Maple Pumpkin Muffins!

I've never been a big fan of pumpkin flavoured things. BUT with joining instagram, all I'm seeing are pumpkin treats! I had to give it a shot, since everything looked so delicious, and I love fall-themed foods. 
Since so many pumpkin muffin recipes were flying around, I got overwhelmed and decided to make my own. For once, I left the protein powder out. 

2 cups oat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
10 packages sweetener

1/3 cup applesauce
1/3 cup almond milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup no sugar added maple syrup
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp maple extract 
1tbsp coconut oil

3/4 cup raisins
walnuts for topping

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another, then combine and mix in raisins. 
Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin tray with parchment paper muffin cups. Divide batter between 12 cups, and top with chopped walnuts. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool on wire rack. 

ENJOY! These even passed the test of my mom, who doesn't eat clean and loves Tim Hortons pumpkin spice muffin. I wanted these to replace them for her, and I think I may have done it!

Goal Setting and Nutrition

Since taking those pictures, I've been obsessively thinking about the importance of nutrition. I KNOW how hard I worked at the gym during those 12 weeks, so why not more progress? Nutrition. Nutrition. NUTRITION. I've been hearing for years that nutrition is 80% of your progress, and I accepted this, but seeing how true it is makes it so much more relevant. 

You can't exercise off a bad diet. 

The annoying thing though? I don't have a bad diet. It just wasn't on point for my goals. If my plan was to maintain, I'd have a pretty solid diet that balanced well with my exercise. But I don't just want to maintain. I want to progress. I'm actually grateful for the wake up call, it's been helpful for motivating me. 

Right now I have all of this motivation, but I don't know where I'm going with it. Other than the gym and the produce section at the grocery store. I need a goal to stay on track.

So here it is. For the next 6 weeks I will:

1. Aim to eat about 2000 calories a day. 
2. Minimize mindless snacking (enough with the crackers and cereal!).
3. Eat at least 40 grams of fibre a day.  
4. Give myself an honest grade at the end of each day based on how well I believe I did with my eating.

How do you kickstart a new plan?
What are your goals right now?

P.S. Don't forget to check out my instagram @balancingclean :)

Turkey Chili

I'm not sure what I love more: fall weather, or fall food. Let's call it a tie. To welcome the official start of fall this past weekend, I decided to jump right into some fall cooking and make some turkey chili!
When I was a kid, chili nights used to be a big deal, and very exciting. There was just something awesome about a bowl of chili topped with a bunch of cheese, and toast and tostitos for dipping. As much as I'd love to go back to that, I decided that a healthier version was necessary. 

Here's what you'll need:

1/2 pound lean ground turkey
2 packages beef broth seasoning
1/2 package taco seasoning
2 cans of diced tomatoes (I used some with chili seasoning)
1 can tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
pepper (to taste)
chili powder (about 1-2 tbsp)
red pepper flakes (to taste)
oregano (about 1/2 tbsp)
fresh garlic  
olive oil 
chopped veggies! Here's what I used:

Add onion, 1 tbsp olive oil and 1-2 tbsp fresh garlic to a non stick pan. Let cook for a little while and then add turkey with 1 package beef broth and taco seasoning. Cook until done. 
In a large pot, all some oil, garlic and all of your chopped veggies (except tomatoes) and let cook. Once cooked, add the turkey and onions as well as the tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, fresh tomato and spices. Let this cook for a while and then add the beans. 
I had this sitting on the stove cooking for a good portion of the afternoon. I may have been distracted watching football. For 7 hours. Whoops. 
Enjoy!! This got a stamp of approval from Bran and Lee (Lee's didn't have beans though). This photo is pre-beans:

I love making soup and chili because it will last me all week for lunch :)

Body Earned: Review and Results

I don't even know where to begin with this program, except for maybe the end? I finished week 12! Happy dance! I'm really proud of myself for sticking out the whole thing and trusting the process. I'm not as proud with my nutrition - it was definitely more difficult to stay on track over the summer, especially in the last month of the program. Regardless, I don't think I can be TOO upset about finishing the summer looking like I did at the start. 

