Homemade Protein Bars!

Around 4pm each day, I like to enjoy myself a nice cup of super strength tea and a protein snack of some form. Huge fan of Quest Bars and MyProtein Almond & White Chocolate cookies. However they do come at a high cost. Living in the UK I have to get my Quest Bars imported or buy through a company who Imports them so they cost me around £23 for not even two weeks worth. On top of my usual clean eating food bill and daily supplements (after work out shakes, super-green juice, Omega's) I only allow myself one box a month and then I have to get my mid afternoon protein fixes from either shakes, boiled eggs, a packet of turkey ham - it's definitely not the same. So this week when I ran out of my treats I decided to get a little creative in the kitchen. By that I mean destroy my kitchen & getting peanut butter everywhere..  BUT the end result was some pretty tasty (even if I do say so myself) Homemade Protein Bars!

Ingredients:

400g uncooked rolled oats

340g Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter (by The Protein Works)

250ml coconut cream or milk

150g diet whey chocolate protein powder

1 tsp of Vanilla extract

1 tbsp of Manuka Honey for sweetening (you could also use Stevia)

Method: 

In a food processor add your Oats and Protein powder and blitz until the oats become fine, I had to do this in two batches to keep it semi tidy. 
In any form of separate mixer, I used my Kitchenaid - whisk the peanut butter, honey, vanilla extract and coconut cream until you reach a smooth consistency. 
Add in your oat and protein mixture and then bind together - this sent my kitchenaid a little scatty so I ended up doing the majority of the mixing by hand.

Line a tray with baking parchment and then pour in your ingredients, flattening it into the tray with a spoon. Pop this into the fridge for 2 hours to set and get to clearing up the bomb site you have made out of your kitchen... 

Once ready, slice into a batch of 12, wrapping each one in cling film et voila! 12 Protein bars, out of ingredients you probably already keep in your pantry or don't cost too much to buy - ready to go when you want them!

Macros: each bar contains roughly 22g of protein, 22g of healthy fat and 29% complex carbs. Around 380 cals.

Can you tell I tried to make a pretty design on the top? & Failed..

I've never proclaimed to be a tidy cook....

The final masterpieces, plus a bunch of other snacks and breakfast ingredients I took to work with me. 

Wisdom Wednesday - Allow Yourself

Allow yourself to dream,
And when you do dream big

Allow yourself to learn
And when you do learn all you can

Allow yourself to laugh
And when you do share your laughter

Allow yourself to set goals
And when you do reward yourself as you move forward

Allow yourself to be determined
And when you do you will find you will succeed

Allow yourself to believe in yourself
And when you do you will find self confidence

Allow yourself to lend a helping hand
And when you do a hand will help you.

Allow yourself relaxation
And when you do you will find new ideas.

Allow yourself love
And when you do you will find love in return

Allow yourself to be happy
And when you do you will influence others around you.

Allow yourself to be positive
And when you do life will get easier. 

~ Catherine Pulsifer

There's Something About..... TWP's Diet Super Greens!

I have a new Love in my life. It makes me feel fresh, cleansed and energized meanwhile tasting like a cocktail you'd find in a tropical beach! Others know this as 'Diet Super-Greens' by The Protein Works. I know it as my 'Superwoman Fuel'. It is the one health supplement for the last 2 weeks I've had with my breakfast every single day without fail! It boosts natural energy that stays with me the entire day rather than a temporary caffeine or sugar surge that leaves me wanting a nap under my desk by 3pm. I genuinely couldn't rate it higher and have and will recommend it to anyone who will listen! In fact one of the girls at work was feeling a bit sniffly last week, I dosed her up with one glass of Diet Super-Greens, 2 Vitamin B boosting Tetley Green Tea's & a lemon and manuka honey tea - 3 hours later she came back to me full of beans and feeling amazing! Guess what's on her Payday shopping list?

