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Jan 11
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Peanut Butter ‘QUEST’ Bar Recipe

By Nutrition

After the Christmas and New Years antics are over,  the cold weather seems to really kick in. The Christmas decorations are pulled down and the left over alcohol stashed away.. ‘Dry January’ They all say.. It’s like the fun police came in and really fucked shit up. No more parties, no more naughty food, and defiantly no more fun…

This however, should not be the case. A new year is really time for new fun, new goals, new ambitions.. blah blah blah, sounds so cheesy but life really is what you make of it. If you allow life to become boring it will. There is this thing we all have. It’s like our safety bubble. I believe life gets fun and exciting when we push outside this safety bubble. This could be by trying new things, pushing yourself to achieve your new goals or purely doing something which scares you. If you plod along doing the same thing your whole life, guess what?… You will get bored. It’s inevitable. And what stories will you have to tell your kids…. grandkids… I wrote a super detailed post on my blog a few weeks back about goal setting for the new year. Please take a peak for some help on setting those new year’s goals, to push yourself to your limits and achieve great things!!!

In saying this, while you’re making your new goals, please take time to remember the things in life which are great. Every day I like to think of a few things I am grateful of. Today.. Right now.. I am grateful for bacon. MMMMMM bacon..  I am currently on a plane to India and just got served what looked like vomit in a bowl. To be fair, it didn’t taste…. toooo bad. But I want bacon. Today I am also grateful for my fabulous family I have who support me in everything I do. And finally I am grateful for cuddles. Because cuddles are great!!!! 😀

For many people weight loss is a goal this new year. Don’t hate the body you have now.. I hear so many people say ‘I hate my body. I will be happy when I’m slim’. Okay, your body may need some TLC and you may be a little over weight. But love your body, love the fact you have damn legs to go to the gym and train, and that you are capable of losing weight. Love that you can afford to buy healthy food to fuel your power house body, and love the game. Weight loss is just a silly game we play in life. If you live life a little less seriously you WILL be healthier and happier and you will lose weight quicker too!!

So remember to push your boundaries. Do crazy shit but don’t forget all the wonderful things you already have in life.

I am heading to Goa, India, to complete a 500hr yoga instructor course. Follow my time on Instagram @charliefrancisfitness

And for now… WHO LOVES QUEST BARS. Here is my super easy peasy protein bar recipe which is low in carbs, super high in protein, and is peanut butter flavour!! It don’t get much better than that.

Peanut Butter ‘Quest’ Bars

Ingredients:

Makes 9

3 scoops of vanilla casein

8tsp/120g(ish) vita fiber (order from musclefood.com)

12g/1tbsp PPB (powdered peanut butter)

40g 100% peanut butter

1tsp melted coconut oil

Directions:

Firstly, combine casein and PPB in a small blender/nutribullet. Add the peanut butter and the coconut oil and blend until combined. You should kind of have a slightly lumpy powdery consistency at this stage. Now the tricky bit. Add around half the vita fiber to the mix and blend until combined. From this point you must only add very small amounts of viter fiber at a time, blending imbetween. When the mixture reaches a stage where you can just form it into little balls that stay together. Stop adding vita fiber. Too much will cause the bars to flop into a blob after forming them into shape. Add a little PPB to your work top to act as flour and roll the stiff mixture out, as if making cookies. Roll to approximately 2cm thick then cut into bars. Store in a container in the fridge to help maintain the shape of the bars and try not to eat them all at once.

Notes: Try adding a tsp of peanut butter on top of one. DEVINE!!

Peace, Happy New Year.

Aug 21
Love0

Pumpkin Protein Cake

By Nutrition

Alcohol and fitness are not really two things which go well together. Many people ask me how bad alcohol is and how much they can drink while still improving their bodies?! Alcohol consumption relating to fitness is generally not an area discussed. You will often see fitness fanatics stay home while their friends go out drinking to ‘save the gains‘… They seem to think having a few drinks will cause their muscles to fall off and give them a beer gut. This is really a load of crap..

People talk about the work/life balance and getting it right. People also should think about the fitness/life balance and getting that right. Yes drinking may not be optimal for the best physique. But when your old and frail looking back at your life. Do you want to be the person who stayed home and got an awesome body?!! Im going to explain simply how to keep a great body while being able to enjoy alcohol.

