A HEALTHY MORNING WITH ME.

         A healthy Morning Routine in the life of  Grace.

Every morning after waking up from the sound of my annoying alarm, I drink a cup of water and try my best to be grateful and thankful always, through prayers and connecting with my creator by listening and reading his word (THE BIBLE).
This is a great way to start the day, to be relaxed and thankful and clear my mind, a time to motivate myself and prepare for the world.

Then I go to the kitchen, boil water and make a detox drink; sometimes lemon and honey or just lemon. Detox drinks help aids weight loss, reduce inflammation, promote healthy skin, boost energy, detoxify and cleanse the body.

Recently I started morning meditation and it has been amazing. I just sit in bed, close my eyes and breath deeply in and out, connecting with my body for about 10 minutes, listening to a meditation audio. This is an amazing way to calm the body, giving it the chance to think more positively, feeling more relaxed.

I go through my to-do list and also set a target for the day: but I don't do this often.

It's time to appreciate myself and embrace me and my body, time to get some self -love in, so I just look into the mirror and look more careful like I am looking at someone else and I compliment myself. If you think of it, we are always quick to complimenting and judging other people but don't seem to do that to yourself, so taking a minute to do that in the morning will change your day. You wouldn't know until you try. I have realised I don't get upset easily these days and most times I take my time to think about the situation before reacting.

Then I play music to awaken my soul and I try to move around and get my workout done, for about 30 mins - 40 mins, just this holiday.

I then make breakfast and cook for the family. Today, I had a smoothie for breakfast and made pounded yam and gbegiri for the family as they love their solid, so I decided to make it for them during the day or morning time when they more active, even though its heavy but it's not bad for breakfast, compare to dinner and then going to sleep: not too healthy.

I then freshen up, brush my teeth and moisturise my skin. It's holiday and today I just took some time to chill and catch up with TV program, errands and other necessary things.

It is healthy to live a healthy life because you get the benefit after all; long life, lower risk of diseases, weight loss, maintaining weight, glowing skin and a lot more benefit.

Happy Holiday and Merry Christmas fitbae.

Brownie

Raw Brownie 

 

This brownie is suitable for everyone, including vegan. It is healthy and requires no baking. This recipe was a practical and I didn't take note of the measurement but trust me, you don't even need to measure it to get it right, that is how easy it is, you just need to follow step by step to achieve the right texture. This brownie is in three layers and below are the ingredients you'll be needing for each layers. For my recipe, I used about 1/4 of 250 g of cocoa powder and 30 dates and in total made about 7 portion. Probably could have made eight but the mixture was to yum, I keep dipping in.

The process is simple but I have written a lot so you get the right texture, because I don't have an exact measurement yet.

Ingredients

Layer 1 (Thick Cocoa Mixture) 
Cocoa dough
-Mixing Bowl and wooden spoon
-Cocoa Powder
-Honey( to sweeten)
-Oat( about 2 tbsp)
-Crushed Almond (add crunchy texture)
-Dried grape (Sultanas); to sweeten and more gooey texture.

Layer 2 (Gooey dates and Sultanas Mixture)
Sweet & gooey 
-Food processor
-Dates
-Almonds
-Dried grape(Sultanas)
-Milk to blend)

Layer 3 (Runny Cocoa Mixture)

Chocolate glaze
-Mixing bowl and wooden spoon
-Cocoa powder
-Honey
-Semi skimmed milk


HOW TO
Layer 1
Step 1:In a mixing bowl firstly pour in about 4 tablespoon of cocoa powder and  a 1 teaspoon or 1/2 tablespoon of milk(try to use milk with less fat)  and mix well with the wooden spoon till smooth, then add honey to taste (you can gradually add the honey and taste the mixture) as cocoa powder is not sweet on its own. (be carefully not to add to many honey and milk). The cocoa mixture should be a little thick, enough for you to hold in your hand.

Step 2:Then in a blender, blend about 1 tablespoon of oat, about 10 almonds and 1 teaspoon of sultanas. If you don't have a blender just chop the sultanas and almond with knife and use the oat like that or use ready blended oat.

Step 3: Add the dry blended mixture from step 2 into step 1 mixture and mix. Don't work if its too thick, you can gradually add tiny bit of milk to loosen the texture. The final texture should be like a dough texture( it shouldn't be sticky, but gooey and soft, that u can mold it in your hand and press into it), You can't go wrong with it,but be sure not to add too much liquid as this will require you using a lot of cocoa to get it back to the thick texture we want.

Step 4: In  cupcake paper, divide the cocoa dough into them (about 1 tablespoon full is on for each cupcakes) or you can spread the mixture on a tray lined with silver foil or cling film. (but i used cupcakes paper). Now the next step.

Layer 2
Step 1: Put enough dates, sultanas and almond into a food processor and blend. Gradually add a little bit of milk to bring the mixture together. (Just a little) and food processor work best for this process.You can use blender but it takes awhile. I tried using blender but switch to food processor and was easier and required less liquid.
Step 2: The mixture should be gooey and stuck together and press able too. Take about tablespoon of the mixture and put on layer 1 in the cupcake paper and press it down to cover the first layer or just pour the mixture on the first layer on your tray and spread it out with a spatula or your hand.(you might need to wet you palm a bit so they don't stick to the mixture as you press down on it)

Layer 3
Step 1: In a bowl add 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder and mix with about 2 tablespoon of milk till smooth and then add more milk to give it more of a liquid texture.( It should be runny as it is a glaze to pour over the second layer.

Final step: After pouring the glaze on the layer and spreading it evenly on the surface, its ready. You can have your no bake brownie like that or put it in the oven (with no heat) overnight, before storage. This is to dry it out so it have a more better texture and last longer. (see the different yourself)

Storage: Store in a container and put inside the cupboard. If you made yours on the try, cut it into smaller portion and put in container and store.

Note: Tablespoon is (tbsp) and Teaspoon is (tsp); the smaller one.

Weightloss and Exercise.

WHAT IS THE BEST EXERCISE FOR YOUR BODY TYPE. 

 To loose weight you need to know your body type so as to know what exercise to focus on and what to eat. Reading this will help you figure out your body type and exercise for you. 

There are three different body type which are Ectomorph, Mesomorph, and Endomorph.

ECTOMORPH

-Not muscular but can be skinny or fat(however this might be having high body fat and still have small size)

-Can overeat and yet gain a bit of weight( don't gain weight really fast) 

-Hard to put on muscle mass: you would have noticed this if you weight train. But the best exercise will be resistance training to build strength.( lift weights way heavy for you and do less cardio). Rest longer during exercise and can have up to 3 resting days in between sessions.

- Work different muscle group at the same time.

-Eat healthy quality fat such as avocado rather than butter and moderate protein intake, with carbohydrate .

-Snack less and eat light dinner.

MESOMORPH:  genetically blessed 🙂

-Can gain muscle mass really quickly and lose weight really fast.

-Strong and mostly athletics

-Best workout will be endurance and HIIT(high-intensity interval training). Adding in yoga or Pilates will help you lengthen with strength. Benefits of this HIIT workout is that you don't get to pay for GYM. You can workout at home. Check out HIIT WORKOUT on YouTube.

-Eat moderate carbohydrate, pre-dinner snack is fine, eat healthy quality fat...

ENDOMORPH

-Store fat easily; naturally curvy, short and will gain weight easily, due to slow metabolism.

-Exercise daily and move more but a day a week should be allowed for resting.

-Best exercise will be HIIT workout, Crossfit workout, weight training, and moderate endurance training(cardio). 

- Focus on completing your workout in short period and have only a little resting time. Always keep an elevated heart rate all through so as to burn fat. Do more repetition of lower sets with low sets. E.g 3sets of 8 reps push up. 

-Limit carbs intake but get more from vegetables and eat healthy quality fat  and protein to gain muscle and lose body fat.

- Best to eat healthy and low-fat breakfast after 45 mins or an hour of  waking up in the morning. 

-Skip snacking before workout and after.

-Can snack noon time.

-It is important for this group to be aware of their calorie intake.

You can also go to the link below to take a test to figure out your body type.

Click here.

Breakfast For Weight Loss

Top Breakfast for Weight loss

- Green and protein Smoothies: Make smoothies with green leafy vegetables like kale and spinach, and add in few fruits, milk and peanut for protein or even seeds and nuts. You can have the smoothie alone or top with more nuts and oat granola.

-Oat porridge and boiled egg : Always try and get proteins filled meal and fibre in the morning. Oats will help you stay full for longer which will help reduce the amount of food you eat.

-Branflakes cereals and milk: Easy and quick. Add seeds and nuts for more nutrients and fibre.

-Greek Yogurt with seeds or nuts: if you are the busy type and have no time at all, you night as well take yoghurt with you in the morning rather than having nothing.

-Chia pudding: This is really high in fibre and protein. You can make this overnight and grab in the morning. Put chia seed in a container and pour in any milk of your choice(just till it about to cover it), stir together and put in the fridge. You can top with berries or more seeds and nuts.

-Oat pudding: This is the same process as chia pudding but you can add in more ingredients from the start and then put in the fridge overnight ready for the next day. You can use yoghurt or milk or both together just be sure of portion size. This oat pudding can be topped with any fruit of your choice, dark chocolate, nuts and seeds and many other healthy options.

