Health update and before and after

Hello!

It's been a long break for the health and lurkers but we are back! (Well one is, the other is busy being a preegnant lady and we have recruited a new fitty (See her being all fit on instagram @healthandlurking). Life got busy and hectic and our healthiness took a back seat. However, since a holiday in March, I am on a healthy path of joy that has continued for 3 months which is the longest time I have ever not fallen off the wagon. I am feeling the best I ever have, and that includes how I felt when preparing for my Wedding day nearly 2 years ago. I have finally, finally found the balance in life and don't have uncontrollable binges!

The main difference is I am actually eating a lot of good food and exercising regularly rather than exercising less and eating less which resulted in a short term untoned weight loss result that I could not keep up. I am much more toned and have a better butt, something that I am always striving for! I will post more about what I used to eat and what I now eat on a standard day in a few post times. For now, I must go as the dog is calling and by calling I mean barking in my face cos Im not paying her attention.


Ps.  Here's a photo of a before and after so far......
Pps. Yes, that is a towel on my head.

CL
x

Post Wedding Wagon Mounting!

So I have been away for a while doing Wedding related tasks - aka getting married - and then going on my honeymoon to New York and Canada! Which, as you can imagine was amazing!

 

There was a LOT of food being consumed and none of it was in any way healthy. In the 4 weeks after the wedding, 2 of those being honeymoon, I managed to put on ONE WHOLE STONE. I am disgraced at this, but also secretly impressed that this was even possible. I love eating and if there was any time and place to go mental, then a honeymoon was it.

These are a few (!) of the amazing foods that were consumed.... 

However, I have now been back a while and the sugar intake level has not really seemed to have decreased. I can see myself getting back into old habits and although I thought that when I was married I would think: 'I can eat whatever I like cos I have captured my husband and he should love me no matter what'- turns out not to be the case and I do care a lot, still want to look good and feel good and eating crap for the rest of my life is not going to accomplish that! 

So, it begins again, another attempt to get back on the Wagon and stay on it! I am getting some help from a great book called 'Sweet Nothing' by Nicole Mowbray, who gave up sugar 2 years ago and it has changed her life. Whilst I am going to decrease my processed sugar levels as much as possible, I am not going to cut it out completely as I just love chocolate too much. Also, she gave up fruit which seems a bit silly to me, a piece now and again won't hurt and I am too obsessed with watermelon for that to happen. I may go cold turkey for a few days to try and get out of the sugar binge cycle and go from there. Watch this space.... 

A couple of Wedding pictures below: ideally the realistic size I want to return to once the 'honeymoon stone' has been shed. 

XxX

 

Healthy Banana Choc Chip Muffins

It's been a while, but we are back on it ready for summer! I found these delicious muffins on Running on real food and tried them out. They are sooooo good. I ate about 4 at once and didn't even feel bad because they have pure goodness in them, although eating 4 probably defeats the object. Butttt it's better than 4 Mars bars so I'm still winning..... Just.

They took hardly any time and don't need any special mixtures/processors which I've found a lot of recipes do, and I don't have the space or money for good ones. I also put them in fairy cake cases instead of muffins so I get more (clever). Left a couple of things out/used substitutes:

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I used wholemeal)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips 
• 1 mashed banana
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbs flax seeds mixed with 2 tbs water
• 2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• Almond/peanut butter

Preheat oven to 400F. Mix dry ingredients, mash banana, mix wet, add them to dry, mix altogether. Put dollop on cases, put dollop of almond/peanut butter on top, put another dollop on to cover it. Shove in oven for 15 mins, eat as soon as they come out cos you're greedy and can't wait and burn mouth.

Time to get back on the wagon!

After being on holiday and not having a day to day routine I have found it so hard to stay on top of eating healthily and doing exercise. My meal prep has gone to pot as I am away a lot at the weekends and find it hard to come back late and meal prep. This has meant that instead of eating my prepared snacks I will skip them, wait for lunch and then eat the world because I am hungry and have nothing ready! Once I get into a bad routine I find it so difficult to get back into a good one and swear I get really addicted to anything containing sugar and crave it forever! Other people are satisfied with just 1 or 2 bites of chocolate.... with me, if a packet is open, it WILL be finished all in one go and then I will crave more for the rest of the day, so it is actually easier not to have it at all! (I think I have a problem.)

