Recipe: Paleo Fluffy Bread

I have recently been advised to stick to a paleo diet as I have been diagnosed with a lot more food intolerance, I will get into this in more detail again. 

This is a recipe I came across for a paleo bread and I now love it.

Best of all, no bloating afterwards.

Ingredients

1 ½ cup Arrowroot Powder

1 cup Golden Flaxseed Meal

4 Eggs

4 Egg Whites

4 Tbsp Walnut Oil

1 ½ tsp Coarse Sea Salt

4 tsp Baking Powder

2 tsp Cider Vinegar

Coconut Oil Spray (or other oil will do – for the tins/pan

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Combine all dry ingredients. 

Then mix the wet and add to the dry until thoroughly incorporated.

Spray or rub your bread loaf pan down with the oil. 

(For the loaf, should be about 30-35 minutes).

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Fat Burning Total Body Workout!

This routine is for EVERYONE!

I have had lots of emails recently requesting basic workouts and easy at home routines requiring very little or no equipment. 

This is a workout I came across on You Tube. It requires two small hand weights, if you don't have these, two old water bottles filled with rice/sand will do. 

TOTAL BODY WORKOUT:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWMLfMhpJIsIsTcJUCQBqmf6SSjZ8X4jE

I have clients with small kids who say they don't have the time to exercise etc but this routine is fun and small kids can dance along to the music. 

It's 26 mins and you can keep the pace or go at your own. 

The most important thing is to keep moving!!! 

My abs were burning after 7 mins. 

If you are on Instagram you will find lots of his ab workouts there too. 

@doviesworkouts

Lots of variations and plenty of motivational pictures!

Follow me @geraldineby10 on twitter and Instagram. 

Remember...

Upper Body Workout!

I have to admit my favourite body part to work out are my abs, I love the satisfaction of seeing my abs show through after an intense workout! 

My least favourite part is my arms and upper body. 

I have a very weak upper body and since injuring my shoulder I am nervous to push it too much. After months of physiotherapy and rest I have been trying to slowly add weight back into my upper body routine. 

This mornings workout was as follows;

* Bicep Curls

* Overhead Tricep Extensions

* Bicep Hammer Curls

* Tricep Dips 

All X 15 reps 

* 25 Push ups

* 2 Min Plank

* 15 Dolphin Push ups

Repeat full sequence X3

As I am only just getting back to my weight training I was only using 5kg Dumbbells. 

I am still nervous about pushing my shoulder so I am going to continue with these until I know I can comfortably hold the weight. 

I bought those Dumbbells from Elvery's Sports, they are great and were not expensive. If you are a beginner it's best to start with lower weights. 

Here is the link:

http://www.elverys.ie/category/weights/0000000183

I saw this and thought it was great!

5 weeks to my holidays so the countdown is on...

Simple legs and Abs workout!

This workout is great for legs and abs. 

You don't need any equipment, it's easy for beginners and it can all be done from home. 

NO EXCUSES ;)

* 50 Jumping Jacks

* 20 lunges

* 40 calf raises

* 20 Plié squats

* 20 side lunges

* 20 pulse squats

* 30 mountain climbers

* 30 Russian twists

* 15 Ski Abs

* 30 bicycles 

* 40 seconds of upper body twists

Repeat x3

If you are a beginner, halve the number of repetitions of each exercise and start with 1 round, working up to 2 rounds and eventually 3.

If you are unfamiliar with any of the exercises just look them up on you tube or I find bodybuilding.com great for demo videos:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/workout/exercise.html

Stretching is so important after workouts so be sure to allow enough time to get some proper stretching done. 

It will make a big difference to your muscle recovery. 

Undoing a heavy weekend!

Two weeks ago I was in Galway for the weekend for my friend Sinead's 30th. 

I had a great night but I was so tired for days following.

This in turn interfered with my regular routine.

My exercise was far less than I would usually have completed and my diet wasn't as strict as usual.

I made sure I got in two great workouts.

This weekend I was out with my boyfriend for his friend's going away party. 

I had a few drinks and we enjoyed the night.

The following day I was craving carbs, and lots of them..!

I allowed myself some treats knowing I was going to get back on track the following day.

I also made sure to do some form of light exercise in the form of a long walk.

Today I prepared all my meals for the next five days.

All of the recipes are on the blog.

Butternut squash soup:

http://loveprotectreflecttheskinyourein.blogspot.ie/2014/02/gluten-free-butternut-squash-soup.html

Gluten free Muesli:

http://loveprotectreflecttheskinyourein.blogspot.ie/2014/04/homemade-clean-museli.html

I planned out my workouts and I am ready to get focused again.

I am going to do five days of HIIT to help burn fat and get a total body workout.

It is very difficult to be extremely strict on yourself ALL the time.

When I was, I found I got very stressed and anxious if I ever slipped away from my routine. 

Allowing yourself a night out and cheat meals are important too, it's how you recover from this that's important. 

Here is a post I did on Recovery after alcohol:

http://loveprotectreflecttheskinyourein.blogspot.ie/2014/03/recovery-after-alcohol.html

Active Rest Days!

Sunday was my rest day last week, and it was badly needed after completing a 10 km run on Saturday morning.  

Rest days are great because they allow our bodies time to recover and relax. 

In saying that, I always try to have an active rest day where I get at least some form of mild exercise in. I hate not exercising and find it hard to find a balance between over doing it and just getting in a light workout on rest day.

Sunday we went to Dublin Zoo.

 I live within a couple of minutes walk of the Phoenix Park so we decided to incorporate a long walk around the park en route to the Zoo.

We had lunch and chilled out at Nelson's Pillar for an hour and I performed some Ashtanga Yoga. 

The weather was amazing, perfect for practicing out doors.

We then walked back to my house where I did just ten minutes of ab work to finish off.

I saw this and thought it was great!

 3 very simple steps in the right direction: