Well hello there gym rats and health nut enthusiasts! So sorry for neglecting you guys the past few weeks...my life has been SO crazy I have had no time to blog. But I'm back :) I've recently moved into a new apartment, gotten back into the gym after facing that horrible mono, and have been busy getting ready for my next semester at school. Like I said, life has been hectic!
I got back into the gym about a week and a half ago, and I feel great. I think actually getting back into the gym and into my old routine after being sick has helped me feel better, quicker.
My diet and training is stricter than ever, as I am just 10 weeks out from my first show!! I can't explain how excited and nervous I am to get up on that stage. I'm so proud of myself for sticking with things for so long and can't wait to see the changes in my body over the course of the next 10 weeks. It's definitely been a whirlwind of a journey.
My diet has changed significantly ...I'm focusing on losing about 1 pound a week, and so far, so good. I've cut my carb intake to about 75 grams a day (this will change the closer I get to competing), and am really watching my sodium to stay away from being bloated and holding water weight. I'm eating really lean, lots of eggs, turkey, chicken and fish. My diet has been pretty bland, but I'm definitely noticing changes and couldn't be more thrilled!

Here are my current stats...I'm weighing in at 128.5 and am at 20.5% body fat. By competition time I would like to be at 120 and around 18% body fat. So, I'm almost there! Eating clean and training mean!

I'll fill you guys in on some of the recipes I have been using the past couple weeks:

I've always loved Mcdonald's breakfast burritos - and decided since I can no longer eat their burritos, I would make my own, healthy version!

The recipe is pretty simple:

1 veggie torilla wrap

4 egg whites

chopped red bell pepper

chopped green bell pepper

chopped tomato

chopped onion

1 slice of weight watcher's american cheese

1 link of turkey sausage

Put all the ingredients together in the pan (veggies and sausage first to cook them through - then add the egg whites). After cooking all the ingredients, place them on the wrap, fold, and enjoy! I've been making this breakfast almost every day. It's about 150 calories, 36 grams of protein, 20 carbs and very, very low in fat and sodium. It's also very filling, so it gets me through until lunch with no trouble! 

Something that I've been eating for lunch quite often lately is a Jennie O turkey burger with 

half a slice of weight watcher's American cheese, two dippy eggs, and a veggie on the side.

I use my George Foreman "skilLite" to drain the fat from the burger (it gets a bit dry, but much healthier). It's a quick meal that takes about 15 minutes to make with virtually no carbs and very low in fat and high in protein. Jennie O, to me, makes the best turkey products out there, and if you haven't tried anything of hers, you are really missing out! 

For a low calorie, low fat, low carb dinner meal, try this awesome mixture that I actually made just tonight! It came out really, really good! 

I used:

20 oz lean, ground Jennie O turkey

1 red bell pepper

1 green bell pepper

sliced onion 

2 cups long grain organic brown rice

6 egg whites

Basically, same things as the breakfast burrito, cook everything together in a pan (veggies first to soften, then add the turkey, egg whites and rice go in last) - and wha la! You have yourself a delicious, low-cal meal to end your day with! I made a lot of this mixture so I can save it and take it as a lunch to work the rest of the week. Just heat it up for a filling and tasty treat. You don't even need any side dishes because this meal is so filling and has all your nutrients in the main course! 

Last night, I made a fish dish that I absolutely LOVED. I've always had a hard time with fish, never really liking it too much. I usually use some soy sauce, lemon and garlic on my fish, but last night I decided to try something new, and I am SO GLAD that I did. I get tired of my dishes pretty quickly, but this is one I definitely think I can handle for a while :) It was so easy and fast to make, too!

Preheat oven to 425

Coat fish with 1 tbs pure honey (I used tilapia and salmon), a few pinches of pure cane brown sugar, and some crushed pecans

Bake in oven for 15-17 minutes (until fish is cooked) - and that's it! 

