Health, Products I love

5 Healthy Foods I am Loving!

October 15, 2014
top 5 healthy foods I am loving

For the record, in this post I am not telling you that you NEED to be eating these foods. I am simply sharing what 5 foods I like and always seem to be eating, as a way to share their nutritional benefits with you and to inspire you to include these into your diet. Some of you may already know and eat all of these, but I am sure there are a few out there who haven’t tried them or do not eat them regularly. And here at Honestly Fitness, I want to help everyone 🙂

1. Brown rice

brown rice is a really healthy food and a great source of carbohydrates

 Brown rice is such a powerhouse of a grain. I like eating it because it has more texture than white rice, is a good source of fiber (de-bloating, ahoy!) and is a complex carbohydrate. As such, it helps to keep you fuller for longer. It is also full of vitamins and minerals such as iron (important for the ladies), vitamin B-6, and magnesium. 

 2. Strawberries

strawberries are a really healthy food and low GI

 Okay so I truly hope all of you reading this post have tried strawberries before! Strawberries are such tasty gems of a fruit, and very healthy for you too. They are also full of vitamins and minerals, are low in calories, and has a lower sugar content than many other fruits.

  3. Oatmeal

oatmeal is a healthy food and makes for a great breakfast

Mmm, this was most certainly an everyday staple during the winter when I lived in England and still something I eat at least twice a week. Not only are they a comforting and heath breakfast, they are also high in iron, high in fiber, and low in sugar. I normally have rolled oats with some skimmed milk and berries when I do have it for breakfast, and it honestly keeps me full and satisfied for hours. 

And yes, the oats in the photo on the left are the ones I use to make my oatmeal 🙂

  4. Asparagus

asparagus is a healthy food and has a lot of fiber

 Hehe, okay so my love affair with asparagus took a while, but now I am madly in love with it! I found that baking asparagus with a small amount of olive oil, pink himalayan salt and black pepper created a mouthwatering dish. Like most vegetables, they are low in calories, but they are also high in fiber (seeing a connection here?) and have a variety of minerals and vitamins including potassium, vitamin A, vitamin C, iron and more. I dare you to not like asparagus after making it the way I like it 😉

5. Coconut water

coconut water is a healthy food and packed with electrolytes

 Having lived in Asia my whole life, I was surrounded by fresh coconuts and enjoyed their delicious flesh and coconut water almost daily. Since moving first to England, and then to the US, I have been pretty disappointed in many of the commercial brands of coconut water … they do not taste like fresh coconut juice! I always order a coconut if I see it on a restaurant menu. Finally after endless searching, I found a bottled coconut water that has my seal of approval; Harmless Harvest coconut water! It tastes JUST like the real thing. Some of their waters are pink, which I would love some more explanation about, as I have never had a fresh coconut with pink coconut water … Anyway, coconut water is fabulous because it has a bunch of vitamins and minerals, and is great to have if you are craving something sweet. Have it in moderation though, as it is fairly high in sugar.

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Let’s see, today I have had 3 out of the 5 foods I just posted, haha! Oh, I truly am a creature of habit. I love my healthy lifestyle, and I love these healthy foods. What are your favorite 5 healthy foods?

Honestly yours,
Alice xx

Fitness

Kayla Itsines Round 2 – Week 3

October 12, 2014
Kayla Itsines Round 2 - Week 3 BBG

Out of the past three weeks, I have to say that this week was probably the most successful. I could tell that I had become much stronger because even though the workouts were still hard, I paused a lot less and I was able to do two rounds of each circuit for most of the workouts. I still found the burpees and push ups a little hard but they definitely were not as killer as they were doing the first week. 

Kayla Itsines Round 2 – Week 3

Kayla Itsines Round 2 - Week 3 BBG

 Got some cute new workout clothes from CottonOnBody to help keep me motivated and … because they are amazing!

1. Couldn’t find the exact same top, but this one is similar
2. Printed Core Capri
3. Running Short

Kayla Itsines Round 2 - Week 3 BBG

 New workout clothes!!! That was a good workout, I felt so motivated haha

I am continually surprised at how good my progress is my second time around. I have lost more weight than I ever thought possible in the past 3 weeks; I have lost 7 pounds so far! For those who are regular readers of the blog, you will know that I do not think that weight loss is that important. However, I am pleased because I have been carrying around an extra 10 pounds for the past year and a half that I have not been able to shake so this is definitely a mini victory for me. I went on a very low carb diet about 2 years ago where I got quite thin, but then as with all drastic diets, I gained the weight back as soon as I started including carbs back into my diet again. It is really motivating to see that my body is responding so well to eating healthily, and getting enough nutrients from every food group without excluding anything. It just goes to show how dangerous drastic and exclusionary diets can be. 

 Fitness and health aside, I am in Salt Lake City for the weekend and having a great time. I took Alaska Airlines as they offer affordable tickets and I literally  had one of the best flight experiences I have ever had! First off, the plane was half empty so I got a whole aisle all to myself. Secondly, the flight is only an hour and a half long which is NOTHING compared to some of the international flights I have taken. A flight from San Francisco to Phuket (where my parents live) alone includes at least 1 stopover and is about 18 hours overall … it is pretty horrible. I have not got much planned as I have a lot of work to get done, but I want to try a few new restaurants while I am here. Salt Lake City has a surprisingly good variety of restaurants and some of the best Mexican food I have ever eaten.

Kayla Itsines Round 2 - Week 3 BBG

 SO EMPTY!

Kayla Itsines Round 2 - Week 3 BBG

Kayla Itsines Round 2 - Week 3 BBG

Destination, Salt Lake City!

What are you all up to this weekend? Who else just finished week three of Kayla Itsines bikini body guide?

Honestly yours,
Alice

Fitness, Health

Rest & Relaxation

October 8, 2014

Feeling tired, worn down and just plain sore all over? It is probably time for a rest day my lovely!

relax

Exercise can be addicting and sometimes it can be hard to tell ourselves to take a rest day. If your body is giving you signals of being tired and worn down, do not ignore them! Rest days are vital for allowing our muscles time to repair so they do not become tight and damaged. You must make sure you are stretching properly after each workout and taking a full day off of exercise (no strenuous hiking either!) to make sure you do not get injured. Overtraining can result in some painful injuries (shin splints, knew injuries and etc) that can make it hard for you to keep exercising. And if you continue to not let your muscles rest, you may tear or break something, and you may be forced to rest for months on end (i.e. no exercise for months)!

“Give yourself a break“

As well as physical rest, be sure to give yourself some ‘mental rest’ too. By this I mean the mean things we say to ourselves in our heads such as ‘Ugh, I am so fat’, ‘Why can’t I look like X?’. You would be surprised at how much of an effect this negative mental activity can have on you. Unfortunately, this sort of thought mentality is not uncommon amongst women today and I am certainly no exception. Although I have a pretty good attitude about myself and things in general, I can still get some really dark days where I compare myself to others and wonder why my progress is not like theirs. Having a journal really helps me get my mind off things, as does a good manicure/pedicure or spa day (if you can afford it, which I can’t lol).

Trust me, just take a day off!! Relax, recuperate and your body and mind will thank you so, so much for it. 

Honestly yours,
Alice