How to maintain a healthy diet, and the importance of healthy eating !

Hey guys :) I know it’s been a while, it has been exactly 4 months since I have last blogged, I apologise for not being consistent enough but life gets busy sometimes. However my goal is still to encourage and motivate people to live a healthier lifestyle, by exercising and by eating the right foods in order to live a healthy life.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle can be hard at times and it requires discipline motivation and consistency. I will list a few tips for you guys to be able to maintain a healthy lifestyle and a healthy weight. I will also discuss what helped me to maintain my weight, and how I managed to maintain a healthy weight from March to December.

Exercise regularly

Maintaining a healthy weight is different than losing weight. Maintaining a healthy weight is more about living a healthy lifestyle without having a specific goal in mind. After I lost 15 kilos I made sure that I still exercise regularly in order to continue a healthy lifestyle and to get stronger healthier and fitter. Therefore I recommend everyone that is maintaining weight to exercise 2-3 times a week and continue to eat healthy. I developed a way of knowing my body and therefore exactly know what I would have to do in order to lose weight maintain my weight or put on weight. I have actually put on 2-3 kilos from September to December, which does not bother me at all but knowing my body I know why I put on the weight and I also know how I can lose it again. However I am currently happy with my weight and my body and I am not planning to lose weight, but maintaining my current weight and making sure I do not gain any more weight is one of my main goals for the next year.

Eat Healthy

I never considered myself to have gone on a diet to lose weight, I pretty much seen it as a lifestyle change. When you finish your weight loss journey it does not mean that you can go back to your old habits of eating as much and whatever you want to eat. Even though you now only maintaining your weight it is still essential to eat small portions and to eat regularly. It is easy to put all the weight back on , if you do not allow your body to get the nutrients that the body needs to maintain a healthy weight. Nutrition is a factor when it comes to weight gain or weight loss, it requires 80 % whereas exercise only requires 20 %. So even if you exercise a lot but your diet is not as good as it should it would be harder for you to maintain or lose weight.

Drink enough water

Drinking enough water is very significant when trying to maintain or lose weight. Water allows you to stay hydrated and is a good replacement for fizzy drinks and juices. Fizzy drinks sometimes require as much calories as a whole meal, and also at the same time requires a lot of sugar. Water on the other hand does not make you put on any weight but helps you to maintain weight and stay hydrated and healthy. So do not forget to drink your 2 liters of water every day.

I hope these information helped and encouraged you to maintain a healthy weight. Living a healthy lifestyle is a choice no one can tell you to make a difference and it is totally up to you to do so.

Until next time :)

XoXo Kelly

My weekly health and fitness routine !

Gym and home work out routine 

My weekly fitness routine is very important to me as it keeps me fit and makes me feel good about myself. I work out 2-3 times a week depending on my schedule.  The beautiful thing about the human body is that it is designed to move in order to maintain strong and healthy.
 
Before I have started my weight loss journey I never thought about the beauty of exercising and fitness. However now I understand how important it is to move our bodies, to maintain strong healthy and happy. 
 
Now that I have lost weight my weekly health and fitness routine is only created to maintain my weight and to stay strong and fit. Even though my week can be very busy sometimes because I work 20 hours a week, I still make sure that I get a work out in, either at the gym or at home. Even a quick 5 minutes work out makes a big difference. I will explain what I do in a week exercise wise and I will also go in to depth about what machines I use at the gym, and what exercised helped me to lose weight the most.  What worked for me when I was losing weight was mostly cardio training. I still do a lot of cardio now, because it keeps me fit and it is also my favourite fat burning exercise to do. 

My gym work out

When it comes to fitness I am still learning about different sorts of exercises to do and I am still trying to figure out what works for me in terms of maintaining my weight and staying fit and toned. I love going to the gym because there are so many machines to try out. I usually stay at the gym for about 1-2 hours to make sure I get a full body work out in. 

Here are some of my favourite machines that I use at the gym .......................

Treadmill

 

The treadmill is the first machine that I use, because it gets my body warmed up and gets me ready for further exercises. It is also the most effective cardio exercise when it comes to weight loss. I enjoy running the most which explains why the treadmill is my favourite machine to use. 

I usually run 30-35 mins depending on my time. I make sure that I lower my speed every 10 minutes so that my body is not too over work and has more energy to go on. When I was losing weight I was running much more than I do now to see quicker results. Now that I am only maintaining my weight 2 times a week of treadmill running is totally enough for me. 

Rower 

The Rower is a machine that I use quite a lot when I go to the gym. 

When I was losing weight it helped me to tone my arms and my stomach and made me lose belly fat more effectively. I use this machine for 10 minutes. 

Stepper

Stepper is also one of my favourite machines to use at the gym. It mainly helps me to work on my legs and it burns fat at the same time.

It is a very effective cardio machine that also helped me with weight loss.

 I usually spend 10 minutes on that machine, whereas I was spending 20 minutes on the machine when my focus was weight loss.

Recumbent Cycle

The Recumbent Cycle is a good cardio machine that helps me to work on my leg and thigh area. 

It is basically like riding a bike which is something I have always enjoyed. 

