Okay, so it’s getting hotter and hotter by the day and I for one am being increasingly tempted by the sirens call of the ice cream van. But unfortunately a Mr Whippy must be for treats and not regular occurrences, for me anyway.
I need treats. I need tasty, cold treats that won’t kickstart my desire to eat more sweet treats and also keep me in my calorie goal.
So, I made strawberry yoghurt bark. Which is basically a flat mini milk. Kind of. LET’S DIVE IN!!!
INGREDIENTS:
Greek Yoghurt - 250g
Honey - 1 tsp
Whey Protein (Strawberry for this recipe but you could try other flavours too!) - 40ml (1.5 protein scoops)
Cashews - 30g (Almonds work too)
White Chocolate - 4 squares
Strawberries - 2/3, sliced
METHOD:
1. Start by whisking your Greek yoghurt and whey protein together. For this recipe I used strawberry, but you can use other flavours to create a different taste. It should now still look like yoghurt, probably just a different colour.
2. Add honey and whisk with yoghurt.
3. Finely chop chocolate to small shards. Leave half to one side.
4. Finely chop cashews, I find using the flat edge of a knife first works best here.
5. Add first half of chocolate and cashews to the mixture and mix together.
6. Line a baking sheet with foil or non-stick paper.
7. Pour the mixture onto the baking sheet and spread until approx. 1 inch in thickness.
8. Slice strawberries, place them on the top of the mixture and sprinkle the remaining chocolate on top.
9. Freeze for a minimum of 2 hours or until frozen solid. Break apart, slice or chop into squares to serve.
10. You can keep these in the freezer to have later as a tasty treat too!
Prep time took me around 10 minutes and was SO worth the freezing time wait. Macros showed below are for 1 serving of 10 qual parts and you can find my recipe on Calorie Counter +. Enjoy!
“I think it was 32kg?” - The first two words of this sentence, as a personal trainer, are my worst nightmare. If you think you were using a certain weight, that’s not helpful to me. The whole point of periodised programming is to make the workouts progressively harder so your body can adapt to the new weight. My whole programming revolves around sets, reps and weight. If you don’t know where you finished last time, I don’t know where to start this time.
It’s hard enough to walk into a gym and get training, so there is no need to make it harder for yourself by not knowing what you’re doing. Whether you’re a novice or an athlete, tracking is fundamental. It should become as essential to your workout as your drink (if you don’t have a drink with you when you workout, check yourself).
Tracking your workouts enables you to continue to progress and keep that progression line as linear as possible. You can see where you left off, when you’ve had good sessions or not so good sessions, you can see where you may need to change things. Whether you’re going old school with a notebook and pen, downloading an app, or jotting it down on your phone notes, it doesn’t matter. WRITE IT DOWN.
“But what do I write down Jess?!” Everything. The more detail the better! What was the exercise? How many sets, reps? What weight were you using? How much rest? How did you feel after your set? These are some perfect examples of what could go into your tracking diary. From here, you can start to paint a picture of how your training is going and what might be holding you back. Even tracking the time of day you were at the gym can help. Maybe you didn’t have the best session, did you go later than normal? Didn’t sleep as well? These are all massive contributing factors to your everyday training.
Not only is tracking an excellent way to stay on target, but it’s also the perfect tool for when you want to quit. Especially if your goal is aesthetic based. You’ve been working hard for a few weeks and you feel like you don’t look any different. Well, take a look at your training log. I can almost promise you that you’re probably lifting heavier, running for longer, or whatever the exercise may be. You’ve almost certainly got better at it. Making progress is hard, they’ll be many times you think it’s not working, but having solid proof to tell you otherwise never goes amiss.
If you’re looking to start working with a personal trainer and you can bring them a record of what you’ve been doing, I can guarantee you they’ll be thrilled. It gives us such a better picture of your exercise history and means we can build you a programme that will be even more effective for you.
If you don’t know where to start, do just that. Start. Even taking photos of the weight stack on the leg press. Small steps for big changes. My challenge to you? Try tracking your workouts for a week, see where it takes you.
So you’ve joined the gym, great! Good for you. You’ve made the first step in the right direction. So now you need to pack your gym bag and get going. So, uuuhhhh, what do you need? What are you expecting when you get there? What are you going to do when you get there?! Oh man, you don’t know. Just go tomorrow. You’ll feel better tomorrow.
This thought process is something I see A LOT with new gym members. The thought of going is often worse than the workout itself. Especially for those who haven’t been to a gym before or who are trying something new. Well fear not, I’ve written a quick Newbie Guide with 8 simple steps to make your journey as smooth sailing as possible.
STEP 1: READ THE WEBSITE
Each gym you go to will have different locker systems, changing rooms, amenities and induction regulations. To avoid encountering any problems on your arrival, make sure you have taken the necessary precautions. You may need to get a padlock for a locker or book an induction before you can book classes etc. Which brings me on to my next point...
STEP 2: BOOK AN INDUCTION
Booking an induction takes away any stress of “I don’t know how to work this machine”. The induction process will vary from gym to gym, but the overall experience is the same. Having someone walk you around the gym, show you where things are, explain safety procedures and show you how things work takes a lot of pressure off you. Some gyms will even write out a beginner programme for you! Speaking of programmes...
STEP 3: ENQUIRE ABOUT PROGRAMMES / PERSONAL TRAINING
If you don’t know where to start when you join the gym, but you still want to see progress, ask for help. It is a lot more effective, not to mention safer, to have someone lay out your workouts for you. As personal trainers, we look at the gym in a completely different light. We will be able to see so many more exercises that are suitable for you as well as giving you more variety and choice for your workouts. We try to make sure that you can implement these routines with confidence to keep you on track. With that in mind...
STEP 4: MAKE A PLAN
If you try to go to the gym ad hoc, it isn’t going to work. You won’t be consistent, so you won’t see results, which will leave you feeling de-motivated and lead to a cancelled gym memberships and a takeaway in front of the tv. Look at your lifestyle and be realistic about the amount of times you can go to the gym and how much time you can spend there. Find days that suit you and make sure you stick to a plan for the week. Make it a non-negotiable. If you skip once, you’ve opened the flood gates. But...
STEP 5: DON’T GO TOO MAD
Look, I’ll be honest. If you start the gym and start off training like an athlete, you are going to hit the wall very, very quickly. This level of training is not sustainable, especially if you’re a newbie. You need to build yourself up, one step at a time. Without getting too boring, theres this thing called progressive overload and it’s the most effective way to make long standing progress. It basically means that you make it harder as you go. But that’s for another post. You need to make sure you’re also having rest days and taking some time away from the gym. These days are just as important as the days working out.
STEP 6: DON’T STRESS ABOUT YOUR KIT
Okay, yes, nice kit makes you feel nice. And if you want to treat yourself to some fancy new leggings or trainers, you do you hun. But trust me when I say, it really doesn’t matter. All you need are a pair of closed toe shoes suitable for exercise and clothes you can move in. If you’re comfortable, that’s what’s important. Whilst we’re on the subject, everyone will wear something different. And that’s okay. Focus on you, let them focus on them.
STEP 7: NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU
I mean this in the nicest possible way, but seriously, no one is looking at you. People in the gym are usually way too focused on what their doing to notice you. Remember, everyone came to the gym for the first time once. We’ve all been in the same place. Good things take time...
STEP 8: KEEP TRACK
Keep track of your workouts. Whether it’s on your phone or in a notepad, it will keep you on track and also help you to see where you’re making progress. It helps to know how many reps you were doing, what weight you were using etc. so you can stay consistent and move onwards and upwards.
If you’ve recently joined a gym, get started as soon as you can. The more you wait, the easier it is to not go. I hope that using some of these tips will help you to feel more confident and stay on track.
I’m not petite. I never have been. Nor am I broad or tall. I’ve always just sort of hung out in the middle. I stand at 170cm (5′ 7″) and my weight hovers around 70kg (11st).
