Busy days diet survival

As I started my work at LA Fitness West India Quay, my days become extremely busy. 

I was having my old good rotuine once in Norway, but these days are no longer here! 
In London everything is busier and more intense.

I quckly found that with no proper preparation adn dedication, I could become easly lost in that London's rush, eating crap and miss trainings.

Here are 6 easy to follow tips which are helping me to stay on track, maybe you can incorporate them to your life as well :)

1) plan your food and trainings ahead

use 5 minutes from your day to plan ahead and spare another 60 minutes during the day for either running in order to find some food store/restaurant or collecting your training clothes in a rush

2) scheldue your training as a first thing on your today to-do list

if you don't do your training first thing in the morning, belive me, you will din't thousands of excsuses to pospone it during the busy day, you won't have energy to do it at the end of your day either
to lazy to woke up in the morning? believe me, good sweat in the morning, will work better tan 2 cups of coffee

3) have a healthy snack with you

I like to have mini barbel light cheese with me and some sugar snap peas, portion of whey protein works good too, as well as an apple. 

I try to be careful with protein bars, because they are still a treat, not a meal (they are processed and high in carbs, so they are just healthier version of normal chocolate bars).

4) take only these food which are prepared for that day only

If you already bought yourself a pack of nuts - good for you! 
But don't take all pack with you, because you will eat all of eat and you will never notice when! so devide everything into portions and just don't let yourself get into a quantity trap (you can eat 'good' foods and gain weight as well!)






5) don't follow the other peoples diet/eating routines

even if people in your office eats lots of fast food, or your company delivers it to you for free, it doesn't mean that you have to use each opportunity for eating free food only because it is for free!

different people have different goals, do not compare yourself with the others - you don't know what they eat before and after work. 
If a huge guy will eat 2 slices of pizza and stay lean does not mean that you will stay after eating one. 
Have your lunchboxes with you and eventuality take your free food home with you or customize the content of it that it would suits your macros (take croutons out from salad, have a dressing on a side and so on)







6) eat when scheduled and determine hunger from cravings

 
take a minute to see the rule of your eating at work - do you eat when stressed? or differently, you don't eat anything during the day and splurge in the evening? 

If you answer is 'yes' for one of this question, it means that you have to work on your habits.

 If you are an emotional eater, try to find something which you could do intead of eating when stressed. Maybe drink a tea or have a 5 minutes out from office just to breath a fresh air? If you still in a need of eating sth, give yourself 20 minutes. If it lasts after 20 minutes, maybe you are just hungry. So eat. But ask yourself a question "would you eat 0,5kg of broccoli right now?" If yes, that means that you are hungry, if no, it is most probably craving. 


If you eat nothing during the day and almost can't go our from kitchen in the evenings, that means that you don't eat enough during the day.

 Although not always eating many small meals if good for everyone (research shows that for good fat burn it is more about macros, not frequency), but think about sipping some meal replacement/whey protein shake during the day to keep your hunger over control later in the evening.

Is one of problems mentioned above describes you as well? What is your problem then?

Turkey meatloaf

turkey meatloaf

Today I needed a quick and super simple lunch before my next interview. This recipe came out low carb, which only makes it even more great!

For 4 portions you will need:

*400g of minced low fat turkey meat (mine had 3%fat)

* 1 egg

* 1 spoon of psyllium husk

* spices (salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, onion)

* chopped paprika

* bread crumbles (optional)

mix all ingredients together and put them into baking pan on a baking paper

cover meat with thin layer of bread crumbles

Bake in the oven for 50 minutes in 220 degrees. After 40 minutes take the meat from the pan and bake it reversed for the last 10 minutes.

enjoy alone or with new potatoes

macros (2 slices): 120kcal, 2,7g fat, 1g carbs, 33g protein

Food heaven - Whole Foods

Yesterday's forenoon I spent at Whole Foods Kensington, the biggest organic shop in London.

organic fruits and vegetables - so many different ones!

It has 3 floors full of funcy food, organic, natural, with no sugar.. and so on. A heaven for somebody like me :)

spiecies and lentils section

special chilled room with different types of cheeses

Whole Foods has also great salad section where you can compose your own dish and eat it upstaris. 

happy me and happy belly with yummy food

I had beef and vegetables for lunch, this beef was really tasty!

my shopping listed above

My basket:
* sprouted wheat bread
* rye and oat soft tortillas
* linnseed (flaxseed)
* pumpkin puree (great for baking, flour replacement)
* pear and apple puree
* no fat natural cottage cheese
* sprouts
* no fat Greek yoghurt
* wheat bran

Post workout tuna wrap

My today's recipe was inspired by video above which my friends recommend me (thanks Ania&Dan!!). On video you can find Rob Riches, English bodybuilder and fitness model. He has really good meal ideas, so take a time and check this guy out if you're interested in healthy cooking :)

For my version of tuna wrap I used (6 wraps):
* 6 spelt soft tortillas (Norwegian spelt lomper)
* 2 cans of tuna in water
* 2 spoons of light mayo
* salt, pepper, other spices of choice
* canned pineapple 
* optional cheese (I won't use it in my wrap, only in my men's wrap)

main source of protein in this meal - canned tuna (in water)

Preparation:
Pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees (or use grill, like in the video - unless you have one)
Prepare tuna: take it from can, spice and add 2 spoons of mayo. Mix it to get a paste consistency.
Put tuna paste on tortillas, add few particles of pineapple. 
Roll tortillas and put them into oven for 10 minutes.

if you have bigger calories consumption per day than me, you can add cheese as well

Why it is best for post workout? 
Because this recipe is both rich in carbs and protein. Carbs are from two sources - pineapple (quick carbs) and from spelt lompers (low digested carbs from spelt). Perfect combination for your muscles after hard workout. You get also lean source of protein from tuna.
Other thing is that it is very easy to prepare. So you won't use much time once you're after workout and want to grab something to eat.

