Healthy Pumpkin Recipes Inspired By Nigerian Dishes... Happy Halloween!

Hi!

So today is Halloween (31st October), exciting stuff *dripping with sarcasm*

A good thing about this is - it's Pumpkin season. Loads and loads in the supermarkets to be carved... Speaking of carving, I saw this ugly, uncreative, disgusting looking carving at the gym yesterday.

If you're too lazy to carve, don't bother!

Anyway enough of my usual Wednesday grumpiness, I finally bought a Pumpkin and tried out a few recipes. I would have done more but I just didn't have the time!

1. Roasted Pumpkin Seeds with Suya Pepper
   Well, this was the initial idea but my suya pepper stash is running LOW. I used chilli flakes which were spicy enough.
2. Boiled Pumpkin and EggsBoiled yam and eggs <-- regular breakfast when I was growing up.  Pumpkins contain much less carbs than yam so I decided to try boiling it. I'll be honest, its obvious it's much lower in carbs as it barely has a taste. If you want to try this, I'd suggest boiling in homemade stock. I would have done this but I had none available.



3. Pumpkin 'Asaro'
   'Asaro' is a Nigerian dish, made with yam. As you can tell, I used pumpkin as a low carb substitute.This was my favourite of the three because leaving the pumpkin to cook in the tomatoes added so much flavour to it! Definitely try this if you can!

Let me know if you try any of the above. Do you have any favourite pumpkin recipes?

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Braids Are Out! Haircare Videos Soon :)

I finally took my braids out after 8 weeks.

I will record haircare videos in the next few weeks. Let me know if you have any video requests.

Vote! Vote!! Vote!!!

Very happy to share that this blog's a nominee for Best Fitness or Health Blog in the Nigerian Blog Awards, whoop!

What do you do now? Click on the image below and -->VOTE<-- for this blog :)

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Food Haul: What I Bought (And Cooked) This Week

Hi!

Hope you had a nice weekend. Here's this week's video showing you what I bought this week, and also the meals I prepared for the week.

• I shopped on a budget this week. I bought healthy, fresh food and didn't break the bank :)
• I took a break from the usual supermarkets and went to the local market. I've lived in this area for 6 years and didn't know about the massive market minutes away from my house!!!
• As I had a small budget and also wanted to stick to healthy food, I planned my meals as I shopped.

If you like this video and would like to see more like it, please let me know.

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How To Resist The Temptation of Unhealthy Food (#3)

Hi! Hope you're well and are having a great week so far.

I started a mini video series a few weeks ago inspired by some blog posts here. I'll be sharing tips that show that healthy eating is achievable no matter how many temptations are out there... Lol, yes I'm still talking about food ;)

Here's the third installment in this series.

From the beginning...

Video #1




Video #2



Don't forget to send in video/blog requests.

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Yummy Food, Yummy Masks!

Fatima sent this picture of her 'Jollof Quinoa' and in her exact words "Jollof Quinoa with chicken frankfurters and bacon! It's YUM":

Looks yummier than mine, I want some!

So, if you try any recipes from my Blog or YouTube Channel, please send me pictures :)

What's that, you ask? Watch the video below for a quick reminder:



And now that my skin is finaly back to normal mainly because I'm eating much better than I did for a while... I decided to treat myself to a yummy face mask :) I have to admit - I tasted this... a few times ;)

My skin feels deeply cleansed and moisturised :)

1. Fullers Earth face mask (for 15 minutes) for a deep cleanse
   Steps in this video (minus the honey):



2. Mash 1/4 of an Avocado & mix with 1tbsp extra virgin olive oil and 1tbsp honey. 
3. Apply to face and leave on (for 15 minutes) for a moisturising treatment 
4. Rinse off with warm water. Soak a face towel in warm - hot water, squeeze excess water out. Towel on face for thirty seconds, wipe. Repeat. 
5. Final rinse with cold water. 
6. Lightly moisturise.
   
    DONE :)

Ceri's Weight Loss Story and a Recipe!

Hello :)

Here's a video with Ceri of www.cucinaceri.com. Her story's similar to mine, and many others', so watch it before you think you can't reach your weight loss goals.

We really hope it motivates someone, ok honestly many people, out there.

Watch it, Rate it, Subscribe and of course check out Ceri's blog.

And check out her Paleo Bread recipe, it is very good, I had some of course!

How To Make Jollof Rice... with QUINOA

Happy Monday!

Yep another Quinoa recipe! See, when a reader/viewer asks, I deliver - I wasn't going to stop at one recipe, she asked for recipes!
So if you have any blog/video requests, just ask. It might take me a few weeks to deliver but I will. I'm currently working on some strength training post that Natural Nigerian requested.

This recipe was of course, inspired by a favourite in Nigeria - Jollof Rice :)

Please watch the video and rate, comment and subscribe. Also if you like the videos, please share with friends :)

(Subscribe here --> http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=HealthyDury)



Just to clarify something re: quinoa. Yes it's a superfood, it's high in protein, it's gluten and what free, high in fibre, rich in vitamins/minerals but it also contains carbs (I'm not saying you should run away from it as it's a good source of carbs unlike eg processed rice and pasta!).

Suggested serving size is 1/2 - 3/4 cup.

1/2 cup of cooked quinoa contains less carbs than the same quantity of white rice and also brown rice (better than white rice)
1/2 cup of cooked quinoa contains a similar amount of carbs as wild rice, which I can confidently say we hardly, if ever, include in a Nigerian diet.