When I first went to the gym, I don’t think I had a shred of muscle attached to my body. I felt soft, wobbly and ashamed of my body. Baggy tops and a pair of primark leggings please!! I wanted to be as invisible as possible, I wanted to hang around in the middle, to just crack on.
Here’s where things got difficult. I wanted to be invisible but I didn’t know what I was doing. I wasn’t very good at running (or any cardio for that matter), nor did I understand anything to do with weights or resistance training. I didn’t know how to use my body. I didn’t know what to do with my size. I didn’t want to be in the middle. So I tried to get smaller. I started to run, lots, use the bike, lots and row, lots. I was eating a little better but I wasn’t noticing much difference. I always left the gym sweaty and I knew it was hard work, so why did I look the same?
Guess what? It wasn’t working, because it doesn’t work.
Guess what else? If you want to feel firmer and more “toned” (that word needs to die a death by the way, I digress), you need to lift weights. You need to use your size.
To cut a really long story about all my mishaps short, I started to lift weights. I started lifting weights in all sorts of ways. On my back, off the floor, over my head. And I was good at it. And I loved it. Using weights made (makes) me feel awesome. It makes me so proud of my body and what I’ve trained it to do. I love the way it makes my body look, the way my body feel. And probably most importantly, the way it made my brain feel. I didn’t hate myself anymore! I had hated myself for so long and all I needed to do was lift weights? Right? Wrong.
I had to find it. It didn’t just happen, I failed so many times. I beat myself up repeatedly, I wanted to quit, repeatedly. But what did I do when I felt like that? I dragged my ass back to the gym, and picked up something really heavy to feel better.
I’m not saying that this is right for everyone. Some people love running, some people love Yoga, heck, some people even love CrossFit. What I’m saying here is, you might hate a part of yourself that could actually be really useful somewhere else. I had big legs, but they made my squat strong. The first thing you need to do is try. Go to every gym, class or bootcamp you can. Find something that makes your brain settle, find something that makes you love exercise.
Find something that makes you feel strong as shit.
5 Healthy Lifestyle Changes You Can Make That DON’T Include Going To The Gym!
Lets be frank, not everyone likes going to the gym. That’s totally okay, it’s not for everyone, so don’t try to force yourself to like it because you’ll end up hating it even more. It may be that you do like the gym, but you’ve only got so far with it. Again, that’s fine. Let’s step out of the gym for a minute and walk into your home, your work, your everyday surroundings.
A quick disclaimer before you start. Pick 1 out of the 5 following changes to start with. See if you can maintain it for 2 weeks. If you can? Great, keep going and pick a second. Don’t burden yourself with too much at once, good things take time.
1. Limit your screen time.
PUT YOUR PHONE AWAY!!! Stop scrolling right before sleep, your brain is gonna be anything but sleepy if the last thing you saw on Facebook was that according to Stacey, Brenda from over the road was leaving her husband for his brother. What about this cute little puppy on Instagram though Jess?
I’m the cat. Not interested. Turn it off.
It’s also affecting your personal relationships. How many times have you had to say “What was that?” to someone because you were scrolling? Guilty!! We all do it, but try to get your headspace a little clearer and look at what’s in front of you. The quality time with your friends, partner or the real life puppies you could be seeing. Which brings me to my next point...
2. Step outside.
Yes, okay this can be weather dependant. But I cannot emphasise enough the importance of fresh air. My mum always used to say “all that fresh air will do you good”, I mean when I was 15 the last thing I cared about was getting fresh air. BUT, Mum, you were right. Get moving in the outdoors, get your step count up. Go to your local dog walking spot and look at dogs. Get a cold nose and then run indoors and have a hot drink. BREATHE!! Make a point of going outside for just 10 minutes every day and I promise you you’ll notice the difference.
3. Move your feet.
Have you heard that sitting is the new smoking? Can you believe that? A sedentary lifestyle has now been linked to a higher risk of developing cancers, heart disease and poor mental health. If you work in a desk job this can be twice as hard. But try getting up every hour and walking up and down a flight of stairs, or going to get a drink, or just popping over to Karens desk to tell her about Brenda across the road, “Can you BELIEVE it?”
Anyway, let’s let Brenda live her life because that’s Brenda’s business. The important thing here is that you’re moving. Whether thats walking the long way home or parking the car in the car park down the road, get those steps in when you can.
4. Sit down, DRINK. Stand up, DRINK.
Hydrate yourself. Now. Literally go and get a drink. Aim for 1.5 - 2 litres a day. Buy a reusable (climate change is real people) bottle and keep that sucker topped up all day. Water helps your brain function better, makes you less sleepy, improves muscle fibres and helps you wee to remove toxins out of the body. So, I mean, it’s pretty good for you. It’s literally the drink of life.
Why haven’t you gone to get a drink yet?
5. Night, hun.
Go to bed. Create yourself a bedtime routine. It will change your life. Treat yourself like a child and set a time and stick to it. Have a bath if you want, do your skincare regime if that’s what you like, drink a peppermint tea (hi just giving you my bedtime routine). Phone off. Alarm set. Dark room.
*Side note - if you struggle to settle, download the Calm app and go to the sleep section in the meditation section. I don’t think I’ve ever made it to the end without falling asleep.
Sleep is vital for good mental and physical recovery. Also, a good nights sleep generally just puts you in a better mood and makes you a nicer person to be around.
SO, there you have it. You might already be doing some of these, you might have needed a reminder or you may be doing none of them. My challenge to you for the next coming week is to try and implement JUST ONE of these into your daily life. Try it, see how you feel. What’s the worst that could happen?
I was never sporty. I was never into fitness, the gym, exercise in general was not even on my radar (except the occasional attempt at running, big mistake).
I got into fitness when I had finally had enough of feeling sorry for myself about the way I looked.
I hated my body. I didn't feel comfortable in my own skin and was constantly putting myself down. Not only was I unhappy aesthetically but my mental health was in the toilet and I was tired all the time. I even ended up having blood tests because I had no idea why I was so tired all the time!
Anyway, one day, whilst eating a share bag of magic stars on my lunch break (no judgement please it was a different time), it clicked. I was tired because I wasn’t moving, and I was filling my body with unused calories so therefore gaining weight and feeling awful for it. Something had to change. I convinced a couple of friends to come with me and we joined the gym. I made myself a promise I would go at least 3 times per week and that this time I wouldn’t cancel my membership after a month. The gym was just down the road from where I worked so I decided to go during the gap of my split shift.
The first time I walked in I was terrified. I was overwhelmed, under confident and had no idea where to start. All I knew was I wanted to be anywhere else but there. I felt like the biggest, ugliest person in the gym and i hated myself for even thinking I was capable of something as big as this. I didn’t want to be the only one in the group who bailed, so I followed my friends to the treadmills. Now let it be known that I was not, nor am i now, a runner. I am clumsy. Very clumsy. I wish I could go back and watch 18 year old me attempt to hold it together knowing full well, in my head, was something like this:
I kept going to the gym in my lunch breaks, even after a couple of my friends bailed. I was starting to feel better in myself, physically and mentally, I even met a guy (Hi Mike, I know you’re reading this)! But I eventually realised I still didn’t know what I was doing. I moved to a new gym so I could go with my sister and enlisted the help of a personal trainer. I can honestly say that getting a personal trainer changed my life. You can read a little more on that here:
It occurred to me that I wasn’t happy because I looked better, I was happier because my lifestyle was healthier. I was eating better, sleeping more, more social, moving more and generally having a little bit more respect for myself, my mind and my body. I was more confident about taking on new challenges. I was more confident to walk into the free weights area. I was more confident in the person I was becoming.
It’s taken me almost 7 years to get to the place I am now. To be the person I am writing this. I’m in the best place I’ve ever been with the relationship I have with life, but I know I still have so much more growing, learning and adapting to do. I plan on failing, I plan on succeeding, and everything in between. I have to trust the process.
