What I'm Eating Lately

Good Morning everyone! It's a rainy Sunday morning here in Miami but it will probably be dry and sunny before I finish this post since that's how it seems to go here. This morning I woke up at 4:00 AM absolutely ravenous and tried to stay in bed until my alarm at 6:00 but there's just no sleeping when I'm hungry so I tossed and turned for an hour until deciding to start my day at 5:00. I'm working today with a short shift from 10-4 so I got in my morning lift of chest and triceps extra early before anyone showed up. Gotta love empty gyms!

I thought today I'd do a post on what I've been eating lately since this is always something people want to know and I've been making some extra yummy meals now that I'm working toward increasing my calories. My current goal is 1,900 calories per day and macros of around 40% carbs, 35% protein, and 25% fats. This is pretty doable and doesn't require a lot of thought. In fact, I'm so used to a lower calorie cutting diet that sometimes I actually struggle to hit the 1,900 mark! This makes for some yummy protein pancakes, pudding, and mug cakes before bedtime :P

Meal #1 today was overnight oats which I prepared before bed last night and heated up this morning. Today's concoction was zucchini-strawberry-almond "proats" (protein oatmeal!) which consisted of 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/2 cup sliced strawberries, 1/2 cup egg whites, cinnamon, 1 tbsp ground flax, 8 almonds, 1 packet stevia, and 1/4 cup shredded zucchini. Delicious!

Then it was off to the gym where I sipped on my usual mix of BCAAs and pre-workout for extra help with muscle recovery and energy. Post-gym I'm always starved and usually re-fuel with a Quest bar and protein shake. On days like today when I work, I make my protein shake with iced coffee. Can you tell I'm a caffeine fiend?!

After Mugsy got his morning walk and I got showered & dressed I prepped my food to bring with me for work. Lately I've been obsessed with beat hummus and have been making this superb spinach wrap filled with spinach, cukes, beet hummus, chicken breast and hard boiled egg. Sometimes the fillers change but its always satisfying! I also packed some fresh cherries to eat mid-afternoon and carry me through until I get home and can make an early dinner.

Yesterday I was reading one of my favorite blogs, peanutbutterrunner.com, and blogger Jen recommended adding a piece of paper towel to your bag of greens which will help absorb the moisture and keep them from wilting. I can't believe I never thought of that! I made sure to do it this morning; I'm always struggling to finish my greens before they go bad.

I won't make dinner until I return home because I prefer to have a nice hot, freshly cooked meal whenever possible, but I did set aside all the ingredients I'll need to make for a quick prep. Tonight I'm having baked salmon with sweet potato, corn-on-the-cob, and asparagus sauteed in olive oil. This is a staple meal of mine. It never gets old!

All of these meals together only total 1,551 calories so I'll probably satisfy my bedtime sweet tooth with a casein mug cake topped with nut butter. I want to point out the vast quantity of food that you can eat while still maintaining a healthy nutritious diet, without taking in too many calories. You don't have to deprive yourself and eat boring chicken and veggies all day long which seems to be a common misconception and what often keeps people from attempting to clean up their food intake. Of course I could easily hit my 1,900 calories by running to Five Guys or some other popular food joint but I much prefer to eat food that is filling, delicious, and won't make me feel crappy for the rest of the day! Plus, I always say I "eat to perform" and I've been hitting some major PRs in the weight room with my increased caloric intake!

That's all for today. Guess what...it's sunny out now! Hope you all have a wonderful end to your weekend. Comment below or e-mail me at FitFierceFun@gmail.com if you have any questions about eating to perform for your goals or if you are interested in getting started on your own custom fitness plan! xo

Core Burn

Good Morning gym rats! Risin' & grindin' as usual here in Miami. Woke up early as usual and fueled-up with a healthy dose of carbs & caffeine with a delicious bowl of banana-almond protein oatmeal (pictured below). It was so good I might have to make it again this weekend. Recipe is on Insta @ariellenicolefit

My core is on FIRE today so I wanted to share with you a post about the workout I did yesterday. This month I scheduled an entire day of core-only moves since I feel like I've been slacking on those muscles lately. Here was the breakdown:

-DB pullovers/leg lifts on a bench with a 20 lb DB in my hands and a 10 lb DB held by my feet. This is an extremely advanced move which I do not recommend unless you are fully comfortable doing them weight-free. It worked fantastically though and I'm pretty sure its the main cause of my [good] pain today! 3x12
-Decline bench weighted crunches 3x12
-Cable rope crunches 3x15
-Standing chair leg lifts while supporting my weight with my hands (arms straight) on the dip bars 3x12
-SB knee-ins side-to-side 3x12

I highly recommend this routine if you need a day off from the weights but don't want a true rest day. You can always simplify these moves by doing them weight-free. Here's a video clip of what my first exercise looked like except that I added the extra weight between my feet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r687q0UiwKw

In other fitness and health related news, today makes 4 weeks since I stopped my spring cut and decided not to do a show this year (or at least this spring as I do change my mind often LOL) and instead go back to "bulking" for a while. Long story short, I really wanted to do a show but after thinking long and hard about NPC and deciding I was too small to compete against the monster-sized "bikini" girls here in Florida, I then decided to do NGA (similar to OCB natural organization). I cut from the end of January to the beginning of April at which point I had barely lost any weight and was losing my mind over the stress of my seeming lack of physique progress combined with lowered carbs in my diet. I know I looked leaner but I think it was just water weight due to low carbs and minimal fat loss. The straw that broke the camel's back was the day I took a Chemistry lab test and left feeling like I bombed it due to a complete inability to focus (I actually got a B so no biggie afterall LOL). So the next day I increased my calories by 300/day, decreased cardio days from 3 to 2 (now only 1) and upped my carb intake to a minimum of 40% of my macros. I haven't been following strict macros for the past month but I have still been tracking all my food intake and I average 42% carbs, 25% fats, and 33% protein. Ideally I would be at 45% carbs, 20% fats, and 35% protein but I am suffering from a love of healthy fats lately LOL!

Anyway, the reason I tell you all this diet and competing news is that when I did my weekly weigh-in this morning I was 118.2 lbs......and I was 119.2 lbs when I stopped cutting! You figure that math out! My body just reacts in the strangest of ways. Who on earth increases calories, decreases cardio, and loses weight?! I don't get it but I'll take it! My current goal is to increase my calories by as much as possible while staying lean and building muscle. I had the most amazing hydrostatic body fat test done a few weeks ago by www.BodyFatTest.com (check them out!) and found that I was 19.9% body fat. A little higher than I thought I would come in at but it's the most accurate way to test body fat so I can't argue it. The guy who tested me gave me a whole printout with tons of useful information and I think my calorie target (assuming my metabolism is in a healthy state) was roughly 2,400 for muscle building. That makes me sOOooOoO happy! Who wouldn't want to eat more and not get fat LOL?! I plan to increase my calories by another 100 starting tomorrow, continue my weekly-ins, and see how it goes. I just love the experimentation and I'm feeling so strong and healthy lately! Here's a pic of me on body test day:

One last thing I'll note is that Florida is such a great place for improved skin, nails and hair! I don't take any added vitamins other than my daily multi and my skin is glowing (not in my head - people have said this to me!), and my hair and nails grow insanely fast! The sunshine state is truly an amazing place for your body. Alright, it's lunch time and I have work to do so I'm signing off. Have a great day everyone!

P.S. I still have my Facebook page for Fit Fierce Fun personalized training plans https://www.facebook.com/FitFierceFun?ref=aymt_homepage_panel so please become a fan by "liking" and spreading the word of fitness! xo 

Happy Cinco de Mayo! (and a mini lesson on BCAAs)

Buenas Dias mis amigos! Haha I have no idea if that is correct Spanish or not but I'm trying. Also, happy Cindo de Mayo!

