YOGA

This morning my whole body screamed NOOO when the alarm rang. And I noticed I was so tired. Not just sleepy tired, but drained physically and mentally. Something I have learnt over the years is to TRY to listen to my body. Yes, I try to push it as hard as I can, the same I do with those I train, but this morning my body said no. So I only went for a 30 min run and then I tried some yoga. Yes. Me. Doing yoga. And it was only 20-something minutes but it was actually a good session. I wasn't feeling as restless as I usually do when I do yoga.

Have no idea how I got the video on my computer, but from the looks of the clothes, I think it must be about 20 years old. Hahaha! Oh well, maybe it's much better than all the new, trendy yoga videos. I liked it anyway! :)

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

This woman got me to where I'm at today. OK, ok, she didn't personally get me there because after all I did all the work, but she inspired me, educated me and kept motivating me when times were tough. I have a lot to thank Jillian Michaels for and I'm proud to say it. Now I just want to get ripped. According to my standards that is. Let's see if I can do it.

Someday I know I will reach my goal, but as a previous fat girl I am struggling each and every day. Today I had such a craving for sugar that I almost guzzled some pure, concentrated blackcurrant juice. But I didn't. And that's what makes me stronger. When the alarm rings at 5am and I don't want to get out of bed to go train and go for a run, but I still do it. The feeling of accomplishment is amazing afterward! Or when everyone at work at chomping on cakes and sweets, and I'm chomping on my 10 almonds instead. Bazanga wouldn't I want to throw myself over that cookie jar and just have one. Maybe two. Heck why not five. Nope! Not today, coz today I want to take several steps forward toward my goal instead of backwards. And that makes me stronger.

I am proud of my accomplishments! And I acknowledge it.
Only about 3 years ago I was still obese and struggling with my weight loss. I've come such a long way. Puts a smile on my face. And it's easy to forget sometimes.

So when you're struggling those hard days of cravings and tiredness, remember it is so worth it in the end.

BLOGLOVIN'

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CARROT CAKE PROTEIN BARS

Hey guys! Here's the carrot cake protein bars recipe. It tastes more like cake than protein bars and it's yum. I already have a few ideas on how to make this recipe more accustomed to my taste buds, but it's always nice to try making it close to the original recipe the first time around.

If you have any questions on how to find the ingredients in Sweden, or how to substitute, let me know.

Find the recipe on bodybuilding.com and made by Jamie Eason.

MORNING GLORY

This is what I look forward to every morning, my porridge with almond butter and coffee with vanilla and milk. Yum! Beforehand I have a protein shake/smoothie made with water, berries, all natural whey protein, ground ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, cacao and pure lemon juice. Need I say most of my breakfast ingredients are organic?! ;) Delish!

YOU EARN YOUR BODY

As all the contestants of Luciapokalen count down their days to when they'll stand on that stage in BodyFitness or Bodybuilding, I made the decision a few weeks back that I would try to get tighter as well. Hasn't really gone as planned due to a new job and traveling, etc. But the saying goes "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail" which is very true in my case.

I have now regained my motivation and not only booked tickets for the Saturday 3 December 2011 Luciapokalen competitions but also started my diet again. The food scale is out once again, mackerel, chicken, eggs, protein powder and veg stocked again and motivation is on top. Back to feeling the best but I will try not to go too hard at the gym so I don't pull anything. Difficult for me not to go hard as my motto is "Go hard or go home!". I can't help it, but I get so irritated when I see people at the gym going there and not making the most out of it, i.e. strolling around, not putting all their energy into their workout or in my classes. Makes me furious! But on the other hand it's not my life. When I choose to go to the gym, I rip it out. My weak point is my diet. Since I have done a long journey of weight loss, I am SICK of counting calories. I know roughly how much I eat and I know my choices are sometimes worse than others, but I just want to enjoy life AND have a tight body. In my case it doesn't work that way. I have to make sacrifices in order to be tight and toned. So, I'm back on my calorie counting, scale weighing, food diary keeping diet again until X-mas. And for motivation, in order to keep on track, I will first of all write down my WHY's of wanting to be more toned and ripped, but also think of all those fab, motivated, hardcore ladies out there competing in BodyFitness in 6 weeks time. That will shut my mind up when I'm contemplating a greasy cheeseburger and a beer. Defo my vices!!

So, I'm now sitting down and planning my week of food and workouts and I'm really looking forward to it. Nothing like being organised and having control over it. And what's my reward at the end of this? Many! But most importantly, a healthier and stronger body. Who can say no to that?!! After all, you do earn your body.