Change doesn’t happen overnight, don’t expect that. Work on making longstanding changes and the rest will follow. Trust the process. Trust yourself.
It marks my final year at university, a year of huge responsibilities, changes and commitments. I’ve got one more year to kick some serious ass.
I’ve made some big changes in my life over the last few months. I quit the job I had for almost 4 years, so I could work a job I love, but which also leaves me with half the amount of income I’ve had since starting university. Adjustments and sacrifices have had to be made, and I’ve actually really had to grow up.
I’m throwing myself into my uni work spending my spare time and weekends reading journals and any sort of extra information I can get my hands on to push me that little bit closer to that first class degree. I’ve also been thinking a lot about doing a masters, so you know, no pressure there.
I’ve taken on the role of Ladies Captain at the rowing club this year, which is a big responsibility. I’m trying to organise freshers and intermediate rowers and make sure our squad is the best it can be, all whilst still trying to get my own rowing to a good enough standard to compete with the big dogs. It’s been a bit of a challenge I’ll tell you that.
Anyway, there’s a lot going on right now. There’s always a lot going on, but I firmly believe I’m the best version of myself when I’m busy, focused and working towards goals. I feel a lot different in myself recently, I feel like I really know who I am and what I’m capable of achieving. I know I’m heading in the right direction, I just need to get my head down and stay on track.
3 reasons why getting a Personal Trainer was the best thing I ever did.
About 2 years ago, I walked sheepishly into a new gym, where I had trained only a couple of times before alongside my sister, and sat at a table waiting for a man I had met for approximately 30 seconds before. Let me give you a brief background:
I had been dabbling in exercise and training for a few months, mostly very beginner stuff and not a lot of heavy lifting or isolating exercises. I had shifted a few pounds here and there, but my weight fluctuated regularly and I certainly wasn’t happy with where I was. I desperately wanted to get into shape, even to be able to run for 10 minutes without feeling like my lungs were about to fall out my arse would have been an improvement! I wasn’t necessarily classed as overweight, but I was heading that way. Something had to change, and it was probably going to have to be both my gym routine and the constant snacking on share bags of magic stars. So I got my butt into gear, moved to a new gym, and went looking for a little motivation and a lot of help.
Enter Paul, who over the next 24 months, would inflict multiple hours of both gruelling and satisfying workout programmes, flip my diet around, be my therapist and a couple attempts at my very own matchmaker. Paul is energetic, encouraging and never fails to make me laugh halfway through a difficult set. But all these reasons, are not the reason why I think it was my best life choice to date (not that there are a lot to choose from..).
1. It gave me the motivation I’d never had.
When I started training, I found motivation in myself that I never knew I had before. I needed that kick to get myself together, and to try things I had never done before. I still need that motivation now! Without a trainer, I wouldn’t have even thought about attempting a deadlift, that was for the bulky guys in the weights section. Now I’m up to a 120kg 1RM and would never shy away from the bar.
2. It added tools to my training tool kit.
I got to try new exercises and techniques plus play human guinea pig to all Paul’s new ideas. He guided me through my journey into fitness and provided me with everything I needed to make it on my own. Training on my own became a lot less scary once I felt more confident in what I was doing. And if I wasn’t sure? I had someone other than google to ask, who I trusted a whole lot more.
3. It made me accountable.
Having sessions booked and checkpoints to make made sure I stayed on track. I couldn’t talk myself out of going knowing I was having my stats measured and I sure as hell was not allowed to quit halfway through a session because I was “tired”. If I didn’t want to train legs? Tough, I hadn’t done it that week and I needed to hit my targets. This being said, it also added an extra layer of support to my training and lifestyle changes. This kind of support is priceless and I was grateful for it every time.
Looking back, I would probably still be eating all the wrong foods, or what I thought were the right foods but just not enough of them and feeling miserable on a treadmill. He said I could lift weights all week and even eat a steak for breakfast! What a life!
