Why I love HIIT

Hi friendly friends and happiest of Mondays to you all!

I hope you all had a wonderful breakfast to make Monday that much more sweeter (I know I'm about to; hello creamy mango smoothie and home made peanut butter granola straight from the oven that I'm about to pause this post for in approximately 2 minutes when my internal spidey-senses cooking-senses tingle. :) and are ready to conquer this week like the ultimate awesome-sauce fighter you are!

Now, on the topic of being an awesome-sauce ultimate fighter... I wanted to talk about something that makes me feel so bad-ass and strong and amazing and no, for once it is not running (even though running fills me with so much happiness and motivation). It is actually HIIT (high intensity interval training)

You've probably all heard of it before, or at least heard the word before but I reckon not many people actually know why it is so effective (me included!) so I did a little internet browsing and was pleasantly enlightened with the many benefits of doing a high intensity interval training workout!

To be considered doing a high intensity workout, you'd be simply alternating between intense bursts of activity and periods of less-intense activity/ complete rest (see source) And yes, whilst the approximately 30 minute long workout is super convenient (especially during school mornings to get an effective workout in) it is actually the way it makes me feel that keeps me coming back for more.

Before I get into that, however, let's look at the science that backs up this method of exercise!
As well as increasing aerobic capacity a heck of a lot quicker and more effectively than long periods of endurance training, but your body's repair cycle is kicked up immensely meaning your body is still burning fat and energy the full day following a HIIT workout (which explains the post-HIIT workout hunger I've been feeling!!

'Every square inch of my body is sweating. I’ve been working out for only 15 minutes, and I’m not sure my legs can take any more. They are shaking uncontrollably. Later, I sit down to dinner, and my arms are so exhausted I can’t seem to pick up my spoon.'

This is just a little caption from a post about HIIT training by Bethany Brookshire, that I think perfectly describes what a HIIT workout feels like.

Now, you may be thinking; that sounds awful, truly awful! Why would anyone want to feel like that- but I'm telling you people, post intense exercise exhaustion is one of the best 'pains'/ exhaustion I know I- and many other people- have experienced.

I now it sounds, looks and probably will fell crazy for your first time- but I assure you, that exhaustion soon becomes a longing- a craving- that satisfaction that you've just done something ridiculously hard and the results are beginning to show on your body.

I can liken it to running in that crazy way us runners love to put ourselves through miles and miles of running and exhausting our legs and yet it feels so good!

An increase in oxygen consumption, a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes (preventing accumulation/ worsening of insulin resistance), increase in muscle endurance and many benefits to cardiovascular health are just some of the scientifically proven benefits of HIIT and I've gotta say, that doesn't sound half bad to me!

So if I can do a workout that takes merely 30 minutes or less, leaves me with the same euphoric exhaustion and 'pain' of a 20km run and gives my body all those amazing benefits whilst doing something I actually find quite fun... why wouldn't I jump on board the HIIT train??

And where do I find my HIIT workouts? Mainly on Blogilates YouTube channel!! She's done a few regular HIIT workouts and she also has a playlist of her own PIIT28 (Pilates Intense Interval Training- goes for 28 minutes) That will leave the sweat dripping down your face and you crying out for more!

There are so many other HIIT workouts online and on YouTube that you can try out yourself- that's just what I do. Today I did the PIIT28 full body video and was read-faced, sweaty and happy! And as I was doing the training, I noticed the toned appearance of my arms, the strength in my core and the fatigue that didn't set in until the very last round revealing the strength and endurance I have accumulated over the past few weeks of doing HIIT training. Happy days! :)

So yes, I am definitely an advocate for HIIT training and think everyone should give it a go- of course that kind of intensity should not be done on the daily (max three times a week) and don't be disheartened if you're sweating and can't breathe after the first move of the first round- it's meant to be extremely intense- just do what you can and you will get stronger!!

Your turn:
Are you a fan of HIIT?
Any PIIT28 fans out there? Fav video?
What did you have for breakfast? My smoothie and granola was DELICIOUS!! (great post intense workout fuel!)

I hope you all have a magical day ((yep, magical. Just go with it;P) do something you love, listen to your body and as always; EAT SOMETHING DELICIOUS!! Bye for now friends! :D
 

What I Would Tell My Younger Running Self...

Hello there beautiful people!
How are we all today?
Fabulous?
That's what I like to hear! (or make up in my mind as your response ;)

Now, today I would like to have a little d&m with both you guys and my inner self about some advice I would give to my younger, more naive, inexperienced, just-starting-out runner self. Because, let's be honest, we'd all do things differently when we first started running after all the trials, errors, injuries and problems we obstacle-hopped in our past.

So without further a do, this is what I would say to little 14 year old Steph; a newly starting out runner with a growing love for the sport, combined with absolutely zero knowledge of what she was doing (wow, didn't even mean to distance myself entirely from this girl- I just think I've come a long way since then I guess!).