I was really hoping that I would not be scheduled to work tonight because as usual my craving for Mexican food is high and how can you not treat yourself when it's Cinco de Mayo?! However I am scheduled to close the store tonight (8:00 pm) and while that may sound early to you, after working a 10-hour shift I'm usually ready to hit the sack by the time I get home. That being said, I wanted to share with you all my simple recipe for BCAA frozen margaritas!

In case you don't know, BCAAs (short for branched-chain amino acids) are the three essential amino acids that your body cannot produce on its own. Therefore, you must consume them in your diet via food and/or supplements. In a nutshell, the 3 BCAAs are Leucine, Isoleucine, and Valine. Leucine is the most important and BCAA supplements usually have the ratio of BCAAs printed on the label with 2:1:1 being the minimum recommendation. That means that if you are purchasing a supplement touting a 2:1:1 ratio and a total of 5 grams of total BCAAs then you are getting 2.5 grams of Leucine, 1.25 grams of Isoleucine and 1.25 grams of Valine.

BCAAs are important for many reasons, perhaps the three most important being 1) immune system support 2) protection against amino acid deficiencies and 3) prevention of lean muscle mass loss. You can purchase them in pill or powder form but I prefer the powder because you can find a variety of delicious flavors and I like to drink it while I workout.

So, in honor of this 5th day of May, here is my easy BCAA margarita recipe. In a blender combine the following:
1 scoop BCAA powder (Scivation Xtend Watermelon is great!)
1 cup water
1 oz tequila
Several iced cubes

Once slushy, pour into a margarita class, garnish with a lime wedge & decorative umbrella! I make these all the time sans the tequila when I am cutting and need a post-dinner "treat". My holiday recipe is approximately 70 calories compared to approximately 300 calories at your favorite bar or restaurant. Now that's what you call cheating clean! Enjoy and let me know what you all think! xo

Rapid Update

Good Morning (again)! I told y'all I'd be back eventually...semester #1 at Miami Dade College was just a wee bit more hectic than I had anticipated :/

While I was out walking Mugsy this morning I got to thinking, I think I'm in a state of mental shock. I mean, I'm just cruising along with life right now, working two jobs, training, dog-mommying, studying, landlording, doing everything I can just to stay afloat and I haven't really had time to sit back and accept the fact that I'M LIVING IN MIAMI. Goodbye career. Goodbye money. Goodbye comfort. Goodbye stability. Goodbye family. Goodbye everything that made me ME for the past decade.

I don't regret moving here but I also haven't had the time or money to get out and explore and figure out if I even fit in here. I do think there are lot more people here that are of the same mindset as me in terms of being fitness/health oriented and willing to leave their former lives to pursue a better future. My classes were full of people from all over the place and I've met a lot of really interesting people. That being said, Miami is an interesting place... On one hand, it is extremely convenient. Everything you could ever want is here and there's really no reason to ever need to leave. However, I learned pretty quickly that people are not to be trusted here. Everyone has their own agenda and there are a LOT of fake people. I also get the impression that there are various illegal activities going on all around me that makes me on edge at all times. I know I'm paranoid but I also know that my gut is usually right. Not that it should have any impact on me so long as I keep to myself and do my own thing. It just makes me skeptical of every person I meet.

Anywayyyy I won't go further into detail on that on this public forum. I don't want to find a bloody horse head in my bed after all! The semester of hell is over and I'm currently on a week-long break before the summer semester begins. I lightened my course load for the summer so that I can work full-time hours and hopefully get better grades. Let's just say that MDC is about 582,305 times harder than SMCC was. I busted my ass all semester long but I have a feeling when grades are released in the next few weeks they aren't going to reflect the effort I put in. I finally found a flexible hourly job doing sales for a nutritional supplement company (perfect for me!) and took on another part-time gig as a personal trainer at a small local studio. However, because of the time commitment required by my course load I was only working between 20-30 hours each week and that hasn't been covering even my basic living expenses. My poor savings account has been rapidly diminishing. Yes, the account that was only supposed to be dipped into for tuition purposes. Ughhhhh Effective last week however I've been able to get full-time hours so I'm praying that when I finalize my May budget I at least break-even. I don't mind having to dip into savings for large expenditures but I need an income that at least covers basic living needs. I don't want to think about the possibility of having to return to corporate hell and give up on my dietitian dreams all because of money.

