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Let’s cool ourselves down with this honeydew watermelon sorbet. It’s light, refreshing and VEGAN!
Yield: 400-500gr (depending on the size of the melon), prep time – 5 minutes, cooking time – 10 minutes, cooling time – 4-6 hours, total time – 4 hours 15 minutes
Macros
Total calories per 100g portion – about 58kcal
Protein – 1.4g
Carbs – 13.4g
Fat – 0.3g
Ingredients
1 honeydew melon, cubed
1 Tbsp. freshly lime juice
3 Tbsp honey
¼ cup water
Zest of lime or mint leaves (for decoration)
Directions
Cut melon into cubes
Put the cubes onto the baking sheet, layered with baking paper. Leave enough space in between the cubes to allow for even freezing.
Freeze the honeydew overnight, or until completely frozen (4-6 hours).
Once the honeydew cubes are frozen, put them into the food processor. Add lime juice, honey, and water, and pulse until the honeydew becomes crumbly. If the paste is not smooth enough, add more water until the mixture becomes more fluid, but not slushy. What we need is a soft sorbet texture look.
Taste and add more honey if needed.
Top it up with a zest of lime or mint leaves and serve!
The sorbet can be stored in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
This awesome light desert is perfect for any time of the day, completely sugar and gluten free, low in carbs, high in fiber and suitable for vegans. Plus, it’s super easy to make! No cooking required.
Yield: Serving 4-6 portions, prep time – 5 min, cooking time – 5 min, waiting time – 1 hour, total time – 1.30 min.
Macros:
Total calories per portion: about 100 kcal
Protein – about 10g
Carbs – about 10g
Fat – about 3g
Ingredients
450g Organic Fat reduced Tofu, drained
495g (2 cups) 100% Pure Pumpkin Puree, canned (you can make it yourself if you prefer). You can also swop it for Apple, Pear or any other fruit puree
1/4 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
2 Tbsp Toffee or Pumpkin pie Flavoured unsweetened syrup
2 tsp Pure Maple Syrup
1/2-1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 portion of gelatin
Fat-free yogurt or Cashew butter (optional)
2 scoops of Bannofee pie whey protein (optional if you aim to increase your protein intake)
Directions:
Drain tofu
Put it between two paper towels to remove liquid completely
Prepare pumpkin (apples) if you don’t use canned puree (oven-baked would be a perfect option)
Mix gelatin with 3 Tbsp of warm water until dissolved. Do not boil.
Put tofu into a high-speed blender
Add gelatin and the rest of the ingredients to the blender and puree until completely smooth
Pour the liquid into serving bowls and put in the fridge
Just because the weather outside says it’s still spring, it cannot stop us from embracing the summer! We prepared a special summer treat recipe just for you guys! Refreshing fruit pops boasting with vitamin C!
Yield: 8 portions, prep time – 30 min, cooking time – about 10 min. Total time – about 4 hours.
Macroc:
Total calories per piece: about 40 kcal
Protein – 0g
Carbs – 10g
Fat – 0g
Ingredients:
LEMON LAYER:
2 tsp sweetener
1/2 cup water
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 teaspoon orange extract
APPLE & PEPPERMINT LAYER:
3 tsp sweetener
3 cups of water
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh peppermint
2 chopped apples
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Directions:
LEMON LAYER:
Mix 2 teaspoons sweetener with 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to the boil
Cook about 30 seconds
Pour into a bowl
Stir in lemon juice, orange juice and extract
Cool for 15 minutes
Cover and chill at least 1 hour.
APPLE & PEPPERMINT LAYER:
Chop apples into small squires
Add 3 teaspoons sweetener and 2 cups of water and boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes
Stir in chopped leaves of peppermint
Cover and set aside for 30 minutes
Strain through a sieve into a bowl. Discard solids.
Stir in lime juice
Cover and chill 1 hour.
ICE POPSICLES
Pour about 2 1/2 tablespoons apple mixture into each of 8 ice pop molds
Freeze 1 1/2 hours or until almost set.
Arrange 1 wooden stick into mixture, being careful not to push through to bottom of mold. Return to freezer.
Freeze 1 hour or until frozen.
Remove molds from freezer.
Pour about 3 tablespoons lemon mixture over frozen apple mixture in each mold.
