As you may know we try and cover as many topics as possible covering health and fitness as well as different medical conditions.  So we are delighted to share a guest post from Sinead Mallon.  Mallon runs the fantastic health and fitness blog Miss Gym Bunny.  With her partner she runs the Elite Fitness Centre in Newry, NI.

Mallon writes “My name is Sinead Mallon, some of you might know me as ‘Miss Gym Bunny’ and some may not. I started my health and fitness blog in December 2013 with the aim of supporting, empowering and motivating those on a similar journey to myself and promoting improved physical and mental health for all. My boyfriend and I decided to pursue our passion last year and opened our gym Elite Fitness Centre in Newry in September 2014.

I would like to share with you ‘one day in my life.’

BREAKFAST – 6am

There’s only so many times you can hit the snooze button before you have to face reality and haul yourself out of bed at 6am. The gym is calling with a full enthusiastic bootcamp group that need motivating!

Breakfast is ALWAYS a combination of protein and good fats to regulate blood sugars, reduce cravings and fill me up for so I am not reaching for the biscuit tin at 10am. My favourite breakfast choices are egg muffins, chicken omelettes, almond pancakes and oat-free porridge. My quick breakfast tip is to add a teaspoon of coconut oil to your green tea or coffee as an alternative to your flavoured latte. It tastes great and boosts your intake of healthy fats.

I also take a green’s drink each morning which combines spinach, coconut water, kale, a lime wedge and mint blitzed in the food processor. Green leafy vegetables in the diet assist to eradicate toxins from our body. Most of us associate the word “detoxing” with the month of January or after a heavy drinking session but detoxing should be something we make time for daily. There are toxins present in our beauty/cleaning products, in our plastic bottles and containers and in pollution in the air, we simply cannot avoid them. These toxins can upset our hormonal balance, increase inflammation and cause us to store excess body fat. ‘Green’ is key in removing these toxins from our body – green tea and green leafy vegetables. I aim to consume green vegetables with each meal throughout the day and I take my greens drink each morning to assist the detoxing process.

TEABREAK – 10am

I work in an office during the day so I am presented with the usual tea break temptations of buns, scones and biscuits. I will have a snack packed and prepared with me to have at tea break to avoid these unhealthy choices. I am a big fan of herbal teas to get that sweet fix and my favourites have to be Twining’s flavoured Gingerbread and Salted Caramel green teas. For a snack, I might have carrot sticks with nut butter or Fage Total Greek yogurt with mixed seeds and cinnamon.

 LUNCH – 1pm

In order to make healthy nutrition choices, preparation is key and Tupperware is your best friend. I prepare meals for 2-3 days at a time to save time cooking every night. Lunch is usually something I have cooked in bulk, stored in Tupperware and I will eat with salad or greens. My lunch will change depending on the seasons and weather. In summer, it’s mostly salads while in winter, hearty soups and stews are more appealing. I will also have herbal tea and a handful of blueberries with my lunch. I think it is important to note that although fruit has great nutritional qualities, it is also high in natural sugar which will cause our blood sugar levels to increase above normal and subsequently crash. Fruit, therefore, can contribute to that 3pm slump or sugar/caffeine craving and is not a good choice to consume on its own for lunch. I aim to balance all of my meals with a source of protein, carbohydrates and good fats. Most people associate carbohydrates with pasta, bread and rice but fruit and vegetables are a carbohydrate source that will provide our body with the energy we need to function.

AFTERNOON BREAK – 4pm

This is the time of day that most experience that ‘afternoon slump’ and head to the shop to buy their coffee, coke or chocolate bar. This is the last time I eat before training so I want to eat something more substantial than just a small snack at this time to fuel my workout. I will have a bowl of soup with some added hemp seeds or a sliced chicken breast with some raw veggies like raw carrot sticks sugarsnap peas, and cherry tomatoes.

