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Planning is Key: Meal Plan

May 10, 2015

I’ve said it many times before, but planning is key to success in anything, and especially in maintaining a healthy and balanced lifestyle. This past week, I have been overindulging more than usual and I can tell that if I do not curb my eating back soon, it will start to physically show. Although I have been overindulging in healthy foods (with the exception of some ice-cream from Bi-Rite Creamery and many a tortilla chip at my graduation party), you will gain weight and fat from overindulging in anything. Okay, maybe not lettuce and celery. But you get the point!

What Is My Game Plan?

My usual method of getting back on track is to have a day or two of having a diet high in protein and fat, and lower in carbohydrates, before switching back to my normal routine of moderate carbohydrates, protein and lower in fat (an example of a breakfast I would have during this time is poached egg, smoked salmon with tomatoes and broccoli, as seen below). I use the Clean and Lean recipes by James Duigan whenever I do this.

clean and lean smoked salmon and poached egg breakfast

This is just what works for me personally, and you need to experiment to see what suits your body best. As much as I love foods higher in fats, I find that I feel more happy, balanced and satisfied when I can include more carbohydrates into my diet. I also make sure to start my day off with a cup of green tea (either using green tea bags or matcha green tea powder) and a slice of lemon. 

My Personal Meal Plan

So during the weekend, I decided to do two days of eating a higher amount of fats and protein with lower amounts of carbohydrates. If you follow me on Snapchat, you would’ve seen what I was eating (username is honestlyfitness)! To give you an idea of what I was eating, I had my usual poached eggs, tomato and asparagus with 1 slice of marble rye toast with smashed avocado for breakfast, superfood spinach salad with Indian spiced chicken, and zucchini pesto pasta for dinner. During the course of this week, I will be transitioning back to what is a ‘normal’ diet for me, with the focus on sticking to specific portion sizes. Last week, I ate similarly to this but kept adding on more … dark chocolate at night, couple of casual medjool dates, tons of pistachios, more bread. You get the point, and hey what can I say, I am human but I know when it is time to get back on track 🙂

Monday
Breakfast: Boiled egg with roast asparagus and marble rye bread with smashed avocado
Snack: Medjool dates and matcha green tea latte
Lunch: Chicken quinoa stir fry with broccoli and peas
Snack: Greek yogurt with apricot
Dinner: Zucchini pesto pasta with shrimp

Tuesday
Breakfast: Overnight oats with pecans, chia seeds, ground flax seed, and chocolate protein powder
Snack: Banana (or other fruit) with almond butter
Lunch: Chicken and spinach salad with avocado, sunflower seeds and pepita with simple olive oil dressing
Snack: Marble Rye Bread with broiled and sliced tomato + non-fat latte
Dinner: Off The Grid, food trucks with my friends

Wednesday
Breakfast: Poached egg with roast asparagus and marble rye bread with smashed avocado
Snack: Hazelnuts and medjool dates
Lunch: Chicken quinoa stir fry with broccoli and peas
Snack: Greek yogurt with apricot
Dinner: Baked salmon with vermicelli and vegetable mix

Thursday
Breakfast: Overnight oats with pecans, chia seeds, ground flax seed, and chocolate protein powder
Snack: Marble Rye Bread with broiled and sliced tomato + non-fat latte
Lunch: Chicken and spinach salad with avocado, sunflower seeds and pepita with simple olive oil dressing
Snack: Banana with almond butter
Dinner: Zucchini pasta with marinara sauce and shrimp (may not have this depending on how much I eat at my class’ potluck!)

Friday
Breakfast: Poached egg with roast asparagus and marble rye bread with smashed avocado
Snack: Greek yogurt with mango
Lunch: May have lunch with friend, otherwise will buy fresh BBQ chicken rolls
Snack: Cashew Cookie Larabar
Dinner: Making dinner with my housemate, most likely zucchini pasta!

