Wednesday 23 July 2014

Everybody has this friend (maybe you are this friend?) that tried every kind of diet, that exercises a lot and is fat or just chubby.
A lot of this is mental or just plain stupidity so there’s nothing really to do. except, if a person decides to take control of his life and to stop bitching about it. (As you can see I have this friend too… and she’s driving me crazy!)
Here are some golden rules for losing fat:
·         You lose FAT, not weight! Get that into your brain! If you want to lose weight go read a pro ana blog not my blog because here you’re only going to learn how to lose fat, look hot and be healthy!
·         It’s your big fat ass so YOU need to move it! Some people think if they’re getting a personal trainer it’s going to make them skinny but there’s a limit to what we are allowed to do… Sometimes I wish I can be more firm with you but I’m pretty sure it’s not legal. If you cheat, if you stop moving when I’m not looking and if you work 50% of what you can; you are one dumb fat bitch!
·         Every time you go to the gym you need to beat what you did yesterday (and yes, you were at the gym yesterday; you’re not getting the results you want by coming only 2-3 times a week… More like 4-5-6 times a week!).
·         You need to realize you don’t know what you’re doing. If you knew what you were doing you wouldn’t have been fat anymore, right? You took a professional so listen to what they have to say! Don’t try to outsmart us because you’re going to stay fat; there’s a reason for what we say.
·         There’s no short cut! No magic! You watch what you eat, you eat to fuel your training and you move your ass. SLEEP, EAT, TRAIN and REPEAT.
·         It’s not just how hard you train; it’s the consistency that counts! Training 30 min a day for 5 times a week is much better than 2 hours  a week. It’s a lifestyle - not a trend. It’s your little black dress compared to your skinny jeans. (P.s, every woman looks better in LBD than in skinny jeans anyway….)
·         1200 calories a day is a dumb idea. It’s only to prevent you from starving. You know what people who suffer from starvation have a lot of? FAT! Just like you, FATTY! If you’re dumb enough to think 1200 calories a day is healthy then you’re dumb enough to think all calories are equals… They’re not! You know you should probably just eat sugar free syrup! It’s calories free and you can drink 100 liters a day and nothing’s going to happen to you because it’s calories free, right??? NO!!! If you’re so concerned with the calories and cutting all healthy food you will stay fat and you’ll probably get cancer too! Is that what you want? Some things have higher calories but they’re full of vitamins and minerals you need and some things have higher calories and SUGAR value - like watermelon whuch is mostly water so the sugar doesn’t really count. I’m not telling you to eat a whole watermelon a day but you need to look at what you eat and not just the nutrition value of it!
·         You gotta work on 3 things in the gym: cardio, strength and flexibility. I tell it to every lifter: flexibility and cardio make you a better lifter. If you’re trying to lose fat you need to lift and not just cardio and if you lift you need to lift you need flexibility.
·         The only person that cares how much you lift, how fast you run is YOU! Stop worrying how you look and what others think because nobody cares about you. Realize it, embrace it and OWN IT!
·         Drinking 6 cups of tea a day is not healthy. Stop trying to find a way around your desires, if you crave something just have it! All this trying to outsmart your body is going to bite you in your fat ass!
·         Don’t say you listen to your body. It takes years to learn to do it and you need to put your body in all kind of situations, some of them extreme, in order to learn the boundaries. It took Arnold Schwarzenegger 10 years to learn it; do you really think you’re just going to figure it over night? If you knew your body you would have the body that you wanted; do you have the body that you want? No! So realize you don’t know what you’re doing and stop being dumb.
·         The portions that you eat might be what the government recommends but is it what you need? Are you exactly the same person as your friend? Spouse? Co-worker? I hope for you that you were not manufactured in a factory and that you came to the world through a vagina… So that’s your portion from now on: 6 16 ounce water, 5 serving of lean protein (25 grams each), 4 serving of veggies (1 cup raw or ½ cup cooked), 3 serving of complex carbs (25 grams each), 2 serving of healthy fat (15gram each ) and 1 serving of fruit. In case you’re my client and take something from your diet (for example the crabs) for a reason, you can have AS MANY PROTEIN AND FAT AS YOU WANT INSTEAD! Meaning, this portion only works if you need it all; the 6,5,4,3,2,1 diet only works if you keep it exactly like that. If you changed something it all needs to change. So don’t tell me “you took all my food I’m going to starve”. You’re not going to starve. Just listen to what I say because if you can eat as many protein and fat as you want I don’t think you can starve!

