Mindful eat whilst abroad

In the summer I wrote about the build up to a holiday and remaining on track whilst your away - that was for a beach holiday, so what happens when your going on a city break that doesn't really involve the beach, wearing a bikini but does include layers of clothes, walking and covering up?

Well I would still keep on track is the simple answer. Weekend breaks or short holidays can sometimes be worse than longer holidays because you think ah its only a weekend it's ok, oh its only 5 days, but what happens after that, your off track, crap food has happened and your back to square one!

Ok maybe not square one but still it is a step back and even though rest days and cheat days are perfectly acceptable, if you want to achieve your goal mindful eating is key!

So how do we make this happen? You are going to be eating out most if not all nights if your staying in a hotel so just be careful what you chose when you eat, instead of having a 3 course meal just have a main, skip the bread starters, change the chips to potatoes or salad. All simple things that really add up!

Don't make the mistake of skipping meals and then eating a large dinner, keep your 3 meals a day with some snacks, especially if your out all day site seeing take healthy snacks with you to keep your energy levels high and the temptation for cake and chocolate at bay!

I always try to opt for a hotel with a gym or some kind of fitness suite so I can get at least an hour of activity in a day! Get up a bit earlier and get yourself moving you will thank yourself later in the day!


It is all about be sensible with your diet and not going to extremes! Treat yourself but make sure your don't go crazy!

The ultimate cheat weekend

As I said earlier in the week I have been under my calories by around 1200 every day! That roughly adds up to 4000 calories down this week!

I had one day where I was only 600 under because I had two lunches...  factor in my double sessions of weight training and crossfit, and I think we all know I have not eaten enough!
So I decided on a cheat weekend, not that it will replace the calories I haven't eaten but to help boost my body from feeling run down, and to curb my cravings of pizza!

So Friday after a glorious training session - well needed after a week of trying to get my routine back - I order dominoes! Medium pizza, nachos, wedges and chicken nuggets and it was amazing, totally what I needed and I woke up Saturday morning feeling satisfied and lean! I bloat quite easily but my body decided to be kind!
Saturday night is always cheat night for us, so the meal of choice this week was home made burgers, but with a twist! This time I used cheese to bind the meat instead of an egg.
This was for sure a winner!
The cheese melts into the burger creating a really gorgeous flavour when you bite into it! Paired with gerkins and cheese topped rolls this is without a doubt one of my favourite meals which was just enhanced!

As it was Halloween last night we also bought some sweets so we weren't the house without sweets, but no one came! So now I am left with a massive bowl of sweets and chocolate...hard life right! But I am not eating them all at once, because well calories and the fact I would probably vomit!

So it has been an awesome foodie weekend which I really felt was needed! Onward and upwards for the week ahead!

I just can't get enough...

Food! 

Upping my training meant I was working alot harder and obviously I was going to be tired, but after week 3 I started to feel exhausted, like really exhausted and was finding it hard to function normally - but why? I was sleeping enough so that couldn't be it, so I turned to the foods I was eating. 
Now I briefly touched upon this last week but eating is SO important!! Sounds obvious right? But really it's not. I thought I was eating enough, but when I tracked for a day I was around 1000 cals under my eating, my carbs were too low and I was not getting the right amount of energy in for the energy I was putting out. 

So I logged into good old My Fitness Pal and reassessed my goals, my training hours and weight, hit save and up comes my calorie allowance of 2750... wow! I don't think I have ever eaten that much in one day unless it has been Dominos cheat meal!!
So I began logging my food for the day making sure I was eating enough carbs - still working on this, enough fats again still working on this, hitting my calorie goal or at least near it to make sure I have the energy and nutrients I need to function. 

Eating this amount of food is harder than you think, sure I could stuff my face with high calorie foods for 3 meals a day and hit it, but that it is not effective and will not benefit me in anyway! One of my fellow gym goers said it doesn't matter what form it goes in you just have to eat... even if it means takeaways and Burger King... no just no. If you are looking to get fat and basically undo the hard work you are putting in when in the gym then sure go for it, but I don't recommend following this advice at all! 

I want to be lean, muscular and have low body fat, so eating clean is a high priority to me, my boyfriend eats 3000 cals a day of healthy clean food, carbs and fats included, he is working on bulking so experimenting with food to see what works best for him - I can assure you it is not Burger King! 

So if you are looking to track your calories and see how much you are eating or not eating I highly recommend My Fitness Pal, it has a great online community as well!

Know your body type

There are 3 types of body types Ectomorph, Mesomorph and Endomorph. Knowing your body type is key to helping you develop your workouts and making sure you are working to your best potential for your body. 

Type 1: Ectomorph 

• Typically skinny
• Small frame
• Lean muscle mass
• Doesn't gain weight easily
• Fast metabolism 
• Flat chest
• Small shoulders 

Workout types - short and intense and focus on big muscle groups.

Type 2: Mesomorph 

• Athletic and rectangle shape 
• Hard body with defined muscle 
• Naturally strong 
• Gains muscle easily 
• Gains fat easier than ectomorph
• Broad shoulders 

 Workout types - cardio and weight training, respond best to weight training, watch your calorie intake

Type 3: Endomorph

• Soft and round body 
• Typically short and stocky 
• Gains muscle easily 
• Gains fat easily 
• Finds it hard to lose fat
• Slow metabolism 
• Large shoulders 

Workout types - cardio and weight training and watch your calorie intake. 

You may read these at first and think that you don't fit into one specific type, but if you read into detail on which one you will workout exactly which category you fit into and it will help you with your training plan. 

For example I am an endomorph, I gain fat easily but I also gain muscle easily - my quads are an example of this!

