Love To Eat Right

Healthy Asparagus and Potato Quiche

2012-05-18T16:02:00.004-04:00

So, it is asparagus or Spargel season here in Germany. Steffen and I felt like we needed to be part of that so today we bought some asparagus. It is nothing that we have cooked with before so we weren't quite sure what we would do with it. Here most of the asparagus is white, which is more mild in flavor. After brainstorming for a bit we came up with the idea of making a quiche. To make it healthy I made a potato crust and added some quark to make it creamy and add more flavor without adding any fat. Traditional quiche is baked in a pie/pastry crust and then the filling is made with whole eggs, cream, and cheese.

On to the recipe:

Preheat the oven to 200 celsius.

2 small/medium sized white or red potatoes
1/2 medium onion
5 stalks of white or green asparagus
250 ml quark or greek yogurt
4 eggs, separated
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

First I used my food processor with the fine slicing blade to cut the potatoes. Once they are cut, go ahead arrange them in pie pan to make a "crust".

For the asparagus, peel it and cut it into bite sized pieces. Then blanch it in salted boiling water for two minutes, drain it, and place it in cold water.

Cut the onion into small pieces. You can cook it before if you want, but it is fine if you don't.

Separate the eggs. Beat the whites until fluffy, then add the quark or greek yogurt. Once well combined add the yolks and salt and pepper, stir until well combined.

Place the asparagus and onion in the pie pan and then pour the egg mixture over top of them. Place the pan in the oven and let cook for 30-40 minutes or until it is set in the middle.

Healthy Breakfast: Does watching my weight make me a weight watcher??

2012-05-12T03:50:00.003-04:00

Weight watching, well in simple terms that means for me that I get on the scale every morning. The numbers usually fluctuate around the same value. Most recently it has been going down some, since spring and a huge effort for more steady training and a better diet are taking their effects. Not only for controlling your weight, but also making sure you are well hydrated can be a benefit of measuring your weight. Today is a big training day for me, but since the weather in Europe went through a huge drop in the temps, I am doing my long brick later in the day. Hence a healthy breakfast was in order.

Breakfast for one:
2 whole eggs
2 egg whites
5 Almonds
half an apple
grapes
two slices of dark bread
homemade strawberry and rhubarb jam

Directions:
Prepare the eggs as per your liking. The reason for not eating 3 whole eggs and instead eating 2 was that the egg yolk contains more fat then the egg white and the additional egg whites add some extra protein. I chopped up the almonds and put them on my eggs, you can simply eat them on the side as well. Almonds are a ph-lowering food, which also contain monounsaturated fats, the good kind. My homemade strawberry rhubarb jam is simply amazing; it tastes fantastic and is so easy to make.

Black Bean and Quinoa Tex-Mex Burgers

2012-05-08T12:14:00.001-04:00

So, Steffen and I have decided to eat less meat for various reasons. It has been really easy for us as we love some high-protein plant based foods. Some of our favorites are black beans, quinoa, couscous, and lentils. Besides just being high in protein these foods also provide various vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants.

Ingredients:
4 cups of black beans
2/3 cup quinoa
1 cup finely shredded carrot (about 2 medium carrots)
1/2 cup white or yellow onion (about 1 medium onion)
1 1/2 cups corn
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 cup quick cooking oatmeal
1 packet taco seasoning

First put quinoa in a medium sauce pan with 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 15 mins until quinoa is done. When it is done the water should have been absorbed and you should be able to see little tails on the quinoa.

Next the beans. If you have a food processor, fantastic! You can use it to process the beans until roughly mashed. If you are like me and don't have one, you can use something similar to a potato masher and mash the beans just so that they are mashed up some. They don't need to be pureed.

Shred your carrots with a hand shredder or with a food processor. The chop you onion and bell pepper. For the corn you can use fresh, frozen, or canned. If you use frozen corn let it thaw first and drain excess liquid. If you are using canned corn then drain before using.

When quinoa is done cooking take the pan off the burner and allow it to cool some so that you don't burn your hands when shaping the burgers.

