Protein-packed, full of fiber and low on fat, oats are designed to boost your energy levels and help you lead a healthy lifestyle. Oats contain a wide range of nutrients including vitamin E, essential fatty acids and the list goes on!! They are not only good for the stomach but are interestingly super filling, satisfying and very versatile! Due to their versatility they are super easy to add into your diet whether it be your morning oats, your afternoon snack or even dinner!
One benefit of Oats that may actually surprise you is that oats May Help You Lose Weight!! By delaying the time it takes your stomach to empty of food, the beta-glucan in oats may increase your feeling of fullness. Beta-glucan can also promote the release of peptide YY, a hormone produced in the gut in response to eating. This hormone has been shown to lead to reduced calorie intake and may decrease your risk of obesity! And for those asking what is Beta-glucan.. Beta-glucan is a type of soluble fiber!
Now we all now the everyday uses for oats so I thought I’d share with you a two recipes that include oats that aren’t muesli or porridge!
Oat Burgers (Makes 10)
INGREDIENTS
4 cups water
1/2 cup Coconut Aminos Sauce or Tamari
1 tablespoon onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic mince
1/2 teaspoon Italian season
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 cups oats
1 cup quinoa
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup black beans
1 tablespoon flax seeds
METHOD
1. Preheat oven 400 degrees. Bring water to boil in a saucepan. 2. Add Coconut aminos or Tamari, onion , garlic, Italian seasoning and cayenne pepper. 3. Stir in oats, cooked rice, walnuts, black beans, and flax seeds. 4. Reduce heat and keep on stirring until liquid is absorbed, about 2 minutes. 5. Remove from heat and allow to cool enough to handle. 6. Using a large canning jar lid including the rim, form patties placing them on a lightly oiled baking paper. 7. Bake for 30 minutes, turning halfway. You may also cook in a lightly oiled pan on both sides. Top with your favourite toppings!
1 tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 tbsp water (alternatively, you can use 1 egg)
¼ cup almond butter (or peanut butter)
¼ cup pure maple syrup
3 small-medium over-ripe bananas
2 small zucchinis (2 cups grated, don't squeeze water out)
½ cup almond milk (any milk will work)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups oats (alternatively can use gluten-free)
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
Optional add-ins: ¼ cup of walnuts
METHOD
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Spray a muffin tin with coconut oil. 2. Place flax and water in small bowl. Stir and set aside to “gel." 3. Place bananas in a large bowl and mash with a fork. Add grated zucchini, almond milk, vanilla extract, almond butter, maple syrup, and flax mixture and combine. 4. Add oats, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and add-in's of choice. Stir until just combined. 5. Spoon mixture into muffin cups, filling to the top. 6. Bake for 23-28 minutes, or until a fork comes out clean. Store cooled muffins in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. These freeze well, too!
I am super excited to announce that I will be teaching a Ms Figure Toning and Sculpting class starting on October 21st11am every Saturday at the UFC gym! The class is a women's only class and the goal is to tone and sculpt the muscles as well as to burn fat at the same time. The exercises are all body weight exercises from my years as a gymnast, jiu jitsu athlete and as a Figure athlete. They will work your muscles without making you look bulky! Bring yourself, your moms, your sisters and your girl friends. This will be super fun, engaging and challenging. At UFC gym, Blue Diamond. Feel free to email me at Sophia@sophiaFIT.com for any questions.
It is always a juggle to maintain a healthy lifestyle when there is so much going on. I am a single mother who is constantly working but I have found a way to make my lifestyle as holistically healthy as possible. This includes, the right amount of sleep, clean eating, moving my body, connecting with nature, getting sunlight and meditating. They are all important for creating that overall balanced, healthy lifestyle. If you eat right and workout but don't get enough sleep or if you sleep enough but have a highly stressful job and have trouble finding time to eat your meals... then your life needs a bit of an overhaul. Finding balance is the key.
This isn't just a BJJ camp (although there is 2 hours of technique and training every morning), it is about all the aspects that are important in creating a fabulous and healthy lifestyle. This camp includes healthy food/nutrition, movement with yoga and sculpting workouts and the mental aspect where I have a holistic facilitator who does the guided meditations and Warrior Within workshops. This camp will be covering the theme of eliminating negative self talk which is such a big thing to hold us back from getting what we want in life.
The best thing about the camps though is the sisterhood and the lifelong friendships that are created to BJJ. This will be my 6th camp and a wonderful sisterhood that has come about from these.
