Challenge N°5: LOAD UP ON FIBROUS VEGGIES

You've been 5 weeks into Get fit and healthy challenge series and by now you should have:

-eliminated sugar and foods containing added sugar from your diet

-been training 4-6 days a week

-been eating 20-30g of protein at each meal

-been having 5-7 small meals a day

These are all steps that should have become a habit by now and I'm sure results don't hesitate to show. I'm receiving daily emails from many of you who took these challenges very seriously and I'm so excited for all of you who are getting fantastic results. This week's challenge is very simple:

Challenge N°5: Load up on fibrous veggies

In bodybuilding world we separate the complex carbohydrates in 2 different categories:

-starchy carbs (potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, oats, beans, brown rice, lentils, chickpeas, black-eyed peas, green peas, corn, pumpkin, barley, butternut squash, quinoa, millet, whole wheat, amaranth, cous cous, whole grain bread and cereals, other whole grains and starchy veggies)

-fibrous carbs (broccoli, spinach, asparagus, cucumber, tomatoes, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, celery, onions, peppers, bok choy, kale, mushrooms, eggplant, zucchinis, carrots, green beans, lettuce, greens and herbs)

Fibrous carbs combined with lean protein and some healthy fats are your secret recipe for fat loss!

Both starchy and fibrous carbs contain fiber, but fibrous carbohydrates are so much lower in calories. it takes more time and effort to chew them and they take plenty of room in your stomach so it's almost impossible to overeat them.They also decrease appetite stimulating hormones and have a positive impact on your metabolism and overall health.The calorie density between the two groups is impressive. 1 1/2 cup brown rice has about 300 calories, while 1 1/2 cup lettuce has only 5 . 1 1/2 cup broccoli is about 30 calories. But the best thing is that you can have them as much as you want. No portion control!

So load up on the fibrous veggies and watch your body changing.

For more tips, motivation and healthy recipes visit my FB page by clicking here

Challenge N°4: MEAL PREP

In the past weeks you've learned how to put your meals together and that should have become second nature by now. This week challenge can be a real challenge because it takes some preparation. and when I'm talking about preparation, I'm talking about food. This week you'll have to eat 5-7 small meals a day including the postworkout meal.

Nutrition is 70% of the result, but it is also where 70% of people fail. What are we trying to achieve through these weekly challenges, is not only a toned physique by losing some inches, but we are basically trying to turn actions into habits. Eating 5-7 meals a day means eating every 2-3 hours. This also means food prep. If you don't prepare your food in advance, which can be at night or in the morning, you'll start skipping meals or eating the first crap you find around. This is called failing. The whole food prep may sound complicated, but it is really not, especially if you eat the same things every day and know your portions. 

Some people like prepping all their food in advance for the whole week. You can cook everything in batches and portion it out. Some also like to freeze the food, but i don't find it necessary. Chicken, veggies, grains,... can all last for a week if stored in an air-tight container and refrigerated. Personally i cook just the veggies and grains for some days in advance. These are all things that need very little time. I don't like to complicate in the kitchen. I steam the veggies in the microwave and then saute them with garlic, black pepper and salt. For the grains you just need to add water and wait.

Snacks are very easy to prepare as well. You can make pancakes in advance or multiply the recipe and bake them in the oven as you would do with a cake. Makes things easier. Nuts can/ should be preportioned out. Greek yogurt doesn't need any special preparation, but i like to add unsweetened cacao, stevia and almonds on top. Fruit is fast food.

You can preportion your food out for the week in Tupperware. I like to do it daily so i have more room in the fridge. 

Your meal plan should look something like this:

within 1h of waking up: breakfast

2-3 h later: am snack

2-3 h later: lunch

2-3 h later: pm snack

2-3 h later: dinner

Preworkout meal comes 60-90 min before your workout and it can be any of the above meals.

Postworkout meal comes 10 minutes after your workout and it should be a liquid meal (shake) with whey and simple carbs (sugars). Liquid meals doesn't involve a lot of digestion and the nutrients can reach the muscles as fast as possible in order to prevent the muscle breakdown.

Your next meal should be about 45-60 minutes after the shake.

Questions? Post them below!

For more tips, motivation and healthy recipes visit my FB page by clicking here

Challenge N°3: EAT LEAN PROTEIN AT EVERY MEAL

Hope you survived the last week challenge. If you had already made working out a habit, it should have been a piece of cake.

Those who completed the first two challenges should already start seeing great results. I keep receiving progress emails from all over the world and I'm really excited for you guys. Hard work always pays off in the end!

The challenge this week is be easy peasy. All you have to do is to eat your bodyweight in pounds of protein. For example, if you weigh 150 lbs*, it means that you should get 150g of protein. It may sound a lot of protein, but it's really not. Spread that protein around the meals and have 20-30g of protein at each meal.

