Fish Oil and Krill Oil

If you’re looking for something to help you lose weight, one of these two supplements will be your new best friend. The omega 3 in these supplements decreases insulin which is what turns food into fat in your body. Too much insulin stops your body from breaking down stored fat to use as energy. It also causes high blood sugar levels.

Omega 3 increases your ability to burn fat because it increases blood flow to your muscles during exercise as well as being an anti-inflammatory which will help prevent that soreness after a workout. The catch here is that you do need to exercise for that to work.

Fish oil and krill oil are incredibly beneficial to your heart, eyes and brain. They also help maintain cardiovascular health, cholesterol levels and relieve osteoporosis.

I personal preference is krill oil because it’s stronger, but either is much better than nothing. Here’s a video comparing krill oil to fish oil.

Main sources:

http://www.swisse.com/health-hub/why-fish-oil-is-good-for-you

http://www.fitwatch.com/weight-loss/flush-the-fat-with-fish-oil-134.html

http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Fish-oil-helps-weight-loss-study/2006/07/31/1154198041720.html

The Most Important Part

I’m sure if you’re wanting to lose weight or change your lifestyle you’ve seen hundreds of quotes and images about needing to love yourself. If you’ve hated yourself for as long as you can remember like me, this is a really hard one to get your head around.
Every time I thought negatively about myself my boyfriend would tell me to stop thinking about it and start thinking about positives and I would get so mad at him for not understanding that it wasn’t possible for me to do that, not in that frame of mind.
Now I’m finally starting to get it. No switch went off, there was no defining moment of change, it just slowly happened. I don’t stand in front of the mirror and tear myself down anymore and more importantly I don’t understand why I ever did. Did I enjoy it in some sadistic, self sabotaging way? I have no clue.
The first step was realising that I needed to change my way of thinking, despite being told over and over, I needed to realise for myself. I knew I couldn’t become fit and healthy by hating myself. I just didn’t know how to start loving myself.
One day, for no reason in particular, I googled “how to love yourself” and I found this page:
http://www.abundancetapestry.com/how-to-love-yourself-in-17-ways/
It’s nothing I hadn’t heard before, but everything started to change. This won’t work for everyone struggling with themselves, but the point is, you have to find something that will work. You have to try and try and never give up, because you have to. There is absolutely no point in hating yourself. Where will it get you?
I’m proud to say that I love myself, I love my body and I love who I am. That doesn’t mean I don’t see room for improvement but I think that because of this love I’ve discovered I can now more effectively lose weight because I’m not eating certain things just to lose weight but to nourish my body and do what’s best for it because I deserve it.
Quote and Illustration by Lori Weitzel

Coffee

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

If you haven’t tried chucking some macro peanut butter in your banana smoothie yet, it’s time to give it a show. This definitely hits the sweet spot.

Ingredients:
2 small bananas
1/2 cup almond milk
1/4 cup Greek yoghurt
1 tbls honey
2 tbls macro peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla

Method:
Blend all ingredients together

Clean Carrot Fritters

I really wanted to make zucchini fritters today so I found a Martha Stewart recipe that I decided to tweak and clean up. Only problem was… Mum forgot to buy zucchinis.

So I decided to try swapping the zucchinis for carrots and I think I’ve just stumbled upon something amazing.

Ingredients:
2 carrots
Zest of 1 lemon
2 sprigs of spring onion
2 heaped tsp cottage cheese
1 tsp garlic
1/4 cup oats
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
salt to taste (optional)

Method:
Grate carrot, finely grate lemon zest and chop up spring onion
Whisk eggs in a large bowl
Add all ingredients except oats
Place oats in milkshake container and blend with stick blender until fine and powder-like

Add oats to mixture and stir well
Heat olive oil in frying pan on medium heat
Spoon desired amount into pan and cook until golden on one side
Turn heat to low, flip fritters and cook until golden on other side
Serve with lemon slices

Progress Report

If anyone is interested I lost 1kg over the two days that I only ate protein. It’s normal to loose/gain 1kg everyday due to water weight and body waste so my answer is no, it wasn’t worth it.
I ate boring meals, had no energy, was dizzy all the time and I think I walked into a few walls.
On the upside I wasn’t hungry, although hunger is only one reason for eating.
If anyone is interested in trying a pure protein weekend for themselves, and I really do think that it should be done for no longer than two days at a time, here’s a list of allowed foods to help you out:

Meat and poultry

• Beef
• Chicken
• Light ham
• Lamb
• Bacon
• Game meats
• Deli meats
• Turkey
• Veal
• Pork tenderloin

Egg

• Egg white

Seafood

• Fish
• Crab
• Lobster
• Shark
• Oyster
• Prawn
• Seafood extender

Vegetarian

• Tofu
• Lentils
• Chickpeas
• Dried beans (kidney beans, black beans etc)
• Vegetarian sausages
• Vegetarian mince

More info: http://www.bodytrim.com.au/protein/protein-foods-for-weight-loss

Pure Protein Tuna Pies

I decided to try a pure protein weekend. I’ve heard a lot about the weight loss kick start and wanted to see for myself if it works. If you’re unfamiliar with the idea of it, basically all you can eat for two days is protein foods which include egg whites, lean meat and fish and protein shakes made with water; that’s about it. Meal sizes are meant to be about 100g for women and about 50g for snacks.
It’s been easy to stick to, in the way that the rules are so clear but it’s also been difficult. I’ve experienced dizziness and deflated energy levels but I’ve also hurt my back, so I’m not needing energy to go to the gym. If I was going to the gym these last couple of days I don’t think it would be worth it.
I’ve basically been eating only chicken, tuna, egg whites and protein shakes but here’s a recipe that made dinner last night slightly less boring.
I can not wait until tomorrow morning to weigh myself and see if this actually made any difference! Although I still strongly believe the number on the scales is an inaccurate (and sometimes depressing) way to track your progress.

Ingredients:
4 egg whites
1 x 95g can of tuna in spring water
Mixed herbs

Method:
Preheat oven to 175oC
Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until bubbly

Drain tuna and add to egg whites
Add mixed herbs and gently mix in
Poor mixture into mini pie tins or any other suitable tin (You could make even smaller ones with a cupcake tray)
Bake until cooked all through
TIP: To check if they’re cooked shake the tin and see if any uncooked egg white breaks through the top

Weight Loss Yoga for Beginners

I’ve never done a yoga class before so this video is an easy one for me.

Cheat Day

I’ll keep it short and sweet. Everyone’s got a different opinion on cheat days, and honestly, you just have to do whatever works for you. I have one day a week off from eating clean. The point isn’t to shove yourself full of crap until you feel sick just because you can but if you’re anything like me you’ll probably need to do that a few times to learn the lesson for yourself.
If I could give any tips I’d say try to plan a cheat day around events that you may be tempted or if you’ve got nothing on then have it the last day of your weekend, otherwise you’ll probably just end up taking the whole weekend off, starting again on Monday and hating yourself on Tuesday. Most importantly, enjoy it!! and don’t beat yourself up for it later.

Kim’s Confidence Class

I have to admit, I’m not a huge fan of Kim Kardashian but she has some pretty damn good points in this article I photocopied out of this months Cosmo. Definitely worth the read.