Healthy Eating

Chicken Biryani

| onmyway44

Do you ever try a new vegetarian recipe and while eating it all you can think is ‘a chicken version of this recipe would be so good?’.

I stripped a veggie biryani back down to basics (Spices & rice) and built it back up with a few of my own additions – tikka paste, chicken stock, chicken, raisins & cashews.

This new recipe is delicious ! So full of flavour and satisfying, we have had it for lunch every day for the past two weeks. It freezes & keeps very well so it’s great to make in bulk.

CBIR

Ingredients –

400g basmati rice.

4 chicken breasts.

1 thumb sized piece of ginger.

4 cardamom pods.

2 cinnamon sticks.

2 bay leaves.

1 1/2 teaspoons tumeric.

2 tbsp medium curry powder.

2 tsp tikka curry paste.

4 garlic cloves.

50g butter.

1 tin light coconut milk.

1.5 litre chicken stock.

60g cashews.

60g raisins.

 

Method –

Peel & mince the garlic & then either grate or finely chop the ginger – skin on the ginger. Saute them both on a medium heat in 1/2 of the butter, along with the cardamom pods, bay leaves and cinnamon sticks, until golden brown. Add in the spices and cook on a low heat for a further two minutes, stirring regularly. Add in 1 tsp of the tikka paste and the cashews, cook for a further 1 minute, and then transfer to a large stock pot.

Dice the chicken in to very small pieces making sure to trim any fat. Cook the chicken pieces in the frying pan using the remaining tikka paste and butter, stirring regularly.

Add the chicken to the spice mix in the stock pot. Add in the rice and raisins and give it a good stir to mix the chicken through. Then add the coconut milk and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Once at boiling point you can reduce to a gentle boil, put the lid on the pan and just leave a small gap in the side of the lid for any steam to escape.

Check regularly by sticking a fork through to the bottom of the pan and checking if any water is left. Once all water is boiled out, take the lid off to cool down and then either serve or pack away in to tupperware for freezing.

This recipe would serve 8 smaller lunch portions, or 4 generous dinner portions.

Make sure to let me know in the comments below if you try the recipe and what you think 🙂

Carb Cravings & Binge Eating – How to stop them.

| onmyway44

People often ask me why i am so strict with my eating. The amount of times a week i hear ‘live a little’ or ‘treat yourself’ when i say no to a chocolate bar, or when we have cakes in work and i say no. I know where people are coming from and that they have good intentions but there is a method to my madness, i promise.

I often tell people that from my own personal experiences i have found when it comes to diet it really is all or nothing for me. A few years ago i really struggled with my eating and went through an awful ‘binge and restrict’ cycle for many months before i finally got to the root of it and got back in control. I think it’s pretty self explanatory but for those who don’t know it’s where you binge eat uncontrollably and then feel so guilty afterwards that you seriously restrict your diet to compensate in the following days or exercise excessively to make up for it. Obviously from restricting calories so low and upping the exercise your body is not getting the energy and nutrients it needs and you seriously crave carbs… which is when you find the fastest digesting sugary carbs possible and binge again – repeat repeat repeat! It’s a viscous cycle.

Anyway like i said thankfully i got to the bottom of my food related anxieties. I started to learn as much as i could about nutrition so that i could eat healthily and make sure my body was getting all the nutrients it needed and work my diet efficiently around my lifestyle and training.

Now a lot of this is of course a mental battle. However the main thing that i found helped me to get out of this cycle and stop those insane carb cravings was by eliminating simple/refined sugars from my diet and only consuming natural sugars with a low GI index.

I’m going to keep this as simple as possible. 

There are three main types of carbohydrates –  sugars, starches and fibres. Some carbs are ‘simple’ and some carbs are ‘complex’.