I usually plan up until Friday, and then plan on what I will be eating over the weekend on Thursday or Friday.

What Do You Do?

Do you find that making a meal plan helps you? I find that most times, I do not have to physically write down what I will be eating during the week, but that I definitely have to think about what I want during the week and go grocery shopping and do food prep on Sunday. Would be curious to hear how you guys go about eating healthy while staying happy and balanced 🙂

Honestly yours,
Alice

Thank you for always supporting me! For more Honestly Fitness, check out my Instagram, Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest and don’t forget to subscribe!

Friday Fare, Health, Healthy on the cheap, Products I love

Matcha Green Smoothie

May 8, 2015

 Mmm, matcha green smoothies. Now that the weather is warmer again, I have gravitated towards having good ol’ green smoothies again. I have been using the same green smoothie recipe for ages and feel as if I have completely perfected it. It is healthy, creamy and delicious all in one and such a good and easy way to sneak in some vegetables. And seriously, it’s hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t like them if you give them the right green smoothie to try. I clearly remember giving my husband his first green smoothie and smiling with glee at the fact that he actually liked it! He was SO sure he would hate it (“Alice, it’s green”) but even he had to admit it was “alright, pretty good.” Men, haha!

Matcha Green Smoothies

Matcha Green Smoothie

I have been on a matcha spree recently (remember my matcha yuzu mango mint popsicles?) and wanted to incorporate matcha green tea into a lovely green smoothie for you all. Matcha green tea is such a healthy and flavorful ingredient; unlike most green teas, matcha green tea powder is made from ground green tea leaves. Although normal green tea (where you steep the tea bags in tea) are great, research has shown that the amount of antioxidants in matcha green tea are at least three times higher than most other varieties of green teas. Amazing! See why I wanted to make matcha green tea recipes for you all?! I experimented by adding the lovely matcha green tea powder from The Republic of Tea in two different ways into my green smoothie recipe. Both turned out wonderfully so I wanted to share them with you all. 

Matcha Green Smoothie

Matcha Green Smoothie

Matcha Green Smoothie

Alice Williams
A delicious and antioxidant rich matcha green smoothie; the perfect refreshment or snack.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Servings 1

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 tsp of The Republic of Tea matcha green tea powder OR 4 matcha green tea ice cubes made by freezing 1 cup water mixed with 1tsp matcha green tea powder
  • 1 cup frozen banana slices
  • 1 handful spinach approx. 1 cup
  • 1 small tub plain Greek yogurt
  • Dash of unsweetened almond milk approx. 2-3 tbsp
  • Optional
  • 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1 tsp chia seeds

Instructions
 

  • Blend all the ingredients together and either drink now or store in the fridge for later! Do not store for more than one day.

Notes

Add more unsweetened almond milk if mixture is not blending properly.
I used Stonyfield Plain Greek Yogurt
I used a Ninja blender
Matcha Green Smoothie

Matcha Green Smoothie

This matcha green smoothie is really lovely for breakfast, as a snack or as a healthy dessert. Basically, it is amazing anytime of the day, haha! I really hope you enjoy this quick, easy and healthy recipe. Healthy eating does not have to be time consuming nor does it have to be boring and tasteless. The possibilities are endless and I am so excited you are letting me help you become the healthiest and happiest version of yourself. It really means the world to me and I thank you so much for your support of my blog and my social networks!

Honestly yours,
Alice

Thank you for always supporting me! For more Honestly Fitness, check out my Instagram, Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest and don’t forget to subscribe!

Disclaimer: The Republic of Tea provided me with the matcha green tea powder but I received no financial compensation for this post. Rest assured that my opinions will always stay unbiased and that I would never recommend a product I don’t personally use or like.

Fitness, Kayla Itsines, Products I love

The First 4 Weeks of BBG 2.0

May 6, 2015

Wow, well that went by fast; it is already May and I have completed the first 4 weeks of BBG 2.0 (Kayla Itsines second bikini body guide)! I wanted to share with you all my thoughts regarding BBG 2.0 and to update you all on what’s happening with me in terms of health and fitness.

