These Apple Sweet Potato Pecan Muffins (Vegan and Gluten-Free) are a great pre-workout snack, as they provide a good amount of healthy carbs and also some protein. Your muscles use the glucose from carbs for fuel. Therefore, to maximize the results of your training, a muffin such as the one described in this recipe, which contains carbs, protein and fat should be consumed couple hours before your workout. They are delicious, very moist and great as a balanced and tasty snack.
​
Yields: 16 small muffins
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Baking Time: 17 minutes

Yields: 16 (approximately). Serving Size: 1 muffin.

​I’m really excited to announce that as January 1st, I've become a new coach intern at CrossFit Burlingame. 

I am very passionate about nutrition, health, and fitness. I struggled with my weight most of my life and was never very athletic as a kid. 

When I was faced with pre diabetes and cardiovascular disease. I dropped all the excuses prioritized my health first and lost 130 Lbs in 12 months and reversed my diagnosis of pre diabetes and cardiovascular disease; 100% health and fit! 

Formerly at a bootcamp, I joined CFBG community in Feb 2017. Honestly I was initially terrified after I joined CFBG. Soon after I joined I felt welcomed by so many people and always had the support of the coaches when I had questions. 

Apart from putting in the work at the gym, my number ONE tool in that time was nailing down the nutrition and meal prepping. I'm still an avid meal prepper. Knowing very well the struggles of weight loss, and now advancing my own level of fitness and performance in the gym, I am on a mission to help others in the journey! 

From fat to fit, I know what it's like to give up, but I also know what's capable within yourself when you don't! Don't tell yourself never. Take it one day at a time and never give up; slow down if you just but never quit! I especially love our CFBG community and I'm very excited to step up and become a coach and contribute to our community. 

Fun facts: I'm known as Bellona on social media, Spartan/OCR racer, huge NJ Devils hockey fan, vegan (no-meat athlete), I PR'd my back squat in Sep at 306lbs (this is my jam lol), and I'm fairly recent transplant from Connecticut 3 yrs ago (East coast and no I don't miss the snow!!)!

​My journey with obstacle course racing (OCR) started with my very first race in June 2017.  I had signed up to run a Spartan Super in Monterey with my CrossFit team. I decided to do it for a couple of reasons: to test my fitness outside of the gym, to do something I’ve never done before, and most importantly to celebrate my one-year anniversary to a fit life.
 
That one-year anniversary represented my weight loss journey of 130 lbs. I was morbidly obese weighing in at 287 lbs. suffering from prediabetes wearing a snug size 22. I was insecure and afraid of what the future ahead of me had in store. In a year, I dropped my excuses and lost the weight. Today, I weigh in at 157 lbs. and fit into a size 2 as a beast. Remarkably and more importantly, my weight loss and fitness lifestyle have allowed me to successfully turn off certain genetic markers that threatened my health when I was obese and as a result, I am no longer on the path of prediabetes.

** Please click here to read my transformation story and watch the video for more background.**
 
I want to celebrate my accomplishments in a way that supports all the hard work that I went through to achieve my goals – both physically and mentally. My one-year journey was full of obstacles. By signing up for my Spartan race, I challenged myself to reach the next level of fitness. In many ways, the physical obstacles presented in the race draw parallels to my former obstacles in life. I experienced a cathartic feeling that gave me the ability and strength to relive my struggles and conquer them once again.  

I was terrified in the weeks leading up to the race. At Crossfit, my training included additional time with trail running and strength training to build upper body strength for the obstacles.  My goal for that race was to test and push myself harder.  On race day, I had the pleasure to run the race with an incredible team, and formed new friendships. Naturally and due to different fitness levels among the racers, we did split up during the race but, ultimately, we started off as a team and finished the race as a team.  Looking back, the Spartan Super Monterey was a tough race. The course was just a little over 10 miles with lots of hills and rough terrain. In addition, the obstacles were very challenging, but, with the help of my team, I was able to successfully navigate and complete all the obstacles.
 
