Juice Me Up Before Bikni Deadline! :D

Well, fancy meeting you here....

Okay I know... it's been a while :P

As you all know exams just took over my life recently :( 

For the last 2 months I've been preparing and sitting 11 college exams and I've been so stressed that I've really had no time to workout or come up with new recipes let alone blog :O

But tomorrow is my last exam so I thought I'd get back on the bandwagon :D

A bit of a last minute decision but at the beginning of the month we decided to take a weeks holiday after the exam, The date has crept up on me and suddenly the holiday/bikini wearing extravaganza is happening..... THURSDAY!!

Yeah that's right Thursday :(

Now don't get me wrong I'm dying to get away for a bit of rest and relaxation, but this whole bikini wearing situation?

Not going to be the highlight for me >:(

I haven't completely let my general healthy lifestyle go over study month but It's the coffee breaks, late night energy drinks, Chocolate comforting and lack of gym that have but me back a step.

I've gained 1kg on the scales (which I'm not delighted about but it could be worse) but I feel like my abs (especially obliques) have seriously suffered!

So the past 2 weeks I've really been sticking to my blogilates workouts and they've worked but I need to do something I hate and "crash diet" in the healthiest way possible...

Basically A JUICE CLEANSE!

Juice cleanse's have really become the it thing of 2014 with celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Lauren Conrad and Millie Mackintosh all being fans and admittedly this isn't my first juice cleanse this year either!

I did my first cleanse in January as a kinda new year new me attitude and  My worry about  it at the time was, am I going to put all the weight back on again?

I dropped 2 kgs and over the space of a month of normal eating only put 1/2 a kg back on, so its not only water weight your loosing!

I Know I preach about not using the fadding diets but people forget that even on a juice cleanse your consuimg 1200 calories a day and for only 3 days

And to be honest I'm just feeling a bit "meh" after all this study and I need a bit of a reboot!

I'm following the reboot with go 3 day plan that you can find here! It has loads of free advice, recipes and guidelines and it's the plan I followed for my previous juicing!

I've decided to make my own juices because:

a) I have a good quality juicer to hand

b) It's much much much cheaper(all the fruit cost me €22 in lidl!!)

c)It's kind of satisfying making your own juices and deciding which ones to drink!

So here's my break down of the day's Juices so far:

Morning: Detox juice from Jump Juice (apple,carrot,celery,cucumber and beets)

Lunch: Garden Variety

Mid afternoon snack : Apple-Carrot-Ginger

Dinner :Garden Variety

Dessert: Pine-lime-lemon

Water : 3litres throughout

The great thing about reboot with Joe's recipes is that a lot of them make double so I currently have my leftover apple-carrot-ginger for the morning!( it was definitely my favourite juice of the day! :P)

So how am I doing?

Mood:

Have to be said I'm pretty good! not feeling cranky off caffeine withdrawals or sugar lows so no complaints yet!

Energy:

A bit of a slump at 4 o clock but I had a pick me up after my afternoon juice!

Hunger:

There's this weird hunger you get on a juice cleanse, its not a physical belly rumbling hunger but it's more like you really miss food? Like I'm mentally hungry for food but my body doesn't need it! I especially get cravings when people eat around me but in general I haven't caved yet!!

To be honest I've kept myself really busy all day and as a result haven't even noticed feeling hungry or think about food etc! 

It might be the new way to help through the cleanse?

Il keep you updated on my progress ;)

 

Study month post!! :)

So long time no see... :P

Total apologise for not posting for 2 weeks you guys but I'm currently in the middle of study months before my 11 ( yes that's right 11 :'( ) exams in May!

Every waking minute is spent either studying, sleeping or gymming ! :L

So this is just going to be a quick blog about my new favourites/ what I'm up to these days!!



So let's start with the gym!

I've been finding it really difficult to fit in gym-library-friends at the minute so gym has taken a bit of a back seat currently although I still manage to make it about twice a week which I think is good going!

What I'm doing more of now is running!

