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

tears to the weekend

i sure did hate to see this past weekend go!

 are you still running?? the 5 and 10ks have not stopped and neither should you.  the weather is getting warmer and warmer, so stay hydrated out there.  i'm doing a 10k at the end of this month (look for it over there in the sidebar) with my buddy Kara; i'm excited about our running date!

http://thegreen2green.com/

weekend recap:

 i started my saturday with my fav class- 1 hr of total conditioning @ lifetime.  my hubby usually goes to play basketball for his workout, but for some reason everybody took this past saturday off as there were no hoopers in sight according to him!  so, he hit me up for a brunch date right after i finished up.  we tried a new place this time, Otto's Deluxe Grill.  unfortunately, we won't be back as Sonny felt he could have made his meal himself, at home. touche!  kudos to us for trying something different though, right!?

pretty cut and dry, eh? i got their sampler breakfast- scrambled egg whites, ham, one pancake, and hash browns.  ham was the only option other than pork sausage and bacon.  that really is a blueberry pancake.  ultimately, the hash browns were the highlight of the meal for me.

moving on, my east coast boos were in town for a friend's wedding!!

i've never met a woman more giving than Ijeoma (r). as the saying goes 'you can't please everybody',  but this girl sure does try!  i am so honored to be her friend.  she looks amazing, as usual!

this is my fellow blogger, crazy talented, close friend Dami  and i having a grand time @ the wedding.  you MUST check her out (Parchment by Dami) as she is simply incredible at what she does.  she made the invitations for my co-ed baby shower last year, and she is currently working on the invites for my little man's first birthday party next month!

plantain was on the menu so i was super happy. Dams loves me so much she gave me all of hers.  ok i asked first.. she was taking too long O_o

jellof rice, stewed goat, hen, fish, plantains, and a green salad was also served.  Sonny always hints for me to add more Nigerian dishes to my repertoire... workin on that ;)

 i didn't get any of that beautiful cake cause i had to head out early, bummer.

i started my Sunday off with taking Dams back to the airport :( we headed to church when i returned, and then on to celebrate my husband's 10 year reunion with his fraternity (line) brothers and their wives @ Brio.

i stated with their field greens salad that came with tomatoes, gorgonzola, and pine nuts, and balsamic dressing (on the siiiiide)

the shrimp and crab crepes sounded SCRUMPTIOUS so i tried them...very good!

 Sonny sent his plate back after one bite! it was just a fritatta, but that creamy sauce was prolly what did it for him.  he ended up playing it safe and trading it for a tilapia and spinach dish. ( as if we don't eat that enough @ home lol)

i knew our little guy would catch a nice long nap since we had been out all day, and he did just that on our way home.   so i went straight to the gym and got in an hr of cardio while my window of opp was wide open! we ended the evening with some tv and lounging.

ok back to today!  i'm trying a different recipe for dinner tonight so i'll let you know how it goes.  i'm hoping after it sits for a few hours and the flavors marry that it will turn out pretty tasty.  i'll call it a soup for now, we'll see..

sweet jerk soup  (haha)

the stuff:

• 2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• jerk or any type of seasoning you like, to taste
• 1 carton low sodium chicken stock/broth
• 1 large tomato
• 1 bag frozen okra
• 1 med sweet potato
• bunch of fresh cilantro
• 1 bag frozen spinach
• 1 med shallot
• 1 yellow onion

do this:

chop up the shallots and onions and cook them until translucent (2-3 min).  add your chopped chicken breasts and cook until there is no more pink.

can be found in the bulk aisle @ HEB - thanks, Nkechi!

then, add in your fresh cilantro and jerk seasoning.

go ahead and pretty much add in everything else. your chopped sweet potatoes, tomatoes, okra, spinach,

 and more jerk seasoning.

mix.

once combined, add in your box of low sodium chicken broth.

put the top on and let it simmer for a good 20 minutes.

so far, it's really sweet.  the only thing i'd do different next time is either use another seasoning OR use less sweet potato. the combo of them both is too much.  i'm gonna make some brown rice to serve it with.  have a great night and enjoy your dinner!!

le