2 Week Challenge: Water

Everyone should drink more water, I have written a brief post on the benefits of  water in the past and would like to revisit them while I do a 2 week water challenge.

I intend on drinking at least 2 litres of water every day for the next 2 weeks.

Drinking water before meals helps reduce the amount you eat.

 Improves your performance when exercising.

 Makes you look slimmer and younger! When you are dehydrated water collects in your face, making you look like you are carrying more weight than you actually are!

Helps your kidneys detoxify your body.

Help prevent headaches and aid hangover recovery.

Can boost your mood, energy and focus!

Helps protect your joints by helping your synovial fluid.

Can help with acne.

I found this challenge quite easy as I drink a far bit of water anyway, the only time  struggled was when I had a lazy day, late one Saturday afternoon I realised the only thing I had drank that day was wine!

I think the secret of my success was buying a 1litre water bottle which helped keep track of how much water I had drunk so far that day!

Everyone should drink water so give this challenge a go!

TCA Compression Tights

I have jumped onto the compression gear band waggon, having worn compression gear  by Under Armour in the past so I thought I would give any brand a chance with a lower price tag.

Onto Amazon I went a found TCA super thermal compression base layer thermal under leggings, bet you're as exhausted reading that as I am writing it!

I am not sure they are strictly compression gear but they seem to do the do the job at a much lower price than Under Armour.

Primark Vest

For Under Armour leggings you are looking to £23 - £70 where as the ones I bought cost me £13.99 reduced from £34.99 so I consider my purchase quite the bargain!

The leggings themselves fit well, a little baggy in the crotch but that's not a bad thing where the male anatomy is concerned and don't give too much away if you catch my drift, the fact that they are black helps as well.
I wore my Big Red Apparel shorts just in case!

I do buy into the benefits of compression gear which I have gone over on this here


The only comments I would make about them is be very careful when washing your compression gear as it can ruin the hold of the elasticity and that although I measured by myself before ordering them I think they are a touch too big for me, I am oddly proportioned so this may have some thing to do with it, oh well just more motivation to put some size onto my match stick legs!

Benefits of Compression Gym Gear

You might of seen guys and girls a like sporting skin tight tops and tights and thought to yourself

"Are these guys auditioning for Fame"? 

The chances are that no, they are not, they have simply bought into the compression gear fad and I feel with good reason!

Not only do they immediately take you from looking like a gym novice to an expert, well until you decide to actually decide to pick a weight they also have other benefits.

wearing my chargrilled vest.

Compression gear increases your range of movement so you can get the most from your training, be it squatting lower or reducing the resistance when running.

Reduces fatigue while exercising by helping your body break down lactic acid faster.

 Boost recovery after exercise

They also keep you warm in the cold and cool in the heat.

Whether or not these benefits are true or are just in my head I don't really care, I feel my performance and recovery are boosted by wearing compression gear and they are excellent to wear under
clothing in the freezing weather.

Nut Roast

My friend Irene is trying to out do me by going veggie for a month.

Not being bitter by her trying to out shine me I decided to show some solidarity by cooking a roast dinner and since my dalliances with Quorn were not exactly great I opted to try a Nut Roast!

It was really easy to cook, just slap it in the oven for 50 minutes then jobs a good un!

Compared to the same amount of beef Nut roast is lower in calories. fat and a has less than a quarter of the protein and lacks all that lovely iron that red meat provides!

A Nut roast is a lot cheaper than beef though so it might be something to consider if you are on a tight budget.

Taste and texture wise I would describe it as sage and onion stuffing with peanuts inside, one of the nuts almost cracked my tooth so what out if your teeth are not in the best condition.

I would say if you are going to give a nut roast a go I would get in plenty of gravy to make it less stodgy.

Kale Chips

Since that awful Gweneth Paltrow is always banging on about how great Kale is I though I would give Kale chips a go.

Made by The Rawlicious Food Co and sold to me by Millies of Leeds for £2.59 for a 40g bag of Thai Chilli flavoured Kale Chips.

I am going to compare Kale chips to Walkers Thai Sweet Chilli crisps.

Price wise Walkers are much cheaper which isn't too surprising with it currently being sold at Asda £1 for a 40g bag and is 2 calories less than the Kale Chips and 3.4g less of fat.

Now this particular brand of Kale Chips offers 8.5 grams of protein per pack, which I imagine comes from the Cashew nuts compared to 2.6g in the Walkers and more than double the fibre.

The ingredients were surprising with kale, yellow pepper, cashew nuts, pineapple, chilli pepper, lime and yeast.

Flavour wise I called it sea weed with a hint of nuts and lime, I was expecting some heat to them but I couldn't taste any and that's coming from a guy who's idea of a hot curry is tikka masala!

I am not the biggest fan of crisps but my friend Irene is so she helped me review the Kale chips and she said that if Walkers and Kale were both equally priced she would pick Walkers every time'

 She simply does not care about the potential nutritional benefits!

Sadly any vitamins that might be in the Kale Chips are not listed which is a shame because Kale is very nutritious, I'll go into more detail in a separate post.

