Turkey & Rhodes 2016

To me, one of the best things to do is travel and explore new places. 

My favourite travel vlogger is of course FunForLouis. Although most of the time I watch his videos in such an envious way because I'm so jealous of his lifestyle! But he has given me so much more inspiration to get out and explore the big wide world. Although its hard to  do this a lot of the time; as I work full time.

I recently went to Icmeler in Turkey for a holiday. I researched activities and things to do whilst I was there to make the most of the trip. Something that kept popping up was a day trip via boat to the Greek island of Rhodes. I ended up going on this excursion and I really felt like I had made the most of a short trip.

Here are some pictures that i took in both Turkey and Rhodes. Enjoy x 

Easy & Healthy Banana Bread

This banana bread is one of my favourite sweet treats that i don't feel too guilty about eating!

I've left in brackets next to the ingredients some alternatives if you'd rather swap or change any.

Ingredients

  3 mashed bananas (well ripened) 

4 tablespoons of honey

2 eggs 

245g self-raising flour (or wholewheat/spelt/coconut/soy/buckwheat/oat flour etc)

1 teaspoon of baking soda

40g melted coconut oil

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or essence

A sprinkle of raisins, chia seeds and chocolate chips (optional)

4 tablespoons of milk (I use semi-skimmed or skimmed but soya/coconut/almond milk would work as well)

Prep

1. Turn on the oven to 170 degrees celsius (gas mark 3)
2. Line or grease your loaf tin
3. If you would like to measure out your ingredients to make the method quicker; now's the time to do so. If not you can measure the ingredients as you go

Method

1.  Whisk together all of the wet ingredients (coconut oil, milk, honey, vanilla, eggs and bananas) make sure they are all combined well
2. Stir in the baking powder and the flour, make sure to fold in gently to keep more air in the mixture. If you have a kitchen aid use this on a slow setting
3. Add in your chocolate chips, chia seeds and raisins

Bake for 30 minutes. The loaf won't be cooked just yet but turn it 180 degrees on the oven shelf so the loaf gets an even bake. The loaf will need another 20 minutes. Keep checking the loaf regularly, if its looking golden brown but the inside isn't completely cooked place some foil over the top of the loaf. 

Back on track

After feeling rubbish about how I looked for too long I decided to do something about it. This started when an alert came up on my phone saying I had 5 weeks until my holiday. I, of course wanted to feel good about myself in a bikini by the pool- so something needed to change.
I've always had an interest in nutrition. I am by all means no nutritionist but without sounded big headed I knew more about what I should and shouldn't be eating and what exercise would suit me than the average person.
I won't go into my diet plan in this post, but to keep it short and sweet I mostly cut out refined sugars, processed foods and nearly all carbohydrates.
For each gram of carbohydrates you eat, your body needs 4 grams of water to process it. Your body stores water for this process, so when you cut out carbohydrates fromyour diet - your body loses the water weight first, which is why you may see a quick drop in your weight at the start of your new food plan.
I lost a good amount of weight in the first 2 weeks, this wasn't something I should of been concerned about as I felt I had planned and prepared this new food and lifestyle change. I monitored my weight daily and kept a good plan to ensure I was eating enough.
By the time my holiday came around I felt good about my self. I was on holiday so of course I let myself eat ice cream and chips. But after just a day or so of eating like this I didn't feel as confident in myself again. There was so much beautiful and delicious food that I sometimes couldn't resist, but I also opted for a lot of fish and vegetables as the week went on.
Feeling like this on holiday made me realise a 'diet' isn't a quick fix. It's a way of life.
As soon as I got hime I was honestly excited for green smoothies again! I'm now so happy to be back on track and feel fully healthy and vibrant again. I would of course like to lose a little more weight. But I'm focusing more of feeding my body of fresh and healthy foods that my body needs. I listen to by body and if it craves a certain food that may not be the best for me, I will have it anyway, just in moderation. Keeping a good diary is so helpful and really keeps me on track.