Eye Of The Tiger
”I can. I will. …Watch me.”
It took a while to get back into it, as I’ve mentioned in my previous blog Raise Your Standards, but I’m back! Because I know that ”nothing will work, unless you do”, I’ve decided to take control and force myself into a good routine. It’s been a while since A Better you: HOW -> Fitness & HIIT Cardio, which is the last time I’ve given you an update on my fitness routine, and some of you have been asking about it. I have to be honest and say that I found myself postponing and procrastinating..a lot, but I kept getting slapped in the face with the hard truth , which is that ”time has no patience for your excuses, and neither should you”. With only a few months until summer, it’s definitely time to get working. Everything is hard, before it’s easy, so I pulled myself through and decided to get hungry, get focused, get the eye of the tiger!
While the core is pretty much the same, I’ve incorporated a few changes into my routine since A Better You: HOW -> Fitness & HIIT Cardio.
My aim is still to train 5-6 days a week. I’ve added one day a week especially dedicated to the booty, and it’s so worth it, believe me! As I’ve mentioned in my previous post Raise Your Standards, I’m also getting more into boxing/kickboxing, which I love to do as a replacement of or in addition to my regular HIIT Cardio.
My schedule is something like:
Day 1 – Full Body – I do a lot of exercises that basically hit every muscle to wake up the body (Deadlifts, Kettlebell Swings, Push Ups, Pull Ups, Squats) // Boxing
Day 2 – Booty + HIIT Cardio (5-8 different exercises)- I try to be creative and there are tons of booty exercises, my favorites are Donkey Kicks, Glute Bridge (with weights), Single Leg Glute Bridge, Courtsey Lunges. For more creative Glute exercises, check out WomensWorkoutChannel . Most of them you can do at home, although I am a fan of adding weights in the gym, for faster results.
Day 3 – Back & Biceps + HIIT Cardio (3-4 Back exercises + 3 Bicep exercises)
Day 4 – Rest
Day 5 – Triceps & Shoulders + Core/Chest (3-4 Tricep exercises + 3 Shoulder exercises + 2 Core/Chest exercises; I switch every other week)
Day 6 – Legday (4-6 exercises)
Day 7 – Rest // Boxing – I start my boxing workout with jumping rope for warmup, and then different punching exercises using weights (cable). This allows me to grow strength to throw into my punches, but also is great for posture. Afterwards I do different combinations on the punching bag or pads with my partner, who is my trainer.
Every workout is preceded by some stretching and warm up exercises for the particular muscles I will be working out that day and planking 3 X till failure (at least 1 minute).
HIIT Cardio = 15-20 min (1 min sprint intervals; I put up the incline to make it even harder). For a detailed instructions on Fitness exercises and HIIT Cardio, read more here. Make sure you switch up your exercises every other week, to keep it fun, and to keep your body guessing.
My training philosophy is ”Go hard, or go home”/”All or nothing”. Even if you decide you will only do a 10 minute workout (the only bad workout is the one you didn’t do), you have to make sure you pour your heart out during those 10 minutes. While every intensity you put in does count, you will only create a lasting change when you keep on making it harder for yourself every workout. Don’t just lift…Raise the bar. You have to give a little more than your previous workout every time. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying ”If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you” before. Well, it’s true, if your workout is not challenging enough, it won’t do anything for you with regards to any change in and outside your body. So whether you amp up with the number of reps, try some advanced exercises, or use heavier weights, do what you have to do to keep yourself challenged.
Arnold Schwarzenegger said ”The last 3 or 4 reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion”. Now where all my champions at??!
But before getting yourself into taking action and making a lasting commitment to yourself, your body goals and your health, your mindset is extremely important. You see, your mind is what keeps you going when it gets tough (and believe me it will get tough!). Excuses don’t burn calories. You have to be mentally strong to choose the right foods when you’re actually craving chocolate, or keep on going for those extra body-changing reps when it’s burning like crazy and you really want to vomit. You have to have clear goal and a strong will to get there. You have to have ”The Eye Of The Tiger”. Your motivation for commitment should be strong. It helps when you do it for yourself. Being in competition with yourself, to become a better version of you (instead of focusing on what others are doing). For more guidance on how to prepare yourself for success mentally, read ”A Better You: WHY -> State of Mind”. And remember, nothing epic grows from comfort zones!!
By now, I think most of you know that there is no magic pill. Next to die-hard exercise, nutrition will still be influencing your results for about 70%, so try to make it habit to eat clean and healthy. Every time you eat is an opportunity to nourish your body. For more information on the right nutrition, read my blogs ”A Better You: HOW -> Nutrition” part 1 and part 2.
For more tips you can also check out my blog: 27 Ways To Get in Shape for Summer.A few months ago, I did a fun shoot for the new Wulterkens collection with some samples that ended up not even making the final cut. While I also wasn’t in my best shape, I loved the outcome of the shoot, so I decided to share the pictures and make a colourful party out of it.
You don’t get the booty you want by sitting on it, so let’s get working and shine together! Of course we all want to do it style, so make sure you grab your favourite Wulterkens outfit.
See you in Wulterkens!
Love,
Nadira
”If you’re not willing to fight for greatness, it just means you’re okay with being mediocre”.
- Published in Health & Fitness, Written Archives 2013-2018
27 Ways To Get In Shape For Summer
With only about 6 weeks until summer officially kicks in, it’s time to get movin’! We all want to enjoy summer 2015 by looking at our best. There is a lot you can do in 6 weeks if you’re disciplined enough to stick to the next 27 steps. Who’s with me?
- Find your Why (Motivation) If you have a motivation to get in shape, which is your personal reason why you want to get healthier and fitter, you are most likely to pursue it. If your WHY isn’t convincing enough you are most likely to give up when things get hard. So figure out your WHY and if you like, share it with me in the comment section!
- Make a plan Planning is everything. Stick to a certain meal plan/pattern, and make a workout schedule. If you have it written down in your planner, you will have to move towards actually doing it. If you know what you have to eat, you will make proper arrangements (grocery shopping, cooking) to make it happen! As with everything, Good planning = Success!
- Love yourself & Believe in yourself You are beautiful, worthy, and lovable and you can do anything you set your mind to! Say it with me! This comes before everything and is regardless of how you look and how much you weigh!
- Patience: Remember there is NO easy way As easy as it is to put on the pounds, it’s not that simple to lose them. You have to keep in mind that you will really have to WORK, the fat is not going to magically disappear in a day, unless you still have the metabolism of a 16 year old (oh how I miss those times!). There are no magic pills, so be patient, progress takes time.
- Replace all of your drinks with H2O & Drink yourself skinny Water is the only liquid your body needs, and contains zero calories, so by replacing all your other soft drinks, juices, coffee (in excess of 2 cups a day) and other (sport)energy drinks with water you can cut out all unnecessary calories. Just by doing this you will notice immediate difference in your waistline. In case you find water a bit dull you can spice it up by adding a little bit of fresh mint, lemon or other fruit. My favorite summer drink is sparkling water with a slice of lemon, refreshing and healthy!
- Don’t forget the Royal part of the day You can skip meals (though you shouldn’t), but one you should never skip is breakfast! Breakfast, which is the meal you have within an hour after you wake up, is essential for starting your body’s engine. Research has shown that people who eat breakfast burn more calories throughout the day than those who don’t. Plus breakfast is the most fun meal of the day, because you can have a little bit more of everything since you will burn it off throughout the day anyway. Breakfast tip: Make sure it’s protein rich.
- Eat something (Healthy) every 2 hours By eating something every 2 hours you increase your metabolism, which is your bodies mechanism to burn calories and fat. It’s similar to an engine, fuel it up with gasoline and it get’s rolling. Keep your body kicking constantly to burn more calories (even when not active) by eating regularly.
- Divide your Meals into 6-8 small portions a day If you eat every 2 hours, it means you eat 6-8 times a day. Make sure you plan out your meals, so instead of 3 big portions a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner), you make it at least 6 smaller portions, so yet get hungry when 2 hours have passed. In the beginning, when you’re not used to eating smaller portions yet, you might still feel hungry after eating a meal. In this case drink loads of water after your meal to give you a full feeling.
- Prepare Your Meals and Snacks to avoid grabbing Unhealthy stuff. Preparation is essential to successfully eating healthy and clean. Without preparation you will grab the next best thing available when hungry and I bet you 100 euro’s that it isn’t close to healthy. Plan and prepare your meals before you start your day.
- Limit your stock of yumminess (or don’t buy at all) If you’re like me and you lack discipline and self-control, the best thing is to make sure you just don’t have any yumminess in the house. That way you can avoid cheating and binging when you’re not supposed to.
- Know the difference People often mistake the feeling of being hungry with actually being thirsty, moody or just feeling like a snack. If you know you just had a meal, your body is probably in need for hydration. Emotional eating is a common reason as to why people are overweight. If you’re feeling down, talk to a friend, go shopping, or best, go workout, but whatever you do, don’t get comfy on the coach with a can of Pringles.
- Keep it Balanced Keep your plate balanced by adding the right amount of healthy carbs, fats and proteins. The closer you get to summer, the lower you go into your carbs, while you add in proteins and healthy fats. Never cut out healthy carbs completely, it’s an essential fuel to your body. Keep away from refined and processed sugar (your body doesn’t need sugar, ever!). For more regarding nutrition, read here.
