BAKED SALMON WITH MIXED GREENS SALAD

Eating clean is not a punishment. It’s a reward! 

Good food is simple food. And this is the easiest thing ever. 

You need: 

Fresh salmon with the skin 

Mixed green salad 

Cherry tomatoes 

Parmesan cheese 

Balsamic vinegar 

Cherry balsamic glaze (or any other) 

Garden cress (that is the little green thing on the picture) 

Olive oil 

Salt 

Black pepper 

Thyme

Place the salmon in the oil greased baking dish skin down, sprinkle with salt and pepper and thyme. Put it in the preheated oven and bake until nice and golden. 

Mix the greens with halved cherry tomatoes, olive oil and balsamic. Lightly sprinkle the salad with black pepper and balsamic glaze and put few shaves of parmesan on the top. Serve the salmon sprinkled with the garden cress. 

The easiest lunch you can imagine. :)

MY WORKOUT ROUTINE

“Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.” 

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Philosopher & Writer 

I work out. A lot. And I love it. And you know that. 

I get tons of emails from you people, mainly girls, asking me what to do. You guys want to know what is my workout regime. So for all of you who are interested, here it is. This is my current drill. This is what my days look like. This is my life. 

THE GOAL 

Firstly, let me explain you what I’m currently working on. The most important for me right now is to lean out without losing muscle mass, possibly even to gain some strength. Not an easy combination, but not an impossible one either. 

THE STRENGTH TRAINING 

I do 3 strength-training sessions a week. In every workout session, I train the whole body with focus on functional moves that target large muscle groups. I don’t really do much of isolated moves like biceps curls. My strength trainings are on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. I spend in the gym about an hour and a half. For every exercise with weights I do 3 sets per 8-12 reps. If I am able to do 12 reps in all 3 sets in two weeks in a row I increase the weight. For the body weight moves, like push-ups, I do 3 sets when I go to failure, but every time I must do at least one more. This is how you get your strength. I write my whole training down. Everything. The weights and the repetitions. That’s the only way to track your progress down. Otherwise you could be stuck in a place with no progress without even noticing. I change my routines about every 3-4 months. 

THE PLAN

SUNDAY 

Squats 

Push-ups (to failure) 

Chin-ups (to failure) 

Inverted rows (to failure) 

Single leg deadlifts 

Upright shoulders rows 

Cable pulls for inner thighs 

Cable pulls for outer thighs 

Abs (just a random freestyle of whatever I feel like doing) 

TUESDAY 

Deadlifts 

Triceps dips (to failure) 

Bent over row 

Sumo squats 

Hyperextensions (with weight) 

Overhead press 

Abs 

THURSDAY 

Push-ups 

Chin-ups 

Lunges 

Triceps dips 

Lat pull-downs 

Bent over dumbbell rear delt raise 

Kettlebell swings 

Lateral shoulder raises 

Abs 

CARDIO 

I do fasted cardio 4 times per week. I do 5-6km each time, either slow run, or fast inclined walk. 

NUTRITION 

High protein diet. Very strict. I mean, really really strict. About 80% of my diet consists of protein and vegetables. Lean chicken, turkey, beef, pork, fish, eggs, cottage, low to medium GI vegetables, nuts. I have maximum of 1 piece of fruit in a week and that is always right after my strength training. After my weights I have also ½ potato or 1-2 spoons of rice. I drink water, unsweetened herbal tea or green tea and coffee with milk. I rarely have a cheat day. Actually, at this point I basically don’t. I don’t crave sugar at all. This is a habit and once you stop eating sweets it disappears. I know my diet sounds maybe little to extreme to some people but this is what works for me (I’m insulin resistant). I don’t feel weak nor sleepy or heavy, I have a lot of energy and I’m not hungry as I eat a lot of protein.

THE MANUAL TO LEAN BODY

And now the last thing I wanted to mention. I NEVER skip workouts. NEVER. 

Does it sound like a lot to you? Maybe to some of you. But trust me, it is not that difficult. We are the creatures of habit. I have an idea in my head, a picture. And I’ll do everything and little more to get to this picture. 

If you want to have something you never had, you must do something you never did. 

xoxo 

Eva 

MOVE OF THE WEEK: Triceps bench dips

Or how to get strong and sexy arms.