I've really gotten into doing a new route that's about 6km and I've been recording some great times.

As well as running I've gotten into doing home exercise routines. Now I am a self confessed tone it up girl but my new fitness crush is Cassey Ho's blogilates!! She is a trained pilates instructor who has started her own brand of "POP PILATES" which is basically high tempo pilates done in rhythm to songs. She has loads of posts on youtude and my good guys her workouts are killer!!!

Tuesday I was too busy to gym so I decided to do Half and hour of her video's and I've been sooooo stiff the last two days! I feel like I've done so much more than I do in the gym. 
You have to try her total body workout and her victoria secrets abs workout!

They are by far the best I've ever done!!!

Find her website here!!

Victoria Secret's Abs workout

Total Body workout




 My sister Orla and I also went to Tinie Tempah concert last week!

Had such a great time and really enjoyed ourselves!

Even blagged our way into the priority lounge ;)

Also my new snack obsession are these Ryvita crisps!

They are sooooo good and a really tasty snack for work or study.

They're only 90 calories and 1.9grams of fat so how can complain!

I have the salt and vinegar multipack at the moment but I'm dying to try other flavours next week

As I've said my gym sessions have gotten a bit rare these days and when I go I usually don't have a lot of time so I've developed a love for fast sprint interval training!

Sprint intervals are a great way to get your heart and muscles pumping before weights etc. 

They also are important to help fat burn and aerobic fitness

My favourite routine so far is the toneit up cupid's cardio workout where I usually do 3km in 15mins which is pretty good!

I after 6 repeats of 30 second sprint 1 minute jog I usually up it to 30 seconds sprint 30 second jog! 
I would really recommend it to anyone who is getting bored  of just running 5km straight at the same pace or anyone who is sort on time!

That's all guys! Sorry I couldn't post anymore I'm running out of time but I'll try to blog over the weekend again! :)

LOVE!
xxx

What I've been eating post splurge :)

Hey everybody!

So I had the most amazing weekend away full of relaxation, love and you guessed it EATING

When I say I enjoyed myself I really really enjoyed myself!

I totally let go and ate whatever I wanted for breakfast, lunch and Dinner and had a few chocolate snack in between! :P

By Monday I felt like a stuffed turkey at christmas!

 

But did I regret it? Absolutley not!

Even when you're dieting you need to let loose and enjoy yourself!

Don't regret what you didn't have.

For example we had a huge meal of tapas and wine on Saturday night and enjoyed myself so much and didn't feel the need to worry about calories or fats :)

But all good things come to and end and by Tuesday I was actually craving some fresh fruit and veggies! :P

Here's a quick recap of what I've been eating the past 2 days!

So Tuesday morning I went to the gym early and didn't feel like a huge breakfast so I had a naked juice!

They are super refreshing and actually surprisingly filling! They are also full of antioxidants!

Post gym I had a nakd cocoa loco bar which is a raw fruit, nut and oat bar with some cocoa but full of goodness and really satisfying at only 100 calories a bar how bad ;)

A little pre gym selfie ( can we make a gelfie a thing? :P)

In the library I had my standard Library lunch box of fruit! Honestly I love nibbling on fruit in the library and I think it help pass the time :P

As usual I had my grapefruit, grapes and half a mango! :)

For Dinner I had roast salmon with some roasted veggies and sweet potato mash but as usual I forgot to take a photo (oopsies! )

Today for lunch I had a salad with turkey breast, leftover roasted veggies. avaocado, feta and sunflower seeds! It was honestly really good and it had loads of textures from the crunchy seeds and smooth avocado!

The leaves I used were an organic mix leaf bag from tesco's with rocket, spinach and watercress :)

Again I had another fruit box today with grapefruit, mango and grapes!

I went to Starbucks with my friend Joanne for a break and a chat but wanted to try to avoid caffeine ( I already had a large cup of coffee with lunch) So I opted for a raspberry blended juice which was basically juice blended with ice and to be honest I would get it again! It lasted ages, was very refreshing and  didn't make me feel like I was missing out by not getting a coffee!

