Stop saying no to CHO!

I am tired of hearing about all these fad diets. One in particular that bugs me is "paleo" or "low carb"!

Why would you do this to yourself? Why can people  not understand that we need carbohydrates, they are our body's main source of fuel!

Ideally, at least 50% of our diet should be carbs. This same feeling is reflected to low fat too. I know there has been a little resurgence lately and more people are understanding that not all fat is bad but it is not enough.

I still have to speak with people daily who choose low fat things that are caked in sugar.

We need to find a balance. Yes, you may see the odd low fat product which isn't a con and if you're looking to reduce calorie intake, I would recommend it due to fat's high calorie content. A great example is Fage Total 0% Yogurt. It is actually genuinely good for you. High in protein and calcium, no fat and more importantly, no added sugar! It is creamy and delicious and you can flavour it how you like. That is the key, that way you know exactly what is going into your food and your body. Skyr is also a good brand FYI.

But this post is not about fat it is about carbohydrates.

Your body turns carbs into glucose or blood sugar which enters your cells, tissues and organs to provide energy. The key is to aim for starchy and fibre based carbs to keep you full and stay away from simple carbs - which is a term I am sure most people have heard of by now.

My other half recently spoke with a friend who told him he did two to three days per week low carb - we're talking 100grams per day max - to help him shred and look more defined and so Matt insisted we did it too. I caved and agreed, more than anything to prove a point. We were both starving all day and all we could think about was naughty foods such as pizza. The next day, carbs were reintroduced, and despite eating what we normally would, it wasn't enough, again we were hungry all day and couldn't be satisfied. Because our stores had been depleted. We had no energy in the gym either. The key thing to remember here is, we are both usually very active. All we wanted to do was sit on the sofa and eat food. I felt this little experiment proved my point.

Here are some top tips for consuming a healthy balanced diet with carbs.

Choose wholegrain (not brown bread, wholegrain!) and start your day with some slow releasing carbs like oats. If you don't fancy hot oats try my Overnight oats

Replace your usual sandwich casing with a wholegrain bread, wrap or pitta alternative. Check the ingredients list to make sure something wholegrain based is the first ingredient. Or move away from the traditional sandwich all together and make a tasty salad using brown rice, quinoa, bulgar wheat or whatever takes your fancy.

Eat whole fruit over fruit juice, less sugar, more fibre and certainly more filling.

Eat more beans and legumes for a good dose of slow releasing carbs and protein.

Don't be afraid of carbs, embrace them and learn which are good and bad. Obviously, we all know cakes, biscuits, chocolate etc.. are "bad" carbs so just limit the amount you eat. Don't cut them out though! Why should you, we all deserve to enjoy something a bit naughty once in a while. It stops us bingeing if we don't restrict ourselves too much. Just learn moderation. Eat well most of the time and exercise. I think I have said before but the 80/20 rule is the best thing I have heard. Eat well 80% of the time, enjoy whatever you want to eat the other 20%. Happiness is the real key to good health!

A healthy mind makes for a healthy body

About 18 months ago, I wrote a blog raving about a calorie counting app that I swore by.

This blog is actually going to contradict that a little bit as I am going to talk about why I will not use it, or any other cal counting app, anymore.

I absolutely agree with counting calories when you need to lose a significant amount of weight, I mean at least more than half a stone - which at one point, I did and the app helped. But once you're at a healthy weight I believe Kcal counting may be a little unhealthy, and I am talking from first hand experience here.

I inputted my food and drink intake as well as my exercise routine religiously every single day. This worked for me at first as this app in particular (I can't speak about any others) was great at showing me how many calories I was consuming. Not only that but it showed me my macro intake. With this app I could see the balance between carbohydrate intake, fat intake and protein intake and it helped me find a balance.

But, after a year or so, maybe even less, I had taught myself the basics to good nutrition and I had a rough idea of what foods were high in calories, as well as carbs, fat and protein, so I had a good idea of what I was eating and putting into my body.

I firmly believe that once you are at this point you have already achieved success, whether you are looking to lose weight or gain more energy. By then you should be in a habit that will keep fueling you with the right type and amount of food you need without having numbers staring you in the face.

There may come a point when your body needs more than 1,200 calories (based on my needs not everyone else's) because you have more lean mass, and you can up your intake using the right foods without gaining weight.

However, if at this stage you are still calorie counting, chances are you haven't revisited your ideal calorie and macro nutrient intake. This is where the problem lies.