Alcohol has about 5.6 calories per gram. It is liquid form which does not fill you up meaning your left hungry. This is why you get in from a night out and eat a whole pizza and a bar of chocolate….

Alcohol effects testosterone levels very slightly after binge drinking, although not enough to take any negative effect on the body. Studies show that even drinking alcohol post workout won’t reduce muscle strength and gains. Alcohol will not increase muscle protein synthesis (using muscle as energy).. Which means your muscle will stay totally intact while doing a bar crawl.

Alcohol its self is not fattening. It cannot be stored as fat in the body. However. When consumed, it takes priority so fat oxidization from the body cells (using fat as energy) will not happen. It is the sugary crap in alcoholic drinks along with the consumption of drunk eating which will cause fat gain.

So.. How do you drink while preventing fat gains…

  • For that day, reduce fat and carb intake to allow for extra calories from the alcohol which will be consumed
  • Keep protein levels high to prevent muscle protein synthesis
  • Have sensible beverages.. a beer will have 12g of carbs in it, while cocktails will range between 10-20g of carbs. Stick to dry white wines which contain <1g of carbs and spirits (mixed with soda or diet drinks) contain almost no carbs.
  • Limit big nights out to once a week due to the increased risk of disease caused by alcohol…. We want to be happy and healthy. Not diseased alcoholics!
  • Finally.. Don’t come home and eat the whole fridge. This will cause fat gain!

Now.. Don’t use this an excuse to go out and get shit faced every weekend because thats not healthy.I strongly believe in everything in moderation. So what if you get absolutely smashed every once in a while. So what if you eat a pizza to your self occasionally… Having one healthy day will not make you slim and healthy. One day of drinking or one day of eating crap (make sure they are on separate days) 😀 will not make you fat and unhealthy. Don’t be a square meat head with no social life because thats not something to be proud of!

Following up from my last high carb post for re-feed days. This is a delicious, high protein, low fat (almost no fat) recipe using my faveeee veggie. PUMPKIN:)

Pumpkin Protein Cake

Ingredients:

Makes 16

  • 75g protein powder (I used vanilla flavor)
  • 4 egg whites (for lower fat) OR 2 whole eggs
  • 300g pumpkin puree OR roasted/microwaved pumpkin
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • 150g oat bran OR oat flour
  • 100ml unsweetened almond milk

Directions:

Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees and line a cake tin with a little coconut oil. Put all ingredients in a mixer/blender and mix until a smooth consistence is reached. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a knife comes out the cake clean. (everyones oven seems to cook faster than my shitty oven)

Tip:

For extra texture, try adding nuts, seeds of cacao nibs to the mix after blending 🙂

Jul 15
Love0

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake

By Nutrition

So I took the morning off work today as i’m feeling sore as anything. I have been having Bowen Therapy which is amazing but makes you achy and tired the next day. Bowen is a non-manipulative, non-invasive, holistic massage treatment and soft tissue remedial therapy to facilitate healing of the whole body. Its almost like trigger point therapy. The muscle fascia is rolled over the muscle in certain areas to trigger the bodies natural healing process. This means any injuries or bad alignment kind of fix them selves…. What am I saying!!!  I have no idea about the science behind it but let me tell you its bloody fantastic! Why?! Well my mum had awful back problems for months due to a long term coccyx injury from when she was pregnant with me (sorry mum). She has seen osteopaths, physiotherapists, chiropractors, and all sorts of therapists for years and no one has been able to fix it. She then got recommended Bowen therapy when she was at absolute rock bottom… (she could barely walk at this stage). Anyway… This Bowen therapist has totally realigned her whole body and she is able to run again, go to the gym and go rowing again with absolutely no pain! WOO 🙂 I always get minor lower back pain and a sore knee which I generally ignore, so I thought I would make an appointment to see if this could be fixed. Turns out my right leg was shorter than my left due to my pelvis being out of line. My hamstrings were literally frozen trying to compensate for this which was arching my lower back causing pain. My right shoulder was also totally out of line which pulled my upper back muscles and caused my right pec to be inflamed! Shit.. And I was ignoring this for so long! Two sessions in and my legs are the same length 🙂 My shoulder is back inline and my lower back pain has gone!!! What I want to get onto is that just because your fit and healthy it doesn’t mean everything is always working how it should be. Having minor imbalances in the body can cause major injuries later on in life. It can effect form for exercises in the gym and cause other inuries where muscles try to compensate for imbalances. For example.. A bad squat form may be due to a pelvic tilt and tight hamstrings which can cause the glutes to not activate and make major muscle imbalances. This will also cause pain in the knees and can lead to extreme pain later on in life.. LOOK AFTER YOUR BODY!! I totally recommend this type of therapy to anyone who does weights training. It is so important to take care of your body. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be in a wheel chair at the age of 40 with fucked knees and a bad back! We all bust our asses off in the gym to be ‘healthy’ and ‘fit’ while we ignore minor niggles and pain. You only get one body.. Don’t ruin it. Don’t buy that new dress.. get some bowen therapy. Invest in your health, it will last much longer than clothes or handbags 🙂

