What mindfulness can do for your fit journey

A fit journey is always accompanied by a good workout and healthy eating. But you may not have thought about applying mindfulness to your daily life. But you can pay more attention to it, and it can bring you alot! This way you can improve your sports performance and you can learn to eat mindful. Curious about what mindfulness can bring you? Read on!

WHAT IS MINDFULNESS

To find out what mindfulness can mean for you, you must know what it means. In short, mindfulness means that you consciously pay attention to your experiences. You do this with an open and involved attitude. You live in the moment. In today’s world everything has to go faster and faster and we less often think about what we are doing at that moment. During our lunch we already think what we should eat tonight and during dinner we are busy with 10 other things. If you live mindful you can get much more satisfaction from your daily activities. You can enjoy the little things more and be more positive. Your body is removed from the automatic pilot, which can provide many new insights.

mindfulness

MINDFUL EATING

Then there is such a thing as mindful food. As I explained above, during dinner we are often busy with 10 other things at the same time. We check social media, watch TV or make a to-do list in our head. This all sounds super useful, but it ensures that you get much less satisfaction from your food. Mindful eating means that you only focus on what you are eating; you try to taste the flavors that come with every bite. You are therefore much more consciously eating your meal and you will soon notice that you feel satisfied.

3 tips for eating mindful:

1. Eat like a scientist:

Try to analyze every bite carefully as if you were writing a report about it. How does it smell, what happens when you put it in your mouth. Which flavors do you taste? And so on. Really try to describe it.

2. Put down your cutlery after every bite

Teach yourself to put down your cutlery after one or two bites, this way your attention will remain with the bite that you have in your mouth at that moment. Many people are already busy with the next while taking a bite. But because of this you hardly taste what you are eating now. Your brain will only give you a signal after 20 minutes that you are saturated. So the slower you eat, the better you know if you have really eaten enough.

3. Be a snob when you eat 

Be extremely picky when choosing what to eat. Only put something in your mouth if you really like it and don’t eat to eat. Leave mediocre snacks and spend your hunger on food that you really like.

MINDFULNESS AND WORKING OUT

Since mindfulness teaches you to focus on 1 thing, you can also use this very well during exercise. Your ability to concentrate has improved, which means that you can complete your exercises in the gym or your daily run with much more concentration. You focus purely on what you are doing at the time and therefore have more endurance. After all, your body doesn’t have to worry about other things. In short, mindfulness can help you to increase your motivation and concentration during exercise, to tolerate pain and fatigue better and to reduce tension.

We are very curious whether you will apply mindfulness or perhaps that you will do this after this article. We believe that it can take you a lot further. Leave your opinion in the comments! 

Best Pre-Workout Food

Now we know what to eat post workout, pre-workout food can’t be left forgotten! The right pre-workout food is just as important as post-workout food, maybe even more.

A lot of people think that exercising on an empty stomach is a good idea to burn more fat. In reality, your body will just use whatever energy there is available and this might not be fat but muscle. Another side effect of exercising on an empty stomach is that you might not have the energy for that killer workout and your exercise will be less effective and less fun.

 

Best Pre-Workout Food

About 1-2 hours before your workout, carbs are your BFF. The best is to have a mix of complex (like whole wheat products) and simple ones (like fruit) so that the release of energy during your workout is slow and steady throughout your routine. So if you are up for a great workout, try one of these pre-workout foods:

  • A granola bar
  • A slice of whole wheat toast with half a banana and cinnamon
  • Apple wedges with almond butter
  • Lisa’s banana muffins
  • A few whole wheat, or flax crackers
  • Greek yoghurt with trail mix or granola
  • 1/2 cup of oatmeal with some raisins or banana slices

For about 15 to 30 minutes before your workout it is important that the food is easy to digest. This way you won’t have to work out with a full stomach but you won’t be hungry either. These foods will provide you some energy quickly:

  • Fruit juice or smoothie
  • Banana, apple, or any other piece of fruit

So enjoy your snack and own that workout!

Get in balance with your partner

Don’t we all know that one person that can eat E V E R Y T H I N G  without gaining weight? While you just look at some chocolate and already feel like you’ve gained weight? Yup. I have that one person in my life and like that isn’t enough already… it’s my boyfriend and we live together. He wants to gain weight and I want to lose some. Quite the challenge! In the past months we’ve finally found a healthy balance and we went from being each others irritation to motivation!

1. RECOGNIZE THE PROBLEM

When we just met, I was insecure and felt like I needed to lose a lot of weight. But I wasn’t overweight; I had a normal figure with curves, but insecurity took over my common sense. My boyfriend was too thin, and this was so problematic it held him back in his education and pursuing his dreams. Both unhappy and out of balance, things had to change for the both of us. And so we decided to take on our problems individually. 

2. IN AND OUT OF BALANCE

I soon found a way in my fit lifestyle, but every time we were together and he ate a lot, I did the same. And when he was with me and I was eating healthy, he would get out of balance. We both had such a different diet that eating together was barely doable. There had to be another way instead of making two different dinners?

3. THE SAME, BUT DIFFERENT

After a lot of irritation and failed attempts, I all of sudden realized it wasn’t that difficult at all. For example, if I baked banana pancakes, I ate mine with low fat quark and he would eat his with Nutella and chocolate sprinkles. Minor detail, but it helped to eat together again. Soon we would apply it to everything: he would eat pasta and I would make zucchini noodles. I’d have a bowl of Greek yogurt and he has a bowl of full quark. Suddenly we had found the balance! 

4. BE EACH OTHERS MOTIVATION

I always make sure that he eats more than be but also of the right stuff and he lets me know when I’m making unhealthy decisions. Like digging in the freezer for some ice cream. We motivate each other to go to the gym and we regularly go together. We’re not there yet, but we’re on our way. Of course, there are days I’m not being healthy at all and finish a whole bag of chips, but when I do so, I do it with him. And at that moment, there is nothing else I’d like to do. 

Do you recognize this, Fit Girls? And how are you dealing with these kind of moments? Let me know about your tips! Would love to read them below. 

How to eat less sugar?

Last week we talked about how nowadays sugar is everywhere. When you walk through the supermarket and take some random products, there’s a very large chance that there’s sugar in it. Once, sugar was only used to sweeten food or drinks, but that’s no longer the case. Not eating sugar is a really big struggle for me. Especially since it’s in all of my favorite cheat snacks ;). But, I decided to eat clean, healthy and really decrease my sugar intake. In this article I will tell you all about sugar and give you tips on how to eat less of it.

