fit – CLARE HOPKINS

Rich Chocolate Protein Bites (V)

January 14, 2019April 25, 2020Posted in ALL POSTS, FOOD, HEALTHTagged 2019, chocolate, Colourpot, delicious, dessert, fit, fitness, healthy, healthy recipe, new year, protein, protein balls, protein bites, recipeLeave a comment

This summer I’ve been seeking out protein balls/bites/bars wherever I go. This could be due to my constant snack cravings, or because they are freaking moreish.

Either way, my recent obsession has prompted the careful creation of a rich, chocolatey recipe that combines all my favourite protein ball ingredients in one.

Cacao is a dream ingredient because of all the health benefits it provides. Not only it is a powerful source of antioxidants, I recently found out it contains anandamide, which targets receptors in the brain to balance mood swings.

This makes 10 bites:

You will need:

1/2 Cup Almond Meal
1/2 Cup Hemp Flour
Sprinkle of Salt
1/2 Cup Mayvers Peanut Butter
1/3 Cup Sugar Free Maple Syrup
20g Cacao Nibs
70g Loving Earth Mylk Chocolate

To make: Combine all ingredients in a bowl, squish it into a square pan and chill in the fridge.

To serve, you can make cute little designs on the square bites, e.g. with almonds, desiccated coconut, crumbled peanuts, or whatever floats your boat.

These little guys have around 10g of protein in them.. yet they taste like chocolate cookie dough. ENJOY!

Do you have a protein treat you swear by?

Veggie-Packed Frittata to get Your Greens in

February 26, 2017April 22, 2020Posted in ALL POSTS, FOODTagged baking, beginner blogger, Colourpot, diet, eggs, fit, frittata, frittata recipe, healthy blogging, healthy dinner, healthy frittata, healthy lunch, healthy recipe, new blogger, nutrition, vegetables, vegetarian, vegetarian recipe4 Comments

Frittata’s are one of those dishes that look super complex but are very easy to whip together.

They are also super versatile – they can be served hot or chilled, and taste good with just about any combination of vegetables.

The rainbow vegetables in this dish provide several vitamins and nutrients, whilst making it filling but low in calories. The eggs are a vital source of healthy fat and protein.

You can choose different veggies depending on what you feel like. My favourites are in the recipe below, but other options are capsicum, regular tomatoes, pumpkin, mushroom & asparagus.

For a touch of sweetness I use sweet potato as the base of the Frittata. This can be substituted for baby potatoes if you prefer a more savoury taste.

You will need:

8 eggs
1/2 cup almond milk
2 medium sweet potatoes
1 tsp turmeric
Sprinkle of Paprika
4 spring onions
2 cups baby spinach
1/3 cup feta
1 zucchini
Pinch of salt
6 of cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh basil

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200˚C.
Chop up the sweet potatoes and zucchini into cubes and fry in fry-pan with turmeric, paprika and olive oil, until golden brown and cooked through.
Chop up the cherry tomatoes, spring onions, feta and basil. Also loosely chop the baby spinach.
Whisk the eggs, milk and salt in a large bowl until smooth. Then stir through the basil.
Put the sweet potatoes and the zucchini fry into the base of a cake tin. Cover with baby spinach, tomatoes and sprinkle with spring onion.
Pour egg mixture over all other ingredients in the cake tin, making sure to cover everything.
Cut up feta into small blocks and place on top.
Cook for 25 minutes, or until egg looks bouncy and cooked through (I check by inserting a skewer – make sure the egg has cooked through).

Voila! Homemade and delicious.

My Travel Work Out Routine

January 15, 2017April 16, 2020Posted in ALL POSTS, HEALTH, TRAVELTagged colour pot, fit, fitness, fuschia, gym, keeping fit, motivation, personal trainer, routine, travel, travel fitness, travel guide, travel tips, workout, workout from home, workout routineLeave a comment

Having the motivation to workout every day is tough and it’s even harder when traveling. Usually, when I’m on holiday all I want to do after a day of sight-seeing is crash on the hotel bed.

However, exercise makes me feel so good AFTER that I try to squeeze in 3-4 sessions per travelling week. Of course, there’s the excuse of not having a gym. If I don’t have a hotel gym or a gym nearby I use YouTube workouts or, if I feel like a lighter workout to get my body moving I do Tabata training.

Tabata training is a Japanese workout method that involves high intensity interval training for short periods of time, with shorter rest. There are lots of different Tabata workouts, so I created one that works my whole body:

For each set (each number), there are 5 repetitions, 20 seconds each with 10 seconds rest.

Star jumps
Push ups
Sit ups
Tricep dips
Lunges
Jumps (getting your knees to your chest)

The workout itself if quite short, which keeps me motivated to do it. It means that I can boost my heart rate and activate my muscles so that they are not complete jelly when I return home. If you want to work out for longer, you can do more reps or do the whole workout twice through.

If I am feeling like a more intense workout or I need a source of motivation I use a video I have downloaded onto my phone from Youtube.

Again this workout doesn’t require any equipment, which is essential because who wants to fill up their suitcase with 10kg of weights.

I know that sometimes it does get really tough to exercise on holiday but once you get into a rhythm you’ll feel so good!