Speaking of being healthy and fit.. I have an ammmmmazing new recipe for you beauties. We DO NOT want to fill our bodies with crap which is why I try to healthify  high calorie, high sugar, high saturated fat goodies… because no body has time for that shit!!

So for those of you who read my posts. I am OBSESSED with peanut butter.. and chocolate. As a matter of fact, its in most of my recipes! Another thing I LOVVVE is cheese cake mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…. So here we have peanut butter, chocolate cheese cake! Its gluten free and by omitting the cheese cake topping, it will no longer be cheese cake 🙁 but it will be dairy free. WOOO

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients:

makes 10

  • 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 50g gluten free oats
  • 100g mashed sweet potato
  • 40g raw cacao powder
  • 100g peanut butter
  • 50g honey
  • 50g raw sugar
  • 10 drops of caramel stevia
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • 50ml almond milk

Topping: (optional)

  • 150g cottage cheese
  • 50g raw sugar
  • 50g peanut butter
  • 1 scoop vanilla whey

Directions:

Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees. Place all cake ingredients into a blender and mix until a smooth consistency is reached. Pour the mix into a baking tray and make the topping. For the topping add all ingredients to a bowl and mix/blend together until smooth consistency is reached. Blob the mix over the cake mix and carefully swirl into the cake mix so it is partially combined. Put in the oven and bake for 50 minutes (its a long time, but its worth it) They should be a little gooey when you remove. Allow the cheesecake to cool and cut into slices.

Note:

To add some texture to this recipe, try mixing walnuts through the cake mixture after blending 🙂

Jun 23
Love0

Why Dieting Can Make You Fatter!

By Nutrition

Call me crazy and obsessed but here I am.. at 6am, on a Sunday, writing a blog post because this subject is playing on my mind. Not sure If its because summer is coming about, but I am seeing a lot of people begin dieting right now. A lot of those people are going about it the wrong way. This is the reason I am up writing this right now. I don’t want to see friends, family.. anyone putting them self through a crap fad diet and actually getting fatter in the long run!

So I went to watch Wolf of Wall Street with my boyfriend last week.. What a film! If you don’t like lots of sex, drugs and over the top nudity in a film. Don’t go to watch it! Now this is not a film review.. So for anyone who has seen the film… ‘Sell me this pen‘. Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) is not only fricking hot in this film! He is an awesome sales man. He teaches his employees to be amazing sales people by giving the buyers urgency to have it.. They do not want it.. They need it. Now what ever ‘it’ may be, companies use this strategy to sell their products. Diet companies being one. They target the over weight, vulnerable, self conscious audiences with their fad diets claiming extreme weight loss. ‘Lose 1 stone in 1 week‘ Seriously… If you lose 1 stone in one week your body is going to need help.

So before all you dieters get up in my face and tell me your diet worked. I’m not claiming diets don’t work. A lot of diets work.. In the short term. Do you want short term fat loss? I didn’t think so. This is why a lifestyle change is needed. This is a long term change which results in long term fat loss with out using these crazy diets.