Back from my mini holiday holiday of eating anything and everything: 3 course meals, mountains of bread, hot chocolates galore, crispy kreme' s, Rocky roads and basically anything that is even slightly chocolatey, I have decided enough is enough! I feel a lot more wobbly especially in the thigh arena which is not the look I'm going for and my skin is terrible and feels like all the sugar is exploding out of my face. So I am going on a sugar detox and not eating any processed food, so chocolate and a lot of other food is out! As I have an actual chocolate addiction this is going to be very hard! I've done it once before and managed to not eat ANY chocolate for over a month and after the initial cravings for the first week or so it was surprisingly easy and the more I didn't have it, the less I wanted it!

This is where the boyfriend comes in handy where I force him to shout at me and make me feel guilty if he sees me with any sugar related items! However, this will ultimately end in an argument with me saying things like 'leave me alone', 'stop interferring', 'why do you think I'm fat?' and 'I just need a little bit today, goddd, why don't you understand me!' It's going to be fun for him...

So as of today, its back  to the gym and running and the aim is to get back in the jeans as they are a tad on the tight side! Once I get into a routine I start to feel good again and it gets a lot easier. These things will help me get back on track:

1) Don't skip breakfast
2) Meal prep
3) Gym
4) Cut out the artificial sugar
5) Don't forget to drink water and green tea
6) Have a goal

So these are out.....













and these are in.....










Although I have massively fallen off the wagon, I don't necessarily think it is completely a bad thing as it makes me more motivated when I get back on it and it is also nice to relax a little and enjoy all the naughty foods you know you are not supposed to have. Also, as my life basically revolves around going out to eat and food related activities, I and my friends would find me extremely boring if I refused to do these things or only ate a plate of salad every time we went out. I would like to have a six pack and no wobble on my legs but my social life is also very important and I am not willing to sacrifice the fun to get these things, so I'll settle with eating well when I'm at home and exercising, but also enjoying myself and not worrying about things when I'm out with my friends. If this means I will never get a 6 pack, then so be it, I'll settle with feeling healthy the majority of the time and not being obese!

CW

Our Top 10 Favourite Yummy-And-Good-For-You Snacks!

We both have loads of yummy snacks we love, so we thought we would compile them into a list!

Our top 10 tried and tested, which we have usually between breakfast and lunch and then lunch and dinner.


1. Fruity Protein Bars. 
The absolute fave. Try not to eat them all at once. 
1/2 cup almond butter, 1/2 cup of honey, 2 scoops protein powder (I use choc). 1 1/4 ish cups of oats, half cup of dried apricots, cranberries and sliced almonds. Mix altogether, sprinkle a few mixed seeds in and put in a baking tray and squish down with a fork, put in fridge until a bit set. Wrap them up individually in foil and keep in fridge. Usually makes about 12.

2. Apple Slices with Almond Butter. 
Easy to prepare and tastes sooo good: 
Yum yum.

3. Protein Powder Peanut Butter Balls. 
Very Moreish!
Makes about 12. 2 cups almond butter, 2 scoops of protein powder (again I use choc,) 2 ripe bananas mashed, 2 tablespoons of ground flax seeds. Makes walnut sized balls, place in container, put in fridge, wrap individually once a bit set.

4. Graze Box
This is a bit cheating but you don't have to prepare them and they are delicious. Order a graze box,  it's relatively cheap and you have 4 snacks prepared for you straight away! Our favourites are flapjack, chocolate pudding, and chocolate brownie.

5. Turkey Muffins

Don’t forget, like I did, that they are meat based and not just muffins and leave them out of the fridge for days.... Go to eat one and find it’s extremely sweaty and nearly makes you sick... Results in a lot of wasted muffins. Woopps.

I left out chipotle pepper spice (I had no clue what it was)

Celery (I didn’t have any and don’t like it)

Added 1 tsp of mustard for extra flavour.

