I love adding weight to exercises to give myself that extra push, but let’s be honest, not everyone can afford the real equipment that is marketed to us out there. I am definitely one for improvising, sometimes because of the cost and sometimes because these companies do not ship to Malta.

The Sandbag is a great workout tool. Add it to squats, burpees, push ups, deadlifts and, even use it instead of a kettlebell.  Whatever exercise it is, you can use a sandbag for that extra tweak.  So, here is how to make your own.

First things first!

Think logically: SANDBAG = SAND (weight) + BAG.

You may not need to go to much effort and actually could have your sandbag sorted in minutes, if you have some basic things lying around the house. I’ve seen people just put duct tape around a bag of rice to start off with. It doesn’t need to be complicated.

What you need:

• Old bag (I used an old drawstring bag)
• weighted items ( bags of sand, bags or rice, cans, other weights)
• Duct tape
• Plastic bag
• 1 Old Towel
• 2 face cloths
• Weighing Scale

How to:

1.

Start off by measuring your weighted items. How much weight do you want in your bag? (My bag is 8kgs, however I started with 5kgs and added the extra 3 kilos after a couple of weeks). Don’t forget to keep in mind the weight of your bag and towel as that will also make part of the total weight of your DIY sandbag.

2.

Once you have your weight sorted, start wrapping the weighted items in the towel. I added a layer of towel around every weight. If you are using sand or rice, a plastic bag may be a good idea.

3.

After wrapping your weights in the towel, flip the ends of the towel to form an ‘S’ shape. Then wrap the entire toweled weight package with some duct tape. Make it real tight!

4.

Put this package into your bag. Close the bag up. If you are using a drawstring bag like I am, push the drawstrings into the top hole so they are not loose. Now for the handles. Measure the circumference of the bag with a measuring tape. Once you have that measurement, start to pull the tape up; imagine you are going to hold the bag with the tape (you are estimating how much room you need for the handles). I also added some extra length so I could overlap the tape at the top for extra strength. Cut two piece of tape in that length and place them side by side on a flat surface, sticky side up. Measure how far apart you want your handles and then place the bag in the middle. (Remember to add more strength, just add more layers of duct tape.)

5.

Fold the strap up and around the bag, over lapping the two ends at the top. The underside should still be sticky. Place a half folded face cloth under the tape and roll it around the stick part and over the top shiny part of the tape. Once you have done this you will need to seal the edge of the roll and secure its place, so place a piece of tape over the edge of the rolled face cloth so it forms a sealed cylinder and then place tape around the two ends of the face cloth, so it secures to the rest of the tape. You will also have  stickiness on the inside lengths of the handle, (ie. the bits that go from the bag to the handle); for this part add tape sticky side to sticky side so that it makes it stronger. The inside will be silver and no longer sticky. Finally you need to close the handle so it forms a circle. Pinch the bottom part of the handle as tightly as you can, and wrap tape around the opposite handle ends that have been bought together. The handle should form a tight circle, and the sides of your handle should be tight and close to the sides of your bag. I had to halve the width of my tape to get around this part without making the  handle area too small for my hand, so I put two layers of tape for extra strength. Finally, to smooth over the new connecting loop, I added another small loop of tape over the loop I just made, but this time around and towards the bag, not around the handles.

6

The sandbag is nearly done and as it is, the bag is fine for vertical lifts, but for sideward swings it needs some extra stability. So for this reason, tightly wrap two layers of duct tape around the middle of the bag, going through the handle loops.

7.

And.. Wallah, Bingo, Presto… there you have it, your home made sandbag.

If you are looking for something a little more pro, try this DIY sandbag by a guy named Chris, who uses military laundry bags and cat litter! Or if think you can afford the real thing, look no further than Ultimate Sandbag.

