When I first started changing my diet I found the hardest part was changing habits. We're so used to eating the way we eat. Now lets say you want to reduce the Carbs or at least  Gluten in your diet. It's the easiest way to freak people out. What do you eat when you can't eat Bread of Cereal or Pancakes for breakfast? Or Pasta, Rice and Potatoes for lunch? It drives people crazy. Why? Cause we're just so used to eating what we eat on a daily basis.

I'm here now to take your hand and tell you: It's gonna be alright. And to calm you down: Carbs and Gluten won't kill you (Unless you're allergic, then they might cause you problems of course.). I'm a firm believer in the notion that everything is okay for you body if you eat it in small quantities. Same goes for Gluten. Generations of people lived healthily on wheat-based food and Gluten and were fine. That said: It doesn't mean you can't at least make an efford to reduce some of the intake.

In a later post I might explain the fuzz about Gluten but for now let's focus on this incredibly delicious breakfast idea to calm your no-carbs-panic:

Banana Pancakes:

For this recipe you'll need:

• 1 Egg
• 1 Banana
• Coconut Oil (Optional)
• Ground Coconut (Optional)
• Vanilla Extract (Optional)

Just keep this in mind: 1 Egg and 1 Banana is basically ALL you need. Everything else, ground coconut, oats, sirup, buttermilk, coco powder - you name it! All that is optional and a great way to make these your own. I'm having a momenet with coconut, so I choose that flavor.

Pop your ingredients in a blender and blitz it up.

Preheat your pan and - and this is very important - add some healthy oil. Seriously. I tried frying them dry.They burned fairly quickly.

If you added things like oats your pancaces will probably be firmer and more stable. These however are kinda fragile. But it's okay. Just add one table spoon of banana-egg mixture per pancake and prepare for the fact that you WILL screw at least half of them up ;)

As with regular pancakes wait for the bubbles to show up on top, then turn them.

Repeat the process and keep the pan oiled to prevent the banana from burning.

And this is what you end up with. A pretty heap of tiny, delicious, healthy pancakes.

I decided to add some low fat greek yoghurt, some of my Mom's self made blackberry jam and a tablespoon of ground coconut on top.

Oh the deliciousness!

If you're using Weight Watchers, the basic recipe has around 3 to 4 ProPoints, depending on how much oil you use. I gave my portion 5 ProPoints for the ground coconut and additional ingredients.

I hope you enjoyed this breafast idea! Let me know what ingredients you would add!

Enjoy and stay sexy,
Anna

As you can tell from my recipes: I'm a fan of clean eating. There are many youtube channels out there, telling you about the importance of good, clean food and alternatives to products you consume daily. In the course of my dietary change I tried many new products I never had before. Many of which I really learned to like and love.

In this series I want to introduce you to a couple of those foods. And the first one is actually a drink!

You should try: Almond Milk

(Image Source)

Almond Milk is not only dairy-free but also very delicious. It's made by grinding up almonds in water and separating that almond-enriched water from the pulp of the nuts. The flavor that stays in the water is so refreshing and tasty, especially when you drink it straight out of the fridge.

As with many of these "healthier options": They have some benefits but also some shortcomings. For example: While Almond Milk may contain more Magnesium, Calcium and Vitamin B1 than regular milk, regular milk offers more Protein and Vitamin C while being lower in fat. You can check the nutritional facts below:

Per 100ml	Milk	Almond Milk
Calories	48 kcal	45 kcal
Protein	3,4g	0,9g
Carbs	4,8g	5,4g
Fat	1,5g	2,2g
Fiber	0g	0,8mg
Cholesterol	4mg

Per 100ml	Milk	Almond Milk
Vitamin C	2mg	/
Vitamin A	0,01mg	0,21mg
Vitamin D	0,028 μg	/
Vitamin E	0,04mg	/
Vitamin B1	0,04mg	57mg
Vitamin B2	0,18mg	152mg
Vitamin B6	0,05mg	/
Vitamin B12	0,42 μg	/

Per 100ml	Milk	Almond Milk
Natrium	0,047g	/
Iron	0mg	5mg
Zink	0,4mg	/
Magnesium	12mg	60mg
Calium	155mg	57mg
Calcium	120mg	152mg
Phospohorus	91mg	222mg

You see, there are benefits to both Almond Milk and regular milk. If you're trying to cut animal products from your diet then you should give this a go - even though it's way more expensive than milk. I personally like to use it as the base of my breakfast shakes. You can also use it in your coffee or just on its own.

I hope you enjoyed the first installment of "You should try...". Let me know if this inspired you to try Almond Milk !

Take care and be sexy,

Anna

To answer your question: Yes, yet ANOTHER snack recipe. But honestly: Snacks are my weakness. I can prepare three healthy meals a day and not miss a thing but I would still totally love to go for potato chips and the like. This is why I included many healthy snacks into my diet.

This recipe is as simple as it gets: Apple Chips

For this snack you will need:

• Apples (DUH!)
• Spices (optional)

Clean your apples and de-core them. If you don't have one of those helpfull little kitchen gadges you can do this part after the next step.