Wanna join me?! :)

FINDUS RED SNAPPER

Have become a test pilot for Smartson as well as Buzzador and the other day I got home a voucher for Findus' fish fillets. So I got them and cooked a delish dinner of the fish, some haricourt verts and made cauliflower mash. Loved it! It was really nice cooked in the oven. Would recommend it although fish is always a little pricier. But so much healthier as well. :)
Enjoy!

DERAIL

Did so well last week, but my body feels so tired. And I did a complete derail this weekend with my food and drink, which stressed my body out even more. And I got proof if it when I woke up this morning with a big, fat cold sore. AGAIN! 2nd one in a month. Thankfully I've got some Aciclovir tablets and cream to treat it with, but still no fun. Especially not since today, I've got my 3rd interview at one of the companies I'm really interested in working with and on top of it a BodyPump release later on tonight. Anxiety!

FAT LOSS TOOLS

Woke up this morning still feeling super motivated. It's like a switch has been turned on and that fire in my belly is revved up again. Dug out my Moleskine notebook and started on a fresh new page. Got weighed in this morning, both in kg and lbs as I wanted to use it to calculate my calorie expenditure and other formulas. Got my pictures taken and body fat measured on the scale. All recorded now.

Experience from a long time of dieting and ultimately losing all that weight during my journey, I have a really hard time letting go of the diet mentality. I always secretly count calories in my mind and try not to eat too many calories, however I am aware of that I am most of the time way below my calorie allowance when I am in this focused zone to lose a few pounds again, which I need to change. Coz like I wrote last night, this is a lifestyle for me and I want to be able to eat and train like this for the rest of my life. But we have to have goals in order to give ourselves a bit of a push, so my short term goal is the Fitness Festival in December, which gives me a little over 11 weeks to complete my goal of losing 10 pounds and get down to 21% body fat. So achievable!

Have calculated now that my BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is 1421 kcal according to the Katch-McArdle formula, which means if I would be in a coma this is the total amount of kcals it would take for my body to keep repairing itself, my hairs to grow, bowel movements to work, tissues to keep reproducing, etc, so it's kind of scary that when I'm on a diet I eat about 1000-1200 kcal per day. Way too little if I want to make sure my body is not using muscle instead of fat, which in return slows my metabolism down anyway. So, on the days I'm pretty sedentary I should eat 1637 kcal and on the days I workout I should eat 2114 kcal. Now, that last number scares me, but I'm gonna trust the process this time and try a different route and maybe I can save my muscles this time when trying to lose body fat.

If you want to calculate your own BMR or goal weight calorie expenditure, go to Fat2Fit Radio Tools page.

I WANT TO LOOK LIKE THAT GUY

Just finished watching the documentary "I Want To Look Like That Guy" made by Stuart Macdonald about his own journey to compete in a bodybuilding competition, which overweight and only 6 months away from the date, almost seems impossible. He seeks out Jeff Willet, a Pro IFBB Bodybuilder, who becomes his mentor and trainer. The documentary is obviously for people who are into this kind of training and dieting and for me, who absolutely love and look up to people who have the determination and willpower to complete such as journey, well, it was a rare couch treat for me tonight.

The documentary is well worth watching, especially if you need some motivation to start anew or to start a healthier lifestyle at all. And let me emphasise LIFESTYLE. Unless you're going to compete in fitness or bodybuilding this might not be a training or dieting regime for you, but it's very interesting and very motivating to see Stuart's journey from start to finish, his goal to stand on that stage and be absolutely ripped and shredded. A long way from his 30% body fat he started with 6 months earlier.

I would love to follow somebody's journey from puff to buff. Maybe I will have to make that journey myself someday. Or not. Unless I would decide to compete, it's not a lifestyle for me to lead. I rather live a regular, "normal", healthy lifestyle I can maintain in the longrun without depriving myself of stuff, but that doesn't mean I admire those who choose otherwise. The much, much harder and dedicated way. Kudos to all of yous! :)

Now, go watch the documentary and I'll see you at the gym. ;-))

SUBJECT

Testing new post from mobile. And it worked! Hey tadeloodadey. :))

Sent from my iPhone

WISHFUL THINKING

As I was thinking "Oh, I wish it was easier to blog..." and logging into my blogger, they announced a new, easier interface. Wishful thinking sometimes works! :)) And so I hope the rest of my life right now will as well. A lot of changes lately for me and I'm a tad tired. Want some structure. Want some stability. Want some grounding. Still though... Sick of counting my calories right now. Sick of weighing every single ham or cheese slice. Sick of not feeling motivated. And then it hits me, sometimes even I need those "I've had it up to HERE" days. So I linger in it... for about a couple of hours and then I get bored and want to dash to the gym for a good workout session. Beat my PB in 5K. Take my Kettlebell license. You get my drift.

