Smart Training With the Sickies

Yesterday I was sick, and today I woke up worse! Sore throat, runny nose, headache. Not feeling good at all. As a Personal Trainer, I advise my clients to skip the gym if they are sick from the chest and down (stomached flu, flu, any respiratory sickness, ect.). If you do choose to exercise, keep it light and make sure you are NOT contagious. Regardless if your sick or not, clean up the equipment you used with the cleaning products provided by the gym. I hate watching sick patrons use the facility, use their grubby hands on all the equipment, and leave without cleaning up after themselves. Good way to spread your sickies to everyone else! Truly, your best bet is to take your exercise outside, get some fresh air, and do light cardio (walk or jog). Providing of course weather permits. Today is beautiful, so Kellen and I took our sickies outside for a walk. Now to chase our walk with a long afternoon nap. Hopefully tomorrow looks better for the both of us.

Protein Powder Free Breakfast Bars

For those of you who do not bake with protein powder. A protein filled delicious breakfast bar.1/2 cup Greek yogurt, 1 cup pumpkin purée, 1/2 cup egg whites, 1/2 cup agave syrup (or honey), 1 cup oats, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp baking powder. Put all into a blender on low and blend until just barely smooth. Pour contents into a bowl and add an additional 1 cup regular oats (this makes the texture chewy). Pour into 8x8 bar pan and bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes. Let cool and cut into bars. Back and biceps workout today. 4 sets pull ups till failure. Seated hammer strength lat pull down, 10, 8, 6, and 10 with two drop sets for the last one. Seated unilateral cable row, 15 reps each arm, no rest, 8 sets total for each arm. That one was killer! Bilateral bicep curl with cable machine superset with close grip barbell bicep curl (12 reps on first exercise, second exercise till failure, 3 rounds total).

Chili Cheese Muffins (vegetarian)

1 can drained black beans. 1 can drained kidney beans. 1 can drained fire roasted tomatoes. 1 cup shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese. 1 whole egg. 2 egg whites. 1 cup dry oats. In a blender or food processor, blend together oats, 1/2 can of the drained black beans, 1/2 can drained kidney beans and 1/2 can fire roasted tomatoes. Transfer to large bowl then add remaining beans, the egg and egg whites, remaining tomatoes, and 1/2 of the cheese. Evenly distribute into Pam sprayed muffin tin and bake at 375F for 30 minutes. Remove and sprinkle remaining cheese on each chili cheese muffin. Let cool for 5-8 minutes then remove and serve.

Black Friday Breakfast & Leg Day

Yesterday was Black Friday and I needed some certain somethings that we're going to be hugely discounted. That meant waking up super early and standing in the long line outside the store. I was not about to do that on an empty stomach so I needed a breakfast plan. It was super fast, super easy, and pretty tasty. Mix 1/2 cup dry oats, 1/2 cup Greek yogurt, 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder, and 1 diced medium banana. Put it in the fridge the night before. In the morning, voila! The oats have softened and it's ready to eat. I prepared it the night before in a Tupperware container so in the morning I could grab breakfast, a bottle of water, and spoon before heading out the door. I ate my breakfast in the line whilst being among a group of rumbling hungry tummies! Bonus: Chock Full O Nuts was there handing out free black coffee. With all the energy from breakfast and the coffee, I was ready to do some major shopping. That afternoon I did my fourth workout of the week, legs again. This time emphasis on glutes and hamstrings. Stiff Leg Deadlift, 12, 8, 6, 6, 6. Full squat, sitting "in the pocket" for a brief moment to stretch the glutes, then powering back up, 3 sets 12 reps. Lying hamstring curl Superset with Abductor machine, 3 sets 12 reps each exercise.

