Low Fat Chicken Wrap

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Stacy

The low fat chicken wrap makes a perfect snack or pair with a veggie for a healthy lunch. It’s really simple and fast to make.

You’ll need:

1. Flour tortilla. Don’t purchase low fat or low carb tortilla’s. The manufacturer injects them with sodium to make up for the fat and or carbs. Your body needs fat and carbs so just make sure you calculate this into your daily macros.

2. Veggies to put on the wrap. I used radishes, spinach, shoestring carrots, and a little bit of colby jack cheese. For those of you that don’t like veggies this is a great way to get them in, because the flavor of the chicken and the ranch yogurt dressing will cover the taste of the veggies.

3. Dressing. I like to use Bolt House farms it’s a yogurt dressing that’s delicious. You can get it in the produce section where the cold dressings are kept.

4. Chicken. Read the label look for a chicken that has no more than 45mg of sodium per serving. I buy Tyson trimmed and ready chicken breasts. I cook the entire package so I’ll have the chicken on hand when I’m ready to eat. The breast are usually rather large so I filet to get double the amount.

You’ll want to get your tortilla warm. Then place your toppings inside roll up and enjoy. It hits the spot!

No Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Banana Cookies

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Stacy

A client of mine told me her biggest down fall with her diet is her sweet tooth. I’m sure most of us can relate to that. I told her I was going to work on a new recipe over the weekend just for her. I hit the jackpot with this one. I couldn’t stop eating these easy to make no bake peanut butter oatmeal banana cookies. Once you read the macros you’ll feel safe to graze on these all day too!

RECIPE:

In a medium mixing bowl:

2 scoops of chocolate whey protein powder
2 tbs of PB2
1 cup of old fashion oats
2 tbs unsweetened almond milk
1 mashed banana.

TOPPING:

Melt about 10 dark chocolate morsels. I prefer to use Ghirardelli it’s 60% cocoa. Also set aside a bag of almond meal. I love the nutty flavor this adds to the cookies.

With a large spoon start mixing the ingredients in the medium bowl. You want to get it to the consistency of peanut butter.

It’s time to the make the delicious cookies. You’ll need a rectangular Tupperware pan large enough to hold about 10 cookies. Place a piece of parchment paper in the Tupperware and with a small spoon scoop a spoonful and place in the pan. It’s will naturally flatten so don’t worry about shaping the cookie. Once your have all the cookies in the pan it’s time to put on the topping. Grab a small spoon dip it into the chocolate, and drizzle just a bit of chocolate over the cookies. Grab a pinch of the almond meal and sprinkle atop to finish off. Put the lid on and freeze. The cookies can easily be eaten in a couple hours but they’ll still be a bit on the softer side. I like to freeze mine overnight. Whenever your hungry grab and eat, because their that good for you!

MACROS: Per Serving approximently 1 cookie

CALORIES: 58
FAT: 1g
CARBS: 7.2g
PROTEIN: 6g
SUGAR: 1g
FIBER: 1g

A Fitness Competitors Diet

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Stacy

A FITNESS COMPETITORS DIET

As you can imagine my most asked question is, “What are you eating” or “What is your diet like”. People want to know how I do it. They want to know how I manage to get my body fat down to 8%. My answer is, and will always be it’s your diet. A fitness competitors diet is strict, and it’s not for most. I’d like to share with you what a fitness competitors diet looks like.

Before I go any further let me make this clear I’m training for a NPC show that’s in 2 weeks. This is what I’m eating to train for my show. When my season is over I will make slight modifications to my diet. You’ll notice as you read on there is a lack of good fats such as avocado, EVOO, nuts, coconut oil, etc. There is also a lack of starch carbs no rice, corn, potatoes including sweet potatoes. A fitness competitors goal is to get extremely lean while maintaining muscle mass. Although all those foods mentioned are good fats they’re not on a competitors menu.

BREAKFAST: Typically for breakfast I’m having pancakes. I make my own starting by grinding the old fashion oats. The recipe is totally clean/healthy, and it’s good. You can get the recipe for that on my blog. You have to get creative with your food try to find new way’s to eat the same thing. For example my pancakes are just about the same as heating up hot cereal, but I don’t like hot cereal so I figured out a different way to use the same ingredients to make something different such as a pancake. I like to drizzle a smidgen of raw honey atop. Honey is naturally sweet so you don’t need a lot or I’ll spread a smidge of baby food applesauce atop.

SNACK: My snack is typically a protein shake. I love my protein shakes! I actually look forward to them! I’m also very particular in how I make them. I fill my single serve blender with ice. By the way if you don’t have a single serve blender you’ve gotta get one! There only $12, and their so convenient I literally use mine 4-5 times a day. It’s just easier to use and clean than the big blenders. Plus it keeps your serving size in check. Put one scoop of whey protein powder I use vanilla by muscle tech. 1 tbs of PB2, 1 tbs of ground flax, and approx 1/2 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk. You may need to add a bit more milk if it’s to thick. Blend and enjoy. It taste delicious! This is a great option to satisfy a sweet tooth craving.

LUNCH: Lunch is almost always a salad with chicken. Yesterday I made something different. I cooked up 1lb of extra lean ground chicken with carrots, celery, jalapanoes, Tabasco sauce, 1 crushed garlic clove, and 1 can of organic unsalted fire roasted tomatoes. It was so good, and had just the right amount of heat. You’ll notice a trend that a lot of my meals have heat I’ve learned to love it, because it speeds up your metabolism. If you cannot tolerate the heat leave the ingredient out.

SNACK: Depending on the day I’ll have another protein shake or 2 low sodium rice cakes. Sometimes I’ll spread the tiniest amount of peanut butter atop, but currently I’m eating them plain since I’m so close to my show..

DINNER: Dinner varies. I try to get creative with it. The other day I made a chicken meatloaf. click here to view the recipe. It was awesome!

SNACK: My before bedtime snack is always a protein shake.

After reading my meals you can see my diet is limited. After my show I’ll add some foods back such as nuts, avocado’s, all those good fat’s I mentioned earlier. I’ll probably gain 5 lbs post competition. That’s a diet that’s maintainable/manageable. I’ll still keep my sugar intake limited, and sodium levels low, as well as carb cycle starchy carbs. Starchy carbs will not make it into my daily diet. To maintain weight loss you have to be strict with nutrition. You can exercise all you want, but if you cheat you’ll never get where you want to be. This pic couldn’t say it better:

Honestly I think we all know what we have to do to get to our goal weight, but the diet part is definitely the hardest. Why do you think that is? What do you struggle with maintaining a clean diet? To leave a comment click the thought bubble next to the title of this post.

Chicken Meatloaf Recipe

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Stacy

CHICKEN MEATLOAF RECIPE

Anytime your looking for quick, clean, healthy dinner recipes you know you can find a library of them on my site. I’ve said it time and time again being a working mom of 3 boy’s I don’t have a lot of free time. However, putting a healthy home cooked meal on the table, and siting down to eat dinner as a family is my top priority. Everyone in my family eats the same thing I don’t make different meals for me and the kids. I’ve always did it this way so my kids are used to eating clean, but I don’t think it’s ever to late to start introducing different foods to your kids. Read on for this delicious chicken meatloaf recipe which my kids loved, and it’s a great way to sneak in their veggies if your having a hard time getting them to be open minded to try new things.

Start by per-heating the oven to 350 degrees. Finely chop 2 celery stalks, about 1/2 cup of broccoli, and 1/2 cup cauliflower. If you really want to hide the veggies then put them in a food processor and really grind them up. In a medium bowl combine the veggies and the meat. I used 1 lb of extra lean ground chicken. Now add your spices. I used 1 tbs of powdered mustard, 3 tbs of mesquite liquid smoke, 1 tbs of minced garlic, and 1 tbs cilantro. Mix the ingredients then place in a loaf pan. I sprayed mine with canola oil to keep from sticking. I sprinkled a bit of Chipolte spice atop the meatloaf beware its spicy you may only want to do half if the kids don’t like heat.

