Tuesday, 21 February 2017

My current fitness

It's been a while since I last posted, life has got in the way, I'm currently doing my level 4 in fitness so I'll be qualified in every area when I finally finish, currently focusing on the nutrition side before moving in to the classes! Also I'm working between 16 and 35 hours a week have the two munchkins and trying to fit in going to the gym as well..

At work we're in the process of a change over from virgin active to David Lloyd, I'm hoping this is a good change and means I can get back on track to working my way to being fitness manager again and hopefully means more classes for me to get trained in.

My fitness plan was Jamie Eason live fit but yet again I get to a certain point and then struggle to do it because my gyms not really built for it so I spend my entire time running around the gym to use all the equipment so I have gone back to just doing different workouts and that works for me at this present moment.

Yesterday I did glutes and left the gym a sweating meas, it was a killer of a workout yet written down looks so simple.. today I am doing a Dana linn Bailey shoulder workout so I'm sure I won't be moving after today, I am doing some cardio not much, I need to build the muscles that I do have before I can strip them of the fat or there really isn't much point.

My goal is just to be as strong as I can possibly push myself, I do wonder if I could train my body up to bikini level on my own but I get bored and I do like to eat the foods that I like without restriction, my diet is 80/20 and that prob means Ill never be as lean as I possibly can be but I am happy with that because it's only me I'm in competition with.

Here I am not the leanest but the strongest I've ever been, can do monkey bars and loads of unassisted pull ups- winner


Monday, 10 October 2016

Jamie Eason pumpkin protein bars

i have been looking to make some clean healthy protein bars and found on good old Pinterest Jamie Eason pumpkin protein bars so this morning I decided to make them

The ingredients which i adapteded slightly:
2 cups of oat flour which I made by grounding oats up in the food processor
1/2 cup of coconut sugar the original recipe is birch sugar
1 can of pumpkin
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup almond milk
4oz of apple sauce
1tsp baking powder
1tsp of baking soda
2 scoops of protein powder
4 egg whites however I have used 2 whole eggs

Pre heat oven to 350 or 170 degrees
Spray a baking dish
Mix all the ingredients together
Pour into baking dish
Bake for 25-30 minutes
Cut into 24 slices


Sunday, 17 July 2016

Spanish stew


Spanish stew
Peppers
Onions
Spinach
Tim tomatoes x2
Red lentils
Chick peas
Morocan spice
Apricots
Quinoa
Fish fillets

Cook onions and peppers and spinach
Meanwhile cook chickpeas till they are soft
Add in tin tomatoes and morocan spice and red lentils and quinoa to the onions and peppers
Once the chick peas are cooked add them to the pan, along with apricots and the fish, cook till fish is cooked which takes a few minutes

Chicken fajitas



Oven baked fajitas
-peppers
-onions
-diced chicken breast
-fajita spice

Pre heat oven to 180
Put peppers and onions in the pan
Put diced chicken on top
Sprinkle with fajita spice and give it a mix
Bake in oven for 25 mins till chicken has cooked

Meal prep Sunday's



If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail, if you set one day or one afternoon to prepping your food for the week you will find you stay on plan!

If you can get a slow cooker and a big pan then all you have to do is pop it all in the pan and make big batches of meals.

My favourite meals to batch cook is:
Bolognese 
Curry
Lasagne
Chilli
Fajitas
Risotto 
Spanish stew

You can buy slow cooker books and as long as you have basic ingredients in the cupboard then you are all set for prepping clean healthy foods for you and your family 

Monday, 11 July 2016

Almond butter blondies

Almond butter blondies

 

Ingredients
80 ml coconut oil 1/3 cup
195 almond butter 3/4 cups
2 eggs
185 ml maple syrup 3/4 cups
240g ground almonds 2 cups
1tsp baking powder
75g chocolate chips

Method
Preheat oven to 180
Cream the coconut oil and almond butter together
Combine the baking powder and ground almonds together 
Mix with the wet ingredients
Fold in the chocolate chips
Place on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes
Leave to cool for 10 minutes then cut in to slices 



Lemon and coconut bliss balls

Lemon and coconut bliss balls

 

Here is a healthy snack that takes no time at all to make, filled with healthy fats which is essential for hormones, skin and hair

Ingredients
2 cups shredded coconut
1/2 cup almonds
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2tbs coconut oil
2-3 tbs honey or maple syrup

Method
Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend together for 1 minute
Then roll the mixture into little balls
Roll in extra coconut
Place in fridge until firm




