Health Benefits Of Green Tea

My big glass of green tea <3

1. Green tea and cancer: Green tea helps reduce the risk of cancer. The antioxidant in green tea is 100 times more effective than vitamin C and 24 times better than vitamin E. This helps your body at protecting cells from damage believed to be linked to cancer. 

2. Green tea and heart disease: Green tea helps prevent heart disease and stroke by lowering the level of cholesterol. Even after the heart attack it prevents cell deaths and speeds up the recovery of heart cells.

3. Green tea and Anti-aging: Green tea contains an antioxidant known as polyphenols which fight against free radicals. What this means it helps you fight against aging and promotes longevity.

4. Green tea and weight loss: Green tea helps with your body weight loss. Green tea burns fat and boosts your metabolism rate naturally. It can help you burn up to 70 calories in just one day. That translates to 7 pounds in one year.

{ Source. } 

 Yep, that's a few things which my second favorite drink does for ya! I aim to have a cup of green tea almost every evening (I try my best to remember) and I think I'm doing pretty good. The package has to echo when I scream into it, I think that's a good sign is it..?? Well, it's been a tough day for me mentally so it's been nice to have a little talk with one of my closest friends, let go from homework and just tro to enjot myself a little. And tonight, enjoy myself equals eating tonwise of cinnamon-sprinkeled apples, zip on green tea and watch swedish top model. I hope you had a great thursday. Good night my lovelies!

Parfait-time!!!

Hi guys! I didn't feel too well today, so I decided to stay home from school. Fortunately I was able to make myself a nice little parfait for breakfast! :D It was so tasty, perfect when you have a little extra time in the morning and want something delicious yet healthy.

Starting from bottom to top: Homemade fitness muesli, low fat vanilla yogurt, hazelnut granola ("start" med hasselnöt for my swedish readers), smoothie, raspberries, low fat vanilla yogurt, muesli and another layer of smoothie. Topped a little extra vanilla yogurt, topped with pumpkin seeds, raspberries and coconut flakes.

Smoothie recipe: 1/2 cup low fat plain yogurt, 1 cup strawberries, 1/3 cup mango, 1 banana.

Homemade museli recipe: Museli oats, sunflower seed, flax, coconut flakes.

Today's workout: CORE

I'm so exhausted from todays workout!!!! I totally killed myself throughout the whole one and a half hour I spend at the gym, barely no pauses. I mean it happens that have a little chat with friends every once in a while inbetween reps and stuff but today I worked non-stop which was great. Another thing that I'm truly satisfied with is that I tried a lot of new excersises today due to a feeling that I need to change up and challenge myself more. I have worked out for serious manners for a long time now and feel like I want to take it to the next level. So that's really something I'll aim for from now on! Anyway, I'm going to tell you what I did today. If you got any questions about any particular excersise let me know and I'll either explain, show pictures or make a video. Here we go:

Warm-up at the treadmill:
-0.50 k incline high speed walk
-1 k sprint
-0.50 high incline jog
-0.05 high speed sprint

Upper and partly lower abs:
- 2 regular crunches, 2 alternating crunches, 2 double crunches x 10
- knee-to-chest crunches with 4 kg

Lower abs:
-Regular leg raise 20 x 3
-Curl and stretch leg raise 20 x 3
-" Butt raise" 20 x 3
-Static leg raise hold 30 sec x 3

Hips/back:
-Oblique twists 20 x 2 no weights
-Oblique twists 2 x 20 (2 kg)
-Oblique twists 2 x 20 (5 kg)
-Standing side dip with 9 kg 10 x 7 / side
-Back lift 10 x 3 + 20 sek hold

Planks
-regular plank, 30 sec x 3
-side plank with 3 kg weight 20 sek / side
-side plank crunches 10 x 3 / side
-side plank dips 10 x 3 / side

I didn't know what pictues to use for this post so here's just a random pic of me! :)

It's time to sleep! I hope you had a great day today! / Matilda

Ass Kicking Workout Music

It's different from person to person - but I'm definitely one of those who is in need of great music. All. The. Time. Not least at the gym, when I'm kind of in my own world where there's only two things in sight: WORK and WORK HARD. And to be able to find that extra motivation to  run that final mile, not to stop halfway, do that extra rep or even to get started, in addition to dedication, energy and lots of will, MUSIC is everything I really need. So since motivational music is so important to me, I wanted to share some of my favorite tracks with you! 

To open the following links, you need a music program called Spotify (which you can download HERE, for free.) To play music on your phone through the app though, you need to buy a premium membership which is like $10 per month if I remember it right. But I can tell you it's totally worth it. Otherwise you can just search the tracks up on youtube or wherever you'd like.

Loreen – Euphoria - Carli Remix
Dada Life – Kick Out The Epic Motherf**ker - Vocal Version
Klubfiller – Panache - Original Mix
Avicii – Levels - Cazzette's NYC Mode Mix
Lady Gaga – The Edge Of Glory - Sultan & Ned Shepard Remix
Skrillex – Breakn' A Sweat
Baby Blue – Run - Radio Edit
The Downtown Fiction – I Just Wanna Run
MC Joe – Party Rock Anthem (R.P. Remix)
Michael Calfan – Resurrection - Axwell's Recut Radio Edit
Maroon 5 – Payphone - Cutmore Remix
Skrillex – Bangarang - feat. Sirah
Selena Gomez & The Scene – Love You Like a Love Song - Dave Audé Radio Mix
Diskokaine – Hall of Shame - Sidechains Remix
Lady Gaga – Bad Romance - Skrillex Remix
Tiësto – Maximal Crazy (Radio Edit)

What Cravings Are Caused By - And How To Prevent Them

We all have our little cravings* once in a while am I right? These cravings are usually caused by four factors:

1.Habits, developed by you and yourself only. Maybe you have had dessert after dinner every day while you grew up and when that habit suddenly is cut out, a cravings can start automatically.
2. Phsycological association. Our brain is a really powerful tool and sometimes mental associations can trigger a craving for a certain foods. For example passing by a bakery may make you want to grab a pastry, and seeing a Mcdonalds ad may trigger a craving for french fries. Certain activities such as watching a movie, which is heavily associated with eating popcorn or candy, may also cause cravings. Even the mention of watching a movie may launch a craving for junk.
3. Dieting. While dieting (or changing lifestyle I'd rather like to say) and more or less banning certain foods out of your diet, it is not very unusual to crave those very foods that you are trying to avoid.
4. Another factor that may make you crave certain foods and binge on them might be emotions. Maybe you reach for chocolate or ice cream while feeling bad? I bet I'm not the only one. Those foods are so called "comfort foods". Since you have those foods in order ease stress or outrage, they may as well slowly become associated with feeling good which can be dangerous in the long run.

SO, what do we do to precent those desires? Here's some tips for you guys!!! Listen close. Or read close...well whatever read this shit hahaha:

Eat regulary: Skipping meals is not way to go. You just get hungry and end up having something unhealthy. And in fact, eating regulary is important wether you want to gain weight, loose body fat, gain muscle etc. Eating small meals every 2-3-4 hours does also decrease bingeing and indulging, since you never really get to feel that banging hunger.

Reach for gum: When you crave something sugary such as candy or soda, have a gum instead. Sometimes you just need something to chew on, and a gum might just make you forget about what you craved before.

Drink water: If the craving is caused by imaginary hunger, drinking a few glasses of water can help you get rid of the problem.

Go for a walk: Sometimes putting your mind on something else for a while will make you forget about a craving. Have a walk around the block or do something else to change the scenery.

Get some fruit: Fruits are natures own candy. Have a piece of cinnamon-sprinkeled apples or any fruit that you'd like.

Choose quality over quantiet: When you have decided to have little treat, reach for a few perfect dark chocolate truffles rather than a whole king-sized candy bar.