I am shocked that there isn't a warning about the product containing nuts on the front of the packet, it does state that it contains nuts on the back of the packet but that would of been to late for me as I would not expect there to be nuts in the Kale Chips and dug straight in.

I am also colour blind and this made some of the text more difficult to read.

Not suffering from an allergy myself I am probably not best to comment on how deeply people with allergies look at new products before eating them.

I didn't not like the Kale Chips but they didn't entice me enough to buy them again!

Crobar, Cricket Protein Bar

 Crobars are protein bars made from all natural sources and the unique ingredient being flour made from crickets! on Twitter being sold at Millie's of Leeds and being the adventurous kind of guy that I am I decided to give one a go!

I am going to compare Crobar with a Quest bar because they appear to be the most well known protein bar brand.

Price wise Corbars win out, £2.69 a 40g bar compared to £2.95  for a 60g cookies and cream quest bar.

Sadly Quest bars win out on everything, lower calories, almost double the protein, lower fat, more than five times the fibre and a massive variety of flavours.
The Crobars ingredients are transparent with the Cricket flour only making up 6% of the the bar.

I would say that the Crobar tasted a lot like Cashew Naked bar with the two sharing dates and nuts in their ingredients this wasn't too surprising, to be honest I was hoping the bar would taste more crickety.


Now the part of the Crobar that is important is when you look at the bigger picture.

Protein sourced from Crickets is more environmentally friendly than whey protein.
Growing cows taxes a lot of resources, water, land, increased CO2 production and money.

I guess the conclusion of this review is that if you have an ethical conscious or just want to say you have tried cricket then you should of opt for the Crobar.

Sweet Potato

Sweet potato seems everywhere right now, you can't mention it without some odd little hipster type creaming themselves over the a fond memory of sweet potato fries they had with their cheeky Nandos last night!

This is with good reason, I love sweet potato and it's got loads of goodness packed inside.

 More vitamin A than you can shake a stick at with 100g having 384% of your RDA!

A decent about of vitamin C with 34% of your RDA.

25% of your Manganese.

More potassium than a banana!

Help boost testosterone levels.

A good amount of fibre, if you eat the skins!

May reduce the risk of breast cancer in pre menopausal women.

May reduce ovarian cancer in post menopausal women.

Can help relieve stress.

Helps heart health by reducing the hardening of your arteries.

I tend to mash my sweet potatoes but this means losing out on the skins!
 I used to roast them but this made them too sweet so if anyone has any cooking suggestions let me know.

Eating a lot of sweet potato can make your skin and nails go orange but it isn't harmful and should go back to normal if your calm down with all the sweet potato you've been binging on.

 In the mean time just remember that the futures bright, the futures orange!

What to wear in the gym.

Admittedly I am no style icon but I do feel I have something to say on gym wear.

Wear something you feel comfortable in.

 You don't need to shell out for big brands, in fact my favourite gym vests are from Primark!

When I first started going to the gym I wore track suit bottoms and a baggy tee shirt, I would of worn a baggy jumper but the instructor doing my induction was having none of it.

When I felt more comfortable getting my noodle arms out I moved on to a vest with a slight twist, I bought tee shirts that had fun slogans like "Do you even Leviosa?" in the hope that if someone looked at me and laugh then I could convince myself it was my hilarious vest that had tickled them rather than my 12 year old girls physique! 

Go for dark colours.

Not only are darker colours more forgiving on your problem areas but they all so hide sweat better.

There is nothing more embarrassing than everyone seeing how sweaty your bum crack is through your grey jogging bottoms!

Dress to show off your assets

Get an amazing bum? Crack out the leggings.

Got weapons of mass destruction up your sleeves then whip out a vest.

Never skip leg day and remind everyone shorts aren't just for summer.

If you have worked hard and got some impressive results then why not show off a little?

Don't wear clothes that restrict your ROM.

There is a reason people wear vests, shorts and even tights in the gym, not only is it to make you look hench as funk but it also ensures you can use your whole Range Of Movement when preforming exercises.

There is no point exercising in jeans and an overcoat.

 Not only will you look  like a tart, probably over heat and die you will also not be able to get the most out of the exercises you are doing. I am sure you will all agree it much easier to slut drop in a skirt!

Vita Coco Coconut Water

 l, like most people bought into the and the coconut water hype, but is it really all that?
 Most the prominent brand is Vita Coco so I decided to splash out  £2.50 for a litre of the stuff since it was on offer at my local super market!

There are claims it can lower blood pressure, have anti ageing properties, cure kidney stones and cancer!

I have not seen much any evidence of this anywhere so I am going to stick to what I do know.

The main claim is that it's an excellent hydrator, far superior to water and sports drinks due it's high levels of potassium.

Vita Coco coconut water has got 10% of you rda per 100ml, not exactly what I would call high!

Potassium is great for your energy levels, it works hand and hand with sodium but the problem with sodium is that it's everywhere, just look at most processed foods.

Now this is the bit where I get to coconut water, most energy drinks use sodium to help rehydrate you and I am guessing you probably don't need any extra in you in diet.

This makes coconut water a good alternative, if you have a diet rich in potassium rich foods then you can probably give it a miss.