I was feeling hungry a lot, so when I was updating my daily diary I was beginning to see I had gone over my "requirement" according to the app.

This led to a vicious circle of self loathing, punishment through starvation and then binging due to stress and angry feelings.

I was beginning to feel very negative about myself, believing I was greedy and out of control.

In the end I told myself to stop counting the calories because I didn't need to see those numbers every day they just made me feel bad. I knew roughly when to eat and how much to eat. I knew which foods worked for my body, would give me more energy and wouldn't make me pile on the pounds. So I just stuck with that.

More than six months down the line I feel better than ever (and that is including eating over the Christmas period). I eat well, and I eat when I am hungry. I occasionally eat bad food and binge but that is okay, because generally I eat good food and don't feel like i'm starving all the time. I enjoy my food now as I don't have any numbers staring at me and making me feel guilty.

I also believe that the more you think about the food, which you do a lot if you have to constantly update a diary, the more you want food. And often, you want to rebel against the numbers or get an attitude which says I don't care anymore, before reverting back to guilt.

I enjoy what I want when I want. The proof is in the pudding, I do not feel as low in myself anymore, I can look in a mirror and compliment myself, rather than grab a fat roll and tell myself it's because I had 150 calories more than my limit yesterday.

Like I said, calorie counting has its pros and cons. For me the pros were in the beginning and once I hit my healthy weight the cons came into play. If you are at a healthy body weight, then start taking care of your brain's health too. It will all fall into place then.

This week's healthy feasts

Vegetarian Mexican casserole,
Avocado, rice cake and poached egg,

Banana cookies

This week I have embarked on a culinary experiment.

I eat meat but I do love having a few days without it as it can be a bit heavy on my stomach. I have also been having trouble with my stomach lately and I suspect it is a wheat or gluten intolerance.

So I have tried a couple of new healthy recipes to try and get my tummy happy again. (Apologies about my sloppy presentation and photographs).


Guacamole and poached egg on rice cakes: 

The avocado, rice cake and poached egg is pretty straight forward and came from me having half an hour to rush a lunch using the few ingredients I had in.

So these new buckwheat rice cakes are brilliant. Only 29 calories and full of healthy seeds.

I love avocado, it is rich and creamy and full of healthy fats, it was a no brainer really - the guacamole and rice cakes would be a match made in heaven. But I needed more. It had to be more substantial to keep me going for the rest of the afternoon. My go to protein is eggs and I love poached egg.
Essentially I made my own healthy version of egg on toast. I upped the benefits by using super foods.

It was really delicious and will be a regular meal in future.

Banana cookies

These banana cookies were delicious and satisfied my sugar cravings. You only need three ingredients and they take 20 minutes to make.

Mash or blend two medium bananas to make a smooth paste, mix in a cup of oats and a quarter of a cup of chocolate chips - or dried fruit if you prefer. Scoop out onto a baking tray, (it made about 12 for me) and bake at 180 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Then enjoy!

Mexican casserole

Now this was something special. As someone who loves Mexican food and peppers this was perfect. I made it for friends and it served six so I had two portions left over for the next day.

I fried a load of peppers and onions in a pan, added some sweetcorn once the peppers had softened and sprinkled everything with chili powder and cumin.

Then I mashed up a tin of mixed beans and pulses with a bit of water to loosen them and made some enchilada sauce.

I used whole wheat tortilla strips and layered all the ingredients in a baking dish. Popped it in the over with some cheese on the top for 20 minutes and viola - a stunning dinner.
My boyfriend didn't even miss the meat!

Enjoy and keep an eye on my recipes page for instructions...

Training and gaining - Getting others fit!

So I recently embarked on a mission to get my brother's girlfriend fit.
Katy, has been complaining about her fitness for a while now and asked me for help.
This was a challenge I was more than happy to accept.
I love keeping fit and the chance to inspire and motivate someone else to do it really excited me.
One thing I learnt last year in particular is, cardio is not the key.
A good mix of cardio and weights (I like doing body weight exercise) is the way to get good results.
This is the mistake I made at first.

So the local park where she lives, Pontefract Racecourse, is two miles around. So we set off on a power walk with two little bursts of sprinting.

We stopped half way around and did some body weight exercises.

I wanted to do an overall workout with her so I chose a couple of my favourite exercises that best work each muscle group.

