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With previous Faceboook post probably you have noticed that I was forced to try gluten and lactose free diet. 


For couple of weeks (or even months) I've been feeling bad. Always bloated, with water retention, with huge problems with indigestion. For a person who works in fitness industry (but as well as for any other person!) this was a nightmare. Imagine coming on a class and your instructor have a belly like a 3 month pregnant woman! ;)

I started to look for some reason of that and accidentaly saw that at Stratford they make allergic tests. I took one of them and the results were obvious: highly intolerance for wheat gluten, intolerance for dairy (milk, yoghurt, cheese), yeast, leek, onion and chive. 
The only think to do for now is just to try avoid those products.

my test's results

But what is exactly a problem with intolerance of gluten and lactose? 

  
Gluten is a protein from wheat, rye and barley. 
Some people tolerate it good, some can't have anyting with gluten (one who suffers from celiac disease) and others have gluten sensivity. I am in the third group. 

If you experience bloating, pain in your joints and bones, 'chicken skin' in the back of your arms, dizzines, chronic fatique, you might suffer from the same condition as I. 

With dairy intolerance is even eeasie to explain. Most of the people has very little lactaze enzym which digest lactose, sugar from milk. But there is group of people who tolerate it even worse than others and  after consuming milk products they get bloated, sometimes diorrhoea, winds and stomach pains.


Luckily nowadays we have lots of gluten and diary free products. Not mentioning all the natural ones like vegetables, fruits, meat and fishes. However, I love yoghurts and kefir and there were always the best snack for me, so I will have to look for some other snacking choices..

even with gluten and lactose intolerance, you can still eat lots of food, just be creative!

If you also can't consume gluten (in my case only from wheat) and diary, you can still have:
* gluten free oats
* pure whey protein with little carbs in it (the less carbs - the less lactose in it)
* rice
* lentils 
* groats
* coconut, hazelnut, almond milk
* vegetables
* fruits
* starchy vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes and so on
* eggs 
* soups (watch out for ready ones, they are often with flour)
* pastries from sesame, oats, rye or buckwheat flour
* nuts and peanut butters
* rice and corn cakes 

story of my life! cottage cheese I miss you!

Stay away from:
* bread, rolls
* yoghurts, creams
* souces
* cheeses
* tortillas
* crispbread
* cookies, muffins and pastries
* beer (contain gluten!)
* pastas 
* supplements like gainers (they have lots of carbs, with lactose included)

now we can find a big range of gluten and lactose free products! ufff!

Kale chips

crispy, salty, healthy snack

Want some salty and spicy snack? Try super easy and healthy kale chips.

Kale is green veggie full of iron, with characteristic curly leaves. It contains lots of iron, beta caroten, vitamin K and C. In 100g it has only 28 kcal.

How to prepare chips from kale?

Wash and dry kale leaves and tear them into medium size pieces (I used packed, already washed kale).

Warm up oven til 200 degrees.

put kale on baking paper, spray a little oil on it and season

Put kale on a baking pan and spray oil on it, then season with salt and pepper (or chili).

bake for 30-40 minutes in 200 degrees

Bake for about 30 minutes until kale is crispy. 

done :)

Enjoy! :)

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?

Norwegian Easter

As far as I observed, Norwegian are all about celebrating and getting into right celebration mood. 
I think it is very good to celebrate tiny little things, to make your life more colourful - Norwegians obviously know that too!

Easter goodies - lots of chocolate and marzipan

Shops were filled with Easter goods for about two month ago. 
Easter treats, Easter eggs, yellow flowers - everything which is yellow, with bunny or egg has its priority place in the shop shelves.

So how Norwegians celebrate Easter (norw. påske)? Few things catches my attention:

present boxes in shape of eggs

• presents (most of the times candies) are packed in egg-shaped packages

• it is a time of cross country skiing and having mountain trip

  

  'typisk norsk' tour kit

• trips to country houses are the standard 

•  Kvikk Lunsj (chocolate waffle) and oranges are THE MUST on that trips

• it is more about celebrating outside than inside

påske krim - also on to-do list during Easter

•  at least one criminal novel has to be read during Easter time 

For me Norwegians are spending their Easter in a very active way which is one we should learn from them! :)

 

 

 

Protein pancakes!

I served pancakes with fruit, but yoghurt/creamy vanilla cheese/cottage cheese also would be perfect

I have already presented a recipe for protein pancakes, but this time I prepared them in a slight different way. I used spices which gives pancakes aromatic pre-winter taste and make my home smelling of cinnamon and nutmeg.