Once the quinoa has cooled some, then mix everything together well in a large bowl.

Now that everything is mixed together you need to decide how you would like to cook the burgers. They can be cooked in the oven or in a skillet. I think they come out better in the oven and it is less work! If you choose the oven method preheat your oven to 375 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or use non-stick spray. Shape burgers so that they are about a half inch thick and 4 inches wide. Place them in the oven for 20-25 mins.

If you want to cook them in a skillet, place a large skillet over medium heat. You can use olive oil or cooking spray for the pan. Shape the burgers the same as above. Allow each burger to cook for 5-7 before gently flipping it over using a spatula.

These burgers can be eaten on hamburger buns, crumbled over a salad, on their own as a quick snack, or crumbled into a taco shell or tortilla.

No Mayo Tuna Salad

2012-05-02T13:24:00.002-04:00

As most of you know mayonnaise is not good for you. In fact when added to most dished it ruins the nutritional content. Just one tablespoon of mayo contains 90 calories and 10 grams of fat. Considering that when mayo is added to dishes like chicken salad and tuna salad, people typically are consuming between 2-3 tablespoons of mayo per serving! Thats between 180-270 calories and 20-30 grams of fat just from the mayo.

I came up with a non mayo tuna salad recipe because I love tuna and I think it is good for you when eaten in moderation. I also wanted a quick and easy dish that was high in protein and incorporated lots of veggies and some beans. This is a very flexible recipe so please add in what you like and skip the stuff you don't like.

No Mayo Tuna Salad
makes 4 servings

1 195g (5oz) can of tuna ( I like solid albacore packed in water. Stay away from those in oil or broth.)
1 420g (16oz) can of red kidney beans
250 ml (1 cup) chopped cucumber
1 medium bell pepper chopped
1 medium red onion chopped
75 ml (1/4 cup) chopped green olives
30 ml (2 Tbs) apple cider vinegar
salt/pepper to taste

I use a medium sized mixing bowl with a lid to prepare this in since you can just throw the lid on and shake all the ingredients up.
1. Empty the can of beans into a strainer and rinse under cold water until they don't foam anymore, then place in bowl.
2. Open the can of tuna and drain the liquid off, then add to bowl.
3. Chop onion, cucumber, bell pepper, and green olives. Add them to the bowl.
4. Add apple cider vinegar and salt/pepper to bowl. Cover with lid and shake or mix with a fork until well combined.

Now you are ready to eat! This keeps well in the fridge for 3 days. I just eat it as is but it would be great in a wrap or on some lettuce.

Like I said earlier please don't feel like you need to stick to the recipe! Other great additions would be celery, black beans, white beans, black olives, pickles, cabbage, carrots....whatever you have in the fridge and pantry :)

Tuna with Peach Salsa, Eggplant over Couscous

2012-04-22T18:00:00.000-04:00

Cook time: 15 min, prep time 20 min

3-4 entree servings

Ingredients:

1 pound sushi grade tuna

1 large eggplant

1- 1 ½ cups of whole wheat couscous

Lemon pepper

Olive Oil

Balsamic Vinegar

Peanut Oil

Italian Seasoning (salt free)

Sea Salt

Peach or Mango Salsa

Red Wine

Directions

Prepare the marinate for the tuna, take 4 table spoons of olive oil, 2 table spoons of balsamic vinegar and add the lemon pepper. Add the tuna, the longer the better, 15 min minimum.

Cut the eggplant in ½”by 1” pieces, gently cook/fry in a frying pan, add the Italian seasoning and some sea salt. Brown the eggplant, be careful that you don’t overcook it. It start falling apart. The eggplant will take the longest from all three main ingredients, depending on how rare you like your tuna.

Heat up 1 ¼ cup of water in the microwave (2 min) and add the couscous and some sea salt. Stir the couscous when initially adding it to the water; let sit for 5 min.

Add the peanut oil to a frying pan, turn on high. Be careful the smoke point of peanut oil is lower than some other oils. Add the marinated tuna and cook to your liking.

Serve on a large plate, pour some Peach or Mango Salsa over the eggplant/couscous.