Simple carbs are easily and quickly digested by the body. Because of the structure of simple carbs and because of the way they are digested they cause the blood sugar levels to spike. Your pancreas then releases a hormone called insulin which is what tells your cells to absorb the sugar from your blood. This then causes a dramatic drop in blood sugar levels. Research has shown that when our blood sugar levels drop dramatically we lose our ability to control our desire to eat. Our body will crave the fastest source of carbs we can get and unfortunately the fastest digesting carbs are usually the unhealthy ones such as cakes and sweets.

Complex carbs as you might be able to get from the name have a more complex structure. This means that it takes the body a lot longer to break them down and digest them. Complex carbs usually have a lower GI which means that a lower amount of sugar will get released at a steady pace. This provides you with a longer, steadier and much more effective flow of energy (as opposed to the sugar rush and sugar drop of simple carbs).

Now do you see why i say no to the cakes and sweets? I’m not being boring i’m being smart. I know that if i have that cake my blood sugar will spike and drop. Then i will be craving more unhealthy carbs and go for more simple sugars… binge and restrict. So i choose to say no and keep my blood sugar levels steady. It’s actually a lot easier than you would think. The first week or two is usually the hardest as you are still craving the simple sugars because you have been eating them recently. But it is very surprising how little you will actually crave unhealthy foods/sugars once you have managed to get your blood sugar levels under control. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by giving it a try for a few weeks.

So how do i do it?

Choose foods low in sugars.

Throw out the refined sugars. Say no to breads, fizzy drinks, biscuits, energy drinks, cakes, sweets, pasta.

Say yes to vegetables, fruit, oats, sweet potato, beans, lentils, muesli.

Make smart choices. For example most rices have a very high GI so i would stay clear of them. However white basmati rice has a GI of 52 which makes it a really good option IN SMALL PORTIONS. Berries have a lot less sugar than bananas. Now i’m not saying don’t eat bananas, as i personally eat one every day, but what i’m saying is if you have already most of your sugars for today then opt for the berries over the banana later on.

Always exercise portion control. Try eating smaller amounts more regularly during the day for a steady release of energy. This will also stop you from getting really hungry between meals and then getting cravings.

Remember that just because something is a ‘natural’ sugar doesn’t mean you can eat as much as you want. Fruit is very nutritious but at the end of the day it is still sugar. So again.. portion control. I stick to two portions of fruit a day usually.

You can check out the GI of your food online, there are so many websites but i will include a link for one at the bottom of this article.

Try and keep your overall sugar consumption as low as possible. I personally eat between 20-30g of sugar a day and no higher. THIS INCLUDES NATURAL SUGARS. If you eat 2000 calories a day it is recommended you eat less than 50g of sugar a day.

A good way to keep track of how much sugar your eating as well as overall calories and nutrients is to download an app to input your meals. The one i use is myfitnesspal. Of course this is not necessary all of the time but it is really handy to use at first until you get a general idea of what your foods contain. This will also give you a shocker if your not used to counting calories, it can be a real eye opener when you find out how many calories are in some of your favourite go to foods.

Eat enough fibre. Fibre slows the absorption of sugar and therefore helps regulate blood sugar levels. This is why even though some fruits have a high GI they are still a good option because fruits are very nutrient dense and also full of fibre.

And last but not least. Believe that you can do it! If you fall off the wagon and eat some sugary foods or if you do find yourself in the middle of a binge don’t beat your self up about it. As soon as you realise you have slipped up again just stop what you are doing and take a few conscious breaths. Make note of where you went wrong and start again.. and again.. and again.. until you get it right. Nobody said it was easy, but it is worth it.

If it makes you feel any better i fell off that wagon more times than you could possibly imagine before i finally got it right, i still do from time to time. The power is in the return. Keep trying as many times as it takes and remember YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.

Love and light.

 

D6e1PBg

 

 

 

 

 

Recommended Podcasts.

| onmyway44

Since I started video logging throughout the day I have been mentioning what podcasts I have been listening to and have had so many people messaging me directly to ask what podcasts I would recommend so I thought I would write a post with my favourite podcasts.

