October 23, 2012

dark chocolate pumpkin spice fudge brownies

October 23, 2012/ leah.egwuatu@6packusa.com

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?

October 22, 2012

tidbits

October 22, 2012/ leah.egwuatu@6packusa.com

saturday morning started out with bananas and Justin's almond butter. Chiso killed these things one by one and so did i! what a yummy combo.

i sprinkled some coconut flakes on a couple of them too.

we'll be having these more often.

it was leg day @ the gym-

i didn't even get to finish though which makes me so upset!!! i had to get to my hair appointment (time to chunk the deuce to this weave) and i was scolding myself for setting it so early in the day. rushing through my gym time is the worst. this is what i did get done though using moderate to heavy weight:

barbel squats 5 x 12

calve raises 5 x 12

machine leg press 4 x 12

barbel dead lift 4 x 12

then i went into the empty workout room and did three full circuits of this holding 15 lb. dumbbells:

walking lunges forward/backwards (used length of room)

stationary reverse lunges (12 each leg)

stationary side lunges (12 each leg)

15 jumping squats (put the weights down 1st)

rest then repeat.

i ended it with 20 minutes of fat burning cardio on my second fav machine, the stairmaster. i have grown to love this thing.

700+ cals later, crotch-sweat status was achieved and we were outta there!

on our agenda for saturday was a trip to see the Rat. { happy very 1st birthday, Levi!!!! } we hit up Chuck E. Cheese, aka, CEC, for a family birthday party. i ate a quick meal in the car on the way of canned salmon (chicken of the sea), avocado chunks, and some asian stir fried veggies. i think it's some rice cheese up under there somewhere too. i sprinkled Mc Cormick's BBQ seasoning on it and it came out waaaaaaay too fast. whoops.

yeeeeah Chiso pretty much stayed cooped up under one of us for the most part.

he is not a fan of Chuck yet. couple more trips and he'll be kicking CEC in the shins like the rest of the kids. and yes, the weave was still present in my head at that point, lol. i ended up having to push my appt. to the following day. sooooo i rushed through my workout for nothin :roll:

but i'm glad i got somethin in cause WE enjoyed the 'peeza' and cupcakes.

back on track this monday morning though, right. i hope you started your day with some GOOD stuff- i had a spinach and tomato egg white omelette, my oats made with vanilla almond milk, bananas, cinnamon, and vanilla creme stevia, and a cup of green tea.

more healthy recipes and are en route- pumpkin chili, cauliflower crust pizza, salmon cakes, and pumpkin brownies. it's also time for an updated oatmeal post as i make it a liiiittle different now, huh.

October 18, 2012

stick to the plan

October 18, 2012/ leah.egwuatu@6packusa.com

green tea! my 'coffee'.

i sipped some on the way to the gym eeeeearly this morning. i drink more throughout the day with some of my meals as well. be sure to switch to decaf in the evenings though so you can go to sleep at night.

it's always so peaceful at the gym in the early mornings.

i did some cardio, abs, and some much-needed stretching. working out super early means more family time after work. wouldn't have it any other way.

Chi's breakfast this morning- raisin Ezekiel bread, eggs, and strawberries. what, no pancakes!? trying not to burn him out on them lol. i still had mine though! anyway, Ezekiel products have become a staple in our home. we all love them.

i got my meals for the day going starting with some grilled zucchini.

i cut them long ways and seasoned them with lemon pepper, curry, garlic powder, onion powder, and liquid aminos. then, garnished them with fresh cilantro! 'what can i do to season my food and not add calories'? fresh herbs work wonders. also, mrs. dash also has a great low/no sodium line. special seasoning post coming, so i'll stop there!

i open some canned salmon and added a few ounces to each of my containers. for fat, i used fresh avocado and pistachio nuts. for carbs, i threw a bag full of La Tortilla Factory whole white-wheat soft wrap tortillas in my lunch kit. i take my condiments with me too- spicy mustard and my TJ fig butters. i shredded a sweet potato, added garlic powder, onion powder, 1 egg white and pan (burned) fried the cakes on both sides.

for my protein, i mixed the canned salmon, avocado, a little goat cheese, and some spicy mustard together in a bowl, sprinkled some Mc Cormick BBQ seasoning on it and it was SO simple and good!!!!! no cooking required there. i put some reduced sugar ketchup in my little dipping thingy for my sweet potato cakes. no i didn't steal it from a restaurant like someone assumed... came from Ikea :roll:

after i assemble my lunch together at work, it usually looks like this:

or this,

or i'll use Ezekiel's sprouted grain sesame or cinnamon raisin bread and make a sandwich.

just some super quick ideas.

i am currently in a maintenance phase after my competition last month and loooooving it!!! a little too much. i'm totally enjoying my food freedom, can you tell? however, i'm still keep up with my workouts and staying active. that'll never change.

Q: what is your current workout schedule?

A: goes a lil somethin like this:

less cardio, more weights. only about 4 hours of cardio a week actually. a couple weeks before my first show, my cardio capped out around 9-10 hrs a week. i laugh in the face of four measly hours now, HA!

for my active rest days, i'll either take Chiso out in the jogging stroller for a walk, or i'll take a class at my gym for fun. i love taking classes from other instructors!! i get to experience their teaching style and i am always inspired to create different moves for my own classes.

other than growing these baby biceps, i'm content with my current size and body fat. i have NOT been able to say that, well, ever. every few weeks, i'll sit down and come up with a new plan to switch things up to keep my body from plateauing.