eat – ShakeUpFit

February 6, 2016 — No Comments

Choco brownies – Sweet treats

Mix Brownies

I made this recipe for the first time last night and they went down a storm. The look on people's faces when I said there were choco brownies that contained no chocolate was hilarious. Have to say, much easier recipe than expected and not too long to make either! Hilariously I can't even taste the mix due to my complete dislike of anything chocolatey! This one was inspired by the amazing Ella Woodward who's recipe book I always refer back to when looking for inspiration.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons of chia seeds
400g of black beans (canned is fine)
200g ground almonds
200ml coconut milk
2 tablespoons of coconut milk
13 tablespoons of maple syrup
7 tablespoons of cacao powder
20 red apples
1 tablespoon of cinnamon

First, you need to make the apple puree. This is needed to help keep the mix sticky and stay together. Peel and core the apples cutting them into bite-sized pieces. Put in a saucepan with only about 2cm of water and boil for about 45 minutes or until soft. Once they have gone soft, blend it altogether or mash it as best as possible mixing in 3 tablespoons of maple syrup and the cinnamon. This can then be stored for about a week in the fridge or I usually freeze it and take it out when needed. For this recipe, you only need about 200g of this mix so freeze the rest once you've made a batch!

Next, put the chia seeds in a bowl with 140ml of water and let it sit for 30 minutes.

Turn your oven on to 180 degrees, 160 degrees for fan ovens.

Put everything into a blender and mix together with the chia seeds once they have soaked for 30 mins.

Line a baking dish with banking paper and pour the mix in, spreading it out so it is as even as possible.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until you can put a knife in the centre and it comes out without any mix on it. Then let it sit in the tin for 45 minutes. I know you want to eat it hot but honestly, this is when it starts to set properly so DON'T TOUCH it!

Cut into small brownie shapes and store in the fridge for about a week.

Enjoy and let me know how you get on!

Ciao for now x

Published by mbennardo in Food Tips, Recipe

Tags: bean, brownie, cake, chocolate, dessert, eat, gooey, indulgent, sweet, vegetable, vegetarian, yum

February 3, 2016 — No Comments

World Cancer Day – 4th February

Tomorrow, 4th February 2016, is World Cancer Day and today I wanted to post about cancer and how it has affected me personally.

This post is not related to my fitness as much but it does relate to health and keeping healthy and the impact good nutrition can have on your body.

Like most people these days, cancer has made a profound and devastating impact on myself and my family. We have lost a number of people closest to us to various forms of cancer. It can hit anyone at any time, any background, any age, any religion. Cancer does not discriminate.

The strongest memory I have of cancer is something that I find quite hard to talk about but I'm going to try and put into words for you now.

In my late teens, my uncle was diagnosed with cancer. At the time I didn't really understand what that meant. I assumed it meant he was ill and there would be medication, perhaps some tough treatment but that would be it.

It wasn't. For those that haven't been there the entire way through someones falling to cancer, the news that it is terminal and that all they can do is try and ease the suffering until the time comes, there is no way to describe it. The realisation that someone can go from seeming just fine, their normal self to barely being able to be coherent, to moving or to doing much for themselves in an exceptionally fast time is heartbreaking.

I watched this big, manly man who had always been in my life pale in comparison to what he was just weeks, months and years before. It was like watching a movie on fast forward and the knowledge that there was nothing I could do about it but watch.

That's not to even guess what the person going through it is feeling. How they feel being told they have been diagnosed with cancer, how they feel being told it's terminal, how they feel going through endless sessions of chemotherapy and cocktails of medicine to all be told it's for nothing and they are giving an expiry date. A date when the doctors would be surprised if they are still around the day after. Just let that sink in for a minute.

So the news came it was terminal and obviously everyone makes time to try and say their goodbyes. I remember this part so vividly. It was half term the week after, I finished school early on the Friday and was meant to be going to the hospital the Saturday, the day after. I had no idea why but something inside me was telling me I wanted to visit that day. I asked Mum and she wasn't sure, she said she'd moved stuff around so she wasn't sure if she could get there with me and my uncle hadn't been great that morning when she spoke to my aunt so maybe it was worth waiting until the day after. Something inside me kept pushing and in the end we went on Friday.

It was both the most horrible and best experience I can honestly say I've ever had. Horrible because my uncle was there, pale, skinny, barely coherent, hooked up to machines trying to keep him coming. He didn't know who we were. I watched my mum try and talk to her brother and get no response and although she was trying to hold it in for me she couldn't and the tears came. I watched this man who had picked me up and taken me to school just months before, struggle to form words, struggle to recognise his sister.

