MISS HOLLY P
A BIT OF ME . A BIT OF FOOD . A BIT OF WINE
beauty

Let’s Talk About Health

Health. What does that really even mean? It seems to be very trendy at the moment to be ‘healthy’ which don’t get me wrong I’m so down with! It hopefully will make the world full on clean living young adults who binge on the gym as opposed to my generation’s teen years when it was cool to give your liver a bashing in the local park. However there’s so much more to health that just going to the gym, eating kale and drinking matcha. I saw a post on Instagram from @sophieshealthykitchen saying “Health isn’t just about what you’re eating or doing. It’s also about what you’re thinking, feeling or saying to yourself” and it got me thinking on a topic I feel extremely passionate about.

Health certainly does not have one definition and most definitely is not linear. Right on time with the season’s change I’ve had this lingering cold for weeks, I’m feeling the effects of leaving home in darkness and coming home in darkness- I miss daylight and the sun and I work in retail- as you can imagine I’m entering my most stressful time of year, so, although I gym 3-5 times a week and eat an extremely healthy diet I’m feeling majorly sub par. My skin is playing up in a big way, my recent enthusiasm for running has resulted in a casualty of my big toenail (soz if TMI but seriously this is stressing me out!), I’m too tired all the time to get into the gym as often as I would like so I’m visually feeling sub par too and mentally feeling guilty about that too, its just all a little ‘meh’. So internally and externally I’m feeling around a 5/10. I know its completely each to their own on your personal preference of how you would like to look or take care of yourself but personally having a really good skincare routine to keep my skin looking and feeling healthy counts as part of my health for me. Grooming myself and keeping my roots touched up and nails looking nice etc for me is my self care, it promotes self confidence for me and makes me feel good. On one of my bed ridden sick days I read a big chunk of Pretty Honest by Sali Hughes and her prologue really sums it up well that beauty and make up can really work wonders to how you are feeling and if that’s your health and that’s what makes you feeling good physically and mentally then I don’t think anyone should judge that. My blogger life is all about eating clean, no waste, exercise and all that jazz but my 9-5 life is as a beauty retail manager is multi billion pound industry that despite the negatives that can spawn from things revolving around looks is predominately about feeling good while looking good too. I’ve been doing ALOT of listening to my body recently- its been saying ‘EAT’, ‘SLEEP’, ‘REST’ and although I’m gone majorly off piste with my normal routines it has worked to get me back to where I need to be, as a final push I got my nails and brows done and have upped the ante on my skin care which I didn’t think was possible and as I write this- fresh from a Monday morning spin- for the first day in I can’t remember I feel like myself again- physically and mentally I feel like I’ve got my mojo back.

My point is- health is made up of so many different factors which will differ person to person.

Don’t follow the hype and have negative thoughts and feelings of guilt on yourself for doing/not doing certain things, we are all so different and should not judge one another if someone is doing something that didn’t work for you. If you want to drink spirulina and you like it and it works for you great but don’t feel pressured in to doing things because the internet says you should. If a good pamper is your therapy then go for it! If you’re exhausted and your body says rest don’t gym then listen to it. Trust your own mind and body. Health being such a popular topic is great, it’s so openly talked about and there’s so much information to help people on their journey, however, when it has the attitude of making you feel stupid or like you’re wrong and shaming certain choices is when things can get a bit nasty and be detrimental to your mental health even if it is for example the correct way to do something for your physical health.

Thanks for reading, lets all look out for each other and uplift one another and have a cracking week. Happy Monday folks xxx

health

David Lloyd Clubs Autumn/Winter Menu

So the cold season is upon us and whilst you’re digging out your winter favourite chunky knits and an hats and scarves your local David Lloyd club has been revamping its menu ready for those cold early starts and nights when you just fancy something warm and filling and it’s coming to a club near you at DLicious this Wednesday the 3rd of October.

Alongside the standard menu which has had a more dishes to cater for vegans and veggies there is also a specific gluten free menu too which is really useful for those additional dietary requirements. Don’t worry my fellow meat eaters, the meat isn’t taking back seat, theres even new appearances to the usual chicken and beef like wild boar and venison!

The menu has added the new seasonal dishes to its existing classics and bestsellers so don’t fret if theres something you really loved it could well still be featured (I’m an omelette addict myself and happy to see its still there)

So last night I had the pleasure of attending a tasting of loads of the brand new dishes and am here to share my faves with you guys and to make you really hungry!

My absolute top choice is the sausage and mash which was 2 amazing venison sausages served with sweet potato and carrot mash and a little steamed kale and red wine gravy! Coming in at a modest 396 this healthier twist on a British classic won’t leave you feeling guilty after a workout, I’ll definitely be ordering this very soon on a cold evening!

