Deadlift or dreadlift!

Dreadlift! Or that's what it used to be. As someone who only really picked up a weight properly this time last year, I found there were certain exercises which I took to quite well and others that I erm.. let's say didn't like so much.

Often, I can be found having a little strop when my darling boyfriend makes me do certain weight exercises which I do not enjoy (flies) and once upon a time, deadlifts were my nemesis.

I think the problem is that the technique is important and that took me a while to master (meaning my impatience got the better of me). But once you have it, you realise how easy it really is.

The key is to keep you chest and bum sticking out. At first I thought I looked silly and then I realised, I looked like a pro who knew what she was doing. (That is the mentality you need in weightlifting - try it!).

Stand with your feet slightly further than shoulder width apart. Bend your knees whilst keeping your chest and bum stuck out and make sure your knees don't go over your toes.

Then use your back muscles to pull yourself and the barbel back up, keeping arms straight at all time.

It might be worth practicing the movement without weights to begin with. These photographs of myself and my lovely boyfriend Matthew, doing deadlifts might help.

Back straight

bum and chest pushed out at all times

still keeping back straight, bum and chest out, pull the barbel up using your back muscles.
Repeat

Stay in control of the barbel at all times. If you feel like it is pulling you down, lower your weight, try using hand weights instead.

Christmas left overs to revive you

Post-Christmas bloat is familiar to us all. Even for the nutrition and health conscious, the Christmas binge cannot be avoided. Some indulge more than others but never-the-less, pigs in blankets, tubs of chocolates and boards of cheese get the better of most of us.

I have to admit this past week I have barely touched any form of fruit.

So tonight I packed our dinner with a whole host of nutrient dense foods whilst using up left-over Christmas staples.

I had already made my own stock (known as bone broth these days) by boiling the left-over turkey carcass with some root vegetable for hours, I created my own, incredibly good for you stock. I do this with most left over meat bones, it really is worth it.There are more minerals and vitamins hiding in the bones than in the rest of the animal - so without the broth you would seriously be missing out on a fantastic nutritious hit.

"Bone broth"

Put it in a pan and cover with water, boil and then simmer for however many hours you have spare.

I used this stock to create a Christmas broth medley. Sprouts, herbs and pancetta were left over from the big day, so by adding chicken and some other vegetables that I always have in, I was able to make a delicious hearty tea.

Miscellaneous Veg

I added pearl barley, sage and thyme into the broth and let it cook away. While that cooked I chopped the pancetta, mushrooms and sprouts up and fried them in a little butter and olive oil until crispy. I added sage and thyme to the pan to cook and at the last minute added crushed garlic.

When I was about 4 minutes away from completion I added finely sliced chicken breast to the stock and pearl barley pot and finally, I threw in some spinach at the last minute.

Once everything was cooked and seasoned to taste I dished out the stock concoction and spooned the pancetta, mushroom and sprout medley on the top.

Finished dish

It was deep in flavour and full of goodness. I recommend it to anyone wanting to use up any left over foods from the festive season, or even for a quick evening tea.

Clothes Show Live

Me and mum

I am currently in the midst of the post Clothes Show blues.
Every year it is tradition that my mum and I, (yes monster mum as she has been previously referred to) go to the Clothes Show Live at the NEC.

We make a weekend of it, hotel, gorging on food, shopping literally until we drop and drooling over the models/dancers on the catwalk.

Skinting ourselves right before Christmas is something we treasure and it is something we look forward to all year. As we live in different counties, not only does it give us some real quality time together, just the two of us, but it gives us an excuse to do all the things girls love (as mentioned above.)

Bought a little more than we could carry

But now it is over and it goes way too fast if you ask me! So I am sad, all I am thinking about is the excellent weekend we had, the special mother daughter time and the excitement on Friday knowing we were heading to our favourite little pub The George and Dragon Coleshill  and to the best show of the year.

So here are a few photos and videos just to reminisce with, we think it is fair to say, this year's show was one of the best we have been to, mum - 6 shows, Kirsty - 10 shows.

Eggs for the win

I want to talk a little bit about eggs.

Eggs got a bad rep in 1988 when Edwina Currie, who was the health minister at the time, decided to make a statement to the nation that eggs were infected with salmonella.

I don't really know where that came from but I do know there were only 26 reported cases of salmonella that year and if you compare that to the amount of eggs eaten (we're talking tens of millions) it seems a little ridiculous.

Unfortunately that has left some people, even now, weary about eggs. However, they are an incredible source of nutrition and should be regularly eaten.

People also associate eggs with high levels of cholesterol however it isn't as bad as you may think. Yes one egg has roughly 62% of your recommended daily intake of cholesterol, however, the more of it you eat the amount you require changes. (Also to quickly note: the amount of saturated fat you eat has a higher influence on cholesterol build up).

To quickly summarise, your body needs cholesterol to survive and the liver creates it itself. But if you are ingesting cholesterol then your liver doesn't need to make as much so it balances the requirement out. So two eggs a day is perfectly okay.

Consider this, an egg has so much nutrition within it, it can form a living being (the chick). Just imagine how good it is for your body.

Not only is it a great source of protein but it is packed with a range of 18 different vitamins and minerals including the all important, Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B12, Folate and Iodine, which all play an essential part in keeping your body healthy.

I love to have omelette night on a Monday. It is quick, convenient and healthy (as long as it is filled with the right ingredients). Mine is often filled with spinach, sometimes chicken sausages and lots of other veg, topped off with a small sprinkling of cheese (Applewood smoked or Parmesan have such great flavour you barely need any).

Alternatively, I also make great baked eggs in a spicy tomato sauce, now that is to die for. Watch out for the recipe soon!...

Hiit That!

