A bit of a rant

                        This ^ >>>>>>>>>>>>. I am sooooo sick and tired of everyone saying that "real women have curves" or "men like women with curves not bones" or whatever the hell basically implying that if you do not have big boobs a big ass and whatever other curve to your body it makes you less of a woman. FUCK THAT NOISE. (sorry it just gets me real mad). I grew up never having a big chest. like they are there obviously but at the same time not so much. Also like I've posted before I was born with a flat ass. ("But Lorraine, you're trying to build a booty now" Ok, yes I am but that is because its part of my fitness journey, I am also trying to build lots of other muscle in other places so lets not get technical.) Anyways, so with my lack of chest and butt and being naturally thin, does that make me any less of a woman? Uh no. Am I going to start putting on some weight and go get breast implants so I can be a "real woman" Hell no.  Sure I may not be attractive to some men who prefer such things, but do I give 2 shits about what those people think? NO. Women come in all shapes and sizes and colors and types and blah blah blah. And guess what? they are all women! I'm gonna be honest here and say that usually when those women that are the ones proclaiming that "real women have curves" and are putting down those without, have some insecurities of their own to deal with. So stop getting us flat chested thinner girls involved.
                Ok and another thing that really peeves me is the fact that people say that "thicker" girls are somehow "healthier" than thinner girls. Why because they eat more? Says who? SORRY IM NOT SORRY that if you got "thicker" by eating a lot of crappy foods you are in no way shape or form healthier than a thin girl who eats clean. You go ahead and eat out every day and nom on your oreos on the reg. and I'm going to be over here eating PLENTY of fresh whole foods that nourishes my body. There is a difference however if said "skinny" girl is actually starving herself and not getting the nourishment her body needs. And the "thicker" girl is eating healthy and clean but that is just the way her body is. Stop judging people on their size and find out what is really going on in their lives.
     Oh and one last important thing. Calling someone too skinny and that they should go eat something is just as hurtful as calling something too fat and they should stop eating. Ok rant over, thanks for reading! =)

mocha protein pancakes

 

So I was really in a coffee and chocolate mood the other day so I decided to try out some mocha protein pancakes. And boy was I glad I did. I even made them this morning again. The coffee flavor was not too prominent so if you want an extra kick I would add some extra coffee granules. But they were so good and actually pretty fluffy for protein pancakes, as you can see on the bottom picture.

 

Recipe:

 

1/3 cup oat flour + a couple tbsps

2 tsp instant coffee granules

2 tsp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

1scoop chocolate whey protein powder

3 egg whites

1/4 cup almond milk

stevia to taste\

 

 First ground your oats into a flour, then add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix together. Then add the egg whites and almond milk and mix until incorporated. Cook on a nonstick pan and/or one with some spray on low heat until cooked. If you make them small like I did they come out to be 15 mini pancakes! Which is fun for stacking and putting toppings in the middle. I topped mine with about a cup of microwaved frozen berries ( they get juicy) and a mixture of heated cocoa powder and almond milk. 

Detox

So I decided to start the dr. oz 3 day detox yesterday because.. well I just wanted to try it out. why not right? Well to be completely honest it lasted like a day and a half because I got bored. Too many smoothies not enough chewing. And I realized something, detoxes are great they really are for cleaning out your system and starting fresh and healthy. However, I am already healthy and the foods I eat on a regular basis are like my own personal daily detox. And I really didn't do this to lose weight, I didn't even weigh myself before because that was just not my goal. Therefore stopping it really wasn't quitting. My goals just changed. I feel like 3 days is too much for someone like me who only puts those bad things into my body every once in a while. (see instagram for a few examples of my cheats ;)) I would probably do detox again every once in a while but only for one day. I did like the results after yesterday even with my rice cake cheat and today I kept up with all the shakes I just added a simple salad with lettuce, salsa and edamame. But tomorrow, no more shakes/smoothies for a meal but I will try to make my portions a bit smaller and maybe even incorporate one as a snack just to get back into my regular clean eating habits.
Now the detox itself I liked well enough. Three smoothies one for breakfast lunch and dinner and then you repeat one as a snack. The breakfast smoothie is delicious! I wouldn't make any changes to the ingredients. On the lunch and dinner ones however I did make a few modifications to make it taste better (sue me, I make the rules)
Lunch: I used 3 celery sticks instead of 4. Believe me do this and you will thank me, the celery gives it quite a weird texture so less is more. If you have a large green apple use 1/2 but if you had little ones like I did use the whole thing. Use a little over 1 cup of pineapple, again you'll thank me for making the taste better. I didn't have coconut oil nor did I really want to buy any just so I could use 3 tbsp. and never again sooo I used all natural pb instead (like I said I make the rules) I figured it'll add a little better taste and keep with the healthy fat thing the coconut oil was going for. Also don't forget to peel the cucumber and cut all the veggies and apple into little pieces to help the blending.
Dinner: The dinner was a lot better than the lunch one all I really did to modify was maybe add a little more mango to sweeten it and reduce the cayenne! The first time I made it I did the whole amount and it was way too spicy, especially since my wisdom teeth  are still healing. So the next time I did 1/8 tsp and maybe even a little less.