The other winner for me was the brand new vegan breakfast, this was made up of grilled asparagus spears, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms, wilted spinach with omega seeds and baked beans, a lovely vegan dish to appeal to all the senses with a host of flavours and textures.

I was well and truly spoiled with all the different dishes I got to sample and travelled across breakfast, lunch and dinner, tasting veggie, vegan, fish, meat and gluten free!

We had wild boar tortellini- very meaty and full of flavour, grilled sea bass with new potatoes and spinach- light and fresh, veggie breakfast- featuring new vegetarian sausages, 2 different types of the flatbread one veggie one meaty- lovely thin bread packed with fillings and served with a really lovely little salad, the new beetroot and goats cheese veggies burger- for the vegetarian cheat day and the new Brunch burger- egg, cheese, mushroom, bacon in a brioche bun, so naughty and delicious, this will definitely be a favourite for my fella and I’ll be nicking a bite for sure!

All in all theres some really nice new additions and plenty more than I’ve listed here (the new Goan fish curry is quite high up my list to try too!) and in true fashion for a restaurant at a gym all calories are still listed too so you know exactly what you are eating and how it fits into your diet plan!

So I hear you say…I’m not a member of David Lloyd! Well answer 1- you should consider becoming one, its a wonderful club group and welcoming to everyone, but if you don’t fancy signing up but know a member you can get them to get you a social pass to use the restaurant anytime for free so tap up your mates who are members and have some good healthy grub in a lovely, newly refurbished setting.

Thanks for reading!

H x

cooking

Homemade Turkey Burgers Recipe

 

To celebrate national burger day I decided to experiment and knock up some homemade turkey burgers! 

Serves- 4

Prep time- 10 mins 

Cooking time- 20 mins 

Nutrition – 210 Kcal per burger

24g Protein, 9g Fat, 2g Carbs

 

Ingredients-

500G turkey mince 

Onion

Garlic (I didn’t add as my partners allergic but let’s face face it it makes everything taste good)

Fresh chillies

1 egg

Cumin 

Paprika 

Oregano

Turmeric 

Salt

Pepper

 

 

 

Directions- Finely chop your onion and chillies and put into a mixing bowl with your mince. Season the with the desired flavouring and whisk up an egg and add to the mix.

Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty because you’ll need to get your hands in their to mix it all together. Once all of your ingredients are mixed then shape into burgers patties (or use a burger mould press if have one) then put into the fridge to set together until you’re ready to cook. 

 

To cook I cooked my burgers for 12 minutes on 180 degrees to get them cooked through and finished them off on a griddle this prevented drying out or cooking the outside too much, you can pan fry all the way but I find this works better. No oil or butter required! 

Then serve as you like! For Jamie I added cheese and bacon and served with the usual garnish in a brioche bun with fries, I served mine bunless on a bed of baby gem with a thin slice of cheese and bacon and served with roasted vegetable “chips” I.e courgette, aubergine and mushrooms in bite size chunks to fill the chip void! 

 

 

 

Bon appetite! 

anxiety

Bimuno Review

I applied for a blogger assignment to test out and give an honest review of Bimuno Daily, IBAID and Travel-aid. After reading numerous studies and articles and seeing the outcome of test results proving that in many cases healthy gut bacteria can be linked to weight and weight loss specifically in how your body can burn fat and its ability to I was very keen to try it! Gut bacteria has many more benefits than just what I have already mentioned, its also linked to a general sense of well being, can reduce anxiety, improve poor sleep patterns too not to mention relieving many symptoms of IBS and digestive discomfort such as bloating, constipation and diarrhoea.

I was sent 3 different products!

First up- Bimuno Daily- Bimuno daily is a sachet which is something that I believe all people could happily fit in to their routine and benefit from. I have many IBS symptoms, regular discomfort after eating certain foods, irregular bowel movement (apologies if TMI) and frequent bloating. I was sent 1 months supply off Bimuno and in this time of taking as religiously as I could (I did miss a few days where I forgot etc) I really noticed a difference in the regularity of my digestive system. In addition to this I have been on a weight loss journey for 4 years now and had recently stagnated my loss. Since starting these my metabolic age significantly dropped (from 39 to 26 FINALLY lower than my actual age) and in addition to my regular calorie controlled diet and regular work outs I shifted the most stubborn half a stone of weight that I had been really holding on to and reached my goal weight. The amount of comments I received about how different my shape looked was unbelievable too considering the lack there of for the first 4 stone it was crazy how many people started commenting. Unfortunately I have no real way of proving that it is solely down to this supplement but it really was the only change that I made to my routine which is and has been quite regimented for some time. I’m 100% going to reorder the daily sachet. Whether it has been responsible or not for the new ease in shifting weight it undoubtedly helped my digestive system which has been a thorn in my side for years. I used it in loads of different ways, by adding it to my overnight oats, by mixing it into my protein shakes, just adding it to water! The only advice they said is to aim to take it around a similar time each day- I opted for morning. Also just a little note these are vegetarian and gluten free however the contain lactose so are not vegan.

