The Pain of Wisdom

Exams are looming.. my first exam is in less than 1 week!! I’m excited… for the holidays haha so sick of studying!! But to be honest, I don’t what I’ll do with all of my spare time – probably research nutrition, supplements and exercises!! 😛

I’ve had some crappy luck… I got a terrible toothache last week and my mum INSISTED I go to a dentist to get it checked (I thought it was just pain from my wisdom teeth coming through) but turns out I had a whopping big abscess full of pus around my wisdom tooth (aka periodontitis). The dentist was wonderful; drained a heap of pus out of it, took a mini x-ray, gave me antibiotics, and then gave me the consultation free of charge :). Unfortunately it means that I’ve been trying to struggle with a whoozy head and dizzines from the pain meds and antibiotics.. not exactly what I need right now. Ah well, soldier on. I’ll have to get that tooth yanked out soon, but according to the x-ray it looks like it’ll at least be quite a simple procedure (very left tooth in the image).

 

Motivation: Anna Virmajoki

 

Here’s a couple of yummy recipes 🙂

Choc Berry Slice from Australian Ashy Bines Bikini Body Challenge Facebook page – these are really yum!! I was worried they’d be too dry/rubbery because there are no ‘softening’ products to counteract the whey protein powder (i.e. greek yoghurt, apple sauce etc) but they’re great. The berries are awesome in them 🙂

Serves 12

1 cup ground oats

3 tbsp raw cocoa

2 scoops chocolate protein powder

12 serves of Stevia (or to taste)

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup shredded coconut

4 egg whites

1 cup frozen berries (I used raspberries)

1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Mix all of the ingredients together (except berries)

Gently fold berries in

Bake in a brownie tray for 20-25 mins

Nutritional info: per 1/12 serves

Calories: 92.8

Total fat: 3.6g

Total carbs: 6.3g

Sugar: 1g

Protein: 7.3g

 

Lime and Blueberry Creamy Icy-poles – yumm these are so perfect for the hot weather that we’re having at the moment!

Serves 6

500g Chobani no fat Greek yoghurt (I can’t believe I’ve waited this long to try Chobani!! So so creamy…)

1 tbsp lime juice

12 serves Stevia

1 cup blueberries (I used frozen)

Blend yoghurt, Stevia and lime juice

Fold in blueberries

Pour into icy-pole moulds

Leave to set for 6-8 hours

Nutritional info: per 1/6 icy-poles

Calories: 58.2

Total fat: 0.1g

Total carbs: 6.1g

Sugar: 4.2g

Protein: 7.9g

 

One Pot Chinese Chicken, based on the recipe from moneysavingmeals.com.au. This is actually really nice!!

Serves 8

1kg chicken breast

1 tbsp Bragg’s liquid aminos (or reduced salt soy sauce)

1 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder

 

1 cup reduced salt chicken stock

1 onion – chopped

2 cloves garlic – crushed

1 tbsp finely grated ginger

1 carrot – cut into matchsticks

1 tsp cornflour

3 baby bok choy – sliced (keep stems and leaves separate)

120g snow peas – top and tailed, then cut into 3

Marinate the chicken in 1 tbsp bragg’s aminos and chinese spices for overnight (I only allowed about 30 mins)

Brown chicken in a frying pan 1 minute each side, then put aside

Cook onion until soft, then add garlic, ginger and carrots

Return chicken to the pan, add chicken stock, bring to the boil, then lower heat

Cover and simmer for 15 minutes

Mix the cornflour with 1 tbsp of water then add to the pot and boil

Reduce heat and simmer for 1 minute

Add bok choy stems and snow peas, cover and cook for a further minute

Add bok choy leaves and stir until leaves are wiltered

Serve!! You can have it with noodles/rice/plain!

