Mini Tex-Mex Turkey Meatloaves

Here is the direct link to the recipe for Mini Tex-Mex Turkey Meatloaves. The recipe makes 12 muffin sized meatloaves and there are two muffins in a serving for only 184 calories. This is an easy and delicious recipe and makes enough for six meals. The picture included is a picture of what I made. The only thing I don't use is the cheese.
http://www.readyseteat.com/recipes-Mini-Tex-Mex-Turkey-Meatloaves-5191.html

Weekly Update - Week 1 of Carb Cycling

As I mentioned for part of my accountability I'll be posting my weekly updates. Weigh-ins will be weekly and then measurements every other week. This week was just a weigh-in.

So I just finished week 1 after getting back on carb cycling and I was down 2.2 pounds! We all have our big "why" of why we are working out and becoming healthier and have that big final goal in mind, but we also have those other "whys" that we will set small goals. For example you might want to lose a certain amount of weight in time for a class reunion, milestone birthday, or in my case I get to go see my all time favorite band Def Leppard July 9th! The goal I set is a realistic goal, but it'll be challenging; but that's also the point of a goal. I got below 200 pounds at one point, but the over the last couple years I've just not been consistent in my nutrition. My workouts I've been great about being consistent in those, but if you're not eating properly to fuel your body it doesn't matter how much you workout you won't get results. So I did gain some of my weight back, but nothing near what I used to be, and so my goal is to be back under 200 pounds for the concert. This means I need to lose an average of 2.8 pounds a week. Again, this is a realistic, and even healthy goal, but it will be challenging. So, I did fall about a half a pound short of what I needed to lose this week, but down is down and I'm happy with it, and it just means I'm that much closer to my goal.

Today I'm planning my meals and workouts for next week. Tomorrow I'll do my meal prep and be ready to take on week 2 of carb cycling. Next week I'm digging out one of my favorite recipes for lunches and I'll share it tomorrow. Mini Tex Mex Turkey Meatloaf! Yum! :)

Personal 8-Week Challenge - Carb Cycling & Advocare

Michael Watkins, owner of Fitness Together where I train with a personal trainer, was talking about how recently he's been consistently inconsistent. He's had his own personal things going on in his life, as we all do, but it was something I could totally relate to. I've been consistently inconsistent for over a year now. This last year I've struggled with the transition of working with different trainers, and then when he closed the downtown studio adjusting to a new trainer as well as going back to all 5:15 am sessions. Please don't think I'm blaming anything on anyone else, because everyone at FT was there for me when I needed them, it just was an adjustment I didn't do well with.

This past month or so I've done a lot of self reflecting, as well as figuring out what I need to do to get back on track. One thing I realized is I've gotten away from a lot of those good habits, as well as not really following a meal plan. So, in looking at what I should do to start getting results again, as I have gained some of my weight back, I asked myself "What was I doing when I got my best results?" and "What was I doing when I was feeling my best?" And to answer those two questions, I was getting my best results when I was doing carb cycling and I always felt my best when I was taking the Advocare supplements. So what I decided to do, and I started this week, is to combine the two things and see what kind of results I get in 8-weeks.

I had a few people asking exactly what I'm doing and so I decided to post it here so others will know, but also for accountability. I'll make sure to give weekly updates on my progress. I'll be weighing in weekly each Saturday. And then my trainer will do my measurements every two weeks. To make sure I'm staying on track, I'm doing a strict nutrition and workout journal and then sending it daily to my trainer. If this is something you are interested in doing, I suggest you get an accountability buddy that you will report to, and if you don't they hold you accountable by asking for your journal or how your weigh-in went. If you don't know of anyone you truly feel will help you and hold you accountible, I can be your buddy, just ask.

So, what exactly am I doing? Well, Carb Cycling is basically cycling out low and high carb days. By Carb Cycling you can set your metabolism to "high" on high carb days and keep it from slowing down too much on low carb days. (This explanation is from Michael Watkins who provided me the Carb Cycling plan) There are two templates, the Basic and then the Turbo. Then there is a what they call a Slingshot week that you do every 4th week of the cycle. I'll now list the templates, what each meal will consist of, what I'm doing over the next 8-weeks including the Advocare, and a snippet of an example of what and how I'm journaling. 

BASIC

Monday - Low

Tuesday - High

Wednesday - Low

Thursday - High

Friday - Low

Saturday - High (weigh-in)

Sunday - Low (reward meal*)

*PLEASE NOTE: It's a reward meal, not the entire day

TURBO

Monday - Low

Tuesday - Low

Wednesday - High

Thursday - Low

Friday - Low

Saturday - High (weigh-in)

Sunday - Low (reward meal*)

*PLEASE NOTE: It's a reward meal, not the entire day

SLINGSHOT

(This one do once every 4th week)

Every day is a high carb day

Still weigh-in Saturday

Still allow your reward meal* on Sunday

*PLEASE NOTE: It's a reward meal, not the entire day

But, what does a Low Carb vs. a High Carb day look like? Well, it's actually pretty simple. On high carb days you're mainly eating protein, healthy carbs, and veggies for your meals. And on low carb days you're getting a healthy carb for breakfast, but after that you're getting your protein, healthy fats, and veggies.

