A couple of weeks ago I started my new challenge… I had gained some kilos over the last couple of months and somehow I didn’t manage to lose them! That’s why I made it into a challenge to lose 5 kilos… preferably before the festive season 🙂

I hope that this challenge will help me reach my goal. In return for all you guys being my sounding board, I will give you a recipe each week and also some tips on how to lose weight and how to eat and live healthier.

Let me tell you how my third week has been…

Week three… and, baring in mind that I have to share with all of you how I am doing, I have been quite good this past week! If you want to lose some weight, this is how to do it! Just smack it on the internet and you’ll certainly think twice before putting that chocolate cookie into your mouth 🙂

The scales went up and down this week so I was a bit afraid stepping onto them this morning… but I have lost 300 grams! That may not sound very much, but anything that is less than the week before is good and so far I have lost 2,5 kilograms in only 3 weeks and I am so happy about that!

Halfway through my challenge now and I have lost half of what I want to lose… it will be very difficult to achieve my goal, but I’m not giving up!

Here are some tips to eat and live healthy :

Tip 1 : don’t look on a diet as something evil, look upon it as a new, healthy way of eating

Tip 2 : any time is a good time to start living and eating in a healthy, responsible way

Tip 3 : drink lots of water

Tip 4 : eat 5 times a day

Today’s tip : exercise

Normally I go jogging regularly, but now in winter I must admit that I do that less often. Instead of that, I work out in my garage, where I have some fitness equipment and a stepping machine. I try to exercise 3 times a week (although I must admit that there are weeks when I don’t exercise at all… like last week!!).

Exercising not only helps you to lose weight faster… it has heaps of other benefits as well:

• you feel more energised
• you sleep better
• you are more resistent against ilness and stress
• you turn fat into muscles which gives your body more beautiful contours
• …

Do I need to carry on? Don’t look for excuses not to exercise… you can exercise anywhere, anytime… . There are so many ‘exercise at home’ schedules to be found on the internet (e.g. here), there are apps to install on your phone (see here), you can just put on your running shoes and get on the road, do some rope skipping, walk up and down your stairs for 10 minutes, enter an ab-challenge on facebook,… there are so many options!

Everybody can fit in 3 times 30 minutes of exercise in a week (and more if you want to!). So do try to fit in a little exercise as, besides all above mentioned benefits, it will make you reach your goal faster!

Well… what are you waiting for?!

Today’s recipe : scampi in a spicy sauce

This definitely is one of my favorite dishes… You can serve it with anything… with pasta, fries (check out my homemade oven fries which are low fat!), bread, rice, couscous,… take your pick! And scampi are so low in fat and calories so an extra bonus for those of you who are watching the scales 🙂

• clean the scampi and let them marinate in some olive oil, a teaspoon of curry powder, a teaspoon of paprika powder, half a teaspoon of cayenne powder and some freshly grounded pepper
• fry two onions and four cloves of garlic in a bit of olive oil, add a red paprika, a tin of chopped tomatos and a packet of passata
• add lots of herbs and spices : two bayleaves, four sprigs of rosemary (two finely chopped and two whole sprigs), two tablespoons of chopped basil, thyme, freshly grounded pepper, a teaspoon of curry powder, half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, a teaspoon of paprika powder and half a tablespoon of hot chili sauce (we don’t use additional salt in our food, but you could add some of course)
• let all this simmer until the vegetables are cooked
• when the sauce is nearly cooked, grill the scampi shortly on both sides
• put the scampi in the sauce and serve with whatever you like
• bon appétit!

You can deep-fry the sauce which means you literally can have a tasty dish in ten minutes time… heat the sauce, fry the scampi and serve with whatever you feel like!

It’s also a perfect dish to serve as a first course. You can put the sauce in a festive bowl, place some scampi in a neat way on top of the sauce, finish off with some fresh basil on top and serve with a few pieces of ciabatta with garlic butter to soak up the sauce.

Do you want to join me?

Perhaps you also want to loose just a couple of kilos before Christmas or you just want to start living a bit healthier? Why don’t we learn from eachother, motivate eachother, share tips and keep eachother informed. Feel free to comment below this post and perhaps we can help eachother!

Love, Kathleen

Next week’s tip is all about making the right choices… and I know you will!

Beware : I am not a health coach, dietician, nutritionist… I am just sharing tips that I have read and heard, tips that are helpful to me to watch my weight and to live a healthier life. If you want expert advice on how to lose weight, I advise you to seek professional help!

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