My Sayings.

When I'm running I feel completely free and alive. Just me and the road with nothing but me stopping my progress. I always find motivation when I'm running to post on my blog, and I thought I would share some of the things I think about when I'm on a run to help those who are looking for motivation.

When you're angry or upset, just run. Don't think about anything else just focus on the intense feeling of your anger or pain that is causing your mind the hurt. With this you can achieve the greatest feeling of happiness. Just running without thought. Listen to a powerful work out tune and go. Nothing feels better.

People always ask me how I stay so skinny, I never know what to say because I don't see it. No one ever does, to the eye of others you are so much more, so when you feel fat or low, just think about people's eyes, because they don't see inside your mind.

You are the only person controlling your mind, think of it as the temple of your body and your stomach as the people worshiping it, because they need the spirit of healthy clean food to keep praying in your temple.

Looking at images and thinking 'I want that' isn't going to get it. Getting a pair of aerobic weights and crunching and skipping rope and skipping will.

Be the person you want to feel like and look like the person others want to be like. That's the recipe for looking your best.

You will always regret not working out, but never regret working out. Do you want to live in regret?

Marketing is feeding you those unhealthy foods. not your body saying you're hungry.

What nutritional benefit will this have on me?

Looking in the mirror is your own torture and that's why it's motivation. If you see something you don't like, take a picture of yourself and you may be surprised at the results. 

Don't feel judged by others and their comments, negativity is from those who aren't trying as hard as you and doing anything to improve themselves. Go for your goals not other people's because that won't satisfy you.

Fabulous Five-a-day

We all know that getting 5 portions of fruit and veg a day is a naturally healthy way to get your daily amount of essential vitamins and minerals - but which variety should we be eating to get a varied amount of all we need?

I have been doing my research to find out which tasty treats are the best for us with the most benefits.

Although five a day may seem like plenty for most, to feel the full effects of the natural dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals we need for fully efficient bodily functions, you should be looking to be eating/drinking nine portions of fruit and veg daily. If this is difficult add these amazing foods to some of the following recipes. I have selected five fruits and five vegetables we should all be making time to eat.

Avocado - We've seen celebrities eating this amazing fruit for years, but why? Most people living in the US are deficient to raw fat, so when you seen the celebs looking so skinny it's because avocado's are brilliant for providing a source of raw fat and giving those who eat it a source of monounsaturated fat (also found in nuts such as cashews, olives, red meat, a lot of natural oils and whole milk products) which is burnt off easily. It also has a high riboflavin content which is superb for your metabolism, so if you find your metabolic rate to be slower than it should be or you wish to lose weight, eating riboflavin (also known as Vitamin B2) will give you the essential health you need to speed up your metabolic production rate. The yellow vitamin is easily absorbed by the body another reason why avocados are so brilliant to digest. Speaking of yellow, if you want a potassium update then reach for an avocado as it will give you two times the amount than a regular sized banana. With this fruit comes needed dietary fiber, Vitamins B6, C and E, and folate (a B vitamin we need for the reproduction and growth of cells). Try eating this with a salad, lean meat or for breakfast with a low fat natural yogurt and apricots for a great kick start.

Cranberries - So small but so powerful, cranberries are brilliant for anyone suffering urinary tract infections. This is because the red fruit has more antioxidants than any other fruit or vegetable, they are low in calories (a cup full has around 45 calories) and contain lots of fiber and Vitamin C. For those who find cranberries too sour, try baking them into plain vegan muffins with fresh lemon zest and juice to make the most of the flavour. Add them to a smoothie that maybe you find to sweet to balance out the taste or pop them in a salad with pomegranate seeds. 

Mango - My personal favourite for taste, mangoes are not just sweet and juicy but they are also a great source of protein! Mangoes contain amino acids, calcium, iron, zinc and potassium making them rich is minerals are bodies require throughout the day. A fruit pot of chopped mango is a great snack or morning meal because it's rich in Vitamins B and C plus carotenoids which are used by our bodies for immune system support and the ability to fight infection and prevent diseases. The colour pigment found in plants and foods is turned into Vitamin A and antioxidants to fight cancers and heart diseases. Enjoy eating mangoes to provide your body with it's phosphorus content to help your cells, folate, one of our most valuable vitamins needed for the producing and maintaining of cells and selenium to help decrease the risks of diseases and cancer. Make a mango smoothie with some banana and strawberries for a trio of morning goodness.  

