Sunday 28 June 2015

Refreshing Lime & Mint Popsicles

Hello there,
How are you today?  Here it really feels like summer has arrived, finally! Which is why I had to try to make my own popsicles, and yes of course they are HEALTHY.
I decided to go for the flavours lime & mint because I find those flavours are so refreshing, which is perfect on a hot summer’s day.
So let’s get right into it!

All you will need is:
A Popsicle maker (mine’s from Ikea)
Water
Limes
Fresh mint leaves
Sweetener – I used agave syrup

Process:
Mix it all together. That is it – really simple.
Add the lime juice, fresh mint leaves and sweetener to the water and keep taste testing. I like mine to be quite sour so I added a lot of lime juice, but it is completely up to you.
Then you fill up your popsicle maker and put it in the freezer overnight, or at least a few hours.
TAAADAAA and that’s it.
You could eat the whole batch of these popsicles yourself because they are so delicious & completely healthy & low calorie.

What’s your favourite popsicle/ ice cream flavour for the summer?
Let me know in the comments!
Stay happy & healthy.
Love,

Wednesday 24 June 2015

Five Steps to a Healthier Life

Hello lovelies,
I wanted to share 5 easy steps that will make your day-to-day life healthier! Whether you are just starting your fitness & health journey or have been going for years. I think these 5 steps/rules will keep you on the right track for life.

DRINK WATER
You need to drink water.
Most of your body is made up of water which is why it’s so important to stay hydrated. You should be drinking a minimum of 2 liters a day PLUS more for the time you are working out during the day. I also think exchanging any sweet drinks or any other drinks for water during the day will bring you closer to your fitness & health goals. Try to break the habit of drinking sweet drinks with your meals, they are just extra calories. I always say I would rather eat my calories than drink them.

EAT COMPLEX CARBS
Switch from white to brown carbs will help you on your fitness & health journey. Whether it’s bread, pasta or rice, switching from simple to complex carbs will keep you full for longer and will give your body the necessary fiber for a healthy digestion. Plus it will stop your blood sugar from spiking during the day which means those nasty sweet cravings will become less frequent.

MOVE DAILY
This one is quite simple, Move. Every day. I don’t mean you need to go to the gym every day. Or do a heavy lifting session every day. But just be active. Take a yoga class, go to the gym, walk to the supermarket, or go for a walk with your dog. Just move in one way or another, every day.

THINK POSITIVE THOUGHTS
Your mind is a powerful tool. Remember? (older blog post on this topic is here) I don’t think there is much more to say. If you don’t think positive, positives things will not come your way.
Where there’s a will, there is a way!

EAT MORE VEGGIES
Finally, eat your veggies.
They are filled with vitamins plus they are low in calorie, which means you can eat TONS of them. You can have them in loads of different ways, which means they don’t have to be boring. If you not feel inspired check out an older blog post of mine about how to make your veggies more interesting, HERE.

That is all for today, hope you are having a fabulous day.
Stay active, healthy & happy!
Love,

Sunday 21 June 2015

Healthy Blueberry & Almond Muffins

Hello lovelies,
It’s time for another baking recipe up on this blog! It’s a healthy blueberry & almond muffins recipe, that is super simple and uses all natural ingredients. I think this is a perfect summer snack & I am sure you could switch the blueberries for any other berry you might like even more.

All you will need (9 muffins):
3 eggs
170g ground almonds
100g frozen blueberries
5 tbsp agave syrup
1 tbsp coconut oil
100g unsweetened apple sauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking powder

Process:
First pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius & prepare your baking tin by lining it with muffin cases.
Whisk the eggs with an electric hand whisker and gradually add the rest of the wet ingredients which include; agave syrup, coconut oil, apple sauce & vanilla extract.
Once all the wet ingredients are combined add in the ground almonds & baking powder.
Finally add in the blueberries. Try to make sure the blueberries don’t break, but even if they do you will still have delicious tasting muffins.
Then add your finished mixture into the muffin cases equally and place them in the oven for roughly 20mins.
Keep checking on them and once you are sure they are ready, take the muffins out of the oven at let them cool down.



