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gluten free

Fitness, Health, Sunday Summary

Sunday Summary: Kayla Itsines Week 3

March 16, 2014
sugar free and refined free muffins

Hello everyone!

This was an INSANE week for me! I had a research proposal and a presentation all due this past week, so I was working like a maniac to make sure I got everything finished and to some sort of a high standard. I don’t know how I managed to get everything done, but when it hit 10PM on Thursday night (yes, my classes end at 10PM), I breathed a sigh of relief because my weekend had finally started …

In addition to all this work, I had a really great consultation with Body Type Nutrition coach and fitness model, Stephen Box. He has been my secret nutrition weapon these past few months and has been helping me with losing the last bit of fat and has taught me a lot about nutrition along the way. Since I am NOT a certified nutritionist, I can always use some help and I do not think any of you should shy away from getting help from qualified sources. Anyway, I was feeling a little demotivated and he really helped set me back on track. So thank you so much for that, Stephen! Staying inspired and motivated is a key part of staying a healthy and fit individual and certainly not something that should be overlooked.

This weekend saw me making some very sound nutritional choices as my boyfriend and I went to visit his grandparents and aunt who are sugar-free and gluten-free, because his aunt has candida (which I actually want to do a whole post on at some point, because candida overgrowth is actually a huge problem). Ergo, this weekend was full of delicious meals and desserts which were guilt free! For those of you who follow me on Instagram you will have seen the photo’s I posted of all the yummy food and the beautiful scenery I enjoyed.

Kayla Itsines Week 3

Luckily for you all, I have been given permission to share some of these recipes so look out for them as I release them over the next few weeks. Here is a little teaser of one of the recipe’s I plan to share with you all …. 🙂

sugar free and refined free muffins

 

Doesn’t that look so good and fluffy?!

Kayla Itsines Week 3

So that’s it from me! Ohh, I guess I should state that I have officially finished week 3 of Kayla Itsine’s Bikini Body Guide, and will now be going into week 4. This week KILLED ME. So .. many … jump lunges … my god.

Hope you all had a wonderful week! Let me know what you got up too in the comments below 🙂

Honestly yours,
Alice

Beauty, Health

Crazy for Coconut Oil

February 11, 2014

Wow, so the most hits I have had on a blog post so far has been on the one about facial oils. Since a friend of mine pointed out that I had not included coconut oil, I decided it was time to explain why. Coconut oil is great as a facial oil, but I chose not to write about it then because coconut oil can also be used for a variety of things, completely unrelated to skin!

crazy for coconut oil edit

Coconut oil first starting blowing up because it has a ton of health benefits, as well as being gluten-free (celiacs rejoice!) and sugar-free (people trying to lose weight rejoice!). It was shunned for a long time by the health community due to its high content of saurated fats which was said to be linked to heart disease. A lot of new research has emerged that has refuted this by saying that it does NOT lead to heart disease or high serum cholesterol. Another study was conducted which found that adding coconut oil into an individuals diet seems to promote a reduction in abdominal fat. With all research though everyone, be sure to place it in context. These studies are not saying that MASS QUANTITIES of coconut oil will benefit you, they are simply implying that there are health benefits to using coconut oil. So be sensible, and use coconut oil sparingly as it is high in calories which means that if you eat 6 tablespoons a day, you are eating an extra 700+ calories. Make it fit within what your body needs (most people are recommended to keep the percentage of fat they eat to 20-35% of total calories).

Anyway, here is a list of some ways you can use coconut oil 🙂 You should be buying organic (if you can) virgin cold pressed coconut oil because it contains no hydrogenation.

1. Coconut oil can be used in cooking. Use a teaspoon, or table spoon of cold pressed coconut oil in place of your normal cooking oil. It can also be used in fun ways such as in smoothies, in your morning coffee, or as a butter replacement in baking. I LOVE baking with coconut oil and love the taste, but it is not for everyone. It is also amazing spread on toast with some mashed up berries.

2. Coconut oil can be used for your hair. This is not one I have tried personally just yet (quite happy with my serum), but I have heard from various online and in person sources that it has done wonders for their hair. Michelle Phan recommends using some as a hair moisturizer by leaving it in your hair for 30 minutes (or overnight!) and then rinding it out and shampooing and conditioning your hair as normal.

3. Coconut oil can be used as a make up remover. Yep, I use either coconut oil or one of my facial oils as a natural make up remover and it is fabulous. And what a good way to moisturize the area surrounding your eyes!

4. Coconut oil can be used as a moisturizer. It is great for particularly dry and cracked areas, such as the elbows. I also use it on my hands during the winter to protect the skin of my hands from getting gross and crackly. And this is a weird tip .. but if you moisturize some coconut oil into your feet, put some socks on and go to sleep, I swear you will ahve the softest feet in the world!!

