Greek Yogurt Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake – experimental recipe!

Laura from Sprint2thetable thought my Greek Yogurt Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake from lasts WIAW sounds rather good, and I’ve had more positive feedback (♥ very much appreciated!♥)  So, I’ve decided to just upload the recipe to my blog!

I must warn you, the pie is a little “healthy” tasting! It’s not a replacement for a traditional cheesecake, it’s more like a fun way of eating a super healthy, protein rich and low calorie, snack or meal made with Greek yogurt and Pumpkin

So, let’s cut to the chase and give you the recipe – I will give you the ingredients and I’ll add my thoughts on the ingredients and what I’d change next time I’m gonna experiment with this recipe!

• 2 egg whites
• 1 egg
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
  (I made my own from a small orange pumpkin with the skin on)
• 1 cup 0% fat Greek Yogurt
• 1/2 cup of maple syrup or stevia
  (I used some stevia, probably not enough to balance the tartness of the yogurt – so if you’re not using 1/2 cup of maple syrup and you use stevia like I did – make sure you use enough! Taste the batter and know the sweetness of the final product will be LESS then the batter! That’s where I went wrong… the batter was DELICIOUS; ! But when it was done baking the sweetness wasn’t all that anymore …)
• 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
  (I would probably omit this next time I’m gonna make the recipe)
• 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger powder
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/8 tsp fine sea salt

Mix it all together with an electric mixer or whisk and add to a glass or ceramic pie-dish, no tin please – it will cause the cheesecake to oxidize.

I made my pie crust-less  but you can of course use this as the filling for a pre-baked pie crust! That would probably be a good idea if you want this recipe to resemble a “regular” pie

Preheat your oven to 350 °F and bake this pie for 40-50 minutes WITH a water bath underneath — this means adding a small bowl of water into the oven (on the bottom of the oven) underneath the rack where the pie-dish is situated.

The pie should be firm to the touch but moist on the inside.

I’ll show you some pictures below because the texture of this pie was spot on… just the flavor… so experiment and enjoy!! If you give this a go let me know how you like it! Maybe I’ve been a little to harsh on this recipe and you like it nonetheless

♥Love♥

~Pumpkin puree~

~Add the Greek yogurt~

~Add the rest~

~Mix, mix, mix~

~Mix, mix, mix some more~

Add to a non tin pie-dish (I used a brownie dish) OR add to a pre-cooked pie crust to make this more like a regular Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake!

~baking the pie with a water bath (little white ceramic bowl underneath)~

~DONE and it smells like heaven to me~

~shot from the side~

~I think this looks like an epic cheesecake!~

Thanks for watching / reading – I’d love to hear your feedback so please leave me a comment below!

 

 

 

Push-ups challenge – from Epic Fail to Superstar in the making #2

Please click here to read about my challenge and learn how to do push-ups with me Or just read that post to make yourself feel better because I’m seriously the world’s worst push-up’r! Lol. However…. I’m a SUPERSTAR in the making

I do push-ups in 3 sets every day before bed. I started off doing 3x 2 push-ups, last week I upgraded to 3x 3 push-ups, and now I’m doing 3x 4 push-ups…

Next week I should be able to do 3x 5 push-ups, but I don’t feel like I’ve gained much strength this week, so I might end up doing another week of 3x 4 push-ups.

However.. as you can tell.. this method works really well for me! I LOVE seeing results this quickly by spending such little time each day! It also gets addicting. I really don’t want to lose one single day of practicing my push-ups (I don’t want to miss out on my stickers I know I’m a little odd ) I had a cold last week, but nonetheless I had to get my push-ups in!

 

So, how are you doing with your health and fitness program? Anything you’re focusing on at the moment? 

This is actually me explaining the plank to a client – yet it resembles me doing my push-ups – so I’ll just add this picture to my blog-post

 

The basics have not changed since the 1950′s…

I love Jack Lalanne and I want to share two clips in which he talks about fuelling the body and bad habits.

The way he explains food – exercise – our body – health – fitness… is so simple, yet so complete! I love to watch him speak if I need to get inspired again So take a moment… and be inspired!

♥ Leanne

WIAW – Falling into good habits with What I Ate Wednesday – Happy Eats!

Hey Guys  

I’ve been posting quite a lot lately, guess I have a lot to share

Did you read my last post yet? So how much push-ups were you able to do ? 