We did two arm/chest exercises, two leg/bum exercises and two abdominal/core exercises. We did three sets of 10 for each exercise.

Katy and I stopped at a bench and used it for tricep dips. These are something I struggle with too so it benefited me. I want to improve my upper body strength.

Tricep dips.
To do this safely you should position your hands shoulder width apart on the secured bench and slide your bum off with your legs extended out in front of you.
Push up with your arms to straighten them, leaving a slight bend then come back down so your elbows are at a 90degree angle.
That is one repetition.

Katy's first tricep dip

We then did squats.
Everyone loves a squat and who doesn't want a perky bum?
Stand with your feet hip width apart and keep your back straight. Slowly push your bum towards the floor so that your thighs are doing the work. Do not let your knees go over your toes and treat it as if you are going to sit down. As you lower down bring your arms up in front of you. Slowly come back up.
That is one repetition.

Mountain climbers.
These are great for your core, upper body and cardio fitness.
Get in the press up position with your hands directly under your shoulders and arms straight.
Keep your body in a straight line from your ankles to your shoulders. Lift your right foot off the floor and bring your knee up to your chest as close as you can. Move your leg back to the starting position and do it with the left knee.
That is one repetition, the better you get, the faster you can go.

Push ups.
It is a personal mission of mine to perfect the push up!
Assume the plank position with your hands directly under your shoulders and toes stabilizing you on the floor. Keep your body straight as with the mountain climbers.
Lower the body keeping your back flat and look in front of you until your chest almost reaches the floor.
Keep your elbows tucked close to the body. Keep your body tight and engaged and slowly push back up.
That is one repetition.

Lunges.
I love a lunge, I love the stretchy feeling you get in your hamstring. I lunge everywhere!
Start with your legs hip width apart, your hands on your hips and your abdominal muscles engaged.
Step forward with your right foot, keeping your back straight, and with your left foot lift onto your toe.
Bend both of your knees so they are at 90degree angles but do not let your right knee go over your toes.
Push off your right heel to return to the starting position and repeat with the left leg.
That is one repetition.

We both started to tire at this point

Sit ups.
There are loads of variations for sit ups, I chose to have Katy cross her arms to punch my hands so it worked a bit more of her core, gave her a point to work towards and it is generally a bit of fun. (I'm pretty sure she wanted to punch me at this point anyway).
Lie on the floor with your legs bent and feet planted firmly on the ground. You can ask someone to stand on your feet or put something on top of them to help you - I stood on Katy's.
Put your hands behind your ears and slowly lift your head first and then roll up, imagine each individual vibrate coming up one and a time.
That is a sit up but I took it a little further.
Once up at a 45degree angle I made Katy punch my left hand with her left hand making sure she twisted her body and then she punched my right hand with her right hand. This worked her obliques as well as her abdominals.
She then slowly lowered her upper body back to the ground.
That was one repetition.

After repeating the exercises three times we continued around the park. We switched from walking to jogging on and off to try and raise her heart rate.
Once we got to the end Katy said she wanted to hurt me but she felt good and I felt good for helping her, so job done!

At the end of it all we both felt better!

I hope this inspires someone else to give it a try.

Feeling better with food

I am one of those people that feels really at home in the kitchen. 

If I am down, I cook.

If I am happy, I cook.

If I am celebrating, I cook.

If I am commiserating, I cook.

If I am ill, I cook.

Which is what I am right now - ill. Unfortunately I am having some severe stomach issues that are leaving me with no appetite one minute, to starving from lack of food the next. And once I indulge, welcoming the urge to eat which has been rare, I feel sick and writhe in agony.

So I decided to cheer myself up by recipe testing.

I had a go at making homemade, wheat and rye bread, chicken, vegetable and pearl barely soup and cinamonutty granola.

And am I pleased with my self or what?!

The granola is delicious and goes so well on top of yogurt. The soup is also great, made with homemade chicken stock really makes all the difference, and the different textures make it a pleasure to eat. And what more could you ask for when you're poorly than homemade chicken soup.
The rye bread is nice but it is a bit dense and heavy - but I guess rye bread does tend to be like that. One thick slice, toasted has been tasty and filling to dip in the soup, so I will definitely make it again - maybe tweaking it slightly each time.

To find out more watch out on my recipes page where I will shortly upload the method. 

