January 12, 2015

The Egwuatus

January 12, 2015/ leah.egwuatu@6packusa.com

happy sunday funday!

today was a rest day for me so i stayed indoors looking somewhat like this. i bust out laughing every time i look at this pic! give me a pair of fuzzy socks and i'd be set. an IG follower commented on how her 13 month old would still find her way inside to breastfeed. LOL.

i threw a whole bunch of stuff in my egg whites this morning to make #weggs (waffle iron eggs) and made a huge, delicious mess instead. no-stick cooking spray wasn't enough to save me cause i loaded that thing ridiculously full! there's cheddar almond cheese, Applegate organic chicken & apple sausage cilantro, tomatoes, golden bell peppers, liquid aminos, and black pepper in there. low sugar ketchup on the side! i also had some oat bran with kiwi and unsweetened coconut flakes.

so in addition to it being frosty outside today, it was also raining in my hood at that. staying in was definitely alright with me. i somehow snuck away for a bit to finally break out that Enfusia bath bomb i received in my goodie bag from my WFM Post Oak tour!

the first thing that came to mind when i saw this pic i snapped was 'Calgon, take me away!'. aaaaand now i'm showing my age.

it was like a Sesame Street Fizzy Tub Color Tablet on steroids. the lemon grass aroma filled my bathroom and turned the water a subtle lime green color. nothing like a steaming, hot bath on a nippy, winter day.

i got some blogging done (obvi) and i even updated a new page for baby stuff!! i appreciate the Instagram baby food feed back, man! i wanted to get all my old baby food posts and fit preggo info in general together in one place for you guys and i do hope this serves as a huge resource. i'm also working on that baby food e-book as well! aaand i'm redoing the other pages on my site too, so bear with me.

my fave IG caption for this pic:

'mama imma let you finish, but first i gotta take this selfie.' HILARIOUS.

we received so many beautiful Christmas cards in the mail from our friends this season.

gosh, it just seems like we all graduated yesterday! crazy. well, The Egwuatus didn't get it together in time for Christmas pics (again) this year but we are right on time for New Year's, ha. so here we are!

whadaya think?! Christin is a beast and this a sneak peek from last month's photo shoot!!! my dress is from H & M and i found the stilettos at Aldo during black friday madness for like 50% off. they are definitely the highest pair i own and they keep Sonny on his tippy toes lol. the boy's fits are from H & M too, and Chiso's kicks are from Old Navy. they were THE last pair on the shelf and matched our color theme perfectly! Sonny doesn't care for H & M (half the stuff doesn't fit his athletic build anyway) so he headed on over to Express for his threads.

Qs: what's your favorite rest day relaxation technique?

do you send out family holiday cards?

what else would you like to see in the Preggo Powerrr section???

stay warm over there,

January 12, 2015

The Egwuatus

January 12, 2015/ leah.egwuatu@6packusa.com

happy sunday funday!

the first thing that came to mind when i saw this pic i snapped was 'Calgon, take me away!'. aaaaand now i'm showing my age.

my fave IG caption for this pic:

'mama imma let you finish, but first i gotta take this selfie.' HILARIOUS.

we received so many beautiful Christmas cards in the mail from our friends this season.

Qs: what's your favorite rest day relaxation technique?

do you send out family holiday cards?

what else would you like to see in the Preggo Powerrr section???

stay warm over there,

January 29, 2014

light whole wheat pineapple upside down cake & home HIIT moves

January 29, 2014/ leah.egwuatu@6packusa.com

i had a little cabin fever Tuesday after my Total Conditioning class was canceled cause of the freezing temps and icy Houston roads. i have to be honest with you guys... home workouts are still hard for me to get through :shock: . being up in front of my class at the gym is my motivation to keep going and never quit. i know my members are looking up to me for motivation but they provide the exact same thing for me. i'm 58 times more likely to stop when it burns when i'm at home. when i'm up on stage i don't feel a thing. i just look at my HR watch an hour later and it says 800+ calories burned :lol: . anyway, i make up my class routines the night before so i pretty much did the whole thing without a step bench in my dining room and got a really good sweat going.

[wpvideo O51tjR8F]

got the job done. try some of these exercises for getting your heart rate UP.

[wpvideo eHbXyM6V]

HIIT is great for burning fat while keeping all your hard-earned muscle, e.g. like sprinting on a track or treadmill. you can only hold this high rate of intensity for so long, so you give it all you got for 30 seconds - 1 minute then recover. i do it gradually by starting with a basic exercise move then building on it from there (see example vid above). my heart rate has to stay in the safe range of 140-150 since i'm preggo, so i don't go full throttle anymore. but YOU can! if you're not preggo. if you have never taken Total Conditioning at Lifetime Fitness, YOU MUST.

on to one of my favorite cakes to eat growing up. i don't have it often at all and i didn't want to have to resort to a boxed cake mix (even though they taste awesome too) so i created this one. finally got it right on the 3rd try.

light whole wheat pineapple upside down cake

the stuff:

1/3 cup coconut crystals (or organic brown sugar or sucanat)
2 tbsp organic whipped buttery spread (i used Earth Balance)
7 fresh or canned pineapple slices
3.5 **maraschino cherries
1 whole egg
2 tbsp coconut oil
1/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/3 cup fresh pineapple juice (you can use more milk if you'd like)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup white whole wheat flour OR cake flour (i used King Arthur)
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2/3 cup coconut crystals (or organic brown sugar or sucanat)
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

do this:

preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
coat a 9 inch round or square pan with no-stick cooking spray.
melt and coat the bottom of your pan with whipped butter spread until even.
next, sprinkle 1/3 cup of coconut crystals in the bottom of your pan on top of the butter.
lay pineapple rings flat in bottom of pan; place cherry halves in center of the rings.
mix egg, 2/3 cup coconut crystals, coconut oil, milk, pineapple juice, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl.
in a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder well.
slowly add your wet mixture to your dry and stir until all combined, no lumps.
pour batter on top of pineapple rings evenly.
bake for 30-33 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

let it cool, then flip the pan over and convert it onto a plate. see below.

ta-da.

**let's chat. maraschino cherries are not healthy. no way around it. i used them cause they just go with the standard pineapple upside down cake recipe. they just do. it's not the same without them. you don't have to use them though! chances are you don't even have any in your fridge anyway. you can actually make them yourself using fresh cherries, or find another fruit to use. be creative.

i equate the area under the individual pineapple slice as one serving, so there are seven up there.

per 1 serving: 264 calories, 10g fat, 38g carbs, 4g protein.

not too shabby when compared to Betty's stats ;)

so i'm taking my very first cooking class at Sur La Table tomorrow, aaaagggghhh!!!! and guess what we're making?! the best food ever on earth. homemade PIZZA. this class had my name all over it. i plan to start teaching my own cooking & exercise classes as early as next month so i'm getting all the tips, info, and advice i can stuff into my brain. more details to come VERY soon- it's pretty much February already :shock: