Jan5

New Year, New You

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New Year, New You

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic festive period and didn’t overindulge too much like I did. Traditional Boxing Day trifle went down a treat this year, just like every other year before it, and the wine carafe was always full, just like every weekend before it since 2005.

I bet my right arm (and you can keep it, because I hate my bingo wings) that everyone is having a health kick this January. Are you weighing your Special K and counting the calories in your morning coffee? Yeah, you’re on a health kick. It’s either one of your New Years resolutions or you’re just trying to ease back into the way life was before buy one get one free mince pies in Asda. And I’m no different. I too am on a health kick, but a different kind of health kick than usual.

Pushing yourself too hard can reverse the desired outcome.

Studies have shown that most people break their healthy New Years resolutions by January 5th. Any diet resolution which forces you to eat peanut butter out the jar at 1am on a Thursday morning is not a great resolution, and the reason why most people are forced to break their resolutions is because they are unrealistic. If you set yourself a booze free January then you’re just going to end up sucking chocolate liquers and crying into your cranberry juice. A better way to ensure you are becoming healthier is to make it gradual. Instead of a booze free month, go for four booze free days a week, or only drink at weekends. Immediately the goal is achievable and it is still bringing you a little bit closer to good health.

Another resolution which is high on most people’s charts is the ‘I’m going to the gym every day after work and I’m gonna be so buff’. So you sign up on a £50 a month contract for a year and jog to the gym in your new lycra ready to sweat. But come the end of your second week, you’re exhausted, malnutritioned and you’ve gained 3lbs. Oh, did you hear that? It was the sound of a cork popping on a bottle of wine. Bang! Two resolutions broken in week two. Common knowledge with us humans is that if we over exert ourselves into something then we soon bore ourselves of it and lose interest completely. If you’re going to join a gym, then start by going three times a week for about an hour and eating a good diet to justify the gym. If you overdo it, you’ll quit. And the weight gain will be because you’ve gained muscle, your body thinks you’re starving because you’re over working it and not eating enough, you’re retaining water, you’re menstruating or you haven’t pooped since Christmas Eve. Three times a week, that’s all you need to do to make a difference to your physical health.

And the same goes for your diet. Don’t restrict your calories too much, because most likely you’ll be cutting your intake from the past two weeks by over two thirds which will instantly tell your body it’s starving and your body will instantly try to store everything you eat. Be sensible. Instead of eating cabbage soup for a month, which lets face it, will only last until Monday lunchtime, just cut the crap. Sweets, desserts, starchy carbs like bread and white pasta and fizzy drinks, or even one or two of these will make a difference to your health and you’re much more likely to stick to the plan.

So although I’m sitting here sipping on a small glass of Chianti, it’s all part of my eating plan for the month, which I have been sticking to. If you want to know about said eating plan then you’ll need to read my next post. Until then, stay healthy.

Nov30

Porridge: How do you eat yours?

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Porridge: How do you eat yours?

Delicious Porridge with St Dalfour Jam

Normally the sound of Beyonce singing about Single Ladies would make me jump up and do some kind of ridiculous dance which makes my partner question my sanity. But at 5:30am on a Monday morning, the blasting Single Ladies makes me want to delete the entire Beyonce discography from my iPhone. For me, at this time, Beyonce is the sound which brings me back to reality and reminds me that I have a shift starting at 7am.

When it comes to breakfast at that time of the morning, everyone has something to say. My partner can’t eat until about 2pm in the afternoon because it makes him feel sick, but I can’t leave the house without something in my belly. And on these bitter winter mornings, where you have to test how cold the floor is before you get out of bed, nothing quite makes me feel better than a warming bowl of porridge. On a Monday I make mine in a mug in the microwave and eat it in the car!

