10 Reasons why you should give a personal trainer a whirl...

It’s the summer holidays!! Meaning that I have less than a week until my friend’s wedding (bridesmaid duties, yay!) and less than a fortnight until I’ll be sunning myself on the beach in Fuerteventura.  I love my running but also wanted to work a bit more on toning too so, on a whim, I booked an hour long session with a personal trainer at my local gym.  The hour cost me £30 and was well worth the money- I’ve got plenty of new exercises to play around with and don’t feel like I need another session for some time whilst I master and enjoy this new programme.  So, today’s post is 10 reasons why you should try a personal trainer yourself:

1.        If you’re making any of my recipes and eating better, the next logical step on top of this is exercise!  A personal trainer asks what you’d like to achieve and then puts together a range of exercises for you. Even if you’re a beginner, they can advise you how to get started whether it be very light exercise or building on a higher level of fitness.

2.       They are a friendly face (not a crazed army sergeant-like figure) who will push you.  I run 12 miles a week and am fit, but my session left me out of breath and totally knackered- I was pushed to my limits with loads of encouragement too.

3.       They know their stuff.  I tend to spend about half an hour running on the treadmill but my personal trainer (ooohhhhh, how posh) gave me a range of exercises that kill two birds with one stone, meaning that as well as toning your muscles, they form your cardio exercise as well. The exercises- such as squats with weights, planks and press ups- actually get you out of breath as you do them, meaning you’re still burning fat and getting fitter as you tone.

4.       They will surprise you.  Apparently, all the sit ups I was doing were a waste of time. I’ve now got two new exercises which tone and define my abs (and arms at the same time!) in much less time than I was spending on sit ups and crunches.  A lot of the exercises we think are effective are, in actual fact, not so. A personal trainer can clarify this for you, meaning you can ditch the useless exercises in favour of more efficient ones.

5.       You will learn a lot from them in just one session- take a notebook and pen or jot down the exercises as you go on your mobile phone.

6.       No access to gym equipment?  No problem!  My personal trainer gave me exercises where with the majority of them, I could do them at home without any equipment and just my body weight to act as resistance.  This is definitely a winner if you don’t want to sign up at a gym and have to pay the monthly membership fees.

7.       When it comes to gym equipment, a personal trainer can show you how to use it properly and crucially, how much weight you should be lifting.   They are very aware of our female phobia that if we so much as touch some weights, we will turn into Arnold Schwarzenegger.  That’s really not the case and lifting a decent amount of weight (that your trainer will advise you on) is crucial to help you tone up.

8.       Personal trainers will correct your technique.  Turns out I’d been struggling more with press ups than I actually needed to because my technique was wrong.  A personal trainer will fine tune your technique so that you are performing the exercise correctly and also safely so that you avoid injury.  My trainer pointed out that my lower back sagged a little when I was doing press ups and warned me about this so that I could avoid a back injury-I wouldn’t have known otherwise!

9.       They give you a whole new routine to try, meaning if you’re stuck in a gym rut...

10.   Going to the gym becomes fun again!  I’ve quit with the million sit ups in favour of my usual run followed by my new exercises. They are more varied, effective and quicker! I’m well and truly hooked and going to the gym doesn’t feel like such a drag anymore.

Happy exercising!

Dreaming about India

This blog post is extremely late and reminiscing about India is the reason to blame.  But as it’s India, we’ll let it off.  On the Saturday when I should have written this post, I was on a train zooming down to London for a meet up with my India roomie who was visiting the UK again from Canada.  The last time I saw Erin was 2 years ago so it was nice to make the trip again for a reunion.  In fact, the last time I met up with my India travel buddies, I was almost a stone heavier and a sugar junkie.  Things are very different now.  On the train down to London, instead of having a coffee and a flap jack, I had a coffee and a Satsuma and read my Hemsley Hemsley ‘The Art of Eating Well’ book and made a list of all the recipes I want to try over the summer holidays- there’s quite a few...

Our India reunions have had a similar pattern- meet up and head straight to Brick Lane (a cool, quirky and funky area of London dedicated to Indian restaurants) for a curry lunch, followed by a stroll around the vintage market nearby and then onto Covent Garden before getting the train home.

The conversation never stops and we always enjoy reminiscing about India, covering everything from the beauty of the Taj Mahal, the chaos of Jaipur, our wonderful fellow travellers and the dreaded Delhi Belly.

