Train insane

Okay so i thought id share with you some fitspiration

Since i moved back from uni i decided to channel my energy into the gym again because i love being at the gym so i joined zest (zestgym.com) if you are ever in the area you MUST check it out. The staff are so friendly and helpful and push you to your limits but don't make you feel useless if you can't lift the heavy weights. So Ive been doing a lot of cross fit style circuits at the gym...this is my death at 6am every morning

You never no what you are going to be doing that day which i kind of like because it means i can never  convince myself not to go we do a range of things like pull ups, push ups, chest flys, box jumps, knee ups, sit ups, burpees, mountin climbers, sprints, deadlifts, shoulder press, kettle bell swings....the list goes on.

If you are looking to spice up your boring running biking and cross training routine try adding in a little circuit

Why no try this?

5 burpees
10 press ups
15 sit ups
20 squats

doing all of these equals one round

You go for 20 minutes and do as many rounds as you can this is called AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) I done this in fightclub the other night and literally wanted to die BUT i felt amazing afterwards :)

If you try it let me know how you find it and how many rounds you complete

Lots of hardwork and dedication

Turkey Meatballs

ITS THE WEEKEND!! and i finally have a saturday off work! I was meant to add this recipe during the week but unfortunately i didn't get the chance so i am really sorry! but fear not...it is here!

These were really nice and so simple to make. It crazy everyone thinks eating healthy and clean is difficult but actually it takes just as much time as putting chicken nuggets and chips int he oven...its all about perspective and what you think is worth your time!

anyway...

So if you follow my recipe exactly each MAHOOSIVE ball is around 60 kcal which is so good!

You will need

• 500g of minced turkey breast (the leaner the better)
• 1/3 cup of oats 
• Half a pepper (colour of your choice)
• Half a red onion diced quite small
• 1 1/2 egg white
• tsp of dried basil - I'm not a huge fan of basil so up this to your taste
• 1 garlic clove minced or chopped
• 1 tbsp of cajun spice - or paprika if you would prefer
• a little salt and pepper

1) preheat your oven to 180'C and grab a muffin tin and spray each muffin whole with a single spray of 1 kcal spray (or fry light)

2) put all of your ingredients into a bowl and mix with your hands....i had great fun getting my hands dirty

3) once the ingredients are mixed divide into 12 equalish servings and put in the muffin tin

4) put them in the oven for around 15 minutes, then flip them over and return to the oven for a further 10-15 minutes...I think i over done mine a little but i like the outside to be brown :)

It really is that simple. and they are so delicious :) 

Serving suggestion

For lunch i had 3 meatball and big table spoon of coleslaw (recipe to come) and lots of cucumber....i love cucumber :)

Let me know how yours come out and any variations you make :)

Lots of hard work and dedication

NO MORE MAN HANDS

Yaaaay!!

My gorgeous blogilates weights gloves arrived today. Im so sick of having blisters and hard skin on my hands but when i go to the gym i like to wear things that make me feel good therefore i do wear a lot of pink!!

How amazing are these??

I can't wait to wear them on friday!

I got them from http://shopblogilates.com It my favourite site to buy gym clothes from even though shipping to the UK is really expensive!

What do you like to wear to the gym?

Lots of hardwork & dedication

BEASTING

So as this week is about NO EXCUSES i thought id share a little story about a personal no excuse which will probably make your hump day a little bit brighter...

This morning i went to my 6.30am cross fit class knowing it was going to be tough as the trainer had already told me it was chest, shoulders and arms....which are my weakest body part....anyhoo i went and felt like i was beasting it until i got to maybe the 5th station....a resistant band which you had to put round your body and then run out to cones....now i struggled with this to begin with, i just couldn't get it right...so it was getting towards the end of the minute and i decided to really go for it and well here is the result...

I know it looks soooooo funny...and it definitely is but my back doesn't think so.

But the motto of this post is that after having a lil laugh and cry i got straight back up and finished the rest of the class so NO EXCUSES people...no matter your excuse push through it and BEAST IT!

Lots of Hardwork & Dedication

Oat & Maple Cookies

So a little while ago i tried to make these banana and oat cookies and i have to say they were and EPIC FAIL! So i decided to make up my own recipe and i must say i actually impressed myself!

Okay, these cookies are sooooo easy to make and even better still is that they are super tasty and really low in kcal.

