Gettin’ Jacked ON Caffeine
This is slightly controversial because many will argue that consuming caffeine before a workout isn’t safe. So before I go on about how much I love caffeine pre-workout I’ll cover the negative arguments:
– It can have a diuretic effect, which can lead to cramping if you aren’t well hydrated
– It can increase heart rate (so if you already have a high heart rate or are not well conditioned this is probably a bad idea for you)
– It can make you nauseous, have difficulty breathing, cause anxiety, and make you jittery. So if you are very sensitive to caffeine, pre-workout is probably not a good time to consume it, if ever.
Now that that’s out of the way let’s talk about why some folks like myself, love it.
– It stimulates the nervous system so it will increase mental focus, energy production and acuity.
– According to Preworkout.com, ” It reduces reaction time to physical and visual stimuli, increases the heart and respiratory rates, and may decrease symptoms of depression. The level of stimulation varies depending on several factors, including the amount used, the level of tolerance a person has to caffeine (as seen with habitual caffeine users), metabolism, and other drug use. The increased energy and focus could certainly benefit the athlete going into a strenuous workout. There are some side effects to consider, however.”
So whether you want to take it is a personal choice. How you want to get it and how much you want to take depends on your preference as well, though over 200mg is not recommended for anyone!
I love having a coffee before my workout. So I do have a couple of shakes that you can make here to get your pre-workout protein, carbs AND caffeine!! Here you go…
Frostee Flavored Protein Shake
Chocolate Banana Mocha Protein Shake
The Get In Shape Girl
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Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Bikini Competitor Pancakes
These are so versatile it’s amazing. If you can only eat 1/4 cup of oats, that works. If you are allowed more, you can add more!
If you are missing a certain flavor like for myself, I miss bananas, so I added banana extract.. but if you are more of a vanilla or almond girl, add that! Plus, there’s so many different flavors of protein powder, you can pick whatever you like! Here’s my version…
Ingredients:
1 cup egg whites/egg beaters
1 cup chopped spinach
1/4 cup oats (quick cooking, uncooked)
1/4 cup diced strawberries
1/4 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 teaspoon banana extract
Directions:
Throw it all in a bowl and mix together.
Pour into a frying pan & let cook until done on one side, then flip & cook until it’s cooked through.
Nutrition:
Calories – 217
Carbs – 19g
Fat – 0g
Protein – 33g
*You can add sugar free maple syrup to this, but I didn’t factor that into the nutrition.*
The Get In Shape Girl
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Hamburger & Broccoli Slaw
I used 93% lean ground beef because I couldn’t find anything less. I’ve used ground turkey but today I felt like I needed some red meat, when my body tells me this, I gladly listen.
Ingredients:
6 ounces lean ground beef
1 cup broccoli slaw
1/4 cup onion
Directions:
Put it in a pan, mix together, cover and let meat cook.
Nutrition:
Cals – 321
Carbs – 13g
Fat – 12g
Protein – 41g
The Get In Shape Girl
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Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 4 so far )Bikini Show Prep Update #12/ 2 Weeks Out
Holy crap. It’s here.. it’s really happening. OMG.
So not a lot to update you guys on. My weight is down to 120 – 123.
I’ve been going to posing class twice a week.. for an hour on Fridays and two hours on Sundays. It’s so helpful to walk, smile and pose in front of our coaches. It’s way more intimidating to do it in front of them than it is to do it on my own, which I have been doing a lot of.
I steal the key to the yoga room where there’s a wide open space a mirror at my gym. I can be alone there in my heels with Britney blasting on the speakers. I am trying to take on a totally different persona but it’s weird. I’m so not the kind of girl who wants to be on stage in a tiny bikini and heels.
I thought I was.. I mean, I love attention and I love being pretty but as it turns out, I’m kind of more of a dude than a super girly girl. But I think I got into the whole thing because I love lifting. Ryan and I were talking about that this weekend actually.. how my favorite things in life are eating, lifting and pooping. I really am a dude, huh?!
