Category: Health & Fitness

The Big Bad Wolf

Can you imagine you have a huge, angry wolf that follows you around day and night? It never leaves you to sleep well, eat normally or socialise. When you try to act the way you used to with friends and family it makes you tired – a tiredness so severe that it is hard for you to even get up out of your bed in the morning. Can you imagine this wolf hurts your muscles and your joints not once or twice, but throughout the day and night? What about when it’s hungry? It feeds on you. The wolf slowly but surely damages major organs including your kidneys and skin, and it loves the heart, lungs and the brain. Because of this, the wolf causes headaches that are so painful that you cannot see. When you go to work, it is there. When you drive, it is there. In your room, it is there. When you sleep, it lies there.

The Big Bad Wolf is always there. And it is called Lupus.

Flippin’ Fabulous!

Ahh I’m so excited about this! If you’re looking for something to do with the kids in the easter holidays then I think I may have found the perfect place that will keep them amused for hours and (hopefully!) tire them out…

You wouldn’t tell someone to put their burger down, so why tell me to eat one?

Why in 2017 are we still obsessed with people’s weight? The issue of ‘fat-shaming’ has had a lot of press recently, the idea of people being made to feel self-conscious, hurt and even depressed because of being overweight. Recently magazines have been filled with celebrities who have been ‘fat-shamed’ and bullied telling us to love ourselves for who we are, embrace our curves and be confident in our own skin – which of course, I am totally rooting for! But coming from the opposite end of the scale (literally)… why do we live in a society where ‘skinny-shaming’ is still ok, when ‘fat-shaming’ is frowned upon?

I think that the reason criticising ‘skinny’ people is not viewed as big of a deal as ‘fat-shaming’ is because being ‘skinny’ is seen as the ideal. But it does not give an excuse for humiliating people because of the weight they carry (or don’t carry) on them.

4 Simple Food Prep Breakfasts

Food prep. Two words that are associated with gym-goers and fitness fanatics, but in actual fact is a skill that we can all adopt and master to make our lives that little bit easier. Just think about it… you get up in the morning, your breakfast is already prepped and in the fridge, and all you have to do is lift your lunch from the shelf and pop it in your bag, snacks and all included! You get home for dinner, and the only task that needs done is to boil pasta or rice and warm up the rest. Surely that makes an easier life and gives you much more time for family, friends, hobbies and looking after your body and soul. Here are a few tips and basic food prep meals for beginners at breakfast;

Super Smoothie

This is my absolute go-to smoothie! Brilliant for a breakfast, a snack when you’re feeling peckish and craving something sweet, satisfying and filling, and it’s excellent for post-workout fuel (the main reason I have it!)

I love experimenting with different ingredients in my smoothies but this is definitely my favourite. There are a lot of different ingredients in this but combined they taste delicious and they provide some excellent nutrition – especially after a workout where you have been using weights and training your muscles as this drink has a great variety of carbs (they’re not all bad – trust me you need them!), protein (essential for gaining and maintining muscle and sugar (again – brilliant after a workout!).

I can’t recommend this smoothie for weight loss as I’m not trying to lose any weight, but it replenishes my body with nutrients after the gym and I can definitely recommend it post-workout (you can play about with it a bit to tailor for your macros!). It’s also an excellent way to get some of your 5-a-day in, and as I am so busy and on-the-go it’s brilliant to be able to fit this plus more goodness into a drink.

A nutri-bullet is brilliant for this – you can get one here, but I use a cheaper version from Breville and it’s brilliant.

Here is a breakdown of the smoothie: