Recipe IV: Breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and some of us think that missing it will help us lose weight. I used to think and do that until I came to live in England, but I've realised now how wrong I was. Always eat breakfast, especially if you get up early and have a busy day.

I don't have lectures on Tuesday up until 6.30 pm, so I've spent the morning in the gym. I've just exercised for about an hour, though, a light, easy workout to start the day with a smile. 

• 30-minute routine on the elliptical machine.
• 2000 metres on the rowing machine.
• 3 series of 20 abs (superior, inferior, lateral)

Estimated kcal loss: 400

The ideal breakfast for a morning like mine:

• A glass of orange juice
• A Philadelphia cheese and roasted ham sandwich

Sandwich

Ingredients for 1 person:

• 2 slices of wholegrain wheat bread (51 kcal per slice!)
• 40 gr. of Philadelphia light cheese
• 1 slice of roasted ham

Preparation:

• Put the bread on the toaster until it is brown and crunchy. 
• Coat the toasted bread with a thin layer of Philadelphia cheese.
• Add the roasted ham.

Estimated calories: 180 + 80 (from the juice) = 260

See? It really can't be easier! Enjoy, guys, and have a good day!

Recipe III: Tonight's dinner

Tonight's dinner has consisted of: 

• Ham and cheese omelette
• Campbell's mushroom soup
• Mini loaf of bread (home-made, courtesy of my lovely flatmate)

Estimated calories: 400

Ingredients for the omelette:

• 1 egg
• 1 slice of roasted ham (18 kcal)
• 1 sheet of cheese (40 kcal)
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon of olive oil

Preparation

• Break the egg on a bowl and beat it for a while.
• Slice the ham and the sheet of cheese and add to the bowl.
• Add the pinch of salt.
• Put a saucepan on the stove. Add the oil and spread it. 
• When the saucepan is hot enough, pour the mixture onto it and let it brown.

Et voilà! A nice, healthy omelette is the perfect combination for a low-calorie Campbell's mushroom soup! Add the hot, spongy loaf of bread as a side dish and some fat-free yoghurt (50 kcal) as dessert. 

Enjoy!

Health tip IV: Cut it with the butter

This tip is for every single one of you who isn't used to the Mediterranean diet. We Spaniards, Italians, Greeks and so on usually cook with olive oil. I've noticed that in France, England and the northern countries you guys cook with butter, and butter is an awful lot caloric, not to mention unhealthy. It is pure fat, guys. Pure cholesterol running through your veins. I am not saying that you should stop using butter altogether, but you could maybe cut it down a little if you want to have a healthier diet. Olive oil is caloric as well, I won't lie to you, but it is much more natural.

However, if you want to keep using butter, you could maybe alternate it with margarine. It is not as tasty, but it will decrease the calories of your meal, as well as the fat.

• My tip: Use olive (or vegetal) oil when cooking instead of butter. Save the butter for the toast!

Health tip III: Workout

Okay, fine. You don't have the money to join a gym. Still, that is no excuse not to work out. There is a very simple way to find workout routines: browse the internet, my dears. There you go. If you don't exercise, it's because you don't want to.

Here you have some examples of work out routines: 

For God's sake, don't start working out from scratch, especially if you have never done it before. You should be sensible enough to know where you stand physically. If you find these too difficult or challenging, you should probably look for a lower level. There are hundreds of routines on the internet!

• If you feel dizzy or sick, stop immediately! You may be straining yourself too much. 

Recipe II: Fruity Nutella Toast

Remember, you are not on a diet. Don't be too hard on yourself; you shouldn't be forcing yourself to eat only healthy food. Besides, there are ways to enjoy really, really yummy things without gaining any weight. Let me show you an example of a very tasty snack you can either eat at breakfast or during the afternoon.

Fruity Nutella Toast (from 170 to 200 kcal)

Ingredients for 1 person:

• A slice of wholegrain wheat bread (around 50 kcal per slice!)
• 20 gr. of Nutella
• 2 or 3 strawberries (or, as in the picture, half a banana. Take into account that the banana is more caloric!)

Preparation:

• Easy peasy! Put the slice into the toaster until it is brown. 
• Spread a thin layer of Nutella.
• Wash the strawberries and cut them into small pieces.
• Arrange them on top of the toast.

See? A really good snack, not overly caloric, to enjoy with a nice cup of either tea or coffee. Enjoy! 

Health tip II: Fruit is a must

The title of my blog isn't exactly random, it is an old English idiom that is perfectly true. Fruit is one of the most healthy foods you will ever find. Besides, it is delicious!

There are a couple of things you should take into account when eating fruit:

• For instance, apples (as well as cranberries, grapefruit, lemons, magoes, oranges, pinnaples, raspberries, strawberries and tangerines) have negative calories. That is, you burn more calories whilst digesting them than the ones you have ingested. Eat away, my friends! 
• On the other hand, bananas (120 kcal a piece), pears (96 kcal a piece) and all dried fruits are much more caloric, so be careful.

Let's not be hypocritical: no one will eat five pieces of fruit a day, no matter how much the doctors recommend it. However, fruit provides a lot of vitamins that are essential to stay healthy and beautiful. Yes, beautiful. I have recently started to eat an apple a day and both my hair and nails have visibly improved. It  works, I promise!

• Do eat fruit every day if you can, but do not eat it all the time. Fruit is sugary, remember. 
• You can eat fruit as a dessert, but it works much better if you eat it as an afternoon snack. It won't add up calories and it will quench your hunger until dinner time.

Table of calories in fruit:

How many calories does fruit have?

Come on, go and buy apples everyone!

Recipe I: Tuna salad

Let's start the recipe section with something very, very Mediterranean (what can I say? I miss home!). Salads are a delicious and very easy way to eat healthy food. Besides, you can basically put anything in them! Take into account, though, that depending on the ingredients they will contain more or less calories. This is one of my favourites:

Tuna salad (around 300/350 kcal)

Ingredients for 1 person:

• 1/2 iceberg lettuce (I like iceberg, but any kind of lettuce will do the trick)
• 5 or 6 cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 white or red onion
• 1/2 can of tuna (preferably in olive or vegetal oil)
• 3 crabsticks
• Olive oil
• Salt & Pepper
• Balsamic vinegar

Preparation:

• Cut the lettuce and the onion and put them in a colander.
• Add the cherry tomatoes. 
• Run some water through the ingredients until you deem them clean and drain them.
• Put the lettuce, the onion and the tomatoes on a medium-sized plate. 
• Open the tuna can and pour half of it on top of the vegetables (be careful with the oil!)
• Cut the crabsticks into small pieces and add to the plate. 
• Add the salt and pepper, but don't overdo it!
• Season the salad with the olive oil and the balsamic vinegar. Don't put too much of either if you want to keep the salad healthy.

There you go! A really cheap, yummy dish in less than ten minutes. Remember not to be too hard on the oil, for it adds a lot of unnecessary calories!

Enjoy!