5. Coconut oil can be used to make body scrubs. I have used it to make a brown sugar body scrub by using a ratio of 1parts coconut oil to 2 parts brown sugar (so for example mix 1 cup of coconut oil with 2 cups of brown sugar). You can also find other body scrub ideas here and here 🙂

6. Coconut oil can be used to make deodorant. Isn’t that wild?! Learn how to make a natural coconout oil deodorant here.

7. Coconut oil can be used as a massage oil. Kind of speaks for itself. If you want to give your significant other (or friend who you lost a bet with) a massage, simply warm up some coconut oil and use it in place of a normal massage oil.

8. Coconut oil can be used for oil pulling. I know right, what the heck is oil pulling? Well, oil pulling is seen as a natural way to whiten your teeth, and to boost oral health by cleaning gums and removing bacteria .. pretty cool huh? What you need to do is put 1-2 teaspoons in your mouth (let it melt first, in or out of your mouth) and then literally just swish it around for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes is up, spit it out into your trash can. Let me know how this goes for you!

9. And last but not least, coconut oil can be used as a natural lubricant 🙂 I got told this by a friend who had it tried and tested, much to her satisfaction lol.

we love coconut oil

I hope this was helpful and enlightens you as to why there is so much buzz over coconut oil. Let me know if you try out any of the suggestions above! Thank you so much for reading, and please leave a comment or subscribe if you enjoy the posts.

Honestly yours,
Alice

Academic Sources
Coconut Oil Consumption and Coronary Heart Disease – Kaunitz, H. and Dayritz, C.S. Columbia University, New York
Effects of Dietary Coconut Oil on the Biochemical and Anthropometric Profiles of Women Presenting Abdominal Obesity – Assuncao et al, 2009.

Health

Friday Fare – Coconut Whipped Cream

January 31, 2014

Coconut Whipped Cream Recipe

I am so excited to share this weeks edition of Friday Fare with you and teach you all how to make Coconut Whipped Cream!! My post on ‘How to Kick your Sweet Tooth‘ got a huge amount of hits, so I am excited to share this healthy dessert that is sweet, delicious, and not something to feel bad about eating. Again, it is all about balance so don’t go nuts and eat the whole bowl! But if you do …. hey, it won’t be that bad 😉 This coconut whipped cream recipe was taught to me by my boyfriends aunt, who happens to be sugar-free and gluten-free. It took me a while to understand how to make it, what to make it with, but I finally cracked it! It took me a while because you need to specifically get coconut cream, plus you need to chill it overnight.

Here are the ingredients.

INGREDIENTS-coconut-whipped-cream

As I previously said, you need Coconut Cream (NOT coconut milk, or light coconut cream, you need the hard full fat stuff), liquid stevia, and vanilla essence. I want to add that it is really worth it to buy a more expensive vanilla essence and liquid stevia as they really make a difference to the taste of the coconut whipped cream. Optional ingredients are unsweetened cocoa powder (I used this as the coconut taste was too strong for my liking), or another flavoring. You will also need an electric hand mixer. These are very cheap, I got mine at Target for only $6! It is not the best, but it does the job (a little bit more slowly though).

1. This first step is CRUCIAL. You must refrigerate your can of coconut cream overnight so that it stiffens up. This is what it should look like when you scoop it out of a can (if it looks more solid that is fine too).

photo 1

2. Once your coconut cream has been chilled overnight, open it up and scoop out the contents into a big bowl. make sure there is no liquid remaining because then this recipe will not work.

3. Start whisking away with your hand mixer for about 3-5 minutes until it takes on a thicker and more whipped consistency

photo 2

photo 3

4. Add a teaspoon of vanilla essence and 10 drops of liquid stevia. Continue whisking for another minute or so. Continually taste it and adjust it to how sweet you want it.

Ta-da! And there you have it! A delicious and easy way to make a healthy whipped cream 🙂 As you can see in the photo below, I added 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa because the coconut taste was a little too strong.

photo 4

The nutritional content is variable upon the type of coconut cream you use and if you use unsweetened cocoa. The following nutritional values are for the whole bowl of coconut whipped cream, so don’t be alarmed at the numbers … just try not to eat the whole bowl 😉

Calories: 700
Carbohydrates: 9g
Sugar: 0g (sugar free, yay!)
Fat: 71g
Protein: 6.5g
Fiber: 0g

Let me know what you think of my coconut whipped cream recipe! For next week I am thinking of making something like a sugarfree (but delicious) cookie or cupcake to put the whipped cream on top of … mmmmmm.

Honestly yours,
Alice