Hey, hey! I don't have too much time to write today but that won't keep me from sharing with you two fat burning workouts that will leave you exhausted and feeling great because you got your cardio done in less than 45 minutes. Remember guys, the more is not always the merrier. You can walk/run for an hour on a treadmill but the amount of fat burned won't be higher than the amount you burn when you do intervals, use the starimaster or engage on this type of HIIT training that I'm about to describe. Consider the fact that in order to get the same results that you will get with 15 minutes on the stairmaster, you will have to run/jog for at least an hour, and on top of that you will be more exposed to muscle loss while using the treadmill.
Research shows that an aerobic exercise program that exceeds more tan 45-minute sessions per week has a limited effect on improving your aerobic capacity. But if you're still a treadmill fan and you don't want to give it up, it's better if you try walking with a really high incline (I personally use 15%) at a peace that won't allow you to chitchat (I do 3.5 or 4.0) for at least 35 minutes and no more than 45 minutes.
Anyways, for all of you that feel like trying something new or do not count with a lot of time to get in that cardio, here are two options of HIIT that have been working for me:
Workout #1
-Stairmaster 10 minutes
-Jump roping 3 sets x 100
-Bodyweight squats 3 sets x 50 reps
-Jackknives 3 sets x 30 reps
-Back hyperextensions 3 sets 30 reps
-Elliptical or treadmill x 10 minutes to cool down
Workout #2
-Kettlebell swings x 1 minute
-Burpees 3 sets x 10 reps
-Knee tucks on ball 3 sets x 10 reps
-Burpees 3 sets x 10 reps
-Bodyweight lunges 3 sets x 40 reps (20 each leg)
-Push ups 3 sets x 15 reps
-Elliptical or treadmill x 10 minutes to cool down.
Ready, set, go! Sweat mode ON! ;-)
Hope you have a great workout! Me? well, I'm extremely sore due to a double workout yesterday + a killing shoulder workout this morning, but I'm loving it!!
See you tomorrow, friends! And remember to follow me on Instagram: @flor.loda. More stuff is yet to come! ;-)
Big hugs.
Flor.-
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
QUINOA SHOTS, anybody??
I know exactly what you're thinking.. "Quinoa shots? Wait, WHAT?!" Yes, yes, and yes. Today I bring you this recipe that combines Quinoa seeds and shot glasses. But no, it doesn't involve any type of alcohol, unfortunately. Or fortunately, since I'm trying to promote a healthy lifestyle here.
Anyway, the reason why I've decided to try this recipe is because I realized that I have a really strong sweet tooth at night, right after dinner. It won't happen during the day, just at night time. I know I'm not the only person with this "problem" because it is a known fact that one way or another our bodies crave sugar. Either because we're feeling stressed, or undergoing some hormonal process (a.k.a PMS), even when we're anxious, it's the way our bodies have to "treat" themselves. Wright or wrong, it's something that happens and the least thing you want is to munch a snickers bar right before bed, allowing all those glucose molecules to freely travel through your bloodstream to end up stored as fat.
So, I'm on a quest to find relatively healthy (and I say relatively because I haven't found a 100% healthy recipe YET) recipes to calm down my inner sugar-monster without throwing away all the gains and improvements that I've achieved during the day.
This is the first recipe I'm trying and so far...so good. It has the right amount of crunchiness, sweetness and healthiness needed to satisfy my cravings without feeling guilty. It's a little bit high on carbs due to the quinoa (I'm not a big fan of carbs at night but quinoa is gooood) and fats, but HEY they are healthy fats that come from the peanut and hazelnut butter + coconut oil.
To sum it up I would say I rather eat one of this homemade shots/cups made out of healthy stuff rather than any other store bought candy/chocolate. Enough said, let's go to the important part... The recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 cup puffed quinoa (*)
- 1/4 cup peanut butter (I used chunky but you can use creamy)
- 1/4 cup Justin's hazelnut butter (please, PLEASE do not use Nutella, it's LOADED with sugar)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup (optional)
Directions
1. In a medium-sized mixing bowl add the puffed quinoa.
2. In a saucepan add the peanut butter, hazelnut butter, coconut oil, vanilla extract and maple syrup if using. Stir continuously over low heat until everything is melted.
