Food fact Friday

Strawberries: THE ultimate pick-me-up before what's sure to be a hectic day, evening and night at work. Lesigh.

I don't know anyone who doesn't love this fruit. Freshly picked and sourced from Cheddar (just down the road/motorway from me!), my nan bought me these today as a healthy treat - she knows me well!

Not only are strawberries amazingly tasty, they pack in more vitamin C than oranges (8 medium strawbs are the equivalent of 140% of the RDA for vitC), and are also high in folic acid, potassium, antioxidants, flavonoids (for lowering cholesterol), malic acid (helps to remove stains from teeth), and ellagic acid (cancer-fighting substance). The pulp of strawberries can also help to recover from a fever.

Need I say more?!

6-Pack in the Making!

As a huge fan and follower of Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred exercise DVD, and a massive believer in the power of her 3-2-1 theory (she splits each of the 3 sections into 3 mins strength, 2 mins cardio, and 1 min abs for the ultimate workout), I decided to invest in another of her workout DVDs.

This morning I welcomed the arrival of 6 Week Six-Pack on my doorstep. I was pretty much sold by the title alone, but along with the endless amount of positive reviews on Amazon, I knew that Jillian was again worthy of my equivilent to one hour's work! (Give or take a few pence)

Ab-specific exercises are probably the toughest for the body, particularly to start with, as the abs are often considered the weakest muscle of the body. Even more so for us women - we need to work hard to get results, because genetically we are meant to have that niggly protective layer of fat on our belly. It's also easier for us to gain weight in this area - typical, huh?! For this reason, it takes sheer determination to achieve that all-important 6-pack!

And boy does Jillian work you hard! This workout combines strength, resistance and cardio exercises that are consistently targeting your ab muscles. It's a complete mash-up of exercises, meaning that it's constantly engaging and in no way monotonous or repetitive (although the same routine is performed twice, at different speeds).

As with the 30 Day Shred, Jillian is accompanied by two women who are performing the exercises at varied difficulty levels. For this reason, it can be followed by beginners, intermediates and professionals.

I was sweating almost profusely by the end of the 35 minutes; however, I like to feel as if I've reached my absolute MAX point after an ab workout - as in, the feeling when your stomach muscles are dying! Basically, I didn't feel that way after this DVD. I hope level 2 is a bit more of a challenge for that reason (and I'm pretty sure it will be, knowing Michaels!).

Even so, another great workout DVD. Jillian has a real positive energy about her, which leaves you feeling like you've really achieved something brilliant by the end of the workout. This will ultimately make you WANT to play the DVD over and over again, to achieve that ripped look that Jillian is pushing you towards.

Overall, I'd reccomend any of Jillian's DVDs for anyone who likes to work out (practically) for free, in the comfort of their own homes (like myself!). I may well consider another purchase in the near future - Killer Buns and Thighs is on the hit list, for one! Why not check out the whole collection?

Happy, hearty soup for Autumn

A failed attempt at making carrot juice using my food processor inevitably lead to making soup for dinner last night. Considering I've never actually made soup before (!), the results were pretty impressive if I do say so myself! The recipe is extremely easy, so perfect for a complete novice like myself. I'm a newbie when it comes to soup in general, as I've only recently acquired the taste for what I (so abtly) used to label 'liquid food'. I still stray away from the watery kind of soup, so this one is thick and chunky - just the way I like.

Ingredients (serves 3):

Torn shreds of cooked chicken
Lightly mashed carrots (8 medium)
6 Potatoes (I used Elfe) cut into 1cm pieces
3 stocks of chicken (I used OXO cubes)
570ml boiling water (for the stock)
3 tbsp buttermilk (I used Kefir)
Butter/olive oil for the pan
Mixed herbs, salt and pepper to season

Par-boil your potatoes (I boiled for around 15mins). Dissolve your stock into boiling water. Add a bit of butter and/or olive oil to your pan (make it a large one!) and add your potatoes and carrots. Mix regularly. Add your water stock mix to the pan and continue to stir. Add the buttermilk to thicken the soup and add a creamy texture. Add the chicken, stir, and the mixed herbs, salt and pepper to finish. Serve immediately and enjoy!

I tend to limit my intake of potatoes because of their carb-content, but it's a proven fact that 250g of potatoes contain half of your daily vitamin B6, which is essential in lifting mood-enhancing serotonin levels - thus the title of this post! Eating your way towards a good mood sounds like a damn good idea to me!

The recipe serves 3, each portion containing approx 350 calories. I found it an extremely satisfying meal that would be suitable for the many cold Autumn evenings to come. A perfect combo of hearty and healthy (and happy)!

Chewy Banana Cupcakes

If your bananas are looking a tad on the black and bruised side, why not turn them into cupcakes? That's exactly what I did on this fine, rainy Monday morning!

