Are you Fed Up?

As you may have noticed from my previous posts and if you know me just a little bit I love everything to do with clean eating, healthy living and feeding my body and soul real food. 

My friend over at The house called Abe  recently told me about a documentary called Fed Up, which talks about how everything we’ve been told about food and exercise for the past 30 years has been manipulated to suit the large corporations including Coke etc. 

It furthermore highlights how child obesity is worse than ever. Although it mainly focuses on the U.S. market, it’s not going away and it’s already a huge issue on our shores too.

It made me feel even stronger about continuing what I am doing but what’s also important is:

1. teach each and every generation how to cook
2. stop the obsession with light/fat free products
3. make sure you can pronounce the ingredients on the back of the label

It made me appreciate being brought up by parents who enjoyed fresh food, cooking and keeping us active. But it also made me scared – scared for what the next generation will be fooled by, the deceases that will get you at an even younger age and the absolute and total power of the large corporations. 

It has made me even more determined however, to not give up on my quest to keep my family healthy, avoid the marketing jargon and stick to what I believe in and most importantly enjoy!

Let’s fight the fight together, support each other and create consumer demand for real nutrition. This and a bit of common sense and morals along the way will get us far!

Have you recently watched something that shocked you but made you even more determined? 

Appreciating my hood

I think the last six months have been about the act of appreciation. When I say this I mean appreciating the people I love, my love of food, my new house, finding new ways to exercise and of course my holiday. However, now I’m starting to have time to admire and explore my hood.

To me Christmas is the time of year where family and friends make the most time for each other and, you guessed it, appreciate each other the most. This week I’ve had time to really wonder around and see my hood during the week so what did I do?
– I went for a run – I love sprinting and the outdoors here is fantastic, this is my garden:

– I went to the market in my town and realised I have a date with the French in a few weeks – I love diversity:

– I went for a walk to find my advent decorations for 2014 – red cheeked and happy I made a few:

– I enjoyed the last few days of autumn and it was beautiful:

Have you taken time for appreciation this year?

My food obsession – rye bread

You should think that after having lived in London for a good eight years I shouldn’t have cravings for Danish food any longer and I don’t, apart from rye bread and pickled herring (who would gave guessed that one).

I absolutely love food and don’t stick to one particular type or culture of food however, when I want something comforting I always go back to what made be happy as a child. So it’ll probably come as no surprise that the two things I always ask my parents to bring is pickled herring (any variety) and rye bread:
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Rye has been named part of the world’s healthiest foods due to it’s nutritional benefits and disease preventing goodness. I believe that every body reacts differently to food however, my body loves rye bread as it keeps my cravings at bay, keeps me fuller for longer and it helps my digestive system. I like a healthy selection:

The only trouble is that it disappears too quick when I have it in my house so I’ve decided to start making my own. So today I started the ‘starter’ and will keep feeding it 25g rye flour and 35g water each day until it’s ready to use.

I admit it’s not the most attractive thing in the world but it will be worth it. I will of course keep you updated with how it turns out – what’s your good obsession?

Ways to de-stress in the evenings

After the joys of a bank holiday comes the short week, which in one way is heavenly but it can also bring extra stress with a five day workload squeezed into four days.

This week I’ve thought myself to de-stress in more ways than one trying to keep the less hurried lifestyle I left behind in Islington front of mind. It’s not always easy but my willpower and conscious has a way of creeping up on me:

– Read a book on your way back from work. After a full day starring at a screen, put your phone/tablet in your bag and read what you want to read. I am completely obsessed with Bridget Jones’s Diary and have been wanting to read the new installation which I’m starting now
– Cook a nice meal and fully enjoy it. I love cooking and have been the main cook in our household for a while. I always find cooking quite relaxing and I find that a home cooked meal is often enjoyed much more. If you’ve read my eating right – getting inspiration you know I love a good cookbook. This week I’ve been lucky that Welly has been working from home so he’s been busy in the kitchen cooking up a storm – check out these banana, cinnamon, flaxseed and egg pancakes and a ginger and chilli broth with wheat free noodles and oven baked salmon:

– Do 20 minutes of exercise. It really isn’t a lot but it really does make a difference. I’ve been doing my tone it up and yoga workouts when I walk through the door – it makes you focus on you for just 20 mins a day (we all deserve much more if you ask me)
– Go for a post-dinner walk. Now this is a new thing that moving to the house on the lake has allowed me to do. I’ve been cracking the walks and simply loving our lake at the end of the garden – so blissful and calming:

What do you do to de-stress after a long day at work?

Healthy living – it’s all in the preparation

If you follow me on Instagram you’ll know I love a good food post and lately I’ve had lots of comments and questions about how I have the energy to make breakfast that delicious. And I must say it’s all in the preparation!

I, like everyone else, have a time demanding job and actually having time to put good things in your body can be difficult – if you don’t plan a little bit ahead that is. If you’ve read my blog post on making the most of your mornings you know that I love setting myself up for the day with exercise and a good hearty breakfast. It’s not a diet, it’s my lifestyle and one that I simply have come to love. I wanted to share a few tips on what I do to make it quite easy:

– Do a bit of meal prep. I boil my eggs a few days in advance for example which means all I have to do is peel them and pair them with what I love such as avocados, nuts, fruit, meat, fish etc – this was awesome:

– buy what is on offer at your local shop that week to make sure you have a varied diet. Doing a weekly shop gives you an idea of food for the week and makes breakfast, lunch and dinner easy to manage. We had some awesome cooked mackerel from ocado this week:

– use leftovers from your store cupboard or from last night’s dinner to make an awesome lunch. I love some good liquid proof tupperware to take to work:

– get ready the night before. I love my juicer and get my veg and machine set up ready to go just before I’m off to bed. All I have to do is press play and we’re good to go:
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A good and healthy meal makes me smile and with just a few minutes prep each day it really is easy to achieve!