I like the taste of coconut water, I feel it's easier on my body, has fewer calories, it's comparable in price and I love it when I am hung over!

Give it a go or don't, it won't change your life!

Chocolate Muscle Mousse Flapjacks

I broke out the Chocolate Muscle Mousse that the Muscle Mousse people sent me and decided to back some flap jacks!

They are really easy to make as long as you have a good blender!

To check out the original recipe I used click here

Ingredients:

250g of porridge oats.

125g of butter.

125g of sugar.

2 - 3 tbsp of golden syrup.

1 scoop of chocolate muscle mousse.

Method

Toss all the the ingredients into your blender and pulse the mix, be careful not over mix so the oats don't lose their texture!

Grease a baking tin with butter, spoon the mixture in and even it all out with the back of a spoon.

Cook in the oven for 20 minutes at 180C

Leave to cool or risk burning your tongue like I did!

I really enjoy this making these flap jacks, not only is it dead quick and easy but I also got use some kitchen hard ware!

When I make these flap jacks again I will calm down with the treacle and use more oats, I don't have weighing scales or a table spoon so I just whack ingredients and see what happens.

What can  I say? I am out of control when I am in the kitchen!

My flap jacks where very gooey but the oats gave them enough body to pick up easily.

Not the prettiest things I have ever baked but they taste amazing!

Acne

Have you got the body of a god but the skin of toad? Hopefully I can help you out!

Loads of guys that workout seem to have problems with ache, mainly on there shoulder and back or as I have affectionately dubbed Backne.

There are a few reasons for acne, it could be diet, hormones or oily skin.

I am going to go through each of these and try clear them up.

Diet.

I am lucky because I seem to be able to eat anything I like and not really have any ill effects, well apart from the dreaded ring sting the day after curry night!

Others are not so lucky, a high sugar/fat diet cause your body to make more sebum which can lead to acne breakouts, if you are keeping a food diary try and add when you have your breakouts so you can try and eliminate any foods that seem to be causing your acne.

 Less high fat and sugar foods more lean meats and veggies please!

Hormones.

Anything from increased testosterone from supplements to stress can cause you have to breakouts.

While you are recording what you are eating also record stress levels and any supplements you may be taking and for ladies of course there is Aunt Flow visiting to consider as well!

Stopping supplements is easy peasy but finding the root of your stress and giving it the boot may be trickier but not as tricky as stopping your menstrual cycle!

Oily Skin.

If your skin is oily then you probably know acne's cruel touch all to well!

If your body produces too much sebum and oxidises then it blocks your pores and makes a black, which is nothing to do with how clean you are, that's why washing black heads doesn't get rid of them.

You could go and get some Benzoyl Perozide but this may make matters worse, getting antioxidants from your food is anther route you can take that will see you have improves in your entire body rather than just your skin, look out for zinc, vitamin A and vitamin E.

There are also White heads that can be inflamed and red, these are the ones that one can't help but pop!

Don't ever pop your spots, not only does increase the amount of of acne it can also lead to scarring.

To prevent getting whites make sure to exfoliate your skin, change your bedding regularly, get out of your sweaty gym clothes as soon as you can and get a shower! You might even notice your backne even appears in the shape of your gym vest.

While you are waiting for your acne to calm down you can try hemorrhoid cream which reduces inflammation, moisturises, contains vitamin E, reduces itching and restricts blood flow to the skin!

Why drink protein shakes?

You can't help but walk into a gym and see all the muscle bound monsters huffing some sort of protein supplement but do you really need them?

Well no you don't and here comes the but!

You could try and get all your protein from what you eat but this is much more time consuming  and potentially more expensive.

The general rule of thumb is 2g of protein per kg of body weight, that would be about 10 eggs a day for me to meet my protein requirements and I couldn't think of much worse! 

Eating or drinking something with a mix of carbs and protein after a workout will lower your stress levels and work on protecting your hard earned gains straight away and stop your body from taking protein out of your muscles.

The catabolic effect is worse after long periods of cardio, first your body will fuel it's self with some delicious carbs then head straight for a protein buffet in your muscles, just look at long distance runners, all skin and bone!

 After a long run where I have really pushed myself all I want to do is throw up all over myself, the thought of food is just just too much to bare right at that moment so a  shake is ideal to get down my gullet quickly and with no chewing involved! 

Liquids get digested quicker and easier, this a great thing if you are a believer in the golden 30 minute window after a hard session.

Protein shakes are also great if you are looking to shed some extra pounds, not only does protein increases your metabolic rate it also keeps hunger pangs away so instead of reaching for that chocolate cake reach for a chocolate protein shake instead.

There are loads of websites and shops that sell protein shakes in a massive range of flavours, I use My Protein for all my supplement and protein needs, I just wish I was brave enough to try some of the more exotic flavours.

Dundedin Tea

I was kindly sent some delicious tea by the Dundedin Tea company along with a lovely Manatea infuser and a bag for life!

I was chose 3 teas from their selection and settled on two green tea verities and one white tea.

To be honest I would of sampled their entire stock,
I love a good cuppa!

The first tea I tried was the white tea, called Silver Moonlight.