(Update: Make sure you fill the bag out, leaving no room in the bag, as this allows the weights to move around inside and it can cause discomfort when lifting and I’m still not 100% happy with the side swings, so if you can add something a bit more solid to the handle I think that would help)

Today I felt like pasta, but I didn’t feel like committing myself to a plate of starchy pasta,  so I found an awesome alternative: Zucchini tagliatelle. No flour, no wholemeal, no starch, just zucchini! And the best bit is that making them couldn’t be simpler.

For the zucchini pasta, all you need is:

(for 2)

Prep:

3 small to medium zucchini

potato peeler

Wash the zucchini and dry them so they are not slippery, cut of the top and bottom ends so you have a flat surface. Holding the zucchini upright to start, slide your potato peeler downwards (Watch your fingers). Do a couple of slices from this angle and then you will find it a lot easier to turn the zucchini onto it’s rounded edge, (so inside of zucchini facing upwards), and just press down and slide your potato peel along horizontally. Once you have done this you should have lots of thin slices of zucchini.

Cooking

You can choose to steam or dry fry your zucchini strips (tagliatelle). I steamed mine. They only take a few minutes, you don’t want soggy zucchini, I also added a pinch of salt and some lemon juice to them while they were in the steamer.  To dry fry them, take a non stick skillet, put in a little water, just enough to cover the entire base of the skillet, add lemon juice and a pinch of salt and then add your zucchini. Leave them in for no longer than5-7 minutes.

Add your favourite sauce and you are done

For more low starch alternatives, check out my other post: 4 tips to lessen starchy carb intake

A great simple dish that can be enjoyed hot or cold is my tuna, french bean dish. This dish offers you protein from the tuna and your meal time dosage of greens via the french beans. This is a taste nutritious combo.

For two portions you will need.

• 1/2 an onion diced
• 2 cloves of garlic (makes the meal!)
• 3 handfuls of green beans/french beans
• 2 large cans of tuna
• 1 can of tomato chuncks (you can make this dish without the tomato pulp but you would have to add more olive oil)
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• ground pepper

Start of by steaming your french bean so that they are cooked but still slightly crunchy. While you beans are steaming, fry your onion and garlic in a little water. Add you tuna, tomato pulp and crunchy beans. Mix through so that the sauce coats the beans lightly. this really does not take long!

Eat hot or cold. Once on plate, season with some ground pepper and a tablespoon of good virgin olive oil.

This is a seriously delicious dish that can be enjoyed hot or cold, so make a little extra for dinner and enjoy for lunch the next day.

For two portions you will need:

• Half an onion diced
• a can of mixed mexican vegetables (or sweet corn, green pepper and red pepper)
• a half a cup of diced celery
• a couple of thin celery sticks
• half a can of kidney beans
• two tablespoons of peanut butter
• a teaspoon of chili flakes
• a teaspoon of soya sauce
• 2 teaspoons of fresh ginger
• 300g of chicken breast
• A large lettuce leave (optional)

Prepare you chicken breast by boiling it. Follow this simple technique. Once cooked cut chicken breast into squarish chunks. In a non stick fry pan, fry of the onions until they are translucent, add the ginger, soya sauce and chili flakes and stir. Immediately add the vegetables, celery, kidney beans, allow them to cook lightly if you are using fresh produce. You may want to add the celery a little later to keep it crunchy. Finally add your pre cooked chicken followed by the two teaspoons of peanut butter. Mix in well so that the peanut butter coats all the ingredients. Once everything is lightly coated, serve in a fresh lettuce leave, for additional freshness and crunch.

If you are looking for a healthy warming dish for lunch or dinner I can strongly recommend my tasty Chicken Caponata.

What you need:

• 1 onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 3 medium sized zucchini - chopped into squares
• half a large aubergine – chopped into squares
• 1 large green pepper – chopped into chunks
• 1 can of tomato chunks in juice
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• olive oil
• Chicken breast.
• 1 low sodium chicken or vegetable stock cube.
• tsp of dried basil
• 2 small bay leaves
• 1/2 cup of water.
• season with pepper according to preferred taste
• fresh parsley (for the top)
• grated parmigiana cheese (for the top) *optional

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

In a large fry pan, fry off your onion and garlic lightly in some olive oil. Add a little more olive oil and add your chopped zucchini, green peppers and aubergines, stir and slightly fry before adding tomato chunks, tomato paste and sugar.

Stir and let it bubble on high heat for a few minutes. Add water, stock, and herbs and let it bubble a bit more on high heat. (2-4 minutes), then turn it down to low heat and cover with a lid. Leave on heat to simmer for 30 minutes, making sure there is alway enough liquid so it won’t burn.

To add the chicken as shown the photo. Follow my low fat chicken recipe. You can serve it as it is presented above or alternatively cut the chicken into square chunks and mix it through to make a stew. Seeing that the chicken is already cooked it does not need a lot of cooking to be heated. Cook it too much and the chicken will no longer remain tender.

Please Note: this is not a traditional Caponata recipe.

Carob is one of those foods which absolutely fascinates me. I’m sure it will be announced as a super food one day!

Carob is best known in the western world as a chocolate substitute but it is so much more than that. Carob has amazing nutritional values. It is high in fiber, high in calcium and potassium. It is used to aid the digestive system as well as lower blood cholesterol. Carob can also treat diarrhea as well as reduce chances of lung cancer. It contains all the major vitamins and can be used to maintain a healthy balanced diet.

Carob grows on huge trees. The trees can be hundred of years old, but they will still produce hundreds of juicy carob pods every year.

Carob pods on a tree

Carob may not look like the most attractive thing on earth but it is delicious! My personal favourite way of eating carob is directly from the snapped pod. It is chewy and the taste is quite strong but it has an underlying sweetness. The pods also contain hard seeds, which are not edible and are rumored to weigh the same as one carat of gold.

My father makes a syrup out of carob, which is an old tradition and is said to help with respiratory problems, chest coughs and colds. It is true that it does help clear the respiratory tract. Many locals use it for asthma and allergies. In order to create the syrup my father dries hundreds of carob pods and creates a carob powder. He then uses the powder and makes a large syrup mixture with water, sugar and other herbs. The syrup can be taken by the teaspoon or mixed in hot water or even in tea. I know people who have used it instead of sugar in coffee even!

Carob drying

Carob powder is often used instead of cocoa powder in chocolate free cake/cookie recipes. Carob is also caffeine free, so there’s another benefit!

If you are looking to purchase carob or carob syrup, please contact me via my contact page.

This is a quick post because I am really angry about the latest photo I saw of Kim Kardashian being shared on Facebook.

Most women will complain about their tummy, thighs andor flabby arms. Nobody is perfect, but what is perfect anyway? This year has seen the exposure of how much Photoshop high fashion magazines like Vogue use, and thank goodness for that! Yes, celebs and models are not perfect, they require photoshopping, great hair and makeup as well as great lighting to look the way they do.

So, if you are freaking out about the bit of cellulite on your thigh, stop, regroup, and remember you are normal!

Everyone, even the slimmest women hate something about their body.

Stop the hating!

This is the latest photoshop blooper. Please agree with me here, seriously! Is there anything ‘really‘ wrong with the non photoshopped version of this photo?

You can see veins in her legs, some chunkiness in her thighs, her arms are not flat and have a bit of shape and her tummy is a little rounder. All the natural photo needed was some light balancing. Kim Kardashian is not fat, she is a curvaceous woman and I really wish she would take a stand against such editing, embrace her body, curves and all. Wouldn’t it be nice not to be fake.

So if you are watching TV or reading a magazine and thinking ‘I want that body’, remember that A LOT of unnatural things go into making people look this way. Keep real, be realistic and don’t beat yourself up!

 And if you haven’t seen this video yet. You should!

Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

So you think salad is boring? I promise you it will not be anymore!

The problem with many shop bought salad dressings is that they are fattening, full of preservatives and generally taste so good that you tend to use too much. Of course, they taste so good because they’repacked full of salt (which elevates your sense of taste) and lots of flavourings. Hardly an ideal part of a balanced diet.

With Summer just around the corner, I’ve decided to let you in on a few simple salad dressings which you can just pour from a jar or quickly make at home, knowing full well what they contain and adding heaps of flavour to your food.

Add a tablespoon of any of these to your salad for some added zing.

1. Olive Oil, Balsamic, Lemon, Chili Flake Dressing

This one is currently my favourite. Add it to any salad you like, be it poultry or fish, it tastes delicious. Making it is simple, really simple. See Summer Salad Dressing Recipe

2. Extra Virgin Olive oil

Look for a dark green coloured oil, one which is not light and runny. I use my dad’s olive oil, grown on an organic farm in the Mediterranean, so I’m lucky.

A good bottle of real virgin olive oil will not come cheap, but remember you will NEVER use this oil for cooking, just for your dressings.

3. Balsamic Vinegar

A nice dark balsamic vinegar goes lovely with any salad

4. Lemon Juice

Add a squeeze of lemon juice to a summer salad of mixed green leaves, it really tastes yum.

5. Pesto sauce

Yes, it is not only for pasta. I love mixing my own home made pesto sauce onto chicken salad or even with tuna, it takes the chicken to a whole new level. See Pesto Recipe

6. Sour yogurt with chives

Delicious and light as long as you use light yogurt of course. I love this with chicken. See Sour Yogurt Recipe

sour yogurt dressing

7. Hummus

Delicious as a spread, great as a dressing, but be careful not to use too much as chickpeas are great for energy by high in calories. See Hummus Recipe

8. Apple Cider Vinegar

It is citrusy yet fruity, giving you that bittersweet taste.  Apple cider vinegar goes great with all kinds of salad, but I love it with chickpeas, onions, tomato and green pepper salad.

Enjoy!

I am really enjoying a simple home made salad dressing at the moment, which I would love to share with you all for your summer salads.

What do you need?

• Olive oil (good quality extra virgin olive oil)
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Chili flakes
• Lemon
• Black pepper

Prep time: 2 minutes

Mix 3 tablespoons of olive oil with 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, add a half teaspoon of chili flakes, a teaspoon of lemon juice and finish off with some freshly ground black pepper.

Mix and put on salad.

If you are following a diet – try to restrict yourself to one tablespoon of this dressing.

This tuna, beans and lentils and egg salad is SUPER high in protein (28g to be exact) and will provide you with enough energy to last you til your next meal. You will not need bread with this salad because you will feel full, I promise. This salad  is a delicious combination of seafood and beans and apart from being yummy is really healthy.

Ingredients

1 large can of tuna in brine (17.5g of protein)
1/2 a small red onion (thinly sliced)
1/2 a tomato
2 tablespoon of lentils (2.2g of protein)
1 tablespoon of butter beans (1.2 g of protein)
1 tablespoon of kidney beans (1.0 g of protein)
lettuce
1 boiled egg (6.3g of protein)

Dressing:
2 tablespoons of olive oil,
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar,
a pinch of chili flakes,
ground pepper

Shred the lettuce and put into the bottom of your salad bowl, add the tomato, butter beans and kidney beans. In another bowl mix the drained tuna with the onion and lentils and add dressing to this mixture before putting it into the center of your salad bowl. On top of the tuna lentil mix, add a boiled egg. I usually boil mine for 7 minutes so that it is still still a little soft on in the inside but not runny. Time depends on the size of the egg you are cooking. Once boiled, peel the egg and place on the top of your salad before cutting it. To create flower effect, with a clean sharp knife cut the egg into 2 (in a cross like shape) and just mash the egg yolk slightly to form the fluffy center.