Progress Pics

Tuesday, 23 October 2012

Adrenal fatigue

Has anyone else heard of this? It's a highly possible outcome of the tablets I take and i appear to have every single symptom. It can cause extreme fatigue, sleeplessness and screws with hormones for some lovely weight gain among other things. so I'm trying a naturopathic remedy containing magnolia which is meant to work wonders according to a gazillion ppl online, including a local naturopath on my fb. Giving it a shot!!

Sunday, 21 October 2012

Cold and delicious snack

If you're in QLD you'll know it's bloody hot!!! So a cold snack is jelly with fruit! I used aeroplane brand sugarless strawberry on the bottom with pieces of mandarin and peach, and berry vanilla jelly with cut strawberries at the top layer. Pretty to look at, yummy to eat, refreshing from the fridge and very low calories.

Tuesday, 16 October 2012

Sunday, 14 October 2012

one months progress!

 
ok so heres my photo collage of the past 3/4 weeks of clean eating.
Finding it hard to see a huge difference, but i do think there is a bit of difference.
day one compared to week 3, my stomach's a lot more defined and i think my upper thighs are slimmer. Better than nothing! but it is hard to stay motivated when you dont look at the pics and think "omg! WHAT a change!"... hopefully 6 weeks compared to day one will blow my mind.
 

Tuesday, 9 October 2012

My current stats 10/10/12

Weight: 72.5 kg
BF% 29.9

Coolest scales ever

My latest ebay purchase just arrived!!! A digital scale that gives you body fat percentage! It has a little handheld reader so you don't have to try to stand on scales and balance to read the numbers way down at your toes. Even with my glasses on, I struggle to read the little screens.
So you put in your details; female, 170cm tall etc and then you save it under "person 1" "person 2" etc. so your readings are accurate. Then it gives you weight and BF% so even if you put on weight, but you're also hitting the weights at the gym (muscle weighs more than fat) you can see that yes you put on 1kg but you lost body fat... Therefore you have put on 1kg of muscle-weight and not to freak out thinking you've put on fat-weight!! Makes things easier trying to stay motivated to see that BF% go down.

Cool fitness apps

Got an awesome tip-off from a friend to try this app called MyFitnessPal... It's ahhhhmazing! Love it! Works out your calories for the day and does predictions eg:if you ate like this every day in 4 wks you'd weigh - blah. Pretty cool when you've had a good clean eating day and pretty sobering when you've had a bad eating day and it tells you that if u did it everyday you'd weigh + blah!!! Check it out!

Wednesday, 3 October 2012

Lean simplex by Musclewerks

So I ordered lean simplex** on the ASN website, and it came today.
According to musclewerks vanilla flavor (which is what i got) is "delicious" cup of tea/coffee.
God I hope the product works because I can tell you right now it ain't delicious in your tea. It would only be delicious if you enjoyed tea that tastes like playdoh. Mmmm yummy :-s
I'm still going to use it of course but I think I'll add it to my protein shakes once a day instead.
**Lean simplex is a supplement meant to target belly fat and increase lean muscle tissue.

Tuesday, 2 October 2012

Success!! X2!

Just got back from my first couch to 5k run, arghhhhh so stuffed, but I did it! :-D
And rewarding myself with a clean coconut rough choccie and found out the recipe worked well.
Maybe less yoghurt next time and more almond meal... Hmmm

Couch to 5k

I don't know how many ppl have heard of this program but I'm starting the couch to 5k to tonight. Google it, it's a way of working up to great fitness from nothing!! There's heaps of iPhone apps, I'm using a free one that's called 5kRunner, and the person on the audio prompts you what to do. Eg: walk 1 minute, run 1minute) It's all interval training and its meant to be about half an hour for 3 days a week. Pretty reasonable I'd say. My boyfriends doing it with me to help keep me motivated.

Clean coconut rough choc

Now this ones a work is progress.

5 tablespoons softened coconut oil
2 scoops choc protein powder
2 tablespoons natural yoghurt
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 tablespoons LSA meal (didn't have any straight almond meal in the cupboard so I figured LSA's pretty close)
1 tablespoon shredded coconut

I mixed it all up (tasted great lol) and lined my ice tray with lightly oiled cling wrap. <>
Then used teaspoons to put a bit of mix into each hole. Then into the freezer.... Fingers crossed. This recipe is a bit of a hodge podge of other recipes on the net, so I don't know how good it will be until tomorrow :-)

Monday, 1 October 2012

Clean berry ripe ice cream

You'll need:
1cup natural or Greek yoghurt
1 cup frozen raspberries (or any berry you like really, but if you use strawberries I'd wait til they defrost and chop them into small pieces)
1 tablespoon organic cocoa powder
2 scoops of choc protein powder
1 tablespoon of natvia (that's not in the original recipe but the natural yoghurt was just so sour it wasn't overly edible without it for me)
2 tablespoons of shredded coconut
Dash of vanilla essence or one vanilla bean's seeds

Mix it all up well in a container and freeze! Yum! Makes about 3-4 serves.

Just remember, just coz it's "clean" it's still just for a treat on ashys plan. So don't go nuts on it and eat 4 serves at once, or really its almost as bad as eating regular ice cream.
I'll have to remind myself of that too lol it's so yummy...

Sunday, 30 September 2012

Clean turkey meatballs!!!

Ok so turkey mince isn't the greatest since they normally use the fatty left overs to make the shop bought mince. But if you buy the nice lean turkey breasts and mince it yourself in the processor, it's heaps better :-)
Same with the tomato sauce, shop bought is full of stuff you don't need, but making your own is too easy and good for you.

