Showing posts with label health. Show all posts

A Food Snapshot

One of the biggest things that was quite daunting for me at the start of my weight loss journey was this huge cascading flood of outlandish recipes displayed with a minute left of details across fitness social media. 

 My Mother has always brought us up with hearty food which was made from simple ingredients but was nonetheless absolutely delicious. If you're Russian then you'll understand its all about quality wholesome ingredients rather than truffle oil or lobster mousse served in some fancy ass bowl. 

 Numerous times people have said to me that they just don't know what to eat when they're trying to be healthy so I've put together another post with some food ideas which work well for me as I work 9-5 so lack the time to do anything spectacular or labour intensive. 

 Breakfast 


  • Smoothies - just about any fruits and vegetables can go into a quick breakfast smoothie if you don't have the time do cook anything like omelettes. My favourite is raspberry, blueberry, yoghurt, spinach and some granola. 
  • Overnight Oats - probably the most Instagram trendy breakfast you'll see after smashed avocado on toast. I make mine with 40g rolled oats, 1.5 cups chocolate coconut water, a pinch of cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter a sprinkle of cacao powder (£4 in Costco - absolute bargain!) and vanilla extra. Shake this all together in some tupperware and enjoy the next morning. 

  • Porridge - this totally drums up memories of my childhood when I would have fat bowls of porridge during the winter. Now I'm not so wholesome and I have the Quaker Oats pouches made with semi-skim milk. If you can, get your mitts on the variety with fruit pieces in it... 
  • Bagels - nothing quite beats a thin sliced bagel topped with chocolate peanut butter and banana. Sometimes I add a few chia seeds for some texture too. 

Lunch 

Since I've left behind my awkward 3-11pm shifts and now work regular 9-5 shifts I have become more conscious of what I take to work. There is always someone's birthday or someone has brought in sweets for "fat Friday" which I have managed to avoid so far. 

I'm not going to be some high and mighty fitness fanatic and say you can never enjoy these things and you must take 100% clean foods with you to work. I'm not that kind of person and anyone that has followed me for a long time knows I'm realistic so some things I take to work are processed and others a little "cleaner"

  • BBQ chicken salad - bbq chicken breast pieces, spiralised beetroot, shredded carrot, mixed leaves, red pepper, sweetcorn and balsamic dressing
  • Chicken and sweetcorn soup - nope I totally don't make my own. I get the preprepared pots from Aldi for about £1 which contain pretty nice ingredients which you can even pronounce!
  • Three Bean Salad - buy yourself a nice tin of 3 bean salad from Tesco for roughyl 49p, add in some sweetcorn, coriander, red pepper and red wine vinegar. The Waitrose version is obviously a bit more posh. 

Dinner

Once again I just keep it simple. I do not entertain the idea of 3 hour prep time and 5 minutes of enjoyment for my food. I want to come home from work, chuck it all together and enjoy it before my workout. 

  • Mediterranean chicken - chicken thighs sprinkled with paprika, sweet potato, red pepper, red onion, cherry tomatoes sprinkled with some orange juice and roasted in a large oven tray for about 45 minutes 
  • Korma - skinless chicken thighs roasted in a korma sauce (naughty me buying a processed jar!) and separately roasting sliced red onions in a little oil until crispy for 45 minutes then serve with brown rice 
  • Satay chicken salad - continuing the chicken theme with cooked chicken thigh, red cabbage, spring onion, red pepper, coriander, lime juice, carrot, sesame seeds and satay sauce.

  • Halloumi salad - fried halloumi cheese served with balsamic dressing on a plate of mixed leaves, pine nuts and tomatoes 
  • California cous cous - blend or finely chop the head of a cauliflower, add pistachios, raisins, pomegranate, spring onion, coriander, fresh mint and dressing of your choice 
Snacks

Snacking keeps me sane between meals and is where I think I used to let myself down because I never understood what a reasonable snack was due to eating out of pure boredom before realising I was doing so. 

  • Soreen - chocolate soreen lunchbox loaves are like 100 calorie brownies. They also some in banana flavour which is pretty much banana bread. 
  • Basic fruits - apples, grapes, bananas and oranges. No excuses for saying you can't have anything to hand at work! 
  • Vegetables - I can quite happily sit and eat a whole bowl of cooked peas and sweetcorn because my freezer is stuffed with frozen vegetables. They're dirt cheap, basically can't go off and only take like 4 minutes to cook. 
  • Yoghurts - anything passion fruit and I'm there. Normally I will go for low fat rather than non-fat but they're pretty convenient in little pots to nab when you're peckish. 
  • Sweetcorn fritters - so many recipes online for these and you can freeze them. 