WORKOUT IN GYM – 5pm

My boyfriend and I opened our own gym Elite Fitness Centre in September. We designed the building from scratch and Stephen chose all the equipment so we have exactly everything we want in terms of training equipment at hand in the gym. Stephen has a strength and conditioning background is always on hand to let me know if my programme design isn’t challenging enough or if my technique is sloppy, which is a great help (most of the time haha). I usually train 5-6 days each week for 60 minutes at a time. I live a busy lifestyle but I always set aside time to workout as I am fully aware of the benefits to my physical and mental health. Working out helps me unwind, de-stress and forget those daily worries and woes that clutter our minds. If I am meeting up with friends in the evening or I have a social event planned, I get up an hour earlier in the morning and get my workout done. My training is a mixture of weighted and bodyweight exercises, conditioning and interval training. I spent years completing hard training that got me limited results and now I have found a training combination that works well for me and has made me feel lean, strong and healthy.

DINNER 6:30PM

I am lucky in that I love to cook, experiment and try out new recipes and I am fully aware that a lot of people struggle because they just don’t fancy themselves as a chef. My advice to you lot is to fill your herb/spice rack full and get to work. It is amazing the difference that herbs and spices make to the flavour of food. They transform foods from bland and dry to exotic and interesting and they are so cheap to buy. My ‘go to’ option if I am stuck for time in the kitchen is my chicken curry recipe, free from shop bought sauces which are usually filled with sugar. My side of choice with curry is cauliflower rice, but if I have had a particularly heavy gym session, I will serve it with quinoa to replace that energy lost during my workout. Again, I always aim to include greens with all of my meals.

SNACK – 8pm

Along with many other fantasy-land statements relating to health and fitness, there is this myth that if we eat after 6pm, our bodies will suddenly expand. This is not true. We should eat when we are hungry or cortisol (the stress hormone) levels in our bodies will start to rise which can cause us to store excess body fat, particularly in the stomach area. Many people will often be reluctant to include an additional meal in their daily routine as they usually only eat their regular three meals per day. My advice is to eat an increased amount of food but improve food choices. At 8pm, I might have 2 of my flatbreads (made with cauliflower) which are topped with tomato puree and a tiny sprinkle of goats cheese along with a herbal tea as I do not want to go to bed feeling hungry. Sometimes I add turkey breast to the flatbreads as tryptophan in turkey is known to improve sleep.

SNACKS

As most of us traditionally only eat three meals per day, snacking is necessary between meals in order to fill us up. I get a questioned a lot on snack options and my advice is always the same, if you are snacking more than twice in a day, then you need to introduce an extra meal. My favourite snack options are vegetable sticks (carrots, celery, sugarsnap peas, sliced peppers) with almond butter or homemade hummus or tzatziki, nuts or this creamy avocado mousse which is made using only avocado, cacao powder and a drizzle of honey.

LIFESTYLE AND SUPPLEMENTS

I always make sure I get 8 hours sleep each night. A lack of sleep can disrupt hormone levels in our bodies and cause us to store excess body fat. We also require sleep to allow our bodies to metabolise carbohydrates. If our body is unable to do this, our blood sugar levels will increase and cause cravings and poor food choices throughout the day.

I drink a maximum of one cup of coffee each day (before 4pm) as caffeine can put increased stress on the body and interfere with sleep. I also aim for 3 litres of Water each day.

Throughout my week, I always set time aside to spend with family and friends. Life can get so busy that you lose sight of important things but always remember, when you are old and grey, it’s not the bad food choices or the missed workout you will remember but the great memories you have with old friends, time well spent with family or planning adventures with your loved ones. Never let health and fitness routines interfere with this aspect of your life. It is all about finding a balance where you can combine the two. This will be different for each person.

As our food quality can be reduced due to added pesticides, herbicides and growth hormones, I choose to supplement each day, mainly with the vitamins and minerals that most of us in this country are deficient in. These include omega 3 fish oils, vitamin D and a zinc/magnesium combination.

I hope you enjoyed reading about an average day in my life.

Sinead

Miss Gym Bunny

You can follow me and read lots more advice, hints, tips and recipes at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Miss-Gym-Bunny-Blog/551212781620890