I listen to podcasts all day every day, when i’m getting ready, while i’m travelling to and from work, when i’m in the gym, when i’m writing for my blog, when i’m cleaning, basically as much as I possibly can. I think podcasts are such a great way to get new information, I love to be always learning about new things, always hearing different opinions, always expanding my knowledge on any subjects that interest me. Sometimes in today’s busy life it can be hard to sit down and read endless books on subjects that interest you but with podcasts you can listen to up to date discussions from experts in the industry while you go about your day to day business. This is why I love to listen to fitness and nutrition based podcasts to gain as much knowledge as possible. Of course it can’t always be learning all the time we’ve got to have that bit of laughter to, which is why I also have a few podcasts from comedians which I regularly listen to just for those real big belly laughs.

Here are a list of my favourite podcasts at the moment. I’m always chopping and changing what I listen to and these ones below are in no particular order, these are just the podcasts that I am currently listening to at the moment. There’s a good mixture in there so I’m sure there will be something for everyone!  Also if anybody has any podcast suggestions for me I am all ears I’d love to find some new ones so drop me a message if you know of any you think I might benefit from.

  1. Joe Rogan Experience – Definitely my favourite podcast at the moment, mainly because he has such a wide variety of different guests on the show and it is so regular that there is always something new and interesting to listen to. He always has guests on talking in depth about different areas of fitness and nutrition, psychedelics, spirituality, sports and so much more.
  2. Found My Fitness, Dr Rhonda Patrick – Nutrition and how it affects our health is one of my biggest interests. Dr Rhonda Patrick lays down the facts on her podcast with the ins and outs of nutrition and how it affects our health, diseases, cancer, ageing, basically how nutrition is the key to everything. She also talks a lot about different supplements/products/fasting techniques/fads etc to give the low down on each one and her educated opinion on them.
  3. Danny Lennon, Sigma Nutrition – All things fitness related, training and nutrition wise. Danny Lennon has guests who discuss at length different topics in relation to fat loss, physique athletes, competitive cutting, cutting for women, fat loss plateaus and so much more. For anyone interested in fitness and more specifically bodybuilding this is a great one to listen to.
  4. The Ricky Gervais Show – Now this one is purely for the laughs. We’ve all heard of Karl Pilkington An Idiot Abroad, right? Well rewind to how Ricky & Steve met Karl Pilkington was when Karl was producing their radio show XFM. They thought he was that hilarious that they decided to start a podcast just the 3 of them, that’s when The Ricky Gervais Show was born. No matter how many times I have listened to every single one of these I still laugh my head off so much every time, it never gets old.
  5. Duncan Trussell Family Hour – A mixture between the most fascinating of topics and rambles of randomness. Duncan is such a fascinating guy and he always talks about deeply spiritual subjects. His views on psychedelics, virtual reality and different dimensions are just a few of the reasons I love to listen to his podcast, also for the laughs of course.
  6. Skeptic Tank, Ari Shaffir – Ari is a regular guest on The Joe Rogan Experience which is how I got listening to his podcast. Such an interesting character and a little ‘out there’ as well as a good joker his podcast is always a good listen.
  7. The Church of Whats Happening Now, Joey Diaz – Another regular on The Joe Rogan Experience, Joey Diaz is absolutely hilarious and man has he lived a crazy life! Any and all of his stories have me rolling on the floor laughing, mostly just because of the animated and fiery way in which he tells them. Always a good listen and it always has me in knots laughing, listen to one podcast and you will see exactly what I mean by his story telling.
  8. The True Geordie Podcast – The main reason I listen to this podcast is because hearing a Geordie accent just gives me that familiar ‘home’ comfort feeling. But the guys on this podcast always cover up to date and interesting topics and of course the magpies regularly crop up and football in general, Geordies through and through.

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2 weeks in.

| onmyway44

So I started my cut two weeks ago but haven’t really had a chance to blog anything about it yet I’ve been busy with starting my new job and training. Finally have a few spare hours today to get up to scratch with my blog and a few other things.