The First 4 Weeks of BBG 2.0

review of BBG 2.0 kayla itsines

How Does BBG 2.0 Differ From BBG 1.0?

There is quite a significant difference. Of course, the format is the same typical Kayla style of two circuits with four exercise moves each, with the circuits done a total of four times. However, the weights get increased in the BBG 2.0 and there are a lot more static movements and less jumping around (or flailing around like I do, haha!). For example, you do moves like weighted barbell squats, arm raises, weighted sit-ups and etc. There were also slight modifications to moves seen in BBG 1.0 such as jump squats … buuuut with double pulses at the bottom (it burns, oh how it burns). Of course, there are moves that have been introduced in BBG 1.0 such as walking lunges, push ups and snap jumps.

Do I Like BBG 2.0?

So far, yes I do! Well, okay let me back up a bit. I definitely have a love-hate relationship going on with the BBG 2.0. I love that there are more weighted exercises yet I am still sweating like mad, yet I hate that it is still so hard haha! But I know it is good that it’s hard because it is still challenging me … but I hate it … because it is hard. LOL. Does that makes sense, and someone please tell me they feel the same way?

review of BBG 2.0 kayla itsines

P.S. Nike and Lorna Jane make fantastic workouts clothes. Also, I broke my jump rope during some vigorous speed jumping lol!

Am I Doing Anything Differently in BBG 2.0?

Yeah, like I said, the weights increase so I am using heavier weights. I also decided to challenge myself by doing military style pushups, where I keep my arms much closer to my sides and ensure my elbows bend backwards and not outwards (form is so important). This tiny little adjustment has literally made me a beginner again, and I am back to doing push ups on my knees. Try it and you’ll see what I mean; it is SO much harder but it engages my core more and is working different arm muscles. It is critical we keep challenging ourselves and pushing our bodies to the max if we want to see change. 

healthy and easy 4 ingredient pancakes by honestly fitness

 An example of some yummy foods I have been eating these past 4 weeks!

Let’s See What The Next 8 Weeks Are Like …

So, I am currently on week 17 and ughhh, I was completely caught off guard with the elevated intensity of the workouts. How does Kayla keep doing this?! I will do another update on weeks 17-20 in 4 weeks time and let you all know how it went (unless I have suffered #deathbyKayla). For now, I want to set some goals for myself to keep myself motivated and accountable

  1. Start using Kayla’s HELP guide more strictly again. Although I have enjoyed experimenting and adjusting my macros; the HELP guide was the most balanced way for me to go about my nutrition.
  2. Focus on slowly increasing the MPH I do sprints. Yesterday, I did sprints for HIIT and my speed was 9.0MPH for about 10-12 minutes and I upped it to 9.2MPH for the remainder of the 3-5 minutes. 
  3. Strengthen my lower back by doing lower back extensions. This has helped a lot in keeping my back straight during pushups.
  4. Start practicing pull ups again! The second I move to Salt Lake City, I am buying a pull up bar and getting back into it.
  5. Do not plan cheat meals. I have found that if I have an unplanned cheat meal (because life happens), I get into this very negative state of mind which is not healthy at all. Instead of planning cheat meals, I should just let them happen based upon the context. It makes SO much more sense to have a cheat meal because you are out with friends as opposed to being home alone on a Saturday night.

That’s all folks! I hope you found this mini-review of BBG 2.0 helpful and I look forward to posting another one in a few weeks. I can tell that I am definitely leaning down slowly but surely and I am excited to see how much stronger I get in the next few weeks. It is NOT EASY, but it is worth it being able to look like a bad a** in the gym hehe 😉

Honestly yours,
Alice

Thank you for always supporting me! For more Honestly Fitness, check out my Instagram, Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest and don’t forget to subscribe!