Also will get you boyfriend points (if you don’t give them gone off ones...)

6. Tone It Up Protein Bars
So yummy and a good way to use protein powder other than having a shake.
(see post on top 5 ways to use protein powder)

7. Greek Yoghurt Pancakes

Make lots, eat cold.

Add honey/almond butter/fruit/nutella for extra yuminess.

8. Greek Yoghurt with Honey and Fruit
(I like strawberries best) - so simple but very delicious.

9. Frozen Nutty Banana Nibblers
These are AMAZING. Such a good snack and one serving allows 7 which is actually really generous and you feel very satisfied afterwards. However I didn't put the 2 halves on top of each other, I kept them separate and topped them all with the mixture.

10. Cottage Cheese with Pepper and Cucumber or Reduced Fat Hummus with Cucumber and Grapes. 
I've tried a couple of different cottage cheeses and found that the plain one is definitely the best, but there are a few to try out there if you don't like one, don't be put off!

If all else fails and you don’t like any of those, then these really-not-good-for-you-but-so-good-and-ok-for-a-treat cookies are THE best cookies in the world. Loads of people have said so. Got the recipe from Tanya Burr (beauty you tuber/blogger/lots of other things. Check her out). She got it from Anna's cookie blog post and Anna got the recipe from here (I def can’t get sued.)  Just don’t eat them all at once.... you may be sick and will definitely get fat. Makes 12...

• 200g unsalted butter.

• 300g caster sugar

• 1 large egg (protein... they must be quite good for you then.....!)

• 275g self raising flour

• 75g cocoa powder

• 2 big bars of chocolate (one milk, one white, or whatever you like best)

• Splash of milk if mixture too dry.

Put the butter in a bowl and mix to make soft. Mix in the sugar until creamy.Crack the egg and mix that in. Throw in the dry ingredients. If dry add few drops of milk. Line 2 baking trays. Scoop mix into 12ish balls (about a handful). Place far apart on tray 200 degrees centigrade in the oven for only 10 mins.... they will look super sloppy but after half an hour will be at the perfect consistency to eat! I suggest inviting some friends round as soon as you get them out of the oven, or there is a massive chance you may devour them all in one go.

CW. CP. x

Meal prep and delicious food

After preparing my meals last night for today, I was so excited to get out of bed so the fun could begin! Knowing that it is all goodness I would be putting in my body makes me even more excited!!!

Meal1: 2 hard boiled eggs with soya and Lin seed toast. M2: low fat Greek yoghurt with flax seed and mixed nuts. M3: Cous Cous, broccoli and cottage cheese (not yet on it!) M4: apple and almond butter. I am then planning on going for a run and not sure what tea is as going to the boyfriends parents! But if it is carb heavy ill just have a small portion and won't feel bad as I know I've done my exercise today.

So not only was I prepared, I was excited about getting out of bed this morning due to the yuminess and that hardly ever happens so a double whammy! Fail to prepare and you're preparing to fail! (I think that's how it goes...)

Cw x 

Yoghurt pancakes please!

I forgot how yummy these were. Felt like an afternoon snack. Only 4 ingredients, really easy and very delicious. Found these on pinterest http://pinterest.com/source/everydaybelle.com/ I had honey on mine and was amazing, I would have had banana too, but had already had one today. I would suggest making half of the mixture if it is only for one person, but I have made the remainder and will eat it cold as a snack:

• 1 egg
• 6oz fat free greek yoghurt
• 1/2 cup of plain flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder.

Mix egg and yoghurt, (will be a bit lumpy), add dry ingredients, now it will be really thick. Put some in a frying pan with some spray, heat on medium/high. Cook like a pancake.

CW. x

Refreshing green smoothie and a bit of meal prep

After have a little (massive) slip up food-wise at the weekend, I think both CW and I dropped the ball a bit with our food planning, prepping and eating. Normally we would plan our food for the week on a Sunday but that defo did not happen since we were both hungover messes!
It's been a bit more of a struggle without everything ready to eat with work during the week but I caught up this evening and somehow created a yummy green smoothie that is really refreshing and filling too! Although I may have drunk a bit too much and now I feel sick...

