Healthy Vegetarian and Vegan, Quick and Easy Meal Ideas

Hey All

The past few weeks have been so busy and I wanted to share my latest favourite vegetarian and vegan cookbooks with you.

I went vegetarian around March time, I eat the occasional fish so technically I guess I'm pescatarian but I would like to cut that out too. Me and my OH used to eat a lot of vegetarian meals in the house and always made curries, chillies and Mexican dishes vegetarian so I wanted a bit more inspiration for more meal ideas that would be health and easy to do!

Joe's Chicken Pie

Good morning everyone!

I've been trying to be a bit more adventurous with food recently - by this I mean trying out some more recipes, not suddenly eating locusts etc....

So I have seen many posts about Joe's Chicken Pie from Joe Wick's Lean in 15 recipe book and I couldn't wait any longer to try it out myself.

It really didn't disappoint!

It was pretty simple to make too, leeks, mushrooms and chicken cooked up in a pan before adding a small amount of double cream, cornflour and some chicken stock and simmering for a while.

Lastly the spinach is added and allowed to wilt into the mixture before adding into a big baking dish and adding the filo pastry sheets to the top. I've never made anything with pastry before and scrunching up the sheets was a new experience for me!

Then you simply drizzle a bit of olive oil on top and put it in the oven for 20 minutes.

The first time I ate the pie I had some parsnips and peas to use up so had those, but the ingredients make four portions so I have also had some roast veg (carrots, courgettes and peppers) and also one of the frozen bags of veg that you microwave (peas, carrots and green beans).

I really enjoyed it and I still have one portion left which I am saving for a rainy day when I feel like I need a filling meal that isn't too stodgy. I added this into My Fitness Pal and each portion was around 400 calories before adding veg, so it's easily a 500 calorie meal.

Have you tried Joe's Chicken Pie? Have you tried any other recipes from the Lean in 15 books?

There are so many I want to try but not enough time!!

L xxx

Cliff Bar Energy Bar

Hey All

A few weeks ago L and I were contacted to see if we wanted to try out some Cliff Bars as they'd also launched a new flavour for spring Coconut Chocolate Chip. As we both love these type of bars as a treat or pre/post gym snack we couldn't wait to try them. I was especially excited as I've currently got a thing for coconut. 

These are different from the normal bars we have like trek and bounce balls as the texture was more cakey due to them being made out of rolled oats. We both love porridge in the mornings so really enjoyed this texture. It also makes it feel more like a cake treat which is always a bonus. 

Cliff bars are great for workouts as they are packed with protein (10 grams in the coconut one) and carbohydrates to help sustain energy during long extensive work outs or they're great for pre workout boost. I know L has especially liked having them in between work and the gym. They're also packed with vitamins that contribute to the release of energy in the body.

We were sent a selection to try pit and none of them disappointed. I'm especially a fan of the chocolate coconut flavour and it's also made using dairy free chocolate! I've mainly enjoyed having half a bar as a snack in the day to fill me up when I'm feeling especially peckish!!

Clif bars are available from lots of places on the highstreet now including boots (it's a snack in the meal deal as well), asda and tesco and they retail for £1.60 each. I've been and grabbed extras since as I need to try the white chocolate macadamia one.

Do you have energy bars as snacks or pre gym workouts?

Love M

xxx

Life Update

Hey all!

It's been a busy couple of weeks but I'm planning a comeback - blogging has been the last thing on my mind whilst I've been decorating, moving and working like crazy! But I miss it and I still end up taking photos of everything anyway.

So what have I been up to?

I've been away with work again, this time to the Cotswolds - it's a beautiful place and the people were all so friendly and overly welcoming!
On arrival at my simple B&B I was asked if I wanted tea, the answer was obviously yes.....and then tea arrived in a teapot with cups and saucers and homemade flapjack. How cute!

It instantly made me feel welcomed and I loved it, staying in different places can sometimes be daunting on your own.



