Guest-post on the PumpUp Blog

Hey sweetheart

Here are the great news I told you about in my previous post.
I had the opportunity to create a guest-post for PumpUp's blog.
Maybe you remember the review I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the 'PumpUp App' ? Well, they also have a blog where they publish articles about fitness and health, recipes, spotlight stories and inspirational posts.

I also have a collaboration now with the PumpUp team, meaning that we planned that I create and write a guest-post, of course health and fitness related, for them once a week or once every two weeks, we will see...

I would be pleased if you would take the time to read my article on their blog (here). And of course to scroll through their blog as well, because they offer a great number of inspirational posts, stories and delicious recipes.

I wish you all a nice week and stay focused.

Pole Dance

Me doing the Butterfly

Hi sweetie.

Some of you may have noticed that I am not only hitting the gym 5 times a week, but I also teach pole-dance classes for beginners, and I train for myself at least once a week. You may think that I am overtraining, but since I was used to dance everyday, I missed this so much. Of course I love to hit the gym and lift heavy weights, but sometimes I really need that kind of distraction from all that competition-stuf, simply to free my mind and to switch off the world, without thinking of the competition date that comes closer and closer. (aarrghhhh...) 

While there are still so many prejudices against pole-dance I wanted to clear things up. Because I know that a lot of people think that I am a striper or that I am a gogo-girl, which I am obviously not. 

Of course, pole dancing is associated with strip clubs and dance clubs, but pole dancing is not only about dancing around a pole. It is actually a form of performance art and a very heavy sport that combines dance and acrobatics centered around a vertical pole. 

Since the 2000's, promoters of pole dance fitness competitions (yes such things exist) have been trying for so long to change people's perception of pole dance and to promote it as a NON-SEXUAL form of dance and acrobatics. Initially, pole dance has been influenced by Chinese pole, you know that kind of 'pole-dancing' you see at 'le cirque du soleil'. 

Everyone who every tried pole-dancing knows that it requires strength, flexibility, technique and endurance. Plus, it involves athletic moves such as climbs, spins and body inversions using the limbs to grip (which mostly lead to bruises or blisters hihi). To attain proficiency you need upper body and core strength and rigorous training. 

Nowadays, it is more and more seen as a form of exercise that can be used as an aerobic or anaerobic workout. 

If you are from Luxembourg and always wanted to try pole-dance, you can join me every Saturday from 10.30 am to 11.30 am at Pole&Aerial Art in Differdange. All you need are shorts and a shirt, and of course a good mood.

See you... xX

Handspring

Figurehead

Pole-sit

Front Split

Pencil

Open Eye

Morning Cardio: Check

My view this morning.

Hi. 

How are you? Are you awake? 

My day started great today even if I already hit a 30min HIIT workout this morning, BEFORE breakfast. This was the first time ever in my life that I went for a run on an empty stomach and I didn't gave up.

Normally I have a very low blood pressure in the morning, especially when I haven't been able to eat something. That's also the main reason why I usually hit the gym in the afternoon because my body needs a wee bit time and some meals to get off the stick. I have no idea why. I have already been at the doctor's to check my thyroid, and what came out was a small thyroid dysfunction, which isn't that bad and not even the reason why I have such a low blood pressure in the mornings, as I also take adequate medicine. And of course I have also been in so many blood analysis but nothing came out... I am lacking for nothing, so I just think that I am hypotensive and that my body needs a tiny bit to pick up pace. 

Because of all that, I was a bit afraid yesterday when J-M.B. (my coach) told me that I have to do intervals on an empty stomach right after getting out of bed and taking my nitro-stak/glutamine shake with my bcaa and my fat-burner. I know, usually when you say 'empty stomach', it's a real empty stomach. But this ''cocktail'' prevents my muscles from injury and gives me a little boost to get through the workout and the rest of the day. 

And this is how my morning-cardio session looked like:

• 10 minutes warmup: jogging at a moderate pace to the place I will hit my hiit.
• 30 minutes Hiit : 3 min / 1 min , meaning 3 minutes of moderate jogging, 1 minute sprint uphill, 3 minutes jogging while going downhill to spurt uphill again for 1 minute and so on.
• 10 minutes cool-down: jogging at an easy pace back home. 

Of course I have already taken a shower before writing this post, I am not a stinky gremlin, I am a fairy... hihi. 