After the race, I felt amazing and I wanted more! Just 8 days after my Spartan Super Monterey race, I completed a Tough Mudder Full race in Sacramento, CA and had a blast! Still I wanted more…. And at the time, I knew that I only completed 1 of the 3 Spartan races to earn a Trifecta. So, I went on and signed up for the Spartan Beast in Tahoe (Sep 2017) and Spartan Sprint in AT&T Park (Nov 2017).  As I signed up for these upcoming two races, my hands were shaking in excitement and fear.  Still, I was up for this challenge!

I knew Spartan Beast was going to be extremely tough. Everyone told me that Tahoe was one of the most challenging terrains. Not to mention, it carries an impressive length of 16 miles making it one of the longest races of all Spartan races. Oh.. and did I forget to mention that I had never trained or raced in high altitude before?  Frankly,  other than being on location, there is no way to truly prepare one’s body for high altitude physical activity.  But, I tried my best to prepare myself and attended OCR workshops at O2 BodyFit (Daly City) and obstacle training at ObstaCourse (Redwood City). I needed to improve on my wall climbs (over 5ft), spear throw, traverse wall, and much more. The obstacle training I engaged in was in addition to my CrossFit and trail runs at Sweeney Ridge and Mission Peak.
The team experience and ability to witness Mother Nature’s glory was the most amazing part of Spartan Beast that day. We stayed together from start to end and did not split up like we did on my first race. I got to witness my dear friend, Mon, face her biggest fears. We pushed through together. The race was long and it took us 10 hours and well into the evening with our headlamps on to finish the race. For me the hardest part of that race was the swim. I’m a strong swimmer, but the cold plunge into a 42 degree ice melt mid-race shocked my system and my body felt like a moving vehicle with no gas in the tank for the remaining 8-10 miles. I remember telling myself to not give up and to finish strong. The race humbled me. We couldn’t have made it through without the amazing help of our team captain Jeff. He’s my Spartan inspiration!

After Spartan Beast, I was very much looking forward to running the stadium sprint at AT&T Park to complete the Trifecta. I wasn’t nervous like the last two races at all! I knew the race wouldn’t be as hard as a Spartan Beast race and I was right. My goal for this last race was just to have fun and celebrate every feeling and memory that day. I was overcome with excitement and the most amazing part of that race, believe it or not, was nearly completing the multi-rig. There was something that happened at that obstacle that will forever leave an imprint in my memory and change the way I face obstacles. Up to that point, I worked hard to get better at wall climbs, rope climbs, hoist pulls, and much more. The multi-rig at the sprint had 6 rings that led to a baseball and one last ring that led to a cow bell.  I remember stepping up to the box and thinking “you can’t do this … you won’t make it”. 

Bellona’s Epic Battle
I grabbed a hold of that first ring and reached for the second ring. Great! I had it. With one tug I pulled and released to grab the third ring. My inner voice of doubt surfaced again, “you can’t reach it …you won’t’ be able to do it”.  Who the hell was this person talking to me like this? After all, how can this person tell me I can’t after I’d already won a weight loss battle and had accomplished so much. Bellona with a mighty strike pulled an extra tug and reached for the next ring, got it! She persisted! This vicious battle between my self-doubt and Bellona was constant and consistent, screw it … it was war in my head! I made it to the end where for the first time I grabbed a hold of the baseball “what do I do now?” I remember thinking that I’d never been able to reach so far in this type of obstacle. I didn’t quite have a full grip and with a leap of faith tried to hold on, but I slipped off.
 