Firstly, this can be performed with one bench only with the feet on the floor for easier version. The closer you put your feet to the bench, the easier the workout will be. For those of you who are stronger – use two benches and give your arms good tough drill.

Place your hands on the edge of the bench, shoulder width. Then either put your legs up on the opposite bench or keep them on the floor – your call. Now lift your bum up off the bench and move down as far as you can, preferably at least until your arms form 90 degree angle. Now push yourself back up. Do 3 sets at least 8 reps each, great if you can do 12-15.

Don’t place your hands too far from your body. It could add unnecessary stress to your shoulders.

 

SQUAT BABY, SQUAT!

Here! I'm the best example what squats do to your butt! 

I wasn't born with that ass! 

I worked my ass off and shaped it! And you can too! 

No more excuses! No more "I CAN'T" !!!!!!!

I HAVEN’T “LOST” ANY FAT….. I KNOW EXACTLY WHERE IT WENT!

Become a fat burning expert!

How is fat burned and where it goes when it's burned? No more nonsense about “changing fat into muscles”! Learn how your body works. If you understand it, the weightloss gets much easier. 

We are all born with approximately 5-6 billions of fat cells. As we mature this number increases and in adulthood we have around 25-30 billions fat cells. This is, if we are healthy weight and normal body composition and the number of fat cells also depends of our genetics and gender. A typical overweight adult has around 75 billion fat cells and in case of severe obesity it can be up to 300 billion. 

Fat cells are located beneath our skin, around our organs and on the top of our muscles. The less fat person has the more muscle definition can be seen. That is why some people are “skinny fat” – they are small in size but have quite a lot of fat compare to muscles (but that is a different story). 

Fat cell is our reservoir of energy. Inside of a fat cell, the unused extra energy that we consume is stored in form of triglycerides. When you “lose” body fat, the fat cell itself does not go anywhere, unfortunately, it stays right where it was. The fat from this fat cell is burned, but this does not happen inside of the fat cell. It must be liberated from the fat cell through somewhat complex hormonal and enzymatic pathways. When your body needs energy and you are in caloric deficit, the hormones and enzymes are released to stimulate the fat release from your fat cells. The triglycerides are broken down into glycerol and three fatty acids and released into the bloodstream so they can be transported to the muscles that need them. An enzyme called lipoprotein lipase helps the free fatty acids inside the mitochondria of muscle cell, where they can be burned for energy. Mitochondrion is the “power house” of the muscle cell where the energy production takes place. This explains why it is so important to build up muscles when you want to lose fat – muscles are the place where the fat is burned. So the more muscles you have, the more fat you burn. 

When the fat is released from the fat cell, the fat cell does not disappear but shrinks. Therefore when you want to get leaner, smaller of empty fat cell is what you are after. The weight of a fat cell can be anywhere between 0,2 micrograms to 0,9 micrograms. What happens when the fat cell reaches its maximum fat store capacity? Yep, you guested it! It multiplies. Hence the fat cells can increase in the size and the numbers. The thing is, once new fat cell is born, it stays right there. If you are gaining fat so much that your fat cells are multiplying, you make it harder for yourself to lose fat in the future. You have to stop right now! And don’t forget that once you have lost weight, you fat cells are not gone, they just shrunk so you have to continue living healthy lifestyle if you don’t want to fill them up again. 

Genetics are only minor factor and while it is true that you can’t control the number of fat cells you were born with, you can control how much fat you store in them. Its your choice – you either have excuses or you have results. You cannot have both!

MOVE OF THE WEEK: Seated lat pulldown

Today’s exercise is one I really enjoy training. It targets all the major back muscles (primarily Latissimus Dorsi with Trapezius, Rhomboids, Rotator Cuff and Biceps as stabilizers). To perform this you need gym with pull down machine. 

Sit in the machine with anchoring your legs with the tight pads. Brace your abdominal muscle to stabilize your spine. Reach and grab the bar, holding it on the sides. While your arms are extended overhead, push your shoulder blades together and try to keep this throughout all the movements. Lean back slightly but no more than 30 degrees. Avoid leaning back any further and arching of your lower back during this exercise. You should be pulling the weight with your back muscles not with your bodyweight. Now exhale and slowly pull the bar down by squeezing your shoulder blades together. Pull it down all the way to your chest; your elbows should be by your sides. Pause briefly, then slowly straighten your elbows and return to the starting position allowing your shoulder blades to rise slightly. Repeat. Do 3 sets per 8-12 reps.