I hope this gives anyone a little clue as to what they would like to enjoy if they're stuck or maybe how to jazz up what they already eat if its getting boring. People have realised my tendencies to always eat the same things but I'm a creature of habit. As long as your food is nourishing and you enjoy eating it then you're not going to get bored as easily!

XOXO 

Kayla Itsines' Bikini Body Guide


So as of Monday, I will have 6 weeks until my trip to Las Vegas and will be trying my absolute best to eat well and workout consistently before then as I have a whole bikini collection to show off by the pool at Planet Hollywood. I am a big fan of pre-made routines for myself because I just don't have the knowledge and education to plan a reliable regime for myself. That's why I'm going crawling back to the Bikini Body Guide created by Kayla Itsines. 

Kayla is a certified fitness trainer for down under in Australia who has taken the fitness world by storm with her 12 week guides that will work your ass off for weeks 1 to 12 and 12 to 24. These guides can be purchased from Kayla's website and there is also an option to get a free 7 day free workout here to see if the style works for you. Electronic copies of the guides are sent to you directly to keep on your electronic device or print to get a physical copy at hand. 

Kayla also offers a nutrition guide which I think is excellent. It is not a strict meal plan that you should stick to by the gram but it does literally guide you through how to eat better to suit your needs which I think is so refreshing compared to the strict meal plans you find online or in magazines which are not personalised for an individual's needs. It walks you through how to eat more healthily and recognise how to nourish your body properly to support all the extra activity brought about by using the guides. 

The workouts are mix of resistance training, stretching, Low Intensity Steady State (LISS) cardio and HIIT sessions towards the end of the guide. The resistance workouts use minimal equipment so that you can workout using just your bodyweight, or added weights if you wish, for the 28 minute workouts. These include 2 circuits each with the first circuit being performed as many times in 7 minutes, resting, performing the second circuit for 7 minutes, resting, performing the first circuit for the second time, resting and finishing with the second circuit to complete the 28 minutes. You can choose to do the resistance training for 2-3 sessions a week to begin with. They are split up into Legs & Cardio, Arms & Abs and a Full Body workout. These are brilliantly illustrated in the guides so you know exactly what you need to be doing for each move and how your form should be. If you're unsteady in terms of form then don't forget to focus on quality before quantity. It really helps to practise the moves in front of a mirror to see where you need to make adjustments. 

The LISS cardio sessions can simply be walking, slow cycling etc. for 35-45 minutes 2-3 times per week depending upon where in the guide you are up to. The HIIT sessions are 10-15 minutes of interval sprints which are introduced in week 9 onwards in the first guide. The intensity of the workouts increases as you progress into the guide and build up your stamina which adds pressure to your body to respond to the training. How to fit these workouts together into your week and further guidance to consider is all laid out in the start of the guides so that it is very hard to get confused once you have read it through for yourself. 

The equipment required is absolutely minimal. You will need some dumbbells (I sometimes just use my kettle bell), a foam roller for post-workout/stretching sessions, a surface to step up onto and a bosu ball if you have the funds to buy one. This post I wrote on how to start leading a healthier lifestyle has some links to where you can find cheap but reliable fitness wear and equipment. 

Every Sunday night, as of the 6th of September, I will now be posting a weekly catch up of the workouts I have done that week so I can have some accountability to make sure I try my best! I am by no means a serious athlete or some superwoman so I would be classed somewhere around beginner because my workouts have always been basic and things like Insanity scare the life out of me. Hopefully this will act as a long term review of the guides and may help you decide if you want to spend your money on them
XOXO

How To Get Started

The biggest hurdle I think a lot of people have to overcome when they want to lead a healthier lifestyle is the first hurdle of actually getting started or even knowing where to start. I think it was always the biggest let down for me because I never actually had a solid plan or even any clue what I was doing because I hadn't taken the time to teach myself how to actually be healthier. 

I get asked a lot how people should start their new lifestyle because it is quite daunting if you've never done anything like it before and you're ready for such a big change. It is all the more challenging if you don't have any kind of outside support, whether that be a friend or simply the online community. Every one has been there and it is totally okay to be unsure to the point that you ask for help or have to look something up. Nobody knows everything and there is nothing wrong with that. 

You've guessed by now that 5 seems to be the running theme in my blog so I've put together the 5 step guide to getting started with a healthier lifestyle.

1. Know Your Needs

This runs along the whole weight loss idea of eating very little which is perpetuated by the media and uneducated "fitness" fanatics. The most vital thing is properly fueling yourself otherwise you can't be expect to function sufficiently. The key factor is getting enough energy and this can vary from person to person depending upon height, weight, build and exercise levels. As mentioned in previous posts, I would recommend the IIFYM calculator at IIFYM.com to know what your specific needs are. There is no use finding out how much a fitness blogger or a celebrity eats because 9 times out of 10 it just won't work for you. 

