Pumpkin Pie Protein Shake

PUMPKIN PIE PROTEIN SHAKE
Blend in the blender:
1/4 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 C water
1/4 C pure pumpkin pure
1/4 teasp. pumpkin pie spice
1 scoop low carb vanilla whey protein
5-6 ice cubes

ENJOY!!! 

You must AVOID sugar!

Here's some ideas from Nick Somebody about what to do instead of eat sugar,,, I do ALL of these already... except what's a quest bar??  and I only did the tea when I was on the Vdiet and didn't have any shakes left for the day and wanted something!


When sugar is taken away from you completely or you decide to give it up, such as a ‘diet’, you go through withdrawals & start to become anxious because you just want a little taste of that feel good feeling. Because sugar is addictive you need to take care of this through sheer WILL POWER. As I said, your mind is incredibly powerful, so use it for good!




Here are my tips that I use to help me beat the cravings (especially during contest prep.):


1. Eat protein at every meal so you never go hungry 2. Make your own baked goodies with oat flour and stevia sweetener

3. Plan a day that you can allow yourself to have a some sweets so you can look forward to them rather than feel deprived from them

4. Brush your teeth
5. Drink hot tea with stevia sweetener it takes a longer time to drink which keeps you busy

6. Drink lots of water and make it sweet if you like with Crystal Light

7. Eat a Quest Bar

8. DON’T BUY IT, if you don’t buy it you won’t eat

9. Blend a protein shake (there’s so many delicious flavors!)

10. Chew mint gum

Here,,, I'll give the Nick Guy credit:
http://blog.questproteinbar.com/10-tricks-to-beat-sugar-cravings/

Before and Afters

Okay,,, thought I better add the proof... (For my blog viewers only, all two of you! Please don't "steal" my photos and put them somewhere else on the internet, that's just not cool!)  

              This was take the end of April, 2011.  (boy, I look happy huh?)

And here I am, much happier the end of July, 2011!

Extreme is not for me!

Extreme dieting,,, working out in an extreme way and staying extremely fit is impossible to live forever. I guess I should speak for myself!  Let me share what I did to my body and how it revolted! (I think I am really writing this for me,,, I feel like I need to journal this to process just exactly what I've done!)

This past summer I got my body fat down to 12%.  Now, granted I was not ready to compete in body building but I was as "lean" as I've EVER been in my whole life!  I did it, just to see if I could do it! It was a lot of hard work. At least one hour of cardio, and lifting for 1.5 to 2 hours a day in the gym and then sometimes more cardio (walking/jogging) in the evening, to equal 3-4 hours of working out a day, everyday.  Ahhhh, but that was the "easy" part!  Also, for over 3 months I ate pretty strick: calories around 1400, low carb and high protein and if that weren't enough, I threw in a 28 day, high protein, all liquid diet (VDiet).  I  lost 6% body fat in 6 weeks!  Looking back on all that craziness I would say, it wasn't that hard,,, it really wasn't.  Yes, I was a little whiny, but really, if I can do it, anyone can do it.  So, now you have the background so what's the big deal!?
     Here's the rest of the story!  I, cold turkey,,, took an 8 week break from everything.  NO workouts at all, and I ate "healthy" but I ate whatever I wanted and didn't keep track of my calories or carbs!  This wasn't totally by choice; I had surgery and couldn't workout (that's a whole nother blog), but I should have done better to stay on my eating plan.  So, at the end of that 8 week break I had gained 6-8 pounds and who knows what my body fat went back up to, but by the way my cloths fit so TIGHT, I'm guessing back up to about 20%.  I was too scared to get my body fat checked!  I really think the extreme flip flop probably made my metabolism take a nose dive and the FAT deposit on my thighs, butt and belly went crazy in a BIG way!   In that 8 weeks I gained 2 inches in my thighs, butt and belly! WOW! 
So, why did I do it and what am I going to do now???   I don't know about you, but I'm impatient.  When I want something I want it now!  Losing 6% body fat in 6 weeks is way too fast!  My body was in such shock with the diet, the workouts and all of the many supplements I was on, I jacked up my system!  Hormonally, I was a mess.  I didn't even get my period all summer!  But, I was happy at the time, that I had accomplished my body goal, in such a short time!  Another point I might add is notice I had to go to such extreme to get my body to respond!  I had been eating healthy and working out for 3 months and it didn't change much. But kick in the EXTREME and watch me change! 
So, my new challenge is to learn to accept my body just the way it is.  I will still work hard, pushing myself in the gym and making healthy food choices but I do NOT have to maintain 12% body fat...I'm not competing on a stage in bikini and so I should probably stop competing against myself!  It just isn't "normal" for my body to be 12% forever~

Moral of the story: Don't be EXTREME just be a hard working YOU and LOVE the body your in!