Christmas is infamous for overeating indulgent sugary, fattening foods. This post is my attempt at a healthier alternative – it’s a tour-de-force of the same foods but with a bit of a lighter twist. Perhaps you can just pick and choose a few ideas from it, and as you can see from the picture above, ‘healthier’ needn’t look any less inviting and ‘Christmassy’ 🙂 ! Click MORE to see lovely pictures of the rest of my meal & get the ‘how to’ 🙂 Faya
Where possible, I’ll always try to buy organic produce from my local grocer. Organic foods are said to have more nutritional value, they certainly have fewer pesticides (chemicals including fungicides, herbicides & insecticides), they’re likely fresher (as they have a shorter shelf life), they can more often be tastier, have fewer/no preservatives and are more environmentally friendly. In the case of eggs, they even look better, with a deep, rich hue of sunset orange in their yolk, rather than nuclear yellow of battery hens.
In terms of meat organically reared animals aren’t dosed up with antibiotics, growth hormones, or fed other animal byproducts. Plus the animals roam for far more time outdoors.
Leading the healthy lifestyle that Fitness On Toast is all about, means committing to healthier choices and sticking to them (the tricky part!). So if you’re introducing more greens, healthy fats and proteins into your diet it only makes sense to make sure you’re buying the best quality products to optimise your nutrition intake, and more importantly preserve your body’s healthy state.
After visiting one of my absolute favourite places in Stockholm – Rosendahl’s Royal Gardens, where they grow all their own foods I felt inspired to make a own healthy autumn salad recipe. MORE about the beautiful Rosendahl and recipe below. Faya 🙂
STAGE 3) PROTEIN POWER!!!
Sugar cravings under control √. Complex energy understood √. Now it’s time to fuel your training! Protein is part of any balanced diet; in the gym environment it’s often known for ‘growth and repair’ properties, but every function in our cells/organs/bodies are regulated by protein – ‘growth and repair’, yes, but also, digestion, absorbtion, healthy blood oxygenation, bone strength, antibody production, brain activity etc. With this in mind here’s a good recipe to make a yummy dish packed with high quality sources of protein!
This picture is of my healthy, home made, grilled (avoid frying) tuna steak ‘burger’. Tuna is a naturally rich source of lean protein (c. 25g of protein per 100g), and has very low saturated fat content especially when compared to red meat. The calorific content is also low, at c. 220 calories per 150g tin. It also contains healthy omega-3 fatty acids, iron, potassium, zinc, vitamins B12 & B3 and other essential fats. I topped it off with half an avocado (tasty, with essential fatty acids), rocket (for iron and a vitamin boost) and some chilli powder (to set my metabolism racing)! Also, the bun is wholegrain (complex carbs, slow release energy)!
Burger King, eat your heart out! x