And there you have it another muffins recipe & this time there isn’t even chocolate involved. How proud are you? Who else is such a chocoholic?
Let me know in the comments below!
Love,

Wednesday 17 June 2015

It's All in your Head #MidweekMotivation

When I was younger and I happened to have hurt myself from falling or whatever other mischief I could get up to, my dad would always tell me that I could make the pain go away with my head. “The mind is a strong tool” is what he would say, all along the lines of mind over matter.
To this day I believe that the mind and your attitude is where it all begins; whether it’s to do with work/school, a relationship or HEALTH. If your mindset isn’t right you are setting yourself up for failure.
So if healthy is your goal I think it’s important you start with a healthy & positive mind then the rest will follow.
If you feel like you are not achieving the goals you have set for yourself, think about it, are you standing in the way of yourself?

  
Are you constantly negative? Do you have negative thoughts about yourself? About your goals? Do you have a ‘can’t-do-attitude?
Maybe those are the things standing between you and your goals. And I’m not just talking about fitness and health goals, but also other life goals. If you have a negative mindset or attitude towards them, there is no way you’ll be able to achieve them.

Firstly, stop thinking that you can’t do something. Even if something sound like it will be challenging, instead of thinking “I can’t do that” just think “I will try my best” or “yes I accept the challenge!”

Secondly, don’t be so harsh on yourself! If you mess up or have a little fallback, just get back on it. No need to think about “how horrible” you did. At least you tried & you will try again!

The mind is a strong tool, so use it ;)

Maybe all you need are some positives thoughts, because after all you have the power to change and improve yourself, your body and life and it all start in your head!
Love,

Sunday 14 June 2015

Healthy Dinner Idea: Mexican Style Wraps

Hello lovelies,
Last night we had dinner outside on a summer’s night and it was wonderful. We ate Mexican style wraps. This is one of our favourite easy, healthy family meals so I thought I would share it with you – maybe one or two of your will find some inspiration in it for your next healthy dinner.

All we use is
Whole Grain wraps
Ground lean beef
Spices (we usually just used a pre-packed spice mix – not the healthiest option I know)
Vegetables (peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, salad)
Avocado for a guacamole
Some crème fraiche
Salsa
Grated cheese

Then we just cut up all the veg into small pieces, cook the beef with the spices and make the guac. (Here you have the recipe for myhealthy creamy guacamole). Oh and warm the wraps in the micro for a few seconds. Then we just put everything in bowls on the table and you get to create your own delicious wraps.
I think it’s a pretty perfect healthy meal.
You have your complex carbs from the whole grain wrap, your lean protein from the beef, all your vitamins from the veg and healthy fats from the guac. An all-round healthy meal! Plus every person can make their own wrap so chances are everyone can find something they like!

My ideal wrap:
First I add herb crème fraiche to my wrap and spread it all around.
Then I add some meat & guac. Layer that with some peppers & cucumber. Then I had some spicy salsa & last but not least I top it all off with cheeeese. 

I love wraps.

Oh and for dessert we had a kilo of fresh strawberries with some vanilla ice cream.
A wonderful summer dinner.

Do you like wraps?
You should try them & let me know what your perfect wrap looks like!
Love,

Wednesday 10 June 2015

Is it really Healthy?

Hello lovelies,
I want to talk about something a little different today and hope that it will trigger something in you and make you think a little.

Very often when I google a healthy recipe or read through recipes that are shared on loads of health & fitness blogs there is one very particular ingredient that I find always comes up: PROTEIN POWDER.

Replace the flour with protein powder in any baked goods and tadaaa it’s HEALTHY! Or instead of it being a brownie it’s now a PROTEIN brownie which means it must be healthy right?

I mean of course replacing the flour with protein powder means it’s lower in carbs and higher in protein, but that is not what defines whether a food is healthy or not.
Is this chemical powder really HEALTHIER for you than natural flour? I think protein has become such a buzz word in the health & fitness industry but one needs to be careful and think about whether some of these things REALLY are better for you than natural foods.

As you may know I don’t bake with protein powder and I don’t use protein powder to healthy-fy the recipes I create for myself & you guys. I try to use natural products because in the end I believe that the natural products will always be better for you than a flavoured powder, even if that means my brownies are not super high in protein & super low in carbs.