Papaya - Not only does it provide support for anyone with a low immune system and give you a boost in the vitamin department, Vitamin C and E anyone? But it's full of healthy stuff like B Vitamins carotene's (the red/orange pigment that gives colourful fruits and vegetables it's natural colouring that is converted into Vitamin A for essential eye health and vision, immunity to coughs and colds and glowing skin), fiber, antioxidant and minerals such as potassium and magnesium. Another protection against cancers, papaya has anti-inflammatory effects and helps your digestive system, which is a perfect choice for those who have trouble with a regular system. Eat a papaya for breakfast with a glass of water or chop it up and make a sweet mix for your salad at lunch.

Tomatoes - Yes they are technically a fruit, for those who don't like the taste of raw tomatoes whole, try finely chopping them up in brown pasta dishes or make into a homemade sauce to make sure you're benefiting from the cancer fighting and chemical curing properties. They are full of Vitamins A to K so they help manage blood pressure nicely. Try making a delicious bowl of soup to get your essential vitamins.

Bell Peppers - Red, orange or yellow, the bell pepper is a heart healthy food that has proven to lower the risk of many cancers when eaten on a daily basis. Whether you like to eat them as a raw on the go snack in sticks or with a spinach and watercress salad, you may want to try them stuffed with bulgur wheat, apricots and finely diced onions for a vitamin enrich nutritious evening meal. A great choice for vegans or vegetarians as bulgur wheat is is low in calories and fat but high in fiber, however not to be eaten by those on a gluten-free diet.

Broccoli - A perfect choice for those with low immunity to colds and flus, this disease fighting vegetable is a mighty as the tree shape it comes in. Because of it's immune system boosting skills it's often eaten in colder winter months to help fight infections and viruses, but do not ignore this beta-carotene and folate fueled food in warmer months as it's useful Vitamin C is need all year round. It's antioxidant properties make it great for fighting cancers all over the body. Try it steamed with carrots and baby sweetcorn with brown rice for a lovely low fat evening meal. It's argued to be better eaten raw, so try dicing it up with some tuna and sweetcorn for a lunch time meal.

Carrots - Often a favourite with children from the saying 'carrots help you see in the dark' their the richest for antioxidant Vitamin A and a natural source of Vitamin C to help those who suffer from a weak heart or are genetically prone to heart problems. For healthy eyes, hair and skin eat carrots on the go as cut up sticks or bake them into plain vegan home cooking for delicious alternatives to chocolate muffins or cream filled cakes.

Spinach - This green stuff isn't just for Popeye, no this chlorophyll fueled food has everything you need to supply you with your necessary vitamins and minerals. Try mixing it in with some pasta, finely diced mushrooms, grilled chicken and a light mushroom sauce for a creamy satisfying evening meal, or try it on the go with a fresh homemade salad!

Sweet Potato - Lighter than often stodgy carbohydrate based 'regular' potatoes, sweet potatoes are filled with Vitamin A and C as well as manganese which makes it a rich source of anti-cancer nutrients. To add to the benefits of eating sweet potatoes, they are great for those suffering stomach conditions such as IBS due to the large amounts of naturally occurring iron and fiber, regulating your digestive system and giving you plenty of energy in the meantime. Eat roasted with sage, rosemary and cracked black pepper with some lean meat for that protein kick or slice and oven bake for a healthy alternative to chips or wedges.

A Weeks Worth of Healthy Breakfast Recipes.

