Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Fudge

If you want a delicious and addicting treat, read on. But if you don’t like cookie dough/peanut butter/low carb/sugar-free treats than you should stop reading this and go get checked out because you’re most likely not human.

I stumbled across this recipe by the low-carb genius, Dr. Sara Solomon, and have had it on my “to make” list for awhile now. I don’t know why it took me so long, it took literally 3 minutes to make and 10 minutes to freeze.

Ingredients:
4 T coconut oil
4 T unsweetened almond milk
1 scoop Myofusion Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Whey
Directions:
Melt the coconut oil in the microwave for about 30 seconds, or until it’s liquid. Combine the oil, whey and almond milk in a blender (I use a magic bullet) and blend. Once the mixture is done mixing, it will be really fluffy- like icing, which you can definitely use it as! This would make a great protein cupcake icing or pancake topper. Otherwise, put it in a freezer-safe Tupperware dish and place in the freezer for 10 minutes and let it harden. Enjoy!

This makes 12 pieces, each piece has calories: 44, fat: 3.3 g, saturated fat: 2.8g, cholesterol: 4.2 mg, sodium: 24.8mg, carbohydrates: 1.8g, fiber: 1 g, NET carbs: 0.8g, sugars: 0.4g, protein 2.4g

Fiesta Lime Chicken & Cucumber Noodles

If you’ve been keeping up with my Instagram and Facebook page, you know I’m trying some new methods and tactics to achieving my fitness goals. Basically, you’ll be seeing more low-carb paleo recipes from now on and soon enough I’ll write a post about my current routine and how it’s been working for me. No information on that quite yet but I’m really REALLY excited about it. I also have some amazing things in the works that are taking the front seat of my life right now, with graduation around the corner. My future is coming together exactly the way I’ve always wished it would and I’m counting my blessing and hoping to continue trekkin down this fresh path:)

Speaking of fresh. Cucumber and lime, anyone?

Fiesta Lime Chicken and Cucumber Noodles

Ingredients:
4-6 oz chicken strips/chunks
1 cucumber
2 T lime juice
1 T Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning

Directions: In a skillet over medium-high heat, cook your chicken however you like. If you know me, you know I bulk prep chicken for the whole week so I already had mine prepared. Still, i threw about 5 oz chicken in a skillet with my lime juice, braggs and seasonings. While it was warming up, I whipped out my spiral vegetable slicer and started to “spiralize” my washed cucumber. I left the skin on for additional nutrients. If you don’t have a spiral veggie slicer, you can use a mandolin or vegetable peeler. But I highly suggest you get one! After I sliced open my finger, threw an unnecessary fit and constructed a homemade band-aid, I spiralized my beautiful cucumber, tossed it in a bowl with an additional dash of paprika and threw in the chicken. It’s a great paleo, spring-time dish and you can fully enjoy knowing it’s low carb. Enjoy!

Oh and can’t forget to share what I had for dinner. Homemade taco salad! 5 oz longhorn (grassfed beef), 1 tomato, 1/2 avocado, shredded lettuce, sauteed onion, 2 T salsa and paprika.

The RUNNUR

I really hate when I don’t have time to blog. Really hate it. So right now, I’m “making the time” to blog. I’ve been pretty busy the past couple days, which is ironic because it’s my spring break and I’m supposed to be a lazy bum, sleeping in and chillin all day long. Instead, I got a 4 day job working at a trade show for SXSW (for those of you not from Austin, TX SXSW is a huge music and film festival for people all over the globe) from 11ish to 6. It’s been a great job considering the product I was promoting was only one of the coolest inventions ever.

RUNNUR is basically a hands-free carry all. A minimalist bag for people who live an active lifestyle. Look at me, giving you my sales pitch and whatnot. But really, people from all over the world were coming to the booth to buy these things and Andrew, the creator, was cool enough to give me one. I wore it to the gym today and it was perfect because there was a spot for all my regular gadgets, plus my head phones and water.

We all had a blast working together. I also met a lot of cool people from all over the world. India, South Asia, the UK, Argentina, some other random places and definitely people from every state. I LOVE meeting new people….especially….

those that get lost at sea. Like Wilson. Yes, I got to meet Wilson. And he’s actually a pretty cool guy. I get why Tom loved him so much.

