ELB & Gyms Kitchen Bootcamp

Wow what a great day at studio elb with the first gyms kitchen and elb bootcamp. A nutrition specialist from Insight nutrition was also there; they took body measurements, height, weight, bmi, body fat% and a few other bits.

There were about 14 of us and as soon as got there we went straight into a good old ELB circuit class, although this time with a twist! We paired off and did superset workouts. It was an amazing full body fat blast and we did it twice - we must be mad! Some exercises included traditional burpees, planks and farmers lunges; targeting big muscle groups but we also targeted smaller muscle groups.

After dying slowly on the floor, we had the well deserved lunch made by the amazing gyms kitchen. I chose the chicken salad, with avocado, red cabbage..oh and then for dessert chocolate and banan protein pancakes. I've been dying to try those bad boys for ages and oh my goodness they did not disappoint. So much so that there were left over and it will be my breakfast for the next few days. Naughty but nice and good for you.

Bootcamp team ready to get to work...

Whilst lunch was on, I went and got my measurements done with insight nutrition. So current stats for me

Height - 5ft 7! (I'm shorter than I thought)

Weight - 62kg

Body fat carried - 9kg 

I was also shocked  to learn my body fat %! I couldnt believe it.  

A really enjoyable day, and well worth doing on the 1st Sunday of every month. If you want more information, drop Emma an email at infoelb@studioelb.co.uk. And you get to meet loads of new people.

So now it's 1 week till my photo-shoot and I'm getting excited. This week I have to drink lots and lots of water daily so that I drain any excess out of body. So déjà vu again as I'll be waking up in the middle of night to pee, oh yep and I've got to have a spray tan the day before , although this time I wont be as dark as I am for stage competitions. I'm going to try and get a few behind the scenes shots so keep your eyes peeled.  

Little Miss Fitness

Xx

Sweet or Savoury??

So as its Shrove Tuesday (Pancake day) I thought I would follow the crowd and make a batch of pancakes. But I wanted to try and do something different from the traditional batter of flour, eggs and milk etc and in order for me to keep my diet clean, whilst training for Fit Factor I've had to find a recipe that kind of fits in with my plan.

So I did a bit of research and came across a really simple recipe that uses Almond flour instead. Wahey!! Low carbs and a new cooking experiment! Lets see what havoc I can cause in the kitchen.

Low Carb Almond Flour Pancakes:

Recipe: Makes 6 pancakes (dependant on whether you like large or small pancakes)
NOTE: These pancakes are not thin, they are a little more dense (similar to the american style pancakes) 

Ingredients:
1 cup of Almond Flour (whatever brand you can find)
1/4 almond milk (unsweetened) or water if you prefer
2 eggs (medium)
2 tablespoons of olive oil or coconut oil 
1 tablespoon of agave nectar (dark or light)
1/8 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Prep time: 5-10 mins max
Cooking: approx. 5 mins

1) Put all ingredients into a mixing bowl & whisk together to form a batter. Put to one side.

2) Heat a saute pan or frying pan, on a medium heat with a little bit of olive oil or coconut oil.
3) When the pan is hot enough, take a nice big tablespoon of the batter and drop it into the middle of the pan.

4) Wait for the edges to brown, and then gently flip the pancakes over and let them brown on the other side (this should take between 30 seconds - 1 minute)
5) Once cooked on both sides, simply dish up straight away with your favourite topping. Mine's Nutella hands down, but whats yours?

I've finished making my batch now; the first few were a little bit of a disaster but I got the hang of it by the 3rd go! And they say 3 times a charm...

Tadaaa...they smell better than they look

Now I am planning to save these as my breakfast tomorrow (madness I know), however I did have a cheeky bite (or 2) from one of them. They taste delicious on their own, with a slight sweetness to them - but you can go the traditional way and put lemon and sugar on top or Nutella or why not try savoury with cottage cheese or prosciutto?

Tomorrow is another early morning rise to hit the gym before work. Today was spin, which definitely got me working up a sweat. Tomorrow abs are on the agenda, and then before the week is out, I've got to cram in another legs session, back, arms and some more HIIT. Wow, lots to do so I best get to bed and get some rest, whilst dreaming about my pancake breakfast tomorrow.. yummy!!

Little Miss Fitness
Xx

Eggstraordinary Muffins!!

You're riffling through your snack drawer(s) at work, its getting to that time of day where you fancy a tasty snack. Instead of reaching for the packet of crisps or standard flatbreads or rice cakes, why not try these little critters - you can literally make them with any ingredients or left over vegetables you've got.

Before & After shot....

Eggs are full of protein, so can help you stay fuller for longer, and with the turkey as well, these egg muffins are jam packed with protein and flavour I might add.

Recipe for Pea, Celery, Turkey and Chilli Muffins: 

Makes 4 muffins

Time to prep = 5-10 minutes
Cooking time = 12-15 minutes

4 eggs

Handful of garden peas 

Handful of sweetcorn

Turkey breast, diced into small pieces

1 celery stick, chopped finely & split between 4 muffin cases

Pinch of chilli flakes in each muffin case

2 gloves of garlic, chopped. (split between 4 muffin cases)

Pre-heat the oven to 180c 

Split all the ingredients equally between 4 muffin cases. 

Season tops of vegetables and turkey with black pepper, chilli flakes and chopped garlic

Whisk 4 eggs into a bowl (season if you want extra spice - this is optional)

Once whisked, tip the egg mixture into each muffin case - about 3/4 full. (Dont fill all the way to the top as the egg will rise whilst cooking.)

Pop the muffins into the oven and leave for between 12-15 minutes until the tops of the eggs go golden brown. The top of the egg should feel a little fluffy to touch and spring back. 

You can eat them hot or cold, its up to you. Personally I like them cold!

Have a go yourself, try with different ingredients and you'll be eggscited (sorry last egg joke) to see the endless recipes.

Till next time;

Little Miss Fitness

We are MACHINES...

Final day everyone - day 6 of the detox! 

Oh my goodness, I have had a great time this week; its been such a laugh with the guys that have taken part. The early morning starts (yes, even on my day off) were hard but once the workout was done and we had a giggle, you could get on with the rest of your day. I will miss the guys who have done the detox this week, but i will definitely continue mixing and matching with the healthy diet.

Guess the flavour in todays smoothie...

 I’ve made a decision from this week to try and workout more in the mornings. It wakes me up, they fit in with work and my social life a lot easier. The gym and your diet should fit INTO your lifestyle and not just be something you do for a month or two. However come March, it will be upping the training for Fit Factor in May at the NEC. I’ll admit now, the dieting for this competition I'm not looking forward too, and im sure a few other people aren’t either – sorry!

During this weeks detox, I've picked up some useful tips that you could use as well, if you struggle to get out of bed (like I do) for an early gym session.


1) Put your phone/ clock away from your bedside. That way you have to get up and turn it off! Once you're out of bed you can get going.

2) Prepped your food/ clothes for work and even handbag before going to bed. That way its less of a ball ache in the morning, rushing around for things.

3) Wash your face with cold water. There may not be any science behind this but the it will certainly wake you up!

The ELB Detox Gang, not so fresh after our workout...

Going back to yesterdays session, not only did I do our 7am circuit class but straight after this, Emma worked me hard on my glutes - yes a double session! I am insane, but who wants to be boring?! Not me.


The main bits I want to train and work on this year is my butt. I keep saying I want a bubble-butt and I'm determined to get one. So Em took me through my paces yesterday with heavy weights and plyometric exercises to fire up my butt! My god it was hard, but i felt it working.






Ive got a little treat for you guys next week but you'll have to wait and see what it is..


Till next time;

Little miss fitness

Very Merry Christmas...

Family time is the best time:

So Christmas is officially over now and what a year its been... A year of firsts for me. Its been a time for reflection and to look back on what has happened in the last 12 months. When I start thinking, so much has happened, and only in the short space of 6 months. I met a wonderful boyfriend who stood by me and supported me through all my training. I trained to compete in my very first bikini competition and came 2nd in my category at Musclemania Britain in September. I then carried on training for the big fitness and stage competition Miss Galaxy Universe in November. And I won which i can't believe still happened. I also started a blog, in which I could document all the bits and pieces for my training and diet etc. As a result of this, its given me some new goals for 2015 which will be an even bigger year.

But this christmas has definitely opened my eyes to be thankful for everything I have (and not just materialistic things) as so many people in life do not have anything. Family, friends and partners should be the things you treasure most, as they guide you through tough times and bring you out the other side.  So I just want to say a huge thank you to all those who have helped me this year; you know who you are....

It's been a nice, quiet affair this christmas with just my mum and stepdad. So Christmas day wasn't spent rushing around for mum and 13 people like usual. No this year, I was the one cooking Christmas lunch and it was only for 3 people - just to ease me in gently for my first Christmas lunch. It was nice just the 3 of us; there wasn't any pressure to eat that extra chocolate (although i'm afraid to say i did!). I don't think this year I ate as much as last year, however i could be wrong, the scales will be the decider! 

I did get some wonderful presents from my family and friends. Check out these bad boys; I cant wait to wear them in the gym; at least you'll be able to spot me in a crowd.

Keep running, running and running....

I also got this little beauty from my folks, now i have no excuse to say i'm not a morning person!

I've never been a morning person...

I have kept my promise and trained over Christmas, however not as hard as I would usually. So now Christmas is over and it's time to work off all that food that's been consumed over the pst week. A good time go start those new year resolutions early, with a January detox. If you want to change your outlook on healthy eating and shed any unwanted weight gained over Christmas, Emma's detox will do just that.

Interested? Contact Studio ELB for more info

And so to start my New Years resolutions earlier, check out my new Facebook page for top tips, advice and me trying out nutrition recipes on https://www.facebook.com/missfitness88

Happy New Year

Little Miss Fitness;
x

Christmas come early!

You'll never guess what landed on my desk today?? Only the biggest Christmas present I think I've ever seen. Santa Claus decided to stop by and give me an early Christmas gift. I didn't think i'd been that good this year!lol

I went down to reception and picked up this huge box which was labelled from Musclefood. I had absolutely no idea what was in it but as you can see it took up most of my desk. First of all let me say thank you to Musclefood for causing a stir in my office, I dont think any of my colleagues had seen a food parcel that big before!

Dont think Santa had enough wrapping paper...

It felt like Christmas had come early and having to open it with the tinniest scissors made me even more excited to just get into the damn thing. Once I'd opened the box I knew exactly what it was; the prize I'd won through the Diet Kitchen's Facebook competition! I thought this was super fast for everything to get to me, as I only found out last week that I'd won. A huge thank you needs to go to Simon from The Diet Kitchen for sorting all this out. Its amazing; I couldn't believe how much meat was in the box. It was like Mary Poppin's bag. 

Chicken anyone?

Another big thank you to Musclefood for this amazing gift. A great start to the week, which is already planned to be filled with good tasting food and drink. Of which I will probably gain the amount of weight all this meat is put together. I've ordered bits from Musclefood before; Quest protein bars and beef jerky and let me tell you the quality is brilliant.

Its expensive to find good quality meat like this in supermarkets. It costs a small fortune to eat clean but I believe if you want to be healthy and live a healthy lifestyle, this is what it takes. A high protein diet works for me as well; feel fuller for longer and I don't crave all the sweet things I used to. I don't tend to snack as much as I used to and if I do it's on vegetables or nuts. 

So within the box, let me give you a taster of what was in it. 

2 X 2.5kg of chicken breasts

2 turkey breast steaks 

2 Irish rump steaks

6 chicken sausages 

4 British beef hache steaks 

Now thats a lot of meat, but I cant wait to cook with them. (I have a sneaky suspicion my boyfriend will like having the steaks.) I have no idea how I'm going to fit 5kg of chicken breasts into my tiny freezer let alone the rest of the other bits! I think a bit of tactical manoeuvring is required. Freezer bags at the ready! 

Its that time of year where you are prone to put on a little weight - so I thought I'd weigh myself today to see where i stand. Pre-christmas weight = 60.4kg. I will post my post-Christmas weight in the new year. I've got my photo-shoot with Lowell coming up soon and as we know the camera adds 10lbs! I can't be looking heavy in these shots. 

Till next time;

Little Miss Fitness

Xx

How many more sleeps??

Wow what a week this has been already and it's only just the beginning. There's so much more to come. 

About a week ago I entered The Diet Kitchen's competition on Facebook, whereby i had to like the post and tag 3 friends in it. What are the chances out of the hundreds of people who entered it, but I won! I can't believe it - my luck is clearly changing. I never used to win anything - and when I mean never I mean not even raffle prizes on the tombola! I left that lucky streak to my nan who wins EVERY time!

The prize from the diet kitchen was a protein bundle from www.MyProtein.com and a voucher to spend online at www.MuscleFood.com. What an amazing prize Simon's put together and from 2 great sites for budding nutritionists like me..I'll be making a list of ingredients Im going to need to make some of Simon's amazing recipes. Oooo I can't wait. There's cookies and cream Quest protein bars (which look so easy to make - just one vital ingredient), protein pancakes, chicken satay skewers...oh god the list goes on! It certainly made my Monday that's for sure so thank you Simon. Check out Simon's Facebook page and YouTube channel; you can literally spend hours watching videos and he's got a really cool mince pie receipe that you could try your hand at this Christmas. 

Facebook Competition

It's another busy week as got my works do and hockey do. It's all go go go. Legs and glutes were smashed in the gym yesterday morning; I feel as if I'm getting stronger on my legs, still need a bit of work though, which is the plan for the New Year. To focus on parts of my body that I think need more attention - aka, back and legs.

Just to let you all know that over Christmas I won't be writing any blogs as I've decided that my blog needs revamping - a new year, a new look and feel for little miss fitness. 

I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has supported me by reading my blogs. I hope you find them interesting, inspiring or motivational. I will be carrying on with it in the new year and you'll also be able to witness my healthy cooking skills (which are limited I must admit!ha). So keep your eyes peeled for some more exciting stuff.

Finally I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year. Put your feet up and enjoy spending time with you family and friends at this festive time of the year. 

Till next time; 

Little Miss Fitness

Xx

If you don't set goals, you can't ever challenge yourself!

My 2 week challenge:

So it's Saturday and yep it's time to meet my hard-task master; miss elb! During the week she told me to bring my fitness scores as we would be focusing on my strengths and weaknesses for the next couple of weekends. I will admit I was a little curious as to what she had installed for me!! So after faffing around this morning with my car (dont ask, you dont want to know) I got to studio elb and we got cracking - there's no time wasting with Emma which I love.

My new motto!! Dream..Believe..Achieve

New diet/ new outlook!

What happens next?

This week has started off quite calm in comparison to others. I think I'm starting to adjust to the dieting and exercise (although both still remain ridiculously tough). Although I'm getting used to knowing when I'm actually hungry as to when I think I'm hungry. I've shocked myself at how bad I was before starting this diet. Before if my tummy so much as started to rumble I would eat. Now most of you may scream "but that's because your hungry-you should eat something"! Well try this, have a tea or coffee of even drink half a glass of water and believe me you'll know soon after if you are truly hungry or just finding an excuse. 

Its been about 4/5 weeks now of Emma's first diet phase (yep really...time flies!) so it's time to move onto phase 2! This mix up of diet is amazing-I can finally use my blender to make a smoothie for breakfast! I could have kissed Emma when I saw this on her email...and I get poached eggs on toast-things are looking up! It's salmon and roasted vegetables for lunch today, that should make me work harder in the gym!

Best post-workout lunch! Salmon and roasted veggie's

Food, glorious food!!

Ok so not going to lie but the last couple of days have been difficult- I've been craving all the bad food you could think of (burgers,chips, chocolate..yes even McDonald's) and for those of you who know me that's weird that I'm craving maccie d's! The urge to go down to my nearest one at work and scoff my face with a Big Mac is sooo tempting but I've got to think about my body on stage..and that's the only thing stopping me!!lol

I knew the diet would be difficult and I accepted that but for some reason the last couple of days have been torture.. Why does the brain play tricks on you? I know it's all psychological but wouldn't it be nice if fast food could be developed so that it didn't stick to your thighs or butt?? It would be every woman's fantasy! Come on Dr. Christensen get to work! Or what if the fat could be directed to bits of your body you wanted..for me, I know where I'd want mine going--my chest! Sorry for the crude image but I've never been well endowed in that area so it would be amazing if eating fast food could solve this! Am I onto something?!

Friends keep telling me about all the lovely food they keep eating - fish and chips, fresh bread - worst of all my favourite dessert in the world CHEESECAKE!! Arghhh....but I signed up to this and all this gorgeous food will be there for me at the end of my training.

So lunch for today is sweet potato and tuna. It may not look a lot but it tastes nice. I just need some inspiration on how to jazz it up more. If anyone has any ideas -please let me know.

Sweeett!

If my friends saw this they would probably say to me just eat a burger instead Amy..haha!! Sorry guys, can't do that!

Motivation in the gym was hard tonight too, as my brain was thinking about food. I think the adrenaline side to push harder in training is being hit by the change in food diet. And now it doesn't help that my train is delayed getting home! Talk about patience being tested. (As my mother would say I have none!lol)

Ok I hear you cry, rant over about food; all I need is a good early night sleep. Then tomorrow is a new day...

Just before I go, I just wanted to share this really good quote that I came across today. I thought it was fitting for how things are changing for me at the moment.

You want something, go and get it!

Till next time - stay fit and healthy!

Little miss fitness

Xx