I was hesitant to post these pictures, to be honest. Once I took them and compared, I was upset because I didn't see many changes. I have to consider a few things though. The pictures on the left were taken at 6am, the ones on the right were taken at 8pm. Hello flat stomach! The photos were also taken with a different flash setting and a bit closer. But I'm not trying to make excuses! I can see some extra muscle everywhere! And I have to remind myself that this was over the summer.  Bran told me at the beginning that progress isn't for summer, and I think he wins. Summer is better for maintenance, and ta daaa! I maintained pretty well. This also really emphasizes that nutrition is 75-80% of the struggle. Had my nutrition been better over the summer, I think the photos on the left would have been MUCH different. There's some extra motivation for the rest of the year :)

 

Regardless of my nutrition, I still LOVED the workouts. The program takes you through different aspects of training, from full body workouts to body part training. It was fun to have something new everyday instead of doing the same thing over and over (which I'm doing now). The program often shocked me with what looked like an "easier" workout, until I was lying on the floor by the end of it. I find that having structure also makes it easier to stick to. I did change things here and there based on my preferences at times, but I always finished what I was supposed to do. 

I have to hand it to James though, because the best thing about this program isn't the workouts. It's the people. It's the group that you're welcomed into when you start this journey that are there to encourage you along the way. This facebook group (which you're invited to join when you purchase the program), is filled with all sorts of people. Some look like fitness models, others are just starting and have 50+ pounds to lose, but we're all working at the same thing, and doing it together. Whether you're active in the group, or you just read other people's posts and questions, it's amazing how motivating it is. James is also super active in the group, which is rare for fitness professionals. It's amazing to be able to write a question and have him respond in a short amount of time!

I'm going to be doing my own thing for the next month and a bit, but I'll be jumping right back into W1D1 in no time. In the meantime, I think it's YOUR turn to start! 
You just need to head here and message James to get started! 

LIFT! A Quick Update

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I LOVE not doing cardio! I've been absolutely loving the workouts I've been doing this week. I've done four so far, and I have my last one of the week tomorrow. I've been able to do 4 sets of everything in the hour as well, except for one exercise (split squats, barf) on leg day. 
I also cannot get over the burns I've been having. I was hoping that I'd hit 400 calories a workout, but I thought that might be wishing for too much. Other than today, my lowest burn yet has been 455! In less than an hour! Today was only about 370, I'm not sure what was different about it, but I can already tell that I'm going to be SORE, regardless of my burn! There's just something nice about knowing that I can leave everything on the gym floor with my weights, and not have to tag on 15-25 minutes of cardio at the end. I'm not sure how long this excitement of no cardio will last, but I'm hoping it's a while! I think it will depend on what kind of results I see. 
I might start posting my workouts next week so you can see what I'm doing. 
I've also found a ton of motivation from nowhere lately. I've been so excited to go to the gym, and my diet has been much cleaner. I should try to do a WIAW next Wednesday to demonstrate a bit of how I'm eating these days!

In other news, I'm SO proud of this...

Chicken Parm! and Instagram?

Big news! Not really. I got Instagram! May there never be another picture of food not filtered and posted. Jut kidding, but I hope that I can figure out how to properly make use of it. At the very least find some motivation and ideas from other people. You can find it @balancingclean, I think that's how it works. The link is also on the right hand side of the page. 

Last night I had one of my best friends (and co-worker, ish), over for dinner. Since it was his birthday on Monday, he got to pick what we were eating. Of course he picked one of the most labour-intensive meals possible (haha just kidding, Chris). Luckily, I can cook quickly, and it turned out great!