I know I haven't been around again, I haven't been frequenting the gym too much either.

So what is the best way to get fitness levels up after a lazy stint? By punishing yourself with Hiit.

There are so many different ways and methods to do High Intensity Interval Training, like my 12 minute workout. So Matt and I decided to do some hill sprints. (Ouch).

We brutally sprinted up these very steep and long steps. By pushing ourselves for a short few seconds we were rewarded by getting our heart rate right up.

We would then walk down the steps to lower our heart rate before doing it all over again.

The main goal in Hiit is to make sure you push yourself to the maximum for 20-30 second (increase as you get stronger) and then recover for the same amount of time (decrease as you get stronger).

This is a very effective way to get your blood pumping and to burn fat.

Hiit is proven to keep your metabolism revving for between 24 and 48 hours after the exercise is finished.

That is because oxygen can't get to the muscles as easily during periods of intense exercise. So once the exercise is over your muscles work to make up for the loss.

Don't worry it sounds scary but it is all very safe - however if you start to feel dizzy then stop. It is the same as with all exercise, you must be careful not to push your body too far.

Combining this interval training with strength/weight/body weight training is highly effective at helping reduce your waist size.

Another bonus of Hiit, is the time it takes to complete. Unlike a long run where you have to go for an hour to burn 500-800 calories (depending on weight and speed) this is effective at burning hundreds of calories in half an hour and it continues to do so for hours after.

So rather than spending your evening at the gym, do a 30 minute intense work out - even less depending on the work out and the exercises incorporated.

Yes it is hard, yes I did moan, but yes, I felt great for it.

As mentioned before, this is only one example of Hiit. I have previously given another example and you can always do a minute of burpees, sprints, jumping jacks, etc, in between weight sessions.

Beach running

When I was on holiday recently, I decided to have a go at running.... on the sand.

I hated it. It was hard and slippy and I couldn't understand why people love it so much.

That was before I had another go on Sunday with Matt.

We went for a weekend away at Filey, East Coast and we stayed in a beautiful house on the cliffs overlooking the beach and sea.

The best holiday village ever

My mum has a caravan a couple of miles down the road so we decided to run to see her. (Did I mention we left the car there the night before during 10th wedding anniversary celebrations involving alcohol).

And do you know, I couldn't have enjoyed it more. The sand was wet, I think that was the key to it. It was more solid but gentle on our joints. It was easy to run on, much better than concrete and the view was spectacular. The sea air really made me feel healthy and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Even the part where we thought we might get stuck (the tide wasn't very far out).

Not the most flattering photo but evidence that I did it

All in all, as Matt and I share a love of fitness we completely relished in it and it just added to our lovely weekend break together. I think next time we will go further and do it because we want to - not because we have to, which was initially  the case.

It wasn't a long run, only a couple of miles but I couldn't have enjoyed it more. Running with Matt, along the beach, next to the sea. And to top it off, the sun was blaring down. Completely enjoyable. I highly recommend it to any runner.

Just don't do it on loose sand in 30 degree heat, that is miserable! Lesson learned. British beaches are the place to run.

Beautiful

A trio of top recipes

I realise I have been very sparse with providing my latest recipes on here recently.

So to make up for it, here are three of my favourite from the last couple of weeks - maybe give them a try this bank holiday?

The absolute best in my opinion and one that will become a regular mid week supper is stuffed peppers.

Now who doesn't like a stuffed pepper? But I have to admit, it took me a long time to master the recipe. It sounds easy enough to make but as it is such a simple concept it is important to get the flavour.

I also found a fast way to make the creation.

I hollowed out the peppers and then put the lids back on. I put them in the over in a little tin foil chair so they didn't fall over and just baked at 180 degrees whilst I prepared everything else.

Make up some cous cous and flavour it how you prefer. I had mushroom cous cous. Whilst that is soaking fry off some onion and turkey mince. I added in some oregano. (I think fresh oregano is too strong but I loved the dried stuff and it is a match made in heaven with turkey). Once it was all cooked I mixed the turkey mixture with the cous cous and cooked spinach for added benefits and then stuffed the peppers.

I left them in the oven for a further 10 minutes to make sure everything was cooked through and hot. It also lets the flavours combine. Then serve with salad. Yum!


This next dinner is a rarity as my other half hates courgettes so I take the opportunity when he is away to have this super healthy tea.

Spiralize your courgettes. They can be eaten raw or cooked slightly but I recommend keeping some crunch in them or they become a bit watery.

For a sauce I blended an avocado with half a sachet of creamed coconut. It was a very luxurious and tasty sauce. Just season it to your liking and add some lemon juice. The coconut was a new twist I hadn't done before but I had some left over so I gave it a go and now i'll never look back.

I fried some onions for some lovely texture, added the sauce and courgetti to warm it all through and served with a couple of poached eggs on top. When the luscious yolk runs into the courgetti it is heaven.

My third creation, and one I am currently eating is an adaptation of lots of recipes for protein balls. I see them all the time and wanted to give this type a go. I have made some before but these were easier and so good!

In a blender I whizzed together some peanut butter, unflavoured protein powder, vanilla essence and honey.

Once it all came together in a crumbly consistency I scooped some out and rolled it into a ball. I did this 12 times and let the balls cool.

I then melted some chocolate with some coconut oil and dipped the balls into the choccy mix. One lesson I learnt was to keep the balls separate and in the fridge to set. As you can see from the below image they look a bit messy when they have been stuck together. Lesson learnt!

Once they set they have kept in the fridge for two weeks now (it has killed me trying not to binge on them) and they are a great healthy, on the go snack!

The nobbly bits give off the 'homemade vibe' or so I tell myself

Find all these recipes on my recipe page soon.