Been busy but with reason

So I haven't really been posting much on here because I have been busy with my 2.5 year old daughter and with the holidays I have just been on a baking spree. I love to bake little goodies for my close family as gifts. It is easier then going out to the packed mall and trying to figure out what each person would like for a present. And they family loves seeing what I have baked because it is always something good.
But my hip has started to bother me again recently to a point where I cannot put any weight on it. This happened to me last year when I started jogging and doing sprints. It however went away. But now it has come back fierce and I haven't been to the gym because of this. It has been hurting for over a month and I thought it was just hip flexor strain. It seemed that the stretching has made it worse however so I went back to the doctor and had an MRI done. Come to find out the results of the MRI showed signs of Osteonecrosis. It is a condition where there is limited to no blood flow in the bone so the bone starts to deteriorate and become fragile. That is what is causing the pain I am having. It usually occurs when people have had been on steroids/prednisone in the past and also having one of the following diseases listed; Lupus SLE.
Even though I cannot put any weight on my right leg, per orders of the doctor, I can still work out my upper body. But since the pain has worsened I just haven't had the energy to get up every morning to go to the gym. I have pain from getting out of bed until I go to bed at night and with a 2.5 year old it is hard not to put any pressure on it while walking or even getting up to attend to my daughter. I take a day at a time, that is all I can do. No excuses.

Love/hate relationship with brown rice

I like to eat healthy and keep out the 'white' foods like white bread and white rice. But I just cannot stand eating brown rice. I feel like I am eating cardboard and there is no flavor to it no matter how much chicken brother I put in it. I do however looove my Jasmine and Basmati rice. I found that I can have both of my favorites. Lundberg makes this Jasmine brown rice and Basmati brown rice. The bags that I bought are both organic, gluten free and GMO free. So I cooked it up one night with some homemade, salt free chicken stock and while it did have a bite to it (it was fully cooked), I could actually stand to eat a full serving. Of course, it's an acquired taste but it made me feel satisfied and I was able to get my carbs in with rice without the guilt.

New workout split

So after taking a week off, thanks to the Thanksgiving Holiday and mother nature not being very cooperative this month, I have changed my workout schedule to a more flexible and easier way to work out. It is a Push, Pull, Leg workout split. A Pull day is when you workout your back and biceps, a Push is your chest, shoulders and triceps and Leg is all in its own. It is a 3 day split and the 4 days in between it is rest day. It doesn't have to be a rest day although, it can be something active like cardio, yoga, plyometrics or just a light active day.
example.....
M: Push
T: Active rest
W: Pull
Th: Active rest
F: Legs
S: Active rest
S: Push
M: Active rest
T: Pull
W: Active rest
Th: Legs
F: Active rest
S: Push
S: Active rest

And it would just continue to cycle on. This is going to be different for me since I am so used to do each body part on a single day. But this way it'll be more effective because I won't be training a muscle that was just being used to assist in the muscle group I used that day, for example when doing bicep curls with DB my main focus is the bicep but my tricep is also in assistance to make the ROM. With this split I am also giving each muscle group a 72 hour rest period for it to be used again. I hope this helps with your next training program if you are looking to switch it up. Remember it is best to switch up your training program every 4-6 weeks or else your body will get used to it and you won't see any gains. Keep the body guessing!

The Best Almond Ice Cream ever!

Many failed attempts at making my own almond milk ice cream without the cream and the egg yolks to get the creamy texture, and in the end it just became as hard as a rock and not very enjoyable. Then I found this at my local Big Y grocery store and while the ingredients aren't all too bad, there is no dairy and is gluten free. Once I got home I tried it and WOW...I mean, I think I found something better tasting then my Ben & Jerry's Froyo raspberry with chocolate bits. Impossible right? Nope...this stuff tastes amazing and I had to stop myself from eating the whole thing. There was also chocolate and vanilla but this stuck out and I do love my candied pecans.
This definitely would be good for a flexible dieter like myself. And if I wanted some ice cream without that crazy dairy bloat, this would be ideal for me.

Homemade Nutrigrain Bars

I love Nutri-grain bars but I hate how fast I go through them and all the junk ingredients in them. My daughter loves them and they are good as part of her breakfast or a snack. So I made my own with whole and REAL ingredients.

Homemade "Nutri-grain'' bars

1 c. ground almonds
1 c. ground oats
1 cup white whole wheat flour (i used whole wheat pastry flour)
1 egg
1 t. vanilla extract
1/4 c. + 2 T unsweetened applesauce
1/4 c. maple syrup
1/2 c. coconut oil (you can use a light, fruity oil instead)
2 t. salt

Filling:
low sugar/no sugar favorite jam
                     or
take 12-24 dates, puree them into a paste.
(what i did was use both the dates and an all natural strawberry jam, the consistency was perfect)


First you want to make the dough. Mix the dry ingredients together, make sure there is no lumps. Mix the wet ingredients until well blended and then pour that into the dry ingredients and mix. The dough will be a bit sticky. Make the dough into a ball and wrap in saran wrap and put it in the fridge for 45 minutes or overnight. In the meantime make the filling.
Preheat the oven to 350*. Split the dough ball in half and roll both sides out to about 1/8-1/4 inch thick.
put filling on top of one side and then flip the other rolled half on top, carefully. Push down the edges so the filling doesn't pop out in the oven. Bake for 13-15 minutes. Let cool before cutting. You can store this in a ziplock bag and keep it in the fridge for about two weeks or you can freeze them. This batch makes about 12 bars, depending on how big you cut them.

Working out while watching tv

So this is really a 'no excuses' kind of workout. There is no reason why while watching TV you cannot workout. It will also help steer away from those late night cravings! Here is how it goes.

For every:                                Do:

Car commercial                       50 push ups
Travel commercial                  30 russian twists
New movie commercial          Plank for the entire commercial
Makeup/health commercial     40 Glute bridges
Food commercial                     Plank for entire commercial
Jewelry commercial                 40 jumping jacks
Gym commercial                     Exercise of choice!
Clothing/fashion commercial   40 high knees
Animal commercial                  50 leg lifts
Other commercials                    Drink 8 oz. of water!

Chocolate chip pumpkin cookies

Another pumpkin recipe, of course. These came out really good and certainly satisfied my sweet tooth.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookie

1 1/2 c. gluten free oats
2 T coconut flour
1/4 c. light brown sugar
1/2 c. Hershey's Special Dark chocolate chips ( mini chips would be better)
1/2 package of sugar free, fat free vanilla pudding
pumpkin pie spice and nutmeg, add to taste. ( I like a lot of spice so I put at least a half to a full tablespoon)
1 can of pure pumpkin

Preheat oven at 350*
Mix in the first 6 ingredients. Add the pumpkin half can first. The dough must be like cookie dough consistency, if dry just add more pumpkin, if too wet add some coconut flour. Mix all together and drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes. They will stay in form when baked. This is a great way to get more veggies into your kids food if they are picky eaters.