add FLAVOR, hold the rest

healthy food has PLENTY of flavor!! i know mine does!  i like to switch up my seasonings often to keep the flavors new and different without altering the nutritional stats of my meal.  after all, i'll be eating the same things for a few more weeks.

 just a small section of my flavor arsenal.  i do love fresh herbs best, but dried is the next best thing and lasts waaaaaaay longer.  AND these are all one dollar at HEB.

that smokehouse maple is outta this world!! i seasoned our tilapia with it just last night for dinner and it was amazing.  i also used some of the roasted garlic and herb on the sautéed zucchini i served with it.  scrumptious. see?

i instagrammed my  clean, balanced, flavor-filled lunch today:

it was roasted chicken breast, oven-roasted sweet potatoes, and fresh spinach all topped with toasted pistachio nuts.

i used the montreal chicken seasoning on the breasts (and some dried parsley),

 and roasted them on 350 degrees for about 50 minutes or so.

same thing with the sweet potatoes- i roast them until they are soft to the touch.  i sometimes add cinnamon, vanilla, and some 'i can't believe it's not butter' spray and make a fancy puree for no added calories!

or, i just leave them as is.

 mustard is such a versatile condiment.  i use it to dip my chicken in, as a marinade, and as a sauce.  and you guessed it- it doesn't add all the extra calories, sugars, and carbs that typical sauces like ketchup, bbq (LOVE IT) , and ranch do!!  i found this little gem at HEB just a few days ago:

it is CRAZY good and ZERO calories!!! (works VERY well as a fish marinade too)

 i also drizzle the spicy brown mustard  (5 calories per teaspoon)  as well as the honey mustard (10 calories per teaspoon) all over my food before devouring it.

speaking of flavor, let's talk about water.

i've said this multiple times- i am NOT a fan of drinking water when i'm just not thirsty.  blech! so i use the sugar-free, flavored packets.

 these Wylers packs are just 1 dollar at Walmart and HEB and 10 calories per serving.    i actually split up one packet between two 16 oz water bottles cause it's a little strong for me.  drinking one of these things curbs my sugar craving completely.  BIG help.  speaking of sugar cravings, they are GONZO!!!  but i'll get back to that in my next bodybuilding progress post ;)

 make a few ahead of time and put them in the fridge.  s/n- i thought the cherry limeade flavor would some how resemble the sonic drink but boooooy was i wrong!  try'em and see what you think though.

what's your favorite dipping sauce?  i used to put the buttermilk ranch dipping sauce from Jack In The Box on EVERYTHING :shock:

le

fourth

mid-week holiday?  i'll take it!  Sonny and i both got our workouts in super early.

then, we finally made it to the

POOL!!!

after being rained out several times in the past few weeks, we finally got some swimming in.  it even took us two attempts in one day, goodness.  we pulled up to the pool earlier in the afternoon and it really started coming down:( so, we went back home and tried again a few hours later.

PERFECT!!

like it never even rained.

i'm so grateful to God for family time and holiday memories.

Chi having his fav snack afterwards :)  and NO, we didn't have any bbq'd nothin :roll:

but i hope you did!! how did you celebrate your hump day holiday?

burn FAT effectively

earlier this week, i got some help in the weight room from my professional basketball playing bro-in-law,

Brian!

 he is also a trainer in his off-season.  can you tell?  he provided me with a fantastic upper body workout cause i need all the help i can get when i'm on my own.

we did a bunch of stuff! variety is so important in order to tone and grow the entire muscle group- i appreciated (but hated) them all.  s/n,  i'm looking forward to a nice, even tan.

hammer curls. i've ALWAYS wanted bulging biceps, especially when my arm is relaxed!!

lat pull downs with straight arms- great tricep/back/shoulder exercise.

afterwards, i did my cardio with a concentration on burning...

******FAT******

HR monitors have completely changed the way i workout.  up until i became a Lifetime Fitness instructor, i figured a super-duper sweaty workout = the BEST workout ever.  if i didn't achieve sweaty-mess status every single time i hit the gym, i didn't feel like i burned enough or did enough, and i'd leave feeling inadequate.  i soon learned that different zones burn different things.

i found Sonny's Polar FT7 on amazon.com as well as my own.  how it works:

1. put the wrist watch on (serves as a plain ol' watch as well)

2. strap on the chest transmitter, and make sure it's secure and close to your heart, literally.

3.  start the watch, do your workout, then stop it.  afterwards, you can look forward to seeing:

your average and max heart rates,

your total workout time plus the total amount of calories burned,

AND,

just how long you stayed in your fat burning zone! isn't that awesome?! love this thing. this is super important to me because my training focuses on staying in my fat burning zone, not so much my total amount of cals burned.  also, that was a very brief synopsis- you still need to read the directions :)

more convincing:

•  not all gym equipment is up to date- some machines don't have those neat sensors on them you can hold to find your heart rate.  one of the machines i like to use in particular is the stairmaster, and the ones in my gym don't have sensors.  plus, i don't like to have to hold those side rails anyway!  having a HR monitor handy solves that issue.

