Choc - Coconut Protein Balls

Good morning girlies,

Hope you're all happy and healthy :)

I know, a lot people want to start baking protein healthy treats, but are a bit unsure and don't have many of the ingredients that a lot of recipes need you to have. So today, I made a very simple yet delicious cacao treat :)

Yum yum yum!!

So, what you'll need:

- 60g Chocolate protein (I like this one...)
- 1 tsp Honey (I like this one...)
- 1 tbs Designated Coconut (keep more for later)
- 1 tbs Ground Almond
- 1 tbs Coconut Oil
- 2 tsp Vanilla Essence
- 1 tbs Chocolate Chips (only a few...)

What you'll have to do for 5 minutes to make these treats:

- Mix all the dry ingredients together
- Melt the coconut oil and throw in the wet ingredients
- Roll into little balls and cover in designated coconut
- Place in the fridge and enjoy with some herbal tea

 DELISH!!

Enjoy them and have a lovely bank holiday weekend :)

Erica xx

Eating in hotels...

Good morning.... or is it morning in Ireland? Hello either way :)

At the moment, I'm in the USA, the company I work with give each and every person in the company a chance to travel all expenses paid twice a year - and if it's available - I will avail of it :) I will post my blog next week on the whole amazing experience that I am having! However, today, I want to chat about surviving in hotels...

I am always chatting with people who spend a lot of time in hotels, whether working or on holidays. Hotels are amazing, but it can be hard to eat well in them... all those pastries are just eyeing you up all the time!!!!

So, firstly, when you're in hotels, make sure you:

1. Are always fully hydrated; a lot of the time, we eat when we are actually thirsty, so if you make sure that you have a full bottle of water before you leave your room in the morning, it'll help your cravings.

2. Take some supplements; it's well known, that if we lack certain nutrients, we crave more things. So stay healthy. If you don't supplement, the first supplements that I would recommend would be Aloe Vera Gel, Artic Sea Fish Oils and Bee Pollen (see my store for more info on all of these: www.ericabrennan.flp.com)

3. Eat eggs; there are always eggs in hotels, so eggs are defo on the menu. Stay away from the pastries, toast and jam and go for the eggs, bacon, oats route...!

4. Pop two Garcina Plus twenty minutes before you eat: Garcina is a fat loss supplement that basically makes you feel fuller! If you're at a buffet, I know that all I want to do is to keep going back up and grabbing more little mini croissants - here's a brief clip of me talking about my top three fat loss supplements!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUm1It7gNOM&list=UUf4-nCt3dfyQ2KHEiGPQAWA

5. Buy nuts in your nearest shop and snack on them throughout the day! Do not go hungry... if you go hungry you're much more likely to binge! No binging in hotels!

Travelling is fun and when you're on holidays have fun, don't be too hard on yourself but if you follow these 5 simple tips, you'll not be punishing yourself but you won't come home feeling shit!

Happy Sunday,
Erica xx

Chocolate Almond Banana Bread

Morning :)

Okay, so it's been a while since I've experimented in the kitchen! So here's what I made for my Saturday night #cheatclean treat :) :) It is DELISH!!!


Chocolate Almond Banana Bread :)

What you'll need:
- 1 Chocolate Chunk Quest Bar (chopped into small chunks)
- 6 eggs (6 whites, 2 yolks)
- 4 tbs of filtered water
- 100g of vanilla protein
- 1 tbs Cacao powder
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 medium bananas (mashed)
- 5 tbs flaked almonds

What you need to do:

  


1. Preheat your oven (Gas 3) + line your bread tin with paper
2. Sort your eggs out + add your water
3. Mix your egg mix with your protein + cacao + cinnamon + baking powder (if it's too thick add some more water, but this mix was good for me!)
4. Fold in your bananas, almonds + quest bar :)

5. Pour into your tin and in the oven for 40 mins
6. Let it cool, pop in fridge and enjoy :)

It's delicious with goo in the middle.....



Enjoy your Sunday,

Erica xx

Cheat Clean Snacks

Feeling adventurous today?? Today, I'm going to do a big shop and prep loads of food for the week!!! I'm also, going to make some healthy snacks! For anyone that's on my facebook private group, you've probably noticed that my meal prep has been pretty brutal of late! So organisation is on!!