Having said that I don’t think protein powder is evil and should be avoided. I also drink a protein shake after my workout from time to time. I understand the concept of protein powder and I do think it makes sense to use it if you are trying to BUILD muscle and you drink a shake after a heavy lifting session to aid in rebuilding your torn muscles. BUT I don’t think it has a place in a healthy dessert or breakfast pancakes. (Check out my Protein Pancakes without Protein Powder Recipe here).

Finally, it tastes bad. I used to try to make protein pancakes with protein powder because that’s what all the fitness & health blogs were writing about – so I had to try it right?
But man, I can taste that chemical flavouring and I don’t think it tastes good at all. Am I the only one who feels this way?
Let me know in the comments below what YOU think about this topic! I would love to hear your opinion, not matter what it is.
Love,

Sunday 7 June 2015

Quick & Easy Healthy Pizza

Hello lovelies,
I thought it was about time to get back to the topic of PIZZA! We all love pizza and we all get pizza cravings from time to time. And for most of the time I would say go for it! Have some pizza if that’s what you really feel like having, because it’s healthy for the soul.
But sometimes you might want to grab an alternative to the original high-calorie, high-fat & delicious option. So here I have the fastest & easiest healthy pizza alternative! You’re welcome in advanced ;)

All you will need:
Whole Grain Tortilla wraps
Tomato sauce (try to use the one that is only tomatoes without added sugar)
25g grated cheese of your choice (I used parmesan)
Toppings of your choice (I went for mushroom & fresh basil)

Process:
Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees.
Add some spices to your pure-tomato, tomato sauce. I just added salt & pepper and some garlic. 
Add 2-3 table spoons of the sauce on to the tortilla wrap.
Add the rest of your toppings.
Last but not least, add the cheese.
Then put it in the oven for 5 minutes (or until all the cheese is melted to your satisfaction!)
Enjoy your quick & easy healthy pizza.

Now it gets even better, not only does this taste delicious & take very little time and effort it has another BIG advantage; the whole pizza has under 300 calories (depending on toppings of course) which means you could even have two of these. Yes you can eat two whole easy, healthy & delicious pizzas compared to 3-4 slices of original pizza. I would say, worth it!

Let me know what you think about this ‘recipe’! Have you heard of this before? Would you give it a try?
Let me know & have a fabulous day!
Love,

Wednesday 3 June 2015

May Obsessions

Hello lovelies,
Another month has come to an end, goodbye May and hello June! Is it summer yet?! Because time is flying by, I thought it was about time I talk about a few things I have been obsessed with lately! Yes, it’s my May favourites.

First off is YOGA! No I’m not a yogi and beginning of May I could hardly touch my toes. I felt like I had become really tight again (though I have never been very flexible) so I thought I could just youtube a short yoga session. I started doing a few 10 minute sessions and I actually really enjoyed them. I then thought I should start doing bed-time yoga sessions – which quickly became one of my May obsessions. 10 minutes of relaxing, breathing and stretching before bed, sounds perfect right?

My next obsession this month has been STONEFRUIT! I am so happy they are finally in season. I love all stone fruit like nectarines, apricots, peaches and cherries! I’ve been enjoying them just as they are or even with some natural low-fat yogurt.
Another obsession of mine this month has been going for evening walks when it’s still warm. I love that it’s light for longer in the evening & still a little warm. I’m not going crazy fast or anything, just enjoying nature and taking a little walk around my neighborhood. But yes I currently live in Switzerland and everything is on a hill here, so I do get a little sweaty no matter where I go.

A product I have been obsessed with has been my new mascara from benefits, the Roller Lash Mascara. It is so so good. I have pretty crappy lashes, they are not particularly long or curly or dark for that matter. But this mascara really does make my lashes look good! Definitely a May Favourite.
And last but not least I have a slightly weird new obsession. Podcasts/audiobooks. Lately, I have been enjoying listening to people talk to me while I am commuting or even working out! I think it makes time pass so much quicker during my LISS (low intensity steady state) cardio sessions. Big new obsession!

What have you been enjoying in the month of May? Let me know your favourite new products or obsessions in the comments below!
Have a wonderful day & may June be our month.
Love,