Berry Nice Green Smoothie (see what I did there?)
I didn't use any measuring apparatus since I am a lazy fart so everything is approximated:


1 big handful of spinach
6 inch piece of cucumber
3 satsumas
1 large glug of almond milk
4 small strawberries
1 small handful of blueberries
1 tablespoon of flaxseeds

You could probably add some kale into this smoothie to make it even greener. I decided not to since I've one off kale following a bad smoothie that tasted like cumin when I didn't clean my blender out properly (whoops)!

Here are a couple of shots of the meal prep I managed to do this evening too

Chicken | cucumber and bell pepper / spinach and red pepper | baked sweet potato

Greek yogurt, strawberry, blueberry, cinnamon and flaxseeds | Berry nice green smoothie

I love the feeling of finishing off my meal prep for the week and that I don't need to think about cooking for a few days! Yay! I have been watching meal prep videos on YouTube and for some reason they are mesmerizing! I ended up watching about 5 of them back to back in bed last night at 11pm... I need a life! You can get some really good tips from them on shortening the amount of time you have to spend fannying around in the kitchen which is always a bonus!

----

CP

Amazing peanut butter protein powder bar!

As we are always on the hunt for new, yummy things, I have just discovered this absolutely amazing protein bar! It was from pinterest http://pinterest.com/pin/514325219915290144/ I think it has rivalled the tone it up protein bar!
It is so nice I'm not sure I can control myself and may end up eating the whole thing in one go, which would not be clever! I changed it slightly from the recipe I found and added in some protein powder:

mix together...

• 1/2 cup of  almond butter/peanut butter

  

  There was a bit more than that but I got excited and ate some!

• 1/2 cup of honey
• 1 1/4 cups of oats
• 2 scoops of protein powder (I used chocolate)
• Half a cup (ish) of chopped up dried apricots, dried cranberries and sliced almonds
• sprinkle until it looks enough - mixed seeds (I used sunflower, pumpkin and pine in a mixed packet I had lurking around.)

Line a tin with baking paper, it doesn't really matter what size tin as the mixture is stiff and won't run. Push it down with a fork or whatever, and put in fridge until you can't wait any longer! OHM. 

CW x

Breakfast Bonanza!

Sometimes it’s hard to begin the day eating well because you just can’t think of different things to have, so you end up having the same sugary cereals every day. CP and I have put together some breakfast options that we often have. We try to change what we have most days so we still get excited about getting out of bed (the only reason to get out of bed...food!)

Breakfast

• 2 boiled eggs on soya and linseed toast (or poached or scrambled, hard boiled is the best though). I also like to have marmite on my toast underneath the egg that I squish on... try it, it’s amaze.
• Overnight porridge (www.laurenconrad.com ) I like to add sliced almonds and dried cranberries on mine. Also sometimes if I’m feeling a bit crazy, almond butter mixed in too.
• Overnight chocolate porridge www.greatist.com (similar but with chocolate protein powder mixed in.)
• Granola, low fat greek yoghurt, fruit and flax seeds.
• Smoothie (see top 5 smoothies post...... http://healthandlurking.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/top-5-super-scrumptious-sexy-sometimes.html )
• Quinoa breakfast (I can’t remember where I got it from so sorry internet person that will be angry I stole their recipe):
• ½ a cup of cooked quinoa
• 1 tablespoon of sliced almonds
•  ¼ cup of raisins
• ½ banana mashed
• ½ teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 cup almond  milk
•  1 table spoon maple syrup

• Almond butter on soya and linseed toast.
• Omelette, spinach, ham, mushroom, anything you can find.
• Yoghurt pancakes (from pinterest.) Makes 4 big/8small. Mix altogether, fry like pancake (surprisingly..)
• 6oz greek yoghurt (low fat)
• 1 egg
•   ½ cup of flour
•  1 tsp baking powder

• Chocolate peanut butter protein shake and hard boiled egg (separately...)  from www.muffintopless.com           
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 table spoon almond butter
• 1-2 stevia packets... (Think this is weird American uncalorifc sugar... That’s what I decided anyway so randomly added a bit of truvia (sounds the same so....)
•  4 ice cubes.

