The Hunger is Real!!

Good afternoon!  Sundays are for family and housework in our family.  (Although instead of housework, I'm enjoying another cup of coffee in front of my kitchen window right now!)  Today we'll head off to church, enjoy some time time together, and I'll work on whittling down the ever-present pile of laundry and prep some veggies for the week.

It's been a bit busy around here.  I haven't posted in a while, so I have quite a bit to share today.  The first is a new recipe.  The hunger is real, folks.  I've reached that point in my prep diet where I'm getting lean, and of course, my body fights that.  It is what it is.  Competing in bodybuilding shows involves dieting to a typically unnaturally lean state - I don't walk around looking stage-ready all the time - so I'm going to have some hunger.  

And - truthfully, I'm dieting.  If you're currently eating in a caloric deficit, you should expect to be hungry at times.  I expect it.  I don't want to sugarcoat things and be like, "look at me, I ain't even sufferin".  (I'm NOT suffering, but I am drinking a ton of water and using some serious will power to make it through those late-night chocolate cravings!)  My pastor said something once that really stuck with me, and I've found immense truth in this statement:

"Saying 'no' empowers us."  

That is one of the things I love about bodybuilding.  Developing my self-control in the gym - pushing through fatigue, bad days, giving effort when I didn't feel like I could or have the desire to - and exercising self-discipline in my nutrition has spilled over in life.  I am more motivated outside the gym because of what I learned about myself inside the gym and the skills I developed there.

I also prefer a lot of whole, unprocessed foods because I feel better when I eat them - more alert, more energy, less digestive issues.  I incorporate them into recipes all the time.  That's not to say I don't enjoy treats, too - because anyone who knows me knows that my Achilles heel rests smack in the center of a gooey, warm chocolate chip cookie.   More of that "balance" I like to talk so much about.  =P

So what's a dieting girl who loves food and loves to eat to do?!

Create new recipes and try new things, of course!

This fantastic dish hit the spot at 32g protein, 19g carbs, and 2g fat and just a little over 300 calories.  At this point, I'm interested in volume of food - pasta is nice, but I need more than a 1/4 cup serving size!  (I told you, this girl likes to eat!)  I picked up a package of Nasoya Pasta Zero Plus, and used it in this recipe.  I hadn't tried it before, but at 7g carbs for the entire package, I was willing to give it a shot!  I'll be honest, the texture is different, so if that's important to you, you may not like these.  I couldn't eat it in a marinara with a meatball, that's for sure, but with different textures incorporated, it was delicious and filling.  Win-win!

And yes, I know my turkey looks weird.  I cook all my turkey as burgers so it's easy to eat on the go, and crumble it later if I need to.  Who has time for spoons?  Not this busy mama!

Spicy Turkey Spaghetti

4.5oz 99% Fat Free Ground Turkey Breast
1 package Nasoya Pasta Zero Plus spaghetti (166g)
1 small yellow squash, thinly sliced (133g)
1/4 cup Light Ragu Tomato & Basil pasta sauce (66g)
Cajun spice blend to taste (or other preferred seasoning)
(makes 1 serving)

I cooked my turkey burgers first, seasoning them generously with Cajun spices. Saute the sliced squash in a non-stick skillet over medium heat for about 2 minutes or until half-done.  Add the spaghetti noodles and cook another 3-4 minutes, until the squash is cooked through to your desired texture and the noodles appear dry.  Add in the pasta sauce, more Cajun seasoning if desired (I did!), and cook about a minute, until heated through.  Transfer from skillet to serving dish and top with turkey.

Enjoy!  This was nice and spicy and had a good heat to it.  I really liked it and will be making it again!

Until next time...

TRAIN HARD - LIFT HEAVY - FUEL YOUR BODY - FEED YOUR FAITH

F

Never, ever, EVER give up!

Well hello, y'all!  It's been quite a while since I shared my crazy thoughts with you.  I just wanted to post a quick update so you know I'm alive, and I wanted to let you know to be watching for more posts!

Life has been hectic.  Since January, I feel like I have devoted at least half my energy to putting out fires and surviving the challenges thrown at me.   My father spent quite a bit of time in the hospital, my little girl has battled pneumonia and other winter illnesses, and in general, the winter blues hit me hard.  I have survived, though!  I kept my eyes above the waves and plowed through every obstacle with God.  

My Fueled by Faith challenge came to an abrupt halt after January.  Below freezing temps, tons of snow, rain, and ice, and the above-mentioned life events really impacted my ability to get out and train.  This month, though, I've taken up biking.  I have managed to bike at least one a week this month, and I love it!!  The furthest I've gone is about 2 miles, but considering I'd already done HIIT cardio and trained legs on biking day, it's a wonder I even survived at all!  I don't know what next month will be, but I'm going to stick with it.  I have to say, being unable to do what I say I'm going to do never sits well with me.  This has been a huge lesson in "progress > perfection" for me.  As long as I'm pushing for progress, trying to be the best I can in all aspects, I am moving forward.  Life never goes as planned!  

Speaking of "progress is greater than perfection"...one last thing before I wrap this up!  I'm 4.5 weeks out from my next show.  There were so many times I could have given up, and nobody would have blamed me for it or thought less of me.  There were days I couldn't get a workout in.  There were days I was at the hospital and I made it work with vending machine food.  (Not ideal, but I made it work!  Flexible dieting FTW!)  There were days when I had no energy, no motivation, and my workouts were mostly going through the motions.  EVERYONE HAS THOSE SEASONS.  Don't allow them to stop you from the pursuit of your goals.  I will be sharing progress pics and a few shameless selfies in the next post so you can see a glimpse of what I'm bringing to the stage in April, because in spite of all the pitfalls that could have been my downfall, I pushed forward, and I'm hoping to bring the best package to date in a few short weeks.   This was my ab self on Sunday morning:

Never, ever, EVER give up!!  

Until next time...

TRAIN HARD - LIFT HEAVY - FUEL YOUR BODY - FEED YOUR FAITH

F