Porridge (or porage) is the food of my Scottish heritage and it is definitely something you either love or hate. But I think that the reason a lot of people don’t like it, or don’t give it a chance is because they think it’s a hassle. Porridge is such an easy breakfast to make, that I can’t believe it gets such bad press. And, for the health conscious amongst us, the oats are full of healthy wholegrain oats which release their energy slowly throughout the morning, keeping you full up until lunch- subject to the topping you prefer.

The traditional Scottish method of making porridge is to cook it with water and salt, but this reminds me of something Oliver would have eaten; how that boy wanted more I’ll never know. The other alternative is to make it with milk and sweeten it. I prefer the latter, but I tend to sweeten it with toppings such as fruit and spices so that I’m not piling refined sugar into my body first thing in the morning, as that isn’t very good for your glucose levels.

Porridge Toppings

A selection of my favourite porridge toppings

The toppings I tend to smother in my porridge depend on what I want that morning, and how much time I have. If I feel I need to get a lot of protein into my belly that morning, I’ll add a scoop of my favourite protein powder in smooth chocolate flavour which is Impact Whey Isolate from myprotein.com or 15g of almond butter or peanut butter when it’s cooking to give it a delicious nutty taste full of protein. Almond butter has better nutrients but it’s not always available in shops. I go for Natural Almond Butter or Meridian Peanut Butter. Alternatively, you can sprinkle 10g of flaked almonds or other nuts on top of your porridge which gives a nice bite.

Coconut is another favourite porridge topping of mine. A super food which tends to get a lot of bad press due to it’s fat content, Coconut is actually very high in GOOD saturate fats which your body will always use as energy and never store. If in a coconutty mood, I’ll add a teaspoon of Organic Coconoil when the porridge is cooking, or sprinkle some dessicated coconut on top.

Occasionally I do get a craving of jam in my porridge, which is fine if you do it moderately, weigh your jam, and use a jam which is low in refined sugar. My pick of the bunch is St Dalfour Strawberry jam. St Dalfour jams contain no sugar, instead they are sweetened with concentrated grape juice. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still very sugary, but it’s not as bad as a jam made with cane sugar.

I do add fruit to porridge too, but not too much because it can be extremely sweet and doesn’t always mix well. The fruits I tend to use are strawberries, raspberries and blueberries in the summer, and in winter I’ll chop a small braeburn or cox apple and mix it through the porridge whilst it’s still cooking and add a dash of cinnamon for a nice Christmassy taste. Sliced banana and a tiny bit of demerera sugar are also divine but only once in a while.

So how do I make porridge?

Ingredients

-40g of Scots Rough Porage

-1 cup of milk (I tend to use Kara coconut milk)

-Pinch of salt

-Choice of topping

Method

If possible, soak your oats overnight in a little water and milk to make them fluffy

Add your oats to a small pan and add the milk and salt. The salt is important as it brings out the flavour.

Stir with a wooden spoon until thick. (If you’re adding protein or a nut butter, now is the time to stir it into the porridge)

Pour into your favourite bowl and top with your favourite topping.

Munchy Munchy!

Hopefully this has given you some food for thought, so don’t be afraid to bust out those oats and give your tastebuds a treat! Please comment below with your favourite porridge toppings.

Until next time, stay Healthy.

Nov24

Protein

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Protein

Eggs are a great source of protein

Protein is a vital food group which a lot of people forget they need. Protein is important for muscle repair after a workout as it feeds your muscle, helping them grow and keeping you lean.

Nothing burns fat more than muscle, and nothing builds muscle better than protein.

You can get good protein from leans cuts of meat, eggs, lentils, legumes (nuts) and milks.

Top tip from Ketllebelle is to look at each of your meals and snacks and think:

‘Is there protein in this?’

No? Add some! A couple of almonds to your brekkie, a hard boiled egg as an afternoon snack and some lentils in your soup. It’s easier than you think and you’ll reap the benefits.

