Archive for March 27, 2015

Cinnamon Bun Protein Pancake!

Hey peeps! Happy Friday to all! I’m currently on the road to AZ for the weekend. Can’t wait to see my family and get dressed up for a super snazzy event! (pictures to come).

I was recently contacted by DailyBurn to share one of my favorite ways to fuel up using protein powder. As most of you know, I like to eat real foods most of the time, but I do enjoy a protein shake or protein pancake once a day after my workout, for breakfast, or on-the-go.

One of my go-to’s lately has been this super simple protein pancake. I throw it together in just a few seconds, and BAM it’s ready to eat. I eat this after a workout, as part of my breakfast, or if I’m running out the door and don’t have time to make something. It curbs my hunger, helps my muscles recover after a hard workout, and tastes delicious too! What’s not to like?

Cinnamon Bun Protein Pancake

-1 scoop vanilla or cinnamon flavored protein powder ( I use Slap Nutrition, but if you’d like a vegan protein option, try Fuel-6 Vanilla)

-1/2 cup egg whites

-Water (just enough to moisten the protein powder to a paste-like texture)

-Cinnamon to taste

-1/2 packet Stevia

-Blender Bottle

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1. The blender bottle is key! It can be hard to mix the ingredients, so I throw it all in a blender bottle and shake it up really well.

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2. Set your pan to low-medium heat, pour the mixture into the pan, and wait until you see the little bubbles in your pancake (just like regular pancakes!). When you start to see them, it’s time to flip it. Once you flip it, only leave it for about 30-45 seconds so that you don’t overcook it.

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3. Enjoy!

IMG_7376(Okay, so it’s not pretty…but who cares as long as it tastes good, right?!)

Things I’m Loving Lately, Workouts, and a Survey!

Woahhh! Long time no see, guys. Sorry for going MIA there for a few days. Life is BUSY right now and I’m just trying to ride the wave.

Things I’m Loving Lately

Track Workouts.

THISCLOSE to looking like  when I run. WINNING. One of my 50m sprints this morning.It’s more of a love/hate. They absolutely kill me, but I’ve been getting up every Monday morning and heading out to the track for a workout. It’s nice to get out in the sun and wake myself up with sprints and bleachers. My go-to right now is:

4 x 100 meter sprints

4 x 50 meter sprints

10 bleachers

My legs shake so much when I’m finished that I have trouble pushing the gas and brake. Good thing I only live 2 blocks away. πŸ™‚

This healthy chicken salad I made

This Chicken Salad was sooooo easy to make and sooooo delicious!!! Makes 4 Servings 2 cans White meat chicken in water 3 celery stalks 3 slices of red onion 1 small box raisins 2 dollops of Fage 0% Greek Yogurt  Mash the chicken, chop the veggies, add the raisins and mix together. Then add the greek yogurt and mix it in. I added fresh cracked pepper as well. ENJOY!!

It’s SO simple to make, and absolutely delicious. Here’s the recipe (makes 3-4 servings):

  • 2 cans white meat chicken in water
  • 3 celery stalks, chopped
  • 1 small box of raisins
  • 3-4 slices of red onion, chopped
  • 2 dollops of plain greek yogurt (I use Fage 0%)
  • salt & pepper to taste

Mash up the chicken, and then add the rest of the dry ingredients. Mix it up, and then add the greek yogurt. Mash it all up again, and you’re DONE. It takes about 5-10 minutes to make this and then you have it on hand for a quick, healthy snack or part of a meal.

Working out at home using workouts straight from my ebook (not released yet)

COMING SOON + FitLizzio Presents Rockstar Fitness "Tour Edition" ~ Fitness for the Touring MusicianGreat way to get sweaty in 20 minutes with no equipment!

National Puppy day…and basically every day that I get to hang out with this guyNational puppy day.Workout Schedule

Here’s what my week looks like:

Monday: Track Workout + Back Workout

Tuesday: At Home Workout from the Rockstar Fitnessβ„’ ebook

Wednesday: Legs

Thursday: Conditioning + Shoulders/Chest

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Track Workout

Sunday: Hike

Fun Survey

I saw this on Carrots n’ Cake and thought it would be fun to do here as well.

Can you eat what you want or do you have to watch it?

I have to watch it if I want to lose weight. I can maintain pretty easily.

Do you want kids?

Maybe? I don’t know?

What are your favorite ways to pamper yourself?

I love getting acu massages!

Besides wine, do you have a go-to drink?

I don’t drink wine, but anyone that knows me knows that Kombucha is my JAM (specifically Trilogy!)

Do you have any health regrets?

No…I’ve learned from every step of my journey and I’m thankful for that.

Are you a yoga person?

NO.