Ready is a wonderful, easy, relatively quick and healthy dinner. We had a glass of Amos Malbec with it, it turned out really well J!

Weekend Breakfast: Fluffy German pancakes with Almonds and Raisins

2012-04-21T02:44:00.003-04:00

We generally use the weekend breakfast to spent a relaxed morning together to catch up from the week and all the things that have been going on. Many of you probably have busy mornings and don't get to spend enough time with your loved ones. Even if you are single it can be a good and relaxing thing to sit down read a newspaper and spend a little more time than normal.
A special breakfast is in order for that :)!!
Today it is a healthier and fluffy version of German pancakes.

Ingredients:
250 g of flour (two cups) We used 3/4 of a cup whole wheat and 1 1/4 cups spelt flour
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups (375 ml) of milk
10-15 chopped almonds (you can easily chop them yourself). Almonds have many heath benefits such as regulating cholesterol and blood pressure among many others. Search the web!!
2 tbs raisins
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp backing powder
1 pinch of sea salt
2 tbs oil (olive, or sunflower oil. Do not use vegetable oil, it is usually lower quality oil and doesn't contain the essential fatty acids, due to the manufacturing process and ingredients).

Topping:
1 apple or any other fruit
1-3 tbs of your favorite berry jam

Directions:
Add flour and the other dry ingredients to the mixing bowl, add the eggs and slowly start mixing. Slowly pour the milk in the mixing bowl and mix until you have a smooth dough.

Cooking directions:
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Make pancakes from one ladle at the time and cook them from both sides.

Serving ideas.
Take a couple of table spoons of the chopped up apples and pour some of your favorite jam over it

Bon Appetit!!

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely - Love To Eat Right

Eat that big breakfast!!

2012-04-17T01:00:00.001-04:00

How does our body work? Well we are simply a machine, we like to get our fuel and grease in the morning. Like a well oiled machine, we run much better then!! There has been some interesting research to show how a big breakfast on the heavy side can influence our metabolism and have a positive effect for the rest of the day.

Lose Weight by Eating Earlier (Source: Triathlon Competitor)

Carb loading: How it works!

2012-04-16T07:12:00.000-04:00

Endurance athletes talk about carb loading all the time :); everybody has a different approach prior to race day. Carb loading prior to race day can be up to a weeklong routine, or just a few days. I will talk about race prep carb loading in a different blog.

One of the things only few people think about is that carb loading needs to occur all the time, it is one of the most important elements of recovery and continuous training efforts. Carb loading simply means that you are replenishing your sugar depots in your muscles and your liver. Those are the main sources that can store glycogen, there is also some stored in your blood, but those sugars are maintained continuously by calorie intake and insulin production. The energy stored in those depots is recalled, when working out, not only on race day.

What kind of carbs/sugars can be stored in your muscles/liver?

There are essentially 2 types of carbohydrates, simple and complex. Simple carbohydrates are small molecules, such as sugar (glucose), fructose (sugar in fruit and fruit juices). lactose (sugar in milk), galactose (monosaccharides) and two sugars bonded together. Simple sugars are easily digestible and are perfect for quick energy replacement during workouts and races. Excess simple sugars are easily converted into fat.

Complex sugars or starch are simple sugars bonded together in a long chain. They are not as easily digestible, but are the source of glucose stored in our muscles and liver. The fact that complex carbs take longer to be digested leads to the effect that they are not as easily converted into body fat.

It is recommended to keep the intake of simple sugars as low as 10% of you daily carbohydrate intake.

How much energy can be stored in muscles and the liver?

Muscles are the main storage of glycogen, one can store anywhere from 200-500 grams of glycogen, which translates into 800-2000 calories. Some athletes have shown storage of up to 2700 calories stored in muscle. Long term training will result in greater storage depots in muscles as well as the amount of muscle mass of course. However, greater muscle mass will also means that your body burns more calories at any given time.

The liver can store 60-120 grams of glycogen, which equals 250–500 calories.