Lets look at how a diet works.. Diets are a reduce in calorie intake which means your energy expenditure is higher than your intake. This causes the body to use the fat stores as a fuel resulting in fat loss. Sounds good right? Well not exactly. By reducing your calorie intake, your slowly reducing your metabolism. This means your body is becoming more efficient, getting use to running off less and less calories. ‘I want to have an efficient metabolism though right’? No. Having an efficient metabolism is bad for fat loss. We want to be able to put more in (more calories) and use less. Pretty much eat more and stay slim.

So you finish your crazy fad diet plan.. Your eating 1000 calories a day, but thats okay because you have lost 2 stone and you can go back to eating normally now… Think again!!! This is where diets suck. You go back to your normal diet of 2000 calories a day and the weight begins to pile back on. This is because your body has become efficient at using the little amount of calories you are giving it. So to maintain your weight you would have to stay eating 1000 calories a day because this is all your body needs. Now eating more than 1000 calories a day means your energy intake would be more than your expenditure causing fat storage. And because you have been depriving your body it is now a fat storing machine. A hungry monster in starvation mode ready to store every extra calorie you give it! Also being restricted from so much food on your diet, your going to go off the rails binging on donuts, chocolate and cake! This is going to cause even more fat gain.

1 month on and you have put on 2.5 stone. Your metabolism is still slow (efficient) which has caused ‘fat over shooting’. Fat over shooting is where your fat levels go passed what they were before you started your diet. This happens because you go back to eating normally and your metabolism doesn’t increase. Your unhappy and ready to start dieting again. So down the calories go… You have that goal weight in mind but this time your going to have to take the calories even lower because your metabolism is slower (more efficient). You reach your goal weight at 800 calories this time. Your body is super efficient at using the fuel your giving it with a really low metabolism. You finish the diet and boom. Hello weight gain … For most people this cycle will continue for most of their lives and they will actually get fatter and fatter over time. This is why a life style change is needed. A long term solution!

Before you break down crying saying your going to be fat forever, I am going to explain to you what you need to do. Now this is just what I have found to work and what has also worked with my clients. Here are some pointers on how to make a lifestyle change with your nutrition and how to get long term results!

  1. Make changes which are realistic and sustainable! Its all well and good going on a juicing diet for a month but your going to have to eat normally again at some point. Guess what happens when you eat normal food again.. Fat gain!!!
  2. Learn how to read nutrition labels. There are many foods out there claiming to be healthy. Low fat vanilla yogurt… Check the label and you will see the fat has been removed and replaced with a ton of sugar. Not cool!
  3. Don’t cut out whole food groups. Its all well and good saying..‘I’m never eating sugar, dairy or wheat again’. Well realistically you will so allow your self everything in moderation.
  4. Don’t think of foods as good and bad. Moving on from point number 3.. If you make these associations with certain foods as bad it can cause a unhealthy relationship with this food. This means when you do allow your self a small amount of ‘bad’ food it will often lead to a binge as you feel your cheating!
  5. Eat good fats! Fat does not make you fat so don’t cut out fats. Make sure you get unsaturated fats from sources such as salmon, avocado and nuts. These fats keep your skin hair and nails beautiful while keeping your brain functioning.
  6. Reduce sugar intake. Sugar spikes blood insulin levels which can cause fat gain. Get carbohydrates from complex carbs e.g. sweet potato, brown rice and oats.
  7. Get your protein. Protein plays a vital role in muscle growth and recovery so after you have worked your ass off in the gym your body needs protein to recover! Great sources of protein are lean meats, cottage cheese, eggs and protein powders.
  8. Minerals and vitamins. When people diet they often get deprived from certain minerals and vitamins. Because many people will cut out dairy they end up having low calcium levels. Calcium plays a vital role in bone and muscle health. You may need to supplement with a multivitamin to maintain levels in the body. Keeping your veggie and fruit intake up will also help with this.
  9. Make sure your diet is balanced. Its all well and good eating healthy foods but make sure your eating enough of each food type. Macros calculators such as IIFYM can be used to find out how much of everything you need to be eating.. Everyone is different though so be careful of these generic calculators. They are good to use as a rough guide.
  10. Enjoy your food! Finally make sure you enjoy your food. You will not stick to anything if your food tastes like crap. Its not all about eating plain chicken, rice and broccoli every meal. Do your research for healthy new recipe ideas. Keep mixing it up and try new foods. For this to work it is essential what you are eating tastes good.