Monday, 4 July 2016

Optimum nutrition

I will do a review in the proteins that I try, the one I am trying at the moment is optimum nutrition cookies and cream

I did a lot of research before hand to see how much carbs protein and fat was in the protein, read reviews on the product and decided to go and buy it

There was a few deals on this type of product which helped sway me as protein can be very expensive and sometimes not worth the money you spend

The smell: this protein smells nice you can smell the chocolate when you open the lid off the tub, some of the proteins have a weird smell which can be off putting

The mix: I normally just mix mine with water or have it in my porridge in the mornings, this protein mixed so well it didn't clump, it mixed really easily, prob the best mixing protein shake I have tried

The taste: it taste of cookies and it even leaves some chocolate chips, in the no rings it transforms my porridge and gives me that chocolate kick that I need as I have such a sweet tooth first thing in the morning, it taste nice with water and mix it with milk and you have a milkshake!

Nutritional value: 113kcal, 1.1g of fat, 1.8g of carbs 1.2 of that is sugars, 24g of protein which is one of the highest ones

Rating: 9 out of 10 and I look forward to trying the other flavours to see which one I prefer

I fully recommend this to everyone.. 

Monday, 20 June 2016

Tips, tricks magic pills for loosing weight

You have probably clicked this and thought she's going to give us tips on how to loose weight tricks and lists of magic potions

However you would be very much mistaken there is no magic pills, no tricks and no easy way to loose weight

The way to loose weight is to burn off more than you eat, I don't mean eat 1000 calories and run for miles because that is just stupid, no I mean eat properly, healthy whole foods, do a mixture of strength and cardio and to make sure you are in calorie deficit but not much as you only want to be loosing 1-2lb per week depending how much you have to loose..

Drink plenty of water to help clean your system, speed metabolism up and to make sure you are actually hungry when you think you are

There is no quick fix, it will take you a while to get where you want to be but never give up, keep on going, take your measurements, take pictures and that way if the scale starts to fail you hopefully your over measurements will help you..

Trust the process, things don't happen over night and of course things will go stale, but that's when you need to kick start your body, change your eating habits, change your exercises.. Take a day off and eat what you want and then get back on it, as long as you don't stop because it hasn't happened as quickly as you think it will

  This saying is very true, there are no shortcuts to anything in life, no magic shake, no magic pill, it will be tough, you will have set backs, but the reward of a healthy you is priceless, and more rewarding than anything. 

Go on Amazon and Pinterest and look up clean eating, healthy foods, go shopping and buy fruit, veg, and lean meats and fish or lentils and pulses if a non meat eater, cook from scratch, take it one step at a time, make it a lifestyle change rather than see it as a diet, get the whole family involved, walk places.. 

Small changes will make the biggest difference, find your weekends and turne it into your strength, rather than sit on the sofa and snack on crisps or chocolate whilst watching tv, go for a run, get an exercise bike and cycle at home, or get some new cook books and read them and start meal planning.

Acceptance

After seeing a post from someone I follow on social media, who is a PT and down to earth person, she posted about accepting her body, to you and me her body looks bloody amazing but she has flaws like the rest of us, and it has made me do this post..

I am short only 5'2, I am slim, I have stretch marks, I have small boobs, I have no figure I am straight up and down, it has taken me two hard years to slowly start building a bum as I am blessed with a pancake bum.. I hate my stretch marks, they are in my thighs, bum and hips, luckily my stoa,ch never stretched much during pregnancy so I missed out on them, however I have a scar on my stomach from an op as a baby that is still very visible and makes my stomach uneven. 

Once upon a time I would of covered up, scared very one was looking at me and judging me for having stretch marks, but over time I have slowly accepted they are part of me, and on holiday everyone is doing exactly the same as me and worrying the next person is looking at them.. 

I feel more confident in my skin now I have children then I have ever done, my body has carried two babies, grown them nourished them and gave birth to them, now you can't beat that.. Will I ever see those people on holiday again? No will they see me? No so why worry..

We live in a world where social media means we need to be tall slim with big boobs and nice figure, but that's not reality, reality is stretch marks, loose skin etc... 

You really need to accept who you are, everyone's genetic makeup is different so not everyone will have a rippling 6 pack, perfect bum etc, once we start to accept us as we are, that is when we can really start to appreciate things we like about our bodies or about us.

Health is not a six pack, health is eating healthy whole foods, being able to get up every day and do every day things, go to the gym lift heavy weights, play at the park with your children/grand children, health is not how we look aesthetically but inside and having balanced hormones.