Nov21

The Eureka Diet Moment

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The Eureka Diet Moment
Fat Lissa

Pre Diet Jacket

Something we are all guilty of is keeping old clothes at the back of our wardrobes for years, even decades

Of course, everyone does it for different reasons. Some do it in case Burberry style printed skirts from Internacionale come back onto the catwalk. Others are terrified to part with silk shirts which house shoulder pads that would make Joan Collins cringe, just in case their ever longed invite to the Dynasty set comes through the letterbox postmarked 1985.

Then there are people like me. Whose wardrobe at my childhood home plays homage to my formerly fat self. Or just now, my formerly fatter self. Size 24 coats and my sixth year prom dress which now sits perfectly around my ankles. As I’ve put on a bit of weight in my new job, a trip home was a perfect excuse to remind myself of just how far I’ve come in my body makeover. Unfortunately I didn’t account for the fact that I might just come across my lovely Topshop size 12 red winter coat which I got for Christmas two years ago. Ohhh, I immediately wondered if I could squeeze it into my suitcase to take back to Leeds. Now, the last time I tried this coat on it was too big and I had to wear a really thick scarf to make it look normal on me. But nothing prepared me for how tiny it was when I eventually got it on. And that was my eureka moment. I can’t keep being this ‘comfortable’ with my life, because if I’m not careful I’m going to turn back into the lifeless girl I used to be and I don’t want to be her anymore. Tomorrow, on the train back to Leeds, I’m going to devise a training and diet plan for the run up to Christmas.

I’ll post details and keep you updated. But for now, stay healthy and don’t give into the smell of Greggs sausage rolls.

 

Nov20

Introduction to Kettlebells

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Introduction to Kettlebells
My Kettlebells

A Standard Russian Kettlebell and a Competition Kettlebell

Whenever I begin raving about kettlebells to people, I never know what reaction I’m going to get. It varies depending on the person and their knowledge of what a kettlebell is.

Folks who don’t know what a kettlebell is tend to laugh and ask me if I’m some kind of tea making guru. People who know what they are but haven’t used them before tend to say something along the lines of ‘Are they the scary balls on the gym floor?’ And then you get your fitness buffs who immediately start questioning your technique and asking what you snatch, which to someone eavesdropping might sound hugely inappropriate.

So, for anyone who doesn’t know what a kettlebell is, here goes nothing.

A kettlebell is a type of weight known to have originated in Russia in the 1700′s. Made from cast iron which is moulded to look like a kettle, they are made up of a round base which resembles a canon ball with a handle on the top. To someone who has never used one before, they can look very intimidating, but once you start training with them you will be amazed at how quickly you increase your weight. Kettlebells give your a cardiovascular and strength workout all in one. The compound, explosive movements which you use when working out with a kettlebell, raise your heart rate whilst also blitzing your muscles. Trust me, you won’t be able to walk straight for a week following your first kettlebell workout. But pain equals gain.

Without making too many assumptions, people who don’t use kettlebells often reveal how they have an intense regime where they run intervals for ten minutes, bench press 50 reps then jump on the rower and repeat. Or perhaps you do your weights first using the standard machines in the gym followed by a half hour run to rid yourself of the lactic buildup? While there is nothing wrong with these techniques, kettlebells incorporate all of these techniques and allow you do do an all over body workout in only a fraction of the time. I am beginning to sound like a commercial on the shopping channels, but I mean when I say that these bad boys work!

In a nutshell, kettlebells work by:

  1. Building endurance and fitness
  2. Shedding fat and building muscle creating definition (yay!)
  3. Optimising calorie burn
  4. Increasing flexibility and strength

 

So what do you do with a kettlebell? Well, kettlebells are so versatile, you can incorporate them into virtually any regime either as the main focus of your training, or as a way of bringing in weight training. I’ve also heard that a lot of runners use them as the explosive movements build power.

