Hi guys,

Diet & nutrition. When embarking on the journey to living a healthier more active lifestyle, what you eat will directly influence your results, how fast you see them and how long them gains will stick around child, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

I've learned the hard way that it's so not, "I workout so I can eat whatever I want". One key way to make sure you stay on track with your diet is to plan your meals. The foods you eat in between your bigger meals are crucial too, so snack smart. In an effort to inspire y'all to snack better, here are my go-to on the go healthy shnacks.

Enjoy!



1. Yoghurt x Granola: I get my granola from Dischem, I prefer the Lifestyle Food brand in Dischem. They have delicious mixes with yummy goodness such as nuts, raisins, cashews, cranberries. They are high in energy, fibre and protein - if you're craving something sweet this is a filling guilt free option.







2. Jungle Oats Easy: This shnack is the best on those days when prep just gets away from you, grab this filling easy energy on the go cup and you're sorted until your next big meal. It's made with rolled  & toasted oats and depending on the flavor you pick it has mini chunks of either fruit or nuts. Yas! You can find these in Spar. 





3.  Grab an Orange! Juicy, sweet (when you pick a good one) and renowned for its concentration of vitamin C, oranges make the perfect snack and can be added to salads and various other dishes for a tang. I personally underestimated the power of this fruit. Oranges aren't only packed with nearly 100 percent of your daily vitamin C needs.
They are also a very good source of dietary fibre, vitamin B1 and pantothenic acid (which help the body convert glucose into energy), calcium (essential for building bones and helps our blood clot) & potassium (aids in lower risk of high blood pressure, stroke & heart disease). 



4. Spread it like peanut buttah: Spread it on rice cakes or just take a spoonful to the mouth child, live! Peanut butter is high in protein and healthy oils that can aid in fat loss, diabetes, and also contains fibre which is great for bowel health aka being regular. Hopefully, you aren't part of the 1 percent of the population that is allergic to nuts. Be sure to read the label when choosing peanut butter, you want to buy those that only contain peanuts and salt.




5. Avocado! 



Thank you for reading, I didn't think my last go-to snack needed any more clarification as to why it is on the list.

Til next time! 

If you know me than you know that, I LOVE CHILLI! I attribute this to the 6 years I spent in Malaysia, those guys will added chili to their chicken rice meal that they are having for breakfast. Yas! S/O to KL!

Here is how we put it down at home with this lit 🔥 af homemade chili! Enjoy!


Chilli's Used:

Heat Meter: Medium - 6

Heat Meter: Medium - 6

Heat Meter: Medium - 10

Other ingredients: used half a cup for each*

• Jalapeño flavored olive oil 
• White vinegar 

All foods, to some extent, will increase metabolism. This is known as the thermic effect of food and it accounts for roughly 5–10% of our total daily energy expenditure, depending on what and how much you eat, your size, gender, and age.

Foods like oolong tea, green tea, caffeine and chilies (capsaicin) might increase this effect more than others. And adding 30mg capsaicin (10g chili) to a meal increases energy expenditure by 20–60kJ per meal (depending on the chili’s heat).

However, no one food has the power to single-handedly cause weight loss, so don't go basing your sole diet plan on eating spicy chili. The truth is metabolism boosting foods only have a minimal effect and dousing your food in chili doesn't give you the right to eat more. Any increase in calorie burning is only temporary and begins to diminish after you stop eating.

Did You Know: Drinking too much water can cause a serious condition called water intoxication?


Water intoxication is defined as a disruption in brain function due to excessive water intake. Drinking a lot of water increases the amount of water in your blood. Too much water in our blood can lead to dilution of the electrolytes in our blood, especially sodium. Sodium helps balance fluids inside and outside of our cell.

Hyponatremia diagram

Everyone who knows me or has spent even just an hour in my company will know that I LOVE FOOD! I am love eating, I am always eating, and when I am not eating, I am planning what I'm finna eat later. Trust!

Yesterday, instead of snacking every two hours like my body is used to, I decided to only eat breakfast at around about 8:15am and then only lunch at 2pm. By the time I got to my food, I was in such a state that I literally just inhaled it in one go. Immediately upon returning to my desk to go about my daily social media managing business, I felt that something just wasn't right. I felt too full, like my stomach was finna implode and I was nauseous.

It wasn't too long after that, that I found myself making runs to the toilet in hopes of alleviating this pressure in my stomach. Nothing seemed to work apart from stopping for a nap on the lunch room sofa for a few minutes. It was only when I got to boot camp that all my lunch finally decided to make the great escape and up it came. 😖 Long terribly over- informative story short, I knew it was because I skipped a few meals. Here is what science says happens to your body when you skip meals:

• Blood-sugar levels drop (if it's breakfast you are skipping, they never get out of the gate at all):  Glucose is the fuel your body runs on and if it's not circulating in the right amounts, every organ is affected. 
• Body shifts into starvation mode: without an influx of new calories your system shifts into starvation mode, slowing your metabolism down, and eventually when you do eat it makes it hard for your body to burn off the food efficiently. 
• Brain: without a steady accumulation of nutrients your intellectual and emotional functioning begins to change, and you are now prone to be foggy and easily irritable. #hangry