We stayed. We tried to chat. We tried to make light and joke. Then we came to say goodbye. That was when it became the best experience. I held his hand and kissed him goodbye and for a split second, just one he looked at me with his eyes and knew me. Really knew me. I don't know how to describe it other than he knew and I felt more than heard him say goodbye.

That night we got the call that my uncle had passed away. If I had waited until Saturday I wouldn't have got the chance to say goodbye.

Cancer hits and when it hits it hits hard. There are definitely some positive stories and they should be rejoiced and celebrated but there is also so much we are exposed to day in and day out that helps cancer thrive. Chemicals, plastics, processed foods the list goes on.

What I have taken away from my experience with cancer however, is knowledge. There are so many things we can do every day to reduce our likelihood of cancer and help our bodies to cope with the every day stresses. Eating better, stopping smoking, reducing alcohol intake, using and eating natural whole foods, changing our toiletries and makeups to those containing no chemicals and made only from plants, yoga, meditation just to name a few!

So take some time today to make a small change. Maybe it's change one product you have at home to a chemical free one, eat less processed foods, start exercising. It doesn't matter but do something. We can stop cancer but it takes all of us being more aware and using the knowledge that is out there.

Ciao for now x

Published by mbennardo in General

Tags: cancer, chemicals, day, death, dying, eat, exercise, health, heartbreaking, hospital, medicine, positive, vegan, world, world cancer day

January 19, 2016 — No Comments

Day 19 – Breakfast….why?

Sometimes it drives me crazy when people talk to me and ask about losing weight and my first question is always, 'what do you eat for breakfast?' and of course there is simply an awkward silence while they look at me with guilt.

Breakfast is so important it's the first step in any advice or discussions I have with people about their diet.

Let's switch it another way. Would you go 10 hours during the day without eating anything? Probably not. Then would you leave it about 14 hours between your meals? No, you wouldn't. So why would you do it overnight?

No matter how long you sleep for, calculate how long your body has gone without anything going inside. All night it has used what it had to repair, heal and restore your body as much as it can and THEN you make it carry on it's day only using what you had put in it yesterday.

So, it has been scientifically proven that those that skip breakfast are more inclined to be overweight. Why? Lots of reasons, but if you think that overnight your body essentially goes into a form of hibernation. It has to slow everything right down so that it can sleep and heal and restore. So it makes sense that it is still doing that until you wake it back up by eating.

The recommendation is that you should eat 2 hours from the point of waking up. It will wake your body up and kick start that metabolism into what I like to call 'day' mode. Not only that but your breakfast should contain approximately 20-35% of your daily calorie needs (we calculated that in one of the previous posts!).

What should I eat for breakfast?
This can depend a lot on what your day consists of but as a general recommendation, oats and natural cereals are great. By cereals I don't mean those things you find in boxes covered in sugar or honey or chocolate. I mean seeds and oats and mixed nuts, seeds and anything else we might call a grain or cereal.

If I exercise first thing, as I like to swim early, I will have a quick snack before I leave (usually my energy balls that I explained in a previous post) and then after I swim I will try and get some eggs, avocados, tomatoes in me, usually with a bagel or on gluten free toast. If I don't exercise first thing I often eat a homemade oats mix which I will post in a future blog post which will keep me full of energy for most of the morning!

I think for those who don't eat breakfast the key is to start getting some breakfast. I have a few recipe suggestions already with my baked eggs in avocados, smoothie and I'll post some more.

Remember, eat first thing!

Ciao for now x

Published by mbennardo in Food Tips, General

Tags: breakfast, eat, eggs, hibernate, important, key, oats, wake up, weight loss

January 16, 2016 — No Comments

Day 16 – Carbohydrates

Today we're discussing the infamous CARBS. Now when you all think of carbs you immediately think of bread, pasta, potatoes and think 'oh they are bad for me', 'I can't eat those', 'they'll make me put on weight'.

Now what if I told you Carbohydrates are one of the most important things your body needs. Carbohydrates are your body's main source of energy. It uses it for everything you do, breathing, moving, sleeping and yes, in some people's case, exercising. So on those 'no carb diets' how do you get your energy?

This is the bit that will confuse you. Carbohydrates are in much much more than what you expect.