Nutritional info: per 1/8 serves (without noodles/rice)

Calories: 162.7

Total fat: 1.7g

Total carbs: 5.4g

Sugar: 2.7g

Protein: 30.2g

 

I decided that I could treat myself to purchasing some protein bars so I didn’t have to cook so much this week and these two are my favourite of all those that I’ve tried ever: Oh Yeah (Choc/Caramel), and Recover (Choc/Coconut)

I don’t like to have purchased protein bars too often because a) they’re very processed and tend to contain ‘bad’ sweeteners b) they’re expensive

 

Face challenges head on… I’m a big believer in facing your fears. People constantly underestimate themselves and can be surprised by how much they are capable of 🙂 x

When The Alternator Fails…

I had a shocking start to this week.. on my way driving back to my uni accommodation from my boyfriends house my car broke down. Twice. I got towed – twice – and ended up having to leave my car at an auto electrician an hour away from anywhere convenient for me. It took me an extra 5 hours to get home and I wasted my entire day. Eugh, not happy. No gym, no car, and a big hole in the wallet. Times like this I get very down in the dumps, but I managed to (only just!) keep my head up, and by Wednesday arvo I had my car back again. Turns out the alternator – which normally charges the car battery whilst driving – had stopped working, subsequently causing my battery to run flat. I have such a love/hate relationship with my car hah.

I had an assessment due on Friday, and lets just say that I’m sooo glad it’s the weekend!!

Motivation: Margret Gnarr

 

This weeks food plan:

 

Meal 1/Breakfast:

I tried a DIFFERENT PANCAKE RECIPE!! And it was really yummy!! 🙂 I modified the recipe a bit from this one: dashingdish.com/recipe/strawberry-protein-pancake-roll-ups-w-yogurt-filling/

Vanilla Protein Pancakes

Serves 1

1/4 cup no fat Greek yoghurt

1.4 cup vanilla protein powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 egg whites

1/2 cup ground oats

1/8 cup water

3-5 serves of Stevia

Blend all of the ingredients, then cook in frying pan – 1/3 scoop of mixture per pancakes makes 4 small pancakes

I really enjoyed these with a squeeze of lemon juice on them

Nutritional info: 

Calories: 369

Total fat: 5.3g

Total carbs:35.6g

Sugar: 7.0g

Protein: 42g

 

Meal 2:

These cookies are awesome!! Brazil Choc Cookies from www.tasty-health.se (beware, her page is in swedish)

Serves 8

1&1/2 cups ground oats

1 tbsp vanilla whey powder

1 pinch salt

1 pinch baking soda

1 tbsp coconut butter

4 serves of Stevia

2&1/2 tbsp almond milk (or any milk)

20g brazil nuts – chopped

20g unsweetened chocolate – chopped

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Mix all of the dry ingredients first, then add the wet ingredients (may want to use your  hands to mix it)

Bring the mixture together into one big piece of dough (I needed a splash more of water to get it to all come together)

Roll into 8 separate cookie balls, and put on a baking tray lined with baking paper

Bake for 8-10 minutes – allow them to cool completely (they will become more solid as they cool)

Nutritional info: per 1/8 cookies

Calories: 122

Total fat: 6.3g

Total carbs: 10.6g

Sugar: 0.9g

Protein: 4.8g

 

Meal 3/Lunch:

Madras Kangaroo Curry, from www.macromeats.com

Serves 6

1kg kangaroo mince

1/3 jar Madras curry paste (in Woolworths it was labelled as Tikka paste)

1 large onion – diced

1&1/2 cup reduced salt chicken/beef stock

400g canned tomatoes (optional but I added)

2 cups frozen peas

Fresh red chilies – finely chopped – or chilli flakes

Fry onion in a little bit of oil until translucent.

Add curry paste and cook until aromatic

Add kangaroo mince, mix well and cook until browned (stir to break any lumps)

Add stock and tomatoes, and stir well (may also add chilies)

Bring to the boil whilst stirring, then reduce the heat to simmer

When liquid is reduced by half, stir in frozen peas and continue to simmer until desired consistency is achieved

Nutritional info: per 1/6 serves

Calories: 253

Total fat: 4.5g

Total carbs: 14.9g

Sugar: 3.9g

Protein: 38.5g

 

Meal 4:

Crustless Berry Mini Cheesecakes from www.proteinpow.com/

Serves 10

170g no fat Greek yoghurt

2 tbsp cottage cheese

1 tbsp coconut flour

1/4 cup dried berries (I used goji berries – superfood!!)

