...And an inspiring response from Rachel's friend:
Rachel K.’s thank you card & fat loss results
Foodswaps 3: Turkey-avocado burger
I have discovered the wonderful world of burgers, which are neither fast-food junk or gourmet, but dripping of grease!
This low-fat turkey burger is a great weekend dinner: 498 kcal and 34.5g protein (but a lot depends on the ingredients you choose).
Ingredients:
- 100g turkey steak
- 1/4 of an avocado
- 1 gem lettuce
- 1 tomato
- 1 tsp houmous
- herbs and spices of your taste
- 1 ciabatta roll
Preparation
- Dry rub the turkey steak with your chosen herbs and spices (I like garlic salt, pepper, oregano and some chilli)
- Grill it (I usually use a griddle pan)
- Wash the gem lettuce and separate to leaves and slice the tomato
- Toast your bun, spread with houmous
- Assemble your burger: bun, lettuce leaves, tomatoes, turkey, avocado, bun
- Make a Chef's salad from the lettuce and tomatoes (adding some spring onions and cucumber?) you could not fit into the burger
- Always feel free to add more vegetables (maybe some cheeky mozzarella too ;))
Enjoy :)
EH&EH
Foodswaps 2: A different meatball soup!
I like soups unless they are thick, heavy and creamy - in my opinion, those are sauces!
This quick and easy meatball soup recipe will blow your mind: it's simple, healthy and unbelievably filling.
Only 245 kcal per portion packed with 28g of protein.
Ingredients (serves 2):
- 200g lean beef mince
- 1 egg
- 20g of flour of your choice
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 200g frozen vegetable mix (cauliflowers, carrots and peas)
- 1 whole onion with the skin on
- 2 celery sticks, whole
- 2 vegetable stock cubes
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 l water
Preparation:
- Put the water in a saucepan on the hob to boil it
- Mix the mince, egg, flour, garlic and some salt thoroughly, and form walnut-sized balls - the mixture will be enough for about 16 meatballs
- Put the meatballs in boiling water. They are cooked when they float to the top.
- Once the meatballs are cooked, add all the vegetables, spices and the stock cubes
- Bring it to the boil, reduce the heat, cover it, and cook for 30 minutes
- Serve it hot, maybe with some thin noodles
Tips:
- Do not chop the onion - it is only needed for its taste, and it is easier to remove as a whole
- When the meatballs cook there might be some foam floating on top of the water. It is only some cooked meat-juice. You can remove it with a very small strainer if you wish.
- You can add other vegetables too. The variety of vegetables will make your soup taste even better!
- This amount will make 2 very generous, or 3 normal portions.
- It becomes even more tasty if you warm the leftover up the next day, however, it is not suitable for freezing.
Enjoy!
EH&EH
Juicing diets will make you lose… your hair!
Fit as Hel would like to raise awareness of the dangers of the very popular juicing diets. This post series will make you think twice before starting a juicing fast - and will also make you to avoid them for good!
Juicing diets claim to be healthy, because you include more fruit and veg in your diet and thus you increase your vitamin intake as well.
This is a big fat lie.
Consuming nothing else but fruit and veg juices will cause over-consumption of certain vitamins and completely missing out others, such vitamin D, which is important for healthy skin, nails and hair.
Faded and broken hair.
But this is not the end:
If you do not get the nutrition your body needs, it will stop processes which are not essential for life, like hair production!
Could this get any worse?
Yes.
This will not happen straight away. It will take you weeks, maybe months to notice it.
You will not even think about blaming your juice diet, because you will have long forgotten about it.
Love your hair - give it the vitamins it needs from natural resources, such as: fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines), egg yolks, liver etc. and most importantly: sunshine!
#100daysfitashel challenge – JOIN IN!
You know all about the #100happydays challenge, right? Now it's time to spread the word for the fitter lifestyle!
Join us in this picture challenge any time you want - and post a picture in social media that contributes to better wellbeing every day for the next 100 days. Everyone can make a healthy choice every day - this can be to do with your nutrition, activity, training or even rest. Show us what you're made of -- let's spread the Fit as Hel lifestyle -- it's all the little things that contribute to the biggest success!
The #100daysfitashel challenge can be a great motivational tool both to you and your friends :-)
Your posts should include
a photograph with any caption and hashtags #100daysfitashel and #day[number]
Nominate any friends to take part as well!
To healthier living,
Your fitness coach Erika Helsinki
MUST SHARE: Jeannie’s before/after pictures
What a complete transformation! From a shy girl to a confident fitness chick with Erika Helsinki --- WOW!! Is this even the same person?? (In many ways, no!)
Jeannie around 86kg -->
Jeannie now 69kg
Ebook: 3 simple steps to weight loss (lose up to a stone in 4 weeks!!)
Download the new controversial FREEEEE mini ebook by Erika Helsinki NOW if you're serious about getting fit for the summer (it's NOT a 'diet')! Click on the button on the right of the page to get instant access ----------->
WARNING: Not for the light hearted (swearing included)!
Enjoy :-)
/The Fit as Hel team
The No. 1 reason for weight loss failure
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
My personal fitness & lifestyle blog
I know many of you have wanted to follow my personal training blog and some have managed to follow one that I no longer update.
Here's the correct blog to follow - erikahelsinki.wordpress.com
I've told all my 1-to-1 clients recently to start up a blog on WordPress -- please let me know your URL even if you're not a private client and I'll follow you! It's a great idea to keep a blog on your fitness progress as it allows you to regularly reflect on your actions and choices.
I'll be publishing Blogfitters' blogs soon too so you can all read them!!
For now, join our Facebook community here and good luck on reaching your fitness goals!
/Erika
Gym goer: Make this important decision
I was training at the gym last night. When I train on my own I get 'in the zone' and block out the world by listening to high energy music. I avoid eye contact and fully focus on the workout - usually lasting just 15-20 minutes.
It's now January. The gym is suddenly full of people with great weight loss and fitness goals. I have nothing but huge appreciation and respect particularly for the highly overweight people who have decided to do something about getting towards a healthier weight by improving their fitness. It is sometimes hard to be in an environment where it's very easy to feel self-conscious.
There are, however, two problems here.
1) I was distracted numerous times last night by seeing people do exercises with VERY poor form. This makes me sad as it can result in serious problems -- e.g. imbalances, injuries, back pain and problems with your joints. The adverse effects can be long term and you really don't want to go there.
2) Just being at the gym doesn't mean you're getting a good workout. So many people waste tremendous amounts of time hopping from one cardio machine to another, when they could get far better results 10 times faster (long term cardio actually encourages your body to store fat around your middle section).
If I'm not occupied I'll always do my best to interfere - correct people's technique and give them tips for better (more effective) workouts. You may understand though that it's not always easy - you can't just go to someone and say "you don't seem to have a clue about what you're doing and your form is shit."
Do yourself a favour and hire a reputable personal trainer who can teach you to work out safely and effectively (and help you with better lifestyle + nutrition). It’s an investment in yourself – your health is invaluable and you might as well get results while you’re at the gym. Nothing tastes as good as feeling fit feels. Clients actually often SAVE more money in the supermarket after hiring a PT than what it costs to hire one – a win-win situation!
Well done to those who’ve made the decision to get fitter this year – stick with it! This is also easier with a PT who’s keeping you accountable :-).
Questions? Ask.
Take care of yourselves.
/Erika xx