Of course it's not just about the carb content as it has other great properties over rice as mentioned above. And remember not all carbs are bad!

I think it's worth a try, I like it! :)

How To Stay Motivated... How I Get Back on Track

Thank God It's Friday!!

I just got back from my Friday morning Fitter London class and I LOVE teaching that class. I leave most of my classes with a smile on my face but this one, I leave with a HUGE grin :D

This post/video was inspired by a question I've been asked and I've come across many times. I recently had a bit of a rough patch where I lacked motivation or the drive to stay on track. The steps detailed in this video really helped (and have helped in the past). I have highlighted these three because, in my opinion and personal experience, they played a huge role.

The steps are:

1. Remember and Re-visit your Goals
   What made you decide on your current goal? Why is it important to you that you achieve your goals?
2. Go back to your Inspirations
   Who inspires you? Someone who has gone through exactly what you are experiencing now? A friend? A stranger? Success stories online?
3. Having a Support System
   Supportive friends, family and strangers (online community) play a huge role in helping you stay on track or if you've fallen off, will help you get back on track. This is a very important thing.

Watch for more:

If you have any questions or want to share other things that have kept you motivated, please comment below.
Have a nice weekend!

How To Cut Down On Carbs

I was on a Health & Fitness forum last week and someone started a thread titled, "Has anyone been able to cure their carb addiction?". I clicked on it to share my experience but not before reading through people's responses. A few of them stood out because I could relate!

Why cut down on carbs? Because excess carbohydrates consumed are converted into fat. And a lot of carbohydrates consumed (most of the time) are refined, processed, high in sugar and/or just done so in excess.

One of them went along the lines of, "Carbs are a huge staple in my home. I can't give them up". She mentioned bread and, I think, rice.

My plan is to post a video on my YouTube Channel (-->Click here to subscribe<--) but until then I decided on this write up.

Lol, an old picture from 3-4 years ago

I'm Nigerian. I grew up eating a plateful of rice with one piece of meat or chicken. I remember being told I had to finish my rice before being given my meat/chicken, which was the prize, haha! Rice, yam, eba, you name it. We love our carbs in Nigeria.

So I'm sure it's a surprise to many that I can go days without eating any of the above and not feel deprived. I won't say I don't care for carbs anymore, that would be a barefaced lie. What I can honestly say is, I don't depend on carbs and I still have the energy to work, work out and teach 4 spin classes per week (more work). FYI I eat "good" carbs during the week eg sweet potatoes, plantain (some might argue about plantain but it works for me), brown beans, etc. Watch my Food Diary series HERE for more of an idea of my eating habits. I do have days when I only crave carbs and not the good ones (which happened recently!) but now short lived, thankfully.

How Did I Get Here? 
1. Slowly Cut Down My Carb Portion and Replaced With Protein (chicken, meat, fish) And Vegetables
For example, when I made fried rice, I used less rice (half the usual portion) and more vegetables and prawns. I did the same for yam, potatoes, etc. If the meals didn't usually include veggies, I added them or had an extra piece of meat/chicken to fill the void ;) Quick Note: Protein fills you up!
I did this for close to a year before I moved on to the next step... I was very resistant to more changes but I'm glad I didn't stop here.

*I'm going to post a video on this topic where I'll share more on my experience*

2. Changed My Breakfast from High Carbs To High Protein
I used to have 5 oatcakes (oat biscuits) post workout, because "I deserved them after working so hard" (ha!) and then a huge bowl of porridge oats (!!!) for breakfast once I got to work!! And I wondered why I wasn't able to shift the little, but extra, weight around my middle!

My friend, Keris of Fitter London, challenged me to swap my oatcakes AND porridge for a protein bar. Imagine my alarm! But I rose up to the challenge ;)
I started off with having the protein bar and a banana post workout, I took out the banana after a week. I was surprised I didn't feel hungry after having the protein bar and I wasn't tired!

This wasn't the bar but it's close enough :)

The best bit was within 2 weeks, people started commenting on a difference in my physique. 2 weeks?! Now, remember I wasn't overweight at this point but there was a visible difference.
*I later changed to cooked breakfasts but again, I'll discuss more in a video.*

3. Cut Out Carbs Completely In Some MealsAt this point, I was used to eating protein rich foods so taking this step was easy. Eg I had salmon and eggs for breakfast. And sometimes, I'd have a large portion of fish or chicken for dinner, and add a little stew or soup.

Yesterday's dinner... I had one more piece of fish ;)

You must remember that I aim to eat very well on Monday through Friday. On Saturday & Sunday, I treat myself. This way I don't feel deprived and I'm able to treat myself reasonably. I've noticed that my treats have become healthier as the months and years have gone by. Once I mentioned to a friend I was treating myself and she laughed saying, "My healthy days are worse than your treat days".

So the moral of the story is: 

MAKE GRADUAL CHANGES, YOUR MIND & BODY WILL ADJUST TO THEM.

If I did it, you definitely can!

PS If you have any blog/video requests, send me an email: info @ adura-o.com or tweet me @Adura_O

Photo Credit: Skinny Chef

How To Make Fried Rice... With QUINOA!

Happy Monday!

This is the first in a few quinoa recipes. Someone requested quinoa recipes and I'm delivering :)

This recipe was inspired by fried rice and is very straight forward so try it!

This was my first time cooking with quinoa and it turned out great :)

Watch, rate, comment and SUBSCRIBE!

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