Using a mandolin or using you perfect cutting-skills, should you have them (I know I don't), cut the apples into thin thin thin slices, around 1-2 mm the most. This is important because if your apples are too thin they'll stick to the paper or burn. Cut them too thick they won't crisp up but go solid on the outside and stay moist on the inside. Should you have not de-cored them in the previous step you can cut the cores out now. Either use your knife or a tiny cookie-cutter on each slice.

Lay the slices out on an oven sheet and make sure they don't overlap before putting them into the oven at 100° for 30 minutes. Don't forget: We want to dry them, not cook them.
(Also: If you wanted you could add a pinch of sugar or cinnamon at this stage)

After 30 minutes pull the apples out of the oven and flip them over. Put them back into the oven and from now on try keeping an eye on them.

Tipp: After the first 30 minutes you will see that some of the apples might already be darker and crispier than the others others. If that's the case you should have an eye on your apples during the end of the second round. Just take the crispy ones out when they're done, otherwise they'll turn dark and taste bitter.

After all is done let the apples cool. They will get their real crunch after the last moisture evaporated.

(Compare these to the first picture of the rings. Amazing how the shrank :D )

All you have to do now is enjoy them ;)

If you're using Weight Watchers: This snack has fabulous, guilt-free 0 ProPoints.

Enjoy and be sexy,
Anna

What better way to enjoy the weekend than having a Burger and Fries? I love this combo as much as the next person, but believe me, this superb version of this fastfood will blow your mind! Because lettuce and a slice of tomato is just too mainstream...

I present to the: The ultimate Turkey Burger and Fries.

For this recipe you'll need:

• Minced Turkey
• Romaine lettuce
• Mushrooms
• Pickles
• Leek (Instead of Onions)
• Eggplant/Aubergine (Instead of tomatoes)
• Mozzarella (Low Fat)
• BBQ Sauce
• Buns
• Herbs/Spices

• Potaos
• Oil

Before we start working on our Burger let's get the Fries into the oven first.
So: Wash some potatoes and cut them into chunky fry-sized pieces.

Put them in a bowl, add 1tbs of oil and some seasoning, mix well. I used Salt and Smoked Paprika. Put all of this into the oven at around 150° C for 30 Minutes. This will give you plenty of time to finish your burgers.

Now, using the same bowl you used to season the Fries in, take the minced Turkey and season the hell out of it. I used Rosemary, Thyme, Smoked Paprika, Garlic Powder, Salt. Mix well.

Shape the meat into patties and cut up your vegetables. Heat up a grilling pan and grill the patties, mushrooms and eggplant slices.

While everything is frying away cut the Mozzarella.

Tipp: When opening a bag of mozzarella, collect the water in a little container. You can keep the rest of the cheese fresh in the liquid for a couple of days.

Since Germany is the country of bread and bread rolls I choose three different kinds of "buns" for this recipe: A Spelt Bun, Ciabatta and a Soft Pretzel Bun. I'm just not a fan of those soft burger buns.

So after a couple of minutes turn the food in the grilling pan. Doesn't this look amazing?

Take the vegetables out of the pan and add the tops of your buns. Just to toast them a bit. So good!

Turn the buns and put the mozzarella on them. Let the heat melt the cheese a bit.

With the fries almost done and the Turkey cooked to perfection it's time to assemble the burger.

I'm getting hungry just looking at the pictures again!  So good.

 Your amazing fries should be done by now as well. Crunchy on the outside, soft in the middle.

And there you have it. The best self made Turkey Burger and Fries you'll have in a long time!

If you're using Weight Watchers: with this bun and a portion of fries, this meal had a total of meager 11 ProPoints. Seriously. That's what one McChicken has alone ;)

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I did. Damn that was good!

Enjoy and be sexy,
Anna

I started this blog 5 weeks ago, and of course started off with a post on why I want to lose weight.

As you know: I lost a lot of weight in one year, reaching Stage 3 on the way of my not-yet-decided goal. Then my weight stayed the same for a couple of months before spiraling up again at the end of last year. This is when I started this blog. So, to start my monthly posts about my weight loss progress I present you now: My weight loss journey in numbers:

Started // July 2012: 238.8 lbs  

Reached Stage 1 // November 2012: 218.4 lbs (- 20.4 lbs) 

Reached Stage 2 // April 2013: 210.2 lbs (-28.6 lbs) 

Reached Stage 3 // July 2013: 198.2 lbs (- 40.6 lbs) 

Lowest weight // October 2013: 195.2 lbs (- 43,6 lbs)

October 2013. This was a good time for me. But things quickly spiraled out of control from there. I had personal problems and turned to food for comfort as I've always done. Then came Christmas Time and tons of food. And then came January, showing me the results. Oh boy.

Re-Start // January 2014: 208.2 lbs (+ 13 lbs from lowest weight)

It was not really a shock when I saw those numbers on the scale. I expected it. I noticed the fat around my chin and hips returning. It was painful to drop behind Stage 3. But after getting way too close to Stage 2 I had to put a halt to this. And even though my weight has been going up and down like a buoy in the past weeks I'm happy to announce that the weight loss, over all, has started going again! Yeah!!

