Recipe: Healthy tuna burgers

This is a great and easy recipe for delicious tuna burgers. What is nice about this recipe is that most of the time you have all ingredients in house! At least, I always have a can of tuna in my kitchen because is is so quick and easy to prepare, for example in a salad or paste. But now you also learn how easy it is to make a burger out of it! And who doesn't love burgers?

Ingredients

• 1 can of tuna in water, drained
• 2 eggs (or only egg whites if you are watching your calorie/fat-intake)
• Fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup of oatmeal

  

Method

1. Cut the parsley
2. Mix the drained tuna with the eggs, oatmeal and parsley
3. Roll a small ball of the mixture and flatten it out to a 'burger shape' 
4. Bake the burgers in a pan until it has a golden-brown crust 
5. Enjoy!

Because my tuna burgers were gone right away (in my tummy, yumm), I reached out to google for this great pic!

My metabolic rate

Why should I care about my metabolic rate?

The metabolic rate is an important factor if you want to loose weight. Metabolism is the process where your body converts what your eat and drink into energy. It can be divided in two categories: 

• Catabolism: the breakdown of molecules to obtain energy (breaking down molecules)
• Anabolism: the synthesis of all compounds needed by the cells (building up molecules)

A higher metabolic rate is beneficial because it increases the number of calories we burn over time. 

Many people think that heavy people have a slower metabolic rate that skinny people. This is not true. In fact, in general, how heavier you are, the higher you metabolic rate because a heavier body requires more energy during physical movement. When you loose weight, your metabolic rate will slow down. 

Your metabolic rate is determined by several factors, among others:

• Muscle mass: muscles use more energy than any other body tissue
• Age: young cells renew more often which requires energy
• Length: tall persons require more energy to keep their body warm
• Hormons: several hormons influence the metabolic rate

However, you can exercise some influence on your metabolic rate. 

• Create more muscle mass! The muscles in your body will require more energy than any other tissue in your body, even when you are not working out. Even when you are sleeping you will burn more calories than a person with lass muscle mass. :)
• Eat regularly and eat food with a low glycemic index (complex carbs) and high in fiber! These foods require relatively more effort from your body to digest than foods like simple carbs without any fiber. Your body will use more energy to digest. Eating regularly ensures your metabolism is working continuously and keeps on burning energy. 
• Move! Physical exercise will burn calories. Whether it is a long easy walk on the beach or a heavy bootcap workout with intervals, you will burn those calories!
• Sleep! Try to get at least seven hours of sleep each night. Your energy and activity levels are higher when you slept well, increasing your metabolic rate. 
• Herbs like chili powder and cayenne peppers can increase your metabolic rate. These herbs increases the release of, among others, adrenaline which stimulates the metabolism and increases calorie burn. 
• Drink green tea. Several studies show that drinking green results in burning an extra 70-100 calories a day because of the antioxidants in the tea. 

Do keep in in mind that although your metabolism influences your body's basic energy needs, ultimately it is your total caloric intake and physical activity that determines wether you gain or loose weight!

Work hard and get your metabolism on fire!

HOT yoga

Hot yoga, or Bikram yoga, is a derived from hatha yoga and practiced in a heated room of about 40 degrees calcium. This is warm! Especially when you are doing all 26 postures in a routines, performing each posture twice. As a former dancer, and sporadic practitioner of hatha yoga, I still have quite a flexible body especially for a girl lifting weights. I knew the biggest challenge for me was the heat. I am uncomfortable laying in the sun for a long time because that gets so hot and I am no fan of sauna's either. 

The Bikram yoga studio on Rotterdam

The first time when I steppen into the heated room, I found a spot in the back, as was recommended to me. I was there with about 20 other people, some dressed in fancy legging and short tops and the men only with a tight pants. We all faced a large mirror. I have to say; quite confronting! Dressed in an short black pants and a wide pink top I tried to stay calm and not focus on the heat. As more and more people entered the room, the once that were already in relaxed on their back or did flexibility exercises. 

