Friday Fare, Health

Friday Fare – Sugar free and refined sugar free muffins

March 28, 2014

As promised, here is the recipe for the sugar free muffins I posted about on Sunday Summary two weeks ago!

Sugar free and refined sugar free muffins

sugar-free-muffins-recipe

I am going to share two versions of these muffins with you. The difference between them is that one is purely sugar-free (as it contains sugar-free honey made of xylitol) and the other is refined sugar free (and contains honey). Both are healthy and delicious, but I realize that sugar-free honey is not easy to come by which is why I am offering two versions.

This recipe was taught to me by my boyfriend’s aunt who is on a strict sugar-free diet to help battle her candida. These muffins are surprisingly fluffy and moist, and very very delicious. You can’t stop at just one, but the beauty of these muffins are that they contain a healthy mix of protein and fats with no sugar or no refined sugar! The sugar-free version is great for those with sugar issues, such as diabetics, and provide a sweet treat without blasting up your blood sugar levels. The refined sugar-free version contain sugar from honey (I use raw honey), and while this is still sugar, it does not undergo mass levels of refinement that most commercial sugars go through.

Although sugar is good for you (save a few who have medical issues with it) and IS necessary for the body to function, I try and limit the amount of ADDED sugar I ingest. And sweet treats tend to have a LOT of unnecessary added sugar which will cause you to gain weight in the long run and could lead to longer term health problems. This article is a great read if you want to know more about how excess sugar can negatively affect you.  Like excess ANYTHING though, too much of it will lead to weight gain and you putting on fat.

Therefore, I like to share yummy sweet things which have natural sugar-free alternatives or sugars that have not been refined. I would prefer you to stick to natural sugars if possible as we still do not know the long-term side effects of sweeteners, but liquid stevia is a good sugar-free choice.

Okay, informational talk and slight rant over!

Alice Williams

Sugar-free & Refined Sugar-free Muffins

Incredibly moist sugar-free and refined sugar-free muffins to satisfy your sweet tooth.
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Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

Ingredients for the sugar free muffin are
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 and a half cups of almond flour
  • 1/3 cup ground flax seed you can make this by buying flax seed and throwing it in the food processor for a minute or longer
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup almond milk
  • 15 drops of liquid stevia
  • 1/4 cup sugar-free honey
  • 6 tablespoons cinnamon or pumpkin spice
  • OPTIONAL: 2 tablespoons olive oil I prefer it without to be honest
Ingredients for the refined sugar free muffin are
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 and a half cups of almond flour
  • 1/3 cup ground flax seed
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup almond milk
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 6 tablespoons cinnamon or pumpkin spice
  • OPTIONAL: 2 tablespoons olive oil

Method
 

  1. 1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees farenheit and get a muffin tin or some muffin/cupcake holders ready.
  2. 2. Whisk the eggs in a bowl and then add and mix in the rest of your ingredients
  3. 3. Pour the mixture into your tin or holders and then put into the oven for 13 minutes.
Sugar free and refined sugar free muffins

Voila! Easy, fluffy and delicious sugar-free or refined sugar-free muffins!! Enjoy with some sugar-free jam on top, honey, some berry compote, with coconut whipped cream or any way you choose. If you make them, tag me in your photo and hashtag it #fridayfare so I can find you 🙂

Hope you enjoyed this post and I look forward to seeing your recreations!

Honestly yours,
Alice

Fitness

Cardio: How do I know what to choose?

March 25, 2014

I have such a hate and love relationship with cardio (cardiovascular exercise). I know I need it, as cardio has a range of health benefits and makes me feel happier and more energized in the long term. Although cardio should not be abused – too MUCH cardio can stress your body out and can actually cause your weight loss to stop – I personally like to do cardio a few times a week (plus I have to do it a certain amount of times a week since I am following the Kayla Itsine’s Bikini Body Guide).

Cardio Types

An important distinction to make with cardio, is what type of cardio you are doing. There are essentially two types of cardio: HIIT (high intensity interval training) and LISS (low intensity steady state).

HIIT Training

HIIT training involves periods of alternating intense exercise (sprints for example) with periods of recovery (a walk or a slow jog for example). HIIT training allows you to exercise at a higher intensity for longer periods of time than steady state exercise would.

LISS Training

LISS training involves long periods of low intensity exercise which can include activities like walking. You stay at this pace throughout the whole workout and maintain the same level of intensity.

What are the differences between HIIT and LISS training?

HIIT and LISS training both offer benefits and is still a widely discussed topic in the world of health and fitness. Which is better? Should we just do HIIT, LISS, or a combination of both?

Well, HIIT and LISS training are two different types of training, so it depends on what you like to do and what your goals are. I personally prefer a mixture – LISS training lets me catch up on social media and watch youtube videos on my phone (lol), whereas HIIT training is done in a fairly short amount of time. Both leave me dripping in sweat and making me feel accomplished.

Although both types of cardio raise your heart rate, at a lower heart rate (during LISS training) your body prefers to use fat for its energy, thus burning fat. At a higher heart rate, your body starts to use sugar instead of fat for energy, thus burning sugar and tapping into your glycogen stores.