I even managed a walk which was great, lovely to get some fresh air after work and seeing places like the canal above. The boats were beautiful.

I've also managed to make it out with some work friends which was lovely as I've not been out for drinks for a while. I piled on my make up and went for pinks and loads of liner, not something I would do every day.

I even got to wear a new dress out, this was from Want That Trend and cost £21.95. It's perfect for nights out, the skater style is really flattering and I love the flowers too.

With all of the decorating, moving, eating and drinking it has been a bit of a task to keep up my healthy regime and exercise.
I have a lot of routes around my new house and I've been taking my dog for a few walks and have even been for a run or two. I definitely need to up my game though, sitting at a desk all day isn't doing me any favours!

I've been trying to keep the majority of my meals on track, and have been eating good breakfasts and taking lunch to work every day.
My downfall at the moment is the evenings, I normally manage to eat a fairly healthy evening meal but afterwards I always crave something sweet!



Chia seed pudding is my latest fave - it can't be as unhealthy as all of the other desserts and treats that are on offer can it??

Admittedly I made the mistake of mixing chia seeds, almond milk and chocolate peanut butter together and that's not quite as healthy! It was actually divine though, and I know that when I really really deserve a treat it's exactly what I will be whipping up!

I've started getting bored with my meals now that I've been moved back out for 2 months and cooking the same kind of things. I need to broaden my horizons!

If you have any new recipes you've tried lately and have found to be amazing please send them my way - I was even tempted to make soup this weekend because of the horrible weather!

What have you been up to recently? Have you travelled anywhere new?
What's your favourite variation of chia seed pudding?

L xxx

Fitness Friday: Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me

I don't know about you, but I love reading lists and tips, especially when the tips are concerning fitness and diet.

I've been coming up with this list of tips recently that I wish I had known before I'd set out on my fitness journey, so I thought I'd share some with you, I may need to add to this in future!

Image from Pinterest

1) Progress is progress, and most progress is slow. Don't get disheartened because progress is always a step in the right direction

2) Regardless of your diet, unless you are eating enough to sustain your body through your exercise and general life you will not be able to function nor progress

3) You also need to stop yourself from going OVER your calorie allowance - it doesn't matter how 'clean' you eat if you are taking in too many calories for your body to burn

4) Don't make a big deal of your gym sessions - there's no need to snapchat, instagram or facebook your every workout. If I did that I would be doing it 4 days a week and lets be honest, nobody wants to see it. I am also firmly of the belief that posting your workouts on social media makes them seem like they're special - you don't post every meal or when you go to sleep, why post your workouts and make them more special than they need to be? Save it for your cheat meals and you know you've earned them!

5) Don't cut out food groups or foods unless you really do have an allergy/intolerance. Cutting something out just makes you feel like you're missing out, a balanced diet is the best lifestyle to live

Image from Pinterest

6) Save your money on the latest 'must have' products - a decent protein and caffeine are probably all that you really need to complement your fitness plan

7) If you're tired or run down, don't force yourself to the gym. Your body is telling you it needs a break - don't make it worse by running it down even further!

8) Put down the slimmer teas, stop drinking your calories in the forms of juices and fizzy drinks. Just stick with water and normal teas such as peppermint (good for bloat) and green tea (good for metabolism and natural caffeine) and you don't need to spend £25 on a few bags of stuff that will give you stomach cramps for a few days.

9) Concentrate on warming up, form, and cooling down. The benefits of these cannot be underestimated, it's no use pumping weights if you're doing it wrong and injure yourself.

10) Everyone is different, embrace advice and suggestions but know what's working for you - notice someone at the gym doing something you might want to try? Go for it, don't feel like you need to use the same weights or do as many reps

What do you think of my list? See anything on there that might help you?

I'm nowhere near perfect but if I had known some of these things a few months of years ago then maybe I wouldn't have fallen off the wagon so many times in frustration!

L xxx

Fitness Friday: 5 Ways to Swap Fixed Weight Machines for Free Weights

Morning!

