Misfit Shine

Misfit kindly sent me a “shine” to try out. It is absolutely brilliant.

The shine is a fitness and sleep monitor. It measures your activity during the day, measures the length and the quality of your sleep at night and works out how many calories you have burned. It links to the misfit app on your phone wirelessly, which shows you the progress you have made during the day and how close you are to your goal. It shows you your calories burned, steps you have taken and the distance you have covered. It also records your sleep and shows you how many hours of restful sleep you have managed to get during the night. 

Shine

You can set a goal for the day, and if you double tap the screen of the watch it shows you how far along your goal you are and then displays the time. The shine has a points system and you can set how many points you want to reach as your goal. This helps to keep you competitive with yourself and trying to beat your previous scores! The shine lets you know when you have beaten your personal best and displays a trophy on the screen which is good fun.

 

Misfit shine app

The brilliant thing about the shine is that you can wear it as a watch, a clasp, a necklace, or stick it in your shoelaces when you are cycling. It is a small round unit and has different attachments depending on how you wish to wear it. I wear it as a watch and it is very comfortable and looks cool. I have the sports strap but if you want to make it look a bit smarter you can get a leather strap for it.

On the app you can record what activity you have done, whether it is walking, cycling, swimming etc. and the shine will adjust the activity level and calories burned accordingly. It also has a feature which allows you to log your food by taking photos of your meals or alternatively it links to myfitnesspal which is a great app and i use this.

Misift shine app

Misfit shine app

I have been using it for my rehabilitation. I had a spinal operation 5 weeks ago and the shine has helped keep me motivated to walk further each day!

I highly recommend this product!

Body Plus Nutrition

Body Plus Nutrition is a very exciting new company! They provide you with an easy and fast way to eat healthy natural meals with the precise calorie breakdown of fats, proteins and carbohydrates made clear to you. Moreover as an added bonus, they are bloody tasty! 

The main reason Body plus nutrition really grabbed my attention was because of their promise of “all natural” ingredients. Their food is prepared from fresh produce and cooked and packaged on site, much like a home made tupperware meal a lot of gym goers prepare for themselves at home these days except it takes all the hassle away because it is done for you. You do not have to waste time preparing, weighing and cooking your food the night before. Also if you have a busy day ahead and you are squeezing in your gym session, the Body Plus Nutrition meals are ideal to pop in your bag and eat after your gym session allowing you to refuel immediately. 

They have three ranges to suit your fitness goals, “Muscle Gain”, “Weight Loss, and “Weight maintenance.” This is great as each meal tells you exactly how many grams of fats, proteins and carbohydrates it contains. These ratios obviously change in the different ranges to suit what you are trying to achieve from a body composition point of view making the meals more specific to your goals. Of course the calorie breakdown in principle should vary for different body weights and activity levels, but perhaps this is something Body Plus Nutrition will consider in the future by finding out their clients weights and exact goals etc. to make their meals really individually specific. 

I highly recommend you give this product a try. They will really help you achieve your body composition goals and allow you to get those immediate post gym meals your body needs to repair. I have tried a fair few of the meals and they all taste fresh and delicious. My personal favourite is the Chicken and Quinoa!

GIve them a go, you won’t be disappointed!!! 

Basic Guidelines for a good body composition

Hi guys, 

Sorry i have been inactive on here for a while, been pretty busy with rugby and university studies. 

As summer is creeping up i thought it would be good to give you some basic guidelines to achieve the goals you are looking for. 

A diet basically has three levels:

1. The amount of calories you require in accordance with your activity levels and your body comp goals 
2. The calorie breakdown of your diet- i.e. your protein/carbohydrate/fat ratio in relation to your goals 
3. What foods you eat to make up these calories 

People tend to put emphasis on only one or maybe two of these factors. The more advanced you get with your diet the deeper you will go into ensuring you are taking on exactly what you need. 

Today I am going to give you a very brief introduction into number 3- What foods you should eat, as i believe this is the most important. 

Here are some very brief and basic rules to follow:

Let’s start with what you can eat:

If you can hunt it or fish it

If you can grow it/ pick it 

Basically if it is natural/ it has not been tampered with… eat it.

