Baking delights

I've been a little housewife in training the last few weeks, firstly making delicious vanilla cupcakes with pink vanilla buttercream icing for a girlfriends engagement party, who was kind enough to fly me over to NZ especially for it! So lovely! The cupcakes were made using crabapple cupcake bakeries book, and they are to die for! The cupcakes themselves are pretty low cal, especially the mini versions, but wow that icing is full of sugar! Definitely a treat to be consumed in small amounts!!

Later this week once back home I made some low cal mixed berry muffins. I was a bit naughty and used Betty Crocker packet mix, and just omitted the mixed berry mix in favour of 2 cups of frozen raspberries and blueberries. They are actually really good! Perfect with a pot of tea of skinny latte in my break at work, and at about 150cals per serve, you can enjoy them guilt free :)

Next week i'm looking forward to baking my best friend some adorable champagne cupcakes! I've been dying to try these, hopefully they turn out well! Will post the results :)

Have your cake.. and eat it too!

Now eating healthy is no reason to give up things you love! It's all about moderation!

I made this flourless chocolate cake for my mum for mothers day (she is gluten intolerant) and she is kind enough to share with me! I warmed it in the microwave, and paired it with 50g natural fat free yogurt and 1/2 a cup of frozen mixed berries which I also warmed in the microwave. Mmm so delicious, you could even add some vanilla paste or essence to the yogurt for extra yumminess :)

I keep my calories in check by only having a small piece (recipe serves 12, I make it 24)

That way you can have your cake and eat it too!

The recipe can be found here:
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/27864/flourless+chocolate+cake
(I left out the coffee)

Lucy xx

Protein Pancakes take 2

So this morning I decided to give the Blogilates version of a pre-contest protein pancake a go. Although mine didn't turn out as fluffy (I think because I use musashi protein powder) but they were definitely a lot more tasty. I added sugar free maple syrup and some blueberries :)
Recipe was as follows:
1 egg
30g vanilla protein powder
1/3 cup light soy milk
1 tbs psyllium husk

Mix ingredients together, cook in a lightly greased pan until golden on both sides.

I followed my pancakes with a Madame Flavour tea, Green Jasmine & Pear, yum! I'm obsessed with herbal teas and probably drink at least 3 pots a day, I'm excited to use my new tea pot infuser with loose leaf tea once I use up all my tea bags! What are your favourite types of tea?

Lucy xx

Protein Pancakes!

This morning I wanted to try something different, so decided to try the Protein Pancake recipe from Blogilates, which Cassey had altered from the girls at Tone It Up.

I changed the recipe slightly, and made a little more as I like a substantial breakfast, so the below recipe is half what I made today:

2 eggs (1/4 cup)
1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp psyllium husk
2 tbs light soy milk (I prefer Soy Milky Lite)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl (mine was a little lumpy but that didn't affect the pancakes). Cook in a non-stick pan, make them small or big (I made a few small ones but in future would maybe make 2 large ones). Flip when bubbles begin to appear in top.

I also heated 80g of frozen fruit in a saucepan to drizzle over, and next time will try maple syrup instead.

The pancakes weren't as sweet as the normal kind, but we're still tasty, however they are a little dry so topping is necessary. The banana in tone it ups original recipe may help combat this too. They were very filling, but not as good as my porridge! But being so high in protein and low in carbs is great!! I may try Blogilates version with a whole egg and no cinnamon next time too.

http://toneitup.com/blog.php?Protein-Pancakes-Low-carb-low-fat-and-delicious-1973

http://blogilates.com/recipe-index/healthy-breakfasts/pre-contest-protein-pancakes

Lucy xx

Summer here I come

Now despite this beautiful sunny weather in Melbourne, I'm well aware winter is about to rear its ugly head. Lucky for me I'm heading over to enjoy European summer for a month in June! I'm so excited, but saving has never been my forte, and being unable to shop is torture for me when I work in retail!

I've decided though that if I manage to lose the last 3kg before I leave to get my perfect bod, I'm going to reward myself with a brand new bikini to show off all my hard work!

My favourite Australian label Zimmermann has released the first of their resort collection, and I'm pretty much in love with everything, but this bikini especially! Gotta work hard though, great inspiration for my ab work out at the gym!

What do you reward yourself with when you meet diet and fitness goals?

Lucy xx

Strength training!

A little over a year and a half ago I discovered my love of strength training. Strength and resistance training is such a fantastic way to lose fat and improve your physique, because not only are you strengthening your muscles, your doing cardio at the same time!

I like to change up my routine to keep things interesting every 3 months. Here are some examples of exercises I do, a lot of them can be done at home!

5 minute warm up (I like to run)
3 x 10 bar push ups
3 x 10 assisted chin ups
3 x 10 squats with weighted barbell
3 x 20 weighted walking lunges
3 x 1 minute bosu ball planks (as shown in picture from thefitnessdude.com - 30 seconds in position C then 30 in position A)
3 x 30 second boxing with dumbbells
3 x 10 tricep dips
3 x 10 lat pull downs
5 minutes of intervals on rowing machine (30 seconds normal pace, 30 seconds your fastest pace, repeat)

Don't forget to stretch afterwards! I walk home from the gym and use that as my cool down.

Of course you don't need to do all of these, and do the number of sets/reps that works for you :)

I'm feeling good, looking forward to some delicious baked salmon and steamed veggies for dinner!!

Lucy xx

what a beautiful day!

I woke up to a gorgeous sunny day today and was SO happy to have the day off! I love warm and sunny weather, it really makes me want to be outside and active, so I just had to take one of my little ones for a nice long walk!

Missy absolutely loved a run as you can see, and I loved wearing shorts in May, unheard of in Melbourne!!

On my way home I grabbed my daily skinny latte from my local organic cafe (so delish) and came home to eat some lunch:
100g Jalna Fat Free Natural Yogurt
2 Scoops Vanilla Protein Powder
45g Carman's Natural Bircher Museli (love this one because it's all natural and only sweetened by honey)

I stir the protein powder in first before adding the Museli, it tastes good fresh but even better if you leave it in the fridge a few hours! Yum!

I like to get as much protein in my meals as possible, but you could skip it if you like and just add a teaspoon of honey, or use Greek yogurt instead :)

I'll be heading to the gym shortly for a strength work out and will post my routine when I get home

Lucy xx

my favourite breakfast..

Breakfast is easily my favourite meal of the day, and has been since I was only little. I've been known to even eat breakfast foods for lunch and dinner I love it that much!

Now while I'm a big fan of scrambled eggs, French toast, pancakes and muesli for my first meal of the day, lately I've been absolutely loving porridge with LSA mix, cinnamon and fresh berries. So nutritious and yummy, I look forward to it every day! My recipe is:

40g Uncle Toby's Weight Wise oats
2/3 cup Soy Milky Lite Soy Milk
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
Small handful fresh raspberries and blueberries (frozen would work too!)
1 tbs LSA mix (ground linseed, sunflower seeds and almonds)

Cook the oats in a saucepan with milk and cinnamon, stirring until thick and combined

Transfer to bowl and sprinkle with berries, then top with LSA

I couldn't find any blueberries at the supermarket so had to go without (boo!)

Nutritional Info:
Calories : 304
Fat: 10.9g
Saturated Fat: 1.7g
Carbohydrates: 31.1g
Sugar: 4.8g
Fibre: 10g
Protein: 14.6g

a little about my weight loss philosophy

I must have tried every diet "trick" in the book in my short 23 years on this earth, including some very unhealthy, drastically low calorie variations. Finally however, I've learnt what actually works, and as it turns out, it's actually quite simple.

The weight loss formula:

Calories In < Calories Out

Now, you may be thinking that you've heard this all before, but SO many magazines and websites tell women that the only way to lose weight is to eat a certain amount of calories (regardless of your lifestyle/physical statistics) and your diet may only consist of certain foods - which more often than not is low fat or low carb.

In terms of how much one should be eating, it comes down to a formula. First, is to workout how many calories you burn through out the day. This will include your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) which determines how many calories your body needs when sedentry to keep you alive, and also take into account your level of activity. Here is a formula I found on bodybuilding.com which was very useful for me

It is also crucial to work out the number of macronutrients you need. This is how many grams of protein, fats and carbohydrates that will make up your diet. Aim for at least 1g of Protein per kg of bodyweight (0.5g per lbs), if you can do 1.5-2g that's even better! For your fats, it's ok to have 1-2g per kg body weight (0.45-1g per lbs). 

Now that you know how many calories you need in a day, you need to eat less than this in order to lose fat. As an average rule, unless you are only aiming to lose a very small amount of weight, a 500 calorie deficit will be efficient in losing 0.5kg/1lbs per week. Exercise will add to this deficit and lead to more fat loss.

The number of calories you eat in a day can technically be made up of anything. If you stuck to a diet of chocolate chip cookies, but only ate 1200 calories worth of cookies per day, you would without a doubt lose weight. The problem would be, the composition of this weight. You may be losing muscle as well, and you want to hang onto that to stay strong and healthy!

This is why it's important to meet your macronutrient requirements for protein and fat. Getting adequate amounts of both will allow you to retain as much muscle as possible whilst losing fat.

Now, the most important part. The key to fat loss is counting your calories.

This might seem like a drag, but really it's quite easy with online personal calorie counters, there are even apps for it on your phone! Myfitnesspal and Calorie King are the two I use to track. I especially like these, because you can monitor your macronutrients. After a few weeks of counting everything every day (and when I say everything, i mean every little thing), you will have a good idea about how many calories are in the things you eat, and you may only need to track every now and then. When counting, it's important you're measuring correctly, so keep a set of scales handy.

I think that is enough for now, I hope I was able to teach you something new, or help you on your road to fat loss!

Lucy xx

Hello!

My name is Lucy :)

Welcome to my blog! This blog will serve as an outlet for both my passion for health and fitness, as well as my love of fashion and style.

My initial inspiration for starting this has been my growing frustration with many health and fitness magazines and websites aimed at women. I feel frustrated due to the ridiculous information spouted by some of these sources, particularly in regard to weight loss. So many myths and healthy "get thin quick" schemes are so detrimental to women's health, fitness and well being.

I'm hoping that through this blog, I can share some of what I've learned about nutrition and exercise through my own research, as well as beauty and fashion tips.

A little about me:

I'm a 23 year old Australian uni student and retail assistant. Upon graduating later this year I hope to work in PR.

As far as health and fitness, after struggling with my relationship with food for what seems like forever, and after countless attempts to drop weight quickly, I'm finally at my healthiest, and have found great balance. I've been able to lose 7kg in the last 3 months for this very reason, without sacrificing the things I love.

I have no training in nutrition or fitness, so please don't take my word as gospel! This is just what I've learnt from my readings and what has worked for me :)

I hope my blog is helpful for you too!!

Lucy xx