HOW TO GET FIT DURING NAPTIME | GREEN TEA

Can we do three cups a day?! Packed with antioxidants it's up there as one of the healthiest teas. If you can't stomach it maybe try black tea, also a super tea! Add lemon for extra healthy jazzyness.

Hold tight for a bit of a morbid moment. As a mum I've become increasingly aware of my own mortality, cut short: i want to live a zillion years with willow. She's one of my main motivations for this whole 'get fit during naptime' blog. I want to be as healthy as possible for as long as possible, for her. I'm sure all of us mum's share that. So it's great motivation when you see the benefits of green tea. I find if i don't get decaffinated i get a coffee like buzz. If that's your thing! 

Kaya X 

HOW TO GET FIT DURING NAPTIME | 30 DAY SQUAT CHALLENGE

Hey guys! We have started this challenge this week. Feel free to join in. My routine at the moment is the 'sun salutation' yoga routine in the morning to start my day feeling positive & energised. During naptime i try to do the squats & i end my day with planking! Let us know how you get on.

I have also been preparing a litre of fruit juice for the day. Packed with antioxidants. It's 200G blueberries, 1 mango, 1/2 a cucumber & loads of hemp seeds. I just keep whatever is left from breakfast in the fridge. 

Kaya X 

HOW TO GET FIT DURING NAP TIME | CARROT & APPLE CAKE

Carrot and Apple Cake

Hiya! As I said last time. Despite trying to be good, I can't resist a piece of cake from time to time. I try to bake my own so that I can tweak recipes to make it as healthy as possible.  This recipe was originally just apple but I've morphed it to include more good stuff (sometimes I even chuck a courgette in too) and good fats.

Ingredients:

2 apples

1 large carrot

30g of raisins*or other dried fruit

50g of coconut oil

50g of butter/spread

100g of caster sugar (or you can sub in agave but use a bit less as its sweet- last time I did 40g sugar 30g agave)

2 eggs

175g sr flour (or plain and 1tsp of baking powder)

1 tsp of baking powder

30g desiccated coconut (optional but lush)

Ive also done 25g less flour and added 25g milled flax before for omega 3s and fibre

1tsp of cinnamon (I wack in 2 but I LOVE cinnamon)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Grease and line cake tin (I'm lazy and just whack in baking parchment for a 'rustic loaf')

Cream butter, coconut oil and sugar together

Grate apple and carrot (or chop in a food processor). Peel if you like but I leave the skin on for more fibre and add to mixture

Add in raisins and eggs and mix well

Add in flour, baking powder, desiccated coconut and cinnamon and mix well.

Spoon into tins - my mixture normally makes either 1 large loaf or a smaller loaf and 6 muffins

Cook until golden brown- muffins take 20-25 mins

Loaf takes approximately 45 minutes.

It's lovely the next day as it goes squishy and a bit stodgier (in a good way!) and keeps for a few days in a tin.  I often freeze it in slices so that I can whip it out if people come over or I want a treat but can't trust myself not to eat a whole cake!

Obviously this isn't 'completely clean'. I will try it one day with just agave and coconut oil and feedback but would love to hear any other ideas for 'cleaning it up'.

Do you have any other 'clean cake' recipes?

Helen x

* i LOVE this recipe. Great for my increasingly fussy toddler too! I'll adapt this to a vegan recipe if anyone is interested. Also, I've been using coconut sugar & it is AMAZING! Kaya X 

HOW TO GET FIT DURING NAPTIME | COURGETTE FRIES & STUFFED PEPPER.

TWO FOR ONE:

Hiya! I'm Helen. I've been trying clean eating for about 8 months on and off. With diets most people aim for 80:20 ratio of good to cheating. Being honest due to my horrendous will power and penchant for cake, wine, gin and cheese I get more of a 65:35. Hopefully blogging will help me improve this but hey its still a start and I've seen improvements (I don't do scales and have lost my tape measure but today I fitted into a dress I've not worn since I fell pregnant. That is big news for me! Will get some measurements soon for people to have a better idea. 
On to the important bit, the food!
Today I fancied a picky clean tea (following a cake filled 2nd Birthday party today) and had a load of courgette's to use up and some marinatd chicken that needed a side dish.
Courgette Fries:
4-5 handfuls of almonds blitzed up/200g of ground almonds
50g of  grated cheese (I used feta and cheddar but in future I'd use parmesan)
Seasoning -whatever you fancy. I used garlic, mixed herbs and smoked paprika. Do it to taste
1 egg.
1-2 courgettes

Cut the courgettes into chip size,
Coat each one in egg,
Then in the almond/cheese/seasoning mixture
Bake for 15 minutes at 200 degrees

As there was mixture left I got creative (I hate waste) with some extra dishes

Stuffed peppers:
Almond/cheese/seasoning mix
Plus half a finely chopped courgette,  4 finally chopped mushroom and 2 handfuls of finely shredded kale (I used the bits from my juicer-classy).
Chop the top off a pepper, deseed and stuff with the mixture
Bake for 15 mins at 200 degrees
Both were lovely with the chicken as a tasty light tea. Yum.
I also had some leftover coating/stuffing mix so made some kind of veggie bake thing (like goodies bars). They're awaiting the toddler seal of approval but if they're good, I'll share the full recipe so watch this space. 

HOW TO GET FIT DURING NAPTIME | HYDRATION

Hey ladies! 

We are nearly through the first week! I've just had a message on instagram mentioning a 6lb loss. That is pretty awesome isn't it?! 

I've been managing to drink three litres of water a day the last few days. I think at least two litres of pure water is a good aim & some green/white tea. Hydration is SO important for the body to rid itself of toxins. I feel more alert & have more energy because i am hydrated. It's important to sip rather than guzzle or you spend most of the day trying not to pee yourself, & after having a baby it's a challenge that we don't need, right?! 

I made a lovely vegetable chilli last night. It's a great budget friendly meal, & one that is our go to quick dinner. I take willow's out before we add the spices ;) 

I just fry some red onion & carrot, add some pepper & courgette. Then some mushroom & garlic. Once softened I add tinned tomatoes & kidney beans (organic if poss). Then i put aside willow's & add a tablespoon of chilli spice mix. Top with fresh coriander & serve with wild rice. 

I'm going to add an exercise routine tomorrow to mark the first week. I think we have a few ladies joining us from Facebook today so 'Hi' & the planking DOES get easier! I've found the yoga routine is coming together nicely too. I did it in the garden today. Bliss! 

HOW TO GET FIT DURING NAP TIME | GET YOUR YOGA ON!

Hey ladies! 

Not sure if any of you tried the yoga routine yesterday? i posted it on instagram (will link to mine at some point). I have found the planking SO much harder than expected but i think the yoga balanced that out as it should be practiced gently.  

I think i mentioned Himalayan salt on Instagram but it's worth a mention on here. I changed from normal table salt to pink Himalayan ages ago & it is amazing! The health benefits are great too so if you see it in the supermarket you will thank me! 

As far as eating goes i haven't managed to cook anything recipe worthy yet but I'll get stuck in next week. I'm trying to stick to healthy meals & cutting down on snacks. 

I've taken my measurements & my weight but i don't think we need to share those ;) I'll be checking them monthly so I'll probably share any changes?! 

Anyway, i hope you're finding it all okay so far. It's early days & I'm no expert so please stick with me & if there are things i can improve let me know! 

HOW TO GET FIT DURING NAP TIME | PLANKING

Hello ladies! 

I shared a post on Instagram earlier about wanting to improve my eating habits & finally start doing some exercise! I'm a total beginner when it comes to working out, other than a bit of yoga, which I'm still unbelievably shocking at. I thought it might be nice to get some other mamma's involved as we are all in the same, zero time to ourselves, boat. I figure this will be great motivation for us & any diet improvements will be beneficial to the kiddos too. No cheat days, you eat what you like when you like. It's about us trying to make better choices rather than strict dieting. 

I thought this would be a good place to share ideas & keep a record of our progress yada yada.

I'm still reading up on some beginners exercise routines but something I've seen knocking around on Instagram for a while is this planking thing. It's all about increasing our core strength. Will it give me a six pack? Probs not. I'm going to start this challenge tonight so feel free to join in if you like. 

I've got some ideas for shaking up breakfast that I'll post tomorrow (once I've taken fancy pants pictures). & then i think we have to talk water.. Until then, enjoy the planking!