Aquaholic

WATER - "the fountain of youth, better skin, less cravings, more energy, better digestion, less headaches, a better metabolism, better mood, and an ability to concentrate more. That's just from drinking it."

The last days I drank more water than ever. I normally drink 0.8l to 1.3l per day (I know it's not much but I never feel the thirst...), but now as I have my personalized meal and fitness plan I need to drink a whole more water (intake of my pills and shakes, during my workout and so on). I never wanted to obligate myself to drink more because I thought that if I am not thirsty, my body doesn't need more water. But obviously it did. When I made some researches WHY we need to drink 2 to 3l per day I started to understand why my body reacted the way it did. I always felt very tired, I dealt with a lot of gastrointestinal ache and my blood pressure is always very high. My magnesium, calcium and vitamin level is very low. As I started to drink more water (and I quitted smoking, hurray! Poor Jeff... No sugar, no fats, no nicotine for me...aiaiai poor baby) my gastrointestinal ache disappeared and my blood pressure became quite normal.

Here is a quick enumeration of facts what dehydration causes to your body:

1. Fatigue: Even if it sounds weird, water is your body's most important source of energy. Dehydration will slow down your body and vital functions and you'll feel physically and mentally exhausted. 
2. High cholesterol level: Dehydration stimulates the production of cholesterol to prevent water loss from the cells. 
3. Kidney problems: If your body doesn't get enough water, your kidney will be more susceptible to infections and inflammations, and this will cause you a lot of inner pain. 
4. High blood pressure: When the water percentage in your body decreases, the blood will become thicker and can lead to higher blood pressure. 
5. Digestive and skin disorders: Dehydration leads to a decreased amount of magnesium and calcium. This causes digestive problems as for example gastritis. Dehydration worsens your skin and restrains the process of elimination of some toxins. You will be more vulnerable to all types of skin problems as for example dermatitis. Your organs and your skin will start to dry out prematurely.
6. Other consequences of dehydration can be acne, concentration issues, drowsiness, headaches, cold hands and feet, a dry nose and so on. And by the way, dehydration can degrade cognitive performances like visual vigilance and working memory and can increase your bad mood. Being fully hydrated strengthens your hair and your nails.

Tea is one good alternative to "boring" still water (without sugar)

The average human body and brain contains about 60 to 70% water. The average adult loses about 10 cups of water per day, simply by breathing, sweating and urinating. Feeling thirst is a sign that your body is already dehydrated. If you want to lose weight, drink 1 large glass of water before every meal. Drinking cold water will boost your metabolism and help you burn more calories. DRINK WATER. No juice and no soda. The number one source of excessive calories intake is sugar-based soda and fruit juice. 

So how much water do you need to drink per day if you want your body to be fully hydrated? Calculate it yourself. You only need to know your weight.

• Body weight in lbs. (1kg = 2.2 lbs.)
• Divide your body weight by 2 (in lbs.)
• Result = how many ounces you should drink per day (1 ounce = 0.03l) 

Example: If I weigh 60 kg (132 lbs.) I need to drink 1.98l per day.

--> 132lbs.: 2 = 66 ounces

--> 66 x 0.03l = 1.98l per day

Fruit infused water

What can you drink as an alternative to normal water?

• you can make some fresh camomille or mint tea. Let it cool down, add some lemon or ginger slices and wait 1 hour, sometimes I even add some strawberries. You'll have a delicious fresh and healthy drink. Don't add any sugar.
• fruit infused water: add cucumber and mint or lemon with pineapple slices/raspberries to your water.
• JMB Powerfood's Mineral Drinks (different flavours, I love lemon and multivitamin). It's my during-workout-drink
• and of course my lovely NITRO STAK. I simply love this pre-workout-booster, especially orange-flavour.

So remember

your brain needs water

your organs need water

your muscles need water

YOUR BODY NEEDS ENOUGH WATER to work perfectly.

Wish you a lovely day.

xoxo

1 Life = 1 Body

Hello people,

I wanted to give you a quick review on my new fitness plan...

Loving my Nike's!

As I already told you in my last post, I started a new personalized workout and meal plan:

• Monday is Legday
• Tuesday is Shoulder/Chest/Abs-Day
• Wednesday is Restday
• Thursday is Legday (again! And it's killing me xD)
• Friday is Back/Shoulders/Arms-Day and on Weekends I will go for a long run!

The cardio session before and after every workout is also very intense. I can choose between Running and the Cross trainer, but I prefer the Stairs-machine, not because I love to punish myself but because it has a bigger and more intensive impact on my body: you burn more calories and you're exhausted as hell afterwards... I usually do 10-15 minutes (depends on how I feel).

Core: 5 different Exercises... repeat 5 times each! Autsch....

I lost 2,2kg in 1 week. Now I need to stay patient and continue with my hard work, but as I am not feeling well the last days it's hard to push my strength and body to the limits and as my workout plan is soooooo intensive and painful, I felt really weak afterwards (so bad that sometimes I needed to threw up)... yes, not really tasty but if you want to conquer you need to give everything you have! I'll try to give my best but I still need to recover 100% from my car accident injuries (and now I'm dealing with a flu... Jackpot...)

