Kale Chips- YUM!

So I finally tried to make kale chips and I am soooo glad i did! I went for a simple version- just a little olive oil and salt and then put them in the oven for 10 mins (the last 2 mins with the door open to let out all the steam)..... next time though I won't add any salt or oil- they don't need it.....

Little Fishies

So I've been trying to eat more fish recently, I aim to have it a LEAST 3 times a week for dinner.

As a child my parents only really ate cod or salmon, and I only ever had canned tuna in sandwiches....but as I've gotten older and wiser, I branched out (thank gosh) and I love all types of seafood...red snapper, sea bass and mackerel are favourites as well as shellfish....I used to live in Thailand and I would eat seafood everyday- I looove snakehead fish, grilled squid and lobster....I miss the availability of fresh seafood here in the UK....

Anyway, right now there is alot of dicussion on the benefits of certain fish and the way they are sourced. This has also made me think alot about where I buy seafood and if it is sustainably sourced.

I got some farmed slamon from Tesco the other day and had it for dinner, here's a picture:

And then the next day I got some freshwater scottish Trout....here's another picture:

Now, although I have always preferred the taste of salmon over trout, these 2 meals changed my mind- farmed salmon has a far higher percentage of fat, I could taste it. The trout tasted far nicer and fresher.

I decided then and there that tesco was not the best place to buy fish and that I would try to stay away from farmed salmon. Tesco also sells alot of fish that has been caught by the traulling method of fishing (nets as big as a football field scraping the bottom of the ocean, damaging the ocean floor and catching other sealife, sometimes endangered sea creatures). So then I got some Marks and spencer alaskan wild salmon and this is SO SO much better, it tasted less oily and far lighter. The fishing methods used to catch the wild salmon are also far safer.

Wild salmon is an oily fish, rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids, as well as an excellent source of vitamin D, phosphorus and selenium. Trout is high in protein and also rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which can help to maintain a healthy heart and is also important in the development of our brain and visual systems - so both wild salmon and trout will be on my weekly menu- but farmed salmon won't be. Not all farmed fish are bad though, farmed trout is one of the healthiest and most sustainable fish around.

Mackerel is an underrated fish compared to trout and salmon, it too is an oily fish and a rich source of omega-3 essential fatty acids. It also helps to maintain a healthy heart and can play an important role in visual and brain development....much like salmon and trout.

Marks and spencer have outlined on their website where they get their fish from and the catching method- this helps my decision making alot, see http://plana.marksandspencer.com/we-are-doing/sustainable-raw-materials/forever-fish

Another good website is the Monterey Bay Aquarium website: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_health.aspx

This website gives really intereting info on sourcing methods, and nutritional info on each type of fish.....it's worth a look!

Their best fish list is:

Albacore Tuna (troll- or pole-caught, from the U.S. or British Columbia)
Freshwater Coho Salmon (farmed in tank systems, from the U.S.)
Oysters (farmed)
Pacific Sardines (wild-caught)
Rainbow Trout (farmed)
Salmon (wild-caught, from Alaska)

They also have a list of fish to avoid, see:
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_alternatives.aspx

kale, kale and more kale

Kale not only tastes pretty good but it also has LOADS of health benfits, it's known as a 'superfood' because it contains loads of beta-carotene, folic acid and vitamin C!! It's also really high in calcium, more than other veg! It also contains minerals such as iron, magnesium and potassium,....wow! im impressed already!

Kale is also rich in sulphur phytochemicals which can help protect against certain types of cancer and macular degeneration in your eyes!

Did you know?
Kale contains four times more magnesium and five times more calcium than Brussel sprouts
17 times more Vitamin C than carrots and four times more than spinach
Nearly double the magnesium of spring greens
More folate than broccoli
Seven times more carotene than cabbage

So normally i eat alot of brocolli and cabbage- but now I'm going to be eating a lot more KALE!

This is what i had for dinner yesterday:

1/2 Bag of kale
3 cloves of garlic crushed
2cm ginger sliced finely
1/2 chicken breast
2 tomatoes cubed
handful of basil

fry the diced chicken in water with garlic and ginger until cooked then in the last few mins add the kale, tomatoes and basil....and mix together! simple and soooo delicious!

I was so full after this, I didn't even eat all the chicken!

Blueberry Smoothie - Lux edition!

This morning i made my blueberry smoothie

1 handful blueberries
1/2 banana
4 strawberries
low fat soya milk
1 large spoon of low fat greek yoghurt

I love this sooo much, the yoghurt in it makes it feel more luxurious...i just stir it through at the end rather than blend it in :)

I got the original recipe from www.toneitup.com and changed it slightly.... they use vanilla protein and almond milk instead....