- Don’t Count Calories There are many people who will disagree with me on this, but in my experience, counting calories doesn’t really have any added value. If you eat the right things in the right proportions and you exercise, you will be fine. Counting calories only makes you overly self-conscious and takes way too much time. Instead of looking at the amount of calories a product contains, look at the values of fat, protein and carbohydrates to get an indication of whether it is right to eat or not.
- Don’t Dare to step on that Scale It’s a big mistake to measure your progress by weighing. Your body weight is composed of many things, and thus might fool you and lead to frustration and even giving up.
- Measure your Progress by taking Measurements & Pictures. You can measure your progress best by taking your measurements, taking pictures, measuring your fat% and just by looking in the mirror or referring to your belt. Your eyes are in this case more reliable than your scale. Read more here on why.
- Find an Activity/Sport you like A few of the points I’m mentioning below are fitness related, because fitness is my go to sport, but to be able to keep the fun and consistency in it, it’s important you find an activity that you really enjoy. It can be from dancing to any kind of sport, as long as your heart rate goes up. Some ways of exercising are more effective than others (in the long term), which is why I personally prefer Fitness.
- Make a Workout Schedule of at least 3 times a week, preferably 5-6 Make a regular workout schedule and stick to it. Make sure you break some sweat at least 3 times a week, but preferably 5-6 times if you want to achieve more progress fast. It’s a commitment, but it will be worth it. Make sure that these workout sessions are never shorter than 25 minutes and never longer than 75 minutes. Honestly, anything less than 3 times is nice, but will not get you in shape within 6 weeks.
- If you do cardio, always do HIIT Cardio Lots of you love to go running, spinning or do other forms of cardio. What most of us lack is time, but if you want to burn a significant amount of calories, you have to spend a lot of time doing cardio right? WRONG. The most efficient and effective way is to do HIIT Cardio, you will burn more calories (even later on when you’re not working out anymore) and you can do it in just 20 min. Read more on HIIT Cardio here.
- Build in Rest for your Muscle groups For those who do choose to lift weights, or do anything that really builds muscle mass: Your muscles need rest to repair and grow, so make sure you have 48 hours in between before training the same muscle groups again. Tips on Weight training & Exercises can be found here.
- Snooze or you Lose Sleep is one of the most important ingredients to a fit and healthy body. In some cases it can be even more important than exercise. Sleep abbreviation can lead to increased cortisol (stress hormone) levels and cortisol makes your body store fat. So snooze it for at least 7-8 hours/night!
- Get a Workout Buddy One of the best known motivations is having a workout buddy, who encourages you and dares you to get your booty off the couch and out of your comfort zone. Challenge each other, set goals together and have fun! (Only not too much fun & chatter, you do actually have to put in the sweat!)
- Make a Music Workout Playlist The right music can literally push you through your workout. Make a playlist (or different ones for different kinds of workouts). Find the songs that get you pumped up and motivated. Another thing I love about my music is that it drowns out every other noise, so I can focus on the exercise and the music.
- Workout in Style My favorite source of motivation! Hip, Stylish, Funky and Comfy workout clothing is a great motivation. Especially if it’s Wulterkens haha! You get to ‘’dress up’’ and sweat in style, which is a must for every fashionista. Knowing you look great, makes you feel great, and makes the process of working out more fun.
- Don’t compare yourself to others This one is so important! We are being flooded by pictures of beautiful abs and booties on Instagram and other social media. You don’t know their story, so don’t compare yourself to others. Every body type is different and some fitness models aren’t achieving their looks in a natural way. This can lead to you overtraining or starving yourself to achieve something that is not naturally possible. The thigh gap trend is another example. Just focus on yourself, be consistent, work hard, eat healthy, be patient and you will see results.
- Balance with a Cheatday (Yeah baby!) Proper nutrition counts for 70%, which is why they say abs are made in the kitchen. I do, however believe in moderation, so I believe that if you stick to a clean, healthy diet, you can enjoy a little bit of goodness every day. Or, as most fitness athletes do, schedule one day in the week, when you eat whatever it is you want. Pizza, Nutella pancakes, whatever it is, you can eat it, but only on that significant day. You don’t have to feel guilty about it, a cheatday can actually boost your metabolism, plus it keeps you sane during the week, because you know you have something to look forward to.
- Stop stopping Make a plan and stick to it. Don’t stop, because every time you do, you need to start all over again, and starting is the hardest part!
- Stick to a Healthy Lifestyle during and after summer Keep your meals healthy and stay active, during and after summer to avoid gaining the weight again very fast. Try to balance your cocktails and late night dinners with exercising the next day. Please don’t starve yourself the next day, since this will slow down your metabolism, and your body will store more fat. Make it your lifestyle to eat several small, healthy & balanced portions a day, with the occasional cheatmeal/day, exercise 3 times a week, sleep well, and drink lots of H2O. you will feel great and look great all through the year.
Good luck ladies! If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask in the comment section. And remember, good things come to those who sweat!
Love, Nadira
Outfit: Wulterkens SS15 Sport Collection.
- Published in Health & Fitness, Written Archives 2013-2018
A Better You: HOW -> Fitness & HIIT Cardio
One of the most important values to me is to always practice what you preach, or walk your talk, which is the reason why you guys had to wait so long for this post. For the past weeks I haven’t been able to get into my fitness routine due to travels, both of my parents visiting and desperately trying to balance all the fun with work, leaving no room/time for workouts. Now that the house is empty again, we can finally get back into our work routine, clean eating and working out. And now that I’ve started my routine again, and I am back into the right mindset, I can share with you how to get there. It would be a little hypocritical if I would write a blog about fitness and a healthy lifestyle while enjoying ice cream, cakes and cookies every day (haha), which all actually resulted in gaining quite some weight I’m not proud of. But since this Saturday I officially started my workout schedule and in addition to my previous blog posts about the State of Mind to get fit, and Food & Nutrition (part 1 & part 2), there is the other essential part that I promised you guys, which is…yup, you guessed it: Exercise.
As I mentioned in my previous posts, you need al 3 components to get that perfect body you’ve always wanted. The mind is very important, because it’s a complete mental process; if your mind tells you that you can’t, then you won’t. So you have to make sure to get into the right mindset, where you know that all limits are self-imposed and you can achieve whatever it is you want to achieve. Read here for more.
Second, you have to control what’s on your plate 24/7, make sure you eat 6 times per day, get in the right nutrients in small portions and the right proportions and drink loads of water. For detailed instructions and a food diary, read here.
Third, you need to work that body!! Those calories aren’t going to burn themselves, well the first 2000-3000 will, but YOU are in charge of killing the rest of them.
I could write you a million motivational quotes, show you thousands of before & afters and I could cook you hundreds of healthy meals, but truth is, you need to get off your ass and work for that body. It’s YOU VS YOU. Nobody is going to do it for you and the moment you give up, you give up on yourself. On the other hand, when you succeed, and I know you will, you will realize that it’s you who is in control of everything, not only will you have a banging body, you will have a strong mind and you will have victory over that little voice that said that it was too heavy, and that you couldn’t stay away from the chocolate and that it hurts so much so you have to stop. You will have killed that voice, and the real you, the strong version of you took over and made it happen. It’s the best feeling ever and it tastes way better than any food!
But HOW?
Well basically, any physical activity that gets your heart pumping and your lungs grasping for oxygen is good. And what’s most important is that you find a type of exercise that you enjoy, otherwise you will not be able to make it part of your lifestyle.
The reason why I am writing this blog is because so many people have been asking me how I got into shape. So that is what I will be telling you. It doesn’t mean that this is the only way to get into shape, but it is what has worked for me (and I am very sure will work for you too, if you can learn to love it and stick with it).
Before August 12 2013, I was keeping ‘’in shape’’ with workout dvd’s, like Kim Kardashian’s Fit into your jeans by Friday, and a few workouts by Beach Body: Insanity by Shaun T, P90X by Tony Horton, Brazil Butt Lift, Turbo Fire by Chalene Johnson, RevAbs by Brett Hoebel and I loved Jillian Michaels dvds, especially the Body Revolution. Another great trainer that still kills me today is Bob Harper.
I had nice results, and it was a great foundation to start with, plus it was nice to be able to work out from home.
The thing with these dvd’s was that it was good, but not great if I reflect on it based on the results I got. When I decided I really needed to change my strategy regarding losing weight, I completely surrendered myself to my partner who wanted to introduce me to fitness in the gym. I was so skeptical because I thought it was boring, but the way he started training me was so intense, I didn’t even have time to grasp my breath, let alone be bored.
HIIT Cardio
Chalene Johnson actually introduced me to this kind of cardio and I stuck with it when I started understanding the difference between regular cardio and HIIT cardio. The truth is…regular cardio, is out of date, and it is a waste of your time (literally). Why would you run on that treadmill, cross trainer or bike for an hour, when you can burn even more calories in 20 minutes?