Hmmm what else is new with me. I decided to take on my first clients this past week. I’m doing nutrition and meal plans for them. Definitely a learning process for both of us but I’m really grateful to have people that want help and want to help me help them! If that makes sense;)

I also planned to do a lot of my school reading over break. It’s already Thursday….definitely didn’t happen. Dang it.

Last but not least, I had the most beautiful dinner ever last night. Made for me, not by me. But it’s oh so very lovely.

I gotta say, ahi tuna may be the best gift God has ever blessed the sea with. I’m eternally grateful for tuna. Raw tuna.

Gotta run. Shows to see, music to hear, workouts to enjoy and food to EAT. Gunna try and enjoy the last few days of my break while I still can!

A Recipe to Kickstart Your Spring Tastebuds- Broccoli Slaw Salad!

In case you didn’t already know- I’m secretly obsessed with dried fruit and nuts. I want them in EVERYTHING. Salads, oatmeal, trailmix (duh), protein bars, protein pancakes, etc. I love dried fruit but unfortunately I never really treat myself to much dried fruit these days. I had bought some craisins (dried cranberries) in a moment of weakness a week ago and was wondering what kind of recipe I could use it in so that I could eat it a little bit of a time instead of 4 handfuls at once (it can easily be done!). During this initial period of brainstorming, I was having an odd craving for broccoli slaw and then boom. I realized this would be a perfect combination. I had some almond slivers in the pantry too that I needed to use so I quickly got to work making this scrumptious summery dish.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup sliced raw almonds
1 12-oz package broccoli slaw
1/2 cup dried cranberries
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp rice vinegar
3 Tbsp honey
3 Tbsp Greek yogurt (I omitted this because I’m not eating dairy but this would give it a creamier texture)
1-1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 packets Stevia
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions:On a nonstick skillet (or in a toaster over), toast the almond slivers on medium heat. Remove the almonds and place them in a small bowl with the dried cranberries.
Next, mix the rest of your ingredients in a bowl (except for the broccoli slaw) and whisk together until everything is completely mixed. Add your cranberries and almonds into the bowl.
Place your broccoli slaw in a dish and pour over/stir in the dressing. Place the salad into the fridge to chill for a couple hours and then enjoy!

Doesn’t that just look so fresh and delicious?! I love broccoli slaw made this way. Some other things you could add into this would be golden raisins, onions, balsamic vinegar, orange slices, cucumber or any other ingredients you like in your salad!

Anyways, there’s some other stuff I wanted to share with you today. I’ve kinda kept this on the DL because I don’t want to appear fickle jumping back and forth on diets but for the past week I’ve been doing paleo once more. I did it for several days a month ago and then quickly jumped back on the grain train because I thought I wouldn’t be able to gain any muscle without stuffing my face with brown rice and oats. After 3 weeks of doing just that I felt sick, tired, sleepy, puffy and worst of all- I was counting calories and macros every single day and it was driving me….CRAZY. I can honestly say, after 2 years of counting calories, I need a big break. I’m supposed to be bulking, hello?! This is the fun part where I get to eat CLEAN and train MEAN without having to count every ounce of food and measure all my portions. For bulking, I’m still eating very healthy of course and I have a good idea of portion sizes just by eyeballing it, but now that I haven’t had grains for a few days I’m starting to feel a little hungrier than normal. I think my body is starting to realize carbs aren’t going to be my main source of energy now, but fats as well. I’m planning on eating 1 piece of fruit in the morning and then a little over 1 cup of sweet potatoes after my workout. The rest of my carbs will come from veggies and maybe a few other startchy veggie carbs here and there like yams, if I get particularly hungry.

One of the main reasons why I am doing this is to 1. feel better on the inside and 2. take a new approach to building muscle. I’ve done the average 40-30-30 zone diet and it hasn’t given me all that much improvement so maybe with my body type more fats will do me some good. This may not work out perfectly, but it’s worth a shot. I at least FEEL better. From what I’ve read, the paleo diet is GREAT for maintaining muscle and getting lean and if done right- putting on size as well. Most likely, I’m not going to be a “paleo purist” though. I’m going to continue to use Stevia and occasionally honey in my recipes (like this one), I’m not going to eat ALL grassfed/organic foods because I can’t afford it (college life…ahh) and the closest I’m going to get to bacon will probably be turkey bacon. I just don’t think I can mentally wrap my mind around bacon being okay, not for now at least! I AM going to start eating a lot more beef though. Animal fats are indeed great, especially when all other processed foods have been exiled. If you’re a caveman who’s building muscle give me a shout out and let me know what your experience has been like:)