I have been meaning to try white tea for a long time, it's lesser known than green tea which is a shame because it's sweeter and has even more antioxidants!

I really enjoyed the Sliver Moonlight tea, it was mild and had no bitterness to it like the green tea I normally buy sometimes has.

Next the Apple Martini green tea! It smelt very strong, I could smell it from across the room as it brewed and was pleasantly surprised by it's subtle flavour.

The other green tea I tried was the Long Island Strawberry which tasted like actual strawberries, as opposed to strawberry flavoured like milkshakes or ice cream, again I really enjoyed it.

I am not the biggest fan of fruit teas, in fact if I was offered one for free I would turn it down, but seen as a lot of people I speak tell me they don't like the taste of green tea I opted to sample these two fruit green teas and I was really happy that I gave them a chance.

Out of the two fruit teas I enjoyed the Strawberry one more but would happily get my lips round a cup of Apple Martini again, even if it isn't alcoholic!

The website and packets are great, they give you information about levels of caffeine, antioxidants, where the tea has been grown and a description of the flavours found in the tea.

The Dunedin Tea company are a luxury brand with an affordable price, instead of buying cheap, poor quality tea in bleached tea bags you can get high quality tea leaves that smell amazing, taste amazing and induce envy into everyone that claps their eyes on Fred the Manatea!

The link between selling tea leaves and manatees is loose but I don't care, I love it!

I intend to go a green tea challenge later in the year and will be looking to Dundedin to keep me well stocked.

Give their website a look by clicking here and pick up your own  infusing Manatea and a fancy tea for yourself or better yet buy some for me!

If you are more into coffee than give my review of Twist's Protein Coffee a look.

Chocolate Protein Bread

My friends all seem to be obsessed with eating bread, I myself am not a massive fan, beans on toast feels like a punishment, not a meal!

I do however like chocolate and anything with protein in it is always going to tick a box so I decided to combine the three and see if I could be converted into a bread lover.

Out came the Chocolate Muscle Mousse and off I went, if you want to see the original recipe I used the click here.

Ingredients:

500g of plain white flour.

7g of dried active yeast.

1 tbsp of salt.

2 tbsp of olive oil.

2 scoops of chocolate muscle mousse.

First mix your flour, yeast and salt into a bowl with your hands then stir in 300ml of hand hot water with your muscle mousse until you make a soft dough, I had to keep adding flour as I stirred to make a nice dough.

Next turn out your dough onto a floured surface, flour your hands as well to help stop the the dough getting stuck to your fingers, if that doesn't help add more flour!

Kneed your dough until it no longer feels sticky or knock the funk out of like I did for about 5 minutes.

Oil an oven proof container with oil, tip in your dough, flatten it out then put it inside a plastic bag for an hour until it has risen to the size of the container and no longer springs back when you press it.

Heat the oven to 200C, 180C for a fan assisted oven or gas mark 6.

Make several slashes across the top of your loaf with a sharp knife, then bake for half an hour.

Tip your loaf out onto a cooling rack, tap the bottom of the loaf, it should sound hollow, if it doesn't then it's not properly cooked and needs to go back into the oven.

Leave to cool.

I really enjoyed my protein bread and it turned out really well considering it was my first attempt and will make it again in the future and if you don't feel your peanut butter on toast doesn't have quite enough protein then give this recipe a go for yourself!

2 Week Challenge:Going Veggie

I went an gave myself the challenge of going vegetarian for 2 weeks, yes I could of gone vegan but that is seriously hardcore, so no I'm going to give that one a pass.

 Cutting out meat is hard enough for the moment but I feel I at least owe all the delicious animals I have consumed over the festive season.

With any radical change in diet please consult your doctor, I myself was concerned about becoming anaemic and since your body finds it harder to absorb iron from plant sources I went on got some iron tablets.

I will give a general break down of what I ate each day but won't go into every snack/ shake.

I do bash on Quorn quite a bit and I'm sorry for that but Quorn won out in the end because they got my money!

Day 1.
I was actually quite excited to try Quorn, sadly my excitement didn't last long. I don't like Quorn, the smell, texture or taste and not much cheaper than my usual turkey mince. This makes me hate  Mo Farrah even more for flogging the stuff on those annoying adverts.

Day 2.
Giving Quorn Mince another go, this time in a chili con carne. I am hoping the stronger flavours will make it more palatable, I did buy a margarita pizza just in case it still tasted like feet and it did! I almost enjoyed my chilli, pizza for dinner tomorrow then.

Day 3.
I had a mixed, spicy bean wrap for lunch, it was ok, couldn't quite shake that nagging feeling that it would be a great snack with some chicken in it! A massive margarita pizza for tea!

Veggie Breakfast

Day 4.
Had lots of eggs and porridge today.
Treated myself to scrambled eggs with pancakes and maple syrup.
Everything was moving today if you catch my drift, spent a lot of the time on the toilet. I am blaming that bloody Quorn!

Day 5.
I have picked up a virus in my throat so I am just sticking to eggs, protein shakes and yogurts. Cheese and tomato pasta for dinner. I blame that bloody Quorn for this terrible virus!

