The Most Boring Food Post Ever (WIAW)

October 31, 2012 By Laura

You don’t want to go to the bathroom after me.

Anyone else having Ace Ventura flashbacks?

In the final week before my figure competition, I’ve cut out all that is good. My only vegetable is asparagus. Asparagus is like body building super food. It is low in sodium and sugar, high in protein, and a natural diuretic. My pee stinks. I don’t think I’ll ever eat asparagus again. ~~Until the next competition.~~

See my veggie drawer at the bottom? That’s nothing but asparagus. I spent $40 on asparagus. Other items in the fridge include sweet potato, spaghetti squash, chicken (5 ways), swordfish, and tuna. All of these are pre-cooked so I can eat in a hurry.

Below I’ll chronicle the 7 ~~exciting~~ meals I have to shovel down… but first a little inspiration. Monday I asked what quotes or songs inspired you to push through, and Alexandra shared to following quote:

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.” – From “The Last Lecture”

This really resonated with me, and inspired me to keep pushing all day. If it were easy everyone would be doing it!

This Halloween-themed What I Ate Wednesday is downright scary. Repetitive meals terrify me. That’s exactly what today’s post is. Sorry.

Check out my freakishly boring eats below, and then click here to head over to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons to get to see some more exciting Halloween treats.

Meal 1:

In effort to shake things up, I have been drinking my morning cocktail out of champagne glasses. It’s almost like a mimosa. ~~But not.~~

For breakfast I am allowed a protein (chicken or white fish), oatmeal, and 10 blueberries.

Yes, I said 10.

Thank god for last week’s Cinnamon-Flax Chicken creation. I think this is the only way I can eat breakfast protein.

Served with oatmeal, which I flavored with almond extract, vanilla, and an ass-load of cinnamon (that’s a technical term). And 10 blueberries. 10.

Meal 2:

Asparagus. Protein. Spaghetti. Squash, that is. I only get carbs before 2 pm now (at meals 1-3). My carbs can be oatmeal, sweet potato, or winter squash.

Here I roasted some asparagus to go with my spaghetti. While that was cooking, I made a quick sauce of lemon juice, rice vinegar, cilantro, and 1 drop of lemon Stevia (a little goes a long way). For my protein, I had a serving of my pre-cooked chicken. This one was done on a grill pan with a Mexican spice blend (sodium-free, obv).

It wasn’t half bad!

Meal 3:

I swear I don’t know what I’d do without Swordfish. The asparagus I could do without. At least I get 1/2 tsp olive oil at lunch. I drizzled my meal with Sweetwater Growers‘ Habanero-infused olive oil, and topped it with fresh basil.

Since it is Halloween, I decided to get festive for my carb at lunch. No candy for me this year, but who needs that when you have sweet potatoes? (I’m totally lying – I’d kill someone for a Halloween cookie right now.)

I turned my ‘tater into a pumpkin dessert by mashing it with a little water, lots of cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar and maple extracts, and a few drops of liquid Stevia. His face is made of oats and his stem is – what else – an asparagus tip.

Meal 4:

Seared tuna steak with a green onion, ginger, and lime sauce. More asparagus. This time in soup form. I’d like to work on this recipe and post it… it’s not ready yet.

Meal 5:

Surprise! More asparagus, this time sauteed with garlic and red pepper flakes. Topped with 1/2 tsp Sweetwater Growers‘ Rosemary-infused olive oil. And Swordfish. I miss nighttime carbs.

Meal 6:

More chicken, this one grilled in a Mediterranean spice blend. And I shook things up with… WHITE asparagus. Eaten raw with a sprinkle of cumin. Despite its phallic appearance, I normally love white asparagus; however, at this point I hate all things asparagus.

White asparagus is nearly identical to green nutritionally speaking, but it is white due to having been kept out of the light. The flavor is slightly milder then green, and it’s a little softer. They sort of taste like endive to me.

Meal 7:

No more dessert for me. Sort of.

Dessert chicken, anyone? In the South people eat chicken and waffles for breakfast sometimes. Gladys Knight has a famous restaurant based on the concept! With this in mind, I tossed this chicken with a little maple extract and cinnamon before baking. Then I sprinkled everything with more cinnamon… even the asparagus.

Not bad. Would be better with a waffle. And syrup. Mmmmm… sugar…

It’s also Foodie Penpal reveal day!!!

Emily sent me a delicious box of goodies. At least I think they are delicious… since it’s not asparagus, I can’t eat it until after I walk of that stage Saturday night. 🙂 That chocolate granola is coming with me though!!

***

The protein count for the day: 192g. The sodium count: 602.8mg (all from the protein!). The sugar was 17.7g.

Driving home from posing practice last night I was stuck between a Krispy Kreme truck and a Pabst Blue Ribbon truck. I subsequently gave the universe the finger.

Do you like asparagus? Does it make your pee stink? I heard it doesn’t affect some people!

What is your favorite Halloween candy? I like Reese’s. Or Snickers. Frozen.

