You know those days when you want home made peach ice cream but you want to keep your results from your hard work and still look hot in your bikini?  Try this awesome protein smoothie instead!

Ingredients:

8 oz unsweetened coconut milk

1 scoop About Time vanilla whey

1 large peach

Ice

Directions:

Slice peach.  Get as much of the fruit you can without the pit.  Add all ingredients to blender and blend.

Nutrition:

Calories – 221

Carbs – 18g

Fat – 5g

Protein – 27g

Like this recipe and want more like it?

Check out the Bikini Cookbook

Turkey Roll Ups

Ingredients:

6 low sodium deli turkey slices

1 cup spinach

6 teaspoons mustard

2 tomato slices ( app. 1/2 inch thick)

Directions:

Lay out deli turkey and fold in half.

Add spinach, tomato and mustard then roll up the turkey around the fixin’s.

Nutrition:

Calories – 171

Carbs – 11g

Fat – 3g

Protein – 24g

Kyra,

The Get In Shape Girl

Like this recipe and want more like it?

Get the Bikini Cookbook here!

1. Steak – rare

2. Bacon

3. Tuna tataki

4. Tuna Tartare

5. Beef Carpaccio

6. Buttery mashed potatoes

7. Smoked salmon (raw)

8. Mango

8. Pineapple

9. GISG Oats

10. Brownies

11. Banana

12. Peanut butter

13. Almond butter

14. Cashew Butter

15. Coconut and walnut crusted chicken

16.Gourmet White chocolate and macadamia nut cookies

17. Gourmet Chocolate Chip cookies

18. Moose tracks ice cream

19. Peanut butter cups

20. Spaghetti squash and turkey meatballs with my home made sauce

21. French toast

22. Sushi (too many rolls to get specific)

23. Spinach

24. Protein smoothies (too many combinations to get specific)

25. Orange and ginger beef and broccoli

25. Snapper

26. Boneless buffalo tenders

27. Carrot cake

28. Cheese cake

29. NYC Bodega pizza (it literally has to be from one of those tiny bodegas on the streets of NYC)

30. Dried green beans

31. Pecan Pie

Kyra,

The Get in Shape Girl

1. Biggie – Hypnotize

2. Britney Spears – I’m a Slave 4U

3. Britney Spears – Toxic

4. Depeche Mode – Enjoy the Silence

5. DJ Khaled – All I Do Is Win

6. Dr. Dre – Dre Day

7. Dr. Dre – Ain’t Nothin’ But a G Thang

8. Frank Sinatra – I Get A Kick Out of You

9. GZA – Shadowboxing

10. Kenny Chesney – Summertime

11. Led Zeppelin – The Rain Song

12. Led Zeppelin – The Ocean

13. Madonna – Material Girl

14. Mobb Deep – Hell on Earth

15. Mountain – Mississippi Queen

16. Outkast – Wheelz of Steel

17. Outkast – B.O.B.

18.Outkast – Ain’t No Thang

19. Ram Jam – Black Betty

20. Rihanna – Please Don’t Stop the Music

21. The Roots – You Got Me

22. Salt N Peppa – Push It

23. Snoop Dogg – Beautiful

24. Snoop Dogg – Gin and Juice

25. Lil’ Wayne – Right Above It

26. Lil’ Wayne – 6 Foot 7

27. Lil’ Wayne – Fireman

28. Wreckz n Effect – Rump Shaker

29. 2 Live Crew – Hoochie Mama

30. 50 Cent – Ayo Technology

31. DJ EZ Rock and Rob Bass – It Takes Two

Kyra,

The Get in Shape Girl

This tropical smoothie is perfect as a poolside snack to cool off and as a post workout protein smoothie to help your muscles recover so you can look even hotter!

Ingredients:

8 oz unsweetened coconut milk

1 scoop About Time birthday cake or vanilla whey

1/2 large banana

1 cup mango

Ice

Directions:

Blend.

Nutrition:

Calories – 305

Carbs – 44g

Fat – 4g

Protein – 27g

Kyra,

The Get in Shape Girl

If you like this recipe and want more like it

Check out the Bikini Cookbook!

I’m going to explain what all of this means and how it pertains to you, your fat loss goals and how you can use this as a tactic to get lean!

Last week you learned all about the glycemic index and glycemic load.  You also learned that when you eat foods high on the glycemic index that it causes your insulin to spike.

Okay, so let’s discuss what insulin is.  It’s a term we throw around a lot, but I want you to understand EXACTLY what insulin is.  Insulin is a hormone that causes the body to take glucose (sugar) from the blood and store it as glycogen in the liver and muscles.  This stops the use of fat as an energy source for your body.

Well while your insulin is spiked your body can’t use fat as fuel.  And unfortunately (depending on the glycemic load) this could last for hours. BOO. 

But when your insulin levels are low (normal) glucose is not taken from the cells and fat can be used as a source of energy.  YAY.  

When you eat foods that are high on the glycemic index your pancreas produces so much insulin to turn the glucose to energy and it tells your body it will be using that for energy, NOT FAT.  So now you are storing fat.