I served long grain brown rice and green beans on the side, and this dish was amazing. It was sweet and crunchy, and a nice change from the rest of the meals I've been eating lately. 

Derek (who is the most picky eater) LOVED the fish as well, which is certainly a great sign :)

Out of all the recipes I've posted tonight, if you try any, this is certainly the one to try!! 

I also have a new ab exercise for you guys to try! 

This exercise should be preformed on a decline bench with a weight that you're comfortable with (I am using 10 lbs here, I believe)

Simply start lying down with arms extended all the way over your head (almost touching the ground)

Lift the weight up, keeping arms straight at all times

Finish 1 rep by touching your feet

I've been doing 3 sets of 25 reps - this exercise absolutely kills your abs! 

I think that gets me about all caught up with you guys for tonight! I promise I'll be getting more posts up now that things have settled some! 

Thank you, everyone, for all the feedback on my last post, and keep it coming! I love hearing what you guys think or if you've been trying anything! 

Do you guys have any progress pictures of yourselves? Send them to me - you can click on my "contact me" tab and get my email - I would love to do a post on a success story! 

Have an awesome night! 

One more day and its TGIF - hang in there, everyone!!!

xxxo Fitness Felicia 

 

"Dressed Up" Diet Meal Ideas

Hello All! Feeling much, much better today! It was my first day back at work and I think getting out of the apartment and being with other people helped my recovery process greatly!

I just wanted to put up a quick post of some of those meal ideas I was talking about in my post from yesterday. I know the diet is horribly bland and boring, so here are some ideas of meals that I eat to keep me semi-satisfied.

Here is one of my breakfast meals..

egg white omelet with half a slice of cheese and chopped tomatoes,

whole wheat toast with PB,

cottage cheese with a bit of homemade blueberry jelly

Above I have a grilled mahi mahi burger patty. 

Mahi Mahi is a fish that doesn't really have that "fishy" taste that

Tilapia does, so it's a lot more bearable. 

I paired it with long grain brown rice and a dry salad (YUMMMMM! haha)

(sorry the picture isn't all that great)

This is a salad I made for lunch

I used organic lettuce, black beans, that plain salsa that i LOVE (a few posts back I have it),

tuna fish, whole grain tortilla chips crushed up and some lemon 

I made this salad for my sister and I - she hated it but I thought it turned out pretty good, actually! 

This is another little concoction I made for lunch one day, I make it all the time now I love it so much!

What it is is: chicken burger, grilled, organic baby romaine lettuce and spinach, tomato, cucumber, lemon, and some hummus - turns out delish when you mix it all up :) 

Pair it with a greek yogurt and you're golden ! 

And as a little treat, I made sweet potato brownies one day last week.

It was the first time I've ever made them - they tasted a bit different from regular brownies, 

but they were still really chocolatey and moist and very, very good. 

I would def. make these from now own over any other brownies,

I think they'd be pretty easy to get used to. 

I kind of just messed around with the ingredients, 

next time I make them I'll let you guys know if they come out any better and

what I did different. Here is the recipe for now:

Felicia's "Healthy" Sweet Potato Brownie Recipe

2 Medium Sized Sweet Potatoes 

6 eggs 

1/2 cup organic coconut oil

1/2 tsp flax seed

1 tbs honey

6 tbs whole wheat flour

4 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup enjoy life choc chips

1/2 cup walnuts (personal preference)

• Start by preheating oven to 350 degrees 
• Use the microwave (or oven, or boil) to cook the sweet potatoes
• Once potatoes are cooked, peel the skin off, place into a large bowl, and mash
• Add eggs, coconut oil, honey, vanilla - mix thoroughly
• Then add flax seed, whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, choc chips, walnuts and cinnamon
• Once well mixed, put into a baking dish (I used a 13x9 pan)
• Bake for 29-31 minutes (no more, no less!)
• ENJOY!