A running stitch'uation

Out on the open road, looking forward to running a new route in Villamoura, Portugal.
It was set up to be a delightful run. It ended up being one of the worst runs I have ever had - at first anyway.
Off I went, slightly uphill at first, but I was enjoying it.
I love the challenge uphill presents because most runs are flat, but this one was bearable.
Usually it takes me around 15 minutes to get into a run and four miles before I am really comfortable. About 10 minutes into it I got a stitch, something I have never had whilst running before.
And my god was it painful. I am one of those who refuses to stop while on a run, I feel like a failure if I do.
I have even run through severe bouts of sickness. Doubled over, holding back the vomit, I have still carried on.
I did try to push through it but it stopped me in my tracks. My legs could have carried on and my mind was good to go but the pain in my side was excruciating. I was putting pressure on it in an attempt to compress the pain.
Who knew something as simple as a stitch which we all suffered as kids, could really be so painful.
It hurt enough to combat my stubborn nature.
As it was my first "stitch up" since becoming a jogger and with it coming after running only a short distance, I felt I had to get to the bottom of it.
It was around two and half hours since I had eaten, however it could have been the food I ate.
I had sushi for lunch, a chocolate pastry for dessert and shop bought granola for breakfast.
The combination of high sodium and high sugar foods must have had something to do with it.
It got me thinking about my diet in general. It has not been up to scratch lately and it made me feel guilty.
A bad diet can only lead to bad running. So it is time for a change. A 10 day detox and clean eating from now on. I am determined to eventually quit sugar but as we all know it is extremely addictive. It is also in everything! So it may take a while but it is something I am willing to be patient with.
On a more positive note. I was feeling rather disappointed about stopping due to the stitch and had resolved to take the shorter route home. But as I pushed through the pain barrier I started to feel better. Before long I felt stronger again. I ended up doing a much longer route then I initially thought.
So what began as a bit of a disastrous run turned into a successful, enjoyable jog.
Bur the moral of this story is bad diet = bad running.  

My Fitness Pal

I would like to take a moment to appreciate an app of which I swear by.
My fitness pal is a fantastic app that has really helped me in my quest for a healthier life style.
It tracks your calorie intake. Not only that but it differentiates between fat, carbs and protein (as well as much more but they are my three main focuses).
I've banged on enough times now about my high fat and protein, low carb approach to food. This really helps me understand what I am eating and what I need more of.

An example of last Thursday's chart. Not as much protein as I would like and more carbs then is preferable but I did a lot of intense exercise that day so I needed the carbs. 

When I realised I needed to lose a few pounds this app helped me tenfold to what I would have done alone.
Not only did I understand the calorie value of food more but when I was naughty, I would force myself to enter it as a guilt trip.
You can create your own recipes and it calculates the nutritional values for you and adds up the calories. It saves your meals if you want and it records your exercise, so you can get a fair, accurate recording.
My fitness pal will tell you at the end of the day how that day will translate for you in the long term.
Warning, it is addictive. But give it a try even if you just want to learn more about the food you are eating.

Fitspiration

I had not run in eight days. Not because I was injured for once, but because I lost all motivation.
I temporarily felt bored by running.
Luckily that phase has passed and I do not know how or why.
The track I usually run on just does not appeal to me at the minute and I cannot explain it.
But I have found a new route which has more than one benefit.
It incorporates hills, climbs, flat, different terrain and a segment running with a friend.
My good friend and work colleague wanted to get into better shape. He cannot run as far as me so to get my miles in I run to his house, collect him, run with him and then run home.
It motivated me to get back out running again.
Seeing my friend getting fit inspired me to keep up with my fitness and not to let it slip.
Knowing that I am the force that is helping him is also a great motivator. I can't let him down.
I'm doing a 10k in a few weeks with two friends and they have turned it into a competition.
I usually run between five and six miles but I ran 6.4 today.
It was great knowing I could do that distance easily and it gives me a bit more confidence for beating them.
I would not have run that far had I not seen my new running buddy and been inspired by him.
So if you have learned anything from today's post I hope it is this.
Other people are inspirational.

Protein and fat meal plans

After a week of feasting and not thinking about the food I ate, (including take-aways and chocolate bars) I felt it was time to seriously get back on track.
My healthy life style has taken a back seat and I twisted my ankle so I could not even run to rectify the bad behavior in the kitchen.
I have blogged before about having a high fat/protein and low carb diet. I am going to use the next two weeks to take this more seriously.
Here is an example eating plan.
Monday:
Breakfast - Yogurt, berries and nuts.
Lunch - Grilled chicken salad.
Dinner - Salmon and a variety of vegetables.

