Foods that fight fat

Hello everyone and happy new year!!!

With the party time behind us it is time to get fit and toned again. We all have our special workouts that work well for us, so let's support these with health food.

Follow this link and find some -maybe even surprising - foods, which should not be neglected in your diet as they are natural powerhouses and help you to burn fat:

www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20352009,00.html

Have a great healthy start in 2013!!!!

A healthy good morning

A very good morning to all of you!

The grey weather makes you want to stay in bed? Not today! Just finished a high intensity 30 minutes workout and now it is time for this delicious smoothie:

Mix 1 apple, 1 banana, 1 glas of orange juice and 1 cup of kale or other dark greens, add some wheatgerm and enjoy this wholesome drink!

Have a great day ☺

Health food - oatmeal

Dear readers,

first of all: very sorry about the formatting, Blogger force is not with me today! Hope, you will still like this post. If so, don't hesitate to let me know!

 

"Oatmeal? I'm not eating that, it’s baby food! "Oatmeal we connect automatically with muesli or porridge. Many have completely stopped eating oatmeal because they supposedly make you fat. But – surprise, surprise - oats are much better than their very limited reputation!

 

7 good reasons to eat oats

1. They are incredibly nutritious. Nutritionally, oats is the most valuable grain (protein and fiber).

2. Until the 19^th century oats were a staple and were also used for healing purposes.

3. The combination of vitamin E and B1 regulates blood sugar levels and strengthens the immune system.

4. A powerhouse of minerals ensures beautiful skin and strong nails (copper, zinc and manganese).

5. Oats protects the stomach, they can relieve many digestion problems or even correct them completely.

6. Yes, oatmeal contains a lot of calories, but satisfies you for a long time, keeps the cholesterol in check and regulates the blood fat. Oats can in fact support your journey of losing weight.

7. Oatmeal is due to its composition, the ideal health food.

Oatmeal with soy yogurt, fresh fruit and nuts is an extremely nutritious and healthy breakfast. I personally can easily survive on a good portion of this until dinner.

But oats are not only great for breakfast. Try to prepare fish or meat in an oatmeal crust.

Pork chops in oatmeal crust (1 person)

-1 egg
-80g pork cutlet
-approx 20g rolled oats
-1 Tsp sunflower oil

Whisk the egg. Wash cutlet, pat dry and season with salt and pepper and coat it in egg. Sprinkle with oatmeal all around. Heat oil in a small frying pan and fry steak over medium heat about 4 minutes on each side. Remove from pan.

Any vegetables will nicely complement this dish, have 2 potatoes with it to complete it.

Very delicious as well and vegetarian is the following recipe: 

Oatmeal and cauliflower patties (2 persons)

125 g cauliflower, coarsely grated
50 g oatmeal
1 egg
12 g of sesame
25 g curd (soybean curd)
50 g spicy cheese, grated
½ onion finely chopped,
1/2TL vegetable broth
Salt and pepper
Whole grain bread crumbs 

Sunflower oil 

Ground nutmeg

Preparation
Mix the grated cauliflower with the oatmeal, cheese, sesame and egg. Add the chopped onion and the curd. Spice up the mass and mix again thoroughly. The mass should not be too wet, if so, add some breadcrumbs. The mass then can be let to stand for 20 minutes.
After that, form small patties and fry them in hot oil. If you like, the patties, can be breaded before frying with some breadcrumbs. Serve the patties with a colorful salad or even combine them with a fish filet.

Another very nice dish from this part of the world you will find under the following link: http://www.sailusfood.com/2012/09/12/lemon-oats-indian-breakfast-recipe/

Recipes under this link http://saraniyapt.blogspot.com/2012/05/oats-breakfast-recipes.html most of will probably not like for breakfast as we do in Asia, but they would also make healthy lunches.

So let us re-integrate the good old oatmeal into our diet, because oatmeal is not just watery porridge with malaise. But it is that as well! 

 

The top cancer fighting foods

The Top Cancer Fighting Foods

 

(source: http://www.foodmatters.tv/articles-1/why-chemotherapy-doesnt-work )





1. Carrots
Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, a super strong antioxidant that helps keep stomach, prostate and lung cancer away.

2. Cabbage and Broccoli
Cabbages contain cancer-fighting indole-3-carbinol, which are said to help ward off cancer. Broccoli is a well-known cancer busting vegetable as its glucoraphanin enzyme protects the body from rectum and colon cancer.