You'll need to decide what your fitness aims are too! Do you want to just generally be active and maintain your current size? or do you want to lose body fat or do you even want to build up muscle? All 3 require different things and so that's why one food intake does not fit all of us when it comes to being healthier. The workouts for each are different so you'll need to pick an exercise routine for yourself. 

2. Find A Routine

Finding exercise you enjoy is hard but totally worth it in the end. There are a multitude of different workout styles which can suit our needs whether you prefer pilates, dance, boxing, weights, circuits, yoga, suspension workouts etc. I would say to try different ones and see which you really like doing because there is no point doing a routine you don't like and having to struggle to make yourself do it each week because you don't look forward to it. Being more active is definitely easier if you love the activity. 

Finding a ready-made routine helps bridge that knowledge gap if you don't know what moves work which part of your body or how long to do them for. It can be like having your own personal trainer but not having to fork out a bunch of money for the real thing if you don't require very specific advice. You can buy DVDs such as the Jillian Michaels routines which I adore. You can look on YouTube for Blogilates or Fitness Blender for videos you can workout a long to or buy guides online such as The Bikini Body Guide plus you can find free print outs from places such as Women's Health. Before starting them you'll need some basic fitness equipment too!

3. Get The Basics

Frugality is one of my best skills and I don't think anyone needs hundreds of pounds worth of fitness equipment to get fit. I started out with a supportive sports bra, some old t shirts, leggings and some trainers I bought for £20. Yes it is really lovely to have all the nice new Nike or Adidas gear in the latest patterns but, lets face it, it isn't going to make you healthier faster.

 A quick look online and it is very easy to find a comfortable sports bra which will do the job just fine. eBay, Marshalls, Ross, Argos and Sports Direct are a god send for this kind of thing; you can find trainers suitable for your needs, foam rollers for under £15, sports bras for under £10 and the odd piece of reduced branded fitness wear as a nice treat for sticking to your routine. The absolute minimum that I think anyone can get into fitness with is a workout mat, some supportive trainers, hand weights, a water bottle and a comfy sports bra which can all be bagged for under £40. Whilst eating better and working out, it can be very useful to track your progress and keep yourself accountable so that you see what is working and what isn't.



4. Keep Accountable & Track Progress

Being accountable and voicing that I wanted to be healthier to my friends and online followers made me accountable and really helped me stick to my goals. Before I would just keep the idea quiet and then I could worm my way out of it but with people asking me how I was doing or joining my routine I was more likely to stick to it. 

If one of your friends, family members or your partner is interested in being healthier than you could do it together and support each other on a day to day basis. There are also groups like Weight Watchers, Slimming World and just general support groups where you can meet and put your mind at ease because your challenge is being lessened. 

You don't necessarily have to tell people you actually know and you can remain anonymous online if that makes you feel better about it. You don't have to tell people what workouts you did, how much you weigh, what clothes size you are etc. but just writing or speaking about what your aims are or how you're feeling can help with the challenge of being healthier. 

I reviewed a few apps in my last post which can be used to track intake, maintain a social circle of like-minded individuals and see your progress. Having accountability in an online forum like Tumblr, Instagram or Blogspot to use as a diary, post progress and get out your feelings is something I think would help a lot of people whether or not you have many followers or if many people read it. The accountability it brings will help you stick to your healthy lifestyle in the long run. 


5. Think Long Term 

The one major thing that I feel makes SO many people give up is that we always want quick results. Health isn't something to be rushed and saying you want to lose a certain amount each week or a certain amount by a certain date is pressuring yourself. All that pressure can build up, stress you out and make you give up. I felt so much better generally when I stopped thinking I had to lose 2lbs a week or that I wanted to be slimmer for a holiday. Health is about caring for yourself in the long run and if you take as many numbers out of it as you can then it makes it a lot easier. 

Please don't think that you can suddenly eat clean and workout like a maniac for 30 days before a holiday and be 3 sizes smaller or magically happy with your body. What will you do after that? Put weight back on and go back to how you felt before the trip? It just isn't sustainable and it isn't healthy. None of the quick fixes work and I wouldn't even recommend them to start with. If they worked then everyone would do them. 

Treat your body like you would treat your own child; nourish and nurture it so that it can grow and function to the best of its abilities. Learn to give it rest and time to recuperate without piling on the pressure. Being healthy is just as much about caring for your mental health as it is about your physical health. Adopt a routine which you know that you could sustain in the long run and one that doesn't make you feel negative. 


These are the basics but I think they make a good jumping off point for most people. It is important that if you do have any specific physical or dietary needs that you speak to your medical professionals who can recommend suitable alternatives for you. These are the things that helped me get through my changes and stick to it for so long. I have maintained my weight of ~155lbs for 2 years now and I know it is possible to stick to your new routine if you're ready to make the effort for yourself and your health!


XOXO
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