So all you are going to need is 3 ingredients, oats, almond milk and pure maple syrup. Yes i know your wondering how you didn't think of it before right!

So for my recipe which made 6 smallish cookies for 31kcal & 0.05 sat fat each you will need

• 32g of oats (i couldn't be bothered to take oats out thats why its 32 so you can do 30 if you wish)
• 20ml of almond milk
• 1 1/2 tbsp of pure maple syrup

Preheat the over to 180 degrees Celsius 

Mix all of the ingredients together and then split into even sizes. like i said i made 6 but you could make less if you want them bigger.

Grab a piece of grease proof paper and lay it on a baking tray

I then sprayed 6 sprays of 1kcal spray onto the baking paper (one spray for each cookie to sit on)

Place the balls of the cookie dough (which will probably be quiet wet and sticky) onto the sprays and flatten them down. I flatten mine quite a lot as they get a better crunch at the end.

Then put them into the oven for about 12 minutes and then flip them over. I then put mine back in for another 10 minutes but use your judgement as to how crunchy you want them.

And thats it....super clean, super tasty and super easy! What more could you want for a snack?

The oats should give you energy so would be a great pre-gym snack but for more energy why not try and little bit of peanut butter on top of each cookie or try mixing it into the mixture.

Let me know how yours turn out! Also what have you done today? I went for a 6am spin class and i will be doing crossfit and spin again later on after work! Remember this week is about no excuses!

Lots of hard work & dedication

Whim #1

A lot of people will say that they 'can't' workout because they have work, children, a dog to walk, cooking to be done, they aren't strong enough, their toe hurts, etc etc BUT these are just excuses....your body will not go where your mind doesn't push it, so this week its mind over matter....i really didn't want to get up at 5.45 this morning for what i knew would be an intense (but very good) crossfit session but i did because if you start you week with an excuse you will end your week with an excuse!

Be strong and remember it does not matter how slow you go so long as you do not stop

Happy motivational monday

Lots of Hardwork and dedication

Protein Breakfast Muffin

Hello all you clean eaters

I find breakfast soooo boring sometimes and since i've started eating clean i've tried to avoid cereals as much as i can so here is an amazing protein muffin recipe which is EXTREMELY simple to make and you can create all sorts of variations :)

So all you are going to need is:

1/2 scoop of protein powder - i used cookies and cream because its my fave! Also quantity really does matter here as i use BIOHAZARD protein and a scoop of theirs is around 186 calories and is basically a double scoop so what ever you are using use around 80-90 calories of protein :)

2 Egg whites

1tsp of vanilla extract

1/2 tbsp of water

1/2 tsp of sugar

For the drizzle

1 tbsp of vanilla low fat yoghurt

1/2 tsp of vanilla (if you really like vanilla)

1/2 tsp of sugar (if you have a sweet tooth)

AND YOUR FAVOURITE MUG....my gleek mug is my absolute fave mug as its nice and big...you will need quite a deep mug as it grows a lot...

Okay now time to cook

1) mix all of the main ingredients in your fave mug, make sure they are all mixed together well

2) pop in the microwave for around 45 seconds

3) while that is cooking mix the drizzle ingredients together

4) keep an eye on your muffin as they do have a tendency to over spill

5) once the 45 seconds is up do 3 bursts of 10 seconds watching to see if it will make a mess

6) get out, tip onto a plate, and pour the drizzle on

YOUR DONE! I know its so easy, so good for you and tastes amazing

Try it and let me know how you get on...i'm going to be experimenting with this recipe why not try vanilla protein and cinnamon or if you are missing chocolate like me....chocolate protein powder and vanilla extract....the possibilities are endless.

I will be uploading some more delicious recipes soon and also some great exercise routines so watch out for them or subscribe if you want to :)

Lots of hardwork and dedication

Healthfied cake pops

For all you cake lovers out there you are going to want to read and try this recipe...they were so simple to make and only 49 calories & 0.4g of sat fat...whaaaat? yes i know but its true and they are delicious :)

What you will need

1 cup of ground almonds

1/4 tsp of salt

1/4 tsp of baking powder

2 eggs

2tbs maple syrup

1/3 cup of almond milk (save a small amount for the frosting)

1tsp of vanilla extract

For the frosting

Half banana 

a lil bit of maple syrup

You will need a cake pop machine You can get them from argos for around £15 or you could make them in to donuts if you have a donut maker :)

1) Heat the cake pop machine up

2) Mix all the dry ingredients together and then add in the wet ingredients (mix with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients are bound together)

3) When the machine is hot enough fill them up and leave for around 5 minutes

4) while they are cooking chop the half banana into rounds and pop in a bowl and put in the microwave and mush it up (be careful as the bowl will be hot and i burnt myself :( ) add the little bit of almond milk and maple syrup and mix it all up.

