle 1 cup chopped cooked chicken, broccoli, and 1 cup cheese lengthwise down center of dough. Fold dough over to cover filling. Pinch side and ends to seal. Cut 4 slashes to vent, coat with cooking spray, and bake until browned, 12 minutes. Slice in quarters and serve with marinara sauce.

Nutritional Facts per serving

CALORIES

420 CAL

FAT

15.6 G

SATURATED FAT

6.6 G

CHOLESTEROL

67.3 MG

SODIUM

1063.5 MG

CARBOHYDRATES

44.1 G

TOTAL SUGARS

8.3 G

DIETARY FIBER

2.7 G

PROTEIN

26.7 G

Today's Meal Plan

Good Morning everyone,
Today I'll be in the office, so I need to pack up of my food for the day.

I woke up at 7:00 am and its important to have breakfast within the first 1 hour of awakening (although, my trainer used to say 30 minutes, I've read an hour is okay)

Breakfast consists of 1/2 C. Oatmeal, a bit of fruit in it (blueberries for me this morning), some cinnamon and a bit of vanilla protein.   This makes the oatmeal bearable for me since I HATE IT!

In my lunch bag is the following:

11:00 Protein shake (Snack)

2:00  Chicken and Pasta Salad (see post from here)

5:00 Protein shake for on the tram (Snack)

Then I'll have dinner about 7:00 pm tonight.  I'll be honest, tonight is a bit of cheat meal with some breads.  Can't help it.  My Italian genes just won't let me give up my unhealthy carbs.

Okay, til tonight!  Ciao!

Steak Tacos and Peppers

I have the most amazing boy.  Tonight he made dinner and it was so good!!!  I absolutely love that he shares in the kitchen duties with me.  He offers and he actually seems to enjoy being a better cook than I.

The steak we got from the markets was absolutely amazing.

Here is what we had, perhaps you can enjoy them too!

Shrimp with Avocado-Mango Salsa

Last nights meal was quite interesting to say the least.  I was pretty excited to try some seafood from the markets and what better way then to eat some prawns (shrimp).

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• Vegetable oil cooking spray
• 8 cups baby spinach
• 1 cup couscous
• 1 lb medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 large mango, peeled and diced
• 1 medium avocado, diced
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1/2 jalapeño chile, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

PREPARATION

1. Heat grill. Fold four 18-inch-long pieces of foil in half; unfold and coat inside with cooking spray. Place 2 cups spinach in center of 1 half of each piece of foil. Combine couscous with 1/4 cup water; divide evenly among packets, placing on top of spinach. Combine shrimp, 1/4 cup cilantro, oil and 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl. Divide shrimp evenly among packets, placing next to couscous. Fold foil to close and crimp edges to seal; place on grill; close lid; cook until packets are fully puffed, 10 minutes. Combine remaining 1/4 cup cilantro with remaining 1/4 tsp salt, mango, avocado, tomato, onion, jalapeño and lime juice in a bowl. Carefully cut foil to open; stir contents; garnish with salsa before serving.

The skinny

397 calories per serving, 10 g fat (1 g saturated), 52 g carbs, 8 g fiber, 25 g protein

The finished product.

We were a bit nervous about the salsa....of which I didn't eat.  Tim said it was nice and spicy and I (think??) he was pleasantly surprised to note that the salsa wasn't that shabby.   I got the recipe from pintrest via this site.  

It made four servings, so I've given the last two servings to us for lunch over a bed of lettuce.  Yay- can't wait for tonight's dinner!! Steak Tacos.

New time zone, new city: same breakfast

Same breakfast. Different city. It's a trusty easy, fast breakfast. I can eat on the go. 

The boy has been running with me (yay!) so we need a fast breakfast to get us into work. Well, me. He doesn't fuel his body yet, but to be fair - we're just getting started. 

Pasta Salad and Chicken.

As some know, I like to use Sunday as my prep day. This week, the boy and I, will have pasta salad and chicken.

I made the pasta salad with some changes.   This recipe and photo belongs to this chick.

Photo by CallmePMc.com

Ingredients

• 6 oz tricolor pasta, uncooked (It doesn't HAVE to be tricolor, use what you have!)
• 2 c carrots, cut into strips
• 1 (3.8 oz) can  Fresh sliced black olives
• 1/3 c sliced green onions
• 2 c zucchini, cut into slices  I used cucumber instead.
• 2 c grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 (0.6 oz) envelope Italian-style salad dressing mix
• 2 T chopped fresh oregano Basil

I added:

• 1 C Balsamic Vinegar (but could have used white)
• 1 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil 
• 1 Avocado, cut into slices

Instructions (I didn't necessarily follow this in its entirety) 

• Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain. Rinse with cold water. Drain.
• Combine pasta, olives, onions, zucchini and tomatoes.
• Prepare dressing mix according to package directions. Stir in oregano. Pour over pasta mixture, stir. Cover and chill 4 to 6 hours before serving.

As for the Chicken: (find original source here)

• 4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1 TBS EVOO
• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper

Balsamico Sauce:

• 3 TBS Finely chopped Fresh basil
• 1 TBS balsmic Vinegar
• 1 TBS Finely chopped Shallots
• 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
• 1 tsp Honey
• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
• 4 TBS EVOO

Directions

To prepare the chicken, lightly pound the chicken to an even thick- ness using a meat mallet or the heel of your hand. Toss the chicken with the oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Set over the heat on a grill rack that has been coated with oil. Grill for 5 to 6 minutes per side or until the chicken is well marked and a thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 165°F.

To prepare the sauce, combine the basil, vinegar, shallots, mustard, honey, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Whisk in the oil to combine. Spoon over sliced grilled chicken breasts.

Nutritional Facts per serving

CALORIES

348.8 CAL

FAT

19.5 G

SATURATED FAT

3 G

CHOLESTEROL

98.7 MG

SODIUM

564.4 MG

CARBOHYDRATES

2.8 G

TOTAL SUGARS

2.1 G

DIETARY FIBER

0.2 G

PROTEIN

39.4 G

To mix it up over the week, I'll have a few days with the pasta salad and the rest of the days with a regular leafy green salad.  What have you prepped for this week?

Cajun chicken with Dirty Rice

It's our first day shopping for our weekly groceries at the Victorian Street Markets. 

We picked up most of our produce from here for our lunch and dinners for the week. 

Fresh organic chicken is something that will just melt in your mouth and I'm so keen to give the rest of our purchases a try! 

Here is what we had for dinner today: 

Simple Lousiana style food. With all fresh and mostly organic foods, it was simply amazing! 

Side note: I didn't use Tabasco sauce. Instead I used chilies and a tiny bit of vinegar. Also, the Cajun season had a bit more sodium then I was happy with, so if anyone has any suggestions for a replacement; I'd be happy to hear about. 

The nice thing about this meal is you can make it as spicy or non spicy as you would like.  We like it hot! 

To be quite fair, I've never been a fan of dirty rice; but this seemed so easy: I thought I'd give it another go. Absolutely worth it!  

It's fantastic living in an area where fresh, good wholesome food is important. I had sushi for lunch, while Tim had mcdonalds.... 

I'm quite excited to be cooking for the boy and I!! 

Till tomorrow!