Clean Eating Chicken Parmesan

This isn't really a set in stone recipe, but here's the steps I took:

1. Hammer out chicken breasts to at least half an inch thick, or thinner if you prefer. 
2. Set up a breading station with the following three plates: Oat flour (seasoned with onion powder and pepper), egg whites (seasoned with garlic, pepper and a bit of salt) and panko bread crumbs.
3. Coat each piece of chicken in flour, then egg, then bread crumbs. 
4. Heat a skillet with cooking spray and a bit of olive oil, and fry each piece of chicken for 3-4 minutes a side. I had to do this in batches. 
5. Preheat the oven to 350.
6. Coat the bottom of a 9x12 dish with tomato sauce. You can make this homemade, but I just picked one with a good label to use. 
7. Add chicken, top with more sauce, fresh basil, and cheese and parmesan if desired. I used regular cheese for the boys, and a bit of LF cheese on mine. 
8. Cover with tinfoil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes!

And enjoy! I served mine with pasta, garlic bread and a side salad. I opted for just the chicken (I only got through half a piece!), salad and spaghetti squash. I added extra veggies to the leftover sauce to have with the pasta. 

After dinner was all cleaned up I had a bit of a sweet tooth, and made one of the best "ice creams" I've made yet! 

Later last night when I was heading to bed, I walked into our bedroom to find Lee tucked in up to his chin and reading. I couldn't resist but to tuck him in a bit more :)

See Ya Cardio!

Yes. That's correct. My new plan for the fall involves ZERO cardio. When I started this blog I wasn't exactly the cardio nut that I used to be, but it is still like a security blanket to me. Starting today it was cut though, other than a grand total of a 2.5 minute warm up and 2.5 minute cool down walk. No sprints. No running. No biking. No stairs. Nothing. Just writing this my skin is crawling, but I'm considering it an experiment to see what happens to my body and my strength. 

I created 5 workouts to follow with the split:

Tuesday: Legs/Abs
Wednesday: Back/Bis
Thursday: Shoulders/Abs
Friday: Chest/Tris
Saturday: Legs/Abs 

The general setup is 5 circuits, two exercises each (ie. one back, one bi) for 12 reps each time. I haven't decided if I'm going to do 3 or 4 sets of each - it will depend on time. Today I did 4 sets of legs/abs, except for one circuit I did 3 (damn split squats). I had a great burn, but I think I can give some of the credit to the fact that it was a leg workout. I'm hoping to be around 400 for my other days.

Not bad for no cardio!

Have you ever given up cardio?
Would it be helpful for me to post my workouts?

Kitchen Cheats

Eating healthy can be a lot of work, and a lot of prep. I think this is one of the reasons that people give up on it, or feel too overwhelmed to start. I like to do whatever I can to make my life easier during the week, so as you've seen I like to take some time on the weekend to do prep. This always includes hard boiled eggs, muffins and sometimes chopping vegetables or cooking lunches. Lately I've been more into taking leftovers for lunch than bulk cooking on Sundays. 
One of my more brilliant ideas lately has been for my smoothies. I always make my smoothies two at a time, but with everything I put in them it can still take a while. That's when I decided to make a smoothie mix. 
In a bowl I mix:
1 1/2 cups oats
1/2 cup ground flax
1/2 cup chia
1/2 cup hemp hearts
This way I get all of my superfoods in one easy scoop! I've been added psyllium husk in the morning before I drink it, just because it gels and makes the smoothie too thick if I add it the night before. 

I did try to take some progress pictures, but it didn't work out. I'm hoping to have Amy take some this weekend to post with my review :)

What are some of your kitchen cheats?

Peanut Butter Cookies

I did a leg workout on Tuesday. Today is Friday and I'm STILL not walking properly. James Wilson does NOT kid around in week 12. I'm supposed to have another leg workout today, but it's definitely being swapped for tomorrow's workout instead. Stay tuned for some progress pictures and my review of the program! Plus my plan for the next 7 weeks or so :)

I mostly got this next recipe from a blog called undressed skeleton. I've tried a few of her cookie recipes before, but they just never turn out! When this one went up I decided to give it one more go.... with a few modifications. I almost wish I hadn't made them, since I ended up eating about 6 of them yesterday, at least. 