Day 6.
Still feeling like Ke$ha does after waking up in a strange bath tub after a hard night. I get some yogurt down me, a cheese and pickle sandwich and a very generous helping of jacket potato with cheese and beans.

Day 7.
 Still feeling rough. Eggs and a veggie burger today, it wasn't bad but I would of preferred a nice grilled chicken sandwich.

Day 8.

Gave Quorn another shot, this time Quorn Chicken, not impressed.

Day 9.
Had a vegetarian cooked breakfast, I was told Quorn Sausage and Bacon taste great, they didn't.

Day 10.
 Nothing to exciting! Whole wheat pasta, with pasatta and spinach. Happily a Quorn free day!

Day 11.
Still feeling ill. Didn't eat much today so not much to write

Day 12.
I made a vegetarian pizza for dinner!

Day 13.
Eggs, porridge and yogurts oh my

Day 14.
Final day and gave Quorn one final chance and it won my heart a little! Quorn Beef Steak and  Quorn Southern Fried Chicken in cheese and onion baps!

Quorn Beef and Chicken

Once I got started going veggie I didn't find too hard, which did surprise me. I did feel like I was spending more money on meals though!

 I did find myself becoming increasingly more annoyed at the amount of products that seemed to needlessly have meat by products in them, from hot chocolate to mousses to sauces. I spent a lot of time looking for the little V for vegetarian before eating anything.

My weight stayed the same, I am putting that down to chocolate being vegetarian, not sure I could of given up meat and chocolate.

 My skin has been in great condition, I do get them on occasion get the odd spot and haven't had a single one over the last 2 weeks. This may be a coincidence but I like to thing that it is down to my virtuous dedication to my challenge!

The only other notable difference I can say is that my toilet habits have changed but I am not going into detail about that.

After going meat free for 2 weeks I am going to say that while I will never give up meat I will make an effort to take part in No Meat Mondays, there is no reason why I shouldn't and there are too many good reasons to ignore it.

Onto to the water challenge for the next 2 weeks!

Quorn Beef Steak

Quorn Beef Steak, not quite the real thing but not bad, for fake meat anyway!

I had the Quorn Beef steak with the Quorn Southern fried chicken burgers and it was by the far the best tasting meal I have had while I have been doing my 2 week going veggie challenge!

The Quorn Beef steak even looked convincing, the texture wasn't as good as the real thing but still not bad for a mould that was grown in a vat! 

Like the Quorn chicken burgers I had the Quorn Beef steak with caramelised red onions and reduced fat mature cheddar cheese and I wouldn't like to say if I could tell the difference between these pretend beef steaks and some cheap. super market own brand beef burgers.

When I get my act together and start vlogging I will make a video of me guessing which products are made with meat or Quorn.

Pick up some Quorn Beef Steaks next time you go shopping and see what you think!

Quorn Southern Fried Chicken Burgers

                      Don't worry Quron lovers out there, I am not actually don't to bash Quorn Southern Fried Chicken burgers!

                        I will give you a moment to catch your breath after that long sigh of relief...done?

Then lets crack on!

As you have probably already guessed, I was drunk when I reviewed this particular Quorn product and because of this I over looked the cooking instruction to cook them in the oven so I fried them instead.

I actually really enjoyed them, on their own and in a cheese and onion bread bun with caramelised red onions and reduced fat mature cheddar cheese.

I would recommend to anyone wanting to give Quorn a go to pair it with strong flavours.

After I had successfully sobered up I took a peek at the package and like the Quorn Sausages I had previously reviewed it takes a lot of ingredients to make Quorn not taste like Quorn.

I like forgive the Southern Fried Quorn though because I actually enjoyed it!

Picking a gym.

Not quite as easy as picking your snout but can be just as satisfying!

There are a few things you should consider when window shopping for your home away from home, the main ones that come to mind are location, price and facilities.

Location, nice and easy one to go into.

Can you get there easily, that means can YOU get there!
If you have to rely on your mate Dave to give you a lift then it's no good, you must minimise potential excuses you can use to skive the gym.

Price. Are you going to use the gym enough to get value for money? 

There is no point blowing £50 a month on a gym you will only go to twice in your entire life.

 You may want an exclusive gym for the bragging rights but let's be serious, you can pay £9.99 now a days for a budget.

Facilities. This covers a wide range of things, from the staff levels to swimming pools and tennis courts!

Are you a novice or seasoned gym veteran? 

A lot of the cheaper gyms have minimal staff, well apart from personal trainers sharking about.

If you don't know your foam rolls from your sausage rolls maybe invest in a slightly more expensive gym where there are gym instructor on hand that will ease you in without taking more money out of you pocket.

If you are willing to pay the extra you could look for a personal trainer who does home visits, it's hard to ignore your workout if it's knocking at your door!

What are you wanting from the gym?

Do you just want some heavy weights and a treadmill? 

So why pay for more that? Don't pay for all the bells and whistles then you only want a nice shiny whistle.

Do you just want to swim?

See what local swimming pool has on offer!

Are you just wanting to get the girls together and hit some classes?