Go for quality, locally produced organic foods 

Good carbs to eat- sweet potato, butternut squash, oats, quinoa. 

 

What you should avoid:

anything artificial- bread, sweets, cakes, coca-cola for example.   

 

It really is as simple as that… It is basically the paleo diet. Eat whatever was available to the caveman. I truly believe from personal experience that if you go natural, not only can you eat loads of it, you will shred fat and feel so energised! Load up on green vegetables and keep it natural! 

I will go into more detail of what exactly are the best natural foods to eat and for what purpose etc in posts to come. 

 

Stay tuned… Let’s get in shape 

Leek and Sweet Potato Soup

Are you a soup lover? Soup is so easy to make! It tastes great and you can make it super healthy. A lot people buy ready made soups from the shops, which a lot of the time aren’t clean and you have to microwave them, which is a big no no. Why not make your own clean, organic, fresh soup without anything processed or any ingredients you don’t want in there? 

This homemade, hearty leek and sweet potato soup tastes incredible, it is easy to make and extremely healthy. 

Leek and sweet potato soup

Ingredients (Serves two):

Two large organic sweet potatoes

Two large organic leeks

One large organic red onion

1 small red chilli 

1 tsp

1 clove of large organic garlic

Vegetable stock 

Sweet potato, leeks, red onion

Preparation:

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius. 

2. Chop your sweet potatoes into small chunks. Roughly chop your leeks. Dice the red onion. Chop up the chilli (good tip when chopping chilli, twizzle the chilli in your fingers before you chop it and all the seeds will fall out when you chop the end off.) 

3. Melt one tsp of coconut oil in a roasting tray, I use “lovecoconutuk”, check them out on twitter @lovecoconutuk, place all your ingredients in the tray and add your crushed clove of garlic, a pinch of salt and a healthy sprinkling of black peppercorns. Place them in the oven for 40 minutes. Take them out after 20 minutes and give them a shake around. 

4. Take out your roasted veggies and let them stand for 5 minutes. 

5. Whack your veggies into a blender ensuring you scrape out all the flavours from the tray. 

6. Add vegetable stock to the veggies in the blender, whizz them up and voila. I tend to add about 300 ml of vegetable stock, which results in a nice thick texture but you can increase this to make a thinner smoother soup if you prefer.

I hope you enjoy making this soup. I hope from now on if you fancy soup, you make it at home instead of buying processed pre-made soups. 

Health facts:

This soup is homemade, organic, completely natural and free from any nasties, which may be hidden in shop bought soup.  

Sweet Potato– sweet potato is a healthier option than potato as they have a lower glycaemic index, meaning they do not cause high sugar spikes in the blood, which cause the pancreas to overwork.

They are full of antioxidants, which makes them fighters of chronic diseases such as cancer. They are rich in vitamin B6, which helps to prevent heart attacks. They also contain high levels of vitamin C for the immune system and high levels iron, which increases our levels of energy and also boosts our immune system through the production of white blood cells. They also contain Vitamin D, which is great for the skin, immune system, energy levels, the heart, bones, teeth, and nerves. Sweet potatoes are also a good source of magnesium, which helps to decrease stress along with may other benefits. 

 

 

 

 

 

The Green Machine

This juice is an absolute cracker and a personal favourite of mine. The green machine is filled with nutrients and it is incredibly tasty. This post will not only show you how to make this green cup of goodness, but it will hopefully also give you a small insight into just how important it is to eat your greens!!!

The Omega juicer in action

So here is the recipe:

1 whole organic avocado

1 whole organic pear

1/2 a cucumber

1 floret of organic broccoli

3 large handfuls of organic spinach

3 large handfuls of organic kale

Add supplements if you want to (I recommend highly):

0.4g “protein world” mega green tea extract

0.4g “protein world” flaxseed powder

2 tsp “Organic Burst” wheatgrass

2 tsp “Organic Burst” maca

Ingredients for the green machine

So why is it so good for you? Let’s have a look…

 Broccoli is my favourite vegetable. Brocolli is absolutely rammed with great nutrients that your body needs to survive. It is rich in vitamin A, D, K and C. Folic acid and fibre are also found in vast amounts in broccoli. It also contains calcium, zinc, magnesium, phosphorous, manganese and iron. It is also one of the best foods out there for fighting cancer as it contains isothiocyanates. It is also very fibrous and so it is a great choice for those who want to shed some pounds. The potassium in broccoli also helps to regulate blood pressure and contributes to muscle growth. I could go on all day about how good broccoli is for you… in fact I will dedicate a whole post to it soon.