I'm really getting back into my routine so I thought I'd share some ways I'm trying to vary some exercises and make my time spent in the gym the most efficient.
Swapping out using your fixed weight machines for free weights is a great way to use more muscles and burn more fat. So here's my top ones to swap out!

1) Seated Leg Extension. This trains your quads, the huge leg muscle at the front of the thigh.
Now I think we all know that isolating your quads from other leg muscles isn't going to get the results that you want very quickly.
Squats will most definitely help your quads and glutes together, ranging from wide leg squats to one leg pistol squats.............ooh err!

2) Seated Chest Press. This trains your pectoral or chest muscles.

Using your upper body muscles is much better when you use them all at the same time, performing push ups will not only use your chest muscles but your core and shoulders too. Doing them on a box as an incline push up will maximise all of these muscles and help you build up to full push ups when you're strong enough.


3) Seated Leg Press. Another that targets the leg muscles, including quads, glutes and hamstrings.
As mentioned above, squats are the best exercises for these muscles groups. Starting with body weight squats get used to the movement and ensure your form is perfect before progressing to holding weights in each hand or even a barbell.


4) Bicep curl machine. Pretty self explanatory, but I have to admit I really don't get this one!
I'm not sure why you'd use this fixed weight machine when you can pick up a pair of dumbbells and perform a better bicep curl and engage more of your muscles therefore burning more calories and fat.

The same goes for the tricep version, you can do so much more with tricep dips!


5) Any Ab machine such as a Seat rotation or Cruncher. I used to use these all the time and I can honestly say that I never saw any results from using them.
I hate to stick with everyone else but planks are the signle best exercise you can do for your core, you see progress really quickly and just need to persevere. I try to alternate normal planks with side planks, with and without pulsing my hip up and down and curling my arm underneath and back out again. 

Using bodyweight exercises are so much better than fixed weight machines. Not only do you use more muscles because you engage your core and require more muscles to help balance your body during the exercise, but you can see faster results and that's something I can agree with having experienced it myself!

What's your favourite bodyweight exercise? Do you have any favourite routines?

L xxx

Fitness Friday: Current Workout

Hello there!

Fitness recently has been a topic that I just haven't been able to get my head around.

I absolutely love it and still enjoy going to the gym and trying out new exercises, however with my training in work being seemingly endless and the copious amount of paperwork and appointments involved in buying a house it has definitely taken a back seat in reality and in my head.


The last two weeks though I have been getting back into it with all of the muscle ache to go with it!

Here's my latest program:


5 minute warm up on the cross trainer - a lot of people have a bit of an obsession or a loathing of the cross trainer, I have neither. I think it's useful for my 5 minute warm up as it loosens my legs and arms and gets my heart rate going!

Image from Technogym

After this I've been getting on the Wave Machine - it simulates speed skating which means your legs move on pedals in a similar way to a cross trainer, but instead they go out to the sides. You can stand in 4 different positions, leaning on the hand rail or standing freely for the intensity to be in different muscle groups, but essentially it targets your glutes, hamstrings, quads, lower back and if you manage to balance and stand up for whole time then you'll target abs as well!
I've been building this up as my lower back has a weakness but 10 minute blocks at a high level of 12 is how I've been doing it. The higher the level the wider the pedals move apart, therefore making it more difficult.

Once my 10 minutes on that are up (and I'm dripping in sweat, it really gets me working hard!) I head to the mats.

Image from Lifehack.org

At this point I've been working on my Bulgarian Split Squats. If you don't know what they are you can view this video on youtube of Erin Stern.
I've been varying my weights whilst I get comfortable with the balance and the motion of squatting essentially on one leg, but I definitely need to work harder and squat lower, I am nowhere near Erin's level of almost hitting the ground with my lower knee where I've dropped so low, I need to work harder!