I think that's the best feeling after finishing your workout, a nice cold shower that cools you down while waking you up and making you feel energized again.

You can't imagine how happy I am that I made it through this whole workout. I never thought that I would be able to workout on an empty stomach without fainting. Yes, I am proud of myself right now. And I am glad that , for one time, I believed in myself.

But there is more to come that makes this day even better. I run the chance to have a collaboration with a new but already very famous fitness-app... That's all I am saying, I don't want to spoil the surprise, so stay tuned my lovely fitfam. 

Enjoy your day and always believe in yourself. xX

Goliath says hello to you. He also swam some round in his aquarium hihi

Shred Program

Good evening sweethearts.

Today my lovely boyfriend and I had our first ''shred-check-up'' at our coach's. Well to start with, I didn't made any big progress as we haven't changed that much concerning my diet plan and my training plan. But... my form improved a wee bit more. Sometimes it's better to get a little butt-kick that reminds you that only hard work pays off and that you can't make something out of nothing.

'' No pain, no gain'', right? 

So, concerning my diet-plan... We reduced my protein- & carb-intake a little on low-carb days because we have to decrease my calories a tiny weeny bit to get rid of the last water retentions and body-fat. As far as my carb-days go, we also cut down the carb-&protein-intake, meaning that we replaced the spelt bread with quinoa-puffed-rice-crackers and less quinoa for lunch. 

In terms of training.. pheeww... That's going to be rough for me. I will tell you why: 

Usually I hit a 40-min-HIIT workout after every gym-session, which was already exhausting to be honest. NOW, I have to do a 30-min-HIIT workout right after getting up and BEFORE having breakfast. I don't like that kind of stuff haha. I am such a grouch when it comes to cardio, especially in the morning, and on an empty stomach. So I absolutely have to pull myself together and get through those morning cardio sessions. 

And as if this wasn't enough already, I have to hit a 10-minute warm-up before every gym session (fortunately we reduced the warm-up by 5-minutes) and additionally a 20-min-HIIT after my gym-session. Pooh... Things are getting pretty tough from now on. 

I am already looking forward to the next check-up. I am convinced that I will show better results again now that my program has become even stricter. I will keep you up to date of course. 

Have a great new week and make it big. xX 

Paleo Diet: Pros & Cons

To begin with, we should ask ourselves 'What is the 'Paleo Diet' and where does it come from? 

The Paleo Diet is nothing but a modern version of our ancestors' diet from the Paleolithic era, which was over 10.000 years ago, before the agricultural revolution. This plan simply focuses on food that can be either hunted or gathered like vegetables, fruits, seafood, grass-fed meat, eggs, nuts, seed and poultry. 

Sounds quite okay, doesn't it? Well, according to Paleo diet founder Loren Cordain, food has evolved and changed so fast that the human body hasn't really adapted enough to adequately digest many of the modern day foods. This results in cellular inflammation or even an increased risk for chronic diseases. Nevertheless, a lot of the aliments associated with a typical Western diet can also be weakening when a person adopts the diet of a caveman.

Pros of the Paleo diet: 

• The Paleo diet is rich in soluble fiber, antioxidant vitamins, phytochemicals, omega-3 fatty acids, monounsaturated fat and low-glycemic carbs. 
• Gluten free and low in added sugars, trans fats, salt and high-glycemic carbs. 
• Makes it easier as there are no shades of gray like counting calories, guessing on appropriate portion sizes and so on. 
• Things like rich caramel chocolate brownie are completely off limits. 

Cons of the Paleo diet:

• Misinterpretation as they diet heavily relies on meat, but nowadays, meat isn't that lean anymore as it was thousands of years ago.
• Animals like cows are often stuffed with food and given little room to move resulting fatty cuts of meat
• You are adopting a diet from ancient times, where the average lifespan was in the 20s, which is a lot less compared to today's lifespan. 
• The Paleo diet falls short on calcium and vitamin D

Tips & tricks to make the best out of it: 

If you want to do the Paleo diet, no problem ,but make sure that you include some healthy tweaks to get the best out of both ancient times and today. Look for more fruits, vegetable, nuts, seeds and also small amounts of healthy oils like olive-oil or rapeseed-oil. When you chose your meat, make sure to opt for lean grass-fed meat and focus on wild seafood.  For dairy products, if you want to consume them , add lower-fat but nutrient-rich dairy or alternatives that are fortified with calcium and vitamin D to complement your meals. 