They came out so moist and yummy, and they smelled great! I'm thinking that next time I'd like to incorporate applesauce somewhere in the recipe, but I'm not sure how much or if it

will clash wit the sweetness and moistness of the sweet potatoes. So maybe you guys try it

for me and let me know lol. :) 

Enjoy your night, everyone!

xxo Fitness Felicia 

101 Things You Can Do To Get a Workout in OUTSIDE of the Gym!

Hello All! Feeling a lot better today than yesterday, thank goodness :) I got myself into the gym tonight, not sure if that will backfire on me or not, but I need to stay on track with my training, so I did a light workout tonight and it felt great :)

Because it's summer time, a lot of people are going on vacations and spending their time with friends and family, and are not so concerned about getting to the gym. Because of everyone's busy schedules, I wanted to write a post about 101 things you can do to stay fit, OUTSIDE of the gym! A lot of people have a hard time thinking up ideas of what they can do to stay fit without getting into the gym, but sometimes the obvious ideas aren't so obvious, so Fitness Felicia to the rescue with some great ideas for you all !!!
Lots of these ideas are things you can do with friends/family as well, so they can be more fun than getting that gym workout in. With the weather outside being so nice, it's a great idea to take advantage of the outdoors while we still can :)

101 Outside-The-Gym Stay-Fit Activities 

1. Take the dog/s for a walk

2. Grab you girls/guys and head towards the wilderness for a hike 

(visit localhikes.com to find a hiking area near you)

3. Lace your sneakers up and head out for a jog - great for clearing your mind 

4. Going swimming? Make sure you get a couple laps back and forth in! - have a race with the kids, see who can complete 10 laps the fastest with the best form 

5. Head outside for a late-night walk and look at the stars

6. Set up the sprinkler and release your inner child! - Run through it with the kids or friends

7. Raining outside? Get your cleaning gloves on and do some summer cleaning! - things like scrubbing, moping, sweeping all work that upper body! 

Fem tip: vacuuming/sweeping in heels gives your calves a great workout :) 

8. Green Thumb? Get outside and do some gardening! 

9. Take the kids to the playground, get on that swing set and swing! See how long you can work those quads and hammys! Who can go the highest?! You or your little one?! 

10. Have a family/friend field day outdoors. Set up different games: moon bounce, sack races, football, three-legged race - some friendly competition never hurt anyone! It's also a great, fun way to burn off calories without even realizing it! (just make sure if you have food to serve healthy treats!!!) 

11. Love your ride? Been awhile since you washed it? Get outside and wash your car the good ol' fashioned way! Scrubbing and getting down in those nooks in crannies will work your upper AND lower body!! 

12. Heading to the beach for a little vay-cay? Bring a shovel and dig a hole as deep as you can (then bury the kids in it, of course)! Awesome upper and lower body workout! 

13. Take a run on the boardwalk and watch the sun rise or set - it'll be cooler outside and the sights will take your mind off your running :) 

14. Take your family/friends out and rent bicycles to ride while vacationing. Check out the great sights from a different POV 

15. Rainy day? Download a yoga video from youtube and do some calming yoga indoors. 

16. Not a fan of yoga? Youtube also has some awesome kickboxing videos you can do at home!

17. Okay okay! Hate kickboxing AND yoga?! Check out some great pilates videos on youtube as well!! 

18. Have little ones? Get out on the driveway or sidewalk, grab some chalk, and draw up a good old fashioned hop scotch board! Jumping from tile to tile really burns those legs!! 

19. Teach someone/learn how to hula hoop! Already know how? Hula Hoop for fun! It gives your obliques a great burn if you can go for awhile! 

20. Have a frisbee catch outside. I don't know about you guys, but I'm usually chasing after the frisbee, that gives me a great workout in itself.

