August Intentions

10th August 2017 - admin Leave a comment

I know I’m a little bit late in posting this but anyway here are my intentions for August! As always I have a mix of lifestyle, food, fitness and education goals in here.

Meditate more

I downloaded the headspace app awhile ago I got really into the first cycle of it doing the 10 minute every day. I was doing it in the morning found that I kept falling asleep! So instead of being a sensible person and moving my meditation later in the day I just stopped. My whole morning routine has changed quite a lot recently so I’m going to try and give it another chance in the morning if that doesn’t work and then move it to later in the day.

Yoga flows

As I mentioned my morning routine has changed and it has allowed me the time to do quick flow every morning which I have been doing and I have been loving. When I do these flows I typically follow Cat Meffan on YouTube, but this intention is to start doing my own flow. Really finding what feels good for me and what my body is needing.

Lunchtime reading

Since starting my new job I haven’t really had a proper lunch break, I tend to eat my lunch sat at my desk and continue working, so this intention is to step away from my desk at lunchtime and to start reading, I have a massive list of books I’d like to read I’m not getting through them and I have no time to read.

Lifting

I’ve started back at the gym and have started to include weights into my training plan and I’m loving it – although the pain in my legs are telling me otherwise!! This intention is to keep lifting and to keep progressing with the weights. It’s really easy to get stuck doing the same thing and lifting the same weights – but I’m determined not to do that.

What have you set out to do this month?

Eating for energy

4th August 2017 - admin Leave a comment

I know I have already mentioned the Outlaw event the other weekend, but it was my first 22 hour shift so I am going to milk it for as long as I can!!

I am still feeling incredibly tired and lethargic from it so have started to created my weekly food plan around the foods that I know will help give me a boost. The main ingredients for this plan are:

Lentils

Lentils are high in fibre and are great at stabilising blood sugar levels, making sure you don’t have an energy crash during the day.

Quinoa

Not only is this little grain filled with more protein than any other grain, it is also packed with amino acids, folate, magnesium, phosphorus and manganese, making it a great nutrient-packed source of carbohydrates for long-lasting energy levels.

Eggs

Eggs contain one of the highest complete forms of protein in any food, our bodies can absorb 97% of it!! They give 30% of the recommended daily value of protein all of the essential amino acids that your body uses to rebuild muscle. No matter how you cook them, eggs are a great option to repair and replace your needs!

Yogurt

Yogurt is another great source of high quality protein that helps to keep you full.

There has also been a lot of evidence to show that dairy fat has a neutral or even a slightly positive effect on preventing heart disease and type 2 diabetes!

Water

Being dehydrated has been linked with why we feel tired so much. Drinking plenty of water each day will help keep energy levels up and also stop us thinking we are hungry, when we aren’t!

I will be sharing the individual recipes and how they have helped!

Overnight Oats

9th July 20176th July 2017 - admin Leave a comment

I do enjoy to mix up my food for lunch and for evening meals, but I have to say I get stuck in a routine with my breakfasts. Every Friday is pancake day, where protein pancakes are on the menu – when I am at home! other than that I alternate between overnight oats and a smoothie!

I love overnight oats, they have got to be my favourite breakfast, not only do they taste good, you can change them up a little but they actually keep me full well into the afternoon which means I don’t snack in the morning!! Win Win for me!

So for my over night oats I always use oats, chia seeds, peanut butter and almond milk after that I typically put in whatever fruit I have in the fridge or freezer! If I am feeling up for it I will often put a scoop of Protein World Slender Blend into them too!

Overnight Oats

2017-07-06 21:46:28

Serves 1

Yummy and filling breakfast!

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Prep Time

5 min

Total Time

5 min

Prep Time

5 min

Total Time

5 min

Ingredients

1/2 cup of oats
1 tbs chia seeds
1 tbs peanut butter (or any nut butter you fancy!)
Almond milk to cover the oats
A handful of dried/fresh/frozen fruit

Instructions

I save all my jars and re-use them for my oats, so first thing to do is add the oats, chia seeds and peanut butter into the jar.
Then pour in the almond milk - depending on how thing you like them either just cover the oats or cover them well.
This is where I put the lid back on the jar and shake it really well!
Place the jar back in the fridge overnight and top them up with fruit before you are about to eat them!

Running Life http://www.running-life.com/

I would love to hear what you add to your overnight oats! Leave a comment below…

Vegging Out

23rd June 2017 - admin Leave a comment

A few weeks back it was National Vegetarian Week and it was the perfect opportunity to reduce the amount of meat in my diet. My mum is veggie and has been for a long time, and I work with a girlie who has a plant based diet, and the more I think about meat the more it makes me feel a little uncomfortable – But I guess not so uncomfortable to give up meat forever.

For just over two weeks there was no meat in my diet, I did eat dairy and I think I might have slipped up on a few things, like sweets and desserts but overall there was no real meat.

I have to admit I really enjoyed it, it was really nice to find some new recipes and try out different meals without having to have meat in. I did find my intake of bread and halloumi went up a lot!

Although there has been a few meals with meat in since National Vegetarian Week I would say that maybe 1 in 5 meals at home have had meat in. I have created a board on Pinterest to make sure I am trying new things and got getting stuck eating the same things each week.

I think my favourite veggie meal so far has got to be the courgette lasagne! It takes a while to make as you need to slice the courgettes really thin – I did manage to slice my finger whilst making it!! I would suggest a clever slicer thing if you can get hold of one! Check out my Veggie Board here!

What is your favourite vegetarian meal?

30 Day Challenge – Week 1

22nd March 201711th April 2017 - admin Leave a comment

Week one started really well, I had planned food for the week and planned out the hits sessions for each day. Even though the meals look pretty small and the workouts look really hard, I was really looking forward to getting stuck into it.

The main aim behind the protein well challenge was to decrease intake of food and increase calorie expenditure by working out – This I can understand however I’m not a big fan of cutting down on food.

With my long work day I’m used to planning out food to the last ingredient. So planning my food for this week was quite exciting. The protein world website and a great range of different recipes for me to try.

The one thing I really wasn’t too sure about with this challenge, was the tablets I was supposed to take. The first tablet was a fat metaboliser tablet and the second one was a hunger buster. I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to taking tablets so was a little upset at the size of these ones and not 100% confident in taking tablets to make me less hungry or to help me lose fat. I am supposed to take the tablets three times a day just before food.

So, Monday come around and the food was great feeling pretty happy I decided to take on the first hit session. I didn’t anticipate just how hard this would be. I hate to admit it but only managed to complete half of the reps. In my head half was better than I right?

Tuesday, I woke up feeling a little sore from the workout but really determined to face the day and snatch the challenge. Again there is a planned out to that part was easy the only difficulty I had was taking the tablets. Again I up for the work out and managed complete the full set.

The rest of the week follow in a pretty similar fashion, really enjoying the food and really give it a good shot at the workouts. The weekends are where I really find it difficult to stick to a plan. I’m always pretty busy at weekends either working events, going home to see the family, or generally just meeting up with people that I haven’t seen in awhile.

Again throughout the whole week I was pretty rubbish at taking the tablets, I would always forget that I needed to take them before I’d eaten and then I remember after and then thought there was no point taking them!

All in all week one done really well, the food was lovely the workouts are hard but fun and I feel pretty happy.