Baked Chicken Zucchini Meatballs

I love meatballs (including meatless meatballs). They’re just my thing. I love to know that I have some waiting for me in the fridge so that I can pick them directly from the container. It’s one of the best things in the whole world especially if done when no one's looking.
However, meatballs can be dangerous, especially if loaded with unhealthy ingredients, and deep fried. That's why I like to load them with healthy ingredients and, whenever possible, bake them!

Exercising At Night Will Keep You Up! True or False?

Many believe that exercising at night time can mess up with sleep, as it might give an energy boost that interferes with bedtime.
But that’s not entirely correct...

How Many Calories In One Gram Of Sugar?

Sugar is at the center of attention lately. We’re getting too much of it, and we kind of all know that.
However, do you know exactly how a gram of sugar looks like? And how many calories it has?


That little amount of sugar (which is more or less a pinch) scores 3.87 calories.

Seitan: Good Or Bad?

Seitan is becoming increasingly popular in today’s cuisine. It’s no longer only vegans and vegetarians who are eating it. Its resemblance to meat paired with its high palatability makes it an appealing choice to almost everybody. Brown in color and chewy in texture (but not weird chewy), seitan easily absorbs flavors and seasonings.
I try it in several different recipes, and there’s no denying that it tastes pretty good, especially if cooked right.
However, the fact that it’s basically 100% made of gluten puzzled me a bit. So I asked myself: is it healthy to eat seitan?
I did some research, and here’s what I discovered.

My Grandma Used To Say...

When I was at my grandma’s place as a little kid, and I would ask her for something to eat - outside of mealtimes - she would say: “You’re hungry? Eat an apple!” When I would refuse her offer, she would then reply: “You don’t want an apple? You must not be hungry!”


In her way, she was right in challenging my request for food, because, 99% of the times it was driven only by craving, not real hunger.
Today, I hold to that lesson close, and every time I feel like I want to eat something I stop and think about it for a moment : “Am I really hungry? Or am I just craving something?”
What about you: are you able to distinguish between cravings and hunger?

The Iron You

Pumpkin Chocolate Protein Brownies

We love pumpkin, we love chocolate, we love brownies, and we love treats that are high in protein. That is why this recipe is just perfect.
I won’t hide it. It took me a long time, and several attempts to get the right balance of flavors and texture. In the end I got it right.
In a way pumpkin and chocolate are not exactly meant to be together. It is a sort of weird combination.
So when I first saw the original recipe at my mum’s place in one of her cookbook, I was like: “This doesn’t sound right...” Nevertheless, I gave it a go, and it was quite delicious. Filled with sugar and fats but delicious. I knew I had to tweak it quite a lot to make more IronYou compliant. Some dramatic changes were involved, but ended up with those rad dudes.

Ironman: The Masters Of Water, Air and Earth

I seldom talk about triathlons and Ironman on this blog, but today is different.
Today, October 13 2012, in Kona, Hawaii the Ironman World Championship will take place, and I’m just too excited not to talk about Ironman. Let me do it, I promise it will be for this one time only.
Have you ever thought about what it takes to be an Ironman? And more specifically, who are those guys? A bunch of individuals that push their bodies beyond human limits, becoming part of an elite group that goes where no athlete has gone before and that masters of 3 out of the 4 elements: water, air and earth.

It Never Gets Easier, You Just Get Better

With running, as with any other sport, the more you do it, the better you become at it.
You may run faster and for longer distances, but it never feel like it’s easy.
6 miles are still 6 miles at the end of the day. It doesn’t matter how slow or fast you go, it’s always challenging.
The more trained you are, the easier it will be to run them, but you still have to run them.
As a matter of fact: it never gets easier, you just get better!

The Amazing Properties Of Pumpkin: October's Superfood!

There’s much more to pumpkins than just that Jack-O-Lantern or filling a pie for Thanksgiving dinner. This vegetable is an amazing source of Vitamin A, antioxidants and fiber, but very low in calories. That’s only if you consider the orange flesh, because if you take into account the seeds then there’s an additional array of health benefits you'll get from this veggie.
In other words, there’s never 'too much' when using pumpkin in your kitchen!

Do You Need A Personal Trainer?

Not everybody needs a personal trainer, but most do. The main reasons being that a lot of people don’t have a clue of what to do at the gym, while others lack the necessary motivation to get to the gym in the first place.
Having a personal trainer comes in handy: providing the necessary motivation, instructions, feedback and, moreover, accountability to exercise.
Personal trainers can be expensive, but you might need to hire one for just a couple of sessions to get you started and, afterwards, from time to time, touch base with him to revise your training routine.
First thing is to figure out whether you need one or not.