-Toasts and egg or with peanut spread: If you are a toast lover, always have it with something proteinous and low or healthy fat such as avocado, or peanut not Nutella. 1 slice with 1/2  avocado and 1 egg will be a great breakfast. 

- Fruits only: This is easy breakfast but it will be good to have a protein snack later during the day or more protein as part of lunch and dinner as this is essential for weight loss.

Tips:Always drink water when you wake up

Drink 30 minutes before meals if you can and 30 minutes after, this will help you stay full for longer.

If you can't do without chocolate, have it after breakfast or during the day rather than evening or at night when normally most of us become less active. 

Banana Ice cream

Banana Ice cream

Ingredients

Frozen Banana 11/2 banana

Milk 2tsp 

Honey 1/2 tsp

 

How to;

- Cut the banana into two or three pieces and freeze overnight. 

-Bring out the frozen banana and let it sit for few minutes before putting into the blender( this will make it easier to blend) 

-Put the banana inside the blender or food processor and blend. Gradually blend this; blend and stop and then blend and stop(always use a spoon to scrap the side to make sure the blend is covered)

-Blend till it's a bit creamy, add the honey and 1 tsp of milk and then blend.

-Then add the remaining milk and blend again till creamy. 

-Serve with dried fruit or seeds or nuts or even peanut butter or a bit of chocolate chips. Anything you want.

This is the perfect alternative if you craving ice cream and still trying to be healthy or on a weight loss journey. Enjoy. 

OAT ROLLS

Oat Snack Recipe

This is a  simple, good, no-bake snack that will keep you full in between meals as it is high in fiber and protein. It contains healthy fat from the coconut oil and peanut and low in sugar as honey is use to sweeten. This recipe doesn't require baking, and its more better than protein bars because this contains more natural ingredients. You can add protein shake to this recipe if you need to increase the protein intake, which will be suitable has snack during the day or even  before/after workouts.

Ingredients

6 tbsp Peanut Butter(no added sugar)
1 tsp Coconut oil
2 tsp Honey
2 tsp Milk
11/2 cup of oat

How to;
-Place the peanut butter inside a bowl, you can use smooth or crunchy but I prefer smooth.

-Add 1 tsp coconut oil, 2 tsp honey and microwave to melt the coconut oil (this should take about 10-15 secs).

-Bring it out and stir together to make a smooth mixture and the measure out the oat and pour it in a little and stir and then pour in the remaining. It is better to gradually pour the oat in so you don't put to much, as too much will dry out the mixture.

-To bind this mixture all together, add 2 tsp of milk and mix well.

-Take out small portion using a spoon or your hand and roll it into a ball. You can put a bit of dark chocolate, dried fruit or coconut flakes in the middle before rolling or just roll it plain.

-This snack is dense in calorie and fiber which will help you stay full. However you should make small balls has this recipe is high in calorie due to the peanut butter, which is healthy and proteinous but high in calorie

-You can put this in a dry cupboard for up to 2- 3 weeks or keep in the fridge.

Weight Loss Success 

           Top 10 things YOU need to do to achieve your weight loss goals.

1.Drink water: Water will help you feel full, detox your body and also stop your body from retaining too body fluid which can make you feel or look bloated.

2.Eat with small plate: This will help you control your food portion size.

3.Always have breakfast

4.Always have fruit and vegetables: They are essential for normal body function cause of there high nutrients which will help your body react to weight loss.

5.Cooking from fresh ingredients as much as possible: No processed food!

6.Snacking on low calories Have snack with calorie of no more than 200 calorie per its portion.

7.Stop eating 3 hours before bed time.

8.Moving More: Always try and move, especially if you have slow metabolism(your body use up energy really slowly). If you're not moving or exercising and eating more then your energy input and output isn't balanced and you will gain weight or not loose weight. To loose weight, energy output needs to be higher and you can achieve this by being more active or eating very small food, which isn't too healthy; as you won't be getting all the nutrients your body needs from very small food. For example; someone eating 1100 calorie or lower per day might not get enough nutrients from their meals.

9.Fiber: Eat more fiber food, it helps you stay full for longer. However, always drink enough water to avoid constipation. Fiber will help move waste from your digestive system and if there is not enough water, movement will be difficult. Eat your apple with the skin on, so as potatoes, and have more grains(brown rice, pasta..)

10.Cut down on saturated fat(bad and will increase cholesterol level) and sugar: Eat more healthy fats such as avocado, oils, nuts and if at all you need to sweeten your food, use honey or fruits. Add fruits into Greek yogurt and it will add a nice flavor.

Be sure to stay healthy. Its not a competition, no starvation, take your time and make healthy option alternatives and see the different yourself.