We've all heard the saying right? 'Breakfast is the most important meal of the day' well they aren't wrong. Eating a healthy breakfast is not only great for waking you up and filling you with energy, but it also keeps you healthy through out the day! How? Waking up to fulfilling first meal of the day gives you the kick start you need to stop that sluggish feeling you get when you first wake up. After eating your meal within an hour of waking up, your cravings for sugary foods full of fat are significantly reduced, allowing you to avoid calorific snacking and maintain weight control and often resulting in weight loss. This skipping of snacks around mid day, keeps you from giving into temptation and allowing you to stay healthy. If you are feeling peckish around 11am, drink plenty of water until around 12-1pm and enjoy an orange, banana and apple. Not only will you be having three of your five a day, but you will be filling your body with lots of nutrients to keep you happy until dinner between 6 and 8pm.

So not only will having breakfast make you more awake and alert, but it will help with your overall happiness. No guilt from eating unhealthy foods and you will be more focused! Win win right?

I will admit I NEVER used to eat breakfast, which stupidly I thought made me healthier because I was eating less, so I thought it was less fat going into my body (I know I was naive) but when I forced myself into eating cereal every morning I found so many amazing benefits such as actually being able to wake up when my alarm went off, feeling alert all day, not wanting to eat so much food, wanting to wake up and enjoy breakfast and overall my skin and figure has improved! 

For a healthy way to start the day, read more below.

3 Questions to keep you Motivated.

We can all struggle during a work out to keep going when you're starting to ache, but asking yourself some simple questions can be the key to keep you going at the gym.

1. What do I want to look like? - Ultimately the point of exercising is to keep fit and healthy, but an active work out is a great way to improve your figure and stay slimmer. So think about how or who you want to look like and how you will go about getting to that point. If you want better abs, don't stop when doing your crunches! If you want to improve your posture don't lose patience with your yoga poses! It's all about finding a focus and keeping it. I think about my blog and what advise I want to give from my work out experiences, people often ask me health related questions about my diet and fitness and that keeps me going to show them what a good lifestyle can do. Staying positive is important to this question because asking yourself this shows you're willing to get there, and if you're willing you will. 
2. How will I feel if I stop? - I hate feeling guilty, whether it's because I had an indulgence on a pizza, because I didn't complete my work out or because I haven't been putting the effort into my fitness regime, stopping isn't something you want to do. Tired of starting over? Don't give up in the first place. If you know that stopping will make you feel guilty or you will regret not going on that run when you're bored then you mustn't stop.
3. When am I going to..? - Think about healthy foods in a positive manner, so many people are put off healthy foods because they think it will be too difficult or boring. That's not the case! When am I going to work out next? When am I going to have some water? When am I going to schedule eating some fruit? If you plan ahead when you should eat and when you want to work out, achieving fitness goals is far more realistic. For me I aim to eat breakfast by 9am, a mid day snack (fruit) by around 2pm and a light evening meal no later than 8pm. These little when questions keep you focused on staying in line with your goals.

Swap this Stuff! • 10 'Health Foods' that are bad for you.

A lot of the time things we thought where healthy actually aren't. Turns out for years we've been eating foods which aren't part of a balanced diet and no one told us. Here are 10 things you should avoid after eating all this time.