Does it make sense? I had to take it out of my heart…. i’m sorry… Just to make you happy ’'ll give you a recipe for brownies!
White chocolate brownie:
Ingredients for 6-8 servings:
- 1 cup white beans (rinsed and drained)
- 1/4 cup vanilla whey protein powder
- 1/4 cup oats
- 50 g white chocolate
- 1/2 cup raw peeled zucchini (70 g)
- 1 egg white
Directions:
Melt the white chocolate, then mix all ingredients together in a food processor (without baking or steaming the zucchini before, I just used raw zucchini). I baked the mix for about 20 min at 200-220 Celsius. It’s better to let the brownies completely cool down before serving. They’re firmer and they taste better after a few hours in the fridge.


Research and writing by Dana Gat ©2014

Thursday 17 July 2014

Rule 36, as promised, is all about…YAMS!
Yams are great for you, I LOVE LOVE LOVE them! They’re great for you and also my favourite type of carb! And definitely the one that I can’t live without! Luckily for me I don’t need to give it up because I NEED it! And so do you, especially if you like to lift (and who doesn’t like to lift?).
Before I give you AMAZING recipes, let’s talk about why you want them and anything else you need to know.
There are about 200 kinds of yams… You probably tried like 3 of them (sometime I just want to go travel in the world just so I can try all this weird and amazing things nature has to offer us).
It’s a member of the Dioscoreae family; a fact that probably doesn’t mean a thing to you but I enjoy knowing that so…suck it! J
Yams are good source of:
·         Vitamin B6
·         Potassium
·         Vitamin B1
·         Vitamin C
·         Vitamin B3
·         Fibre
·         Diosgenin
Now you probably wonder what the heck is diosgenin. Well, diosgenin is a hormone that helps to synthesise estrogen.
Yams are considered a superfood; especially for women. They don’t just help to regulate your cycle when you’re young - but they can prevent you from going crazy when you reach menopause.
The drug companies found out about it a few years ago and they started using yams to create medications to help you with that but you can get the same benefits by going to the grocery store and just eat the whole thing! Of course drugs companies would like it if you didn’t…
Yams are a key food to eat in a balance diet. You need carbs, you know it and I know it (especially if you trying to lose fat) and yams are a natural source of it. They’re great for balancing your blood sugar, which is the main thing you want to watch for when you plan your meals.
Now for your favourite part…RECIPES!
Roasted yams:
1 large yams cut into ¼ inch slices
2 tbsp olive oil.
Pre-heat the oven on 400F put the yams in a pan and drizzled olive oil on top. Bake for 45 min.

Tuscan Yam Salad:

Ingredients:

3 -4 medium yams, peeled and cubed
3 -4 roasted garlic (smashed)
1/3 cup diced onion
1  tomatoes, chopped finely
10 leaves fresh basil, shredded
1 dash fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon of grated lemon rind
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/2 cup feta cheese, drained and crumbled

Directions:

1. Roast the yams with olive oil in a 375-400 oven until soft and a little brown on the outside, about 30 minutes (depending on how big the cubes are). Cool.
2. Allow the cheese to sit in the fridge at least an hour to let the flavours develop. Add pine nuts just before serving to keep them crunchy.
Raw Yam Pie:
Almond Date Crust
1 1/4 Cup almonds that have been soaked overnight and dehydrated in sun or dehydrator
1 Cup date pieces
1 Tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
dash of cinnamon
In a food processor, process nuts until coarsely ground, add dates and process until finely ground and thoroughly mixed. With processor running, add water, vanilla, and cinnamon. When mixture is holding together, press into pie plate.
Filling
6 small medium yams, scrubbed, peeled and cut up
3/4 Cup cut up pitted dates (soak whole dates for 20 minutes before pitting and cutting up)
1/4 Cup raisins (soak for 20 minutes)
1/2 Cup Pine Nuts (soaked 5-10 minutes)
1/8 teaspoon 5 spice powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon Garam Masala (if not available use either nutmeg or cloves or additional 5 spice powder)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
While preparing yams, soak dates and raisins in small amount of water. Soak pine nuts and rinse. Put yams through Champion with blank, alternating with fruit and nuts. It should amount to about 4 cups. (If not, add more yam and put all through Champion again.) Put mixture in food processor. Add spices and vanilla. Be patient with processing, the smoother the better. After 5-6 minutes, if not very smooth add a small amount of raisin soak water, apple juice or orange juice to the mixture so it will process to a smooth puree. Pour into crust immediately. Store in refrigerator

