Healthy Snack Ideas

I'm really enjoying my healthy eating at the moment, I feel like I have a lot more energy, I've cut out a lot of overly processed crap and am finding a balance with food that is better for me as well as still being tasty.

I thought I would show you some of the things that are living in my cupboard for grabbing when I need a quick snack. I keep a lot of these items in my desk at work for when I need them.

Caramel or chocolate coated rice cakes - I didn't think I would like these but they are amazing! I picked these up in the free from aisle in Tesco and keep these in my desk when I'm at work or in my bag when I'm out and about - perfect as a little pick me up.

Graze boxes - I love these, I've been getting them for ages and I adore them. I love that these are all calorie counted out so you can easily track them plus there is such a wide range of boxes - my favourites are the popcorns, flapjacks, beef jerky or all of the dippers - especially the caramel dipper! you can choose how often you want delivery and then chuck them in your bag and you're good to go!

 Fruit - My arch nemisis, I'm really not keen on eating fruit, I'm really fussy about texture of food and fruit has bits in it so I only pick 'smooth' fruits that I can make into a smoothie or eat quickly but it wouldn't be my first choice of snack!

Peanut Butter - Since taking the pictures for this post I have discovered Pip & Nut peanut butter and it is love! I've always loved peanut butter but paired with apple, in a smoothie with frozen banana or just straight from the jar and I'm happy, perfect for a quick energy hit!

So there are some of my favourite healthy snack ideas, I have a load more if you would want any more ideas! Would also love to know what snacks you go for!

xx

#sixweeksoffitness - Setting the challenge

Source

So summer holidays are here for us teachers and it means I have to find a way of filling my days with things to do and not just raiding the cupboards and eating my weight in Thank You Teacher chocolates.

With that in mind, plus the fact I'm starting a new job in September, need to start wedding dress hunting in the winter and am not 100% comfortable with how I feel in my own skin so I've decided to hit up the gym as much as possible and get myself back into some good habits as well as concentrating on eating mindfully rather then just grabbing whatever I can find.

I'm not setting any goals, not putting in a target on how many pounds I want to lose, I'm just aiming at working out and feeling healthy. My starting point and the progress pictures are what I'm using to monitor my own progress, although I feel a bit odd about putting the pictures on the blog, but I don't mind my measurements.

Starting
Weight - 190lbs
Thighs - 26inch
Hips - 40inch
Waist - 34inch
Body Fat - 32% (This is dodgy as my scales are not 100% accurate but its a rough starting point)
Plank - 45seconds

I'm going to track my workouts over on my Instagram, using the hashtag #sixweeksoffitness as well as some of my meals. I'm tracking all of my food on myfitnesspal to keep me accountable as well as writing the odd post on here about fitness etc

I'm not writing this for people to read, if you want to read it them please let me know of any tips, food ideas, workouts, posts you would like to see, but this is more to keep me accountable as to how I'm doing.


With that in mind, I'm off to fill up my bag with some healthy snacks for my weekend away.

Review - Upbeat Protein Drink

As part of my new, healthy attitude towards food I've been looking for ways to make better choices when it comes to snacking. I'm awful at picking the right thing, I will always pick crisps over fruit, or chocolate over healthy bars, or a bottle of coke over a bottle of water.

I know in my meal plan I need to up the amount of protein I consume to help fill me up for longer, but I'm not yet ready for some of the protein dense meals I see on Instagram for breakfasts so I've been adding protein powder to my smoothies, but sometimes during the day I need a bit of a top up so I've been grabbing an Upbeat protein drink.

Upbeat is a ready made protein drink that comes ready to drink and easy to grab whenever you need it. I always pick up the Strawberry flavour and the Chocolate & Orange flavour as it helps to have them in the fridge to throw in my bag if I haven't had the chance to prepare a protein dense snack. It's honestly like drinking a strawberry yoghurt, so easy to drink and tastes great.

Each bottle contains 20g of protein, less then 150 calories and helps keep you full between meals or as a bit of a pick me up after a gym session, I always grab one on my way home from Bodyjam on a Thursday night as a bit of a treat or I have emptied a bottle into a bowl and then frozen it for a few hours to make a frozen yoghurt style pudding.

At £1.84 in Tesco, these little bottles are fairly priced and great for grabbing on the go.

Have you tried Upbeat? How do you make sure you get enough protein?

xx

* I have been given vouchers to buy these by the team at Upbeat however I have bought these before and all opinions are my own.

Recipe - Sweet Potato Falafel

I've been trying to find healthier lunch options, I'm so sick of salad and soups, all I want is bread and cheese and packets of crisps! So I decided to make something which I could throw in with my salads to give me a bit more taste and flavour, or I use these as part of a pitta or a wrap with some salad and ham.

These were so easy to make and lasted ages! You will need:

2 Medium Sweet Potato

1 Tin Chickpeas

Spices or seasoning of your choice

- Pre-heat the oven to around 200oC, heat up 2tbs of Coconut Oil

- Peel and cube the sweet potato, roast in a tin for about 20mins, seasoning with a little mixed herbs

- Once the potato is cooked and started to cool, put in a bowl and add 1 tin of chickpeas, mash up using a potato masher

- Split into balls or patties and place in the oven for about 20mins until golden on the outside

- Take them out to cool.

These are so easy to make and last all week, perfect for lunch or as a little snack. Next time I think I'm going to mix in some spices and give me a bit more heat! 

Let me know if you make these!