What workout move do you loathe?

Bulgarian squats. i love/hate them. They are great, but they suck.

When do you feel sexy?

After a workout

WhenΒ do you feel your absolute happiest?

When I’m snuggling with my pup.

Q’s

1. What’s your favorite way to pamper yourself?
2. Are you a yoga person?

8 Ways to Find Time To Exercise on the BUSIEST Schedule

Good morning people!

Hopefully your day is going well. I’m working away and have a bunch of stuff to do with not much time in between. It got me thinking about busy days and how to find time to get exercise in.

One of the biggest excuses I hear from people about why they don’t exercise is that they just don’t have time. There are very few cases where that is ACTUALLY true. For the most part, there is a way to find time. It just takes some creativity…

o-WAKING-UP-IN-THE-MORNING-facebook

1. Get up an hour earlier. You can get a great workout in as little as 15-20 minutes (I save every workout I do and have hundreds that take just 15-20 min). Getting up an hour earlier will allow you to get an at-home workout in and still shower and get ready for your day.

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2. Get off Facebook and Social Media. We easily waste at least 30 minutes a day on social media. That time could be used to get a workout in. Less tweeting, more sweating!

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3. On Kid duty? Involve them in your workout. Take them to a park and play tag, set up an obstacle course for them to do while you’re doing your workout next to them, or use them as your weights. 2 year olds make a really good replacement for a medicine ball. πŸ™‚

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4. Instead of meeting a friend for coffee, meet them at the gym or at a park and workout together. I would say 75% of the time I’m hanging out with my friends, we meet up for a workout. It gives us a chance to catch up and get our fitness on all at the same time.

 

5. Schedule it into your day. It is extremely easy to let the day get away from you. If you make an appointment for your workout, it’s much easier to plan your day around it and make sure you get it in. We somehow find ways to get doctor appointments, pedicures, etc. into our day, so we can surely get a workout in if we plan for it. WORKOUT schedule BLANK

6. Plan your workouts for the week based on your busiest days. If you know that Mondays are super crazy for you at work, maybe that isn’t one of the days that you schedule a workout. Schedule them for the days that you’re more likely to be able to stick to that appointment. Don’t set yourself up for failure, make it as easy as possible to stick to your plan.

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7. Meal prep on Sunday so that you don’t have to take a lot of time putting together dinners each night (thus creating space in your schedule for a workout). Chop your veggies, cook up some chicken, beef, or other meat. Steam some rice. Prep whatever you’re able to prep in order to make putting your dinners together much easier.

8. Use your lunch break to workout, and bring your lunch to work. Most people get about an hour lunch break. Take 30 minutes of that to workout, and the other 30 minutes to clean up and look presentable to get back to work. I highly suggest getting some Shower Pill body wipes. Game changers I tell ya.

Q’s:

1. What is the biggest obstacle that gets in the way of your workouts?

2. Do you have any other tips for getting your workouts in on a busy schedule?

 

Track Workout + Leg Workout {videos}

Good morning friends!

How’s your Monday treating you so far? Mine’s been pretty productive so far, so I’m trying to continue on that wave. I have soooooo much to do this week (a few writing projects + regular work), so I’m trying to keep myself on track to finish it all.

I started my morning with a track workout that knocked me on my ass.

I seriously could barely walk afterwards. My legs were shaking and all I could think about was taking an ice bath.

Side note: If taking an ice bath sounds like a GOOD thing…you’ve officially kicked your own ass.

After the workout, I grabbed a coffee from my favorite place (it made my legs feel better, I swear), took a shower, iced my legs (because I didn’t have enough ice for a legitimate ice bath), and made breakfast.

I’ve been on the same kick lately: 1 egg, 1/2 cup egg whites, 1 slice of Ezekiel bread, and shredded cheese.

Pre leg workout meal. 1 cup egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1 slice Ezekiel bread, and some shredded cheese.

It’s so delicious and satisfying that I just can’t steer away from it yet! I’m sure in time I’ll get sick of it, but until then…it’s my go-to!

Leg Workout

Yesterday I did a leg workout that also got me pretty good.

I started with heavy squats (3 sets of 1-5 reps). Here were my numbers:

Set 1: 145 x 5

Set 2: 155 x 4

Set 3: 165 x 3

165x3...Here I go!

I haven’t squatted heavy in about 2 weeks, so I didn’t really try to push it too hard. I plan on hitting legs again later this week, so I may try to go heavier then.