1. Steph, you need to start out slow. Everyone does. It's just how running works. Do not get angry or frustrated then you get pooped after running for merely 3 minutes- you ran for three minutes straight- CLAP ON THE BACK FOR YOU! Celebrate all the little achievements you see- focus on them, not the negatives you 'think' you're experiencing!

Great little YouTube clip to get you started there Steph!

2. Please, please, please, whatever you do, don't push your body to breaking point. Learn to listen to the signs and symptoms of your body crying out for a rest. Running for 3 days plus will end up wreaking havoc on your body. Notice fatigue and allow your body to rest. Rest days are essential- YOU. NEED. THEM. 

Your body needs them. Your mind needs them. if you want to continue loving running, you need them and if you want to stay fit, healthy and become a better runner in the long run (pun intended) you need to rest!!

3. Fuel yourself sister! No matter how long, or how tough, or what time of day it is- if you've just gifted yourself with a run, have a little something to eat!

In saying that, you're a teenager, a growing teenager who runs and needs extra nutrition and some extra kilojoules to keep your body fighting on. Don't be afraid of food- you need a lot of it! Eat a lot of it!

Today's post-run fuel (breakfast) of a big almost-empty-jar of crunchy PB stuffed with warm cherry cheesecake steel cut oats!

 Recipe here

4. And I'll say it again, Steph, don't be afraid of food- if you're hungry it's just a sign that your body needs it, needs the fuel to properly recover and resisting that hunger can only lead to problems (think injury, colds/flu, mental unhappiness etc.)

 Feed the beast! I find big ol grilled sammies do the trick quite nicely:

 Stuffed with a grilled veggie patty, grilled eggplant, capsicum, mushrooms, tomato, spread with hommus and topped with kale- into a sandwich press for a few mins. et voila!

 Also, big fresh sandwiches work too!

 Or open faced sandwiches topped with hommus, avo and poached eggs with a side of cherry tomatoes and two deliciously sweet and juicy small oranges:

5. And on top of that Steph. You're a teenager. You're a teenage girl. You're a teenage girl who doesn't eat meat. You're a vegetarian, teenage girl, who runs. Girl- you got to get your iron in!!

 And the best way I can think of doing that is whazzing a big bunch of both spinach, kale and frozen zucchini up with 2 frozen bananas and a side of warm peanut butter granola for breakfast!

 I shall suffer through this 3 veg breakfast! (Boty this was so delicious!!)

 :)

6. And finally Steph (probably most importantly) one potato is not enough:

You need at least three different types, like in this bowl of goodness:

 Purple sweet potato, white sweet potato and regular baby potatoes roasted up in some olive oil and devoured cold for dinner.

Puuurrrrpplleee:

Ok, so maybe not the most important point for you, little Steph, but probably the most enjoyable when you let g of those ridiculous food rules of yours and just enjoy a big bowl of cold potatoes for dinner with a tall glass of soy milk and be happy with how it makes you feel :D!

Love yourself, love your body and love to run because I never want you to lose that love in place of something negative and energy draining- running is a blessing, let's hold it dear to our hearts for many, many years to come!!

Your turn:
What's the mos timportant thing you would tell your younger running self?
Favourite post-run breakfast?
How many potatoes do you do? ;P

I hope you all have a truly lovely day, think of all the blessings in your life, appreciate them and as always; EAT SOMETHING DELICIOUS (your body needs it!) Bye for now friendly friends!! :D

Minty Green :)

Hello there friendly friends!! And good morning!/afternoon!/evening!!

I hope you're ready for this post.

I hope you're ready to get your socks blown off.

And I hope it's not too cold wherever you are because then you wouldn't be too pleased with having your socks blown off..

Anywho, that's not the point.

The point is I have just created a breakfast that enables you to enjoy the extremely delicious, creamy, smooth, mouth-watering flavours of mint green ice cream with a crunchy, fudgey, chewy peanut butter granola to top it all off with. For breakfast. No I am not kidding.

Presenting to you the utlimate breakfast in deliciousness: The Creamy, dreamy mint ice cream and granola bowl:

I was never a real big fan of mint as a kid growing up. My mum's favourite ice cream flavour was mint choc chip so I always had a little try of hers when we went out for ice cream but almost always fell back on my own favourite- extremely artificial and fake, awesomely rainbow-swirled bubblegum ice cream! (which did in fact mature into cookies and cream later on).

However anything with mint in it just confused me I think. Like, why did I feel like I'd brushed my teeth after eating icecream? Alas, once again, the growing-up-ness of growing up effected my stance on mint ice cream (as it has with mannnny other things like pasta bakes, avocado, mushrooms, olives etc.) and from my most recent trip to the grocery store and an impulse buy of fresh mint, I knew this was something I had to re-create!

And so I did.
This recipe couldn't be simpler guys and is simply:

Ingredients:
2 medium chopped frozen bananas
1/2 chopped frozen avocado
3-4 fresh mint leaves
1 handful of spinach

Method:
1. Pop everything in a food processor/ high speed blender (handy Vitamix to the rescue!!) and whaz until smooth and creamy dreamy!!
2. Transfer to a bowl and pop in the freezer to harden up slightly whilst making the granola!