And while you are about to adopt the diet of a caveman, make sure to also exercise like a caveman by supplementing sessions at the gym or training studio. It may be hard to find a saber-tooth cat for your liftings but I think a pair of dumbbells, kettle-bells or barbells will work as well hihi. Even though, sitting around like a savage caveman for hours is detrimental for your health, so get up frequently and 'hunt' for opportunities to stay fit. 

If you want to learn more about the Paleo diet or are in search of new recipes, checkout THIS page. 

I wish you all a nice and relaxing sunday and don't forget to go hunting. xX

Lifting-Fairy GIVE-AWAY

Hey lovely!

Look what the lifting-fairy brought you for training so hard.
All you have to do, to win one of these five super fancy and pink shakers by Power-Food's J-M.B is:

1. Comment below the blogpost what you have been working out today
2. Like Power-Food's J-M.B's Facebook page (link here) 
3. Follow me on Bloglovin (link here)

To double your chance, repost this picture on INSTAGRAM with the hash-tag #powerfoodsjmbgiveaway
The countdown ends on Monday, 22nd of September at 20.00 CET+1

I wish you all good luck and may the fairy dust be with you.xX

Why I started blogging

Well, my blog already exists 6 months , therefor I ought to explain you why I actually started this blog, and why actually a fitness/health related blog. 

If you follow me since the beginning of all this, you should know that I am really addicted to sports, mostly girly sports. When I was a little fairy I used to do gymnastics , then I had to stop because of my back (#gymnasticsproblems) and because I wanted a new challenge, so I started dancing. Then I came up with the idea of pole-dancing,due to my lovely sister. So I taught myself pole-dancing, which wasn't a big deal as I was still very flexible and had a pretty good coordination and body tension due to gymnastics and dancing.

After 5 or 6 years of dancing (hip-hop,ballet, jazz etc) and 2 years of pole-dancing (including teaching pole-dance classes) , well I started to hit the gym. And of course I was a real newbie. Now that I have some kind of experience and knowledge, I throw my hands up in horror when I look back upon my gym-session. I never left the gym earlier than 2 or even 3 hours... I mostly did cardio and some kind of weight-exericise on machines and far too many crunches, planks etc. 

Suddenly I met my prince charming, Sir Ken from Dumbbell, who taught me everything about fitness and a healthy way of life. I became more and more interested in fitness, lifting weights, healthy diets, healthy eating-habits and so on. And that's where it all began. I started posting everything on my private Facebook account, when I discovered Instagram I shared my fitness-sessions, my meals and also some stuff of my private life with other people. By the time I discovered that there are such things as bikini-competitions , so I found a new commitment.

But after a while I didn't want to spam my private profile with all my fitness-related stuff...Therefor I decided to create this facebook-page which should be only about my journey to my first bikini-competition. (The same goes for my IG-profile). I realized that by creating this page and a new style of IG-profile I became even more motivated, and I also motivated other people with my results, my dedication and my devotion for weight-lifting and hitting the gym. I didn't want to only share my fitness-life, I also wanted to help people , to share my knowledge, my interests and my experience with them. And that was the moment my Fitness-blog was born.

And here we are...

Having already so many followers on IG, on Facebook and a lot of views every day and from all over the world. I am so overwhelmed that I motivated so many other girls to get up and start working out again. Every time I get asked questions, I am truly thankful that those girls trust in me and ask me for help, or advice or even just to get some new motivation because they think they are not improving. 

Ladies (and gentlemen), you are so amazing and I am very happy to have you as my followers or readers. Keep up the good work at the gym and always seek for more.

Xx 

Today's dying-selfie after my Legsession

Carb-Cycling

Low-carb lunch: sweet potatoes, turkey and vegetables

Over the past few months I got asked by so many people how my diet looks like, especially now that I started the preparation. 

Well to make it easy, I am carb-cycling. No I am not eating carbs while cycling on a bike hihi. I will tell you why carb cycling is better than a low-carb diet:

If you are on a cutting diet, like me it is very important to have carb-days, also know as re-feed days. While you are cutting, you are constantly in a caloric deficit. Your metabolism will slow down and your leptin hormone levels will drop. This makes it even harder to burn body fat. So no matter your health and fitness aspirations, carb-cycling is actually always a good middle ground. Guess where its roots are... Yep, in the world of bodybuilding. Trainers and coaches are using this strategy to help their clients and athletes to achieve their goals, whether they are trying to slim down or build muscle, or even both at the same time.

