NUGO POST: FREEBIE FOR....

I want to give a HUGE thanks to NuGo Nutrition for not only sending ME 3 sample bars (REVIEW AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST)

, but for sponsoring my 12bar GIVEAWAY!! I got some REALLY awesome responses, and picked a winner with the most genuine reasons for wanting to win. Before I announce... I just wanted to pay homage to some of my favorite responses to "what I look for in an on-the-go snack"


*tastes like swedish fish. alas, my downfall. nothing tastes like those fish, besides the fish.*


*cheaper than the unhealthy snack i really want to buy*


*crunchy but not celery and carrots*


*pre expiration date*


AND MY FAVORITE OF ALL:
*****something you [body by liz] would recommend***** !!!!!!


Winner of the contest: SYDNEY from Long Island. She is a highschool athlete, and needs some healthier alternatives to the school cafeteria to get proper fuel for breakfasts and before practices. She is also a vegetarian, making a transition toward a vegan diet, so NuGo is a great place to start for great vegan bars! Congratulations, thanks for reading and sharing :-)


NuGo DARK review:
So, NuGo sent me 3 bars from their Dark chocolate VEGAN line: (200 cals per bar)
-Chocolate Chocolate Chip
-Mint Chocolate
-Mocha Chocolate


My favorite was definitely the Mint Chocolate. The bars are ENTIRELY COVERED in REAL dark chocolate--no powdered milk additives or anything--raw amazing and vegan. The Mint chocolate was rich, but palatable. I felt like I was eating mint chocolate chip ice cream. A really good idea would be to stick this bar in the freezer for an hour or so and THEN eat it (*mental note*) The bar was VERY sweet to me, because I am NOT used to sweets. The most sugar I'm used to is a raw banana. It was quite a shocker for my taste buds...not an entirely bad one though (For about 15g sugar total...)


Second favorite was the Chocolate Chocolate Chip. It wasn't super rich, and was entirely covered in dark chocolate like the other two bars. I was expecting a cookie dough taste, which I didn't get at all. It's a pretty basic bar. If you like chocolate you will definitely like it. I would eat it again, but the flavor wasn't as stand-out as the mint chocolate.


Lastly, the mocha chocolate. I absolutely LOVE coffee, but I am NOT a fan of mocha flavored things. Mocha is this strange intermediary between coffee and cocoa flavor, but is too strong and rich for my liking. However, I will say that the NuGo bar was good enough that I was able to almost finish the whole thing. I've had other "mocha" flavored protein bars, and thrown them in the garbage after one BITE, even if I was starving! The Nugo bar was good enough, and chocolate enough that I liked the taste, but it was too rich and mocha-ish for me to eat the whole bar. 


By the way, Nugo bars are HUGE !! Way bigger than balance bars, zone bars...theyre about the size of a Luna bar entirely covered in a coat of dark chocolate. But the center is made of these really yummy protein crisps, instead of some icky protein blend paste that's supposed to look like cookie dough or carrot cake or key lime pie. They are SO satisfying. Half way through the bar, you start to feel full. If you have the control, 1/2 of this with a hot cup of tea would be the perfect night time dessert. One last huge THANK YOU to NuGo nutrition, and CONGRATS to giveaway winner SYDNEY !! Hope you enjoy your bars, and would love you to write feedback for me to post up once you try out your bars :) 


Hope to have more giveaways in the future!! Much love, Liz

Lost my mojo for a minute..