Thankful

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. In the past I have tried to use this day to purposefully pause and reflect on things I'm truly thankful for. This year has been different then the past. I've added one new addition to my list. It goes like this but is not limited too; my husband, my son, my family, my friends, my health, our neighbors, my church, Mike's company, faith in my God, my new nephew that's still cooking, my new sister Tina, and the list can really be too long for this blog! My health is very important to me, and it should be on your list too. Wednesday was a leg day and Thanksgiving morning was shoulders and chest. Leg day was brutal, and it went something like this, leg press 12, 10, 6, 6, 6, 6. Full squat 3 sets 6. Box squat 3 sets 8. Leg extension superset with seated leg curl 4 sets 12 reps each exercise. Shoulders and chest went like this, Front reverse bicep curl to overhead press, 15, 8, 5, 5, 5. Seated Arnold press 4 sets 8. Chest press 3 sets 12 reps. Standing single arm lateral raise superset with single arm leaning lateral raise, 3 sets 12 reps (leaning lateral raise on bench till failure with 50% weight).

New Playlist Always Pumps Me Up

I just created a new playlist last week and today I was solo for my back workout. I usually like to exercise in the morning or early afternoon but since I'm currently sharing a vehicle with my husband I have to work around his schedule. That means I didn't get into the gym till 6pm. Eek, that is late for me. No worries though, my new playlist was there to rock my whole routine and pump me up. A couple of the new tunes that I'm totally diggin are Turn Me On by David Guetta, Sun Is Up by Enna, Feel So Close by Calvin Harris, We Found Love by Rihanna. Back and biceps today. 4 sets chin ups till failure. Seated Hammer Strength Lat Pull Down, 5, 8, 10, 15. Behind the head lat pull down, 3 sets 10. Single arm dumbbell row, 12, 10, 8. Cable straight arm pull down superset with bent over barbell row, 3 sets 15 reps each exercise. Lying bench rear delt fly, 3 sets 12 reps. Cable reverse grip bicep curl superset with cable bicep curl, 3 sets each exercise till failure.

My Potluck Depression.

Every time I make food for a potluck function here I come home with the dish full of the food I made for others to eat. No one eats my food! I asked a couple of the other wives and my husband. They said its because I've been labeled the "healthy personal trainer" and no one wants to eat the healthy food at the potluck, they want to gorge on the comfort foods. So that brings me to thinking, "a potluck is an excuse for some people to eat whatever they want without guilt?" What does a potluck mean to a fitness nut, bodybuilder, someone watching their waistline? A death wish? Lol. Not sure. Potlucks don't scare me. I usually survey everything, then go back and choose what I want most and take a little bit of that. Did you know Americans put an average of 7 lbs of weight over the holiday season? Just FYI. Anyways, I annihilated shoulders today! Bench press, 5 sets 5 reps. Tabata style seated shoulder press machine. Steering wheel, 4 sets 30 seconds with plate. Upright cable row Superset with lateral fly (10 reps each exercise, slow tempo. 3 rounds total). Leaning unilateral shoulder raise Superset with tricep press down on cable machine with rope attachment (15 reps each arm, 15 reps on tricep press down also. 3 rounds total).

Adult Fruit Snacks

I started playing around with the ingredients in my kitchen. Kellen was napping, Mike was sound asleep, and I had already checked my Facebook and email accounts a million times. So I went into the kitchen, closed the door, and decided to get all creative. I came up with Adult Fruit Snacks. They are like those fruit snacks you ate as a kid, but way more healthier and fun for adults. 1 cup raisins, 1 cup craisens, 1 cup dried pomegranate, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 2 handful almonds, dash vanilla, 1/4 cup oats. Put it all in a food processor and "process" it till its nice and sticky with little bits. For me I had it on for five minutes, periodically stopping it to push the ingredients back into the blades. Then scoop out approximately a teaspoon of the mixture and roll into a small ball. I put about six small balls in individual ziplocks for easy on the go snacking. Today's leg day was a little different. We went for more sets less reps. Why? Because I need to fill out my pants with some glute muscle! 1 warm up set full squats. 5 sets 5 reps barbell squat. 4 sets 10 reps leg press. Triset of leg extension, lying leg curl, and seated abductor (3 rounds total, rep scheme 12, 12, 15). Mike was pretty angry with me when he couldn't climb the stairs after we got home.

What's Your Battle?

