Wednesday Workout| Results with Lucy| Lucy TOWIE Workout

I don’t know if you have noticed on Twitter, I certainly have, but Lucy Mecklenburgh from TOWIE has launched a new fitness video website and subscription service with the aim of making you look as good as her on the beach; www.resultswithlucy.com. Now I have to admit the girl looks good and its great that she’s promoting healthy living and inspiring former couch potato's to workout, but she’s not a personal fitspiration of mine, because I think it’s a bit unrealistic to think that I would ever look like her as to me she has always been slim and not struggled with her weight like I have. Plus I like a little bit more muscle tone. However I know millions of girls who would do anything for a body such as hers, so for you, she has shared her workout regime in an attempt to show you how to get #abslikelabs

Anyways after hearing about the website I was disappointed to find that there are no videos as of yet, just daily suggested mini circuits to complete at home. By the sounds of it I think when the website launches some areas of it will only be accessible after paying a fee as she is currently offering 2 free 1 year subscriptions if you sign up now.

So as the workout are just written down on Twitter or Facebook I decided to make a few little pictures so they are easier to follow and look better. The workouts themselves are designed by her trainer Cecilia and are mini circuits to be completed at home. The idea is that you complete a different circuit each day so are getting your 30 mins of exercise. as they are circuits the idea is to perform them quickly and to get your heart rate up so you are burning calories! For people who already workout a lot these workout may not be intense enough so so them a few times through, they are great if you want a quick workout.

It think these workouts are great for those who are pushed for time and want to burn calories quickly, but as with all circuits you get out what you out in. So make sure you perform each move correctly and quickly. If you move quickly between each movement you will burn more calories. They aren’t the most technical or imaginative or circuits so for those who workout often they may not be ideal but give them ago and let me know how you get on.

Had you seen Lucy’s new website? What do you think of it, effective and fun or nothing you haven’t seen before? I would love to know what you think.

Be sure to check out Chrissy Lilly’s amazing fitness and health blog. Need inspiration? Her blog will keep you right on track. Plus she’s a lovely girl!

The Ultimate Zumba Giveaway| Zumba Great Calorie Drive

Today is an exciting day, because today is the my first ever giveaway! I am literally so excited to be able to give something back to you all! I have been meaning to hold one for a while, but didn’t really have the funds, but thankfully the lovely people at Zumba Fitness emailed me and asked me whether I would be interested in hosting a giveaway to celebrate their Big Calorie Drive.

If you are unaware of what I’m talking about let me explain. Zumba  Fitness have been on a mission to burn calories to raise money for the Untied Nations World Food Programme. So far this drive has helped Zumba Fitness donate over 98,000 meals to the World Food Programme… how amazing is that! They have even got the gorgeous Olympian Louis Smith MBE and Sugarbabe Jade Ewen in on the act, both are now Zumba ambassadors.

From April till the end of June Zumba is encouraging people to check-in to classes via a free, downloadable smartphone app to donate the average number of calories burned in a Zumba class (750) to the United Nations World Food Programme. They are saying “Don’t just burn calories, donate them!” So while you are dancing your bum off in your Zumba class, you are not only getting fit and toned you are helping fight one of the worlds greatest health risks: hunger. Check out the video below to find out more.

So to help spread the word and encourage avid Zumba fans such as me, or newbies to get in on the act, they have given me the opportunity to giveaway the ultimate Zumba Fitness Package. This package includes everything that is in the picture above;

• 1x Zumba Great Calorie Drive Rhythm Rocker Racerback Top
• 1x Zumba Exhilarate 4 disc DVD Collection
• 1x Zumba Fitness Dance Party CD
  
  

With this package you will look the part, be inspired by their upbeat mix of  music, and be able to get super toned and fit with the help of their 4 disc DVD Collection. To be in the chance of winning this amazing package just follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway is open until the 30th June and is only available to resident in the UK and Northern Ireland.

Good Luck!

For more information on the Great Calorie Drive visit www.greatcaloriedrive.com and to be part of the drive visit www.zumba.com to find your nearest class, and download the free Zumba smartphone app to donate your calories visit- Apple app store or the Android app store

Have you already taken part in Zumba Fitness great Calorie Drive? Are you a huge fan of Zumba like I am? Did you see my blog post on the weightless results I got thanks to incorporating Zumba Fitness into my regime?

Mondays Meals| Healthier Pizza| Tortilla Pizza

My original low cal pizza is even healthier than this version, however I am yet to perfect it, so you will just have to make do with one of my other healthy pizza recipes for the time being. Now along with cake, pizza is one of my absolute favs! If I had to live off one food for the rest of my life it would be pizza, in fact when I traveled Italy a few summers ago I had pizza everyday for 11 days… that’s a lot of pizza!