3. Tomato
Containing a rich source of antioxidant lycopene, they protect the body from various cancer cells, plus it's also packed with vitamin C, which helps strengthen the body's immune system.

4. Garlic
Garlic isn't just a great way to flavor our food, but it's a clever way of incorporating a cancer-busting food into our diet. Garlic is proven to boost immunity, which helps our body fight against nasty cancerous cells. Chives, leeks and onions are also part of the allium vegetable group, which help reduce the risks of stomach, colon and prostate cancer.

5. Flax Seeds
Flax seeds contain a strong antioxidants called ligans which help keep cells healthy and safe from cancerous cells. They also contain Omega-3, which are believed to prevent colon cancer.

6. Blueberries
Rated as one fo the highest antioxidant foods, blueberries keep the body's cells healthy and full of oxygen, warding off cancerous cells attacking.




(Source:  www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012...)

Quick refreshing wake-up exercise

Dear readers,

today was one of these days....went to bed last night with workout on my mind, got up this morning with workout on my mind, had my first cup of green tea with workout on my mind...and then things started adding up and between emails and rushing to get ready the workout, hum, kind of disappeared. After having felt guilty all day long I started thinking what exercises could you do just quickly in the morning, before emails, during tea, before shower?!? 

I experimented, jumped around, thought about the important parts we have to train and then I started looking on the internet - and found this sequence, which more or less captures what I want to suggest. 

These exercises - which will maybe take 10 minutes of your precious time (or 15 if you want to catch your breath in-between the various exercises) - will wake you up, will get your heart racing, will work a sweat and will definitely send you into the day fully motivated! 

Just some quick explanations:

Jumping Jacks:
I think, everyone knows, how to do them! Important: keep your knees soft and your tummy and lower back firm! 

Plie Squats:
Keep stomach firm and tight, then go down into a squat. When you come up, really squeeze your buttocks...and go back down.

Burpees:
If you find them too hard (which would be very understandable!), modify the exercise into a mountain-climber. This means, don't do the jump with both legs at the same time, but alternate. Please keep your stomach and back firm. 

Push-ups:
Start with your knees on the floor if this version is too hard.

Bicycle crunches:
There is no easy version! You gotta get through this! If you still don't have enough, do some normal crunches as well.


And then...go & start your day - you have done something at least!     

      

Just a quick one - prevent colds

 

Hi to all of you out there!

While I am sitting in front of my computer wrecking my brains about new recipes and detox juices messages are coming in from friends all over the world. First one has a sore throat and an "enlarged" head (O-tone), next one is sneezing her brains out, third one has a head redder than my one when I turned back from sunbathing this morning. 

So, this is an easy one! How can I prevent colds, which do not just catch you guys over there in Europe, but just as well people in the UAE or even here in Asia?!

What we do here is that we increase our internal fire with spices. 

 A daily infusion with fresh Ginger (cut into slices and topped with hot water - if you like, add one sprig of fresh thyme for additional benefit) is a fantastic way to prevent those nasty viruses to from getting too close to you. 



Another, more spicy, recipe goes like this: 


Rasam (serves 4)

This spicy broth originates in India. You can serve it as a soup in the evening or you have it as a wonderful, warming drink. As it takes a little while to prepare the Rasam cook more of it at once and keep the balance in the fridge and you're good for a week.




Ingredients:
1 lemon-sized ball of tamarind (you should be able to get tamarind pulp ready for use)
3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled and slightly crushed
1 generous pinch of asfoetida
2-4 dry red chillies 
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
2 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp black pepper 
1/2 tbsp cumin powder
A few curry leaves
1/4 tsp mustard seeds  
1 tomato, chopped
Salt to taste

2 tsp of ghee or extra virgin olive oil

Soak the tamarind in a cup of warm water, extract juice and discard pulp.
Place the tamarind extract in a pan and add the peeled garlic, asfoetida, turmeric, chopped tomato, and some salt. Bring to a boil.
 
After boiling for about 3 minutes, add the spice powder. You can add half of it to begin with and taste as you go for spice and flavour. The quantity depends on your likings.

Boil this mixture for about 20 mins until the raw smell leaves the tamarind mixture. Add curry leaves. Remove from stove and heat the ghee in a small pan. If you use Olive Oil add it raw. Add mustard seeds to the ghee - or in case of the olive oil fry them quickly in a small pan - and when they splutter, add everything to the Rasam. Season with a little bit of salt.


And then go out and face the cold! 