HIIT Cardio stands for High Intensity Interval Training and it is an enhanced form of interval training, consisting of short periods of intense exercising that makes your heart rate go really fast, alternating with periods of less intense recovery periods. These short, intense workouts provide improved athletic capacity and condition, improved glucose metabolism, and improved fat burning. When your heart rate goes up, you instantly start burning calories and as soon as you surpass the amount of calories you’ve recently consumed, you will start burning the fat your body stored.
HIIT Cardio really improves your condition, which you will notice when you do regular cardio or exercises and you suddenly realize it takes a lot more intensity or durability before you actually get tired or start to sweat. But what I love most about the HIIT cardio is the after burn. When you do regular cardio, you burn calories when you start walking/running/biking/jumping and stop burning calories as soon as you stop doing that activity. With HIIT cardio, scientists have proven that you have what they call the after burn, that is, that you keep on burning more calories than normal long after you’ve stopped doing the activity, meaning even when you rest, you burn more calories than normal, due to the HIIT you did. How great is that? It increases your metabolism as well, you will notice that you will get hungry faster, which is good, because you are supposed to eat a little bit every 2 hours anyway.
HIIT cardio usually varies between 5-30 minutes max, so you never have to work out any longer than that!
How I do it: I love running and one of the benefits of running I noticed is that it really slims my thighs, which is why I choose to run, but you can also do the same while biking or on the cross trainer. Choose what you love to do most and you will most likely stick with.
I warm up for 2 minutes, but for beginners I recommend warming up for 5 minutes. My warming up consists of walking on the treadmill at 3 km/h; after one minute, I increase it up to a steady pace of 6 km/h. After the 2 minutes (in your case 5), you go to an intermediate speed for one minute, for me that’s 9 km/h. and after that you start running/sprinting as fast as you can. In the beginning sprinting for me was 12 km/h, but after almost a year, my sprinting is now at 14,5-15 km/h, which is the max I can sprint in 60 seconds without almost dying.
You can start by holding the sprint for 30 seconds and then switch back to your steady pace walking at 6 km/h for one minute, then after that minute, you go for the sprint again. As you get better at this you increase your 30 sec sprint interval to a 45 sec sprint interval and eventually up to 60 sec of sprinting. You keep your rest interval at 60 seconds.
If you have passed this point you can choose to make your rest intervals shorter (45 seconds), however I don’t recommend doing so, because the important thing about HIIT is your heart rate. You have to make sure it slows down, before you go back into your sprint interval and usually, this doesn’t happen within 30 seconds.
The concept of HIIT is to increase your heart rate and then let it decrease back to a normal rate again, which will result in the increased calorie burning even after you’ve stopped with the activity.
I suggest you start with 4 intervals in 18 minutes, so you take 5 minutes to warm up, 10 minutes for the 4 intervals (low and high) and 3 minutes to cool down. For the cool down your treadmill will decrease the speed from 6-3 km/h, which is perfect; or you can do it manually.
My HIIT Cardio schedule on the treadmill for 13 minutes (10 min + 3 min cooldown) is as follows:
Warm up: 2 min; 1 min 3 km/h; 30 sec 6 km/h; 30 sec 9 km/h.
2:00 – 3:00 High at 13,5 km/h
3:00 – 4:00 Low at 6 km/h
4:00 – 5:00 High at 13,8 km/h
5:00- 6:00 Low at 6 km/h
6:00-7:00 High at 14 km/h
7:00- 9:00 Low at 3 km/h 60 sec; 30 sec 6 km/h; 30 sec 9 km/h
9:00-10:00 High at 14,5 km/h
10:00-13:00 Cool down at 5 km/h (60 sec), 4 km/h (60 sec), 3 km/h (60 sec)
Depending on how much time I have, I do this for 15 minutes or 20 minutes (excluding cooldown time of 3 min). So I do the same, only I do more intervals when I increase the cardio time (4 intervals 10 minutes, 6 intervals 15 min, 8 intervals 20 min). My maximum is 20 minutes, but if you get the hang of it you can do 30 minutes, but never do longer than 30 minutes. I will explain later why.
You can also do a HIIT circuit, where you create a circuit of cardiovascular exercises, such as burpees, squat jumps, jumping rope etc. and build in rest activities in between. Keep your timer on though!
You can do cardio separate from your Fitness workout or you can combine it. Sometimes I do 23 minutes of HIIT cardio on an ‘’empty’’ stomach, first thing in the morning with only a glass of whey protein shake and cup of coffee, to burn of stored fat. Later that day/night I do my fitness routine. Other times, I do 13 -18 minutes HIIT Cardio before or after my fitness routine, but with no pause in between the Cardio and Fitness. It all depends on the time you have.
P.S. If I still haven’t convinced you to do HIIT Cardio, please don’t do regular cardio longer than 40 minutes.
One of the best workouts you can do apart from fitness is boxing or kickboxing. I think it has a few elements of HIIT cardio as well, and it just burns so much fat! You literally work your entire body, and get rid of frustrations and bad energy, which is a great plus if you have lots of stress. Oh and did you know a lot of super models swear by boxing? If you always wanted to have a body like Adriana Lima, you should definitely consider taking a few classes a week.
My partner teaches a boxing class, so I used to take his class once a week, have to pick it up again, but I love the results.
Fitness
Next to the HIIT Cardio I have a separate fitness schedule, because I found that building muscle mass through lifting weights, increases my overall fat burn and enhances the HIIT Cardio training. What you do by combining both is making your body a fat burning machine to the max.
As I’ve explained in my previous blog, you need to build and maintain your muscle mass, because muscles burn fat, so the more muscle you build, the more fat you will burn while performing an activity or even in rest. Most women think that they will become ‘’big, manly and muscular’’ when doing so, but they couldn’t be more wrong. The women you see that look very manly and are extremely muscular all use certain hormones. Women cannot make and maintain so much muscle mass by themselves, you need the male hormone testosterone for that, and these women take in extra doses of these hormones in order to look that way. So basically, if you’re not taking in any extra hormones, you will never ever become so bulky and muscular, because your body is simply not capable of doing so naturally. In addition, the female hormone estrogen actually breaks off muscle mass, which is why women that lift have to work extra hard to build mass compared to men who of course have much less estrogen and much more testosterone.
I also thought in the beginning that I would become bulky, but I slimmed down and got really tiny, with a little bit of beautiful definition in my arms, back and legs. So let that myth stay a myth and trust me on this!!
Schedule
There are a lot of theories on which muscle groups are best combined during training, and I am no expert at this, but what I found to work best for my body after a lot of experimenting is the schedule below. I know a lot of ladies and gents who go to the gym and train literally every muscle group they have on one day, and then the next day they go at it again. Please make sure you do NOT become one of these people. Your muscles need rest, because by lifting heavy weights you will break them and they need time to repair, heal and grow, while burning your excess fat. Make sure that you break down your body into muscle groups and divide it over the days of the week. It doesn’t matter which day you do what, but try to make sure you think in cycles and make sure there are 2-3 days in between before you train the same muscle group again.
My cycle looks as follows:
Sunday: Legday (4-6 leg exercises)
Monday: Back (3 different back exercises) + Biceps (3 different leg exercises) + HIIT Cardio
Tuesday: Triceps (3 different tricep exercises, combined with some chest exercises (supersets) + Core (3 core exercises) + HIIT Cardio
Wednesday: Restday
Thursday: Legday (4-6 leg exercises, with emphasis on the booty)
Friday: HIIT Cardio + 3 Core/Full Body exercises + 2 shoulder exercises (supersets)
Saturday: Restday
And then the cycle starts again on Sunday. So out of 7 days a week, I train 5 days.
If you don’t know the exercises, I suggest you google the names, you will instantly find pictures or even videos on youtube.
Leg exercises:
– Squats with the Smith-machine or loose squat rack; build up with barbells from 10 kg to at least your own body weight; this takes time, so don’t worry, my max was 60 kg, my weight at that time was 50 kg.
– Lunges (Walking, Forward, Backward, Side); make sure you try to build in all of the various kinds of lunges in your routine, because they train booty and legs and shape them beautifully. Always try to add some weight by holding kettle bells, dumbbells or a barbell with weight.
– Squat jumps & Split Lunges (anaerobic, nice to do in between sessions)
– Plie squat (with weight; for more difficulty try to it while standing on a boozu ball)
– Legpress (As heavy as you can!!!)
– Lying leg Kickbacks
– Hip Thrusts (with weight!)
– Leg extension
– Leg curl (lying/seated)
– Cable kickbacks
Back exercises:
– Lat pull down
– Reverse grip bent over rowing
– Seated cable rows
– Dumbbell rows
– Superman with dumbbells
– Deadlift
Bicep exercises: As heavy as your little biceps can handle!
– Dumbbell bicep curl
– Cable bicep curl
– Barbell Curl
– Hammer curl
– Concentration curl
Triceps exercises: As heavy as you can!
– Push-ups (also train chest and core at the same time)
– Triceps bench dips
– Dip machine (also trains chest)
– Dumbbell one-arm triceps extension
– Barbell skull crusher
I used to train chest separately, because my partner would do so, but depending on your goal, as a woman it’s not always necessary; so now I do triceps exercises that include your chest muscles to get them working a little bit, while not fully concentrating on it.