So we all need to look in the mirror and look at ourselves, stop looking at the person on social media who may have photoshopped the pic, or who is flexing or may not even be happy with themselves, and start concentrating on ourselves, for all we know those people on social media are looking at you and wishing they had what you have, be it your family, your lust for life, your legs etc.. We will always compare our selves, because we are human but once you accept you for you you will find happiness in your self. 

Monday, 13 June 2016

Quick easy dinner

Hasslebank chicken with mozzarella and tomato

 

Ingredients x4
- Chicken Breast x4
- Beef tomatoes x2
- Mozarella
- Butternut squash

Directions
- pre heat oven to 180
- Slice into the chicken breasts to make separations
- slice the beef tomatoes in little macaroons
- slice the mozzarella up
- put tomatoes into he chicken slices skin facing up
- put the Mozarella into the gaps with the tomato
- cook for 20 minutes and then take out and push all the tomato into the chicken, put back in oven and cook till chicken is cooked through

- Mean while skin the butternut squash and make into noodles and cook them in the oven for 20 minutes until soft

This meal is clean healthy, perfect for mid week meal, it is also slimming world and Paleo friendly 

Tuesday, 7 June 2016

Low carb meal ideas



Meatza
I love my carbs I won't lie pasta, pizza, and the naughty carbs as well

However there is always ways to make food healthier, so to do that I make a meatza every few weeks as it is a firm family favourite, it's basically pizza on a meat base hence meatza! You can also make it in a cauliflower base.

Recipe
375 g mince meat
An egg
Mix together with seasoning and lay out on a baking tray, put in oven for 10 minutes

Toppings
Onion
Spinach
Tomatoes
Bacon
Mozzarella

(Toppings are endless and what ever yo fancy)

Cover mince base with toppings, pop back in oven for 10 minutes


Sunday, 5 June 2016

Pancakes


This morning I really fancied pancakes, I have such a sweet tooth for breakfast, I would happily choose pancakes, waffles over a cooked breakfast any day, however traditional sweet breakfasts are actually worse than you than a 'fry up' due to the fat and suave and all the extra toppings that you choose

Here is the recipe that I used, I made it up but the pancakes turned out lovely

1 egg white
2 whole eggs
A splash of coconut milk
A quarter cup of coconut flour 

Make sure you cook them small to flip them over as they are thinner than normal

To make the sauce
A scoop protein powder
Splash of coconut milk

Top it off with blueberries and pear

Friday, 3 June 2016

I really didn't want to go to the gym

Today I had every intention of going to the gym, I had a healthy breakfast, a healthy pre workout, took the kids to nursery and then I carried on walking straight past the gym and straight home

The sun was shining the weather nice, and as everyone knows in England we are very lucky when we get sunshine so we need to make the most of it


So what I did was got my weights and I made up a leg workout consisting of 10x10 squats
10 x10 walking lunges
10x10 split squats
10x10 weighted hip bridges
10x5 superset 10x5 kettle bell swings and kettlebell glute squat

Safe to say I am dead, feel so much better because I exercised in the fresh air 

No excuses, even when you don't feel up to going to the gym there is always ways to exercise 


Thursday, 2 June 2016

Jamie Eason live fit

I have completed Jamie Eason live fit, it was a 12 week programme split up into 3 sections, each section was broken up into 4 weeks, and the exercises changed every 2 weeks. 

Live fit is a free programme designed by Jamie Eason and is found on body building it is a website which gives free workouts, free advise, nutrition advise from top athletes in the bodybuilding world. It is great to use if you are a beginner or an expert as it give you workout videos, etc.

Jamie Eason has another workout which isn't up on bodybuilding but can be found on her page, it is called from flat to all that, I started that programme a while back to help me get back into routine after my holiday, and will be going back to follow that programme from start to finish and will write a post on it.
show me the weigh


Overview of the programme
The nutrition plan that is for the programme is a good starting point to look at, if you have been eating poorly, then I fully advise taking a look at it, and having a look at the allowed list of foods, that way you can kinda create your own plan if toy don't want to follow the plan. 

