health

Banana & Date Smoothie

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I know a lot of people usually struggle to eat Suhoor (pre dawn meal during Ramadan) so here is a recipe that although is quite high in syns. it is still within the recommended daily syns allowance. I like to use unsweetened almond milk for this recipe for a nutty flavour but you can use any other milk of your choice. Just remember to check what the health extra allowance is for the milk you’re using. Top tip: try to use the ripest banana you have as this will make the smoothie even sweeter without having to add any extra syns for sweetening the smoothie.

Banana & Date Smoothie

Banana & Date Smoothie

 

Serves: 1

Syns: 13 syns plus part of healthy extra A choice

Time Taken: 5 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 ripe banana, chopped
  • 3 Medjool dates
  • 200ml unsweetened almond milk
  • Sprinkle of cinnamon

Method

Remove the pit from the dates and mix all the ingredients together. Serve immediately.

Running Alone

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I did it! I went out to run on my own outside today. I received a few messages yesterday from people who suggested starting at a park to build my confidence up and that really helped. It didn’t seem so daunting running in the park. It was a cold morning and I set out later than I had hoped to be out by, but I didn’t back down! I set the timer for 30 minutes on my phone and launched the Strava app to record the length of the run. I must admit, even though I only did 30 minutes it felt a little boring running around the park. I just kept going round and round! I did 4.4km in that time which I was happy with.

First run statsI’ve signed up for Park Run (http://www.parkrun.org.uk/) this Saturday and hope I will get a good time for 5k. This will be my first ever proper timed run. I have done Race for Life (https://raceforlife.cancerresearchuk.org/) in the past but I normally just walk, never attempted to run!

I really want to try and do a different route tomorrow even though I am really nervous to go out on the roads. I might have to go super early when there aren’t many people outside! It sounds pretty stupid right? Grown woman like me nervous to go outside to run. I don’t know what’s stopping me. Maybe I feel I will get judged for running because I wear a headscarf? I know it is silly, most people are probably too busy going about their day to notice but I think that is my main fear. Anyhow, I’ve got today to sort myself out and plan a route before I attempt going out tomorrow morning. Wish me luck guys! x

strava map

 

 

 

2019 Resolutions

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Happy New Year

Happy New Year

I don’t normally do Resolutions but with so much that has happened over the last year or so, I thought I’d make a bigger effort this year to smash the goals I’ve wanted to set out but have been too afraid/lazy/not bothered in the past.

Blog more – I have a few go to recipes that I have shared on here but I would love to include a lot more content on this website that is not all necessarily food related or Slimming World. Let me know what you would like to read more of.

Stop comparing myself to others – that is one main issue that I struggle with. Social media is great to interact with others and see what others are up to but I have on so many occasions felt I was not doing enough after seeing other’s posts, feeling like I’m falling behind. I must stop this as it really affects not only my mental health but it affects the loved ones near me. I have seriously doubted myself in the past because I felt I was not as good a mother as I could be, I felt I didn’t have the right clothes or went out enough when compared to others. It was pretty stupid to be fair thinking about it now. I intend on taking more breaks from social media.

Running – I fell in love with a new passion towards the end of 2018. Running! Who knew I could enjoy it as much as I did. I must admit I am not exactly a marathon runner but the little jogging that I do makes me feel so good at the end of it. This year I am going to work on building the courage to go outside to run on my own. I love to run when I am with the running group but the days I don’t meet up with them I try to fit a run at home on the treadmill and it is just not the same! I almost went outside this morning, I opened the front door and was all set up to leave the house and backed out 🙁 I turned around and used the treadmill instead. Maybe if you are a runner you could give me some tips on how I can build my confidence to go out on my own?

Healthy lifestyle approach – lately old habits started to creep up back up again and my approach to diet is all or nothing! I need to get back to the mind set that this is a healthy lifestyle change and if I have a bad meal or bad day/days it doesn’t mean I’ve given up or lost my way – the long term plan is always to eat healthy and be healthy.

I can think of a few other resolutions but for now these are the ones I am going to concentrate on. I will review this in a few months and update you guys on where I am! Do you keep new year resolutions? If so, what are your resolutions for 2019? x

Ways to eat more Speed Foods

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Free Foods are naturally low in calories, bulky and filling. Speed Free Foods are even lower in calories so they’re the very best foods to eat when you want to lose weight. So if you swap one third or more of the slimming Free Food on your plate for super-slimming Speed Free Food, you’re naturally reducing the calories – without weighing, measuring, counting or going hungry.

You can find the fruit and vegetable lists that are just bursting with Speed Free Foods in your Food Optimising book – just look for the ‘S’ symbol. If you haven’t got your book handy, in the Weight Loss Planner section of the Slimming World website you’ll find drop down lists of all the basic Free Foods. Speed Free Foods are all marked with an ‘S’.

If you are a Slimming World group member you must have heard at least once in your group ‘The more speed you have, the more weight you’ll lose’!!! And that is correct, but it does not mean filling up on Speed Foods after a meal full of syns hoping it will counteract the calories consumed! What Slimming World mean by ‘The more speed you have, the more weight you’ll lose’ is replacing Free Foods and Syns on your plate with Speed Food, not adding extra calories if you do not need them.

Below are just some of the ways that helps me and my members get our Speed Free Food in our day. Please do share how you get more Speed Foods in your day!

  1. Fill at least 1/3 of a plate, add more if you like! I always find filling my plate up with Speed Free Food first helps me get this right
  2. Reach for them first as a snack between meals – whether it be a Satsuma, an apple, carrot batons or cucumber sticks, whatever you enjoy the most, reach for that Speed Food first
  3. Enjoy them for desserts – you can make a delicious Speed Food fruit salad with all your favourite fruit
  4. Whizz them into a soup, great for lunch or as a warming snack – soups are a great way of getting more Speed vegetables into your day
  5. Cram them into your Free main meals – this is ideal especially if you don’t enjoy bulky veggies or have fussy eating children and partner like mine!
  6. Sizzle them in a stir-fry – drizzle some soy sauce and oyster sauce for flavour
  7. Load them into a quiche, frittata or omelette – I love adding veg like onions, mushrooms and peppers into these
  8. Enjoy them as an alternative to pasta, rice and noodles – if you haven’t tried cauliflower rice yet, you must! There are so many other veg that can replace pasta too like courgetti or butternut squash lasagne sheets!
  9. Get creative with your cooked breakfast – how about using asparagus or spinach into your cooked breakfast for a change!
Lasagne with butternut squash sheets

Lasagne with butternut squash sheets