Also, my minimising hangover strategies did not take place this weekend for many reasons, so I’ll definitely do it this weekend on my next fancy dress outing... and hope it helps... watch this space.

Lunch and dinner options coming soon.....

CW. x

Websites and apps that will make you feel healthier before you even get off the sofa!

CW and I like to think of ourselves as professional browsers of the Internet. I would say we normally spend 2 hours a night during the week and most of our weekends perusing for anything healthy/funny/nice looking on various sites and apps. I find that even looking at healthy recipes and workouts make me feel better before I even try them out which is probably why I spend a little too much time on the Internet in my PJs! Here is a couple of the wonderful places that we have found:

Muffin Topless
This girl is truly inspiring and positive and has a wealth of info on workouts and recipes that CW and I base our meals plans on! Just look at her body for goodness sake!!!

Lauren Conrad
If you are a girl (or sneaky man) in her twenties, you have more than likely seen Laguna Beach/The Hills you will know who Lauren is/want her life/want to look like/be her. This website is great for lots of different topics including many a creative healthy recipe and workout.

BodyBuilding.com
If you need to know how to perform a move at the gym before getting there and looking like a bit of an idiot like some of us have done/continue to do, then this is the website to go to. They have a video for every move you could want to do at the gym with men AND women showing you how it's done! There is also a motivation/transformation section which I love and who doesn't love a good transformation picture?!

Fit Sugar
More recipe and workout ideas than you will know what to do with! I think this is where I got my very first circuit set from and I always see this website pop up on Pinterest which is where I originally discovered it.

Tone It Up
CW and I have used this website for smoothie, protein shake and protein pancake ideas. There is an option to pay for the full plan but if you are Scrooges with your money like us, you can sign up using just your email address and get the free bits! Winner!

The Gracious Pantry
If you are trying to eat clean then this website is great for recipe ideas! I LOVE her 4 bean chili which is quick to make and is sooo yum! She has a whole section on getting started with eating clean if you are a total newbie too!

The JEFIT app
Don't be scared by all the mention of body building (unless that is the look you are going for then yay!). There is a free version (hurrah!) of this which I am using at the moment to do my non-cardio workout stuff. It has preset plans you can download and use, it tells you when your rest time is up, stores stats on your progress and so much more!


With most of these websites, you can plug your email address in and then you will receive the latest posts straight to your inbox which is great for the lazy among us! 

I'm sure this list will continue to grow and I've probably forgotten a bunch of stuff but at least this is a start! Let us know if you have any other sites or apps that you enjoy using so we can share the love and give each other even more excuses to browse the web!

---

CP x

Never get another horrific hangover ever again.... hopefully!

Lately, I have not been going out drinking much, this is because I have been really busy, but also because I actually cannot take the hangovers any more. Since I turned the grand old age of 25, I swear they have got a thousand times worse and I literally cannot move or function the next day, whether I have one drink or ten. 

This does not amuse me, as I do love a drunken night out. (I know to be really healthy you are supposed to cut alcohol out completely, but that is nearly impossible and also quite boring, as your non health concious friends will tell you.) I also have the problem where I can’t dance sober, (I can’t dance drunk either, but I think I can at the time and don’t care if people think I look like a deranged monkey) so I actually have to get drunk if I know we are ending up in a club.

So, I have put together all the things CP and I have heard about minimising hangovers and am on a mission to be able to get out of bed the day after a night out and not spend it in bed feeling so ill we never want to drink again. We are going to try EVERYTHING on this list and see what happens... it HAS to make us feel better than the state we seem to be finding ourselves in the next morning! If not, then all these people/ things we heard these tips from are big liars and obviously are just lucky and don’t get hangovers.