With a negative mind you will never have a positive life! We need to start loving ourselves and we all need to understand that "we are what we eat"! If I continue eating junk food I will get fat... and if I get fat, I will feel uncomfortable in my skin and I will want to lose some pounds, well... I won't lose them without changing my nutrition plan... Now it's up to you to work on WHAT and WHO you want to be! 
I want a strong body with a strong mind; I want to be proud of myself and  feel comfortable while wearing tight clothes or a bikini... I want to feel good while wearing small shorts or leggings! I only have one body, and I will work for it! 
Imagine your body to be a house... do you want your house to be dirty and messy? No, you want a nice and clean house where you feel comfortable in, where you feel home and where you can totally be YOU... Your body is the first "home" you ever had and you will have this ONE body till your very end! So take care of it and try to be the BEST you! Once you start seeing results, you will understand what I mean!

Physique February 24h, 2015

Pushed it to the limits today... 

I wish you a very happy and nice evening!

Time for a (body) change!

"Every woman that finally figured out her worth, has picked up her suitcases of pride and boarded a flight to freedom, which landed in the valley of change." - Shannon L. Adler

Running Routine!

As some of you know, my boyfriend and I have started our 3-months nutrition and fitness plan (by Powerfood's J.-M.B, here)! But, as I am not a fitness blogger, I won't share every single detail of my progress but only things that may motivate you, like some healthy recipes or exercises or a few things that relate to my personal change. If you're searching for a fitness blogger, then I would recommend you a friend of mine, Jenny (link to her blog).

Yesterday, my boyfriend Jeff and I had our first check-up at our coach's home. He showed us every single exercise precisely, and what can I say... my whole body burns like hell!!
I have so many super-sets on my fitness plan...urgh! But "when it burns, then it works", right? Let's hope for the best! Our next Check-up will be in two weeks and I am super excited to see if my body will show any changes...

Training Hard!

I have to hit the gym 4 times per week (the other days I will go on a run with my fluffy bear, as I am super motivated right now I can't just sit at home and do nothing) and I have a 2days/2days nutrition plan, which means that every 2 days my plan will change from high carbohydrates ("KH") & low fat (good fats) to low carbohydrates and more fats. I think this is pretty much fun because CHANGE is something really important if you don't want to lose your motivation, and ROUTINE will kill it.

To understand why we wanted a fitness and nutrition plan, I will firstly explain my athletic and physique goals: I didn't feel really comfortable in my body the last few months, but I tried everything to improve my well-being but I often lost my motivation and focus...and having a coach means that there is always someone who will be there to push you and because I have a lot of respect for my coach I don't want to disappoint him with negative results, so this time I need to keep my focus!

I don't want to participate in any competition; I just want to build some more muscles and reduce my fat percentage (24,7%!!!, nearly 1/4 of my whole body)! I want to be a better me, the best I can be! I want to feel comfortable again and to look awesome (summer is coming soon!!!!!), and I am really curious how my body will change and what I will look like in 3 months. I know that 3 months are not enough but it's a perfect start. As I am a really ambitious person, I want to break out of my comfort zone and pursue my goals. That's why I often vistit the accounts of Lone Noras (here), Margret Gnarr (here), Emily Skye (her facebook page), Paige Hathaway (her account) and Sara Back (here)! I have so much respect for those women and their effort, focus and their bodies!! Have you seen their physique?? Absolutely perfect!! They are amazing athlethes!

Love my Nike Shoes!

As I just got back from the gym, I feel like dying even more than this morning... but as I had a car accident last week, I was physically unable to hit the gym because I hurt my neck and I had to wear a toby collar (so annoying) for 10 days, so yesterday was the first time after nearly 2 weeks.

Now I will add my new fitness and meal plan into my Filofax, take a good muscles-relaxing bath and then start my meal preparation for the next 2 days!

Wish you a nice day :)

10 facts about me

After spending the afternoon at home alone, I feel a little bit talky... In my last "Giveaway" some of you asked me to share some private facts about me. So here we are. If you want, you can leave a comment about yourself or something else.

1. At the age of 13 I decided to become a psychologist. I fell in love with the mental, emotional and psychological level of all living being. And here I am now, 12 years later, and I've almost reached my goal.


2. Rocco is my first dog and my very best friend. I love him to pieces. I always wanted a dog since I was a little kid but as my mom reacts allergically to almost everything, dog hair included, we couldn't get any...but thanks to anti-allergical meds, Rocco became a huge part of our lives. Rocco's real name is "Scirocco" like the Volkswagen car. He's an 4 years old Alaskan Malamute Cross.

3. Most women love purses and shoes... Well, that's not me! I love simple things like colorful beanies and scarves. I have 75 different beanies and more than 80 scarves.

4. I got my entire back tattooed! I got my first tattoo at the age of 20 (September 2010) and it became a real addiction (only tattooed people can relate)! I would never get any tattoo without any personal meaning. My tattoos are the reflection of my life. Getting tattooed gives me a feeling of freedom and it's a real anti-stressor!