Going down // February 2014: 205 lbs (- 3.2 lbs since restart // -33.8 lbs in total // -5.1 lbs to go back to Stage 3)

Wohoo! Go me! My goal for now is to reach Stage 3 again. I'll worry about Stage 4 once I got there ;)

So, wish me luck!

Question of the day: How do you lose weight? Do you have one big goal? Do you have stages like me? Or do you just go on losing weight without worrying about a goal or stages?

Take care and be sexy,
Anna

Let's talk about fruit, shall we?

I know there are many people who tend to avoid fruit, saying they have too much sugar. And I absolutely agree that you should try and avoid having too much sugar in your diet. But in the case of fruit-calories there's something to take into account: A calorie is not a calorie. I will explain this in a future post in more detail, but for now all you need to focus on is: The calories a fruit gives you are wayyyy better than the calories - let's say - a cookie will give you.

(Image Source)

Dessert and sweets: Fruits

Wow, big shocker here, right? But just hear me out!

I don't know about you but I tend to overeat. I'm only full when I'm REALLY full. 'Mentally satisfied' is what I call that moment when I don't crave more food. We're all taught to ignore the signals our body gives us. After all there is no real reason to have something like "dessert", right? You just had a big ass meal, why eat the same amount of calories you just consumed again, but this time in form of a piece of cake?

A couple of months ago I started bringing more fruit to work than usual. After lunchtime I go into the kitchen and cut up some really sweet fruits: maybe half a Mango or one persimmon, a couple of figs or a banana. Here's the fruit stash I have at work right now. A mango for dessert plus a banana and some mandarins to munch on over a period of 2 to 3 days in case I want to grab one of those evil cookies in the company kitchen.

 Tipp: While citrusy fruits like Oranges or Grapefruits are great throughout the day, they shouldn't necessarily be your first choice for dessert. Your stomach is full after a proper lunch. Piling acidy fruits on top of that may cause acid reflux. 

I make a point in bringing a little bowl with the fruit and a cup of tea to my workplace after I finished my meal, take a couple more minutes to enjoy my dessert and allow my head to become 'mentally satisfied'. For me it helps to silence the little voice in my head that screams for something unhealthy.

But keep this in mind: Just because fruits are awesome and healthy doesn't mean their calories don't count. 

The pile on the picture above, if I ate all of this at once, would contain around 450 to 500 calories. That's around 4  Pepperidge Farm Milk Chocolate Macadamia Cookies. A couple of pieces of fruit throughout the day will keep you full of energy and satisfied - but go easy, okay? As long as you're not a Raw Vegan, eating 30 bananas a day will lead to disaster. Just listen to your body. If you feel like you had enough fruit you probably had. I trust you on that ;)

But nonetheless: Always have at least one piece of fruit at work. I keep mine within eyeshot.

Hopefully this inspired you to buy some fruits when you head out for lunch today.

Until next time and be sexy,
Anna

Today was a special Day!
A very dear friend of mine (*waves*) got a fabulous new kitchen and we dedicated our lunch to it by using both her stove and oven for the first time together.

So for this occasion we decided to use one of the delicious recipes by the amazing guys from SORTED Food: Their Secret Veggie Pasta Bake. Make sure to check out the video on their homepage as well!

Without further ado:  Secret Veggie Pasta Bake (And sorry if we didn't follow your recipie 100% boys, we still loved it ;) )

For this pasta bake you will need:

• Pasta
• Red Pepper
• Eggplant
• Zucchini
• Onion (Or Shallot)
• Garlic
• Canned, chopped Tomato
• Sweet Corn
• Oil
• Seasoning, Spices
• Cheese

I quickly took the pictures while cooking with my friend, so sorry if the pictures are a bit rushed and messy ;) Start chopping up all your vegetables. It's okay if it's chunky, we're gonna puree them anyway.

Sweat the shallot and the garlic in oil, then add all your vegetables one by one.

In the end add the canned tomato, stir up, put the lid on and let simmer until the vegetables are soft.

Meanwhile put the pasta into cooking, salted water.

As soon as the vegetables are soft, turn them into a puree by using your hand-blender.

Now it was time to season and use herbs and spices. We used a selection of dried herbs (Teragon, Parsley, Thymian) and spices (Cumin, Paprika, Salt ...).

After the sauce is to your liking add the sweet corn. A great idea by SORTED Food since it gives a nice crunch afterwards.

Now comes the fun part. Add the drained pasta and mix everything together.

Put the whole mixture into a casserole dish ...

... top it off with cheese (Here we used grated Mozzarella) ...

... put into the oven and let the cheese crisp up!

 
Oh boy oh boy, is THAT a thing of beauty? And so good too!

It was a real treat. Of course this was waaaaay to much for the two of us. We ended up eating two portions each AND still had enough leftovers for another meal :D

Thank you so much SORTED for this great recipe :) and to my very dear friend: It was a pleasure cooking with you. May the new kitchen (and dishwasher ;)) bring you lots of joy ;D

If you're using Weight Watchers: A portion of this has around 8-9 ProPoints (Depending on Pasta and Cheese used)

Enjoy and be sexy,
Anna