Before You Buy - I always think it's important to fully understand what your investing in - Good health products do generally tend come with a higher price tag that immediately consumers turn their nose up at. This isn't a ploy trying to make money out of your quest to be healthy, it's due to the quality of the ingredients that go inside the product and the scientific research that has gone into creating it. Diet Super-Greens generally retail at £32.99 for 500g which is 41 servings. However if you keep your eyes open, quite often you can find it on 'deal of the week' at The Protein Works getting up to 33% discount & Today it's included in their end of summer sale for £24.99!! I've taken the following from TWP's website to give you a little more insight into what makes this product so beneficial to your health: 

'Diet Super Greens powder reads like a who's who on the superfoods list. It is first and foremost a potent greens powder which is unrivalled in terms of its vitamin and mineral profile. As well as contributing to your FIVE-A-DAY, Diet Super Greens is designed to aid immune function and enhance cellular energy. This is because Diet Super Greens powder provides such a wide spectrum of highly bio-available whole food nutrients that are absorbed and used by the body efficiently. Every ingredient adds nutritional weight to the formula.

More specifically, Diet Super Greens is made from a synergistic blend of 23 of the most nutrient dense ingredients from the superfoods list. These include wheatgrass, barley grass powder, spirulina, chlorella, pomegranate powder, spinach powder, broccoli powder, alfalfa powder, elderberry powder, bilberry powder, carrot powder and a polyphenol blend, but to name a few.

Fat Loss Ingredients In Diet Super Greens Powder

Following in the footsteps of the hugely successful Super Greens, Diet Super Greens is formulated to help prevent fat storage and aid fat loss whilst at the same time boosting overall health. Diet Super Greens contains optimal dosages of ingredients proven to help promote fat loss. Here we breakdown the exact science of each so you can see how it can support achieve your training goals:

• Green Tea Extract (140mg) - is a very powerful antioxidant that's been shown to help increase the amount of fat your body is able to burn during exercise and improve how your body processes carbohydrates.
• CLA (500mg) - Conjugated Linoleic Acid is a special kind of fatty acid that has been shown to help prevent fat storage and accelerate fat loss at the same time.
• Acetyl L Carnitine (500mg) - has become one of the most popular fat burning amino acids in sports nutrition today based on its ability to encourage the body to use fat stores as energy more effectively.
• Yerba Mate (250mg) - is a natural, stimulatory fat loss ingredient that's renowned for providing a 'smoother', sustained energy flow compared to other harsher stimulants. It's shown to help speed up the metabolism and encourage the body to use fat stores as energy more effectively.
• Guarana (300mg) - is another natural, stimulatory fat loss ingredient that synergistically works with the super foods in Diet Greens to help increase the amount of fat your are able to burn during exercise.
• Chromium Picolinate (50mcg) - is a mineral shown to help regulate blood sugar levels and reduce cravings.
• Tyrosine (250mg) - helps the body lose fat through a very different mechanism to most other ingredients which is why it's dramatically risen in popularity within the diet market. Tyrosine is an amino acid that can help play a key role in controlling neurotransmitters that govern mental alertness, combat stress and help motivation when dieting or cutting.

Diet Super Greens is also renowned for its detoxifying, digestive and energizing properties. This is because the active ingredients in TPW™ Diet Super Greens help to support each and every cell in the body. It can be taken as a snack in between meals or as part of a diet plans. It is also ideal for anyone looking to improve their digestive processes. Diet Super Greens has also been shown to increase body alkalinity. This means it encourages the PH of the body to become more alkaline and less acidic which in turn means bacteria and viruses are less likely to thrive. This is particularly important for people with hectic lifestyles as Diet Super Greens provides a convenient way of achieving the benefits associated with eating FIVE-A-DAY of fruit and vegetables.'

  Read More About This Product & Get Yours Here!

Monday Motivation - Use Your Ears!

I saw this on Linkedin last week & simply could not agree more, so had to share. 

Knowledge is power, to keep that power we must always continue to learn.

#ThrowBackThursday

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will ~ Vince Lombardi

#ThrowbackThursday to Saturday! 

This is me, just hanging... I was attempting to do pull-up crunches. I managed a few successfully but spent the majority of the time just swinging like a monkey! I need to build more strength in my arms & core yet. 

I'm still very much an amateur in the fitness world and I never for one second think I'm something that I'm not. My failures keep my feet grounded & my game strong. Instead of putting doubts in my abilities, my failed attempts put the determination in me to do better & better I will do. 

#MonkeyBlonde 

Let me tell you about.... HSN!