Got this question at a superb interview: "What stresses you out?" My answer after a short thinking process: "Waiting, that stresses me out. But I'm working on it." ;))

Have a fab day y'all!

PIZZA DOUGH NEW RECIPE

So, I gave it another try to make the pizza dough a little more authentic to a real one. No, it will never be like the REAL one but this one is so much better than my first few tries. I suppose it's all about trial and error.

This is what I did for my new recipe:

I used oat bran this time, 2 dl in a glass bowl then poured in 4 dl lukewarm water, gave it a stir and then added salt, garlic powder and 1 sachet of dry yeast. Stir it up and microwave it for about 6 minutes so it's proper boiling. Then add 1 eggwhite. Stir. Lastly add 1 coffeespoon of psyllium husks. Stir. Oil a pan or aluminium foil so it doesn't stick. Pour the "dough" onto the foil and flatten it out with a spoon. Bake it in 200 degrees for about 20 minutes. Take it out and flatten it a little bit more. Then bake it until it goes a bit darker brown on the edges. Add your toppings and bake until the toppings take colour. YUU-UU-UU-UUM!!! :))

LOW-CARB HEALTHY PIZZA

Is there such a thing you wonder? Well, let me tell you, there is. Now, a healthy, low-carb pizza will never be the doughy, high-fat consistency of a regular pizza, so don't kid yourself, but there are ways to make a pizza that can suffice for a decent low-caloric meal. Load it up with all kinds of veg and if you can find fat-free cheese, go for it! :)

Here's how I made mine:
I mixed 1 sachet of dry yeast with 2dl of wheat bran and some psyllium husks, about 1/2 dl, and a tiny bit of salt with lukewarm water. The consistency should be about half watery, wanting to get doughy. Stick it in the microwave in a glass bowl for about 7 minutes. In the meantime, turn the oven on 200 degrees. Stir it up, and believe me it will look very suspicious. I oiled an oven pan with olive oil and poured the "dough" onto the pan, flattening it out with a spoon. I stuck it in the oven for about 20 minutes. When it looks like it's kind of drying out a bit and getting more crusty than doughy, take it out and stick your toppings on. I prefer some crushed tomatoes I reduced and drained the water from, some low-salt and low-sugar tomato ketchup, loads of oregano, black pepper and garlic powder on both bottom and top, green pepper, onion, halved cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and some low-fat ham. YUMMY! In the oven for an additional 20 minutes. Let it rest for a bit before you tuck in. Now, remember, the dough will be much softer and squishier than the regular piza dough you would be used to, but it's pretty good for not racking up a bunch of calories.

Now, last night, it dawned on me how I can make the dough even better. So I will try that next time! :)
Enjoy!

First batch!

First batch toppings.

First batch done and lamost eaten in the back.

Second batch in the front, dough cooked, ready to go in the oven with toppings.

Second batch finished and tested. Much better than first one! :)

RISE PHOENIX, RISE

So much I would like to write about but it almost seems like there's some sort of block in my head. It won't come out in proper sentences and it all sounds like jibberish in my head. Even this sounds weird to me. What has happened to my beloved words? My love for words?

I must admit I am in a phase now when I feel unmotivated and not really up for much. I have made a huge turnaround in my life. I am looking for a job and it's not going the way I expected it to go. Dear friends keep telling me "have faith", "stop being so hard on yourself", "everything will be fine, it will work itself out". Deep down inside I know that's the truth, but when doubt anchors itself in your soul, it's hard to rip it out again.

I have been listening to encouraging words from speakers and motivators, and yes, I hear them, but it's like my mind is in a daze. I have lost myself. Where is my passion? Where is my strength to bounce back?

Maybe some days we just need to let it be. Need to let the depth of all despair be our nest for a few days, then rise up like Phoenix from the ashes and start anew. Bigger, brighter, bolder with a new fire in our belly.

Yes, that's what I'll do!

LATEST RESEARCH ON STRETCHING

I have been saying for years now that static stretching before exercise isn't as good as we have previously thought. After a hard workout though, I feel there is nothing better than a stretch. Read this interesting article and see how you feel about stretching in general.

Latest research into stretching

There’s increasing evidence that stretching before exercise doesn’t improve performance or reduce injury risk

There’s increasing evidence that stretching before exercise doesn’t improve performance or reduce injury risk. And the most comprehensive review of its kind concluded that flexibility training has no known health benefits(1). Gary O’Donovan presents the evidence to help you decide if stretching is a waste of time.