Ingredients:
1 mashed banana
2 tbsp non-fat greek yoghurt
1 tsp peanut butter
2 tsp golden caster sugar
3 tbsp flour
Pinch baking powder
Finely chopped dark chocolate
(I also added dessicant coconut for added sweetness and taste/just because I saw it sat in my kitchen cupboard!)

There's no complex method here; just mash the banana, add all wet ingredients and then sift the flour into the mixture. Preheat the oven to 350C/Gas mark 4. Spoon the mixture one-by-one onto your baking tray (I used muffin cases) - the mixture should make around 10 cupcakes. Add a small piece of dark chocolate into the middle of each blob and cover with a little more of the mixture (adds a surprise factor - always a plus!). Cook for 25mins, leave to cool slightly and then... devour.

The entire batch contains approx 335 calories (so 33.5cals per cookie), and the recipe can be shaken up a bit by whatever means you like (sultanas would probs be a nice addition )!

Monday Motivation

BRB need to go for a run - pronto! Rosie Huntington-Whiteley's body is just too perfect.

Food fact Friday

Just 100g of prawns provide your entire RDA of tryptophan, the amino acid needed to make feel-good serotonin, plus half of your selenium (a mineral that works as an antioxidant). (Source - Women's Health, Autumn 2012)

I tend to eat prawns grilled and topped with vegetable herbs. Prawns are the best kind of healthy fast-food available, and a great source of clean protein. See more prawn recipes here.

Simple as Pie (without the pie)

A lot of people seem to think that there's a massive secret in achieving weight loss and a well-sculpted bod. If a person has lost a significant amount of weight, a lot of people will naturally speculate into the why's and how's of such magnificent results.

This is, of course, an inevitable result of modern day culture. We are constantly exposed to magazines - like More and Heat - highlighting every celebrity under the sun in their bikinis, tagged on the front covers with the all-important caption: 'Diet secrets of [insert name]', or something along those ubiquitous lines. There must be a secret! Afterall, why can't we all have a body like Rosie Huntington Whiteley? It's a complete mystery... [Ahem]

Enough of the dumb talk! Celebrities don't hone their bod's by sitting on the sofa eating McDonalds; they work hard and achieve the results they want to see, because they are presented on a judgemental pedestal to the general public. Okay, so they're likely to have personal trainers and nutritionists so as to not stray from their regimented diet and exercise plans, and we don't necessarily have access to such VIP attention. That's a given.

But let's be honest here: it's not hard to eat right and exercise regularly. However, it is hard to change your habits if your body is already used to an inactive lifestyle combined with the added demons of the edible variety (processed food, sugar, fat etc).

Life is hectic; we deal with it by feeding ourselves with the convenience of fast-food or a little sugary perk-me-up. And there's nothing wrong with the odd little consolence that may come in the form of chips, chocolate, cookies, or whatever other treat wets your bespoke palette.

But the fact of the matter at hand can be explained and broken down to the following: this kind of food may well be fast, but it's not exactly food. Why? Because it is devoid of nutrients, fibre and vitamins - which is basically what food is supposed to provide us with. It's stuffed full with fat, simple carbohydrates and calories, meaning that it will fill you up for an hour or so - but not for much longer.

Lack of nutrients basically equates to hunger, which is why it is a lot harder for us to overeat/binge on 'real' or 'clean' food because it is packed full of nutrients and all the good stuff that your body needs to survive, and which send those all-important 'I AM FULL! [horrah]' signals to the brain.

Portion size is another biggie in the dieting game. Perhaps in compensation for eating healthy food, some of us may allow ourselves to eat more of it - it's healthy, afterall! So why not, I here you cry?! Give me a break!

Our bodies need fuel, and food is our fuel of choice. Our bodies run better when fed little and often. This not only speeds up the metabolism (faster metabolism = faster calorie/fat burning), but it means that we don't feel sluggish as a result of eating (and then regretting) a large portion. Overall, it is absolutely the best method of achieving stable energy levels - all day, every day.

Equally as important as choosing the right diet is to remember to drink water. I say remember because I know how easy it is to simply forget to drink water. If my day is particularly non-stop, it's only when my body sends thirst signals to my brain that I realise that I haven't had a drink all day. It is my number 1 downfall.

We apparently spend most of our lives chronically dehydrated, which firstly makes you hungry when you’re actually thirsty. Not good. Secondly, it causes your body to retain water, thus making you heavier and often bloated (more so after eating, sans-l'eau). Not good at all. So, paradoxically, you must drink water to stop retaining water.

The concluding message? Stop believing that weight loss is a big secret that only celebrities are filled in on. Start eating clean. Train yourself into really enjoying the taste of nutrient-filled food, and naturally you'll steer away from all of the junk you used to crave (give it a fortnight and you won't even want to touch the stuff - trust me!).