When my bulk ended I lowered my calories down to maintenance level for one week. After that I lowered them down another 200 calories just to see how I’d get on. I kept my intake of protein exactly the same and took away 200 calories worth of carbs each day. My macros are currently 40% protein 30% carbs & 30% fat. This worked out really well for me, the past two weeks I have kept my calories at this same level and have started walking home from the gym instead of getting the bus to add in some LISS cardio. Doing this I have lost 1lb a week for the past two weeks so this is right on target for me.

I don’t want to undo all of the work I have been putting in over the past few months to build my muscle so I’m aiming to lose 1lb a week steadily throughout my cut. At the moment I am on track so there’s no need to reduce my calories any further as of yet, if/when I hit a plateau with my weight loss I will then adjust my training and/or calories as necessary.

Training wise I am doing the exact same workouts I have been doing since January. The routines and exercises I have been doing during my bulk have been working really well for me so I don’t see any reason to change these just because I am cutting now. Since I will be in a caloric deficit I am not expecting to increase my weights at the same rate as when bulking but I am going to use this next few weeks to really work on and improve my form and mobility in all areas.

So far I am feeling a lot more energised than I felt during the last few weeks of my bulk and really motivated, now just need to try and keep myself in this headspace I’m in and keep the ball rolling. So far so good but I’m only 2 weeks in, for me it usually comes week 4 or 5 when the mood swings and the tantrums start. Eyes on the prize though, feeling more motivated than ever.

Happy Sunday. Love and Light.

2

Blowfish Feels.

| onmyway44

I’m at that point in during my bulk where I feel like Kirsty the Blowfish. I started this bulk at the end of the summer and made a lot of progress and have put on 17lbs in total since then. Especially since the beginning of January when I started my new training regimen I have been seeing some massive changes.

I only have a another 3kgs to go until I reach my goal weight so as you can imagine I’m feeling pretty fluffy right now with all of this extra weight I’m not used to. For what I’m sure was the first time in my life I actually wore a full length vest to the gym this week. Anybody who knows me will know I live in a crop top. All I keep trying to remind myself is how worth it this is going to be when I cut back down and get to see what’s underneath this. I know for a fact my legs and glutes especially are sooo much thicker than they were before and even with the body fat over them from bulking they are already very noticeable. It’s so tempting just to end this bulk now and get those lean feels back but right now I’m just focusing on that end goal.

One thing I was definitely not expecting from this was to have to go out and buy new clothes. My ass is barely fitting into my jeans right now so I’ve had to resort to wearing leggings 24/7, I don’t want to go out and buy new jeans as I know that I’m going to be cutting back down shortly so I have no idea what my end size is going to be. Aside from the jean situation I did have to go out and buy all new bras, they were practically bursting at the seams. Now this one isn’t exactly a complaint. Actually, boobs are not something that I was blessed with so its quite nice to have some for a change., but as all the chicas reading this will know decent bras are bloody expensive. I’ll be sad to say bye to the boobies when it’s time to cut. I definitely won’t be sad to say goodbye to the hamster cheeks look I’m rocking right now.

All in all though I’m still feeling great about my progress and my look right now. Even though I’m having a moan about hamster cheeks and having practically zero abs I also know that I’m still pretty lean, I’m just not used to seeing myself with this much body fat so my mind is still getting used to it. Only a few more weeks to go now.

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Bulking – Food Diary & Bloating.

| onmyway44

When I first started this bulk for a long time I found it very difficult to eat enough carbs during the day without feeling absolutely stuffed and bloated. I usually would eat quite a lot carb diet. Not intentionally, but I just tend to eat a lot of spinach, broccoli, berries that kind of thing which don’t equate to an awful lot of carbs over the day.