The granola was simply:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tablespoon oat bran
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 handful low-sugar wholegrain cheerios (or other cereal of choice)
1 large tablespoon peanut butter (or any nut butter)
1/3 cup almond milk

Method:
1.Turn on oven to 180 degrees celsius, line a tray with baking paper
2. Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl
3. Place nut butter and milk in a small bowl and microwave until warmed through
4. Add to dry mix, stir until combined (add more almond milk if too dry)
5. Place on tray and bake for 15-20 mins until golden brown and crunchy on the outside- leave to cool slightly

Et Voila!!

A beautifully sweet, minty ice cream with warm, freshly made granola... can you have a better start to a day??

100% natural, vegan, high plant protein, veggies to boot (that I assure you, you will not taste!) and the delicious taste of mint ice cream to leave you daydreaming about for the rest of the day week :P.

Happy, happy days!

Your turn:
Favourite ice cream flavour as a child?
Favourite ice cream flavour now?
Favourite way to use mint in cooking? What should I try next!!?? I was thinking choc mint oats?? Let me know! :D

I hope you all have a ripper of a day, do something you love and as always; EAT SOMETHING DELICIOUS (and maybe minty and smooth??)! Bye for now friends! :D

Life Recently...!

Hello there beautiful food-lovin' people!!

I hope you're all having a fabulous day, doing something you love (even if it's just five minutes with yourself and a cookie... do it!) and making time to smiiillleee.

I realised that we haven't had a good ol' sit down and chat for a while and you're probably very un-up-to-date on my life! GASP!! So I decided to fill you in on Life Currently: Steph-style!

Life wouldn't be life for me without a current food obsession whereby every second day or so I eat said obsession. In the past we have had white sweet potato (that one never truly goes away, I just stop buying white sweet potato), which moved onto smoothie bowls, swinging into a cookie obsession (healthy, muesli, brekky cookies!) and now? Now we've moved onto creamy green substances with fudge-y, nutty, warm granola straight out of the oven:

It's become quite the obsession recently whereby every other day will be something else I haven't made in a while (pancakes, toasties, oatmeal) and falling back to green smoothie/ fro-yo/ 'ice cream' with granola.

This particular breakfast was a creamy mango smoothie with mixed nut butter granola and peanut butter granola:

 Obviously I hated it:

And then I changed things up!!!

Look at that! That's not a smoothie- that's creamy green 'nice-cream'! Frozen banana + frozen zuchini + spinach, all whazzed up together in the Vitamix until smooth :)

 The granola was simply peanut butter granola. But how can I say simply? This warm, fudge-y peanut butter granola is out of this world delicious and deserves so much more love and recognition!

Peanut butter warmed up with almond milk, stirred into around 3/4 cup natural muesli with ground cinnamon- into the oven at 180 degrees celsius for 15-20 mins until golden and fragrant- eat pretty soon afterwards for optimal enjoyment!!

 Pop a few on top of the ice cream and you have one delicious breakfast!

 My theory for my food obsessions is why I force myself to eat something else when I will absolutely love to eat the same thing and will enjoy eating the same thing more?

 It's all about one's happiness people :D

 Ok, so that's the food side- onto fitness!

You may remember my most recent posts about fitness are actually quite a few months old and discuss my decrease in mileage and increase in strength training/ Blogilates videos (HIIT type stuff, or if you're a Blogilates girl, PITT)

Well, it's been quite similar, however I have upped the mileage/ training- a lot more hill sprints and simple sprints around the park, mixed with 1 or 2 long runs in the week and some ab/ leg/ arm workouts (mainly Blogilates) on the off-days. There's also rest-days thrown in where I might just do an easy stretching/ workout video.

This passed Saturday I did one of my longest runs in a while- and I felt good. It just shows the ups and downs and changes of seasons in one's life and I sort of new the day would come where my body would once again love a nice, easy, slow run.

 An hour long run whereby an interesting, funny podcast got me through!

I've found that this combo of cross-training with strength workouts, HIIT and sprint workouts mixed with long runs has toned my body and left me feeling strong and healthy and ready to tackle the world! Or something along those lines!

Something un-health related? My hair's gronw pretty long over the past few moths and I'm kind of excited to have my long thick hair for the up-coming Winter- bring it on cold weather!

In all honesty, this is also a post whereby I try to make the blog a tad more personal with some pics of me- which I sort of cringe at sharing but know that I want you guys to know me better! So.. yep!

Your turn:
What's your current food/ breakfast obsession? How long has it been going for?
Green smoothie fan?
Current fitness favs?

That's it from me today folks (got a bit lengthier than anticipated!) I hope you all have a fabulous day, again- do something you love, and a s always; EAT SOMETHING DELICIOUS!! Bye for now friends! :D