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Sunday, July 25, 2010

5 important facts about weight loss



I have noticed that I have been asked a lot of questions in the "weight loss" department by my lovely students. Hereby some important facts if you want to lose some weight and keep yourself in shape:

1. Cardio is overated in weight loss.
    I always hear people saying, "do cardio if you want to lose weight...". Sure, cardio exercices help in weight loss, but it is overated. When you start a new cardio exercice, you may notice a result, but your body is such a precise machine, after a while, it will adjust itself to burn a minimum carlories when you do the same cardio exercice.
    The best thing to do is to vary exercices and do HIIT (hight intensity interval training), you will see that will save you a large amount of time (HIIT takes 15-20 min) and give you a much better result.
    A lot of women avoid weight lift, big mistake!! Weight lift is SUPER important in weight loss (see fact 4).

2. You can't spot reduce.
    One of the most asked question in my classes is "how can I make my waist/tighs/butt smaller?"
The fact is that you can't "sport reduce" when you lose weight, your body decide where to shred... and usually the belly part is hard to lose because the fat there is important for your survive; vice versa fat on your face for instant is not vital for your survive so it comes off first when you lose weight
    Also genetic plays an important role as well, if you natually have strong calves, they will get thinner when you lose weight overall but you can't expect the spot reduce on your calves only...
    Some spot exercices help you to redefine your body when you lose weight, I always recommand Pilates to my students.

3. If you don't eat enough, you won't lose weight (or worse, you gain weight)
    Lots of girls make the mistake to eat very very little to keep their weight and most of the time, the result is not ideal and they start to have some negative effect such as lack of concentration, dizziness during workout and deterioration of the quality of their skin/hair/nails.
   The reason is simple, when you don't eat enough your body shut down the metabolism to be in a "starving mode". Another problem with reducing food to lose weight is that you have to eat less and less if you want to keep the weight off. This is also the reason of "yo-yo" weight.

4. You may gain weight and lose size.
    Muscle is not lighter than fat!!! Only 1kg of muscle has less volum than 1kg of fat. A toned 60kg lady (at 1.65m) looks slimmer than a non-toned one, and in term of clothing size, you will see a difference as well...
    As mentioned in fact 1, weight lift is important in weight loss. Same weight of muscle burns more calories than the same amount of fat! So don't skip weight lift in your workut routine...
    And your best friend during your weight loss combat shouldn't be a balance, but a mesurement tape... lots of peple only trust their balance and neglect the fact that they may gain muscles and keep the same weight, but cm comes off from the waist/hips...

5. To keep the weight off, change your diet!
    Diet plays an important role in weight loss. Your body has a PH value, and the food you eat determine this value. Most of the people who have weight problem have a PH value too acid. A healthy body should have a PH value neutral (7). There's a category of food called "alkalin food" which helps to keep your bodie's PH neutral and your weight stable.
    Some examples of alkalin food:
  • lime
  • grapefruit
  • courgette and most of green veggies
  • almond
I will try to put on more recipes based on alkalin food in the futur. In the meanwhile, keep working it, girls!
:-) xoxo

Monday, July 19, 2010

Exotic cucumber salad


I am a cucumber lover. I would like to share one of my cucumber salad recipe with you today, it is refreshing with a touch of exotism, I am sure that you will love it!
You need:


  • a cucumber

  • a red hot pepper

  • garlic

  • a 1/2 lime juice

  • balsamic vinegar

  • olive oil

  • sugar (or nature sweetner)

  • salt and pepper
1. Cut the cucumber into slices and then small sticks. Save them for latter use.






2. Cut the garlic into tiny pieces, I always flaten the garlic with the knif first.





3. Cut the red hot pepper into small pieces. Make sure you choose a mild one. And if you are not a big fan of spicy flavor then use only half of the pepper.

4. Put the garlic and the pepper together with the cucumber, squeeze a half lime juice on the top of the salad.


5. Add 2 soup spoons of vinegar.



6. 1 soup spoon of olive oil.



7. Add salt, black pepper according your personal liking.



8. Add 1 soup spoons of sugar.


9. Mix all and save it in the fridge for 2-3 hours while you prepare the main plate.


10. Serve this sweet/spicy/sour salad with all your favorite Summer dishes. I love to have the salad with grilled tuna, yummy! <3

Try this salad and let me know what you think in your comments. 
I hope you <3 it as much as I do! Enjoy the beautiful weather!
xoxo

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Yoga at the sea side

I am organising a Yoga day at the sea side this coming Sunday (the 27th of June).
Come and join us for Yoga, Sun and the beach! :)

  • The programm:
7:15     meet up at Gare centrale
9:00     arrival at knokke
9:30-11:00    yoga practise
11:00-11:30    Meditation
11:30   lunch (I don't know if you guys prefer bringing your own lunch or eat outside? I am ok with both option)
13:30-14:30   some basic theories about yoga practise and group discussion
15:00   Afternoon drink
16:30   Departure for Brussels


  • The cost of the day is 10€ (a normal class cost) + the ticket train and your own lunch/drink.