 

IBaid- IBaid is a pastille chewy type sweet which specifically target those with more IBS related symptoms and diagnosed IBS. They are easy to administer into your routine being a tasty chew but unfortunately I didn’t notice a huge difference and I was already experiencing the amazing benefits to the daily sachet! My dad suffers really bad from IBS so I’m going to pass them onto him and see how he gets on!

 

Travelaid- Travelaid is also a pastille which is designed to help keep your digestion comfortable when traveling abroad when different ingredients and water PH etc can seriously mess with people. You can start taking 7 days prior to travel or when away if necessary. I have just returned from Turkey and did the 7 days before and carried on with my sachets when I was there. Zero issues to report in the toilet department so this one gets a thumbs up from me and is one to consider if your tummy is sensitive to foreign introductions to the diet.

 

To conclude, Bimuno is a great brand of supplements carefully thought out and although its great the have the IBaid and Travelaid pastilles the daily powder sachet is such a fabulous product that it should cover such a cross section of issues anyone can benefit from it! Find out more on the brand or order yours HERE

 

Has anyone else tried these and got any thoughts?

 

Thanks for reading,

 

H x

 

blog

Raw Gorilla Healthy Breakfasts

 

The lovely team at Raw Gorilla sent me over a box of all 5 of their all natural breakfast blends to try so I’m gonna give you a full look into what I thought, where to get it and how I enjoyed eating it!

 

So why a gorilla? These folks can dub their name sake to our primal pals because they simply want to follow the eating habits of a gorilla! Gorillas are happy and healthy and that is how they think humans should eat and feel. All these products are vegan, paleo, gluten free, raw and organic! No added ANYTHING, all sugars are naturally occurring and everything is unprocessed and unrefined! 100% natural (and of course it comes in 100% recyclable packaging) its a RAWvelution!

 

I’m gonna start with my favourite of the 5! The Cacao Crunchies! The delicious little dessert-esque clusters are just as good for nibbling on alone for a snack as served up for a full breakfast meal, a hearty mixture of raw cacao nibs, coconut, sunflower seeds, cashew nuts, dates and buckwheat seeds. I always take a little snack pot of nuts and berries to work and now I add a few of these too, its really curbed the cravings for something more naughty!

 

 

I loved all of them but the Rawberry Crispies was another fave, I was always big fan of those more mainstream cereals with the dried strawberries until I saw the nutrition chart (WHOA) but these are just as tasty and packed with goodness as opposed to refined sugars! This one is a mix of strawberries, lucuma, pecans, sunflower seeds and coconut chips. I enjoyed it particularly with strawberry yoghurt.

 

 

The Cacao Crispies were a winner of a 2016 Great Taste Award and team some of the familiar flavours from the Cacao Crunchies (my fave) with ctivated buckwheat seeds, cacao, lucuma, coconut chips, dates and raw almonds. This one definitely has more coconut in and has that more tropical flavour that a decent portion of coconut punches in. It has a nice chewy trail mix texture and is lovely served with natural yoghurt.

 

 

Mighty Muesli- Keto Breakfast is a good one too- with the Keto Diet becoming more and more popular to have something which emulates a ‘bowl of cereal’ type meal can be challenging. Coming in at just 2.8G of carbs per 35G you can enjoy keto diet or not guilt free! This protein rich blend contains sunflower, pumpkin, chia & flax seeds, tossed with coconut, cacao Nibs and cashew nuts. I enjoyed this one eaten with yoghurt, almond milk or in a smoothie bowl.

 

 

Then lastly the Original Crispies- tigernuts, maca, figs, sunflower seeds and buckwheat seeds. This one you can definitely taste the maca and without all those big flavour ingredients like the others i liked this one eaten like an actual cereal just over milk in the morning and it definitely energized me and kept me going until lunchtime!

 

 

 

So all in all a pretty positive review?! Coming in at over £5 a box Raw Gorilla is something that I would love to always have on the go but couldn’t afford to eat every single day. A box isn’t huge at 250g but you do need much smaller portions than with a normal cereal. Having it to add to other breakfasts like smoothie bowls and yoghurt pots makes it go a long way and certainly makes the usual things more interesting! Heres a few of mine!

 

 

If you do fancy giving it a try you can shop HERE I do definitely recommend the Cacao Crunchies! Trust me you’ll have your hand in the box nibbling on those clusters when you fancy a treat!

 

Has anyone else tried these products? Great concept, great message and great taste! It’s a thumbs up from me!

 

Thanks for reading,

H x