Core exercises
– Planks (including side planks)
– Abb Roller
– Scissor kicks
– Bent knee Hip raise
– Jackknife sit ups
– Leg pull ups
Honestly, I don’t do much separate core exercises, besides the planks and leg pull ups. I usually train my core during the full body exercises, which works way better than wasting time on sit ups. Believe me, you will not get a six pack by doing hundreds of sit ups. These exercises only strengthen the abdominals, but they don’t burn the fat. You get a six pack by doing exercises like squats, deadlifts, planks and lots of HIIT Cardio.
Full Body exercises
– Squats
– Deadlift to Overheadpress
– Lunges
– Planks
– Pullups
– Pushups
– Burpees
Before you start working out, you always do 2 minutes of stretching, never forget! Of the first exercise you always do one warming up set. So of the first exercise, let it be a lat pull down for your back, you do a total of 5 sets, with the first being light weight, because it is to warm up. You don’t necessarily have to do a warming up set for all the other exercises, because even if you hit a slightly different angle, your back is already warmed up. If you go and continue on that same day with bicep exercises, you don’t have to do a warming up, because you use your biceps while doing back exercises, meaning you have already warmed them up. It’s all thought out and works really well for my body, also because my muscles get the rest they need in this order, so I would really suggest to stick to the schedule of combining the muscle groups.
Of each exercise you do 4 sets (max 6 if you’re feeling extra energized) and usually you build up the weight. You start with a light weight, and increase the weight with every set. The trick is to train until failure. Usually every set you do should consist of 12 repetitions. However, if you can easily do 12 reps, it’s not going to do much for your body apart from burning a few calories. You need to have to give your all and put in the sweat, make it burn so bad you want to cry and then, only then, you are really burning fat off your body. So, if you can easily do 12 reps, you increase the weight, until the point that you start feeling that it’s really burning from the 6th rep. The last set you should have a weight that will allow you to do 10 reps maximum, so it is SO heavy that you can’t make it to 12.
This is really the key behind succeeding in fitness. Not the 4 sets of 12 reps that you do with an easy weight and then you are done. No, you have one set to ‘’chill’’, and the other 3 you work, you sweat, you cry to make the 12 reps round. No time for joking around or talking about your day. You will need your complete focus and concentration. If you don’t do it this way, it will not work for you. You and only you know if you’ve really given your all, and if you secretly know you didn’t you have cheated yourself and wasted your own time you could have rather spent on the couch watching tv. You give all or nothing.
Rule: 30 seconds, max 60 seconds rest between the 4 sets; 2-3 minutes rest between 2 different exercises. There is not supposed to be rest between repetition, you do 12 repetitions (or less) in one set without rest, then take 30 sec rest and start with set number 2, and so on until you have completed the 4 sets of the exercise, after which you take 2-3 minutes rest, drink some water and start with the next exercise.
Let it be clear: It is okay to do only 8 repetitions in one set, but only if it is so heavy that you really cannot do any more than 8. The goal is to do 12, for warming up you can do a set of 15 with light weight.
Supersets
If you don’t have much time you can do supersets, which are combined exercises with similar motions to maximize the amount of work of an individual group of muscles. So for instance, you do a back exercise and as soon as you are done, you switch to a bicep exercise, and then you switch back to another set of the same back exercise you were doing. You alternate 2 different exercises, but don’t mix triceps with back, make sure you stick with the same muscle groups that are scheduled on that day. To be clear: A superset is NOT alternating 2 back exercises, but alternating one back exercise with one bicep exercise.
With supersets, not only are you done faster, but you also burn more calories, because you don’t have much rest time in between en your heart rate is constantly up (= burning fat).
What’s important is that you change your exercises every 2 weeks, so you can do the same routine of exercises for 2 weeks and then switch. If you don’t (and even if you do), at some point your body may hit a plateau, which is the point where you train as hard as always, but you don’t see results anymore. This means your body is used to the exercises or intensity and you need to start training differently. In that case, you either start doing different, more complex exercises, and/or make it more intense by adding heavier weights.
Posture/Control
Control is key. If you do a bicep curl, for instance, you pull it up fast, but you go down slow, while keeping a constant control over your muscles during the entire exercise, don’t drop it fast. This goes for every exercise you do. Muscle control is extremely important and even if you grab a light weight, you can focus on your muscle control by focusing on the grasp and what you feel during every part of the movement/exercise, doing it very slow. If you have an injury this is a good alternate way to still train.
Breathing
Breathing the right way, will make all the difference in durability, but also the intensity of the workout. The rule is to inhale when you do the less intense part of the exercise and exhale as soon as you have to give power to push or pull or whatever it is. For instance, with squats: when you go down, you inhale, as soon as you push up, you exhale. Try to exhale forcefully through your mouth, (inhale through the nose), because the harder you exhale the more your belly contracts, which gives you an extra core workout, while doing another workout. It’s not easy, you have to practice it a lot, but it’s vital to get everything out of your workout. So exhale forcefully every time!
When you do HIIT Cardio, make sure you breathe in through your nose and breathe out through your mouth. During the rest intervals try to catch a few long, deep breaths (inhale through nose, exhale through mouth) to get in the most oxygen and restore your heart rate faster.
IMPORTANT: Limit your time at the gym to MAX one hour and 15 minutes. Seriously, that is the max, not a minute longer. First, because it is not necessary. If you use your time efficiently, you will not need any longer. You can easily do a full fitness routine of 6 Exercises within one hour. You can do supersets of 6 exercises in 30-45 minutes. You can do a very high calorie burning HIIT cardio workout in 13 minutes. You do the math, but I am in the gym for max one hour per day.
I happen to know a lot of people who spent almost 2 hours in the gym and don’t see half the results I have been seeing. So trust me on this, if you keep your focus and do your exercises according to the schedule and rules above, you don’t need to spend longer than one hour in the gym for optimal results. I read some articles that explain that at a certain point, there is a degrading effect of exercise on the body, so I think if you train longer than 75-80 minutes, the exercises won’t have any significant effect, you’re only wearing out your muscles/body which is unnecessary.
One more thing I promised to explain was why not to do HIIT cardio for longer than 30 minutes or regular cardio for longer than 40 minutes. It’s great if you’re training for a marathon, or the tour de france, but if you have the same goal that I have, you will only make it harder on yourself to lose weight by doing an hour of cardio.
Here is why: If you do cardio for longer than 40 minutes, researchers have proven that you break off your muscle mass. If you do so on a regular basis, you will contradict any effort you make to build muscle mass in the gym. You have to make sure your cardio enhances your weight training for an optimal fat burning result and not have it kill your muscles. You can get really slim by the long cardio trainings, like most marathon runners, but if you haven’t build up any muscle mass you will gain weight exponentially the moment you stop working out and eating unhealthy. On the contrary, if you’ve build up muscle, you have more muscle to burn fat, so you can occasionally enjoy the unhealthy, but oh so yummy foods, without immediately gaining weight.
By building muscle they way I have for 4 months straight, I got to eat whatever I wanted for the 6 months after, with some occasional (2 days a week) training, until I have finally gained a little bit of weight by now. How great is that? Most of you work so hard to lose weight, and then you go on vacation for 3 weeks and you’ve gained it all back again. It’s called to yoyo affect and the only way to avoid it is to build muscle mass!! No other way! Make it your lifestyle and you will never have to buy a bigger pair of jeans again.
When you have reached your goal, you can keep in shape by working out 3 days a week (legday, back+biceps, triceps+core, the last 2 you combine with HIIT Cardio). Keep eating healthy and you will not gain any weight.
Rest
Just as important as the training, make sure to get 2 days of rest and always 2 days of rest per muscle group before you train it again. Good sleep is vital for your muscle repair, next to nutrition of course, try to get at least 7- 8 hours every night.
Motivation
The best motivation comes from within, that voice that says I will go for one more round of interval or I will lift a heavier weight. But we can all use some inspiration once in a while. Below are my sources of motivation.
Workout buddy/Spotter
One of the best ways to stay motivated is to have a workout buddy or buddies. However, you have to make sure that you are all/both on the same level with your focus. I absolutely hate those people who come to the gym together and end up constantly talking about movies, music or a date they had while I am trying to focus and lift. And you don’t want to be one of those annoying people right? Btw, it will only make you stay in the gym longer, which will be a waste of your precious time plus you are cheating yourself because you are not giving the energy you are supposed to give. I’m not saying you can’t talk or joke around sometimes, but keep your focus. The moment you enter the gym, your head should be focused on your routine, exercises and yourself.
I train with my partner, in bodybuilding we call it spotting, when the person is with you and can help you lift in case you need some help, but also you motivate each other, when you have to push so hard to do that last repetition, it helps when someone tells you, ‘’come on, you got this, one more’’. You usually have the same workout schedule, so you will less likely be missing a training.
Music
The right music can give you wings. Seriously, especially with cardio, I feel like I am dying if I don’t have my music. Set up your workout playlist with music that gives you energy. It can be based on the genre of music or sometimes words/motivational lyrics can do a lot for you.