The pitfalls of working out 4-6 times a week (please note I would still choose this lifestyle over any other):

• ·     I have to wash my hair most nights, meaning I need to blow dry it more often than recommended by hair experts
• ·     Where my hair is constantly tightened into a top knot, for the gym it breaks easier when I brush it out after
• ·     If I forget to take my foundation off before I go to the gym this heavily increases my chances of acne
• ·     I screw my face up when lifting, like a lot – which I constantly fear will aid premature ageing
• ·     I used to chip my nails on equipment a lot
• ·     Being on the go continuously from 5am to 9pm leaves very little time during the week for face masks and pamper sessions

My Simple Cure:

HSN Plus from Simply Supplements!

Hair Skin and Nails Formula  

·         Promotes the growth of healthy hair, skin & nails

·         A best-selling formula, with collagen & MSM

·         Added vitamin C to support the formation of collagen

·         EasyGest capsules for fast & easy digestion

What is HSN Plus™?

It is not uncommon for men and women to occasionally notice thinning hair, dull skin, or weak and brittle nails. Common causes include poor diet, hormonal changes, stress and the natural ageing process. All of these can starve the hair, skin and nails of vital nutrients. Often, the hair, skin and nails become problematic at the same time. This is because they naturally have certain compounds in common, such as collagen molecules. For this reason, high-quality nutritional supplements can be beneficial for all three. HSN Plus™ has been developed to incorporate key nutrients that are widely recognised to support the healthy growth and maintenance of hair, skin and nails. 

Healthy Hair, Skin and Nails

Collagen, Silica and MSM are the primary components of fibrous connective tissues in the hair, skin and nails. They support the matrix of the hair and nails, and strengthen the internal building blocks that create smooth and flexible skin tone. The natural levels of these compounds can decrease with age and some people find supplementation to be beneficial. This unique formula also provides 100% RDA of vitamin C to support the skins healing process, whilst promoting the healthy growth of hair and nails. Vitamin C can help to protect the hair, skin and nails against the oxidative damage caused by harmful ‘free-radical’ particles. ‘Free-radicals’ are generally accepted to be a leading cause of premature ageing. 

Easy-to-Swallow Capsules

The key ingredients within HSN Plus™ work synergistically to maintain and improve the condition of hair, skin and nails. Each easy-to-swallow EasyGest capsule provides premium-quality extracts that have been carefully selected for their high strength, potency and bioavailability. These include OptiMSM® and Naticol® Marine Collagen Plus.We sell our HSN Plus™ at the lowest price in the UK guaranteed and if you find the same product cheaper elsewhere we will refund you the difference plus 10%. As a result, this winning formula has become increasingly popular over recent years to support the health of hair, skin and nails.

Within a week of taking the recommended daily dosage I’ve noticed a significant improvement in my skin, my hair is breaking a little less and I haven’t chipped a nail!!

Survey says.......... it’s defo a worthy investment!

Better yet, I’ve teamed up with Simply Supplements to be able to offer you a 20% discount on this fabulous product using code HSN20 at the check-out!

http://www.simplysupplements.net/product/232/hsn-plus/

Happy glowing! 

Motivation Monday - The VLoggers You Need To Be Following!

Without inspiration, the best powers of the mind remain dormant, there is a fuel in us which needs to be ignited with sparks!

There never was a great soul that did not have some divine inspiration!

I am inspired by so many things, for example my best friend is one of the most independent people I know, she asks for nothing from no one but will do anything for anyone. My mum's open honesty and willingness to talk to anyone that needs a listening ear. My sister, again for independence - she moved out of town to somewhere she knew no one, got her dream job and is studying her butt off to make it work. The 70 year old disabled man that goes to the gym religiously every Monday, Wednesday & Saturday morning, he is restricted in his walking and requires help getting up and down the stairs, it sometimes takes him 10 minutes effort to get around the gym to the machine he wants to use and when he is on it, damn he puts 150% into it! He's amazing. I like to think I have a very open mind, that open mind mean's I don't judge people, and unless I'm given reason to see otherwise I'll mainly only see the positive qualities in others. What I've seen with some people is that they see what others have, what they can do, they want those abilities or qualities instilled in themselves but they don't want to change, or work for it. So it triggers a resentment toward the other person which we know as jealousy. I don't have time for jealousy, it's a ugly look on anyone. So an open mind is key, the you want it - go get it for yourself attitude is essential. Use your admiration of that 'thing' the person holds to fuel your ambition. That is inspiration. 