1. Toast - Yes I know it's yummy and delicious and tastes great with so many toppings and is perfect for a quick snack in the evenings but really bread is just no good. It may be promoted as being the bees knees, but really it's just... The same applies to rolls and buns an other bread like products. Why? Although we need carbohydrates for energy to keep us going, white breads and thick soft rolls are hard to digest and break down from the lack of nutrients our body needs for growth and repair.
2. Potatoes - You're probably thinking 'but they're a vegetable aren't they?' Yes they are, but they are also a big part of the carbohydrate family. That jacket potato covered in cheese and butter for dinner? Try something lighter for easy digestion and more nutrients than fatty cheese toppings. 
3. Pasta - Yes seems stupid doesn't it that something we thought for so long was the key to staying slim, turns out it's why your abs aren't smooth as the lasagna sheets you use to make your stodgy Italian dish. White pasta should be swapped for a small handful of brown pasta as an accessory to your salad. Bulgar wheat is a lighter approach that makes a healthy alternative to your evening meal.
4. Orange and Apple Juice - All fruit juice is a waste of calories that indulges your GDA for sugar in one sip at breakfast! If you want to enjoy that refreshing fruity feeling over your cereal opt for a home made smoothie, it had less acid, more nutritional value and can be adapted to your daily mood!
5. Ice Tea - Again a sugar explosion in a bottle, that 'healthy caffeine alternative' to an espresso on your coffee run in the morning can be made at home using green tea (an excellent weight loss aid and health boost) goji berries and lemon. If you don't like the citrus zing of lemon but want the refreshing feeling that it can provide try cucumber instead.
6. Calorie Controlled 'Low Fat' Portioned Meals - So it's under 300 calories, it's supposedly lower fat that the regular brand and is in the 'healthy living' section of your supermarket. Does that mean it's good for you? No. The meals you can pick up to be convenient are full of preservatives and sodium and frozen vegetables that by this point have lost all nutritional value, the 15 minutes it takes to heat up you could be enjoying a home prepped or simple home meal with out the added sugar and salt!
7. Pre-made Fruit Salads - It says it's part of your 5 a day and it's fruit so it looks pretty healthy, but really that juice that tastes so nice at the end of your lunch sized pot is a sugary syrup that adds nothing but unnecessary sugar and calories to your cocktail of fruits. Why not just have a banana and orange instead? 2 of your 5 a day and tastes the same!
8. Pretzels - Another marketing trick by those health companies to get you to buy a product faking to be better than a packet of crisps. These snack sized shapes from the 1990's don't fill you up because of the white flavour they are made from, which quickly makes you want to over eat, due to the sugar that's transferred quickly into the bloodstream. Best to avoid any of these tiny 'nibbles' that are pit stop snacks between meals. Just have a bottle of water and a piece of fruit!
9. Frozen Yogurt - Another alternative that's really not that much different, of course having less fat than ice cream is a bonus for your body but it shouldn't become a part of your usual eating habits. The high amounts of sugar and toppings that most seem to justify adding to it because it's 'healthier than ice cream' is just over loading on your sugar requirements.
10. Granola Bars - Those tasty chocolate chips and sweetened processed fruits that are added to give this snack it's flavour isn't doing your health any favours. If your on the go have some almonds and an apple that your body can digest and use for you through out the day! The same calories but more fulfilling without high fructose corn syrup added to it!

My Motivation Story

Everyone is motivated in different ways. For some it's looking at pictures of real people on social networking sites to see others doing things they can, for others it's looking at celebrities or watching YouTube work outs, for many it's just going out and doing it solo, some may need the power of friends. For me I like a mix. I use my surroundings to motivate myself. This is my story.

All images sourced from here

How to stop cellulite or banish it if you already have it.

We've all had that worry of those monstrous dimples that seemed to inhibit our backsides and thighs but despite being told 'there's nothing you can do' there is.
First of all stop buying into the beauty treatments 'guide to glowing skin' by constantly rubbing and exfoliating over priced products into your skin - They. Don't. Work. These 'miracle cures' can actually result into a worsened appearance to keep you hooked on buying the product. 

For those who know what it looks like but don't understand what it is or how it got there the simple answer is this: a dimpling of the skin from a fat tissue build up caused by one or more factors such as lifestyle and diet, hormones or genetic pattern.

How do we save it from scorning our summer bodies? Four simple easy ways!

1. Diet - A low fat and sugar diet filled with high amounts of fiber from wholegrains, fruits and vegetables will stop fat build ups and clogging in nasty places.
2. Exercise - A minimum of a 30 minute workout five times a week be it running outside or down the gym increases circulation to the troubled area(s) and muscle toning.
3. Water - Removing toxins by cleansing and flushing out your digestive system is easy to do with a minimum of eight glasses a day.
4. Say NO to - smoking, illegal drug use, alcohol consumption and eating high sugar, fat salt enriched foods, processed foods and caffeine.

To find out more information on cellulite in an easy read way check out these links: 
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/149465.php
http://www.justformetoday.com/get-rid-of-cellulite/?imt=1