So this week I’ve been eating a lot of fish. I’ll leave you guys with some very useful and important facts about fish and why it is awesome. I personally enjoy tilapia, mahi, salmon and tuna. There’s obviously a lot of other fish in the sea, but I don’t know if I like them. I know I like these and have a lot of recipes in the recipes section of my blog. Anyway, here’s some fun facts:
– Research has shown that fish oil can reduce morning stiffness and the number of painful joints in rheumatoid arthritis patients
– Fish oils help prevent heart disease, depression, and cancer
– Increasing the amount of Omega-3 fatty acids has direct effects on serotonin levels 🙂
– Fish oils decrease inflammation
And now, progress pics…
The Get In Shape Girl
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Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 8 so far )Carbo-Loading
This Monday is the Boston Marathon, one of the most popular of all the marathons in the world and my boyfriend is running. As you all know I am training for Ms. Bikini April 30th, so only 12 days after his 26.2 mile stroll.
So this means his eating habits couldn’t be any more different than my own.
Granted, when nearing a run of this magnitude, I don’t think eating anything that could potentially upset the stomach would be a good idea, when you area gearing up for this kind of race, you can generally have a pretty lax diet. This includes and lots and lots of carbohydrates. For my training, my carbohydrates (minus veggies) are depleting by the day.
Carb loading is the act of adding more carbs to your diet so you increase the amount of fuel in your muscles to improve your ENDURANCE activity.
By endurance I mean more than a 5k people. This is an event that should last about 90 minutes or more.
According to the Mayo Clinic, ” Any physical activity you do requires carbohydrates to provide you with fuel. For most recreational activity, your body uses its existing energy stores for fuel. But when you engage in long, intense athletic events, your body needs extra energy to keep going. The purpose of carbohydrate loading is to give you the energy to complete an endurance event with less fatigue, improving your athletic performance.”
Carb loading also doesn’t mean just a pasta dinner the night before a race. Honestly, if you aren’t used to a pasta dinner, it wouldn’t be advised the night before a race because who knows what will happen to your digestive system.
How To Carb Load Properly…
About a week before your event you want to increase your carbohydrate intake to 50 – 55% of your daily caloric intake (a DISASTER if you are a fitness competitor, like myself) should be from carbohydrates. That means vegetables, fruit and starches.
And 3 – 4 days out, 70 – 75% of your daily caloric intake should be from carbohydrates.
During this process you should be scaling back your activity level to very little if at all. So if you don’t think you can make the full 26 miles, 3 days ahead of the race isn’t the time do your last long run.
So can you imagine what it’s been like lately with one runner in the house consuming carbs like it’s his job while I’m carb depleting and wondering why my belly is still poking out so far?!
Here’s a few examples of how our eating habits have differed this week:
Wednesday night’s dinner – I had mahi and veggies. Ryan had mahi, veggies and brown rice.
Thursday’s breakfast – Ryan had two servings of an unmeasured amount of oatmeal. I got a 1/4 cup of oats.
Friday – Ryan ate fruit and bagels before heading to dinner where he got breaded salmon with mashed potatoes. The he went for ice cream. I had seared tuna, asparagus and a stick of gum.
Saturday – Ryan had pizza. I had tupperware chicken and brussel sprouts.
While his food sounds fantastic and mine sounds bland and so not glamorous, I don’t think I could stand the feeling of bloat or softness endurance athletes have to deal with.
So I’ll take my chicken, fish and veggies while I watch him cross the finish line knowing that in less than two weeks I’ll be walking proudly across that stage at Mohegan Sun!!
The Get In Shape Girl
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Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )Mahi with Mango and Peppers
I needed to eat a piece of fish and had some random things in my house, so I threw a quarter cup of chopped mango and a handful of frozen red, green & yellow peppers in a pan and cooked until the fish was cooked through. That took all of about 5 minutes.
Calories – 151
Carbs – 12g
Fat – 1g
Protein – 25g
The Get In Shape Girl
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