The rest of my leg workout:

Deadlifts: 135 x 12, 145 x 12, 155 x 10

Walking Lunges: 50 x 15, 50 x 15

45* Hypers: 10 x 30, 10 x 30

Banded Hip Abductions: 10 reps leaning forward, 10 reps neutral, 10 reps leaning back for a total of 2 sets

Q’s:

1. Do you take ice baths? Have you ever?

2. What’s your go-to breakfast? (Maybe it will help me break out of my rut)

 

Friday the 13th, Conditioning, and a Birthday!

Good morning, friends!

Is it just me or have there been a LOT of Friday the 13th’s lately? Maybe I’m just noticing them more? Anyways, I kind of like it. πŸ™‚

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This morning I rolled out of bed to do some conditioning. It is sooo hard for me to get out of bed to workout these days. I can’t believe I used to work out at 5am every day! I’m sure if I tried, I could get back in that routine, but I actually really like my afternoon/evening weight lifting sessions too! Ah, getting older.

My Birthday

Speaking of getting older, I celebrated my 27th birthday on Tuesday. It was actually one of the best birthdays I’ve had in a while. I have the best friends, family, boyfriend and co-workers anyone could ask for. They made me feel super special!

IMG_7120I had to work on my birthday, but I took a break to get a great back workout in, too!

  • Pull Ups
  • T-Bar Rows
  • Cable Rows
  • Straight Arm Pulldowns
  • Close Grip Pulldowns

Birthday pull-ups! Kinda sloppy, but I'm working on getting these bad boys more strict. 3 sets of 4 today.It’s funny how simple things become much more fulfilling as you get older. I couldn’t think of a single gift I wanted this year, but just wanted to spend my day with the people (and furry creatures) I love, doing what I love…and I got just that!

IMG_7162I didn’t even get mad that Oscar tried to steal my balloon. πŸ˜‰

Anyways, back to today.

Here’s what I did for my conditioning:

KB Clean & Snatch Combo (4 sets of 8 reps each)

Barbell Complex (4 sets)

I’ll have a full post on barbell complexes in the next week. They are a GREAT way to get the heart rate up without having to do standard cardio. Stay tuned!

I’ve got a bunch of work to do today (it seems to just keep piling on), and then I’m headed to the studio tonight to set up for an all-day session tomorrow. It should be fun!

I’m really looking forward to Sunday to just relax a bit. I’m hoping to get a hike and/or leg workout in and then just lounge around the rest of the day. Sounds like a perfect day to me! πŸ™‚

In the works…

-I’ve got a few ebooks I’m working on at the moment that I can’t wait to release! Details to come soon!

Q: Do you hate the #13? Love it?

I love it!! I guess that’s the “metal” in me. πŸ™‚

 

Why I Write My Workouts Down {Monday Motivation}

Happy Monday people!!

I love Mondays! They are even better when I get my ass outta bed and get a workout in first thing in the morning. It is always soooo hard to get out of bed to do it (I hit snooze at least 6 times every Monday), but when I’m finished with the workout, I feel ready to take on the day.

This morning, I got up and headed to the track for a little something different. Last night, I wrote down what my workout would be (as I always do), so that I could just get up, throw on workout clothes and shoes, and just start doing.

Here’s what I did:

20 minute workoutMy goal was to do about 20 minutes of work, and I was in and out of there in 25 minutes (including my warm-up).

Brain Dump

I think I was on my 3rd or 4th bleacher when I started thinking about how f*&*ing hard this workout was and how much my legs were dying. This propelled me to start thinking about what i would do if I had just decided to “wing” my workout. I probably would have settled at 5 bleachers (because it was plenty) and gone home.

Since I had written out my workout beforehand, I knew that I had slated myself to do 10 bleachers, so I wasn’t going to quit until those 10 were done. (barring any injuries or my body being LITERALLY done).

It reminded me of the importance of having a plan. If you walk in without a plan, you’ll do as much as you can, work until it gets hard, and then probably go home.Β  Without a plan, it’s easier to talk yourself into just finishing when you feel like it. If you finish when you feel like it, it’s usually before you’ve really hit that hard sticking point. It’s that point when you want to quit and be done. Some days, that’s okay and I do believe in listening to your body, but if you’re trying to really make changes and achieve goals, quitting when you feel like it just won’t cut it. You need to push past the sticking point to really see progress. (at least that’s my opinion, others will have their own I’m sure).

If you go in with a plan, you’re more likely to stick to that plan. You’ll do those last few reps you thought you couldn’t do, and finish the final sets you didn’t think you could do, much like I did today at the track.

IMG_7079I hobbled away from the track today with my legs visibly shaking, but I completed the workout that I set for myself. It feels really good to want to quit, but to then push through and finish strong. I knew today would be a good day because of it.

Your Turn

I challenge you to start planning your workouts. Even if that means writing it in your car before you walk into the gym (which I do allllll the time), just set a goal for yourself, and complete that goal.

