Gym Bound

So this week marks the 15 week count down to my Tough Mudder challenge; which means that I cannot let my focus shift. I need to stick to my training plans; push myself harder and be accountable for my diet.

In regards to the latter I will be keeping a food diary this week which I will share with you next Sunday; it won't be perfect as I am not (at this point) a qualified nutritionist and do suffer from bouts of "I can't be bothered to make food so I will eat anything I can get my hands on!" But I am hoping that keeping the diary and sharing it with you guys afterwards will help me stay strong and be firm with myself!

Now, back to training. Ordinarily I like to train two days on, one day off but sometimes life gets in the way and you need to adjust this. One of my goals this year as part of my personal growth is to develop the will power to get up early in the morning, even in winter, to train. But as it is I am more reliable in the evenings.

This week I have to adjust my training schedule as my best friend is coming up to London from Cornwall for the weekend and I have a work event on Thursday. These sort of reasons are exactly why it is god to plan your workouts ahead; know exactly what you are going to do and on which days. Commit yourself. Once you have made the decision in your head about what you are going to do and committed yourself to it, you are less likely to back out or find an excuse.

So with that in mind please find my schedule for this week below;

Training Day

Morning All!

I know some of you ma be wondering where my favourite foods of Wednesday and Thursday went?? I am sorry about that, unfortunately I had a busier than expected week and I had to make a choice; go to the gym, train and then get a decent nights sleep or write the blog.

Training is a really important part of my life and at the moment I need to make the most of every session because I am training for Tough Mudder.

I have never taken part in anything like this challenge before, and would be lying if I didn't say I was a little bit apprehensive! Obviously overall fitness needs to be good to complete this course, but my main concern ins the upper body strength required to get over these obstacles as this is an area I have always struggled with. So this is now a massive focus in my training.

This challenge is going to require mental strength as well as physical strength; so this blog will help me to commit, stay positive and stay accountable. It would be great to hear from anyone else who is taking on Tough Mudder this year; let me know how you are getting on and training tips. Meanwhile I will be providing you regular updates of my training plans and progress.

Believe it. Visualise it. Breathe it. Be it.

Enter Tough Mudder on line here;  http://toughmudder.co.uk/

Avocado Advocate

Oh Avocado, how   I love thee...let me count the ways! Yes you have guessed it, my Tuesday food is the luscious, fresh green avocado :)

Avocados are truly amazing as they contain in excess of 25 nutrients! These include vitamin A, B, C, E, & K, copper, iron, phosporus, magnesium, and potassium. They are also a great source of fibre and protein as well as containing  beneficial phytochemicals which may protect against various disease and illness.

Below are just a few of the health benefits associated with avocados;

1. Lower Cholesterol
2. Control blood pressure & maintain a healthy heart
3. Fights free radicals
4. Anti-ageing properties - avocados are rich in antioxidants  
5. Cure bad breath (always helpful!)
6. Nourishes your skin and makes you glow!

The wonderful thing about avo's is that they are soooo versatile, you can eat them in so many ways! I love mine in sandwiches with salad, parmesan and egg-free mayo, salads, on toast with tomatoes, on ryvita with vegemite and as you will see below in shakes!

I have a big weakness when it comes to my diet, and that is chocolate milk. I just can't help it. So instead of denying myself I searched for a home made recipe that was healthy and clean; avocados, who knew? 

Chocolate Avocado Milkshake

Ingredients
1/2 ripe avocado
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1-3 tsp agave nectar/maple syrup (alternatively you can use 1 tbsp of brown sugar)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup of almond milk

Method
1. all the ingredients together until smooth and serve over ice
2. Enjoy!

You can add a scoop of protein powder if you want an extra protein hit or to thicken could add a banana. Avocado's are great in smoothies with spinach and kale as well. There are loads of different options all over the net so get inspired!

Go Nuts!

Hope you've all had a great Monday? A lot of people seem to hate Mondays; waking up early again for work, going to work, 5 days left to the weekend... But they have it all wrong! Mondays are the start of a fresh new week; you can make it what ever you want it to be; it's all about perspective. Mondays for me feel like a spring morning, or the first page of new diary; yet to be written.

