Have you gone up or down since January??

Well girls.... HOW are your progress reports coming along????

If you have a look at mine, you'll see only a very little change BUT in February I actually went UP!! Damn you February!! So to be down.... even if it's only slightly down... it's still down!! Plus, it shows I'm not lying to you and just saying I got results the whole time, because I AM HONEST!!

Small achievements over time, lead to a big achievement over the year!!

So, print off your one and have it so by next January you can see a big physical change!!!!

Also, I came across this really cool goal workout download on pinterest!!

So, I downloaded it so you guys can download it and pin it on your fridge to remind you to train!!!

USE IT!

Have another great training week! June is the next deadline for being below 15% for me... Whats your goal for June 2014?!

Erica xx

ps: I have been getting loads of emails from girls looking for some food/training advice, so if anyone else wants to send on some things, feel free to do so and I shall and get back to you as fast as possible!

pps: I ATTEMPTED to make healthy gluten free cookies.... with coconut flour, stevia and dark chocolate:

They were rotten!!! However, I will try again... and when I get tasty healthy cookies - you'll be the first to know about them :)

Weights VRS Cardio

Good morning all :)

Rightio, so today I want to explain the reason why women are now into weight training more so than cardio. Now, I am NOT saying that girls who weight train don't do some cardio also, but in a general sense.

So the easiest way to explain the difference is:

Cardio:
When you leave your house and go for a walk/run... you are burning calories while you're jogging along :) However, the second that you return home and your body cools down, it stops. You stop burning calories.

Cardio = calories burned while exercising

Now, cardio has LOADS of health benefits and I'm not saying that it doesn't, but I would suggest you combine cardio and weight training together to get that toned, lean look.

Weight Training:
When you start exercising using resistance training, you are putting your body and muscles under stress (which is what we need to do to burn fat) :). However, when you get home, you're STILL burning fat.... and this can go on for 48 hours - yipee! Weight training also produces Growth Hormone (which is VITAL, because Growth Hormone (GH) is the FAT BURNING hormone!) GH will not make girls get big, it helps us burn fat!!

Weights = fat burned while exercising and post exercising + produces the fat burning hormone in our bodies

So logic would tell you that weight training has a longer post workout fat burn effect that cardio. However, all that being said... ANY exercise is better than none! So find what works for you and make sure that you're always challenging yourself. Don't let your workouts get stale, keep mixing it up, combine it with clean eating and you will be ready this summer!!

That is all....

Have  a lovely Sunday girls :)

Erica xx

It's little chocolate balls of love

Here's a short one today girls :)

Since it is St. Patrick's weekend, I decided to make some healthy treats so the one I want to share with you!

Ingredients:
1 tbsp of cocoa
2 tbsp coconut segments (and keep for the end process)
3 tbsp of chopped almonds (toasted on the pan)
2 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp linseed crunch (a little bag of seeds that you can buy in aldi)
2 scoops of forever lite ultra chocolate protein
1 tbsp coconut oil (melted in the pan)


Method:
1. Throw all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix around.
2. Add in the coconut oil and stir around.
3. Roll into little balls and roll in the coconut segments
4. Pop them into the fridge and eat when they slightly harden!

YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY

If you want to purchase the low carb/sugar tasty protein that I use for all my treats to #cheatclean, have a scoop around my online store here :)

Also, I post up more recipes on instagram, so if you want to see daily food tips, follow me @ericabrennanblog

Have a fantastic Paddy's weekend,
Erica xx

Granola Bars... and crumbs

Looking for something quick and handy to keep in the press and have with a cup of tea?

Here is my recipe for healthy granola bars :) Here are all the ingredients that you'll need!

Now, I know that all these ingredients make it look like it's a lot of effort, but it's really not. If you go out and buy all these seeds then they'll keep for whenever you need them (and they're not that pricey)

These are the one's that I buy in Aldi:

Use the protein shake scooper...

One scoop for these four:

Two scoops for these three:

Three scoops of these two:

So put all of the ingredients in a bowl and then add the wet ingredients!
- Almond butter (1 tbsp)
- Almond milk (40ml)
- Coconut Oil (2 tbsp)

Blend them all together, put in a tin and in the oven (gas 6) for 40 minutes :)

They are delicious and you can enjoy them with a cup of herbal tea .... healthy and filling and full of fibre to help your digestive system work properly!

6 simple steps... lose fat instantly

Right,

Are you ready? Five things - food related - to do and you are guaranteed to start losing fat instantly...

1. Back away from the booze
I am aware that this can be a hard pill to swallow...

If you want to get shredded... you CANNOT drink alcohol.

However if you don't want to get shredded, but you do want to lose a bit of weight or body fat, then you still have to give it up. Drink destroys your ability to burn fat by inhibiting your growth hormone production. It really messes up your liver, which means you will struggle to detoxify your body. Therefore if alcohol is a big part of your life, you're destroying your ability to burn fat... which isn't a great situation to be in really, is it?!

So bye bye wine... And no, it doesn't matter if it is gin and slimline tonic... all types of alcohol will inhibit your fat burning fun. It's nothing to do with calories or "low fat" mixers.... it is all down to the disastrous effect it has on hormones in the body.


2. Stop eating margarines
All those tubs of margarine are a no-go. It's a simple change - move to real butter, organic butter or unsalted butter (ghee). Margarines are full of transfats which are highly highly dangerous!

So as a general rule... let's not put trans fats (everything that is processed) into your body, they're not good for you.

3. Stop eating processed food
Processed foods have been made in a factory and get transported to the supermarkets in boxes... really do you want to eat from dirty boxes.

Factory made food... well you don't need me to tell you that they're not good for you. Plus, MSG and chemicals don't help fat loss either... actually they inhibit it (plus MSG is awful for your body... you're body is a temple, don't put that crap in it!) MSG and Aspartame are some of our generations biggest, most dangerous inventions, and they are literally killing millions of people a year. A bit bleak, I know, but unfortunately that is the reality!


4. Start eating vegetables

You know they're good for you. Just eat them. Preferably steamed, not boiled, and as much orange and green veg as you can!

5. Stop eating the bold carbs
Bread, Pizza, Pasta, Rice (brown, occasionally)
You know they're bad for you... So stop eating them.
Better types of carbs would be Quinoa and Sweet Potato, but the timing is as important, preferably post workout when you're more insulin sensitive.

6. No more low-fat
Remember this: Low Fat = High Sugar

Sugar stores as fat in body and it sits on your hips! Avoid all the foods that say "low fat" on the label. They still taste delicious which means that lots of sugar and chemicals have been added to them so they still taste good. Ditch them. Eat less of the regular product.

Think about this: 
Our bodies are machines, they perform millions and millions of actions every second in our bodies. Now your body doesn't really care about those two kilos that you'd love to lose... if you consume a load of chemically processed foods with ridiculously high sugar. Your main priority is to excrete them. Therefore your body is not focusing on your weight loss regime. If you want to lose weight, help your body function properly so it can burn fat effectively, don't hinder it by eating the above foods.

Hope this helped, Erica xx