Baking is so much more fun than cooking so here are some treat's i'm going to make: *the links to all the recipes are on the names :)

1. Granola Bars

2. Health Krispy Squares

3. Nutty Protein Bars

4. Chocolate + Coconut Balls

 5. Flapjacks

6. Protein Balls

Happy Baking :)

Erica xx

How to survive when you have PMS

1. 
   PMS means premenstrual syndrome and is something that three out of every four girls will experience just before or during their periods. The symptoms can include feeling tired, headaches, finding it hard to concentrate, being sad for no reason, or just generally feeling depressed and being miserable about everything. 

   
   

   That is the definition of PMS... My definition of it is as below...

   
   

   

   
   

   The Urban dictionary defines it well "PMS stands for pre menstrual syndrome or pass me the shotgun".

   
   

   So, how do we actually not go completely bananas and dive into the ocean and destroy everything we have worked hard on for all the other weeks of the year?

   
   
   

   

   
   
   

   1. KNOW YOUR DATES - (download an app) you need to prepare (organisation is superb for eating clean so it is vital that you know your dates so you can be on the ball!)

   
   

   2. BE ORGANISED - you need to make sure that you have a fridge full of good healthy foods. 

   
   

   3. DRINK LOADS OF WATER - you will retain fluid now, make sure that you're staying well hydrated, water helps combat cravings. 

   
   

   4. MAKE SURE YOU'RE HEALTHY - by this, I mean, make sure you're fuelled up with good quality supplements, so that you're not lacking any nutrients. Good example of these would be Fields of Green (wheatgrass, alfalfa, greenies), Bee Pollen (b complex, multi vit and multi mineral), Vitamin C (self explanatory), Fish Oils (superb for brain function and helps us women stay calm and see clearer). 
   
   5. TRAIN - I know sometimes you'd prefer to chop off your own foot than to train when on PMS, but just do it! Even if it's not an amazing workout - any workout is better than none!!
   
   6. EAT - Follow all your healthy eating. Make sure that you're eating, don't go hungry, it'll only enhance your chances of eating crap. Start making some #cleancheats (check out my blog and other instagram bloggers for some ideas - they're are loads of great ideas out there!)
   
   7. HERBAL TEAS - They are so handy, esp at night when all you want is sugar... drink your herbal tea!!! You can have a piece of dark chocolate too along with your herbal tea :)
   
   8. DON'T USE IT AS AN EXCUSE - You need to stay strong!!!! This is your willpower test. Don't let your cookoo-ness destroy all your weeks of training and clean eating. Be strong and you certainly don't need to eat 10 dairy milks!!!
   
   
   

   

   
   Erica xx

Do you cheat?

Olaaaa,

Right, so I'm not trying to invent some diet, I don't believe in diets - they're stupid and unrealistic. I believe that we should all want to eat and live healthily and that's how I like being - fit and healthy.

Obviously, my aim is to live a healthy lifestyle, now as a lot of people know, I'm no angel and I break the rules now and again - but I believe that that's okay as long as 90% of my time is eating clean and training properly.

So, to try and lead a healthy life, I think that every week IF you've eaten very well and trained then you can have a "cheat meal". Now, it's important that you read that properly... "cheat meal" meal, NOT DAY. Meal.

My "Diet"?

Scrap "diet", focus on changing your meals and tastes to choose healthier options and become cleaner! So my advice to people who want to lean up in a healthy and successful way;

1. Eat
2. Choose food that goes off (if it lives in a box, it's not food - things must go off!!)
3. Eat meat, chicken, fish, veg, fruit, legumes, nuts, seeds, oils
4. Have a cheat meal once per week if you've been good
5. No fizzy drinks, avoid Aspartame & gluten as much as you can
6. Very little alcohol - like a couple of times a year
7. Train like a freak
8. Drink lots of water - like minimum of 2litres per day
9. Take supplements
10. Sleep 8 hours every night

What are cheat meals?

Cheat meals examples are:
- Take Out
- Sweets
- Chocolate
- Desserts
- Alcohol
- Pizza
- Pasta
- Rolls
- Anything bold basically....



How to live with cheating!

It's really important not to feel guilty. This can be actually very difficult. Like I often feel guilty, so it's really important that you know that you deserve to have your cheat meal! If you have been really good all week then waheyyy you can have some food fun!

I think by eating great all week, then going out or getting take out means that you're not missing out on going out with friends or going out for a birthday party. You don't have to become a bore because you want to eat well and have healthy insides....

Also, make sure that you savour your cheat meals, don't feel guilty and most importantly DO NOT LET YOUR CHEAT MEAL THROW YOU ON A DOWNWARD SPIRAL TO EATING CRAP DAILY!