Check out if there any local classes run by independent trainers, there are some in my area that are as little as £3 a class, no contract or admin fee needed.

The only other advice I would give is to be honest with yourself!

You know if you are likely to give up then don't get yourself locked into an expensive 12 month contract!

Take each month as it comes, set and smash goals, remind yourself you can do it and  surround yourself with people that will encourage you to achieve your goals rather than vegetate on the sofa like a manatee.

If you are worried about walking in alone then check out my picking a gym buddy post!

Quorn Sausage

Since I was decided to cook myself a vegetarian breakfast I bought some Quorn Sausage to accompany my Quorn Fake-on, beans, plum tomatoes, toast and eggs. 

This is me suffering for my blog!

The sausages didn't look that bad, but just like my friend Irene commented on one of her exs, they were surprisingly small!

 I will count this as a positive, the smaller the sausage the less I have to eat.

As I cooked the sausages they did smell sausagey and even squeaked like the real ones made from pork.

The sausages were by far the most authentic tasting Quorn product that I have had the misfortune of sampling, I would say this down to the 30 different ingredients used to make them.

I know I said that the Quorn sausages are the most authentic tasting and that is true, but only when compared to budget sausages that cost 86p for a pack of 8 not high quality sausages the only noticeable difference being how dense the Quorn sausages are.

Quorn sausages have less than half the calories of tradition sausages and only 9g grams of protein less which was a surprise, so if you can stomach the texture you can get twice as much.

In all honesty I am not a massive fan of sausage and could probably be fooled by the Quorn sausage.

 As far as Quorn goes the sausages would be the product I would recommend first.

Quorn Bacon

On the Quorn train to disappointing meal town again!

The local vegetarians had told me great things about Quorn Bacon, or Fake-on as I have affectionately dubbed it, so I was again looking forward to trying it.

The Fake-on looked quite appetising on the box, sadly the reality was something that resembled the insole of an old shoe with an added smokey taste.

Looking back, I should of known this was going to be a disaster because the packaging was insisting on how delicious it is. Like the Fake-on it's self this was all a lie!

Now the Fake- on was by no mean vomit inducing but the texture was exactly what you would expect from it's appearance, like chomping on the inside of your mother's comfortable shoes.

Flavour wise the Fake-on did have a flavour that reminded me of cheap bacon flavoured crisps. 

 The taste is vaguely baconesque and if you have never tried the pork version you could probably convince yourself that it tastes authentic.

On the plus side the Fake-on is less than half the calories than actual bacon but about a third of the protein.

A final message to those vegetarians that spoke so highly of  the Fake-on.
  I will find you and I will make you eat a full packet!

Simple Leg Circuit

Since I am doing the 30 Day Squat Challenge I thought I would post a little circuit  for those of you not quite brave enough to aim for the 250 squat goal that I am going for. 

I'm on Day 9 so 100 squats today!

10 Jump Squats

20 Jump Lunges ( 10 each leg )

10  Squats 

20  Lunges ( 10 each leg )

These 4 exercises make up one round.

Do each exercise with no rest in between.

Go 3 rounds if you can with a minutes rest between each round.

If this is too easy for you then try holding a weight, it doesn't even need to be a kettlebell or dumbbell, it could be tins of beans or even a book.

On the other hand if this is a touch too hard introduce 30 seconds rest in between each exercise.

Good luck and let me know how you do.

Spinach

Sadly eating spinach won't give you super human strength like Popeye but it does have other benefits!

Spinach is low GI.

Has a ton of vitamin K, which helps with blood clotting, prevent heart disease,
keeping bones strong and helps your body make use of vitamin D.

Boosts testosterone.

Lots of vitamin A which important for eye health.

A decent amount of Manganese and Folate

A good amount of Iron, Copper, vitamins B2, B6, E, C, Calcium and Potassium.

Has anti cancer and anti inflammatory properties.

Can help lower blood pressure.

I like to add spinach to lasagna or pasta if you are looking for an easy way to add it into your diet.

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Quorn Chicken

I am giving Quorn another chance.

I would like to say my faith was rewarded with a delicious meal but I can't, it was a big plate of meh, thankfully it was on offer and only cost £1.

The cooking instructions say to cook it either on the hob or in the microwave in my favourite sauce, curiosity got the better and I microwave one the faux fillets without sauce to see what would happen.

Cardboard, cardboard is what happens!
Rock hard, completely dehydrated, look like the sole of my foot with less flavour.

Into my pasta bake it went anyway, with garlic, passata, chili, onion, peppers, green beans, reduced fat cheese and mushrooms, the Quorn made this otherwise tasty meal a game of mine sweeper.

Every mouth full of Quorn ruined my life a little. As with the mince it was very sponge like with a touch of flavour reminiscent of supermarket own brand chicken flavour noodles.

Quorn Chicken has less protein than the mince per 100g.

I couldn't decide which I enjoyed the least but since the mince is more versatile and has that extra protein I would choose the mince.

But only if I was some how forced into a life or death situation where the only chance of me surviving was to eat Quorn.

