Sunshine salad...

I am a huge fan of salads. Many people find them boring or not filling enough but think the complete opposite. Yes, if you are just going to have some leaves, a tomato and a cucumber on your crazy quest to be a stick, then you will find your blood sugars crashing and find yourself starving within half an hour. I on the other hand cram my salads full of yummy goodies so that each mouthful is nutritious and enjoyable. 

This was a post workout salad I ate today for lunch. Some people think I am strange because I put fruit with various different ingredients, i have a huge sweet tooth and I find that blueberries on a salad really make it more enjoyable and break up the taste a bit. They are also full of antioxidants and are brilliant for your hair and skin. I don't believe in depriving your body of anything, so diets lacking in fruit are a big no no for me. They may have sugar in them, but it is naturally occurring and in moderation, they help to indulge your sweet tooth and provide a varied diet.

Salad ingredients:

-spinach

-cucumber

-tomatoes

-avocado

-chicken

-cottage cheese

-blueberries

-seed and nut mix

-homemade lemon and rosemary olive oil

What ingredients make your perfect salad? Don't forget to follow my blog and I would love to hear from you guys reading :)

xx

to be inspired...

http://pinterest.com/zolakt/fitness/

I think its important to remember that just because you want to look a certain way, you need to look at the progress you have made so far. Make each achievement a big deal. It will give you the inspiration to keep going.

So get up and do something active... you will feel so good afterwards.

xx

Twinings Peppermint tea review...

As you all know, I suffer from a gluten intolerance. Its not severe enough for me to check every single label however I stay clear of breads, pastries and wheat flour in general. If I do eat these foods, I end up feeling sick, lethargic and just rubbish in general. However my main reaction to gluten is severe bloating and stomach cramps, I can eat dinner and end up looking 8 months pregnant. Not only does it look awful, it is horribly painful and uncomfortable. I have a pretty sensitive stomach to food and tend to bloat after I eat in general, which really bugs me after all the hard work I put in to working out and eating clean. My quest is to find a solution, and if not a solution, just something that helps with this horrible bloating.

I have recently started taking Acidophillus tablets, which are filled with healthy bacterias for your tummy. You take them once or twice a day and it is supposed to build the good bacteria levels up in your tummy in a few weeks. I have been taking them for 3 weeks or so now and can't say I have really noticed a difference, but I will stick with it for a while longer. You can buy the tablets in lots of health stores but my favourite is Holland and Barrett as the staff are always really helpful and nice.

My next weapon in tackling the bloat is Peppermint tea. I have done quite a bit of research and it seems to come top on helping sufferers of IBS and other related digestion issues. I popped to Asda and bought both Twinings Peppermint tea bags and Twinings Digest tea bags.

Iv only tried the peppermint so far and am really impressed. They cost £1.29 for 20 bags and have no added nasties or unnecessaries, just pure peppermint leaves. I made it the same way I would green tea or black tea, by boiling the kettle and infusing the bag for a few minutes.

The taste is lovely, I was expecting it to be more 'mouthwashy' but it is really refreshing and calming. I have been drinking it after eating my dinner and sometimes lunch if I want my tummy to settle. Im actually very very impressed so far and will keep using this after meals. I will review the Digest bags after I have tested them too.

Does anyone else suffer with digestion issues and have solutions??

Before and now motivation...

Loads of people ask me how I stay motivated to get down the gym or go for a run 5 or so times a week. I'm not going to lie and say I just love getting out of bed early so much that its easy, because its not. 

I have fluctuated in size from around a 12 to an 8 many times, at the start of uni I put on around a stone and a half and was really really unhappy with how I looked, I know I wasn't obese but I was unhealthy eating anything and not caring about what was in it. I joined the gym but thought if i was going i could still eat rubbish, didn't lose any weight or muscle tone and ended up not going.

Over the first summer and with a holiday on the way, i decided I really wanted to tone up and feel good about myself, so i got outside in the countryside and ran. When I got home I would do sit ups and squats etc and slowly I began to see a change. It took me two months to put on the weight (Pretty impressive i know) and around 9 months to lose it. That was motivation enough for me to keep the weight off and if anything really change my diet and exercise to look fit not thin.

BEFORE:

 NOW:

Since Transforming my diet and exercise I am so much healthier and happier, my skin is better, I'm not so tired and I have more energy. There are still little bits that I can improve, like my chocoholic tendencies but its all a journey.

Iv tried evening exercise, i'v tried classes, afternoon exercise, going in the evening, before dinner, after dinner. You name it, I have tried it. What works for me is just getting up that little bit earlier and getting it over with.

Reasons to exercise in the morning:

• There are no excuses except you are tired. Then if you skip it, you feel guilty for the rest of the day.
• It leaves your evenings free to do other fun things.
• It gives me energy and wakes me up
• I feel like I should eat healthily for the rest of the day.

Basically exercising in the morning is my motivation to stay healthy. I know if i leave it to the evening, I won't go. The only evening exercise I will do is a class or group exercise like football or pole fitness. I know my lie ins and excuse days are the days I plan for rest. So it may take a while to work out what suits you best but once you have found it and the results become more and more obvious, the motivation will come without any effort.

super super food...

I love salads but I hate lettuce. I also find that bags of leaves tend to be expensive and very small. But, I have found an alternative with many more uses. This alternative is the much loved food of Popeye, spinach.

It is so versatile, I personally love it raw straight from the bag dipped in cottage cheese. This works really well if you roll them up like a stick and dip as they are quite sturdy leaves. I also like them in wraps, as my salad leaves or just as a side to pasta dishes etc. If you are not a fan of raw veggies and leaves, they are also yummy wilted with a squeeze of lemon and pinch of salt, mixed with other veggies and even within dishes like omelettes or sauces. If thats not enough to tempt you, you can often pick up a huge bag for around £1.

www.artsjournal.com

Iv done a little bit of research into why spinach is so good for us and basically it is packed to the brim full of nutrients.

• It came out top of a poll of the Worlds healthiest vegetables as it is high in phyonutrients and flavanoids which give us antioxidant protection.
• It has been proven to help against oxidative stress related problems, bone problems and cancers.
• It is a huge source of Vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc and manganese.
• Its also very low in calories.

My next step is to try it instead of leek sheets in a lasagne... well we will see how that one turns out soon. So pop to the shops, grab a bag of spinach and tuck in because you can never be too keen on greens.