What does sugar do to your brain?
When you eat sugar, your brains releases dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical which makes you feel really good. Your brain gets addicted to this feeling and tells you to take more sugar. Sugar stimulates the same part of the brain as several kinds of drugs. You can experience some real heavy withdrawal symptoms when you decrease your sugar intake. This proves that sugar does more to your body than you know. If you want to read more about how sugar affects your brain, read this article from Fit Girl Shelley or this article from Fit Girl Annegeke.

So how can you decrease your sugar intake? I’ve collected some great tips I want to share with you.

Beauty sleep
Taking enough sleep is one of the simplest and most important ways to decrease your hunger and cravings. Research shows that when you don’t get enough sleep, your body releases an appetite increasing hormone called ghrelin.

Replace sugar for other flavors
Experiment with some different flavors instead of sugar. For example:

  • Cinnamon
  • Vanilla
  • Orange
  • Coconut

Choose savory snacks
Savory snacks are better for your body than sweet ones, because these don’t have the same (addicting) effects. Some healthy examples include:

  • Hummus with cucumber and bell pepper
  • Carrot or celery with nut spread
  • A boiled egg

Choose naturally sweet foods like fruit
There are a lot of fruits that are good for your digestion and for burning fat. For example:

  • Strawberries
  • Apple
  • Kiwi
  • Berries like blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and mulberries

Read labels
Even products from which you don’t expect to contain sugar, contain it. (Such as crisps!) Sugar also has a lot of nicknames; here are some of them:

  • Dextrose
  • Caster sugar
  • HFCS
  • Fructose
  • Fructose syrup
  • Brown sugar
  • Glucose
  • Glucose syrup
  • Syrup
  • Invert
  • Granulated sugar
  • Molasses
  • Cane sugar

Drink unsweetened drinks
No soda and ‘fruit juices’ of course; freshly pressed juice is good for you every now and then, but most juice packs contain loads of sugar. Also, try to drink your coffee and tea without sugar or spice up your water with some fruit or fresh herbs.

Cook with fresh products
Cook with pots and pans and fresh products. Prepacked products probably contain sugars and often too much salt as well. Go back to basics and create your meal from scratch.

Resist the sugar replacers
Some sweeteners are really bad for your body. It’s better to use natural sweeteners like stevia. On our website you can find plenty delicious recipes without using artificial sugar.

Check out the recipe of this fingerlickin’ good cocochoco almond muffin!

Avoid sugar in your comfort food
If it is your cheatday, try to avoid eating everything sugary that comes along. It’s better for you to choose salty food instead of sugar or else you need to go cold turkey again when your cheatday is over. Believe me, you’ll really notice some serious sugar cravings after a wild party with Ben & Jerry!

80/20 rule
Have you heard of the 80/20 rule? This rule means that 80% of the time you’ll track what you eat, 20% of the time you can eat what you want. You can compare this rule with having a cheatday every week.

Don’t go shopping for groceries when you’re hungry
When you’re hungry you will for sure buy all the bad foods you’re craving for. If you shop when you’re full, you can think more logically and will probably only buy what’s on your list ;-).

Do it together
Find a buddy who is willing to change their lifestyle together with you. It’s always nice to have someone who supports you in your Fit Journey. You can work out together and keep each other motivated.

Are you going to apply any of these tips onto your lifestyle? Or did you already cut back on artificial sugars? Share your tips & tricks with us!

 

Yoga vs Pilates

When I tell people that I’m a Pilates teacher, many still assume it is the same thing as yoga. Although they are similar due to both being considered as body&mind methods, they are not the same. I’m going to discuss some things they have in common and what makes them so different!

Yoga vs Pilates

To begin; they differ in origin. Pilates were designed during WOI to help rehabilitate soldiers. Yoga is more of a philosophy and has been around for a quite longer period.

Yoga is described best as a practice, and I like to think of Pilates as a workout method. In Pilates, the main focus is on the core muscles, also known as the powerhouse. It is a method designed to bring together the muscles in the entire body, which makes Pilates great to prevent and resolve injuries, back pains and joint issues. I like to see yoga more as a ‘workout for the mind’, although there are many different forms of yoga; the focus of power yoga for example is more on strengthening the muscles.

Yoga and Pilates are both dominated by bodyweight exercises; the only thing you need is a mat or a carpet and with some exercises this isn’t even that necessary. With yoga, you can use props like blankets, blocks or straps, but not any machinery. Pilates studios do use machines such as a reformer. Both yoga and Pilates can give you strong, flexible muscles and a lean, defined look.

As mentioned, they have in common that you’re not only training the body, but also the mind. Both practices are great for stress relief, however, because yoga is more spiritual and less physical, yoga might work better if you’re feeling stressed. They both focus on breath, however, with Pilates it is used more as a technique, while yoga uses breathing exercises to achieve relaxation.

To me, yoga is more of a lifestyle because of the meditational aspect. Yoga does not stop when you roll up the mat. Pilates however, is considered less spiritual.

Is there a winner? No. I can’t tell you wether yoga or Pilates are better than the other; it’s a matter of trying it yourself. Don’t give up easily. Go and give a few lessons a try a and see how you like it. After that, get back to me and tell me all about your experience! Have fun!

Sleep: the second best workout

Some of us love it, some of us hate it. But the fact is: we all need it. And no, we are not talking about chocolate, we are talking about sleep. We spent about 1/3 of our lives sleeping, and no, it’s not a waste of time. I’m going to tell you why sleep is so important, how to make sure you get enough of it and what happens when you don’t. Some of us function with only 4 hours of sleep while others need at least 8 decent hours before you can even say a word to them. There have been lots of scientific studies around the topic of sleep, which have resulted in many different theories. To this day there still isn’t a single and correct answer to why we sleep and how much we really need. 

What does sleep do to our body? 

Sleep is known as a life sustaining activity (just like eating). It’s a protective mechanism that our body developed. Just like not having any food makes us hungry, not having any sleep makes us tired. Even if you move over twenty times in your sleep, your muscles stay relaxed. This gives your muscle tissue the opportunity to restore and repair themselves. While we sleep, our heart rate and blood pressure slow down so that our vascular system can get the rest that it needs. Long story short: your body is being recharged overnight.

What does sleep do to our mind?

Our mind is a miracle and some parts of it are still one big mystery for many researchers. However, one thing they seem to agree on is the fact that sleep has a ‘behind-the-scene’ function. It boosts our memory (even a small power nap can do that) by reorganising and refreshing our thoughts while we think about riding pink fluffy unicorns and having abs of steel 😉 During sleep, brain activity is not interfered with other ‘outside’ experiences and information, giving it an opportunity to use all of its capacity to reorganize and refresh itself.

What happens when we lack sleep?

