Part Two!!

As much as I love fun healthy recipes, I tend to be a more comfortable with a simple diet. Why? Because I have a huge appetite and if something tastes really good, I have a hard time limiting myself to the portions I'm supposed to eat. So instead, I keep my foods super basic and add in tons of hot sauce, apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice for flavor. 

*Pro tip: adding tons of hot sauce or crushed red peppers to your food makes you drink a lot more water as your eating which makes you feel STUFFED, even with smaller meals. 

So here's what I've been eating:

Meal 1: Zoats with 25 grams of blueberries and Spinach Egg white muffins

Meal 2: 8oz Suja green juice and 1 scoop Pro7 Protein 

Meal 3: 1 cup of bell peppers and 3.5 oz chicken breast

Meal 4: 100g zucchini, 1/3 cup brown rice, 3.5 oz ground turkey

Meal 5: 1 scoop Pro7 and 1/2 oz almonds

Time to explain the process and the reasoning behind my meals!

For meal 1 I eat oatmeal but I prefer to make that at work after I've finished my fasted cardio so all you see pictured above are my egg white muffins and some shredded zucchini. So I thought I'd add in a picture of the final product and the process of how I make my favorite oats.

Blueberry Zoats Recipe

1. In a bowl, combine 1/4 cup oats, 1 cup shredded zucchini, 1/2 tablespoon Chia seeds (optional) and 1/2 cup water. 
2. Microwave for a minute and a half, stirring every 20 seconds
3. Stir in 25 grams of blueberries, cinnamon, and 2 splenda packets 

I promise, you can't taste the zucchini at all and it makes the recipe so much more filling. Also, if your program allows, adding in the chia seeds makes the consistency of the oats so much more smooth and creamy! I got the idea to add them from Randi Kennedy and she's 100% right, it's a total game changer!! Last thing, since competing I have been terrified to add any fruit into my diet because I started to associate fruit with sugar and carbs. I'm slowly starting to add bits of fruit into my diet as a more natural sweetener option (I still haven't given up the splenda completely though). 

Next...

For the muffins, I promise they'll be the easiest thing you'll ever make, just grab a blender, add the total amount of egg whites that you'll need for a five day period ( for me that's the equivalent of 20 egg whites). Next add five cups of spinach, and all the spices you can find! Blend them up and place them into a muffin tin and bake on 350 for about 20 minutes. 

 

Meal 2: Another thing I've always shied away from is juicing! I thought, what's the point of taking all the fiber out of the veggie smoothies and leaving nothing but sugar and vitamins? And part of me still thinks that way, but truth be told I actually like the taste of this Suja green juice and for some reason my appetite hasn't been very high lately so it's a light option that makes me feel like I'm getting in a lot of essential vitamins. Plus, this one is only 50 calories per serving and 10 carbs, so it really can't hurt. I pair this with 1 scoop of my Pro7 vanilla protein, lately I've been sprinkling in some cinnamon to the powder to change up the flavor just a little.  

Meal 3: This one is hands-down my favorite meal because it reminds me of fajitas! Here's the steps to make the best chicken of your life (if you're a Mexican food lover at least). 

1. Dice chicken breast into small cubes
2. place chicken into bowl and add tons of lime juice
3. Add in spices (cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, cilantro, paprika, and cayenne pepper)
4. Mix the spices in so that the chicken is coated 
5. Place on a PAM covered baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes on 400 degrees
6. BOOM! 
7. For the peppers, I just saute them in PAM and the spices mentioned above. I like to leave them a little under-cooked so they don't get soggy throughout the week. 

Meal 5: This one doesn't really need explanation does it? I brown some ground turkey with pepper and Italian seasoning, dice some raw zucchini, and add in plain boiled brown rice. The real page turner here is that I finally took the plunge and ventured away from my regular 99% lean ground turkey and started using the 93% lean version! Scary, I know but I loooove the taste so much better and if it ends up messing with my weight loss, I can always switch back! 

Meal 6: This one is my post-workout shake and my healthy before-bed fats. Sometimes I'll switch out the almonds for a tablespoon of Adams natural peanut butter, but for now I'm really liking the almonds. 

That's what I'm eating right now, I'm down six pounds so far which is great news in my opinion! I'll be sticking to this meal plan for another week before I make some small tweaks & I would love it if you'd join me in this slim-down!

Xo, Kelsey