transformation – Erika Helsinki Body Therapy

BEST PROTEIN SOURCES for meat eaters and vegetarians

Protein helps you stay fuller for longer - it is the macronutrient with the highest satiety factor (over carbohydrates or fats). Protein also, very importantly, helps build and maintain lean muscle mass in your body, which is super important in keeping your metabolism high throughout your life, and helps in building and maintaining a lean body that burns fat effectively.

To oversimplify, if you are currently inactive, make sure you get an absolute minimum of one gram of protein per every kilogram of bodyweight, every day. So if you weigh 80 kg, you should aim to get at least 80 grams of protein daily. You can track your protein intake easily with an app like MyFitnessPal (by going to the nutrition section in your food diary).

Here's a simple list of the best protein sources:

Poultry (chicken, turkey...)
Red meat (beef, pork, lamb...)
Seafood (tuna, salmon, mackerel, prawns, scallops...)
Eggs
Dairy (yoghurt, cottage cheese, fromage frais, milk, cheese...)
Whey protein powder (not necessary, but great if you struggle to get enough protein in)

And if you're a vegetarian, here are the best foods to help with your daily protein intake:

Beans (kidney, chickpeas/hummus, haricot...)
Legumes (lentils, peas, peanut butter...)
Nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews...)
Seeds (sunflower, flax, pumpkin, hemp...)
Milk alternatives (almond/cashew/hazelnut/soya/rice drinks etc. ...)
Soy/tofu
Whole grains (brown rice, quinoa, oats, bread...)
Veggies (peas, broccoli, spinach, kale etc. ...)
Protein powder (hemp protein/pea protein/rice protein etc. ...)

For optimal health and best results from any training you do, try to include a source of protein with every meal you have.

Good luck, and make sure to join The 10 Minute Body team on Facebook where you can ask nutrition and exercise related questions.

/Erika

5 tips for a healthier life

erika

Hiya,

I just sat down to wait for dinner to cook and decided to write this

I totally live by 'the 10 minute body' stuff as I can't be bothered to waste my time in the kitchen (despite the fact that I love cooking) or doing 2-hour-long workouts

So I've just done a 10 minute prep, it's my first time ever making MAKARONILAATIKKO in the oven, which is a Finnish dish that nearly everyone loves.

Directly translated it's macaroni casserole, and I filmed making it so you can see how to make it yourself on my YouTube channel later (you'll get a notification when I've uploaded it if you've subscribed... Unless I have majestically fucked it up and it turns out shit :D)

Today I wanted to remind you of 5 things that I know majorly helps you be healthier... Check 'em out and make sure to incorporate them into your lifestyle before this summer.

[Make sure to also start the summer challenge {if you haven't yet} to give you a bit more structure with food and at-home exercise]

1. Drink a lot of water. 2 litres a day is your absolute minimum.
2. Increase your NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis). This is ANY activity throughout the day that's not classed as exercise. What can you do to be a little bit more active tomorrow? Make sure to at least feel your core muscles activate when you're sitting down and standing up.
3. Focus on positive things, and stop negative self-talk. I hate fad dieting with a passion, because they destroy people's self esteems and just make most fatter in the long run. Stop punishing yourself and denying the foods you love eating. Doing it the freedom diet way makes eating anything possible, you just have to be within your personal calorie limits. Listen to this inspiring TED talk I also shared on Facebook.
4. Eat many different (natural) colours. Mixing different coloured veg in your diet makes your body get more vitamins and minerals. Ditch the vitamin tablets, get your nutrition from real food.
5. Make sure you know what it feels like to be hungry. I've spoken to so many overweight people who don't remember the last time they were hungry. Just plan your meals ahead of time so you know what you're having when you get hungry to avoid resorting to junk you don't need. Listening to your body is a key factor in learning what makes you feel good. Eat when you're hungry, stop when you're satisfied. There's an increasing amount of scientific evidence to suggest that letting yourself get hungry results in improvements in blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and also in better insulin sensitivity.

My food's nearly ready..... I'm excited to see if it's anything like the stuff I used to love at school!

Take action to be healthier TODAY.

Talk soon,
Erika

Client transformation: Jeannie’s journey

erika

Jeannie's initial 6 week transformation in 2012

+ significant improvement in her posture

Jeannie recently won a competition with the Fit as Hel online membership --> now she's taking part in the Fit as Hel BLOGfIT Project free of charge.
[BLOGfIT Project = following a personalised nutrition & training plan and blogging about the journey for 4 weeks]

Click here to read her blog!

She's already been an inspirational private client of mine for over a year. Biggest achievements for her have been

- Losing 2 stone
- Increased confidence
- Better flexibility
- Improved posture
- Strength
- Much more lean muscle and
- Learning how to squat (this used to be impossible)!!

Jeannie is one of the most loyal clients I've ever had. She is super competitive (you'll notice this if you ever get to work alongside her!) and is a great asset to EHPT + Fit as Hel. Jeannie has been involved with pretty much every project we have ever ran --

- 1-to-1 PT (2012 -->)
- HIIT Bootcamp (2012-2013)
- 4 week Body Transformation Challenge early 2013
- Fit as Hel online membership (2013 -->)
- BLOGfIT Project trial (running now)

Not just that, I love how active she is in the community -- always commenting and encouraging others to do better.

THANK YOU, JEANNIE. And so her journey into better **everything** continues....

//Join the Fit as Hel community if you want to ask Jeannie any questions etc. :-)

Your proud PT,
Erika

Testimonial from Suzanne

erika

How utterly heart warming - just received this in the email inbox.... Thanks Suzanne & see you in January for more sessions!

I have just had my last session at the gym with Erika.

I had been going to the gym for a while on my own but soon realised I wasn't getting any further forward. I am 52 years old and had been telling myself that what I was doing was enough for my age and ability. I also had an issue with my right knee that was holding me back a bit from pushing myself any harder.

I enlisted Erika's help, and it has transformed the way I look at my time at the gym! I now know how much I am capable off and that in itself has made a huge differnce to how I feel in myself. Having followed all Erika's advice and workouts, I feel so much healthier and fitter. I have lost weight and toned up, my blood pressure has dropped too.

I enlisted the help of a PT to help me get fit and in Erika I know I have the right one for me! She has always been there if I needed a bit of extra encouragement and support, and i know I can always count on her if I'm struggling!

I look forward to working with her in the future for sure.

Suzanne