There is a chemical in our brain that tells us when we are tired, it’s called adenosine. Adenosine is build up while you are awake and the amount of it grows. The larger the amount of adenosine, the more likely you will feel tired and have the desire to sleep. When we sleep our body clears the amount of adenosine in our system in order for us to feel fresh and renewed when we wake up. And then we have caffeine, which does the opposite of adenosine. Although we do not recommend it, it does help to (temporarely) overcome sleepiness but it’s only a short-term solution because the amount of adenosine stays the same and kicks back in when caffeine decides to leave the body.

Here are 5 facts that we dislike about the lack of sleep:

  1. Higher risk of accidents. Due to drowsiness causing slower reaction times, you are more likely to make mistakes that could even be dangerous.
  2. Dumbs you down. Lack of sleep won’t make you a smart ass, in fact, it slows down your alertness, concentration, reasoning en problem solving.
  3. Kills your bedroom skills. Lack of sleep lowers your libido en limits your interest in some one-on-one cardio. You gotta keep the vibes going!
  4. Skin-ageing. When you don’t get enough sleep your body releases more of the hormone cortisol, also known as the stress-hormone. That means no young and shiny skin as well as panda-bear eyes without even wearing mascara.
  5. Weight gain. You snooze, you lose! Sleep seems to be related to appetite. If you sleep less than 6 hours a day you have a higher risk of developing obesity over time as lack of sleep stimulates cravings for high-fat and high-carbs food.

Sleeping and working out

Every decent fitness program should include some advice on sleep. It’s a crucial aspect if we talk about working out. The amount of sleep you get can have a big impact on your athletic performances. Let’s see how sleep and working out are tied together. Anyone who wants muscle definition should definitely make sure to take enough rest at night. At night your body releases growth hormones and you can maximize this hormone production by getting enough sleep.

Every time you lift weights at the gym, tiny cracks are created in the tissues of your muscles. When the cracks get restored by the body, you gain strength and size. Most of these repairing mechanism occur during sleep. If you want to build lean muscle you have to get enough sleep. When your sleep levels are low, your metabolism gets slowed down. This results in messed up blood levels (such as glucose), which can make you feel constantly hungry even if you have eaten a lot already.

Sleep tight!

Although we all need different amounts of sleep, the average amount of time is around 7 hours. If you sleep (a lot) less than 7 hours you will have a higher risk in developing some of the factors mentioned above and we do not want that to happen. Some things that can help you get the right amount of sleep is creating the right environment with a comfy bed, soft lighting and a low temperature. You can also try to get yourself into a routine so that your body gets used to going to sleep at a certain time and it will feel natural. Also, you can start tracking your sleep and start making improvements in your sleep cycle! Check out this oura ring review !

Don’t eat or drink too much before going to bed. Your digestive system will get to work, making it harder to fall asleep because your energy levels rise. If you are hungry (which we, Fit Girls, are quite often if we’re honest 😉 ) keep the amount of food you consume before bed small and avoid high-fat foods. For help finding the right mattress for you, we recommend visiting Consumer Mattress Guide, as they offer a ton of great resources to get a better night’s sleep.

So for all of you Fit Girls out there, get your sheet (get it, sheets?) together and hit the sack!

 

Review: Mindful Eating coaching program

There are those people who can spend half an hour eating their meal. They take small little bites and savour each and every one of them. They pay attention to the texture of the food, the way it smells and how it feels on their tongue. They take their time and enjoy their meals to the fullest. I’m not one of them. 

I’m a fast eater. Always have been. I can finish an entire meal in about 5 minutes. And although that may sound convenient to some, for me it’s something that I’ve really been wanting to change for a while now. I hate hearing the astonished “have you finished your meal already?!”. When I eat with friends, I try to slow down to their pace but when I’m alone, I devour my meal at the speed of light. And that leaves little time to really enjoy the food.

So yeah, you can imagine my enthusiasm when I got an email if I wanted to try out an online coaching program from Mazlo, amongst which was the ‘Mindful Eating’ program. “Learn how we can help you become your best self“. That’s the first sentence I read on their website. OK, well I’m all for becoming my best self here so bring it on. How could Mazlo help me become Shelley 2.0?

I decided to go for the Mindful Eating program and started right away. The program lasts for 2 weeks and you get a personal coach who will guide you in your day-to-day activities. Cool! But before I started, I was to fill in a short little questionnaire about my goals with this program and complete a self-assessment of how mindfully I was eating now. I also needed to write down my main motivation, which I’ll come back to later.

 

The next day, I got a really cute personal video message from my coach, Emily. She introduced herself but also really went into the details of my motivation. So it’s not some generic video everyone receives – no, they are completely personalized. I noticed we could also exchange messages in the chat function in the Mazlo site. Awesome!

When I came back to the site the next day to start my coaching program I was immediately confronted with the motivation I had written down. They would show this to me every time I logged in, reminding me again and again what I was trying to achieve. It kept my focus clear and got me working towards one specific goal: taking more time to eat my meals.

 

A 2-week Mazlo coaching program gives you small daily tasks, guided with an audio exercise, which you have to complete in order to help you achieve your goal. For example, on day six I had to eat with my non-dominant hand (very clumsily, definitely takes more time), and the next day I had to rate my hunger on a scale before, during and after the meal. Every task was different, but the introduction stayed the same for each one of them: take 3 deep, long breaths, and first really notice what’s on your plate. How it smells, how it looks, what texture it has…

So, did I like it?

Well, at first, I’ll admit I really had to get used to it. I felt very impatient and felt it took such a long time to eat a meal (duh, that was the point, dumbass!). But as I noticed changes in how I experienced the food and how much more I tasted the flavours, I was convinced. Mindful eating is the sh*t! I discovered that I under appreciated some super delicious food (like quark with oats and honey, yum!) and also that I could actually take the time to eat. It’s not that hard. Taking small bites and paying attention to the flavour doesn’t have to be a super time-consuming task and no, your food won’t get cold either.

When I had questions about the tasks or about difficulties I encountered, I could just send a message to my coach and she would get back to me within a day. Even if I didn’t have a question, she checked in on me every day and sent me helpful tips, interesting articles on mindful eating, or just some motivation. Sometimes in the form of a message, other times through a video.

So yes, maybe in the first couple of days, you’ll feel like an idiot. Like when I did the first exercise and I had to examine a raisin very thoroughly before I ate it. I was at the #FITGIRLCODE office and hoped nobody would see me do it ;), but the other exercises I did were from the comfort of my own home and I can see why they work. I still use several of the practices in my daily routine now, like first taking in the smell, texture and look of the food before I eat it. Or, sometimes when I notice that I’m eating really fast again, I start using my non-dominant hand to slow myself down. It helps!