Here I reccomend logging your food at least for the first days. This is beacuse carbohydrates, veggies and fats also contain protein and you'll see that you hit that number very easily.

Let me show you some examples:

1 cup brussel sprouts contains 5g of protein.

1/4 cup of oats has 4g protein

a slice of whole-wheat bread 5g of protein

1 portion of broccoli 6g of protein.

These proteins count all! So don't just get 20-30g of protein in chicken or fish, but keep in mind that other foods contain protein, as well.

Questions? Post them below!

*1 lb = 450g; if you weigh 50kg, that will be 50 x 2.2= 110lb => 110g protein/ day

For more tips, motivation and healthy recipes visit my Fb page by clicking here

Challenge N°2: MAKE TIME FOR THE GYM

This week challenge is all about the workouts. If last week you had to find mental strength to get through, this week you'll have to find TIME. Ups, sorry.. not "find", MAKE! This week you have to MAKE TIME for the gym. I give you the plan, you follow it! simple!

So, here's the deal:

-you must train at least 45-60 minutes a day. if you are a complete beginner (meaning, never worked out before) go for 30 minutes of intense training. This doesn't mean you have to lift heavy weights that you've never lifted before. It has to be intense for YOU. This means that you have to sweat, breathe hard, feel thirsty, feel like dying but feel good at the same time.

-weight-lifting: 4-6 days a week. The more intense the trainings, the more rest days you need. If you are training to increase your strength and perforimng 6 or less reps, go with a 4 day schedule.

Beginners: do a weightlifting total body routine 3 times a week. Choose 1 exercise per body part. Don't forget to warm up and cool down! Focus on compund movements (shoulder press, row, bench press, deadlift, lat pull-down, squat, leg press etc.). Ask the instructor at the gym for help If you are not sure how the exercises must be performed. Go slow and controlled, focus on form! If your gym has the machines for the exercises i mentioned, prefer them to free weights.

Intermediate trainers: weightlifting split routine 5 days a week

Advanced trainers: train 5-7 days a week, training preferably each body part twice a week. 

-do cardio only if you are more than 30 lbs overweight and do it on your rest days ONLY. Perform a HIIT routine as follows:

Hiit for a beginner:

5 min warm up

8 intervals: 45 s all out, 1 min slow

5 min cool down

Hiit for an intermediate/ advanced trainer:

5 min warm up

10 intervals: 20 s all out, 10 s slow

5 min cool down

Followed by abs.

-schedule your workouts!

-go to bed earlier and wake up early

-get yourself new gym clothes

-go sleep with your gym clothes on (sometimes it works)

-prepare your gym bag the night before!

-find a buddy. make an appointment to meet your friend at the gym

-try on old clothes in which you'd like to fit

-watch less tv

-spend less time on the phone

-spend less time on the internet 

-find an old jar and get yourself a euro/ dollar tip (or more) for every workout completed

Hey, no excuses! 1 hours is nothing compared to the time you spend on the phone, the internet, in front of the tv etc.

Nothing great was ever achieved with ease.

Questions? Post them below!

For more tips, motivation and healthy recipes visit my FB page by clicking here

Challenge N°1: ELIMINATE SUGAR COMPLETELY - STOP CRAVING SUGAR AND CARBS

Sugar is sweet, but there's a sour side, too. If you are overweight or trying to beat a disease, you should most probably blame it on sugar. Sounds silly, but sugar is the big evil. Sugar is a drug, a poison, and most people don't even realize how much sugar they are consuming.

Sugar is hidden everywhere, even in simple everyday foods like bread. Sot to mention "healthy foods" like peanut butter, salsa, cereal, yogurt, etc. Sspecially low-fat foods are loaded with sugar to enhance flavor.

Studies show that an average child consumes a whopping 32 teaspoons of sugar per day. That's 160 g of sugar, while the daily intake should stay under the 15g.

Facts About Sugar:

-sugar consumption is linked to:

insomnia

hair loss

dizziness

ADD/ ADHD

breakouts and skin irritation

allergies

manic depression

tooth decay

cardiovascular disease

hypertension

hypoglycemia

colon and pancreas cancer

cancer

obesity

metabolic syndrome

type 2 diabetes

asthma

arthritis

heart disease

high bad cholesterol levels

gallstones

endocrine issues

degenerative disease

-sugar is addictive just like any drug. It releases an opiate-like substance that activates the brain's reward system

-a 32oz/ 1Lt soda that you can get at any fast food or movie theater, contains 27 teaspoons of sugar. that's 135g!

-sugar causes vitamin B deficiency which is linked to: heart palpitations, chronic fatigue, paranoia, anxiety, insomnia, difficulty focusing, restlessness, indigestion, rashes, cravings of sugar...

-sugar has 0 nutritional value! it does not contain vitamins, minerals, enzymes, fats or fiber.