I have been thinking today about the different subjects I want to cover in this blog; it has been mostly food orientated so far I know, don't worry fitness week is coming up! But diet is a massive part of being healthy; and it is a cause close to my heart as I see so many people putting junk into their body on a daily basis. It has been said that having a healthy body is 30% exercise and 70% diet, now I know that differs dependent on your goals but it is a massive difference to take into consideration.

With this in mind on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week I'm going to let you know about some of my favourite foods; the health benefits of these and some of my favourite recipes! Today, as you may have guessed from my title, is all about nuts!

For a vegetarian, nuts are a great source of protein they also provide us with lots of energy and are rich in vitamins and minerals. Often people can be a bit cautious when it comes to eating nuts due to the high fat content, however these fats are mainly unsaturated fats; particularly mono-unsaturated fat. These fats actually help to maintain healthy levels of cholesterol! Studies also sow that a diet rich in nuts can help prevent the risk of type 2 diabetes and lower the risk of heart attacks.

I use almonds all the time; you will see all my baking has almond butter in and I LOVE almond milk. Almonds contain magnesium and calcium for strong bones, vitamin E and interestingly  compounds called phytochemicals which are believed to protect against cardiovascular diseases and even cancer! Plus!

Walnuts are another of my favourites; I add them to salads as well as incorporate them into a range of hot meals from gnocchi to a good old fashioned nut roast! Walnuts contain vitamin A, potassium and magnesium. Studies have shown that walnuts added to a diet resulted in a decrease in cholesterol. 

If I'm honest, I only enjoy brazil nuts if they are covered in chocolate! But with 17% protein they are a winner. They are also very high in selenium and contain potassium, phosphorous, calcium and vitamin B.

Below is a quick and easy recipe that has the added benefit of being amazingly delicious! 

Creamy Leek and Mushroom Medley!

Ingredients
2 leeks - sliced
5 chestnut mushrooms - roughly diced
1 red onion - diced
2 cloves of garlic - diced
Handful of baby leaf spinach
Handful of pine nuts
Handful of cashew nuts
Handful of walnuts
2-3 tbsp of cream cheese
1-2 tsp of green pesto
5 halved cherry tomatoes

Method
1. In olive oil; begin to fry the garlic an red onions; when soft add the leeks and mushrooms
2. When almost done, add the spinach and cherry tomatoes
3. Once the spinach has begun to wilt, add the nuts, cream cheese and pesto
4. Stir until the cream cheese has melted into a creamy sauce and all the ingredients are well and truly mixed together
5. Serve and enjoy! :)

Breakfast Muffins

How has everyone's weekend been?

I love Sunday's, I always like to wake up early to make the most of the day. I also enjoy treating myself to a delicious blueberry muffin! Now your regular blueberry muffins are not the healthiest of breakfasts, so I have adopted a high protein, eggless version.

This is a paleo inspired recipe. The paleo or paleolithic diet is often referred to as the 'caveman diet' as it is based on the plants, seeds, nuts and of course meat that was available in the paleoloithic times - a period of 2.5million years which ended circa 10,000 years ago. So it is basically un-processed food, based on what was available to humans before the development of agriculture.

I don't follow the diet specifically as I don't eat meat but I do love the fact that it offers some really high protein recipes. For example my breakfast muffins contain almond flour and almond butter in replacement of regular flour and butter. You can use eggs if you wish but as my partner doesn't eat them I use the below recipe which uses mashed banana instead. If using eggs still add some banana though as they are a great source of energy!

Ingredients
- 1cup almond flour
- 1tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup almond butter
- 2-3 ripe bananas (dependent on size)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
- 1tbsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup of blueberries
- Oats

Method
1. Add all dry ingredients with the exception of the oats and blueberriesto a bowl and mix
2. In a food processor or using a fork, puree/ mash the bananas
3. Mix all liquid ingredients together in a seperate container (including almond butter)
4. Add liguid ingredients to dry ingredients and mix
5. Once a batter is formed add the blueberries (as many or as little as you like, I love them so have quite a few!)
6. Spoon mixture into muffin cases and sprinkle oats on top
7. Bake in the oven at 180-200degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are golden with a soft, dry centre
8. ENJOY!
I also love to adapt this recipe to make apple and cinamon muffins and double choc chip muffins! I'll post those recipes the next time I make them :)

Cabin Fever

Hellooo! So I have been bed bound for the last few days with flu (proper influenza not some misdiagnosed hypochondrial man flu!) and as a result Ive not had the strength to do any cooking or exercising to tell you of.

