dark chocolate pumpkin spice fudge brownies

crazy good 5:30 am workout this fine tuesday morning!  got through 1 hour of Total Conditioning,  a Lifetime Athletic signature formatted class.  almost 700 cals burned!  i set aside some time every monday to sit down and write out exercises for my class.  i have always sucked at making up stuff on the spot- that never goes great for me.  like i could never be given a mic and asked to 'say a few words' at an event... omg.  i'd totally pee on myself.  however if  i'm to speak about health, fitness, or FOOD, i'd be straight!!

i'm no longer unbeweavable.  i know sew-ins are supposed to last way longer than one month lol, but that's all i could take.  i definitely sweat out my perm this morning and i'll be smelling it for the next few days.   aaaaand so will anybody on the elliptical to the left and right of me :lol:

after  my class, i did a quick upper body circuit cause i didn't get to finish my workout from last night. i did:

bench press 4 x 10

machine curls 4 x 12

machine tricep extensions 4 x 12

machine pull ups 4 x 10

pushups 4 x 10

cable flyes 3  x 12

with moderate - heavy weight.   didn't do abs cause i do them at the end of my class.

breakfast was my banana-cinnamon oats and spinach egg white omelette as usual. dinner last night though.....

i was imagining making and eating this while on the elliptical, not even kidding.  could not get home fast enough.

grilled chicken BBQ pizza.

i used mc. cormick BBQ seasoned grilled chicken, Trader Joe's organic pizza sauce, roma tomatoes, shredded rice cheese, and fresh cilantro on an oatmeal/egg white pizza crust.  i made two out of one serving and killed them both immediately.

are you stocked up on canned pumpkin through the winter? lol.  i have way too many cans of it in my pantry right now.  i bought so many at once though cause there was a shortage last year.  i use canned pumpkin all year round though, and pumpkin pie is my fave next to key lime.   pure pumpkin is low-fat, low sugar, low carb, and has plenty of fiber.  great for sweet and savory dishes, just like sweet potatoes.

i cannot wait until Chiso can participate more with me in the kitchen!  i have so many fun cooking projects planned.  for now, he's my studio audience and listens to all my cooking demos.  yeah right, he only sticks around if i give him snacks.

my little hamburglar munching on strawberry magic pop, his fave. this week.

Sonny requested brownies, so i made some with canned pumpkin. who the heck knows who created this recipe first, but i got it from Hungry Girl a couple years back.  it's just 1 can pure pumpkin mixed with 1 box of  brownie mix.  no oil, eggs, or butter.  i added a few thangs though.

dark chocolate pumpkin spice fudge brownies

the stuff:

  • 1 box fudge brownies (your fave brand)
  • 1 can Libby's pure pumpkin
  • 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)

i cut 15 servings outta my loaves.

do this:

set oven to 350 and mix everything together in a big bowl until smooth.  no lumps or dry spots.  cooking times vary..but since the batter is thicker than normal, take it out after baking it for the required time according to the kind of pan you use and do the toothpick test.

 

 hey, the stats are still waaaay lower than the normal box recipe.

made two loaves instead of using a rectangle or square pan- one with chocolate chips, and one without. which was stupid cause all our visitors ate the one with chips.

and that's why!  i microwaved a piece for a few seconds until the chocolate melted a little, then topped it with some vegan whipped topping (found at HEB in the vegan/produce department).

YUM-MAY.

what are you gonna be for Halloween this year?

 

le

 

le's leg day circuit

man my heart rate was already up as i walked into the gym today!  i got into my fat burning zone right away as i warmed up on the elliptical for about 10 minutes before hitting the weights.

to get the blood flowing in my legs, i did:

leg extensions / leg curls superset -  4 sets of 12-15 reps using med-heavy weight.

next, 4 sets of 12-15 reps of seated leg press with heavy weight.

1st heavy set w/ feet shoulder width apart,

2nd heavier set with feet shoulder width apart

3rd heaviest set with feet shoulder width apart

4th burnout set with light weight (kept going until it buuuuuuuuuuurned) with my feet shaped in a v (heels together).

now for the fun stuff!!!

 i went into my gym's empty group fitness room (take advantage if your gym allows it and there's no class going on) and did the following 3 times each: (burned over 500 cals after all this!)