21. Set up some horseshoes and play a friendly game of horseshoes outside! 

22. Play a not-so-friendly game of horseshoes outside - I know we all like to get competitive ;) (ha ha)

23. White Water Rafting - loads of fun but also a great workout for your upper body

24. Too hot or humid out? Go indoor rock climbing! Fun for inexperienced and experienced rock climbers and for the kids as well! 

25. Take it back to the schoolyard days and teach your kids how to double-dutch. Guarantee you it won't be so easy to keep jumping now that you're a few years older!! 

26. Head to a lake and rent kayaks or row boats. Great upper body workout

27. I know this sounds funny, but make yourself float while you're in a swimming pool, or even harder, the ocean. It gives your entire core an awesome burn! 

28. Click back a few posts and do my outdoors workout! I have videos for examples and everything :) 

29. Before you go to bed and when you wake up in the morning, do 100 jumping jacks for an all-over burn.

30. Also before you go to bed and when you wake up, do 100 sit-ups or crunches for a quick core workout. 

31. Head to a nearby high school or college track and time yourself running a mile.

32. Don't want to run a mile? Head to the track and practice your HIIT training instead! 

(I'll be stopping here for today guys! Early morning for me tomorrow - but no worries, I will be sure to finish this up tomorrow !! :) What do you think so far?!! ) 

xxxoo Fitness Felicia 

The Benefits of Lemons...

Hello All! Not many takers on the contest so far? What's up with that?! Free stuff - who passes that up?! Come on all, let's get more pro-active here!!! <3

Let me start this post off by saying...T.G.I.F. It has been a very long, hot week. I am certainly looking forward to a weekend off to sleep in, relax, make good food, and exercise.

The picture I have above is a list of "negative calorie" foods. Negative calories mean that your body actually burns more calories digesting the food than the food is actually worth.

Have I told you guys how in love I am with lemon water? I drink (almost) a liter of it every day. I squeeze about one whole lemon into each tall glass of water that I have. I actually don't even care for lemons - not a fan of sour foods at all, but lemon has many benefits that are too good to pass up! I've been drinking lemon water for about 2 months now and have become accustomed to the taste. Regular water now actually tastes odd to me! Here are some benefits that you may have not known about lemons:

- Treats Acne 

Drinking lemon water, along with rubbing lemon juice on your irritated skin at night can help to prevent and eliminate acne. I've had acne problems since middle school - I have very sensitive and oily skin, but since I have been drinking lemon water (I occasionally put it on my skin), I haven't experienced any breakouts - at all. The citric acid (which is found in most acne cremes/washes) from the lemons help to treat your acne. Drinking lemon water is less effective in treating acne than applying lemon juice directly to your skin, but I have found that simply drinking lemon water has helped immensely. 

I found this lemon mix acne treatment on webmd.com:

· With your finger or a cotton ball, apply fresh lemon juice on acne and leave it overnight. Wash with water the following morning. There may be an uncomfortable sensation of burning at first, but it will soon disappear.

· Mix one part of freshly squeezed lemon juice with an equal part of rose or honey water. Put the mixture on affected areas for at least half an hour. Wash it afterwards with water. This application should be repeated twice daily, ideally in the morning and the evening.

                           -Promotes Digestion / Detoxification

Lemon juice works with the body as a natural detoxifier and digestive aid. Because lemon helps with digestion, the stomach becomes less bloated, gassy or inflamed, which allows your body to, in turn, burn fat at a faster rate. Apart from helping with digestion, lemons help to increase metabolism, which also helps with burning fat quicker. Many people think that lemons burn fat. Lemons, alone, do not burn fat, that is a big misconception. They do, however, work along with the body by aiding in digestion and decreasing inflammation in the stomach as well as increase your metabolism, which in the end, allows your body to burn more fat. 

-Fights Fatigue

Lemon juice helps to stimulate brain activity, making you feel more awake and alert. Take a few drops of lemon water if you are feeling fatigued to help "wake up" your brain. The smell of lemons also helps to stimulate brain activity. Many people use lemon oils in their homes or offices to help fight fatigue and feel more refreshed. 