Five minutes doing nothing into the class room I was already sweating. Than the teacher walked into the room. Everybody stood up and followed the instructions that the teacher told via his headset microphone. In this type of yoga, the teacher is not performing the postures, instead he explains what you have to do and everybody follows his instructions. 

The 26 postures of Bikram yoga

The class started with a breathing excursive followed by several standing exercises, stability exercises and ground exercises for a total of 90 minutes. While I did manage to fully perform each posture (not every posture as glamourise as the other) I did feel light headed once or twice, but recovered quite quick. I was sweating my ass off non-stop! Now, it has not been proven that increased transpiration means increased calories burned or that it drains toxics out of your body, but it did feel kind of good! After the class I decided to go for a weekly unlimited card and to try it out more often this week!

After one of the best nights sleep, I went back again two days after and took a morning class at 6.30AM (yes, that is early!). Walking still sleepdrunk into the Bikram classroom, I did feel less uncomfortable with the heat than last time. The postures I performed even felt less difficult. Could it be that you see improvement in such short time-period? I experienced Bikram yoga in the morning as very positive as this gives you an focussed start of the day; starting your day more conscious. 

This afternoon was the third day I walked into the classroom. With the Harbourrun (an Obstacle run in the harbour of Rotterdam) scheduled for tomorrow, I decided not to go to the gym today but instead prepare for it by going to Bikram yoga. Let's see if this prepared me well for the run tomorrow! 

A Bikram classroom 

Coco Cookies!

This is such a nice and easy treat to make! I love to make these cocos cookies when I have people coming over. Note that they are not as sweet as original cocos cookies, but they are still very nice to treat yourself with a coffee!

Ingredients

• 4 spoons coconut rasp
• 2 spoons almond flour (optional)
• 4 eggwhites
• Stevia or honey to taste

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees
2. Mix all ingredients thoroughly
3. Poor small balls of the mix on to a baking plate with baking paper
4. Bake the cookies for about 20 min until brown and crispy
5. Enjoy!

Spinash pancakes with grilled salmon

They look green and they are healthy: spinash pancakes! When I served them to my boyfriend he looked at me a bit suspicious and wasn't sure about eating them. But I think they are very tasty! I found the recipe online and adjusted it a bit by reducing the yulk and adding my own spices. I like to put all ingredients in a blender for convenience, but you can also cut them up in small pieces giving a but more structure to the pancake. Delish with salmon! Enjoy this quick, easy and healthy recipe!

Ingredients

• Salmon
• About 100g Spinash (I used frozen spinash which I prepared according to the package and than drained all water as much as possible)
• 1 egg
• 2 eggwhite
• 1 onion
• 1 garlic clove
• Pepper and salt to taste
• PAM spray (anti-stick spray)

Method

1. Put the drained spinash, egg, 2 eggwhites, onion and garlic in the blender and blend untill smooth.
2. Heat a baking pan and spray with PAM spray or other anti-stick spray.
3. Poor the half of the blend mix in the pan and bake for about 3 min, than turn the pancake and bake for another minute. Keep te pancake warm between two plates.
4. Bake the rest of the blend mix the same way.
5. Bake the salmon in the pan.
6. Put the salmon on top of the pancakes.
7. Enjoy!

Recipe for endive with grinded chicken and dried apricots

This is a very quick and easy recipe I like because of the mix of flavours: the sweetness of the apricots with the bitter taste of the endive. I buy the chicken grinded in the store, but you can also grind it yourself in a kitchen machine. You can vary with the type of curry you use for this dish; I like to use curry masala myself.

Endive with chicken filet and dried apricots

Ingredients (recipe for 3 portions)

• 300g Grinded chicken/turkey breast
• 3 large endive stalks
• 15 dried apricots
• 2 spoons curry Powder
• Pepper

 Method

1. Bake the grinded chicken in a large pan until done     
2. Add the endive, curry powder and pepper and bake for about 5 min
3. Cut the apricots in small pieces and add to the dish
4. Enjoy!