Trying to Make New Gains

Okay so remember two posts ago where I was all like, “I’m gunna try out this paleo thing”?! Well, well, well, little miss jump the gun forgot about one very important thing she’s been trying to focus on ever since her competition. I’m trying to BUILD MUSCLE. Duh. Okay so here’s the deal. I’m what is considered a “hard gainer” in the body building world, AKA ectomorph. These are people that have an extremely hard time building size to their muscle. Currently I’m bench pressing 100, curling 60 lbs and squatting almost twice my body weight…but yet I’m itty bitty in the muscle area! People that are considered hard gainers have to avoid the traditional diet plans that involve high protein, low carbs and moderate fat and lean towards a diet that is high in carbs & protein and very low in fat. As a matter of fact, during my entire competition prep I was eating 155 grams of carbs PER DAY and managed to get to 6% body fat.That’s proof that carbs should not be feared! In order for me to put on additional size I need to do 2 things: cut out the cardio and eat more carbs. I like cardio, so that one has been mentally challenging more than anything. Eating more carbs is a little difficult as well but it’s much easier if I start eating early, like around 7:00 that way each meal can be spaced out at least 3 hours. If I wake up at 9, I feel like the rest of the day I’m stuffed because I’m trying to catch up on my carbs:/

With that said, I did eat paleo for 4 days and felt GREAT! It really does get rid of the soft belly/bloated feeling, but unfortunately with my body type there’s no way I could put on the muscle I want. But I will be limiting my oats because I have realized, as much as I love them, they really do upset my stomach and instead I will be eating a lot more sweet potatoes, rice cakes, squashes, brown rice (going to try to limit this as well), wheat flours and a few low sugar, less processed cereals. I’m increasing my carbs 50-70 grams more than what I was doing during my competition prep but keeping the protein and fat intake around the same. My metabolism should still be fairly quick and the gains I will be making will hopefully take place in the muscles and that’s it:)

So there you have it- I still highly recommend you try out paleo for yourself if you have been thinking about it. Once I personally get to a place where I don’t think I necessarily want to build for awhile, I could definitely switch to paleo and see how it works. I think it would be great for maintaining weight and muscle mass, just not particularly building it.

OH I almost forgot! Since I’m limiting my oatmeal intake I found a new way to make delicious pancakes. 1 scoop vanilla whey, 1 large mashed banana and a about 1/2 cup of liquid egg whites! Stir it up and put it on the skillet:) These are great right after a workout because the sugar in the banana will spike your insulin, delivering the protein to your muscles at a much faster rate.

I even used a strawberry whey today and they came out pink! Strawberry banana protein pancakes?! I’ll take it!

Weekend Recap & Frozen Banana Peanut Butter Casein

MMMMM. I have a supplement crush.

There’s really no other way to put it.

One of my favourite nightly treats is casein! Why? Yeah, I know it’s not exactly a natural food, but I do love my supplements and they really do help with muscle growth. Casein makes up 80% of the protein found in cow’s milk and it’s slowly metabolized, taking up to 6 hours to fully break down, which means it’ll be feeding your muscles throughout the night. I’ve been mixing water with casein for awhile now, and the once exciting nighttime treat has become slightly boring. So last night I mixed my banana casein with almond milk, 2 tbs PB2, 1 packet stevia and a couple drops of vanilla extract. Add extra water if you want, then stick it in the freezer for a few hours. I would dare to say it’s relatively close to the ice cream family:) You can also add chocolate chips, real peanut butter, almond slivers, cranberries or whatever else you like in your ice cream. Buy chocolate casein if you want to make more diverse treats. Not everybody likes the flavor of banana night after night (I obviously never get tired of anything banana.)

This weekend I went to my favourite restaurant for my friend’s birthday dinner. I’ve honestly been waiting to go to this place since ummmm June, before I decided to compete? That’s when you KNOW you’re a foodie!

YAY Happy Birthday SHAR! She did my makeup for my competition- pretty sure without her I would have been completely lost.

Why, yes I am enjoying my first legal salt-free margarita. And it was delicious!

