Evening All!

It's Friday! Wooooo! - Well I would be happier but I work weekends too, but despite that, I'm off to a friends 21st tomorrow night so I can look forward to it all the same haha!

Tonight I'm doing my first food post in agessssss (oops).

Those of you that know me well will know that I love a good bit of chicken, and I love love love nandos.

So when my mum suggested doing a homemade version, I was both excited and slightly skeptical, because if you're a nandos lover like me, is it really possible to top it?!

Yes.

Yes it is!

It is chicken thighs, which I find so much nicer to eat than chicken breast, marinated in a sauce and served with spinach and a few (well four...) potato wedges.

The sauce is made up of the following:

Lemon Juice, one tablespoon of tomato puree, a teaspoon of tomato ketchup (which I usually despise!), a bit of garlic granules, a teaspoon of smoked paprika, a tiny bit of cayenne pepper spice, a splash of tobasco sauce (you can add more or less depending on your heat tolerance!) and chopped parsley and spinach with salt and pepper to taste!

After covering the chicken in all of the above sauce, place on a grill pan in the oven (or just the grill if you prefer!) and then serve!

As I mentioned above, I can't stand Tomato Ketchup (I understand that it probably makes me weird, but oh well...) - but I couldn't taste, which I'm sure my mum was thinking and will probably say "told you so!" at somepoint, but its so nice!

It's probably the cheaper and healthier version of a nandos chicken, I bet most of you have most of them ingredients for the sauce already in your cupboard! 
  
If not, I looked up the prices from major supermarket asda for you!

Lemon Juice:
Asda - 50p

Tomato Puree:
Asda - 49p

Tomato Ketchup:
£2

Garlic Granules:
74p

Smoked Paprika:
74p

Cayenne Pepper Spice:
74p

Tobasco Sauce:
£1.89

Parsley:
60p (25g)

Spinach:
£1.00 (180g)

Chicken Thighs:
£2.00 (500g)

That adds up to a total of £10.70! 

With the amount of content in the ingredients you probably have more than enough to make more than one meal! 

Give it a try! You never know!

Until next time,

 

Evening all!


It's all good trying to lose weight and seeing results, but what happens when you have an off day? Or a stressful day for that matter?

Everyone has off days, especially when it comes to dieting and weightloss, a cheat meal might of turned into a cheat day (It happens to everyone!) - You might of had a stressful day at work or you might just be feeling a little bit down, the best way to get rid of any sort of stress or bad feeling is to relax.

I know it's easier said than done, take it from me who has been through multiple stressful situations, and sometimes all at once!

It doesn't hurt to try though and here's a few suggestions to help you relax! 

 First solution - A bath, even better if accompanied with a bathbomb.

A bath not only cleans you physically, but it can clean your mind mentally!
You can even put out a few candles (the smellier the candle, the better!), put on some relaxing music (or deep house... if that relaxes you?) you can contemplate life as much as you want, but a nice bath can relax your body, and just put you in a better frame of mind!
It's even better if right before bed, I find that a bath before bed often helps me get to sleep quicker! 

 A drink.

In moderation! Of course if you're feeling a bit down in the dumps, getting drunk probably isn't the best idea - as you could do or say something regret...
Anyway...
A drink (or two!) can help to relax and calm the nerves and just make you chill out a bit!
 
Writing it down...
Writing down your thoughts and feelings whether it be negative or positive is good for the mind, you can release any anxiety or troubles and it feels like someone is almost listening to you, and it's a good way to get any bad energy especially off your chest!
 
 
Go for a walk...

A nice walk with the right music in your ears can lift your mood and soak in the views, these are round near me, I really ought to take more of advantage of them! but whether it be for 15 minutes or an hour, it can really clean your mind and give you some thinking space!
 
 Films.

A great film can chill you out! I wouldn't really recommend the slasher/horror types (unless that relax's you? I'm not judging haha!) having said that, if you're going through something like a break up or boy/girl issues, I wouldn't suggest a romantic comedy or anything a bit mushy, in a time where relaxation is in need or you need cheering up, I suggest a good old comedy film to give you a good laugh!
 
Finally...
 
 Music...

It goes hand in hand with a lot of the relaxation techniques that I've mentioned but even just music on its own is just a great way of relaxing - Spotify is a great tool for this, as in the 'Browse' there's a lot of playlists done by the spotify team for any mood, occasion or situation! Use it to your advantage!
 
I'd love to hear some of the ways you relax!
 
Until next time...



 

Afternoon all!


Today's post is all about choosing the perfect playlist for your workout!

I've always gone with more upbeat tunes, something that you can sync with, but of course it may or may not depend on what sort of your exercise you're doing.

Whether it be weights, HIIT or Cardio, without the right music, going to the gym on your own might feel a bit like this:





I've been there, it's important to have the right music, the right music can give you that pumped up feeling and might even help you to push you to your best!

I'm putting together a selection of songs that could (hopefully!) work for most types of workouts.