I think the internet is a great tool for finding that little bit of extra inspiration and motivation. I love to watch people's progress and get fresh meal idea's, new work out moves I haven't seen before, sometimes ones I have seen and I want to improve my posture on. The two tools I use mostly for these things are Instagram and Youtube. So Instagram works both ways, I've made so many friends on there. I upload my progress  and meal idea's for my followers, and I take idea's from them. We all have the same goal in life which is to better ourselves, to be the best that we can be in all that we do and so we all support each other which brings out confidence in one another. This has been a massive contribution to the success I've had so far in my fitness journey. 

So YouTube - it's been around forever but other than for drooling over Tom Hardy trailers or watching dancing dogs (have you seen the salsa dancing dog? Amazing! Go watch it) I never really used Youtube.. When Hunny Buns Fit who I avidly follow on Instagram started regularly updating her Youtube page I started following her VLogs and fitness video's - Youtube suddenly became my go to place whenever I wanted to learn something new fitness related. And lifestyle tips - because all success is dependent on the lifestyle you have. Being organised and prepping ahead so that I can go about my day with focus sets me up to conquer what's in store.

I think you need to see it to understand fully, so I'm going to leave you with links to my 3 favourite VLogger's on YouTube and I really hope they help you like they help me! 

Jen Heward (aka HunnyBunsFit) 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEZFthvYvvd5giJmYrvfa6g

Heidi Somers (aka BuffBunny)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtqrBZiHY6SyzJGqyadx5HQ

Carlie Butler (aka CarlieStylez)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkVj3yY58qOJa3K_ipk_67A

Whatcha listening toooo?

For me there's no better way to wind down after a busy day in the office than throwing on your gym gear, blasting out your favorite tunes and really blowing off some steam! It's amazing how much better I sleep when I've had a good work out. All stresses of the day boom, vanish, just like that! 

Here are my top 5 albums to bust a gutt to:

Guns & Roses, in my opinion one of the best rock bands of ALL time. No I don't care that Axel has let himself go a bit now, he was a total hotty back in the day and that's how I prefer to envision him!! 

Fallout boy!! Fav current punk pop band! Can't wait to see these guy's live in Wembley this fall!

Zebrahead! Reminds me of my Cyprus teen years, and the beach. It's important to think of the beach whilst doing core training! Can't wait to see these guys live (TWICE) in November!

K.Flay! Completely different from the bands above but I love her fresh and unique style of music, this album is great for cross training!

& when you need the Diva in you to make an appearance, you can always count on Queen Bey!!

Life with Paris

Howdy!

I've been sat here blogging for hours now, I don't have a whole lot of spare time during the week so I jot down idea's on the go and when I find a rest night that I'm actually home I try and dedicate it to writing them up. This mean's I'm actually writing this 6 day's before it's scheduled to launch. - Hey I can see the future! Ok ridiculously crummy joke, it's been a long day. Back to the point, the entire time I've been sat here typing my idea's away, Paris my faithful side kick has been curled up next to me occasionally snuggling herself into me. N'awwww! So we've had Paris nearly 3 months now, she's settled right into our home and daily routines it feel's like she's been here forever. Last time I wrote about little lady I mentioned how challenging it had been and that we had a couple of training issues. Well she's still a pain in the ass... you still can't leave a phone charger within reach and food is pretty much fair game as far as she's concerned but she's getting better each day. Her accidents are getting fewer n farther between & she hasn't face dived into my dinner for at least a week!! Progress! My mum has been amazing to both of us, I work a lot so Paris stay's with her during the work days. Mum has a 3 year old shitzu/pug and they really are best friends so it's worked out quite nicely. Boo's little face lights up every morning when I drop girly off and Paris does this crazy tail/full bum wag when she see's Boo. It's the cutest thing! 

My eyes are literally dropping right now so I need to sign out and get me some beauty sleep, but before I go here are a few recent pics of my foxy lady! 

with Spyda one of our puddy's, she like's to pretend their friends.. 

Walkies & ball are amongst her favourite things to do

Napping with mummy is another... 

