What I’ve Been Eating 7/9

Hi guy’s! I have been so MIA from blogging. Truth be told, I am just going through so much!

Just some of the meal prepped meals I’ve captured that I’ve eaten since my last post.

Breakfast

These new wraps I picked up. I noticed they came in 2 or 3 other flavors. Macros/calories were good (ingredients – ehh) and although I totally missed the fiber on these, I managed to be fine for my intake. Wraps often times carry a good source of fiber which is why I tend to reach for them. I added the avocado guacamole that comes in a package as a spread, mexican zucchini, red tomatoes, mushrooms mixed with 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites (I use the egg whites in a container – 6lbs in this case).

Snack

I mixed this all together (because I count macros and these foods weigh differently cooked/dry I weigh them individually and create a recipe to calculate an estimate of it all combined). ingredients: onion, zucchini, turkey uncured bacon, tomatoes, topped off with cilantro pinch and egg whites, avocado and hot sauce.

LunchZucchini noodles, bell peppers, tomato, onion, and turkey breast that is lean cut. I know for some people this is too dry, and I can agree to that, but hey that’s how I stay on track lol. Sauerkraut, spinach greens, acorn squash, beets, and fish (forgot what kind). I added lime and olive oil as the “dressing”.

Training Fuel

Carrots that I turned into imaginary fries lol. No but seriously I love roasted carrots! Lean beef patty, bock choy leaves, the large mushroom (I forgot the actual name for these), I added this really yummy walden farms mayo sauce and these sprouted grains. (prefer over wheat bread).Lean cut beef found at Aldi’s, broccoli, these cauliflower buffalo bites, and my FAVE sweet potatoes. Ok so I made these cauliflower buffalo bites that OMG legit taste like buffalo chicken wings! No lie! I will share the recipe soon but I need more practice before I share. Similar meal again…fish, Japanese sweet potatoes because these are to die for and broccoli. xoxo

Real Talks – Fitness and Nutrition Edition 3

Welcome to the last edition to this series, although not the last but the longest of the series.

1. Weight training changes – day to day

There are a couple things I’d like to mention here. One being that your first several months as a newbie, is the time you will notice the most changes in your body especially if you are being fairly consistent and sticking to a good plan. Beyond that, as time goes on and you stick to being consistent and with a plan, it’s not as obvious changes. As you become intermediate and into advanced stages, you will have to switch things up. When I say that, I mean not only exercises. I would hear this often back in my newbie day’s and I literally thought oh, I can’t stick to the same 10 exercises and weight forever. While that is a part of what they mean by “change and shock the body”, that’s not entirely the case. It also means playing around with angles using the same exercises, rep ranges, progressive overload, tempo’s, TUT, programing, and other techniques. However that isn’t needed until you have paid your dues in time and form even.

On a more personal experience, I am not sure how much or if anyone can, does, or could relate…..Although I have been seriously training for about 3 years now (training overall 4.5 yrs which technically still puts me in a intermediate stage although I consider myself a bit more advanced), I continue to improve on all aspects. Change isn’t overnight in the least bit, however when your working consistently for months/years it’s as if your body and mind aren’t growing in the same rate, not at least for me. I was so used to being a petite person height and body structure wise that when I gained weight it’s like it hit one day hard, and once it did it was VERY uncomfortable. Once I got to a point I knew I had to make a change, I then have moments where my brain catches up with the changes my body has made. It’s as if your not truly seeing your body and work you put in and it’s as if for a second my eyes are not my eyes and I’m seeing myself through someone else.

My point is not unless your fairly lean, can you see certain changes in body, for example people who are in a competition prep. Changes come in all sizes and forms. It’s not just all visual or at least drastic.

2. Social Media Fit World

I can’t speak on “how to make it in the fitness industry” because I’m far from “fitspo” and I have come to terms that I don’t inspire/aspire to be popular in the fitness industry. But I can give my views on what I see and why I’m not that.

• Fitting in

Like any industry, you have your cliques and labels and who’s doing what more, who has sponsors, who is elite, etc etc im quite bored with this topic…Point is I see different “categories” in the fitness industry.

1. Competitors (pro’s)
2. Competitors (trying to become pro’s) very saturated now
3. Gymshark affiliated fitspo’s who like to work out but they also have a life, maybe even makeup gurus or fashion gurus
4. Holistic wellness health fit enthusiast
5. Pretty perfect body and face world wide models that lift
6. Sponsored girls who may not compete or at least not anymore, and usually are PT online
7. People who are trying to fit into one of these categories
8. And then there’s a group that has random people (I kind of fall into this category I guess): PT, enthusiasts, fit lifestyle, low key maybe has 5K followers if she lucky, etc