Skyr Icelandic Style Yogurt

I thought the only export worth knowing about from Iceland was international pop sensation Bjork, I hope I can be forgiven for my ignorance because I have discovered Skyr, a high protein, low fat yogurt.

I bought Natural, Strawberry and Mixed Nordic Berries flavours for a £1 each from my local supermarket.

I did not enjoy the Natural flavour, it is a lot like Greek yogurt in both taste and texture and far too bitter for my tastes, I didn't have any fruit or even jam to rescue it so I went to the dark side and added a spoon full of sugar to help the Skyr go down.

I enjoyed the fruit flavours much more and I would happily eat them again, they do have more calories than the Natural flavour but that's to be expected and what's 16 extra calories to make the yogurt far more enjoyable.

Skyr  has more protein than Greek yogurt , with the highest about being in the natural one, more yogurt with less fruit equal more protein! But with 1g in it who really cares? Pick your favourite and go wild!

Skyr also has more calories than Greek yogurt but only by 6kcals the fruit flavours have more with 17 more kcals.

Both Skyr and Greek yogurt  boost your testosterone levels and are probiotics which can help with the health of the your gut if eaten regularly.

If you are a fan of Greek yogurts than you will love Sykr!

How to spot a gym virgin!

I love January at the gym!

 Everyone is pumped with renewed vigour and motivation to get hench and look great naked the thing that really brings a smile to myself is the trickle of gym virgins that can't tell a dumbbell from their elbow!

They tend to travel in packs of 2 or 3, with a "leader" who read a men's fitness magazine upon a time.

Go on every resistance machine in the order they are lined up rather due to some master plan and either blast out 20 reps at high speed with virtually no weight or with so much weight that even their collective strength can't eek out a single rep.

Avoids the free weights section other than to do the mandatory bicep curl.

Puts clicks on the bar when using the smith machine, unless the entire gym topples onto it's side those weights are staying put.

Gets flustered when anyone asks if they are alright or need a hand, give an unconvincing "Yeah mate" then sheepishly slink off.

Just because you have entered Beast Mode that doesn't mean that you shouldn't look at help these Bambi's of the gym out, they are shy creatures but if you are a gym veteran and have a body most would die for then they are more like to take your advice more seriously.

It takes a lot for someone to walk into a gym for the first time, especially when there are so many people who have been worshipping at the gym church for years and look like Greek gods.

 Build people up don't tear them down.

Check out my beginner gym guide if you too are a gym virgin!

HIIT Interval Training Timer app

Looking to shed your festive belly bulge?

Well you can't get much better than High Intensity Interval Training for maximising fat burn and minimise time spent doing it.

My preferred type of interval training is Tabata, 4 minutes in hell which will leave you burning calories for potentially days and since  I am struggling to not die when I do my training I can't check track of my activity phases and rest phases, in comes the HIIT Training Timer app!

The HIIT Interval Training Timer app is free, with the occasional advert cropping up but nothing too intrusive.

You can select from not 1 not 2 not 3 but 4 different alarms!

A buzzer that makes you want to head to the nearest raid shelter, a whistle that harks back to those good old school days, a gong and a man who will congratulate you on your completed workout.

The interval timer also has 3 programs saved, a 10 minute interval, a fat loss interval and Tabata training with the option to save your own interval creation as well.

The only negatives I can I say about this app is about the adverts, yes I know I can pay to have them removed and the app developers need to able to pay the bills but I am a cheap skate at heart and begrudge paying for anything if I don't have to so I will just put up with the ads.

The other point that is more of an issue is that I struggle to hear the alarm on my app when I am a busy gym, with the infectious hits of ke$ha blaring out!

This may be because the speakers on my phone aren't powerful enough, I guess we will never know!
I could use my head phones but they annoy me when I am busting out my Tabata kettlebell swings.

This app is great if you are timing a friend but not so great if you are training solo, unless you don't mind wearing head phones. It's a free app though so I should really keep quiet, I definitely got more than what I paid for. Get on the app store and give a go and feel the burn!

My Fitness Pal App

My Fitness Pal is in it's most basic form is a food diary app, which is a great tool to record your calorie intake and help with your weight loss or weight gain goals and it's free!

Type in your current weight, your goal weight and let the app calculate your calorie intake for each day.

Well that's the easy part now the tedious part, inputting the food you eat, luckily the app has a massive library of food, including fast food joints and snack foods and if you can't find what you are looking for you can manually input the nutritious information yourself.

The more you do it the easier it gets because the app remembers what you have eaten at each day part in the frequent items section, you can even log your mum's secret recipes and see how much the crafty wench is fattening you up!

You can even log any exercise you have done which can help you "win" some calories back, this includes anything from housework to walking to barbell bench pressing!

I myself go through phases of using this app, I get a jist of what my calorie intake is, make a adjustments to my eating habits and exercise until I meet my current goals, my meal choices don't change wildly from week to week.

 Don't worry too much if you use up all of your allotted calories by 11am it's just mean you have to work harder in the gym, the decision that you need to make is how many squats is that battered Mars bar is really worth... 100, the answer's 100 squats! I will do 100 squats right now for an artery clogging battered delight right NOW!