When starting a bulk it’s not good enough to just eat more calories, you have to make sure your calories are made up of the right amount of carbs, protein and fat. Since I had been used to eating very low carbs for such a long time soon as I started trying to eat carbs again I would feel so full after only a few mouthfuls and I would be so bloated and uncomfortable for the rest of the day. This then caused me to miss the rest of my meals for the day because I felt so stuffed and my stomach felt so hard that I could not even force myself to eat any more. So instead of eating more calories each day I was actually ending up eating less calories and my weight was not going up any at all.

I decided to start keeping a food diary every day and kept writing notes of which meals were making me feel the worst and which ones weren’t so bad. After a bit of trial and error I made a list of the foods that worked best for me and a list of the foods that I should stay away from and made up a new meal plan.

I decided that any brown rice or wholemeal pasta were a definite no. In my new meal plan to make up my carb intake I chose to stick with just sweet potato, oats and a protein shake that also contained carbs as I noticed that I could eat enough of these without feeling sick and overly full.

I also decided to eat a smaller amount of carbs with each meal during the day, rather than eating most of my carbs around my workouts which I know a lot of people tend to do. At the moment I am eating 6 meals a day on training days, all between 400 – 450 calories so 2500 in total and on rest days I am adding an extra meal of 500 calories to bring my caloric intake up to 3000.

What also helped me was increasing my calories slowly of the course of a few weeks. I had been eating about 1800 calories a day for as long as I could remember and very low carbs. So even when I kept my calories at 1800 but started eating slightly less protein and more carbs this was a big change for me and I felt a lot fuller for longer. So the first two weeks I decided to just keep it at 1800 and let my body adjust to the carbs again. From then on I put my calories up slowly by 200 a week until I was at my target.

There was a lot of trial and error this time round with the food side of things but this was my first proper bulk so I didn’t know what would work for me and so had i to experiment a bit and chop and change things around. It took a while because I was having trouble with the carbs at first and was also nervous about putting on weight so kept stopping and starting. This meant the first few weeks my progress was very up and down, i was putting on weight but very slowly and kept stopping and stalling.

When i finally got everything on track and started to feel comfortable with it i started seeing so much progress and such massive changes. I’m actually really enjoying it now and my weight has been going up steadily and on track. My shape is really filling out and even though i have not one shred of an ab right now i am actually feeling really confident in the way i look. I never thought i would be happier with having more body fat on me but seeing the rest of my body changing so much and my legs getting so much bigger has really gave me that confidence that what i’m doing is working and i can have that body that i can see in my mind.

I guess this has taught me a really valuable lesson and that is i need to love my own body in every condition. There are always going to be things regarding my physique that i want to tweak or work on or improve, but that doesn’t mean i can’t love the way i look and still want to work on making it better. I’m currently 8kgs heavier than i was last summer and i can definitely see the difference. My legs especially are so much bigger and my strength has come back and improved so much. I had planned on reaching 62kgs and then cutting back down but as i’m only 4 more lbs away from reaching that target i think i will extend my target to 64kgs and drag this bulk out a few more weeks since i’m having a lot of fun with it. Then bring on the summer shreds!

 

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My Bulk So Far.

| onmyway44

I said when I started blogging again that I was going to blog my bulk and then when it comes to it my cut. So here is my first bulk blog post.

** FYI – I’m sure a lot of people reading my blog will know this already but just for anyone who doesn’t already know –

Bulking is being in a caloric surplus and gaining muscle (also unfortunately a bit body fat that inevitably comes with it). Usually people bulk in the winter so that when they have that little bit of extra body fat it’s not the time of year we want to be showing off our bods.

Cutting is what happens after the bulk. When all of that lovely muscle has been built up underneath but the layer of fat that comes with all of the added calories is still covering the muscles. Of course they need to be shown off so cutting is being in a caloric deficit and burning away that fat so that you can show all of those lovely muscles you worked so hard for.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way.