-sugar makes the digestive system acidic, which leaches vitamins and minerals from the body, particularly calcium from the bones and teeth. It also depletes potassium and magnesium, which are both essential for cardiac health.

-sugar suppresses the immune system and causes overproduction of digestive enzymes, which puts stress on the pancreas

-sugar impairs liver function, which leads to high blood pressure, skin issues and acne

-sugar inhibits blood flow and affects aging contributing to dental issues, increased wrinkles and dry, aged skin

Ok, I think you have enough. I hope that the above facts will motivate you this week to detox from sugar. In order to do so, you must remove all the sugar from your diet. This means NO:

syrups

fruit

fruit yogurts

cereal (except natural whole grain puffed cereal or oats)

processed foods like bread, crackers etc.

sauces containing sugar

marinades

dressings containing sugar

corn

potatoes

soda

candy and sweets

limit your dairy intake (plain yogurts, cream cheese, quark, cottage cheese etc) to 1 cup/ 250g per day

Keep in mind that removing sugar from your diet can cause withdrawal symptoms, like fatigue, depression, headaches and achy limbs. But don't worry, these symptoms will go away after a few days and are normal symptoms of any detox process.

Now you are wondering what you CAN eat, right?! I know the world without sugar seems so empty, but hey, there's a long list of foods you can enjoy:

any kind of lean protein: eggs, white meat, red meat, fish, deli meats (see nutrition values, some of these also contain sugar),...

veggies (dig in!)

nuts

healthy fats (YES, you CAN have chocolate! but it must be sugar-free and it must contain 85%+ cacao)

hummus

legumes

WHOLE natural grains: brown rice, oats, amaranth, cous cous, barley,...

cheese

pure stevia (even though i recommend going completely "sweetener-free" for the first 3 days)

What to eat post-workout:

1-2 scoops hydro whey or whey isolate with oats and water is a good post-workout meal that will replenish the glycogen stores and prevent muscle breakdown

The main recommendation is to eat as natural as possible and to pack on fiber. Read the food labels and as long as the food is natural, unprocessed and the label says 0g sugars, you can have it.

Keep in mind that even if the ingredient list doesn't list sugar, it can still be hidden under names like:

agave nectar

brown rice syrup

high-fructose corn syrup

dextrose

evaporated cane juice

glucose

lactose

malt syrup

molasses

sucrose

...

Please, do NOT use artificial sweeteners which will make the situation even worse. The only sweetener i recommend is PURE stevia (not Truvia). Must be 95+% stevia. After the sweet taste of the artificial sweetener the body expects an increase in sugar levels, but since this doesn't happen, your body starts to crave more sugar.

Don't forget to drink plenty of water!

Prepare mentally. It's not going to be easy, but it's going to be worth it. At the end of the week you should feel lighter, your stomach should be flatter, you should have more energy and the scale should move down for a couple of pounds. Your cravings will be gone!

You are welcome to post your thoughts and log your meals on my page in order to motivate the rest of the community. Together we can do it!

If you have any doubts or questions, post them down here in the comments. I'll answer all of them.

For more tips, motivation and healthy recipes visit my FB page by clicking here

HOW TO LOSE FAT AND SPEED UP YOUR METABOLISM?

Exercise more, eat more.

Sounds simple, right?! Yeah, I know.. it's not. 

Eating more and exercising both increase your metabolism and stimulate fat burning. But in order to get the desired effect you must find the right balance between the two.

So probably a more correct answer would be:

eat more, but not too much.

exercise more, but not too much.

In fact, eating too many calories doesn't support the fat burning process, since you still need to be in a caloric deficit in order to lose weight. And exercising too much, especially performing too much cardio, leads into muscle loss. muscle is the live tissue that consumes most calories even at rest. The less muscle you have, the lower your BMR (basic metabolic rate).

For the majority of people, 5-7 small meals a day and 4-6 training a week do the job. But if it was that easy, we would all be in perfect form. Consistency is the magic word. Stay motivated and trust the process.

No one can stop you. Only you can stop yourself.

#burnfat #metabolism #metabolicdamage 

For more fit tips and recipes visit my FB page by clicking here

LATE-NIGHT SNACK: CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES

for 10 truffles you need:

200g/ 7 oz low fat cream cheese

70g/ 2.5 oz natural peanut butter

2 tsp unsweetened cacao

pure stevia

1 scoop casein powder (chocolate, vanilla, banana,.. all work great)

1/4 - 1/2 cup coconut flour, optional

rum extract or 1 tsp of dark rum

mix all the ingredients together and form 10 balls. dust them with more cacao or coconut flakes. enjoy 30 min before bedtime.

macros for 1 serving (2 truffles): 145 kcal, 3.9g carb,8.8g fat, 12.9g protein

if you need a higher protein intake, add more scoops of casein. for dusting you can use chopped nuts or grated dark chocolate. let you imagination run wild!

#latenightsnack #healthysnack #proteinsnack #dessert 

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