Your body generally uses mostly liver glycogen over night, which means that a good breakfast with supplements can easily replenish liver glycogen. I will write about that subject separately as well.

Image source: http://www.all-creatures.org/recipes/images/i-pasta-penne-rigate.jpg

Carbohydrate foods:

Simple Sugars:

- Table Sugar

- Cakes, pastry, biscuits

- Fruit (the calorie content of fruit is generally low and fruits contain fiber, which slows down the digestive, which reduces the amount of excess calories stored in form of body fat)

- Juices

- Soda

- Jam

- Chocolate/Candy

Complex Sugars:

(Food in it’s most natural form i.e. whole wheat (whole wheat) etc)

- Bran

- Cornmeal

- Oatmeal

- Whole wheat pasta, regular pasta

- Brown/white Rice

- Potatoes

- Wholemeal breads

- Wholegrain cereals

- Legumes: Peas, Beans Lentils

What have we learned?

Reduce the simple sugars in your daily diet. Carbohydrates are fuel for your body, if carbohydrate stores are low exercise will seem like a real effort! Not only on race day!!

Note: This post was previously published on April 9th 2010, I felt the topic was important enough to report :)

A little bit of healthy Asia

2012-04-15T04:33:00.004-04:00

Today's dinner, is a very flavorful, relatively quick and easy recipe. It combines turkey or chicken with a creamy coconut curry sauce and your choice of grain!
Ingredients:
1 lbs (400-500g) chicken or turkey
1 jar/can bamboo shoots
1 can of kidney beans
1 can reduced fat coconut milk
1 medium onion
2 tsp corn starch
Spices:
2 tsp curry powder
sea salt to taste
chili powder to taste (1/4 of a tsp)
1/2 a tsp paprika
black pepper to taste
Carbs of your liking (brown rice, Quinoa,....) We had wheat berries.

Directions:
Start preparing your carbs, as they can take a little longer than the rest of the dish.
Now let's get started.

-Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and add a bit of olive oil.
-Peel and chop the onion.

-Add the onions to the skillet and gently brown them, add the black pepper to the onions. (The liquid of the onions brings out more of the pepper flavors).
-Cut the chicken/turkey in small cubes ~1"
-Add the chicken and brown it until it is mostly done.

-Now add the other spices. The curry powder should cover about 80% of the surface of the chicken and color it nicely. Take 1/4 of the coconut milk and keep it in a separate container (needs to be mixed with the corn starch later).
-Turn down the heat and add the beans (drains the liquid in the bean can and add water and drain it as well) and coconut milk, let it boil at low heat for ~5 min. The chicken/turkey should be cooked all the way now. Have a taste and see if you need to add any additional spices.
-Mix the starch with the coconut milk you put on the side until there are no junks left.
-Add the starch/milk mix to the dish and bring to a quick boil. Then remove skillet from heat and allow to stand for 5 minutes.The sauce should thicken nicely.

Ready is your quick and healthy dish!

Enjoy!

Black Bean Taquitos

2012-04-08T05:28:00.004-04:00

Black Bean Taquitos

This is a healthy version of Mexican taquitos, a dish that consist of corn tortillas that are filled with shredded beef or chicken and then fried.

Here is what you need for the recipe:

1 can of refried black beans ( I like the ones that have lime added. You can use any type of refried beans)

1 package of corn tortillas

Olive oil (optional)

I usually put my tortillas in a warm oven or in the microwave just to warm them. I also warm the beans before making the taquitos- this can also be done in the microwave.

Warm a skillet/frying pan over medium heat. You can add some olive oil if you want, but it's not necessary.

Take one corn tortilla and place some of the refried beans near the outer edge on one side of the tortilla and then roll the tortilla up slowly and place in the heated pan, seam side down so that the tortilla doesn't come un-rolled. Once that side has cooked for a few minutes then flip the taquito over to evenly cook on other sides.

Repeat for as many taquitos as you want to make. I find it easier to make several at a time and then line them up in the pan together to help keep any of them from coming undone. These could probably be cooked in the oven also, I haven't tried it yet though.

Serve with your favorite salsa or guacamole.