Money is the root of all evil. Cliche but true.

Anyway, all my issues of the past four months could be put into a novel here but alas this is a fitness blog so I'll leave you with that small life recap for now. At the end of the day I'm still living in Miami, one of the most popular cities in the WORLD. It's sunny, lightly breezy, finally not humid, and mid-80's out today and I hear it was 35 in Portland yesterday morning LOL!

This morning I got up, fueled-up with coffee, freshly squeezed Florida grapefruit juice, and one of my fantastic zucchini muffins (see today's earlier post for recipe) then hit the gym for leg day. My beloved Porky's Gym that I fell in love with last December and purchase the entire year-in-advance when I got here in January was sold to YouFit (the south's version of Planet Fitness) a couple of months ago and even since it's been going downhill. Most of the serious lifters have left and it's just not the motivating iron mecca it once was. I'm tempted to leave myself but I doubt I'll get my money back and like I said, I'm beyond broke so having two gym memberships isn't the best use of my finances. For now, I'm just trying to make the best of it. Being the start of a new month I decided to switch-up my own lifting routine for the next 4 weeks. Usually I do traditional heavy leg exercises on leg day but opted to try out some new moves I saw in a magazine. I felt like I had a good workout but I'm not sure I really pushed hard enough. I focused more on form and went light-weight for safety purposes. If I'm not sore tomorrow then I'll go back to my normal routine next week but sometimes you gotta try something new! Here's the breakdown of today's leg day routine:

-Overhead BB squats 4x10
-Front BB squats 4x10
Superset:
-Cyclist DB squats 4x12 (heels elevated on a plate) with Kettlebell goblet squats 4x12
-Heavy smith machine calf raises 4x15

The overhead squats and front squats were very awkward but I think I just need to get used to them. Give this routine a try and let me know what you think in the comments section below! Anyway, it's lunch time and I'm starved. I promise to try to write more often now that I have a slight breather in my schedule. If there are any fitness or health topics you'd like me to write about please let me know! 'Til next time, happy gymming! xo

Double Chocolate Zucchini Protein Muffins

Good Morning gym rats! It's a beautiful, sunny, non-humid Sunday morning here in Kendall and I have a wonderful recipe to share with you! If you've been following me on Instagram @ariellenicolefit then you probably saw my post about them last night but for all of you who don't have IG I thought I'd share it with you here. 

I've been making a similar recipe in a bundt cake pan for years but have had a craving for muffins lately and wanted to make a healthified version. Here's the recipe I whipped-up last night:

2 c whole wheat flour

1/2 c truvia baking blend

2 eggs

2 cups grated zucchini

1/2 c unsweetened applesauce

1/2 c fat free plain Greek yogurt

2 scoops chocolate protein powder

2 tbsp baking cocoa

1/4 c coconut oil

1/4 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 c chopped walnuts

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

If using a jumbo muffin tin then cook for 30 minutes at 355 degrees F. Cook for 1 hour if using a bundt cake pan. These jumbo muffins are 439 calories each and macros are 19 g fat, 59 g carbs, and 19 g protein. Clearly they are not a good dieting food but you could make them a lot lighter by simply eliminating the chocolate chips and walnuts or using 1 cup applesauce and eliminating the coconut oil. Be creative! If you make your own version please share below or post it on IG and tag me! 