So my final opinion: I would definitely recommend anyone to do this. Besides mindful eating you can also follow other programs like the 10-Minute Workout, Body Maintenance, or Mindfulness Meditation. There are plenty of programs to choose from! And the first 25 Fit Girls who use the code ‘FITGIRL‘ get a free program of their choice! So don’t waste much time, check it out now 🙂 

Midweek motivation tips: don’t panic when you start to slack

It all starts at the beginning of the new year. On the first of January we promise ourselves to eat better and train harder. We sometimes succeed and sometimes fail. But in case you need some midweek motivation if you are starting to slack, don’t panic! Just keep trying!

There will be times you just want to eat chocolate, cookies and A LOT of potato chips. And there will come a day, you just despise the gym. When you do, try not to give in. But if it’s still too hard, don’t feel bad about yourself or throw in the towel. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day! At #FITGIRLCODE, we’re not experts on healthy living, and it’s not like we NEVER cheat or are always super happy to go to the gym. We know how it feels! So we wanted to give you some midweek motivation and came up with some tips:

  • Talk to your friends about it. Every woman can relate to those difficult moments when you just wanna eat EVERYTHING. Talking about it helps.
  •  Do not go shopping when you’re hungry! I’ve done it too many times and I always come home with the wrong set of friends…Ben & Jerry. And although they’re my friends in time of need, they’re not my FIT friends!
  • Always keep dark chocolate stashed in your cupboard. A piece of it may silence the screaming cravings you’re having.
  • Do you have a friend that is ALWAYS working out? If you can’t find the motivation to go to the gym, ask her to drag you to the gym. If someone is waiting for you, you’ll probably think twice about skipping.
  • Allow yourself a cheat day. If you’re eating healthy, it’s OK to eat something you really want. As long as you’re not obsessed by it. Being obsessed is never good!
  • Have a healthy snack around that is really tasty, but doesn’t have all that sugar and calories. I can say I’m pretty obsessed with rice crackers, healthy peanut butter and banana…wait, did I say obsessed?
  • Do you find it handy to have a schedule that shows you how many times to exercise? Try this daily planking schedule. And you don’t have to start on the first of the month, start today!

And last, but certainly not least: DON’T BE SO HARD ON YOURSELF! We can’t emphasize it enough. Every day is a brand new day for you to work that ass off in the gym and eat super healthy. Do NOT let one day of slacking bring you down. And remember: you’re still awesome!

Easy vegan food swaps

Are you trying to cut back on animal products, or are you just curious about a more plant-based diet? Whatever your reasons, we have selected some easy vegan food swaps so you can experience how easy and yummy plant-based options are!

Vegan food swaps and tips:

  1. Very important if you want to try a more plant-based diet; eat more legumes. Legumes, like chickpeas, lentils and beans, are a good source of protein and also provide fiber, important minerals and B-vitamins.
  2. Swap your eggs for flax or chia ‘eggs’ in baking recipes (think pancakes, muffins, cookies). For flax eggs, mix 1 tablespoon of flax meal (just put flax seeds in the food processor or blender) with 3 tablespoons of water; for chia eggs, mix 1 tablespoon of chia seeds with 3 tablespoons of water. Let it sit for about 15 minutes before using.
  3. One of the easiest vegan food swaps is to add nuts and seeds; especially hemp seeds are a great source of protein. They also provide important other nutrients such as good fats, fiber, minerals and vitamins.
  4. Milk is an easy product to swap; try plant-based milk like almond milk, rice milk or oat milk. There are many options available in organic food shops! Look for unsweetened versions (always check the ingredient list; there are some ‘almond milks’ consisting of 2% almonds and 98% crap) or make nut or seed milk yourself; what about hemp milk, hazelnut milk or sunflower seed milk?
  5. Quinoa is called (pseudo) ‘super-grain’ for a reason; it is high in protein and gluten free. Quinoa contains all nine of the essential amino acids, which makes it a complete protein and a great meat substitute.
  6. Leafy greens like spinach and kale, and green veggies like broccoli are also packed with protein and contain B-vitamins as well as other important nutrients. For example, broccoli contains more protein per calorie than a steak! So you better drink that green smoothie 😉
  7. Skip the processed soy foods. Unprocessed soy products are a great and maybe even necessary addition to a vegan lifestyle, but there are a lot of creepy soy stories, so try to skip the faux meat. Also, there are a lot of other unwanted ingredients in processed foods, so it’s better to skip them anyway. Moderation is key, also in a vegan lifestyle!

Do you have some other tips or additional vegan food swaps? Let us know in the comments. 

 

Drum roll… We are launching the #FITGIRLCODE Guide

Yes, after a long wait the time has finally come! In mid-December we will launch our first e-book: #FITGIRLCODE Guide. Say what? Together with the help of experts in the fields of nutrition, fitness and mindfulness we have designed an eight-week guide that gives you the tools to make the best choices for your body and mind so that you can achieve your goals and unlock your personal code to a healthy lifestyle.

What can you expect?

  • 8 week workout schedule (no gym equipment)
  • 8 week eating plan with shopping lists
  • 8 week mindfulness program
  • free audio mindfulness exercises
  • Happiness Journal to track your progress
  • 76 easy and delicious recipes

We made this guide so that you have all the tools you need at your fingertips to kick-start your healthy lifestyle. When you’re browsing the internet you come across a million and one different resources, some of them free, others costing you a fortune, but none are anything like our guide. We believe that by living a healthy lifestyle you can be the best version of yourself. And that’s exactly what you will achieve by following the #FITGIRLCODE guide.

the fitgirlcode guide

 

Why is #FITGIRLCODE Guide unique?

We have listened to all of your questions and listened to your concerns since launching #FITGIRLCODE back in 2014. With all of this, we have created a guide that is easy to fit into a busy lifestyle, allows you to enjoy lots of healthy treats and most importantly allows you to unlock your personal code to a healthy lifestyle. Our guide is great to get started living healthy but what happens after those eight weeks? During those eight weeks, you will learn that healthy living is mainly about making the right choices. When you complete our guide, you will have enough knowledge (about yourself too) to continue this new way of life on your own. In addition, we of course will continue to inspire you on #FITGIRLCODE daily with great articles and juicy recipes.

the fitgirlcode guide

What do you get in it?

T#FITGIRLCODE Guide is the handbook for Fit Girls. All of the girls who work at #FITGIRLCODE have a decent fit journey behind them and write from their experience. By now, we know how we can maintain our healthy lifestyle and we are only too happy to share that with you! We will explain why you should never trust the scales and the importance of before and after photos. An important part of a healthy lifestyle is exercise. In the guide you will find a full-body workout schedule which includes power and HIIT exercises that cause you to be the fittest version of yourself.