Was that a failure? HELL NO! I had gone the FARTHEST I’d ever gone in the multi-rig. And well … for me, this was a victory and the BIGGEST victory because this was my journey to the Trifecta and I faced my inner voice of self-doubt and crushed it with Bellona’s will to conquer. Of course, my inner voice of self-doubt will always be here, and Bellona will stand fast and always be ready for the battle. Sure I obviously have told myself plenty of times that “I can do this … I’m strong” – whatever I needed to hear to believe in myself. However, the way the battle played out in my head was different, it was EPIC because for the first time I could see it; I visualized it! It was amazing! 

I earned my very first Spartan Trifecta in 2017! As the expression says, “we’ll live to fight another day” … so will Bellona in her fight to hunt and vanquish that inner voice of self-doubt. We don’t grow when things are easy, we grow when we face challenges. I’m addicted to facing an obstacle and failing, I am reprogramming my mind to undo the default voice of “I can’t” to the new voice of “I can”.  The mind is our biggest tool and it can either work for us or against us. That’s what we are at battle with at the end of the day.
 
OCR is a physical challenge and represents to me our inner battles with our mind. My goal is VERY CLEAR when I face an obstacle; it is to overcome the challenge. 

• I am stronger than I think I am.
• Never give up.
• Comfort zones aren’t the places where we find growth.
• I can, I will!

My journey to my first Spartan Trifecta was a beautiful, enlightening, humbling, unforgettable, and challenging experience. It made me face my fears, allowed me to rise, turned me into a stronger person and I can foresee many more races and trifectas in my future. This first trifecta simply set the foundation to help me build upon for the future because, in the end, obstacles do not block the path, they are the path.  So really, this is just the beginning.  AROO, AROO, AROO!

Bellona’s Dedication
I dedicate this first Spartan Trifecta to my old self, to the girl who nearly tipped the scales too close to 300lbs who thought she couldn't do it - any of it! I also dedicate this first Spartan Trifecta to my son Gabriel. My love, you face obstacles on a daily basis with your diagnosis and yet you amaze me how you are able to overcome them. Together, we will get over any obstacle on our path together. You are amazing, my son! I cannot wait for the day that we can run a race together, side by side!

Acknowledgements 
First and foremost, I want to thank my husband and family for supporting me throughout this journey. I want to thank my CrossFit Race Team for the encouragement, training, and comradery: Coach James, Captain Jeff (congrats on achieving your 6X Trifecta!!), Sieg (my fellow Spartan brother who achieved his very first Spartan Trifecta as well, congrats!!), Mon, and Bernice. 
 
I want to thank the other coaches and CFBG lions for cheering me on! I want to thank Coach Allen, Katherine, and Jake from the O2 BodyFit team for their tips and support during the workshop.
 
 I want to thank Coach Keith and his OCR training at his new ObstaCourse facility. I want to thank my former Coach and good friend Gracie, you are the epitome of a badass Spartan warrior and I’ve always admired your strength and ability out on the course.
 
I want to thank my good friend Jennie who has been with me and has been one of my biggest supporters throughout my fitness journey, so fun to have you be there in my first race and then be inspired to run the last one with me.
 
I want to thank my circle of FFL friends – you know who you are! Thank you to my Spartan Family, whether I’ve run with you or not, I’ve had the pleasure of crossing paths with you on this journey and for that I’m grateful  –Linh Lu, Jessica Calhoun, Lauren Moss, David Sum, Howard Duff, West Coast Spartans and Spartan 4-0, and so many more. I want to thank all my friends and coworkers who have cheered me on! There are too many to name so please forgive me – you know who you are and I’m genuinely grateful! Lastly, I want to thank all my followers on Instagram and Facebook for sharing this journey with me.  

"Do you diet?" "What is your diet?" In general, I get a lot of questions around “diet”.
Let’s take a second to stop and think about this word: DIET

Definitions
If you looked up the definition of the word diet it reads anything from the food one eats to the typical connotations we have about this word around restriction for weight loss:

• food and drink regularly provided or consumed a diet of fruits and vegetables a vegetarian diet
• habitual nourishment links between diet and disease
• the kind and amount of food prescribed for a person or animal for a special reason was put on a low-sodium diet
• a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight going on a diet

Check it out below even Google search confirms about what I’m going to say here!