The differences

2012-01-17T02:45:00.000-05:00

The question will sooner or later arise, what is the difference between the US and Germany after coming back of almost 8 years in the US of A?

There are of course many differences and things I have noticed. I will start with nutrition and follow up with more cultural differences from there.

http://www.wall.de/de/spezialseiten/medialayer?bro%5B%5D=asset_id:1015

We have eaten out dinner a total of 3 or 4 times in 33 days. It was certainly possible that we ate out that many times in one week in the US. Germans don't eat out as many times, the question is does it make there lifestyle healthier? I cannot broadly answer that question yet, I will at least give it a try in a later blog. What I can answer is that grocery prices are a lot lower that includes, bread, meat but especially vegetables and fruit. A triple pack of bell peppers is for instance only 99 cents, I think one is lucky if you get one green bell pepper for that little in the US. Oranges and other citrus fruits are cheaper too, who would have guessed that, oranges don't grow in Germany, but they do in the US. Oh I almost forgot dairy products are cheaper too, yes you can by a nice piece of cheese, even specialty cheese without going bankrupt. I have been enjoying "Der große Bauer", a yogurt that has been around forever.
They continuously add new flavors. My new favorites are the kinds with cereal and fruit combined. I have to admit I do miss my favorite greek yogurt at times, well we could get it here, but everything Greek is very expensive in Germany. Not sure if that has to do with the bailout. And then there is of course candy, but I am not an expert ;). I see there are a lot more kinds of gummy bears at our house. Since I mostly stick to the high gravity dark chocolate, the price difference isn't actually that big, since Lindt is sort of expensive here compared to everything else. There are just not that many companies that offer 85% + Cacao dark chocolate. I have enjoyed some of the cookies, including one of my favorites the " Prinzen Rolle".

Beverages will deserve their own blog :).

Merry Christmas - Froehliche Weihnachten

2011-12-24T05:09:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas to everyone, eat well, drink lots of water and enjoy some Christmas cookies!

Boone Camp Burrito Especial

2011-06-20T13:28:00.000-04:00

Here comes the recipe for the Boone Camp Burrito Especial:
Prep Time 20-30 mins

Ingredients (4-5 portions):
2 chicken breasts
1 can of black beans
1 cup of brown rice
1 can of pineapple
3-4 table spoons of BBQ Sauce (Sticky Fingers - Memphis Original is my favorite!)
1 onion
1 green bell pepper
1-2 table spoons of Olive Oil
4-6 Whole Wheat/Multi-Grain Tortillas
1 table spoon of Salsa Verde

Optional Toppings:
Cheese (your choice, fancy shredded works best)
Lettuce
Sour Cream
Salsa Verde

Spices:
Sea Salt
Fresh ground Black Pepper
Chili Powder
optional: Frontera Kitchens - New Mexico Taco Skillet Sauce

Directions:
1. Prepare the brown rice
2.Cut the chicken into small strips
3. Clean and cut the pepper and onion into small squares
4. Cook the chicken with the onions and bell peppers in the olive oil, once the chicken is somewhat cooked, add the BBQ Sauce, the pineapple juice from the can and the other spices.
5. Drain the black beans and add them along with pineapple pieces to the mix
6. Let boil for a few minutes
7. Depending on your liking, you can either add the brown rice to the mix or add it to the burritos separately.

If you are preparing the meal for a bigger, diverse group, it works well to have everybody build their own burrito. Otherwise, you can pre-heat the oven, build the burritos and add cheese and Salsa Verde on top and put them on a flat pan and finish the meal in the oven @ 375 degrees for 5-7 mins.

Portion Size

2011-06-06T10:36:00.000-04:00

What is the ideal portion size? Have you ever asked yourself that question? Maybe you should! You can probably relatively easily answer that question by listening to your body.
It is easy, if you feel:
- full
- bloated
- sleepy
- nauseous
you most likely ate too much or too much of the wrong food. Just because a restaurant puts a whole bunch of food on your plate doesn't mean you have to eat it all :).