Therefor, when you are trying to shred or even build muscle, it is highly recommended to include a re-feed day into your diet plan. 

- What is a re-feed day exactly? 

Well, on a re-feed day, or carb-day, you simply increase your carb intake by 100% while increasing your calories up to maintenance level or above. This will put you in a caloric surplus for that day, but you still are in a weekly deficit. 

Re-feed days are designed to boost your metabolism while increasing your leptin levels so that you can continue to burn fat like a furnace. 

The longer your diet, the slower your metabolism will become and the lower your leptin levels will drop, meaning it's a lot harder for you to burn fat.

- And how do I find the right balance between low-carb days and re-feed days? 

There are different options of a carb-cycling diet: 

1. The classic one, alternating between high- and low-carb days, six time a week, and the last day for reward meals

2. To lose weight, aim for five low-carb days split by two re-feed days. 

3. To gain weight and add muscle, include four or even five re-feed days, just make sure that you don't put all your high-carb days back-to-back.

No matter what option you take, make sure to space them evenly throughout the week and be prepared to see progress. Maybe you adjust your schedule to see what brings the best results for you.

- What food can I eat on low-carb or re-feed days?

Its not that when you have a low-carb day that you have to munch on meat all day long, or when you have a re-feed day that you can eat tons of pasta.

On re-feed days, try to get your fuel from complex carbs like whole grains, vegetables and fruits. They will keep you energized throughout the day while still promoting your weight loss. 

To have enough power on low-carb days, get your protein from chicken, fish, lean beef, eggs or tofu and complement it with non-starchy veggies, basically everything besides potatoes, corn and peas is fair game. 

If you have no idea what 'good' or 'bad' carbs are, you may consider having a look at THIS post.

- But what about snacking? 

A lot of trainers say that taking a 'cheat day' and allowing yourself to eat what you like is ok, but make sure this doesn't set you back. If you are on a diet, a weekly reward is actually not the best option, especially when we are talking about a 'cheat DAY'. Why? Well simply because you could end up eating 5.000 calories in only one day when you only need 1.400,which can easily derail any progress you've made so far. 

But I don't want to discourage you, there is still a little wiggle room for treats, even in a carb cycling diet. If you occasionally have a bagel or a bow of sugary cereal,this may help you comply with your meal plan and you can take that even as a re-feed day. I always suggest to take a 'cheat MEAL' rather than a 'cheat DAY' because you don't risk to overeat an consume too many calories that day. 

- How many calories should I eat on those days?

Normally a woman should take in around 1.200 calories and men 1.500 on low-carb days, and slightly more on a re-feed day. 

With these simply formulas you can easily calculate the correct portions of each macronutrient:

Women

Low-carb day:

0.2-0.5 grams of carbs x your body weight

About 1 gram of protein x your body weight 

0.1-0.2 grams of fat x your body weight

Re-feed day: 

About 1 gram of carbs x your body weight

0.75 grams of protein x your body weight

As little fat as possible

Men

Low-carb day:

0.5-1.5 grams of carbs x your body weight

1.25-1.5 grams of protein x your body weight

0.15-0.35 grams of fat x your body weight

Re-feed day:

2-3 grams of carbs x your body weight

1-1.25 grams of protein x your body weight

As little fat as possible

For both days, make sure to eat breakfast as soon as possible when you wake up , then consume the rest of your calories across another four to six meals throughout the day.

Keep in mind that you can still enjoy your favorite foods, just in moderation. The goal is to slowly change your eating habits to include a variety of healthy foods. That's the best kind of formula you can stick to for continued success. 

I wish you all a great new week and a lot of success. xx

Re-feed day lunch: Lean beef with quinoa and vegetables

Low-carb dinner: Salmon, cod and vegetables

Low-carb lunch: Sweet potatoes, turkey and vegetables

Mr. Olympia - Where legends are made

Arnold Schwarzenegger winning Mr. Olympia 1975

Fitfam, it's that time of the year again...

Worldwide, there are qualified athletes like Dana Linn Bailey, who have been deeply focusing on their preparation over the past few weeks to out-stand their rivals who are as inveterate as themselves. 