Alright, this is it. Back to the blog. REALLY. Every day posting resumes NOW!!! Lots to catch you all up on. I hate when my favorite bloggers go a few DAYS without a blog post, so I feel terrible about my blog neglect. I have been feeling so Blah lately, mainly because of the injury in my left oblique. I HATE not being able to push 110% when I WANT to, because even the workouts i HAVE been doing have been aggravating the muscles, so that its sore all time. Even though I've been avoiding "core" workouts, I did go to pole class, and lifting weights requires a lot of core stabilization, so its not like my oblique has really gotten time to sleep. I guess its like being allowed to take naps, but never a full night rest. Today (Saturday) is my day off the gym, so my oblique can really sleep all day. And as much as I hate to admit this, my diet has NOT been up to par. I'm a way happier girl when I eat super clean and regimented. Lately...I've been having some great, typical, nutritious meals..but not stopping there (you know what I mean..) Diet and exercise REALLY go hand in hand, so when one hand is partly closed, its hard to hold hands with the other. In this case, since my oblique injury is compromising my workouts, I'm frustrated and less focused, therefore happen to be making too many relaxed choices with food. My breakfast and early meals tend to be perfect and on-plan...but as the day goes on, snacks happen,too many carbs happen..you name it. I'm human too people! I might not eat white bread or table sugar, but I do eat less than perfect sometimes. On a VERY rare occasion. This is a slump for me. It's lasted less than 2 weeks and I feel like its lasted months. I NEED to fall back in love with my vegetables, and try to lean out my belly because I haven't been able to get that "rock hard" feeling after a tough ab workout that keeps me feeling tight. I'm going to need YOU guys to help me get my feet back on the ground so I can keep making progress and updating you! This is the picture I took recently that i AM happy with: 
why do i like this picture? Because it represents the best feeling in the world that I get when I'm lifting super heavy, my muscles are fatiguing, and all of my veins start to pop out. It makes me want to push EVEN harder until I'm afraid theyre going to POP! Hey, whatever it takes to push through a workout right? This was taken at night, a few hours after a good lift. Muscles still needed more oxygen to GROW (at least that's what I like to think...)


Here's a photo I'm proud of, and striving to SURPASS once this injury is healed: 

Due to the lighting, you can't even see how leaned out I was, but my stomach felt nice and empty and flat. I had been eating really clean, and cut out sugar and salt for only 3-4 days before this, and didn't eat much the day I took this picture. Was still drinking lots of water, had coffee that morning. In different lighting, here's what my stomach looked like: A bit different huh? It's GRIND TIME!!! Who's with me?!

I FEEL PREGNANT.

Having an injury always sucks. Especially when it really interferes with your workouts. I pulled my left oblique last Wednesday, and its still in a LOT of pain..like, it hurts to open doors. I can't contract the muscle at all, so I just look bloated and relaxed. It's disgusting. I feel unsexy and fat. I've been trying to keep my workout intensity high, without affecting the injury...but NOT working the core for an entire week is definitely not helping the appearance of my tummy. Cardio is no problem, I can even sprint without pain in that area. I had a SICK leg workout today, and made use of machines that ASSIST the exercise to not stress out my core with too much stabilization. I used the Smith Squat system for squats, lunges, and deadlifts. I used the Leg Press, Standing hamstring curl, and hyperextension. I also used the cables, but held onto the sides so my core didn't have to work much. "Operation Booty" is REALLY working! I'm seeing improvements in my rear end, which is something to be happy for. I figure that if my butt looks bigger, it doesn't matter AS much if my stomach looks relaxed....even though it drives me INSANE!!! Also, I have this tendency to self-medicate with food when I have an injury or something. Like, oh I can have grapes because I'm injured and look fat anyway. Not such a good mentality. I've been eating too much fruit, too many carbs...and that makes me feel like CRAP after a couple of days. I HATE writing blogs that aren't super motivating and happy and cheerleader-like, but this is the truth for me at the moment, and I think it's important to SHARE the truth. Tomorrow, I'm going to attempt to combat these feelings of fatness and grossness by shocking my system with super low carbs, and eating mainly proteins, veggies, and seeds. No fruit tomorrow. I'll have oat bran and chia seeds for breakfast, but no grains for the rest of the day. I know my body, and after 2-3 days of eating like that, I'll feel much better. With time, the injury should continue to heal itself as well. I'm hoping to be happy with my appearance again by the weekend. Why do I care about this so much? Because its ME, i can't help it. Some people might not know what their abs look like...I'm not one of those people. I work very hard to look the way I do, and to feel good about it as well. I am HAPPIEST when I am lean, not when I'm puffy or eating less clean than usual.