Being fit and healthy is for everyone, this guide has adjustments for all fitness levels. The workout days of are suited to the most advanced Fit Girl and for those who are just starting out.

Ever heard of the saying, “abs are made in the kitchen?” You can work out until you drop (preferably not), but if you don’t eat healthy then you can think again about getting those results that you are dreaming of. The best ‘diet’ is in fact not a diet, but a lifestyle, where you create flexibility, choice and variety for yourself so that you can maintain eating this way, happily, for the rest of your life! The meal schedules in this are made based on macro- and micronutrients. What the fudge is that? You will learn it all in our guide. In creating our recipes we have thought about making sure you can buy everything at your supermarket. We know that you have busy lives. That’s why we have easy recipes, that use easy-to-find ingredients so that you’re not running around shopping for them.

Last but not least: the mindfulness part. Through mindfulness exercises you will learn to deal with stressful situations. Eventually, you will realize the effect your new lifestyle has on your mind. Inner change is perhaps even more important than external changes! For eight weeks, you will have a different mindfulness exercise to practice, which is supported with an audio-guided exercise. Together these will give you a helping hand living a healthy lifestyle. For example, you will learn how to eat more mindfully, so that you can fully enjoy your meals and feel more satisfied.

the fitgirlcode guide

Happiness Journal

Being happy and healthy is a state of well-being and it is not determined purely by your appearance. That’s where the Happiness Journal comes in. In this journal you can measure and track how you feel. The bottom line is you have be honest with yourself – especially if you’ve experienced some not so Fit Girl moments. Setbacks happen and that’s OK. If you can understand why and how it impacts you, you can help yourself to deal with it better next time.

The perfect present for Fit Girls! 

#FITGIRLCODE Guide is the perfect present to put on your own wishlist. We will start on the 2nd of January and we challenge you to start with us too, and maybe you know someone who always says she wants to be fit and healthy but doesn’t know where to start. This guide could be the final push she needs. Plus, it’s really awesome to take on this kind of challenge together!

So do you want to join 100,000 women in our #FITGIRLCODE community and encourage each other to be the fittest version of yourselves? Put on your best sport outfit from your closet, drag your BFFF along to the gym and go into the new year fresh and healthy.

Elze-Mieke’s food and exercise schedule

Hi all! I’m Elze-Mieke, a (sports)model, healthy food lover and sport addict! I travel a lot for my job and that makes a healthy lifestyle quite difficult sometimes, but I try to keep it up as much as I can. Working out and eating healthy is for me, a way of life. That’s why I would like to share my food and exercise schedule with you Fit Girls so you can take a look at my life!

Nutrition & Exercise

I have actually always been concerned with nutrition. As a child I did not eat meat. I would slide it neatly to the side of my plate because I did not like the structure. My mother would cook an egg instead. There was a short period of time that I did eat meat once in a while but I’ve been vegetarian for years now. I do eat fish which is sourced in a sustainable way however. I have the feeling that my body reacts well to it. Besides, I love it and I know it’s good for me too. As you can see in my food schedule, I eat a very diverse range of food. I eat lots of fruits and vegetables and am not convinced that you should only have two servings of fruit per day. I eat as much fruit as I want and that’s a lot! I also consume a lot of bananas during the week through food and smoothies. The claim that bananas and fruit make you fat is a myth. Just make sure that you exercise enough.

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Since childhood I have always been heavily involved in sport and I have never stopped. I have also done high-level athletics for a long time. During high school I would choose the gym class so I could work-out extra, and besides that I was riding horse, playing softball and doing gymnastics. I would go to gymnastics on Friday night along with Aranka! Now, I exercise 4 to 5 times a week. Especially cardio, strength, and sometimes once a week I go to Bikram yoga. On my rest days I always walk for an hour. I love to clear my head in the fresh air. An additional motivation for me to stay in shape is my work as a (sports) model. In this line of work you have to deal with many other girls who have a beautiful body, so staying in shape is a must. But I think it’s important anyways and I enjoy working-out.

A way of life

I have absolutely no difficulty with working out so often and eating healthy, as it is a way of life for me. I don’t really think about it and because I work out so much, I allow myself to eat healthy bread (eg. Fitkorn, sourdough, spelt and rye), brown rice and whole wheat pasta. Eating healthily is all in the choices you make. Choose for sustainable, organic or unprocessed products. And when I crave something, I just allow myself to eat it otherwise that desire will remain in my body and mind, and that bothers me. I’d rather run a few kilometers more than skip the carrot cake if that’s what I really want. Besides, in such situations you crave the taste. You do not have to eat the whole bag of chips to satisfy that taste, just eat a few. Buy a small bag, instead of a medium sized bag.

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I travel a lot for my work which makes it difficult to eat healthy sometimes. I try to as much as possible, preparing my meals as much as I can. I always bring some healthy things to photoshoots, like homemade raw bars, raw nuts, dark chocolate, bananas, a smoothie or sometimes a wrap with salmon when I have a long car ride. I do the same when I have to fly. When I have a long flight, I always ask my flight provider for a vegetarian meal on the plane. On set, there’s generally enough to eat, especially with the French and German clients, but just to be sure I always bring my own ‘smart bag’ along too.

My food an exercise schedule

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Finally, I would like to share some of my favorite recipes so take a look at my blog www.elze-mieke.com for more recipes, fashion, travel and beauty!

–Be proud of who you are! You are unique and a confident woman, radiates most power!-

Top 3 dieting excuses and how to overcome right now

Do you tell yourself each week you’ll start eating healthy next week and stick to your weight-loss plan? Are you like forever waiting until the next Monday to get your ass to the gym?  If yes, you’re probably putting off getting started on a new healthy routine and it’s time to beat the excuses. Today on the blog I’m talking about how to overcome the 3 most popular dieting excuses that stop us girls from living a healthy lifestyle.

So what inspired me to write this blog post? Each day I talk to girls that really want to change their lifestyle and get in a fit and healthy shape, but they tell themselves a list of reasons to avoid getting going with a healthy routine. Though we all know that taking care of our health and body is very important, there’s a list of most common dieting excuses that always seem to get in our way. There’s a high chance that the next top 3 dieting excuses will sound familiar to you – just like they used to be for me. I want to help you on how to overcome them and start making the best turn around for your overall well-being.

Excuse nr 1: I’m busy, no time!

