Food That I Be Eating

This post is dedicated to all the delish food I have eaten over the past week or so. All so yummy, nutrious and delicous! There's no need to sacrifice taste when cooking clean, nutrious meals, you just gotta get abit more creative!! Use plenty of garlic, ginger, chilli and herbs in your cooking and try nut meals and sugar alternatives such a dates, other fruits and stevia/natvia in your baking.
I'll try and do a post on what I've been eating every couple of weeks.

I often get on google and search for new and interesting, clean recipes, there's so much out there! My fave is Teresa Cutters site: http://www.thehealthychef.com/ - her all recipes are easy, yum, and most importantly, super good for you!

So what's been on my menu this week?

Blueberry & Banana Pancakes topped with a dollop  of Jalna Biodynamic Natural Yogurt. This is Teresa Cutter's recipe, you can find it here

Home made pizza on wholemeal pita bread, I use diced tomatoes out of a can in place of sugar, preservative loaded pizza sauce, dried oregano & basil, light mozzarella cheese, shredded chicken breast & stacks of vegies - SO YUM!

Prawn salad (prawns are coated in cumin, paprika &  crushed coriander seeds) with rocket, pumpkin, goat's cheese & flax oil dressing

Oats made with whey protein powder, flax meal & water topped with thawed frozen raspberries. This is my fave post-workout breaky!

I found this in Safeway the other day and have been enjoying a warm mug of it in the arvo whenever those pesky chocolate cravings hit! It's super tasty!

Prawn & vegie red curry/laksa/soupy thing - so full of flavour and super simple. I will post recipe at some stage

Vietnamese Chicken Salad - Bill Granger's recipe, you can find it here, I used a sachet of Natvia in place of caster sugar in the dressing

Cookies and Cream Herbalife Shake - I'm not even going to lie to you, this is so yummy!! I blend a scoop up with plenty of ice, almond milk and 1/2 scoop of whey protein and it comes out like ice cream - AMAZING!!

Will do a Herbalife Challenge Update post very soon :-)

Weight Training for Fat Loss

I know there's still plenty of cardio junkies out there who still believe in slogging it out on the treadmill for hours on end - hell, 18 months ago I was one of them!
Truth is, all that cardio will never give us the toned, I-look-good-in-a-bikini body we all want to acheive.
Personally, I now love weight training. It makes me feel strong and confident, my body responds well to it and it's heaps of fun! I was educated and saw the benefits in weight traning for losing fat so I'm here to share them with you!

Weight training can be a pretty scary concept for females. We seem to imagine that lifting weights is going to turn us into some masculine looking, body building, totally ripped looking chick. This is so far from the truth!! Females simply don't have enough testosterone in their bodies to be completely ripped with bulging muscles. The body building females you're imagining are on the strictist training and diet plans, their preparation for the competitions they compete in is almost a full time job. This is not going to happen to use mere-mortals who weight train 2-3 times a week. So throw this misconception out the window right now! 

Another reason I used to stay away from weights was because I was scared it would make me weigh more. Um hello?! This sounds so absolutely ridculous to me now but seriously, who cares what the number on the scales says? If your clothes are getting looser, your body shape is changing and people are telling you that you look great, why let that number on the scales define you? And are you actually looking to lose weight or lose fat? Weight training will build lean muscle which will burn fat and change the shape of your body and create a smaller, more toned you! I know that's what I want!

OK, you might have almost had the old me convinced by now but come on, surely cardio burns more calories then lifting a few dumbbells? This may be true in some cases, a 60 min body attack class burns an average 700 calories while a 60 min body pump class burns an average of 560 calories. However, your calorie burning stops the second you finish your body attack class while your calorie burning continues for hours, even days after you've completed your body pump or strength training session, so you're burning more calories in the long run.

So you convinced yet? I know I am! Obviously you're not going great results by lifting a couple of 2kg dumbbells a couple of times a week so this is where a personal trainer comes into it. They can show you what exercises to do and the correct way to do them so you can build plenty of lean muscle.

I love lean muscle, it's awesome! Here's just a few reasons why I love it so much:

- Lean muscle actually burns calories while you are resting. That's right, the more lean muscle you have, the more calories you burn while you are sleeping and sitting on your ass....um this is AWESOME!

- Lean muscle takes up less room than fat - a 60kg version of myself without lean muscle was a size 10, a 60kg version of myself with lean muscle is a size 8, need I say more?!

- Lean muscle creates a toned, tighter looking bikini body. Lifting weights is how you acheive it people!

If getting a leaner body isn't enough, weight training also has other awesome benefits to your health. It helps to lower your heart rate, blood pressure and body fat percentage while also increasing your metabolism and bone density, which helps prevents Osteoporosis. It creates a stronger body, improves balance and stability, making everyday life tasks easier.

Enough said.

Confessions...

Just a short one to keep myself accountable...

I have been feeling rather bleugh the past few days.