I've also been twinning this into a superset with tricep dips, and using the bench for those putting my feet as far out in front of me as I can. My shoulders are starting to look better for it but I can't say my triceps look any smaller! The arms always take such a long time to get smaller and show muscle.

Image from Women's Health Mag

After doing two sets of each of the squats and tricep dips I've been using 2 4kg dumbells and doing another super set of 15 x lateral raises followed by 15 x shoulder press. My shoulders need so much work and they burn after doing almost anything, I need to vastly improve on this area too!

Once I've completed this I get back on the Wave machine for another 10 minutes, as long as I've got some decent music plugged in this second set can go faster that the first set!

Needless to say I come off it a bit of a sweaty mess, last night it actually almost ran off my nose, then you know that you're working hard!

Then I get back to the mats. I've been loving doing some glute bridges recently as they were something I'd never tried before, here is a video for you to see. I've been trying to do them with a 5kg or 8kg weight to make it a bit more difficult, but you can feel the burn in these and the bonus is its a lying down exercise too!

Recently I've been getting as much ab and core exercises in as possible, planks are always the best but I can't say I'm good at them.
I actually prefer side planks with dips so I do a couple of them too,

My lower stomach area is definitely my worst feature, so I've been working double hard on doing leg drops but have to be careful with my lower back. I either hold a weight and alternate left leg, right leg and then both together, or I go crazy and do a many together as I can and I'm definitely improving.
I've been trying to push my hips up at the last minute to do a reverse crunch too and it's a killer ab combo!

So this is what I've been doing recently, trying to rev up my metabolism again and get back into fitness with some completely new exercises.

What have you been trying out recently? Have you mastered Bulgarian split squats? Do you have any tips?

Are you a fan of the Wave machine for burning calories and getting you sweaty?

I'm aiming to lose some pounds that I've gained recently, hoping to lose half a stone over the next few weeks by getting back into exercise and reigning in my diet.

What are you fitness goals?

L xxx

Fitness Friday: Instagram Inspiration 2

Happy Friday!

So two weeks ago I wrote a post on my favourite fitness related Instagram accounts, you can read that here. I follow a whole lot more than those so here are a few more!

This one is pretty self explanatory - beautiful female six packs.

I must admit sometimes it feels a little weird scrolling through my Instagram feed and seeing lots of half naked women on there, but it does also stop me from chomping my way through whatever I'm snacking on at the time - there's motivation all over this page!

Fitness Page For All  - this is a general fit body page, there are beautiful men to drool over, fit women to motivate you and also some funny quotes to give you a kick up the bum when you need it!

Female Physique - very similar to Female6pack, lots of beautiful bodies and more quotes to keep you motivated, even some from the wonderful Liam Neeson and strange Spongebob.

Healthy Food Advice - a great account showing all sorts of healthy recipes and drool worthy food, there are LOTS of food alternatives on this page, think healthy versions of cinnamon rolls and peanut butter cookies, along side copious meals with vegetables and lean meats. I really want to try out the two below, along with eggs baked in portobello mushrooms and zucchini parmesan crisps!

FastEasyRecipes is another very similar account to the one above, so many pancake recipes and amazing dishes like the wedges one below. They even have sushi recipes and I definitely cannot wait to scroll through them all and make a list of new things to try out!
Everything looks so colourful and enticing, it's hard to not want to eat healthy when you have dishes like this in front of you!

Lastly another girl crush, the Balanced Blonde. Not strictly always a fitness or healthy recipe poster, but she does eat a lot of beautiful food, as seen above with the fruit platter and her own homemade super food salad below looks gorgeous!
She seems to just always be having fun and living life, with a cold pressed juice in hand!

What fitness and healthy food accounts do you follow? Have you got any more suggestions for me as I am always looking for additional motivation!

Do you like the look of the recipes above? Do you follow any of the accounts already?

Let me know!

L xxx

Fitness Friday: Running Away From Bad Habits

Sometimes you can run but you don't get yourself very far.  Constantly running also won't get you far enough from those bad habits that will come back and bite you on the bum harder than ever before. 

