Staying on plan when travelling for work.

In the past I was guilty of being that person that feels like since I’m not at home I will fall off the wagon because let's face it restaurants have menus filled with hidden calories. We have no perception of portions and we certainly have no control over the ingredients. I was wrong. As I prepare to be contest ready by Dec I can't make any excuses, if I make excuses I’m only kidding myself. Who am I doing this for, you guys or myself? So when I was asked to go to Vancouver on business I didn’t get stressed I knew what my plan was and I was going to stick to it. Here is my eating and fitness journey while 4 days away from my normal routine. Keep in mind that there is a 3 hour difference with where I live, Meaning that Vancouver is 3 hours behind, which doesn't sound like much but affects a lot.

My planning started at home, I baked myself some banana cocoa muffins for my breakfasts, I wasn't going to risk not having anything to eat in the morning, and trying to find something paleo friendly at such an early time, I stuck to my grande starbucks coffee and homemade paleo muffins. For the plane I got myself some green apples (low on the glycemic index) and some apple pie larabars (found a box of 12 on sale for 16$)

I had to do Ottawa to Toronto to then connect to Vancouver so the small amount of time i had i ran around trying to find a decent salad to bring on the plane and found this awesome jerk chicken salad with mangos and pecans. Sounds expensive for a salad, 12$ but this thing was huge I could not finnish it!

When i checked in to my hotel the first thing i wanted to go check out is the gym facilities, I was pleased with the equipment and went and changed and came right back to do my workout for the day.

A bit later I met up with my co-worker/friend :) and we went scouting for a place to have diner. We settled on Milestones as it was getting late and I was starving. I decided on a bunless gluten free burger and had some toppings added, house made pico de gallo salsa, bacon, avocado and usual lettuce, tomatoe, pickle, onion and some gluten free garlic mashed potatoes.

With the time change it was really hard not to want to go to bed at 10 Ottawa time but we stayed out and shopped to try and push through so we would not be up in the middle of the night ... FAIL went to bed around 10pm Vancouver time (1am Ottawa time) but then was up at 3 am (6 am Ottawa time) and could not get back to sleep. I decided to get my gym in early (much earlier then I wanted) It made for a SUPERRRRRRRRR long next day !

The next day, had my usual muffins, and coffee and then for lunch we had to scope for a good spot, My friend already had looked at the food court for me the day before and suggested the greek place and I agreed it was the best choice. I had the chicken brochette with a greek salad, no feta or tzaziki, extra olives and a lemon wedge. i actually stuck to that for the 2 days of training as the other choices didn't seem right and this was cheap and big !

For diner we decided on a mexican sorta fast food place called Chipotle and I ordered a salad with half chicken and beef lots of salsa, and some added guacomole. It was delicious  

 We went treking for a Whole Foods as we don't have one in Ottawa and I had googled it before getting here. Off we went .. it was in a kinda dumpy part of town but we went in and I found a few snacks for the rest of the trip. Got some Kombucha fermented tea that the Paleo community raves about but I had never tried, and im not converted yet I didn't like my first try at it ... Gonna give it another go soon ... Got some coconut chips, but then found out they had sugar so could not eat them ! booo and tried some seasnax but again not for me ! so Fail ! hahaha but I still had my muffins, larabars and apples ! We bought a case of water and kept hydrated throughout the trip too. it helped that my mini fridge was empty so I filled it with my own food.

For diner we chose this place called Rogue and I went for a nice steak and veggies with sweet potatoe fries. I ate the steak and veggies first that way i was getting full and only had a bit of the fries .. but everything was yum.

On the way back, we had breakfast at the airport and I went for bacon and eggs, left the homefries and loaded up on some blackberries for the plane ride.

So you see it was easy to stay on plan and I felt good doing so ... didn't come home with extra lbs or feeling like I fell off the wagon ... I guess i've been on the wagon for a while now April 2012 and it's just part of me now ...

Playing favorites

Everyone has favorites, favorite brands, favorite scents, favorite materials, etc. I will share my favorite kitchen tools. My can't live without tools, my, if ever I have to leave the house in 60 seconds what would I grab other then my family and non kitchen related tools!


#1 is by far the Pressure cooker, I was given this tool from someone that is dear to me and it has changed my life. No other tool can ever replace this one and if it broke I would have a meltdown ... It delivers melt in your mouth, no knife needed succulent meat in 20 minutes or so. It seals the flavours and you will never look back, you can use a slow cooker for 4 hours or use this in 20 minutes

#2 is my fairly newish Epicure Selection Square steamer, while I cook my meats in the pressure cooker my sides are steaming to perfection in my microwave silicone steamer. Perfection and healthy meals in no time.

#3 My Cuisinart food processor. I use this tool to make my cauliflower rice, larabars, muffins, etc.


#4 Kitchen Aid Mixer pretty self explanatory but this thing is just a lifesaver! Love it for all sorts of baking.


#5 Julienne Peeler to make zucchini noodles ! It's not just an ordinary peeler look closely it has little separator knives.

 #6 Cuisinart ice cream maker, I make yummy paleo friendly ice cream treats that makes Ben and Jerry's seem not to tempting ...

I could probably go on as I am obssesed with anything that has to do with cooking. I think I need help but the difference between me and a small appliance hoarder is that I use ALL of mine ALL the time ... I sometimes have them all lined up on the counter cooking multiple things.

Training

After just thinking of taking up Muay Thai again, the place where my bf is training BJJ was having a promotion half price for 1 year membership so i jumped on it ... And last night was my 3rd class and I still love it ... I feel like I push my limits. I'm bruised and have muscle pain but always feel like a machine when I'm done with a class. I push myself to keep up with the men there and I just love the stress relief it gives me. It's a nice break from the gym routine, offers my body a change of pace from the gym. It's like a violent boot camp :) you get to punch and kick !

I need to take measurements and progress pics. Had lost motivation after my Jamaica trip fiasco of gaining weight and didn't think of taking pics but I have to do it soon as i won't see the progress ! Very important to keep on top of that ... another thing I must get into is tracking my calories, i think I don't eat enough, but I'll never know until i take the time to count another important part of all this.

Hope everyone is good .. train hard !

Next post will be about my work trip to Vancouver and staying on plan !

mmmmmm donuts !!!

I kind of hate that I don't take the time to blog more. Sorry folks ... As much as I want to life takes over and I forget ... It's so much easier for me to just post a pic on Facebook but there has to be more and I realise that !

So I’ve had many requests for this recipe

Chocolate coconut donuts

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 12-15 minutes
Makes: 12 large donuts

1 cup creamy almond butter, unsalted
4 eggs
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
2 tbsp. pure maple syrup (or to taste) honey can also be used
2tbsp. unsweetened organic dark cocoa
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
¼ cup of unsweetened coconut (optional)

 

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Place almond butter in a medium bowl and beat with a mixer until creamy. Add eggs, pumpkin, maple syrup, and vanilla.  Continue to beat until thoroughly blended. 

2. Add baking powder, and cinnamon. Mix well. 

3. Place batter into a well-greased donut pan, I used coconut oil.  You could use a muffin tin but they won’t be donuts!!! Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool for 10 minutes, remove from pan.