Food update and tips :)

First I wanted to thank Carrie for her concern on my cardio crazed days of late. I hear you chica. I'm planning on cutting back a bit when I get to my short term goal before I burn out and plan on adding more time to lifting instead. Promise! Sleep. We'll I'm working on it. I just don't have very much time in the day and have never really been much of a sleeper. I've always got too much to do. Ask Z ;). I really appreciate it. I do! *HUGS*

As far as food is concerned. I try to do whole foods as much as possible but I do throw in protein shakes occasionally. Especially right after a workout at the Pro Club. They make really nummy ones! Other than that I find I'm much more satiated with chicken, tuna, turkey, broccoli, asparagus, and wild rice.

I usually bug a frozen 3 lb bag of chicken tenders. I throw them into a large pan with a bit of water, Mrs. Dash, garlic powder and chili powder. It's gotta taste good or I'm not going to keep eating it right?

While that is cooking on Med Low, I grab my mixed wild rice, brown rice, barely, red rice, and black rice dry mix and add it to a big pot and add water. I boil this on med low as well and watch it because I usually need to add water to it again (rice absorbs the water) 1-2 times. After about 20 minutes I turn off the heat and let it simmer.

While this is happening I turn my little chicken tenders. They cook fast. The extra water in the pan keeps them moist.

Turkey Meat loaf:
2-3 lbs of ground turkey
1/2 cup of dry old fashion oatmeal
4 egg whites or 1/2 cup egg beaters
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp pepper
1 chopped onion
1/2 cup of salsa
pckt of chipotle seasonings (use what ever you want though)
*when done spread 1/4 cup of ketchup over the top. I've done this with or without the ketchup. I don't really see the difference.

Mix all together and put into a Pam sprayed loaf pan. Cook in a Pre heated oven at 350 for 1 hour. When it's done I usually carefully drain the juice that rises to the top of the cooked loaf into the sink. I let it cool then measure out 3 oz servings.

I love the little glad 1/2 cup and other small containers. I literally measure out a bunch of these little things for my rice and my chicken and turkey meat loaf. I'll try to have both chicken and meat loaf during the day so I don't get too burned out. I did tuna for a bit, but it's high in sodium and mercury so I try to limit it.

I usually buy 4 broccoli stalks and 4 bundles of asparagus heads. I steam as needed to keep them fresh. It only takes 3-5 minutes so it's pretty quick.

My protein pancakes are so easy to make in advance too.

1 egg
3/4 cup of egg beaters
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp splenda
1/3 cup of old fashion oatmeal

cook in a pan with Pam. Wait until it is done enough on one side to flip without tearing it. They are really dense and filling! I just make an entire stacked plate (usually 7-8). I let them cool and then place them into a big zip lock bag. When I'm ready to eat them after my AM workout I put one on a plate in the microwave for 1.5 minutes and then top with a tbsp of natural peanut butter and 1/4 cup of sf syrup. Pure heaven. Try it! If you don't like PB, try it with SF preserves or nuts. People eat them all sorts of ways.

This process usually takes 4-5 hours. Cooking, measuring, clean up etc. But then you are pretty much done!

Meal 1: pancake
Meal 2-4: 3 oz protein & 1/3 cup complex carbs
Meal 5: 3-6 oz protein & 1-2 cup of green veggies
Meal 6: protein shake or 1-2 cup SF jello

1-1.5 gallons of water every day. I also drink lots of green tea.

I might try yams for my wild rice this next time, but I really like the texture so maybe not. We'll see.

Enjoy!

It's almost time for dinner and I've got no more workouts to do for the day. YAY! My butt is sore already from the leg workout. Legs are heavy! Tomorrow is going to be interesting ;).

(Engaged 9/16/05)