I had been on a half hearted bulk starting from around October but I was really struggling with eating properly and I was extremely nervous about putting on any weight. Even in my usual diet I don’t eat a lot of carbs to begin with, so when I wrote out my meal plans for my bulk and worked out my macros I planned to slowly up my calories by about 200 every week as I had heard this way works best. However even upping my calorie intake by that small amount was really difficult for me, especially since I was going from eating a lot of protein and fewer carbs to eating a lot more carbs. I felt so bloated all day and was feeling to stuffed i didn’t want to eat my next meal so wasn’t managing to finish my calories each day.

Also because when I was about 18 I put on about a stone in weight and was extremely unhappy, I was so nervous about gaining even a little bit weight this time round. I knew that in order to get the physique I wanted I would have to sacrifice my abs and leanness for a little while, but that didn’t make it any easier mentally. I had been making progress but it was very slowly and it was messing with my head having so much anxiety about planning my workouts and meals. You will know from my previous blog posts last year was a very tough year for me mentally so I really had no confidence in myself at the time.

So that’s when I messaged my lovely friend Lauren Levine to ask for her help. We worked together in Ibiza a few years back and ever since she has been such an inspiration to me watching her fitness journey. I thought to myself If I have a professional like her coaching me online and advising me then it would put my mind to rest. I would not have to worry about what if I am doing it wrong, or what if I wasn’t doing the right kind of training, or what if I wasn’t eating the right foods and I gained to much body fat instead of muscle. I knew in my head I had read every single book on bulking, ready every online article I could find, downloaded every piece of info I could. But lets face it my anxiety was really overwhelming me and I was worry worry worrying about not getting it right. So to put my mind at ease I asked Lauren to help me.

My training the past few weeks has been all about lifting heavy again and building back up my strength which I was very excited about. My sessions feel so much more effective and I have started to really enjoy it again. I think even just having somebody else plan them for me has took a massive weight off my mind so that I can solely focus on the training itself and the eating without any worries or concerns.

It took a bit of playing around with my carbs and meal times to find out what worked best but now I’m up to 2500 calories a day / 3000 calories on rest days and finding I am not bloated and actually feeling a lot more energised. I realised that a lot of carbs don’t agree with me. I now stick to just oats or sweet potato for my carbs as I realised that whole-wheat pasta and brown rice were really making my stomach feel huge and uncomfortable which was making me even more stressed. I also had to start my meals a lot earlier in the day. I used to not eat until about 11am but its pretty difficult to fit in 3000 calories between 11am and 9pm and not be absolutely stuffed. So now I also have a meal before I leave for work at about 7am and start eating at this time, this helps me to spread my meals out better during the day and not feel like I was forcing my meals in. I decided to buy a gainer shake with carbs in for after my workouts instead of just the standard whey, an easy way to get in a few of those extra calories. Lauren also advised me to track my calories and meals on my fitness pal which is actually a great and very easy way to keep a food diary instead of writing everything down like I was.

My body has changed so much in only 4 weeks, my weight is steadily going up now at a good pace (unlike before when it was very slow and kept pausing). I am loving my training and happy to be working on all of the big lifts / compound movements. I finally have my eating on track and in a routine that I find manageable and easy to prep. So now I feel like everything is in place, I have found what is working for me and am really looking forward to seeing how my body is going to look by the end of this bulk as I definitely feel and look much better than I did at the beginning of the year. It just goes to show that eating calories and being lean doesn’t always make you look your best. I personally feel that I look a lot better now than I did when I was a bit leaner, I feel like my muscles are filling out more and I have a lot more confidence!

I’ll keep you updated with anything new I try and if anyone has any tips or good advice I’m all ears. Like I said the past few years I have been focusing on maintaining my shape and staying lean, this is my first proper bulk so I’m open to suggestions.

3 weeks difference in this picture. Lots of training. Lots of food. Lots of sunbeds.

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Food for Thought. Literally.

| onmyway44

This past 2 months i’ve been cutting on a very low carb diet. My calories haven’t been to low as i didn’t have an awful lot to lose, i was aiming for 1lb a week.