For 6 pancakes I used:

* half a cup og whole grain flout
* 1 big spoon of soya flour

whole grain flour, soya flourt and light coconut milk

I used MyoProtein MoccaChocolate flavour protein powder

* half a cup of protein powder (not neccesary, you can use flour instead of that)
* 1 big spoon of sukrin (sweetener)
* 1 white egg
* a cup of light coconut milk (you can use normal milk instead, but coconut milk is thicker)
* half a cup of milk
* pinch of salt

Sweetener, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla

* cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg for taste

First I mixed all dry ingredients, than I add egg white and a cup of coconut milk. I added milk/water just to have a proper consistency.

I fry each pancacke for 2-3 minutes on each side. 

Ready to eat :)

There are busy days waiting for me, so such a quick snack like this pancakes will be excellent! I can take it with mu lunchbox everywhere :)

Homemade crispy low-carb bread

I would like to share with us a great an easy recipe for homemade crispy low carb bread. 

Ok, there are many crispbreads in the shop so why even bother of doing yourself?
* this one is really low in carb
* you know what you put in there and you can customise it
* it is so easy to prepare that you will not even feel that you were about to baking

Ingredients which I used wheat and oats brans, 2 egg whites, linseeds, soy flour (and pumpking and sunflower seeds which are not in the picture)

If you are just little into healthy cooking, you will have most of the ingredients at home. 
You will need:
* different kind of brans, I used 1 cup of wheat and half a cup of oat brans
* half a cup of linseeds
* half a cup of pumpkin and sunflower seeds (or any other seeds or nuts)
* half a cup of soy flour (or whole grain flour, rice flour, nuts flour)
* 2 egg whites
* pinch of salt
* water (depends of consistency of dough)

Step 1: mix all dry ingredients

First I mix all dry ingredients together. Don't forget about salt!
Then add 2 egg whites and mix all again.

Step 2: add water and 2 egg whites and mixed dough again

Dough have to easy to form, so add as much water as needed (about half a cup or little more). Mix ingredients again.

Step 3: use spoon to redistribute thin layer of dough on the oven plate

Redistribute dough on an ovens plate (I put it on baking paper). Water in dough should prevent dought sticking to the baking paper. 
Try to redistribute dough as thin as you can, use all ovens plate space. Put it to warm oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes in 200 grades (if it's too much, after 15 minutes turn it to 150 degrees).

Tip! After 15 minutes of baking, take plate from the oven and cut though into pieces, just before it gets hard - it will be easier for you to divide your crispbread

And finally - enjoy your homemade low carb bread snack! :)

Rich in fibre, low in carbs - perfect snack! :)

But be careful!

Even if this is a low carb snack, it doesn't mean that you have to splurge yourself with unlimited amounts.
It contains calories! They mainly comes from protein and fats which are in this snack, so be careful. 
What is more, it is really rich in fibre - you don't want to overdose it, believe me ;))

My serving proposition :)

Crispy Halloween snack!

Roasted pumpkin's seeds

Remember the Halloween pumpkin I made on Sunday? 

Double pleasure from making haloween pumpking - great decoration and healthy snack from leftovers ;)

From leftovers of pumpkin's inside I made simple easy crunchy snack! I know that Halloween is all about candies, chocolate and other sweet stuff, but I want to present some heathier alternative ;)

I selected pumpkin seeds from other leftovers. 

I dried seeds on a normal paper, didn't have baking paper at home

Rinsed it with water and let for the night to dry.
 

150 degrees and approximately 40 minutes in the oven - that is the time and temperature which your seeds will need to be crispy and tasteful

Next day I put seeds in the oven for about 40 minutes. From time to time I shaked seeds. 

Pumpkin seeds are rich zinc and lecitine

And that's all! What I get was a crispy snack, perfect for Halloween movie night!  
All natural and full in vitamins! :)

Myo Pack

Today's pack: Muscle Brownie, MyoProtein Mocca Chocolate and Chunk of Protein Bar

Happy delivery today!
After little protein powder crisis, I restored my supplies ;) 

3 kg og MyoProtein Mocca Chocolate

This time I ordered 3kg of MyoProtein instead of those small containers which I ordered before. 

With pack there also came 2 different types od protein bars. 
Muscle Brownie (such a marketing name!) and Chunk of Protein. 

Both are rich in protein, but also in calories. For me only half a portion would be suitable for some snack ;)

Nutrition value of Chunk of Protein. Far to much for such a small girl for me, but a half of that would be ok ;)