Find subtitutes: There are always something similar to what yo crave that isn't as unhealthy. If you crave chocolate, have a dark kind. If you want ice cream, make your own or look for a un-sweetened one. Want chips? Have a few salted (or unsalted, even better) peanuts, and when longing for candy reach for fruit.

Give in a little: Although you are dedicated to live healthy and stay away from sweets, you can't stay away from your favorite goodies forever. Don't be afraid! Sometimes you can have that treat but remember to use moderation as a rule most of the time. Enjoy and no regret! :)

I found some images realted to this from tumblr. I always found enjoying posts with pictues more than the ones with text only so I'll try my very best to please you that way too. Bye for now readers! :-)

   *the desire for a specific food or taste

7 "Healthy" Snacks To Avoid

Hi! So I recently found this awesome informative list of 7 snacks that you should avoid. We all eat a few snacks a day to keep our hunger and cravings away But you know what? Some of the most usual kinds of snacks that SEEMS to be healthy, might be the opposite! Check this out:

(I found the information on a swedish page but I tried my very best to translate it.)

1.Potato Chips
In addition to the chips contents are high in fat, sodium and calories, they also have a high glycemic index (GI), which stops the blood sugar. When potatoes are heated to a high temperature, they release acrylamide which often is associated with nerve damage.


2. Rice cakes
Although many consider rice cakes as pretty innocent snacks, it is just as unhealthy as chips and cookies. Rice cakes are made from polished white rice almost only consists of simple carbs. Many varieties are also flavored and contain excessive sugar and salt.

3. Blueberry Muffins
This popular cake might trick even healthily convinced people to grab one. But as long as you have not made muffins yourself, you should avoid them in the trade as they often contain extra added sugar and flavor aroma.

4. Honey Roasted salted nuts
The combination of fat, sugar and salt will allow you to have a whole bowl without problems. But nuts are most useful in its natural form, so skip those that are flavored!

5.  Microwave Popcorn
Aside from all of the processed carbohydrates and salt, popcorn contains very unhealthy trans fats. Furthermore, the inside of the bags are often coated with chemicals to prevent the popcorn to stick. So instead, pop the popcorn yourself, and use as little fat as possible. And avoid to add salt!


6. Dried fruit
Would you eat seven mangos at once? Or 12 peaches? A small bag of dried fruit contains almost as much. When the fruit get dried they loses it's healthy potential - but retains the natural sugars. Our bodies are not equipped to consume as much sugar at once, even though it actually comes from a natural source.


7. Diet soda
Diet sodas are the worst of them all. It contains a carcinogenic sweetener, called aspartame, which can be connected to neurological problems. In addition, the soda increases the craving in the central brain, which also increases your appetite.

Source.

Deee-lish Chicken Dish

Good evening readers! Did you have a nice weekend so far? I really did! I got to spend some time hanging out, cooking and watching movies at my boyfriends house which was super nice. I got back home around 6 pm this evening and what happened was that my dad picked me up from the station and we went straight to the grocery store to pick up some stuff for the dinner. Apparently it was my duty to cook tonight, so I decided to improvise a little bit using the products that we got from the groceries earlier. So as you can tell from that I didn't really have a clear idea about what the final product would look like (except the fact that I was convinced to use chicken and lots of veggies) but it all ended up pretty amazing actually. Take a look:

Here's the result of my improvised dinner! I can tell you it was deee-lish and ultra healthy. And it really wasn't that complicated to cook. Here's the recipe for you:

Ingredients: [ Due to a lot of improvisation, I didn't measure the chicken nor veggies as well as the amount of the different spices. ]

(4 servings) Chicken fillets enough for 4 ppl, 1dl coconut milk, 1dl low fat cookable sour cream, approxmately 500 g fresh vegetables including broccoli, cauliflower, orange and yellow bell pepper, carrot or whatever you please.  2 teaspoons chicken bouillon, seasonings (meat marinade, onion, bell pepper, pepper, salt), handful of pumpkin seeds.

