Freitag, 30. Mai 2014

Pre- & post-workout meals

Hey you!


Finally it's friday, and today it's actually Food-friday! Let me explain you why 'food friday'...
Normally when people hear the word 'diet' they think of some kind of eating plan which won't work for long term. But when it comes to weight loss and fat loss, you really have to focus on the importance of nutrition. This doesn't mean what you are allowed to eat but when you should eat it, the same goes with beverages that you include in your daily routine. 

So here some basic rules for pre- and post-workout meals:


1. No post-workout coffee:

If you are a total coffee addict there is no need to worry now, you don't have to give up drinking coffee ( searching for an alternative?Click HERE ).

So, why you shouldn't drink coffee post workout:
To start with, if you are adding sugar, milk, cream, syrup etc. to your coffee, try to cut those out! If you simply can't make sure to drink your coffee pre-workout. 
Now, the reason why you should drink your coffee before you workout, is because post workout you are in a state where your muscles are already starting to repair themselves, and when you are drinking coffee after exercising, you go even deeper in the state of muscle destruction. 


2. No pre-workout meat:

If you have a meat-loaded meal before you workout you are going to slow down your metabolism which means that the food you ate takes actually longer to be digested, meaning the whole process zaps on your energy. So, I would have this type of meal at least 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours after your workout and have it +/- 2 hours before your workout if you simply can't get enough of meat. 


3. No meat but protein instead:

Don't get me wrong now with #2! Just because you shouldn't be eating meat pre workout doesn't mean that you should avoid proteins before hitting the gym. If you have a protein shake before you hit the gym is just the perfect way to increase the effectiveness of your workout. 
Your pre-workout shake should be simple, meaning mixing your powder with water or unsweetened almond milk and if you need a bit more energy you can even add coconut oil or rape oil (along with your almond milk or water!)


4. Saving fat for post-workout:

As you may know, fats are very important for a healthy diet (get more info about that HERE). The trick is to get the right amount of fat at the right time. If you have restricted your fats to only 'good' fats like Omega-3, save those fats for after your gym session to get ultimate results. NEVER BEFORE: they also slow down your metabolism.


5. Big meals are for after your big workout:

If you just finished your gym session, sit down and have a great meal and enjoy larger portions. Try to schedule your routine so that you eat after you hit the gym. 
If you aren't able to do that, sit down and try to reschedule your breakfast, lunches or dinners to prevent any potential workout plateaus you might encounter down the road. 


6. Consider your glycemic index:

If you constantly read my blog you should know now that fruits are a great source of energy, some of them are even so full of energy that they leave us only little room for fat burning. (click HERE for more info about fruits)
The best food for burning fat is the banana. Most people think that they are great workout snacks but their glycemic index is very high, just as carrots'. Plus, they increase their glycemic index the moment they ripen. The riper, the higher the index!

Grapefruits, berries, cherries, apples and pears are much better alternatives for pre- and post workout meals. 

These simple rules should help you to get better and better and get more faster and impressive results in your own personal situation! May the food be with you! 

Have a nice weekend my lovely ones!

Donnerstag, 29. Mai 2014

Protein bars: Yay or nay?

Hey there!
Have you heard that Quest bar has been sued for mislabeling the nutrient values on their bars? The bars actually contain a larger amount of calories and lesser amounts of dietary fibre, meaning they understated their calories by 20% and the dietary fibers by more than 750%.

Well now I ask myself 'are protein bars good or not, when I want to lose weight or get shredded?'
It's not so easy to choose a protein bar when you are in a shop because there are just far too many of them and it's difficult to figure out which one is the best one or if you should even bother eating one at all...
To make your decision a bit easier ask yourself if it's for additional protein, a little snack on the go , a post-workout meal or simply because you are greedy and don't want to eat a snickers?