5. I am highly allergical to coconut. I really loved coconut milk and water as I was younger, and then suddenly some years ago, my body started to react differently! My face was blowing up like a hot air balloon and I could barely breathe... Nothing I want to experience again, so NO coconut flavor for me...

6. I'm obsessed with KONPLOTT jewelry by Miranda Konstantinidou. It has timeless style and matches every outfit. I am so glad that they have a list of every purchase I made so far because otherwise I would be totally lost while shopping.

7. I start every morinng with a good fresh hot tea. I probably have more than 6 different tea bottles at home, but who cares? Why shouldn't I look trendy while drinking my morning tea?

8. I am probably one of the biggest Disney fans alive. My mom always told me that if I would bring home good school marks we would go to Disneyland... Well I think I should thank Disney for the motivation. But as my parents were so busy working all day long (thank you so much for everything Mommy and Daddy) we never went. But as I have the best boyfriend on earth, he knew how to surprise me, so he offered me 2 days in Disneyland OVER CHRISTMAS time! My nest Disneyland visit will be in to weeks, whoop whoop!

9. Originally, I come from Bosnia and Herzegovina. I came to Luxembourg in December 1994. Reason was the war in Ex-Yugoslavia. We came by bus and had to stop in Luxembourg City because I was wounded. I needed a long time to recover from my injuries. In 2009 I changed my nationality.  As I grow up in Luxembourg I totally feel Luxembourgish. I honestly don't feel much related to Bosnia. I love the country because of my family but I could never ever imagine living there again.

10. I am 1/8 American. My great-grandfather was born in New York City. So my Grandma was half Bosnian and half American (as you were given nationality by birth) but when she was old enough she decided to become 100% Bosnian.

Breakfast Egg Muffins

Hello there,

Are you searching for a healthy, delicious and quick breakfast?

What about muffins? 

Yes I know, I really love muffins and I'm always trying out something new and most of the time I use my muffin forms for that... Why? Because it's easy and because I can and I will!

So, If some of you don't have enough time in the mornings to prepare a whole breakfast, I would suggest to prepare your breakfast the day before :) 

That's why I love my breakfast egg muffins: they are perfect for busy mornings and they are perfect for "on the go"!

So here is the recipe for 6 breakfast egg muffins :) you can fill your muffins with whatever you want (meat, vegetables, cheese... I prefer the combination of those 3)!

What do you need:

- Muffin forms

- a bowl 

- 6 eggs

- meat, vegetables and so on

- cottage cheese (1 tablespoon but not necessary)

- spices

Mix everything in a bowl and fill your muffin forms (half full)!

Preheat your oven! 

Put your muffin forms in the oven for 20-25 minutes! (upper and lower heat, 200 degrees).

Et voila, enjoy your breakfast :)

Xoxo

Urban Val-YOU!

Healthy Quinoa-Burgers

My Quinoa Burgers, ready to be served.

Finally I had some time to pursue a little hobby of mine: cooking :)
Well, I like baking too, even more than cooking, but I don't think that I am really talented :) I am a really chaotic cook and I don't like baking or cooking by following any recipes :) I prefer being free to try out new things.

Since I was little I loved helping my mother in the kitchen because she always tried out some of her new recipes, and by the way, I help her to compile her first very own cooking book :) We're not going to publish it but it's going to be something like a heritage for my children :)
I know that I am not a really good baker or cook, but I try my best, and because I like to mix unusual ingredients-mix, I get a lot of compliments for my creations. Well, at least when I'm cooking unhealthy! But because I want to change my family's attitude towards food, I'm trying to bake and cook healthier food.

This time I want to share with you my own healthy Quinoa-Burgers recipe.

Ingredients

Ingredients for 13 small burgers:

Quinoa (200-250g)
200g Meat or Chicken or Vegetables if you want a vegetarian meal
3 Eggs
Olive oil
1 low-fat bouillon cube
100g flour (not necessary, but if you want a better consistency you should add some flour)
1 tablespoon of low-fat Cream Cheese
Spices


Directions:

1. Put 250g Quinoa in 500ml of boiling water. Put your low fat bouillon cube in the boiling water. The quinoa will be ready in 25-30 minutes (this is how cooked Quinoa should look alike).
2. Take a bowl. Put the eggs, flour, low-fat cream cheese and meat/Chicken/vegetables and spices in the bowl and mix them.
3. Wait till your quinoa has cooled down. Put the quinoa in your bowl and mix it with all the other ingredients.
4. Take your portions out of your bowl with a tablespoon and roast them in a pan. Use Olive oil.
5. Turn your burger when the bottom side is gently roasted. Turn them 3 to 4 times so they can roast thoroughly.
6. Put them on a plate. Don't forget do put a paper towel on your plate so it can absorb the rest oil out of the burgers.
7. the quinoa burgers are ready to be served (hot or cooled down).

Mix all your ingredients in a bowl.

Quinoa getting ready :)

Love Burger :D

Nr°4.

Nr°5.

Bon appétit

XoXo 

URBAN VAL-YOU