This week my focus is to start to start cut phase to reduce further body fat (%).  I’ve got 6 meals lined up with the first being a shake first thing in the morning. I train first thing so I start the shake before and finish during the workout. Meal 2 would technically be considered my breakfast. I took a break from proats (protein oatmeal) and opted for a more savory route. I found a brand called Field Roast at the grocery store that offers soy-free meat alternatives. Field Roast products are high in protein, which comes from their base ingredient – vital wheat gluten, which is wheat flour removed of starches and left with pure wheat protein. I figured I’d give it a try this week to see how I like it. Although soy is a great protein source for vegans/vegetarians, I do want to manage intake with intention as it’s also a hormone disruptor.  I’ve outlined the meal 1-6 spread below like I had shared on IG and FB with instructions/how to’s and additional notes under each. Please forgive me as these aren’t full on recipes. The way I meal prep is that I bulk cook each food group and essentially assemble the way I go. I use basic seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder; reserving additional herbs for one-off variations to enhance the plate).  I would love to hear if you have any feedback or comments!

Meal 1: 
Protein Shake (Vega and Garden of Life) with coconut water and 1/2 banana
How to: 
No science behind this one. Mix the coconut water and protein powder together in the shaker cup and go!  Eat the banana with it.
----------
Meal 2: 
Vegan Apple and Maple Sausage with sweet potatoes, black beans, edamame, and squash
How to: 
In a skillet with a little tiny spray of olive oil, I cooked the sausages until crispy – turning them frequently on each side until light golden brown. Set aside.

The sweet potatoes and squash were chopped into small chunks and placed on a sheet pan with a small amount of the olive oil spritz/spray; seasoned with pink Himalayan salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Into the oven at 350F for 30 minutes, until fully cooked.

Black beans were canned (forgive me, I didn’t cook fresh LOL I’m human with lil time to spare this weekend), but opened and thoroughly rinsed in a strainer and brought to a quick boil in a small pan. Boiled for just a few minutes, strained, and seasoned with salt and pepper.

Edamame was not further cooked or prepared; purchased frozen and defrosted.

All items cooked separately and then assembled into the containers.
----------
Meal 3: 
Half sandwich (vegan deli slices [smoked tomato/wild mushroom/lentil sage] on Ezekial bread with mustard and romaine lettuce), with green beans, mushroom, and cannellini/red kidney bean salad.
How to: 
The sandwich was your basic sandwich nothing special in the preparation of that, except that I put the mustard in the center of the sandwich and not on the bread side to avoid the bread getting soggy in the meal prep for later in the week.

The green beans were blanched in a pan with water for 5 minutes once brought to a boil; I prefer them on the crispier side. Once cooked, strained and seasoned with salt and pepper.

The cannellini and red kidney beans were rinsed thoroughly and cooked in a pan with small spritz of olive along with the hemp seeds. Seasoning were salt, pepper, garlic power, and onion powder.
----------
Meal 4:
Vegan marinara over red lentil pasta and broccoli
How to: 
Light Life Vegan Crumbles were opened up in a pan and broken up with a spoon. Added a jar of marinara and allow to come up to a small bubble, reduce heat and cook for 15 minutes.
Red lentil pasta was boiled for 8 minutes; strained and cooled quickly under cold water.
Broccoli was blanched over a pan of hot water for 5 minutes (covered) once the water came to a boil.

All items cooked separately and assembled into the meal prep container.
----------
Meal 5:
Tofu and vegetable sautee (onion, green bell pepper, mushroom, sweet potato) with asparagus spears
How to: 
In a pan, small tablespoon of olive oil used to sautee a small sliced onion, 1 small pepper sliced, and 3 cloves of garlic. Added 2 containers of extra firm tofu cubed and 1 cup of sliced mushrooms. Seasoned with salt, pepper, and dill. Cooked until onions and peppers were translucent. I added cooked sweet potato after the fact to the dish.

