Recipes and meal ideas....

This breakfast is a big love of mine. Its the ultimate!
Use this:
30g oats
1 egg
3 egg whites
drop of essence ,you can choose weather it be vanilla, caramel, cappuccino, whatever! just add it!
And a tablespoon of stevia (sweetener)
mix well, add a handful of your favourite fruit.  I used chopped strawberries here, but i actually prefer it with blueberries . nom nom

Pour the mixture in a heated pan. Let it sit about 3-5 minutes on a side. I am sure you will see when its cooked. wink wink....  If your diet allows it, have it with Agave sirop or honey.

It is what it is....  Breakfast. Strawberries, blueberries and 30g (before water) of oats.
Eat up! :)

Fish anybody? Yes, it is underneath all the

fatfree cheese. lol.You will need: fish, of course.  the white fish of your preferance.  Sliced tomatoes and fatfree cheese. Spice the fish fillets, salt , pepper, herbs.Layer the tomatoes and add the cheese.Pop in a hot oven for about 20min.!Bon app!

I adore this! Its so simple to make. Lean beef mince and Kale (substitute with cabbage) stirfry.  I prefer to use Kale, because my bloodgroup said so.  HE SAID SO! and i oblige..okay ?  :)   Everyone knows how to prepare mince right? Be sure to use LEAN beef!  Prepare your KALE STIRFRY like this.  chop it quite fine.  Fry a small onion in a pan.  Add chopped kale. Put as much fresh garlic in as what the people around you can handle. add salt and pepper. Let it sit for a while on a low heat to get a bit of colour, then put the lid on.  I like crunchy kale,so i let it go for about 15-20 minutes.

Teriyaki chicken!  Love making this. Marinate your chiken in Teriyaki sauce (usually in the Chinese section) if you cannot find this, soy sauce also does the trick. anyhow, marinate in teriyaki, 2 tablespoons of strong mustard (the pot) and shallots.  I let mine sit for almost half a day. Fry in a non-stick pan , 10minutes on each side.   ENJOY!!!   

                                  





a Few of my favourite things....

These are good for you because....

Apples are a great source of fiber.
they are good for your heart.
It is better to consume apples with their skin on. About half of their Vitamin C content is found underneath its skin.
Apples also make a perfect snack for dieters.

Strawberries are an excellent source of minerals and vitamins that are important to boost the immune system. Some of the vitamins that people can get from this fruit are Vitamin C, vitamin B2, vitamin B5, Vitamin B6 and vitamin K. Aside from these, strawberry is also rich in manganese, dietry fiber as well as iodine. If you need potassium and folate, you can get these from eating strawberries.

Blueberries consist of antioxidants
blueberries are rich in Vitamin C, contain high fiber content, contain low cholesterol content and have low calories

A growing body of research shows that coffee drinkers, compared to nondrinkers, are

less likely to have type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and dementia

have fewer cases of certain cancers, heart rhythm problems, and strokes

One egg contains 6 grams of high-quality protein and all 9 essential amino acids.
Eggs are one of the only foods that contain naturally occurring vitamin D.
Eggs promote healthy hair and nails because of their high sulphur content and wide array of vitamins and minerals. Many people find their hair growing faster after adding eggs to their diet, especially if they were previously deficient in foods containing sulphur or B12.

Spice up your life!

Chillies
The ultimate flab fighter. Fire up your meals and your metabolism. These red beauties does not only help you suppress your appetite.







 Ginger  

Long used for nausia. Drink it in the form of tea, or fresh pieces and honey.

                                                                                                                                     

Cinnamon
Believe it or not, this spice actually soothes period pain.  It also acts as a blood sugar stabilizer .

                                          

                                                                           

 Tumeric

Heal your headaches.  This yellow spice is extremely rich in the active ingredient of asprin. 

                                                                           Cloves

Muscle mender.  Cloves is proven to heal muscle soreness after training. Heat it with applejuice and cinnamon.

Intervals Monday - very challenging!

This is more test for bodystrenght than cardio. Still my heartrate was over 80% most of the time.  Burn breakfast burrrrn!
Set your times for 50sec action/ 15sec rest. We could do no more than 2 circuits. lol.. will continue like that for Wednesday and Friday, and attemp 3 circuits on next monday.

1.  Burpees

2. High knees

3. Balance yourself in a push up position with your legs elevated. Bring your one leg in, other leg in, and do a pushup. Repeat this movement for 50sec.
Here's a picture to try to explain.

4.  Star jumps - and squat down

5.  Plank

6.  Tuck jumps

7.  Dive bombers

8.  Jump squats

9.  Push ups

10.  Ab- bridge
 Lie on your back.one leg in the air the other . Lift your abdominal section, contracting abs and squeezing bum. Repeat this, alternation your legs.

If you would like to try this, and there's some of the movements you dont understand, you can ask to to explain a bit better.

To put everything together

So you can make sense out of my random workout posts.  I put together a week of training.