African Peanut Yam Soup:

Ingredient:

8 cups water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons minced ginger
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 medium yams, roughly chopped
1 (14 ounce) can pineapple
3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
5 tablespoons natural smooth peanut butter
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
2 limes, juice of
favorite hot sauce, to taste

Direction:
·         Heat stock. I actually only use about 4 cups of water, because I like my soup thick.
·         In a big soup pot, heat oil. Saute onions with a pinch of salt for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, ginger and spices and sauté until everything's soft.
·         Stir in red peppers and yams, cooking them until they start to stick to the bottom of the pot.
Add water, bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Cover and simmer until yams are tender.
·         Add pineapple with juice, tomatoes and peanut butter and simmer 30 minutes. Add stock if needed. 
·         Purée the soup until smooth. I just use my blender.
·         Season to taste with more salt, pineapple juice and/or hot sauce. Just before serving, add chopped cilantro and fresh lime juice.


And that’s it for now… I hope you’ve learned something new and got some more ideas to make your meals cleaner, healthier and more enjoyable!


Research and writing by Dana Gat ©2014

Wednesday 2 July 2014

Lets talk about diet
I keep talking with you about the importance of balance and consistently. I want to talk with you about raw food.

·         Not everything is made to eat raw, if you eat too much raw veggies from the Brassica oleracea family (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collard greens, and Brussels sprouts) you can get thyroid problems…

·         Raw dessert doesn’t mean it healthy or not going to make you fat… It’s a dessert and is sugar and it usually means it has way too much fat (something you don’t hear me say often but they use tons of nuts - especially for cashew).

·         If you do not persist with eating raw it’s not going to work…. You can’t eat it when you want and eat vegan when you want and hope to lose weight. Vegan and raw don’t mix well; raw is clean while vegan is processed carbs and sodium. If you choose to go raw you have to go completely raw! No more coffee, sugar, alcohol, rice, tofu etc.. There’s no cheating meal here….its 100% or nothing.

·         There is such a thing as too much of a good thing: spinach and nuts are a base for a lot of raw foods but if you overdo them and your waist size will be the last thing you worry about

·         You can’t lift on a raw diet… Without lifting you’re going to be fat. You might look good in cloths but you’re going to look bad naked. True story!

·         I love raw food dish for their taste but I’m not lying to myself that they’re going to keep me skinny so I’m going to share some raw food recipes with you.

Its recipes time!!!! Whoo whoo

Raw peppers dips:

3 red peppers

1 cup raw walnuts (soaked for 15 min)

1 med garlic clove

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tbsp lemon juice

0.5 tsp stevia

0.5 tsp cayenne peppers

0.5 tsp cumin

·         Combine everything in a blend and blend until smooth.

Raw cream cheese:

1.25 cups pine nuts

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 small garlic clove

1 tbsp minced onion

2 tbsp water

·         Blend everything until smooth. Place in freezer for 2 hours.

Raw pesto:

2 cups basil

2 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

2/3 cup pine nuts

·         Blend everything in a blender.

Raw tacos:

2 cups walnuts

1 tbsp cumin

0.5 tbsp coriander seed

1 tsp chilli powder

Pinch of cayenne peppers

Collard greens

Salsa

·         Put the walnuts in a food processor until chunky.

·         Mix it the ground walnuts, cumin. Coriander, chilli and cayenne in a bowl.

·         Place a collard green and fill about 0.25 of it with the mix in the middle

·         Top with salsa and roll it like taco.

Raw Salsa:

5 large tomatoes

1 bunch cilantro

1 onion

Lime juice

2 jalapeno

·         Cut and mix

That it for this time…

LOVE


Research and writing by Dana Gat ©2014