 
 
 

Healthy juices for detoxification

 

Dear readers,

autumn has arrived and we are all preparing for winter. It's the time of the year, even here in Sri Lanka, where everyone is coming down with flues. There is a lot you can do to prevent this, in particular eating healthy throughout the year will keep you safe from catching each and every virus around you. Always remember to supplement with a high quality multi-vitamin supplement and your fish oil capsule every day. 

At the moment I am shoulders deep into the subject of detoxification as we are implementing a 9-days detox cure in our hotel. I am experimenting on food and juices, a 5-day detox plan will even be available in my 2nd book, which I will hopefully finish coming spring. 

So, this was some self-promotion, where-else would I do that if not on my blog?? 
 
Now, I would like to give you some basic information
about detoxification and at the end of this article
you will find 3 wonderful recipes for detox juices.
This is only the beginning! 


Why is detoxifying good for me?

In our daily life we accumulate an infinity of toxins
in our bodies, more than most of you would even imagine. We often breath toxic air, we get in touch with unhealthy substances, we apply creams with dubious contents to our skin, we don't always drink and eat the healthiest stuff...the negative influence on our bodies (and minds) is enormous. Add-on is the worries we have in our heads, which amazingly also transform into toxins in our bodies. 
And there we have our poor body, in particular our liver, trying to fight all that! 
Don't you agree that it deserves a little wellness treatment off and on? 

There are fantastic, thought-through detox treatments, you have to buy a special package of powders and tablets and follow a particular diet. That is the profound detoxification, which is definitely fantastic and recommendable. 

What can I do in my everyday life to protect my body?

At the moment you do might not have the time or nerves to follow a strict regime for some days, but you still would like to do something useful to help your body to get rid of toxins?
Try to get your organic fruits and vegetables and try some of these juices in the morning before your breakfast. Another very healthy thing to do in the morning - and this is derived from Ayurveda - have a glas of lukewarm water first thing in the morning (yes, even before that horrible looking juice!). The warm water works like a flush for your body. It makes your metabolism notice that it is time to digest and really gets it going. 

So, as for the juices: the following recipes are really easy to prepare (so no excuses!), all you need is a blender, and they are packed with nutrients. In some of the recipes you will for example find Coriander, which is well-known for its detoxifying abilities. As is avocado, as are apples (organic ones!) and King Coconut water. If you live in a country where the latter is not available, substitute it by rice milk, soy milk, almond milk etc. Almond milk is extremely helpful as almonds are the only alcaline nuts there are and as such bind and eliminate acids in your body!

Now I stop talking, let's juice!! 
 
 

Cashew Cream Smoothie

Tastes amazing, but be aware that this is a complete meal in itself!

 

Ingredients:

1 handful cashews

1 cup coconut water OR nut/rice/hemp seed milk of your choice

2 handfuls mixed berries (fresh or frozen: blackberries, blueberries, raspberries)

1 tablespoon flax meal

1 ripe mango, pitted and diced

Directions:

Blend all ingredients together until creamy with a pinch of sea salt and enjoy!

 Avocado Lime and Ginger Smoothie

Creamy, nutrient packed, satiating and delicious!

Ingredients:

1 avocado, pitted and diced

1 large apple (any variety), cored and quartered

Juice of 1 lime

1 inch cube of ginger, peeled and minced OR 1 teaspoon ginger powder

1 cup coconut water OR nut/rice/hemp seed milk of your choice

I personally always add 2 tbsp of flaxmeal or wheatgerm as you should have it everyday and it completes the juice and really makes it a meal. Obviously I skip any other things for breakfast in that case and rather have a wholesome snack around 3 hours later. 

Directions:

Blend all ingredients until smooth.

 

Crazy Sexy Cilantro Shake

First time I held this one in my hand I thought "ush, this doesn't really look appealing!" - but the taste and the effect make you forget the looks :)!

Ingredients:

1 cup rice/nut/seed milk

1 cup coconut water

1 cup papaya (fresh), peeled and diced

1 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1/2 cup fresh or frozen mango or peaches

3 dates OR stevia or coconut nectar to taste

Directions:

Blend all ingredients together until smooth. It’s been shown that cilantro is incredibly detoxifying and can help pull metals from the body, so drink up, especially if you live in a city, have mercury fillings, or drink tap water

 
 

That's it for today, more information and recipes that will be a daily help for you to eliminate toxins coming up shortly (stole this from TV - yes!!)