  Jenn has got us thinking about what good habit we want to create for ourselves this fall. For me it’s exercise. Getting serious about exercising on a regular basis My mum was so kind to give me a gym membership a month (or two..) ago and I want to use this year to do some serious training! Shape up and get fit. I’m a nutritionist with a passion for working out and I’d love to get my diploma as a fitness instructor OR get back into teaching dance and maybe add Zumba to my repertoire ;) Something I can help others with to get in shape too. I love to motivate people! So yeah… that’s my goal for this fall I will keep you updated! OHHHHHHH ONE MORE THING; I just got my textbooks for the study I’m following to get a degree in sports nutrition I LOVE IT. I’ll be able to coach athletes and sports fanatics with their meal plans along with coaching people to gain or lose weight like I’m doing now (mainly at least..) EXCITING!

As for my What I Ate Wednesday Monday — I had a major sweet tooth that day so there’s a lot of sweet meals going on

Simple breakfast right when I woke up. I had some Greek yogurt (250 grams) + 2 hands full of macadamia nuts, 1 scoop hemp protein, 1 tsp cinnamon and some stevia. YUMMMMMMM I love this, it’s like eating cookie dough because the hemp protein makes the yogurt even thicker and the macadamia nuts add a lot of creaminess and crunch… I love to eat this any time of day!

Experimenting in the kitchen – taste testing! I still have a lot of zucchinis so I’m (not) ashamed to admit, there ARE zucchinis in this as well Lol. It’s a spiced muffin with a hint of chocolate, but not in a sweet way. Great flavor combination! Great to eat like this, but also to combine with savory or sweet toppings

I also ate another banana before working out ~ no picture taken so I thought I’d share this cutie instead

Millet flake porridge for Lunch I made the porridge with coconut milk instead of water, I mashed up a banana, added some extra stevia (I know I’m addicted, I need to cut down a little?! What’s your thought on using stevia???) I added ginger, cinnamon and half a scoop of hemp protein too.

Dinner with one of those chocolatey spiced zucchini muffins, coconut oil and Japanese flavored Tempeh.

A slice of non sweet Zucchini bread (I’m gonna turn into a Zucchini, I know ) with coconut oil and Xylitol + a cup of tea Oh BTW for the recipe of this bread; click on this picture!

Another fall resolution = start baking with pumpkin, sweet potato and carrots My fall staples ♥ I think it’s time to let go of the zucchini before I’m flooding you with recipes (sorry :$)

I’ve been loving these muffins so I ate one more with Greek yogurt frosting, right before going to bed… YUM

Have a HAPPY WHAT I ATE WEDNESDAY!!! ♥ With Love!

Any thoughts to share about this WIAW post? I’d love to hear from you!

~ Leanne

Working out on a regular basis & Push-ups challenge (from Epic Fail to Superstar?! Lol)

WORK – WORK – WORK IT OUT

I want to get back in shape! Not just my physical appearance, because I’ve won that much – some of you might remember I started this blog to log my progress on gaining weight a healthy way - I’m confident in my body and I’m comfortable with how I look  BUT I don’t have ANY muscle mass left  

I used to be in excellent shape during my year at Dance College 7 years ago, yet I’ve never been able to get my body back in shape ever since. Especially after dad died 3 years ago and I got a major burn-out 11 months later.. I wasn’t able to pick up a leaf for the longest time! It was only a year ago I started practicing yoga once a weak to get my body moving again, yet my strength was (and is) still… well…uhm… non existent ;) 

I miss that FIT feeling. That feeling of fitness. That feeling of pushing yourself to the limit and that sweet, sweet, sweeeet feeling of recovery after a workout (or dance session all day long). I miss it – and I want it back

First and foremost I want to work on my arms and shoulders, because that’s the weakest part of my body. Just when I had decided to get a good workout routine together I stumbled upon Laura’s blog @ Sprint2theTable (go check her out!) and her post on push-ups. This post inspired me to set myself a goal which is:

Being able to perform 3 sets of 11 push-ups with 30 – 60 seconds rest in between each set. I started my challenge on the 1st of September and I want to accomplish my goal on my birthday on the 16th of November.

