The Explosion

This morning started off pretty good! I was able to sleep in a little bit till 10am, it felt VERY nice and much needed. When I finally did wake up I cooked up some mean egg whites, a boiled egg and chopped up some green peppers on the side to munch on. YUM! I had some time to kill before I was headed to work so decided to do my daily CREEPING quota.

I started creeping the lovely bikini model Justine Munro and fitness model Jamie Eason. They are two extremely inspiring girls and bodies I hope to one day achieve/have. It seems weird to everyone else to be analyzing photos on what I’d like to achieve but any other competitor understands. In order to keep my mind focused and push harder at my goals its small things like looking at a picture of Justine or Jamie that makes me want to push HARDER at the gym and NOT cheat on my diet. I really liked a comment Jamie said about ABS on her fan page 

"abs are made in the kitchen" and that is SO true!! Genetically, you are either predisposed to having shallow, flat abs (like me) or more defined and deep ab definition. Until you get your bodyfat low enough, you will not know what you have been genetically given, so all the crunches in the world won't add definition without proper nutrition.”

I like this comment because I have had so many people come up to me and ask me to show them ab workouts and how they want abs “like that”.  Don’t get me wrong abs and legs are my favorite workouts and I try and include a little bit of abs and core in everyone of my workouts but Jamie is absolutely right- your abs aren’t going to “POP” unless your eating the proper food and nutrition and your body fat % is lower.

I moved on to the EGGSEL.COM website because I eat sooo many egg whites I am really thinking about buying those things in a tub that CAN be frozen! Yes genius- isn’t it? I stumbled across these homemade Protein Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars that I am really considering making a few days before my competition to have after I am all done.  It looks pretty easy so here is the recipe for any of you who are interested in making it ahead of time maybe you can give me the heads up on how good it is?

2TBSP whey powder
1 1/2 cups quick oats
Dash of cinnamon
1 cup Eggsel egg whites
1/2 cup milk
1 TBSP butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup chocolate chips (or other variations; see below)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In bowl combine whey, oats, and cinnamon. Stir to remove any lumps.

2. Add Eggsel and milk. Stir. Let stand for at least 10 minutes so the dry ingredients absorb some of the moisture from the wet ingredients.

3. In separate bowl combine butter, sugar, and peanut butter.

4. Add oat mixture to peanut butter mixture, and stir until combined

5. Stir in chocolate chips

6. Pour into parchment lined, or sprayed/greased 9 inch pan

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, or until centre has puffed up, and knife when inserted comes out clean.

8. Cool, cut, enjoy!

Variation: Instead or, or in addition to chocolate chips you can add pecans, walnuts, flax seed or any other nut, or seed. Adding nuts will also increase the protein value of the bars.

Also dried fruit can be added such as raisins, cranberries, or goji berries. If you choose to add dried fruit be sure to 'plump' it first. To plump dried fruit simply soak the fruit in boiled water for about 5 minutes. This will reconstitute the fruit, and prevent the bars from becoming dry. Drain the water and add fruit to bar mix.

After drooling over the possibility of homemade protein bars and other yummy nutritious recipes for a few hours it was time to get my glutes to work. I was working 3pm to 9pm today and my energy level just wasn’t quite at its peak yet. Of course, the minute I got into work it was INSANELY busy and I really didn’t stop running around my ENTIRE shift. I called my dad when I could spare 2 minutes to talk to him because I was ready to kill many customers. I had finally cracked- the happy loving Caitlin was no more. The stress of my diet and workouts had finally hit me and as I cried on the phone begging my parents to come down earlier- I had lost hope. My dad reminded me of all the hard work and effort I had put into it all and not to give up and that the finish line was just around the corner. He was ABSOLUTELY right! Although, I broke down , I knew it would happen soon again but the end result was what I am pushing for. 

After work I headed to Goodlife to get in a solid 45 minute weight training and 20 minutes of cardio. I felt like the talk with my dad amped me up to kill the gym and that’s most definitely what I did. Although now I am home at 11pm doing the usual- dishes, prep food for tomorrow and clean more dishes, I have come to realize this is MY LIFE now. This is who I am! Whether it’s on season or off season I know I would rather spend my free hours at the gym and prepping meals rather than sitting in front of my tv, eating bad food or going out to the bar. This is not ONLY My Fitness Journey this is My Fitness Life.

Till tomorrow bloggers,

Love you all,

Caitlin Cooke #11