500g turkey mince
Corn flake crumbs
Dried garlic (or fresh, your choice)
Basil leaves
Mild chilli
Salt and pepper
2 eggs
Dried mixed herbs
1 Chopped onion

Pretty much chuck everything in a bowl and squidge and squelch with your hands to mix it all together. I used the herbs to my taste, about a tablespoon or less of each, but use as much or little of them as you like.
Then make into little balls and refrigerate until you're ready to cook.

For sauce I used heaps of tomatoes in a processor until I had about 500g of crushed tomato mix. Add whatever herbs you like (basil and garlic are good).

Heat your pan with a little bit of coconut oil, then brown your meatballs, when they look nice on the outside (but not cooked through) pour in your sauce over the meatballs.Then simmer away to thicken your sauce and cook the meatballs through.

Done!! That's it, freezes well, and you can choose to have it with pasta or not, depending if you're doing clean eating for weightloss or maintenance. It's still delicious in a bowl without pasta and with a fresh salad on the side. :-)

You could even make just the meatballs and take them to a party with homemade tomato relish as a nice finger food option.

Saturday, 29 September 2012

Whoops

Ok so there might have been a small slip up last night. Some potato chips accidentally made their way into my mouth. It was like they were coated with heroin or something. How do you eat just one? Shameful!!!!!! Back on the bandwagon firmly today, I'm very upset with myself!!

Apple cider vinegar

Forum girls also recommend apple cider vinegar (ACV) for helping out with the clean eating plan.
It must be organic or raw UNFILTERED ACV. That means its cloudy looking with sediment at the bottom of the bottle and a few floaties in the liquid. The difference between the clear amber colour stuff you buy in the bottle with your normal white wine vinegars in the supermarket is that the funny looking cloudy stuff is the beneficial bit of the ACV! Without the unfiltered cloudy bit, clear commercial brand apple cider vinegar has no benefit aside from tasting great in a salad dressing.
The cloudy stuff is called the "mother" of the vinegar, and as gross as this sounds, it contains living nutrients and bacteria in the mother.
They say some good things taking a shot of ACV after each meal can do for you are that it helps break down fatsso that your body can use them instead of storing them. It improves bowel regularity so you're eliminating toxins quicker from your body. It contains acetic acid which appears to slow your digestion of starch (will help reduce the steep rise that can cause a glucose surge after a meal) this can help avoid the sugar slump a few hrs after the meal.
One negative I've found is that they think that sipping it can damage your tooth enamel over time, so shot it back. That's fairly easy though since its a bit of a strong taste I just prefer to get it over with quick and wash it down with a glass of water. It's actually not unpleasant mind you. Just strong.

Coconut oil

Coconut oil is from woolworths or Coles in the health food or Asian sections in a jar. It's said to be a heat stable oil meaning that when you heat it to high temp such as cooking its molecular structure doesn't change. for example, If olive oil is heated above a certain temp it releases phenols... It changes nolecular structure from something very beneficial for you to sonething not very good for you. Google it, but basically Phenols=bad. "Possibly carcinagenic blahblah". So really super hot coconut oil doesn't turn from "good" fat to "bad" fat in your pan!
I've been reading in the ashy bines forum that some girls swear by it as a great body and face moisturizer. I'm giving it a go on my face every night for a week to test the theory. I'm tipping I break out like crazy! We'll see!
Coconut oil is great for weightloss because it helps with healthy functioning of the thyroid and enzymes in your body. It can increase your metabolism therefore helping you burn more energy and reduce weight. Extra benefit is that its around 50% Lauric acid which helps lower cholesterol and high blood pressure.
So I'm not seeing a negative... I already cook with it, but after finding out this stuff I'm trying it on my skin and also trying to take the oil orally (research says taking a few tablespoons a day is good). Currently trying that one in hot water with lemon. Totally forgot it was in there.

Friday, 28 September 2012

Dates

So note to self (and anyone reading) eating heaps of dates while making the protein bliss balls is a baaaaad idea for your tummy!!

Supplements

The supplements I'm using daily with ashys clean eating plan are
*Protein: Species Isolyze (I'm lactose intolerant so this brand of WPI is free of lactose and tastes great)
*Fish oil tablets
*Vital greens powder (super nutrient rich greens and vitamins in powder. Tastes like tropical fruit!)
*Swisse green tea tablets (1 is equivalent to drinking like 8 cups of actual green tea)
*Pre-workout and general metabolism booster: Musclewerks Define8. Pink lemonade flavor is sweet and delish (contains caffeine)

Ashy bines

I'm following the ashy bines clean eating program! Look it up guys, www.abbbc.com.au
She's awesome and the fb forum is hugely motivational.

Protein bliss balls

So amazing straight from the freezer. Great sweet snack in moderation.

400g dates
400g almond meal
Some Orange juice
Splash of Vanilla essence
2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil
Shredded coconut
2 scoops of choc protein powder(can substitute 6 teaspoons of cocoa powder)

Blitz the dates up then add the almond meal, put in the coconut oil, vanilla essence and a small splash of oj. Mix. Add the protein powder(or cocoa) mix. Add more oj to make it a dough like consistency.
Roll into little balls and cover with coconut. Keep in freezer!! YUM!

6 weeks to bather-ready


Howdy, My name's Ash, I'm a beauty therapist who has recently made the move to sunny Brissy from chilly Melbourne. It actually gets hot here -they actually wear bathers here in summer. Um... I'm so not ready for that sh*t.
This is my journey trying to make it through my personal challenge of clean eating for 6 weeks for health and weight-loss. With trepidation (and a huge suger and caffine addiction) I'm going to do this! Clean eating machine is GO!!