5) When the cake pops are done, dip them in the frosting and then put sticks in them and Vooola healthy cake pops.....

6) EAT THEM

Let me know how yours come out and if there is anything you would like a healthy version of and i shall try my best to healthafy it :)

What have you done today? I went to a 6.15am cross fit class and it killed but it was amazing so i might post the workout up if you would like to try it :) 

Lots of hard work and dedication

Some cleanspiration for ya'll

Good afternoon,

So starting a new week in the gym (yesterday), I decided that i really needed to focus on my eating...i workout twice a day and BEAST MODE when i'm there, so the reason i still have wobbly thighs a lil muffin top and a bit of a belly pooch is all down to my diet.

So i promised myself that this week would be a clean week - apart from sunday as i have a family BBQ so sunday is my cheat day...It's okay to have a cheat day you just don't need to go mad :)

So yesterday i made pasta sauce from stretch...i made the recipe up but it was so easy and fairly obvious...I just never though about what was in my food until i made myself read the labels...wheres as if i make it myself i know every ingredient that is going into my body

My Lunch - Home made tomato, pepper and basil pasta sauce

• 1 organic tomato (i know there is two in the picture)
• Half a pepper
• 3 fresh basil leaves

I literally chopped up the ingredients and dry fried them!

I've never really used organic ingredients before but OMG the colour of the inside of the tomato was soooo pretty. I had the sauce with 50g of whole wheat pasta and a handful of baby spinach. There was so much there and i felt full after which is a strange feeling for me because i am always hungry and i eat a lot! 

Have a go at making it, it was so nice and the whole meal was 253 calories :) 

Lots of hard work and dedication

Danielle

My first post

Hi everyone,

Welcome to my blog where I will write about everything and anything to do with gym and healthy eating as well as bad habits. So it will sort of become a documentary of my life I guess.

Lets go back to the beginning...

When I started my first year of university I was drinking a lot and eating far too much, but it was the first time I every had to properly fend for myself...I could give you all the excuses under the sun but lets face it I just lost control. I had a wonderful boyfriend who I was very settled with (and still am by the way), so I wasn't very conscious of the fact I was gaining weight and even when I became aware it didn't bother me, until I went home for christmas and weighed myself just before starting my second term and realised I had gained nearly 2 stone.... now I wouldn't say I was over weight but I definitely had excess weight that I didn't need, I felt sluggish and generally really crap so I decided it was time to do something about it. So on my journey back to Leicester I got my final McDonalds and enjoyed every mouthful knowing it would be my final one for a while I knew I had to gain control over my body. 

So the next day I done a healthy food shop and joined the gym. I was obsessed with The biggest loser USA and so I bought Jillian Michael's 30 day shred dvd (which I couldn't rate highly enough – look out for my review on it) and I started going to the gym every morning and doing the DVD in the evening alongside a really strict diet (I made it up myself I don't buy into all these pay for diets...maybe ill do a separate post on what I was eating and how you can create your own diet plan) 

The exercise was fine but the diet was hard as I was so strict with myself - but I wanted results fast. I had reached just over 10st, which for my 5ft 4 frame is quite a lot.

I had to realise that the weight took more than a week to go on so it would take more than a week to come off.

But it did, I lost the 2 stone I had gained and got back down to 8 stone, the only issue was is that I looked like a skeleton even my boyfriend told me I looked ill - so I had to find a balance. 

I am now a healthy 8st 7lb or around about and am trying to gain more muscle and eat clean...I’ve started to appreciate that its not about how skinny you are but about your health. 

I go to the gym nearly everyday and do cross fit, MMA, and spin, I love being at the gym - especially the one I’ve joined back home. I’m trying really hard to live a clean lifestyle but while I still live at home (half my time spent at my boyfriends families home) it is hard to eat natural organic foods...but I try my best

Anyway this is a fairly lengthy welcome post I will add a few more posts over the next few days 

Lots of love & hard work and dedication

Danielle