Festive baking - Christmas cake

In the spirit of Christmas I threw together this treat . 

Mostly clean ingredients; 

40 Qnt Sport Delicious whey 

20g coconut flour 

200g apple sauce 

1 whole egg 

15g coconut oil melted 

touch of baking powder 

touch of salt 

tablespoon cocoa 

40g chopped glaced cherries 

mix everything and pour mixture into baking pans . bake at 200deg for 20 minutes. 

mix 20g protein with a tablespoon of water to top your cakes . Add cherry halves as garnishing .... 

Bon app! 

Zucchini Pasta

Hello Friends, 

Hope everyone is doing great!  I am loving the Christmas season that is approaching.  All the deco and carrols.  Yep, I'm a Christmas freak. Haha .                                     Anyhow - I want to share this very quick and easy recipe with you.  My Fake pasta, made with zucchini shavings.  Shaving 2-3 medium sized zucchinis with your vegetable cutter, or whatever if you have another tool  I don't :( Saute in a pan sprayed with macadamia oil ( oil of choice) .  This should not take to long.  They go soft very fast.  Remember to keep them a little crunchy.  Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Protein cake with yogurt frosting

This was one of those moments when I got it just right !!!

Wow!!! What an amazing recipe :) 

2tsp coffee powder made with a little bit of water.

80ml Fatfree milk 

60g protein ( QNT SPORT Delicious Whey) 

1.5 tbsp cocoa 

125ml eggwhites 

2tbsp dark choc nibs 

mix all the ingredients together and bake for 20-25 minutes on 200 deg . 

In a separate bowl , mix one scoop chocolate casein protein with 200ml nonfat yogurt .  mix well and refrigerate. 

When the cake is done - top with the yogurt frosting and eat while still warm . 

My new fav treat !!! :) 

Handy food tips

Hello Friends, 

So this is what happens when you get a 'grown-up' job... lol.. You don't have any time for your Fitness blog!  :)  

I think I am finally starting to get the art of juggling work, training and cooking with a relationship.  That moment everything click into place - the fun starts! 

Anyways, wanted to share a quick post with you for some meal ideas.  I know we all run out at some stage.  

First up, is my delicious sweet potato wheels.  These a crispy like oven chips.  With some light tomato sauce you wont know the difference.  Simply slice the sweet potatoes and place them of baking paper, on  oven tray.  Bake in a very hot oven for about 60 min.  Add coarse salt and pepper. 

I had the above pancake yesterday on my refeed day for breakfast.

7 egg whites
60g oats
1 cup of berries
1 scoop of Delicious whey from QNT sports.

Mix eggs and oats. Bake like an pancake .  Mix the whey with a little bit of water and stack your pancake! yum!




Omelet with grilled veg.  No explanation needed  :)



Oats and strawberry QNT whey.  Add a handful of strawberries.

There you go.  Now go eat clean and get lean ! :)

Crockpot leftovers salad

Blueberry and pumpkin baked oats

Hello ladies and gentlemen....

I have a biiiiiiiiig treat to share with you! This was one of my best concoctions in quite some time. lol.... The soft tart berries bursting in your mouth is simply exquisite! 

Ingredients:

40g Jungle oats
200 egg whites
50g Blueberries
150g pumpkin puree
Touch of salt, cinnamon and baking powder

Mix together and bake in nonstick oven pan.  180deg for 15-20 minutes

It has a soft and moist texture.  

Optional:  Drizzle with Walden Farms Blueberry syrup when completely done. 

Macros
260 calories
30g carb
3g fat
25g protein

Confetti cake - High protein

You can make this beauty with a few simple ingredients. 

180g egg white

30g oat bran

10g coconut flour

Touch of baking soda

Pinch of salt

Teaspoon of vanilla

I sprinkled a little bit of confetti over the top just for show. lol... looks cute right? 

Mix everything and pour into a silicon baking pan. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 180 degrees. 

There is no sweetener in here, I prefer it like that, but if you have a sweet tooth, add 3-4 sachets of sweetener. 

250 calories

23g carbs

4g fat

25g Protein

Bon ap! 

Tips to help build muscle.

.. Pursue Progressive Overload.

The law of progressive overload simply says that you must increase the amount of reps or the weight lifted every single workout (or as close to this as humanly possible) in order to ignite muscle growth.

The body adapts to stimuli, so how do we use this to our advantage? Well the key is to place ever increasing demand on the body, thereby forcing it to continually adapt. Training with weights is undoubtedly the best way to achieve this. You can know precisely how much weight you can handle and can also make incremental increases over time to spark muscle growth.

If you workout with the exact same weight every session and perform the same number of repetitions, how can you expect your body to grow? So, if you want bigger biceps, you must increase the weight you are lifting every session or the amount of repetitions. Remember:

Progressive Overload = Muscle Growth.

2. Perform 8-12 reps.

8-12 reps on any given exercise will stimulate most muscle growth. Lower rep ranges of say 3-6 work well for building strength but not necessarily muscle hypertrophy (growth). Higher reps e.g. 15 – 20 can indeed stimulate muscle growth but it is far from optimal. You should be lifting a weight so heavy that you can’t get more than 12 reps but light enough to allow you to get at least 8 reps.

3. Perform 6-9 sets.

Yes just 6-9 sets per body part. If you are working out with good form this is all you need to stimulate muscle growth. You want to keep your workouts under 45 minutes to avoid the release of hormones that actually break your muscle tissue down (catabolic hormones). Luckily, you can easily accomplish this by performing a maximum of 9 sets per body part.

4. Eat Eat Eat. 

Working a muscle tears the tissue, it then repairs and grows. Muscles need fed in order to allow them to grow. Basically you need to eat big to get big. A good bodybuilding diet will allow you to grow without adding fat at the same time.

5. Increase the Amount of Protein in your Diet.

Muscle = protein. In order for muscle tissue to repair itself after your weight-training sessions it needs an abundance of protein. Some beginners don’t take enough protein and some more experienced guys take ridiculously extreme amounts of protein. So how much protein is enough to supply those hungry muscles? Use the following formula for the most accurate daily protein requirements.

Lean Mass Weight (Kg) x 2.75 = Daily Protein Requirement

Your lean weight is your total body weight minus the amount of fat you are carrying. You will need to know your body fat percentage for this. If you are unsure about this, you can get a good estimate by using the ‘Body Fat Calculator’ in the sidebar at MuscleHack.com site. Another good rule of thumb is to take 1 gram of protein for every pound of total body weight. So a 160 lb man would take around 160 grams of protein per day. My favorite sources of protein include

* Chicken
* Steak
* Pork
* Eggs
* Cheese
* Whey Protein Powder Shakes
* Seafood – tuna, prawns, salmon…
* Nuts
* Seeds

Here’s a good post showing great vegetarian sources of protein.

6. Eat Fat.

A Low-Fat diet is not desirable in bodybuilding. Eating fat increases the amount of anabolic (muscle building) hormones in your body. These are:

1. Testosterone
2. Growth Hormone
3. Insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1)

Some people resort to taking anabolic steroids in order to accelerate muscle growth but you can get great results by implementing the ultimate bodybuilding diet.

7. Make Sure you Drink Enough Water.

Getting enough water is crucial for peak strength and energy levels. You should shoot for around 12 x 8 ounce glasses of water per day. Remember you can include your protein shakes towards your daily water intake.

8. Avoid Too Much Cardio.

Cardiovascular work will rob you of muscle gains. Yes if your goal is to lose fat you should do cardio but make sure it is:

(a) Performed immediately after your weight training

(b) ‘High Intensity Interval Training’ form of cardio for a maximum of 20 minutes.

The reason that too much cardio isn’t desirable when your goal is to build muscle is that too much cardio releases catabolic hormones in the body, breaking down your muscle tissue; obviously this is counter-productive.

9. Sleep.

Sleep is so important for building muscle. We know that muscle tissue repairs itself and grows during rest periods but sleep is more important than waking rest periods.

Here’s why:

1. The release of growth hormone reaches its peak during deep sleep
2. Your metabolic rate slows which is perfect for muscle tissue repair and growth
3. Increased blood flow to the muscles

10. Relax.

Being stressed out results in a catabolic (muscle breakdown) environment in the body. One such hormone is cortisol. Remember that a calm, relaxed person builds more muscle than the hot-head  (assuming all other factors are equal).

Keep it positive and stay motivated!

Refeed days - method to the madness

Despite some people thinking its not true, there is acually great reward in doing a proper refeed when you have been dieting for a while.  

Have you heard of the hormone called 'Leptin'?  When you diet for a long period, your leptin levels drop very low, stalling your weighloss.  ( I'm putting this in the most simple manner) 

Leptin is actually made in fatty tissues, therefor, the lower your bodyfat, the less leptin you have.  Can you see why lean people do need refeeds then?  Leptin's main function in the body is to play a significant role in regulating both hunger, food intake and energy expenditure. As leptin levels fall, the greater your cravings become for all those wonderful foods that you used to eat when you weren't dieting.

Along with hunger pangs, low leptin also creates a slowing metabolism. Whenever you are on a low diet for an extended period of time, your body will begin to slow its metabolic functions in an effort to addapt to the amount of fuel that it is being given. Know what this means for you? Little or no fat loss. Not a good situation. aka starvation mode. 

Now your goal is to raise your Leptin level again and speel up that slow metabolism. Leptin is highly responsive to glucose metabolism so when doing a refeed, you will benefit much more if the majority of your  calories are coming from good sources of carbs that will turn into glucose. When done this way, leptin levels will show a significant rise over if you had eaten a surplus of calories coming from more protein, fat or fructose.

"

REFEEDING

How much should you refeed yourself? This will depend on how long you have been dieting, how intense your diet is, and your current level of bodyfat. Those who are at a lower level of bodyfat will need to refeed more often than those who aren't. Similarly, the more extreme the diet being followed, the more intense the refeed.

Basically this has to do with how low leptin levels are. The lower the levels, the more calories above maintenance you will be needed to bring them back up.

Usually, a refeed should consist of 20-50% more calories than required for maintenance for 12 hours to two days. The higher you decide to bring your calories, the shorter period of time you will want to refeed for. If your leptin levels have almost dropped of the earth, you will want to refeed for a full week, but keep your calories slightly more moderate.

The downside to a refeed is that sometimes you will have to accept a small amount of fat gain. But, looking on the bright side, when you go back to your diet, your metabolism will be humming again and you should jump start the fat loss process. In a few individuals, they will actually become leaner during the process; however this is not the norm.

You can include some of your more desired foods in the refeed, after all, this is partly to relieve you psychologically from the restraints you feel during the dieting process, however make sure the rest is coming from good sources."

Making the change ....

Hello Friends, 

We have a heavy topic today. lol.... 

When you decide to take control over your life, regarding training and your meals, make sure you do it for the right reasons.  As much as we want to look and feel good, you have to take care of the inside as well. 
After all, a healthy body houses a healthy mind. 

Make sure you have GOALS.  Make sure they are realistic.  It is easier working toward something if you have a goal. 

Learn what your emotional triggers a

re! The key to breaking bad habits like overeating, is to identify the things that are making you feel low or stressed. Learn how to pinpoint your emotional triggers and establish healthy habits for life.

Change your attitude! Your self-image plays a huge role in your success on this program. I want you to start thinking, "Why not me?" You deserve to be healthy and happy just like everyone else. It's time to change your attitude and your inner dialogue.

Learn more about yourself! Are you proactive or reactive? Where do you fall on the self-love scale? We all need to focus on ourselves sometimes.

“Of course motivation is not permanent. But then, neither is bathing; but it is something you should do on a regular basis.” 
― Zig Ziglar

High fiber pancake with delicious toppings

Hey y'all .... I started a new job today. Man am I busted tonight ! Zooooombie! 

You've been asking for this recipe .... 

Pancake ingredients ; 

30 g fibre plus

30g oatbran 

150g eggwhite 

Mix well and pan grill till cooked . Top with macadamia nut butter and chocchips ! Delish ! :) 

Blackbean chocolate brownies

Man oh man .... Do I have a treat for you ! :) 

I made these today and want to post the recipe before I forget the ingredients! 

1.5 cups cooked Blackbeans 

2 tablespoons oatbran

1 egg 

1.5 cups applesauce

1 Scoop whey in chocolate

1/4 cup cocoa 

Tablespoon caramel essence 

Black choc chips 

Blend all the ingredients in a food processor .  Add in the choc chips . Bake for 20 - 25 min at 200 degrees 

Let it cool down and enjoy ! 

Bon ap! 

All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.

Charles M. Schulz

Bread - free burgers

Ditch the bun and wrap your protein in lettuce! Delicious ! 

Beef burger ; 

Make your burgers with lean meat and an egg . Spice to taste . Oven grill meat patties. 

Pan grill purple onions lightly and add few drop of honey to crest sweet sour taste . 

Stack your beef burger with lettuce , tomato , onions and patty . 

For the chicken burger - same route , stack lettuce with tomato and avocado. 

Enjoy !!! :) I'm living on these now 

Mozzarella green bean bake

Anything to excite the senses.  We are at that stage again where I am inventing recipes with my prep food. 7weeks out from IFBB WP. 

To make this dish you need ; 

150g eggwhite

1 egg 

200g cooked greenbeans 

20 grated Mozzarella cheese 

Mix and bake! Boom!! 

Waffle and protein ice cream

Macros : 

228 calories

16g carb 

4g fat 

32g protein

Ingredients for the waffle;

50g butternut ( cooked) 

15g coconutflour 

100g eggwhite 

50ml soymilk ( or normal) 

Drop vanilla 

Mix and bake in pan or waffle pan

Ingredients for protein ice cream; 

20g metapure Zerocarb protein 

100g frozen berries 

Mix in food processor ! 

Enjoy ;) 

Tuna stuffed rye flour pancake

Ingredients for the pancakes; 

1 egg

30g rye flour 

100ml soymilk - use any milk 

50ml water 

I got 4 small pancakes from the batter. 

Tuna filling; 

2 cans of tuna in water 

1 cup grated fennel 

1 chopped lettuce head - iceberg is really nice for this. 

1 tablespoon Hellmans reduced fat mayo 

Salt and pepper to taste 

115 calories per serving 

Coconutflour cupcake with creamcheese and dark chocolate frosting

Hello Friends ... 

How you are all doing great ? Today was the day for my special treat . :)  I had a great leg workout, then came home and made these delicious treats.  I decided to go with a sugar free less of a trigger , option . I am really trying hard to get these sugar cravings under controle - and keep them there! 

Ingredients for cupcake; 

60 g whey protein 

2 eggs 

30g coconutflour 

Teaspoon baking powder 

Drop of vanilla essence 

Mix in a blender and pour into 6 cupcake holes. Bake for 15-20 minutes on 200 deg. 

Frosting ; 

150g fat free smooth plain cottage cheese 

40g black chocolate 

20 g honey 

Melt the chocolate first. Add the creamcheese and honey. Mix well. 

Serving size : 2 cupcakes 

Calories 300 

Protein 30g 

Carbs 21g 

Fat 12g 

Enjoy this little filling treats ! 

Coconutflour muffin

Hmmmm yummy !!! With less than 2 g of carbs - this is perfect to curb any craving. 

Ingredients: 

15g coconutflour 

1 egg

100ml soymilk ( you can use any milk) 

30g whey protein 

Drop of vanilla essences 

TeaspoonBaking powder 

Mix everything very well. I did mine in the blender. Pour mixture into cupcake pans and bake for 10-15 minutes on 200deg. 

Macros: see screenshot

Ostrich fillet and oven grilled greens

If you are running out of lunch ideas , this one is for you. 

Simple and easy - like most of my meals. Cut and wash your marrows and broccoli . Place on a oven plate and spice with Ina Paarman's green onion spice. Grill on 200deg for about 30min or until crispy. 

I pan grilled the ostrich fillet with fresh onions and BBQ spice. 

Bon app! :) 

Easy peasy mugcake

The cravings have me today !!! So! Search for better alternative . I came up with this, it's amazing and my diet is still clean . 

Ingredients: 

15g coconutflour

30g vanilla protein powder 

50g eggwhite 

100g unsweetened soy milk

( you can use any form of milk that works with your digestion) 

Mix the lot in a small soup bowl en microwave about 5 min with intervals. You will see when it's cooked . 

Add fresh berries and mixed spice ( or cinnamon. 

Macros ; 

Calories 220

Protein 31

Fat 8 

Carbs 5 

Enjoy!!! 

Low carb bread

Ingredients:

115g Milled Flax flour

5 tablespoons Phsyllium Husk

30g Coconut flour

100g egg white

1 egg

1 cup hot water

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of baking soda

10g stevia 

Mix everything and bake in a oven tray for 45 minutes at 200 degrees 

macro's per 6 servings

180 Calories 

Carbs 8g

Fat 8g

Protein 9.5g

Enjoy! :) 

Quick and easy meals

No more boring veggies

Delicious stir fry idea. 

Smoked trout frittata

Hello my Friends, 

Can you believe that I am already sitting here cuddled up in my blanket in front of the heater.  Haha! Barely winter.  I'm such a baby! 

I made the most delicious frittata, and its something I can grab on the go, which is how most things must be nowadays for me. 

Pre-heat oven to 200deg.

In whatever it is you choose to bake it in, just mix a chopped red onion with 200g egg white and fine fresh coriander. 

Place smoked trout ribbons over the egg mixture ( I used 100g)

Break 2 eggs open on top, on opposite sides.  I want 2 servings, so I used 2.  You can adjust to how much you want.  

Bake until the egg is cooked to your preference. 

Bon Ap! 

Good old faithful

Everyone knows.....

When it comes to breakfast there's not a lot if things better than oats in the morning. 

Try having yours with Lacotse free Zerocarb protein from QNT sports and a chopped apple. 

Now I am ready for my day ! 

Lentil and leek stew

Hello friends - 

How's everyone doing? 

I just want to drop a quick recipe this week. I made this leek and lentil stew yesterday. Came out delicious 

Pan grill mushrooms, purple onions, and 200g of leeks with fresh garlic, until soft. 

Add 300g cooked lentils. Add seasoning to taste. Let simmer so everything can mix well. 

Mine was so much better the next day

Makes 3 servings : 170 calories

Carbs 23g

Protein: 9g

Fat : 5g

Hake quiche and green salad

I threw this quiche and salad togther in almost no time.

Ingredients:
250g steamed hake. Flaked
2 eggs
100g cherry tomatoes, in halves.
2 cups raw spinach
1 tablespoon flax seeds.
Teaspoon garlic flakes, onion powder , salt and pepper to taste.

Mix everything well.  Pour mixture into a quiche dish and bake for 20-30minutes on 200degrees.

For the salad, simply chop and mix.  Cucumber, green bell peppers, onion sprouts, and mixed greens. Add course salt and pepper.

Sweet potato and feta quiche

Ingredients:

150g of oven roasted sweet potato in cubes
1 chopped and pan grilled red onion
100g cherry tomatoes - in halves 

Put all of this in a quiche dish

Blend 5 eggs, 100ml lactose free milk, and 2 tablespoons of coconut flour.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour egg mixture over the sweet potatoes and add feta (optional)  Oven grill at 180 for 20-30 minutes.


Bon Ap!

Creamy Chocolate cupcakes

This is the most amazing texture for the simplest of ingredients! You can do them with or without the 90% chocolate block on top. With chocolate the calories is 130

Without chocolate it is a mere 75 calories
Fat 1g
Carbs 6g
Protein 5g

Ingredients:

200g canned chickpeas
2 tablespoons carobpowder
50g raw honey

Mix ingredients in food processor.  Scoop into 6 cupcake pans. Pre-heat oven to 180deg .
Bake them for 15 minutes, then add the chocolate block on top. Bake 15minutes more.

Allow them to cool before taking them out of the cupcake pans.

Bean sprout and cranberry salad

Hello friendies ...

Wow you've been neglected ! :) I am caught between work, studies, Europe expos ... Buzzeeeeee! 

Anyway ....a nice salad idea for my dieters. 

Raw spinach

2 tablespoons of cranberries 

Bean sprouts 

Teaspoon mustard powder

1 tablespoon flax oil 

Mix and enjoy 

Coconut flour treats

I have this 3 amazing treats I want to share with you.  All of them is almost made the same, so I will just combine the blog.

First of all is the Pancake on the right.
100g egg white
15g coconut flour
dash of vanilla
Blend and bake in nonstick pan
That's it!
146 calories
146 calories

The chocolate pancake on the left is made by combining:
15g coconut flour
200g egg whites
3g pshylium husk
1 teaspoon carob powder
dash of vanilla
pinch of xantham gum
Mix all and bake in non-stick pan.

Mix 20g scoop of QNT metapure zerocarb protein with 60ml of water and pour over pancake when cooked.
220 Calories

Carob Mug cake:
15g Coconut flour
175ml lactose free yogurt
1 scoop of QNT Delicious protein
dash of vanilla
few mixed berries
pinch of baking powder
Mix all the ingredients in  a large mug
Microwave for 3-5 minutes
Turn over and voila! 

Low carb buns

Hello friends, 

I am coming in today with a very low carb recipe for the keto dieters.  I made these this afternoon and I must tell you. DELICIOUS!

This is what you will need:

75g almond flour ( From healthshop, or simply grind your own)

5 tablespoons phsylium husk (From healthshop)

30g coconut flour (From healthshop)

40g ground flax seed (From healthshop or grind your own) 

10g stevia

1tsp garlic flakes

1tsp onion powder

1tsp baking powder

pinch on baking soda

3 egg whites and 1 egg

1 cup hot water

Mix everything well and bake for 45minutes on 180 degrees. 

Should make 6 round buns

3.3g of net carbs each

170calories each

 They are fast and easy to make and will go great with any meal!