-Gives you that "Good, Clean Feeling"

Lemon juice helps fight bad breath and mask odors from cigarettes, alcohol, onions, etc. Washing your mouth out with lemon water mid-day helps refresh your mouth, and activates your salivary glands to get rid of any "stale" breath. 

-Helps with Insomnia

I found this off webmd.com:

Several studies have found that lemon balm combined with other calming herbs (such as valerian, hops, and chamomile) helps reduce anxiety and promote sleep. In a recent double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 18 healthy volunteers received two separate single doses of a standardized lemon balm extract (300 mg and 600 mg) or placebo for 7 days. The 600 mg dose of lemon balm increased mood and significantly increased calmness and alertness
^I did not know this before, and will deffinatly have to give it a try. I use melatonin and valerian root (as you can see from my previous posts) usually to help with my sleep, but I'm curious to see how the lemon works!

Does anybody else have any knowledge about lemon water? As I said, I'm obsessed with it and drink it all the time. How about you guys? 

This picture is of how many lemons my waitress gave me one night when I went out to dinner (bless her!) recently. Usually when I ask for EXTRA, EXTRA lemons, waiters/tresses look at me oddly and put ONE extra slice on the rim of my cup. Seriously?!! BIGGEST PET PEEVE! JUST GIMMIE SOME LEMONS WHEN I ASK!!!! This waitress, however, heard me loud and clear (she also got a nice tip from me:) )!! I was so happy, I just had to take a picture :) 

P.S. - all these lemons went into ONE glass of water (ha ha). I know I go a little overkill sometimes, but hey! A girl's gotta have her some lemons!! Am I right?! 

How many of you love your lemon water or lemon remedies?!! 

Remember: there is a CONTEST going on right now (previous to this post) and all of you guys should definitely do it! Even if you don't win (which, the chances of you winning are actually pretty likely considering how many participants I have right now - 1 - lol) - you're helping to promote my site (something I deff need right now!) !!! And who doesn't wanna help their favorite Fitness Felicia ?? Hmmm?! 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!! 

Talk soon,

Fitness Felicia <3 

Felicia's Figure Model Workout

Hello, all! How was everyone's weekend? Anybody do anything new and exciting??? My weekend was nice and relaxing. My new job allows me to have all my nights and weekends off, and I am absolutely  L-O-V-I-N-G that!!
I got back into the gym today after having my off days, and started a brand new workout cycle. I'm really excited about it. I'm calling this new workout "Felicia's Figure Model Workout" ! It's sort of catchy, right?

Speaking of this new routine, my challenge for last night was to think about and write up the new workout, and my challenge for today was to execute it. I'm not going to put the entire workout on here straight away, after all, you guys need something to look forward to, don't you?!

My new workout split is as follows:

Day 1: Chest and shoulders and cardio

Day 2: Back and triceps and abs 

Day 3: Lower Body and cardio 

Day 4: Traps and triceps 

Day 5: Cardio and abs 

Day 1:  Chest, Shoulders and Cardio

-warm up- (10-12 minutes of the cardio of your choice)

Resistance band front raises - 3 sets - 15-25 reps

-superset with-

Barbell bench press - 3 sets - 15-25 reps 

Stability ball dumbbell flies - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

-superset with- 

Leaning dumbbell lateral raises - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

Incline dumbbell chest press - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

drop set last set 

Arnold Press - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

drop set last set 

Complete workout with 25-30 minutes of the cardio of your choice

*I did my cardio earlier in the day before my workout, if you don't want to do the cardio at the end of the workout, just make sure you get some type of cardio in at some point during your day*

Terms used with this workout that you may be unfamiliar with:

Superset: A superset is when you do two different exercises as one set. Right after completing the first exercise, immediately move into the next exercise. That is one set. 