I used the allowed foods and made my own meal plan, I did try to stick to my plan as best as possible but did sway a bit but I am only human

The first stage of the programme which is muscle building: weeks 1-4
- no cardio
- 3 sets of 12, 
- exercises are simple to help build up muscle and to perfect form
- simple but effective

Second stage of the programme which is muscle endurance: weeks 4-8
- cardio is added in to help start to shed some of the body fat
- higher reps low weight
- low reps high weight mix to help keep your body functioning
- workouts are still kept simple with videos to help and also alternatives if you find something hard, or can't do due to gym
- lots of super sets which is great, but sometimes hard to do depending on your gym layout, I sometimes had to walk from 1 end of the gym to the next just to do a superset and hold both equipment which can be deemed as rude

Third stage which is the cutting stage: week 8-12
- circuits are added in which sometimes is hard because your gym layout may mean you are wandering around he gym, and having to try hold 2-3 machines at the same time which isn't really easy to do
- plyo exercises are added in which is a great alternative to weights and helps with the cardio and makes it feel like you have worked out harder
-long workout, some of the workouts can take up to 2 hours to do which isn't really something that I can do, I normally run to e gym before my shift at work so by time I have finished I would have to get straight to work which wasn't really something I wanted to do

Overall this is an excellent programme for beginners or someone that hasn't done strength exercises for a while, this programme gives you an excellent structure and each programme gets harder and progresses you, it give you chance to get stronger, build strength and also to cut body fat whilst regaining your strength

I would fully recommend is programme to any one, especially people that are just going around in circles and do not feel that they are progressing 

Monday, 30 May 2016

Homemade nakd bars

Nakd bars are great, high in sugar but only because of the fruit however they are not the cheapest to buy so making your own is great

150g cashew nuts
6 whole dates
90g cherries 

Place the cashew nuts in food processor and blend till fine breadcrumbs and then pour into a bowl
Put cherries and dates in processor and blend till broken
Slowly add cashew nuts into mixture
Pour mixture into a container or lunchbox, make sure tightly packed
Cover and place in fridge for at least 2 hours
After 2 hours take out and cut into 8 equal bars
Wrap each bar and keep in the fridge


Sunday, 29 May 2016

Homemade oat bars

shop bought bars can contain a lot of sugar and added ingredients, if you make your own you can control what goes in it, especially if you are giving them to your children

Here is some basic ingredients to make your own bars, however you can go creative and add what you want

3 cups basic oats
2 eggs beaten
1 cup of nuts
1 cup of mixed fruit, such as cranberries, and raisins
1 tbs pure maple syrup or honey
1 cup of milk
1 tsp cinnamon
Protein powder (optional)

Pre heat oven to 180
Mix all the ingredients together
Line a baking tray and pour ingredients in
Bake for 40 minutes or till cooked


Multi level pyramid schemes

Herbalife, what is it? Is it good for you? Does it work?
Herbalife was fonded in the 1980s according to the website Herbalife it promises to change your life through a balanced diet and using their products and exercise. The website does a really good job at selling the product, by stating how to advancing sports nutrition through scientific research, they have done an excellent job at promoting it by stating how they have people with PhDs working for them, scientists etc, to he average,person they would be feeling very excited that they will be looked after by all these people and the products will be excellent. 

The principle of Herbalife is to help you loose weight through their shakes and their protein bars, the website has a meal plan for you to follow, it is basically shake for breakfast, which is 220kcal it does give you other examples such as porridge, scrambled egg on toast , snack is their protein bar or fruit etc, lunch is another shake, snack is protein bar or their soup, and dinner is a proper meal

This sounds ok, easy enough to do, however it is also very similar to slim fast etc, 2 shakes and 1 meal, however the products on the website do not give you the ingredients that are in them, they state they are high in protein from dairy and soy, but does not state the sugar or the fat content, or the carb content, now on other websites such as dolphin fitness which is a website that sells protein products, it states all the nutritional value of the products that you are purchasing so you can actually see what you are putting in your body.

The thing is with this is how little calories you are actually putting in your body, if you are drinking two shakes a day and having the protein bar as 1 snack, which is 140 kcal and then the soup which is 104 kcal you are only taking in 684 kcal so for dinner you are allowed a meal now even if the meal was 500 kcal you would only be taking in 1,184 kcal a day, when the average person should be taking in around 1600/2000 calories and most of that is before you do any physical exercise, not just your average days walking. 

Do you see why people see results with this product? It is to do with how little calories they are taking in, now we all know what happened if they stop the product, they are likely to pile on more weight which leads to yo yo dieting, things like is isn't really long term because your body will eventually stall and you will up your exercise, or try to but with the little amount of energy your body is taking in, you will become ill.

On the website it gives you career opportunities, and people will get in contact with you promising excellent career opportunities, excellent benefits of selling, you will see people on social media sites like Facebook saying how they are doing really well selling the product, have a great team behind them, going on holiday etc, now his makes it sound so exciting, all you have to do is promote the product and sell it, and you make money, great.. You are told that two really big stars are using the product, Christian Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, now these stars are paid millions of pounds to endource this product, but if you think about it they really won't be using it, they play football which requires 90 minutes 2 times a week, they train every day sometimes twice a day, now they need to be taking in more than 1,184 calories a day, especially as they are male, so please think about this before signing up to the product because they are promoting the products.