What are your tips on preparation?

To fitbit or not to fitbit – the question I’ve been asking myself lately

The newest tech and gadgets have always been a thing of mine. I just love getting the first look at everything, which is probably why I ended up in the tech industry!

As you know I love my fitness and I enjoy seeing progress, feeling great and almost in a sense compete with myself in my progress. It probably comes as no surprise that I love wearable tech and the digital health industry – it truly has become a passion of mine.

I have never hidden the fact that I love my fitbit – I used to have it on me constantly through my half marathon training, my walks to work and basically everywhere I went. And the day I accidentally ‘killed’ my device was a bit of a bummer!

However, as I’ve gotten used to simply walking, exercising and living without it I’ve been thinking a lot about the pros and cons of such devices so here goes:

Pros
– it’s a great motivator, I always wanted to take more steps and it made me make an effort to leave my desk and go out for a walk at lunch
– it’s a great tool to learn about yourself and how much you move in your daily life
– if you are training for a challenge you will love it, I loved seeing how fast I improved
– it’s fun competing against others, we have a company chart and it does for great conversations

Cons
– the passion becomes an obsession and you can feel a bit irritated if you haven’t reached your goal
– you compete against yourself, really is that healthy in the long run?
– do you become naturally active or does it become a chore?
– other people have your data, it’s like Big Brother

I’m still incredibly fascinated with the whole industry but questions do creep up sometimes, which I’m not sure I can yet answer…

What are your thought on wearable technology?

Make the most of your mornings

As I’m sure you’ve realised by now I love my mornings and if you follow me on Instagram you will know that last Tuesday was pretty epic.

The house on the lake has many perks – 1, it’s bigger than the room we shared for a good two years 2, the garden is a sun trap 3, I have my own kitchen and plenty of space in the fridge and 4, the nature around here is beautiful and it makes me happy.

Luckily my holiday coincided with us moving so I’ve had time to explore, create and generally gloat a bit (sorry, it has just been better than I ever imagined)!

It’s all in the name of being active so I got up and made a beetroot, ginger, celery and carrot juice for Welly and I before he was off to work to set us both up for the day. I was then ready for my walk, where I met these fellas:

After a brisk walk to warm- and wake up my body I did my Tone it up HIIT workout followed by a relaxing yoga session:

I then got to use my newest ‘gadget’ – the infamous poached egg maker. Now if you’re like me rubbish at making these delicious eggs without a little help you must try this little fella:

It resulted in this – the perfect start to my day off:

What does your perfect morning look like?

Being active – cracking new walks

Having an active lifestyle has never been foreign to me, I literally start itching if I haven’t moved for a half day. For me and for many of my closest ‘having an active’ lifestyle does not mean just going to the gym, it means how we stay active in between too.

You may have read my new home, new fitness routine and will know that I’m now a commuter whereas I used to walk to work. My new fitness routine is great however I’ve also had to put some time and miles into finding out how I can stay active.

So far I’ve found two stunning walks, which I can’t wait to explore during every season. This is the river one:

Check out the lake walk:

To my delight I’ve also realised that we have the river to wood trail right on our doorstep, it’s a five mile track which I cannot wait to go on!

Now I just need a dog…

New home, new fitness routine

With a house move comes a bit of a shake up to your daily routine and this includes my daily fitness programme too.

I’ve been incredibly lucky that in the five years I’ve worked in London I’ve been able to walk to work. My first internship was 20 minutes from my home, my first job was a bare 15 minutes away and my second one was just 30 minutes walk. So when I knew we’d be moving and I would become a commuter a slight panic set in – how am I going to keep up my daily cardio? Will I become fat? Is there anywhere good for a run? Etc. I was a bit like this, pink and all:

So in the months before we moved I decided to start working up a new routine and in a bid to also save money I quit the gym and found other things to do. My biggest advice is to mix your routine up, firstly to avoid getting bored and secondly to keep your muscles guessing!

So this is what I do:
– Start the morning with a yoga session, if you’ve already read get up and do what you want to do you know that Rodney Yee’s am yoga for the week is an absolute winner
– Enjoy a bit of girlie fun and awesome workouts with the Tone It Up girls. Their Beach Babe DVDs offer incredible 15-40 minutes exercises which will make you stronger, leaner and honestly feel fantastic
– Do HIIT (high insensitive interval training) routines – they burn calories, get your heart racing and you will sweat out all the bad stuff. Tabata is great too and I get inspiration from sources such as Pumps Iron
– Take your runs outside and mix them up with sprint sessions! My fav Welsh lady over at Let Her Eat Clean have taught be some awesome ones including 10 x 200m sprints, 4 x 400m sprints and the ultimate lower body routine of 3 rounds of 24 squats, 24 lunges, 12 jumping squats & 12 jumping lunges – you need to try this one, you will not be able to walk the next day 🙂

So far I’ve loved my new routine and I am not in any way missing the gym. All you need is just a bit of kit:

I’ve seen progress and cannot wait to get into my bikini in just over a week’s time!

What’s your favourite exercise routine?