Carbohydrates are in grains, beans, bread, pasta and a whole host of vegetables.

Does that mean Carbohydrates aren't bad for you?
When we say the word carbs, the ones that immediately spring to mind are the infamous carbs. Bread, pasta, rice, potatoes. What do they all have in common? Well 1, their colour, and 2, all of them except the potatoes, are highly refined. Which means they do not start out as white. The bread and pasta are refined to remove all the fibre out of the grains, which makes them easier to digest. Without those our body struggles.

So how do you know where to get your carbs from if it's not these places? Try this list:

leafy greens have the lowest amount of carbs out of the vegetables, this is your spinach and kale
anything with a stem or flower is next up on the list. Broccoli, mushroom, artichokes and cauliflower all fall into this category
the fruit of the plant are next up on the list. This includes anything with seeds in them. Aubergine, squash, peppers and avocado.
highest on the list are root vegetables. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, yam and other starchy vegetables

Now what that means practically, check out the steps below:

Reduce the amount of refined carbs you eat day to day. Find alternatives. Wholegrain rice instead of white rice, wholegrain bread instead of white and sweet potato instead of white potatoes.
Bulk up on vegetables. Eating enough of the good vegetables in their natural forms will mean you still get the carbohydrates you need but with all the extra vitamins and minerals that natural, whole foods will give you.
You can still eat white carbs, but my rule is you need to earn them. When you've done intense, high energy exercise your body will benefit hugely from an instant shot of carbs and the refined carbs can give it. Eating white carbs straight after intense exercise will give your muscles back the energy they have burnt, much quicker than it would do naturally and will reduce the amount of pains and aches you will feel the day after exercising.

So carbs aren't all that bad, you just need to understand them and know them properly and they can be added to your diet. Remember, the key to eating well is to understand your food, understand your body and use them both together effectively.

Ciao for now x

Published by mbennardo in Food Tips, General

Tags: carbohydrates, carbs, diet, eat, food, green, leafy, refined, roots, shoots, vegetables, white, whole food

January 9, 2016 — No Comments

Day 9 – Breakfast baked eggs with avocado and tomatoes

Baked eggs and avocado Whenever people talk to me about wanting to lose weight, or they are having issues losing weight or they want to be healthier, the first question I always ask is do you have breakfast?

Now, before reading on, do you have breakfast? It still amazes me how many people skip breakfast despite it being so important to your body. Yes if you skip it, it can cause you to put on weight in some situations but breakfast and the importance of it is for another post (even a smoothie shouldn't take too long to sort out).

Now one of my favourite breakfasts is mixing eggs, avocado and tomatoes in fantastic new ways and this recipe is just one of the ones I thought I would share. Obviously I served it with gluten free toast and lashings of butter but it was proper butter, not spread so that's better for you! Give this a go and try your own mixes too, next time I make it I want to add some chilli!

Ingredients
1 Avocado (I used one and a half because I had a spare half in the fridge that needed using)
5/6 cherry tomatoes, finely diced
2 eggs

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsuis and let's get started.

This is a very very simple recipe. Firstly, make sure the avocado is ripe, as if it isn't it will be really hard to mash and can sometimes be quite stringy. A good tip here is if you take the 'stalk' bit off the end of the avocado it can tell you the ripeness. If it's yellow, it's underripe, if it's brown it's overripe and if it's green it's just perfect!

Scoop out the contents of the avocado into a bowl, but keep the skins, making sure you remove the stone from the middle. Mash the avocado and the diced cherry tomatoes and add some salt and pepper to season. This is where I will add chilli in next time, cut very finely!!

Scoop the mix back into the avocado skins and make a small well in the centre. Where you made the well in the middle of both halves, crack your eggs. Now be warned, sometimes if you have small avocado and big eggs this can be a bit messy so I'd suggest putting the avocado skins on the baking tray at this stage so you don't have to move them later and spill the egg.

Put them in the oven to bake and now this timing depends on how you like your eggs. Runny eggs can take 12-15 minutes maybe, I like mine with none of the 'snotty' bits but not too runny a yolk (as I lose it as soon as I start eating it!) so I generally leave mine in for 15-18 minutes. 20 minutes or above will be a hard cooked yolk.

Then simply take out, add another splash of pepper, some buttered toast and devour. The creaminess of the avocado works so well with the sweet and tangy tomatoes and the runny hot yolks it's just delicious!

No more excuses for not eating breakfast!

Ciao for now x

Published by mbennardo in Recipe