2 fresh organic eggs (I subbed in 1/3 cup egg whites)

1/4 cup vanilla whey powder

Stevia, to taste

1 cup berries (I used frozen blueberries)

Preheat oven to 170 degrees

Blend all ingredients except fresh/frozen berries

Add fresh/frozen berries – try not to squish them!

Pour into muffin tray and bake for about 20 minutes

Nutritional info: per 1/10 mini cheesecakes

Calories: 42 (!!)

Total fat: 0.4g

Total carbs: 4.0g

Sugar: 2.3g

Protein: 5.5g

 

Meal 5:

Can’t wait to eat this… I modified the Free Range Chicken Laksa from www.masterchef.com.au

Serves 4

600g chicken breast – thinly sliced

230g jar laksa paste

3 cups reduced salt chicken stock

400mL can lite coconut milk

1 bunch choy sum – stalks trimmed off and cut into 5cm lengths

1/2 cup each of fresh coriander, mint, and Thai basil leaves

125g fresh bean sprouts (to serve)

1 small red chili – seeded and thinly sliced (to serve)

2 tbsp chopped unsalted peanuts (I left these out)

Lime wedges (to serve)

SlimPasta Angel Hair noodles (no carb noodles)

Heat a wok over medium-high heat and spray with oil

Add chicken and stir fry until cooked

Add laksa paste and stir fry for 30s or until fragrant

Stir in stock, bring to the boil, then add coconut milk and choy sum

Simmer for 2 minutes

Stir in fresh herbs

When serving, put noodles and bean sprouts in the bottom of the bowl, then pour the laksa soup over.

Top with chilli, extra fresh herbs and peanuts. Serve with lime wedges

Nutritional info: per 1/4 serves

Calories: 272

Total fat: 6.9g

Total carbs: 21.2g

Sugar: 10.1g (usually I wouldn’t go above 5g of sugar per meal)

Protein: 36.8g

 

Meal 6:

WW chocolate mousse

 

Also, I though I’d share this easy salad that I absolutely love – Chicken and Avocado Salad

Serves 1

100g of chicken breast from a roast chicken (I just buy the pre-roasted chicken from Woolies) – shredded

5 walnuts – chopped

1/4 avocado – diced

Dash of flaxseed oil

As many mesclun leaves as you want

Mix it all together (but try not to smoosh the avocado too much)

Nutritional info:

Calories: 414

Total fat: 30.8g (but only 2.7g is saturated! This salad contains all really good fats; they trigger your brain to make you feel full)

Total carbs: 4.8g

Sugar: 0.8g

Protein: 28.2g

 

Stop waiting, start now 🙂 only you can change yourself!! xx

Happy Fat and Sweet Treats

I’m so excited.. I got my body fat calculated the other day and I’m absolutely stoked with the results!!! Here’s what the machine spat out:

11.5% bf!!! WOOO!! I’ve gained a little weight, but this is a good thing because I’ve been slightly underweight anyway. AND it was muscle gain 🙂 exactly what I wanted!!

I hope everyone else is seeing results – I find it is so much more rewarding to keep away from the scale and keep track of progress via body diameter measurements and body fat percentages. A few years ago I went through a stage where I hardly ate anything (to be honest, I couldn’t afford food and saw this as a good thing because I was living at the beach on the gold coast… starving = hot bikini body, right??) and I was down to 45 kg BUT I didn’t look anywhere near as good as how I look now!! I was a ‘skinny fat kid’… and was treating my body very badly. The lifestyle I’m living now is definitely one that I want to, and will be able to, stick with.