  • Subscription is mandatory, please send me an email or call me by Saturday 5 p.m. to confirm your participation.
Hope to hear from you for our Yoga day at the sea side!

Namasté


      

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Summer skin care


Summer is my favorite season... the Sun, the beach and of course for the fact that I can wear all my beautiful Summer dresses, shorts haha...

My skin is that sensitive mixted type, when I get tanned, it becomes more oily... so for all your mixted skin type ladies, I'd share my Summer skin care secret today with you. :-)

I used to pay tones of money on super expensive facial masks and most of the time, the result is deceiving... :-( now the only mask I use is the cheap one I make myself and it works wonder!

In order to make the mask, you need:
  • white clay powder (I use the white one because it is milder than the green one)
  • flower water (you can use simple mineral water as well, I got the organic one from Di)
You can find these in an organic shop.





Put 2 spoons of white clay powder in a little bowl.

Add little by little the flower water in the white clay, don't add too much at a time, do it slowly...
You can control the thickness of the mask by controlling the quantity of added water. I like my mask think but not liquid (otherwise it won't stay on your face).
Before applying the mask on the face, remove the make-ups if you wear some... and clean your face and exfoliate it with a mild exfoliant. I use this white clay one that you can find in lots of beauty stores... it is fine so it desn't agress your skin.

Now apply the mask on your face and of course avoid your eyes... leave it for 10-15 minutes depending on the thickness of your mask... If you want, you can even wet the mask once it gets dried and leave it a bit longer on the face... then simply wash it off, and apply some tonic and cream to hydratate your epiderm.

And don't forget, you can nurrish your skin by eating fresh veggies and fruits. Summer is the ideal season to do this! Carottes are known for keeping your tan and make your skin glow... snack on carottes and yellow fruits will help you to have a beautiful glowing skin in Summer! :-)




Sunday, May 30, 2010

Malou's B-day party



May is a busy busy month, lots of birthday parties for me... :-) and one of the most important ones is my best friend Marilou's yesterday evening. This is the first year she moved to Brussels and started to work here, so I thought a special gift is mandatary, guess what I got her...?


A name necklace! Just like the one Carrie Bradshaw wears in Sex and the City :-) Since Marilou wears mostly silver tone jewellery, so a silver necklace can't go wrong....



I have got one myself as well, it is in gold since I am a "gold digger" :p Both necklaces photographed together...

I love layering my name necklace with other necklace...



Of course, I wouldn't miss this special occasion to dress up a little... I was wearing my favorite cream lace dress from H&M. Girls, lace is big this season, don't go but run to grab a lace dress :-) And I love how this dress has a sexy back zip in gold tone, goes perfectly with my gold jewellery....


Arrived at the party, can't wait to show my gift..:p



We now are "necklace twins" :-)









This was "sugar on the cake", I met a friend from High School that I hadn't seen for 8 years... We had such great time together and we are going to see Sex and the City 2 together next week, wooohooooo!!! :-)



Me after Martini Rosetta, Sangria and Champagne... you can see little stars in my eyes lol... Time to go home, I have my Yoga class in a few hours.... :p

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Playlist III: Bad boy











                                        (Source: James Dean)

Those bad boys...you know those who have that "je ne sais quoi"... they steal your heart, then they break your heart and make you cry in the middle of the night...but you just keep falling for them...


BAD BOY: Alexandra Burke 

RUDE BOY: Rhianna


FIRST LOVE: Utada Hikaru

Monday, May 24, 2010

Find your inner peace: meditation basics


Lots of my students ask me how to integrate the meditation in their daily life, here is the basics which help you to relax yourself and meditate:

  1. Sit or lay in a comfortable position (indoor or outdoor)

  2. Close your eyes

  3. Relax your forehead, your cheeks, your mouth and your jaw

  4. Relax your throat

  5. Start to breath through the nose as deeply and slowly you can

  6. When your breath is regular, focus on the rhythm of your breath

  7. Listen to the sound of your breath, it is the melody of your life

  8. Don't think of the past, don't think of the futur, just be present in what you are doing
Now, you should be in a mindful state, you can use more sophisticated meditation technics (such as visualisation etc.) to find the answers to your questions...



And of course, some other things which could help you feel better in your life and help you find the inner balance, YOGA,







PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES,




A GOOD LAUGH... :-)





Some things I love in life:

My best friend





My dog, J.O.



Pancakes, well all the desserts actually lol




I feel so lucky and am grateful for all these things that life give me and am looking forward to welcoming more great things the universe will bring into my life... Close your eyes but open your heart, love!  Love is the key word...     Namasté