Don't worry though, the most important part of the process is to HEAL my injury. I know this, DON'T think that I'm overworking myself , or avoiding my own advice.
Even though I feel like a CARDIO BUNNY lately...I have an HOUR of cardio planned for tomorrow. My legs are SMASHED, and DESTROYED from today's leg workout...so I have a feeling I'll be on the arc trainer, incline at 20, resistance between 5-15, intervals. Besides running, i DREAD doing cardio. Give me dumbbells ANY DAY and I won't wanna stop! Oh well...say a prayer for my left oblique please!! 


XOXO


PS----SUBMIT FOR 12 FREE NUGO BARS BY TOMORROW!!! 

Friday Cardio Blast

So, I have another injury. Minor, but I did something to my left oblique. Pretty painful. Had to cut yesterday's workout plan, (And obviously load up on entirely too many carbs to heal my injury right?,) so i was ITCHING to just give it my ALL and burn off some SERIOUS calories today and get in a solid sweat.


Workout: 
STAIR MONSTER:40 minutes (vomit)
Arc Trainer: 35 minutes (again...stab myself in the eye)


At that point, i was DRIPPING. I HATE cardio, besides running. BUUUUT with my left oblique issue, I couldn't run or do anything that needs lots of core stability.


THEN, after 75 minutes of cardio:


circuit 1: 3 sets 12reps
Tricep pull downs
rear delt pull
seated row
cable lat raise


circuit 2: 1 set 20 reps
cable hamstring curl
cable kickback
stiff leg kickback
lateral cable extension
inner thigh cable extension


WOOOOWWWEEEEE!!!!! Good Workout!!! 
Foam rolled my legs after, stretched a bit, and was out of the gym after about an hour and 40 minutes of sweating..


Came home to this amazing smoothie:
1 scoop sun warrior protein
1 very ripe banana
sprinkle of frozen blueberries
water
lots of ice cubs
splash unsweetened almond milk


Hit the SPOT! 


It was the perfect way to start my weekend, and get back on track! 


TGIF :-) 
xoxo


DONT FORGET TO SUBMIT FOR THE GIVE AWAY!!! YOU HAVE UNTIL TUESDAY NIGHT!!!! 

I'm back, with a gift to YOU!

Hey everyone. So I knooooow I haven't been posting for the past few days...I'm deeply sorry! I swear, I HATE neglecting my blog. But, you'll have to forgive me, because I have a potential GIFT for one lucky blog reader today! 


Nugo Nutrition was kind enough to agree to a giveaway for one of my readers of a box of their protein bars. (12 assorted variety)

Wait, what? I'm sponsoring a PROTEIN BAR giveaway?! 
Here's what you might be thinking:


But Liz, you HATE protein bars and everything about them, don't you? 
Umm, aren't all protein bars just candy in disguise?
Uh, all those protein blends and milk derivatives wreck my digestive system, no thanks...
But there are no good gluten free bars on the market!
Don't you always say it's better to eat solid food?


Here's my response to all of those questions:


I haven't switched over to the dark side, I'm not telling you to eat protein bars on a daily basis, or to get used to eating them for meals and snacks. NuGo bars are the ONE type of bar that I consider to be "okay" in a pinch, and that I actually eat (on an extremely rare occasion I'll admit..) in a pinch, or as a treat. NuGo specializes in making high-quality protein bars that are suitable (and delicious) for many food intolerances. They have a line of VEGAN bars (my go-to), gluten/dairy/soy free (also really good), and use pretty clean ingredients, especially when compared with crap like "Balance" or "zone" or even worse "CLIF" and "Luna" bars...etc. (Don't even get me STARTED on those jumbo 400 calorie Met-Rx cookie dough lumps or Supreme bars that are the length of my forearm...)  Pretty much anyone can find a good match with NuGo Bars. And I'm not kidding when I say that they really do TASTE amazing. I can't speak for every single bar they produce, simply because I haven't tasted them all, and cannot sample any bars that contain nuts (which some do..)


