HEALTHY VALENTINE'S DAY RECIPE: DARK CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRIES

Whether you're celebrating with a special someone or going solo this Valentines Day, it's no excuse to gorge on junk! You can even have the food of love...chocolate and if consumed responsibly it will not affect your healthy eating.  So I thought I would share with you all my method on making chocolate covered strawberries which I know is pretty simple but I mainly wanted to use this as an opportunity to show how you can eat chocolate guilt free this and also throw in some of my personal tips when making them.

Ingredients:

2 Punnets Strawberries
2 Bars Dark Chocolate (440g)
Red Decorating Icing
Red Sugar Sprinkles

Method:
Step 1- Rinse strawberries thoroughly in cool water and dry very well with paper towel.
Step 2- Melt your dark chocolate. You can do this two different ways; in a double boiler or in the microwave with a heat proof bowl.
Step 3- Hold the strawberry from the stalk and proceed to dip all your strawberries into the melted chocolate then place on a baking sheet.
Step 4- While setting, decorate your strawberries with either drizzles of white chocolate, sprinkles or decorating icing. It's really up to you.

Tips:* Make sure your strawberries are completely dry before you dip them into the chocolate otherwise the chemical reaction between the water and melted chocolate isn't going to end well.

* Ways to be creative and have fun with decorating your strawberries is to spell out names or write Happy Valentines Day by placing one letter on each strawberry. Use colourful icing or different coloured sprinkles, even 100s and 1000s.

I hope you all enjoy this recipe and perhaps use it on Valentine's Day as a responsible way of consuming chocolate on a day that is otherwise so tempting.

 

Thank you for reading!



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ULTIMATE SUPER FOOD PROTEIN SMOOTHIE {RECIPE}

Breakfast is easily the most important meal of the day! When you think about it, breakfast is the first thing you eat after dinner the previous day and means to break the fast so it's definitely not something to skip. Make sure you fuel your body to start the day with a nutritious combination of protein, antioxidants and fiber. This is a smoothie that incorporates all of those things and more so keep reading to find out how to make one of the best things you can have for breakfast.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup Frozen Mango
1/2 cup Frozen Berries
1/2 Banana
1 scoop Protein Powder
1 cup Almond Milk
1 tbsp. Chia Seeds
1 tbsp. Cacao Nibs
1 tbsp. LSA Meal
1 tbsp. Coconut Butter

Directions:
Step 1- Place all of the ingredients into a Vitamix, blender, Ninja or some sort of food processor and blend until smooth.
Step 2- Pour into a mason jar or large cup and enjoy through a thick straw (generally for bubble tea) or by drinking directly from the cup.

So that's the finished recipe, it's as easy as that! No more excuses for not eating breakfast because this protein smoothie takes about 10 minutes to make and even quicker if you're rushing!

Keep in mind that these are just the basic ingredients that you could use. Once you start feeling a little more adventurous you can add things like spinach, acai or spirulina powder. It's really up to you and the possibilities are endless but the main aim of this is to fit as many super foods into the one little smoothie which will maximise the nutritional value.

Thank you for reading.



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BROWN RICE VEGETABLE BAKE {RECIPE}



Eating vegetables doesn't have to be boring! Perfect proof is in this brown rice vegetable bake where the meal is 50% delicious veggies. Try this if you desire adding more vegetables to your diet and aren't sure how. Other vegetable based recipes I have done that you may enjoy include a healthy green stir fry, spinach and quinoa muffins, vegetable nuggets and vegetable lasagne but keep reading to find out how I made this nutritious and delicious Brown Rice Vegetable Bake.

 

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups Brown Rice
1/3 cup Cheese
1 Zucchini
10 Kalamata Olives
Pumpkin (to taste)
1 Salad Onion
2 Eggs
2 Tomatoes
Pine Nuts (to garnish)

Directions:
Step 1 - Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius fan forced and crease a baking dish.
Step 2- Put rice in the microwave for 15 minutes and while waiting for it to cook cut up the pumpkin and salad onion then place it into a bowl to set aside. Season with olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika. Cut up your tomato and zucchini and put that into a separate bowl.
Step 3- Once your brown rice has finished cooking and set for 15 minutes, add 2 beaten eggs and 1/3 cup of cheese then stir together and place this in the base of your baking dish.
Step 4- Place the pumpkin and onion mixture on top of the rice mixture and place that in the oven for 15 minutes. Then add the zucchini and tomato mixture, the pinenuts and the olives then pop in the oven for an additional 15 minutes.
Step 5- Leave to cool for 15 minutes then slice up and dish with salad.

 

 Thanks for reading!



