Lacking Motivation... and what I plan to do about it!

As you may know (or may not know), as it is Winter here in Aus I have taken to moving my runs from the great outdoors to the inclosed... indoors :)

The treadmill, in case you're confused. ;)

Found this bizarre picture on the internet

Today, however, when I woke up I didn't groan with the pain of the cold as I poked a toe out of my delightfully warm and comfy blankets at the sheer coldness of the morning. Instead, I actually managed to lift myself from the bed and walk around with a t-shirt and trackies on, not crying with regret at having to leave the warmth!

So I decided to take my run outdoors (I also wanted to test to see if the treadmill was the cause of my lingering hip pain by experimenting with outdoor running again.) dressed in full length leggins of course...and what happened?

It turned out to be one of the longest/ hardest seeming runs I've had for a while. And no I didn't run for longer or push myself harder, I just didn't have the mental strength to power through as usual. And my body also felt fine! It was just my head playing with my body, where with every step I had to keep telling myself to 'Keep going!'

Now, I don't know about you, but that's not how I want my exercise to feel. So whilst out on this particular run I did some thinking and asked myself what movement my body has been loving lately?

My body has been loving these new weight lifting routines I've come across. My body has been loving high intensity workouts that leave me out of breath and exhausted in a matter of minutes. My body has been loving short, explosive exercises that get my adrenaline pumping. So at the minute my body just doesn't seem to want to stick it out and do long cardio sessions at a time, and I'm ok with that!

I've mentioned it before, our bodies changes and goes through different seasons of what's good for it. At one point, running 5 miles might be absolutely perfect and your body never looked better. Then a few months later you may find that 2 miles is actually what makes you feel good... and then a few months later you're up to 10! Who knows? All I know is that we have to listen to what makes our body feel good, because there is no point pushing yourself so hard to do something your body simply cannot handle at the moment because you probably won't see the results. There's a reason your body is fighting against it!

So, my plan to reignite my motivation and keep my body feeling fit and happy is to stick to what makes it feel good. 

 This passed Summer that looked like 5 days a week of long distance running. Now? Probably more like 2-3 days of HIIT workouts, 2 days of weight workouts and 2-3 days of 5-7km runs.

That's where I'm at with the exercise aspect of my life (an important aspect as it sets me up for feeling good during all other aspects of my life!) and knowing me and my body, next month will probably bring something completely different!

Your turn:
For the runners out there- do you sometimes take long periods off when your running just seems to be lacking? Or do you push through regardless?
Favourite type of exercise at the moment?
Type of exercise you wish you were a beast at? I watched a video on crossfit the other day and those people are insane! I wish I could do the things they do!!


That's it from me today folks, I hope you all have a lovely relaxing and/or exciting weekend planned, do something you love and eat something delicious! Also, in light of today's post- love your body!! Bye for now friends! :D

Funny Facts About Food!

A few days ago I received an email from a reader (hello Angela!) saying she had this awesome infographic that I would probably find quite interesting about the food we eat. Or more specifically some of the stuff hidden in the food we eat.

Intrigued I clicked onto the link she sent and lo and behold, I found it quite interesting!!

We are all humans right.... ;) and we all eat food. But do we know what's really in it? You may be surprised!

I was so shocked by the infographic that I asked Angela if she'd like to write a small article about it, so without further a do, here's what Angela had to say about 14 Bizarre Ingredients Hidden In Your Food Labels:

Crazy Food Facts That Will Leave You Baffled

Have you ever pondered upon ingredients that can be found on food labels? Or, is calorie count the most important thing you are looking for in certain foods you are buying? Well, think again and really carefully because in the next few lines you will discover something that might knock your socks off.

Food labels contain various types of information - calorie count, nutrients, vitamins, minerals and ingredients. What they don’t contain is the origin of those ingredients written on the label. Ever heard or read about carmine or shellac? You might not have, but you certainly ate or drank them. Shellac is an ingredient that makes candies look smooth and unmelting in our hand and it is derived from a bug that lives in India and Thailand. Red colour of ice cream, yogurt, fruit drinks and candies also comes from a bug. Yuck, right? 

 To be sure you are well informed about the food you are eating, check out the infographic on 14 bizarre ingredients hidden in your food labels for some more bizarre and weird food facts that might make you change your eating habits.

 Thanks so much for all this interesting info Angela and below I've included the very infographic with all those bizarre ingredients found in the labels of our foods:

foodpackaginglabelslabels.net

Credit due to the creative team at FoodPackagingLabels.net 

Your turn:

What do you think about some of those bizarre things in those food labels?

Does it make you want to read the fine print of your favourite foods?

Got any cool ideas/ stories/ info that you want me to share, or even feature you on the blog? I love receiving emails from readers and would love even more to publish some posts by you guys about things you're passionate about in the health industry! 

 That's it from me today- linking up with Spoons for Thinking Out Loud Thursday, as this was a post full of interesting random-ness! Have a fabulous day friends and as always; eat something yummy!! Bye! :D

WIAW #65 Typical Eats

Happy hump day friends! It totally took me way too long to figure out it was Wednesday today- I had absolutely no idea what day it was! Holidays will do that to a girl! Any who, seeing as it is Wednesday (as I eventually discovered) a full day of eats is in store for you today in the What I Ate Wednesday party style! Thanks as always to Peas and Crayons for hosting this weekly shebang!

This features all my eats from Monday, a fairly ordinary day with not much on- so I guess you could call this one; 'A typical day of eats'!

Breakfast: 8:00am
Now don't be fooled by the late(r) breakfast time, I was still up at around 7:00am (and actually a bit before, but Winter in Aus means at least 15 more minutes tucked up in bed willing time to slow down and cursing your bed for being so gosh darn warm!).

After procrastinating for around 15 minutes I finally shuffled out of bed shivering, drank some water, woke up a little and then headed into our 'gym' (a spare room that houses our treadmill and a few other strange machines) and did some more weights. Both my body and I are really loving this new type of movement and I'm noticing myself getting physically stronger and toned (I also appear to be getting hungrier- if that was even possible!).

Around 20-30 minutes later it was breakfast time!

A big green smoothie in my favourite drinking vessel- a huge glass smoothie jar!

Refreshing, creamy, sweet, just what I needed!
In the mix was 1 chopped frozen banana, 1/2 small chopped frozen avocado, one big handful of kale, one big handful of spinach, a heaped tablespoon peanut butter, 1/3 cup soaked oats (oats+ almond milk soaked for around 20 mins or more- preferably overnight), 3 big scoops greek yoghurt, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 cup water- all whazzed together until smooth!

Deee-lish!

Lunch: 12:30pm
Around 12 the tummy starting grumbling again, so I popped a bot of brown rice and quinoa on the stove with some hot water and boiled away for around 25 mins:

Meanwhile chopping up some veg:

Capsicum + eggplant + zucchini + brown onion + mushrooms
I also pulled together some spices:

Pepper, chili flakes, cayenne pepper, paprika, cumin, coriander, oregano.
Sauteed off the veggies in a hot pan:

Added the spices to the rice after draining and cooking for 1 minute in the saucepan:

Adding rice, chopped tomato and some drained lentils to fry pan:

Et voila!

Lunch is served!

Super tasty and filling- perfect!

Snack: 3:30pm
3 hours later and a snack was in order:

A chopped up pink lady apple with a mug of soy milk.

I love apples so much!

Dinner: 7:30pm
I was out from around 4-7:20pm so prepared some steamed and mashed veggies earlier in the day for a quick throw-together meal:

Cold mashed pumpkin, potato, sweet potato, carrot, swede and beetroot.
Come 7:20pm and I added in some steamed broccoli, garlic tofu and topped my bowl off with some globs of hommus- yum!

Yeah, I'm one of those freaks who prefer meals cold to hot, I feel like you can taste it so much better and also that the flavours are intensified. :)

After dinner I had a handful of raw almonds and then I was done for the day! That my friends is a typical day of eating for me.

What about you?
What's the best thing you've eaten recently?
Are you a fan of weight lifting?
Food- hot or cold? I first heard about preferring to eat cold food from Katie and now I can't go back!

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday, as always; eat something delicious. Don't foRget to head on over to Peas and Crayons to see what everyone else is nom-ing on! Bye for now friends! :D

Lemon + Blueberry + Coconut = A very good breakfast!

Hidy-ho friends! How have we all been so far this week? Good? Well, I'm gonna say you said good!
Always the optimist!

In case you haven't had the best week so far, I have a recipe for you that will make your day...

..No, make your week. Heck, this recipe will make your life! 

 Above are 5 little truffles of heaven.
Or, more precisely; oats, blueberries, lemon and coconut!
I seriously think lemon and blueberries (and even coconut) is one of the best combos around. Now peanut butter and chocolate, as well as peanut butter and banana also make my top list, but lemon and blueberry... not much can beat it.

And this morning? I was craving that magical combo!

Coconutt-y Lemon and Blueberry Truffles!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 heaped tablespoons oat bran
1/4 vanilla pod scraped (or a few drops of vanilla extract)
1/4 lemon zested
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 heaped tablespoon coconut butter
2 tablespoons (more or less depending on consistency of truffles) of almond milk (or milk of choice)
Small handful fresh/ frozen blueberries

Method:

Step 1. Place the oats, oat bran, vanilla seeds/ extract, lemon zest and juice into a bowl and stir to combine:

Step 2. Place the coconut butter and almond milk in a small bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds (watch to make sure it doesn't boil over):

 Stir to combine.
Step 3. Add the blueberries and coconut mixture to the oats and stir with a spoon to combine:

 Step 4. Using your hands, roll into balls and place on a plate lined with baking paper:

 Step 5. Place in the freezer for at least 20-30mins to harden.

In the meantime, you should definitely- and I mean definitely- make this chocolate 'soft serve' to go with your truffles for the ultimate dessert for breakfast experience!

Ingredients:
1 chopped frozen banana
3 tablespoons greek yoghurt
1 tablespoon choc protein powder
1 heaped teaspoon raw cacao powder

 Method:
Step 1. Place all the ingredients in a small food processor:

 Step 2. Process until smooth and creamy:

 Step 3. Spoon into a bowl/ ramekin/ mug and place in the freezer until ready to eat with the truffles:

 After 20-30 minutes or so, remove your truffles and ice cream and enjoy one of the best and most decadent tasting breakfasts you've most likely had in a long time!

 Trust me when I say this DOES NOT  taste healthy!

 The subtle flavour of coconut in the truffles mixed with the sweet blueberries and the tangy lemon create the perfect balance of flavours and leaves you wanting more as it is not too rich at all.

 Accompanied by this amazing imitation of rich chocolate ice cream and you have yourself a winner!

 I've played around with the lemon and blueberry combo before, in doughnuts and mug cakes, but I think the flavours work so much better cold, when you can really uncover the tastes involved. :)

 Filled with the goodness of wholegrain oats, fresh fruit, antioxidant filled cacao powder, all the benefits of coconut, protein powder and greek yoghurt for staying power... deceptively healthy and a great way to start your day!

 Happy, happy days :)

What about you?
Do you love the lemon/blueberry combo?
Favourite way to eat the lemon/ blueberry combo?
Are you a dessert for breakfast fan, or do you prefer savoury breakfasts?

 That's all from me this terrific Tuesday. I hope you all have a fabulous day, try out something new in the kitchen just for fun, take time to realise all the good things in your life and also take a second out of your day to breath- it's the little things that make a big difference! Bye for now friends!! :D