Here some Pros and Cons of energy bars:

Pro:

  • They help meet your caloric needs
  • ''            ''           your nutritional needs, especially if you want to get more calcium, zinc, vitamin D, vitamin B12, folic acid,protein or fiber.
  • They are handy and pre-packaged
  • They don't require refrigeration , meaning they have a long shelf 'life'
Cons:
  • Energy bars or Protein bars can easily lead you to an excessive intake of nutrients , especially when you are eating more than one bar a day. Instead of eating too much of those bars, try and get yourself a multivitamin supplement or any other enriched food or beverage. 
  • Another problem with over-supplementation can vary from intestinal discomforts to even liver disease. 
  • Too much calories. Normally protein bars or energy bars are just too high in calories which will directly lead you to a higher caloric intake, which in addition can lead to weight gaining. Not so cool hum?
  • Even though a protein bar costs from 2-4€ only, they can still become a major expense on your grocery bill. If a bar only costs 2€ and you eat one every day that makes already 14€ in one week and 56€ in one month.  That's a lot of money...
  • You can get abdominal discomforts because some energy bars, especially the low-sugar or low-carb varieties, contain sugar alcohol which can cause bloating , gas and diarrhea.
  • You get no real data, meaning there is only a little research to support the actual need for those bars. They are no magical food, magical food only exists in my fairy world (hehe), and they should definitely not be used as a constant replacement for whole meals in your diet. 
  • Protein bars are full of processed foods, whereas your diet should mostly contain unprocessed foods, which are healthier. 
  • Some bars also contain additional herbal ingredients and no research (on the bar) tells you whether they are effective or not.Plus, they can result in dangerous allergic and drug interactions. Not very cool when you are sitting in a bus, nibbling on your bars and transforming into a balloon...Sound a bit funny but that's not funny at all!
You see, there are more cons than pros on protein bars... But still, I don't want you to throw all your bars away , nor do I want you to never touch a bar again...

If you want meal replacement bars, make sure that they contain:

- 200-300 calories
- 2.5 to 5 grams of fiber
- Less than 2.5 grams saturated fat and 0 grams trans fat
- Less than 20 grams of sugar 
about 30% of you RDA for vitamins and minerals 
- About 40% carbs (meaning 20-30grams)
- 30% protein (15-22 grams)
- 30% fat (7-10 %)

For an afternoon snack they should have :

- 150-200 calories
- 1.5 grams of fiber
- Less than 15 grams of sugar
- Less than 2 grams saturated fat and 0 grams trans fat
- +/- 30% of your RDA for vitamins and minerals
- 40-60% carbs (15-30grams)
- 20-30% protein (7-15 grams)
- 20-30% fat (3-7 grams or less)

If they are for workout fuel:

- Look for a meal replacement bar, meaning at least 30grams of carbs, 10 grams(or even more) of protein and 5-10 gram of fat. 

If you are like me, a 'nay-sayer' to bars, here are some alternatives:

  • Fresh fruits: apples, oranges, pears, plums, grapes, bananas
  • Yogurt 
  • Whole grain crackers, with peanutbutter (nomnomnom)
  • Granola bars
  • Homemade trail mix

I hope that you are now a bit more aware of how many bars you should eat a day and to what you have to pay attention when buying them. 

I wish you a nice rest of the week and see you tomorrow!BYE!

Dienstag, 27. Mai 2014

Let's get ready for Spring-Summer!



Finally Spring has arrived and Summer is waiting for us! Which means that I will start my very first preparation  next month,for my debut-bikini-competition in winter. So I definitely need some new gymclothes to look fancy as hell while working out with my new and personalized training-program... I mean if that's not a good defense to shop...

And as I love my fitfam, I won't be hiding my prey, which I think, perfectly matches the beautiful weather we recently had here in Luxembourg.

Have fun shopping and don't forget, working out is not a reason to dress like a little grey mouse.




C'mon, spoil yourself a bit and look great during your workouts! Here are the direct links to get to the official site:


Montag, 26. Mai 2014

Monday's motivational music

Oh... hi! 

It's Monday again... And for some of you this means going back to school, to work or just go on studying for the finals. I feel you... and I am aware that spelling these words is even worse... 


But I am not going to give up on my fitfam! I want your motivation to come back, I want you to feel energized, full of determination but most of all do I want you to turn that beast-mode on! Especially in the gym! 


When I get caught by this evil witch called 'demotivation', I am simply putting on my headphones, get my Top10 soundtracks and turn that volume up! 
These 10 soundtracks are like a magical spell for the little gym-beast which is lurking in me. It's waiting to come outside and lift some badass weights!


