Loads of Christmas Parties? No pounds to gain!

Hiiii,

Open your diary... How many nights out have you got over the next 5 weeks...? I would imagine, loads. Christmas is a wonderful time of the year and lets be fair, you've worked hard training and eating clean this year, so it's ok to let your hair down!

There are loads of tips to be shared around Christmas, but here are three for this morning!


1. Eat. 

Continue to eat well, everyday, keep eating clean. Eat before you go out (unless you're going out for food, then go hungry), but if you eat before you go out for drinks, it'll stop you nibbling or ordering junk food. I know most women like going out hungry, because they feel leaner.... If you're hungry, your willpower will need to be stronger and with 5 vodka's in you... your judgement may be tainted.

Throughout the festive season, I'll post up on instagram great dinners to eat before you go out. One's that'll fill you, but not make you bloated.

2. Water.

I feel like a broken record when it come's to the water topic, but seriously, we don't drink enough of it. Water is key! When we drink alcohol, we get massively dehydrated, so it's vital that you're
drinking loads of water everyday throughout the holidays. Drink a glass of water in between each drink too. You'll be amazed at how much it helps!

3. Make a commitment. 

Before you go out, have decided that no matter what happens that night, you will not binge eat the next day. We all know that the biggest problem with night's out is the next day, where we want nothing else apart from a Pizza or Chinese take away and coke. DON'T DO IT!!!!!

Have food in your house and MAKE yourself eat well! I'm not saying that you'll always stay committed to your commitment, but it you make one with yourself, there's more of a chance.

Hope these three help! I'll post up more over the festive season :)

Erica xx

Ps.

(Go to the gym, even if you're dying.... go! 10 minutes on a bike will make you feel better.)

Hangover Protocol:
- Water
- Heap load of supplements
- Water
- Shower
- Water
- Eat - eggs
- Herbal Tea
- Water - healthy snack
- Gym - do anything
- Water
- Lunch - healthy, but filling
- Water - herbal tea - supplements - healthy snack
- Dinner
- Water
- Herbal Tea
- Water
- Bed - early.

Are you healthy???

Hi girls,

Okay, so we're in Autumn. I love Autumn, scarves, boots, tights, jumpers... layers... they all come back :) Wahoo!!

So, today, i'm going to talk about "health". What is health??

Health is the ability to adapt to our environment and maintain optimal function. 

So, being very healthy, means that our bodies can adapt and handle any situation. So like, let's take the example of food poisoning. If someone who is not very healthy gets food poisoning, the result is... you're in bed vomiting for two weeks. If you are very healthy, you have a bit of a dodgy tummy for two days. Same thing with a cold, not very healthy... you're in bed, full on man flue, runny nose, sore ears, sore throat, can't eat, can't move and in bed for two weeks. If you're a healthy bunny... 1-2 days feeling weak... then you're back to your bubbly self.

How healthy are you? What has your year, sickness, been like?

Did you know that the average women in the UK, pops 60 Paracetamol/ Ibuprofen, per year... How mental is that!! Overdosing in pills like this is a road to High Blood Pressure.

Digestion, circulation and absorption are just some of the jobs that your body has to do every second of the day. Your body is a network that needs to communicate together - you are the guardian of your body. Treat it well.

Your immune system is the doctor within you. Your immune system identifies the body's enemy and destroys it. Strength of our immune system is based on optimal vitamins and minerals, another reason why we need to supplement. Our food, environment and lifestyle depletes our vitamins and minerals in our body. For example, one cigarette, depletes 25mg of Vitamin C or the fact that B Vitamins are depleted by alcohol, stress or a dirty digestive system. Please remember, 80% of the average person's diet is sugar... Sugar causes an imbalance, it does many things, but it uses up chromium in our body. Our bodies NEED chromium to build muscle (exercise depletes chromium too, so we need to supplement it!). If we have low chromium levels, our B vitamins get depleted and if we are deficient in B vitamins, we feel low.... :(

There was a study done - an orange was picked and it contained 180 mg of Vitamin C. By the time it arrived in the store it had 60mg of Vit C!!! All the goodness lost in the travels!

For you to get the correct amount of Vitamin A, you need to eat 10 organic carrots a day, how many do you eat per day? And to get recommended amount of Vitamin E, you need to eat 10g of Wheatgerm... Anyone?

So, are you healthy???

If you want some advice on what to do to get healthy, click here and send me your email, so I can get in touch with you via email.

Link to healthiness!

Have a great Sunday,
Erica xx

Ps. Something's coming......

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!

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

Beach Bod - swim wear - choose carefully

So we were chatting yesterday in The Gym about summer holidays and what not. So the big thing is, what swim wear is on the cards for you?

Swim suits? 
Want to cover up your midriff? Then swim suits are for you!
Here are a couple of nice ones on the market (click on the image to bring you to the website):

Bikinis 

One of my pet hates is tight bikini bottoms, don't do it!! They don't do ANYONE any favours! So we've bandeau ones (these are my favourite because I've no boobs). I also like these because I hate getting strap marks...... 

Or the bra type ones :) These are very flattering... 

Don't forget there are so many bottoms to choose from and it all depends on how good your bum looks in them!!

Low Rise: 

Pants:

Hipster:

High waisted:

My favourite one altogether AND it's from a great online store: Custom Vintage Dublin

Hope this fun, happy visualising your holiday :) Hopefully Ireland will be sunny and we can actually wear them here :)

Erica xx