Tesco don't sell almond milk! I need to find somewhere that does!

HOMEMADE PROTEIN BARS

1 cup organic peanut butter with no added sugar
1 cup honey
warm in a pan and add 1 cup sliced almonds, 1 cup diced dried apricots
3 scoops chocolate protein powder, 1 cup oats
put in in a 9x9 baking tray and leave in the fridge for an hour!

This recipe is from Toneitup.com, but i changed it slightly by adding the chocolate protein powder! it was sooo delicious!!

Protein pancakes V Homemade protein bars

So,

Yesterday I made the 'tone it up' protein pancakes and a little later I made the home made protein bars, here are the links to how they are made:
http://toneitup.com/blog.php?ToneItUpand-039-s-Homemade-Protein-Bars-27
and
http://toneitup.com/blog.php?ToneItUpand-039-s-Protein-Pancakes-45

For the protein pancakes and bars, I used chocolate whey protein instead of vanilla :)

Here's my pancake-

It was REALLY dry :( so you have to put the syrup on top- I hunted around for Agave syrup which is squeezed from a plant in Mexico and is really hard to find in the UK, but I found it!

This syrup is REALLY sweet....

All in all.... I wasn't that impressed with the protein pancakes :( but I hear the peanut butter pancakes are ALOT better- so I will try those out next, I will also mix them with a whisk to make them lighter and see if that helps!

The protein bars on the other hand!! OH MY GOSH! they are to die for!!!
Please please please try them! you won't regret! but be carefull! Once you eat 1 you won't be able to stop!! :) I will post a photo later!

GOOD LUCK!

Must Push Harder!

"Change is uncomfortable. If you want to change your body composition (fat to lean muscle) and you're comfortable during your workout, take it up a notch! Your body will adjust to the intensity and change. We promise.

During your next workout think... 'Am I comfortable? No, my muscles are burning, my heart is pumping, my breath is steady and I can feel the oxygen feeding my body. Every breath I take is another step toward my goals." K&K

This is SO true, the past month I've been in the gym for 2 hours day, but I don't feel any more 'toned up'. So today when I go to the gym I'm going to step it up a notch- instead of running intervals between sped 9.5- 7.5 over 5km I will run at speed 10 and go down to 9 if i feel too tired!

Also, when I work out by myself I always take way too many breaks!

Something I am going to try is the wednesday morning running club that my gym has- its for an hour every wednesday morning- should push me! And also I will do spinning more- this is one of the only classes where I feel like I have been pushed to my limits! My gym has them at 9.30am everyday- so I will go twice a week- unless I start work- and then I'll do the 7.30pm class!

First Blog

Hi,

So first of all this is my first blog....I'm very new to this! I've been inspired to start blogging by so many inspirational blog sites out there (e.g. http://www.blogilates.com and http://eyeitryit.com/) and although this will never be as good as theirs, I wanted to add my opinions :)

My boyfriend and I are trying to get fit....and 'tone up'. We have to do it on a budget, and we have been trying to do this for months but I've only lost 2kg and still have around 4kg to go! SO I'm hoping this blog will help me to get serious about this!

I used to run half marathons and be 57kg/125lbs and I am 173cm (just over 5ft 8)....but at the end of my PhD I stopped exercising and up until 2 months ago was 65kg. I lost 2kg in the last few weeks as we have been going to the gym for about 2 1/2 hours a day! So now I'm between 62/63 kg...and I am really struggling to get rid of these last few kilograms! SO how do I lose around 6 or 7 lbs (4 ish kg)???

We are getting married in 2012, so I really would like to get to 58 kg.

My boyfriend on the other hand, wants to gain muscle...and lose some weight..he takes loads of protein shakes, cla, and lots of other pre and post workout supplements ....he is Thai and so eats very healthily....usually not eating breakfast (but has protein shake) and has a late lunch after the gym of chicken and salad or vegetables...and a dinner of chicken or fish. SO we do eat quite healthily- but I have 1 small addiction- sugar- mainly in the form of chocolate biscuits.....my boyfriend says he has never seen anyone eat so much sugar...so this is my main downfall....I sometimes skip a meal just so that I can eat some chocolate!

Anyway.....my aims for my blog are:
To help me stop eating chocolate
To exercise 'smarter' and harder
To share my experences
To help me 'tone it up'!

I don't have the money to buy K&K's 'tone it up' guide (see http://www.toneitup.com)but I do get their newsletters and watch their youtube channel.... I think its brilliant! so I'm going to try and follow some of their tips and see how I get on! And if it works out well then I will buy their meal plan :)