So LISS essentially sounds like the perfect form of cardio right? That’s our goal anyway huh, to burn fat! Not quite so simple .. with anything, our bodies adapt to things really quickly, so at some point your body will get used to your LISS training and you won’t get the results you want and crave. Also a study was done by Pacheco which found that rats that did HIIT training lost more fat than the rats who did LISS training (however rats are very different to humans …). HIIT training has also been found to increase endurance, speed, and your metabolic rate (which may be why it helped contribute to the fat loss in the rats?). What is also interesting is that LISS has been touted as a way to lose fat and keep your muscles (HIIT training has been attributed to muscle loss), whereas other articles state that HIIT actually optimizes muscle strength and growth! Layne Norton wrote an interesting article on it and since hehas a PhD, I really value his input.

So see, there is still a lot of debate as to which is better and honestly I say do what makes you feel good and keeps you interested. And mix it up, keep challenging your body! Try a mix of HIIT and LISS and see how they work for you. Kayla Itsine’s Bikini Body Guide personally recommends quite a lot of LISS training (as she finds this the most effective form of cardio for slimming women’s thighs) and adds in HIIT training towards the end of the program.

I hope this article has been interesting and helpful for you! Let me know of any other articles related to this topic; I am always interested and open to knowing and learning more 🙂

Honestly yours,
Alice
References

Alfonso. (2012). What is LISS cardio? Retrieved from http://angrytrainerfitness.com/2012/06/ask-alfonso-what-is-l-i-s-s-cardio/
Guiraud, et al. (2012). High-Intensity Interval Training in Cardiac Rehabilitation. Sports Medicine, vol. 42(7), pp.587-605.
Itsines, K. (2014). Bikini Body Guide. E-book.
Obadike, O. (2012). Why does HIIT burn so much fat? Retrieved from: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ask-the-ripped-dude-hiit.html
Norton, L. (2012). Best form of cardio for bodybuilding? Retrieved from http://www.biolayne.com/contest-prep/best-form-of-cardio-for-bodybuilding/

Image from http://elitedaily.com/life/the-results-from-fasted-cardio/

 

Sunday Summary

Sunday Summary: Kayla Itsines Week 4

March 23, 2014

Hey everyone!

So, I have now officially been doing Kayla Itsine’s Bikini Body Guide for a month now. Woo-hoo!

Kayla Itsines Week 4

I feel really accomplished, the guide is not easy guys!!! The workout for weeks 2 and 4 were particularly hard for me because there were endless jumping lunges we had to do … jumping lunges are super hard for me. SUPER HARD. I am excited to see my progress at the end of the program, as it is a bit hard to tell at the moment .. although my legs seem slimmer 🙂

This week has been pretty all over the place this week. I literally went to Rubio’s (a ‘fresh Mex’ casual restaurant) about 4 times this week and while I think it is a pretty healthy option, the tortilla chips and delicious beer batter are not something to eat 4 times a week lol.

I also attended a crab feed for my boyfriend’s fraternity Theta Tau on Friday night and of course had loads of crab (which is actually not bad at all) and quite a few of the Portuguese pastries my boyfriend won in the silent auction (… not so good).

review of Kayla Itsines Week 4

Please excuse the lame crab bib!!! It was a necessity ..

The rest of the weekend was spent at my boyfriend’s parent’s house and it was lovely. We had a BBQ on Saturday (by the pool nonetheless, living the good life), and spent a good amount of time climbing one of the ropes attached to a tree. Needless to say my upper body strength has definitely gotten better as I actually managed to climb some of it! Three months ago, it probably would have been a different story. The rest was spent chilling by the pool and finally getting to read Cameron Diaz’s ‘The Body Book’ and drinking fresh squeezed orange juice.

cameron diaz The Body Book

My brother’s boyfriend has a husky!!! Isn’t he cuuute. I love him.

review of Kayla Itsines week 4 BBG

This morning we went to get brunch at the Vintage Press, which is a rather fancy restaurant in Visalia, California. I ordered a delicious shrimp florentine and had some orange juice and a cafe latte. They give you a pastry plate with your brunch and I am sad to say that I had a bit too many but eh, that’s okay. I am planning on trying out a bunch of new salad recipe’s this coming week to help me get back on track. Like I said, I didn’t eat particularly badly this weekend but my body is craving homemade food and more veggies again.

brunch in Visalia The VIntage Press

This next week is going to be a busy busy one, because one of my good friends, Siobhan (a.k.a. Shivvy) is coming to visit me all the way from England!!! This is going to be her first time in America and I am so excited to show her everything. She will also be my unofficial Honestly Fitness photographer as well so look forward to some fitness related video’s and photo’s! And just a lot of photo’s in general.

I am also working on making a special cake (try and guess what, I bet you will never guess!!), a savory lunch treat, and will be posting the recipe for the delicious sugar free muffins I talked about last week.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! What did you get up too? Let me know in the comments below <3

Honestly yours,
Alice