Morning everyone!
Having written about my fitness plan for the year in a post last week (see here) I thought I'd start sharing some of my meals and snacks that I have in order to give you some ideas and suggestions in case you're lacking in inspiration as sometimes it can be so hard. I'm no expert in this whatsoever but I've lost around 2 stone and got myself to a size 10 and even though I do have my binge moments I don't often put on weight so thought maybe this could help!
First off, my number one tip is to make sure that you always have some food on you. This will mean that you are never tempted to buy anything from a shop like chocolate, crisps, cake etc that are just far too easy to pick up. I've got a range of stuff in my handbag and there's always something there whenever I need it which has stopped me many times from legging it to the corner shop. I also ALWAYS have water on me too, I get my 2L a day ever since buying myself a proper plastic bottle and swigging it when I'm 'hungry', but that's for another day.
Having written about my fitness plan for the year in a post last week (see here) I thought I'd start sharing some of my meals and snacks that I have in order to give you some ideas and suggestions in case you're lacking in inspiration as sometimes it can be so hard. I'm no expert in this whatsoever but I've lost around 2 stone and got myself to a size 10 and even though I do have my binge moments I don't often put on weight so thought maybe this could help!
First off, my number one tip is to make sure that you always have some food on you. This will mean that you are never tempted to buy anything from a shop like chocolate, crisps, cake etc that are just far too easy to pick up. I've got a range of stuff in my handbag and there's always something there whenever I need it which has stopped me many times from legging it to the corner shop. I also ALWAYS have water on me too, I get my 2L a day ever since buying myself a proper plastic bottle and swigging it when I'm 'hungry', but that's for another day.
Here's a few of my favourite snacks!
I don't think anyone will argue with me when i say fruit can be a perfect snack....its low calorie (around 50 per portion aside from a banana at 100), contains vitamin and mineral goodness and also water to add to your bodies hydration. It can be boring trying to get your 5 a day, but now I regularly get 7/8 a day without even trying as I put fruit on my breakfast, have some as my mid morning snack, a piece at lunch and maybe on the way home if I'm hungry to stop me eating something else before my tea.
I tend to eat a banana mid morning to give me a boost and also give my body the chance to burn off the extra calories, though lets be honest at 100 it's not a big deal!
Sometimes I really want crisps. I'm mostly a fan of savoury foods so sometimes I need the salt and the crunch and fruit just isn't good enough!
Nairns oat cakes are what I turn to when this happens. There are a variety of flavours but I find the plain ones (rough, organic etc) are perfect for me. When I'm in need of a boost pre/post workout and am not near a meal time I eat 3 of these with some nut butter on to keep me going; then I get the crunch and the salty taste guilt free!
You can read the ingredients and calorie values on these pictures, plus the qualities such as high fibre and no hydrogenated fat. I also sometimes eat these with a salad if I'm on a 'hungry' day.
I try not to have carbs with my salad as I have a decent helping at breakfast and try to burn those off throughout the day, but sometimes you just have to eat and these are perfect at 45 calories per oat cake.
(is it anything to do with them being called 'cake' as well? Hmm....)
I found Nakd bars just over a year ago and haven't looked back. At around 100 calories these are one of the few bars that are completely natural (all the contain is 100% fruit, nut, oat or soya crunchies), contains no added sugar, are wheat and dairy free and count as one of your 5 a day.
There are a variety of flavours and types; the apple pie bars are the original type of bars with raw fruit, oat and nuts 'smooshed' together to create a bar and the ingredients are listed on the packaging below. You can buy them individually, in boxes like in the pictures or on their website they have 'taster' boxes where you can buy a selection of bars together to try them all out.
The newer crunch range has soya crunchies added into them so that they contain more protein which is always a good thing. More protein means you are unlikely to lose muscle after burning off calories at the gym and it also fills you up for longer.
The good news is on their website (see here) you can get some great deals, currently you can get 20% off using the code NY14 but this only until the end of the month so hurry! Otherwise there are plenty of deals on their site so look out for them.
The Find Your Favourite box is £7.99 but they also sell boxes in Asda and Waitrose and probably more places too.
Sesame Snaps are my go-to snack when I've had a long day at work and know i have the gym to contend with on the way home. I often eat an apple on the way home to keep me going through my hour long drive home as its easy to get peckish around the 5/6 o clock mark.
I eat these snaps when I'm on the way to the gym so that I've got a bit of a sugar boost to fuel me through my workout. I know that once i'm in the gym I'll do it justice but sometimes it can be hard to make the decision to go!
These are quite simple; sesame seeds, glucose syrup and sugar. Normally I avoid sugar like the plague, unless its in fruit or honey I avoid it but these really do help and for days when I need something extra these 3 little snaps can make all the difference. That and there's THREE in a packet, so I feel like I'm having a big treat!
Plus its 157 calories for the packet and you can get these from Waitrose for 75p for a packet of four.....much cheaper than a chocolate bar! If you're lucky too they also do a coconut version with desiccated coconut and they taste GREAT.
Last but not least is my latest find; Bounce Balls.
I found them on a trip to Waitrose just before Christmas in the 'Free From' aisle. Being filled with protein and containing peanuts i snapped up my first one and haven't looked back since...
There are 5 in the range but I am yet to try the walnut version. The Almond, Peanut and Macadamia are all protein based and contains some whey powder to bind the ball. I find the almond and peanut ones are quite chewy but this takes me longer to eat and therefore I feel fuller quicker.
The coconut and macadamia one tastes more like a sweet that you'd have after a meal so I save this one for when I'm having a sweet tooth moment. The spirulina and ginseng ball was a newbie for me having never tried either and was very surprised to see it as a black/green colour in the package but it tastes AMAZING and I've been back many a time to get these.
My only qualm with these is that they retail for around £1.50/£1.70 which is expensive in comparison to everything else in this post. At the moment Waitrose have a deal on them where you can get 3 for £4 and I will certainly be stocking up as I do like them as an alternative especially as they contain a good dose of protein. They're also higher calories at 150-200 per ball but I'm not too bothered about counting my calories as long they all come from good sources.
So what do you think of my suggestions? Have you tried any of the bars before? Do you have an suggestions of your own?
I'm thinking of doing a Fitness Friday series so I can write about something different each week, whether it be a recipe, training plan, meal suggestions and other handy hints, would you be interested in reading them?
Let me know as I'm completely obsessed with it all and have been for a while but I don't feel like it comes across on here. I spend 5 days a week in the gym/exercising so would love write about it more!
L xxx