My weakness for food has got the better of me this past weekend and I consumed way too much of the food I usually steer clear of and my body is paying for it now. Pizza, ice cream, chocolate - you name it, I ate it, 3 times over Friday, Saturday and Sunday night.
Still been training as I usually would, had my usual rest day on Saturday, did yoga Sunday morning and an 8km run on Sunday arvo. Had a killer headache after my Sunday run and no doubt it's because I didn't fuel my body with the right foods. Amazing how much of an impact it's had on my body, I'm headachey, irritable and feeling tired even after 8 hours of sleep last night. It really is proof to me how all those nasty additives and perservatives in food affect our bodies, definitely not worth it.

I know some people might think I'm abit nuts - some pizza and ice cream on the weekend, so what?! But for me it kinda felt like I was taking a step backward. I was eating for pleasure again rather than to fuel my body. One of the biggest struggles was turning that voice off in my head that kept telling me over and over 'Eat that chocolate/ice cream/hamburger/insert-bad-food-here, you know you want it!' until I finally gave in and ate it! Then my brain responds to how good the food tastes and says 'I want more, give me more' so I eat more until I've completely binged.
It took me while to retrain my thoughts about food but I credit replacing the nasty additive, preservative and sugar-laden foods with clean, wholesome foods as the best thing to slowly and surely, make that voice disappear. A couple of days in a row with these foods in my system and I could hear that voice in my head again, not as loud, but it was definitely there. It really proves how addictive these foods are, it's no wonder our society is fighting an obesity epidemic.
Luckily for me, I'm feeling pretty crap as a result so that's more than enough motivation for me to beat that voice off with a stick! I'm not going to be too hard on myself for it, I've recognised where I went wrong before it completely took over and I'm making myself accountable by writing it down here for all to see.
So eyes are definitely back on the prize today and back into my routine - only 18 days til our USA trip and honeymoon!

Does anyone else battle with that little voice in your head? Or is it just me? Am I nuts?!!

On the upside, it appears my new stretching routine is having it's benefits. Mel is keeping me off squats for a little while longer but my dead lifts are looking a whole lot better. I can definitely feel that I'm using my glutes more and not my lower back which means I might actually have the technique right! I have struggled to get dead lifts right since I first started weight training and it appears my tight hips were the cause!

In other news, some of Mel's clients have just completed the most recent 12 week body transformation at Fenix and wow have they acheived some amazing results! Some very inspiring people, I'm hoping Mel will let me share some of their stories on this blog, you will be blown away!

Anyway, sorry no pretty pics today but thanks again for reading y'all!

Herbalife Challenge Update

Today is Day 8 of our Herbalife 30 Day Challenge.

So far Ronnie and I have both been following the program to a tee - haven't missed a pill, shake or herbal beverage! I'm super impressed that Ronnie has sticking to it so well, he's never had to follow any sort of diet or eating program in his life and he's doing so well!

So are we actually getting any results??Well, the answer is YES, we are both seeing and feeling results now which is an encouraging sign!

My Results So Far
- I have lost 900g on the scales which is definitely welcome, my weight has not budged since December last year.
- My stomach is feeling and looking alot flatter
- Energy levels are awesome as per usual, maybe better than usual as I am extremely busy at the moment!
- I'm crediting a warm cup of the Herbal Beverage in the afternoon for my arvo choccie cravings pretty much disappearing

Ronnie's Results So Far
- His energy levels have increased quite dramatically - from about a 4/10 to an 8/10. No longer is he falling asleep on the couch at 9.30pm, he's not even feeling tired til about 11.30pm!
- He has gained 1.6kg in 8 days - pretty impressive!!
- He is also experiencing some symptoms which are proving that his body is adapting to the new nutrition it's receiving. To save him any embarassment, I'm not going to go into exactly what he's experiencing but have decided to discuss this abit further as I have experienced some of these symptoms also when I first started eating cleaner.

These symptoms are something that alot of us starting new nutrition plans or even introducing clean eating into our diets may experience and may include headaches, fever/colds, skin/rash breakouts, bowel issues (diarrhoea or constipation), tiredness, irritability etc.
I know at the beginning for my 12 week challenge I felt tired, headachey, irritable and suffered from one the the above mentioned bowel issues! (Too much info?!! Sorry if you happened to be eating your lunch!!) It lasted about 7-10 days and then the awesome-ness started to kick in.
If you are feeling these crappy symptoms during the first stages, I'm here to tell you to grin and bear it baby! It will be worth it in the in end!

Trainer Mel gave me an interesting article on the subject - here's a snippet from it:

'A better nutritional programme is the introduction of foods of higher quality in place of

lower quality ones. Remarkable things begin to happen to the body as well as the mind. When thequality of the food coming into the body is of higher quality than the tissues which the body is made up of, the body begins to discard the lower grade materials and tissues

to make room for the superior which it uses to make the newer and healthier tissues.

What are the symptoms or signs which become evident when we first begin to omit

the lower grade foods and instead introduce superior foods? When the use of a toxin

is suddenly stopped, headaches are common and letdown occurs. This is due to the

discard by the body of toxins which are transported by the bloodstream during its

many bodily rounds.