Not only that but insulin requires to much blood sugar to be transported from the blood (spikes blood sugar) and leaves your insulin and blood sugar levels to drop rapidly.  This leaves you tired and hungry and most likely craving something else high in sugar to bring your levels back up.  This turns into a roller coaster ride of rapid spikes and drops.

The things you should take from this lesson are:

• High blood sugar levels also turn off fat burning off and fat storage on
• Spikes in insulin and blood sugar are following by drops in insulin and blood sugar causing cravings for more high glycemic foods
• Your body will combat this by releasing energy stored from fat, but insulin will not allow this to happen so your body will turn to using it’s own muscle tissue as fuel

Stay tuned because next Wednesday I will be teaching you the best ways to eat to maintain a steady balance in blood sugar so you get lose fat, build muscle and get lean!

Want a cookbook full of recipes that won’t spike your blood sugar?

Get the Bikini Cookbook Here!

Kyra,

The Get in Shape Girl

Buenos Dias Eggs

2 large eggs

2 large egg’s whites

1/2 medium tomato

1/2 cup red and green peppers, diced

1/4 cup low fat Mexican shredded cheese

2 T diced onion

1T  jalapeno, diced

Hot sauce to taste

Directions:

Mix all ingredients except tomato and hot sauce in non-stick frying pan and fry until eggs are cooked through.  Either scramble or cook as omelet.

Cut tomato into bite size pieces and add as the edible garnish.

Add hot sauce as you like it.

Nutrition:

Cals – 297

Carbs – 10g

Fat – 16g

Protein – 31g

Looking for more clean eating breakfast foods?

Check out the Bikini Competitor’s Cookbook

Is paying attention to the glycemic index gonna make me lean?  Is it going to help me look good in a bikini?  What does the glycemic index mean to me and how does it effect my body?

These are words we hear so often when discussing foods but to many of us it just sounds like Japanese.  According to the American Diabetes Association,

The glycemic index (GI) is a ranking of carbohydrates on a scale from 0 to 100 according to the extent to which they raise blood sugar levels after eating. Foods with a high GI are those which are rapidly digested and absorbed and result in marked fluctuations in blood sugar levels. Low-GI foods, by virtue of their slow digestion and absorption, produce gradual rises in blood sugar and insulin levels, and have proven benefits for health. 

Fast digesting foods  >  High on the Glycemic Index  > Rapid spike in blood sugar  >  Rapid drop in blood sugar

Slow digesting foods  > Low on the Glycemic Index  > Gradual rises in blood sugar  

Anything higher than 55 on the glycemic index is considered a high GI food.  Anything lower than 55 on the glycemic index is considered a low GI food.

Let me give you an idea of what foods are high, medium and low…

High – white potatoes, white rice, white breads, corn flakes, sugary breakfast cereals, pretzels, malt sugar, corn sugar, maltodextrin (in soda and candy)

Medium – whole wheat products, brown rice, grapes, raisins, pumpernickel bread, ice cream, fruit juice, table sugar

Low – most fruits and veggies, legumes, some whole intact grains, fruit sugar, dairy sugar, cacao, beans, chickpeas

As you see fats and proteins have no place on this.  That is because they contain NO carbohydrates.

You also notice that fruits are considered low because they contain soluble fiber, which decreases their GI.

Now that you understand what Glycemic Index means and what it is, let’s discuss Glycemic Load.

The Glycemic Load accounts for the amount of food, and how much that food will increase a person’s blood sugar level after eating it.  According to the Glycemic Research Institute:

One unit of glycemic load approximates the effect of consuming one gram of glucose.

Glycemic Load = Carbs in a food x GI of a food / 100

This is important because it takes into account your serving sizes.  For example, watermelon has a Glycemic Index of 72.  But let’s say you eat just about 100g of it, giving you a total of 5 carbs since watermelon has a ton of water.  So we take:

72 (GI) x 5 (# of carbs) = 360/ 100 = 3.6.  The Glycemic Load of 100g of watermelon is 3.6.

For one serving of food a GL of…

High – 20+

Medium – 11 – 19

Low – 10 or below

Obviously the higher on the glycemic index, the more likely it is to have a higher glycemic load.

And if you eat a lot of a medium glycemic index food, it can have a high glycemic load.

But you can lower the glycemic load of a MEAL by pairing foods higher on the glycemic index with proteins and fats so that the food takes a much longer time to digest!

And I will explain why that is the key to fat loss and getting lean on my blog next Wednesday so be sure to tune in!!!!!

Kyra,

The Get In Shape Girl

If you are looking for tasty, low glycemic meals check out:

The Bikini Competitor’s Cookbook: 40 Meals to Get and Stay Lean!

This weekend I had lunch out on Friday, dinner out on Friday night and dinner out on Sunday.  I’m going to use my experiences with dining out to help you make good choices when you are out!