• even if you are on a machine with the HR sensors present, your chest transmitter syncs with the machine's signal and displays your HR without you having to grip them! i appreciate that.  sometimes those sensors just don't work correctly at all, or it will give me a crazy triple digit number that is clearly false.  and again, having to hold those sensors slows down my groove.

• most watch models have a feature that beeps when you are out of your fat burning range to let you know whether you need to speed up or slow down. neat!

now, HOW DO YOU FIND YOUR FAT BURNING ZONE????

 this info is no secret and is available all over the net! follow these steps and you can't go wrong.

220 - age - resting heart rate x .60 + resting heart rate = bottom range

220 - age - resting heart rate x .70 + resting heart rate = top range

what's your resting HR?

 when you first wake up, check your pulse for 15 seconds, then multiply that # by 4.

sure, other zones burn other things, but i focused on fat for this post.  so ultimately, your fat burning zone is where your heart rate needs to STAY for the duration of your workout to burn MAXIMUM fat.

le

posing camp

i picked up my show shoes friday during my lunch hour and had my first encounter with Cindie's Lingerie.

always seen it, never been inside. :shock:

taking pics from my truck, LOL

i found'em.  however,  the only pair left in my size had clearly been worn and damaged.  there are no refunds or exchanges, so i wanted and expected a brand new pair!  i was sent to another location to pick up the shoe and long story short, i was given the platform version of what i needed and didn't realize this until i got to camp:(  that was SO my bad for not checking in the box first.  i couldn't understand how or why my feet suddenly stopped working.  i could barely make a turn without toppling over and i was pretty embarrassed.  well, this has since been corrected- i went back to Cindie's after camp and got the right pair.  i have been walking and posing all around my house in these things to make up for lost time!!  practice, practice, practice.

immediately before camp saturday morning,  i got my workout in with Travis, my trainer.  so, i had to go two more hours on my feet after going to war with him and the weights.

getting in some much needed ab work.  stability balls are GREAT for your core.

it's over. finally.

i brought my breakfast with me of course and snuck it in right before we started.  you already know what it is!!

this is the woman right here- Christine Anderson, my posing coach.  here she is introducing herself at the beginning of camp.

i met some excellent, down to earth former and future participants.

 instasummary:

 i am definitely in good hands.  Christine's work speaks for itself and she possesses such a sweet, humble spirit.  she has had amazing success in this industry and i'm soaking up all the info i can from her.  Christine's husband below, Charles (l), is a retired competitor with several trophies under his belt as well.  what a team!

i met several ladies competing for the first time and we excitedly exchanged numbers to keep in contact during the coming weeks and beyond.  i also met JC Shivers- he shared with me how stepping onto his first stage just last May and winning several consecutive shows since then has completely changed his life.

i am just inspired every which way i turn in this process!  i'm holding onto every positive piece of advice and fueling my fire with the negative.

pressing forward with 11 weeks til show time!

le

not so fast

everything happens for a reason!  you better believe it.  i logged into Facebook earlier this week and saw that two friends of mine had been selected to run in the Chevron Houston Marathon 2013!!!  if you can run a 10K in 51 minutes or so, you automatically qualify to run in either the half or the full marathon.  if not,  you have to sign up for the lottery and then wait to be selected randomly.  i excitedly pulled up my email account and right away this caught my eye: 2013 Aramco Houston Half Marathon Lottery: Not Selected.  disappointed? a little, but i was immediately reminded that what i want is not always what He wants.  who knows just what the heck i will have gotten myself into by early next year!  i did one of my first posts on this annual event- seems like yesterday.

 i have so many fond memories from this race and i'll definitely do the 5k again or just go volunteer and support all the other runners to keep my tradition going.  outstanding event to attend and be apart of whether you are running or not.  i still got love for you, ChevronHM!! :roll: kidding :lol:  congrats to all who were selected!  if you weren't, KEEP running!!!

my mom got me one of those enormous desk calendars ( just 54 cents, who knew? i didn't).

it helps me stay organized and see just how much time i have left before my first show.  i know it's 2012 and i should be putting tasks, reminders,  etc. in my iPhone or have an electronic copy somewhere (according to Sonny), but there is just something about writing things down and 'x'ing off the days by hand that keeps me on track, positive, and focused...and hopefull!

it's that time again-

 blueberries are in season :)

 sometimes it's all you can get your hands on, i know, but store-bought blueberries fail greatly in comparison to the wild, hand-picked ones straight from the country.  i do hope you get the chance to taste the difference.  i happen to have a country connection i'm so grateful for- 1 gallon for 20 bucks.

  i split up that big bag into smaller portions for my meals so they are ready to grab and go.

frozen blueberries are SO GOOD! get you some snack size bags and go to work.

if i wasn't in training right now i'd be making blueberry crumbles, pancakes, cobblers, turnovers and muffins GALORE.   i have even been putting them in Chiso's food:

his dinner last night: grilled chicken, new potatoes, and wild blueberries!

(before and after i blended it with a little breast milk.)

off to go burn some more fat- 1 hr of cardio awaits me.  my first posing camp is coming up this weekend- i gotta go buy my shoes and get ready to soak up all this knowledge.  may the rest of your thursday be EXCELLENT!

le