*****le's leg circuit*****

using 25 lb. dumbbells,

and a step bench w/ 5 risers on each side,

*i mentioned on IG that you can add more risers if you'd like, but i'm super clumsy and went with 5 today.  it was still a nice height, trust me.*

do the following straight through w/ no breaks.

  • 1. 20 squats holding the dumbbells in each hand and squeezing your glutes the entire time.
  • 2. walking lunges going forward (i used the length of the room, bout 30 ft i guess!?! i'm horrible with estimations), then backwards ( no, don't turn around, stay facing forward but just lunge backwards. do your best to push yourself up back up to standing and maintain that balance.)
  • 3. 20 deadlifts (feet shoulder width apart (1st set) narrow stance (2nd set) wide stance (3rd set))
  • 4. 20 box jumps onto your bench. drop the dumbbells first please!  be careful and land softly by putting all your weight into your heels.  drop your glutes as low as possible and get into that squat before you jump back down.

 after a round of that, my heart rate was easily over 170 according to my watch!  i walked in two big circles around the room and let my hr drop to around 130 before i started again.

lastly, i finished up legs with 3 sets of 20 reps of jumping lunges.  make sure you drop that back knee down- no slacking.

i said i'd do abs at home (i always say that lol) cause i had to hit the grocery store before i could even get home.  making progress, but i need some separation in my upper abs since i have NONE.  that's my goal for this week.

 1hr of fat burning cardio on the elliptical later, leg day was over.

startin' the week off right!!! have a GREAT evening and try this workout and lemme know what you think!

biki...no

yesterday was the day. bikini day.  my trainer told me the previous week that i would need to bring one with me so we could check my progress so far.   all i could think about was 'somebody get me a razor' :lol:

i am officially 12 weeks out from the show.  a gigantic inspiration and fellow blogger friend of mine,  Nichola, opened my eyes to just how much time we have left! :shock: please read about her transformation from 170 lbs to competing in her first figure competition last month!!  AMAZING.  all this time i've been saying 'September' which makes the show sound light years away.

i was super anxious to hear my results.  see the chart below.  do you know where you fall??

body fat stats (%)

male

female

very lean

<11

<19

lean

11-14

19-22

healthy

15-17

23-27

average

18-22

28-35

unhealthy

>22

>36

don't know? well, whip out your caliper.  kidding, you can find it at home using a scale, measuring tape, and a calculator.  try it.

**2 week results**

5lbs and 2% body fat down, + several inches all over.  although my biceps are going the wrong way , booooo

161.5 lbs ----------to---------->156.5 lbs

21.9% bf----------to---------->19.8% bf

hips 39.5 ---------to---------->35.5

abs 31----------to---------->27.75

neck 12----------to---------->11.5

chest 35----------to---------->32.5

bicep 11----------to---------->10.5

forearm 9.5----------to---------->9.5

thigh 21 ----------to---------->20.5

calf 15----------to---------->14.25

i'm still 5'10''. see my before pics here.  and ignore my ghetto tan..i ran in the sun like 3 weeks ago and it still hasn't faded. currently:

give mommy a minute, Chiso, please

for real, i'm almost done, Chiso, really

OK, last one, gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!

clearly that baby was ready to nurse and we were playing around.

bikini pics before my workout.

my trainer says i need to hit my abs way harder and he's right.  will just keep working.

how do i feel?  i'm happy to report that my sugar cravings have pretty much subsided... almost completely.  i can't tell you how happy i am about that.  HOWEVER, i now feel like a typical preggo woman cause i'm craving fatty foods like pizza, fries, cheeseburgers, lasagna, and mac n cheese. and  i didn't crave a thing when i was preggo!

it's sunday so i'm in the kitchen prepping our meals for tomorrow and tuesday. i don't make them too far in advance cause 1) these things take up a crap load of space in the fridge, and 2) food poisoning is not cool and i can't afford to get sick at this stage in the game.  better safe than sorry!

heading out for some more family QT today- have a BLESSED rest of your day as we get ready for another week!

le