I’m not a cheesecake lover but this one is simply amazing: low in calories, high in protein, very easy to make, end extremely delicious! When I cook it at home I can’t even notice how quick it’s gone.
Yield: 8-10 pieces, prep time – 20 min, cooking time – about 60 min. Total time – about 2 hours.
Macroc:
Total calories per piece: about 200 kcal
Protein – about 15g
Carbs – about 10-12g
Fat – about 7-10 g
Ingredients
Crust:
1.5 cups crushed crackers
2 Tbsp. melted coconut oil
2 Tbsp. almond milk
1 Tbsp. sugar free syrup (optional)
Cheesecake Filling:
8 oz light cream cheese (I use 3% Philadelphia)
12 oz fat free greek yogurt
2 eggs
2 egg whites (2 Tbsp. liquid egg whites)
2 scoops vanilla whey protein
1-3 tsp. sweetener of your choice (I use stevia + 1tsp. sugar free lemon cheesecake syrup)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 250 F
Mix Filling ingredients! Let the mixture sit out in room temperature
Put the filling mixture aside and start working on the Crust
Mix crushed crackers with coconut oil, almond milk and syrup
Put parchment paper into a form and plop the crust onto the parchment paper.
Pour the cheesecake filling onto the crust
Bake the cheesecake for 30 minutes at 120C.
Then bake for 45 minutes at 105C!
Let it cool COMPLETELY for a few hours/overnight in the fridge to set!
I’m a bit pancakes fan. These recipe is, probably, one of my favourites, as the pancakes are delicious, quick to make (about 15 minutes), and also gluten, dairy and sugar free.
Yield: 6 pancakes, prep time – 5 min, cooking time – 10 min, total time – 15 min.
Ingredients
½ cup pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp. coconut oil (melted)
¼ cup unsweetened almond/soy milk
½ tsp. cider vinegar or lemon juice
1 cup almond/oat/buckwheat flour
¼ cup ground flax seed
1 scoop whey/soy protein powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. sea salt
a pinch of cinnamon
pure maple syrup
toasted walnuts/almonds/peanuts, optional
Directions
Heat griddle to 300 degrees F (or heat a skillet over medium heat)
Combine the pumpkin, eggs, coconut oil, almond milk and vinegar (or lemon juice) in a large bowl. Mix well.
Add flour, protein, flax seeds, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt and stir until well combined. Batter will be slightly thick.
Lightly oil griddle or skillet surface with coconut oil. Pour batter onto griddle using an ⅛ cup measure or a heaping tablespoon. Pancakes are ready to flip when bubbles pop on the surface of pancake. (about 3 minutes).
Continue cooking other side until golden brown.
Enjoy with pure maple syrup (homey) and some toasted walnuts on top.
Yummy, healthy and lean option of your favourite banana bread. I use oat flower and oatmeal to make it even healthier. You can easily fortify this bread with protein powder if you aim to increase your protein intake and swop stevia with other sweaters or fructose.
Perfect for breakfast, as pre and post-workout snack.
Could be stored up to 3 days in room temperature but usually it’s not the case.
Enjoy.
Macros per piece: macros is approximate (depends on the portion size)
Calories: about 90-130 kcal
Protein: about 5 grams (without protein powder), about 15 grams fortified
Carbs: about 10 grams
Fat: about 4 grams
Yield: 1 loaf (about 5-6 pieces); prep time: 15 min; cook time: about 1 hour; total time: 1.30 min
Ingredients
1 cups oat flour + 1 cup whole wheat flower + 1 cup oatmeal
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1-2 scoops whey protein powder (optional). I use bannoffee pie flavour.
½ tsp salt (optional)
8Tbsp coconut oil, plus 1 tsp. for greasing
1 Tbsp. stevia
2 Tbsp. honey (optional)
2 eggs
4 ripe bananas, mashed
mixed crushed nuts and dried fruits (optional)
85ml/3fl oz unsweetened almond milk mixed with 1½ tsp lemon juice
1 lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
Mix together flour, baking soda, salt and protein powder into a large mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl, combine coconut oil butter, stevia and honey together until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, mashed bananas, almond milk and vanilla extract to the butter.
Add crushed nuts and dried fruits to the butter.
Grease a loaf tin and pour the cake mixture into the tin.
Transfer to the oven and bake for about an hour.
Remove from the oven and cool in the tin, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before serving.