Asparagus was cooked separately on a sheet pan with a small spritz of olive oil spray in a 350F oven for 15-20 min (don’t overcook or they end up soggy in meal prep; so timing will depend on how thick the spears are). Seasoned with salt and pepper.

All items assembled in meal prep containers.
----------
Meal 6: 
Vegan Fieldburger over a bed of cauliflower rice and spinach, with brussel sprouts, grape tomato, and broccoli (avocado not shown)
How to: 
The burger was seared in a pan with a small spritz of olive oil spray for 1 min each side. The remaining vegetables assembled in the container raw as it will be a salad. The cauliflower crumbles/rice also raw. ​

When I'm meal planning, the first step that I take is I build out what I'm going to eat in the week ahead. Making these decisions in advance keeps me on track for my goals and saves me headaches come time during the work week when I need to figure out what to eat.

I do this by programming it into MyFitnessPal. I can conveniently create a shopping list from it, which is super helpful.  I can also ensure that the food I'm meal planning is setup in a way to ensure I'm meeting all the major requirements, such as ensuring I'm eating enough, I'm eating good quality food, I have enough protein, and essentially whatever my food goals are. 

I started my journey with tracking my food primarily for calories and macros for weight loss. That shifted to performance. My practice is still the same! 

1) Awareness & Mindfulness - we're not off the record! 
It's too easy to forget that extra bit of food, or the extra helping at dinner. When you track your food, you take the guess work out of "how much did I have today" or "did I eat enough". You'd be surprised at the quality and quantity of food you're taking in when you see it written out

2) Portion control - wake up call!
Whether you like to count calories, macros, or portion servings - you can become aware of quantity you're taking in, especially when you think an extra serving of pasta is okay, but not an extra serving of broccoli! Was your meal protein heavy? As an active person you need to ensure you're getting enough protein. How about them veggies? lol

3) Quality - a calorie isn't a calorie!
Some people think that if they consume under the total calories of expenditure that they will lose weight. I like to think of the body like a high-end car. Would you put low-grade fuel in a car that requires premium fuel. No! So why would you fuel your body with processed food, high sugar, high salt, processed meats? That calorie can go a long way in the body to providing nutrients vs disease. Don't forget about alcohol - it has calories too!

4) Keep it real - no kidding yourself!
Put it all down. Don't kid yourself if you cheat and if you do cheat you better enjoy the crap out of it and get back on track LOL. You'll want to see what kind of impact that has to your day :)

You might be asking why in the world is this crossfitter going meat free? Well, as an avid meal prepper for the last year, I followed a predominantly Paleo diet lifestyle. The reality is that I got tired of eating meat. I had played with different ways to handle meat in my meal prep; cooked, raw, a hybrid, etc. The timing of going meat free coincided with that of my good friend Mon going vegan. I saw how beneficial her shift to a vegan life was to her, her energy, and overall; all while training for her marathon too! I figured I'd give it a try. Plus, I knew going meat free would support eating for my blood type; A blood types thrive on a vegetarian diet (we can do another blog post about that at a later time). So anyways, prior to that time, I had inadvertently trended meat free. I had shifted for a few weeks to a pescetarian diet. After that I intentionally went vegetarian (still eating egg whites and eggs) for 2 weeks and then finally vegan in the third week. I'm currently in week 4 (second week vegan) and it's been going great. 

I took my measurements at the start of each week and after 3 weeks going meat free, not trying to lose weight (meaning eat to satisfaction and train like normal) I lost 8.5 inches! The weight on the scale was less significant. I have a 5lb weight range I naturally fluctuate within and so although my 3 weeks showed 2lb loss it wasn't significant since it was within that fluctuation range. The table below shows my measurements in inches.