From the 18th to 21st of September people from all over the globe are going to Las Vegas , Nevada for Joe Weider's Mr. Olympia competition weekend. Joe Weider created this competition to enable the Mr.Universe winners to continue competing and actually also to earn some money. Organized by the IFBB, it was held for the first time on the 18th of September 1965 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in NYC, with Larry Scott winning the first of two straight titles. 

Lee Hanley and Ronnie Coleman are the ones that co-hold the title eight times.Everyone who hits the gym and lift weights should have seen the movie ' Pumping Iron'... It was published in 1977 and featured the build up to the '75er Mr. Olympia in Pretoria, South Africa. 'Pumping Iron' launched the acting careers of Arnold Schwarzenegger and of course Lou Ferrigno (You know, that huge guy from King of Queens? hihi). After all, the Olympia contest is not only for men, but for women as well. Female bodybuilders compete for the 'Ms. Olympia' title, whereas Fitness competitors seek to win the 'Fitness Olympia' and the Figure competitors the 'Figure Olympia' title. All contest take place the same weekend. 

If you ever want to compete at the Olympia you have to be :

• a previous Olympia winner
• top 6 finalists from the previous' year's Olympia contest
• top 6 finalists from the same year's Arnold Classic (More about that in another post)
• top 5 finalists from the same year's NY Men's or Women's Professional
• top 3 finalist from any other competition in the IFBB
• or just be the winner of the Masters Professional World Championships (why not?)

The event organizer also have the right to nominate one specific competitor who actually didn't qualified by other means, he/she will just compete as a 'special invitee'. 

Let's talk about that weird trophy, what's that with the Sandow Trophy?

Eugene Sandow, the first famous bodybuilder, transformed his music-hall performance into a career as a professional strongman. He had ,what we call, 'the perfect genetics' for bodybuilding, so he invented some equipment. What came out was a thing called 'spring-grip dumbbells'.
So with Sandow, bodybuilding was born. Soon he began to demonstrated his strength and physique to an audience. He posed as a Greek statue to attract attention to himself. 1898 was the year Sandow was considered the most famous man alive, especially when he started publishing the 'Physical Culture'-magazine, which became later 'Sandow's Magazine of Physical Culture'. In 1925, he died, but he made bodybuilding a profitable enterprise. 

But the Mr.Olympia weekend is not only about competitions, it's like the FIBO in Cologne, but way bigger (we are talking american style here) . You can find everything, from hair accessories for the gym to shoes and supplements. Of course supplements, could you imagine a bodybuilding Expo without Supps? I don't haha... And when you're done spending money on precious supps and gymgear you may also enjoy several show like the Arm Wrestling, The Battle of the Bars (No, not protein bars...), Boxing,Jiu Jitsu Grappling, The Strongman Challenge and many more.

If anyone of you planned to go there, or is already there, you HAVE TO tell me everything... I already thought about saving some money to spend some kind of vacation there and of course to have a look at all those amazing athletes. Who knows, maybe one day you will see me there too (Yes, keep on dreaming haha). 

I wish you all a nice rest of your weekend and I hope that I motivated some bodybuilder (male or female) to work for their goal. Keep pumping. 

Phil Heath, winner of 2013's Mr. Olympia

Ashley Kaltwasser, winner of Bikini Olympia 2013

Dana Linn Bailey, 1st to win Women's Physique Olympia 2013

Competition Date

The time has come... only 7 weeks and 3 days left until my Bikini-competition, and still so many things to do...

First of all the competition takes place the 2nd of November in Rheinbach, Germany. This means a 2 and 1/2 hours car ride before we can actually sign-in in for the competition itself, and then we will still have to wait until it starts... arghhh. 

Second I don't even own my competition-heels, I will tell you why: 

Since we started the whole diet 3 months ago, my feet shrunk from size 39 to 38... And now that we hit the real shredding-phase, I am afraid that by the 2nd of November I will even fit in size 37 (a new reason to buy some shoes hehe). Therefore I will wait until October to see if I can order size 38 or 37. This shouldn't be a problem as I found a retailer on Amazon in Germany who sells exactly the pair of heels I want, plus they only take 1 week to arrive, so that's perfect. (Picture below the post)

Furthermore, as we are allowed to wear jewels, expect necklaces, I will wear something more decent as I want the judges to focus more on my body rather than on details like jewelery. I still have a beautiful set of +Swarovski  jewels at home, including earrings, bracelet and a ring, so maybe it will just be that... We will see, surprise surprise.