Instructions: 

1. Start by frying the chicken in extra virgin olive oil. Add some meat marinade seasoning.

2. In another pan, add up with oil and fry the vegetables at low heat.

3. In the pan with chicken, add coconut milk and low fat cookable sour cream, let cook while adding chicken bouillon.

4. When vegetables are finished (that's really up to you and how you want them) throw into the pan with chicken, add spices and continue the cooking until you consider it done.

4. Serve alone or along with your choice of side (whole wheat rice, couscous, millet, quinoa etc.) and top with pumpkin seeds. Enjoy! :-)

Please let me know if you try the recipe or got inspired to make something similar! Tag me in a pic of your creation on instagram (I'm "healthyfoodgram") or let me know by commenting here on my blog. Lots of love!

Yesterdays Workout: LEGS

One does not simply walk after leg day. I can agree on that statement BIG time today haha. My legs hurts like idk what. Well, fortunately I DO walk. But I can assure you one thing: IT DOESN'T LOOK PRETTY. At all. Here's what yesterdays workout consisted of:

-0,5 k high speed incline walk
-2,5 k sprint
-10x5 squats with kettle bell (8kg)
-10x5 standing leg press (50kg)
-10x5 laying leg press (50kg)
-Seated inner thigh machine 20x3 (15 kg)
-Seated outer thigh machine 20x3 (20 kg)
-Quad press 5 x 5 (20 kg)
-Glute raise 10,8,6,4,1 + 10 sec hold on each leg
-"Peeing dog" 10,8,6,4,2,1 + 10 sec hold on each leg

QUESTIONS?! :-)

Banana Protein Pancakes

Combine 1 large banana, 2 eggs, 2 tbsp vanilla protein powder. Let fry, add your choice of toppings and you are done! This is what I had for breakfast today, and it was absolutely delicious!!! I Usually don't have time to make these kind of breakfasts but since I'm off from school today (we have something that is called "study day" in Sweden which I guess is supposed to make us sit at home and study all day but nobody really does that haha.) So, I'm off to the gym. I'm so excited because I haven't been there for such a long time due to sickness and lack of time. Yep talk to you later, try this recipe and now have yourself an amazing friday. Make this day count! Xx

Shoe Craving

I didn't know you could crave a pair of shoes. Before I got to know about Nike free 3.0. Gosshhh I can't go a day without those beautiful runners passing through my mind. Definitely next on my shopping list. Or let's say list of investment....!

Source: tumblr

How About Fit For Life

Enough said. Good night! 

Today's Meals

 Hi! :) Today I want to show you what and how often I eat on a regular day. I haven't found the ideal meal plan yet, and it often happens that I eat too much out of one category. For example today I felt like I had a little too much fruits, but you know what? Shit happens! As if eating fruits is shit lol. Forget about it! But moderation is important, we're not gonna forget about that. Well anyway, here we go: 

I always and ALWAYS eat breakfast, usually at 6.30 am. Today I had a whole wheat sandwhich with turkey, sliced cucumber and some low fat cottage cheese plus my hot lemon tea. Second meal was some grapes that I had as a snack around three hours later. At 12 I had lunch in school, which I usually don't take pictures of unless something especially healthy is served. Additionally, throwing up your phone in the school cafeteria for taking an intagram picture every single day isn't the most ideal thing to do haha.

I get home pretty late every day and when I finally hit the kitchen I usually get myself something to eat. I also had an apple around 2.30 while riding the bus. Dinner was served at 8.30, mom made one of my fave healthy fast food dishes: tuna salad! A few hours later I felt a little craving for fruit while studying so that's what happened along with my evening (green) tea.