No one ever has to feel ashamed of not being able to do push-ups, because I swear… I’m worse  (don’t be ashamed anyways, because there’s always something you can’t do and there’s something you can do!) Before starting my “training” I could do 3 push-ups in a row; that is if I was lucky! If I was tired; I’d manage just ONE (lol). So, with the help of Laura’s method I started to make myself a schedule.

_______________________________________________________
The information I got from Laura’s site (copied; this is not my content! except for the red side notes)↓

1. Proper Form

 

• In the low position, your upper and forearms should be at a 90 degree angle and your hands should be under your shoulders.  Start out laying on the ground to be sure you’re correctly lined up.

• Keep your core tight – don’t sag you butt OR stick it in the air.  You want a straight line from head to ankles.

• Don’t let your chest touch the floor – it should be 2-3 inches from the floor in the lowest position.

• Breathe!  In going down, out pushing up.

2. Find Your Starting Point

In order to determine how many sets to do each day, you need to learn what your max is.

Using the aforementioned proper form, get on the floor and to as many push-ups as you can.  Go on, do it!  Pretend the person in the cub isn’t starting…

Whatever number you reached is your max.  Write it down!

3. Divide and Conquer

Divide your max number in half.  The result is the number of push-ups you’ll be doing 3x each day with 30-60 seconds of rest in between.

For example:

• Say you did 20 push-ups in your max set (which is where I began)

• Half of 20 is 10

• This means you need to do 3 sets of 10 push-ups each day

Rest for 30-60 secs between sets.  You’ll probably need 60 seconds when you begin; as you get stronger, cut down on the rest time a bit.

4. Keep Pushing

Don’t stop here!  Re-test yourself once you are able to complete your sets more easily.  This might be take 1 week, or it might take 3 weeks.  Move at your own pace, but don’t sacrifice form.

If you have trouble with your wrists, try making a fist and doing push-ups on your knuckles so that your wrists aren’t bent.  If you have free weights, you can also use those to keep your wrists straight. = this is what I often do because I hurt my wrist real bad a few months ago and I can’t push hard enough on it yet.

Push-ups are awesome because they engage multiple muscle groups – from your core to your calves. = I couldn’t agree more! Yet it doesn’t make me enjoy push-ups any better

_______________________________________________________

I never thought of this concept of dividing my max set and making this my amount of reps to do for each set! It makes so much sense to train this way! 

My max set was 3 push-ups on the 1st of September. So that means I have to perform 3 sets of 2 push-ups. My goal is to add 1 push-up to my reps each week. If I do this I’ll be able to perform 3 x 11 on my birthday!

I do my push-ups EVERY day before bed. I have a chart and I give myself a cute little sticker after accomplishing my 3 sets. (I’m a girly girl and I love stickers; sorry I’m not sorry)

Two days ago I was able to perform 3 x 5 push-ups already! Yet today, I’m having a cold (yuck – hate it!), and I’m only able to perform 3 x 3. That’s FINE! I know my performance will fluctuate and I’m happy with these results!

This week I aim on 3 x 3 reps / 3 x 4 reps each day, so I can do 3 x 5 reps next week and so forth and so forth

If you want to teach yourself to do more push-ups; give this method a go!

I’ll keep you posted on my workout routine and fitness plan; there’s a lot happening with me on the exercise front, I just haven’t had time to blog about it

Now, just out of curiosity… what’s your max repetition of push-ups? Don’t worry, I won’t get jealous

♥ LOVE ♥  

Work it out! How to get motivated for a workout day in…day out, week in…week out!

Hi Everyone!

I AM EXCITED!!!!

Today Emily got me excited about two “fitness” challenges! The timing couldn’t be better, because I was just writing a blog-post on how to get motivated for a workout because I REALLY need the motivation myself!

For DAYS now I’ve been lacking motivation to work out regularly. I’m not gonna lie, I wish I would make working out more of a priority. I love how my body feels after a workout or yoga session, I just can’t seem to make time for it!

Eating right isn’t always easy either – check out yesterdays post, haha – but at least I know my pitfalls and what dietary choices I should make in order to have more energy… Getting myself motivated to get my sweat on is a whole different story!

There are so many things to get done in a day, many of us don’t give ourselves time to work out as often as we want to!
Also, after a long day at work or having a “bad” day (you know, those days were you just can’t be bothered because you feel grumpy, lazy or PMS-like) many of us don’t want to work out!