When I eat Indian food, I always tend to order the same thing: chicken korma, a peshwari nann, sometimes rice, though I don’t tend to now, sticking with just the nann bread instead since it’s all I need.  When I was in real India though, the food there was a whole different ball game to British curry. Half of the stuff on the menu I hadn’t heard of as most of the curries served in an Indian restaurant over here are British curries rather than coming from India.  Whilst in India though, I ate a total of 26 curries over the 2 week tour, keeping a list in my diary of everything I had tried!  

I also went vegetarian too for the two weeks as I was worried about getting sick from eating the meat as often in India, chicken is served still a little pinky which I wouldn’t risk eating over here let alone anywhere else. Also going veggie was nice for a change, just because the choices for vegetarians on menus over there is so vast!  I did have Delhi Belly, but was the only member of the group who didn’t spew.  India also had a massive effect on me too as a person and it was probably the trip where I finally nailed it with regards to who I was and finally feeling comfortable with myself. It had such an effect on me, that I even have the Om symbol tattooed on my wrist, just because it is such a beautiful reminder of my time there and what led me to India in the first place. Ironically, two years previously when I was travelling to Thailand, I did a quick stopover in Mumbai and vowed never to go to India as I didn't think it would be somewhere I would want to travel to alone. What a massive change of heart!

My om symbol!  The little peace sign  next to it represents San Francisco.

So, this week’s recipe is dedicated to my time in India. It is a vegetarian chickpea and spinach curry which I serve with brown rice, though I am going to try making cauliflower rice at some point over the summer holidays!

Spinach and chickpea curry

Ingredients:

A splash of olive/ coconut oil

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp fenugreek

1 tsp cardamom seeds

1 large onion (diced)

2-3 cloves of garlic (crushed

2 tins of chickpeas, drained

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

250g of spinach- though I just tend to shove the whole bag in because I love it that much!

1 pint of vegetable stock (you’ll need 2 stock cubes and will have a little leftover if you follow the packet instructions to make it)

Method:

1.        Heat the oil, add the spices and cook on a low heat for 10 minutes.

2.       Throw in your onion and garlic and continue to cook until the onion has softened.

3.       Add the chickpeas, tomatoes, spinach and stock.

4.       Bring to the boil and simmer for about half an hour, longer if needed.

5.       Serve with rice...or a peshwari nann which I promise you will give you a nann bread orgasm.

Any leftovers can be frozen and reheated, this dish is also gluten/ lactose free and a little vegetarian number.  

When it comes to Indian desserts, I know nothing about how to cook them.  However, if you do go to Brick Lane or anywhere that has a curry mile, have a look for the little sweetie shops selling the treats below, they are just beautiful and to die for!

Happy eating!!!!

Healthier pizza, bread and another soup recipe

I tried two new recipes the other weekend that I’d been meaning to cook for ages- a healthier version of pizza and a butternut squash and lentil soup.  The pizza was an eat clean version because the base was a wholemeal bread base; the soup was an eat clean recipe too but I adapted it so that it could be made in my soup maker rather than standing over a pan of boiling vegetables!

Pizza base:

This is a basic bread recipe.  You can make 4 pizza bases from it or could pop it into a bread tin to make your own bread that is wholemeal and free from preservatives.

Ingredients :

1 sachet of Aldi yeast (approx 7gm)

500g wholemeal flour

5 tablespoons olive oil

240ml warm water

A sprinkle of sea salt.

Method:

1.        Place the flour, yeast and salt in a bowl, then make a well in the middle.

2.       Pour the olive oil into the warm water, then add this mixture into the centre of you well.

3.       Begin mixing with a spoon and as a dough forms, get your mits in and start kneading and stretching the dough.

4.       Allow the dough to sit for 15 minutes in a warm place, covered with a towel before giving it a final knead. 

5.       Cut into 4 portions and roll out into your pizza bases.

6.       Place on a baking tray lined with grease proof paper.  Brush tomato puree onto the dough and top with whatever you fancy.  Peppers, mushrooms and sweet corn that have been fried in olive oil for a couple of minutes are delicious, as is goat’s cheese and baby spinach.

7.       Bake in a preheated oven (200°C) for around 25 minutes.  Check under the pizzas with a knife/ fish slice to see if they are cooked.

Bread- prepare and bake the dough in the same way.  You could also add some dried fruit like cranberries or apricots, dark chocolate chips or something more savoury- chopped sun dried tomatoes with parmesan cheese is amazing!  Tap the base of your bread to check if it’s done- it will sound hollow when it’s cooked through.

I did cheat whilst experimenting with the fruit and bought a bread mix from Aldi!  Also good, but will post a full bread recipe another time in case you want a larger loaf than what you will get out of the pizza dough recipe.