Monday:
Morning -  Intervals
Evening -  Legs 1

Tuesday:
Morning -  Indermediate cardio session
Evening -  Biceps and Triceps

Wednesday:
Morning - Intervals
Evening - Rest

Thursday:
Morning - Legs 2
Evening -  Cardio

Friday:
Morning -  Intervals
Evening - Something fun... like Zumba

Saturday:
Morning -  Back and shoulders

Lower body training for the next 8 weeks.

I was very happy with the results from my previous training plan.  My aim was to keep/reduce the size of my quads.                                                                                 I have naturally very big quads, therefor i train them with light weights and just try to tone them.  They have not increased, so my goal was reached.                                                                                                       I   do concentrate alot on glutes training. This is such a difficult muscle to tone! And such an important part of bikini division!

Here's my breakdown.  Effective from Monday 23 April 2012

Legs session 1:

Glutes:

1.  Flutter kicks

2.  Hip extensions with cable

3.  Barbell Glutes bridge

4.  Glutes kickbacks - machine

5.  Glutes kickback longer extension - machine

Quads:

6.  Barbell full squat

7.  Pistol squats

8.  Lunges - dumbbell

9.  Smith machine wide squats

Legs session 2:

Hamstrings:

1.  Stiff legged dumbbell deadlifts

2.  Bands - good mornings

3.  Ball leg curl

Calves:

4.  Calves raises.  Weighted

5.  Seated calve raises

Plyo:

6.  Travelling lunges

7.  Lunge set  -  50 35 20 35 50 (Stephen sets)

8.  Jumps.  very low and very high

Foooooooooood! my life revolves around it... :)

 Turkey and mixed veggies.

I pan fried (burned... lol) (hey i like it like that!) the turkey pieces with a tablespoon of macadamia oil. 
10minutes each side.
The only spiced I used was salt, pepper, onion flakes and garlic.

I like to buy different types of veggie mixes. Keeps things interesting.   This one contains zucchini, aubergines, peppers and pieces of potato.

Since i am a chilly freak, actually crave the stuff, i chop some fresh chillies over anything that can handle them. It sends you metabolism flying! Burn the calories too!

 Oatmeal with banana.
Straight forward. It is what it is. I love it!











Egg and bacon breakfast muffins.

These little treats can be taken as a cheat OR if you can apply self control , as a normal meal, and a good portion size.
You will  need:
2 whole eggs, 2 whites
LEAN bacon. (as much as you feel happy with, don't push it. lol)
Chopped onion.  about a tablespoon

A table spoon of wholewheat flour
a pinch of baking powder.
Mixed herbs, salt and pepper.
Additional:  about 50g of fat free cheese.
Mix all of this very well.  Scoop into muffin pan.  Bake for 15minutes on 200deg.

Muscle building breakfast!

Lean beef patty
1 egg
2 whites
Have it with a piece of rye bread




Post workout smoothie


Here you can see what i used.
a teaspoon of agave syrup. you can use honey
a handful of frozen strawberries
a teaspoon of flax seed
a scoop of vanilla whey



 Here's what we came up with!

New upperbody training plan.

I will start this new plan from Monday 23 April 2012.  I stay on a plan for more or less 8 weeks.
Biceps:

1.  EZ curl bar
2.  Overhead cable curl
3.  Dumbbell  bicep curl
4.  Incline dumbbell curls
5.  Standing biceps cable curl

Triceps:

1.  Dips machine
2.  Decline EZ bar extensions.
3.  Triceps push down.  V-bar extension.
4.  Dumbbell kickbacks
5.  Triceps push down.  Rope attachment.

Shoulders:

1.  Shoulder press
2.  Lying dumbbell one-arm rear lateral raise.
3.  Reverse flyes
4.  Barbell rows
5.  Front dumbbell raises

Back:
Lats:
1.  Chin ups close (machine)
2.  Rows machine
3.  V-bar pull down
4.  Straight arm pull down

Mid-back:
5. Reverse grip bent over rows

Low back:
6.  Hyper extensions

Monday morning's intervals (yea its late lol)

45sec active / 15sec rest

1.  Jacks

2.  Alien jumps

3.  Tricep dips

4.  Jump squats

5.  Plank

6.  Knee ups

7.  Walking lunges

8.  Jump lunges

9.  Side squat ( one leg)

10.  Jumps , low and very high

11.  Side squat  (other leg)

12.  Jacks

Goodluck!!!

Colmar results

My first win!!!! And what an amazing feeling!

The bikini line-up was filled with beautiful girls, and very cute tushi's. Haha! So the result did come as a very big surprise.  Nontheless, I am in 7th Heaven!

a Small salad.

I made this lovely  salad with oven steamed salmon. 
Baby spinach leaves
Fresh shallots
Fresh plums
Red Peppers

Chop and serve.


Recipe for the salmon.

I always do my salmon like this.  I just vary the spices. 

Place salmon fillets in a oven pan.  Add fish spice and some soy sauce (love the stuff)
Cover with foil and place in a 200deg heated oven for 10minutes.

