Less Gluten, More Food and Possibly Running Again

I have an appointment with ANOTHER physical therapist that was recommended to me. This time may be different. The referral came from an adorable nurse I work with, who I recently found out has been referred to as a ninja "because she comes outta nowhere and wins marathons". She recently ran a marathon in California that she "wasn't ready for" in 2:55. I have high hopes.

I have been started my mornings off for a long time with oatmeal or Low Sodium Ezekiel Bread with PB2 and sugar free apple butter. I will never understand why some companies put sugar in apple butter....

 

It is delicious. If you are unfamiliar with PB2, I have been eating it for some time. It is peanut butter that they drain all of the oils out of. It comes in a powder form, is 100% natural and all you do is add water.

 

They have a website: PB2  

The chocolate is amazing as well and the nutritional value is the same as the original. I have also been eating Ezekiel Bread for some time. I have found recently that a lot of the foods I have been cutting out are full of gluten. I haven't been doing it on purpose because of the gluten, but I find it pretty interesting that all of these foods have this in common....

I have also been making green protein smoothies with spinach, water, a scoop of protein and frozen blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.

 

I also made a salad the other night. Mixed greens, almonds, cranberries, tomatoes and avacado with Walden Farms dressing...yummmy AND I was so full! I shall include the dressing link: Walden Farms

Last, but not least, I made my first excursion following a massage I had downtown. I took a break these last few days from any upper body exercises. My back was so sore that manfriend said the knots "felt like gristle"....just what I was going for. Anyway, Trader Joe's a scheming sonofabitch with all of their delicious foods! I got this THREE LAYER HUMMUS and it is AMAZING!!!

 

Yes. I eat it right out of the container. Don't judge. 

 

 

 

Snowed in and a Clif Bar

The snow storm continued last night and I woke up with my car covered in snow and the roads had yet to be plowed. My job allows me to work from home whenever I need, so I stayed home and made oatmeal with vanilla protein powder, stevia and cinnamon.

  

Work was going well and then I started coughing and sneezing and my back hurt and I figured since I was already home, I would just stay there instead of going in this afternoon. 

I looked up my favorite massage school after work was done and they had no appointments, so I did the only logical thing and passed out on my couch for what ended up being 2 and half hours. I woke up feeling like a million bucks and put my "Pumas on my Puma Piggies" (that is what my nephew says) and headed to the gym for leg day.

 

I did an hour and fifteen minutes of cardio and burned 840 calories between the bike and the elliptical. I had a lot more energy than I anticipated. Today was leg day and I have been makin' all kindsa gains in this area recently. I even took a pic on my phone and then it disappeared into the abyss when I tried to load it on here. I have increased all of my weights and will be up to 6 plates on the leg press in no time!

When I got home, I ate the most wonderful thing. Manfriend and I went to the Outdoor Retail show this past weekend and Clif Bar came out with these vegan bars called "Kit's Organics". I bought some of them today. They only have SIX ingredients and they taste like heaven in your mouth. I ate so many samples at the Retail show that I think the poor girl was going to cut me off....who does she think she is?

 

 

A Blizzard and Starbucks

Whew, it has been a while. I continue to tell myself that I am going to keep this thing updated and then my 5,467 other interests and hobbies kick in and I forget....

I got up this morning, sat on the computer for a little while and then went to the gym. They were playing Indiana Jones in the "cardio cinema" so I watched Harrison Ford battle with the Ark of the Covenant while I cranked out 53 minutes of cardio on a elliptical and burned 667 calories. I didn't stop at 666 calories because it is Sunday.

I did biceps and triceps today and then I went into the aerobics room where two girls had decided to make it their very own workout gallery and they were blasting Whitney Houston from the speakers so I went and did my situps and stretches by the stairs instead.

This afternoon I went to visit a dear friend of mine who was once one of my patients. He told me that he had been transferred to a rehab center from the hospital last week so I drove into the city to see him and we talked for an hour about him and his family and everything in between.

I really love being a nurse. The people I have met have made every second worth it.

When I left the rehab facility, a blizzard had started. I was covered in snow in 0.1 seconds and I headed to my brother's house to see my favorite nephew and give him a frog hat that I found for him at the Outdoor Retail show and then decided to drive home because the snow wasn't stopping and the plows hadn't started....did I mention I have two bald tires?

One hour and a starbuck's coffee later I was home to my sweet manfriend. Sitting warm and cozy now. We talked at length about apple and his new ipod and determined that neither of us knew anything about loading music onto one of those gadgets.

Making my workout schedule for next week!

This is the year....

Ok, so I know that everyone everywhere makes resolutions and claim that they are going to do something and within a few weeks they stop. I am serious this time. I think that manfriend thinks that I am a little crazy with my bodybuilding obsession, but as a fellow athlete I also think that he understands. Living with another athlete helps, but he is also one of those that was blessed with a metabolism that naturally burns 10,000 calories a day and he has a six pack just by sitting there and watching TV. Thumbs down.

I have decided that this is the year of the Summy Six Pack:

That isn't me. That will be me this year, though. Back in March/April, I was workin' a 4 pack and then....well I lost some lean. I have found over time that my desire to become more and more lean has just increased. I have sort of become "pissed off" for it as the Hogetwins would say. I wish I would've taken a pic of my abs back then to use as a bit of motivation. I haven't been posting a lot of recipes recently because I haven't been cooking a whole lot. I have been trying to focus more on my diet and frankly my meals have consisted mostly of things that I don't have to cook, like fresh fruits and veggies.