There is also a social aspect to the app, you can link it to your contacts, email and facebook to get some group motivation on the go, or lord your results over all of your "real women" friends.

What are you waiting for? Download My Fitness Pal now and get that giant burger you had for lunch, and the chocolate brownies and the 2 litre bottle of coke...or maybe wait until tomorrow so you can look extra virtuous.

Recording your calories is a great way of losing weight and make you think more about what you are putting into your body, if your new years resolution was to join the gym and get fit and it's not quite happened yet then this might be a good step in the right direction.

Quorn Mince

I have challenged myself to go veggie for 2 weeks and to aid me in this endeavour I picked up some Quorn.

"I mean if I am not eating meat some fake meat will do shouldn't it?"

 I thought to myself naively, how wrong I was!

Don't get me wrong, I never expected Quorn to taste amazing but I did expect it to be a more than what it is!

First I cooked my Quorn mince in a sauce I make all the time for meat mince, beef, pork or turkey all taste great with it but this faux meat was having none of it!

I powered through and ate it all, I have paid £1.80 for this horrendous mince so I am going to finish it, the texture was reminiscent of an old sponge but with less bite and I couldn't begin to describe the taste, all I know is my go to cooking sauce was about as effective at improving it as farting into a gale!

Another day another dinner!

This time I decided to let the professionals handle my dinner and bought some Old el paso chilli con carne sauce and to be honest it did make the Quorn much more palatable, I wouldn't go as far as to say I enjoyed it but it got eaten. I think in future I am just going to go full veggie with no attempt at meat substitute as not to upset myself further in the future.

What is Quorn though? Where does it come from and is it any good for you?

Well it's a mould/ fungus, grown in a fermentation vat and it does have a far bit of protein ( 14.5g per 100g) in it but less than half the amount in my preferred minced turkey ( 22.30g per 100g)

Plus there are 5kcal more in Quorn than the same about of turkey, due to the higher fat content than lean turkey mince.Now Quorn does beat my beloved turkey mince in the types of protein that it has.

Quorn contains all the essential proteins your body needs, this may be due to the egg whites used to bind it, so if you don't want to risk trying Quorn crack an egg and get that down your gullet.

I am not a fan of Quorn. My apologises to all you dedicated veggies out there, you will have my eternal admiration for being about to stomach this mulch.

Gym Pad

I'm back in the gym and I have dusted off my Gym Pad to keep my programme safe, help me keep an eye on my ever increasing gains and I can leave myself an inspirational comment about how each session went.

My Gym Pad also helps me remember to change up my workout to avoid a plateau in performance in a handy pocket sized book, well it just about fits in my tracksuit pocket.

I bought my Gym Pad a few years back and I can't quite remember how much I paid for it and it seems like the version of the Gym Pad I have is no longer on sale however they are selling some trendier looking looking pads which looks                                                like it gives you much more bang for your buck.

With a free a free health consultation with every purchase, fitness tests included inside  and a generally more organised layout Gym Pads are well worth a look so check the link below:
http://www.gympad.co.uk/

To be honest I used my Gym Pad much more when I first started working out and sort of forgot about it after while, which I feel was to my detriment so I have dusted it off and ready to take my progress seriously again.

1st of January 2016 picture

                                                            It's winter and its officially bulking season!


 Which is great with all the indulgence at Christmas time, I can get those delicious gravy covered calories and hopefully pack on some muscle as well as my winter blubber, weighing 65.5kg I have loads of room for improvement.

After 6 months away from the gym I have joined back up, I need access to bigger equipment that I simply don't have room for plus when I am in the gym I feel more workouts are much more productive.

  So without further ado here is my 1st of January picture, not in great shape after having quite a long period of illness at the back end of the year.
 I fell off the fitness waggon and with all the festive parties and such I never really got back onto it.

Hopefully over the next 6 six weeks I can see some real change in my body. I will be going vegetarian for 2 weeks starting from today to see what effect eliminating meat will have on my body and also taking up the squat challenge, I have not                                                         seen any posts of men doing it so I thought I'd give it a go!

If you want to have a look at how I was doing this time last year then click here

New Year New Post!

Another year has drawn to a close, the champagne has been drunk, the hang overs have set in and all the New Year New Me posts have sprung with New Year resolutions, that when you see them your eyes immediately roll into the back of your skull!

I am not going to go so far as to say that the new year with bring a new me, for the most part I like who I am so it's more to say new year better me!

I am going to make much more of an effort to not be quite so lazy and take more chances, since moving to the big city I feel I have stagnated and I need to shake things up a bit.

Hopefully my blog will help me help me get out into the big wide world, if for no other reason to give me something to write about and I still intend to start vlogging, I just need to be able to listen to the sound of my voice without feeling the need to sew my mouth shut afterwards to prevent me from subjecting anyone else to the horrendous noise I produce!

All in all I have had a good year, it wasn't amazing but I won't be having nightmares about it in years to come either!

I completed my 2nd tough mudder, took part in the first Primal Stampede that was launched in Leeds and ran the a Santa Dash. Listing these here makes me realise that I didn't get the most out of year but onwards and upwards!

Let's hope we all have a truly fantastic 2016!