Sharing my stories to help inspire you to live a healthier and happier lifestyle :)
Monday, 14 December 2015
An Icy Experience 😍❄️
Friday, 4 December 2015
Comforting Chickpea Stew
Nothing feels more comforting than a bowl of stew during the cold months.
At this time of year, I’m craving healthy but warming ingredients, I like to play around with foods and flavours –Beans, lentils, root vegetables and anything hot and spicy.
This winter stew is perfect for cold dark evenings, a spicy change from the heavily gravied stews we are used to in Ireland and calls for simple ingredients most of us keep on hand.
This is a vegan dish, but don't run away just yet if you're a meat lover, the chickpeas give it the protein punch needed in an easily filling main meal dish. The mushrooms add that "meaty" texture.
I like to serve this with quinoa or sometimes a pitta pocket to dunk.
Double the measures and freeze an extra batch, this tastes even better a day or two after cooking once the flavours have all mixed up together.
Ingredients
400g can chickpeas (drained)
1 can organic chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato purée
1 green pepper
5-8 mushrooms
25g golden raisins
1/2 an onion
2 cloves garlic
1 red chilli (can use 2 for a spicier kick)
Juice 1/2 lemon
Pinch of salt&black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
Sprinkle Cinnamon Powder (trust me ;) )
1 tbsp of coconut/walnut/macadamia oil
How to:
Chop up mushrooms, onion, garlic, peppers and chillies.
Lightly sauté all the veggies and chillies in the tablespoon of oil along with ground coriander and cumin, stir gently for 4-5 minutes until veggies are cooked.
Add chopped tomatoes and tomato purée before adding the can of chickpeas and squeeze of lemon.
4. Add salt and pepper along with cinnamon at the end and allow to simmer on a lower heat for about 25 minutes.
Serve with a sprinkle of chopped fresh parsley!
TIP: Add a dollop of Greek yoghurt on top once served to cool the spicy kick!
Tuesday, 1 December 2015
Become A Morning Person!
5 STEPS TO BECOME A MORNING PERSON!
What you think about before you go to bed, could be what you think about when you wake up. That's why many who fall asleep with stresses, wake up feeling unrefreshed, thinking about the same stresses. We will use your fitness goals as an example; If you want to get up early to hit a workout, and get the day started with a fresh bang, then have a read of your fitness goals before you sleep or keep a photo reminder on your bedside table, or the ceiling about your pillow! As soon as that alarm goes off, you will know why it’s important to get out of bed and get the day started, you'll have the reminder fresh in your mind. By having that constant reminder of where you want to go, will make your morning routine a lot easier.
The best, and sometimes only, thing to stop you from hitting the snooze button a hundred times is to place your alarm clock across the room. When it goes off, you actually have to get out of bed to turn it off. You don't want to wake the whole house by leaving it buzzing. Getting out of bed to turn it off is better than a sleepy kick from your partner snoozing beside you. As soon as you are up, there's little chance you'll jump back into bed as your body is more awake from moving from your comfy spot.
When you wake up you are dehydrated which is half the reason you feel groggy! Most then make the mistake of reaching for caffeine in the form of a tea or a coffee straight away, which only dehydrates you more. As soon as you wake up, the first thing you need to do is drink a big glass of lemon water to wake up your digestive system and your whole body. Have a rule that you can only reach for the coffee mug once you have rehydrated yourself.
If you are guilty of going to bed super late due to social media, watching television, or still working, then you need to stop and create some downtime before bed. I personally struggle with this a lot, I find myself working until close to midnight many weeknights, a habit I'm trying to fight.
Simple Changes To Improve Your Body Composition
Regular physical activity is really good to help fight visceral fat. You must do a combination of weight training or resistance training as well as cardio (eg. walking/running) for the best effect. Even if you just start with walking, you'll find yourself feeling fitter and able for more in a short space of time. If you're unsure what to do, enlist the help of a coach in your local area or online to help you get started on your fitter journey.
Sugary drinks will provide you with tonnes of calories that won’t give you any of the nutrients you need! We call this "empty calories". There is also a chance that soft drinks promote the storage of fat around your organs and in your liver due to the sugar rush causing a blood sugar spike and then promoting the fat storage hormone to get to work in your body.
Add This One Change To Your Day 🍃
Monday, 30 November 2015
Is Breakfast A Struggle? Still Hungry?
Your breakfast should generally always be healthy balance of protein, healthy fats and carbohydrates. Especially if this is all new to you and you have yet to learn which foods make you feel more energised than others.
Are You Eating Enough?
A small bowl of fruit will not be enough to get you through to your mid-morning snack or lunch meal. You'll find a quick burst of energy before an equally as quick energy crash. Your body has been fasting, resting and recovering all night, breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day to fill up on nutrients for the day ahead, to keep the fire burning, it is so important that you are filling up on the right foods.
Processed breakfast cereals can cause a huge dip in blood sugar levels just a couple of hours after eating.You are more likely to crave more unhealthy high sugary foods throughout the day, which is your body calling for more cheap and quick energy.