Before the night out:

• Drink loads of water that day so you are not dehydrated before the night even starts.
• Eat a good meal. Some people have said to eat greasy food before going out, but I have also heard a different approach would be to eat some healthy foods, like protein rich oily fish with veg such as broccoli, as that is liver detoxifying apparently.  As eating greasy food has clearly never worked for me, I might as well try and take the healthy route.
• Take vitamin tablets as drinking depletes vitamins and nutrients. Fight back.
• This is one we think will help just because we love it and it feels so good and surely can’t do any damage: have a green smoothie (see post on smoothies... http://healthandlurking.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/top-5-super-scrumptious-sexy-sometimes.html )
• Have a glass of milk as it lines the stomach.

During night out:

• Drink:  clear alcohol, like vodka, which is also low (ish) in calories. Don’t mix your drinks, (especially not red wine with WKD because that was the only thing available... it does NOT end well!) Drink with soda water to minimise calorie consumption too. (Or if that is too gross, diet coke).
• Every single drink you have, drink a glass of water before the next alcoholic one. I think as well as helping you not get so horrifically drunk, it might also trick you into feeling too full to drink any more  and thus preventing vomiting and more mental dancing.
• Stop when you are satisfactorily drunk. (May need to designate a helper to tell you when to stop... Boyfriends are good for this, as you can scream at them ‘I’m not drunkkkk, you’re trying to ruin my fun, you’re way more drunk than me anyway. Shut up. I hate you!’ rants.) Don’t keep drinking because you think the effects (affects?!) are wearing off and you don’t want to become ‘sober’ before the night ends and have to dance.

Straight after night out:

• Apparently drinking lucozade as well as drinking more water when you get in is good as it replaces all the electrolytes you have lost... not really sure what this means, but it sounds good.
• Eat something a bit stodge but not greasy and bad for you, like toast and marmite or toast and honey. (Replaces the sugar.)
• Sleep loads!!! Sometimes when I haven’t even been drinking but am really tired, I feel hungover so that definitely adds to the horrific feeling.

Morning after:

• I, like most people (I hope) crave stodgy carbs allll day and stuff my face because I’m hungover and feel gross anyway so I might as well get fat. But apparently eating greasy stodgy food is not the answer and you should eat toast again with either marmite/honey or an egg (probably poached or scrambled so it’s not fatty) and a banana as it is full of potassium: another thing alcohol has stolen from you.
• Also eat Fruit and veg to replace minerals.
• Drink more water to rehydrate.

Soooooo, these are ALL of the things we are going to try before, during and after our night out this Saturday and we will update with how bad our hangovers were/hopefully were not. 

CW. x 

Top 5 Super Scrumptious Sexy (sometimes smelly) Smoothies

I LOVE a smoothie.  Especially in the morning as it is easy to take with you, which means more time in bed.  I always get 10 minutes extra on a smoothie morning, which is definitely worth it.... They are always packed with loads of fruit and/or veg which means you don't have to worry as much about getting your 5 a day as most of them are probably in your smoothie.

CP and I have tried a few and find that the recipe often makes 2 and then because it’s so yummy we often drink all of it, which I don’t think you’re supposed to do... So I halve the recipes so I can’t drink the world in smoothie. Also, depending on how thick/sloppy etc you like it, I always make it how it says then work out what I can do next time to make it nicer, eg add a few more oats for a more oaty/thicker texture. (Don’t forget to write it down otherwise you will probably forget, if you have a fish brain like me).

1. Almond Butter Smoothie (This is for 1glass)

Half a banana

3 ice cubes

74 mls (my stupid measuring jug is in US fluid ounces.... bought by my mum... I bet it was the cheapest. If it is, 2.5 US fluid ounces)

2 desert spoons of low fat greek yoghurt

About ½ cup of oats (I just pour it out of the packet until it looks right... not sure how accurate that is..)

Squirt of honey for sweetness

Half a table spoon of almond butter (myrotein.com)

Shove it all in and blend. Yum. It is also quite filling which is pleasing.

2. Kale and Spinach Smoothie.

It sounds disgusting but it is sooooo delicious! You can literally hardly even taste the veg, but it looks good because it’s green and is reallllly refreshing. If you are going out that night, have one. It’s so good for you it will practically counteract the alcohol...