--Here's a chart of their bars, in case you want to find your match and order a sample pack! 


http://store.nugonutrition.com/category/bycategory.html


I know most people aren't as specific with their diet as I am, and probably can't fathom why it would be "unfavorable" to eat a protein bar. That's okay. If you like to eat protein bars, I want you to have the opportunity to try THESE instead of what you're currently eating. A glance at a Nugo bar is typically around 200 calories, 5 grams of fat, 10 grams of protein, 25 grams of carbs, less than 15 grams of sugar.


Anyhow. Here's what I want you to do to prove that you deserve a box of 12 NuGo bars.


---GIVEAWAY TASK:


Tell me 5 things that YOU NEED in an on-the-go snack. Meaning, you forgot your pre-packed tupperware or plastic bag snackie at home, and you're going to be out for a while. You stop at a deli or cafe for a snack. What leads to your ultimate choice? In addition to that, 1 reason why you want to try NuGo bars.


I would tell you what MY 5 things are, but I don't want to give away any ideas. Instead, I'll post my 5 criteria once I've gotten submissions of answers and choose the WINNER. The WINNER will be announced 1 Week from today!! You have until Tuesday, April 3rd to submit your list of 5 things.


How to submit: comment on the blog, message the blog, message me on facebook, message me on twitter ( @lizbrody ) 


Can't wait to read your submissions!!! 
XOXO

Re-Fuel and Re-charge

Remember when I used to talk about these ALL the time? That's one of my protein pancakes, if you couldn't tell. Well, I used to eat those almost every morning for breakfast, adding in certain ingredients for different reasons, sometimes topping off around 400 calories! But guess what? I was still LOSING weight and getting leaner when I ate MORE. Lately, I've been depriving myself a bit too much. Looking back on the majority of what I've been eating the past few weeks, it looks like lots and lots of green things and some proteins...But my busy body needs more FUEL! I cut down my carbs way too much, and need to do some major metabolism boosting.

I always tell people to eat BALANCED: to include carbs, protein, and healthy fats in their diets. Lately, I haven't been following my own advice. The other night, I just had miracle noodles and kale...Thats like zero calories. What the heck! I've also been very stressed lately, and I have the tendency to not eat when I'm stressed out, and work out even harder. This, as you can imagine, leads to running myself into the ground. It leaves me vulnerable, and usually emotional. I'm trying really hard to feed myself the way i TELL OTHERS TO, and to not obsess over every single calorie that's going into my body. It's a constant struggle, but it's necessary for me to be HEALTHY. I hate to make myself count calories, but now I'm going to have to start counting just for a few days to make sure that I eat enough since I burn so many extra calories during my intense workouts also. 

My calories are still going to come from the healthiest and most wholesome foods though! Grains include ezekiel bread products, oat bran or rolled oats, quinoa

I'll keep the fruits at about 2 servings a day, berries, apples, post-workout banana

Proteins will still be eggwhites (1 yolk a day,), no salt tuna, tofu, protein powder

I will still eat my beloved veggies whenever I want, but they aren't going to be the main focus of each meal like they have been...128 pounds of muscle can't survive on rabbit food! 

My fats come from almond milk, avocado, sunbutter, coconut flour, chia seeds (Tofu has some fats too)

I won't put my calorie plan on here because I don't want anyone thinking they should follow it just because I am. Remember, everyone's body is different, and has different needs. I pay close enough attention to how my body responds to different foods, different levels of fats, carbs, proteins, different workout structure, etc..that I know how to tweak things to fix myself and get on a better track. 