Oh and a couple other tips: try to use frozen fruit, it will make your smoothies cold and yummy without adding ice to water it down. And drink all of the smoothie you make. They actually make a lot especially the lunch one and while you may feel super full and want to just toss the rest, you shouldn't. Wait a while until you don't feel like you're going to burst and then finish it. When you are hungry soon after and thinking to yourself " I wish I still had smoothie left, why did I toss it?" Well yeah.

Progress Pictures

Here are some progress pictures from my time in NY. I'm not really able to strength train how I would like to over here because of limited equipment (heavier weights) but I'm making due with what I have and lots of workout videos. I am still seeing a bit of progress and I cannot wait until I go back to FL to be able to step it up! I have lots of plans to further my game ;)

Wisdom teeth woes

So I got all 4 of my wisdom teeth taken out this past Thursday. Ouchie. Since then I've been eating all things mashed and pureed. Honestly, after the second day my diet has not changed tooooo much. I eat alot of the same things I ate before, but i made them easier to eat by putting things in the blender, or mashing them with a fork. Of course some things i eat out of my menu that are too hard to chew and I'm not able to make into a chewy version. So I'm getting all my necessary nutrients but the variety is lacking and I'm longing to be able to use my jaw regularly again. Some things I've been eating these past few days include:

• Oatmeal
• Smoothies
• Greek Yogurt
• Unsweetened apple sauce
• Soups with all natural ingredients and no preservatives (only down side is more sodium than i would normally like, but I gotta make do)
• Mashed potatoes/sweet potatoes
• Mashed black beans
• etc

I think the thing I hate most about this is the fact that i couldn't work out for 3 days and now i am taking it very slowly. The last thing I want it to disrupt the blood clots in my extraction sites and slow down my healing process. Today instead of not exercising and also not going too hard i took a walk on the treadmill. While yes, my last post was how I rather do HIIT cardio instead of steady state but I really think this is a good exception. For thirty minutes I just did a regularly paced walk. I was so bored its not even funny, but its better to be slow than sorry! I might add  little more intensity every day until I think I am healed enough to where i can go back to my usual pace. And I literally cannot wait until that day because I feel as though I am losing definition. But that just might be my exercise withdrawal talking.

Why I hate cardio/ why it HIIT cardio

      I really really hate doing cardio. This includes but is not limited to: running, elliptical, biking even squatting etc. Basically anything that gets my heart rate up. Mostly because in the past I have had trouble with my heart rate going way up and staying that way. I have been sent to the hospital twice in the fairly recent past from waking up in the middle of the night with heart palpitations. Since then, on and off I have had trouble with getting my heart rate down from a very uncomfortable speed. It has not happened recently but because of this I feel as though I am more prone to getting my heart rate way too high during cardio workouts. That is why i literally cannot run for more than a couple minutes at a time without taking a walking break in between or else i feel as though my heart is going to jump out of my chest, and not in a good workout endorphiny way. But I know that some cardio is important not only for fitness but for your health as well and I still incorporate it into my routine.  I just can't run miles at a time like some people can even if i did try to train myself to do so.
     Recently I learned about HIIT Cardio. HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. It is basically any workout that alternates between intense burst of activity with periods of less intense or even rest periods. You can do these on the machines such as treadmills or even workouts that do not need any equipment. I usually just do them on the treadmill since it is easier for me that way.  If you are experienced there are more advanced versions. But i use a beginner workout that for me, gives a great workout.
Now why do I HIIT instead of just a steady paced cardio? Well there are a few reasons:

• It is quick! I can finish an entire workout in about 20 minutes.
• You not only burn more calories during the workout, but something about the effects of the workout on your body actually causes it to burn more fat and calories in the 24 hours after the workout
• When doing a HIIT workout you burn fat and not muscle. When you do steady state you tend to burn fat and muscle and you undo the building of muscle that you did during strength exercises.

So next time you do cardio, try looking into different HIIT workouts, there are sooo many and find one that is in your range.

Yummy food day

Yesterday was such a good food day for me. I made lots of yummy and healthy meals to enjoy.

Breakfast: Clean Pancakes
1/3 cup oat flour (use oats and put it in the food processor to make a flour)
1 egg white
1/4 cup almond milk
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 small ripe mashed banana
    Mix all the ingredients and cook on a low heated pan. I topped it with some peanut butter

Lunch: Salad
Romaine Letuce
Spinach
Garbanzo beans
1/4 avocado
hot sauce
all natural salsa

Dinner: Tofu Stir fry ( No I didnt eat all that, there was about 3 servings in the pan)
1 package tofu
2 tbsp spicy mustard
a couple long squirts of Liquid Aminos
1/4 lemon juice
spices
      Mix all these ingredients and make a marinade for the tofu and leave for a couple hours to soak (if you dont have that much time no worries)
Broccoli
Cauliflower
onion
red cabbage
red, green, and yellow bell peppers

Cook the broccoli and cauliflower with veggie broth instead of oil first to soften then add the other veggies. Then add tofu. (Use chicken for non-vegetarian dish, and you might have to cook that first..sorry idk how to cook meat =P) Viola stir fry!

Dessert: Sorbet
1 Frozen banana
Frozen pineapple, mango and strawberries
Add to the yonana machine
Soooooo good