Again this is for 1 glass:

1 cup of spinach

1 and a half cups of kale

½ cup strawberries (I use frozen ones so you can keep them for ages in the freezer)

½ cup of orange juice (I use Tropicana... maybe use an actual orange if you want to be super healthy)

½ cup of low fat greek yog.

I cup of ice.

I cut the stalks off the kale as you don’t want gross stalky bits floating around in your mouth.

3. Apple and Cinnamon Smoothie

(from pinterest, see post below...)

This is really delicious, think it may be CP’s fave.

4. Get Well Smoothie (www.toneitup.com)

Another one of CP’s favourite.

4 clementines

1 banana

1 cup of spinach

1 cup of kale (think CP leaves the kale out)

1/3 cup almond milk.

Similar to the other one (which I prefer).

5. Banana and Strawberry (Bawberry... Strawbana...) Smoothie

This one is from laurenconrad.com

Quite sweet and very fruity.

Half cup of ice (I use 3 ice cubes...)

½ cup of frozen strawberries

½ cup low fat greek yog

1 banana

½ cup oats

1 table spoon honey.

NB If there is a p missed out in any words it is because my silly computer has decided to not like the p key today...

Go and try a different one every day!

CW.

Diets, Diets and MORE DIETS!

I think I have spent most of my life from my late teens up until now consciously thinking about my weight and how I look as most girls/women do! CW and I spent many a time at university trying out new things at the gym, doing Davina workouts in the living room to hilarious effect and attempting to be healthy food-wise but nothing ever really stuck. Although spending most weekday evenings out at the union bar doing shots and living opposite a corner shop in our final year probably wasn't the biggest help! At one point we were having a chocolate bar a day which I would like to blame on one of our friends for starting as she is one of those lucky people who doesn't seem to gain weight! Anyway, we seemed to be constantly trying new things including some rather scary diets that, looking back on them, were mental! One of them had me only eating 500 calories a day and taking a herbal spray (what was I thinking...). They all seemed to work at the time but none were something I could stick to in the long run and the weight slowly sneaked back on. My love of food was too great to deny eating a whole bag of chocolate raisins!

The latest tipping point was when I met up with CW and some of our other uni housemates a few months ago and we all decided it would be a good idea to weigh ourselves. OH GOOD LORD. I nearly cried! CW had been trying out this snazzy new diet called the 5:2 diet which is basically 2 fasting/500 cal days a week and then 5 days of normal eating. This went well for a while until I thought it would be a good idea to have a bunch of chocolate on my fast day and then be really hungry the next day because my body hadn't got the goods it wanted. I would end up demolishing even more food than I normally would.

Then a few weeks ago, CW spotted a girl on Instagram who had an amazing body AND got to eat loads of food every day. We were sold at 'food'! Since then we have been eating whole/'clean' foods (raw foods, as they are or put into a meal) and trying to include weights into our exercise routine. I have to admit I live with a guy whose whole family run off this WOL (way of life) (minus the exercise) and not a single one is fat! I don't know why I didn't start doing this earlier?! Since starting this, CW and I have constantly been messaging each other with recipes and a LOT of photo's of our food/meals which I think has really helped us stay on track. 

Dinner tonight - Tomato and Red Pepper Omelette with Courgette

In summary, fad diets do not work as a long term lifestyle. All you need to do is eat the foods your body loves (no your body does not want a whole family sized bag of Malteasers) and get moving!

Some of the good points I have noticed since starting are:
- Increased energy levels
- Rarely hungry
- The bloated/food baby/stomach pooch has gone down
- We have lost weight without really thinking about it
- My skin is looking better (I think this might be the reduced amount of sugar in my diet)
- I look forward to going to the gym - WHAT?

I think the only downside is that you will end up buying more fresh produce which is more expensive than canned/processed stuff and the time you have to put into the meal prep but I think we secretly enjoy that, right CW? Sunday = Meal Prep Day = Yay! PLUS, once you have done all your meal prep you don't have to think about it for the rest of the week!

If you have any questions on how/what we are doing, feel free to comment below!

---

CP

Twitter!