It also burn belly fat effectively and make your legs look more toned. I spend 5-10 minutes on it when I go to the gym.

My full body works out at home 

When I don’t have time to go to the gym I do some exercises at home which are very effective and help me to boost my metabolism first thing in the morning. 

I prefer to work out in the morning because that’s when I feel more energised and it also helps to start off my day. 

My home exercised does not consist of a lot of exercise. My home work out mostly consists of 20 quads 5-7 push ups, 1-2 minutes, 20 sit-ups 1-2 minute plank and some leg exercises. My home work out never takes longer than 10 minutes which is completely enough time for me in the morning. 

My full body work out of the gym 

I pretty much do the same exercises that I do at home at the gym, The only difference is that I include weights to my work out. The weights that I work with are 3-4 kilos heavy. 

I include the weights when I do my squads and my leg exercises. My focus is not really to develop further muscles but working with weights stimulates my existing muscles in my stomach area and arms. 

I hope these information that I have provided were helpful and will encourage you to start exercising ............... :) :)

I know that the idea of going to the gym can be frustating sometimes because you may not know how to start and you don’t know what exercises work for you. But I am here to tell you that it is okay to start off small, thats how you learn to develop and love what you are doing. 

I started off with running on the treadmill for not more then 5 minutes, my body didn’t allow me to do more. However I pushed myself every week to do more and now I can run up to 30 minutes. If I can do it you can do it too, believe in yourself and everything is possible.

Until next time ….

XoXo Kelly :)

What I eat in a day !

Healthy eating can be very delicious !

Maintaining a healthy diet is very important to me. Maintaining my weight and staying healthy makes me feel happy and good about myself . I usually eat 3-4 meals a day sometimes 5 depending on how my schedule looks like. I eat 2 bigger meals  and 2-3 snacks to make sure that my metabolism does not slow down. I also work out at the same time with home workouts and visits to the gym.

My diet mainly consists of proteins, veggies carbohydrates and healthy fats .........

Here are some examples of the foods  that I eat during the day. Eating healthy can be very delicious and it can also be quick to prepare. There are a significant amount of  meals that I eat that are as satisfying as a Burger or a Pizza just try it out :) Enjoy  ! 

 

Breakfast !

Scrambled eggs with mushrooms avocado cucumbers and tomatoes !

 

I always like to start of my day with a nice satisfying breakfast to boost my metabolism and feel energised throughout the day. 

Eggs are high in protein and make me feel satisfied for longer. Mushrooms, avocado, cucumber and tomatoes are also a great addition to it. 

Veggies are always good for you especially when you want to start of your day with a lot of energy.

 

Ingredients

 

3 eggs 

 

Fresh parsley

 

3 mushrooms

 

1/2 Avocado

 

3 cherry tomatoes 

 

 Recipe

Add 3 eggs into a bowl and include a little bit of milk to it. Then add some salt and pepper to it and perfectly blend the egg mixture together. Add butter into a frying pan at a medium heat. Then add the egg mixture and pour it for about a minute.

 

 I like my scrambled eggs to be thick therefore I make sure that I pour my eggs for about a minute then stop to let them cook and then pour it again for about a minute and half.

 

 

Snacks ! 

Apples with Peanut butter ! 

 

Apples and Peanut butter is a perfect snack to have because it is easy to prepare and only includes 150 - 200 calories. 

 

Ingredients 

1 Apple

 

1 tablespoon of Peanut butter 

 

Recipe:  

Cut apples into slides add 1 tablespoon of peanutbutter. Bon appetit :)

 

 

 

Peanut butter banana milkshake !

 

 This is one of my favourite milkshakes to drink and its so delicious !

 

Ingredients:

 

1 Frozen banana

 

1/2 cup of milk

 

1 table spoon of peanutbutter

 

1 table spoon of honey

 Recipe :  

 

Add 1 frozen banana, milk and 1 tablespoon of peanutbutter in a blender. Add honey to it and blend it for about a minute and half. :) 

Lunch

  Chrispbread with avocado sausages mozzarella and tomatoes.

This meal is very quick to prepare and is so delicious, it includes protein carbs and healthy fats.

 

Ingredients :

2 Sausages ( Frakfurters)

 

2 Chrispbreads 

 

4 Cherry tomatoes

 

1/2 Mozzarella 

 

Recipe :

Add half of an avocado in a bowl, add peppers and salt to it. Add the avocado mixture on both rice cakes. Add sausages tomatoes and Mozzarella on a plate :)  Guten Appetit !

  Dinner 

 

My dinner always includes a good amount of veggies and proteins. 

 

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast 

 

1/2 Avocado

 

1/2 Mozzarella

 

4 Cherry tomatoes

 

Fresh basil 

 

1 Red pepper

 

5 Small mushrooms 

 

Recipe:

Chop chicken breast into small pieces then cut peppers and mushrooms into small pieces too. Fry the chicken and vegetables in a frying pan under medium heat. 

Add salt and pepper to it. And on top of that add fresh basil to it and let it cook for about 5-7 minutes. Enjoy :)

 

This was a summary of what I eat in a day. I usually keep my meals very simple and healthy I hope these meal ideas helped you out :)  Until next time :) 

XoXo Kelly :)