Enjoy!

What happens week before show?

Regarding training. Monday , Tuesday, Wednesday, I do a cardio in the morning and a light full body in the evening. My last session is on Wednesday. Your body need to rest , if muscles are injured from training, you will retain water.

The Monday before the show date, I start reducing my carbs.

In this week I keep my diet really clean, and sticking to proteins like eggs, fish, chicken, carbs like yams, and veggies like peppers, asparagus, artichokes and less starchy veggies.

I drink loads of water. Up to 6L per day. Thursday I start taking a natural diuretic, reduce water to 1.5L for the day. Friday I take 500mL for the day. Saturday I just wet lips. lol.

I like to use Jan Tana competition colour. This gives a really nice skintone on stage and does not rub off. Ladies a normal salon spraytan is NOT dark enough. You can throw away all your hard work with a tan that is not dark enough. Be careful! Protan is also a good choice and if the federation allows it, Dream tan. (it applies like nugget, lol, i hate it! )

Half and hour before stage time I have some High GI carbs to get the blood pumping.

And them BOOOOM! It happens! Shake your tushi! :)

Cardio that works for me ....

I will begin this with , I do NOT know what is the best cardio to do. I do not think there is a 'best' cardio to do.  I think it differs from person to person how his/her body responds. 

Personally I do not like doing cardio.  I find it extremely boring, so I find alternative ways to get it done.  I swear by intervals. 20 - 30mins. Short and fast and hard.  My body responds amazing to intervals.  I have posted various ones on my blog. 

I do these on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  If I am not exhausted , and I am keen for something else, I like to to Zumba, or a spinning class here and there.  I can tell you in all honesty, I do not spend hours on a treadmill or eliptical.  Simply do not have the patience.  I do it hard and fast and get it done!!!

Usually I do not do more than 3-4 sessions of cardio a week and an added 4 sessions of weights.

Training legs on bodyweight

Since the gym was closed today, I put this little workout together for me. 

Goes like this:

1. Tuck jumps

2. Box jumps (to higher surface)

3. Close leg squats

4. Lunges on a stair

5. Plie squats

6. One leg bend over.  Do both legs

7. Travelling lunges

I did 20 reps of every exercise in a circuit, 3 times.   I took me about 40minutes to complete! Burned good!

Top de Colmar Competition 14 April

Hello guys and girls.!

Wow 6 days out from the first show of the season. Can you believe! Feels like yesterday that it was still 12 weeks. 

I am ready for this!!!! haha! This week my planning looks like this. Monday to Wednesday will be cardio in the morning, with ligth weight sessions in the evening.

From Thursday I am doing nothing.  I will do a water dropping cycle to dehydrate.  I do not take any funny pills for this, btw. lol
Usually I drop all my carbs in the last week, but this time it is not necessary, as I am lean enough.

The bikini criteria is such a grey area for me.  Too lean, to soft, too hard. Well! You never know what the flavour of the day will be.

Hold thumbs! I have been putting in such hard work to improve, I really hope for a good placing.

Life isn’t worth living unless you’re willing to take some big chances and go for broke.
- Eliot Wiggington

Insomnia in competition prep

It's not a strange occurrence for athletes in bodybuilding preparation to experience insomnia during some stages of their prep.  Like me now. lol.  But do you know what causes this?

The first thing is cortisol. Low carb diets increase cortisol.  Cortisol levels are elevated in people with insomnia. The cortisol actually stimulates the central nervous system, keeping you from your precious sleep.

The other sinner is CCK.   This is a peptide, secreted when a diet is high in proteins and fats.  Excessive amounts of this substance can lead to anxiety and therefor influencing your sleep pattern.

Low levels of calming tryptophan. Tryptophan is an amino acid that helps in the production of both serotonin and melatonin.  Diets consisting mostly of low GI carbs, can lead to low levels of this calming substance and deprive you of your much needed sleep. While you can take tryptophan as a supplement, it is beneficial to begin your insomnia diet by eating healthy tryptophan rich foods as often as you can. These include:

• Turkey and chicken breast, roasted
• Milk and dairy products (choose low fat yogurt for most nutrients per calories)
• Seafood, specifically snapper, cod, yellowfin tuna, salmon, shrimp and halibut (choose steamed, baked or broiled)
• Eggs
• Tofu, soy milk and cooked soybeans
• Chick peas (aka garbanzo beans) and hummus
• Nuts, especially hazelnuts, almonds, peanuts and cashews (beware the high fat content)
• Beans of all types - black, pinto, kidney, navy
• Lentils and split peas
• Seeds, specifically sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds
• Whole grains, especially cooked cereals - wheat bulgar, oats, barley, millet
• Brown rice
• Spinach, mustard greens and collard greens

There are two common-sense objectives in creating a diet for insomnia:

1) Avoid foods that could make it worse, and...

    Caffeine - in coffee, tea, cola, dark chocolate.


2) Consume foods that could make it better!