Herbalife is what is described as a multi level pyramid scheme, a multi level pyramid scheme is based on people distributing the products and people buying the products, the people at the bottom of the pyramid will not be earning any money and the people at the top will be he high earners, people are recruited with the promise of earning big money, working from home and being able to quickly move up the chain, the more you sell the more money you make. To join Herbalife you need to buy the products, you will then receive a discount on the products, you then have to sell the products in any way you possibly can, by door to door leaflets, by promoting he products on your social media site, pyramid schemes this website describes pyramid schemes in better detail, but basically you won't be making any money till you make your way up the pyramid scheme, and most people won't be doing that because they won't get enough people to buy he products.

Most people that distribute Herbalife are not people with any background knowledge on health, nutrition or fitness, I'm not saying that everyone should have that background knowledge, but personally if you do not know what you are selling how do you expect to sell it, I have been as,ed on many occasions to sell it, and to start with the idea of earning extra money did seem like a great idea, until I reseated the product or the lack of research I could do on the products, as the website is great at saying how they have all these amazing people working for the product but lack any information on the product it self, personally I am a big believer in eating food and exercising, the old saying eat less move more works well for me, however I certainly know I need more than 1000 calories a day to survive let alone if I am doing exercise. 

Recently I have been told I would be good at being a coach for them, and that I am wasted in my job! I am a fitness coach I am also saving up to do a nutrition course, now I work in a gym and coaching people would be good, and giving them advise on nutrition, which I am not yet qualified to do, however the Herbalife people automatically think they are qualified to give nutritional advise to people, now unless you have done a degree in nutrition or done a course and worked your way up for 7 years, you are not qualified to give nutritional advise, also these people coach people exercise etc, just because you have done your level 2 fitness exam, which any one can do, does not mean you are greater than the next person, it is a hard job being in the fitness industry and there are always new things to be learnt and researched, Herbalife being one of them, before you decide extra income is good, make sure you research the product you are trying to sell.

Would you buy a product by someone who is just a Joe Bloggs from across the road, that has no knowledge in the fitness and nutrition industry? I know a lot of people are after quick fixes, have tried it all and are still depressed about their weight, but please do not take to shakes as a way to do it, there is enough information on the Internet, books, join a gym, even go to the doctors and get sent to a dietician who will help you! Sign up for slimming world or weight watchers which also have great results (I will do a post on them) do it as a family, just please make sure you eat.

Juice plus what is it? Will it work?
Juice plus was founded in 1993 so it is actually a relatively new product, juice plus, juice plus states how it is hard to eat fruit and veg a day, so have concentrated the best part of 30 different fruit and veg and put them into capsules, that adults take two capsules and children take one a day. 

Here is a quick run down on the programme thanks to a weigh loss website what is juice plus?
- meal replacement plan with 3 elements
- cut down on calories by substituting meals for shakes or bars
- up your fruit and veg intake
-supplement your diet with juice based tablets

How to follow the plan:
- detox for 2 weeks
-replace 2 meals a day for 2 weeks
-take the juice plus supplements

Yet again it's only around 1000 calories a day, just like Herbalife, which is why people, especially very overweight people see the results

It is yet another pyramid scheme so only the people on the top will benefit from it, it contains a lot of chemicals in the shakes and the capsules, only the people with the products can see what's in them as the website are very good at hiding them, and just promoting how amazing it is to have the products.

You will get results if you are severely overweight, the same as if you cut down to 1000 calories without the shakes, the same as if you would to just drink an average protein shake at every meal rather than food.

Please do your research properly before falling down those routes, and remember photo shop is a lot of people's best friends



Friday, 27 May 2016

Post workout meal

Post workout for me is my lunch as I tend to workout lunch time once I drop the children at nursery

So I need to make sure it has all the correct macro and micros to help repair my muscles from my workout


Veg sausages
Salad
Sweet potato
And fig jam


One pot meals

I love one pot meals, as a busy mommy it makes my life so much easier

Here is my dinner, it is chicken and chorizo jambalaya 

One onion
One pepper
Tim of tomatoes
Chorizo
Frozen diced chicken
Cajun spice
Rice
Chicken stock

Put it all in the pot and cook till the rice has cooked takes about 40 minutes in total