Kettlebells can be used for strength training, conditioning, and even aerobically. In my workouts, if I focus on strength so I will use a 20kg (approximately 45lbs) kettlebell and focus on fewer reps and good technique. But if I’m feeling a little less focused, I’ll go for a slightly smaller weight (14-16kgs or 30-35lbs)and focus on maximum reps. For example, I’ll set my gymboss to 40 seconds effort and 20 seconds rest and select 6 exercises which represent a full body workout and repeat the set 2-3 times. Once you’ve mastered the basic techniques of the main exercises, you will find it easy to create your own workouts.

Tutorials on the basic kettlebell movements will be coming soon but please be aware that I have never had any formal training, and therefore cannot be held responsible for any injuries. I’d always recommend going to a trained professional to teach you the basics before you throw your kettlebell through the TV.

Until next time…

 

Oct31

Low Fat Turkey Burger a la Lissa!

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Low Fat Turkey Burger a la Lissa!

You know when you have the urge to sink your teeth into something meaty but the thought of cheating your diet with a greasy Maccy D’s makes you seeth with guilt? Well this recipe for Asian inspired turkey burgers gives you some of the same meaty satisfaction but with a much leaner and healthier protein. This is great for muscle repair after a workout and it fills you up a treat, plus they’re dead simple to make so you really have no excuse. Although, I would strongly advise that you don’t substitute the fat from the meat by smothering it in melted cheese. My partner, Chris, is not guilty of that at all.

For a healthy meal, serve with a mixed bean and vegetable salad. The beans are full of fibre which is essential for maintaining a healthy digestive system and they also release their energy slowly helping to keep your fingers out of the biscuit jar during the Coronation Street ad break. Alternatively, if you can’t stand the thought of a burger with no bun, have the burger inside a warm wholemeal pita pocket and serve with a crunchy vegetable salad.

Ingredients

500g lean turkey mince

1 egg yolk

1 finely chopped spring onion

1cm grated root ginger

1 teaspoon of lazy chillis (or finely chopped fresh chillis)

salt and pepper to season

For cooking

1 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions

1. Place all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix it up with your hands until its evenly distributed.

2. Shape the burgers into 4 patties (of two if you’re both mega hungry) and place on a dinner plate before putting in the fridge for 30 minutes.

3. Once the patties are ready, heat the olive oil in a pan and cook the burgers slowly until the juices run clear. A great tip to keep them moist is not to press them down with a fish slice when they’re cooking as this can dry them out. You can also grill the burgers but, in all honesty, they are not as tasty.

Munchy munchy!

Oct30

Snacking

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Snacking

Snacking is a big part of my diet. I’m a grazer by nature and I always have to make sure that I have healthy snacks to keep me going. I always try and limit these to >100 calories and high protein where possible. Par example…

Celery and cottage cheese
Carrot sticks with bean salsa
Protein shake made with cold water (I use Reflex Whey Chocolate from myprotein.com)
15g cashews or almonds
Small Braeburn with 10g almond butter

You’ll be surprised how much they fill you up!

Oct30

Mum’s Healthy Lentil Soup

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Mum’s Healthy Lentil Soup

Home Comforts

As the dark nights draw in and the wilted, brown leaves fall from the trees (and get stuck in our windscreen wipers), I don’t know about you, but I find that dry tuna salads and shop bought sarnies don’t quite cut the mustard when it comes to lunch time. By the time I hang up my headset at 1pm on a Monday, I’m desperate for something comforting and warming.

A few weeks ago I was back home in Scotland and I asked my mum to teach me how to make her famously tasty lentil soup in time for the cold November days and I feel I should share it as it is low fat, high protein and incredibly easy to make. And the best thing about this soup is that it’s packed to the brim with slow carb lentils which fill you up until dinner and mean that you do not need any bread with it. D’yall hear that bread munchers? Put down the Hovis…

Make a big batch of it on a Sunday evening and your lunches are sorted for the week. And, best of all, it’s well cheap to make. Bargain!

Ingredients

Lunches sorted for the week!

