Exercise and Meal Plan Thursday 7th May

Morning!

I'm on lates in work this week so it's handy to have a bit of time in the morning for exercise and food prep. I'm not feeling great today, a bit under the weather with a sore throat/head which would have usually meant I'd opt to stay in bed a couple of extra hours and snooooze but I opted for early morning yoga instead! I have a yoga mat here at home, I think I picked it up in Heaton's a year and a half ago for €10 so that and a laptop/computer/phone with Youtube is all you need. I simply searched "Morning Yoga" and this is the video I chose:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UpWgS7WtGg

"Morning Yoga For Weight Loss - 20 Minute Workout Fat Burning Yoga Meltdown Beginner & Intermediate"

I'm not sure why I was kidding myself into thinking it would be really serene and relaxing - yoga is tough! There's not alot of jumping/running around as you can guess but it does involve holding poses which require a certain amount of body strength. It's not easy so if you're a beginner, don't lose hope you will get better at it! It's great for flexibility, relaxation, stress, anxiety, depression - so many benefits of yoga which is why I love it. 
If you are doing the squat challenge with me, I'd advise to get your squats over and done with before you start because there's a rest/relaxation cool down period of the yoga and you won't want to get hyped up with 50/60 squats after that :)
I had my little friend Puddin who likes to watch me do yoga and sometimes join in! And a lovely view on a sunny morning that made it a great start to the day :)

For meal prep, I consult my Fitness Pal app with my food ideas for the day to see how my calorie count is looking. Fitness Pal is brilliant and so easy to use, if you want to keep track of your diet I would definitely recommend downloading it. There's too much I can say about it so I will leave it for a future blog post!

Breakfast:
Frozen Fruit Smoothie (320 calories)
- 1/4 cup frozen berries
- 1 banana
- Orange juice (add depending on how you like the consistency of your smoothie)
- 1 tablespoon of Greek Yoghurt
- 1 teaspoon of honey
- 1 tablespoon of Chia seed mix

Lunch:
Tuna Salad (280 calories)
- Half tin tuna
- Sweetcorn
- Balsamic vinegar (as a substitute for mayo, I am a mayo fiend!)
Lettuce
- Sun stream tomatoes
- Gherkins
- Small sprinkling of grated Parmesan Reggiano

Snacks (210 calories):
- Sesame Crispbreads (2) (like Ryvitta) with the left over tuna
- Banana

Dinner
Himself is cooking dinner tonight so I'm off the hook! I usually have fresh fish or chicken and veg like asparagus, mushrooms or broccoli. Or if he cooks something that he likes, I'll try to have an amount of that which matches my calorie count which today is around 400 calories.

This is what my usual diet looks like, a salad for lunch and meat/fish with veg for dinner. If I have a heavy workout, like if I'm lifting or have done a vigorous HIIT session I will allow myself slightly more calories. Usually some carbs (sweet potatoe) with dinner or natural protein (chicken/tuna etc) after working out. It's not very adventurous, I like to keep it simple because it's easier to prep and I don't like to spend too much time cooking hehe!

I'll keep posting meal plans and if you guys like them, you can mix and match and take what you like from them. Plus if you have any tips or easy meal plans that you use, I'd like to hear from you! :)

I hope you enjoyed today's post, have a great day everyone!

Aoife xx