I’ve come into my own, growing in confidence and always pushing myself that little bit further than before. This is not to say that somedays I don’t feel like this, I’m not a robot, I ate half a tub of ice cream last week (sorry Paul). Long story short, it changed my life. I’m not scared to walk into the gym, I love myself and my body that much more and my physical and mental health ALWAYS come first. If it’s something you’ve been thinking about then what are you waiting for? If things don’t change, they stay the same.
P.S. - Paul, you’re still the bomb, even if I do hate your guts 60% of the time.
So, as the new year rolled in, I was keen to set myself some new challenges to push me out of my comfort zone. I wanted to see results, but push myself in both my training and my everyday life. With that in mind, I decided to take part in Veganuary. If you want to find out more, you can do so here: https://veganuary.com
Now I’m a pretty big meat and egg eater (or should I say was?), so this was quite a big deal for me, not to mention my judgements and assumptions about vegans. I was convinced that my training, my health and my mood would suffer and that I wouldn’t be getting enough protein to make progress. I was in for a serious reality check! With the likes of Pinterest, Instagram and some very helpful friends, I managed to find some great recipes and substitutes to make the month as painless as possible. Don’t get me wrong, there were moments when I cried over pizza, or stood in the confectionary aisle in Sainsbury’s for 10 minutes and I genuinely googled “medium rare steak” at one point. The first 10 days were the hardest, but I stayed motivated and didn’t crack once all month.
Along with a dramatic change in diet and lifestyle, I also made some adjustments to my training. I increased my cardio (ugh), the frequency, and style of training I was used to doing. With some serious help and encouragement from my personal trainer (Thanks Paul, you da best!), I worked on strength, power and muscular endurance all at once, mixing up my training and never doing the same thing twice. Needless to say, I’ve been working pretty hard this month! Nobody wants to get up at 6am to go rowing, then straight to the gym after, only to go back to do a 2k test the same evening. But if you want to see the benefits, you have to put in the work!
I’ve eaten some very tasty food this month, even managing to eat out, there are a surprising amount of vegan friendly locations hiding in plain sight! I’m actually planning to stick to a similar diet because of my experience, maybe just without being so strict on checking every single ingredient of anything I want to buy, and I will be demolishing a pizza as a reward tomorrow, but then I’ll be back to eating kale and chickpeas.
So now it’s the first day of a new month, and I’m feeling pretty damn motivated to work my butt off after doing my body stats today. If you’re feeling nosey and want to see the visual and written results of this crazy month, take a look at my next post!
I leave you with some pictures of some of my vegan adventures and probably a headache after all of that. Peace out ✌🏼
P.S. - It didn’t always look good, but I swear it tasted better.
So, so, so proud of my crew after our first race of the season this weekend. Went for power over speed and it seriously payed off, bagging ourselves a decent 3rd place finish and a pretty impressive time, beating at least 6 8′s. Feeling the effects of the weekend now thought because I am pooped!!
Just to get you all up to speed, I’ve started my second year of university, moved into a shared house, and still managing to juggle work, uni, rowing, training and a social life.
How you ask? I literally have no idea.
To say that it’s easy would be a lie, because some days I feel so overwhelmed I feel like my head is going to explode. There are days that I’m up at 6 and don’t get home until 10, to then have to do a load of washing and organise myself for the next day. I’ve had to make some sacrifices in my life, and it’s not very often I make time for myself to just sit down, but on those rare occasions I appreciate my own company more than ever.
In terms of training, I’m still working with Paul (my trainer) at least twice a week, he always gives me the extra push I need to work harder and stay on track. Rowing takes care of my cardio and endurance training, keeping my fitness (and exhaustion) levels up. Not to mention our coach always motivating us and striving for a successful crew.
However, over the past few months I’ve learnt that sometimes things like training and diet have to take a temporary back seat. Second year is a completely different ball game and my work load has pretty much doubled. Taking a day off is sometimes required for the greater good of both my mental and physical health, and I’ve accepted that this is okay. It is completely okay to put yourself first.
100kg Squat, new PB!! Gaining some serious strength in my legs thanks to all the rowing and horrendous leg days I’ve been put through recently. Bring on the next big milestone.