We actually experienced car sickness with her, has anyone else had that with their pup? The only time she's okay is when she's on the passenger side/on my lap. Maybe that was just a ploy for the best seat in the car? 

Self Trust & Healthy Habits! Blogger Share!

I just loved this post on Zen Habits by Leo Babauta on building self trust and making healthy habits:

I Suck at Habits: How Do I Get Better?

BY LEO BABAUTA

I’ve had numerous readers tell me that they Suck at Habits. And I totally get that, because in 2005, that’s exactly where I was. I sucked at habits.

The good news is that I found a smarter way.

I learned to understand that habits are a set of patterns that I just needed to repeat until they became more and more automatic … and that setting up the right environment is everything.

Let me repeat that: setting up the right habit environment is everything.

If you suck at habits right now, that’s because your environment is set up for you to fail. It’s incredibly hard to defeat a hostile habit environment.

So the first thing to know is that you don’t suck, your environment does. You just need to learn to set up a better habit environment.

I also learned that I was often failing because I didn’t believe in myself — I would give up when things got hard, because deep down I didn’t really think I was going to succeed. I didn’t believe, because past evidence from repeated failures told me I most likely wasn’t going to succeed. I had proven to myself over and over again that I sucked at habits, and this belief got in the way of future habit successes.

What’s the way out of this negative feedback loop? You change the message. You tell yourself you’re going to succeed no matter what, and that your past failures don’t count because this time you’re going to put everything you have into it, and not allow failure. You change a habit that’s so easy to do that you can’t possibly fail … and then you let that habit success redefine your belief in yourself.

So the second thing to learn is that you can create a belief and trust in yourself if you make success your only option.

It turns out that the same set of actions will address both of these two things: 1) setting up the right habit environment, and 2) making habit success your only option, so that you can start trusting yourself.

Let’s look at those actions.

The Right Habit Environment & Creating Trust in Yourself

I could write a whole book on setting up the right habit environment, but for now let me give you these basic tips:

1. Start super small. If you want to build trust in yourself, you need to start with something incredibly easy, something you won’t fail to do. Most people ignore this advice, and fail, and then don’t believe in themselves. I’ve said it on this blog for the last eight years, but that’s because it’s so fundamental: you have to start small. Super small. If you want to run, form the habit of getting out the door and running for 2 minutes. Set the bar for success as low as you can. Start by drinking a glass of water each day, or stretching for 1 minute, or doing 1 pushup, or flossing 1 tooth.
2. Progress gradually. If you start super small, it might seem silly. But remember that you’re building trust in yourself, and setting yourself up with the right habit environment. What you want to do from there is only progress very gradually — make it so slow that it seems too easy to add more. Don’t challenge yourself, but make it a sure thing. Each step along the way, the new level of your habit becomes your new normal. And you’ll be amazed at the magnitude of successful change this can bring.
3. Create public accountability. Eventually, you might build so much trust in yourself that you won’t need accountability — but in the beginning, set yourself up with the right habit environment by creating public accountability. Tell people you’re going to do your new habit, and ask them to hold you accountable. Maybe even set up a consequence for failure. Report to them regularly, or have a public log. Trust me, with an environment like this, you’re much more likely to succeed.
4. Be all in. One of the mistakes I used to make was to only half commit myself. Tell myself in the morning that I was going to do something, and by the afternoon (or at best, a week later), I’d quietly let myself off the hook. This only caused me to trust myself less. Now, when I really want to succeed, I commit myself fully, in my own head. I tell myself that I’m absolutely going to do this, and I won’t let myself fail. I make myself an unbreakable vow. Then I do my utmost to honor this commitment to myself.
5. Journal your habit. This is an optional step, but it really steps up the habit change by helping you to learn everything you can from your experience. As you go through the habit change, you reflect on how you’re doing, what obstacles come up, what your rationalizations might be, where you can improve. Even just 1-2 sentences a day, or a few sentences every other day, can be a major factor in success.
6. Do a weekly review. If daily journaling is too much, I’d highly recommend a weekly review. Just take a few minutes once a week (set a reminder), and type up a few notes about how your week went: how did you do with your habit? What got in the way? What can you do differently this coming week to overcome those obstacles? This way, you improve at the habit each week, even if only a little.
7. Set up unmissable reminders. When people start a new habit, they often forget. So a key part of your habit environment is setting up phone/computer reminders, but also put up something visual in the place where you want to remember your habit. If you want to floss, put up a big sign “FLOSS” on your bathroom mirror, so you can’t miss it.
8. Don’t give yourself an option. This is something I’ve discovered about myself: if I allow myself to ask each day, “Should I do my habit now?” then some days, I’ll be very tempted to say, “No.” So it’s much, much more effective to not even ask the question. Just do the habit, without question. No option, no choice. Just one choice: do it.
9. Notice your negative self-talk and rationalizations. Mindfulness is incredibly important in habit change, and one of the best uses of it is to start to notice the tricks my mind starts to play on me. Notice when I have the urge to procrastinate or quit, and realize that it’s OK to have these urges, but that I don’t have to automatically follow them. I can pause, and think about it for a little bit, and sometimes not follow the urges. I can also notice the rationalizations my mind makes for not doing the habit (and our minds are very good at this!), and see that my mind is just uncomfortable with this new habit and is trying to weasel out of discomfort in any way it can.
10. Do it with someone else. This is a habit environment change that few people take advantage of, but it really creates an amazing experience that makes you much more likely to succeed. If you go for a walk (your new habit) by yourself, that’s really cool, but if you go with a friend, you’ll enjoy the conversation, look forward to your walk each day, and will be very unlikely to skip it, because you know that your friend is waiting for you in the park. If you don’t have anyone to do the habit with you in real life, look for a group or partner online, or find a coach.
11. Savor the habit. This is a step that many people skip … they just do the habit like it’s a chore they have to get through before the next thing on their list. But this is a huge mistake, because then in your mind, this habit change is a chore, and eventually you’ll want to give up this chore, because you think it’s optional. Instead, see the habit as a treat for yourself. It’s a little time to yourself, a time to practice mindfulness, time to relieve stress, time to take care of yourself. Smile, breathe, and savor every second you do the habit, and just maybe, you’ll look forward to doing it tomorrow.