And last but not least, my BIKINI...

I thought about ordering it online at +Angel Competition Bikinis. I am following them on Instagram for a long time now and I simply love their work. I think the fabrics, connectors and cuts are simply heavenly and I am sure that I will look like an angel on stage with such a bikini. By now, I have contemplated about its looks; of course I will take the Brazilian cut... It doesn't show too much nor too little. The fabric will be the Hologram Jade/Mint as I am convinced that this color will perfectly match my tan and my hair. I am still not sure about the crystal-design, whether I should take the Crystal Explosion , Crystal Firework or simply the Angel Bliss as the fabric already sparkles a lot. What do you think? I don't want my bikini to outshine my form...

Those are the connectors I would like to add: Top Connector #1 , Middle Connector #2 and Bottom Connector #3 . The problem is now that I have no clue how many centimeters I will lose until the competition, as it's my first competition. So I have to make a guess... I really hope it works... 

What about make-up,hairstyle,lashes,nails and tan? Well, as far as that goes I decided to write a separate post. I already assailed you with so many details regarding my bikini, heels and jewels... 

I wish you all a nice and relaxing evening my loves, talk to you soon

Motivational Monday

It's Monday again... 

Well I know, this doesn't sound very motivational, does it? But with a new week comes new motivation and that's what I am trying to do today. 

I will give you 10 reasons why working out does your body good, and with those facts I hope to make you to change that '' argh... another week'' to a great and sporty week. 

#1. Fitness boosts your brainpower:

You know that doing sports is good for your body, right? But did you know that it also helps your mental function? Exercising boosts your energy level, even if you are tired after your workout, and therefore it increases the serotonin level in your brain, which leads to a better mental clarity. 

Wanna be more productive at work, in school or throughout the day, then put on your sportswear and go workout!

#2. Fitness reduces your stress level:

Did you ever heard of the saying '' working out is my therapy'' or '' When everything goes wrong, go lift?'' and '' Exercise, cheaper than therapy'' ? Well that's a 100% true as research has shown. Once you start working out, whether this is daily or only twice a week, you will experience that you are less stressed in every part of your life. Doing sports produces a relaxation response that serves a positive distraction, which will help you to elevate your mood and keep depression at bay. So make yourself and your surrounding a favor and go workout, nobody wants to be accompanied by a grumpy-cat. 

#3. Want Energy? Workout:

You might be surprised now, but when you pop in your day with a 30 minute workout routine, you can change your whole day. Even if you are tired after your workout, you will recognize that you will be more energized for the rest of the day as endorphins are released into your bloodstream during your exercising. (Don't get me wrong, this will also only work if you get enough sleep, to be understood.) 

Not only will exercising in the morning affect that particular day, in longer term it will also help you to accomplish daily tasks easier (like climbing stairs, carrying groceries etc.). If you ever come up with the excuse ''No I don't want to exercise, I am way too tired...'', let me tell you this: you will manage to do the best workouts when you start tiredly. I already experienced this myself, when I was really tired at the beginning of the my gym-session, I did the best routines ever and lifted even heavier, and of course I felt even more energized AFTER my workout routine. 

#4. Everybody has time for fitness:

What in your opinion is better: Staying at home watching TV, or working out? You should start to use your time wisely. Even if you have kids, take them to a park, bike rides or take them to a swimming-bath. Not only will you spend some quality time with your kids, you also worked out. And if you have a baby or toddler, well buy a bicycle trailer and your baby can enjoy the ride. You are working the whole day and don't want to hit the gym after 6 p.m? Why don't you prepare your food and workout during lunch-break, instead of going to a restaurant? This doesn't have to be an hour, 30 minutes are already better than spending your lunch-break in a restaurant or lounge. You know, even vacuuming or cleaning the house can be exhausting, if not, buy some wrist-or ankle-weights and make this your workout routine.

#5. You can build relationships:

You know,when they say ''couples that workout together, stay together'' they are totally right. And this doesn't have to be a 'love'-couple, it can also be just two friends working out. It is way more fun if you workout with a partner than on your own, expect your partner keeps chatting all the time and distracts you from working out. Then you might consider another gym-buddy. If you don't have that much time to see other friends and workout, combine this. Meet them for tennis, or a bike ride or even for a swim? 