  1. Rob Bailey & The Hustle Standard - Hungry 
  2. Rob Bailey & The Hustle Standard - Beast
  3. Rob Bailey - Try'n hold me back 
  4. Kanye West - Black Skinhead
  5. New World Sound & Thomas Newson - Flute
  6. Babylon - Congorock
  7. N.E.R.D - Rockstar
  8. Modestep - Sunlight hurts my eyes
  9. Blur - Woo Hoo
  10. Eminem - Bezerk 

I wish you a successful week and I hope that I managed to unleash your gym-beast!

Sonntag, 25. Mai 2014

Healthy Quinoa Brownies


Today is sweet sunday, so we are going to bake some healthy but delicious quinoa brownies! No more words needed, let's get started!

Your equipment 
Your ingredients for the brownies
1/2 cup quinoa
Boil your quinoa 
Don't forget to take your quinoa out after 20 min of cooking
1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder, I took bio cocoa powder
1/4 cup low fat milk
1 tbsp vanilla powder
1 tbsp baking powder
After mixing everything, spread some oil on your pan, so your brownies get off easily afterwards
Fill in your mix and put it in the oven for about 20min at 200°

This is what you need:


  • A Mixer & sticks
  • A bowl
  • A cup 
  • A baking tray
  • A pot 
  • 1/2 cup quinoa
  • Stevia
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup low fat milk, coconut-milk or any other milk you like
  • 3 egg whites
  • 1 tbsp vanilla powder
  • 1 tbsp baking powder

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 200°
  2. Bring the water to a boil and add your 1/2 cup quinoa; Let it simmer & stand for about 20 min.
  3. Allow your quinoa to cool down while you are preparing the other ingredients
  4. Mix all the other ingredients together with the cooled quinoa until smooth.
  5. Pour your mix into a pan, I took a round one because I couldn't find any other. 
  6. Bake in oven for about 20 min.
  7. Take your delicious and healthy brownies out and let them cool down
  8. Cut some strawberries and enjoy your guilt-free brownies!

et voilà! Enjoy the rest of your sunday!


Samstag, 24. Mai 2014

'30-Day Squat Challenge' - The truth



Since I started hitting the gym regularly and having an eye on my nutritional habits, I have also become more aware of how people easily forget that no one reacts to an exercise regime in the same way. Everything in your life affects the way how you will respond to a diet or an exercise program, your age, gender, activity level, eating habits, genetics ( yes I said that!) , and your fitness&health history. What I am trying to say is that everyone's fitness and health journey is unique. For example, you can't look like Cameron Diaz even if you do her workout routines and her diet, because you don't have her genetics. If you really want to success in long-term, you need to find the ''magic key'' that works with your individual body.


I am so allergic to fitness-advices that seem like every 'body' reacts to this exercise program the same way. The best example is the '30-days squat challenge' , which is circulating on Instagram and Facebook for a while. Some of you might wonder why I am against this 'squat challenge' as I personally love doing squats! But what I don't like are posts, like this challenge, that only contain a little element of truth. What I mean is that people accept the information given but without realizing that this needs to be understood in relation to other variables such as your age and genetics. And unless you are monitoring your food, doing additional forms of exercise or have awesome genetics, simply doing squats won't change your body intentionally.


Another big problem with this squat-challeng is that it's not the best method of achieving your goal, if your goal is to lose weight and tone up.

If you want to lose weight you need to increase your lean muscle so that your metabolism speeds up, which you won't achieve with doing hundreds of squats. Actually to complete 250 squats properly you would need to hold little to no weight, but if you want to increase lean muscle your stimulus needs to be strong enough. Meaning, you need to hold weights which will allow you to only to 3-5 sets of 12-20 reps. This will increase your fitness level and create lean muscle. 250 squats without weights will only improve your muscle's endurance. And seriously, when do you really need to do 250 squats? Squats are great but you won't become fit by only doing squats.

Plus, this challenge is not safe at all!!

On the 1st day you are expected to do 50 squats, which is already too much for a newbie in the world of Fitness, some can barely do 10 squats with proper form, let them alone with 50 squats and ask their knees how they feel about it... The only thing 250 squats leads to is INJURIES! Almost no one can do 250 squats with proper form.

