I’ve been on this health and fitness journey for about 5 years now, i’m an avid believer in a healthy active lifestyle but that isn’t only going for a run or to the gym but also what you eat, how much you eat and when you eat it.

Growing up my family has always been very active and fairly healthy. We would eat steak and salads, roasted vegetables and roast chicken but with that said there are definitely many things that we could do to improve our eating habits in and around the kitchen.

I think that every person is subject to their own ‘diet’. I’ve tried many things to see what works for my body and what doesn’t, what leaves me fuller for longer and what makes me feel fatigued really quickly – i’ve been vegetarian, i’ve been paleo, i’ve been ‘eat whatever you want and hope for the best’ but over the years i’ve really got the hang of what I love to eat and what fuels me the right way. Nowadays I’d say i’m more of a paleo based eater – I don’t eat many grains, however I do enjoy the odd rice bowl here and there. I don’t have lactose, although I am not lactose intolerant I find that having milk or yoghurt makes me extremely nauseous and so I prefer to steer clear of it.

After years of understanding my body and food I like to call myself an intuitive eater, I listen to my body and I give it what it needs whether that’s fruit, veggies, nuts, chicken or meat, smoothies – whatever else, even sometimes chocolate! You don’t have to eat how I eat but I hope it inspires you to find out more about what your body enjoys on your fitness journey!

I was home for 3 months on holiday before going back to uni and I think that was the most difficult part about eating healthy. My mum loves spoiling me and buying me my favourite chocolates and feeding me my favourite meals however, it’s also the easiest way to derail from the point of the healthy lifestyle. (It’s okay mom, still love you!)

I find that in my area there really is a shortage of farmers markets and places to get food other then the supermarkets so when I go, I definitely try to keep it as organic and as free range as possible (as much as the budget can allow ofcourse) but if you live near food markets that offer these then go for it! You’ll probably save a bunch too!

I would say healthy snacks are one of the easier ways to keep it healthy whether you are at home or not, I always like to make sure that i’m fully stocked on those so when I am feeling peckish and go to the fridge or pantry – there is always something good and wholesome for me to eat.

FIRST GROCERY TIP: Go shopping with a snack or some water, never on an empty stomach or else you’ll end up buying the whole shop and getting things you don’t really need! Trust me, I’ve been there!

SECOND TIP: I’ve learned that it’s best to stick to the parameters of the supermarket just because that’s usually where all the fresh produce is, the stuff in the middle can get a bit confusing and seem healthy when it’s not but there are a few things I do get from the middle but then I know there is a plan and a purpose, not just wandering around aimlessly.

THIRD TIP: Don’t fixate too much on labels. Although its important to understand what you are buying and are going to put into your body – I find that the more people fixate, the less enjoyable it comes. Start small and grow from there.

FOURTH TIP: Keep it sustainable. The way 2019 is going, it’s shameful to not try and reduce, reuse and recycle EVERYTHING. I would highly recommend keeping already used grocery bags / material bags in your boot so that when you go to the shops, you don’t have to purchase some more!

This grocery shop was a stock up of the big one I did last week. Other things I add to my list is Almond milk and Kombucha, which I find really helps with my digestive system / IBS, Gluten free choc chip cookies (guilty pleasure), Spinach – the darker the green, the better it is for you! I also add fruits such as banana’s, strawberries which are high in a antioxidants and grapes. Although I don’t eat it often, I buy the brown and wild rice for those days where im craving something hearty!

FIFTH TIP: Do your own grocery shopping. I always find that when I do the shopping, there is less chance of me buying things I shouldn’t be buying.

Getting healthy definitely is a personal thing, you have to make the decision and commit to it but once you get the knick of it, it’s so much more inviting and exciting!

Two things; first of all, how is it basically the second month of the year?? Not sure how that happened, I know for many it feels like the 74th day of January, but for me definitely not! Second of all, it’s almost the month of love! What a time, am I right!?

I think this is my first ever recipe that i’ve posted to the blog, 2019 is making things happen!