Gutted because tonight is usually muay thai night and I am missing out! It was going to be the subject for this weeks blog but hopefully I'll feel well enough by sunday to take the morning session.

So when Im sick I tend to lose my appetite; in the past that has meant surving of lemongrass tea. But this time with the help of the love of my life (my juicer) Ive been able to get a little more in the way of vitamins :-)

A great juice for when your feeling poorly is orange, carrot, lemon and ginger. Don't go easy with the lemon an ginger either whack a thick slice of each in; double what you normally would so you give your body the kick it requires.

I can also be a little aneamic so its especially important for me to get my iron when Im under the weather. My answer? Go green! Apple, kiwi and celery through the juicer then blended with a big handful of spinach, hey if it works for popeye right?

Anyway today I finally managed to eat something solid and I was craving a fresh, juicy tomato salad. I just love big fat beef tomatos marinated in olive oil and lashings of balsamic - mmmmm! Then top with some mozarella and pesto with a sprinkling of cashews ahhhh love :-):-):-)

Due to my illness I missed out on making my man his valentines dinner of delicious homemade canneloni so I'm going to make that over the weekend and will post the recipe.

I hope you all had a wonderful week and enjoy the weekend, looks like the sun is coming out!

Home Baking

How was everyone's Monday? The weather was miserable with a not-quite-snowing slushy feel to it; it's the kind of day that makes you want to stay at home and eat heart warming food!

This whole "horse meat scandal" that has been populating the news this weekend has driven home something that I have been thinking for a long time; we really don't know what is going into our food. Yes being a vegetarian I'm not expecting to find horse meat in any of my food; but so much of what we buy now is pre-made, preserved and full of additives. It gets you thinking.

So, with this in mind I want to make as much as I can at home; so I know exactly what I am putting into my body. Lesson 1: Homemade Granary Bread.

Ingredients
- 500g granary bread flour (I bought some with seeds in but you can what ever you fancy!)
- 40g soft butter
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 sachets yeast
- 300ml (approx.) tepid water
- a little olive oil

Method
1. Put flour butter, yeast and salt into a mixing bowl (be sure to add the yeast and salt on seperate sides so the salt doesn't kill the yeast!) and mix together
2. Add half the water and fold over with your fingers; continue to add water a little at a time until all the flour is combined and soft. You may need to add more or less water; until you form a rough soft (but not sticky!) dough
3. Coat a clean work surface with about a tsp of olive oil and fold the dough over, turning at 45 degree angles and repeating until it is thinly covered in olive oil.
4. Knead the dough; push your hand out in one direction, fold the dough over, turn by 90degrees and repeat. Do this for about 5 minutes until the dough is more elastic.
6. Clean and lightly oil your mixing bowl; pop the dough back in and cover with slightly oil cling film. Set to one side to rise for about 1 hour.

This is a good point to focus on the other things you need to do; for me I made a  gym visit to do a quick lower body workout. I had wanted to get a 5k run in but, what with it being a Monday and all, every treadmill was occupied (and I mentioned the slushy cold horrible weather earlier right?)

So, to change things up a bit I did half an hour on the cross trainer; the cross trainer is a great piece of equipment if your looking to build muscle, as it is low impact and will burn fat whilst not digging into your muscle stores. I get my heart to work harder by mixing it up with interval training; alternating the higher effort levels as well as the speed. Most importantly remember to engage your core and work those obliques!

I then finished up with a few toning exercise;
3x10 15kg leg extensions with a 30sec break
3x10 15kg leg curls with a 30sec break
3x30 side leg raises on each side
60second plank

By the time I was back my bread had risen nicely.

7. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knock out the air by kneading firmly.
8. Gently turn the dough and shape into a loaf shape; place into bread tin.
9. Place cling film (lightly covered in olive oil) over the bread an leave to prove for 1 hour
10.Preheat the oven to 220degrees (200 for fan assisted)
11. Place the bread tin in the oven on the top shelf with a tray of water on the bottom shelf and cook for half an hour.

Voila!

Connect :)

Hey All,

So I have set up a twitter account to connect with you all and catch up the daily workouts hints and tips you have as well as share quick fixes and recipes.

If your having frustrations at work, in the gym or in the kitchen msg me; a problem shared is a problem halved and all that! And with the wonderful power of twitter if I don't have answers I'm sure someone else does!

So you can find me @MeganSiobhan26 I look forward to hearing from you and all about your day!

x

Hump Day

Oh Wednesdays...they are the hardest day of the week right? I woke up this morning groggy and hoping it was Saturday, there's nothing worse. So, I made a decision to banish every sleepy thought from my mind; get up, smile, shake it out and begin my day with earnest!

The best recipe for a bright good morning is my Sunshine Fruit Juice of orange, pineapple, carrot and ginger. The orange and pineapple are a great wake up call and the ginger gives it an extra kick! Try it the next time your having trouble starting the day and I guarantee it will get you movin' and a groovin' :)




Mid-week Workout

For me, a mid-week workout is a must. It provides me with the time I need to de-stress and shift the focus from work to "Me" as well as motivating me to kick butt for the rest of the week!

So my favourite workout for a Wednesday is Body Pump. Body Pump is class run by most gyms and involves high level reps of different movements with free weights. The class utilises exercises that benefit each body part; shoulders, chest, back, arms, legs, glutes and abs. It focuses on form and repetition so is great for toning and building stamina.

It's a great change for me as when I work out with weights by myself I like to focus on lifting heavy but I also don't always have the self discipline to do high reps when it starts to hurt! But in a class environment the peer pressure and instructor keep you going :)

I would also really recommend this class for anybody who is new to working with weights and isn't sure which exercises to do and whether they are completing the movements correctly. Remember - start with light weights and focus on form; once you have got this right the rest will follow!

Body Pump leaves you feeling great; strong, confident and buzzing with endorphins. The best way to face the rest of the week!

What's your favourite Wednesday Workout?

Monday Madness

Happy Monday! It's a fresh new week and can be whatever you make of it...

If you're anything like me Monday is one non-stop crazy day that flies by and you don't have enough time to get anything and everything done. Work is rushed, the gym is packed and you need some quick fix energy to keep you going in between.

With that in mind I thought I'd share a delicous recipe with you this evening; my homemade chocolate and cranberry protein bars. They are absolutely delicous; high in protein and great for on the go in between work and the gym!

Chocolate & Cranberry Protein Bars

These are a great snack before or after the gym; you can adjust the recipe to add flavours that you like and are great on the go. The recipe makes 8-10 bars annd they keep in the fridge for about a week; I like to have them as my mid-afternoon chocolate fix as they soothe that sweet craving whilst providing the energy I need for my evening workout.

Ingredients:
1 cup of oats
1/4 cup of flaxseed ( I like Linwoods Flaxseed, Cocoa and berry mix)
2 scoops of chocolate flavoured soya protein powder
2 tsp cocoa powder (optional)
1/4 cup of peanuts (chopped)
1/4 cup of almonds (chopped)
1/4 cup of dried cranberries (chopped)
1/4 cup of dark chocolate chips
3 tablespoons of honey
1/2 cup of organic peanut butter
1/2 cup of almond milk

Preperation:
1. Add all your dry ingredients into a bowl; you can add more or less nuts, fruit or choclate dependent on your taste. This recipe is great with lots of other fruit too (so I'm told) but I'm not a big fan of dried fruits so cranberries were my limit!
2. Mix in the honey and the peanut butter
3. Slowly add the almond milk; you may need more or less than the recipe dictates. You want the mixture to be thick; kinda like the consistency of erm...mud!
4. Line a square dish or baking tin with greaseproof paper and fill with the mixture. Using a spatula spread the mixture evenly in the tray and push down so it is nice and compact
5. Put the mixture in the fridge for 20-30mins to set
6. Enjoy!