The Good, the Bad, and the Strange

October 26, 2012 By Laura

Obviously these aren’t always mutually exclusive in my world.

Consultants will advise you to “sandwich” bad news.

If you have to deliver bad news or feedback, one theory is to begin with a positive, followed with the negative, then end on a positive. A positive sandwich. I’m not your traditional consultant – I prefer to get the bad out of the way immediately.

This bad in this post isn’t news (at least I HOPE it’s not new to anyone). I saw this on Instagram, and I think you’ll agree this spotting method is never good:

And now for the #strange but good. 🙂

~~Despite~~ Because of my insane diet, I’ve managed a good deal of #strangebutgood recently.

________________________________________________________________________________

1. Airplane Protein Muesli Pudding

2 days after the trip I chronicled in yesterday’s Healthy Traveling Food post, I had to do it again. This time I had a very early flight and brought breakfast on the plane. A (recycled) container of muesli, protein powder, strawberries, and walnuts.

Before boarding, I asked the coffee shop for a larger glass so I could mix it up without spilling on the plane. Once seated, I asked the flight attendant for some water to make it a pudding-like consistency.

Not too shabby… but I’m fairly certain the person next to me though I was insane.

2. Chicken ‘n Pears

This was from before most of the fruit was cut from my diet, but I had to share because it was a very #strangebutgood breakfast!

I cubed some pre-cooked chicken and sautéed it was a diced pear in a quick sauce of low-fat coconut milk (NOT as good and the real thing), cardamom, and ground flax. I had my doubts about this one, but it was pretty good… ~~it would have been even better for dinner over some parsnip rice~~.

3. My New Brinner

This kind of goes with #2 above. Brinner normally is breakfast for dinner. Lately I’ve been eating dinner for breakfast. At least that’s what it feel like when I’m eating chicken at 8am.

If you’re going to have to eat chicken at breakfast, I recommend my Cinnamon-Flax Chicken. It almost make it like breakfast. The roasted grapefruit on the side was fabulous, and I coated my no-sodium Ezekial toast with fantastically creamy new peanut flour combo.

Peanut Flour Spread

1 T peanut flour
2 T Greek yogurt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp butter vanilla extract (yes, this combo does exist – I found it at Home Goods)
2-3 drops liquid Stevia

4. Chocolate Red Cabbage Ice Cream

The consensus last night on Instagram is that this is strange. I can’t take credit for this strange idea though! The Vitamix demo guy always makes a red cabbage “ice cream” when he’s at Whole Foods. His doesn’t have protein (I think he just adds apple juice), so I’ve been making my own post-workout Chocolate Red Cabbage Ice Cream.

Once you get over the color, it’s really quite good. You can’t taste the cabbage, and it adds a lot of volume so you feel like you’re eating a gigantic bowl of ice cream.

Chocolate Red Cabbage Ice Cream

90g red cabbage (~1 C)
1 scoop chocolate protein powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp Guar Gum (optional, but adds creaminess)
7-8 drops liquid stevia
Ice + water, to taste

Place everything in your high-speed blender and mix until creamy.

Notes:

If your protein powder isn’t very chocolate-y, try adding some coca powder or chocolate extract
You could do this in a smaller blender, but you need to be sure you cabbage is cut into small piece before blending.

5. Lee’s Cauliflower Tuna Hummus

Lee @ In My Tummy was holding me to my idea to start a #strangebutgood link up… but I’ve been so busy with work travel and training that I haven’t been able to organize it. Being the awesome blogger she is, she agreed to share her #strangebutgood creation anyway!

Starting with a recipe for Cauliflower Couscous as the base, Lee funk-ed it up by adding tuna and hummus. Brilliant!!! From Lee: “It was surprisingly good!”

Totally trying this.

***

I really am going to do the link up. My competition is November 3rd and I hope to get myself together after that. #thebestlaidplans

Have you had any #strangebutgood items lately?

How do you prefer to give/receive bad news/feedback?

Healthy Traveling Food (BYOP)

October 25, 2012 By Laura

Operation Bring Your Own Protein (BYOP) is in full swing.

Keeping it clean while traveling is daunting. Traveling while on a competition diet is downright terrifying.

When I realized I was going to have to fly to a client meeting at 3 weeks out from my competition, I immediately ~~panicked~~ started planning. Eating 7 meals per day is hard enough without throwing airport security, conference rooms, and clients into the mix.

I had to think about what I could transport, how I could keep it at a safe temperature (food poisoning isn’t the ideal way to cut pre-contest), and what I could do to avoid disrupting meetings when I needed to eat.

The packing process was simple.

I gathered all of the dry/room temperature foods and packed most of them in my suitcase.

The refrigerated stuff I measured out in advance and divided it into baggies. This was my effort to avoid the last-minute panicked rush to get out the door. All I needed to do was pull everything out and put it in a cooler when it came time to leave (the panicked rush still ensued… but food prep wasn’t the cause).