I have PCOS. It means a lot of things but in a nutshell to me it means that I have bad acne, I grow hair in unwanted places, and it took me three years to conceive my son, Kellen. Usually women with PCOS also are overweight and have insulin problems. I have been able to manage THOSE issues with my diet and exercise. I was also told by a doctor that he didn't believe I could get pregnant without the help of medicine. Luckily, God decided to prove that doctor wrong and we conceived Kellen without the assistance of modern medicine. Regardless, I still have this "syndrome" and I am reminded of it daily in my dealings with the mirror and my razor. Lately I've been trying a new and different approach using Krill Oil, probiotic "pearls", and red raspberry tea leaf. I'll keep you updated if I see any changes. It's amazing how many women I've met that have PCOS, and if something has worked for you I'm open to hearing it (providing its not birth control pills because I tried that and found no results). Back workout was yesterday but I was in a different gym so I threw in some different machines and exercises. Always good to shock your muscles for growth. 3 sets pull ups till failure. 12, 10, 8, 8 rep scheme sets for seated hammer strength lat pull down machine. 6 sets 10 reps seated machine row. 3 sets 15 reps rear delt fly machine.

Cannoli Protein Cupcakes

Today I had to use the rest of the ricotta cheese in my fridge before it went bad. The cheese here in Italy is amazing but it's so fresh that it'll go bad within days. My favorite way to eat ricotta is in cannolis (hey, I'm being honest, I have a huge sweet tooth). So I decided to make something healthy of it. Recipe is; 3/4 cup ricotta. 1 1/2 cup oats. 1/2 cup egg whites. 1/4 cup cookies and cream protein powder (I used Syntha 6). Mix together and drop into muffin tins. Bake 20 minutes at 375F. They turned out decent. If you need them more sweet add a couple packs stevia, or if you like them more moist use 1 cup ricotta. Today was shoulder day, I hit them first with Behind the Neck Press, 4 sets 8 reps, 5th set I drop set till I couldn't press even the barbell. Hammer strength seated shoulder press, 3 sets 10 reps. Standing lateral raise, 4 sets 12 reps only 30 second rest. I did this to really exhaust the medial delt before hitting the next two exercises. Cable upright row, 3 sets 12 reps. Cable face pull with rope, 3 sets 15 reps. Bench dips Superset with Steering Wheels (4 sets total, bench dips 15 reps, steering wheels timed till failure).

Hate Eggs?

An acquantence I originally met in San Diego at a 24 Hour Fitness gym I ran into here at the gym in Sigonella. Small world. Anyways, we got talking about "perfect proteins". He's trying to eat healthier and cleaner to show his abs that he works so hard for in the gym. Problem is 1) he lives in Italy the land of pasta and 2) he hates eggs. I'm not sure how you can hate eggs, it's impossible. They are delicious, can be made into different forms (best being hard boiled), and they are an amazing protein source. So the last couple days I've been trying to figure out how to get those wonderful orbs of muscle building awesomeness into breakfast dishes without having to taste or feel their texture. There is my go-to protein pancake of course. Then I got an idea from the Italians. They have a dish with egg and if it's done correctly it turns out creamy, not "eggy" at all. Pasta Carbonara! So I tested the method with oatmeal. I made the oatmeal as usual then the last minute I turn the heat all the way down, add the egg whites, and stir like mad so no chunks of egg form. It works! It's so creamy and delicious, takes the oatmeal to another level. Need all those good carbs and protein for hard leg workouts like today. 4 sets lying leg curl Superset with Abductor (15 reps each exercise), 4 sets leg press 10 reps, 3 sets straight leg dead lift 10 reps, lying hip raise with feet on medicine ball (3 sets 20 reps). I tried jogging to the water fountain after the workout and my legs wobbled underneath me. ;)