Wholemeal bread with apricots

Butternut squash and lentil soup

Ingredients:

1 onion, diced

1 stick of celery, diced

200g carrots, sliced

300g butternut squash, sliced

1 clove of garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon paprika

¼ teaspoon chilli powder

¼ teaspoon ground turmeric

1 and a half pints of chicken/ vegetable stock

200g of tinned lentils, drained and rinsed

Salt to season, if needed.

Method:

1.       Chop all of your ingredients, place into the soup maker with the stock and select the smooth setting.  Serve immediately or freeze for lunches.

2.       If cooking from scratch, fry all of the vegetables (you may need extra as the measurements about are so they can fit into the soup maker) in a little olive oil until soft, add the stock and simmer until the vegetable are cooked.  Add the lentils and cook for another 5 minutes.  Blend the soup and serve.

Jambalaya

Last summer, I went on the most amazing trip across America with my favourite holiday company, G Adventures (check out their sitehere).  In 18 days, I travelled from San Francisco all the way across to New Orleans but it didn’t occur to me to add any extra days onto the end of the trip so that I could eat my way through New Orleans and it’s southern-style cooking wonders. 

The Louisiana swamp

The wildlife- besides hundreds of crocs!

Me and a baby gator, bred in captivity after he lost his mum!

On my last night before my flight home, I did try some traditional fried chicken with sweet potato waffles and it was delish!  Sadly though, that was my one and only meal in New Orleans as the next day, it was airline food all the way. 

I love jam-jar drinking glasses.  I've got some arriving any day now!

 I was kind of disappointed that I didn’t get to try the famous Louisiana dish, Jambalaya, so when I found a recipe for it in a cook book, I decided to give it a try.  I have adapted this recipe so that the veg gets a little more cooking time and used brown rice instead of white because we know how much better it is for you!

Ingredients:

½ a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, regular pepper and salt

2 tsp of thyme

350g diced chicken breast

1 onion (chopped)

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 yellow peppers, diced (yellow peppers are really good to help your hair grow apparently!)

2 sticks of celery, diced

115g pancetta

175g chorizo sausage, sliced

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato puree

225ml chicken stock

450g raw prawns

450g cooked brown rice

Method:

1         Mix together your cayenne pepper, regular pepper and salt in a bowl. Add the diced chicken and toss to coat.  Set aside until later.

2         Place the onion, garlic, peppers, celery, pancetta, chorizo, tinned tomatoes, tomato puree and the chicken stock into your slow cooker.  Cook this batch of ingredients on low for 2 hours.

3         After two hours, add the chicken to the slow cooker. Stir into the mix, cover with the lid and continue to cook for 6 hours on low.

4         For the last 30 minutes of cooking, add your cooked rice and raw prawns. Stir through the mix and cover again until the cooking time is up.  A handy hint I’ve been told about slow cookers lately is that if you remove the lid half an hour before serving, this allows the dish to thicken up.  I’d keep this dish covered though to allow the prawns their half an hour to cook, then you could switch your cooker to ‘warm’ and take the lid off then.

5         Serve and enjoy though sadly, Jambalaya would probably taste much better if you were eating it next to the Mississippi!

This dish was really tasty but because I haven’t tried the real thing in New Orleans, I can’t possibly compare it!  Looks like this might be the perfect excuse to visit New Orleans again though!

Jambalaya...by Helen!

Happy eating!

Working out!

I’m currently doing the 30 day ab challenge and arms challenge and really noticing the benefits- my stomach constantly feels flatter and slimmer (even after the previous weekend’s blow out at the hen do). I thought that maybe all the sit ups and crunches were burning belly fat around my tummy since I was really working the muscles there but after a Google sesh, it appears that this is a myth and that good eating and cardio activity is the key to burning fat- sits up will give you more definition which I am definitely noticing.

The ab challenge gets you doing 4 simple exercises:

1.        Leg raises to tone your lower abs (video demo here)

2.       Sit ups, because when it comes to abs, there’s no getting away from these (video demo here)

3.       Crunches (watch how to do them here)

4.       The plank- which is good for building strength around your core.  It’s good too, so I’ve heard, if you suffer from back problems as by strengthening your core, it helps take pressure off your back.

It’s the same with the arm challenge too, a series of simple exercises repeated daily:

1.        Push ups (I can’t do these and instead do this easier version)

2.       Mountain climbers (video here about how to do them but they are an awesome little exercise)

3.       Tricep dips (demo here and using the bottom two stairs of your pad usually put you in a good position for this exercise)

There is an app available from the Apple store to support your 30 day ab or arm challenge and tells you how many reps of the above exercises you need to do.