I put together a quick list to see the pros and cons and clearly the pros out weight the cons. Again, the cons in my personal opinion don't feel like a con, since these were just more general awareness items and easily addressed with proper meal planning.

Pros:
- Felt full after each meal
- Performance in gym didn't suffer
- More energy
- Deflation (loss of puffiness)
- Additional weight loss (without trying)
- Improved health potential (so many plants)
- Regular bowel movements
- Meal prep was SO much easier
- Saved $50 a week in grocery shopping

Cons:
- Diet may lack some key nutrients, which can easily be supplemented, such as Vit B-12
- I had to ensure and that I was getting enough protein in EVERY meal!

Note: I wouldn't really count these as negatives or cons, but things to be aware of and things you can easily address if you are informed

Here are meal prep photos of what I ate in these 3 weeks! Each row represents 2 pics for the week; e.g. first row is a pic of the full week main meals and to the right a daily spread.
​Scroll to the bottom for a full description of each meal!
Make sure you follow me on Instagram for my weekly meal prep photos posted on Sunday!

Week 1 (VEGETARIAN):
Meal 1: 
egg white veggie muffins with asparagus, tomato, and squash
Meal 2: 
chickpea, grape tomato, bell pepper, onion salad with cucumbers
Meal 3: 
black bean burger with salad (baby spinach, kale, Swiss chard - with tomato, cucumbers, carrots, and pumpkin seeds)
Meal 4: 
eggplant bean meatballs with zucchini noodles and mushroom (marinara not shown)
Meal 5: 
boiled eggs and broccoli
Meal 6: 
quinoa zucchini burger with portobello mushroom, Brussel sprouts, and tomato (avocado not show)
Snacks: baby carrots, cashew butter, hummus

Week 2 (VEGETARIAN):
Meal 1: 
1/2 sweet potato with few slices of banana, handful of blueberries, cashew butter, sprinkle of raw pumpkin/sunflower seeds, and dash of cinnamon 
Meal 2: 
veggie egg white muffins with artichoke, asparagus, and sprouts
Meal 3: 
black beans, broccoli, grape tomatoes, avocado, and lime
Meal 4: 
veggie snacks (baby cucumber, mini bell pepper, and baby carrots) with raw almonds and cashews
Meal 5: 
spaghetti squash, lentils, broccoli, mushroom, and grape tomato
Meal 6: 
pinto beans, portobello mushroom, Campari tomato, and sprouts

Week 3 (VEGAN): 
Meal 1: 
1/2 sweet potato with few slices of dried banana, handful of garbanzo beans, broccoli floret, and sprinkle of raw pumpkin/sunflower seeds
Meal 2: 
black eyed peas with quinoa and shredded sprouts with onion and mushroom
Meal 3: 
black beans, quinoa, grape tomatoes, green beans, sweet potato, and beets
Meal 4: 
veggie salad (baby spinach, mini bell pepper, and sugar snap peas, tomato, broccoli floret) 
Meal 5: 
steel cut oats with slivered almonds and shredded coconut with coconut milk unsweetened vanilla yogurt
Meal 6: 
portobello lentil stuffed mushroom with zucchini and asparagus (avocado not shown)
Other: lara bar and bobo bar

Week 4 (VEGAN):
Breakfast - Meal 1: 
Proats (protein steel cut oatmeal) topped with shredded coconut, slivered almonds, raw pumpkin seeds, and blueberries 
AM Snack - Meal 2: 
Curry Chickpea and kale with sweet potato
Lunch Meal 3: 
Black beans, quinoa, grape tomatoes, and baby spinach 
PM Snack - Meal 4: 
Eggplant, mushroom, onion, and hemp seed marinara with spaghetti squash and broccoli 
Dinner - Meal 5:
Tofu and diced tomato scramble with shaved Brussel sprouts with mini bell pepper and broccoli florets (avocado not shown)
Other: lara bar and post-workout protein shake