It requires effort to change your lifestyle and effort takes time. It’s all about MAKING time. If you truly want to realize that healthy and fit body you’ll have to stop telling yourself reasons you can’t. These reasons are really just excuses and I have the best tips, tricks and tools to help a busy bee with eating healthy and staying active. Read here how I have successfully beaten my busy-bee excuses.

Excuse nr 2: I don’t like healthy food

Often I hear that people hate vegetables, don’t like oats (without a sugar-overload on top) or simply can’t eat low-fat quark plain. Healthy food can taste good – very good- and you can pimp each healthy meal to your personal taste. If you don’t like your healthy meals it’s simply because you aren’t cooking them right. It’s time to figure out what you really don’t like about it. Is it the texture of quark? Mix it up into a smoothie. Is it the flavor of oats? Pimp it with cacao powder, cinnamon powder, fruit or honey. Are your veggies boring? Add seasonings and spruce your veggies with pepper, garlic, a dash of lemon juice, olive oil or spring onion. Try to incorporate the food you don’t like into another dish you do like. Don’t let the fear of “strange” and “dislike” food hold you back from getting in your best shape ever and find here all my absolute favorite and delicious recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snacky time.

Excuse nr 3: Next Monday I’ll cut the crap and START..again..

Are you like forever waiting for the next Monday to start? New week, new chances, new motivation? Are your vacation- and weekend plans always an excuses to put your weight-loss plans on hold? Stop it right here, right now. When your agenda is pulling you back, there will never be a good moment to start. It will be like excuses after excuse, so START NOW! I hope that my article will make you realize that excuses keep you stuck where you are and old habits die hard. If you really want to shed the weight today is the day to recognize that you are capable of making a change – and make it matter!

diet excuses

Don’t let another day pass you by without driving yourself to become a healthier and happier girls. Take action to regain control over your lifestyle!

With love,
Carolina.

P.S. Questions? Feel free to raise them in the comment section below or head over to the Foodie-ness blog: www.foodie-ness.com

Work those legs and butt!

As a model you need to have a fit and lean body, especially with my goal to work as a sport model. When you see me you probably think, what the heck is she talking about, you look already super fit. Well.. to be honest, I am not satisfied with my legs and butt..  

To give you an idea.. this is how I look…

fit girl

You know those mixed girls with a beautiful round butt, which they received as a present from mother nature? Well mother nature didn’t give me that much.. :-/ So, it’s a pretty simple choice for me, if I want to have a firm butt with nice legs, I have to work hard. It doesn’t only looks nicer, I also feel more confident during sport jobs.

Balance is the key! By reaching my goals, I need to create a balance for myself. I know I could push myself to a limit that’s way too far.. Or.. after 2 weeks I get bored  and my motivation gets so low that I really want to quit. 
My goal is to train with a lot of variety so I can keep it up on a longer base. I hope with this method I can intergrate fitness as a part of my lifestyle.

I have to say that I am very lucky that my partner Jesse is a good Personal Trainer (Owner of Body and Mind Control). He knows how to motivate me during sports and also knows how to push me beyond my limits, which  is something I really need. I asked Jesse to make a workout schedule for a month for my legs and butt.

fit girl

I always start my workout with a warming up of 10 minutes. Then I continue with the schedule of Jesse. To reach my goals I need to train with weights and try to raise in kg because only then I create a round butt. In sport terms they call it ‘positive overload training’. Besides the butt and legs I also train a smaller muscle group for example my arms. I do this with 2 or 3 different kind of exercises. I finish with a cooling down of 10 minutes and some stretch exercises. Do you have the same goal? Then start your own challenge with my butt and legs schedule and push yourself to the limit. Keep me posted about your experience.

Let’s do this ladies!!

Tropical mango & coconut pancakes

Eat breakfast like a queen, lunch like a princess, and dinner like a pauper. Truer words have never been spoken. We ♥ a healthy breakfast and we most definitely love these tropical mango & coconut pancakes from Inlovewithhealth.nl. What are you waiting for? Go make em! 😉

For 4 pancakes:

– Half banana
– 2 eggs
– 20 gr coconut flour (or any other whole wheat flour)
– 1 tsp cinnamon
– Water
– Pieces of pineapple and mango sauce
– Coconut oil

This is how it’s made:

– Mix the eggs and mash the banana
– Mix the banana with the eggs
 – Add the coconut flour and a little bit of water
– Stir the mixture for 5 minutes. If it gets too thick, add a little bit more water
– Add the cinnamon
– Heat a frying pan and add a little coconut oil
– Put a little of your mixture in the frying pan
– Bake the pancake till its golden brown, then turn over
– Bake the other side till evenly brown
– Put the pancakes on a plate and drizzle it with the mango sauce and garnish it with pieces of pineapple. 

Now put on some tropical music, enjoy your pancakes and go be yo’ bad self today, girlfriend!♥

Mirror schizophrenia

* It’s not my intention to stigmatize or offend anyone with any mental illness. This article is purely written out of my own experience. I don’t state any facts. I solely describe my personal situation and the feelings I’m experiencing. 

I’ve got a weird relationship with mirrors. And mirrors with me as well, I believe. All of them show me another Anna. And that’s confusing to me. I just want to know how I really look, and therefore I’ll need a mirror. It’s the only way to get a clear vision of what I look like. It may sound vain, and it probably is, but I check myself in every mirror I see. And when I’m around others, I do this very discreetly. I take a quick glance and continue with what I was doing. If I’m alone, I really take time to look at myself. And every time I feel like I have some sort of mirror schizophrenia.

There’s a mirror in my gym and every time I take a look at myself in that mirror I think: “Girl, what are you doing here? You don’t need to be here, you’re a badass ripped fit chick.” In that mirror I look so lean. But in that same gym is another mirror, in the dressing room. If I look at myself in that mirror, things are way different. Then I think to myself: “Thank God you’re here, ‘cause you’ve got a long way to go. You really gotta lay off the booze, run a few extra miles on the treadmill and go to the hairdresser , ‘cause you look terrible.” I also experience such a perception shift when I go to work in the morning, wearing a killer outfit. As soon as I arrive at the office and I check myself in the mirror I think:  “Where did it all go wrong? This outfit really needs to be on the outfit-blacklist because I  definitely got it wrong here.” Because of such experiences I developed a very specific mirror preference. There are some mirrors which I deliberately avoid, because they don’t show me a very pretty image of myself. I don’t even glance at them, those jerks. But some mirrors, wow, if I see myself in those I would almost do myself. You probably think that the next thing I’m about to say is a lie, but you can find such a mirror at Aldi supermarkets. Not the most sexy setting, I know, but the mirrors they’ve got there! Other mirrors should follow their example. Plus, taking a small walk through the Aldi supermarket will enhance your confidence anyway. Try it! You’ll walk out of there as if you’ve just received the news that next year you’ll be one of the Victoria’s Secret Angels. Instead of Doutzen Kroes.