1 cup loosely packed almond flour
3 tbsp coconut flour
1/4 cup sweetener (or more if you want the cookies sweeter)
1/2 tbsp baking soda
1 tbsp cinnamon

1/3 cup no sugar added maple syrup (I think honey would work here too)
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla

1 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)

1/3 - 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat over to 350 (My oven is hot so I actually decreased this a bit)
Mix together first 5 dry ingredients in one bowl, and first 3 wet in another then mix together. Add in peanut butter, mix and then add in melted coconut oil and mix again. Add in chocolate chips and stir. Note: I mixed everything by hand, I didn't use a mixer. 

On a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, drop dough in 1 tbsp drops and press down with fingers slightly. Bake 7-8 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack to cool!

This made close to 30 cookies, so you may want to share the love!

What's your favourite clean eating cookie recipe?

Do you have any recommendations for dealing with muscle soreness?

The Naked Sprout: Review

I tried something new last night. I went to a VEGAN restaurant. Yes, that's right. Vegan. I had an old friend from university coming to Burlington for dinner last night, and I wanted to go somewhere other than a pub. After chatting with my partial "vegan" VP (:p) at work, she mentioned the restaurant The Naked Sprout. 

I've never been a big believer in vegan diets. I think it deprives you of a lot of awesome and healthy food. Plus the vegan "meat" must be quite processed. I'd much rather eat a nice piece of chicken than have fake meat. I have to admit though, these views come from the fact that the diet just wouldn't work for me. I'm not sure there are many vegans that workout the way I do and need protein in the same amounts that I eat it. 

Anyway, I digress. And I hope I didn't offend anyone. Not that vegans would ever bother reading my blog.. it's probably pretty obvious that I love eggs. And meat. I checked out the website for the Naked Sprout, and I was intrigued enough that I decided to give it a try. 

I'm SO GLAD that I did! The restaurant is really cute, only about 10 tables or so. They have a bunch of smoothies and juices, but I opted to stick to my water. Our waitress was adorable and very sweet. I asked when we first got there if there was cilantro in the taco salad, and she went far out of her way to make sure there was none in my dish. Overall, I enjoyed the salad a lot! But I'm not saying that it wouldn't have been better with a nice chicken breast on top...

I actually liked Justin's choice better than my own. He had the primivera, which was fully raw and came cold. It was DELICIOUS! I'd love to try to recreate this dish. 

It was a really refreshing change from the food you normally get a restaurants. Everything was so fresh and healthy. I will definitely go back (Sonia - pick a day!). 
I just wish someone would open a restaurant like this with some meat, but no dairy. Is that too much to ask? ;)

Have you ever tried vegan food? 
What are your thoughts on veganism? 

Brain Food

Did I mention last week that I was excited about statistics? Well, that was short-lived. I started my reading and homework for class#2 last night, and go figure, I still HATE stats. It's confusing, and trying to teach myself the content BEFORE the lecture seems ridiculous. What's funny to me however, is thinking about my undergrad. I don't think I once read textbook material BEFORE class, if I read it at all, and I've been absolutely diligent about it for my Masters (so far). Thank God moving forward Colleen and I are going to do our homework and readings together, I guess there's my silver lining!

Lee was out last night so I was on my own for dinner. I generally revert back to when I used to live alone on these nights and didn't actually cook anything. I still managed to whip up a delicious salad though! 

About and hour and a half into my readings, I gave up. I at least put some effort in, but I'm hoping that my prof is able to explain things better in class. Since I was terribly frustrated, naturally, I wanted junk food. Luckily, I had none at my disposal. Other than ice cream and milk chocolate. Another silver lining? I can't eat that without feeling like garbage, so I can avoid it much easier. I opted for cottage cheese ice cream instead. I've made about 6 different variations of these so far, and they're quite satisfying. 