This recipe is my take on Niomi Smart’s “Healthier Ginger Bread Man Recipe“, I absolutely love her recipes and for those who are vegan – her recipe is the recipe for you! Now I know they’re not the healthiest but the base of the cookie actually isn’t too bad – it’s the icing that has all the naughty but nice stuff in it. If you are wanting a healthier icing alternative, head over to Niomi Smarts recipe and she had a vegan/healthier version of my icing! 

These delicious oven baked goods are the perfect sentiment to give to your friends, family, significant other – it’s so cheesy, I know but to be honest with you, I freaking love it! So here I am, taking full advantage of Valentine’s Day / Month of love to bring you a delicious recipe for healthy (kind of) ginger cookies, heart shaped at that. CUTE!

Ps. If you eat them all in one sitting, don’t be alarmed – I did too!

Some recipe hacks I’ve figured out whilst making these gems;

1. When you take the dough out of the fridge, be sure to roll it out on a flour-based wooden board and throw some flour over your rolling pin. I find that it sticks less when doing so and is easier to cut with the cookie cutter this way! 
2. I like to outline my cookies with icing before filling them, this way it dries a little and creates a sort of ‘barrier’ so the icing doesn’t leak out. 
3. To outline my cookies I used a medium sized zip lock bag, got a tall-ish glass, put the corner of the bag into the glass and folded the rest over – this makes it easier to pour the icing in. Then cut the tiniest little hole, when I say tiny I mean tiny then you have a DIY piping bag! 
4. You know when you go to fairs or sports day, they always have tomato sauce and mustard in those plastic bottles that you can squeeze out? I went to the plastic store and got two clear ones (only R8.00 each, bargain!) and used one for each colour then used it to fill the centre of my hearts. 

Without further adieu, here is the recipe:

If you try them out, please do tag me on instagram, my facebook page or twitter so I can see how they turned out!

Disclaimer: The ginger cookie recipe was not made up by me, it was created by Niomi Smart – I just took the base and changed a few things to my preference. I am not trying to take ownership of her recipe, I have used it many times and love it so much, I wanted to share it with you all! 

The last month of the year is here! I don’t know about you but this year has felt like its been three years in one. Its had the most incredible and most difficult moments I have ever endured!

This post is hopefully to inspire those who are trying to make progress, become more fit and healthy whilst also having a good time during the holidays, like myself! I’ve recently been a little out of whack with my fitness regime because I have been busy writing exams. Exam time is a time where I don’t put pressure on myself to exercise daily or to be picky about my eating habits, I eat pasta if I feel like pasta and I workout when I can fit it into my studying schedule. So although I have been working out and eating well majority of the time, it’s time to get myself back into gear and time for a change!

Anyone that knows me knows that I take my health and fitness lifestyle seriously but not to the point where I allow it to dominate and control my life, that’s just not fun. December is a time for giving, indulging and spending time with family and friends.

My goals for the rest of the year are fairly simple; to enjoy myself whilst looking after myself.

I really want to get back into gym, 5 days a week 4 at least and to just be conscious about the food that I am putting in my body with that said, it’s December I don’t believe it’s necessary for you to be overly concerned with the amount of calories that are in certain meals or how long your workouts are. One unhealthy meal really isn’t going to set you down the wrong path, it’s important to enjoy your time with those whose company you enjoy without having to worry about the logistics of every meal or every activity. The new year is coming, it’s okay!

What I do believe isn’t the best idea if you are wanting to change your fitness and health lifestyle this holiday is don’t go overboard in one day. If you know you’re going to go out for dinner and have a good old pasta then try and eat well throughout the day, don’t have pizza for lunch as well. Enjoy everything in moderation, you’ll appreciate it more that way too!

Cape Town is a beautiful place and seeing as though i’m not going away these holidays, I definitely want to become a tourist in my own city. I can’t tell you how many times one of my friends from JHB or Durban tell me they went somewhere in Cape Town and i’m like “oh that sounds so cool, i’ve never been there” meanwhile they’ve been here 11 months and me 21 years, it’s sad really!