Another exciting thing happened this week – my HR monitor arrived in the mail!! So far I love it, though I’m pretty sure I haven’t figured out all the things that it can do haha.

The past week I’ve spent in anaesthetics and I really enjoyed it! The consultants were really cool and willing to chat to me, and it all just seems to make sense to me. I’m definitely contemplating becoming an anaesthetist in the future.

 

Motivation for this week: to be honest I’m not sure who this is, but her body is great!!

This week’s food plan:

 

Meal 1/Breakfast:

Protein pancakes!!

They don’t look beautiful, but they sure taste amazing!! My boyfriend and I bought flax seed oil yesterday as well, and I tried it on my pancakes this morning (added omega 3) and it tastes pretty nice!! Also good with a dollop of almond butter or sugar free maple syrup… YUM!!

 

Meal 2:

High Protein Brownies from http://healthifulbalance.blogspot.com.au. These brownies were really yummy and soft, but a little bitter for my sweet tooth, so next time I think I’ll add some more sweetener.

Serves 12 (I decided to slice mine into only 8)

3 tbsp coconut flour

2&1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

5 egg whites

75mL water

1&1/2 tsp baking powder

7 packets of Stevia (but next time will possibly double this :P)

(I also added a tsp of hulled hemp seeds and a tsp of chia seeds, for added goodness. Walnuts would also be delicious!!)

Preheat oven to 170 degrees.

Put all dry ingredients in a bowl and mix. When combined, then add wet ingredients and mix well.

Cover a small baking tin with baking paper and put the mixture in (evenly spread out with a spatula).

Bake for 15 minutes. Let it cool a bit before cutting.

Nutritional info: per 1/8 slices

Calories: 74

Total fat: 4.1g

Total carbs: 5.3g

Sugar: 0.6g

Protein: 5.0g

 

Meal 3/Lunch:

Leftovers from last week 😀

 

Meal 4:

I have been on the hunt for amazing protein cookies for a while now, and so far these have excelled far beyond all of my other attempts!!! I got the recipe from http://dashingdish.com – Protein Packed Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. DELICIOUS!!! I swapped a few ingredients, and next time I think I will try subbing in some apple sauce instead of so much butter, but apart from that they’re pretty darn perfect!! 🙂 I’m calling my version Macadamia Protein Cookies… must give these a try:

Serves 20 (mine made 14 and I wouldn’t want them smaller than that…)

2 cups oats (1 cup blended into oat flour, the other cup left whole – can blend if prefer smoother batter but they tasted awesome half and half)

1/4 cup protein powder (I use Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey Vanilla Icecream)

1 tsp baking powder

6 tbsp butter, softened (I used coconut oil – yumm)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 cup sugar substitute, or 12-15 packets of Stevia

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I decided to stay away from chocolate, as it’s my weakness, and instead I put macadamia nuts in, and they’re really good!)

Preheat oven to 170 degrees and line a cooking tray (or 3) with baking paper.

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients.

Combine both wet and dry ingredients and mix well.

Roll the mixture into balls (be prepared to make a mess!) and place on the trays (these don’t spread much so they can be placed quite close together. Also, you might want to press on them a bit to flatten them slightly – as you can see mine turned out to be delicious little balls haha)

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until they are set and firm, and only lightly coloured. Try not to eat these all at once!! They feel beautifully naughty 😉

Nutritional info: per 1/14 cookies

Calories: 133

Total fat: 9.2g

Total carbs: 7.7g

Sugar: 0.6g

Protein: 4.0g

 

Meal 5/Dinner:

I cooked another lot of the Clean Crockpot Thai Chicken 😀 I cannot emphasise enough how delicious and easy this is!! Yummmm…

 

Last Friday I was feeling lazy but wanted a ‘fresh’ meal (i.e. not freshly unfrozen…) so ducked down to the supermarket and grabbed some veggies and a roast chicken – quick and healthy (and delicious) dinner :). I just lightly steamed the veggies and topped them with a splash of Bragg’s amino acids.