As always, check with a doctor before starting any new workout program and listen to your body. Learn the difference between pushing through a sticking point and pushing TOO hard. There is a difference and the more you workout, the more you’ll start to learn when to quit and when to push through.

Post-Track Workout Face

Post-Track Workout Face

Q’s:

1. Do you plan your workouts or just wing it?

2. Do you feel like you push through your “sticking point” or do you usually quit at that point?

Crossfit, Food, and Random LOL’s

Happy Wednesday people!

I had a late-ish night last night, so coffee was definitely necessary immediately upon waking up this morning!

Some of you may know that I’m also a sound engineer and used to work full time as a recording engineer in a studio here in LA. While I don’t do it full time anymore (obviously), I still do the occasional session. Last night I got to work with a pretty well known rock band (rhymes with shmimeshmown), so it was definitely worth losing a few hours of sleep. πŸ™‚

My Day

I made this yummy breakfast to start my morning yesterday and it was so, so satisfying and delicious, so I thought I’d share! (If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve already seen it.)

Open-faced egg white, turkey, and Ezekiel bread sandwich. Get in my belly!!!I highly recommend this bad boy.

  • Ezekiel Bread
  • 1 slice Mozzarella Cheese
  • 2 slices turkey breast
  • 6 egg whites
  • season to taste (i just used pepper)

After breakfast and getting some work done, I went to Crossfit again (I went last week for the first time in a while), and we did a really fun WOD!

So fun, in fact, that I completely ripped up my hands…..and still continued on to finish the WOD. #dedication or #stupidity?

Here’s what we did:

Strength
Back Squats: 8-8-8-8 (so 4 sets of 8 reps at about 75% of our 1 rep max)

WOD

  • Push Press: 7-6-5-4-3-2-1
  • Toes 2 Bar: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 (i did knees to elbow)

then

  • Box Jumps: 7-6-5-4-3-2-1
  • Pull Ups: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7

I was totally fine until the pull ups. And then this happened….

IMG_6878I guess it was bound to happen at some point! Now I just need to figure out how to get these bad boys to heal ASAP so I can continue with my regularly scheduled lifting. πŸ™‚

I plan on taking today off from working out since my body is pretty sore. I have a busy day today with work and then back in the studio tonight, so it works out well.

Random things that made me laugh out loud this week:

IMG_6879IMG_6880Seriously, get me that Coach purse NOW. Can’t even tell it’s a fake…

Q’s:

1. What’s your favorite band? Mine is and has been 36 Crazyfists for about 10 years now

2. Have you ever ripped your hands open while working out? (any tips????)

 

Weekend Recap + Progress Pics

lean shoulders

It’s March!! My favorite month of the year! Not only because my birthday is this month, but also because it means that spring is coming! We’ve had quite the rough winter here in Santa Monica. πŸ˜‰

Weekend Recap

I had a great long weekend with my family last week. I was sad to go, but I’ll be back soon! Being able to work remotely definitely has it’s perks. I’m elavilnews to have a job that allows me to travel and still work.

I didn’t take many photos during my trip, but here are a few highlights:

kombucha

Kombucha on tap at LGO

arizona sunset

A perfect AZ sunset.

nephew

Progress

I’m sure some of you are wondering how my 12 week plan is going, so here’s a little update:

I’m still loving this and it will likely just be what I do from here on out. The flexibility of counting macros is great, and allows me to stay on plan pretty much anywhere. I traveled last week, which is usually a dieting nightmare, but since my plan doesn’t call for specific foods, and rather a macronutrient count, I was still able to stay on track for the most part. I did have some extras here and there, but I planned on that and it isn’t something that is going to stall my progress (at least I hope not).

It isn’t easy every day, and some days it’s tough, but compared to anything I’ve ever done in the past, it’s extremely easy. I’m getting more and more used to it each day and finding it to be easier when I’m able to plan my days ahead of time. Just need to get better about actually doing that. πŸ˜‰

Here are some photos that I took over the weekend. I’m really happy with the changes I’m seeing in my body!

lean shoulders

My shoulders are definitely leaner than when I started this!

leaning outStill have a ways to go, but I’m seeing more lines. πŸ™‚

Workouts this Week

Monday: 20 min. Conditioning (KB Cleans, KB Snatches, Barbell Complexes, Burpee Box Jumps) + Chest/Abs

Tuesday: Crossfit

Wednesday: Legs

Thursday: 20 min. HIIT + Shoulders

Friday: Back

Saturday: Rest Day

Sunday: Full Body

As always, my workouts are subject to change, but this is my tentative plan for the week.

Q’s:

1. What is your dream job?

2. Which workout are you most looking forward to this week?