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June 10th 2023, Saturday
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Sandra Bekkari has been active in the captivating world of health and nutrition for 20 years. As well as her many qualifications, her day-to-day practice has enabled her to learn how to successfully coach people too.

In 2008, she developed the ‘Sana-method‘. This is a simple and effective method for gradually guiding people towards a healthy, slim and energetic life while ensuring they can still enjoy delicious food. All of this expertise is shared throughout Flanders and Wallonia by Sana consultants.

Discover various delicious recipes from Sandra Bekkari on the social media below.

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VTM koken

By replacing the eggs with apple puree, you create a simple snack that is high in carbohydrates and low in protein and fat, perfect for exercising. One waffle provides 30g of carbohydrates. The advice is to consume between 30 and 60g of carbohydrates per hour during training or competitions lasting over 90 minutes, so one or two waffles per hour will be ideal for maintaining your energy levels.

  • 200 g oats
  • 200 g wholemeal flour
  • 100 g (cane) sugar
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 75 liquid margarine
  • 3 dl (skimmed) milk
  • 50 g apple puree
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • A little oil or margarine for baking
  1. Mix all the ingredients well (using a food processor if you have one)
  2. Leave to stiffen for an hour
  3. Bake the waffles in a waffle iron

Tip!

If you are planning a long or intensive training session, you could eat these before training too. Add a little extra sugar with agave syrup, honey, jam, syrup, brown sugar or fresh fruit as a topping.

For Steffi, it all started when she said ‘goodbye’ to cheeseburgers and decided to live a healthier lifestyle. The twenty-something from Antwerp completely changed her lifestyle; she took up exercise, made sure she took time to relax and, above all, cooked healthy meals. Since then, she has been sharing her recipes on her blog and has started training as a nutritionist. Steffi is energetic, healthy, positive and loves to cook healthy food.

Discover various super-healthy recipes on the social media below:

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Njam

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With her food blog “Karola’s Kitchen”, Karolien aims to share her passion for healthy, tasty food and her avid interest in nutritional sciences with everyone. She makes meals by applying the personal nutritional philosophy which she has developed over the years. All of the recipes are simple and accessible.

Karolien and “Karola’s kitchen” have also been nominated by a professional food jury, out of 90 food bloggers, for the Belgian Food Blog Award in the ‘Best Healthy’ category. She won the award at the end of October 2017. Her super-healthy food blog is not to be missed!

Karolien will publish her first cookbook at the start of next year. The book is not a recipe book but a regular book with recipes.

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This smoothie is really versatile. It is isotonic and will be absorbed by the body effectively. It supplies a good level of carbohydrates that give you energy and top up your reserves after exercise. It is also a great source of calcium, which is vital for healthy bones and strength. Bananas and mangoes also contain dietary fibers which ensure that this smoothie makes you feel full and satisfied.

  • 1 large banana
  • 1 large, ripe mango
  • 150g yogurt
  • 300ml pineapple juice
  1. Peel the banana and cut into slices.
  2. Freeze the banana pieces for at least 2 hours or overnight
  3. Peel the mango, remove the stone and cut the flesh into chunks
  4. Place all of the ingredients in the blender or food processor and mix until you have a smooth liquid
  5. Drink straight away.

Tip!

For optimum recovery, you need around 20g of animal protein (milk, meat, fish, etc.) and carbohydrates (sugars from fruit).

A gait analysis studies your movement pattern using a video recording. During the analysis, you use a treadmill to walk at various speeds, while your gait is recorded. The recordings take place barefoot and also with sports or walking shoes on, and with and without support soles if these are to be checked too.

After analysing the video, the specialist conducts a comprehensive case-history check and a foot examination in order to further specify the issues. If necessary, support soles or functional orthoses may be created.

A similar gait analysis can be carried out by S.P.O.R.T.S in the UZA.

You often make do with a sports drink when you’re training. But sometimes it’s better to eat something too. During a training period of maximum 2 hours, you can take in adequate carbohydrates via an isotonic sports drink. Any longer than this and you’ll need extra carbohydrates.