I have also been spending some time on my facebook Summy Fitness page. Summy Fitness

I have been taken back by how many people started following me and it feels pretty neat having some peeps share their fitness goals and accomplishments with me.

I will post some of the things that I eat and products I use.

Whatever your goals are, stick with them. Stay focused!

P.S. I have been pushing it extra hard at the gym. Supersets and working to failure and I keep forgetting to take my magnesium and calcium . So sore. Don't do that. Calcium and Mag and sore muscle article

Jamie Eason's Carrot Cake Protein Bars....Veganized

So, I have a confession. I love Jamie Eason. I want to have her babies. She is one of my fitness idols and she has created a series of healthy protein treats that are posted on bodybuilding.com. I took one of her recipes and I veganized it. Below my veganized version is a link to the video for the original version, so if you are not a vegan you can make these yummy treats and stare at this beautiful fitness goddess. I just love her!

Jamie Eason's Carrot Cake Protein Bars....Veganized!

1 cup oat floar
2 scoops vanilla protein powder (I used Ultimate Nutrition's Wheat Protein)
2 tsp cinnamon
1/ 2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp nutmeg
6 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer
8 tbsp warm water
3/4 cup Stevia
2 containers of baby carrots
8 oz water (fill the empty jar up twice with water and add)

Combine the oat flour, protein powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, allspice and nutmeg in one bowl. Mix thoroughly.

In another bowl, mix the egg replacer, warm water, Stevia, baby carrots. Once the baby food jars are empty, fill those up with water and add to this mixture (this is the additional 8 oz of water).

*I had to add more water because my vegan wheat protein is very doughy. I would start with just 4 oz and then after mixing the dry and wet ingredients check the consistency to see if more water is needed. It should be similar to cake batter.

Add the wet to the dry ingredients and mix....this batter is delicious.

Pour into a glass brownie dish and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Baking time will also depend on the type of protein you use. I would check the bars at twenty minutes with a toothpick and then leave in additional time if needed.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/video-jamie-eason-carrot-cake-protein-bars.htm

An update on Summer Stout....not the beer....the person

This summer has been crazy madness. I have been cooking on and off, but have failed to update you with any recipes....all 4 of you....that follow this blog.....

Updates.....

Manfriend continued to race all summer. He ended the summer ranking 2nd in state in the SuperD (super downhill). If I hadn't mentioned it before, Chrissy gets on gigantic mountain bikes and races them down the sides of mountains. This summer he earned a bunch of fabulous metals, some scars, a helmet, some VEGAN protein bars and a concussion. Yay! Good thing his ladyfriend is an awesome nurse. Yeah....

Pogo still pisses in his bed and sometimes on the carpet. He was bit by the neighbor, but it was most likely his fault seeing as how he likes to antagonize anyone bigger than him. He has yet to get a job to earn his keep and has been receiving daily lectures. 

I've continued to train 5-6 days a week. I saw a physical therapist about my old-lady-knees and I am back into a running program that still hurts sometimes, but hopefully that will get better.

I took some swimming lessons from a marathon swimmer and concluded that I am not a fish, nor will I ever be....but I still swim anyway.

I started biking...a bit....on a road bike and bought a mountain bike. Chrissy took me mountain biking this last Saturday. It was fun.....afterwards.....when I realized I was fine.

I am lifting more....not more often, just bigger weights. I have been focusing on not being able to do more than 6 to 8 reps per set and I have seen the rewards. Rad.

The Fall NPC was this past weekend and I have decided to compete again.....this means that the cooking will officially come to a halt in January since I get to eat the same things every day for 4 months! Jealous?

Also, I want to learn to play the Banjo. I do.

I started instagram....ming. I am not a hipster, but I know that they do weigh an instagram. 

Ok, that is all. I am not dead. I will try to enter some updates in this here bloggy. I do have some more favorite vegan/bodybuilding products to add to the mix, as well.

Here are some photos from the summa-time:

Clean Ice Cream with Protein

So I keep seeing these "pins" in pinterest for banana ice cream. I looked at a few and thought I would try it myself. A lot of them added peanut butter. I love me some PB and it contains healthy fats, but too much healthy fats just become fats and who wants that? I took out the PB and added my vanilla soy protein powder instead, which is high in protein and low in sugar (1 gram of carbs). Here was the result:

Clean Ice Cream with Protein:

 

3 bananas sliced

1 scoop of protein powder

1 tbsp cocoa powder

I sliced the bananas two days ago and put them in the freezer. This afternoon, I piled all of them into my food processor. For the first little bit it looks sort of crunchy, but then it smooths out and it tastes like soft serve ice cream. I could probably just eat it like that! I added one scoop of vanilla protein powder and a tbsp of cocoa....the amount of bananas I used made a TON, so I probably could have added two scoops of protein. The awesome thing is I HAVE SOME FOR LATER!! Yummy!

Protein Powder Fun Fact:

When choosing a protein powder, most people tend to think any protein powder will do. This is not true. There are a lot of naughty companies out there that create protein powders that are FULL of protein, but to make them tasty them fill them with sugar. Point of all this? Read the labels!! Ingredients are always listed by weight on a nutrition label. Look to make sure that sugar hasn't found it's way in to your powder. Also, look at the carb and sugar content. Both of the powders that I use contain 1 gram of carbs per scoop. Your body burns carbohydrates for fuel and if you are taking in more then your are burning, the carbs go to your fat stores (aka straight to your ass). So, if you are pairing you carb loaded protein powder with another clean carb then you are getting way too many carbohydrates. It is all about servings and it is important to make sure you stay as far away from the "white poison" (sugar) as you can and have a balanced diet that includes equal amounts of both proteins and carbohydrates.