How to do squats properly 

Don't let them fool you by posting a picture of a beautiful female body next to the challenge.

Fitness should be just as much about how you feel as how you look. So when you are reading any fitness information, always remember that if you opt for a healthier lifestyle, one single change won't make it, just like doing squats everyday. Think big! Sit less, become more aware of your nutritional habits, improve your health and move more.

Find the right balance for your body!
Try to become more fit because you want to be healthier, not because you want to look like a model!Learn to appreciate the body that you have , appreciate your genetic window (what works best for your body) and try to get the best possible version of YOU!

That said, enjoy your weekend and get your little butt moving!

Freitag, 23. Mai 2014

Pre-workout booster

What's up lovely ?


Finally it's Friday and I am so happy that I found myself having some time again. I was so busy the last two days because my boyfriend is moving to his own apartment and as his girlfriend, I am helping him of course to start a new chapter in his life. That's why I couldn't create any article recently, so sorry for that!

But now, let's get over to the interesting things in the world of fitness: Pre-workout booster.
What is it? How does it work? and do I really need it? 

To start with, I will shortly explain you what a pre-workout booster actually is:

Pre-workout supps have become more popular than they ever were, which is because they are formulated with ingredients that work together to pump up your energy and endurance during your workouts. Plus, they increase your strength, your muscle growth and they burn off body fat. 

How does a booster work?

A pre-workout booster relaxes the muscles that control blood vessel, meaning that the blood vessels increase in their diameter, which allows more blood to flow through them and to other muscles. As you may know, blood carries oxygen and nutrients, such as glucose, fat and amino acids. So by taking a booster, your blood can carry more of these to your muscles and help support better energy production, meaning you can train harder and longer. Plus, you may recover better from your workouts,ergo: you can train bigger muscles more often. 
Blood also contains a high amount of water which gets pushed through those wider blood vessels into muscles to create that muscle pump you will experience during your workout routine. This pump enlarges the membranes of the muscle cells that may help you by signaling the cells to grow bigger. And as I said above, a booster can also burn off body fat by helping support lipolysis, the release of fat from the body's fat cells, allowing it to be burned for fuel.

Do I really need a pre-workout booster? 

Honestly, I have never tried any pre-workout booster yet because I am really satisfied with my workout routines and I am not looking for growing bigger muscles. But I know , from my boyfriend, that a pre-workout booster can really help you to train harder and longer as you get a real energy boost. So if you are looking for growing more muscles or for being more focused during your workouts and having more energy, then a pre-workout booster would be the perfect match for you! And as I said, a pre-workout booster not only helps you during your training but also helps your muscles to recover better and faster. 



I wish you all a relaxing and enjoyable weekend!

Dienstag, 20. Mai 2014

New in: Filofax

Hey there!

Today I am super happy! We finally got some very nice and sunny weather in Luxembourg, I am so close to start my preparation for my first competition, and to top this :  my Filofax arrived today! 

I ordered my Filofax on Amazon.com on Friday and it already arrived this morning!

You may be wondering now why I am writing an article about a Filofax as it actually doesn't have anything to do with fitness,health or wellness.


Well, I ordered it because I wanted to write down my workouts. I know there are many apps out there, but I don't want to scribble on my phone while in the gym and look like a complete smartphone-addict,so I thought it would be cool to have some kind of old-school workout-log.Plus, I can create and decorate it just the way I like.


The only issue with the Filofax is that you don't really have any scale to write down your monthly measurements, your progress, your daily intake of food and calories or your exercises.


But there's a solution for everything. On Etsy,I found these awesome and cute-looking printables by CleanLifeandHome, which I think are just perfect for my fancy pink workout-log.


Once you downloaded these printables to your computer,you can print them as much as you want and at any time because they don't come with a date.


I am really happy that I downloaded these, as the color doesn't need much ink, which I think is important if you have to print a lot. 


I will start 'workout-logging' only next month , because that's also when I am starting my preparation.I still need to get several things done before I can start, but once I'm on it I will make sure to let you know

If you are also looking for such a pretty log, you can get it HERE.

Stay tuned!