If you're not yet able for a bigger breakfast, it's ok to begin with a light but smart breakfast and then it's completely cool to have a snack before lunch! A snack with the right balance of protein and fats or carbs will keep you satisfied until your next meal and avoid the dreaded blood sugar drop which in turn leads to yucky cravings.
If you're not yet able to stomach a bigger breakfast early in the morning, have a quick smoothie or if you really cannot get out of bed, prepare the fresh shake the night before and take it on the go!
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 tbsp cacao powder (optional)
4 ice cubes (if preparing fresh in morning)
Directions
Wednesday, 25 November 2015
Eating on a budget? 🍅
Friday, 20 November 2015
The Slim Gal Icecream 😍
Sunday, 11 October 2015
Wednesday, 16 September 2015
The "Perfect Body" Trend.
What can you do to help? Notice the young girl next to you. Ask her who her idol is, then ask her WHY. If her answers makes you sad, that's when you know it's time for you to help show her the amazing world she's missing out on.
Gossip and social media sites should not be our "world".
In a social media world, me a personal trainer and health promoter who also does bikini competitions and fitness modelling, speaking out against the media and the idolised "PERFECT BODY" and how it really doesn't exist. Telling girls not to obsess and idolise those celeb bodies when there I go myself posting a photo of myself in a bikini. That's a strange inner struggle to have but I have it, I struggle in the hope i'm not making the issue worse. I want girls to feel GOOD not worse.
The difference is I've accepted my body as my body, I train and eat to nourish and fuel my body.
I enjoy sweating in the gym. The body confidence is a side effect.
that many dream of that so called perfect body too.
I don't sell the perfect body, I bring out that wee confident sweaty fox inside each girls that trains and eats to fuel her body and her body confidence.
When I started working for myself in this industry, it was solely based around empowering other girls locally through health and fitness; "Come to my class, exercise with me, I'll talk to you about your eating habits and what will help you get healthier and lose excess weight (IF you need it) and I promise you'll start feeling better in your body".
That's it.
I never promised the perfect body or the perfect size. Why? It. Does. Not. Exist.
YOUR perfect body exists though and that's when you start feeling good about yourself, your accomplishments and your daily effort towards better health.
You are more than a body trend.
I've so much more to say!
For now,
Lisa Dee xxx
Monday, 31 August 2015
ARE YOU WRECKING YOUR BODY?!
Put it like this, if you are overweight and you have excess body fat to lose, you will lose a good bulk of that on ANY calorie restricted plan.
Wednesday, 5 August 2015
Icecream Protein Pops!
Tuesday, 28 July 2015
THE SECRET TO HEALTH AND WEIGHT LOSS
The internet is bombarded with advice on weight loss, muscle building and general fitness posts.
Too much of anything is just that.... too much.
For years on end from the age of 17, I struggled trying to figure out "What is the best way for me?"
I used to read article upon article, buy every health magazine on the shelves and take advice from anyone who was willing to give it. I listened to everyone and watched multiple YouTube videos.
I ended up in a pattern of "Starting on Monday" lasting 12 days and giving up.
To make myself feel less guilty about giving up, I'd simply tell myself
"That diet didn't work"
"I need to do more cardio"
"I'll go running instead"
"Maybe I'm just naturally big boned.
I'm sure you can relate to a pattern as such, in this high paced world full of body transformations and miracles. We want results and we want those results NOW.
You may have spent hours on the internet reading about the newest fad, the ketones that help fat loss, the aloe vera that banishes the bloat, the juice that kills belly fat.
You probably spent a lot of money on those said things, to later feel defeated in yourself.
I'm here to tell you, it doesn't matter what type of pill, gym membership or plan you buy, your body and health will not change without real ACTION.
Number one before you even think about exercise or anything else is - YOUR FOOD.
Answer those questions and then ask yourself....
Are you seeing results? How do you feel? Are you sleeping well? Has your skin cleared up?
Do you now long a lil' younger? Are you happier? Are you more confident?
Well?
I don't care if you're a size 6 or size 26, if you eat shit, you will feel like shit... at some point.
When you wake up in the morning, are you hungry? No?
Did you know, a hungry body within the first hour of waking is a HEALTHY body?
If you can't eat for hours after waking, this is something you should think about.
Drink a pint of warm water with lemon for a week, I bet you'll feel different each morning :)
- Please stop looking for an easy way out, there is none.
Gone are the days of eating chicken, plain broccolli and rice... Do people actually still do that?!
That doesn't make you hardcore, if you do still eat blandly, it makes you kinda boring. (I'm sorry)
To me, health will always show in a makeup free/tan free face, not in a set of abs or a jeans size!
Don't fight me on that! When I haven't been keeping an eye on my meals or getting enough sleep, my eyes will always tell you first.
I don't post many photos of my meals, as I used to believe they all looked too boring! I guess I forgot the fact they all actually taste amazing, so, from now on I promise to share more.
If it helps you when preparing your own meals, then that's all I need to know.
FOR MORE PHOTOS AND TIPS CLICK HERE or HERE
YOU COULD ALSO TRY MY
BIKINI BODY FROM HOME GUIDE