The competition: Enercup

Hi All! In this blogpost I would like to tell you more about how my preparations for my first Body-fitness competition are going. Also I would like to introduce to you; the Enercup! This is the competition I will will be competing in. 

Enercup

The competition will take place at the 5th of Oktober. This is only 25 days left! So excited and nervous already at the same time. Time goes by so fast! The Enercup is a beginners competition, they call this an 'open-C competition'. What it means is that everybody can compete in the competition. When you are ranked in the top during this competition, you can go to a B-class competition, and when you win such a competition you can eventually go to the A-competition. 

Preparation

So far my preparations for the competition are going well! Trainings are hard and doing cardio in between the training days. Also trying to keep to a strict eating schedule. This is what I find the hardest; still experiencing some cravings every day! I try to satisfy those with a nice sweet protein shake or protein pancakes. Work for most times! ;) 

Also, I have been shopping for my out fit on stage! I probably will receive it this weekend and go for a fitting. I just love the bikini's in the Body-fitness class with all the *Bling* and the high heels! Which bikini I choose is still a surprise! You will have to wait for the competition day!

Excited to share more of my journey the upcoming days!

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!

Photoshoot results

This Saturday I had an amazing experience during my first fitness photo shoot!

Angels Of Steel

Currently I am 11 weeks out; with 18% fat, so still have some work to do! But I am getting there! 3x a week full-body workout with focus on my glutes and 3x a week high-intensity cardio. For cardio I do mostly indoor-biking, but I will take on a new challenge: walking stairs. If you know Rotterdam, you might know the Maastunnel (a tunnel under the river, de Maas). Think about these stairs... Yes! That is my new cardio challenge!

Thanks to JR Photography I have some amazing photo's to share with you. The pictures definitely show my progression in training. In this blog post I will give you a preview of the photo's. There are still a lot more to come!

Here we go!

Angels Of Steel

Angels Of Steel

Angels Of Steel

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?