Bake for approximently 30 minutes. The meatloaf will be hard to get out of the loaf pan, because it’s so moist from all those veggies it falls apart. The smell itself will have your mouth watering! I paired my meal with 4 spears of asparagus. I baked them in the oven for about 3 minutes I like it crunchy. I seasoned them with Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb. The meal is extremely low in calories, fat, sodium, carbs, and very high in protein. Feel free to modify the recipe add your favorite veggies such as mushrooms or sweet peppers. I used what I had in the fridge. I didn’t want to make a special trip to the store to make this. For me these are items that I always have in my fridge and cupboard.

NPC competition update. I have two weeks to my show! Getting very excited it’s all becoming so real. I got my bikini in the mail the other day, and I love it! I ordered it online from a company called suitsyouswimwear.com I found out about them through another NPC competitor I follow on Instagram. I couldn’t be happier with the quality especially for the price! The customer service was out of this world they had my suit shipped to me 2 days after I ordered it, and that was with standard shipping. They have regular suits too so if your looking for a sweet bikini to rock this summer I’d highly recommend looking at there site. Only two weeks till my show. I cannot believe that it’s almost here, and I’m ready. I’ve been training for so long I just want the day to get here already! I’m going to continue to do my best to keep posting, and to get some new workout videos for you on my YouTube channel R.A.W. Fitness TV. I just am amazed with how much time training has taken out of my already very busy days. Things will get back to normal soon, and I’ll be back to posting daily blogs and weekly workouts.

Have a great day!

Stacy

Jamie Eason Cinnamon Swirl Protein Bread Recipe

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Stacy

JAMIE EASON’S CINNAMON SWIRL PROTEIN BREAD RECIPE

Yesterday was Easter, and I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. As many of you know I’m currently training for a NPC bikini competition April 20th. With that said there is no room for cheats. I kept my Easter dinner healthy, and for dessert I made this delicious recipe created by Jamie Eason it’s her cinnamon swirl protein bread, and I’m going to share it with all of you.

First things first let me share a little collage of our Easter. I realized while making the collage there are no pictures of Dan which is quite comical considering this is the first Easter we’ve had him home in 5 yrs, and we didn’t get one single pic of him.

Saturday we decorated eggs we were lucky enough to have beautiful weather so we decided to have the boy’s decorate their eggs outside. Good thing considering there were many spills! Easter the boy’s woke up around 7am. We could hear them in the living room excitingly talking about everything they got in their baskets. We couldn’t believe they never came to wake us up. We weren’t sleeping at that point, but it was nice just lying there for a bit. I made the boy’s a big breakfast then we all got dressed and ready to go out to my mom and dad’s to hunt for eggs. They have 10 acres so it’s the perfect place to hide eggs! After our Easter egg hunt went home to eat lunch, and Dan got to watch the basketball game GO BLUE they made the Final Four! Later that day I made a big Easter dinner. We had steak tenderloin with asparagus, artichoke hearts, and sweet potatoes sweetened only with cinnamon. I wasn’t going to have any of the steak or the sweet potatoes, but I decided to have a small 2 ounce piece of steak and about 1/4 cup of the sweet potatoes. Allthough both are good for you my diet is extremely limited 3 weeks out from competition. For desert I made the cinnamon swirl protein bread which turned out great. I’d prefer it at breakfast with my morning coffee, but it was okay as a dessert it hit the spot.

Rather than post the recipe I’ve posted some pic’s of how I prepared mine, and embedded Jamie Eason’s video from bodybuilding.com so you can follow along.

Protein Pancake Recipe

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Stacy

PROTEIN PANCAKE RECIPE

Once again it’s been awhile since I’ve been in touch. Training for a show I’ve learned is extremely time consuming! My progress is going really well. I’ve been seeing continued results by sticking to a strict diet and exercise regimen. I was just measured a few day’s ago my weight is at 134 and body fat is at 8.15%. I’ve been sharing many of the exercises I’m doing to prepare for my NPC show April 20th, but I haven’t shared any recipes with you in-awhile. One of my go to breakfast meals are protein pancakes.