Slendertoxtea 14 Day Meal Replacement Shake

Hands up if your still sticking to your New Years resolution of healthy eating and exercise. I've been working really hard at keeping on track and planning meals but it can be hard to get all my meals in or remembering to eat.

Often at work I don't have a lot of time, in between setting up for the afternoon lessons, marking books, grabbing a quick brew and having a wee there isn't a lot of time to put food in, especially when it requires sitting down like a salad or soup, so when I saw the meal replacement shake from Slendertox I thought I would give it a go.

You get a 14day detox shake so it's meant to help kick start your weight loss, not a permenant meal idea. It's so easy to make up, one small scoop into 100ml of water, quick mix with a fork and you have a mini meal in a glass. It's more a couple of mouthfuls rather then a full smoothie but for on the go it's a great idea. I was worried with how little it makes that I would be starving within an hour hit in really not, it seems to keep me fuller for a fair few hours and then I eat normally in the evening.

You can pad it out using yoghurt or milk or blend it in a smoothie but I prefer it like a single drink with water, it's quicker for me. It doesn't taste bad, it's quite sweet and berry like. As for weight loss, I can't comment as I've only been using it a couple of days but if you want to know then I will update after the two weeks. 

For more information, check out Slendertoxtea website or ask me.

Have you tried a meal replacement? Would you try it? 

Wednesday Lunch Box #2

Hands up, I forgot to do this last week, plus my lunch didn't happen last week due to running a few clubs with the children!

So this week I've got:

Tesco Country Vegetable Soup

Yup, not a lot there, but I've been so busy this lunch time that I was lucky to actually eat it!

Now to get home & have a proper tea!

What did you have for lunch? Xx

Wobble-Less Wednesday - Flourless Pizza

So in my bid to reduce my belly & find the abs that are sleeping in their winter layers still, I've been looking at lots of wheat free recipes. Sometimes the hardest thing about eat clean is missing out on the food my boy can eat like Pizza, so when Cassey from Blogilates posted this recipe a few weeks back I thought I would try it! 

Flourless Pizza, You will need -

1/2 cauliflower depending on size

100g low fat mozzarella

1 Egg

Pizza topping sauce

50g low fat mozzarella

Topping of your choice

Step 1 - Cut up the cauliflower into small pieces.

Step 2 - If you have a shoddy blender like me then microwave for 4mins on high then blend, if not blend until tiny pieces then microwave for 8mins.

Step 3 - Carefully mix in the 100g low fat mozzarella & 1 egg, use a spoon as its hot!

Step 4 - Spray a baking tray with low fat oil and then spread out the mix in a circle, bake for 10-15min at 180oC.

Step 5 - Take out the oven, add toppings, sauce, cheese and toppings. Return to oven for 10mins.

Step 6 - Enjoy!

I had this for tea last night and lunch today - lower fat, low carb & yummy!

What do you think? Have you tried it? Xx

Friday Fitness - Little and Often

Afternoon everyone, thank someone its Friday! This week has been a tough week. Yesterday I had my first observation of the year at school and worked so hard to produce a great lesson. Sadly I didn't get the result that I wanted, and so spent most of yesterday forcing myself not to shout at all the children as I made the mistake which meant I threw away an outstanding lesson 
:(


Today, I wanted to do a bit of an update on my weight loss and talk about food. Since starting back at school I've managed to lose 10lbs in 6 weeks. For me this is great as I'm starting to feel better and I need to buy myself some new trousers!

Being back at school means that I am back into a routine. I'm up early, into school, lessons, break, lesson, lunch, 2 lessons and then end of the day, work for a couple of hours, head home, tea.
I'm finding that I'm hungrier at odd times. When I went back, I thought that I could cope without breakfast and just live off cups of tea until break time or lunch time.


At first the weight fell off and I put this down to not eating a lot, however when I got home from school I would literally hunt around the kitchen for everything! With this my weight would go up and down, along with my emotions.


So I went back to my Weight Watchers books, tracked my food and realised that I need to eat more not less! 


This lead me to looking at my food choices, changing me eating and since I've lost more weight and able to maintain it.


Not eating regularly means that the body is forced into starvation mode, storing more glycogen as fat for use later rather then allowing the body to burn it off. Simple by eating a bowl of cereal for breakfast means the body burns more calories, which leads to feeling more alert and performing better, as well as being able to last longer without food. Having a routine also allows me to eat little and often, maintaining blood sugar throughout the day, so I can have less food in the evening!

I think what I'm trying to say is that its better to eat little and often then little and never or lots and all the time! Feed your body and it will reward you!


Sorry that this is a bit of a rambling post, just thought I would share my new found insight! 


Thanks for reading xx

Monday Night Pledge and 8 week challenge

I'm getting worse at writing this post every week so I have decided to move it to a Monday when I am in a blogging frame of mind, ready to start the new week.

This post marks the start of my 8 week countdown to a wedding I'm going to and I am going to be 2 stone lighter! Since last weeks pledge, I have had a manic week, totally losing control at work with report writing! So this week is a fresh start.

This week I pledge to:
1) Keep drinking lots of water as I am starting to recognise the difference between hunger and thirst!
2) Get back into a high protein diet, cut down on nasty, IBS inducing carbs :(
3) Go back to spinning!!!

Weight: a scary 14 st 6

Where do you want to be in 8 weeks time with your weight loss/lifestyle change. I challenge you to take on the 8 week( or however long it is for you) challenge and let me know so that we can motivate each other! Next week I might even brave a before picture! What are you going to change this week?!