Sorry for a couple days without posting, but I've been a bit of a crazy lady with law school finals. The good news is that, although I haven't made time to post, I have made time to stay 100% consistent with my diet. I thought FOR SURE I would have broken down and hopped back on the processed food train, but sure enough, I really do love eating whole foods just as much as I thought. My daily routine has been hitting the gym right away in the morning, simple protein shake for breakfast (almond milk, protein powder, peanut butter powder, cinnamon, stevia, spirulina & ice), and a powerbowl for lunch. Dinners have been a bit hit or miss. One night for dinner I ate pretzels and hummus with a Clif bar, but hey - that's not bad! Other than that, I've been digging into some meals I made earlier this year that I stuck in the freezer - so grateful to my past self for doing that!
My favorite new powerbowl bases: spaghetti squash and quinoa!
My new addictive dressing: Whole Foods' Deeply Roasted Sesame Dressing mixed with nutritional yeast and water. My new trick: I microwave broccoli and brussel sprouts in a bowl with just a little water to steam them. When they come out, I save the water and use that to mix my dressing - don't want to waste all the nutrients in that green water!
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| This nutritional yeast packs in 8 grams protein per tablespoon! |
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| Spaghetti squash, quinoa, tomatoes, bell pepper, broccoli, brussel sprouts, roasted root veggies (sweet potato, parnsip, & kohlrabi). Topped with 2 tbsp. hummus and my nooch dressing. |
Nutrition Facts:
370 calories
19.5 grams protein
PLANT POWER FOR THE WIN!
Although I haven't had time to browse the grocery store aisles for fun new things, I did pick up this pomelo at Whole Foods last week, and I've just been dying to try it.
It was delicious! I had half of it after my workout this morning along with my protein shake - carbs and protein is key, people! It was really similar to a grapefruit in appearance, but sweeter and MUCH crunchier - perfection. I will definitely be buying one of these again.
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This morning in the gym: LEGS DAY! Oh yeah, and back and biceps...but LEGS TOO! My fav.
- Elliptical warmup
- 3 circuits of:
- 12 bent leg dead lifts
- 20 lunges
- 12 leg curls
- 3 circuits of:
- 10 Bent over rows
- 10 Lat pull downs
- 10 Barbell T-rows
- 10 Bicep curls
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| Me rocking my new lifting gloves. I feel like I'm nowhere near hardcore enough to wear these, but hey - I'm just owning it. I'm sick of having gross peeling calluses on my hands all the time. |
After talking to several people and doing some research, I'm coming to find out that taking an entire 1-3 weeks off of lifting can be super beneficial to your body. I think I'm just going to do one week off of lifting, and still maintain light cardio with good resistance (e.g. hill walking, high resistance elliptical, and running, as long as my hamstring is doing alright).
On that note, I've always wanted to try a juice fast. Since I've been working out so hard, and that's what I truly love, I haven't wanted to do one, because I don't think I'd be fueling my body properly. Now that I'm planning to take a rest, however, I'm getting psyched about the idea of doing one! I do NOT want to do it to lose weight - personally, I don't think that ever really works long term - but I do want to do it to cleanse my colon and give my body a chance to absorb nutrients in an easy way so it can use all its good energy for healing itself, rather than for digesting food.
Check out this post on Organic Beauty Cleanse:
http://www.organicbeautytalk.com/2012/08/food/diy-3-day-rejuvenation-juice-cleanse
I stumbled across this one from Sarah Fit on Twitter. Check out her YouTube channel - she's great. Look up the videos on Juice Cleanse Experience. Any thoughts? Send comments my way!
Wish me luck on finals,
Avocado Athlete
Hi, just found your blog and so happy I did. :)) question for you about your juice cleanse, are you planning to buy your juice or make it yourself? I see you recently were gifted with a Vitamix, congrats, I love mine too! I've been wanting to buy a juicer but my husband convinced me to wait since I haven't had the Vitamix very long. I googled how to make juice using a Vitamix and straining the pulp through a nut milk bag and it totally works. But a couple of foodie friends said blending the greens distorts the nutrients. What are your thoughts on this? -Melissa
ReplyDeleteSo glad you like the blog! Thanks for the comment. I planned to make the "juice" myself, using my Vitamix (more like smoothies or thick pulpy juice). I wasn't able to find a filtration bag in time to start my cleanse, so I just started it with a Vitamix. I'm no expert, but I have a hard time seeing how blending would distort the nutrients any more than a juicer. Check out this resource:
Deletehttp://www.drsearswellnessinstitute.org/blog/2012/04/12/juicing-vs-blending/
I will say, however, that without straining, the texture of the smoothies is getting to me. With the fruit based ones it's fine, but the thick veggie based ones are starting to make me gag a little :/ I'm actually altering my cleanse significantly as I listen to my body - update to come on the blog!
I totally hear what you're saying about the texture of the green smoothies, if I don't use almond or coconut milk and at least some fruit, it's a chore to drink them. Thanks for the reference, I'll check it out. Good luck with your cleanse!! :))
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