3. Pour the mix over the quinoa and stir until everything is incorporated and you can see the quinoa fully coated.
4. Let cool and then drop heaping tablespoons of the mixture to shot glasses or muffing liners if you prefer.
5. Take them to the freezer for an hour to set. After that, you can store the in the refrigerator.
6. Enjoy!
(*) You can purchase puffed quinoa, but if you prefefr to make your own like I did, simply heat a pot over a medium heat. Oce the pot is hot, pour a small amount of quinoa in the pot and start moving gently so that the quinoa swirls around and it doesn't burn. (It's like making popcorn). The quinoa pops in a very quiet way compared to the corn kernels, so be careful not to overheat them!
Easy, right? Oh and BTW, I used shot glasses just because I didn't have any muffing liners haha, but feel free to do things like normal people would do and pop the mixture onto muffing liners, that's totally fine, although the shot glasses are totally FUN! ;-)
Hope you liked this recipe, you can also follow me on Instagram: @flor.loda for more recipes and fitness stuff!
Have a nice one!
Big hugs,
Flor.-
(recipe adapted from kriscarr.com)
Anyway, the reason why I've decided to try this recipe is because I realized that I have a really strong sweet tooth at night, right after dinner. It won't happen during the day, just at night time. I know I'm not the only person with this "problem" because it is a known fact that one way or another our bodies crave sugar. Either because we're feeling stressed, or undergoing some hormonal process (a.k.a PMS), even when we're anxious, it's the way our bodies have to "treat" themselves. Wright or wrong, it's something that happens and the least thing you want is to munch a snickers bar right before bed, allowing all those glucose molecules to freely travel through your bloodstream to end up stored as fat.
So, I'm on a quest to find relatively healthy (and I say relatively because I haven't found a 100% healthy recipe YET) recipes to calm down my inner sugar-monster without throwing away all the gains and improvements that I've achieved during the day.
This is the first recipe I'm trying and so far...so good. It has the right amount of crunchiness, sweetness and healthiness needed to satisfy my cravings without feeling guilty. It's a little bit high on carbs due to the quinoa (I'm not a big fan of carbs at night but quinoa is gooood) and fats, but HEY they are healthy fats that come from the peanut and hazelnut butter + coconut oil.
To sum it up I would say I rather eat one of this homemade shots/cups made out of healthy stuff rather than any other store bought candy/chocolate. Enough said, let's go to the important part... The recipe!
- 1 cup puffed quinoa (*)
- 1/4 cup peanut butter (I used chunky but you can use creamy)
- 1/4 cup Justin's hazelnut butter (please, PLEASE do not use Nutella, it's LOADED with sugar)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup (optional)
Directions
1. In a medium-sized mixing bowl add the puffed quinoa.
2. In a saucepan add the peanut butter, hazelnut butter, coconut oil, vanilla extract and maple syrup if using. Stir continuously over low heat until everything is melted.
3. Pour the mix over the quinoa and stir until everything is incorporated and you can see the quinoa fully coated.
4. Let cool and then drop heaping tablespoons of the mixture to shot glasses or muffing liners if you prefer.
5. Take them to the freezer for an hour to set. After that, you can store the in the refrigerator.
6. Enjoy!
(*) You can purchase puffed quinoa, but if you prefefr to make your own like I did, simply heat a pot over a medium heat. Oce the pot is hot, pour a small amount of quinoa in the pot and start moving gently so that the quinoa swirls around and it doesn't burn. (It's like making popcorn). The quinoa pops in a very quiet way compared to the corn kernels, so be careful not to overheat them!
Easy, right? Oh and BTW, I used shot glasses just because I didn't have any muffing liners haha, but feel free to do things like normal people would do and pop the mixture onto muffing liners, that's totally fine, although the shot glasses are totally FUN! ;-)
Hope you liked this recipe, you can also follow me on Instagram: @flor.loda for more recipes and fitness stuff!
Have a nice one!
Big hugs,
Flor.-
(recipe adapted from kriscarr.com)
Monday, February 23, 2015
I'm back! (and I know you want some protein pancakes...)