Drop set: A drop set is when you use a lighter weight right after your last rep of the exercise. Keep pumping out more reps until you can't go any longer

If you guys want pictures for any of these exercises, just let me know :) 

I really liked my workout today, my chest and shoulders are already exhausted. They're kind of shaking as I type this, actually (ha ha).  

Keep track of your reps and weight of each exercise as you go through your workout so that you can track your progress as you get further along.

Because the rep range is quite high for this workout, make sure to use lighter weights so you can complete the required reps. Working with lighter weights is definitely something I, myself need to work on. I always get into the mind frame that if I'm working with lighter weights, I'm not working hard enough. Even though you're using lighter weights, your rep range is high so you're burning more fat and toning! - just remember that (I need to, too). 

Try this workout out, and let me know how you feel afterwards and how you liked it. Recommendations for any changes?? I'm going to keep at this workout for 3 weeks and keep track of my progress every day and then switch my workout up again. 

Now.... get off the computer and go exercise!! :) 

XXOO 

Fitness Felicia 

P.S. I got another inquiry today about personal training! EXCITING! :) 

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth..

...I've just been busy, busy, busy!!
How has everyone been?! Sorry it's been a few days, but things have been cray!! GUESS WHAT, though?!! I got my first call for a client for personal training! Exciting, right?! I'm very excited :) I also put an ad in the newspaper to see how that goes. I actually got an email saying I can't put flyers in people's mailboxes anymore (lol woops), so I had to find a new way to get the word out...we'll see how this new method works! I'll keep you guys posted.

So..I know you guys are all just dying to know what I've been up to the past couple of days, challenge wise. So let's see, I have Thursday, Friday, and today to cover.

Thursday's new challenge is pretty exciting...I signed up for my very first figure competition!! Exciting, right?! It's in October, so that gives me about 4 months to focus on my training and diet...which opens up like, a million new challenges. I have to switch up my workouts and eating habits completely. Which opens doors to LOTS of new things for me! I'm competing in the True Novice Figure category, which is for first time competitors. I'm not really sure how much of a chance I have at actually winning, but I'm excited that I'll at least get the experience of competing.

So that was Thursday's challenge. Onto Friday..

Thursday I completed my workout cycle for the week, so Friday's training consisted of only cardio and some core exercises. Friday's challenge was a new recipe. Sorry it's been mostly recipes lately, I'll start up with new workout posts tomorrow again. I'll be switching up my workouts completely, so I'll have lots of new things to put on here for you all.
Friday's recipe was "egg muffins"

I wanted to try out this recipe because I started a new job where I will be starting work a lot earlier than normal, and wanted something that I could grab quick without having to wake up even earlier to make a healthy, complete breakfast. These egg muffins can be wrapped up in saran wrap after making them and can be kept in the fridge for a couple of days before going bad. I actually really liked the way they turned out.

Recipe:

Large eggs (use one for every muffin spot on the muffin tray)

Any toppings/seasonings you normally put on your eggs

These were so simple, and quick to make. 

Start by cracking an egg into each of the muffin spots of the tray. 

Add your toppings and seasonings into each of the eggs. I added low-fat cheese, sodium-free ham, tomato, mushrooms, pepper and garlic powder. 

After adding your toppings, put into the oven at 350 degrees and keep in for about 12-15 minutes. 

I really liked the way these egg muffins came out. I wanted to try them with egg whites, but wasn't sure how they would turn out and I didn't have the time to try. I'll try using egg whites next time to see how they turn out. I'm not sure if the egg whites would be too thin to hold up as a "muffin."
Heat them up in the morning for about 30 seconds, and you're good to go! I haven't tried them cold, but I like my eggs hot, so that's how I ate them. I'm sure they would be fine cold if you chose to eat them that way.

I haven't done my challenge yet for today, but check back later tonight or tomorrow to see what it will be!! ;)

How is everyone's weekend going so far? What's everyone been doing to keep healthy?!