Fitness pages/Social Media
I follow a lot of fitness pages on Instagram and Facebook. On facebook you have a lot of nice pages like the Daily HIIT blog, the Women’s health that have interesting articles about nutrition & exercises. On Instagram I follow a lot of fitness athletes/babes such as Lisa Morales, Michelle Lewin, Lais deleon, Claudia Sampedro who inspire me with their selfies of their gorgeous bodies (when I see them I feel so guilty, that I instantly want to run to the gym), but also some of them post workout videos and pictures of their meals, that are very handy and inspiring. One of the pages I love on instagram is Fitdutchies, also check out their website: www.fitdutchies.com. They have a lot of inspiring quotes, inspiring meals and funny jokes regarding fitness. One of the dutch fitness athletes I love is Anne Haakmeester. She inspires me a lot, check out her blog: www.fannetiek.nl
A lot of fitness pages on FB and Instagram post motivating quotes that can get you into the right mindset and make you really want to work out. You can get information on exercises on google, but also search for them on youtube, where you can really see the right posture you need for the exercise. For more inspiration on exercises check out www.bodybuilding.com and www.dailyhiitblog.com. On youtube, try out channels: Fitness Blender, Womensworkoutchannel & Brettcap.
Clothing
I wouldn’t be where I am today, if I wouldn’t mention this one, but nice fitness clothing is everything! The reason behind the Wulterkens Fitness line is that when I started to work out so much, I realized I didn’t have any fashionable fitness outfits. With all due respect to the well known brands, in my opinion I thought there was need for something a little more funky and motivating, while still fashionable. So we brought to life the Hardcore Ladies and Iron Gents line.
We have several tops with motivating quotes that can remind you of why you are there when you look in the mirror in the gym. Plus you feel so much more confident when you have nice workout clothes. When you start seeing the results you want, even more, because then you have the body to show it off. So funky and hip workout clothing is a big motivator and a must! You can take a look at our awesome collection here: www.wulterkensclothing.com
Mirror/Progress
Seeing results is the best motivator, seriously! In the beginning it’s hard, but somehow as soon as you start seeing the progress your body is making, it becomes a little bit easier, because you know the hard work is paying off. On the contrary, when you clearly see you’ve gained weight, it is also a motivator to get off your ass and start working for it again.
Endorphins
You will eventually become addicted to your workouts. After every (intense!!!) workout your body releases endorphins, which reduce/relieve of stress and pain. They give you that happy, satisfied feeling, that will keep you coming back for more.
Conclusion
As you can see, what it really comes down to is giving your all. It is giving every bit of energy, focus and power to perform the exercises and burn calories to the max. With HIIT cardio, it’s the same, your intensity interval should be at such a speed that you really can’t hold it after 45 seconds. It should hurt. If it doesn’t hurt you, it will not change your body. Keep that in mind. If your workout was too easy and you’re not tired and sweaty, then you have to make it more intense, because you are only cheating yourself and you will not get the results you want. Remember, if I can do it, so can you.
Always listen to your body, if your body is so sore and you have a lot of muscle pain, give it an extra day of rest and make sure you replenish it with the right nutrition (Proteins and BCAA). Never take a break longer than 3 days, it really gets you out of your rhythm. If you feel something is too heavy, take a lighter weight, because you shouldn’t get yourself injured, so push it to the max, but listen to your body!
This post has become way longer than I expected, but these are the things you have to know. Of course there is so much more on the topic and there are many variations, so if you are interested, do your own research and find out what works best for you. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comment section below, so my other readers can read it as well. If you would like more information on something or a more in dept follow up, let me know!
I’m not telling you it’s going to be easy, but I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it.
Now go and work it!!
Love,
Nadira
Picture taken at the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, June 201
- Published in Health & Fitness, Written Archives 2013-2018
A Better You: HOW -> Food & Nutrition Part 2
‘’If you want to get fit you only have to give up one thing: your Excuses’’.
So I will start by making my excuses…haha, well my apologies for the delay on Food & Nutrition part 2. My dad was on vacation here in the Netherlands for 2,5 weeks, we went to Paris, I turned 25 and celebrated with 3 days of partying (and 3 cakes) and next to all this, work kept calling of course. The Wulterkens new collection is ready for shooting this weekend with some amazing fitness athletes/models. So super busy, but all really fun!
Most of everything written below was written some time ago, when I decided to split it in half, so I luckily found a little bit of time to add the food diary I promised you guys. In addition to ‘’A Better you: How: Food & Nutrition Part 1’’ (make sure to read it first), I present to you Food & Nutrition part 2!
HOW you eat.
It’s all about perception and tricking your brain. Scientists have discovered (I tried it, and it’s true) that if you eat in smaller plates/bowls and with smaller spoons, you will eat less without even noticing. Your brain perceives a ‘’full’’ plate, even if it is a smaller one, so it gives a satisfied signal to your brain.
Also taking the time and giving all attention to eating instead of watching tv really makes a difference in your perception of being ‘’full’’. If you eat slower and take time to chew very well, you will also get a ‘’full’’ feeling faster. Try it!!!
Rule number 1 when you start changing your nutrition.
Cut all soft drinks, soda’s and juices. Yes juices, unless you’ve freshly squeezed it yourself (and even then I would keep it limited). All juices in boxes or bottles are loaded with added sugars.
The only thing you can drink unlimited is: WATER! And maybe a little bit of low fat/ (unsweetened) almond/soy milk with your oats and protein shakes, depending on your fitness goal.
Train yourself to drink at least 2 liters water per day. I drink around 3 liters per day, but it’s not easy, so try starting with 1,5 liter and then build it up to 3 liters.
Rule number 2: No snacking, no candy, no chocolate. And NO alcohol! Alcohol can really mess up your system, and contains tons of sugars.
Rule number 3: Watch your carbs and cut them down gradually, replace them with vegetables or proteins. I forgot to mention in part 1 that while you should cut down your carbs throughout the day, you have to make sure to eat a little bit of carbs before and after your workout. Before the workout you need it for the energy, even if it’s just one spoon of rice or a banana. After, you need it for your body to replenish. If you completely cut carbs from your post workout meal your body might go into fat preservation mode. So again, even if it’s just one spoon of rice, don’t forget your carbs! While carbs form the biggest wall between you and your sixpack, they are one of the main building blocks of that same sixpack. Make sure to find the right balance.
Rule number 4: NEVER EVER substitute a meal with a shake or meal replacer. And don’t go on crash diets where you only drink shakes. You will lose weight, mostly water weight and start gaining the weight back as soon as you start eating normal again.
Make it your lifestyle to eat healthy, nutritional foods in good proportions at the right times and you will not have to worry about gaining weight even if you cheat once a week.
Remember the word GRADUAL!
To give you an example: If you have coffee the way I like it, with 2 sugars and milk, I would start the first week putting in 1 sugar and less milk, the week after no milk, the week after that no sugar. And if you can’t drink it like that (just like me), skip the coffee and go for green tea (without sugar).
For the tea drinkers who drink sugar in their tea, switch to honey instead of sugar en eventually after 2-3 weeks, try it without sugar.
In all cases you will eventually get used to it and believe it or not, you might even start liking it!
Your taste buds adapt according to what you eat for a longer period of time, so all you have to do is stick with it for a month or 2 and then it all becomes a lot easier.
NO counting Calories
Another misconception that has widespread is the counting calories story. The basic is true. In order to lose weight you need to create a calorie deficit, meaning you need to consume less calories and burn more (increase your exercising, decrease your calorie consumption).
But the problem is that people say a calorie is a calorie, so one calorie of vegetables is equal to one calorie of milk chocolate. This is true in its definition, but in practice it just doesn’t work. The average woman needs to consume 2000 calories per day to function. So a lot of women are told to consume 1500 – 1000 calories maximum if they want to lose weight. What most of these women do is, they count their calories, without considering WHAT they are actually eating. So they eat bread, cheese, and sometimes even skip a meal to be able to eat a piece of chocolate in the evening and it will still amount to 1500 calories or less. Yet, they don’t understand it when they don’t seem to lose weight. Most women will lose weight in the beginning, but eventually your body gets used to your 1500/1000 calorie intake. Moreover, your body will go into fat preservation mode if it doesn’t receive the right nutrition.
If you have carefully read everything I wrote about nutrition in part 1, you will understand why the whole calorie counting thing is bogus. Focus on WHAT you eat, eat small portions in moderation every 2 hours and gradually reduce your carb/sugar/fat intake throughout the day and you will see results, I promise!!!
Supplements: Whey Protein, BCAA, Pre workout
In order for your body to recover after intense fitness workouts where the weight lifting really tears up your muscles, I recommend taking a whey protein shake after your workout. You can buy whey protein in different flavors at supplement stores. There are so many brands to choose from, but basically they all do the same. I get mine at Rumble Store and at B-Fit, both are located in Utrecht, the Netherlands, if you order online they ship it to you.
You have Whey isolate which is really the best, because it contains microwheys, meaning it’s more than 90% protein. These Whey isolates are usually not available in any flavors, so they are not very tasty, I personally don’t like them. When you buy your whey protein, make sure it contains a lot of protein per 100 gram and much less carbs and fat compared to proteins. For instance, at most 1,5 gram fat per 100 gram of whey protein.