Start exercising well. Learn to love the burning sensation and feel your muscles really working like never before; don't be afraid to challenge your body. Don't stop when you're tired, stop when you're done! (a la Cassey Ho!)

Embrace an amazing lifestyle change. Enjoy the energy, strength and vibrancy it will bring. See changes, keep pushing forward; see even more changes.

Women in Sport

It's recently come to light that women are extremely underrepresented in the media.

In fact, I read that women's sport makes up for just 2% of live sport shown on TV (obviously excluding coverage of big sporting events such as the Olympics).

I, for one, am very glad that this has finally come to the media's widespread notice. Considering the success of our British females in the Olympics (Jessica Ennis to name just one of the many successors), it makes a whole lot of sense that female athletes should be given their fair share of TV coverage.

Not that I'm saying that being an athlete should inevitably lead to fame, fortune and media access. Not in the slightest; more so that the gender gap should be brought to light in this circumstance, as it seems to be the last of its kind to be recognised.

Athletes like Ennis are inspirational for us women, and more so for our younger generation. Encouragement to partake in sport should be instigated within children from as early an age as possible, particularly young girls who perhaps aren't encouraged to get involved in physical activity as much as young boys are.

It's an inevitable pattern; the more that women sporting events are shown on TV, the more likely girls are going to lead a more active and thus healthier (mind and body alike) lifestyle from their impressionable beginnings.

That, afterall, is what the government wants for the generations to come. Right?

[Above image was taken from London Evening Standard online]

Monday Motivation

Just Do It
Model: Toni Garrn
Photographer: Philip Gay
Stylist: Anna Schiffel
Publication: Interview Germany (Aug 12)

Full set of images can be found here

Babushka's Cottage Cheese Pancakes

As promised, here is the recipe for my boyfriend's grandma's cottage cheese pancakes. These were baked by the dozen, so we always had a plentiful amount for breakfast! My god, these are truly delightful - trust me. Spasiba, Babushka!

Ingredients

2 eggs
500g cottage cheese
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon self-raising flour
2 tablespoons sugar
Virgin Olive Oil
Raisins or filling of choice (optional)

Empty the cottage cheese into a large bowl and beat in the eggs. Sift the flour into the mixture and blend until the mix begins to harden. Add raisins or whatever else you'd prefer; raisins work well to sweeten the taste a bit. Heat the oil in a large pan whilst making small patties with the mixture; coat each with a bit of flour so they don't stick to the pan, and then add to the pan. Flip every couple of minutes until they appear golden brown. Best served whilst warm (otherwise I recommend microwaving!). This makes around 12 cottage cheese pancakes.

Please note: a language barrier has prevented me from retrieving the original recipe so this is a bit of a guess-and-make-do style recipe. Results weren't as great as Babushka's, but still tasty. A bit of trial and error is needed with the amounts of flour necessary as mine were too floury and not quite 'wet' enough! Even so, give it a go and I hope you enjoy as much as I do. :)

WANTED: a Good Gym!

There's a few requirements that every gym should meet, yet in my experience, some gyms fall short of these very basic things, and this ultimately puts me off from becoming a member.

I've only actually been a regular gym attender since late May - beforehand, I chose to run outdoors and I attended group exercise classes instead. I guess you could say I was a bit of an anti-gym kind of person, as I considered it far too pricey and almost intimidating to become a regular gym-goer (sad, huh?).

However, moving back home from university meant that I could no longer rely on my beloved group exercise classes (an average week consisted of circuits, pilates, dance aerobics, and legs, bums and tums - how I miss these classes!), for which I paid a measley, student-savvy 8.50/month(!). And so, my ventures into becoming a fully-fledged Gym member began.

I started out at the Olympiad gym in Chippenham for a couple of months, the same gym that my boyfriend had already been a member of for the past 1-2 years. This was a good gym for a few reasons: it wasn't too big (or small), it had mirrors, it was modern and had suitable air-conditioning, the machines were great, you could watch the TV if you so wished (music channels tended to provide motivational imagery along the lines of perfectly-sculpted women writhing around the screen - always a good reason to work out harder, no?), and windows offering a view of the park, essential for distracting myself whilst pounding the treadmill.

Since my boyfriend moved out of Chippenham, we've tried a few other gyms that just haven't been up to scratch. The first should have been excellent, but was the equivalent of an ice room and was also too big and too quiet - call me egocentric (I am definitely not, fyi! Don't get me wrong!), but I like to be surrounded by people whilst I'm working out, whether it's to see what others are doing or just to be in an environment whereby everyone is pushing themselves, I think it generally makes me work out harder.

The next gym was too cold (not temperature-wise this time) and factory-like. It offered basic equipment and machines for a basic price, so for some people it is completely suitable. However, my boyfriend complained about the lack of mirrors (also egocentric, apparently!) - and so it was on to the next one.