HIGH CARB

Breakfast - protein, healthy carb, veggies

Snack #1 - protein, healthy carb

Lunch - protein, healthy carb, veggies

Snack #2 - protein, healthy carb

Dinner - protein, healthy carb*, veggies

*Carbs at dinner on high carb days are okay, but I personally choose not to eat carbs at night

LOW CARB

Breakfast - protein, healthy carb, veggies

Snack #1 - protein, healthy fat

Lunch - protein, healthy fat, veggies

Snack #2 - protein, healthy fat

Dinner - protein, healthy fat, veggies

Here's an example of how my journal looks in tracking my meals and workouts

Now, that's the Carb Cycling, and as in regards to the Advocare supplements as you can see from my journal I drink an Advocare Spark with the Advocare fiber to get extra fiber that I need, Omegaplex with breakfast and lunch, Catalyst before my morning workout and dinner, and then of course before bed the Nighttime Recovery. You can get great results just by following the Carb Cycling plan, but if you are interested in the Advocare products for the additional supplements click on the link below. Michael Watkins, who I've trusted my own personal health and fitness for the last seven years, is a distributor and this is his link to the products. You can check the products out and feel free contact him with questions, or you can shoot me a message and I can get any information for you.

Advocare - Michael Watkins

So, now you're probably asking, "What template should I use?". Well, you need to always make sure you're following something that supplements your activity level as well as what your goals are. Starting with the Basic plan is the typical recommendation, and then when you plateau can change to the Turbo plan. Again doing the Slingshot week once every 4th week. Last time I did Carb Cycling, which I did for almost 3 years, I did the Basic plan for several months and then went to Turbo for a couple months, then back to Basic. But, as I mentioned I'm actually doing something a little different and will see what kind of results I get over the next 8-weeks. So here's what I'm doing.

WEEK 1 - BASIC

WEEK 2 - BASIC

WEEK 3 - BASIC

WEEK 4 - SLINGSHOT

WEEK 5 - TURBO

WEEK 6 - TURBO

WEEK 7 - TURBO

WEEK 8 - SLINGSHOT

I will be posting weekly weigh-in updates and then updates every two weeks on my measurements. I think I've covered it all from how to follow the Carb Cycling plan to what exactly I plan on doing. If you have questions, feel free to shoot me a message.

Don't Let Anyone Discourage You

I know I haven't been posting like I should here on the blog, but want to catch everyone up on my most recent accomplishment. If you're on my personal Facebook page, or follow me on Instagram, then you know I've been focused on working on a new goal.

I started my Taekwondo journey just a few months ago back in November at Jenks Martial Arts Academy (JMAA). As you all know I'm always looking for ways to grow and challenge myself. I've done races, including a couple half marathons, I've done boxing and participated in an open sparring event, and so I figured why not Taekwondo. It's something that would challenge me physically, as well as mentally, and with the various ranks of belts I've always got something to works towards.

When I first started telling people about signing up for this class, as usual I had a lot of support from my trainers at Fitness Together, friends, and family; but as usual I had that handful of people who had something negative to say. The three comments that really stood out were....

• "You're crazy. You already workout too much." 
• "Aren't you too old to start something like that?"
• "What made you decide to take that class? It's going to be hard."

This past weekend in Newton, Kansas our school competed in the Kansas State Martial Arts Championships. When our chief instructor, and owner of JMAA, Mr. Dunham started talking about this tournament I didn't think much about it. But, then thought it might be a good idea to go watch so when I am ready to compete I'll know what to expect. So, I asked Mr. Dunham if I could go and watch and he said, "Absolutely!" And then he gives me that sly grin and says, "Or, you could go and compete." Hmm...not sure about that, I've only been doing this for a few months. But, as usual, I meditated on it and thought this is the reason I started this journey. This is what I need to get out of my comfort zone and challenge myself. So I decided to go and compete. I wasn't expecting to place in anything, but just knowing the experience alone would help me grow and learn. I ended up competing in three events and I ended up placing in all three in my divisions.

The first competition I did was for my pattern/form technique. I placed third in this event and I believe that helped me be more confident in the other two events. The second event I participated in was The Ultimate Striker where I placed first. And the final event was one point sparring where I also placed first!

This experience was so amazing and I had so much fun! Afterwards on the drive home I thought about, not only what all I've accomplished in the last seven years since starting my health and fitness journey, but all that I wouldn't have accomplished had I allowed those negative people and comments to discourage me from going after the goals I want to attain.

To address those three comments about my Taekwondo journey....

• I'm not crazy, nor do I workout too much. I'm just determined to be better than I was yesterday.
• No I'm not too old. I'm not too old to accomplish any goal I set my mind to as long as I don't allow myself to get inside my own head with the negative thoughts.
• I decided to take this class because I needed something to get me out of my comfort zone and challenge myself. And if I'm not setting goals that will be hard then I'm not challenging myself, nor will I be able to grow and improve physically, emotionally, or mentally.

And, to those people who always have something negative or sarcastic to say when I mention something new I want to work towards, all that does is fuel me to work harder towards accomplishing my goals. Just because it's something you won't do, doesn't mean it's something I can't do. So, always make sure you are setting personal goals that will better you and your life and don't ever let anyone discourage you.