I have been looking for a good image to display the portion size, but realized that it would be beneficial if you would imagine it yourself. Think about your stomach and how big it is and that it already is full of liquids and previous meals that are being digested. Now look at your plate and think how much you can actually comfortably fit in your stomach without stretching it.

Does the burger, the fries and the soda or beer really fit?

How many slices of pizza can you fit?

How big of a steak, vegetables, and potatoes can you fit?

How big of a salad can you fit?

Does the ice-cream really melt around your dinner and will fit comfortably?

If have actually gone to the measures of eating smaller portions myself, it makes you feel much better afterward. It is ok to be done with dinner and have the feeling you could have eaten more. Your body will thank you in the next few minutes that you didn't finish your plate.

get that cheese

2011-03-28T08:25:00.000-04:00

Since winter is hopefully on its last leg and I am trying to get into race shape for the first tri of the year, might as well be swim suit shape :), I will be cutting cheese out of my diet for a few weeks. As many of you know, cheese is one of those things that I usually recommend to reduce if one is trying to shed off a few pounds. The reasons are very simple, cheese contains a lot of fat, which as we all know is high in calories and is complex for the body to digest.

Here is a funny video of some Brits trying to get the cheese

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOyQBSMeIhM

The history of the event can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper's_Hill_Cheese-Rolling_and_Wake

So here we go! No cheese for me for a few weeks. Try it, it really works :). I will have to admit that the first pizza without cheese is certainly something to get used to, but on the other hand I never had this full feeling afterward!

Eat your flavonoids!

2011-03-19T19:49:00.000-04:00

Source: http://www.realage.com/cm/realage/images/pU/flavanoids-md.jpg

What are flavonoids? They are substances virtually found in all plants, giving them brilliant colors. They function as antioxidants in the human body and help prevent cells from being damaged. We particularly benefit from them in a sense of protecting our muscle fibers from rupturing during long lasting activities, such as a marathon or long distance triathlon events. Free radicals are increasingly produced over the course of a race, the flavonoids have a neutralizing function. They are further known to reduce inflammation.

Flavonoids can be found in all fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices. The content is generally higher in the colorful parts of the fruit i.e. the skins. An exception are oranges, the white pulpy inside contains the greatest amount.

Happy Racing

EAPNS: Are you a runner?

2010-12-01T16:56:00.000-05:00

Source:
http://www.impactlab.net/2009/05/31
/cherry-juice-eases-pain-after-running/

Is YES your final answer? Good, you should continue reading this blog.
   Not sure if it is the same for you, but I don't remember being sore from running when I was a teenager, maybe I was simply in better shape :).
   These days I find myself with heavy legs after a long run or a track workout. Tart cherry juice has helped me to reduce the post run pain.
   I know it sounds funny, but what is so special about tart cherry juice? Cherry juice has natural anti-inflammatory powers, which are also giving the cherry the bright red and pretty color. Cherry juice can be purchased as a concentrate. I have been taking 1-2 table spoons, added to a 12 oz glass of water after a run or other activities. Some sites refer to taking the juice 2x a day. You can obviously play with the amount you are taking. You can find several different research studies providing more scientific information regarding the reduced acidic levels measured in athletes taking the juice vs. placebos after a marathon or other running events.
Here is one, more recent article: Tart Cherry Juice Reduces Muscle Pain and Inflammation

Enjoy your run!

Food as joy and energy source

2010-11-24T09:15:00.000-05:00

One of my friends recently asked me, how he can achieve his goals for next years triathlon season including losing some weight.
Rule # 1: Don't beat yourself up over your current weight. Beating yourself up can lead to extreme reactions such as a diet, which is not sustainable and you will bounce back to what you were before. Plus it simply is too much pressure, we already have to deal with enough "stress" in our daily activities; family, work and our busy schedules.

Alright, now that we are done beating ourselves up, we can look at what we have been eating. My friend did a great job documenting and analyzing his nutrition, starting with breakfast. He realized a few things regarding his lunch and his dinners and at the same time found out that his percentages of crabs, protein and fat where off from where he thought they would be.