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The sweater

To reinforce this story, I made one mirror-selfie every day for one week, in the same sweater. And yes, that means I wore the same sweater seven days in a row. If you shower every morning and use loads of deodourant, it is doable. Let’s just say it was for a good cause! After looking at the pictures below, you can judge for yourself whether I’m crazy or whether there is some truth in this story. Anyway, during this project I noticed that taking mirror-selfies is much harder than it seems. Although everyone on this planet is taking selfies, there still is such a huge taboo about it as there is with masturbation. Without any shame we post one selfie after another, but we all make sure no one sees how this selfie was made. There’s nothing more embarrassing than getting caught while taking one, seducing your phone screen with a duckface. Luckily, no one saw me taking any of these mirror-selfies, but that took a whole lot of planning beforehand. Look left, look right, left again. Coast is clear: click! But then there’s another thing I noticed: my selfie-pose is in need of some adjustments. On every picture I look like I slept under an open window, my neck kinked to the right (for you left). But that is something I’ll work on! I’d like to end this analysis with a positive note, which is that this Colorful Rebel Cactus sweater is equally sexy on every picture. Definitely not an item for the outfit-blacklist.

Just curious, am I the only one who’s experiencing this kind of mirror schizophrenia?

Mirror selfies anna

How to do a Sun Salution

The Sun Salutation is often practiced in a flow yoga session. Flexibility, relaxation and the calming of the mind are just some of the benefits that you can achieve through the practice of yoga. The Sun Salutation can give you all of these benefits and is a fantastic way to start the day. You will allow energy to flow, you will awaken your spine and start your day with a smile on your face. In this article we will demonstrate a classic sun salution A, but the most important thing is not the particular variation, rather it is the synchronization of the motion of your breath with the movement of your body. In short, the motion of breathing is what drives the movement of the body into, through, and out of each of the poses in the sequence.

An easy way to apply this is to allow all upward movements to be coupled with the motion of inhalation and all downward movements to be coupled with exhalation. For example – raising your arms overhead and stretching up is coupled with your inhalation and hinging forward and down (as in touching your toes) is coupled with your exhalation. In this way all movements and breathing motions are in yogic union as you greet the sunrise of new day by awakening/stimulating your body with these poses and breath flow. Suitable for all levels.

1. Start: Mountain pose. Start by bringing your feet and legs together, spread your toes. Make sure your heels are rooted and firm your legs. Then, roll your shoulders back and down and spread and lift your chest.
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2. Inhale through your nose and raise your arms up to the side, palms facing upwards. Extend your arms above your head.
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3. Exhale, swan dive to forward bend, be sure to bend your knees especially if you have tight hamstrings. This will protect the back. Exhale through your nose. Open your arms wide and bend at your waist to a standing forward bend. Your hands should touch the floor if you can or if not, the front of the ankles.
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4. Inhale, lengthen the spine.
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5. Exhale, step back to plank pose. Inhale and take your shoulders forward directly over your wrists, extending well with your arms to form plank position. Keep your thighs strong and firm, your feet flexed and your belly drawn in and slower lower down to low plank (modification: bend the knees and place them on the floor)
lowplank
plank
6. Inhale, cobra/upward dog pose. Inhale and raise your upper body to the cobra pose. Roll your shoulders back and extend the shoulder blades down and press them in towards the chest. Your chest should be lifted and open and elbows should stay close to the body. Make sure to lift up your knee caps and firm your thighs. Your legs and feet should be well extended.
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7. Exhale, downward dog. Lengthen the spine, coming in an inverted V position. Stay here for 5 breaths
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8. Inhale, jump or step forward in between your hands, extend the spine.
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halfway-lift
9. Exhale, fold forward.
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10. Inhale come up with a straight spine, keep pulling the belly button on. Extend the arms over the head.
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11. Exhale, hands in front of the heart.
namaste

Check out the video instructions!

If you want to attend a yoga class for the first time. Yoga studio Balanz is a great place to start. Namasté.

Letter to the scale

Yo Scale,

I’m just gonna get straight to the point: I think you’re a terrible asshole. A manipulative bastard, you are! My whole life you’ve been screwing with me. You can either make or break my days. What gives you the right to decide whether I am beautiful or ugly? You make me doubt myself. Sometimes I honestly think I’m going crazy. You’re like a second voice in my head. A while ago I agreed with myself that I didn’t wanna see you anymore. I wanted to do without you and trust my own eyes. You used to be my compass but once I became a fan of strength training, you just started blabbing out nonsense. Hello?… Muscle weighs more than fat! But you don’t tell me that. With that unvarnished opinion of yours. Even though I saw my body change for the better when I looked in the mirror, you always had to have the last word. A slap in my face. On days that I felt like a sexy superstar I dared to look you right in the eye. I felt beautifully slim but you had to ruin that, didn’t you? I should have known better. Always the same, denigrating shit: “You’re not as slim as you think Anna. You’re fooling yourself because you want it so badly. So here it is, the undeniable truth: you didn’t loose weight. You’ve become even heavier. Muscle weighs more than fat? In your dreams! So eventually you’ll weigh 100 kilos and wear a size 36? Do you even believe that yourself?” When you took that tone with me, I had to show you the door. I don’t need someone in my life who gives me such a bad feeling. And so you know, my life has improved a lot since you’ve been gathering dust in the corner of the bathroom. Yeah, I was experiencing a fit dip the other day, but don’t start gloating because it had nothing to do with you. I just lost my mojo, but I found it again. All by myself. That surprises you? Well, I set new goals for myself and found a new gym. In no time I was back in the right flow. It even felt like this different way of training was already paying off. I was like a rocket! Until I had to adjust my ADHD medication. Then there you were again, lurking in the corner. I couldn’t ignore you any longer. I had to deal with you. I wished I didn’t need to. And you just can’t help yourself, the nasty piece of shit that you are.  “You see Anna! You’re not doing as good as you thought, huh? Was it really such a good idea to change the gym? Apparently those workouts you do by yourself don’t do much for you. You have chosen the easiest path again. You’ll be back to your old weight before you even know it. You only see what you want to see, but I advise you to get off your pink cloud and accept the facts: you’re fat! No progress! You call yourself a Fit Girl? If only people knew what you weigh…” And there, my mojo left the building. But dude, I out smarted you. I know the truth now. I know about all those other women. You’ve been messing with them too. You won’t get away with it any longer. We know what kind of sick games you play! Together we are much stronger than you. We do strength training. Did you forget about that? So if you harass any of us again, we’ll throw you right out the window. “Gosh, what happened to the scales?” No idea! I guess nobody gave a shit about that thing anymore!

