5 Healthy-ish Recipes You Seriously Need To Try

Morning guys,

So these past few months or so I have been trying out some new healthy (ish) recipes and here are the ones that I reckon are worth giving a go!

I always find Deliciously Ella's recipes to be simple, tasty and of course nutritious. A while back I whipped up a batch of Sweet Potato Brownies and was seriously impressed. I know what you're thinking - Sweet Potato's and Brownies?! Seriously though, the combo work a dream. If you're looking to cut back on indulgent desserts without compromising on satisfying your sweet tooth - this is the go to snack. Plus you can eat these on the go!

As someone who tries to avoid dairy where possible, the past year or so I have been exploring numerous alternatives. My favourite so far being Almond Milk. However it wasn't until recently I discovered that a lot of the Almond Milks available in the supermarket actually contain very little Almonds, which quite surprised me. As much as I love the likes of Alpro & Rude Health, it did spark my curiosity as to how difficult it would be to make my own Almond Milk. Again Deliciously Ella offers a great recipe that is simple to follow. Although you have to put a little bit more work into it, it is actually more satisfying knowing that you have made the Milk yourself and that you know exactly what has gone into your drink - which was the main thing for me. Since whipping up batches of my Homemade Almond Milk I've never looked back! I pretty much make my own all the time now and feel much better for it. On the odd occasion though, when I'm in a rush I will still always revert back to shop bought alternatives purely for convenience.

I'm always trying to improve my water intake and at times it can get a little monotonous drinking the same old same old, so recently I've been whipping up Detox Water. Detox Water is basically fruit/veggie/herb infused water. There are many varieties and the world is your oyster really. However my go-to combination is Lemon, Mint & Cucumber. I actually discovered this on a recent trip to Whole Foods and London. A lot of people refer to this as 'Spa Water'. It is a fun way to increase your water intake, mix things up and also get in some extra nutrients.

It's no secret that Pizza is my favourite food - I would literally eat it for every meal if I could! However we all know it's not the healthiest of foods. In search of a healthier alternative I came across a recipe from Nutrition Stripped (a fantastic & resourceful blog) for a Cauliflower Pizza Crust. Now, I will be straight up, it's not your traditional Pizza, in that it doesn't have the same texture. However it is just as satisfying and pretty much guilt free!

Last but certainly not least is the Chocolate Peanut Butter Avocado Pudding from Minimalist Baker. If you're a fan of Chocolate & Peanut Butter then you'll love this healthy alternative to your traditional Chocolate Pudding. Don't let the Avocado put you off, it just creates a dreamy texture, you can't even taste it or see it!

What are your favorite healthy recipes?

Health & Fitness: Ways To Stay Motivated

Morning guys! So it's still January and hopefully a lot of you have still got that motivation to get fit and create a healthier lifestyle in 2015.

It can be very difficult to stay motivated and at moments of weakness it can be hard to resist temptations. I sometimes cave in and grab a bar of chocolate or a bowl of sugary cereal because I have the worst sweet tooth but the majority of the time I have been trying really hard to stay on track and along the way discover some healthier alternatives to my sweet treats. Just like showering and getting clean doesn't last - neither does motivation and it's recommended that you do it daily!

Ways in which I try to get my self fired up for the week is by checking out Food blogs and Pinterest to give me an idea of the sort of Food I want to be cooking up in the kitchen for that week. I then create a little list of what I'll need and off to do the supermarket dash I go! Blogs that I love reading to give me some food inspo are Oh She Glows & Minimalist Baker - these have tonnes of ideas to get your mouth watering and they're all pretty much healthy vegan or vegetarian! I also like to have a good old peep at the Honestly Healthy & Fashercise websites as well for tips and some tasty recipes.

I'm a very visual person so I need to feed my self with visual images and videos to keep me motivated. I would totally recommend Fully Raw Kristina on Youtube for tips and recipes on leading an active lifestyle - Kristina leads a fully raw Vegan lifestyle but even if you don't you can still use her Videos for some inspiration. I would also recommend the Instagram page ChloesFitness - a fairly recent discovery but Chloe is Vegan and post's some great Food ideas and just has an all round fantastic Instagram page!

I also love to keep up with Vivianna Does Make Up - Anna has started posting a lot more Food & Fitness post's as of late and it is great to get tips from like-minded people. I also love to see other people's progress. Last year Anna took up running and has been entering herself into all sorts of races including a half marathon. This makes me feel very bitter that all the while I have been watching Anna's progress I could have been getting on with getting fitter my self! It just shows how much progress you can make in a short period of time if you put your mind to it and I think it's great to update people with your progress.

Another thing  I would suggest doing if your 1000% dedicated to a lifestyle change is setting up an Instagram page specifically to track your progress - almost like a food diary and fitness progress page. I recently did this and feel it's great because you've got so many other people to hold your accountable for your actions and well if your photographing everything that you scoff then you're less likely to eat junk! It's also a great way to get motivation by scrolling through other people's posts and daily quotes.

What do you do to keep yourself motivated?