Update: Baby Cheesecakes and a New Workout Split

I haven't had a chance to do much blogging the last couple of weeks because the battery on my laptop died and I had to wait for a new one to come in from Amazon ($18 by the way, as opposed to the $60 everywhere else, in case you're in the market for a replacement battery!).  In the meantime, I have been experimenting with a couple of fun recipes and trying out a new workout split, which I am finally getting the hang of, and am super-excited about!

So I thought that I would just write one big "update" blog to cover the high-lights of the last couple of weeks!

My Baby Protein Cheesecake w/Raspberry Chocolate Protein Sauce

LeanBodyLifeStyle's Protein Cheesecake was AMAAAAZZZZING!!!  Being me, of course I tweaked it, but only slightly.  And, sadly I can't manage to make cheesecake (healthy or not) without cracks so, they weren't as pretty as Michael's, but they did taste awesome - and that was with some of the toughest critics taste-testing them! Instead of making one big cheesecake, I revived an old cheesecake fave of mine and made "Baby Cheesecakes", using a cupcake pan, so you get 12 small portions.  I followed the recipe exactly, but decreasing the amounts by about 1/3 (only because I didn't buy enough cream cheese - oops!).  I also made a good Chocolate-Raspberry Protein Sauce to go over them, because as much as I love cheesecake, it's just not the same without either chocolate, raspberries, or - even better - both! To make the sauce, I simply cooked down a couple of handfuls of raspberries in about a cup of water and some stevia (the amount depends on how sweet you like it - I think I threw in about 3 or 4 packets).  Then I added a Tablespoon of unsweetened baking cocoa and about 1/3 scoop of chocolate protein powder!  If you like it a little smoother, you can blend it together like I did in the Magic Bullet, or leave it as is if you don't mind a little texture.

The macros on the sauce will obviously depend on how much you use, but it's pretty sweet so you won't need much and it's low calorie, so don't feel guilty if you don't track it!  ;)

Michael provides the macros for the original recipe in the video but here it is if you do the "Baby Cheesecakes".

One Baby Cheesecake (no topping)
Calories: 68
Carbs: 5 grams
Fat: 1 gram
Protein 9 grams

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As far as my workout regimen goes - it has been a tricky month or so and my routine has undergone a lot of changes. Being a creature of habit, this has NOT been an easy transition for me, but I know that you need to change to grow, so I'm working hard on it!  When I first started working out, I was unsure of where to start, like many people are, so I went with a really simple Upper Body-Lower Body Split. I definitely recommend it because it's effective and easy to follow.  It went something like this:

Monday: Upper Body

Tuesday: Lower Body

Wednesday: Cardio/Abs

Thursday: Upper Body

Friday: Lower Body

Saturday: Cardio/Abs

Sunday: Rest

But if you read my post I Pick Things Up and Put Them Down, you know that I recently decided enough was enough with this plateau phase and joined a new gym to change up my scenery and workout options. When I signed up, they gave me a free hour of personal assessment with a trainer, who suggested doing a Push-Pull split to break my plateau and then going back to my Upper-Lower routine after 6 weeks.  I wasn't crazy about it at first because the plan he recommended only trained each muscle once a week, but I have been playing around with it on my own, since I can't afford the ridiculous amount of money they charge for a trainer on a regular basis, and I think I've managed to figure out a split that works for me.  Over the past few months I have had a lot of people tell me that that their biggest challenge in the gym is that they don't know what exercises to do or the proper way to do them and they feel self-conscious about it, so they just don't go. Well, I can tell you from experience, you're only hurting yourself by doing that.  The awkward feeling of just starting out will eventually pass, but the knowledge that you let fear get in the way of reaching your goals stays with you.  That being said, though, I can totally relate.  Even though I've felt comfortable in my old routine for a while, starting a new one was a little unsettling, so I felt like a newbie all over again! What has really helped me though was preparing for my workout by researching example Push/Pull Splits online and having my phone with me to refer to during my workout.  I loved this one and have been doing a modified version of it for about 2 weeks now:

The people at my gym probably just think I text a lot during my workout - haha - but I'm actually going through my "Checklist" to make sure I've hit every muscle! Oh well!

What I really like about a Push/Pull Split is it forces me to think about what muscle group I'm working out and how the muscle moves, as opposed to just going through the motions, like I have been with my previous routine. And, bonus - while it hasn't been proven that muscle soreness is necessarily linked to progress, I'm not gonna lie - it's kind of nice to get up in the morning and feel a little sore from my workout for a change!  

So that's pretty much it for this post - I know my computer troubles came right in the middle of my breakfast recipe frenzy, so I will definitely be posting some of those later this week, and I have a couple of other ideas I'm working on finding the time to put down on paper computer (that didn't sound right, did it?).  Well, thanx for reading - stay tuned for more this week!  :)