How many of these habit environment changes have you tried? Are there any here that you can use to make your next habit change more successful?

Most importantly, if you “suck at habits,” can you use these tips to start building trust in yourself, so that your habit changes are odds-on favorites for long-term success?

Life Prep Sunday!!

Even if I sleep through my alarm and have to run out the door with a birds nest for hair the rest of the week, I'm always determined to at least kick my week off with a tidy start! That involves outfit prepping, face masks, manicure, pedicure, and ensuring I have everything I need for a clean eating start to the week also! Here's a couple of bits on the menu this week:

Strawberries and Blueberries - my favourite two detox fruits.

Skyr Yoghurts - I LOVE THESE! 14g of protein, 118 calories of tasty stuff! 

Banana and Spinach to be frozen, take them out an hour before your ready to use them and you have a cool refreshing base to you green shake! Add your favourite nut butter (I like cashew butter in my shakes at atm) some mango, even some blueberries, almond coconut milk, blend and your good to go! 

My overnight chia seed oatmeal - recipe posted on here last week

Big bag of almonds & that's snack prep done! 

Healthy Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies!

Due to a recent social spout, many a meals out and cheeky take outs with friends and family.. I had the worst skin break out I’ve had in years. So when I got fully back into training I vowed to cut the naughty treats back. What’s the point in training hard if the food I’m eating doesn’t compliment the goals I’m aiming for right? I’m quite determined when I set my mind to something, so when I faced Sunday sweet cravings I had to whip together the healthiest sweet treat I could. This is what I threw together.

Ingredients:

0.5 cups chunky peanut butter - I Looooove Meridians!

0.5 cups of coconut palm sugar

1 Large egg

1-1.5 cups rolled oats

0.5 tsp of baking soda

Method:

In a food processor cream together your peanut butter and Palm sugar until fluffy, before whizzing in your egg and then finally the rolled oats and baking soda.

Pop your cookie dough into the fridge for 15 minutes to set.

Measurements for cookie dough balls varey on how big you want them, I usually go for about 2 tablespoons of mixture and roll it into a ball and set them out on a well greased baking tray about 2 inches apart.

Bake at 180 degree's celcius for 8-10 minutes, cool for 5 and then enjoy with a glass of almond milk or a cup of tea! Purrrfeccccttttt!!!

Back In The Gym!!!!