I recently searched an electronic database for studies about static stretching, ballistic stretching and dynamic stretching (www.pubmed.com). In these studies, torque, 1-repetition maximum (using free weights), maximal voluntary contraction (on a machine), jump height and sprint time were the most common measures of strength and power. Unfortunately, many of the studies included a small number of participants (and had little chance of detecting differences in performance) and some used dodgy statistics(2).


Static stretching

Static stretching involves passive elongation of a muscle or group of muscles(3). I found 61 studies investigating the acute effects of static stretching on strength and power and the conclusions on performance were as follows:

•One study found an improvement in performance(4);

•Thirty-eight studies found reductions in performance(5-42);

•Twenty-two studies found no statistically significant differences in performance between stretching and non-stretching groups(43-64).

Two 15-second stretches or three 30-second stretches were sufficient to reduce performance and more demanding protocols reduced performance for 60-120 minutes following stretching(22,31). Several studies also found that static stretching reduced the elasticity and electrical activity of muscles (see figure 1 and box 1).

It’s unclear if a second warm up can reduce the detrimental effects of static stretching on strength and power(13,65) but what’s undeniable is that the available evidence suggests that static stretching is a waste of time or, worse, is detrimental to performance!


Ballistic stretching


Ballistic stretching involves swinging, bouncing or bobbing movements and the final position is not held (3). I found six studies about the acute effects of ballistic stretching on strength and power: there were no reports of improved performance, one report of decreased performance (62) and five inconclusive reports (10, 38, 40, 56, 63). There were only 14 to 24 participants in each study and elasticity and electrical activity were not assessed. Thus, there is insufficient evidence to recommend ballistic stretching before exercise.



Dynamic stretching

Ballistic stretching and dynamic stretching are given the same definition in the latest American College of Sports Medicine manual(3); however, the prevailing definition of dynamic stretching in the UK is ‘flexibility in action’ and dynamic stretches include ankle flicks, buttock flicks, knee lifts, the ‘Russian walk’, the ‘walking lunge’ and the ‘walking hamstring’(66).

I found 10 studies about the acute effects of dynamic stretching on strength and power: six of these studies found improvements in performance(7,17,54,55,63,64), no studies found decrements in performance and three studies found no statistically significant differences in performance between stretching and non-stretching groups(45,47,49).


One study concluded that dynamic stretching was beneficial, but the authors compared changes in performance in the dynamic stretching and static stretching groups instead of the dynamic stretching and non-stretching groups(25). The available evidence suggests that dynamic stretching is beneficial; however, warming up probably improves performance and it is impossible to distinguish the effects of warming up and stretching in many dynamic stretches.


Stretching and endurance performance


The effects of stretching before exercise and flexibility training on endurance performance are not well documented. Static stretching did not significantly reduce endurance performance in a study of 11 physically active students(67), but it did reduce running economy and endurance performance in a study of 10 trained distance runners(68). US scientists found that a stretching programme did not reduce running economy, but the intervention only lasted 10 weeks(69). Cross-sectional studies can reflect years of exposure to stretching and a study of 34 international-standard distance runners found that the least flexible runners were also the most economical(70).

Stretching after exercise


Although no longer recommended before exercise, static stretching is still recommended during the cool-down(3). The advantages of stretching after exercise might include an increase in range of movement and a decrease in the risk of lower limb injury in those with tight muscles(78,84). The disadvantages of stretching after exercise might include a decrease in running economy(70) and an increase in the risk of lower limb injury in those with loose muscles(78).


Some people say that stretching increases their sense of wellbeing and some also stretch to reduce muscle soreness(82), but there is little evidence that stretching reduces soreness in the days after novel or unusually demanding exercise(85,86). Given limited and conflicting evidence, athletes and coaches should consider if any advantages are likely to be greater than any disadvantages before stretching after exercise.



Summary and conclusions


Large, robust RCTs help ensure that the healthcare budget is spent on interventions that actually work. Anecdotal evidence and testimonials are worthless. The existing evidence suggests that flexibility training has no known health benefits(1); however, ongoing trials may improve our understanding of the effects of stretching and yoga on back pain(87,88). In the meantime, the practical implications box, right, provides some recommendations on stretching for athletes seeking maximum performance.



Article taken from pponline.co.uk. Find full article and references here.

I'M BACK!

I've been away from writing for a while. Have had to concentrate on my life and all the changes its brought on its way. Have missed blogging and looking forward to doing it again. Have missed all of you who used to read my blog as well. Hope to give you some useful and interesting writing again.
Well met again my friends! :)