Figure competitions were fun......but, eating and working out are more my specialty.
Its been almost 4 months since I finished my last figure competition and I am feeling almost normal. After spending the last 2 months or so trying to recover from adrenal fatigue and trying to regain menses I can actually feel myself progressing. Its been a frustrating battle, having to limit intense/long duration of exercise, eliminate caffeine, avoid sugar, sleep as much as possible. I've turned from a gym rat into a gym cat (lots of laying around on the 'stretching' mats). However, I've decided to look at this as a new challenge, start from scratch building strong eating habits and reshaping my workouts to appreciate what my body can do for me.
Enough back story, lets get started with a recipe. Being that the new year is here its time to throw away the guilt and build habits that reward your body and keep it healthy. Not to be skinny, not just to look fit, but to fuel your body for whatever it is you ask it to do. So what better meal to start with than your pre-workout cake. Yes, cake. Its not only good for a pre-workout snack, I eat it for breakfast and of course dessert. Its so stupidly easy, but so delicious.
Take 1 Tablespoon (or so) of your favorite nut/seed butter, add a scoop of your favorite protein powder and then add enough milk (of your choice, I use almond milk) to make the batter similar to a brownie batter. Then just throw it in the microwave for 30seconds - 1 minute. You have to kind of watch it because the cake can go from moist to rock solid in a matter of seconds. If you decide to use casein instead of whey protein, add an egg white and 1 Tablespoon of flour (could be almond, coconut, or whatever you like) to make the consistency right. I eat one of these basically every day, I was even eating them all throughout my figure competition prep, except now I add a bit of no sugar added coconut ice cream when I eat it for dessert :)
One of my new years resolutions is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. And I've decided to do this not just because I needed a new years resolution, but because at this time, while trying to recover from adrenal fatigue, I felt that I needed some goals to keep me motivated. Most of my workouts have been consisting of 20 minutes of light weight/body weight upper body circuits, 15-25 minutes of slower based treadmill walking and yoga, exercising 2-3 days a week. That's it. It was difficult to go from 3 hours a day of exercise to only physically being capable of these small bouts. But after 4 weeks of basically no exercise, I am slowly able to incorporate more days and more time into working out. This is my new outlook on exercise as well: Every person has a different capability level when it comes to what they can do, and that can differ not only from person to person but within a persons lifetime as well. Right now, my level is low, and thats ok because I know that this is what my body can do for now, I know it can do more but I don't have to do that all the time. Each person has different successes. It can be as simple as making it to yoga once a week and if that challenge is met, then its a win.
So, for me right now I'd like to do more yoga, slowly increase my cardio and weight lifting ability, and to be more mindful in every day life. Simple, but that makes it attainable. Keep your goals small and sweet, and don't wait for the beginning of every year to make goals, do it throughout the year to allow yourself to feel successful more often.
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