You are advised to take in 30-60g of carbohydrates for every hour that you train. It’s not worth having more as the muscles cannot absorb more than this in an hour. The table below shows whether it is necessary to take in extra carbohydrates, depending on the length of exercise.

A few TIPS for exercise:

  • Start taking in carbohydrates right at the beginning of your session. It is best to do so within the first 30 minutes. Carbohydrates take at least 30 minutes to reach your muscles so you shouldn’t wait until you’re tired.
  • Eat little and often. The aim is for the carbohydrates to enter your bloodstream gradually. Try to take in 15-30g every half hour.
Duur van de inspanningZijn er koolhydraten nodig voor een optimale prestatie?Aanbevolen hoeveelheid koolhydraten
< 30 minNo carbohydrates required
30 – 75 minVery small quantitiesMouth wash
1 – 2 hSmall quantitiesTill 30 g per hour
2 – 3 hModerate quantitiesTill 60 g per hour
> 3 hHuge quantitiesTill 90 g per hour

Your choice depends on your activity or sport. Drinks that contain specific carbohydrates are a practical choice for most people as they provide liquid at the same time. If you decide to eat food, e.g. during a walk, bike ride or run, you must carry it with you and make sure it is tasty and easy to eat.

The ideal workout-foods for exercising for longer than 60 minutes are energy bars, grains or breakfast bars, energy gels, raisins or sultanas, bananas and biscuits (with little fat). Eat this food with a lot of water.

The size of the bars, gels and biscuits varies. Check the label for the carbohydrate content and calculate how much you need to take in 30-60g per hour. Choose products with a fat content of less than 5g per portion.

When an event lasts longer than an hour and a half to two hours, the concept of carb-loading becomes very important. For shorter events, the carbohydrate store is sufficient to provide the body with the appropriate, good energy for the duration of the exercise.

In the run-up to the event, however, training is scaled back and the quantities of carbohydrates are increased for three days prior to the competition, from 10 to 12g per kilogram of bodyweight.

During these days, the aim is to build up a stock of energy in order to combat and delay the onset of tiredness during the event.

Your body will store these carbohydrates in the liver and muscles and will burn them when you are exerting yourself. The idea is to retain this stock until the end of the event, and initially use up the food and drink you consume during the event.

Tips:
  1. Plan regular carb-heavy snacks
  2. Choose concentrated sugar sources such as sports drinks, fruit juice and or even squash. It shouldn’t involve kilos of pasta.
  3. Eat as little fat as possible
NB!

Carb-loading will cause you to put on around 2kg. This is due to each gram of carbohydrate retaining a little moisture. This rapid weight gain is not permanent and will be reversed when the event has led to the reserves being used up. The weight gain may surprise athletes but there’s no need to worry. It is actually a sign that your carb-loading is a success.

On the big day that you’ve been working towards, there are a few focus areas when it comes to nutrition. Make sure that your food is easy to digest. This means low in protein, fat and fibre, smaller portions and, primarily, food that you are familiar with. You want to start your training/competition feeling light, so you’re advised to avoid wholemeal bread, pasta, oatmeal, brown rice and fruit.

Instead, choose a carbohydrate-rich meal that is low in fibre, protein and fats, such as white bread and jam, honey, banana sandwiches, pancakes with brown sugar, cornflakes with low-fat milk, white pasta with tomato sauce and white rice with sweet and sour sauce. You are better off testing this type of meal at home in the run-up to your competition so that you know which meal feels best when exercising.

Make sure that you have between three and four hours between your last main meal and the competition. You must give your body the time to digest the meal and convert it into energy. Around one and a half hours before the competition, you are advised to eat an energy-rich snack such as a banana, a piece of gingerbread or an energy bar.

If the competition lasts more than one and a half to two hours, then ‘carb-loading’ is a good idea. This will mean you start with a full ‘tank’. This is not necessary for shorter events and could even be detrimental in view of the corresponding weight gain.

Drinking is also vital on the day of the competition. Start with water, coffee or tea for breakfast and then carry on drinking all day.