If I have a morning workout planned I’ll make protein pancakes. Sometimes my recipe varies by one or two things, but the main part of it is always the same. I start by scooping out 1/2 cup 1 serving of old fashion oats and blend in my single serve blender. Once it all chopped up finely I’ll add 1/2 – 1 scoop of vanilla whey protein powder, 1 egg white, about 1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk, and sometimes I’ll add a tablespoon of PB2 (powdered peanut butter read a earlier article about that here). Sometimes I’ll also blend in a handful of blueberries or at times I’ll blend in about 2 Tbs of baby food applesauce. I use baby food, because it has the least preservatives. This adds yummy flavor and moisture to the pancake.

I then pour the batter into a non-stick pan for a few minutes over med heat or until browned.

The batter will make approximently 2 protein pancakes. To top it off I’ll drizzle very little 100% raw honey atop to add a hint of flavor. It’s so yummy and filling. It really gives me the energy to get though a difficult workout without feeling hungry during it. If you find yourself in a rush in the mornings cook up a few extra, and freeze them. You can pop them in the toaster to warm them up if you like yours crunchy or in the microwave.

I’ve already started thinking about Easter. This is the first Easter Dan will have off in 5 years. We’re really excited to have him home! My show is less than 4 weeks away I cannot afford to have any cheats. I plan on making a steak tenderloin for everyone else I’ll have my typical chicken breast that I cook in either hickory or mesquite flavor liquid smoke. It’s a great way to add flavor to your food without adding calories, fat, carbs, sodium, etc. I was also going to make some sweet potatoes to keep it healthier for them, but I won’t be having any of that either. No starchy carbs for me. Only the oatmeal in the morning. The vegetable will be asparagus. The dessert will be protein brownies. They’re so good! I’ll have to post the recipe for those next week!

Until then Happy Easter!

NPC Bikini Competition Update

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Stacy

NPC BIKINI COMPETITION UPDATE!!

OMG! I cannot believe how long it’s been since I’ve been in touch. I’ve kept my YouTube videos up to date, but I’ve had difficulty posting daily. I’ve been really busy with life in general besides training for my NPC bikini competition that’s only 4 weeks away now! Here’s an update on my progress.

I trained with my coach today. Our main focus right now is my lower body; leg’s and glutes. My upper body is perfect, and we don’t want to get it any bigger so I’ll be maintaining that through my boot camp and muscle pump classes. After a killer leg and glute workout he took my measurements which I was dreading! This weekend I had a bit of a cheat. I’ll tell you the same thing I tell my clients. I don’t like to cheat with my meals, because it’s hard to get back in the right mindset, and if your having a weekly cheat meal you cannot expect to have the best results. I find it works best for me if I eat healthy on a daily basis, and when I have a special occasion such as my son’s 4th birthday party this past Saturday I can enjoy a little food with family and friends, and not feel so bad about it, because I know those instances are far and few between. Keep that in mind, because this is the time of year when we have a lot of special occasions coming up. Such as Easter, baby showers, wedding showers, weddings and graduation parties. Save your “cheats” for then it’ll help to justify that cheat meal was celebrating a special occasion not just a weekend splurge. Anyway I’ve gotten off track my numbers. Two weeks ago my body fat was 9.67%. Today my body fat is 8.53%! So happy! My main focus right now is staying focused! Continuing to train hard, keep my diet clean, and practicing my walk. I need to get my swagger!

Moving along to my diet. I’ve posted some pics of what my diet looks like. It’s pretty much the same everyday. Lot’s of protein, and my coach has me carb cycling. Which means some days I don’t have starch carbs other day’s I do. My supplements consist of an Omega 3, CLA, Magnesium, biotin, Hyaluronic Acid, and I just started taking a fat burner LIPO 6. I don’t take this all the time this just happens to be what I’m taking presently.

Dinner and lunch most the time is salad with some sort of protein. My salads are always loaded with veggies. That’s what fills you up. I typically put celery, radishes, hot peppers, carrots, tomatoes, and an egg or two.