If you are into your apps though, some of my favourites for fitness are the Nike Running app, whichbasically clocks your distance, time and calories burned on an outdoor or treadmill run.  You can select a power song too that will automatically start playing if you slow down and request cheers from your Facebook friends too whilst you're out plodding.  It also adds up your total distances too, so you feel really pleased with yourself when you open the app to see you’ve run 25k in the space of a week. Happy heart.

Another one of my favourite apps is called Seven, also available on the app store.  It’s free and takes you through a seven minute interval training workout.  Open the app and it will instruct you to do a range of exercises from jumping jacks to the plank.  I don’t use this as often, choosing to run and go to the gym instead, but it is an absolute winner if you’re short on time and want to begin to do some sort of exercise each day.

For me though, my big work out is still running.  I love it and it’s the exercise that works for me, along with a few leg, bum, ab and arm workouts at the gym.  I’ve clocked up 12 miles of running this week and have thrown in some outside runs too just to keep my body working and so my fitness level doesn't plateau.  I’m running the Pretty Muddy 5k race next weekend and hoping to do it in a decent time despite the mud and obstacles!

This week, I’ve also felt like I needed more vegetables in my diet, so I’ve been steaming veggies that I would usually eat for dinner and taking them for lunch, served with a piece of salmon/ chicken and sometimes with a blob of leftover humus too.  Filing and delictious.  I tend to use my steamer for cooking veg, giving carrots and green beans 20 minutes and then throwing in the broccoli and asparagus in for the last ten minutes of cooking.  Toss all of your veg together in a bowl with a little sea salt and black pepper, adding some Chiloa if you wish.

Speaking of which, I’ve discovered Chiloa hot sauce (seehere) and am using it all the time to dress salads or as an alternative to mayo.  Saying it’s a manufactured sauce too, the ingredient list is pretty

minimal and there’s no oils or sugar added.  It’s definitely become one of my cupboard staples!

I’ve also become a little bit obsessed with courgette this week and having it simply with pesto for lunch or with a piece of grilled salmon for my evening meal.  I simply use my spirializer (this one) to turn 2-3 courgettes into a whacking big pile of ‘spaghetti’, but without the gluten, sugars and carbs.  It is surprisingly filling and you can pile it high on your plate too because unlike pasta, it’s completely guilt free!

Finally though, this week I had a big reminder as to why I choose exercise and healthy eating over junk food and refined sugar.  The hot weather meant it was time for some summary clothes and I wore my faithful skinny jeans with a floaty cream top.  Below is a photo of me in the same outfit before I quit sugar in 2013, compared to how I am now.  Back in 2013, I probably didn't need to lose any weight but seeing the two pictures together gave me a real shock and will always serve as a reminder that cutting out refined sugar and eating clean is the best lifestyle change you will ever make.

Happy Eating!

So much love for half term!

Apologies for this slightly delayed post.  Saying I was off for the week, I should have had plenty of time to write my post, but I didn’t really know where the week went. Well actually, I do- it was a wonderful haze of nice food, catch up with friends, a hen do and wedding talk with one of my besties- plus I got to try on my bridesmaid dress!

I did, in the middle of all this fun, get time to try the odd new recipe and pack away some nice food.  I finally tried Wagyu beef burgers (£2.99 Aldi) and can safely say they are the BEST burgers I have ever tasted.  The meat is quite heavy and juicy, making it feel like the ultimate burger.  I had these with sweet potato wedges (recipe here) and sprinkled them with a bit of paprika for an extra kick. I actually think that burger and chips is my favourite meal of all time, but I won’t make a habit of eating it because I feel it’s a meal that should be thought of as a ‘treat’ rather than a daily food staple.  In fact, the Wagyu burger will be my last burger until my birthday night out…roll on June 21^st!

My exciting food-related Instagram news too was that THE Gizzi Erskine liked my photo of her Victoria sponge that I made last week when the in-laws came for dinner.

  I just love her and I was starstruck for the rest of Wednesday.  She noticed me and my Victoria Sponge!!!  Awesome recipe though and works every time (click here and scroll down to recipe) but not a dessert to cook if you’re on an eat clean or sugar free kick.  But again, if you see it as a treat and just make it for a special occasion, what’s the problem?