Let me know how you like this dish!

Recipe for Chocolate protein Cupcakes

Cupcakes, ready to go in the oven!

These cupcakes I love to make and are a healthy snack! It is actually very similar to protein pancakes, only you use a cupcake tin and bake them in the oven. Easy on the go or when chilling at the couch! 

Ingredients for about 9 small cupcakes

• 4 egg whites
• 2 eggs
• 2 scoops of Whey chocolate protein 
• 150ml unsweetened almond milk
• 1 teaspoon raw cacao powder
• 1 teaspoon cacao nibs
• Stevia (if you like it extra sweet)
• Pam spray (or any other non-sticky spray)

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees
2. Spray the cupcake tin lightly with Pam spray
3. Mix all ingredients together
4. Divide the mixture over the cupcake tin
5. Place in the oven and bake for about 20 min
6. Enjoy!!

You can also try this recipe with 1 scoop of banana whey and 1 scoop of chocolate! This also gives a very nice banana/chocolate taste! Let me know how you like this recipe! :)

Recipe for savoury cupcakes with salmon and spinach

Savoury muffins with Salmon and Spinach

This is a nice alternative for food on-the-go! It is easy to prepare and even more easy to eat! All you need is a cupcake tin and an oven! I used a silicon cupcake tin, so I don't need to use any oil or baking spray. If you use a tin one, make sure to spray some oil before baking. Enjoy! 

Ingredients (for 9 cupcakes; 3 portions:

• 9 eggs (You can also only use the egg whites)
• 2 spoons of Cottage cheese
• 100 g smoked salmon (or more if you like)
• 2 cups of spinach cut in small pieces
• Pepper and herbs to taste

Method: 

1. Pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees
2. Divide the salmon and the spinach in baking tin
3. Mix the eggs and the cottage cheeese together and add pepper and herbs to taste
4. Poor the egg mixture in the baking tin
5. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes
6. Let it cool down before you take the muffins out and than.. Enjoy!!

Let me know how you liked this recipe! What are your favourite ingredients for a savoury cupcake?

Recipe for stir fried chicken with sugarsnaps and spinach

This is a nice recipe for chicken with veggies. I love to eat this as lunch or diner. It is also very nice with brown rice as a side dish when in need of carbs! Enjoy!

Ingredients for 1 portion

• 100g chickenfillet, cleaned and in small pieces
• Hand full of Sugarsnaps
• 1 red onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• Hand full of fresh spring spinach (pre-washed)
• 1 cooked egg (peeled)
• 1 spoon of Ketjap Manis
• Pepper (I like the lime-pepper from the brand Jonnie Boer)

Method

1. Heat a large non-stick pan
2. Cut the onion and garlic
3. Sautee the onion and garlic in the pan
4. Add the chicken in the pan with the Ketjap manis and pepper and stir for about 7 min. 
5. Add the sugarsnaps and stir for about 2-3 min. 
6. Place the fresh spinach on a plate and put the mix in the pan on top of it
7. Add the egg (I take out the yolk, so I only eat the egg white)
8. Enjoy!

Let me know how you liked this recipe! 

High protein foods

Being a Fitness junkie, I have a high protein diet. That is why I drink about 1 whey isolate shake during the day, and 1 casein shake before going to bed. However, I try to get my protein from different sources. 

In this blog post I would like to share some high protein food items I love to eat next to my protein shakes. Below you can find a table with my favorite high protein foods after which I will highlight a couple of them. 