For dinner I made a delicious honey and soy salmon with kale, mushroom, green beans and fried rice!

It was actually do good I'm going to have to put up the recipe for you all!! :)

**I know it doesn't look too appetising but it was delish!**

So that has basically been my last 2 days! :)

I'm currently relaxing drinking a Gin and Tonic and painting my nails and before anyone eats the head off my for drinking alcohol (empty calories etc etc.) We're all allowed our little treats every now and again and as alcohol goes a Gin and Slim with a wedge of lemon is as good as it gets! :P

Hope everyone's having a good week so far! :)

xxxxxx

Tone it up seven day slim down!

Hope everyone had an awesome weekend!! 

This week i decided to give myself a bit of a challenge...

I've decided to do the Tone it up 7 day slim down!!


Its a tough regime of a low fat, low carb, low sugar diet that focuses on high protein and lots of vegetables and fruits and 2 workout sessions a day!

EEEEEPPPPPP!!! :O


I hope it goes well! :P

Here's the basic schedule to fill!

M1( or meal 1) = breakfast
M2= mid morning snack
M3= lunch
M4= mid afternoon/ pre- gym snack
M5= dinner


You are also supposed to fit in 2 workouts, one being a 30 minute cardio workout (preferably in the morning as an AM burn,this can be running, walking, cycling,cross trainer, stepping machine.... ANYTHING!)  , the second being a hour long strengthening/toning workout (in the evening). For my second workout il be focusing on kettlebells, body conditioning and tone it up workouts!

I'm going to find it hard to fit in 2 workouts but I'll try getting up early to go for a run and then maybe do a class in my local gym before dinner!


You can sign up for membership to the tone it up nutrition plan which has 100's of good recipe's to follow and exercise routines but they also have lots of free material on the Tone it up website(link here!) as well!

Here my meal schedule for tomorrow! :)

Day 1

1.       M1-Kale smoothie

2.       M2- 2 rice cakes and almond butter

3.       M3- broccoli, turkey, feta and beetroot salad

4.       M4- yoghurt, 1 piece fruit

5.       M5- baked hake, tomato basil topping with asparagus +green beans

  

My fitness will be a 30 minutes run in the morning and a kettlebell class in the evening!

I hope it goes well and il keep you up to date with a new blog post tomorrow! :)

Smoothie Recipes!!

Hey guys!

Sooo I haven't posted since Monday ... whoops :P

I've been really busy to be honest, I visited one of my friends in Limerick on Tuesday and then the last two days I've been focusing on studying for my summer exams in May :(

But hey I've some free time now so lets get cracking! 

Firstly I told you all to treat yourselves to a pancake on Tuesday so I thought I'd show you my GORGEOUS pancake

 It was absolutely delicious!! Mine just had caramel and chocolate sauce but It was so good! 


I love smoothies! They are so fast to make and delicious in the morning, as a desserts or a mid afternoon before the gym!

Here are my two favourite recipes!

Kale and Spinach smoothie(thanks aine for the recipe)
Ingredients:
Handful of Kale (stems removed)
Handful of spinach
1 banana
1 lemon (rind removed)
4 good slices of cucumber
250ml of apple juice


Simple blitz all the ingredients together!

This smoothie is totally simple but reallllly delicious!!!
The lemon gives it a really refreshing taste and the apple juice and banana acts as a sweetener!! 

You honestly cant taste the kale or spinach!

Tropical berry smoothie

                                         

  Ingredients:

Handful of mixed berries (I used raspberries and blackberries)

0% fat natural yoghurt

250ml of pineapple juice

1 banana

1 kiwi

Again blitz it all up, so simple!!

This is a really refreshing smoothie given a nice twist with the pineapple and kiwi!!

 Here's just a quick snap of the dinner I bought to Limerick!!
Its a really simple salad with some roasted veggies, cucumber, feta and turkey with some watercress, rocket ans spinach

Really simple and I like bringing my own food if I'm staying with someone!
That way I'm no burdening anyone and I can control what I eat :)

Let's Move it Monday!!

