Sunday 5 February 2017

Getting motivated.


I know that I'm not the only one when it comes to being so stressed out that you just want to eat junk food and binge Netflix in your spare time, rather than having to face the world. For me the root of all evil is poor time management and shit motivation. After battling my lazy daemons I have found that "relaxing" with my favourite shows and playing videos games on my days off is actually counter productive. I don't feel relaxed at all, I end up worrying about all the things I haven't been doing and wonder why procrastination is always my first choice. Well it ain't no more, I have managed to get my vegan arse into gear and get on with all the stuff. Here are my top tips for getting on with life whilst feeling healthy and motivated.

Drink water.
Its surprising how quickly your body becomes dehydrated without you realising. Drinking a bottle of water ever day, three times a day can make you feel insanely good. You will notice the difference. After buying myself a nice new bottle and filling it with water every night to put by my bed for the morning I felt so much better. I then use it to drink with when I have my lunch and dinner. After doing this I felt more energised and positive. Its so much easier to feel motivated when you feel healthy. So go out and get yourself a nice new bottle to drink from.



Eat well, be happy. 
Its so easy to forget that you literally are what you eat. Think about the last thing you ate, was it nutritious? was it in anyway beneficial to you apart from tasting nice? Its deffo ok to eat some crap, we all do, but what about main meals and healthy snaking. Just making sure that you have a good decent breakfast in the morning can set you up for a whole day of feeling great. What I like to do is get on pinterest and make a board or have a good scroll through my favourite bloggers and youtubers for some recipe inspiration. Get stuck in and really seek out some nutrition.  


Don't expect too much from yourself
Its great to make goals and plans but it can also lead to disappointment and a feeling of failure when you set your targets too high. Its important to know yourself well enough that you don't expect too much from yourself. Set realistic goals and make sure its defiantly what you want, rather than what you think you should do. Another thing to mention is that we are all on our own paths. Just because someone else appears to be ahead of you in life does not mean you are late. You will arrive exactly when you are meant to. So get up, get motivated and start small. 





Write a journal
Reflection is one of the most healthy and productive things you can do with your down time. Go out and find yourself a lovely little note book, one that feels special. Start off with writing down all of your thoughts before you go to bed. This allows you to assess your mood, plans, wants, and ideas. From this you will feel inspired for the day to come. When we feel inspired we get motivated. Its also good for managing stress and can promote a sense of balance and peace of mind. So get your self a nice cup of tea and start writing.

Get started
Identify your first goal. Mine was learning to drive, so I booked my first lesson and threw myself into it. I think forcing yourself to take the first small step is best. You may not want to take that first step, you may feel anxious or unsure but just force yourself. After those first small steps have been taken, things will start to fall into place. And your next step will come quickly and easily, leading you to your next goal. Write an entry into your journal or put a tick on that list. You are on your way to a more positive, motivated and happier you.


Down time
Put time and thought into your downtime. Relaxation is crucial to your motivation. make time for relaxing baths, movie nights, seeing friends, reading, playing video games or whatever floats your boat. It gives you something to look forward to and a reward for your hard work. One thing to remember is that relaxing is best done last, if you do it before your chores, goals or plans you may get sucked into procrastination.


Sleep better 
Creating a peaceful and relaxing space for sleep is essential. Do you get disturbed during the night? Think about what you could do to eliminate disturbances. your goal is to sleep straight through. Make sure you are relaxed before you try to sleep. Try reading, meditating or listening to an audio book. I take a nice cup of tea to bed with me and read my book. By relaxing first you have more chance of drifting off peacefully rather than lying there getting stressed because you cant sleep. I find that if I give myself a really good amount of time to sleep I wake more motivated than ever and am ready to do my best in the day to come.

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    So get cracking, you have things to do. 


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    Friday 3 February 2017

    Vegan pizza night


    I have always loved a good old domino's. The other evening me and my boyfriend came across an article that said if you order the domino's thin crust without cheese you could make a vegan pizza. So immediately we got on the phone to our local domino's to see if this wonderful news was true. Sadly it was not and it left us with shattered dreams of pizza. So we then planned a pizza night to make up for our disappointment. We knew how to make a base and really enjoy creating our own food, so the date was set. This was the result and my god was it worth the wait. So I'm now going to give you the best and simplest vegan pizza base and a whole load of ideas to make your pizza night great.


    First off this is the recipe, this makes around 4 slices but we multiplied it by three because we're pigs and got too excited. You will need. 

    125g Strong Flour
    1 Tsp Salt
    7g Instant Yeast

    75ml of warm water

    The method goes like this. 
    Mix your flour, yeast and salt in a bowl, then make a little well in the middle and add your warm water. Mix this all together with a wooden spoon or hands and then kneed on a floured surface for around 5 minutes. Then its time to let this beauty prove. Leave it in a warm area in the bowl until it rises. Ours took at least 15-20 minutes. Cover it with a clean tea towel. See, simple. 

    Now it comes to my favourite part, toppings. There is absolutely no need for cheese on a pizza, sounds strange I know, but its true. Some of the best pizzas Ive ever eaten have been cheese less. This time we did use some. we chose violife original which is actually really good, it melts well and doesn't go all chalky. My favourite base is a pesto but you can use BBQ sauce, tomato puree, brown sauce, hummus, caramelised red onions. You can literally just push that boat out. For me there must be pineapple and sweetcorn when it comes to toppings here are some other ideas


    • Spinach 
    • Mushrooms
    • Peppers
    • Asparagus
    • Tender stem broccoli 
    • Tomato's
    • Onions
    • Courgette
    • Pine nuts
    • Walnuts 
    • Spring onions
    • Garlic
    • Fresh basil
    • Mixed herbs

     but honestly apart from veggies there's a whole range of vegan goodies to put on top. In Holland and Barrett they have peperoni style slices, chorizo style bites, mozzarella style cheeses, chicken style strips, hot dogs (which you could slice up), ham style slices, chicken style slices. Go mental. One massive thing to remember is that stuffing a crust is easy and is the best thing that could ever happen on pizza night. Just grate up your best cheese or pop in your favourite sausage. Just place around the edge of the pizza and fold over, you could use a spot of water to seal it. 



    Something else you could do is make up some garlic and herb wedges or even make a garlic butter to do a garlic bread on a pizza base. Get something nice to drink, invite your friends over and make a night of it. 


    Enjoy!!
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