Time Out.

Sometimes in this busy world the most precious gift we can give ourselves is a little time out....

I seem to be queen of busy. I like it like that. But, in order to stay in control and focused on the 'right' path for me, I know it is essential to take some time out and reflect/re-evaluate...

And that is exactly what I have done over the past 2 days.

What am I doing? Where am I heading? How are my relationships? Training? Diet?..... Every area of my life.... Since competing in my first Fitness Model Comp I have found my biggest challenge has been balancing a social life again with clean living and exercise... One challenge I am SURE you are all familiar with. 

My little 'light bulb' moment came today....

I realised I had a 'mental shift' since finishing comp and had been thinking, "Oh, you missed out on so much while prepping, now you can socialise and cheat because soon you will be prepping again..." This is NOT healthy/balanced thinking. The feeling of deprivation leads to cravings, mood swings, lack of motivation... the list goes on...

Ok, why am I sharing this, when I usual share motivating post and tips???

I realised that most women (and possibly men) are living with this same feeling on a daily basis, rather than the feeling of being in control of their health and fitness!

Like I said in my first blog after comp - IT IS A LIFESTYLE... A CONTINUOUS CONSISTENT JOURNEY....

There is NO NEED to deprive ourselves anything. Start to think in ADDITION - what does it feel like to complete a challenging exercise session or stepping into your clothes that you have not fit into for a year, or waking up with energy and vitality that you haven't had in years!?!

Time out yesterday and today has helped me re-focus and find my motivation again. Goals for the next 6months are set! Vision board is up! And my own challenges are set!!! 

So, here I am challenging YOU! Give it a go and reflect on how you feel at the end of the 7 days. 

50x5 Challenge

1. Burpees

2. Mountain Climbers

3.Sit-Ups

4.Walking Lunges

5.50sec Plank Hold

Complete 50 repetitions of each exercise, back to back, every morning for the next 7 days. You can do it ANYWHERE! No excuses!

Have fun! And remember, time out is sometimes exactly what we need. 

If I eat a big steak, is it all protein?

Steak, and all red meat, is an excellent source of protein but is not ALL protein. Raw red muscle meat contains around 20-25g protein/100g. That's around one quarter protein. Cooked red meat contains a higher percentage of protein, 28-36g/100g, as the water content decreases and nutrients become more concentrated during cooking. The remaining weight of the cooked lean red meat you eat is made up mostly of water at around 73% and of fat at around 5%. The protein in red meat is highly digestible, around 94% compared to the digestibility of 78% in beans and 86% in whole wheat. Protein from meat provides all essential amino acids and has no limiting amino acids. Because red meat is high in protein, it makes a substantial contribution to help you achieve your minimum 1.0g/kg of body weight daily protein target. As well as being an excellent source of high biological value protein, red meat also boasts the following properties: An excellent source of vitamin B12, niacin, vitamin B6, iron, zinc and phosphorus. A source of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fats, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, selenium and possibly also vitamin D. Mostly low in fat and sodium. Sources of a range of antioxidants and other bioactive substances including taurine, carnitine, carnosine, ubiquinone, glutathione and creatine. For more informative articles on nutrition check out -  www.metabolicjumpstart.com

Food. Food. Food.

Food. Food. Food.

These were so many questions I was faced with over the past few months when people starting noticing changes in my physique, as well as changes in my energy levels and strength and fitness.

What do you mean by clean eating? Do you eat much? What/when/how/why? Don’t you get sick of the same thing? Prep?!?!

When it comes to health and fitness goals, I would have to say the #1 most important habit for me is to create is CONSISTENCY - in exercise, in diet and in recovery… In order to see results, you MUST be consistent. PERIOD.

As I have mentioned previously, I have always been fairly healthy and aware of what I was/wasn’t eating and the exercise I was doing. However, I wasn’t CONSISTENT in WHEN I was eating and HOW MUCH I was eating.

Throughout my comp prep the biggest change/lesson for me came from ‘cleaning up’ my diet and becoming educated on the what, when & why’s of all things Nutrition+Health+Fitness.

Many of us would have heard advice on eating 5 smaller meals per day…? Well, how many of you actually do??? Would you be surprised if I was to then say, this is just the MINIMAL amount of times that I eat! Your body needs fuel (just like a car) to keep running and by eating smaller meals every 2-3 hours throughout the day, you are providing your body with that energy to run efficiently.

BUT. Feed it crap, no matter how often, and it definitely wont’ run as efficielnty as it could!

Of course, there are lots of different theories on this, so I am just reflecting on what worked for me!

Clean Eating… ‘Oh you mean by washing your food before you cook it?!’…. ummm, no. Not quite! 

As little processing or chemicals as possible. 

No packages, pre-cooked, baked, seasoned, sauced, processed crap.

Besides my meats, eggs, fruit, vegetables, nuts and proteins – these are the extras I had sitting on my bench to cook with or add to foods, daily.

• -       rock salt
• -       cracked peper
• -       caynenne pepper
• -       paprika
• -       nutmeg
• -       cinnamon
• -       garlic
• -       ginger
• -       coconut oil

As simple as it sounds, (and many people try to complicate it) but clean eating really is just cutting out the bad stuff and going back to food in it’s basic form.

There are a lot of great E-books on clean eating and great fresh food recipes out there! People are posting on Facebook all the time… Really, there is always a ‘healthy/clean/ option you may just need to search it out. No excuses.

Cheat meals… Again, there are differing opinions on cheat or treat meals… But, for me it was about balance and knowing if I was controlled and consistent most of the time (I said 90%, some say 80%) then I could let me self enjoy a good cheat meal (NOTE – meal… NOT – day!). For me this was a Korean meal, some pasta, sushi, icecream or of course – chocolate! However, as it came closer to comp day cheats became less frequent/non-existent…

How do you prep?

That is a simple question - but one which I was asked every time after I posted ‘prep’ photos.

The simple answer....

1. Shop routinely – I shopped every Sunday.

2. Dedicate an afternoon to prepping for the week.

3. Buy many containers, electric scales, snap lock bags and play some loud/fun music.

I have a meal plan – I know what to eat every meal and how much carb/protein/fats .

So,

4. Weigh, chop and cook veggies and meats then put into containers for each meal.

I am a little too organized at times – tending to label every meal – meal 1 -6/7 so I know what to grab the next day! 

I also count out my almonds on the weekend and wrap them so during the week it’s a grab and go situation. No thinking!!!

This not even scrapping the surface with diet/food/nutrition.... But just a little insight into what Clean Eating and living has started to become for me...

If you have any questions that I haven't touched on please feel free to comment or send me a Facebook message or email - sharna@calmahealth.com.au

Choc Protein/Oats Pancakes with Organic Peanut Butter Drizzle

Pancakes:

- 5 egg whites

- 1 scoop of protein powder ( I used chocolate)

- 2 tbsp almond milk, skim milk or water

- 1tsp cinnamon

- splash of vanilla extract

- mix together and cook on fry pan

Peanut Butter Drizzle:

- 1tbsp of organic peanut butter (melted down in microwave or saucepan)

- 1tspn of agavae

- 1 tspn of water

- mix together and drizzle over pancakes with chopped up banana

* This is a similar recipe from a fitness friend - John Carter. I played around with it to suit my tastes. You can check out his Facebook page at  -http://www.facebook.com/JohnCarterFitness