For lunch I recently made these chicken burgers. I made these with fresh ground turkey that was very low in sodium 35mg per 4 oz serving. I seasoned the meat with minced garlic, mustard powder, liquid smoke mesquite, red pepper chipolte spice, and franks red hot. I mixed it all together split into 4 sections 4 patties. I cooked in a non-stick pan, and served over a portbella cap with onions and a side salad.

Let’s hope that I get everything I need to get done today so I can shoot a YouTube video to have published at R.A.W. Fitness TV. I typically shoot them on Tuesday morning, but I had two clients in the morning, and one in the afternoon. I’ve got my fingers crossed for tonight.

Til next time!

Stacy

Best Peanut Butter Ever PB2

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Stacy

BEST PEANUT BUTTER EVER PB2

At spinning last Thursday one of my clients told me about PB2 powdered peanut butter. It’s much healthier for you than traditional peanut butter we’re all used to. I’m so glad she made the recommendation, because this stuff is freaking awesome!

This is actual peanut butter, but it’s powdered. They press the peanuts which removes 85% of the fat and oil. All the stuff we don’t want anyway! One serving which is 2 tbs, contains only 1.5g of fat, 0g of saturated fat, 94mg sodium, 5g carb, 2g of fiber, only 1g of sugar who hoo, and 5g of protein.

Compared to Jif Natural peanut butter nutritional facts: serving size 2tbs total fat 16g, saturated fat 3g, sodium 80mg, carbs 8g, fiber 2g, sugars 3g, and protein 7g.

LET’S TAKE A CLOSER LOOK BY PLACING THE NUTRITIONAL FACTS SIDE BY SIDE.

There are so many ways you can eat it. Make your own peanut butter like I did in the first pic. Took me 10 seconds, and I spread it atop my rice cake. I also put it in my protein shakes every morning. I like to make my protein shakes in my single serve blender. I fill the cup half full with ice, 1 scoop of whey protein powder (FYI, I use a brand by Muscle Tech that I get at Sam’s club, because it has a blend of whey, soy, and casein), 1 tbs of PB2, and half cup of unsweetened coconut milk. It is literally like drinking a shake it’s that good. I have anywhere from 2-3 protein shakes a day. Typically breakfast, snack, and one right before bedtime.

My dinner last night was delicious as well. I made, and always make my own fresh pesto. It’s simple to make, and literally takes 5 minutes. Start by heating on low 1-2 tbs of pine nuts. Don’t skip this step the heat draws out the natural flavor of the nuts. In my single serve blender I added 1 cup of fresh basil. It’s important to get fresh basil the stuff you buy in the seasoning aisle doesn’t compare to the flavor of fresh basil. I also added 1 cup of fresh spinach, the toasted pine nuts, and about 1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut milk and blended. While I was making my pesto I had plain cous cous cooking which also took only 5 minutes. You boil water, add the cous cous cover take off the heat, and let it stand for 5 minutes. It’s that simple! Toss everything into a bowl and your ready for dinner. I also added 3.5oz of chicken breast for my protein.

On another note I wanted to share my results. Again I’m competing in the NPC bikini division April 20th. Yes I said bikini. I switched my division. I decided not to do figure. I’m not big enough for figure nor do I want to be the size I’d need to win. I felt bikini was a more suitable fit for me. Any who my coach took my measurements, and OMG I was so nervous. Here’s why. I had a big oopsey the night before. Sunday night around 5pm Aidan say’s, “Mommy you don’t look good.” I apparently looked as crappy as I felt. I couldn’t eat a thing. Finally around 8pm I was still sick to my stomach, but knew I had to get something in my belly to soak up the acid, and the only starchy carb I had in the house was the kids goldfish, and I ate ohh….about a quarter of the bag LOL! I thought for sure with all those carbs and sodium I was going to swell up and screw up all my hard work. Well…..my numbers ROCKED! My coach was nervous too, because he started taking my body fat numbers with the caliper, and they dropped substantially. He started thinking I lost muscle which is a huge NO, NO. We took my weight, and it was which is good that meant I had gained muscle. Overall I lost 3lbs of body fat, and gained 4 pounds of muscle. The previous week my body fat was about 12% yesterday it was 9.67% YES! To be competition ready your body fat has to be 10% or less. When I started my training 3 weeks ago my body fat was 16% so I’m on track. Now all I have to do is maintain so no more goldfish mistakes!

