Emtalks: My Favourite Easy Healthy Things To Add To Your Diet; Maintaining A Healthy Living Routine

Hello hello hello! Seen as my last fitness post went down so well (thank you so much if you've had a read, you can take a look at it here if you missed it), I decided to write another fitness related post. I'm hoping you're all still keeping going with the January gym hype! I'm often asked what I eat and actually get quite a lot of emails asking this too, I have already written a kind of 'my favourite healthy foods post' which you can find here but today I wanted to talk about a few easy, simple steps you can take to make your meals more nutritional I guess whilst showing you a few secret super-foods which are always in my cupboard. If you read my blog a lot, you'll know I'm all about little changes which make big differences. I don't believe in fad diets, in fact, I don't believe in diets at all, I believe in well-being and lifestyle choices. So let's discuss...

First up: How I maintain a healthy routine -

Make It Part Of My Schedule: I have to do it - if you make it part of your routine, e.g., working out at 5pm every day or adding chia to your oats every morning, you'll become used to it and it will be part of your daily routine. As I always say, make it part of your schedule and routine and then it'll feel weird not working out or not eating well.

Tick It Off: Maybe this is just me, but I love to tick 'spinning class' off my to do list every day and I like to put a dot on my calendar every day when I've been to one, it helps if I do this and motivates me to get more dots. Weird, I know.

Set Myself A Goal: 'Must work out 4 times this week for example'. It's always mind over matter with healthy eating and exercise, you can do it, you've just got to clear out those cupboards of bad stuff, then you won't reach for the bad stuff in the first place. Then, once you're at the gym, you're there and you'll work out.

Inspo Photos: For some reason they really help inspire me when I'm about to reach for naughty treats. I like to have a vision of how I'd like my body to look (obviously we are all different and shouldn't compare ourselves but I see nothing wrong with looking at others for healthy inspiration).

80/20: I'd never be able to maintain a healthy lifestyle if I didn't allow myself to have treat days. I tend to have Saturdays and Sundays off so you'll probably see me eating burgers and pizza on those days. You know what? I never feel guilty for it either because I balance it out with being super healthy Monday-Friday. Life is for living after all.

Little Things Added In Can Make A Big Difference: such as the below:

I wanted to list the items that are always in my 'health cupboard' (you should make one too, I cleared all my naughty stuff out and stocked a cupboard full of healthy ingredients and I've never looked back). If naughty things are in your cupboard, you'll reach for them - if your cupboard is full of good stuff, then you'll eat that instead! These are things I use on a daily basis, the kind of things you can stock up on (apart from the veg!) as most of them are dry. It's worth the outlay because they last for ages but you can add these little boosters to most of your meals and they'll make a difference with a balanced diet and working out too. I'm not and expert but this is just what works for me and I have done a lot of research on this topic.

- Chia Seeds - I add chia seeds into my porridge every morning and most of my smoothies. Chia seeds can basically be added into everything and have great health benefits such as high protein, high fibre and more.

-Coconut Oil - I cook all my food with coconut oil as it's natural and better for you than other saturated fatty oils. I never ever cook with normal oil now.

- Raw Cacao - To me, this tastes like chocolate but it isn't full of sugar, is completely natural and is full of so many health benefits including being rammed full of antioxidants (more than wine, more than green tea!)

- Eat Your Veggies - Spinach, kale, broccoli and peas are my favourite green vegetables and I always have my fridge brimming with them. I tend to buy frozen peas (obviously) but also frozen spinach and broccoli because they last longer and I can just throw them in a pan then to cook them.

- Wheat/Rice Pasta - as mentioned in my what I eat post, I tend to eat wholewheat over white as white is processed and really hurts my stomach. I find wholemeal things much easier to digest.

- Dates - I use a lot of dates within my cakes etc to make them healthy and sweet, same with bananas, bananas are always in my cupboard and are my sweeteners of choice! I would say I don't ever eat any refined sugar really (apart from pick a mix on cheat days) because I use fruit to sweeten instead.

- Honey - Another favourite natural sweetener. I also like to use blueberries for sweetness, baked blueberries are the best.

- Flax Seeds - A great seed that can be added into anything, again, I add this into all my cereals and porridge every morning to give me a kick start. If you run a quick Google search, you'll see that Flax are so highly regarded, apparently tests have shown it to prevent cancer etc. They're also a really good source of protein and fibre.

- Matcha Green Tea - Last but certainly not least, something I simply couldn't leave out, my beloved Matcha green tea. I drink my matcha by Bloom - my favourite matcha brand as it's high quality and tastes lovely too. Matcha is way stronger and better for you than green tea. I have about 3-4 cups of this a day to fire up my metabolism and make me burn more fat essentially! You can get it online here.

- Bioglan Superfoods - Last but certainly not least, Bioglan Superfoods. I first discovered superfood powders when I was in Holland and Barrett last year, I purchased some of Bioglan Superfoods Supergreens and couldn't believe how good the range was. I've never looked back since. For the record, superfoods are natural foods which contain lots of nutrients and are bursting with health benefits - with Bioglan Superfoods you can add all that goodness as it comes in a convenient powdered form (nothing added, yup I couldn't believe it too, I felt like I'd hit the absolute jackpot) and you simply put a spoonful in your water, smoothie or sprinkle over your cereals and ta da, you've just eaten so much goodness!

Recently, I tried their new product, Skinny Greens, because it's completely up my street, it contains natural superfood ingredients to help cleanse, detox, energise and promote weight wellness. I expected it to taste bad but it actually tastes really nice and it’s so easy to add to my daily routine and healthy, balanced diet. You can add it to a drink, or sprinkle it and there you go! Bioglan Superfoods is an amazing brand which I cannot recommend enough when it comes to getting all your superfoods quickly and easily. I hate fads and I am also really impatient so I like to be able to just quickly add a healthy boost to my foods which is exactly what this brand does.

- Skinny Greens Three Week Cleanse - Their new three-week regime is amazing and is something I got my hands on recently, (easy and convenient too which is what I need in my life) and the best bit? It doesn't deprive you - if you read my health and fitness posts a lot you'll know that I am against anything that tells you not to eat. This is something (like all the things I've mentioned above) that you can add to a healthy, balanced diet. The Green Cleanse (part 1, but you don't have to do all three parts) is basically a tropical pineapple flavoured cleanse - you add it to a glass of water in the morning and it stimulates the natural cleansing got the liver and fuels the lymphatic system. The natural ingredients (milk thistle, dandelion and aloe vera) are intended to help your body cleanse, detox and alkalise but with only natural things. I would never promote a 'cleanse or detox' that told you not to eat as of course that's going to make you lose weight. Step 2 is the 'Thermo Burn' again, you simply shake the powder with water everyday and it naturally fires up your metabolism which burns more fat. Everything is natural, so it includes cacao, cayenne, green coffee bean and more plus this boosts your energy too. Step 3 is the replenish shake, this is basically like a protein shake, again, add water and you're ready to go. It includes protein, cranberry, purple carrot, goji and more superfoods to help you keep full and stave off cravings between meals. I love Bioglan Superfoods and I'm so glad I picked them up because they complement a well rounded balanced diet which is exactly what I believe in, adding superfoods and vitamins into your already healthy diet in order to gain more health benefits! You can get them online here www.skinnygreens.com.