Now my love of pizza obviously doesn't fit in well with my new healthy lifestyle… damn you Dominos! So I have been trying to find alternatives to the usual high fat and high calories pizzas you get in your takeaway or supermarket. Many of you will already know of this option, but for those of you who don’t welcome to the Tortilla Pizza!

It’s a very simple, very quick recipe. But if you have a pizza craving and are trying to eat healthy, this recipe will satisfy your craving and still be kind to your waist line. All you need are tortillas, passata/ tomato puree, mozzarella cheese and your choice of toppings.

Simply top your tortilla with your tomato base, then sprinkle mozzarella onto and then add your toppings. Place the tortilla pizza into the oven and bake for around 7-10 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the edges are browned.

Now although this isn't the healthiest of meals, it is still a million times more healthy than your local takeaway. Just look at the nutritional content of this pizza compared to the equivalent in Dominos. By making your own Tortilla Pizza which would be ready in half the time it takes for your takeaway pizza to arrive, you could save yourself 667 calories and 34.8g of fat. 

Nutritional Value for the whole pizza- 491 Calories, 27g Carbs, 28g Fat, 33g Protein, 

Dominos Small, Regular Crust, Pepperoni Passion - 1158 Calories, 104.4g Carbs, 67.8g Fat, 56.4g Protein,

Do you have any other homemade takeaway recipe equivalents that you make when you have a craving? Any other healthy pizza options that you would recommend? 

Check out Jennifer's gorgeous, cute and fun lifestyle blog Infinitely Charming. Full of beauty, crafts, fitness, life and more; all with Jennifer's humorous edge on top... what's not to love.

Fitness Friday| Not all calories are created equal

Today's post is kind of following on from Wednesday as I’m going to talk more about calories. Now I don’t normally talk about calories on here as I didn’t like to restrict myself to calorie counting as I find it to be quite boring. However if you are new to losing weight or trying to learn about nutrition then I would recommend it, as it is a great way to figure out exactly what is healthy and nutritious and what isn’t.

I have recently started calorie counting again for the next couple of weeks just to make sure that I am in fact eating right and not eating things that I didn’t know were high in calories, because it’s quite surprising at what is high in calories of sugar. Food and beverage companies know that health and diet related products sell, so they try to badge up as many of their good as possible knowing people will buy them thinking it will help them lose weight, but if you actually inspected the nutritional value on “healthy” cereal and bars you would be surprised! However I will save this for another post.

Todays post is my attempt to help those who are attempting to calorie count and don’t have a clue where to start. One of the biggest things I have to say is please never ever eat less than 1200 calories at day! Any lower than this means your body has to use your muscle as fuel. 

Onwards from the lecturing, many people calorie count and it does work for them, however one of the biggest complaints with calorie counting is “oh my god I’ve eaten all my calories and its only half way through the day!” “Oh my god 1200-1500 calories is not a lot!” This is a lie! As the title suggest, not all calories are created equal, the picture above demonstrates perfectly that if you eat nutritious and healthy food 12000-1500 calories is a lot more than you would think.

The biggest thing that calorie counting has taught me is how to fuel your body correctly, yes if I ate 2 slices of toast with butter and jam for breakfast, a sandwich and bag of crisps for lunch, a chocolate bar as a snack, I could already be nearing 1200 calories before I even sat down for my dinner (estimate that breakfast- 250cal + lunch 500 cal = snack 250 cal = 1000) However if you make simple changes and chose healthier lower calorie options, then you will have enough calories to eat throughout the day and still feel full. I’ve found that filling up of fruit and veggies as we should all be doing is a great way to feel full and not exceed your calorie count. Experts say that every meal we have should be half filled with vegetables. Perhaps this isn’t realistic for breakfast, but for your other meals it’s very easy to do.

Do you calorie count? How do you find it? Any other tips on how to keep your calorie count down?

Check out Jennifer's gorgeous, cute and fun lifestyle blog Infinitely Charming. Full of beauty, crafts, fitness, life and more; all with Jennifer's humorous edge on top... what's not to love.

Chocolate inspired Cupcakes

Oh cupcakes! I think I would already have abs if it wasn’t for cupcakes. But what would life be without cake! Let’s be realistic I’m never going to give up cake and chocolate. I really need to get going with finding the perfect healthy cupcake recipe… however I doubt it will ever come close to a fluffy, soft, spongy cupcake.

As everyone knows my love of baking and cupcakes, my birthday presents this year obviously reflected this. I received a gorgeous big heavy mixing bowl, the beautiful cake stand above, multiple molds and tools as well as a cupcake book full of exciting recipes. I think one of the things I love most above cupcakes is how versatile they can be; any flavour, any combination; any toppings!

