Healthy Protein(ish) Banana Bread

Sugar cravings are the worst! So what better way to beat them than with banana bread!

Its taken me a few attempts to get right, the previous turning out complete shockers to say the least.  A guy in my office actually threw one of my banana and hazelnut muffins at the wall the other week to see if it would dent the plasterboard.  They were awful....

But success at last, and here is my version of banana bread - its YUMMY!!!!

 

80 calories a slice, 13g of carbs, 5g protein, 4g sugar, 1g fat.  Perfect for pre workout snack with a cup of tea.

Those nutrients are based on 12 slices a loaf (because no one likes a tight bastard when it comes to cake) !! But you could easily make this a 16 slice loaf.

You'll need

• A bread tin and I bought some bread tin liners so it wouldn't stick to the pan.
• 4 ripe bananas
• 1 jar apple baby food
• 1 cup xialitol (or spenda - I've switched to xialitol to avoid the aspartame)
• 2 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence (preferably fresh vanilla but this will do)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of oat flour
• 2 scoops of vanilla protein

Steps

1. Smoosh up the bananas with your hands
2. Then add the baby food, xialitol, egg whites and vanilla to the bananas, mix it all together with a wooden spoon 
3. Add in the baking soda and salt, give it a good stir
4. Lastly add the oat flour and protein, mix well
5. Pour into a loaf tin and bake at 170 for an hour

Stand on a wire rack to cool, then slice.  Store in the fridge, it should freeze ok as well.

Enjoy

x

Favourite Day

Hey gang

Oi oi oi, so busy busy busy!  Lots to tell, no time to explain.  Rushing off from work to go train my back and butt.  Yep, heard correct.  I have a new programme courtesy of Team Bombshell my new trainer and can't wait to get stuck in. 

After a wobbly start - literally, but another story for another day.  I look forward to my upper body days as not only can I actually complete the workout, as opposed to only 50% of my leg workout - of which I have three a week!!!  I leave the gym feeling strong and motivated.

The fun side of exercise, the awesome feeling you get afterwards. 

I haven't tried the recipes I posted last time yet, my new nutrition programme doesn't allow them but do let me know if you've given them a go.  Speaking of which I only managed 1 day of my new diet before sending a pleading email to my trainer begging for some changes.  To which I received a very kind and politely put "MAN UP!!!"

Playing with the big kids now and feeling out of my depth to say the least.  Walking like a chicken, dreading my sports massage on Friday - its going to be a killer.

Laters petals.

Love

x

Healthy Eating Heaven

I just stumbled across askgeorgie.com this lunchtime whilst searching for a lemon protein bar recipe.  OMG how good do these look, I hope they taste just as nice!! 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Protein Brownies

Lemon Poppy Protein Bars



Yum yum yum! 

Click here for the chocolate peanut butter recipe or here for the lemon poppyseed one.

I love making my own protein bars, not only are they way cleaner than shop bought bars they're also pretty yum (for a protein bar)!!  I'll let you know how I get on. 

Most recipes I've seen, and used, call for oat flour which is difficult to get in the UK, even in London.  I order mine online from here. 

Love

x

Buns Burning Leg Workout

Me again!  I'm killing time between my tea and Geordie Shore (loves it), so here is tonight's glute focused leg session.  My buns are burning!!  I hate training legs, its my least favourite day, but needs must....

Warm Up:  8 minute incline walk at 7%, 6.5 speed

• 1 drop set of leg extensions to burn my quads out
• 3 x 24 BB walking lunges (so 12 each leg effectively)
• 3 x 15 DB squats ss 30 second wall squat
• 3 x 20 TRX squat jumps
• 3 x 12 cable kick backs (each leg)
• 3  x 15 hip abductors

And a good old stretch at the end.  Took me 60 minutes including my warm up and stretch; and was properly exhausted at the end.  14 hours my arse Heidi Montag (I really need to let that go).

I've not much time to plan workouts these days so again basic moves.  I quickly googled glute workouts at lunch and after reading over this Amanda Latona article, I incorporated hip abductors into my routine tonight.  I genuinely think its been about 5 years since I did this exercise having dismissed it as easy.  According to the article, the trick to take some focus off your hamstrings and all into your booty is to sit forward, core in tight and chest high.  It worked for me - yowsers!

Eating homemade chili & salad - no carbs and saturated fat remember kids ;-) and spying a passion fruit that I'm going to fire into during my car crash MTV viewing later.  Its the simple pleasures in life I reckon....

Love

x

The Things Stupid People Say

Heidi Montag claims to workout 14 hours a day.....

http://fitperez.com/2011-06-20-heidi-montage-claims-to-workout-14-hours-a-day/?from=PH

Sure you do doll!!!

On another note, it doesn't take hours to get in a good workout.  50 minutes - in, smash it, out, BOOM!!

Love

x

Shoulders

People who bring cookies to work should be kicked.  I had a client workshop today and was doing so well resisting the white chocolate & lemon cookies doing the rounds.  That was until the oatmeal & raisin ones were pulled out..... GAME.OVER!!

My sugar rush aside, and now finally able to walk after an uncomfortable few days - it hurt to even touch my legs - ouch ouch ouch!!  Back to the gym I went this evening to train my shoulders.  Good session, feeling weaker than normal but happy enough.

Other than changing my exercises I try to change up the rep ranges and techniques I use.  I didn't have time today to plan a session so I stuck to basic exercises and adopted the "truncated pyramid" method.  Basically starting with a lower weight for 15 reps, heavier weight for 12 reps, heaviest weight for 8-10 reps (whatever I failed at).

Tonight's programme went as follows.  3 set of each..

• Seated DB Shoulder Press
• BB Upright Row
• DB Lateral Raises
• Cable Front Raise
• Cable Rope Rear Delt Rows

Finishing with a drop set of front plate raise.

A healthy dinner of spicy beef, pepper, mushroom, onion and green bean stir fry; and my food made and packed for tomorrow.  Feeling all saintly (minus the cookies).

Love

x

Carbs & Saturated Fat

It took me a very long time to get it, but nutrition is 80% of achieving your physical goals.  Eating the right quantities of carbs, protein and fat, at the right time of day. 

I've had weeks though when I have been sticking to my macro nutrients and not seen the results I expected.  The following week it would usually level itself out, but I read an article this weekend in Muscle & Fitness which might just have unlocked the mystery.

I've copied in the body of the text but for the meal plans you'll have to buy the magazine yourself.  That would be ripping the piss....

A reader writes in: 

Dear M&F, I eat very clean but lately I seem to be storing more fat.  Can you look at my diet and see what I'm doing wrong.

NB:  On first, second and third glace I couldn't see much wrong with it.  Below is the M&F answer....

At first glance, this diet looks good.  You've got adequate amounts of protein, carbs and fat to build muscle, and you've made healthy, mostly whole-food choices.  There is one problem: the combination of carbs and saturated fats in several meals.  The mistake commonly goes unnoticed when designing a bulking or cutting plan, but the effects are quite apparent.

The fact is, carbs and saturated fats don't work well together.  When eaten combined , they can cause hormonal changes that lead to the storage of body fat.

Here's how it works.  As you probably know, your body releases insulin in response to consuming carbohydrates.  Insulin is a highly anabolic hormone.  The problem is that insulin is indiscriminately anabolic - all it cares about is maintaining healthy blood glucose levels (80 to 110 mg/dl), so when your blood sugar rises in response to a meal, insulin will take that blood sugar and store it in your tissues.  If the receptors on your muscles are sensitive to insulin effects, your muscles will uptake this glucose.  They'll get bigger and you'll recover faster from your last workout.  On the other hand if your muscles's receptors are resistant to insulin, the insulin will store this blood sugar as bodyfat.  Therefore you want your muscles's insulin receptors to be as sensitive as possible.

Unfortunately, saturated fats combined with carbs decreases insulin sensitivity.  (Interestingly, this is not an issue if you eat the two separately.)  So if you combine carbs and saturated fat in one meal, you are facilitating extra bodyfat storage regardless of your healthy food choices. 

Time to rethink that beef chilli and rice I made up for lunches this week....

Love

x