change – Erika Helsinki Body Therapy

Foodswaps 1: Courgette Bolognese

Welcome to Foodswaps, where we present everyday favourites with a healthy twist, which are cheap and easy to cook.

The ingredient of the week is courgette (zucchini). Courgettes are very low on calories (only 27 kcal/100g), are filling and contain Vitamin A, which is important for growth and development, for the maintenance of the immune system and good vision!

Try our Courgette Bolognese - courgette gives richness to the sauce and you will need less pasta to fill up.

Sounds delicious! And you can use this sauce in a variety of forms! Serve it with:

Pasta of your choice! Cook a handful according to the instructions on the packet.
Mix the sauce and the pasta, put in an ovenproof dish, put some fresh mozzarella cubes on top, bake it until the mozzarella turns golden brown, and there is your pasta bake.
Believe it or not, this sauce is also excellent with rice.
This sauce also makes a beautiful jacket potato filling - try sweet potatoes: tasty, healthy and exciting!
If you have any left over (but why would you? :)) you can make a Subway-style sandwich from it. Carve out the fluffy inside of the baguette or bread bun of your choice and fill it with your sauce and grill it!

A portion of this sauce is only 276 kcal and contains 35g protein, and will only cost you about £2.50.

EH&EH

The No. 1 reason for weight loss failure

erika

Ever lost weight quickly? It's OK if you've been

a) really ill or
b) been on a proper binge -> your body is bloated due to excess fluids -> you're losing the excess fluids fast.

Any other occasion (like a fad diet)? This is where it gets scary - because it will never work in the long term.

If you lose a lot of weight initially, you must ensure your lifestyle habits are radically changed directly following the rapid initial weight loss.

See, that's what it is - weight loss - not fat loss. And there's a massive difference.

Rapid weight loss 95% of the time results in you ending up heavier than you ever were before. And this is due to the muscle mass lost in the progress (meaning slower metabolism). Anyone saying you can lose a lot of fat and not muscle tissue in a short space of time is bullshitting you. This is a scientific fact.

There was a woman who came to me at the gym the other day asking about personal training and bragging that she can lose up to a stone in a week, easy (my reaction certainly wasn't WOW). I then asked if she's prepared to change her eating and drinking habits for good with a bit of help, and the answer was negative (all the regular excused; "I can't [you can] because my social life depends on getting drunk twice a week"/"I don't have time to cook [yes you do]"/"I can't cook [yes you can]"/"I don't like cooking or preparing meals [that's just being lazy and a big part of the problem]"/"My husband eats takeaways every night so I must as well [no you don't/how about the healthier options and smaller portions?]"/"I have to eat chocolate and cake every night" [unnecessary emotional eating] and other invalid reasons).

It was desperately obvious she wasn't ready for a real change - and consequently because of that I wasn't interested in training her as a private client. It's also obvious she'll continue yo-yo dieting = getting bigger every year. I truly hope she doesn't keep going like that forever, because it is frustrating seeing people voluntarily (yes, voluntarily) suffer with their weight.

There's one important message everyone seeking a positive long term change in their body composition must internalise:

Personal training doesn't give you motivation. You must have it first. Don't even think about radically changing your body composition for good if

1) you can't see beyond tomorrow (unless you're seriously ill or significantly change your everyday activity levels) or

2) are not ready to change.

Personal training can "only" give you the tools to change your life. For good. But you must want it first.

P.s. I do personal training differently from many others - I sell results, not exercise sessions. Not all PTs will provide you with anything but exercise - and that's fine - but not my cup of tea :-)

/Erika Helsinki

Client story: Jane lost over 25 kg!

erika

Borderline obese to 16% body fat... WOW.

Jane has been such an inspiring client to train - always willing to try hard and learn new things. Her transformation has been astounding.

I asked her to write up a testimonial in her own words. Here's what she came up with:

How much do you have to lose?

Think about it. Will you ever achieve your goal weight? Because tell you what..... You can.

The only thing stopping you is yourself.

Confession

erika

During the first year of university I gained a considerable amount of weight.

I hated my body for the first time ever.

It brought me really down. The weight just “somehow” piled on over the year…

All the parties, socialisation, shitty food, drinking pretty much every day of the week….

Somehow I still got the grades I wanted but

I felt empty.

That body didn’t belong to me.

I was tired, bloated, happy on the outside and very sad on the inside. I’d lost my confidence, individuality, my spark.

In that mindset, after a full year of shitty lifestyle someone said to me something I’d never heard before… They called me fat.

I was so hurt

But……………………………

I had to take responsibility.

I’d done it all to myself.

I’d completely abused my body for a full year… And gained 7kg.

I never want to feel like that again.

Ever.

/Erika