A lot of whey proteins also contain BCAA, which helps with muscle recovery. There are also BCAA pills you can buy as extra, but only do so when you are training really hard and you feel like your body is not recovering in time.
When you’re getting closer to a ripped body, you will be going very low on your carb intake. This means that you do not get enough fuel from your food to do a good workout. What I use is a bit of pre-workout boost, which will give you an energy boost to do a great workout. After the workout, your endorphins kick in and you don’t really need it anymore.
There are so many more supplements on the market, but I don’t use them, so I can’t advice you on them.
Cheat day
So this is what I think will be your favorite part of my story. There is some light at the end of the tunnel! One day (yes only one) per week, you are allowed to eat whatever it is you want!!
This is to keep you sane during the process. Depending on your goal you can make it an entire day, or just one meal. I usually make it one meal + a snack.
To be completely honest, in the 4 months of my fitness journey, I never had one cheatday. Every time I planned on it, but when the day came I didn’t feel like it, because I was seeing results and I didn’t want to delay my progress. Also, my body was getting used to not getting sugars etc, so it wasn’t craving it either. This is something really personal and it’s up to you to decide what you do, but don’t feel guilty because one cheat day is not going to make you gain weight (if you really keep to the rules). My nutrition and training advisor actually told me that the sugar and carbs you suddenly eat will wake up your body and increase your metabolism, so cheating once a week even has a good side to it.
If you want to snack healthy my recommendations are fruit snacks. Or spice up your food with certain spices like Raw cacao and 100 % pure chocolate are quite healthy when eaten in moderation. Also peanut butter, which contains good fats, can be eaten in moderation as well. Examples: Low fat yoghurt with fruit and some honey, apples in the oven with some cinnamon or peanut butter over it.
In conclusion
You need to go back to basics, how our ancestors used to eat before we started experimenting with additives and preservatives. It’s all really toxic and it requires a lot of your body to process, leaving you with less energy. This is why people eventually get diseases like cancer.
All the sugar free/diet products aren’t good for you either. Ask yourself, if it doesn’t contain sugar, but it tastes just as good, what is in there? Whatever it is, it’s not natural and thus, toxic for your body. Try to avoid canned foods, most of it is also available frozen, which is better.
Try to eat as biological as you can. In reality you can never be 100% sure if your vegetables are completely green and don’t contain any toxics or if your meat or fish is hormone free. But do your best to get the best available for your body. I know it costs a bit more, healthy/clean eating is expensive. Just try to get the best for your budget. And believe me, it’s more worth it than any material object.
Important!
After you’ve reached your ideal weight/picture of how you want to look, you can eat this way and then maybe do 2 cheat days a week. So for instance, in the weekend, you just enjoy and go to a restaurant or have a few glasses of wine. Or you can build in a healthy snack that you take after dinner every day. However, you have to make sure you keep on exercising at least 3 times a week to keep in shape. Exercise is key to keep you in shape, while being able to occasionally enjoy those cheatmeals.
Basically, if you want to know more on anything I’ve written in this blog, Google it, read on it so you can understand better how your body works. If you understand your body, you will know how to treat it. I did a lot of research before I started my fitness journey. The chart below will help you with understanding your body’s cravings. Understanding this will really help you to stick to clean eating!
In my next blogpost ‘’A Better You: HOW: Fitness & HIIT Cardio’’ I will talk to you in detail about my workouts, schedule, exercises, why I don’t do regular cardio, but also where I find my motivation (fitness pages I follow) etc. By changing your nutrition and eating clean you can achieve great results, but for that perfect body you need to put in the work at the gym!!
Food Diary
First I have to apologize for the quality of the pictures, food photography is clearly not my expertise. I see so many lovely pictures from healthy meals on Instagram and Facebook, but somehow I haven’t succeeded (yet) to make my food look as good. All of these pictures are random meals I’ve had over the past 2 weeks. The really small ones are snacks. As you will see they mostly consist of proteins and vegetables, protein pancakes, a little bit of rice or crackers, and on my salads only 1/4 of the dressing that they add. Sometimes I add a nice fruit or vegetable smoothie to my mealplan, but they are usually quite simple, I have to make more time to experiment with them. All very small portions on small plates. In some pictures you can see I am having a bit of protein shake as well, usually that’s in the morning or after my workout.
Here goes!!
Rucola Salad with Paprika, Chicken & Raisins, a Whole grain biscuit with Sandwich spread (natural) and half a protein pancake.
2 Tablespoons of Brown rice with spicey mackerel and snap/french beans
Unfortunately I didn’t eat this beautiful plate below, I accidently added it along with the pictures, I save lots of pictures like this for inspiration.
Lean minced Beaf with Brocolli, Carrots and Paprika with a little bit of Brown rice (3 tablespoons). It’s a really small portion, good enough to hold you for 2 hours.
Breakfast: Proteinshake & Whole grain biscuits with Baked eggs.
A random soup filled with chicken and veggies
Banana – Blueberry Shake with a little bit of Low fat milk + Orange Juice
As much as I do my best to prep my food, sometimes it’s too busy and not possible. In that case I run the the Supermarket and get these ready to go salad’s. Usually I get tuna and I only use 1/4 of the dressing that they add.
Low fat quark/curd cheese/cottage cheese with Banana – Loaded with proteins!!
I remember it being such a busy day and we had to go to Ikea for some stuff, we forgot our food at the office so we had to get something at the Ikea restaurant. I added this picture to show you guys that there are healthy options at places like this. This is fresh salmon with steamed veggies and potato out of the oven (no oil) and I didn’t even eat all of the potato. It’s really up to you what you choose.
My Dad brought me Surinamese vegetables, so I made a traditional vegatable soup. Super healthy and yummy!
Chicken, Paprika, Raisins, Nuts, Seeds (Flax & Chia) + Protein Shake
From the Surinamese vegetables my dad brought I made a nice dinner with Mackarel, and the veggies.
A Mozarella salad from the Supermarket
Rucola salad with green peas, tomato & cucumber + lean minced beaf & whole grain tortilla wraps
Fresh off the tree cherries make a lovely snack!
Chicken in coconut sauce, with brocolli + lean minced beaf with green peas, tomato & cucumber
Late night snack: Brocolli topped with a fresh tomato sauce
Another late night snack: lean hamburger with rucola & cucumber and a little bit of ketchup
Ceasar chicken Salad from the Supermarket
I prepped these meals for during our roadtrip to Paris, always be prepared, wherever you go!
Cherry tomatoes, cucumber, mixture of cellery, carrots, chicken and lean hamburger + cooked eggs
French beens,green peas, cauliflower + chicken & eggs, perfectly balanced.
Smiling breakfast! Protein pancake with a few scoups of protein, a little bit of whole grain pancake mix, eggs, steal cut oats and Brinta + sometimes we add raisins or nuts, chiaseeds, gojiberries etc. This time with a blueberry topping.
And lastly, my birthday breakfast: Red velvet cake + Pistache & Caramel Macarons from Laduree in Paris! Cheatbreakfast!
I hope you guys now have a better understanding of what, how and when to eat to get to that better version of yourself. Stay tuned for my next blog on Fitness & HIIT Cardio.
Stay Healthy, Fit and Focused!
Love,
Nadira
”Your life doesn’t get better by chance, it get’s better by change” – Jim Rohn
- Published in Health & Fitness, Written Archives 2013-2018
A Better You: HOW -> Food & Nutrition part 1
Wow, where do I start! First of all I want to thank everyone who took the time to read my post. I’ve been receiving amazing feedback on my first part of A Better You: WHY (State of Mind). It really means the world to me, because for the first time ever I opened up about my feelings, thoughts and insecurities and I felt a bit ‘’naked’’. Seeing how it inspires a lot of people, makes it all worth it! So have you guys figured out your WHY yet? Are you willing to change your lifestyle for it? Are you willing to suffer pain and hunger for it? How committed are you?
As I was writing everything I know about nutrition, I realized it’s way too much for one blogpost, so I decided to split Food & Nutrition into 2 parts. In this first part, I discuss how you can best measure your progress, WHAT to eat and WHEN to eat. In part 2 I will discuss HOW to eat, basic rules you need to hold on to, cheat days, counting calories, supplements and I will add a food diary.
I want to start out by saying that I’m absolutely no expert. Everything I write is based on my own research and my own experience. It is what works for my body and mind. It might work differently for you, so you have to try and see how your body responds. Most important is to listen to your body.
Measuring Progress
In addition to the first part, I want to start by saying that I lost about 8-10 kg between August 12th and December 20th 2013. If you missed my before and after picture, check it out here.
The reason why I don’t know exactly how much weight I lost, is because I almost never stepped on a scale. I remember stepping on a scale somewhere in July weighing 59 kg and I stepped on another scale in December weighing 49 kg. These are different scales, so it may vary.
One of the major things that too many people do wrong is constantly stepping on that scale.
Don’t do this, because you will frustrate yourself and it’s not necessary. The reason why the scale is not trustworthy is because your body weight consists of many things that vary: Body fluid (water), Fat and Muscles. By the way, if you weigh, you should be naked to get an accurate weight or make sure you wear the exact same clothing next time you weigh, preferably early morning on empty stomach.