Feel free to instagram your cheat meals to me @ericabrennan.pt  or post them up on my Food Club (to get into my food club, please just add me on facebook and I'll add you to it)

Have a great Sunday!
Erica xx

"Work Bitch"

I'm quoting Britney today... Although she is a long away from the pigtails and mini skirts, she has a lot of serious points! Like she is amazing, her story is incredible... my blog today isn't about me loving Britney, but it is about her song "Work Bitch". This song is vital for your workout playlist!!

We all have wonderful intentions but the people who actually reach their goals all have a few important things in common:

- They all set goals
- They all perfected visualisation skills
- They are all self motivated
- And they all SERIOUSLY GET OFF THEIR ASSES AND WORKED!

The process of reaching fitness and health goals seems to be very similar to succeeding in business. You will fail, whether it's eating those biscuits when you promised you were off them or when a business idea fell flat on its face. We have to fail at things, it makes us learn. It makes us grow. Failing is a major part of succeeding.

No athlete has just strolled into the Olympics, they sacrificed drinking at parties, eating McDonalds, late nights due to early morning training and a lot more. They were not lucky. They worked bloody hard.

That phrase is one of my serious pet hates.... "Oh they were lucky..."... No they were not lucky. They trained their ass off, they worked 100 hours a week, the went out of their way to get to where they are now. Successful people, it doesn't matter what department of success they're in, they all have one major factor in common - they will do what it takes to get where they want to be. No objection is going to stand in their way.

It's very easy to say "oh I want to be fit" or "I'd love to just fit into my clothes comfortably..." but how much would you love to fit into your clothes properly? Like how much? The reason, why people quit is because they'd kinda like to fit into their clothes comfortably, but you know, not as much as going out every weekend, and not as much as lying on the couch watching tv, instead of going to the gym. They want to be fit, but every excuse is better than actually getting up off their ass and doing it.

I'm not trying to dampen your efforts, everyone will fall off the bandwagon but it's vital that you stand back up and go again! This is the difference between where you want to be and where you are now. You need to not let a hiccup stand in your way. Get up and go!!! (and if your friends are giving you stick about you trying to become fitter or healthier or successful in business, if they give you grief - they're not your mates.)

Switch on and surround yourself with like minded people!!

So my point of all of this is, whatever you want to do, whether it's to succeed in whatever you do or to lose body fat or gain healthy weight, whatever it is - you have to work, bitch. You need to believe in what you want, you need to eat, sleep, drink it and you need to put 100% into your workouts (hence why you need it on your gym playlist)!

You need be 100% sure of what your outcome is, you cannot be fickle, you have to accept that there are going to be challenges, but overcoming these challenges will make it worth it.

Here's a million dollar question? Lets set the scene, you're at a BBQ and there's load of meat and salad, so you can be perfectly good, but all the desserts come out, you're dying for one.... Ask yourself this; " If someone was to give me a million dollars today for me NOT to eat any dessert would I eat it?"

Your answer is decision!

#cleantella

The latest craze is a yummy yummy substance called.... cleantella and it's a great way to cheat clean :)

Cleantella is a healthy "cheat clean" chocolate nut butter.... and my God... It. Is. Amazing. 

Without stating the obvious, it's healthier than nutella. Have a look for yourself.

My FAVOURITE way to eat clean-tella is on top of my Protein Pancakes... have a look at them. They are a fantastic combo!

You can grab Cleantella in our gym: www.facebook.com/thegymhowth. If you want to see some more cheating clean recipes that I share, follow me on instagram :)

Cleantella is all over Instagram, I screen-shotted some fantastic people's ideas for what you can eat it with. Or you can just eat it with a spoon!

Flattering Gym Gear :)

Morning Girls,

Good gym gear is SO important! It makes such a difference to your workout! If you are comfortable, training is so much easier! No one needs the stress of worrying about your leggings going see-through when you squat!

So here are some of my favourite, FLATTERING pieces that are on the market at the moment :) Some of the gym gear out there is deadly looking but those designs are ok for some, but they don't really suit me!  I like classy, steady and flattering gym clothes :)

ps. These are all my favourite gym labels!

Nike.com

Lululemon (their tops + bottoms are amazing!)

Stella (her runners are fantastic)

H&M

My favourite's are the stella and lululemon because the quality is fantastic. They wash well and they will last you years!!! I have some gear that I got 6 years ago that still look new. However, if you're on a budget,  the h&m + Nike stuff are pretty cool too!

I was out at the Nike Outlet in Blanchardstown, Dublin. It is fantastic! The stuff is such good value and their range of runners is overwhelming!

Have a lovely BH weekend,
Erica xx