I'm sure you've all heard the sayings, 'You can't out-train a bad diet' and 'Abs are made in the kitchen' but I've been reading a lot of magazines with interviews and they're not the only things that are going to help.

Image from Dr Kehres.com

Kick the following habits and you'll make everything much easier for yourself in the short and long term. Try changing your bad habits one at a time and see how it helps!

1) All or nothing - Stop making everything harder for yourself by stopping and starting, the yoyo diets and the running for 5 miles a day only for a few weeks before stopping again. These will not only lead to potential injuries pushing you further back than you were in the first place but also causing you to gain more weight when you yoyo diet. Get yourself in a steady routine and build on it, make it a habit and make the whole thing much easier. Consistency is key.

2) Leaving before stretching - this one really bugs me! Sometimes I understand leaving one class early to get to another as many people do when trying to squeeze in workouts after work. But its really important that you cool down after a class or gym workout to prevent delayed onset muscle soreness - that big ache you get the day or two after the gym.
I've started to attend a balance class recently to help with my stretching and flexibility and have found that it has really helped. If a separate class has helped then the 5 minutes at the end of each class is certainly going to help in the short and long term....don't skip it!

3) Starving not snacking - whatever you do, steer clear of starving yourself. Not only is this not good mentally as you will know you are depriving yourself but also it causes your body to store whatever you eat next, and guaranteed if you're anything like me when you haven't eaten in a while you end up overcompensating and stuffing your face the next time you do! Keep your sugar levels steady and your metabolism at its optimum rate by eating little and often.

4) Working out on an empty stomach - Morning cardio is something that a lot of people rave about, but this kind of thing is more beneficial if its a 40 minute brisk walk as opposed to skipping your afternoon snack before doing a workout. Having a snack before a workout will stop your sugar levels from crashing, and also provide you with fuel to complete your workout, if you're doing the right sort of workout your body will be burning calories long past the snack that you've eaten.

5) Bingeing after a workout - Everyone is a culprit of this at times, especially when we know a huge meal out is on the cards. But on your average day the worst thing is believing that you've burned off enough to allow yourself a 1000 calorie meal. You need to feed your body with protein and carbs after a workout so it can recover but anything more than a normal balanced meal will mean your workout was pointless.

6) Getting stuck in a rut - Always change up what you do, different classes, different weights, even a different order of a routine you do normally will make your body work harder and longer. Try a new class, go for a run somewhere more challenging or just with a change of scenery.

7) Not having a plan - Don't ever go to the gym without a plan. So many times I have wasted time when I haven't really had a routine or a body area that I was going to work on. You end up wandering around using whatever is available or closest to hand and then leave having done an average workout when you could have maximised your time and really worked hard.

8) Not getting enough sleep - This has to be one of my favourites, make sure you get the amount of sleep you need. I liked getting up and working out before work when I had the time, but this should never come at the cost of sleep. Sleep gives your body the chance to relax and repair and with the busy lifestyles that we all lead nowadays it's so important to get your 8 hours

These are just a few tips and tricks that I've been learning from experience and reading.

Which of these bad habits do you do most often? What are your tips for progress?

I'd have to say that mine would mostly be getting stuck in a rut as it's easy to keep doing the same things, and also binge eating after a workout. I rarely eat bad food, I don't binge eat ice cream or anything, I just get so 'hungry' that I can't stop eating so I end up eating more than I need!

L xxx

Fitness Friday: Balance and Stretch

Good morning!

After a few setbacks recently due to work requiring me to go away I have been making a massive effort to make up for my week off exercise. My first day back was hard, really really tough but I pulled through it and 'got back on the horse' so to speak. 

One thing I've really been enjoying recently is my Body Balance class. It was one of my fitness resolutions for the year, to try out a yoga/pilates type class and Body Balance is a combination of yoga based moves mixed with elements of Tai Chi and Pilates so fits this perfectly.