Okay so that's what I had today. If you liked this post please let me know, and follow me on instagram (healthyfoodgram) where I post healthy meals, snacks and recipes daily. I've kept my diet 100% clean since Sunday and I'm dedicated to keep it up till the weekend without a single treat. Who's with me??? :D

Note to self: " When I eat like crap, I feel like crap. When I eat amazing I feel amazing. "

Why You Should Introduce Lemons Into Your Diet

I'm a total lemon water addict, I drink it basically every day. And it's contageous guys. (the addiction, not the lemons lol) Read and learn! ;)

- Lemons are high in vitamin C which helps to prevent wrinkles and clear your skin from blemishes

- Lemons contains potassium which balances your heart preassure.
- Lemons are good for your immune system and helps to fight colds.

- Lemons has a high level of pectin fibre which is good for controlling hunger and cravings.

Those are just a few benefits of lemons, browse through the internet to find even more. ( As if those weren't enough to introduce lemons into your diet already?!? ) My tip is to have a glass of hot lemon water as the first thing you drink in the morning. If you start off healthy, you are more likely to finish healthy. That's fact. So go get that lemon, squeeze some into a glass of water, heat it up and enjoy. Every. Single. Day.

Stay Strong This Week!

After being sick for a whole week (sigh), I'm actually pretty excited to get back to school tomorrow. Lying around in bed for a week have certainly been relaxing but after all I can't wait to get back to my every day rutine. Both because I get to meet my classmates again but also because I'm a person who needs structure. Additionally, I can't wait to get back to me eating and excersise habits!!!

A new year or month is a perfect way to start over, give yourself a new chance to do better or take your fitness to the next level. But as well as a new month is a possibility to have a fresh start, a regular Monday could do it! And why not start tomorrow? Join me! :-)

Here's some tips of mine:
♥ Stay motivated. Change your lock screen picture into a collage of pictures that inspires you or grab a pen and write down small inspirational quotes in your journal for you to read whenever.
♥ Sleep well! Go to bed a little earlier than you usually do and you'll feel energized and ready for a new week.
♥ Eat breakfast. Get up early enough in to have a filling breakfast. Studies actually shows that those who skip breakfast are more likely to gain weight.
♥ Snack safe. Before heading to school or work, pack some healthy snacks to reach for when you feel hungry inbetween meals.
♥ Stay hydrated! Always keep a bottle of water in your bag or locker and fill up frequently.

And remember! Every day is a new opportunity! Good night peeps!

 Picture source: tumblr

Healthy [ High Protein ] Chocolate Balls

Hi guys! So I was browsing through some of my favorite fitness blogs and came by this amazing recipe of healthy chocolate balls. DANG. 'Those are created for me and my sweet tooth' I thought to myself and an instant later they were done. Easy, tasty and healthy. I changed up the original recipe a tiny bith though, by adding in more oats, switching vanilla extract to vanilla sugar and stevia to honey.

Ingredients:
125 g low fat cottage cheese, 1 1/2 dl (0,60 cup) oats, 2 tbsp cocoa powder, 3,5 tbsp stevia or honey, a pinch of vanilla extract, 1 tsp black coffee.

Directions:
Before mixing all ingredients togheter, blend the cottage cheese well into a smooth  mixture and then combine with rest of the ingredients. Roll into 7 small balls and cover with coconut flakes. Leave in freezer for a couple of minutes before enjoying! :-)

Each ball has a content of approximately 45 calories.

Source.

Guilt Free Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup (150g) almond meal, 1/4 cup (21 g) unsweetened coca powder, 1 teaspoon gluten free baking soda, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 60 ml (4 tbsp) extra virgin olive oil, 60 ml of your choice of milk (almond, rice, soy), 2 tbsp honey. When I made those, I also gently folded in some dark chocolate chips. It gave a little extra moist to the pastry!

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 320 F (160 C) 2. Combine almond meal, cocoa powder and baking soda 3. Add the eggs, oil, almond milk and honey. Then mix well into a smooth batter. 3. Spoon into 12 small individual cupcake tins. 4. Let bake for 25 minutes or until puffed and cooked through.