#6. Keep diseases at bay: 

Research found out that exercising can help prevent heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, bone loss, and loss of muscle tissue or mass. It also helps to ease some aspects of the aging process...ladies. It's not a secret that sports does your body good, such as strengthening the muscles and joints and reduce your odds of having aches and pains most adults have.

#7. Give your heart a pump:

Exercising not only reduce the risk of heart diseases or strokes, it also creates a stronger heart: Your heart and cardiovascular system will function more effectively, the heart will build up less plaque, which results in a more efficient pump. When your heart becomes stronger, it pumps more blood per beat so your heart rate is lower. 

#8. You can eat more: 

The more muscles you build the more calories you burn. Because muscles need the most calories, your metabolic rate will also increase, meaning that you burn more calories while exercising. So cheating with a cookie or a piece of chocolate once in a while isn't going to throw you back. I am NOT saying that you can eat what you want. But if you exercise regularly, you can enjoy such things in moderation. 

#9.Fitness boosts your performance: 

After some weeks of consistent exercise, you may feel that your clothes are fitting differently and you will see that your muscle tone has improved. What you also may notice is that you have stronger muscles, an increased flexibility or and overall improved performance, depending on what you worked out the past few weeks. Your muscles will work much more efficiently and you will gain a greater sense of endurance, plus, your reaction time and your balance will surely improve. 

#10. Weight loss? Who cares?:

Losing weight is one of the main reason why people start to workout, especially women. But it's certainly not the only benefit from exercising as we have learned so far. If you are a newbie in the world of fitness or sports, long-term goals of weight-loss may be discouraging, which is one of the main troubles. If people don't see results after 1 or 2 weeks they simply give up and try something new. If you feel concerned, you may consider thinking about the level of functioning in the activities of daily living. This can serve as the motivation to keep you going back for more. 

So whatever your goal might be when you start exercising, don't make it your only goal. Why don't you just strive to feel better, have more energy, be less stressed? You should notice the small things that exercising will bring you, rather than hanging yourself up on the narrow goal of a scale-number. 

Make smaller goals , which are easier for you to achieve, and then set new ones. This will keep you even more motivated. Believe me...

Stay healthy and start NOW. 

Organize your fridge

Hey there.

How was your weekend so far? Did you planned anything special, or were you just recovering from this exhausting week? As far as I'm concerned, I was very busy this weekend, as it was that time of the month again... Meaning, Ken and I had to go to the grocery stores again to get some juicy meat, veggies and fruits.

But before we left the house, it was definitely time to clean our fridge. And that's what we are going to talk about today: Organizing and keeping an healthy fridge. 

Here a small list why a clean fridge is important: 

• The fridge is one of the most important places to keep clean as stale food can pollute fresh food with fungus and bacteria.
• A dirty fridge can increase the risk of food poisoning.
• If your fridge isn't clean, the risk is even bigger from raw meats and fish to easily spread germs like e-coli and salmonella. 

And while having a clean fridge matters, using the right products plays its role aswell:

• Modern fridges should have removable shelves and drawers, so those should be attacked first. 
• If they are not covered with food residue, they only need to have a long soak in a basin of warm water and dishwashing-soap. 
• If you have stubborn stains, you should consider to use a dedicated cleaner for your refrigerator, or a food-friendly antibacterial cleaner or even a natural homemade solution.
• Make sure that your products are food-friendly. Don't get me wrong here, with 'food-friendly' I mean that it is generally safe for food to be replaced into the fridge once it has been cleaned. 
• If you can't find such products, simply use all-purpose kitchen cleaner, which should be food-friendly as well. 
• The perfect case would be if you found disinfectant sprays and surface wipers, but please stay away from anything with harsh chemicals.
• For a homemade-solution, here is what you'll need: baking soda and warm water; or warm water with distilled, white vinegar. You can also add some drops of lemon juice, this will help you to eliminate the strong smell of the vinegar. 