TTYN,

ANNA

Exercises to increase balance

Whether you’re just getting started with fitness or an advanced athlete or a nice-weather-runner, balance is key  in any routine. I myself, used to struggle with everything in the balance department when I first started taking fitness seriously and I’ve learned a lot along the way about the importance of it. Proper balance training  helps with maintaining a good balance overall and provides safety throughout future workouts. That is why today I’m sharing some exercises to increase balance with you all.

What is balance?

Before I get all lost in updating you on all kind movements which you can use to train your balance, I think it good to quickly explain the narrative. Balance is the condition during which your body’s center of gravity is maintained within its base of support;  also called the state of equilibrium, which not only relies on the position of the center of gravity in relation to the base of support, but also makes use of the direction of the forces and the base of support its self. The three pathways that help maintain your balance, are the eyes, the ears and the nervous system.

Working on balance from start to finish

Now that some of the technical difficulties are out of the way I think it is time to equip you with some #homework you can take with you to the gym. Looking for a challenge? Than I suggest you get up close and personal with a barbell and some #heavyass plates and start to work on your Barbell Deadlift skills. Your rectus abdominus and also your glutes will thank you later.

For working the balance in the ab region you can challenge yourself to a trial on perfecting the Ball Crunch for which you will be needing a stability ball and some #fitgirldedication.

Want to work on the balance in your lower body? Try some weighted Leg Raises. I love to work on these using a barbell, as seen in the header image, but you can just as easily use a kettle bell or a set of dumbbells instead.

Work that core

Now you know what to do I would like to leave you with a quick reminder you have probably heard before; balance training equals core training  as training your core is vital for every Fit Girl. Whether you are lifting heavy, jogging or doing other activities that are engaging the lower and upper body, strength extracted from your core is used in every movement. Working on strengthening your core will help on improving your balance allover and will also benefit the stability of the spine.

So that is that. I hope these tips are helpful. Hit me up on Instagram if you like @ily_fitgirl!

Detox: yay or nay?

Detoxing is a word with a lot of connotations and it has both advocates and adversaries. Nowadays, detoxing is very popular and there’s a lot of controversy around the subject. But what is it that detoxing does for your body and why is there such a heated debate about it? 

What is detoxing?

Cleansing of the body, getting rid of toxins, juice cleansing and bringing the body back into balance are different ways to describe a detox. Advocates of detox programs believe that there are all sorts of toxins in our nutrition and environment which the body cannot get rid of in a natural way. Because of this, these toxins are being stored in our cells and bowels and can contribute to fatigue, bad skin and gaining weight. Since you eat as healthy as possible during a detox, detoxing could help in getting rid of the toxins. This process is quite intense and that’s why people who follow a detox program are often feeling tired and sulky. After a detox, the body would be entirely cleansed and one can pick up his/her normal lifestyle. Adversaries claim that detoxing could potentially do more harm than good. They claim it would be a waste of time and that detoxing is a vague term which does not specify which toxins are being removed, where they are being removed from and how this happens.

Juices

There are a lot of different detox programs. The most well-known ones are the programs in which people mostly have to consume fruit- and veggiejuices for a week. Last year in January I also fell for the detox trend. A 7-day detox in which the body would be cleansed by drinking different kinds of juices. Because of all the debate around detoxing, I got curious as well. Through Facebook I found this online detox program and the description “like bringing your car to the garage for maintenance” and “a good way to get yourself back on track” caught my attention. I was immediately sold to the idea and it seemed interesting to try out the experience. It sounded exciting and I saw it as a challenge. Could I keep it up and what would it do to my body? In general, the detox was doable, but in the beginning I felt very low in energy. After a couple of days I was used to it and I felt better and better.

What did it do for my body? I lost 5 kg in a week, but gained them just as fast as soon as I started eating normally again. I felt clean after the detox and had more energy, but to be honest, I also have this feeling when I drink enough water for a week or follow a balanced nutrition plan with lots of fruit and veggies. I was really proud of myself for keeping up the detox, but whether I felt like a new person? No, absolutely not. However, I do try to drink more juices and smoothies because of the detox and integrate this in my daily routine. A smoothie I really like to drink to keep my body clean is the Antioxidant of innocent drinks. This smoothie contains 3 antioxidants – vitamin C, E and selenium – which keep your cells fresh and it suits a healthy lifestyle and balanced diet. I drink this juice approximately 1 or 2 times a week and it kickstarts my day.

So do I believe in the magic of detoxing? I think keeping in the middle is the best solution, as it is with many things in life. Your body then also removes toxins in a natural way by using your liver, bowels and kidneys, so a detox program does not have to be  the solution. It’s important to follow a varied nutrition plan in which veggies, fruit, grains and water play a big role and to exercise regularly next to that!

What do you Fit Girls think of detoxing? Have you tried it out and what are your experiences? Please share it with the #FITGIRLCODE community by using #ImInnocent in all your posts, comments and photo’s! 

Happy foods – part 5

For the next couple of weeks, I’ll be writing about foods that can make you a lot happier if you make them a part of your daily diet. Studies have shown that each of these six happy foods can positively contribute to your well being. You are what you eat right?! Mushrooms are on our happy foods menu today! You might also want to read ‘Happy foods – part 2, part 3 and part 4‘.

As I explained in ‘Happy foods – part 1‘, I have a curious mind that craves to learn about new things. I’m kind of a nerd, so whenever I get the chance to, I love to read about science. There are always certain subjects that spike my interest a bit more than others; happiness (combined with science) is one of those for me. Back to our happy food!

Could mushrooms make you happier?

Unfortunately for me mushrooms don’t really seem to make me happy because I’m not a fan of eating them. This made me realize that a big part of why a person considers food a happy food is because people have a very personal taste. If you love to eat certain foods they will bring a smile on your face (unless you overate and you’ve created a food baby).

For people like myself, there is a reason to start loving mushrooms. Mushrooms are the only plant source of natural vitamin D. Vitamin D is essential for healthy bones, we get most of our vitamin D from exposure to sunlight (this makes vitamin D my favorite vitamin haha). In a study scientists found that people with seasonal affective disorder who upped their vitamin D intake experienced better moods. A great way to do this is to eat your mushrooms (even if you don’t like them that much, like myself)!

I’m wondering if there are Fit Girls who love eating mushrooms? Do you notice a happier mood? What’s your favorite recipe to make them more tasty? Please let me know! I’m willing to give this happy food a try!