Spinach is packed full of nutrients, protein, iron, beta-carotene and many more important substances. Like broccoli, it contains vitamins A and C, folic acid, manganese, zinc, calcium, potassium, and fibre.  Spinach is also rich in antioxidants, which help prevent cancer and improve skin wrinkles. It contains a lot of iron, which helps reduce fatigue and provides added energy to the body.

kale is another of my favourite vegetables. It is extremely rich in antioxidants making it a great anti-inflammatory food ( this has been very poignant for me with my current injury.) It is also packed with vitamin C which is great for your immune system, metabolism and hydration. Kale also contains more calcium per calorie than milk meaning it is fantastic for your bones. Lastly, Kale detoxifies your body due to the fact that it is very fibrous and contains a lot of sulfur.

Pears are also antioxidant rich and so they have an anti-inflammatroy effect on the body and they help to prevent high blood pressure. They also contain high levels of vitamin C, which combined with the antioxidants really boosts the immune system.

Avocado is a great source of healthy fats. It also helps the uptake of nutrients which makes it a great addition to this juice as it helps our body absorb all the goodness. It is also a Vitamin E powerhouse which protects us against many diseases and maintains general health.  Avocado has also been proven to prevent many types of cancer, including prostate and breast cancer.

Cucumber is an excellent source of vitamin A and C. It also contains silica which is very beneficial in building the connective tissues in our bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments. It has a cooling effect on our body temperature and lastly, it is a diuretic, which encourages waste removal through urination.  

The key benefits of the supplements I used:

“Protein world” mega green tea extract. Powerful antioxidant, aids in fat loss.

“Protein world” flaxseed powder. Rich in Omega 3, extremely fibrous, aids in fat loss.

“Organic Burst” wheatgrass. Powerful detoxifier, lowers blood pressure and cleanses the liver.

“Organic Burst” maca. Improves energy, aids injury recovery, helps you sleep, decreases stress.

Pouring the green machine

Cheers

I hope you enjoy the green machine and all its endless health benefits!

Pep Guardiola quote from the book Barca

“Sleeves up and hard work. Don’t be afraid to admit how much you want something”

Clean and lean fishcakes

Salmon, Cod and prawn fishcakes

Healthy fishcakes with sweet potato, green beans and curly kale

I love fishcakes! I used to order them all the time in restaurants but they were always covered with breadcrumbs or made with potato… When I became more diet conscious, I decided to try to make some at home without the breadcrumbs or potato. Here is what i came up with..

These take only 10 minutes to prepare and 6 minutes to cook! A very quick and more importantly extremely healthy meal!

Recipe:

1x large organic salmon fillet
1x large organic cod fillet
6x king prawns
5x chopped spring onions
2x crushed garlic cloves
Tsp Tamarin organic soy sauce
Tsp/ 1 squirt Organic Ketchup (can leave out if being very strict)
1 Lemon
1 Red chilli
Handful of roughly chopped basil leaves

Instructions:

1. Remove the skin from the salmon. Chop the Salmon, the prawns and the Cod fillet into small pieces and place in the blender/food processor. Blend into a smooth paste.

salmon, cod and prawns in the blender

2. Chop the Red chilli, the spring onion, crush the two cloves of garlic and place in a mixing bowl. Add the tsp of organic soy sauce, the tsp of organic ketchup (leave this out if you are being very strict),roughly chop your basil leaves and add them in, and then finally squeeze the whole lemon in.

spring onion, chilli, crushed garlic, organic tamarin soy sauce, lemon juice, (organic ketchup), basil leaves

3. Add the salmon, cod and prawn paste to your concoction in the mixing bowl and mix it all up until it is all blended in together. Whack in some black peppercorns and a pinch of “Organic Himalayan Salt” (or just salt) and give it another mix.