Here is a link that has loads of info: there is a PDF you can download.
Behind the scene I have been working tirelessly with my team to put together my Home Workout Video Series. I am super excited to share these with you since these workouts are a combination of my years as knowledge as an athlete in gymnastics, BJJ and Figure and as a personal trainer/coach/instructor. I have created 7 workouts that target different aspects of fitness and different muscles groups to work the entire body and to keep you challenged. The workouts are full of variety and fun exercises to also keep you motivated and inspired to continue on your health and fitness journeys.
The workouts will be released soon at https://ultimatebundles.com/. Subscribe to their website to receive massive discounts!!! Stay tuned for more updates!
Many of my clients are busy career people who have jobs that involve quite a lot of travel. So as you can imagine the question I get asked a lot is 'What do I eat when I am travelling?' This spurred me on to write this article which was recently published in Whole Life Challenge Magazine. Here I list the worst to best places to eat and what they have to offer, ranging from gas stations to restaurants at the airport. For those who travel, this is really informative. You can read the whole article here:
I wrote this next article also published in Whole Life Challenge Magazine because many of my clients do not know how to make healthy choices when eating out. I was finding that during the work week their diets were good since they stuck to their programs. But during the weekends while eating out, they blew their diets because of a plethora of bad choices such as too much alcohol, breads, dips and and other starters loaded with calories. Then there was the mains, and of course desserts. And then there was also the factor of portion control.
This article is pretty much a step by step guide as to eating out with a list of food to avoid and food to enjoy. You can read the whole article here:
Have you been trying to lose weight and only seeing minimal maybe even no changes? There are a few simple things that you maybe doing wrong! All it takes is a few simple adjustments to your diet, exercise regime and you will be seeing results again!
Skipping Breakfast
It may seem like a great idea to save calories but skipping breakfast almost guarantees that it will leave you consuming unnecessary amounts of calories later in the day to make up for it which can actually have an negative effect on your metabolism. Breakfast doesn’t need to be complex, it can be as simple as making a quick protein smoothie with banana and berries or scrambled eggs! All you need is a simple healthy calorie hit to jump-start your metabolism.
You are slogging out hours on the treadmill!
Increased muscle = increased fat burning! Swap the hour you spend pounding the pavement with a 30 minute weight training session. Not only does lifting weights prevent injury by strengthening the joints but it also builds lean muscle which leads to an increase metabolic rate meaning you will keep burning calories long after you have left the gym!
Not eating carbs!
Eliminating carbs can actually do the opposite! It can put your body into a state of ketosis which I think is not so good for women. Plus if you are a performance athlete you will find that your energy levels are lower and you can’t get through your training sessions well! Your body DOES need carbohydrates in order to fuel it throughout the day and to help metabolise fat. When talking about carbs, the type of carbs are very important. Starchy carbs such as pasta and potatoes will lead to weight gain but choosing healthier carbohydrates that are unrefined and unprocessed such as brown rice or quinoa or root veggies are a much healthier option! Key point: Eat them in moderation and eat them around your workouts!
No drinking enough water!
A glass a day won’t suffice but ensuring your drink 2 -3 litres per day, according to recent studies, can aid with weight loss. Filling up on water before a meal can help ensure you don’t over eat therefore helping with portion control! Also eating foods that contain a lot of water such as fruits and veggies, will help fill you up faster! And what does that mean? You eat less! If you struggle with your daily water intake, I suggest adding a few slices of lemon or some fresh berries to add a little “zing” to your water!
You don’t leave yourself time to have fun!
I know what you may be thinking, what does fun have to do with why you aren’t losing weight! Well stress is shown to cause weight gain as it triggers the body to eat more of especially the foods high in sugar and fat! Make sure you allow yourself at least 15 minutes everyday to relax and unwind. Meditation is a really great stress relief since it calms your nervous system. If you have more time take the opportunity to catch up with friends, go on a hike, a yoga class or a relaxing walk in nature.
There are so many ways to spruce up a salad. Make your staple greens, whether it be kale or various sorts of lettuce but you can add so much flavour to salads by adding some blue cheese, or goats cheese, cranberries, onion, shallots, nuts and in this case some dried apple chips. This gives the salads some texture too.
Serve with a piece of fruit or some baked sweet potato and this is a perfect meal with protein from the chicken, greens, good fats from nuts and an olive oil/balsamic dressing and carbs from the fruit or sweet potato.