Meal 6:

Protein Chocolate Mousse 🙂

 

When I’m a doctor, this is what I’ll be saying to my patients when they say they don’t have time to exercise (especially if they are overweight with cardiovascular disease)… maybe not in these words, but there is so much truth behind this!!

You should always strive to fit some sort of exercise into your life – make it part of routine! Schedule it and make it a habit because it will benefit you in so many ways (not just physically but also mentally, emotionally, and – depending on the type of exercise – even socially). Instead of catching up with a friend over a coffee, go for a walk around the park together. And always remember to try to choose the healthy option with foods – your body will thank you for it :).

Have a great week everyone!! x

Winter Holidays

Sorry I haven’t posted for a while – I’ve been relaxing with as little brain work as possible and I really needed it! I think I was really run down and it’s only been the past couple of days that I’ve been bouncing out of bed and feeling more like my usual self 🙂 I start back at uni next week (boo…) so study is happening again, but I’ve been treating myself to some lovely healthy treats and trying a few different recipes that I couldn’t usually try whilst at uni (due to lack of utensils/time etc).

My current home page for my iphone is this:

Make it yours! I hate when I have ‘blah’ days (which I’ve had a lot of recently) and by the end of the day I feel like I’ve totally wasted it. Just the smallest action or interaction can make any day amazing 🙂

Current motivation: Dianna Dahlgren

Ok so I’ve been very slack with my training and healthy eating over the past few weeks. I haven’t been feeling very well – extremely run down, easily hurting my muscles, just lacking motivation – so I took some time off. I don’t know if it’s just a mental thing, but I feel like I don’t look anywhere near as good and so I’m finally feeling well enough and I’m pumped up to start knuckling down again!! Sometimes a break is so needed, but it always feels great to get back into the swing of things. Not only physically rewarding, but also mentally.

I’ve taken some ‘before’ pictures and done some measurements, so now I’m going to get back in the mindset of pushing the weights and eating as clean as I can. I’m striving for a goal, and it feels great to be doing so!! Summer is just around the corner, so the thought of strutting around in a bikini is what is going to keep me going :).

 

I haven’t been bulk cooking because I’m back at home on the farm with my family over the holidays and it’s nice to eat fresh meals when I have the time. My mum also likes me to eat whatever she cooks, so she’s making an effort to cook low carb, clean meals (she’s usually pretty good anyway), which is lovely of her! However, here is a rough meal plan of what I’ve been eating – however my dinner has been different every night (thanks to Mum!).

 

Meal 1/Breakfast:

Blueberry pancakes!! 🙂 However, the other day I was at my boyfriend’s house and decided to cook an omelette and I threw in some leftover roast lamb, sweet potato, mushrooms, and low fat cheddar with my egg whites – YUM!

We’ve also grown some delicious grapefruit at home, and I’ve read that it’s great to eat half a grapefruit for breakfast, so I’ve been having that every couple of mornings as well. Grapefruit is extremely high in Vitamin C, which is especially important in the colder months when more people are prone to developing the common cold.

 

 

Meal 2:

Ok so I have a few recipes to throw at you here.

Salada with cottage cheese, avocado and tomato (and cracked pepper) is surprisingly nice.

Nutritional info: per 1 topped salada

Calories: 92

Total fat: 2.9g

Total carbs: 8.8g

Sugar: 1.9g

Protein: 7.6g

 

Blueberry protein muffins (from http://www.littlebshealthyhabits.com – I’ve done these before but it was my 2nd post so decided to rewrite it – they’re quite yummy!)

Serves 12

1&1/2 cups oat flour

3 scoops protein powder (I use Optimum Nutrition 100% Gold Standard Vanilla Icecream)

1 tsp baking soda

12 serves Stevia

2 egg whites

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup no fat Greek yoghurt

1/2 cup blueberries

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients. Add in the wet ingredients (except the blueberries) and mix well. Lastly, fold in the blueberries. Spray a muffin pan with oil, and fill each 3/4 full with the batter. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until just firm on top and a toothpick comes out clean. Careful not to over-bake!

