My thoughts on staying healthy when travelling.

I’ve just come back from an amazing city break to Berlin. (You can just see me in the photo above in front of the Brandenburg gate). First of all I have to say you all need to visit this fantastic city! It has so much to see with its involvement in many events in history and brilliant night life.

Anyway this post is not a tourist review but gives my opinion on “healthy living” whilst travelling.

I was definitely no near as strict as I normally am with ensuring I was getting my five a day or making healthier meal choices. My motto is that if you’re on holiday you may as well take advantage and eat what you want. Personally I try and eat at least three portions of fruit and veg and get a reasonable amount of fibre (e.g. choosing brown bread instead of white and eating some fruit and veg) but apart from that I eat what I want.

When it comes to exercising whilst away, city breaks are great for cardio. We averaged at around 20,000 steps each day by just enjoying the sights that the city had to offer. It makes you feel a little less guilty for not eating too healthily!

When I get home from being away I do however try and eat healthier and ensure I get back into my exercise routine as soon as possible. I often weigh myself when I get back too just to see what I need to do (if anything) to get to my pre-holiday weight.

A few helpful tips to stay healthy when away:

1. Keep hydrated – especially in a hot country it’s important to carry water with you or continuously buy water from shops/ cafes every few hours.
2. Take protein bars – if you are concerned you won’t be eating enough protein whilst away take some quest bars for example to ensure you do.
3. Take high fibre cereal bars – if getting enough fibre to keep that gut healthy is more your concern then pack some higher fibre cereal bars in your suitcase or even dried prunes.
4. Buy fruit to have when you wake up in the morning – We stayed in a youth hostel in Berlin so often bought a banana or peach etc to have first thing in the morning so that was at least one portion of fruit out of the way.
5. Walk instead of public transport – for one its cheaper and secondly it burns calories. If your destination is only a short walk then try and go by foot.
6. Don’t be too strict – if you are still trying to be healthy and not eat too much junk don’t deprive yourself of the local treats completely. You are on holiday after all!

Exercise of the month: overhead tricep extension.

Yes this months exercise is another tricep one! There are just so many exercises I love doing that isolate the triceps so why not share them with you?

I usually do tricep extensions with a plate but there weren’t any plates available at the gym this time so I used an 8kg medicine ball. Hold the ball, plate or Dumbbells straight above your head with your arms straight up to begin with. Then extend your arm back from the elbow until the plate/ball/dumbbell is at the nape of your neck then bring your arms straight up again until your elbows are locked.

There are variations to this move in that you can carry it out standing, sitting on a step/ bench or kneeling.

As with all the exercises I carry out, I do 3 sets of 10 reps or until I burn out.

Happy Liftng! 

Sugar free banana bread.

Banana bread is definitely one of my downfalls when it comes to cakes so I decided to try and bake a “healthier” version with stevia instead of sugar and wholemeal flour.

I have to say it’s delicious and you can choose how sweet you want it by adding more or less stevia. 

Ingredients: 

2 medium bananas

2 medium eggs 

2 tspns bicarbonate of soda

2 tspns cinnamon 

2 tspns stevia 

170g wholemeal flour

3 tablespoons sunflower oil

80ml semi skimmed milk

Mix all the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry in another then add them together and mix. Pour the mixture into a greased baking tin. Bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees C. 

Macros per slice (each recipe makes 10 slices):

137kcal

5.5g Fat (0.8g saturated)

17.5g Carbs 

3.9g Protein

My fav YouTube workouts.

When on placement as part of my uni course I had a new found love for home HIIT workouts. This was mainly due to the nearest gym being quite a trek away and also quite often having little motivation to go out to the gym again after a long day working.

I came across the quick “Wake up and GO HIIT Workout” (although I did it in the evenings) from fitnessblender.com first and really enjoyed it. I will warn you it does make you sweat a lot! After doing this video a few times I decided to try a lower body workout which also made me sweat quite a bit and really worked those glutes and quadriceps. I would highly recommend this channel for workouts due to the diverse range of workouts available to try!

A friend then told me to try some of Joe Wicks/ The Body Coach’s workouts. I tried the leg and bum workout and boy was it a killer. I totally loved it though and really felt it worked my lower body. Another channel I would highly recommend for home workouts!

I often hear people saying that home workouts aren’t as beneficial for your fitness as actually going to the gym or playing sport, but I think it’s all about how much you push your body during these home workouts. If you are breaking up a sweat and are out of breath by the end it’s a sign you’ve worked hard and burned those calories!