What I eat... in a nutshell: Part one

Yep you guessed it. I eat clean. That means no packaged or processed foods. I eat as clean as I can, obviously there are some things that I add or have once in a while that are packaged or processed in some way. I am going to post some photos of some of the things that I eat on a daily basis. My diet right now as I am preparing to compete mainly consists of egg whites, chicken, fish, oatmeal, brown rice, vegetables, clean protein shakes and healthy fats.

Fail to prepare or prepare to fail! I always have my food prepared and packed in some kind of a lunch kit. It is also very important to eat every 2-3 hours to keep your blood glucose levels stable. It also keeps you from getting to hungry and running the risk of binging. Over the last 6 months I have done a lot of repairing to my metabolism which I will talk about in another entry but I will say that keeping your blood glucose levels stable is a great way to support a healthy metabolism. 6 small meals 6 times a day will keep your metabolism working and revved up. When you become too hungry your body goes into starvation mode and begins to store absolutely everything you eat so therefore if you trick your body into being full it will be more likely to let go of that unwanted fat.

Breakfast!!! The most important meal of the day! I still do believe it is.... The reason being is that as soon as you eat your metabolism starts working. So I recommend eating within 1 hour of waking up. The first photo is egg whites with spinach and salsa with a side of plain oatmeal with hemp hearts. I sweeten my oatmeal with splenda brown sugar and cinnamon. I don't use very much artificial sweetener anymore simply because they are foreign to the body and hard to digest. The other thing I noticed is how much they made me crave sugar. If I had more than one diet pop a day I found myself craving chocolate and sweets, which I no longer crave by the way! So I only use half a teaspoon of splenda brown sugar in my oatmeal. The second photo is my egg white muffins. I love them because they are super easy to make and very easy to bring for an on the go morning snack. Simply pour egg whites into muffin tins and add vegetables of your choice. Bake for about 12 minutes and tada! egg white muffins. You can also add a small amount of turkey bacon. Make sure that you spray the pan with non cook spray or line with oil as they will stick.

Next food group...healthy fats. This was a huge mistake I was making when I was dieting before. I never ate any healthy fats. I was scared to because of the fat and calories. I have learned recently that your body needs fat to burn fat and will readily get rid of fat when you supply it with the fat it needs. Our cells need fat to repair

themselves and survive. We also need healthy fats for the growth of our hair and nails. Since I have been eating clean my hair has grown 6 inches!!!! Yep you heard me right. Six inches in about 6 months!!!! Crazy! Obviously my body was lacking them all this time. So I eat 3-4 servings of healthy fats a day. Some examples are 1 tablespoon of hemp hearts, 12 grams of almonds or a tablespoon of walnut oil (or another healthy oil) like olive or avocado oils. Avocado itself is great in salads as well. So if you aren't including these in your diet start now! A great way to include a healthy oil is to make it into a salad dressing. Mix 1 tablespoon of oil with a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and your choice of spices and a squeeze of lemon juice, its delish!

These oils and balsamic vinegars are a great option for making salad dressings as well as for pouring over asparagus to bake or for making kale chips. Simply coat the vegetable of choice and season and then bake. These little oil and vinegar sets are available at the farmers market.

Well I'm off to the gym now. Training legs today with my amazing trainer!!!! Can't wait! I will continue "What I eat in a nutshell" part 2 later:)