Holiday Tips to not throw you completely off

Morning girls J

Holidays are great, the sun in shining (hopefully), which encourages us to eat lighter and drink more water. We’re resting and sleeping better (which is very important when leading a healthy lifestyle) and we’re re-energizing our bodies, which is so important of our mental and physical functioning. 

Before I go through my ten tips that I think make an awesome difference to going on holiday, I want to make sure you understand – you are on your holidays – it IS important that you enjoy some more of life’s pleasures for your short time away. However, you are not a dog, you should not be rewarding yourself with food. 

This is a holiday –NOT a binge trip :) 

So here are ten tips to hang on the healthy living boat while on holiday;

1.      Drink plenty of water – this is not hard to do. It’s hot. You’re thirsty. Choose water over coke.

2.     Meditate every morning on your deck chair.

3.     Pick a time of day to enjoy your alcohol - either lunch or dinner. Do you really need to drink at both meals?

4.     Bring your supplements (see below for the three I brought). Supplements are vital for keeping your body functioning, decant them, they’re easy to bring and will help you feel good when you eat crap.

5.     Watch the carbs at dinner, there are so many wonderful restaurants abroad; try to avoid pasta and pizza every night…

6.    Choose nuts over crisps. A lot of people may have a nightcap or a pre dinner drink, have nuts as your snack instead of crisps.

7.     Get a minimum of 8 hours sleep per night. 

8.    Make sure you eat lots of fibrous foods (leaves, veggies + lentils) so you don’t get bloated and clogged… 

9.    Walk or cycle when you’re going out… Twenty minute walk to your restaurant and back is still a little bit of exercise – something is better than nothing.

10.  Let your skin see the sun (even if you’re very pale, just for a few minutes) –Vitamin D is a very good mood booster J

My Top Three supplements:

1.      Aloe Vera Gel: Well, you know how much I swear by this stuff (full blog on it here) I need this every day – it is amazing! It makes my feel so much cleaner inside; it’s full of nutrients, vitamins, minerals etc. It is amazing for your digestive tract and that means you don’t get bloated J so this is the most important thing that I bring with me. I try to always travel with hand luggage (my wardrobe is flip-flops, bikini, shorts, top #casualchick) So I decant it into little bottles. 

2.     Garcina Plus: A well-known appetite suppressor supplement (I always say to make sure that you’re drinking the gel, when you’re taking these – they can be prone to clogging….) these basically make you feel fuller… So that’s good for eh well you know… not overindulging in the magnums. 

3.     ForeverLean: This is a supplement blend of fiber (super for a healthy gut) and chromium. Chromium is a well-known tool for stopping you craving sugar. Truthfully = I LOVE sugar, I would dive into a bag of sweets if I had the opportunity to. I am not joking you – I do not have a sugar craving when on these bad boys!

If you guys want to grab some of these, you can on my online store: www.ericabrennan.flp.com (and please feel free to send me an email if you’re unsure)

Hope these tips help you with your holiday pounds, but remember, have fun, laughter and don’t come back being disgusted with yourself – it’s not worth it!!!

Erica xx

Losing weight PITFALLS

Good morning, good morning :)

OK, so this morning, I want you guys to be aware of one of the major pitfalls that people who are trying to lose weight encounter. One big one is that; they listen to those who know nothing about losing weight and don't listen to those who do know how to lose weight. 

I know that sounds silly... but it's actually true. If you are on a fat loss mission - like most things in life, people do like to voice their opinions on the subject to you, and that's ok some of the time however sometimes you need to ignore the negative Nigels (that's what I call the negative people that I come across).It's amazing, people go to health experts all the time. They tell them how and what to do and yet they choose to eat a pack of biscuits with their pal at 4pm on a Tuesday.

If you want to lead a healthy lifestyle and perhaps you're on your fitness mission, then you do need to educate yourself on what you should be doing - food, stress, training, supplement etc. wise. You can do that by going to a good personal trainer or nutrionist, by researching online and by taking advice off people who live and breath a healthy lifestyle.

If your family cooks unhealthy dinners - then make your own! If your friends like getting fizzy drinks and croissants, then be a strong person, stand your ground and order water. If you want to reach your fitness goal then you need to man up and sacrifice the popcorn. Have food in your house and be prepared. If you cook unhealthy food for your family (you should re-think this), then eat your healthy dinner before theirs, so you're not hungry and you won't finish theirs!

The most important thing you need to do, is decide what you want? What do you want? What are your health goals? Is it to gain weight? To increase fitness? To lose weight? To shed body fat? To become healthier?  To get stronger? The one thing that is VERY important is that you need to know what you want. You need a clear vision of what you want and why you're being good.

If you set your goal - clearly. Write it down and visualise it daily then you need to reach into your inner strength and stay strong! The matter of the fact is losing/gaining weight is hard. Yes. They are. It will challenge you, it will make you sometimes want to quit and you will fall off the wagon. The problem isn't falling off the wagon though, the problem is STAYING off the wagon. You need to GET THE HELL BACK UP! Like anything in life, you must persist. You need to be eating well and training consistently. Not for a day or a week for like weeks and weeks! Persistence is key!

Choose who you're going to take advice from, and teach yourself what to do to get in the shape you want to be! Heck, email me and I'll try and help as much as I can.

Erica xx

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

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!

NO EXCUSES!

Hi girlies,

OK if getting fit is your plan for 2014, you NEED to try the Anti-Gravity Treadmill!!! You can burn over 1000 calories in 60 minutes and this is no joke! It is a great machine and if you haven't tried it, you need to!

Also, I really do reccommend gym programs and I am going to start designing fat loss gym programs for all you gym bunnies! But for extra home workouts and anyone who doesn't have access to a gym I will be uploading daily short workouts!! So stick to them!!

Lastly, make sure that you have you're 2014 progress report printed off and filled out!! I've mine done!

Download your progress report now!

Happy Sunday,
Erica xx

Change your thinking, change your life

Good morning girls, 

Cold Autumn Sunday morning - love them :) 

So throughout the week, i'm going to be posting up all the best defences now for coming into the Winter months. We have a lots of different problems in Winter compared to Summer like;

1. Our immune system is what we need to hit to stay healthy.

2. Our skin, because it's going to react with the cold windy air. 

3. The Winter Blues can be a problem for some people (Seasonal Affected Disorder = SAD)

So i'm going to post my favourite supplements and little tips up throughout the week on that :)

For this morning though, I want to share with you this little clip. I just LOVE it. Like I want to cry every time I watch it because I feel so motivated and ambitious afterwards. I've actually started to watch it every night (for the past two weeks I have). I like going to bed feeling positive, feeling excited, feeling happy about my life and my future; this clip ticks all the boxes. 

In the past two weeks I've received LOTS of exciting news… Which i'm going to be announcing very soon. News in relation our gym #tfa The Fitness Agency. So watch this space because it IS very exciting!!!

Happy Sunday! 

And remember, the only person who is stopping you achieving ANYTHING that you want in life. Is you… So move out of your own way! 

Love Erica xx