Like I said, I'm always a fan of some upbeat music to keep me going, as when you're you're on your own, it can be hard to stay or keep motivated, so enjoy! These songs will also be available on a playlist on spotify for you to enjoy, link at the bottom of the post!

Workout! Playlist:

She Moves In Her Own Way - The Kooks
Hold Back The River - James Bay
Do I Wanna Know? Arctic Monkeys
Africa - Toto
Classic - MKTO
Shut Up And Dance - Walk The Moon
Parklife - Blur
99 Red Balloons - Nena
Pretty Young Thing - Michael Jackson
Our House - Madness
Zombie - Jamie T
I'm Gonna Be (500 miles) - The Proclaimers
Don't You Want Me - The Human League
Waiting For A Star To Fall - Boy Meets Girl
We Built This City - Starship
Take On Me - Aha
Hey Ya! - Outkast
Gangsters Paradise - Coolio
You Don't Own Me - Grace
The Girl Is Mine - 99 Souls
Sorry - Justin Bieber
Peanut Butter Jelly - Galantis
Sax - Fleur East
Turn The Music Louder - KDA
Runnin' - Beyonce and Naughty Boy
Kickstarts - Example
Stay Awake - Example
Pompeii - Bastille
Worried About Ray - The Hoosiers
Titanium (Alesso Remix) - David Guetta
Riptide - Vance Joy
Bump and Grind - R.Kelly
Can You Hear Me? - Wiley
In Da Club - 50 Cent
Alright - Supergrass
Ruby - Kaiser Chiefs
Dilemma - Nelly
Black Widow - Iggy Azalea
Lets Go - Calvin Harris
Dark Horse - Katy Perry
I'm Still Standing - Elton John
Eye of The Tiger - Survivor
Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes
Gonna Fly Now - Bill Conti
Jump - Van Halen
What A Feeling - Irene Cara
So What - P!nk
Pump It - Black Eyed Peas
Ain't No Other Man - Christina Aguilera
Everybody Talks - Neon Trees
Automatic - Don Broco
Ignition - R.Kelly
Million Voices - Otto Knows
Black Magic - Little Mix
Glitterball - Sigma
Timber - Pitbull feat. Ke$ha
Whip It! - Lunchmoney Lewis
Bills - Lunchmoney Lewis
Love on Top - Beyonce
Bootylicious - Destiny's Child
Single Ladies - Beyonce
I'm So Excited - The Pointer Sisters
Mr Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra
Star Girl - Mcfly
Chelsea Dagger - The Fratellis
What The Hell - Avril Lavigne
Bang Bang - Jessie J
Crazy In Love - Beyonce
Starships - Nicki Minaj
Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke
Desire - Years and Years
Saving My Life - Gorgon City
Get Up (Rattle) - Bingo Players
Wake Me Up - Avicii
Don't You Worry Child - Swedish House Mafia
Nobody To Love - Sigma
Bangarang - Skrillex
Fester Skank - Lethal Bizzle
Focus - Ariana Grande
Fancy - Iggy Azalea
R U Mine? - Arctic Monkeys
Wanna Be Starting Something - Michael Jackson

You can access this playlist here:
Workout! Playlist

Got any other favourites you'd love to listen to whilst working out? Let me know! 

Until next time,


Alternative Exercise methods!

A belated happy new year to you all!
For my first post of 2016 (woo!) I'm going to talk about a different method of exercise which most of you probably haven't even considered!

A lot of us have (or have not...) made the resolution to get healthier, exercise, go to the gym etc. good on you!

But for some people it's not always possible, due to work, finances or just don't find the time.
Fear not! I had a brainwave yesterday which could be both affordable (and maybe even free!)

Many of you probably (possibly) have a nintendo wii somewhere collecting dust, get it out, dust it down and get it set up! No doubt some of you reading this will have a copy of Just Dance, whichever the expansion!
From Just Dance 2 I believe, there is an additional feature on the game called 'Sweat Workout'.

Which I think it pretty self explanatory!

Here is all you need:

Comfy clothing, sweats, jogging bottoms, something you can move around in!

A decent amount of space (your living room will probably be adequate!)
 
A nintendo wii

A wii remote (of course is there is more than one of you, you will need more remotes!)
 
Water. It goes without saying, you will get tired and it's important to stay hydrated!
 
Easy enough right? - Well we'll get started.
I was using Just Dance 3 last night, and on the main menu you get a screen like this:
 
To the right is an option called 'Just Sweat' - it is exactly the same as the normal dancing game, except you get the added sweat points, apparently 1000 sweat points is the equivalent of walking all around central park... who knew?!
 
Choose your song (plenty of variety I'm sure!) - I believe Just Dance 2 gives you the option of how many songs you want to do, I must of done at least 10, maybe more (I'm not kidding!).
Everytime you move you get sweatpants, the more you move, the more sweatpoints you get!
It's that simple and I think it's a bit more fun than your average work out!
 

I'm not in any shape or form a dancer, My co-ordination and balance isn't great and I might as well have 2 left feet! but to say I hadn't done it in a while, I didn't think 3 stars was too bad.
 
Give it a go! You never know!
 
Until next time,