stick to the plan

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.

welp, you know what this means.

empty jars make me smile. back to TJ's.

happy weekend!!

le