Nutrition These Days

Hey Gang! Sorry for the skip day yesterday. Work was in the top 3 of worst Terrible Tuesdays I’ve had so far, so after the gym I came home and just became a slave to my couch and the television.

Since I announced I am competing in my first OCB Bikini Competition, I’ve been asked quite a bit about my nutrition. First of all, I am not working with a nutritionist, nor do I have someone making my meal plans for me. This is ALL ME! And if I do say so myself, I think I’m doing a great job at it. I’ve learned so much about nutrition these past few years and this blog has helped me out 100%. I do my research! A lot of people do trial and error, and I do too sometimes, but I like educating myself first.

If any of you out there know a bikini or figure competitor, or a body builder what comes to mind with food? Probably bland chicken, rice, and broccoli right? Well I eat those things SOMETIMES, but I don’t think I’ve had one meal in this 4 and a half weeks of prep that was that. And let me tell you some of these people are eating that 4-6 times a day! Crazy right? It makes the whole process undesirable and unattainable.

So when deciding on my nutritional plan, I looked at what some bikini competitors are eating and modified from there. I took more of a scientific approach to my diet and said “okay what are the nutrients in these foods necessary to make this diet work, and where else can I find them so it’s not as boring?”. I’m telling you guys I DO NOT understand why so many people out there eat the same plain boring prep food when you can make delicious alternatives! Yes sometimes it takes me a little more time to cook, but it’s worth it not to be miserable for 13 weeks.

What would you rather have? *The pictures below are not my foods* 

The same BLAND stuff?

Same old chicken rice and broccoli.

Brown, brown, and more brown.

Remember you eat with your eyes too! The pictures above have NO color and I definitely wouldn’t be drawn to any of them.

Here’s what I’ve been eating!

Low carb chicken “fried rice”. How is it low carb with rice? Well it’s actually riced cauliflower! Tastes DELICIOUS! I’m not sure I’d do rice again after having it this way. I also use liquid aminos instead of soy sauce to cut down on sodium.

Tilapia ceviche. A way to eat my tilapia instead of the same boring way: in the oven. The citrus and vinegar help to cure the tilapia so it is safe to eat raw. I added cucumbers, avocado, and some spices!

Bok choy and zucchini strips on the indoor grill.

Garlic “mashed potatoes”. These aren’t potatoes but look and taste like it! This is pureed cauliflower! Whips up so easy in my vitamix with some garlic

Comfort food anyone? How about some meatloaf and mashed potatoes! This is the cauliflower puree again with lean turkey meatloaf (I only added spices and hot sauce to the meat), added in a sweet potato for some energy carb goodness!

Healthy- no sodium sweet pickles! This is just sliced cucumbers marinated in coconut vinegar and some stevia. So amazing. I used to eat 3-4 pickles a day before I cleaned up my diet. One of my favorite foods.

Chocolate cake batter casein. I add a little water, pop it in the freezer for 30 minutes and add some organic peanut butter. It’s like a Reese Cup! WIN 😀

Of course this is not all my meals. I just wanted to show you guys that I’m not a slave to tilapia, chicken, broccoli, and rice! I change up my menu pretty much every week to prevent any cheats or binges. I do keep staples in my diets though like egg whites and overnight oats. I really could eat both of those things every day and never get sick of them. Love me some oats!

Tomorrow I’ll be back with some workout stuff again. It’s my day off from the gym, I saved it this week because we are getting a big snow storm here in Maryland! Might be snowed in so I will definitely be blogging 🙂

Have a great Thursday!

XOXO With a Cherry On Top,

-Minnie