Lean, smoked ham joint / ham hough (optional)

4 large carrots

2 large potatoes

1 large onion

300g lentils

chopped parsley

vegetable stock powder

salt and pepper

2 litres boiling water approx

Cooking Instructions

1. Place your ham hough or joint into a soup pot and cover with boiling water and a few whole peppercorns. Simmer the ham for 1.5 hours of until the ham is cooked. Once cooked, remove the ham and wrap in foil to rest whilst you prepare the rest of the soup. If you’re a vegetarian, just make up 2 litres of vegetable stock.

2. Grate your carrots, potato and onion and add to the stock, along with your lentils and a tablespoon of vegetable stock (if you’re making the vegetarian version you don’t need extra stock). Cook the soup for about 30 minutes, or a bit longer if you like it mushy like me, and take it off the heat.

3. If you’re making the meaty version, shred and cut up the ham, taking care to cut off any fat, and add to the soup.

4. Finally chop your parsley and add to the soup.

5. Season and enjoy!

 

Oct30

Diets always start on Monday, right?

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Diets always start on Monday, right?

Don't mind if I do...

Every time I close my eyes, the room spins a bit and I have a flashback to the litre of red wine I insisted on ordering at the restaurant last night. Ugh. This in turn reminds me of how not only did I have a wedge of fried cheese as a starter, but I also needed, yes, needed to have that big slab of toffee and apple cake after my main course. Not even when the man next to me joked, “You’re gonna get fat if you eat all that”, did I stop spooning the Brakes Brothers stodge into my mouth.

So now it’s Sunday morning. My head stings, my mouth is dry and all I can think about is buttered toast. As I sit here typing in my full gym getup, I’m struggling to find the strength to even look at my kettlebells because I know if they had eyes they’d be  rolling them. In fact, it’s been so long since I’ve used them that there is a very fine spiders web linking two of the handles together. Plus, Chris isn’t feeling well and I’d hate to start making lots of noise when he’s poorly. That would definitely be inconsiderate, right? Damnit. I just asked him if he would mind if I did a workout and he said he doesn’t. And the girl downstairs moved out last week so I can’t even use her as an excuse. There is no getting around this one. But, I feel horrible. I don’t want to make myself ill. Plus, Sunday is Gods day, the day of rest. That’s it decided. I’ll start my new fitness regime tomorrow. After work I’ll head to the gym and give it laldy on those kettlebells before sneaking off for a relaxing jacuzzi.

It goes without saying that this has now moved onto my next whim. What’s the point of starting a diet on a Sunday? Diets should always start on a Monday. It’s like, the golden rule of dieting. On saying that, I’m planning to have a baked sweet potato with cottage cheese and salad for dinner and that is perfectly healthy. Mind you, the Asda mince pies which I needed, yes NEEDED, to buy are first in line for a cheeky X Factor snack. But it’s okay, because the diet starts tomorrow. On Monday.

Okay, so I just read that back and I can’t believe how negative I sound, and on my first post! Therefore, seeing as I am already wearing my gym gear, I may as well do something. I’ll set my gymboss to 40 effort 20 rest and do three sets of  swings, squats, and presses. It’ll only take 12 minutes and I’ll feel better once I’ve done it. Ready, set, GO!

Sep19

Site Launching Soon

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Site Launching Soon

Belle and I

My name is Lissa, and I’m a half fit, half fat, health obsessed, calorie counting chocaholic. Sound familiar?

This site will be an easygoing approach to health and fitness which just so happens to coincide with my lifelong battle to bust the blubber.

As well as blogging about my constant food demons, this website will host my favourite and feared exercises, my luscious healthy and gluttonous recipes, and if that wasn’t enough, I’ll also throw in some top diet tips and general natter on all things food and health related.

Expect peanut butter meltdowns, bleeding calluses and a lot of unpredictable willpower.

My name is Lissa, and I’m on a mission.