Research has shown that muscles weigh heavier than fat. Muscles burn fat. So if you want to lose fat, you need to create more muscles mass to burn the fat. When you start developing your muscles through training (in combination with eating clean), you will increase in muscle weight, but decrease in fat weight, which is exactly what you want.
The problem is that if you weigh at a certain point, the scale might tell you that you gained weight, which is true, but it’s muscle weight that replaced the fat weight. Despite you being conscious of this, you will probably still get disappointed because the scale is showing a higher number than before.
Also, in some periods your body might hold onto some extra water, which will also make it seem as if you’ve gained weight, when it’s not fat but water weight. So in order to avoid unnecessary frustration, stay away from the scale en measure your progress in other, more reliable ways. You see, your weight is nothing but a number, it can constitute of so many things, so you shouldn’t focus on reaching a certain weight, but instead focus on a picture of how you want to look like, or a certain fat percentage, which is more reliable.
The best way to measure your progress is by taking your measurements: Bust, Waist, Hips, Thighs (Left + Right) & Arms (Left + Right). Don’t forget to add the date and then you can measure weeks later to see your progress (I take my measurements once a month).
Next to this, professional athletes measure their fat percentage. You can ask you personal trainer in the gym if he/she can do this for you. When I started I didn’t measure it, so I have no idea how much I dropped in fat, unfortunately. I am measuring it now, so I will keep you guys up to date when I’ve reached my point of satisfaction in the Summer.
Moreover, I would like to recommend to take a before picture when you start and when you’ve reached a point where you are satisfied you can take an after picture. You don’t have to share it with anyone, but it is very motivating to look back.
Another measurement of progress is your clothing. You can easily notice you’re losing weight by your pants or belt that will fit looser. This is a way better and more reliable indication than your scale.
I used to stand in front of the mirror everyday to see if I made progress. I don’t recommend doing that because eventually you won’t see it anymore and this can be frustrating as well, while maybe you are making some great progress. I’ve added my progress based on measurements in the picture below, so you have an idea of how to do it (I left out Bust due to privacy reason, but don’t forget it!).
Nutrition
It’s the most cliché quote in Health & Fitness, but it’s true. ‘’Abs are made in the kitchen’’ or… wherever you eat. It doesn’t come down to that hour or 2 you spend in the gym, but it’s everything you do (and eat) in the other 22-23 hours that really counts.
First let me help you out of the illusion: There are no magic pills, no shortcuts, it’s all just invented to make money. All you need is discipline to control what’s on your plate and hard work in the gym.
Working out is just 30 % of the effort, controlling what’s on your plate counts for 70% to get a 100% of results.
In today’s world, with everything being reviewed by basically everyone who thinks they know enough about something to write about it (a little like me haha); but also new technology, enabling researchers to elaborately study our foods and bodies, it is not easy to find out what is genuinely healthy and what’s not.
Bread, for instance, which is quite a generic food, considered healthy and consumed by millions around the world, really is NOT that healthy. Sorry to break it to you guys, but it doesn’t have much nutritional value. For my Dutch friends, here is an article that explains it.
I’ve personally gotten the advice as a woman to not consume dietary products, so no milk, yoghurt, cheese etc. I do consume a little bit of milk with my protein shakes or oats, but it’s always (unsweetened) almond milk or low fat milk, and I tend to keep it at a minimum. This however, doesn’t mean I have a calcium deficit as most people think, because you can get calcium from many other healthy sources. Soy milk (unsweetened) is also an option, but I’m allergic to it.
WHAT
Fat
I cook everything either with the 0 % fat cooking spray they sell at the supplement stores, Organic Coconut oil, or simply Olive oil. Since there is a constant debate going on, on for instance whether coconut oil is really good or bad for you, I just switch it up, making sure I don’t get too much of any of the 3 in my system.
A major misconception is: ‘’I have to lose fat, so I have to avoid fat’’.
Please, do NOT avoid ‘’Fats’’, because you need them to function. It’s a common mistake people make when they go on certain diets. If you don’t add fat into your daily meals, your body will go into a fat preserving mode, which will lead to you not losing any fat despite your hard work in the gym. You have to make sure your body gets in a little bit of fat and most important the right fat.
The best kind of fats you can give your body are the ‘’good’’ fats called Monounsaturated fats and Polyunsaturated fats like Omega-3 and 6, which you can find in Unsalted Nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews), Avocado and fatty fish like Tuna and Salmon, but also Olive oil. Read more here.
Important: A fat free/low-fat label on a product doesn’t necessarily make it a healthy product. It’s usually filled with carbohydrates and sugar that will transfer into fat in your body.
The basic rule is to eat everything in moderation to avoid excess of anything that might be bad for you.
Carbohydrates aka Carbs
Carbohydrates are fuel for your body. You need them to operate. However, if your body takes in more fuel than it burns, the carbohydrates will transform into fat. If you keep your carbohydrate intake low and increase your physical movement, your body will not have enough fuel to burn so it will start burning your fat reserve, which is what you want.
If I consume carbs, which I do at a minimum, I make sure they are the healthy carbs or the slow carbs. Slow carbs are good because they are gradually processed by your body, meaning you can function on them longer before your body starts to get hungry again compared to fast carbs. They keep your blood level at a relative regular, keeping you satisfied and energized longer. With fast carbs (white pasta, rice, bread) your blood level will drop faster, making you feel hungry very fast, because your body needs your blood level to peak again.
So I’m getting really technical on this, but it’s fairly easy: the closer you want to get to that sixpack, gradually reduce the amount of carbs you take in. And you should consume only good carbs like: whole grain crackers, steal cut oats, wholegrain rice, sweet potato and quinoa. Avoid bread, especially white bread, and any kind of white pasta and rice. Especially rice can create a big bloated belly. If you would just cut down on rice, I bet you will notice a difference. Lowering your carb intake is the hardest. You can get really cranky about it. But as I said before, it’s not going to be easy!
Proteins
Proteins are the building blocks of your Muscles. In combination with building your muscles (to burn more fat) you need to take in a lot of proteins. I eat a lot of lean meat (chicken, lean turkey, low fat minced beef), Fish and lots of eggs. I also eat a lot of beans, like brown beans, white beans or chick peas, which contain lots of protein (in combination with carbs, but mostly good carbs). If you’ll be doing fitness it’s very important to get in your proteins to build your muscle mass.
Vegetables
I eat a lot of vegetables, naturally cooked. Vegetables also consist of carbohydrates and nutrients like vitamins, Iron, calcium etc. that fuel your body. They are a must in your new lifestyle of eating nutritional foods.
Fruit
I don’t eat a lot of fruit, and here’s why. Fruits are very healthy, but next to all the vitamins they also contain loads of natural sugars. The fruits that you can eat are: Banana (but they do contain a lot of carbs so it’s best to eat them pre-workout or for breakfast), apple, kiwi, grapes, blueberries, strawberries and raspberries (contain lots of anti-oxidants that help burn your belly-fat). Most other fruits contain a lot of natural sugars that can basically delay you from reaching your goal.
Salt
Keep your salt use limited and spice your meals up with peppers which are good for the metabolism. People tend to focus a lot on their sugar intake, but your salt intake can be just as harmful. Apart from the cholesterol issues; if you eat too much salt your body will hold onto extra water, which will make you bloated and increase in water weight.
Overall
Basically each meal you have should consist of around 20-30% protein, 60-70% carbs (which you can get out of vegetables as well) and 10-20% fat. All depending on your goal. It is very important to make sure your meals have all of these nutrients and they are balanced out in good proportions.
When I’m on my mission and getting closer to that ripped body, my meals usually consist of 60-55 % protein, 40-30 % carbs (mostly vegetables) and 10-5 % fat, which is enough for my body to not go into fat preservation mode, and perfect for my body to start burning the stored fat because it doesn’t get enough fuel from my carbohydrate intake. However, my carb intake is just enough so I don’t get dizzy and I’m still energized/able to function normally, while the proteins make sure my body restores.
Another thing that is almost just as important as WHAT you eat, is WHEN you eat and HOW you eat.
So we’ve got WHAT covered, I will add a food diary in part 2 about Food & Nutrition.
WHEN
You probably all know the saying, eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper. Well it’s true, in the sense that you have to lower you carb intake throughout the day.
So for breakfast it might be ok to have a piece of whole grain bread, with a nice piece of salmon and some coffee with one cube of brown sugar, but don’t dare to do that before bedtime, for it will go straight to your thighs and belly unless you get up early and burn it off with some cardio on an empty stomach (which is highly unusual for most people). So make sure you lower your carb intake as you go through your day. Also, start eating smaller portions throughout the day.
Starting the day with protein and ending the day with protein is a golden rule, especially if you work out with weights and have to build muscle. Also, it’s extremely important to start eating within the hour after you wake up! By eating breakfast 15-30-45 min after you’ve woken up, you start your body’s engine for the day. A lot of people aren’t hungry in the morning, but you have to force yourself to eat something, so you can start up your metabolism.
If you want to become a fat burning machine, you have to start with speeding up your natural metabolism. So what we do is eat every 2-3 hours! By eating every 2 hours you can afford to eat just a little bit (as long as you hold onto the nutritional rules: protein/carbs/fat) and it will hold you until it’s time to eat again. So you eat 6-8 smaller meals a day instead of 3 big meals.