To make them taste fresh out of the oven again, microwave each muffin for 15-20 seconds.

 

Vanilla and Cinnamon Protein Cake (from http://www.proteinpow.com). This was really tasty, but it didn’t quite cook right :S the top when extremely crispy, but the middle was a bit uncooked… I had to preheat my oven to 180 degrees (due to the settings on the microwave oven) so maybe that’s why? Not sure. The flavour and texture (of the properly cooked parts) is awesome though!

Serves 6 (I sliced it into 8 though)

1 cup oat flour

2 egg whites

2/3 cup oat milk (I subbed almond milk)

2&1/2 cups vanilla whey protein

1 tbsp ground almond

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp chiaseeds (this can be omitted)

2 tbsp Stevia

1/2 tbsp cinnamon

Mix all ingredients in a bowl – the batter is very wet (add a little more milk if still too thick).

Pour the batter into an oven-safe dish (or a muffin tin) and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake for 20-25 minutes in an oven at 175 degrees (less time for muffins).

 

Meal 3/Lunch: 

I’ve been cooking grilled chicken/salmon with salad for lunch, because I absolutely love it! My favourite salad to have is made up of:

Mixed lettuce leaves

Cherry tomatoes

Cucumber

Carrot

Avocado

Low fat fetta cheese

Toasted pine nuts

Lemon juice (as dressing)

 

Meal 4:

I just made these today and they are so yummy! From http://www.proteinpow.com/ again – A Dark Chocolate, Oat, and Almond Protein Bar.

Serves 6

1 cup ground oats

1/2 cup whey (again I used my vanilla whey protein, but I would have preferred to use my chocolate protein if I’d had it with me)

2 tbsp almond butter (NEW OBSESSION! So so yummy!)

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup hulled hemp seeds

1 tbsp 100% cocoa

1/2 tbsp pea protein or coconut flour – I didn’t have either of these and instead rolled the mixture in dessicated coconut in an attempt to dry the mixture up a bit

Mix everything and shape into 6 rectangular bars.

Melt 60g of dark chocolate (the darkest I could find was 85%) in a bain marie and coat the bars in the melted chocolate. Mine were too sloppy to ‘dunk’ them in the chocolate, so I had to settle with coating only one side of the bars.

Once coated, freeze the bars for an hour or so, until the chocolate has hardened.

 

Meal 5/Dinner:

As I mentioned before, dinner has been different every night as I’m eating with my family, but has varied from chow mien, to cauliflower soup (sounds gross, but is really YUM! I’m probably going to make some to take back for uni) to spaghetti bolognese (minus the spaghetti).

 

Meal 6:

I tried something a bit different – a low carb pancake. Essentially the same as my blueberry pancakes but I subbed ground almonds for the ground oats, and left out the blueberries. It’s pretty nice!

1/2 cup egg whites

1/3 cup ground almond

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

Mix, cook, eat! I squeezed some lemon juice over them to add a bit extra and it was nice 🙂

I took a trip to the health food store (and supermarket) this morning and came back with some goodies –

Unfortunately the stores around here are no longer supplying unsweetened applesauce (go figure…) so my Mum suggested that I buy tinned apples and just mash them! I don’t have time to prepare applesauce from scratch but this process turned out pretty well! A bit chunkier but I prefer it to the sweetened applesauce. Also, I’m super excited to try out this brownie mixture – just add low fat ricotta cheese, lite sour cream, egg whites and vanilla extract!! I’ve never tried carob or hulled hemp seeds either, so I’m looking forward to experimenting with them a bit :).

Try not to let the comfort foods of winter put you off target – but at the same time, don’t be afraid to accept that your body needs a break; a week (or 2!) off gym is not going to lose you any of that hard-earned muscle.

Lift heavy, eat clean, and smile 🙂 xx