Whenever I have days like these, even the thought of getting my sweat on makes a little voice inside me yell: “NO… NOO…. NOOOOOOOO I don’t wanna!” (kinda like a little kid who doesn’t want to eat her veggies) 

Does this sound at all familiar? Or am I really the only one who needs a kick in the butt before moving it?

I’m fed up with my lack of self-discipline, because I know I have plenty, it’s just covered up with my desire to sit on my butt instead of moving it.
So I’m gonna write down a list of motivational-motivators (how articulate eh?) to get myself (AND YOU!) OFF the couch and ON TO the mat!

How to make working out a priority:

1. Start by saying “I want to work out” instead of “I need to work out”. Setting yourself a goal in terms of ‘I have to do this’ or ‘I need to accomplish that’ is not a great starting point. All this will do is create resentment towards the thing you want to accomplish and that little voice inside your head is going to scream and shout until you eventually give in and forget the goal altogether.
2. Make it pleasurable! Put on your favorite music and get out your favorite sportswear. Make going to the gym, running outside, doing yoga at home – whatever your choice of workout may be – a pleasurable experience!
3. Make it part of your daily routine! Try to work out at a set time each day => something I REALLY need to work on myself! Nowadays I don’t have ANY routine whatsoever! I feel best if I work out right after coming home from work or right after breakfast. Figure our what time of day works best for you and commit to it! After a while you’ll notice it’s becoming a habit you don’t even have to think about any longer!
   –> So for myself: I’m going to make it a habit to do a short workout after breakfast. I can squeeze in a few extra crunches after work if I feel like it but I won’t have to feel bad if it doesn’t happen, because I know I’ve already started my day with some exercise.
4. If you need someone to push you, look for a workout partner. It’s OK if you need a little extra push! The great thing about working out together, is you’ll have twice as much energy to get you going. You can keep each other accountable and help each other to push through a hard workout routine. Look for a workout partner who has goals that are similar to yours.Note: finding a partner online can work just as good! Join a fitness challenge like the ones I’ve mentioned above or join forces with a fellow blogger!

I hope this post will inspire you to squeeze in a daily workout routine from this day forth! …But don’t forget: NO ONE IS PERFECT! If you skip your workout one day; so be it! You can hop on the next train. Everyone has their “off days” and everyone deserves a day off!

♥

MUCH LOVE  from me to you!

Liebster award!

I love receiving comments, so I was happy to notice I had another comment on my “about me” blog-post. I was pleasantly surprised to read in this comment that I’ve been nominated for the Liebster award!

 “A Liebster is an award passed on by a fellow blogger. When you nominate someone, it’s because you believe they are an up and coming blogger with under 200 followers.”

I feel honored that I got nominated by
http://livepassionatelytonight.wordpress.com/
! We both have a passion for health with a similar background. So if you enjoy my blog, definitely go check out hers as well!

It’s a great feeling to know that you (and hopefully others ) enjoy reading my blog! 

This next part is just copied and pasted from 
http://livepassionatelytonight.wordpress.com/2012/04/10/liebster-award/
:

If you receive the award, you should:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.

2. Reveal your top five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.

 4. Hope that the people you’ve sent the award to forward it to their five favorite bloggers and keep it going!

So these are my 5 picks!:

-         
http://alexiaku.wordpress.com/
; because she’s a lovely person and a self said ‘health food freak’ (just like me ) – she’s a great inspiration to anyone who enjoys yoga!

-         
http://domesticdivamd.com/
; because I love to read her blog-posts. Her writing is awesome, and her recipes are great. I admire her for following her heart by going to Med school!

-         
http://iheartvegetables.com/
; have you read the name of this blog?! I mean…how can someone who hearts veggies be anything else but cool?!

-         
http://cookeveryday1.wordpress.com/
; because I love how she combines culinary school with nutrition and food sciences! Best of both worlds if you’d ask me!!

-         
http://tiarefitness.com/
; with her bubbly personality she keeps others motivated to work out. I love health, food and fitness… so I can relate to her !

Here you have it… my top 5 at the moment! So, check out those blogs as well as
http://livepassionatelytonight.wordpress.com/
!

Thanks everyone for reading my blog and for the great community here on wordpress.com!
XO, Leanne