Instagram

Hey guys! Long time no talk, I know. Long story short, I am beyond swamped with my new school life here in Miami and blogging is the last thing on my list of things to do at the moment. The main issue being that when I signed up for my classes I assumed that Chem + Lab and Micro + Lab meant 2 classes (ie part-time status). Come to find out, at this new school the labs are entirely separate courses with different teachers, different tests, different grades, etc. To say I'm drowning would be an understatement. Nonetheless, I keep chugging along because that's what I always do and I know once I get through this hell I can lighten my load going forward. For now I can't promise any ongoing blogs but I wanted to let you all know that my primary method of social media these days is Instagram since it's the fastest and easiest way to broadcast to a large audience. Soooo you should all follow me @ariellenicolefit to get my latest fitness-related posts! Also, I'm still doing online personalized workout plans so if that's something you're interested please reach out to me via Insta or at FitFierceFun@gmail.com! I hope you guys are all staying active this winter. 'Til next time, happy gymming! xo

Gingerbread Protein Pancakes

Things in Miami have been an absolute whirlwind! I've literally applied to 324,566,835 jobs at this point and had 1 (or 2) mental breakdowns amid realizing I am totally NOT prepared for the workload at this school. However, things seem to actually be falling into place now so I promise a full update once I have things confirmed. In the meantime, I wanted to share a delicious recipe with you all for protein gingerbread pancakes.

Okay, so I've been craving all things gingerbread for like 2 months now and while packing up my kitchen in Portland I found my long-forgotten waffle maker and made a note to make myself some gingerbread waffles once I got my kitchen unpacked here in Miami. Further, my step grandparents gave me a MASSIVE jug of real maple syrup for Christmas from their hometown in Western Massachusetts which I couldn't wait to break into! Finally, one night last week I went online to research recipes and after compiling a few different ones here's the one I came up with:

2 egg whites
1 tbsp molasses
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp real maple syrup
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 scoop vanilla whey (I used Syntrax Matrix Simply Vanilla)
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves

Here I am, ready to go!

However, it having been eons since I last used my waffle maker I forgot the most important part...the non-stick lining isn't really non-stick...it requires a good spray of Pam prior to use...

And this is what happened.

It was so sad. My pre-lifting protein waffles burnt to a crisp! Not only that, but I also put too much batter in at once and it literally seeped out all over my counter-top. Not fun :( 

However, I still had a little batter left so I quickly whipped-up one delightful pancake and made a side of scrambled eggs to keep my protein count up. All is well that ends well :)

Not only was the mix delicious, healthy, and bodybuilding diet friendly, it's also gluten free! The nutrition for the entire recipe (sans the additional eggs, banana slices and maple syrup shown here) works out to approximately 371 calories, 14 grams of fat, 30 grams of carbs, and 35 grams of protein. Can't beat that! 

Even though I now live in a warm climate and the allure of cold-weather seasonal foods like gingerbread isn't quite as strong as it once was, I'd still make these again. I'd even serve them to company they were that good! Give 'em a try and let me know how you like them! xo

Home Sweet Home In The 305

Good Morning all you gym rats out there! What an absolutely fantastic morning it is too! Of course every morning (well, every minute pretty much) of the past 4 days has been superb as well as I am officially a Miami resident!!!!!!! Okay, before all you fans of my historically sarcastic attitude get ready to barf, I'll admit I've been a bit on the overly positive side lately but I just can't help it! If you've been following me on Twitter @PortlandGymRat then you'll know just how happy I've been since arriving in this gorgeous sunny state! I've been wanting to blog sooner but due to a mishap with Comcast (Side-note: DO NOT ever ever ever use that company if you don't have to; their customer service is abominable!) I did not get internet connection until last night and was angrily over-dipping into my cell phone's data plan to use the internet all week long.