In the beginning I used to set my alarm clock every 2 hours, now I don’t need to because my body literally starts screaming for food after 2 hours. Sometimes, I’m getting hungry after only 1,5 hour has passed and I still have half an hour to go. In that case I just drink a lot of water, because you shouldn’t be eating before the 2 hours have passed.
This brings me to the next, very important point which is:
Meal Preparation
Most of you have a life, so a job, school or another obligation that keeps you busy during the day. This means that you don’t have time to prepare food every 2 hours, which means that you have to prepare it beforehand, like the night before. Meal preparation is crucial to succeeding in keeping up this healthy lifestyle. If you don’t prepare your food, you don’t have anything when your alarm goes off. If you skip it, your metabolism slows down and so does your fat burning. This will result in overeating/binging at night, because your body is going to want to catch up with that missed meal.
If you still want to keep it up you will have to grab some ‘’fast’’ food and that will certainly not be healthy. Most foods available at a cafeteria, lunch room or fast food restaurant will not offer you the nutritional value you need and are very likely to be too high in fat, carbs and sugars.
Preperation is key to success! And it requires time and effort, which is why it’s not for everyone (as you’ve been warned in part 1).
Your last meal for the day should be at least 2 hours before going to sleep. This is usually the killing part, because your body is used to eating every 2 hours, so by the time you have to go to sleep you’re hungry. And yes, you have to go to bed hungry. Eating right before you go to sleep will cause your body to have to work hard during your sleep to digest, which sucks up so much energy that you will probably wake up feeling very tired. Moreover, you don’t burn those calories you just consumed (because you’re asleep), so depending on the composition of your last meal there is a possibility that your body will store fat.
So this concludes part 1 of Food & Nutrition. Stay tuned for next week, when I publish part 2 on Food & Nutrition and the week after when I talk about Fitness & HIIT Cardio.
I really hope this helps you guys, make sure you take notes and if you have any questions, please ask them in the comment section below. This way, I can answer you here so other people that might have the same question will read it as well.
Stay focused and fit!!
Love,
Nadira
‘’When I lost all my excuses, I found my results’’.
- Published in Health & Fitness, Written Archives 2013-2018
A Better You: WHY (State Of Mind)
Upon request of many ladies (and some gents) that have been asking me for advice about training & nutrition the last few months…here is my version of what I like to call a complete lifestyle change for the better: ‘’A Better You’’, in body, mind and spirit.
I finally found some spare time to write, and especially on a topic like this, well, let’s just say, it’s going to be a long one, so make sure you get comfy and take notes. I’ve decided to split the whole lot into 3 parts, the WHY: State of Mind, the HOW part 1: Food & Nutrition, the HOW part 2: Fitness & HIIT.
On the 12th of august 2013, I decided I had enough. Enough of feeling so insecure about my looks, enough of not fitting into my clothing, or if I did fit into it, I didn’t look the way I wanted to. I remember we got so many VIP invites to exclusive parties and fashion events, but I could never find something to wear that I felt confident in. And I finally started realizing, it’s not the clothes, it’s Me.
How long am I going to live like this? With the constant excuse that I don’t have the time to work out, or due to all the long days working, no time to cook proper & healthy food.
No time. I think that’s the most used excuse by people who are not ready to commit to something, they know they want/have to do.
Time is precious, I think it’s one of the most valuable assets that we possess, however, our body, is right up there next to Time if you would put them on a list.
Rule number 1: You have to MAKE time. You make time for everything and everybody else. A lot of you waste time watching television, playing games, browsing on your phones etc. The moment you decide that your health and physique is a priority over doing other things, you will suddenly ‘’find’’ time.
As an entrepreneur I work 12-16 hours a day, 7 days a week. So where do I ‘’find’’ the time? What’s your excuse?
Yes, I know it’s cliché, but I love this quote by Jim Rohn: ‘’Take care of your body, it’s the only place you have to live in’’. I believe the quality of your life will increase if you take good care of your body, by working out and giving it the proper nutrition at the right time. To be able to consistently do so, you need the right mindset. The following quote describes it perfectly: ‘’We were all born with 3 things: A Mind, a Body and a Lifetime, how you use the first two determines the third’’.
So I guess most of you must be thinking by now: ‘’ok…so just tell me what to do now’’. Patience, I’m getting there…
The reason why I am taking you through my thought process, is because it is a fundamental part of making that switch to a different lifestyle. This whole process of changing it for the better, solely depends on your mindset. If you even have the slightest doubt, you will fail at this. Most people do, which is why I said in the beginning, most people aren’t ready. And it’s not for everyone. “If it were easy, everyone would do it’’. Moreover, society makes it even harder, as we live in a world where many things are portrayed as ”healthy”, for instance diet/ low calorie-everything, while it’s really poisoning. So it’s everything, but absolutely NOT easy.
First, you have to have a reason WHY. And it should be a good one. Good enough to change your entire lifestyle and maintain it.
My WHY was because I was tired of always dreaming to look a certain way, never being confident and happy with how I actually looked. I think most women will understand. I’ve never been really overweight or ‘’fat’’, but I’ve never been skinny or lean looking either. You could grab a full hand of ”fat” from my back and my thighs would rub against each other when I walked (hated that so much!).
Ever since I was conscious about my looks around my teenage years, I’ve always had this picture in my head of how I wanted to look. Or how I should look so boys would like me. You know the ideal picture of a woman that every guy would like. Which is of course an image portrayed by our media and not realistic whatsoever. It’s a trap most women fall in.
But ever since I entered the Fashion industry with my brand, I was constantly surrounded by models, celebrities, fashionistas, bloggers. Being a representative/face of my own brand, I realized I just had to look my best. Yes, it’s a shallow business, but it does make sense, fashion is and will always be about looks. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about a size zero, just healthy and in the best ‘’shape’’ possible for your body type.
The thing I want most is to succeed in this business and most of all I want to be an inspiration, so this was/is my WHY.
Apart from the ‘’looking good’’; for a ‘’healthy’’ 24 year old, I always used to have some pain somewhere, things like migraines, back problems, low energy etc. I was just tired of it all. Both my partner and I realized that with the long hours we were making, and the unhealthy way we were living (ordering takeout almost every day, lots of snacking and chocolate, lots of soft drinks), we wouldn’t last very long to enjoy our earnings. So the second part of my WHY was to feel better, have more energy.
As I started this process, my WHY gradually shifted to another level, but I will get more into that later. You will see that your WHY will shift during the entire process, as you start seeing results.
So on august 12th 2013, both my partner and I decided to make a change. We did so gradually, and I would advise you all to do so as well. Just cutting everything that is unhealthy at once, might work for 2 days, some of you diehards may last a week, but eventually you will fall back into your old ways as your body will protest heavily. It’s really like kicking off an addiction.
Just like addicts go through an extremely intense process during their rehabilitation, you will experience the same. That’s why your WHY has to be so important, so solid, otherwise you are most likely to give up like most people do.
Your body is so used to receiving sugar and carbs, that it’s going to protest because it thinks that it needs it. But it doesn’t need most of the garbage we eat. It takes a while before your body gets used to your new way of eating and exercising. You have to give it that time. Basically everything is trained in the mind, so if you train yourself to eat veggies for a month or 2 strictly, your body will eventually crave veggies (same as the other way around).
‘’Most people have no idea how good their body is designed to feel’’.
You think you feel great after eating that yummy piece of chocolate or pizza, and that’s true to some point because your body releases endorphins, but when you start feeding your body what it really needs to function at its best and you have a regular workout schedule, you will experience the endorphins + satisfaction on a whole different level. My migraines, body pains etc. are gone, I am really fit and energized throughout the day, no need for naps in the afternoon etc.
Remember this: A well-built physique is a status symbol. It reflects that you worked hard for it. No money can buy it. You cannot inherit it. You cannot borrow it. You cannot hold on to it without constant work. It shows dedication. It shows discipline. It shows self-respect and self-love. It shows dignity. It shows focus, patience, work ethic and passion!
Figure out your WHY and your WHY will bring you to the next question, which is HOW. Stay tuned for next week’s blog: ‘A Better You: HOW part 1 on Food & Nutrition’’. I will give you my knowledge and expertise on food, various misconceptions on what to eat and not, plus a food diary.
Stay focused & Fit!
Love,
Nadira
P.S. I’ve decided, after long consideration to share my before and after. To me it’s really embarassing and I feel very exposed, but at the same time I am proud of what I’ve accomplished in only 4 months of time. I would normally never publish a picture like this for the world to see, but I want you guys to understand that I’m not just writing this, I’ve really lived it all. It’s all from personal experience. No photoshop, just Me.
No calorie counting, no scales, no pills or any of that stuff they try to tell you will work. Back to natural eating and basics and just hard work and dedication. I’ve had a little fall back since December, but I’ve been getting back on my grind, so I promise you this summer, another After picture and it will be a way better one compared to december!
”You don’t have to be perfect to inspire others, let people get inspired by how you deal with your Imperfection”.
- Published in Health & Fitness, Self-Discovery & Growth, Written Archives 2013-2018