Before we start looking at what changes to make, we need to understand that food is there to be enjoyed and it isn't something bad. We usually sit down, have a good conversation over breakfast, lunch or dinner and indulge ourselves with a favorite meal. If you are rushing through your meal, you should probably consider taking a few minutes to sit down and eat!!

Without knowing, my friend probably feels tired and wants to take a nap after some of his meals. A reason for that may be that the meals consists of meat, some fried side dish and cheese. All of those foods are difficult for your system to digest. Ever cleaned a pot after preparing mac & cheese? Cheese is generally speaking high in fat content and its chemical structures are hard to break down, so is the fat your french fries and the meat your eating was cooked in, especially when eating out.

Again, it is about enjoying your food and providing your body with the energy it needs. Since it is hard to make changes to your diet without going through major cravings, I would suggest to have 2 days a week where you don't eat cheese and another two days (separate days), where you don't eat meat or fried food.

I will continue to provide ideas to slowly change your diet in a sustainable and enjoyable way, for it to become your new way of walking through your life - feeling good and energized after eating.

Enjoy your meal.

PS: Before every meal, have a glass of water. You are probably not drinking enough throughout the day anyway and it will take up some room in your tummy that would otherwise be consumed by the 20-30 % of food that shouldn't be on your plate to begin with! Don't fell bad leaving something on your table, even if your grandma told you not to :)

Hot Stone Massage

2010-11-08T11:41:00.000-05:00

Recovery and its importance for continuous improvement and health.

Source: http://www.peacefulmind.com/hotstones.htm

I have been getting massages over the past few years and they were mostly deep tissue and trigger point. At a recent massage, the massage therapist pointed out that I have big knots in my upper back and that it is hard to get them out with deep work and if I had given hot stone massage (Link source: www.Livestrong.com) a try before. I hadn't since I was a firm believer in deep work for years. As most of you know, nutrition is a huge part of exercising, racing and recovery. However there are plenty of other factors that you may want to consider to stay healthy, continue to improve your performance and enjoy your sport.

Having experienced hot stone last Friday, I have to say that it was a amazing; not only could I feel the knots being loosened up, but my whole body was very relaxed. You should give it a try, I can only recommend Cary Massage Therapy and Therapist Melissa Martin. You can schedule an appointment right here.

http://www.carymassagetherapy.com/

PS: I know this is not about nutrition, the hot stones are a little too big for micro nutrients :)

Off season nutrition #1

2010-11-01T13:55:00.000-04:00

The off season has by now started for most triathletes! I just took a month off myself, before I am getting back into it for next year's races. Most everyone treats themselves to foods they don't usually do :). One of my favorite daily comic strips "Frazz", has a good one for you:

source: http://comics.com/frazz/2010-10-30

Today's breakfast from the Outer Banks, NC Recipe: Chicken sausage, grits and more

2010-10-08T08:23:00.000-04:00

Today's breakfast is brought to you with lots of sunshine from the Outer Banks. This almost seems to have become my annual trip to the beach. Last year I was here with friends from Germany, this year it's just two of us. I get to cook some food, mostly breakfast. I hope you read the previous blog and found out about what one should eat for breakfast. Following that recommendation, we have been preparing solid, hearty and delicious breakfasts. Today's was a little different!!!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 hot chicken sausages (cooked beforehand)
1/4 cup of grits (original not instant) (prepared with milk)
1/2 an onion
a hand full of grape tomatoes
3 eggs
sharp cheddar cheese (2% if you want lighter fare)
sea salt/black pepper

Directions:
1. prepare grits (takes 10-15 min)
2. cook the sausages and cut in thin slices
in a good size frying pan:
3. chop up the onion and fy gently with some olive oil
4. add sausages and continue to fry until they get s a nice gentle brown surface
5. add grits and spread out evenly, mix in the onions and sausage
6. add grape tomatoes (cut in halfs), this will let the juices join your wonderful meal
7. add the three eggs, you can put them in a bowl and stir them up, or simply add them to the pan and mix everything up
8. add salt and pepper, you could also add some hot sauce to the dish, but I prefer to add that on my plate since not everybody likes hot sauce
9. mix and let the eggs cook at medium heat
10. add a layer of sharp cheddar cheese, let melt and then stir into the rest of the meal
11. depending on your liking, let the meal brown some in the pan, which gives the ingredients some more time to combine and develop their flavors together

Enjoy your meal!!