Friday’s lunch was in downtown Boston where I was surrounded by food trucks with BBQ, some of the best Italian subs known to man and amazing cold cut sandwiches.  Most cities have restaurants around that are known for their salads.  In Boston we have Sebastian’s.  You can design your own salads starting with your choice of greens, your choice of protein and then more fruits and veggies than you can imagine.  I had :

Mixed baby greens

Grilled chicken

Corn

Cucumber

Tomato

Onion

Mushrooms

Carrots

Artichoke

Black olives

Bleu cheese

Fat free sun dried tomato vinagarette

It was big enough to feed me for two meals.

Then dinner came around Friday night.  My first tip for dinner is to not show up famished.  Have a protein shake with a tablespoon of peanut butter before you show up.  This will keep you full enough to make good decisions but not so full you can’t eat.  I’m very particular about where I like to eat.  I’m such a darn good cook that I really have no interest in eating low quality food.  When I dine out I like to eat fresh foods that I would not make myself.

For dinner Friday we went to Legal Seafood.  Because I was not famished it was easy to forego the bread basket.  I also recommend reviewing the menu before you go so you can make a healthy decision before you show up.  So make that decision and don’t even open the menu when you arrive.  When you can pick a fish dish that is a great choice!  Just make sure it’s not fried!  I ordered the seared tuna steak, sashimi style.  I also ordered the japanese eggplant and spinach with pine nuts and I cleaned my plate.

Grilled chicken, shrimp or a steak are also good choices.  Many salads are smart choices as long as they aren’t smothered in creamy dressing (get your dressing on the side) and places are making more and more delicious salads with apples, walnuts, goat cheese, etc.  Steamed veggies are another good choice, just tell your waiter you are allergic to butter or oil!!!  haha.. when they hear “allergy” they are more apt to hook you up!

Dinner was perfect and I was so full from all the veggies that the dessert wasn’t even appealing.  Another tip is to ask the waiter to NOT bring over the bread basket.  if you spend all of your time early in the meal resisting the bread temptation you will be more likely to give in when the dessert menu rolls around.

Saturday night was girls night.  One thing I like to do is wear a tight dress – if you are dolled up you’ll be less likely to stuff yourself because you know you have to deal with bloat from over eating the rest of the night.  It’s a good idea to split things with friends. I split a few sushi rolls with the girls for dinner Saturday night.  When getting sushi avoid tempura anything, spicy mayonaise and eel sauce.  You can also request brown rice as well as low sodium soy sauce.

We finished the night with cocktails and the best choice you can make in the drink department is vodka soda or red wine!  These are the lowest in sugar and with vodka you won’t drink as much.  Well, you shouldn’t drink as much  And make sure you chug plenty of water and a coconut water before bed and when you get up is a good idea too!

The key to having a better day the morning after a night out is to just eat a healthy breakfast!  Don’t give in to the cravings of fried food or french toast the next day.  Your blood sugar spikes so high when you are drinking, then drops so low while you sleep that naturally the next day you want comfort food as well as getting that blood sugar back up.  But don’t spike it again – just eat your eggs and oatmeal first thing.

Now I’d like to know – where do you like to go to dinner during the summer?

What kinds of foods do you choose?

Did these tips help you or do you have others you follow?

Leave me a comment below!!

Kyra,

The Get in Shape Girl

Want new ideas of foods to cook for yourself?

Get the Bikini Competitor’s Cookbook!

To the untrained eye this may seem like a good choice because it is only 300 calories.  300 calories should easily fit into anyone’s meal plan for a breakfast item.

But don’t be fooled.  Just because it is 300 calories doesn’t mean it’s 300 HEALTHY calories.  Let me break it down for you….

Within this 300 calories you receive -

18g of protein, respectable.

12g of fat.  This is 19% of your Recommended Daily Allowance according to the FDA.

5g of this fat is saturated, which is 24% of your RDA saturated fat.  That 24% in one tiny little 300 calorie “meal.”

From this fat you also receive 260mg of cholesterol which is 87% of your RDA.  WTF?!?!

Moving on.. there are 30g of carbohydrates.

Only 3g are from sugar, but only 2g of which are fiber which sucks.

To top it all of there are 820mg of sodium which is 34% of your RDA.

If this hasn’t told you anything I want to point out that in the english muffin the #4 ingredient is high fructose corn syrup and #5 is sugar.

The “egg” is made from the following…

USDA Grade A eggs, soy lecithin (release agent). Prepared with Liquid Margarine: Liquid soybean oil and hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils, water, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, salt, soy lecithin, mono-and diglycerides, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate (preservatives), artificial flavor, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, beta carotene (color).

Last time I checked, eggs were made of….. EGGS!

So there you have it.  The Egg McMuffin may only be 300 calories, but what the heck are those 300 calories?  Not 300 calories that are gonna give you a super hot bikini body are they?

So if you care about your friends and want them to know what they are eating, please share this blog with them!!!!!

Kyra,

The Get In Shape Girl

Need breakfast ideas that are easier than running through the drive-thru?

Get the Bikini Competitor’s Cookbook here!