We ALL forget to listen to our bodies sometimes, even me!! So while my training has been better and harder than ever, I'm not completely fulfilling the hard work because my diet isn't properly matched to the intensity I'm training at! If you read my blog ever, you know that's not a recipe for success. A car can't run without fuel , right? 

Always remember to listen to your body.

Feed yourself, and train hard!

*for those of you curious of the recipe for the above photo:

The pancakes:

--1 scoop sun warrior protein

--5 oz liquid eggwhites

--1 big handful spinach

--1 tablespoon coconut flour

The toppings: 

--1 tablespoon natural sunbutter (any nut butter you want)

--blueberry chia jam

----->making chia jam: put frozen berries and 1tb chia seeds and a bit of water in the microwave for 2 minutes, stir, and refrigerate for an hour or so. I made a big portion and just spooned some on top of my pancakes. *single serving size: heat 1/2c frozen berries and 1/2tb chia jam in mic and cool it. it'll be around 70 cals, 8 carbs, 4 g fiber, 2g fat*

SO much to update!!

Sorry I've completely NOT been updating, and I have SO much to update.... 

After pumping up the biceps

Monday was a crazy treadmill cardio session and bicep/tricep workout
Tuesday was my usual leg day, with an additional 1/2 hr of cardio before my hour of leg work
Wednesday (today) was 45 minutes of cardio and pole! 
I've been using the arc trainer on the days that I don't run so that I get WAY more cardio in. There's no reason I shouldn't be doing cardio 5-6 days a week on a regular basis. To get somewhere, it never hurts to burn the extra calories. So, I've been using the arc trainer (the incline elliptical) and keeping the incline at 20 and playing with the resistance. The thing I like about the machine is that you can still work up a good sweat and burn calories without putting pressure on your legs. If I could, I would run 5-6 days a week. But That just doesn't work! I would love to write out all of my workouts and foods for the past 3 days, but I've been dealing with some things and don't really remember everything in detail. 
So I'm going to put some highlights:

--Monday's breakfast: chocolate ice cream. (2 scoops chocolate protein powder, 1tbsp chia seeds, water. Freeze for 45 minutes.) 
--Monday I ran a mile in 7:30! Not my fastest (7:28) but pretty damn good! I ran REALLY HARD and really fast for 35 minutes. 
--Burned 634 calories from my monday workout
--Tuesday I got the Smith machine all to myself. It makes squats SO much more stable, and lets your form correct itself.
--I forced myself through 4 sets of lunges with my back leg up using weight on the smith bar !! I HATE LUNGES! 
--I solidified a favorite post-workout meal combo: 6oz eggwhites w/splenda, 1 mushed up heated banana, and 1/3 scoop chocolate protein powder mixed together. MMMM , had that monday and tuesday.

Tried MIRACLE NOODLES on Monday night. they are made of yam powder and glucomannan (fiber) and have ZERO CALORIES. Yup, ZERO. I cooked em with pea shoots, kale, and tofu.


Wednesday (today) I had a nice 45 minute session on the arc trainer, with some new songs on my cardio playlist, and had a great pole class!


Tomorrow's agenda: 30 minutes cardio and Chest workout
On Thursday's I always need to preserve my legs and muscles so that I can wild out on Friday morning at Barry's Boot Camp! My goal is to press 35s comfortably for my chest presses. As of now, 30s are CAKE for 3 sets of 8-10, but sometimes the 35s seem impossible! I'm going to start with the heavier weights tomorrow and do some damage! Anyone have a favorite chest exercise besides Chest Press? (Bench press isn't much different!) Chest workouts typically consist of Pressing, push-ups, and assisted dips for me. I'm not a huge fan of monster pecs for women either, so maybe that's why I don't murder myself for these workouts. My pecs are sorta hidden under my bra anyway right?! I've been working REALLY REALLY hard in the gym this week. Can't wait for my day off on Saturday.
Summer is coming!!! 
Let's get ready!