While my "ice cream" was in the freezer, I cleaned up the kitchen and got my lunch together for today. I made a huge stirfry on Monday, so that took care of lunches all week :) 
I've recently gotten bored with my egg whites every morning and decided to switch it up. I was going to wait until starting my new routine before switching up my diet, but I wasn't in the mood to chop up veggies this week.. whoops. I'm hoping that when I start my new program I'll be able to tighten up my diet a bit, I've struggled the last month or so. I'm nervous about progress pictures this weekend! Yikes. 

Anyway, here's my new obsession...

Peanut Butter Banana Overnight Oats

1/2 banana
1/3 cup egg whites
1/2 tbsp PB
1/4 cup almond milk
1/3 cup oats
1/2 scoop vanilla protein
cinnamon

I tried a new way of prepping this just last night, and it turned out delicious today!

First mash the banana and whip it in the container you're using. Then add the egg whites and whip more, then PB (and whip!) and finally the almond milk. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well, cover and refrigerate! 
You can eat it cold, but I've been heating it up for 90 seconds, stirring each 30 seconds. 

Lemon Raspberry/ Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Well here's some annoyance at it's finest. On Saturday I had an AWESOME day, I typed up a huge blog post, and it got deleted. Not impressed. It even had a ton of pictures. Anyway, here's an awesome recipe that's definitely my new favourite....

• 1 cup oat flour
• 2 scoops vanilla protein
  
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 10 packages True Lemon
• 1/2 cup egg whites
• 1/2 cup sweetener
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup water
• blueberries or raspberries (1/2-2/3 cup)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix oat flour, vanilla protein, salt, baking soda and true lemon, in large bowl.
3. Mix egg whites, sweetener, applesauce and water in a bowl.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix together.
5. Add either blueberries or raspberries. If adding blueberries, stir in with a spoon. If raspberries, I mixed with a mixer to break them up.
6. Line a muffin tin with 12 parchment paper muffin cups and distribute batter evenly.
7. Bake 17-18 minutes.

 

I made a double batch of these :)

Back to School

I've struggled, but I'm mostly back on track with my workouts, which feels great. I'm also back to class as of yesterday! I generally wouldn't be so excited about this, especially because it is a stats class, but my brilliant friend COLLEEN is taking the class too! Best news. We made it through our undergrad together, and being back in class means we have a weekly date that we can't skip. 
This is another one of the reasons that school isn't so bad...

Coffee and a pancake/crepe for a late lunch at home :)

It means that I get a day off work. And by day off, I really just mean that I don't have to go to the office. I worked my schedule out so that I shouldn't have to do any work other than responding to emails on Thursdays, but my stress level at work SKYROCKETED on Wednesday, so I worked yesterday anyway.

Lee worked late yesterday, so we didn't make it to dinner with his family like we normally do on Thursday nights. I did manage to pull together a last minute dinner though, which turned out delicious!

Hello...Motivation?

Anyone still there? I've been AWOL from not only my blog, but from my lifestyle for the last week. I'm not sure what happened for the last week of summer that veered me off course, but I veered HARD. I had zero motivation to do anything, and I still don't, but I'm trying.
I think that it was a combination of sickness/burnout that made me throw all caution to the wind, ditch the gym and ditch any structure I've ever had in my diet. 
At least I had one really great vacation to end my summer before a fresh start for September. 
This is what my last week of summer looked like...

Homemade chicken soup pairs well with colds.

Eggs at the cottage with mama!

How I spent two days... reading GOT.

This is what happens for dinner when you eat ALL DAY

Trip to TO for the CNE with some fabulous cousins :)

This morning was my first gym workout since last MONDAY. Yes. Over a week. No gym. And let me tell you, today SUCKED. But I did it. And tomorrow, I'll be there again. And Friday. And Saturday. Until it is habit again instead of torture. I have 8 workouts of Body Earned left, so I'm going to give it everything I have, and then reveal what my plan is for the fall. I just need my motivation back.
Welcome back real life. How did everyone else spend the last few days of summer?