• Making it
• No tips on how to make it big in the industry because I don’t really know. If you REALLY want to “make it”, you out to know what your goal is. Do you want to be sponsored by supplement company or clothing company? Do you want to become a pro athlete? Do you want to become a fitness model? A PT with clients? There are many free way’s to gain knowledge on how to help reach your goals. There are many programs/coaches that can help you with your goals that you essentially can invest in but have a much better guidance, cut time and mistakes which makes up for the investment you’ll make. For me personally, while I am a little confused as to what I want, I’m slowly starting to embrace that unknown limbo stage i’ve been in. It’s allowing me to really see my options without having to fully commit. While I may look like I don’t have my shit together or a “cool” life to the outside world, I see it’s all a purpose, it’s all my journey, and part of a higher plan. I hope that what I am currently sharing through this blog is still helping someone out, which is ultimately a huge goal. I have had clear head on not wanting to be sponsored, therefore I’m not looking how to gain that nor am I worried on followers because essentially that’s a huge requirement for sponsorship. It probably sounds a little crazy to hear, seeing that right now the fitness community keeps growing bigger and bigger with a large sum of people wanting to be sponsored and filling their Instragram bio’s with the cool but same bullet points. It simply doesn’t align with what my deep calling is guiding me to be.

3. Cheat Meal VS. Refeeds

I touch base with competitors a lot in which I realize that although the community of competitors is and has grown, there is still such a LARGE population who are clueless to that world. A population where you may know of bodybuilding competitions but that’s literally all you know is really tan, shredded, stage, and chicken and rice. While another portion of population may have some knowledge on it but not details. A portion of population that may know info on competitors but have know that is not a route they want to face. Although I’ve never competed, there was some time I questioned if I wanted to, and while I’ve decided most likely not looking to compete at all, I’ve already done so much homework on it that it’s as if it’s been a part of my life. I still enjoy and adore the sport like any guy who is a huge fanatic of any sports (basketball, football, etc). My lifestyle resembles a competitor. Which puts in the middle to share all aspects of fitness and sharing the different perspectives as a whole into one. While refeeds are different than a cheat meal, they hold a value with competitors but I also feel them to be a better option for someone who may be in a diet. If your dieting and want to be serious about your diet then refeeds may be a better option vs cheat meal. Cheat meals are pretty self explanatory, however a refeed is usually when you increase calories for a day or sometimes more. Usually you increase carbs only, however in some cases you may see an increase in fats as well. As mentioned in my previous edition…If your really looking to make progress (in a specific time, + make progress in general) refeeds are a better option vs a cheat meal. During a refeed (which can vary on how often, how much increase, etc from person to person), you can either decide to eat more rice and oatmeal for example. Your portion size would increase for the day. You also have the option to utilize those extra calories (macros) in with a treat, for example having ice cream or poptart. Refeeds in a case of weightloss has more benefits than it does having a cheat meal.

What I’ve Been Eating 6/18

Breakfast

I was craving “bread”, and it was a while since I had last made one of these amazing sandwiches!

Ezequiel bread toasted, whole egg, spinach, a slice of bacon and chicken patty.

These are the patty’s I love when I make these breakfast sandwiches. All you need is to toss it on the pan, no oil, butter, etc needed.

These are my go to bacon or something similar to this.

This tasted so amazing. Veggie “quiche” inspired. Egg whites, red peppers, mushrooms, asparagus and seasoning. I let this cook for about 15 minutes in broil (oven). Along with these great whole wheat toast, topped with avaocado & pepper flakes.

Snacks

Egg whites that I added hot sauce on top (not pictured), cashews and a small peach.

Crazy snack I know….Green beans, roasted mashed butternut squash and flounder fish cooked on grill.

Lunch

Chicken on the grill, onion from the grill, zucchini, and Brussel sprouts, I also added olive oil on top.

Because it’s strawberry season I have to take advantage with this salad! Spinach, strawberry, cucumber, purple onion, walnuts, sauerkraut and grilled chicken. I topped it off with my fave greek yogurt salad creamy dressing (not pictured).

Pre-Workout

Lean ground angus beef, tri-color couscous with asparagus.Salmon lettuce burger, I added mustard and a organic unsweetened ketchup. Carrots and Japanese sweet potatoes.

Post Workout

Shrimp cooked on the grill with Jasmine rice and a stir fry mix. These veggies were in a pre-washed bag fresh ready to steam bag. I sautéed them with some aminos (aka reduced sodium soy sauce).

Furthermore,

This week I had this cereal with birthday cake protein whey powder. I also wanted to add I had a rest day mid week that I ended up eating home made enchiladas made with homemade tortillas and rice with a small lettuce, tomato, lime salad on the side. It literally fulfilled my craving and I was very proud of my control to eat it. I tend to eat very fast and any food that isn’t part of my “normal healthy diet”, I still struggle to not view it as negative but also overeat. I have made progress as far as eating not so fast in some occasions, not overeating but it’s a work in progress. If I succeed, I feel good about it and know im a step closer to what I feel is healthy and improved direction, however when I don’t succeed I try to look forgive myself and say ok next time. I actually enjoy tracking, it holds me accountable, it keeps me on track, it allows me to have less stress & anxiety. Yes I do need breaks from it from time to time and when I do I simply take mini breaks and eat intuitive. I think a huge reason why I overeat my cheat meals is because no matter how long I have been on this journey, to an extent I burned myself out or better yet, let’s put it this way, I have restricted myself for a long period that it has caused me to feel this way. Although I rarely miss my cheats (not including the time I was in an extreme restricted weightloss about a year ago), I only allowed myself ONE cheat meal and every other meal everyday is very healthy or “diet type foods” which doesn’t = healthy, that I felt restricted. Yes I had cheat meal weekly but to feel you have 1 day, 1 meal to enjoy to eat “normal”, delicious, etc is like omg I gotta make it worth it. On the other hand it’s also hard to enjoy more “cheats” or normal but in moderation more often. Why? Personally, I feel i’m going to reverse back to old eating habits. It’s not always so much about the calories, but more like well what kind of fake healthy person am I, will eating more often make my brain think yea it’s ok and eventually fall off, etc. Lots of mental stuff going on.