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HEALTHY BANANA BERRY PECAN SORBET {RECIPE}



We are smack bang in the middle of Summer and oh my has the heat been crazy lately, reaching temperatures into the 40s. It's no wonder you're probably craving some ice cream but step away from that Cold Rock and don't even think about going near a Wendy's. Here I have a healthy alternative to ice cream that tastes so good you may even pass up choc chip peanut butter ice cream for this delicious banana berry pecan sorbet.

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HOW TO STICK TO YOUR FITNESS GOALS



We are now more than half way through the first month of 2014 and I have a very important question for you all. Have you kept your New Years Resolution thus far? I'm specifically talking to those of you (so probably most of you) who made a fitness or health related goal for this year! If your answer is yes then congratulations and this article will further help you stick to it. If you answer was no then don't beat yourself up about it and think you have to wait until next year, give it another go and use these five tips to help you.

 

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TIPS FOR STAYING HEALTHY DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON

With Christmas comes all of the many parties and gatherings; bringing not only people together but also food and a hell of a lot of it. Due to this, it may well be the hardest time of the year to eat healthy especially after a few wines when all motivation to control yourself during a family feast or work break up party goes out the door. All of that is why I have created these tips for staying healthy during the holiday season that I hope you find helpful.

 

Healthier Alternatives
Ever heard of Choc Coconut and PB Banana Slices? Well I will forgive you if you're a new reader and haven't heard of these but earlier this year I created the recipe for them and they are such a delicious and satisfying sweet treat. Why not trade these for Christmas coconut ice this year? As for rum balls, use dates instead of sweetened condensed milk and walnuts instead of cake crumbs to make for a healthy alternative. Dying for some ice cream with your Christmas cake? Blend up a frozen banana instead for what tastes exactly like real thing. You can pretty much turn any holiday treat into a healthy recipe which means you can enjoy all the sweet desserts guilt free! Get creative and reap the benefits.

Bring Food
If you're not hosting the Christmas party then offer to bring a plate of food that way you can put together a healthy dish that ensures you have something nutritious to eat just in case the other options aren't so healthy. Maybe put together a massive healthy salad that you can fill your plate with or bring along some of your healthier alternatives to Christmas treats! You're sure to impress your fitspo friends who may also want to eat healthier this holiday season.

Keep Up The Exercise
By sticking with your usual exercise routine it evens out some of the bad food you may eat and the worst thing you can do is give up your exercise around the holiday season because it's when you need it most! It also gives you the opportunity to indulge in a few treats and add an extra 10minutes of cardio to your routine to make up for it. Besides, you never want to take too long off exercising because your body gets out of shape much quicker than it gets in shape; don't ruin your progress!

Everything in Moderation
If you read my blog often then you know I strongly believe that food restrictions are one of the worst things that you can do to yourself. Humans are programmed to want what they can't have so if you tell yourself you aren't allowed to eat rum balls over the holiday season, all you're going to crave and all your brain is going to scream at you is "RUM BALLS"! We aren't pigs so we can control how much we eat and that means that you can eat anything your little heart desires as long as the portion sizes are reasonable and you don't overdo it. Unless you're eating Pringles which claim "once you pop, you can't stop" then you're pretty much safe to eat anything.

 

 

So what do you do if judgement flew out the window for a little bit and when it came back you realise that had one too many mince pies? Just forget about it! You're only human and the holidays are made to be enjoyed so please don't beat yourself up over a couple of slip ups; just make a mental note to work it off when you're back into your usual routine.

 

Those are all of my tips for staying healthy during the holiday season and I really hope that you found them helpful. From what you can probably tell through this article, you do not need to deprive yourself at all over this holiday season. Life is meant to be enjoyed so don't let the guilt of indulging in a few treats ruin your time! Just remember that moderation is key and exercise is a massive part of remaining in shape over this holiday season.

Thank you for reading! Happy Holidays!





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DO YOU HAVE A MORNING ROUTINE? A GUIDE TO RISING EARLY AND STARTING THE DAY PRODUCTIVELY



Forget the saying waking up on the wrong side of the bed; the bigger issue is sleeping in and I'm going to tell you why. Waking up on the wrong side of the bed refers to being in a bad state due to the way you woke up but really the only reason you would be angry in the mornings is if you slept in and had to rush out of your house. Rising early allows you to start out your day positively and productively resulting in a happy morning and better day.

My inspiration for this article came from a lot of you who are currently undertaking my 5 Day Detox, 7 Day Guide and Beach Body Program who have been struggling with fitting in the morning workouts. A lot of you have been combining the morning and afternoon workouts into one, which is fine if that is what you have found works for you, but there shouldn't be any reason you can't find time in the morning and hopefully this article will help you.

My Experience
Up until a couple of years ago I would sleep in at any opportunity given and as late as I could. The early starts only began when I started being assigned the morning shift at the Bakery I was working at which consisted of waking up at 4:30am to get to work at 5am. In doing so I realised the benefits of getting up early of which I get into later in this article but it really did change my mindset and inspire me to start my day off right which ultimately meant rising earlier.