Les Mills Body Balance 56 Poster

Stretching after a workout is one of my favourite things - after a really tough workout there's nothing better than stretching into those muscles and feeling the burn. Not only that but it's also great to have 5/10 minutes to yourself at the end of a workout to just think about everything and nothing, holding some stretches requires minimal brain effort and you can just relax into them and allow any residual stress to float away.

I always stretch at the end of a class (it makes me really angry when people walk out before the stretching!) and sometimes when I'm working hard in the gym I look enviously at the people lying out and stretching on the mats having completed their own workouts.

I don't know why I didn't try a balance type class before but I've wholly embraced it, even though my flexibility is something that needs major work and my muscles shake throughout the whole class!

Aside from the Les Mill's Body Balance class that I now do every other week there are also many other classes dedicated to stretching. Yoga, pilates, tai chi, even combination classes such as yogalates.

Cassey Ho - Founder of Blogilates

YouTube is also great for finding videos when you can't make it to a class and channels from people such as Blogilates and Tone it Up are great for this.

The above image shows Cassey Ho the founder of Blogilates and she is beautiful! I can definitely see the benefits of having a strong core in everyday life but for fitness and exercising it's a must and I really need to work on mine!

Have you tried a Body Balance type class? Do you have any other classes similar that you would recommend?

I'm so glad I've finally tried it out and hopefully over time I'll see improvements in my flexibility and core strength, though maybe I'll need to start going more regularly!

L xxx

Fitness Friday: Writing a Diary

Hi there!

This week's Fitness Friday is all about accountability. I've never been one to write a diary but this year I really wanted to start writing one and noting down my meals, as well as attendance at any classes and any subsequent improvements I've made to show my progress in that respect.

My plan is to write out the following:

1) my meals and snacks each day - even when I've gone way over what I should have eaten. I don't count calories but occasionally I do add my food into an app like My Fitness Pal to calculate my calorie intake and see if I need to increase or decrease my intake of total calories, proteins, fats and carbs.

2) my exercises, classes, run distances and times, weights used, reps increased - basically anything that I've done. I know that I've improved over time but I would have liked to have seen the improvements over the months and years if I had written them down initially. It's greatfor giving you a boost when you're having a bad gym day and can't even do one rep.

3) quotes - Pinterest, instagram and any fitness type of person on twitter will guaranteed have a few quotes up their sleeves. Motivational, inspirational and pretty much anything to get you up and moving and not giving up. I've got tonnes of screenshots on my phone of these, they're really helpful on some days when you need a bit more to get you through. At the back of my diary there's a notes section with a lot of spare pages; I fill these with any kind of quote that inspires me.

I might go days without seeing anything new that makes me want to push harder and then come across 12 quotes that relate to me and my journey perfectly. So I scribble them all down for when I'm at a low point and I need them.

I've never been one for consistency when writing a diary. But I've begun to find it quite therapeutic to end each day writing down my food and fitness accomplishments for the day, plus anything that's inspired me. As well as the quotes in the back I also try and tie in any lapses in my food/exercise with work or social arrangements rather than leave it blank so I know in future what to fix when things start to go wrong.

So how has it been going since January the 1st?

I've had a few bad days of not writing things down but to be honest it's not a big deal; I know if I've eaten badly and when I need to cut back. I think the food part for me will probably be intermittent, when I've been slacking off and cheating a few times a week and need to reel in my snacking, or if I've been out a lot with friends for food and drinks and want the next week to try and make up for it.

What I really want is to create consistency in my plan and show myself my progress when I feel like throwing the towel in.

What I'll need is quotes to keep me going and inspire me.

I am looking into getting a fitness tracker in the next month or so but I do love the manual writing out of progress, and the Alice in Wonderland diary was just too cute to ignore!

What do you think of writing out your own progress? Would you write a diary to help you on your way and keep you focused? If not, how do you keep yourself on track over the long term?

L xxx