I also want to share what I eat that isn’t perfect and “healthy”. I realize i’m not 100% honest and only show the perfect eating and not always the real eating…..Friday, for my last meal in which I had no more meals prepared, it was getting late, I was hungry, I ended up eating a french bread lean beef sandwich. I didn’t track that particular meal, but I had tracked the entire day. I had wiggle room for all macros and I estimated I had gone over just a little on all but no biggie.

Saturday I continued with normal food and tracking. On Sunday it being Fathers day, I knew I wanted to enjoy some Menudo. I had set aside most fat and some carbs for this, but not perfect, just a mental estimated rough numbers/space. Long story short, I didn’t eat the Menudo, I again had no prepped meals, time, etc so I ended having my last meal a BK sourdough king burger, with a couple of the new pretzel chicken fries that’s it. I again estimated I went a little over calories but nothing crazy.

I end this with a good week! xoxo

What I’ve Been Eating

It’s been a while since I shared this kind of post. These are meals I had prior to mexico and some after. Sunday’s are typically my meal prep day’s, so I thought I would share what I’ve eaten that I actually took pictures of.

Breakfast

Savory breakfast in my fave heart bowl. Spinach greens, beets, sweet potatoes, micro greens, avocado, whole egg (yolk yummy), and sprinkled hemp seeds with pepper flakes on top.

Here I have egg whites with spinach that I added half way as eggs have cooked. Topped with cilantro and feta cheese. I don’t remember if this was reduced fat or regular, with avocado half on the side. I typically eat a half a avocado and I try to stick buying the same sizes as well whenever I buy these. Oats I cooked in crockpot. I added unsweetened cashew milk, stevia, a little honey and peaches which were frozen bag kind, also added cinnamon and vanilla and left them cooking all night.

My go-to breakfast meal a lot tends to be cooked on stove top oats. Here I added cinnamon and chia seeds. Topped with banana and berries with cinnamon and a little unsweetened coconut. I usually cook my oats with water. I also added nut butter. I usually have several nut butters and I was in the mood to switch it up daily. (pic shows chia cashew nut butter). I had egg whites plain on the side.

Another savory breakfast I had was sautéed kale, 2 whole eggs and sweet potatoes.

Snack

Here I have the ingredients I used for overnight oats. (banana split inspired).

Egg whites taco and the black bean hummus. Berries and strawberries.

Lunch

I’ve been into salads a lot.

Here I have a mix of arugula (I think), white beans (I just used canned beans), chopped but cooked asparagus, broccoli and carrots (I eat lots of veggies lol), chicken and almond slices.

Salad #2 – Swai fish I cooked on grill, chopped lettuce, cooked carrots and broccoli, and apples with mixed nuts. I also added a serving size of this greek yogurt dressing.

Here I have ground beef with cooked carrots. Mushrooms I sautéed and I I believe I had a little bit of spaghetti squash underneath. Instead of pasta or marinera sauce, I added canned diced tomatoes (less cals). Let me tell you these were spicy!!!

Food Around my Workouts

Yellow beets, red rice, left over greens beans from prior week, grilled chicken.

I used regular milagro tortillas one day but to be honest I ate blue corn tortillas every other day (no pic taken). Lean angus steak cooked on grill, asparagus, avocado and cilantro with onion and salsa. So good!

Here I made chicken in crock pot overnight with a good quality including calories kind of BBQ sauce I found. It literally tasted like pulled pork. I didn’t take a picture of entire meal. I don’t fully remember lol, I know it was some kind of veggie and a bun.

Tacos have been my go-to lol. This one was a fajita style. More lean angus steak with a salsa and cilantro. Sautéed peppers and onion.

I tried cooking blue corn tortillas im microwave, and on stove. I currently don’t have the normal pan that us Mexicans use to cook tortillas so I tried improvising on a regular pan and each method doesn’t cook these kinds of tortillas properly. They basically come apart way too easy when you try to eat them. I found cooking directly on stove no pan no nothing works best. It gives them a nice toast giving these tortillas a good taste and best hold.

Just wanted to show the macros for these tortillas.

Overall macros for the entire meal. As you can see you can still enjoy “normal” or tasty meals without overdoing cals.

xoxo