The Truth About Sleeping-in
It's so easy to hit the snooze and let it take up our getting ready time before work or use the weekend as an excuse to sleep until noon. However, the truth of the matter is that those extra minutes (on work days) or hours (on weekends) of sleep are of less benefit to you than if you were to get up and going. Hitting snooze and sleeping for an extra 20 minutes is an absolutely useless practice because once you wake from your deep sleep, anything on top of that is really not of any benefit to you. I do believe in using the weekends as wind down time and taking a couple of hours extra sleep but don't let it take up your whole precious weekend by waking up at noon when the day is half over.

Morning Routine
One of the major benefits that resulted from waking up earlier was forming a morning routine and therefore starting the day off productively, something those who sleep in do not get the pleasure of. What I mean by morning routine is having the time to brew a coffee, make a proper breakfast, exercise, plan out your day and then take your time getting ready rather than rush around slapping on makeup and hopping into clothes. I highly recommend adopting some sort of morning ritual as it creates some sort of logical order to your day and in the words of Aristotle "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

To give you some inspiration I am going to briefly outline my morning routine as an example of what yours could be. This is pretty much how I start my day every single morning and I feel like it helps me achieve more, increases my positivity and results in productivity. I also very briefly touch on my morning routine in this article written back in June.

First stop is the kitchen where I will make my morning coffee before heading into the office to drink it while checking emails. Then I proceed to get changed into workout gear for some yoga a bit of cardio on my treadmill followed by a shower. By this time I am pretty hungry so will make up some breakfast which is usually one of two things; a two egg tomato and parsley omelette with avocado on the side or Greek yoghurt and homemade muesli. Afterwards I spend the next half hour to forty minutes in my beauty room putting my face of makeup on and dressing myself for the day. Then I head out the door completely relaxed, fulfilled and rejuvenated; ready to face the day.

As you can see, I slip in my morning exercise pretty much straight after I wake up so if you are currently doing my 5 Day Detox, 7 Day Guide or Beach Body Program then this is when I recommend fitting in your morning workout.

Now that is the ritual the works for me but everyone is different and you have to find your own rhythm; the series of actions that increases your positivity and productivity. I recommend trying a few things out and seeing how you go. If you have any questions then don't hesitate to ask as I would love to help in any way possible. Also if you do already have a morning routine then give me the jist of it in a comment below as I would love to hear from you!

 

Thanks for reading ♥

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ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EXERCISING SAFELY (GUEST POST)

(Image Source: We Heart It)
 

Exercise, as we are often told, is key to living well and enjoying life to the full. It helps us to live longer and generally promotes well-being. Millions if not billions of people around the world find pleasure from participation in various sports and activities. However, if carried out incorrectly, exercise can cause damage and distress.

The first point to make when we consider safe exercising is that you should ensure you are fit to exercise before you begin. If you have a pre-existing medical condition, check with your doctor as to whether or not the exercise you wish to undertake is suitable. If you are changing your exercise routine, it may also be prudent to check with a medical professional first. For instance, if until now you have partaken in a light jog several times a week, but you now wish to participate in strenuous cardiovascular activity on a daily basis, a doctor may need to be consulted should you have a medical condition.

 

Before you begin exercising, make sure you have the right clothes to exercise in. Trousers and tops should be loose fitting, but not too baggy. Invest in a pair of proper sports trainer with the correct instep to suit your feet. This should help prevent any back problems from developing. Make sure you carry a bottle of water with you whilst you are exercising too, so you can avoid getting dehydrated.

A proper warm up helps your muscles to relax in preparation for the work ahead. Focus on gently stretching your arm and leg muscles, without placing too much strain on them. Start off your exercise slowly and gradually increase the level of activity over time, if you are new to it. Listening to your body during the exercise will help you to avoid overuse injuries. Whilst you are out and about, watch out for uneven pavements, wet floors or other obstructions which can make your exercise unsafe. If you do suffer an injury whilst out in public, visit www.firstpersonalinjury.co.uk/no-win-no-fee-compensation for more information on what you may be entitled to.

Should you find yourself feeling very unwell, or if the exercising is making you feel faint, it might be time for a break from the activity for a week or two. Equally, if you notice persistent pains or aches in your joints, your body may be trying to tell you that you are pushing yourself too hard. Ideally, you should mix different activities in order to prevent repetitive wear. For instance, rather than running everyday and placing constant stress on your knees and ankles, intersperse with bouts of swimming or tennis.

If you go on holiday, or have other reasons for taking a break from exercising for a while, don’t be tempted to go straight back in at the level you were at before. Build up to your previous exercise regime gradually instead. Your body will thank you for it. In fact, your body will thank you for following all of these tips!

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