Watching my calorie intake and tweaking my training really helps with keeping my body fat down and keeping my muscle gain up. 

Always work to your best potential in your workouts, challenge yourself everyday to see the changes and to make sure you don't hit a slump. 

Protein ice cream

Every day I have heard the ice cream van, I am a lover of ice cream, it doesn't even have to be summer I just love ice cream! 

So a good friend of mine suggested making my own healthy version of ice cream.

So here is the recipe for homemade protein ice cream!

Ingredients:

• Greek yogurt 
• 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder

Prep:

• Use two to three table spoons of greek yogurt into a container
• Add one scoop of protein powder into the container and mix into the yogurt until its smooth
• Put into the freezer until it is frozen and eat! 

It is really easy to make and so delicious to eat!  It takes a while to freeze so mid afternoon prep for an evening treat is advisable. 

To mix it up you can always try a Greek yogurt with falvour such as strawberry or lemon.

If you don't use protein powder on a regular basis then using a flavored yogurt may be for you.

Let me know what flavours you are trying! 

Looking for exercise tips, advice or have your questions answered? 

Email us at sweatstretchlift@gmail.com 

Chicken Kebabs

Summer is round the corner, and my appetite is changing, less of the Sunday roasts and winter comfort food and more of the light, fresh foods.

So this weeks recipe is homemade chicken kebabs - really easy and So tasty! 

Ingredients:

• Chicken - ready diced x 2 packs 
• 4 peppers

For the marinade

• Honey
• Garlic salt
• Soy sauce 

Prep time 30 mins

• Mix the honey, soy sauce and garlic salt into a tupperware box, make a good amount of marinade sauce to ensure you cover the chicken
• Put the diced chicken into the marinade, put the lid on the tub and shake well
• Leave for 30 mins in the fridge
• Cut the peppers into chunks 
• Once the chicken has been left in the marinade for 30mins or more take out of the fridge
• Put the chicken and peppers on the skewers
• Place under a grill and turn them over every 10 mins to ensure the kebabs cook through 
• Serve on a plate with coleslaw, potato salad and some fresh veg - we chose cucumber and carrots, along with greek dips

It is the perfect summer evening meal - it can be cooked on the grill or on a BBQ, and it is healthy and clean as well! 

To mix it up a bit you can add on prawns, chorizo or onions for some variety!

Looking for exercise tips, advice or have your questions answered? 

Email us at sweatstretchlift@gmail.com 

Egg Muffins

The love affair with eggs continues - today I am all about the egg muffins.

This one is basically an omelette in the shape of a muffin and it is delicious! It is also one of those recipes where you can pretty much use any ingredient and it will taste good... well within reason! 
But if you ever have veg left over or pieces of meat this is a good chance to use them up! 

So grab the left over veg and lets begin! 

Prep time - 10 mins 

• cut up the veg into smaller pieces 
• depending on how many you want to make depends on how many eggs you use - for the sake of the recipe we are using 6 
• crack the eggs into a bowl and scramble them then pour in the vegetable mix and stir
• once everything is mixed together pour the mixture into the muffin tray much like you would baking a cake
• place into a pre heated oven - gas mark 6 for 20 mins 
• checked they are cooked through and enjoy!

I tend to have these as a lunch so have only eaten these on their own or with toast. If you are looking to have these with dinner I would suggest salad, potato - sweet, jacket or new!

Another variety is lining the muffin tray with bacon, pre cooking for 5 mins and then adding the mixture! Yum! 

Looking for exercise tips, advice or have your questions answered? 

Email us at sweatstretchlift@gmail.com  

Burgers

Home made Burgers – makes 6 burgers

Ingredients

·      Minced Beef – large packet

·      Half an onion

·      1 clove of garlic

·      1 egg

Prep time 1hr - 1hr 15mins

Cook time: 20mins

·      Cut the onion in to small pieces along with the clove of garlic.

·      Add them to a large dish along with the minced beef.

·      Mixed up the onion and the garlic into the beef

·      Crack an egg onto the mixture and massage the egg in.

·      Once everything is mix together, take a handful to make the burgers

·      Out of this mixture you should be able to make 6 depending on how big you make them, for more burgers, just add more meat!

·      Once you have made your burgers, put them in the fridge and leave to set for 45 mins to an hour

·      Once they are ready place under the grill to cook

Serve with grated cheese on top (melt for extra tastiness!) buns and gherkins!

These are just my personal tastes though, I would love to know how you serve yours!

 

 

Looking for exercise tips, advice or have your questions answered? 

Email us at sweatstretchlift@gmail.com

Spicy tuna with vegetables

Ingredients – serves 3

·      Tinned tuna x 2

·      Red peppers x2

·      Red or white onion x1

·      Tin of chopped tomatoes x1

·      Diced pancetta or chorizo

·      Nandos sauce – few drops for some extra flavour

·      Risotto

Prep time – 10 minutes

Cooking time – 15 minutes

·      Cut the peppers and onions and put into a pan with a small amount of oil in.

·      Whilst the vegetables are cooking, prepare the water to boil for the risotto

·      Once the vegetables are browned, add in the two tins of tuna along with either the chorizo or pancetta for some variation of flavour

·      Let the meat and fish brown

·      Add the chopped tomatoes in along with some Nandos sauce – spice level depending on how hot you like it

·      Allow the meal to simmer whilst the risotto is cooking

·      Keep stirring to allow it to cook through.

·      Once the risotto is ready, drain the water and pour the risotto into the pan with the tuna and vegetables

·      Stir in the risotto, letting it soak in the flavours

·      Once ready dish up and serve with salad or some cheese melted on top!