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A Healthy Way to Prepare Fish

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Stacy

A HEALTHY WAY TO PREPARE FISH:

Protein is the leading nutrient in my new diet to get me ready for my competition in April. I try to switch it up to keep it fresh. Right now I’ve been eating a lot of fish from Cod, Tilapia, and Tuna.

It’s important to cook your fish properly otherwise it will taste dry and blah. If your fish is frozen place it in it’s air-locked bag in cold water for 10-15 minutes. Once it’s thawed place the fish in a baking dish. Season however you like. I like to squeeze fresh lemon atop, black pepper, and cilantro. Then place lemon wedges a top the fish. This is key the lemon will keep the fish moist. Add whatever veggie you desire. I like broccoli because it’s fibrous, and keeps my belly full. I steam and seasoned them with Mrs. Dash which is a great salt free seasoning.

Baked Tilapia

Baked Tilapia Dinner

I also cooked my Tuna like this. I had yellow fin tuna for dinner last night.

Yellow Fin Tuna

My workouts are going great, and on point. Two weeks into it, and everyone has been telling me they see a difference that I’m looking more cut. I have been doing cardio everyday for 1 hour, and strength training 3 x per week. Yesterday I went to the gym, and took a 6 mile run on the treadmill, and burned close to 700 calories. 7 weeks out from my show I’m really excited!

NPC Training – Day 6

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Stacy

NPC Training – Day 6

Who Hoo! Second week of my training, and I feel….awesome! Bet you weren’t expecting to hear me say that. The first week was rough, but Monday I felt the best I’ve felt yet. I finally feel like I’ve got a handle on my diet, and my body is starting to get used to the new exercise.

Monday training was 100 reps of each:

Chest Presses – with the big girl 10 lb dumbbells as my trainer called them.
Overhead tricep – presses w 10 lb dumbbells.
Incline chest presses –
Leg Presses – Don’t know the weight, but it was freaking heavy!
Leg curls – 70 lbs
Leg Extensions – 50 lbs
Hamstring Curls – 30 lbs
Push-ups
Abs

He had me training with a group of gals which I didn’t like. I’m serious about my training and focused, because I need to be ready for my competition. The other girls were training because they want to lose some weight and tone up. My issue with it was their constant complaining, moaning, and groaning. It’s hard to keep yourself in a positive mindset when everyone around you is complaining. Sure I don’t like it either, sure it hurts me too, but I shut up do what he asks of me, and I keep a smile on my face. Okay enough of my venting.

Monday I had the biggest sugar craving. Makes sense I’m only allowed fruit once a week, and my sugar intake has been reduced to 12g for the entire day. Do you even realize how hard that is? Read a label you’ll understand the difficulty. Sugar is in everything, and if it’s sugar free there has been sugar additives added to it which I also cannot have. If your craving sugar that can be a sign that your body needs protein. My fix was my special protein powder BSN lean desserts whipped vanilla. OMG it taste like your eating a vanilla shake it’s so freaking good! It’s expensive though so I only break it out when I want a dessert, and it satisfied the craving immediately. I ordered it online awhile ago. I love this stuff, because it only has 150 calories per scoop, 3.5g of fat, 120g sodium, 8g carbs, 2g of sugar, and 21g of protein. The downside to this powder is it does have sugar additives. I only had small serving just to hit the sweet spot.

I have another session with my coach today not sure what we’re training today, but I’m excited so we can talk. When I first came to him I expressed my interest to compete in the bikini division. He felt I would be more suited for figure, but I just haven’t been comfortable with that. I’m not big enough nor will I get much bigger in 7 weeks, and I don’t want to get bigger. I like a soft look. Thankfully he agreed yeah!

Catch ya all tomorrow! I gotta find time to shoot a new YouTube video for ya’ll. I was so busy last week I never had the opportunity. Don’t forget to subscribe to my channels below so you never miss a thing!

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