Hey, hey! Do you remember this girl?! Yeah, me neither. It's been ages since my last post and I really don't know what excuse to make. Well.. life has been busy lately, but I don't want to bore you with my personal stuff, I will just tell you two of what we could call "highlights of Flor's existence": a) I got married last September to an amazing man (that I love deeply) and b) I'm not vegetarian anymore. Whoa! I'm sure you weren't expecting that! haha
Anyways, I also don't remember the last time I made protein pancakes (and they actually tasted good) but, to be honest, I went through different websites today and came up with this recipe, which is a mix of all the recipes in the protein world (?). This protein oat-blueberry pancakes taste AMAZINGLY good, they're super filling and don't need ANY type of syrup. Seriously, not even one drop. And no, I DIDN'T use sugar, honey, sweetener, aaaanything! I'm definitely sticking to this recipe at least for a while.
The only downside (to me) is that the main ingredient are rolled oats (duh!). So, "why is that a problem?" you say, and you are right. It's definitely not a problem if you are using this recipe for breakfast, since oats are complex carbohydrates that make your body work hard to digest them keeping you feeling full for a longer period of time. BUT, if you are craving a mid-afternoon snack (just like me, I'm a sucker for snacks!) well, then you might want to try a different recipe unless you are working out at night time or during the evening. Why? Well, like I said before, oats are complex CARBOHYDRATES, they make a really good source of energy that if it's not used (a.k.a if you are not moving for a considerably amount of time) they will store as fat. To sum this up and go right to the recipe I would say; load yourself with oats as early as you can, but don't panic if you went on an oat binge (like I did with the pancakes) on the afternoon. You are not going to be obese because of that. Remember that it's always better to eat healthy carbs than sh***y carbs. And please, PLEASE don't be obsessed with food, just enjoy it and stay healthy.
Now to the important part... the recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 scoop whey protein (I used vanilla)
- 1 whole egg
- 1 egg white
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Frozen Blueberries
Dierctions
1. Place all ingredients on a blender (everything but the blueberries) and blend for 30 seconds.
2. Lightly grease a skillet (I sprayed it with coconut oil) and pour the batter like making regular pancakes.
3. Before flipping the pancakes, sprinkle some blueberries on top.
4. Don't you dare waiting until they cool down, eat them right away! ;-)
Seriously though, I had to tie up my hands (not literally, of course) to avoid eating them right from the skillet. Let me know what you think!!
Alrighty folks, that's all for today, I hope you like the recipe and see you tomorrow!
Big hugs, joy and happiness to y'all!
Flor.-
Anyways, I also don't remember the last time I made protein pancakes (and they actually tasted good) but, to be honest, I went through different websites today and came up with this recipe, which is a mix of all the recipes in the protein world (?). This protein oat-blueberry pancakes taste AMAZINGLY good, they're super filling and don't need ANY type of syrup. Seriously, not even one drop. And no, I DIDN'T use sugar, honey, sweetener, aaaanything! I'm definitely sticking to this recipe at least for a while.
The only downside (to me) is that the main ingredient are rolled oats (duh!). So, "why is that a problem?" you say, and you are right. It's definitely not a problem if you are using this recipe for breakfast, since oats are complex carbohydrates that make your body work hard to digest them keeping you feeling full for a longer period of time. BUT, if you are craving a mid-afternoon snack (just like me, I'm a sucker for snacks!) well, then you might want to try a different recipe unless you are working out at night time or during the evening. Why? Well, like I said before, oats are complex CARBOHYDRATES, they make a really good source of energy that if it's not used (a.k.a if you are not moving for a considerably amount of time) they will store as fat. To sum this up and go right to the recipe I would say; load yourself with oats as early as you can, but don't panic if you went on an oat binge (like I did with the pancakes) on the afternoon. You are not going to be obese because of that. Remember that it's always better to eat healthy carbs than sh***y carbs. And please, PLEASE don't be obsessed with food, just enjoy it and stay healthy.
Now to the important part... the recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 scoop whey protein (I used vanilla)
- 1 whole egg
- 1 egg white
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Frozen Blueberries
Dierctions
1. Place all ingredients on a blender (everything but the blueberries) and blend for 30 seconds.
2. Lightly grease a skillet (I sprayed it with coconut oil) and pour the batter like making regular pancakes.
3. Before flipping the pancakes, sprinkle some blueberries on top.
4. Don't you dare waiting until they cool down, eat them right away! ;-)
Seriously though, I had to tie up my hands (not literally, of course) to avoid eating them right from the skillet. Let me know what you think!!
Alrighty folks, that's all for today, I hope you like the recipe and see you tomorrow!
Big hugs, joy and happiness to y'all!
Flor.-
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)