Being active is an important part of who I am and my lifestyle, when i’m stuck inside all day I go a little insane so if I don’t get to the gym one day, i’ll go for a walk on the beach or a hike up the mountain.

I feel like most of the posts or things I see on social media around this time puts a lot of pressure on people to live up to certain expectations and to live according to what they see on certain platforms but I want to tell you that it doesn’t have to be like that, you can enjoy yourself this season while making progress in your fitness and health journey just don’t allow yourself to have certain expectations or to make yourself feel bad when you don’t eat as well as you’d hoped one day. Always remember that the sun will rise and you can try again!

Recap of goals for December:

Enjoy yourself

Look after yourself

Eat well

Spend time with those who matter!

Be active

Finding a routine in the gym is one thing but finding a routine in the kitchen is a whole different ball game, especially when you’ve chosen to have a lifestyle change.  

Health starts in the kitchen and proceeds to the gym, if your lifestyle out of gym is out of wack so will your lifestyle in the gym.

I don’t necessary label my sort of “diet” but if I had to, I would call myself a Flexitarian – I eat what I want, when I want. I give my body what it needs to strive on and not the opposite. Of course I crave the odd cheat meal here and there but over these past few weeks i’ve come to realise that you can replace almost every unhealthy thing with a healthier alternative and still enjoy it!

I believe that humans weren’t created to diet. Our bodies will do whatever it can to survive, our bodies need calories, nutrients and energy! But I am just a little white girl living in a little neighbourhood trying to help people make the best decisions for themselves.

This past week I decided to take a day and document what I eat. It’s a very real depiction of my every day eating, nothing fancy just nutritious food that my body needs to give me the energy for the day ahead.

Also remember that everyone’s bodies are different and what my body needs can be completely different to what your body needs come the time of day, I just hope to ignite those creative juices and help you get inspired in the kitchen!

BREAKFAST:

Normally every morning I will wake up and make myself a herbal tea and a smoothie.

I find that when I wake up i’m either extremely starving or not hungry at all – there’s no inbetween but I make sure to always put something in my body before I go and exercise so my body has some energy to work off.

Quick side note: If you’d like to see what goes into my meals you can watch my first ever YouTube video, I give you a run down of the ingredients that go into every meal and snack, the video is at the end of the post. (p.s your support would be greatly appreciated!)

MORNING SNACK:

Because on this day I didn’t go to gym, it was my day off I didn’t find myself scratching in the kitchen as often as I do when I do train so I just a simple snack like apples and peanut butter did me well.

LUNCH:

Salads are my be all and end all. If I could have salads for breakfast, lunch and dinner I probably would. Infact, I almost do – so there’s that answered. Usually for my lunches I have whatever we had the night before and in this instance we had roast chicken and veg so I made a chicken salad with an ice cold glass of water and lemon.

AFTERNOON SNACK:

Usually around 4PM my body wakes up and realises how hungry it actually is and I find myself needing to eat almost everything in sight so I like to eat something that I know will sustain me but won’t make me too full for dinner – Avo is a big part of my diet (and feta, feta is life) and I find that eating healthy fats around this time tend to leave me feeling fuller for longer rather than eating starch like toast. So I decided to have avo on a rice cake with some feta sprinkled over – YUM.

DINNER:

Dinner is hands down my most favourite meal of the day, it just leaves me feeling SO satisfied and also because my parents are great cooks so I think that counts too. We had my brother and his girlfriend come round for dinner so we decided on a good old Cape Town braai with salad, veg and some rice.

I don’t count calories, I don’t judge people who do but I am not a fan of it – If I had one piece of advice to give I would say listen to your body. Drink water often, when you feel hungry nourish your body with nutrients not junk food. Take note of what foods make you feel good and what doesn’t and use that as a guide to help you understand your body better.

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way an expert on nutrition and this post should not be taken too seriously. I am purely documenting my own habits and not advising anyone to do as I do. It’s all for fun.

I hope you enjoyed the post and the video! If so please share, like and subscribe and let me know if you’d like to see more of these!

Lots of love, Jeanna x