Food product	Protein per 100g	Carbs per 100g	Fats per 100g	Calories per 100g
Almond Nuts	21.1g	6.9g	55.8g	614kcal
Pumpkin Seeds	28.8g	15.2g	45.6g	586kcal
Goji Berries	12.3g	57.7g	0.3g	285kcal
Cottage Cheese	12.2g	4.5g	1.5g	80kcal
Quark	9 g	4.0g	0.3g	55kcal
Peanut Butter  (Calve)	20g	9g	58g	670kcal
Chicken Breast	23.5g	0g	1.7g	109kcal
Beef Fillet Steak	20.9g	0g	7.9g	155kcal
Salmon Fish Fillets	21.6g	0g	14.0g	215kcal
Tilapia Fish	24g	0g	4g	105kcal
Tuna Fish (Tinned)	26.3g	0g	10.7g	202kcal

Almonds are high in protein, fats
and contain vitamin E

1. Almonds

I love to eat almonds. When I eat them, I like to eat them as a snack, or in my quark (deliciously crunchy!) One hand full of almonds is about 25 pieces of almonds, providing about 6 grams of protein. Be careful that you do not eat too many of them, as the almonds are also quite high in fats. Next to a good source of protein, almonds are also high in Vitamine E, which protects your muscle and other tissue and is good for your immune system.

2. Cottage cheese

I love to eat cottage cheese in my salad, or plain and topped by strawberries! This cheese is a curd with a very mild flavor. It is extremely low in fats (only 4%!) compared to other cheeses. Also, this cheese is high in casein protein, releasing protein to your body for a longer period of time (for an explanaition between whey and casein protein, see my earlier post Whey and Casein Protein Powder) 

3. Quark

I LOVE quark. I eat it in the morning, I eat it during the day, and I eat it in the evening! I eat it with fruit, or nuts. But you can also add quark to your shake! Yum! The beautiful thing about quark is that it is rather low in carbs and high in protein, and also low in calories. In the table it looks like quark is not that high in protein, but if you take 1 portion of 250g, the intake of protein is 27g! Also, it is cheap! 

4. Chicken breast

Chicken filet is high in protein, but be carefull
not to buy fillet with added sugar and/or salt

For lunch and diner, I often eat chicken breast filet. I cook the fillet, or bake it in a non-sticky pan. Than I chop the chicken in small pieces for my salad or serve it with stir fried veggies. When you buy chicken, be careful with the type of chicken you buy, as many packages have added salt and/or sugars. Bio chicken is often the best option, while at the same time also to most expensive. 

5. Tilapia fish

I like to eat tilapia fish filet for lunch or diner. My favorite way to eat it, is to spice it with spicy herbs and bake it in the oven with some veggies. For a nice recipe with tilapia, check out recipe, and replace the pangasusfilet by tilapia filet. Tilapia fish has unsaturated fats and is high in Omega 3-fatty acits. This helps with the overall body growht and development, and supports the brain function. It also is associated with reducing heart disease. Sounds good, right? 

I am excited to hear about your favorite sources of protein!

Recipe for grilled Salmon with Asperagus

This recipe is a recipe for grilled salmon with asparagus. I love to make this recipe on a Sunday evening because it is very easy and quick to make! The meal is clean and healthy; and high in good fats, because of the salmon which is a fat fish. I love to finish up the dish with a cooked egg. This tastes delicious with the fish and asparagus!

Ingredients

• 1 fillet of salmon
• 10 green asparagus
• 1 red onion
• Dill
• Pepper
• 1 Cooked egg

Method

1. Heat a non-sticking pan very worm and boil water in a pan
2. Cut the onion
3. Grill the onion and salmon fillet (each side for about 3 min)
4. Cook the asparagus for about 5 min
5. Place the salmon on a plate and spice with pepper and dill
6. Place the cooked asparagus on top of the salmon
7. Cut the egg in half and place on the side of the dish 
8. Enjoy!

Let me know how you like this recipe!

Recipe for Chocolate Protein Pancakes

This is a recipe for the best way to make protein pancakes! I have tried different recipes from the internet with banana, peanut butter, oats and more. After trying and mixing ingredients I choose this recipe as the best! This is, in my opinion, the most clean variant of the pancakes. Of course you can add any type of toppings you like best. I am excited to share the recipe with you and to hear what you think of it. 