Hey guys!

Hope no one's suffering from Monday blues!

I love Mondays (unlike most people :P)

I think Monday is always such a great day to start fresh and forget about the gym session you skipped last week or the overindulgence of the weekend (or week :P)

I always love having a really good gym session on a Monday to get me moving for the week!!

Today I did a spinning class in my local gym the mardyke!

It was the perfect high intensity workout that I needed and honestly the hour flew by!

We did 

• 12 minutes of sprints (30 seconds sprint and 30 second recover)
• 15 minutes of resistance "standing" cycling and hoovering (30 seconds on, 20 seconds off)
• 15 minutes of hill training (1 minute high resistance 30 seconds low resistance)
• 2 minutes of arm push up's while standing cycling
• 5 minutes warm up and 5 minute warm down also!

I didn't feel very tired leaving the gym but my legs are starting to stiffen up now so I had a Perfect Fit Protein shake. 

Perfect fit protein is an AMAZING vegan, organic protein shake made by Tone it Up! 

Not only is it good for you but it also tastes delicious!!

You can also use it in loads of recipes such as waffles, pancakes, smoothies and even CAKE!! I'll put up more recipes using it in the coming weeks!

Here's a quick snap of my dinner tonight 

Really basic!! Some grilled turkey breast, sweet potato mash, roasted veggies (mushrooms,green beans, cauliflower,peppers and onion) with some feta and relish too!

Totally delicious, high in protein and packed with vitamins+fibre  from my roasted veggie mix!!

Tomorrow (as we all know) is pancake Tuesday a.k.a the best day ever!!!

I am a FIRM believer that a little bit of what you fancy won't hurt you! So of course I will enjoy a pancake tomorrow (with loooots of nutella :D) because I have eaten clean and gone to the gym all last well and hell yeah I deserve a treat! :P

So enjoy your tursday because I know I will ;)

sweet dreams xxxx

Tapas Friday and Saturday Fitness :)

Hello weekend!! <3

It's the weekend (finally)!! 

Last night one of the friends organised a night out for us at a local Tapas Bar!

It was such a fun night!!

We tried loooooads of different dishes, including meatballs, crab claws, garlic peri peri prawns, bread and dips, patatas bravas ( potatoes cooked in a spicy tomato sauce it was delicious!), chicken wings, chorizo and red wine and a cheese board!

The food was scrumptious 

We all picked away at different dishes, drank wine and chatted it was a lovely girls night!

It was also a great meal out for dieter or someone watching their weight!
Mainly because instead of being presented with a large plate of food you feel obliged to eat your allowed to pick and choose what you'd like to eat, for example I limited my intake of the breads and nacho's and then ate more of the shellfish and meatballs, but at the same time I could try everything in small amounts without feeling guilty about the calories because the portions were tiny!
Also you didn't feel like you had to eat loads or finish a portion as there were 8 other people to share it with!!


All in all I really enjoyed it and I will definitely go again and post more photos of the food (I didn't get many photos of the food as it was gone so fast :P)

Today  after last nights small indulgence I did a 5km run today
I was quite slower than normal (about 5.30 minutes a kilometre)  but 2kms of my run were steep uphill, it was a lot of climbing and quiet hard!! However I enjoyed it!

Just a pretty photo I took while running of where I live! :)

Also I thought it would be nice to post up some photos of my body and what I look like since I'm trying to advise you on what to eat and exercise! Here a few pictures my sister took with me this morning and I know I'm not the thinnest or toned but I think I'm quiet athletic and have got some muscle definition and never judge anyone who puts themselves out there :P

                               **Ignore my messy hair and hallway :P**

 These are my Nike LunarGlide 5 in pink! I'm obsessed with them!! They are great for running (road and treadmill) and are flexible enough for gym work and classes! Also they suit my foot type as the have built in floating heel-support clip which helps keep the back of the foot from rolling inward or outward upon landing!! I would seriously recommend investing in a pair!