Afterwards, we indulged in some amazing buffalo meatloaf. I’m a comfort-food lovah at heart, so the rare times I decide to allow myself to have some comfort foods you better believe it’ll be a meatloaf-mashed-potato-kind-of-meal.

Sorry, no pictures of the meatloaf. Next time!

This entire week my gym is closing for remodeling (yeah, it’s a 24 hour fitness) so I’ve got to go to my school’s gym. This is a mental obstacle for me because I don’t really feel like I’m in my element when I’m not in the gym I’m used to. It’s harder for me to get excited about going, so that’s going to be a little challenge this week. Has your gym ever closed on you for a week? How did you deal with it?

Banana Squash Breakfast “Porridge”

If you know me…you know I love oats.

Sadly, oatmeal has been upsetting my stomach a little bit as of late, especially when microwaved. I did some studying on this and apparently the interior of the oats can’t be fully digested unless they’re soaked first (hence, overnight oats!) This causes an irritable stomach and can often lead to an upset stomach, bloating, etc.

So I was looking up on my Pinterest board for some new breakfast ideas and came across this recipe that I had pinned from fellow blogger Carrots ‘N’ Cake! The most intriguing thing about the recipe was its use of an acorn squash. I’ve never touched a squash besides the regular zucchini and yellow squash so I was a little excited to try a new veggie (yeah I know, I’m a major food nerd).

And oh gawd, I think I’m in love. BEST flavor and the texture is amazing!

Paleo Breakfast Porridge

Ingredients:
1 banana
1 egg
2 egg whites
1/2 cup mashed acorn squash
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
Nut butter for topping

Directions:
Microwave banana to soften (around 40 seconds)
Combine banana with eggs, squash, cinnamon, and vanilla extract; blend well.
Spray a skillet with cooking spray and pour in the mixture
Cook on medium heat until eggs aren’t runny anymore, stir often!

What are the benefits of the paleo diet?

1. It’s unprocessed
2. It reduces bloat
3. It’s high in fruits and vegetables
4. It’s high in healthy fats
5. It’s filling

All of these benefits are great, plus I like the fact you don’t eat dairy, which can also cause stomach discomfort. I don’t know if I would ever be able to strictly be paleo because I love AND need carbs for my weight training. Props to everybody that does though!

What are your favourite Paleo dishes? Do you follow a Paleo diet or are you a grain lovahh? Share your recipes with me!

Thanksgiving Day Recap

WARNING: this post may make your mouth water, resulting in the unwrapping of leftovers.

In one sentence I could probably summarize Thanksgiving day by saying the food was plenty, family was everywhere and I was completely relaxed and STUFFED. Success. I don’t regret a single bit of that cheesecake pumpkin pie or the extra helping of stuffing. I’ve been waiting to have a completely guilt-free cheat day since last Thanksgiving and it was totally worth it!

This year, we had all the family come to our house. My mom put her decorating skills to use and created a beautiful array of dining tables and seating both indoors and outdoors.

There was plenty of places to sit and within each chair there was always an appetizer or two begging for attention.

You can never have too many appetizers for a house holding around 30 hungry people!

Menu: Green bean casserole, rosemary potatoes, sweet potato casserole, “cheesy” potatoes, 2 turkeys, two different stuffings, spinach mounds (the best ever), corn bread, dinner rolls, gravy and some whip cream fruit salad.

Drooling yet? Probably not, cause I’m sure you’re still stuffed from your own awesome Thanksgiving dinner. Yay for American traditions.

Giving Thanks

I want to take a moment to write down all the things I’m grateful for, since I probably don’t focus enough on those things and could use the reminder.

I’m thankful for

1. A supporting family

2. My REAL and few friends

3. A healthy body

4. Completing my first NPC bikini competition

5. Finishing up my degree at UT

6. Getting my Health Coaching license from IIN

7. Oatmeal

8. The connections I have made this past year

9. The person I am today compared to the person I was a year ago

10. Happiness

11. My faith

12. Being able to afford (time and financially) to chase my dreams

13. Having a sense of self-worth

14. Sushi

15. Starting MoonFitness

16. Passions

17. Having a healthy relationship

There are many more things that I am thankful for obviously, but these stick out the most. God is great and he’s done a lot of things for me in 2012. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for 2013.