Additionally to that, a comprehensive cleaning schedule will ensure that your fridge and your food are kept clean and healthy:

• Daily: E.g while cooking dinner, quickly check your fridge for any spills. The earlier you clean up the spills, the easier it should be to remove.
• Weekly: Before grocery shopping, sort out all your food in your fridge. Food that should have been used by that day should be thrown away. If anything is still within its date, but you don't planned using them, perhaps give it to someone else to avoid waste.
• Less Frequently: If it is really necessary, take everything out of the refrigerator, including shelves and drawers, and give it a complete clean. In case you don't have the time to clean your whole fridge, consider a rota for cleaning the different parts of it over the course of a month.

Now that your fridge should be clean, you should also consider organizing your fridge. This means that placing the different foods is also of importance to obtain an extended keeping property:

Top-shelf:

- Fresh fruit packed in Tupperware.

- Preserved food

Middle-shelf/door:

- Eggs, in the original cartons / Or in the fridge egg container

- Deli meats

- Butter & Soft cheese. (Tip: drawer should be air-tight once these items have been opened)

Bottom-shelf/ door:

- Milk

- Yogurt, sour cream & cottage cheese

- Ketchup, Mayonnaise or salad dressing

- Nut oils (walnut, sesame etc.) (Olive oil and vegetables oils should be kept in the pantry)

- Juices, if pasteurized. Fresh-squeezed juice should be kept on the bottom shelf.

Drawer:

- Packaged raw meat (Tip: if they drop juices, at least they won't contaminate the whole fridge )

- Vegetables 

- Fruits (Tip: don't wash the veggies and fruits if they are still going to stay in the fridge as the water can easily promote mold and cause bacteria to grow)

As Ken and I don't have any diary products, dressings or juices, our fridge looks a bit different. I made my best to organize my fridge the most accurate. 

At the end I want to apologize for this long post, but for me hygiene is on the number-one burner and needs to be specified. 

Now I wish you a great last day of your weekend, stay healthy.

Empty the whole fridge

Give them a long hot 'bath' in your sink

Put the shelves back in the fridge after cleaning them

How I organize our fridge, as we don't have any dairy products or sauces/dressings.

Eggs and drinks in the door

I always keep potatoes in a basket , also in the pantry

Things like rice, oats or quinoa are kept in a tupperware in the pantry

June to September Transformation

So this afternoon Ken and I have been at our coach's again for another check-up. We couldn't do a mid-month check-up as J-M. was on vacation for a whole month, lucky he... However, we made a great transformation again, and we are both very satisfied with our form. And now that the competition date is almost knocking on the door, we are also changing our diets.

So here the changes: 
-On carb-days: Less spelt bread, afternoon snack changes from tuna/pineapple/quinoa cracker to quinoa cracker/apple/cod & before bedtime Iso-whey shake instead of Casein pudding.
-On low-carb days: Breakfast will be kiwi, egg-whites and cracker (time to say goodbye to my juicy yummy strawberries) and same here, no casein pudding but a shake before going to sleep.

A little change never killed nobody... But still, I am going to miss my juicy strawberries haha.

Since June I have made a lot of progress, but now the time has come to really get rid of the last percent of body fat and water retentions. I really want to get shredded as hell, not too shredded, but I want a good form even if it's my first competition. By the way I am about to order my competition-heels &-bikini soon. I am so excited already, but more of that in a future post, so stay tuned.

Nevertheless, as I always post my measurements, body fat percentage and weight, I thought to create a chart for the last time before starting the shredding-phase. Meaning, from monday onwards I will be in preparation and my transformation-posts will start from zero again:

	June	Mid-June	July	Mid-July	August	September
Weight	57.7 kg	57 kg	56.3 kg	56 kg	55 kg	54.8 kg
Body Fat percentage	27.9 %	24.6 %	22.4 %	21.4 %	20.2 %	18.8 %
Neck	33 cm	/	32.5 cm	/	32 cm	31 cm
Chest	86 cm	/	86 cm	/	86 cm	85 cm
Arms	28 cm	/	27 cm	/	26 cm	25 cm
Waist	68 cm	/	66 cm	/	64.5 cm	63.5 cm
Hips	89 cm	/	85 cm	/	83.5 cm	83 cm
Tights	55 cm	/	53 cm	/	52 cm	51.5 cm
Calves	36 cm	/	36 cm	/	35.5 cm	35 cm
Shirt size	M	/	M / S	/	M / S	S
Pant size	38	/	38 - 36	/	36	36

I wish you all a great rest of the week and dig deeper.

Post-breakfast form.