(Kinda) Nicoise Salad

Hey guys!!

So as any college student will know, Thursday night is a night for using up food that's going to expire over the weekend! :P

I've played around with lots of different recipes on my "Use it or loose it Thursdays" as I like to call them,  some good, some bad and some just ugly!

This salad can definitely be called GOOD!

I basically had some Asparagus and salad leaves I needed to use up so instead of the traditional green beans, I used steamed Asparagus!

It was delicious and crunchy! 

Here's the recipe 

1 bag of lamb's leaf and ruby chard lettuce

1/2 an avocado

1 red pepper

1 bunch of asparagus

1 egg

1/4 tin of sweetcorn

1 small tin of john west tuna drained

a few slices of cucmber

Dressing(optional)

2tblsp extra virgin olive oil

3tblsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp of dijon mustard

salt and pepper

Put the egg on to cook for 5-7mins in boiling water with a good pinch of salt

While the egg is cooking chop up the red pepper, cucumber and avocado

Place the lambs leaf and ruby chard into a large bowl (mine wasn't big enough! :P)

 For the last 4 minutes while the egg is cooking, place a steamer (or colander) on top of the boiling water ** BUT NOT TOUCHING THE WATER** Place a lid or plate on top of the steamer and let the egg and asparagus to cook

Turn off the heat and remove the egg from the boiling water. Place the hot egg into cold water for 1 minute. After the minute crack the egg shell and peel it and chop it up. Place all the vegtables and egg on top of the lettuce leaf, add the tuna and sweetcorn and pour over the dressing. Mix all the ingredients together well.

                          AND VOILÁ!!

It was completely delicious, fresh and filling!

This salad is also protein-packed, which is essential after a really tough gym session or run to help muscle recovery and prevent that stiff feeling!

Asparagus is an AMAZING veggie!!

As well as being packed with vitamins A,C,E and K and Packed with vitamin B12, it contains high levels of the amino acid asparagine, which serves as a natural diuretic, and increased urination not only releases fluid but helps rid the body of excess salts

Enjoy this recipe

much love xxxx

Chai and Almond milk Porridge

So here’s my first recipe :)

EXCITEDDDD!!

This is a really super simple recipe for a cold morning or a day where you need loads of energy before a hard gym session. :P

Porridge is an excellent slow energy releasing complex carbohydrate!

Its so handy in college because its quick and easy to make! 

Recipe:

50g of porridge oats (I use flahavans orgainc porridge oats)

100mls of almond milk

100mls of water

1 tablespoon of Chai seeds

Method:

Put all the ingredients into a medium sized saucpan on a medium heat and bring to the boil and then allow to simmer for 3-4 minutes! 

AND THAT’S IT!!!

So simple and warming! You can add dried fruit like raisins or some chopped date, or drizzle some 0% fat Greek yoghurt over it! I personally love it with maple syrup or honey over it. Delicious!

Chai Seeds the highest known vegetarian source of OMEGA 3, and also  are high in Fibre, Protein, & Antioxidants. So by simply adding tiny, tasteless chia seeds to your favourite foods, you can improve your health! I love them and they make an amazing pudding! :) Thats All for now guys. Enjoy! xx

First Post!! (Eeeep!)

So excited to Finally start a Blog! Fitness and Healthy eating are a passion of mine and I’ve been inspired by so many great blogs in my own journey like Taralynn Mcnitt and Karena and Katrina’s “tone it up” that I thought its about time I started my own! :)  December 2012 I began my weight loss journey,after I took a long hard look at myself in the mirror and wanted to change! By June I had loss 30lbs and couldn't believe how my life had changed! I was more positive, had lots more energy and most importantly was happier in myself! :)To date I’m down 36lbs and I intend to keep it off! :)  And this blog is not only about health and fitness, I believe we should all indulge in the sweet things in life too, so I'll be posting some recipes for cheat meals and some baking (nobody's perfect! ;)) :) hope you guys enjoy!! xx