In order to burn 1lb a week you need to burn 3500 more calories than you consume. With intense workouts 6 days a week & no cheat meals the body fat was disappearing no problem. I had my measurements taken and i had been losing weight on target and at the same time i had gained some muscle weight (miraculous, i know). So far so good for me!

But of course losing body fat whilst gaining muscle and training insane was never going to last long. The past two weeks i just seemed to hit a massive plateau with my diet and training. I felt so low on energy, so drained. My workouts were suffering so much i felt like they were pointless, i dragging myself to the gym and before even starting the workout i felt tired so my workouts were no where near the level i know i am capable of.

Another thing is i was getting such bad food cravings. Even before starting this diet i am a very healthy eater, i always eat clean, plant based foods. I don’t eat anything processed / refined and i keep everything as healthy and locally sourced as possible. The only unhealthy thing i ever usually want is a chocolate frappe from starbucks, apart from that no unhealthy food interested me. Until now! From eating such a low carb diet for so long my body was craving carbs so bad, and not the good carbs. I wanted chocolate, pizza, chips, anything unhealthy i wanted it. All i could think or talk about all day was food! Not good at all, i was feeling so miserable. Because of all of this i also had zero motivation to write for my blog.

On the Friday evening i felt so drained coming out from work i thought there is no way i’m going to be able to train quads like this. I had a snickers chocolate protein bar (which definitely did not fit my macros or my calories) in hopes it would give me a bit of quick energy for the gym and satisfy my cravings. Well of course it did neither of these things, it made me feel even worse than i did before and now i was pissed that i had broke my diet for a chocolate bar!

Then somebody advised me to have a ‘re feed’. To purposely heighten my carb intake for one day to replenish glycogen levels and get my energy back. Now i know me taking somebody else’s advice might come as a shock, i’m very stubborn. However this person has previously given me very good advice and.. well… i was starving and miserable and i wanted carbs.

Low and behold after having 200g rice with my protein meatballs for lunch i was like a new woman. Absolutely flew around the gym had my best workout in a few weeks. My mood improved so much and i felt like i finally had my energy back. It’s crazy to think how much carbs can effect you mentally and physically.

To me it seemed to be counter productive to up my carb intake for a day. It seems like such a small think but after dieting whilst training so intense for so long even the thought of setting myself back a tiny bit with one day of carbs seemed like something i was just not willing to do. Little did i know what a good thing this would be. Since having a re feed on Saturday i feel like my mood and training and everything are back to what they were. Positive and productive again! So one day of carbs was totally worth it to be able to get my head re focused and feel energetic again so that i can get some serious work outs in this week.

foodforthought

Protein Pancakes

| onmyway44

After trying a protein pancake mix for the first time last week i couldn’t wait to try out a few home recipes at the weekend and try and make my own from scratch.

I don’t eat flour, butter or sugar so regular pancakes are out of the question. Oh and don’t forget regular pancakes are an absolute carb fest!

I tried out a few different recipes at the weekend. I’m not going to lie i was a bit sceptical at first of how much these ingredients could actually taste like real pancakes. I was actually very surprised after a few failed recipe attempts to find one that tasted and looked very ‘pancake like’.

Well, ill let you be the judge!

Per pancake – 240 kcal,  22g carbs,  3g fat,  35g protein

Ingredients.

  • ½ cup old fashioned oats
  • 3 egg whites
  • 2 scoops protein powder
  • ½ cup cottage cheese
  • coconut oil (optional)

I know.. cottage cheese in pancakes? I promise they are so good and so easy to make.

Method.

I’d hardly call it a method to be fair. Blend all of the ingredients together until smooth and pour into a non stick frying pan. Cook on a medium heat until the bottom is brown and then flip over and cook the other side until brown. I actually like to cook mine with a small teaspoon of coconut oil in the pan but that is optional.

That’s it, enjoy. Let me know what you think of them & feel free to comment with any suggestions of your own.

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