Baby it's cold outside

Well it's not THAT cold outside here but still, it's colder. Colder weather means hot drinks and lots of baking in the oven. Today I bought some Nutella at Auchan and decided to make something with it. I call it Nutella Brownie Squares. 1 1/4 cups of oat flour, 1 cup pumpkin, 1/2 cup nutella, 4 egg whites. Mix together and spread evenly onto 8x8 bar pan. Bake at 375F for 18 minutes. I accidentally ate half the pan because I wanted to make sure they were good enough to share the recipe. Lol. Back workout yesterday. I'm working on strengthening my back so I'm doing more pull up and bent over barbell rows. I found out the Blood and Guts test is a 60 second flexed arm hang with a pronated grip. This is bad news because I've been practicing with a supinated grip which allows me to use more bicep strength. Testing is November 28th, so I only have a couple weeks left. My bench press and leg press are fine, but my flexed arm hang (the correct way) is only at 40 seconds. Last week after I found out (which this is not listed on the requirements flyer!) I began working on the pronated grip. Hopefully I'll be ready by then. ;)

Healthy Rice and Beans in 35ish minutes.

1 can Fire Roasted Tomatoes. 1 can Low Sodium Black Beans. 1 Low Fat Turkey Sausage. 1 cup water. 1 green pepper. 1 cup brown rice. Smoked paprika, cumin, and cayenne to taste. Slice turkey sausage and green pepper and grill for 5 minutes. Add black beans, tomatoes, brown rice and water. Bring to boil. Add approximately 1 tbs of paprika and cumin. Cayenne to spicyness liking. Stir and drop down to simmer, cover pan and cook untill brown rice is done.

Priorities

I believe you can make it a priority to exercise just like you can make it a priority to sit and watch your favorite tv show. My husband asked me why I haven't caught up on the latest episode of Dexter. I responded with the usual, "I haven't had the time." He said that was a bad excuse. So I rephrased and said, "because I'd rather play with my son, clean the house, go to the gym, and check my Facebook!" Yep, that sounds about right! I was reminded of priorities yesterday in the gym as well when a friend and fellow training partner mentioned to me during our back workout that she'd also rather be exercising. So do you make exercising your priority? Bench press, one warm up set followed by a sets of progressing weight, 12, 10, 8. Reverse curl into shoulder press, 3 sets 10 reps. Barbell shrug, 3 sets 12 reps. Side lateral raise superset with plate front raise 3 sets 15 reps each exercise). Triset of cable rope press down, bench dips, overhead tricep extension on bosu (12-15 reps each exercise, 3 times through total).

Oggi, mangiamo rico!

"Oggi mangiamo rico!". This means "Today we eat rich!" Yesterday was an Italian holiday, All Saints Day. My neighbors invited us over for some delicious Sicilian food at lunch time. We had Pasta with Mushrooms. Then Lidia brought out the Salad and Meat. Follow it all up with fruit and chocolates. It was delicious. As always, there was lots of food to go around. Andrea, Lidia's son, exclaimed, "Oggi mangiamo rico!" To which I replied, "SI!". Funny, because today at the gym I weighed myself and I was 2 lbs heavier after our "Rich" feast yesterday. LOL. Back workout today was; 3 sets pull ups till failure. 4 sets 12 reps lat pull down. Seated cable row 3 sets 12 reps. Seated Hammer Strength Pull Down 3 sets 10 reps. Rear Delt Fly 3 sets 12 reps. Straight Arm Lat Pull Down Superset with Bent over barbell row (15 reps each exercise, 3 total working sets). Standing Cable Bicep Curl w/ Wide Grip SUPERSET with Cable Hammer Curl with Rope (15 reps each exercise 3 working sets).

My New Goal: Better Sleep!

Sounds like a funny goal? It shouldn't be. Better sleep equates to a better physique. How? Your body repairs and builds muscles while your at rest so it's just as important to rest smart as it is to train smart. So I'm starting better habits now, and so far it's working. Three days on now with my goal and I'm feeling better than ever. Just a couple changes to my supplementation and routine: take 2 ZMA 30 minutes before bedtime and in bed by 10pm. I need those extra hours of restful sleep, especially after leg workouts like yesterday's. 2 sets 20 reps cable squats (full squat, serves as warm up). Lying leg curl (3 sets 12 reps). Straight leg deadlift (3 sets 10 reps). Leg Press (3 sets 15 reps). Leg extension (15 reps) Superset with box jumps (15 reps) 3 sets total. Lying leg curl with stability ball (3 sets 15 reps).