For my birthday last month the theme was cupcakes and champagne… perfection! So I spent most of the Saturday morning baking about 40 cupcakes. I hadn’t yet received my cupcake book so came up with some flavours of my own; Malteser, Oreo and Rolo. You can see them all above. They were all super simple to make but very tasty. To make them I used my simple vanilla cupcake recipe and then did the following;

Malteser Cupcake

Bash up a load of Mastesers into medium sized chunks. Mix this Malteser dust into the cake mixture. Bake the cakes as normal, then ice them with vanilla icing once cool. To finish top the cupcake with a Malteser.

Oreo Cupcake

Bake the cake  as normal, the magic happens with the icing in this cake. Bash up mini Oreos into a thin dust… make sure there are no large chunks otherwise the icing doesn’t come out of the icing tube. Once you have your Oreo dust mix into buttercream icing and pipe it onto the top of your cakes. To finish top the cakes with a mini Oreo. These cupcakes were the biggest hit with my guests.

Rolo Cupcakes

Part bake your cake mixture then after 10 minute bring the cakes out of the oven and gently push a mini rolo into the centre of each of them. Place the cakes back into the oven to finishing baking. Once cool, ice with buttercream icing. To finish top with a mini Rolo and if you have  it drizzle with caramel sauce.

What is your favourite cupcake flavour? Tell me some interesting recipes and I’ll give them a go!

Check out Jennifer's gorgeous, cute and fun lifestyle blog Infinitely Charming. Full of beauty, crafts, fitness, life and more; all with Jennifer's humorous edge on top... what's not to love.

Wednesday’s Workout| 100 Calorie Workouts| The Truth!

 

It is that time of year when everyone starts to panic about that bikini and the body they are going to be showing off on the beach, and already I have had people email and ask me how did I lose weight and how long did it take, well I lost weight through hard wok and commitment and it took me what many would say is a long time. I started to work on my “bikini body” in January! This is probably not the answer that you were looking for and are already clicking off my page and Googling “ how to lose weight quickly,” and it is because of these tweets I have been saying that this post was created.

I have seen for a long time the pictures detailing workouts that “Burn 100 calories now!” “Burn 100 calories in two minutes!” “Do this 10 minute workout every day for 2 weeks and lose a stone”… you get my gist! However I have seen hundreds of those workouts over the past few weeks from girls hoping that a 10 minute workout will help them look fab in their bikini, so I thought I would take on a few a see if you really can burn 100 calories in 2/5/10 minutes.

I decided to do the two workouts above that I found on Youtube and monitored my calorie burn with my new Polar Heart Rate Monitor. So after filling in my age and weight to the watch and securing the electrode band to my chest I put in 100% effort for both of them, and here are the results. 

Workout 1

Wow this is tiring! The burpees definitely got my heart rate up and you move very quickly from one move to the next. I burnt in 75 calories in the 7.07 minutes.

Workout 2

Again a very tiring workout! This one flows a little less smoothly than the other, so I feel like I waste precious seconds moving from lying down to standing up, but still a good workout. However I only burnt 63 calories in the 5.25 minutes.

Now obviously the calories that each person burns in a workout varies depending on your own age, weight and fitness level. This is why I thought these “100 calorie” workouts were a load of rubbish. So even though I burnt between 60 and 75 calories, typically a person who weights less than me would burn less calories in that workout and a person who weights more than me would burn more. But again it all goes down to your fitness level and the effort you put in.

So even though I didn’t burn 100 calories in the above workouts, what I need to stress is that yes burning 100 calories in a workout is all well, but to lose 1 pound you would need to burn 3500 calories, so doing these 100 calories workouts once a day for 2 weeks isn’t even going to help you lose half a pound! If you are going to keep your diet the same and use these 100 calorie workouts to lose say 4 pounds in 2 weeks you would need to do the workout 140 times! Which works out at 10 times a day, so a solid 1 hour and 10 minutes of exercise every day for two weeks! And I bet to do these workouts 10 time through giving it your full effort would be tough but more importantly boring! So as I said at the beginning… to lose weight quickly you need to work incredibly hard! Do not buy into quick and easy fixes, they just don’t work and they aren’t healthy either!

What do you think of these 100 calories workouts… do you dislike them as much as I do? Have you seen any other “Quick Fixes” that people are being lured into under false pretences  Are you upping your effort over the next few weeks to make sure you are bikini ready?

 

Check out Jennifer's gorgeous, cute and fun lifestyle blog Infinitely Charming. Full of beauty, crafts, fitness, life and more; all with Jennifer's humorous edge on top... what's not to love.