Nutrition fact for 2 wraps:
Calories: 219 kcal
Protein: 17,4g
Carbohydrates: 27g
Fat: 3,6g


It seems not much like for post workout meal, but I had my protein shake and 2 rice cakes right after gym too :)

Chicke'n roll

Today's lunch/dinner suggestion is chicken roll with spinach filling. 
It looks fancy, but in fact it is very easy to prepare!

For 3 portions (approximately 150g each) you will need:
* 400g ground chicken meat (mine had 7,8% fat - generally the less fat the better)
* 200g of spinach (I used frozen one)
* 1 egg or egg white
* psyllium husk
* spices (salt, garlic, onion, paprika and so on).

Preparation: 
Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees. Prepare meat first. Mix it with egg/egg white (if you sparing calories) and spices. Add 1 tbsp of psyllium husk which will make meat more sticky.

Pre-cook spinach. I added only little salt and garlic to a pan with de-frozen spinach.

On a baking pan spread a meat over baking paper. Form rectangle. In the middle of it, put a line of spinach.
Take a one side of baking paper and put it on the opposite one, that two sides of rectangle will split with each other. Roll a little and delicate take the paper from the top of your roulade.

Roast for 30 minutes in 200 degrees. 

Nutrition value for 1 portion (150g):
225 kcal
28,5 g protein
11,9g fat 
2,6 carbohydrates

Enjoy!

Hardangervidda/Flåm/Jotunheimen trip

As I promised, I am coming back with little update about my recent weekend trip.

As 17th of May is Norwegian national day and it is free, as well as 20th of May, we had all 4 days for ourselves! :)

the beginning of Hardangervidda - national tourist road

We started our trip from passing Hardangervidda - mountain plateau, which - on this time of the year - is still covered in snow and ice. 

Hardangervidda in the mid of may ;)

 Hardangervidda is an extraordinary place, which will be ever more special for me now <3

Stalheim hotel and mountains around it. Photo from visitnorway.com

Stalheim hotel was another destination on our trip. The view from hotels terrace is amazing, as well as the route down (Stelheimskleiva) - the steepest route in Europe!

view from Stalheim's hotel

grill on our way to next trip destination

 

marinated chicken was on the menu ;)

grilled chicken sandwich

Next 2 days we spend in wonderful small city Flåm, which is a Norway in a nutshell for me. 

 

Flåm in the evening

It has fiord, beautiful and high mountains around, little wooden houses and many mountain pathways for hiking, cycling and skiing. 

Up in the mountains with the view on Nærfiord

 We managed to take a proper mountain trip which took us few hours and was approximately 10km long. And found local brewery very welcoming the same evening :) 
We felt so good in Flåm and the weather was so amazing that we had to force ourselves to leave this hospitable place... :)

beautiful view from Stegastein

 Aurland's viewpoint (Stegastein) was the next on our tour. The weather was perfect for climbing up in the hills (with car this time) and admire Nærfiord from above.

grilled salmon - yummy!

grilled salmon menu :)

mighty Jotunheimen Mountains

Last, but not least, we crossed Jotunheimen - the highest mountain range in Norway. This was spectacular! But, I have to admit, very scary at the same time! We were there almost alone and the scope of mountains was even overwhelming! On passing mountain shelters, we met professional Alpinists who were discovering Jotunheimen Mountains by foot (and skies).

waterfall in Jotunheimen mountains

Despite it were only 4 days, I totally relaxed, charged my batteries and had a wonderful, and very emotional :), time. It was all about relax, chill, love, celebration and splurging! Like a proper vacations should be :)

first ice creams this year ;)

"Nordic's kitchen" ;)

Busy day, quick lunch

 

super tasty salmon sandwich served with steamed vegetables

Today I work double shift - first in the reception and as an instructor in the evening. I need energy and some quick lunch. 
I made myself a quick&tasty salmon sandwich. I used salmon which I prepared on Sunday (just baked in the oven and put to the lunchbox and then to the fridge).

For one sandwich you will need:
* 2 slices of low carb bread (or whole wheat bread)
* 50g of salmon (I used baked filled, but smoked salmon will be good too)
* 1 slice of 10% fat cheese
* broccoli and fresh spinach

I chopped salmon and put it between two bread slices, together with few broccoli tops. In few minutes I got tasty and nutritious lunch. I putted also no sugar ketchup on the top.


Nutrition value for one sandwich:
298 kcal, 25,5g protein, 15,5g fat, 11,2g carbs,

Egg burger with fries

Egg burger is a great idea for brunch or one of your small meals during the day.

I made a toast, and fry 1 egg and 2 egg whites in a small round pan. I put omelette on tast with ham and fresh spinach.
For fries I chopped kohlrabi (norw. kålrabi, pol. kalarepa), put it for 20-30 minutes in the oven and baked. Spiced with paprika, salt and chilli.

Enjoy your day! :)