Check back later on for today's challenge. Let me know if you guys try this recipe out. Has anyone reading ever done any figure competitions before? Any words of advice??? I really have no idea what to expect! I'm very exciting to start training, though.

Talk to you guys soon/!

XXOO 
Fitness Felicia 

Kookin' with Kale

Hey guys! Thanks for all the responses and motivating words yesterday! I really appreciate it :) I'm feeling a lot more motivated today, and am back in action. I took a long walk with Jackson today through some neighborhoods and handed out more personal training flyers. I've probably handed out 100 by now. No calls yet, but I'll keep waiting. All I need is just ONE client, and the flyers will be a success!

I added some new tabs at the top of my page, by the way! One of the tabs is a way you guys can contact me if you have any questions, advice, complaints, requests..etc. You can also find a link on there to follow me on pinterest and twitter. The other new page I created is a "get to know me" page. I just provided answers to some basic questions on there so you guys can get to know a little bit more about me. Let me know if you guys have any other questions for me!

Anywho! I was feeling a bit under the weather today, so I decided to skip the gym. Today would have been shoulders (one of my favorite days). Hopefully tomorrow I'll be feeling better and can get my sneakers back on and myself back into the gym!

Since I wasn't able to get into the gym today, I gave myself a cooking challenge...actually more like 2 cooking challenges. I've been reading a lot about the vegetable kale lately and have been wanting to try it. Kale is FILLED with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber. One cup of kale is only about 35 calories and has 5 grams of fiber. I've never tried kale before, and didn't even know what it looked like (it looks a lot like lettuce, except darker)! Just out of the blue the other day, my mom texted me a new recipe she wanted me to try, "kale chips." What a coincidence!!! It was then that I decided that making kale chips would be my next challenge!

The recipe is quite simple:

1 bunch of kale

1 tbs extra virgin olive oil

dash of garlic powder

dash of salt 

KALE

Preheat oven to 350

Wash and dry kale thoroughly

Cut the kale leaves off of the stem part of the kale and tear into bite-sized pieces.

After tearing the leaves, lay out onto a baking tray

Drizzle olive oil, salt, and garlic powder over the kale leaves

Bake for about 8-10 minutes, until the leaves start to turn brown around the edges

Cool and enjoy! 

The kale chips were....interesting. I've never tried kale before, so I wasn't even sure what kind of taste or texture to expect from the chips. They were very light and flaky almost. For a snack, these chips are great, but they aren't going to fill you up, that's for sure. I have A LOT of kale left, so I will be trying some other recipes with this veggie. If you like kale, try these chips. They're not "OMG delicious," but they are different for a snack, and extremely healthy and filled with nutrients. 

My next challenge of the day was zucchini and eggplant fries. I'd seen a recipe off pinterest for this snack and decided to give it a go! I've NEVER made eggplant by myself before, so cutting it up was a challenge in itself..I wasn't sure if you had to take out the seeds, or if it needed to be skinned..I was clueless. I basically just started chopping away and chopped the eggplant into a bunch of long, skinny fries. Is that how you cut an eggplant?

The ingredients for this recipe was also simple:

One whole eggplant

One whole zucchini

100% Whole Wheat bread crumbs

3 egg whites 

Pinch of onion powder

Pinch of garlic powder

Cut up the zucchini and eggplant into long, thin "fries"

Dip the fries into the egg whites, and then coat with the bread crumbs

Place out on a baking tray and back at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes (depending on how crunchy you want them)

Unlike the kale chips, these fries turned out "OMG delish!" They were so crunchy and yummy I couldn't stop eating them! These make a great snack or side dish at dinner. So, so yummy and I really recommend you make them. They were quick and easy to make and "OMG SO DELICIOUS!"

Try out these new recipes and let me know what you think!! Back to the gym tomorrow, everyone, and I'll have a new workout challenge ready! 

<3 Fitness Felicia