Follow us on twitter for updates of our meals and tasty snacks to try! @healthandlurkin (it wouldn't fit the g on lurking....)

Free Weights Section Virginity

When psyching myself up to try out the free weights section for the first time yesterday, my thought process went something like this:

'I'm just about the go into the gym and I'm really nervous! I don't want to look like I don't know what I'm doing!'

4 minutes later...

'Why do men have to take over the whole weights arena?! I wish I could go to the gym with CW and then we could tackle the weights at the same time and look clueless together!'

20 minutes after sitting on a bike still deciding what to do I brave it into the machine weights section (or whatever those machines are called that you do weight exercises on) which is next to the free weights are...

'There are so many boys/men in here... I swear it's all men!!'

2 minutes after fannying around on one of the arm machines that I don't know the name of...

'Why do they (the men) all look at each other at the gym?! Just keep your eyes on the floor! Waaa I am so scared to try and get a bench!!'

I stand up and look over to the free weights section to not find a free bench in site. After all that panicking/worrying/procrastinating, I can't even use the man area if I wanted to (which I secretly didn't)! I resided to the usual floor space which only seems to have the odd man in and always has space on the floor for me feeling very annoyed with myself! Darn it! I was so sure I was going to do it! I explained to CW what had happened and she told me that her boyfriend had just had a really good Intro/Personal Training session at his gym which was the same chain as mine. YES! What a great idea! Someone can help me not look like an idiot and as a bonus I can rope in a girl from work to come with me and look silly with me too! Hurrah! So this time next week I will be a pro! :D

Until then I have my circuit that I am loving at the moment (apart from the final move that make me lie face down and look like I've had a few too many glasses of wine!) - http://www.fitsugar.com/Full-Body-Circuit-Workout-Dumbbells-2825394



---

CP

Green Tea Goodness/Forcing Yourself To Like It!

I hate tea. Weird, I know. To me, it tastes of watery grossness with a bit of weirdness added in. It becomes a tiny bit better when sugar's involved but I’m still not a fan. I don’t think CP is either, which makes us both weird, which we knew already.

So,  I started trying to drink green tea... My mum has drank it forever and swears by it, she hardly ever gets ill and she thinks that is why! The first, I’m not going to lie, 25 times I tasted it, it was so gross and I was trying to convince myself I liked it! But as time went on, I found myself beginning to actually look forward to it and found it quite refreshing. I’m not going to pretend it’s my favourite drink, because... well, it’s not, hot chocolate it. But, it is drinkable and you do get used to it after a while, so stick at it.

There are many benefits that are believed to be associated with green tea which is part of the reason I think I like it – because it makes me feel like I’m putting goodness into my body.

·         It is believed to boost your metabolism.... and   who doesn’t want that to happen?! (Except maybe those lucky ‘I can never put on weight people’ (annoyiinngg))

·         It is an antioxidant against cancer.

·         It helps prevent wrinkles... obviously at the age of 25 it is time to add that to the list of life worries.

·         It helps prevent depression.

There are probably loads more, but those are the ones I’m most interested in.

However, most importantly to me, it really does suppress my appetite! So when I’m feeling peckish (all of the time...) I try and drink a green tea rather than reach for the biscuit tin.... and then the chocolate bar... and then the ice cream.... and then binge for a week because 'I've ruined my healthy eating anyway so I might as well get be fat.'

Which to buy:

I personally don’t like the flavoured ones so I opt for the standard green tea bags. I did, however, think I was being really clever and buy loads from a bargain shop and once they had ran out decided that I couldn’t be bothered to troop all the way back there so went to a standard supermarket instead. Whilst there, I discovered that my bargain wasn’t such a bargain and actually I could get 100 green tea bags by Tetley for about £4, which I think was a better deal than the ‘bargain’ ones I got from the ‘bargain’ shop. Also, they are a MUCH nicer flavour which was a nice surprise.

So, basically, don’t be scabby and buy things from nice shops.

In conclusion, you should definitely try green tea and force yourself to like it....

(picture from http://www.city-connect.org/green-tea-versus-coffee/ )

CW.