Eat lots - Early

2010-10-04T10:00:00.000-04:00

I was thinking about this subject for a while and came across this article. Since I won't be able to sum it up any better, I am just going to be lazy and reference it.
Lose Weight by Eating Earlier

Dark Chocolate

2010-09-13T11:49:00.000-04:00

Now how does chocolate and eating right fit together? It can in small amounts :), especially if it is dark chocolate!

Dark chocolate compared to milk or white chocolate contains a higher percentage of cocoa, which brings along healthier fats, less sugar, more protein and more antioxidants. There actually quite a few good reasons to eat dark chocolate:
- lowers you blood pressure
- lowers LDL cholesterol (LDL=bad cholesterol)
- will increase your mood via the natural "anti-depressant" serotonin
- contains flavonoids, which is an antioxidant that aids strengthening the connective tissue of blood vessels

After all it tastes really good :); a small piece of dark chocolate and a cup of coffee gets me through my afternoon low !!

My personal favorite is Lindt Swiss chocolate.

5. EAPNS: No to sunburn - Astaxanthin

2010-08-12T11:52:00.000-04:00

It is a little late in this summer, but I thought this may still interesting for some of you, who choose to spend time in the sun, exercising outside etc. Astaxanthin is an antioxidant, which absorbs/reduces free radicals created by skin exposed to UV rays.

It can also reduce the pain and inflammation occurring with sunburn. The objective of course is to not get sunburned at all. Not to be mistaken, Astaxanthin is not a replacement for sunscreen, but sort of functions as internal sunscreen. I have been trying to find out if there are actual studies with regards to the SPF of Astaxanthin, but couldn't find anything. It reaches its effect after ~2 weeks of taking 4mg a day.

Some cites refer to increased protection against the sun and state the Astaxanthin is 500 times stronger than Vitamin E and 10 times stronger than beta-carotene, which in the past have been recommended to aid exposure to sun.

Astaxanthin

As many of us I am usually a little skeptical, when it comes to supplements, especially if there is so much different information available online, but no profound scientific studies. I am giving it a try and will let you know what my experience is. The antioxidant also shows significant other benefits. Just Google Astaxanthin + benefits and you will be surprised :)!!!

Where to buy:

http://www.astavita.com/astaxanthin.html >>Chris Lieto's main sponsor

The Vitamin Shoppe

For the science geeks amongst you: http://www.cyanotech.com/pdfs/bioastin/batl09.pdf

4. EAPNS: Meatless Monday

2010-08-10T12:03:00.000-04:00

Meatless Monday is a non-profit initiative to improve personal health and our environment. It is an interesting read and the website provides recipes.

As an athlete I am supporting the idea, at least from a personal health standpoint. The question remains, what day of the week should be the one without meat? This time of the year I usually have hard and long workout days on the weekend and I seem to struggle to get enough calories in on those days. Since it is a good thing to eat some fatty fish once a week, you could substitute your meat protein with fish on one of your weekend days. The earlier days of the week, or at least Monday is usually an easier workout day for most athletes and therefore seems to work with the initiative. One could argue against that and say you need a good source of protein the day after a hard weekend of training to rebuilt the muscular damages. Lets all remember that meat and fish aren't the only good sources of protein. I have talked about potato and egg as a great source for protein or legumes (lentils, beans....). It is also a good thing to add some vegetables to your meal that are high in antioxidants such as broccoli and fresh tomatoes. Don't forget the complex carbs, such as wheat pasta and off you go with a simple, but healthy and protein rich meal. Yes even the pasta contains some protein.
Recipe:
2 Tomatoes on the vine
Broccoli
1/2 an onion
1 jar of traditional pasta sauce
1 can of beans of your liking
1 lbs of whole wheat pasta