Fishcake mixture

4. Place whatever size fishcake you fancy into a pan; I tend to go for about a typical burger size- have a look at my pictures. Pan fry them in a tsp of organic virgin coconut oil for around 3 minutes on each side.

Fishcakes pan frying in coconut oil

5. Wolf down these protein filled, organic, tasty fishcakes! They go well with sweet potato and a nice rocket salad or some greens.

Health benefits

Salmon- packed full of protein and omega 3. The abundance of protein in the salmon is of course very effective for muscle growth and repair. The omega 3 in salmon improves the prevention of inflammation, aids cognitive function, helps cancer prevention, improves eye health, cardiovascular health, skin health and hair health.

Cod- Also very protein rich and rich in omega 3. It helps lower cholesterol and improves cardiovascular health. Cod liver oil also keeps your joints healthy.

Prawns- Full of protein and omega 3. These tasty protein packed morsels aid massively in cardiovascular health due to their high omega 3 and vitamin b12 content. The high levels of selenium in the prawns also helps to hinder the formation of cancer cells in the body.

Enjoy!!!!!!

My Juice of the Week

Carrot, Beetroot, Ginger and Celery juice- Natural Energy! 

Carrot, Beetroot, Ginger, Celery juice

Not only does this juice taste fresh, it is given a beautiful sweetness from the carrot juice and the strength in flavour of the ginger really comes through. It is also packed full of vitamins and nutrients.

The carrot juice contains large amounts of vitamin A, B vitamins, and Vitamin E. It is therefore good for maintaining a healthy liver, improving eyesight, strengthening bones and teeth, helping skin and promoting growth of hair and in preventing cancer.

The beetroot juice, apart from being a cool colour, is crammed full of nutrients! it contains folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin b complex, beta carotene, amino acids, phosphorous, calcium, potassium and many more. It acts as a lactate buffer, making it a great pre workout drink! It lowers blood pressure, detoxifies the liver, helps constipation, aids in calcium dissolution. In other words, it’s bloody good for you!

Ginger is great for strengthening the immune system and has been proven to help migraines and to reduce pain and inflammation.

Celery is great to use in all your juices from a texture point of view. It gives the thinness you want to your juice and helps to push through all the Fruit and Veg which may be stuck in the juicer.

I added two supplements into my juice, which were kindly given to me by Protein World. Check them out they are a great company – http://www.proteinworld.com  I added in some Protein World green-tea extract and some Protein World flaxseed powder to up the antioxidants in the juice and get even more benefits from it. I recommend giving these supplements a try, i have been taking them for a few weeks now and i am already seeing and feeling the difference.

This juice is pure goodness in a cup!

Happy juicing!!!

Ingredients: makes two cups

Three large organic carrots

Two large organic Beetroot bulbs

Two sticks of celery

Slither of raw Ginger

Carrot, Beetroot, ginger, celery juice

Arnold Schwarzenegger Quote

“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”

The benefits of juicing

Juicing is a new phenomenon and everyone seems to be going on juice diets and juice detox weeks etc. I disagree with this. I think it is important to ensure that you maintain a healthy balanced diet consisting of mainly solid foods so that your digestive system still has to work to digest your food. Your digestive system is like a muscle, the harder you work it the stronger it gets and by only putting liquid into your stomach, your stomach and small intestine do not have to do much work to break down your foods!

Having said that, there is definitely a place for juicing in your diet. It is a quick and easy way of cramming some extra nutrients and vitamins into your body on top of all the others you are already consuming from your food. They are a nutritious snack and can be quite filling! Not only are they packed full of vitamins and nutrients making them extremely good for you, they also taste amazing and the different combinations of fruit and vegetables allow for many different tastes and health benefits.

I will be posting up my juice of the week in my “Weekly Juice” section with their recipes and health benefits. I hope you enjoy the recipes and happy juicing!!

Greens Juice