As I type I am sitting on my balcony, nicely shaded by a giant palm tree, overlooking my pool. Yeah, I live in a fucking paradise! I don't know why anyone would want to live anywhere else. I am so meant to be here! It's a slightly breezy day which nicely offsets the hazy-humid 81 degrees Fahrenheit it currently is at 10:00 am. This morning I awoke around 6:00 am and just like every other morning since arriving here I made breakfast and sat out on my patio dining al fresco while the sun began to rise and the world around me remained asleep. The sun rises a bit later here than in Maine but I'll take it since that means it also sets later and thus I'm not feeling like it's bedtime at 4:00 pm!

Post breakfast I drove across the street to my new favorite gym ever, Porky's, and trained back and core (I really don't even need to drive it's that close!) for a couple of hours. The gym is so totally me it could not be more perfect. It's like old school Bally's or Gold's. No frills but has all the necessary equipment, people are actually in there to put in work, not to socialize and chat on their cell phones while hogging all the equipment you need, and it's filled with actual FIT PEOPLE! On my second day there I not only met a trainer who is a local NPC show promoter but was also invited to join the bodybuilding team of a well-known successful bodybuilder! More on that at a later date as I need to meet with him and go over the details before I commit but how cool is that?! With all the effort I put into my diet and training, it feels so good to be recognized like that by a total stranger!

After my workout today I scooted next door to Publix (grocery store) and loaded back up on meat and veggies (I've been eating a ton of delicious fresh fish for dinner!) and then came home to walk Mugsy and shower. I think he is really loving it here too. He's getting so much more exercise since it's not a fucking tundra outside and he gets to enjoy being out on the patio with me all the time as well. The rest of my days since getting here have been filled-up with random errands and I'm feeling pretty comfortable getting around the area now. Yesterday I went to my school to check out the bookstore and it's literally on the same street that I live on. My whole world is literally so close, how perfect is that?! The only thing still causing me stress right now is my lack of finding a job but I'm applying to anything and everything I come across so hopefully something works out quick. Living in this palm tree paradise ain't cheap!

I noticed not too far from here a sign advertising a farmer's market on Sunday's from 10-3 so I am looking forward to checking that out tomorrow. I hope it's good. If I could get fresh grapefruits and oranges each week I might actually need a depressant I'd be so high on cloud 9 LOL!

One thing I've been wanting to write about lately is how many people over the past month have sent me messages via Linked-in, Facebook, Twitter, etc. along the lines of "What you're doing is so risky" or "That really takes guts" or "I wish I had the nerve to do something like that". The thing is though, I don't feel gutsy at all. I feel like I had just been so miserable for so long that this was my only choice. I needed to be in a new area. I needed warm weather. I needed to meet new people. I needed a new career. A new future. New experiences. Yeah, moving is a pain and it's extremely expensive and oftentimes stressful but you know what? It's worth it if you wake up and suddenly all the negatively that had been weighing you down for 7 years is gone and you can't wait to take on the day because you know only new and exciting experiences are ahead of you. Everything ALWAYS works out in the end, just remember that. You might have to go through hell to get there but if you want something you can have it if you work for it. Take that step. Just go for it. Don't live vicariously through someone else's experiences wishing you had the balls to go after your dreams. Go after them now before it's too late and you're 65 or 70 years old, finally retiring from a career that brought you no personal satisfaction, and you're ready to do whatever it is you've always wanted to do only you can't because you're old as fuck and you're tired and you're body doesn't work the same as it used to and you feel like you're chance is over. Anyway, I just can't stress enough that everyone who is feeling stuck in a life they don't want should just cut ties and move on. The only guarantee in life is death. Don't you want to make the most of the time you have?

People's reaction to my life change is both motivating to me and extremely saddening. More people than you realize are unhappy in the life they are living and it doesn't have to be that way.

Well I'm signing off now before I blab on any longer. I'm going to research beaches to see if there are any worth checking out that may be closer than South Beach as I do not feel like dealing with traffic today. I hope you all had a safe and happy new year and have something to look forward to in 2015! If so, please share your goals below. I'd love to hear them! 'Til next time, happy gymming :)