Wednesday afternoon was also pampering time and I went for my express facial- my regular treat to myself!  When it comes to preening, I don’t wear giant, plastic nails or have a spray tan every week- I tend to do it all myself and treat myself to my only beauty indulgence which is a facial.  It’s usually a well-earned treat too because it forces me to relax for an hour plus, with all the clean eating, makes me feel fresh and as though I’m glowing on the outside- which I suppose I am, thanks to healthy eating and a good bit of face scrub.  I was chatting to my beautician who was also telling me how coincidentally, she and her husband have started the whole ‘eat clean’ diet and introduced me to a brilliant website called ‘Kitchen Shed’ (link here).  I spent a lot of time over half term just reading the recipes and doing a list of all the things I want to cook.  I discovered a brilliant lunch on there which is a blessing because it’s so quick and makes 2 portions.  Basically you just need a tin of chickpeas; tuna in spring water; 2 tablespoons of humus; an avocado and some fresh basil.  You mix together the chickpeas, tuna and humus; top with some basil leaves and serve with the sliced avocado.  It’s a filling, fresh and perfectly clean lunch!

However, clean eating was officially called off on Friday night.  I curled up with this amazing dark chocolate and a book after getting set for the hen party weekend!  It involved a very beautiful and lovely bunch of ladies, fish and chips on the beach and ready-mixed cans of Malibu with diet coke (which remember, isn’t an overly bad drink because Malibu contains NO added sugar unlike everything else).

Fish and chip lunch was burned off by a dance class and then we stocked up on wine and three courses at Frankie and Benny’s that evening.  Did I feel bloated and guilty after eating so much food?  Nope.  Because as I said in my very first post that if you eat well the majority of the time, there is opportunity for a blow out like the one I had this weekend.  When I tried on my bridesmaid dress (photos to follow in August after the wedding, obvs) and had my showgirl fancy dress on, I felt trim, fit, healthy and full of energy and that is what motivates me to keep on the good stuff. 

Granted, on Sunday and Monday, I had a proper stomach ache and bloating, but I find that this happens when I indulge in the bad food that I don’t make the habit of eating in the week.  It goes to show how your body responds to junk and if you’re eating this sort of stuff all the time, then it certainly isn’t good.

Also read this article (click here) the other day too- it kind of sums up everything that I believe about eating and explains why processed food gives us such stomach aches if it’s responsible for causing inflammation in our bodies which, in turn, leads to high cholesterol and heart problems.  Scary stuff and again makes me feel really positive and happy with my food choices.

Half term eats

Poached eggs, with balsamic vinegar, asparagus and avocado.

It’s half term!  Which means I get to watch dole-TV, catch up with my besties and best of all COOK!  I made plenty of yummy food on Saturday- with poached eggs, avocado and asparagus for lunch, then gammon in cider with roasties (recipe here) and a Gizzi Erskine Victoria sponge (clickhere) for dinner since my in-laws came to visit.  So the bank holiday weekend has been a mix of eating well with the odd treats thrown in too.

Gizzi Erskine Victoria Sponge- works every time!

Family roast dinner- good times.

This morning started with bacon and maple syrup pancakes (recipe here) and they were even better today than last time, mainly because I let the pancakes sit on the pan and fry before I started poking them with a fish slice! 

I also experimented today with quinoa porridge after seeing a lot of photos of it on Instagram!  I’m a quinoa fan but only really cook the one recipe I know which is veggie korma quinoa (recipe here).  Porridge, so long as it’s not a packet mix loaded with sugar and additives, is such a good breakfast.  Oatmeal is delicious hot or cold, but the added benefits of using quinoa instead of oatmeal is that it contains more protein and every type of amino acid your body needs for healthy tissue and a tip-top immunity system. It's also gluten free too!

Quinoa Porridge (makes 2 large bowls or 3-4 smaller servings):

250g quinoa (rinsed, otherwise it can taste bitter)

1 cup (8 fl ounces) of either coconut milk, lactose free milk, semi-skimmed or skimmed milk ( I used coconut milk for my first attempt and it was tasty, but I’ll probably use my lactose free milk next time and add more flavour through the toppings).

250ml water

½ tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp sea salt

Method:

1.        Pour you chosen milk, water, vanilla extract and sea salt into a pan.  Add the quinoa.

2.       Bring to the boil and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes, until the liquid has reduced, the contents have thickened and the quinoa is soft.

3.       Serve immediately with any of the toppings below!  You may need to add an extra splash of milk to the finished dish if you find it too thick.  This porridge can also be made the day before too.  To re-heat, loosen the mix with some milk and warm up in either a pan or microwave.

Serving suggestions and toppings:

·         Mango would work well if you make the porridge with coconut milk- it tastes like mango sticky rice for any of you who have tried this dish in Thailand....pure, utter taste bud bliss!

·         Strawberries and blueberries are a porridge staple!

·         My NEW FAVE....sea salt and maple syrup, it’s a healthier equivalent of sea salt and caramel flavour!

·         Dried cranberries.

·         Banana.....the list of toppings is endless!

Happy, healthy eating!