Tuesday:
Breakfast - Almonds and protein shake made with milk.
Lunch - Homemade soup.
Tea - Tomato coated chicken with variety of vegetables and sweet potato wedges.

Wednesday:
Breakfast - Poached egg on flat mushroom.
Lunch - Soup.
Dinner - Chicken salad.

Thursday:
Breakfast - Yogurt, berries and nuts.
Lunch - Chicken salad.
Dinner - Omelette with tinned mackerel.

Friday:
Breakfast - Scrambled egg and tinned mackerel.
Lunch - Soup
Dinner - Fish or chicken with a variety of green vegetables.

Snacks - Seeds, nuts, protein shake and small amounts of fruit.

This is the plan I followed the first week I changed my diet to be more protein and fat based. That week I instantly felt better in myself and like my body was tightening up. I have some left over Thai curry that will be a dinner in place of Wednesday's chicken salad but this is an example of a focused week.
The main foods that I eat for a protein and healthy fat enriched diet are there, including a lot of eggs, vegetables and fish. Fresh food is the way forward and this diet is the best way to incorporate it in my opinion. 

Metabolic testing

Last week I went to a health clinic for some metabolic testing and nutrition advice. 
It was very interesting and something I hope to follow up.
Unfortunately I found myself on Thursday night mindlessly binging on cereal and cereal bars (sugar central!) So I don't think I gave myself a chance at a fair reading. Nevertheless it really helped me understand my body more. 
I also want to lose an extra seven pounds so this can only help with that. Worth a try.
So I rocked up and got started. Using a special machine that Clinical Edge Health Care have the rights to, I breathed into the apparatus to get my reading.

Breathing into this mouth piece sent readings into a machine to measure my fat.

It measured my carbon dioxide output and from that worked out what type of fuel my body burns the most.

Now, I could have guessed that sugar would be high, my low blood sugar and constant sweet tooth made that blindingly obvious but what I didn't expect was the shocking numbers.

My body burns 88% sugar (as I said before this was probably a little inaccurate due to my binge, but I doubt it is far off) and only 12% of fat. Ideally it should burn between 48-83% fat and 17-52% sugar. 

I was given lots of advice and I learnt quite a bit too. At this clinic they recommend a higher fat and protein diet and lower carbohydrates. They completely made me re-evaluate the type of food I eat and at what times of the day. So starting on Monday (when I have finished my current detox (will blog about that at the end of the week)) I will be changing my lifestyle and seeing if it works. Instead of carby oats for breakfast I will eat more protein like eggs and yoghurt. I already eat a huge amount of fruit and vegetables but I will be trying to cut back on sugary fruits and eating more berries and plowing even more veg onto my plate.

I am not sure how I will react to this because I love cereals and oats for breakfast but I will keep updating the blog on my progress.

Fresh start

I have been neglecting this blog for months now. But recently I realised how much I missed it.
I have done really well in the last few months and lost eight pounds. I feel great for it and everyone is noticing and commenting.
It all comes from a few simple changes. I swapped out certain foods and started bulking out my meals with vegetables. I don't eat after tea and have managed to control the greed.
I am still a sugar fiend but it is much more controllable now.
All I did was educate myself. By no means am I an expert on fitness and nutrition but I know a lot more than I did.
It is easy to figure out what is good for you, bad for you, a better choice once you are a bit more aware of the ingredients in certain foods.
Almost every body will have heard of this now but eating clean really is the way forward. Don't get me wrong I don't eat clean constantly but most of my meals consist of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and proteins. It is easy to stick to because it is all delicious, who doesn't love a fruit salad, especially topped off with Greek yoghurt?
So it dawned on me when my work colleagues were once again grilling me for being "obsessed" and friends were coming to me for tips on how to cook things. This is what I should do for a living.
Obviously I am a million miles away from making a career out of fitness and nutrition. But I am already in the media industry which is where I want to be but now I have a passion and the two can come together.
I have always loved cooking and have been a gym addict for a good year now but I know enough to do both the safe, healthy way.
I hope one day I can work for one of my favourite magazines that focus on these topics. Where best to start then blogging about what I am doing for myself.
So keep following for updates on great recipes, workouts and more.
In the next blog I will tell you all about my 21 Day Challenges.