Nutrition per cupcake (approxmately):

Protein: 4,3 g

Total fat: 13 g 

Saturated: 1,6 g

Carbs: 5,4 g

Calories: 154

Best Shoe Tying Technique

Having problems with laces not staying put on throughtout your whole run? Here's a cute little video for you! 

Source: fitsugar.com

Smoothie obsession alert!

My mom recently bought us a new food processor which I have used basically every day since it entered the kitchen. The great thing about it is that it can be used for so many different things, yet my favorite so far is the smoothie blender function. I don't even know if moothie obsession is a expression enough to use in this case. I have found myseld becoming slightly addicted to plugging it in, throwing all kind of different ingridients into it and blend it all together into a lovely smooth drinkable vitamine bomb. It's perfect for any hour of the day, and it always seem to turn out perfectly no matter what ingridiets I decide to use. 

Since I never really measure how much of each ingredient I use I'm not able to write out the measurements for you but it's really not that hard. Use your capability of estimation and you'll be fine. Matter of fact it's pretty hard to make a not-good-tasting smoothie, as long as you aren't aiming to. ;-)

Here's my favorite combination for smoothies so far. Left to right: Flax seed, low fat quark, low fat plain yogurt, vanilla protein powder, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, banana. Use those ingredients and I can promise you'll get a delicious, protein rich and filling smoothie. Perfect for breakfast, quick snack or pre/post workout meal.

Train Like An Angel

I could seriously sit all day watching videos like this. It's 100% inspiration to me and it provides with so much new ideas. Since those exercises are so easy to do on your own, I'd really suggest you to take a look and give it a try. Personally I can't wait to add some of those moves into my workouts.

Peanutbutter oatmeal bars

I've found an amazing energy bar recipe! They are perfect to keep in the freezer and heat up to eat as a quick energizing snack or as a healthy and protein rich post workout snack. And guess what, I'll happily share the recipe with ya'll!

Ingredients

1 cup peanutbutter • 3 tbsp stevia • 1 egg  • 1 eggwhite • 1 teaspoon protein powder • 3/4 cup oats • chopped almonds • dark chocolate chips •

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350  2. Combine peanutbutter and stevia

3. Add the eggs and protein powder. Stir, add almonds or your choice of nuts + chocolate chips

4. In small amounts, add the oats and stir until you get an even dough 5. Press into sprayed pan

6. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes or until harden. Do not over bake! My tips is to check the consistence every now and then to get the perfect texture. 6. Let cool and cut into bars in size of your choice 7. Umm..EAT! Obviously :P But save me some!

How to get started

1. Analyze what you need to change. Ask yourself why you want to change your lifestyle. Maybe you want to quit smoking, get rid of excess weight, gain muscle or simply become healthier by start eating better. Ask yourself what you have to change in order to reach your goal. If you want to eat healthier, analyze what you need to change about your diet. And make sure to change what you keep in your refridgerator!

2. Educate yourself. If you want to start eating better, search for nutrition information through the internet, books or ask your doctor. If you want to start exercising, learn about the different alternatives that are out there: Where you live, what gyms and sport activities do you have to choose from? Get a affordable gym memership.

3. Make a plan. Set target dates for your goals - and make them realistic! If you are putting up huge goals and are expecting to reach them in a short period of time you are more likely to give up. Instead, set up small goals and you'll suceed! Some first plan examples could be "Start lifting weights twice a week" or "Start doing cardio 30 minutes every day" depending on your level.

4. Set up priorities. You may have more than one aim, not all are possible to reach at once. Therefore, concentrate on one or two at a time.

5. Put your plan into action. Now when you have analyzed what you need to change, gotten yourself some  nutrition facts, made a plan and set up priorities; Let's get started! I'm here to support.

Are you ready?

Hi world! This is the start of something amazing, which you have the opportunity to be a part of. On here, I'll post my healthy eats, clean recipies, inspirational pictures and qoutes, and sweaty workouts - everything to keep you motivated and feed you with inspiration when needed.

Are you ready? Because I am!