Yummy Tuna Salad

Here is a new favorite of mine. I found the Bumblebee tuna steak the other day in the grocery store. Yum!

In a bowl add:

Fresh spinach leaves (salad bag kind)
Chopped cucumbers
Hard boiled egg whites (minus yolk)
Tuna steak
Avocado

For salad dressing I use red wine vinegar and I sprinkle with sea salt. It's really filling!

Food

Hi Ladies! I get asked A LOT about what I eat. During competition mode, my diet differs than when I am in maintenance mode. Right now I am in the early stages of my competition diet. My competition is about 14 weeks out and I can be "stage ready" in 6 weeks. So...we are focusing on putting more muscle on me. I have a really hard time gaining muscle mass since I was an endurance runner for so many years and also because of my build. I have to work REALLY hard to get my muscle :) This means that right now my calories are about 1800-2000/day and I am higher in carbs (the good kind ladies!) than I will be as the competition gets closer. I have an overall macro nutrient goal for the day that is broken out per meal that I try to hit. I like this method better because it gives me more choice on what I eat. There are different plans out there and honestly it just takes trying different ones to see what your body responds best to. I also phase my carbs out as the day progresses so that by dinner time, my only carbs are from my green veggies.

As far as supplements, I get this a lot too. My supplements are BCAA's, Glutamine and Whey Protein Powder. Again, this is what works for me and not for everyone, so definitely check with your trainer before you copy what I am doing.

Today my cardio consisted of 20 minutes on the stair climber, doing intervals and sweating and building my hiney! I always do cardio following my weight training since I am already in fat-burning mode. My sets today were Back/Bi's/Abs. Lots of pull-ups!!!

Good luck to all of you. Rock the girl power and Go Figure!!!!

The Importance of Interval Workouts Ladies!!

I'm forever telling ladies to not spend so much time doing steady-state running (I was guilty of doing it for years) and to focus more on intervals that require less time but burn more fat. Here is an article from Oxygen Magazine, Feb., 2010 issue that reinforces the concept.

Love This Picture From Oxygen Magazine, 2/10

Carb Cycling for Women

This is a great article on carb cycling. A lot of girls use this type of diet to get ready for a competition. There are a lot of different opinions on how to do it out there and this one is straightforward with easy to follow examples. Enjoy!

Carb Cycling for Women

WBFF's Online Magazine, Jan., 2010

WBFF FIt

Dream Big!

Believe in your dreams ladies. Dream big and believe in them!

BodyRock.TV Fast Death Workout!

This is one of my favorite sites for hard-core, cardio workouts: www.BodyRock.TV. She is amazing and has really cool cardio workouts that are quick and get the heart pumping!! Good luck!!

Turkey Scramble Recipe

I don't know about all of you, but I get really tired of chicken, broccoli, sweet potatoes, repeat in the heart of competition training. So...I've become creative with my food. This is one of my favorites right now. I'm sure I will make myself tired of it since I eat it 4 times/day. Ha! So here you go:

Ground Turkey
Brussel Sprouts
Fresh Spinach
Chopped Cucumbers
Jalapenos
Seasoning
Sweet Potatoes
Top with Avacado for good fat
Portion out according to your diet

I also use Walden Farms BBQ sauce. Zero cals, Zero carbs, Zero sugars. Yum.

January, 2010

I'm a week into my new diet & training and feeling great. My trainer has me doing it a bit different this time and I really like it. Instead of the same meals, over and over, she is giving me more freedom in my choices by counting out my carbs, proteins and fats for each meal. I start higher on my carbs right now and phase them out through the day. I sure feel nice & full in the morning and lots of energy! This will change as I get closer to the competition. We will take my carb count down overall to lean me out.

I am doing cardio as intervals right now and for 20/25 minutes. This will probably change also! My knees are really bothering me, so it is helpful that I am not pounding away for an hour on cardio right now. Need to get a Dr. appointment to get them looked at :(

Attended a seminar on Saturday that was put on by the promoters of the show that I am doing in April. I really enjoyed it. It got me fired up to get going and of course, taking an early look at my competition! Ha! We practiced posing and of course all of the information for show day, etc. Good stuff! Here we go!!

Diana has also mentioned a show in Chicago, in September that has Bikini & Fitness Model. I'm thinking about that one as well, but not sure yet if I will do it. Stay tuned!

Working on my ACE certification as well. Week 5. Ready to have that done and off my plate.

Well make it a great day people! Get some cardio & weight training in, it will warm you up. Rock the Girl Power & Go Figure!!

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2010! So far, January in Kansas has been covered in snow and sub-zero temps. No outdoor running for cardio, it's all gym time for now. I started back with my trainer, the one and only Diana Chaloux. She is awesome and I missed my workouts with her. I do not push myself as hard as she does, so it's nice to be back into training mode. We took my weight and measurements and they are not good. I really "indulged" my last two weeks of Christmas/New Years, so now I am going to have to pay for it in cardio, cardio, cardio. Ugh. I have a new diet to go along with my training. Competition is April, 2010, so here we go! To go along with the training, I will be working in a trip to Atlantis, Bahamas that my hubby won through work. We are plenty excited, but you know vacations in paradise are tough on a competitor! Off to the gym I go for now! Stay warm and stay focused! This is your year to do great things. Believe it! Rock the Girl Power & Go Figure!!