The following 8 meals were all eaten on the fly (tee hee). I thought a meal-by-meal explanation would be easiest to follow, but there are bullets tips at the bottom if you don’t feel like reading the whole post (I know it’s long).

1. Airport Dinner

My flight was scheduled to depart at dinner time. For this meal, I needed a protein, a carb, and 2 vegetable servings. Of course, my flight was delayed… which was fine since it enabled me to spread out and eat dinner at the gate.

Chicken
Spinach salad (squirted with lime just before leaving the house)
Zucchini and celery sticks
Butternut squash cubes

2. Plane Snacks

No peanuts for me! This meal required a protein and a vegetable. I enjoyed homemade fro-yo. The night before leaving, I mixed peanut flour, cinnamon, and a little Stevia into a single serving container of Greek yogurt. Then I wrapped foil around it and stuck it in the freezer.

By the time I was ready for this snack, it had thawed just enough to be a fro-yo treat! It was also dark on the plane – sorry for the fuzzy pic.

Added bonus: the frozen container helped keep my other items in my bag cool.

3. Dessert

I bought an orange, but spied apples in the hotel lobby and opted for that instead. I made a peanut butter-chocolate protein “pudding” dip for my apple using protein powder, peanut flour, and water. Stirred up in a hotel cup (I never use the glass cups – according to an ABC expose those are NOT properly cleaned).

4. Room Service Breakfast

The night before I filled out the breakfast order form and hung it on my door. (Tip: time the delivery so that it also acts as wake up call.) Breakfast consists of fruit, a protein, and a carb. I request oatmeal prepared with water only (no milk, butter, or salt), fresh fruit, and coffee. Pretty basic, right?

Then I request some special sides: ice water and tons of lemon (a cleansing way to start the day since I couldn’t bring my apple cider vinegar cocktail), and cinnamon. Sometimes I ask for peanut butter too, but that wasn’t on the meal plan this week.

In my oatmeal went ground flax seed and protein powder brought from home, the hotel cinnamon, and blueberries from the fruit plate. Brown is beautiful.

5. A Bathroom Snack

Meal 2 had to be eaten at an awkward time. No one else in the meeting was eating, and I needed a protein and a fruit. I packed my Curried Tuna Salad (sans apple) in a baggie. It is delicious, but curry and tuna have a strong scent.

One of the benefits of being female is that I can bring my bag to the bathroom without anyone questioning me. this is exactly what I did. I camped out in the Ladies with my tuna and a fruit squeeze. I promise it tasted better than it looks in that baggie.

6. Bringing In Lunch

Predictably, they ordered sandwiches for lunch. I needed a protein, a carb, and a vegetable. I can’t have “regular” bread or deli meat, so I brought my own carb and protein. Curried chicken and butternut squash cubes.

I took a gamble that they would have vegetables and I was right. Carrot sticks and celery, courtesy of the deli.

7. Taxi To-Go

My afternoon snack is a protein and a vegetable. I had one last serving of chicken – this time it was an herbed flavor. I saved celery to eat at the end of the trip, as it’s the most travel-friendly veggie. It can take a lot of abuse!

8. Airplane Food Doesn’t Have to Suck

Well, it doesn’t suck when you bring your own. I had a packet of low-sodium tuna, peanut flour, a seasoning packet, red pepper flakes (stolen from pizza day at my office), and previously frozen edamame. In the airport I purchased a salad. They didn’t have a plain one, so I had to throw out the deli meat. I hate to waste, but what was I going to do with all that salty deli meat?

On the plane I assembled my meal. From the flight attendant, I requested water to mix my peanut flour and seasoning. I put the tuna and edamame on the salad, then drizzled my spicy peanut dressing on top. Delicious and pretty!

The lady next to me was a sleep and didn’t even stir at the smell of tuna. 😉

See? Not that hard, as long s you plan!

Here are the 10 things I keep in mind on every trip.

INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE?

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***

It seems complicated at first; however, this process was really quite simple. I have done it repeatedly, and use the same tips to pack for long work days and in-town conferences.

Do you have any travel tips to share?

What “kid” food do you buy for yourself?

Cinnamon-Flax Baked Chicken + WIAW

October 24, 2012 By Laura

You don’t realize how much you love something until it’s gone.

I only endorse this statement as it relates to food. 😉

This week’s diet change s to seriously cut sugar to help my abs come in. *crossing fingers* This means I go from 3 servings of fruit a day to 1 serving of berries (they are low in sugar) at Meal 1.

Next week I cut fats, which will suck. I’m cherishing my nuts (#thatswhatshesaid) and salmon while I can this week!

In other news, I finally bought and hung my pull up bar!

I did 100 pull ups UNASSISTED yesterday. Don’t be too impressed – I did 10 sets of 10 and it took a while. 😉

I didn’t do so well at making my eats Halloween-themed for What I Ate Wednesday. It’s getting harder to do anything super-creative, but I did my best! Check out my “special” low sugar, low sodium, high protein, super-clean eats below (it makes me tired just listing all that), and then click here to head over to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons to get to see how normal people ate in spirit of Halloween this week!