YOU HAVE ONLY ONE BODY AND ONE LIFE.....

....TREAT IT RIGHT.....

DON'T WAIT! YOU SHAPE YOUR TOMORROWS...

ATTENTION! IT’S SUGAR!

Sneaking in, using different names…. No matter what it call itself, it is still…. well …SUGAR. It causes you to gain weight, it is not good for your teeth, it ages your skin (yes, really), it is addictive and too much of it can trigger insulin resistance or diabetes. Sweet at the beginning,  bitter by the end. Watch out! 

So it called sugar but what else?

SUCROSE 

EVAPORATED CANE JUICE 

AGAVE NECTAR 

FRUIT JUICE CONCENTRATE 

100% FRUIT JUICE 

HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP (HFCS) 

GALACTOSE 

MALTOSE 

DEXTROSE 

LACTOSE 

BLACKSTRAP MOLASES 

BROWN RICE SYRUP 

BARLEY MALT 

DIASTATIC MALT 

DIATASE,…….and so on….. 

Scary right? If you eat processed food you probably eat way more sugar than you think. So how to avoid all this hidden sugar and, protect your waistline and most importantly your health? Just ditch the processed food all together or at least as much as you can. Stay away from everything that doesn’t really exist in nature and be safe. Have you ever seen a tree with chocolate bars? Or those salty chips – do they grow on fields? And take me to the farm where the hot-dogs grow, please! 

MOVE OF THE WEEK: Seated bench U for abs

Ok, I admit, I’m not sure what is this exercise really called. Anyone who knows? Anyway, it is great for your abs! It works your rectus abdominus (your six-pack) as well as your external obliques (the side of your abs). 

Sit on a bench, or anything high enough, place your hands by your side on the edge of the bench to support your balance. Now lift straightened legs with your toes pointed high until you form a V shape. Then move them down to the left, until just above the ground without touching it. Now move them back up to the middle and down to right, again almost to the ground without putting them down. The move you should be making is to copy U but upside down. Do this in 3 sets, each for one minute. Once you get strong enough you can do it fast and count how many reps you can finish within one minute. Make sure you are moving your legs in nice rounded upside-down U shape and that your hands are only to support your balance not to hold your weight.

GREEN SALAD WITH TURKEY AND FETA

As you can probably say by now I love salads. :) I make different version of them so I never get bored. They are easy to prepare, quick, tasty and filling and most importantly healthy and low in calories. Here is my latest creation. Get inspired. 

YOU NEED: 

Turkey breast 

Olive oil 

Salt 

Black pepper 

Sweet red paprika powder 

Mixed green salad 

Cucumber 

Tomato 

¼ red onion 

Low fat feta cheese 

Olive oil 

Balsamic vinegar 

Balsamic cherry reduction (or just plain balsamic reduction) 

Black pepper 

This is very simple. Slice the turkey breast into thin stripes. Prepare marinade just by putting together little bit of olive oil, salt, freshly ground black pepper and sweet paprika and marinade the turkey for couple of hours. 

Meanwhile put the mixed green leaves into a bowl with sliced cucumber, tomato and thinly sliced onion and pour little of olive oil and balsamic vinegar over it. Mix well. Top it with small pieces of feta cheese and ground little of black pepper on the top. Sprinkle with little of the balsamic reduction. Now heat the pan and fry the turkey until nice and golden. I don’t add any oil to the pan as the turkey was marinated in oil. When done just add it to the salad. Done J Enjoy!

EAT, WORKOUT AND REST!

I’m sick! I hate being sick! Hate it! 

It has been a week since the whole thing started and it’s giving me a hard time. I’m not able to go to gym and I’m missing it like crazy. Yes, I know how silly I sound. But that’s how I feel. So to keep me sane I have to constantly remind myself that even the bad things are good for something and that I should just think of this forced break as my recovery week. So the whole thing inspired me to write this post, about recovery and why is it so important in your training program. 