Ingredients for 1 portion

• 1 scoop of chocolate flavour protein powder
• 2 egg whites
• 1 egg
• 1 table spoon of stevia powder (in case you like it sweet)
• 1/2 cup of almond milk (can also be substituted by water or regular milk)
• 1 cup of strawberries
• 1 spoon of cottage cheese (you can also use quark)
• 1/2 hand of unsalted almonds

Method

1. Heat a small non-sticky pan 
2. Clean and cut the strawberries
3. Mix the 2 egg whites, 1 whole egg, stevia powder and almond milk well in a bowl
4. Put half of the mix in the pan and wait till it is not liquid anymore
5. Flip the pancake to the other side
6. Place the pancake on a plate when done
7. Repeat step 3, 4, and 5. 
8. Top the pancakes with the strawberries, cottage cheese, and almonds
9. Enjoy!

I am excited to hear if you like this recipe! What is your favourite topping?

Recipe for Chicken from the oven and stir-fried veggies

This is an easy-to-make recipe for chicken from the oven with delicious spring veggies on a base of spinach. With an egg on the side for the extra protein! Very nutritious and quick meal!

Ingredients for 1 portion

• 100g Chickenfilet
• 1/4 Courgette
• 1/2 Red bell pepper
• 6 small tomatoes
• 1 hand of fresh spinach
• 1 cooked egg
• 1 clove garlic
• Italian seasoning
• Chicken seasoning without added salt

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven at 220 degree
2. Season the Chicken with the chicken seasoning and Italian seasoning
3. Place the chicken in the oven for about 15-20min
4. Spray a pan with Pam spray or use a non sticky pan and heat it
5. Cut the courgette, bell pepper, and garlic and stir fry for about 5 min
6. Cut the tomatoes in half and add them to the veggies in the pan. Stir fry for an additional 2 min
7. Peal the cooked egg and cut in half
8. Put the bunch of spinach on a plate and place the chicken, veggies and egg on top of it
9. Enjoy!

Let me know how you like this recipe! What are your favourite seasonings for chicken?

Recipe for easy-to-prep fish

This is a recipe for a really easy to make fish from the oven. All you need to do is wrap all ingredients into aluminium foil and put it in the oven! Wait for it to get ready... and enjoy!

Ingredients for 1 portion:

• 1 frozen panga filet (or any other type of white fish)
• Frozen vegetables of your choice (I use an Italian vegetable mix)
• Herbs (I use fish herbs from the market without added salt)
• Lime juice

Note: your can also use non-frozen ingredients, but you might want to add some water before putting it in the oven in order for the fish not to dry out.

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven on 180 degree
2. Take a medium size of aluminium foil and lay the fish in the middle
3. Add one spoon of herbs and spread over the fish
4. Add the vegetables on top of the fish and sprinkle with lime juice
5. Fold the aluminium foil over the fish so it is one 'package'
6. Put the fish in the oven and bake for about 40 min. till the fish is done

Enjoy this healthy meal! Let me know which type of herbs are your favourite!

A weekend away: Preparation is key!

Delicious meals during my weekend away! Chicken salad and asparagus.

This weekend a great time in a bungalow park! Of course I tried to stick to my training scheme and clean and healthy food. Again, it showed preparation is key!

I made sure I had enough healthy food packed with me in order to survive the weekend. I took ingredients for my breakfast and to make a nice tuna salad. I packed enough protein powder, almond milk and eggs.

It’s all about healthy choices.

During the weekend I had plenty of fun swimming, shopping, and relaxing. When I was on the way I always carried a banana and a protein bar in case we didn’t stop for something to eat. We also went out for lunch and diner. For lunch I ordered a ‘Farmers Omelette, eggs, mushrooms, ham, bacon, tomato’s, bell peppers and cheese served with a side salad. Although the dish was high in fats, it was low in carbs and high in protein.

For diner I ordered the local dish asparagus with ham, which was delicious. This dish is pretty clean from itself existing of just the cooked vegetables, ham and herbs from the oven. Also, the next day I enjoyed a delicious chicken salad!