Where the heck is 2015 going? August already? Seriously? This last month feels as though has been the busiest of my year so far. Works crazy busy which I love! Nothing worse than having nowt to do and watching the time tick by & I enjoy what I do, so no complaints.
In my free time I've been back in the gym training after having to take 6 weeks out for medical reasons. The first 3 sessions nearly killed me, by the 4th I was addicted to the rush again. Honey, I'm home! 
So I tend to start off my work outs with a few Yoga stretches, the downward dog, child's pose, twisting triangle, Sep head to knee, side angle & triangle. 
Then I do 10-15 minutes of cardio, just to get my blood flowing and my body warmed up. I'm not a fan of the treadmill - it bores me so I'll tend to stick to either rowing or the cross trainer. At this stage, I'm a lovely shade of sweaty beetroot, my adrenaline's going and I'm ready to kick ass. The next part depends completely on what area I'm working on that day. This week I've been mainly focusing on my core and my butt, which involves a lot of weighted squats, planks, Swiss ball roll outs, crunches (front and side with a medicine ball). Leg press, my other half taught me the progressive overload method.  Which is basically where you progressively take up the weight as you go, starting with 15 reps, when you get to a stage where you think oh I could easily do another 10, put the weight up, aiming for another 15 reps, as your weight goes up the more you start to struggle, don't take the weight back down just push out as many as you can. I've found this method has really helped me build strength all over. There's a hundred different work out's I could go into and I will 'try' to go more in depth about some of them in some later posts. (I find some of the moves quite hard to describe in writing).
I always finish my work outs with an all over body stretch out session and a protein shake!  

Finally, I've spoken about Alexa Jean before on my top Instagram accounts, well she has designed several different work out's for people that don't have gym membership that I've purchased and tested and the following one is my favvvvooouuurrriittteee:

http://www.alexajeanfitness.com/products/sore-to-the-core-30-day-ab-challenge

British GBP it works out around £6.50, the moves are simple and easy to follow but give you the most incredible ab burn after. Highly recommend it. I quite often do one of these work outs in the gym when I'm focusing on my abs but they can ALL be done at home without equipment. 

This was taken before my first session back - check the mushroom hair! Sports bra by Adidas, gym pants by Victoria's Secret.

Leg Pressing, as you can see my gym is bright, clean and fresh, one of the many reasons I love it. Down the bottom there you have the muscle clan (regulars) doing their thang! 

Gym session 2, Top is by Pink Victoria's Secret, Gym pants by Nike.

Gym essentials, smart shakers - honestly the best protein shaker you can get! My iphone arm strap and sony headphones (I like to mainly work out to punk rock). Gym pants are by Victoria's secret.

And the reason I don't work out at home very often.... Lady Paris. She likes to get a little too involved!

Baked Oatmeal Recipe!

I've been drooling over pictures of these Baked Oat dishes being posted on Instagram for months now meaning to try them out at home. The only issue I had is that it takes 45 minutes to bake, it's not an every day recipe for a girl constantly on the go. So Sunday morning whilst I was doing my food prep for work I took advantage of a rare leisurely morning and got creative in the kitchen. 

I have my mothers method of following recipes, which means I tend to scan a basic recipe and then throw in whatever I want... it doesn't always work out but 80% of the time I create something by winging it that's at least edible. Well, I went and outdid myself on this one. (Even if I do say so myself) I can see this recipe making it onto my breakfast menu every leisurely morning I have through out the autumn/winter seasons. 

Ingredients: 

2 x cups rolled oats

1 x tsp of ground flax-seeds

2 x cups coconut/almond milk

1 x large egg

1/4 x cup of coconut palm sugar or Stevia sweetener

1 x tsp of vanilla extract 

1 x large handful of washed blueberries

Butter for greasing

How we do: 

Heat your oven to 190 degree's Celsius. Grease your ovenproof dish well and pour in your choice of sweetener, ground flax-seeds and rolled oats.

In a separate mixing bowl whisk together your egg, vanilla extract and coconut/almond milk before pouring into your oat mixture. Mix well then top with blueberries and bake for 45 minutes. 

It comes out with a kind of bread and butter texture and it tastes like Christmas! 

Perfect for a sofa snuggling morning with a cup of your favorite tea!