Firstly, let me say that your body actually repairs and strengthens itself in the time between your workouts not during your workout. So continuous vigorous training without the proper rest will not make you stronger but eventually can weaken your body and your immune system and can lead to overtraining syndrome. Nasty thing! And that is why including the recovery time in your training program is crucial. This is the time when the body adapts to the stress of exercise and the real training effect takes place. Exercise causes muscle tissue breakdown and the depletion of energy stores (glycogen stored in muscles) as well as fluid loss. Recovery time allows these to be replenished and the muscle tissue to be repaired. And that’s how you get stronger. 

There are two kinds of recovery you should include in your training program. Short-term recovery, also called active recovery, which is the time immediately after exercise and the following days. It is advised to engage in light activities during this time, like walking and so on. This will benefit your performance. Long-term recovery means that it is beneficial include few days of total rest in your fitness program as well as change the program structure every now and then. Take a week off from workout every 6-8 weeks. You will not only feel rested after such a break but also your motivation will get kick-started again and you will feel hungry for workout. And to help your recovery make sure you get plenty of good quality sleep, drink enough of water and eat enough protein every day. 

So here I am, sitting in the bed sick and resting. :)

And there is nothing better than my homemade spicy chicken broth with a lot of veggies and lean chicken. This will help me to get well for sure! 

Have a lovely day everyone! ♥

MOVE OF THE WEEK: Push-up

Let me start by saying that push-ups are one of the best exercises ever invented. You can do them literally anywhere with zero equipment and they are easily countable so tracking your progress gets easy too. When done with proper form, they work all the right places and strengthen your pectoral muscles (your chest), triceps, and core muscles. There are many variations of push-ups that can place the load on different muscles, or make the push-ups easier or more difficult to do. The basic push-ups are great to start with. Lets see how to do them correctly.

The starting position is plank position on your toes and hands. The hands should be placed slightly wider than your shoulders. Remember, the wider apart you put your hands the heavier load your place on your chest. The rest of your body should be aligned with your legs and abs engaged. Now, lower your body slowly down to the ground, keeping your core nice and strong and then push yourself back up into the starting position. 

When you do the push-ups, always try to do them in the right form, that is keeping your body in straight line in all the reps, going down slowly and then fast pushing up, keeping your elbows steady and your abs and butt strong. Do 3 sets with as many reps as you can 2-3 times per week. Maybe, for the first time, you will only be able to do one push-up in each set. That is totally ok for the beginner. Push-ups are not an easy exercise. They require quite a work and strength. But you will get stronger each time you do them. Set your goal on doing one extra push-up in every session. That is, if you did 3 sets per one push-up, the next time you do push-ups, you will do 2-1-1, the session after do 2-2-1, and so on. This way you will build up your strength easily. Keep in mind that you should only do the push-ups in correct form and only those correct ones count.

This is a variation to make it more interesting once you mastered the regular push-ups. Just lift one leg and keep it lifted all the time. Those push-ups get harder as you will need to balance your body more. Strong!

 

Now get down and push!

MOTIVATION MATTERS

The secret of discipline is motivation. When a man is sufficiently motivated, discipline will take care of itself.

So true. 

What do you need to stay disciplined is to constantly get motivated. Think of your dream. Think of it every day. Whether is it to get leaner, stronger, faster, fitter or just happier, keep on reminding these goals to yourself every day. You have decided to change some part of your life so stick to your decision. At the end you will be so proud and happy that you did. 

Your motivation should be always positive. So don’t compare yourself to others, if it frustrates you. You are you, you are unique, and there is no one else like you. So only compare your results to your dream. Success doesn’t come over night. You have to deserve success. Not everyone can work hard enough to get what they want. YOU CAN! The only thing you need is to stay disciplined. And that is way easier if you stay motivated. And when it comes to fitness and workout and eating clean, discipline is crucial. Together with the patience. 

So what is my biggest motivation? First comes being healthy, that’s obvious. Other than that, I have two huge motivations. One is when I see progress. Both, in my body and strength. And the second thing is when what I do motivate someone else. That is the sweetest thing! And everyone can do that. Every person can be someone else’s motivation. 

What motivates you? I would love to know! Please let me know in the comments below. :)