Be creative

Saturday was cardio day, so I took my running gear with park. In the morning that I went running I came across a kids’ playing area. There I did some more exercises like burpees, Bulgarian lunches, squats, and upside down abs workout on the climbing rack. Its fun working out outside and be creative! You can workout with almost anything. Try it!

Creative abs workout at the Playground

Meal prep: 'Say what?'

Prepare healthy meals for the whole week! 

Sticking to a strict eating scheme makes it soo much easier when you always have a ready-made meal you can grap out of the fridge when it is time to eat!  It helps me in order not to grap easy, processed food, but instead a healthy meal, I already prepared. I eat about 6 times a day, small potions of clean food. Imagine I would need to stand in the kitchen 6 times a day to prepare all these meals! No way! To solution: Meal prep! 

This week I made nice dishes with chicken and veggies.
Stay tuned for the healthy recipes!

Meal prep stands for meal preparation. I basically means that you prepare all your meals you eat for a certain number of days. I usually do my meal prep on sunday evenings or monday mornings. Than I prepare my meals for the whole workweek, to 5 days. At one day, I eat 'diner-food' twice. Once around lunch time and once 2 hours before I hit the gym. The other meals consist of oatmeal, fruit, quark, protein shakes, eggs, smoked chicken, and quick veggies (baby tomatoes and- cucumbers). These latter meals I usually prepare in the morning and just wrap them up in order to take with me that day. This means I will have to prepare 2 'diner-like' meals for 5 days, = 10 meals in total.

When doing meal prep, I usually don't make 10 different dishes. I prefer to make 2-3 different types of dishes. This week I prepared Chicken from the oven, sautéed with spicy herbs, and mixed veggies including eggplant, bell pepper, and onions dressed with asparagus. The second dish I made is Chicken from the oven with mustard herbs and pepper, green beans and broccoli. I also made a chicken salad, with chicken, bell pepper, cucumber, and spring onions. I added brown rice for 3 dishes. Thus, mainly chicken this week! I will post these simple, clean recipes during this week!

This is my fridge, before meal prep and after meal prep.
It is stuffed with healthy, ready-to-go meals!

After preparing you let the disches cool down and put them in small containers. You can keep them 3-4 days in the fridge. If you want to store them for a longer period, you can also put them in the freezer. Then you take them out of the freezer the night before eating them, and store them in the fridge. Some people do not like to eat food 'from yesterday' out of the fridge. I don't mind it; for some meals it even taste better, because the herbs got into your dish better and it is more tasty! Also it has the big advantage that I do not have to cook every day. Don't get me wrong, I like cooking, but only when I have the time for it and can make nice culinary dishes. So, meal prep, the ideal solution to eat healthy!

Enjoy!

@ The Market

Had a great saturday morning at the market! 

Fruits and veggies

Eating healthy does not need to be super expensive. That is why I try to do most of my groceries at the local market when possible. Also this Saturday I went to the market to buy fruit, vegetables, and nuts. When going to the market, try to walk around first to compare the prices and the quality of the products being sold. Often, at the beginning of the market, products tend to be more expensive that further down the market. Try to pick your own pieces of fruits and vegetables so you can pick out the best looking ones!

Nuts, dried fruits and herbs

One of my favourite stands at the market is a vegetables and fruit stand where the products are pre-packed in portions in a bag. Each bag is between one and two Euros's. From experience I know the products are very good quality most of the time. For carbs, I love sweet potatoes. At the market you can find many tropical stands selling sweet potato's. Try it!

Another stand I always go to is the nut's stand. They have all types of nuts, olives, dried fruit, and also 3 bushes of fresh mint for only One Euro. Very refreshing to make your own mint thee! I love the almonds and dried apricots they sell!

The result

 In total I bought:

- 3 cucumber

- Tomatoes

- Bag of bell peppers

- Bag of zucchini 

- 2 brocolli

- 2 bushes spring onions

- 2 bushes asparagus

- Sweet potato

- Almonds

- Dades

Stay tuned to see what kind of dishes I will make with it!