We attended a local bodybuilding gym a couple of days ago, an 80's-throwback style of gym, complete with floral curtains upstairs in the cardio room and various old posters of ripped male and female bodybuilders scattered around the walls. Equipment also appeared to be from the 80s! It wasn't worth the 25pound/month price, that's for sure.

And so the conclusion prevails; until a move back to Chippenham (and thus the Olympiad) is more prominently on the horizon, I will make do with the free kind of gym: exercise DVDs, home equipment, and fresh air/pavements.

A boring post to say the least, sorry guys and gals!

Pass me the Cheese, Please

Anyone who knows me should be aware of my love for cheese - every single kind of cheese, no matter how stinky it is, it's all so very wonderful to me. And that applies to cottage cheese as well, probably the healthiest you're going to get when it comes to this generally high-fat dairy product.

For many dieters, athletes and bodybuilders alike, it's considered an excellent source of protein (around 17g per 100g), meaning that it's a very filling product without the excessive amounts of calories, fat or carbohydrates.

Personally I like Twarog Lowicki half-fat soft cheese, which can be bought from the Polish section in Tesco. I mash this up with a dollop of fat-free probiotic yoghurt and add sultanas for a sweeter taste, and it practically tastes like dessert! I have to admit, when I first saw my boyfriend make up this strange combination as a late-night snack I thought it was more than a little bit weird, but it honestly tastes great (for cheese fiends, even more so) and is extremely good as a kind of meal-replacement dish.

As previously mentioned, cottage cheese is a product that is used a lot in Lithuania. In the supermarkets there were as many (if not more) cottage cheese-based desserts and snacks than yoghurts; needless to say, I fell in love with the chocolate-covered, kid-friendly kind of cottage cheese; Surelis.

These. Are. Amazing.



English supermarkets should sort themselves out and stock more Eastern European products. Either that, or better; English brands should take a tip from their overseas-equivalents and produce something that could actually fix the child obesity rate in the UK, rather than fuel it further with the high-fat/sugar based products that are currently aimed towards children.

Ranty Katie has finished now! And, calm...

P.S. 'Russian Grandma's Cottage Cheese Pancake' review and recipe to follow shortly!

Teletubby Custard

Aloya!

I've just returned from an amazing two-week holiday with my boyfriend in Vilnius, Lithuania. The trip consisted of a lot of city walking and touring/sightseeing, meeting my boyfriend's family and friends (a nervy experience!), and getting to grips with traditional Lithuanian food and drink. Naturally, I'm dedicating this blog post to the latter!

I'd say that my diet in Lithuania consisted of the country's staple ingredients/dishes, including a lot of cottage cheese, saltibarsciai, and potatoes.

The food scene is very much alive in LT, especially in the capital city - for this reason alone Vilnius is worthy of a visit, especially for the food lovers among us. Alongside the great GB->LT conversion rate, eating out is practically the same price as eating in, so you can expect a whole lot of food for a fraction of the price you'd usually expect to pay.

In fact, if you manage to grab a flyer for restaurant discount coupons (these can be found fairly easily with a bit of know-how, and in abundance at the entrance to some shopping malls) and you can dine like a King for less than a fiver - honest!

My absolute favourite dish was no doubt saltibarsciai - a traditional cold beetroot soup served with hot roast potatoes on the side, which I unashamedly devoured with joy at least once per day while I was there! With coupons it was priced around 4LT, which is just 90 pence approximately.

The main ingredients of saltibarsciai include kefir, a scoop of sour cream, sliced beetroot (which turns the mixture into what I like to call a Teletubby-custard shade of pink), chopped cucumber/spring onions and half a boiled egg. Overall these contents make for an extremely healthy lunch (pre-lunch/snack for my boyfriend - naturally), and an incredible taste that left me craving for more.

Kefir can be found by the bucketload (but not quite literally) in the supermarkets of Lithuania, yet unfortunately it is somewhat MIA here in England. Out of the entire stock of Tesco, it is minimalized to just one product in the tiny Polish food section (I haven't yet rooted around in other English supermarkets or checked out any specialist Eastern European shops/health food shops, however).

Let's get straight to the point. Kefir is an amazing product because it is full with probiotic bacteria, amino acids, vitamins and minerals, which altogether help to cleanse the body and promote a healthy digestive system (this is important for me particularly as I have a slow-working digestive system).

Meanwhile, beetroots provide an excellent source of iron, energizing carbohydrates, folic acids, vitamins, and - like kefir - contain natural body-cleansing properties (for the blood and colon specifically).

A match made in health heaven? Most likely. I've yet to make my own saltibarsciai but my cravings are kicking in and my fridge is conveniently full of all the necessary ingreds (bar kefir). So, as they say - watch this space.

(A lot more updates to come on life - and food - in Lithuania!).