Seven day slim down challenge: Day 1!

Well.......

Today was day 1 of the seven day slim down!

I found..........okay

I'm used to a relatively healthy diet, going day to day eating healthy won't be a struggle for me but I'll find it hard to last the whole week without one treat!

So lets start at the start!

Before my breakfast I fitted in my AM burn!!

I woke up at 7.20, got my ass out of bed and hit the road!!

It was actually so pretty this morning, here's a picture of the lake I run around in cork

I was so happy with my run!

I did my fastest 5km and also did my fastest ever kilometre at 4.53!! 

So I guess you could say it was a pretty good start ;)

                                                                                                                                                         

For breakfast I had my Kale smoothie I made the night before and then to ran away to lectures!    

As my mid-morning snack I had almond butter on 2 slices of unsalted rice cakes! 

I found them surprisingly filling and a really nice treat to have before lunch!!

I use Meridian almond butter as its completely natural with only almonds and a pinch of salt! You can find it at any health food shop!

                  

For lunch I had my broccoli, turkey, feta, beetroot, sunflower seed salad!

It was delicious and easy to make but I was too busy eating forgot to take a photo(awks sorry! :P)

While I was studying in the library I had a pear and before the gym I also had a low fat Glenisk blueberry yoghurt!!

For my second workout today I did a kettle bell class!

It was perfect for strengthening and toning and a class is useful as you are pushed by the instructor! 

I also did some shopping today for new gym gear as I'm sick of wearing the same clothes every day so I thought I'd treat myself!!

Here is one outfit I bought!

Pants: €19.95

Top: €9.95

Sports bra : €12.95

I bought another top and sports bra too that I'll probably wear tomorrow!

After kettle bells I had my dinner which was Baked Hake with a tomato,basil and garlic topping, roasted green beans, steamed asparagus and some leftover boiled rice :)

It was a really filling ,satisfying dinner that was sooooo tasty!!

After dinner I had a sneaky slice of melon, to help fix my sweet tooth! ;)



Another thing I found difficult today was going for coffee with my friends!
I was dying for a skinny mocha but settled for green tea that was actually pretty good!
Tomorrow I think I'll try making iced green tea because the weather is so good! :)

Here is my diet schedule tomorrow:

1.        M1-Kale smoothie

      Gym ( 4km run, 1 hour of weights training)

2.       M2- Banana + almond butter + blueberries 

3.       M3-2 mushroom stuffed with rice + tomato topping

4.       M4- fruit salad

5.       M5- baked hake, tomato topping with courgette, peppers and mushrooms

    To save on time I'm going to fit in my cardio AM burn and toning workout into one gym session!!

   Hope you enjoyed my first post and keep reading my entries!! 

     xxx

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

(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