Symptoms then may include headaches at the beginning, fever and/or colds, skin

breakouts, bowel sluggishness, occasional diarrhoea, tiredness, nervousness,

irritability, negativity, etc.'  Source: Basse. S., What Symptoms to Expect When You Improve Your Diet

Moral of the story - DON'T YOU DARE GIVE UP!

Clean Recipe: Double Chocolate Cupcakes

I have always loved to bake but don't do it often these days. However, I've discovered some awesome clean recipes where I can still get my baking fix and enjoy them guilt free!

These cupcakes use clean ingredients, are gluten free and low in sugar and they taste AMAZING for something guilt free! You have to promise you'll stop at one though!

The recipe is based on Teresa Cutter's recipe which you can find here.

I've made a couple of changes for what I had in the pantry at the time and added some dark chocolate to make them even more delish! The original recipe makes 12 small cupcakes but I like a good sized cake so I make 6-7 out of the mixture. There's approx 270 calories per cupcake if you make them this way.

1 ½ cups (150g) almond meal
¼ cup (21 g) unsweetened good quality cocoa powder
1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder
2 free range eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
60 ml (1/4 cup) coconut butter
60 ml milk (¼ cup) of almond milk
2 tablespoons organic honey

25g of good quality dark chocolate (70-85%)

Chop up dark chocolate and put aside (don't eat any, we'll need it later!)

Combine almond meal, cocoa powder and baking powder in a small bowl.

Add honey, eggs and vanilla extract

Zap coconut butter (I use Melrose organic Coconut Butter, most health food stores stock it) in the microwave, about 30-40 secs until it turn to liquid. Add to the mix.

Add almond milk, I use the Blue Diamond one below which is available at Coles.

Mix all ingredients to combine and lastly fold through dark chocolate.

Spoon into 6 patty pans and bake at 160 C for approx 25 mins.

I eat them warm for dessert with a raspberry sauce (frozen raspberries zapped in the microwave for 20 seconds and mashed with a spoon until it resembles a sauce). ENJOY!

The Importance of Stretching

I had a legs session this morning with Mel and we found that my hips and lower back are VERY tight and it's really impacting on my technique. I have always had issues with my lower back which impacts on my hip flexors plus the running I do each week and sitting at a desk for 9 hours a day, they get super tight and ouchie :-(


So here's abit on the importance of stretching from Trainer Mel:
'Sitting on our bums all day does nothing for our mobility and figures. Exercising hard and not stretching does the same thing. If you're exercising your butt off but not performing the exercises correctly because of tight muscles (common areas, the lower back, hip flexors and glutes) - not many people would be aware of their technique and if they are tight unless they have someone to offer feedback, will reduce your overall performance and the fat loss, muscle gain and fitness potential you get out of that workout.

STRETCHING IS TWICE AS IMPORTANT AS YOUR WORKOUT- do it at the beginning, end of your workout and whenever you can. Also look into options like yoga or ask your trainer to spend an entire session stretching you!

Train smarter not harder and make sure you get the maximum potential out of the time you spend on your workout!!'

Yes, I have heard this before but I guess I only half take it seriously (and I know I'm not the only one). So now it's time to get serious!

My fitness goal for 2012 was to incorporate yoga into my routine. It's always something I struggled to see the point in because it looked so - well - pointless, easy, boring are some of the words that come to mind!
Well, I was in for a shock... if you have never practiced yoga before, let me tell you, easy and boring it is not! And definitely not pointless as Mel as pointed out above.
I started practicing Hot Yoga in February (you can see Pure Hot Yoga's website here) and I am now converted! I LOVE YOGA!
I find it amazing for stress relief and mental clarity (especially as it got closer to the wedding, I swear it was Yoga that kept me sane!) Not to mention an awesome way for me to get my stretch on!


For a few different reasons I've only been able to do one yoga class a week and my poor lower back and hips are obviously suffering. So from today onwards I am committing to spending 5-10 mins daily doing the following awesome, hip stretching yoga poses. You should try them if you have ridiculously tight hips like moi!

Butterfly Pose

Happy Baby Pose

Pigeon Pose

Double Pigeon Pose

In other news, I have been pretty on track with my nutrition this week, no more sneaky afternoon choccies. Re-starting my food diary again has definitely helped.

Today is also Day 3 of the Herbalife challenge.
So far I am feeling good, plenty of energy. Trained early morning Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week with only 6 hours sleep on Thursday night and not feeling tired at all. As I have been on many of the supplements prior to starting this challenge, not many other changes to report as yet. Here's some of the yummy goodness I've been eating this week:

Banana Protein Smoothie - my fave! Made with almond milk, vanilla whey protein, flaxmeal and a frozen banana

My usual morning tea of berries, natural yogurt and flaxmeal

Clean Peri-Peri style chicken and salad

 

Berry Smoothie Made with almond milk, vanilla whey protein, flaxmeal, frozen berries & 1 scoop of Herbalife Formula 1 Shake

Chicken Larb Gai - thai style salad with lean chicken mince, coriander, chilli, mint, red onion & iceberg lettuce dressed in lime juice & fish sauce - so yummy!

Clean, gluten free chocolate cupcakes (I will post recipe soon!!)