Interesting idea of how to lose weight relatively effortlessly without counting calories… Read more and share
Mind over matter: psychology over calorie-counting
Interesting idea of how to lose weight relatively effortlessly without counting calories (warning: you still have to watch what you eat) by letting your own body dictate how much you eat. Seems pretty sensible and worth a try.
byMichael Graziano (is a neuroscientist, novelist and composer. He is Professor of Neuroscience at Princeton University in New Jersey. His latest book is Consciousness and the Social Brain (2013). Edited by Ed Lake | 18 January, 2016 | Aeon
Hunger isn’t in your stomach or your blood-sugar levels. It’s in your mind – and that’s where we need to shape up…
…If weight were a matter of calories in and calories out, we’d all be the weight we choose. Everyone’s gotten the memo. We all know the ‘eat less’ principle.(Read Why diets don’t work and what you can do about it and Diets and exit strategies.) Losing weight should be as easy as choosing a shirt colour. And yet, somehow it isn’t, and the United States grows heavier. It’s time to consider the problem through an alternative lens.
Whatever else it is, hunger is a motivated state of mind. Psychologists have been studying such states for at least a century. We all feel hungry before dinner and full after a banquet, but those moments are the tip of the iceberg. Hunger is a process that’s always present, always running in the background, only occasionally rising into consciousness. It’s more like a mood. When it slowly rises or eases back down, even when it’s beneath consciousness, it alters our decisions. It warps our priorities and our emotional investment in long-term goals. It even changes our sensory perceptions – often quite profoundly.
You sit down to dinner and say:
That tiny, little hamburger? Why do they have to make them so small? I’ll have to eat three just to break even.
That’s the hunger mood making food look smaller. If you’re full, the exact same hamburger looks enormous. It isn’t just the food itself. Your own body image is warped.
When the hunger mood rises, you feel a little thinner, the diet feels like it’s working and you can afford a self-indulgence. When satiety kicks in, you feel like a whale.
Even memory can be warped. Suppose you keep a log of everything you eat. Is that log trustworthy? Not only have you drastically misjudged the size of your meals, but you’ve almost certainly forgotten items.
Depending on your hunger state, you might snarf up three pieces of bread and after the meal sincerely remember only one.
One recent study found that most of the calories people eat come through snacks between meals. But when you ask people, they deny it. They’re surprised to find out just how much they snack…
…Let’s say you decide to cut back on calories. You eat less for a day. The result? It’s like picking up a stick and poking a tiger. Your hunger mood rises and for the next five days you’re eating bigger meals and more snacks, perhaps only vaguely realising it…
… I’m not denying the physics here. If you take in fewer calories, you’ll lose weight. But if you explicitly try to reduce calories, you’re likely to do the exact opposite. Almost everyone who tries to diet goes through that battle of the bulge. Diets cause the psychological struggle that causes weight gain.
… Let’s say you try another standard piece of advice: exercise. If you burn calories at the gym you’ll definitely lose weight, right? Isn’t that just physics? Except that, after you work out, for the rest of the day you’re so spent that you might actually burn fewer calories on a gym day than on a regular one. Not only that, but after a workout you’ve assuaged your guilt. Your emotional investment in the cause relaxes. You treat yourself to a chocolate chip muffin. You might try to be good and decline the muffin, but the exercise revs up that subtle hunger mood lurking under the surface and then you don’t even know any more how much you’re overeating. Meals grow bigger while seeming to grow smaller. Extra snacks sneak in.
…But the most insidious attack on the hunger mechanism might be the chronic diet. The calorie-counting trap. The more you try to micromanage your automatic hunger control mechanism, the more you mess with its dynamics. Skip breakfast, cut calories at lunch, eat a small dinner…
be constantly mindful of the calorie count, and you poke the hunger tiger
All you do is put yourself in the vicious cycle of trying to exert willpower and failing. That’s when you enter the downward spiral…
The gist
Healthy eating as a life-style choice
Don’t put a plastic bag over your head. Likewise, don’t eat the super-high death-carb, low-fat diet. Don’t micromanage your brainstem by counting every calorie. You might be surprised at how well your health self-regulates.
Michael Graziano is a neuroscientist, novelist and composer. He is Professor of Neuroscience at Princeton University in New Jersey. His latest book is Consciousness and the Social Brain (2013).
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