If you want to know more about the science behind all this. Watch Lane Nortons video on ‘Is Your Weight Loss Diet Making You Fatter?‘. He is an extremely intelligent guy from the USA and who is fricking awesome! He knows his stuff and you should defiantly make time to watch some of his videos. He has taught me most of what I know about nutrition and dieting!

Please use my tips and advice to help you make your first step to a lifestyle change. Its not easy which is why people like my self are there to offer nutrition plans.

Everyone is different so a nutrition plan made specifically for an individual can work very well for long term fat loss. A nutrition plan would involve sustainable changes in the individuals diet with controlled calorie restriction followed by a reverse diet to increase metabolic capacity. This should be done with the help of a nutritional advisor or personal trainer like my self to ensure the correct method is used for you to maintain optimal health and maximal fat loss!

Be Healthy and Be Happy 😀

 

 

 

Jun 06
Love0

Whipped Egg White, Pumpkin Oatmeal

By Nutrition

Hi all! Sorry I have been so crap at posting recently. I am currently doing my chemistry pre courses to study a nutritional therapy degree!! EEEEE EXCITING! For those of you who know me well and follow me, I am extremely passionate about nutrition so feel I ought to take my knowledge to the next level so I can help more people doing what I love.

So, what’s new? The personal trainer I work with quit last week which has left me with a huge influx of clients which he left behind WOOOO. Clearly this has given me even less time to cook and blog which is a bit of a bummer but as of next week i’m going to be back in that kitchen, baking goodies like there is no tomorrow! I cannot wait.

I am just coming to terms with the fact I can’t be super lean all year round. For a start it is not healthy to have very low body fat for long periods of time being a woman! But mainly I can’t bloody enjoy my food and stay super shredded. I am the biggest foodie. I fricking LOVE food! Melbourne offers some of the most amazing crazy restaurants and no way am I missing out on that shit! A guy said to me the other day. ‘I wouldn’t want a girl who could compare abs with me.. I want a girl with a big booty who can smash a cheese cake with me and have a little fun‘…. Soooooo I have decided I am one of those girls!! Of course I won’t be ‘smashing’ cheese cakes every day.. But I will be smashing one of my healthy protein ‘clean treat’ goodies every day. And I will be having cheat meals every weekend. If anyone wants to comment…, my reply will be.. ‘I’m Bulking‘ because anyone can get away with that these days :D! I think if I am healthy and happy thats all that matters. There is more to life than being ‘shredded’.. Get that balance and you will be cruzzzzing!!!

This recipe is the bomb! Like holy oatmeal! Its so good.. Its not the quickest thing to prepare so it is currently my weekend breakfast. I think it should stay that way because it makes me appreciate it so much more! 🙂 shit….. Just remembered its Saturday tomorrow, so I get to have this fluffy, puffy, sweet, pumpkiny bowl of goodness in the morning AHHHH TOO EXCITED. Okay i’m over excited. Sorry.. Here is the recipe. Enjoy beautiful people 🙂

Whipped Egg White, Pumpkin Oatmeal

Ingredients:

makes 1

  • 150g pumpkin puree
  • 30g oats
  • 1 tbsp chai seeds
  • 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 10 drops of liquid stevia (I used cinnamon vanilla)
  • 1/4 tsp xatham gum
  • 200ml water (could use almond milk also)

Directions:

Combine oats, chai seeds, flaxseed and water in a small bowl and leave in the fridge to soak (preferably over night). When oat mix has soaked, remove from fridge and transfer to saucepan on low heat. Stir in pumpkin puree, cinnamon and stevia, and leave to simmer. While the oatmeal cooks. Place 2 egg whites and xatham gum in a cup or small mixing bowl. Whisk until stiff peaks are formed (1-2 minutes). Add extra liquid to the oatmeal if it looks too dry then remove from the heat. Quickly stir the egg whites into the oatmeal, making sure it is fully mixed in. Allow to stand for around 2 minutes then pour into a bowl and top with a little extra cinnamon. ENJOY!!!

Notes: Have a play around with different spices to change the flavor. I tried coconut stevia and topped it with coconut flakes one time which was delicious!!!

 

 

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