General

Beyond The Bio…

Posted on 11/02/2019

Official bios are great, but I thought it would be fun to get you guys to send in any questions which have been burning away in your minds.
They could range from anything to sensible to something totally random.
The response was huge so I enlisted some help and chose those we thought would give you a bit more insight beyond the bio…

QUESTION 1: Tell everyone what’s keeping you busy at the moment…
SARAH: Well – I’m training hard and putting together a new online training system so you can train with me.  I’m also renovating a house with my partner – which keeps us both very busy and generally covered in brick dust!

QUESTION 2: How did you get into health and fitness?
SARAH: I was overweight, fed up with looking and feeling terrible, wanted to change how I looked so entered an online 84-day transformation contest and got bitten by the H&F bug!

QUESTION 3: What three words would you use to describe yourself?
SARAH: Fun, friendly, determined

QUESTION 4: Do you untie your trainers/sneakers before you take them off?!

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General

Do You Suffer From Diet Dating Syndrome?

Posted on 11/10/2014

Diet Dating Syndrome

You have probably never heard of Diet Dating Syndrome (DDS) but you’ve probably experienced an episode of it on more than one occasion!

Sufferers of DDS can’t resist trying out the latest new diet in the hope that it will be ‘the one’ that sees them FINALLY achieve the body of their dreams and, of course, all in less than half an hour a week!

A report was recently published in the UK which revealed that one in five British women is constantly on a diet; yet the obesity rate continues to rise.

Almost 90% of 2000 British women who were surveyed revealed they had tried to lose weight at some point during their lifetime.

Sixty percent confessed they were currently on a diet and 20% admitted to being on a ‘continuous diet’.

In February the World Heath Organisation (WHO) published a map of the world’s weight which showed that in 2010 63.8% of British women were classified as either overweight or obese.

I’m not picking on British women it’s simply a British study that highlighted the issue of ‘diet dating’.

It’s estimated that over 14 million British women are on a diet at any one time, yet over 60% of the female population is overweight

Clearly something isn’t working!

Ditch The Word Diet

I have long hated the phrase being ‘ON a diet’ – if you get on something then it’s implied you’ll get off it again. By saying you’re ON a diet implies that, at some point, you’re going to get off it.

Then what?

Go back to eating how you were before?

And so the yo-yo cycle starts.  Not only that, but your patience and belief in your ability to lose weight and keep it off is eroded every single time.

If you identify with this it’s time to seriously commit to hanging up your diet dating shoes and embark on a long-term, steady relationship with sensible, healthy eating.

If you keep going ON and OFF diets – and we all know that means eating terribly in between – then you’re never going to look and feel the way you want to.

This doesn’t mean having to give up chocolate and cake forever – it simply means that eating these things are the exception rather than the norm.

It took me a while to get into this habit, but once you’re dialled into it it makes dealing with cravings and temptation much easier – for example, I’m rather partial to Magnum ice creams and on a Saturday, if I feel like one I’ll have one (and I’ll thoroughly enjoy it!) but if it’s not a Saturday…NO MAGNUM!!

Being ON a diet is miserable because you inevitably spend most of the time thinking about all the things you ‘can’t have and how long it’s going to be before you have them again – even though it’s those very things that caused you to go ON your diet in the first place.

Girls, you can’t date an awesome body and a terrible diet at the same time, it’s simply not possible. You can go out with one or the other, but not both.

DIETS. DO. NOT. WORK!

Stop going ON them – life is too short to waste endless years and years of it going round in diet circles.  Not only that, it’s exhausting, demoralising and expensive.

Feeling and looking great is the result of a fit and healthy LIFESTYLE, not an elusive miracle diet that you get on and get off of.

Give up dating those diet ‘bad boys’ – they’re no good for you and will just keep breaking your heart!

sarahSignature

Food General Nutrition Recipes Snacks

Six-Pack Snacks – Triple Pepper Egg ‘Mayonnaise’

Posted on 09/09/2014



Do you ever have those moments when something pops into your head out of the blue and then you just absolutely HAVE to have it?!
I had a food one of those on Sunday evening: six-pack friendly egg mayonnaise with peppers on Ryvita.  It was going to be amazing…crunchy and soft with just the right amount of ‘mayonnaise’.
I always have hard-boiled eggs on hand (they are SUCH a convenient snack, I love them) so I grabbed a couple, took a red, yellow and green pepper from the fridge, along with a little green Serano chili, Bulgarian fat-free yoghurt and a jar of English mustard.
Then I went to the cupboard to get a couple of sesame rye Ryvitas a-n-d there were NONE. THERE!  ARGGGHH!
I spent the next five minutes having a discussion with myself as to whether or not I was prepared to get in the car and drive out on a Sunday evening just to get a pack of Ryvitas, OR whether I could wait until the morning and Monday morning.  The final answer? Monday morning – remarkably restrained and patient for me, I thought!
After a quick trip to the supermarket first thing the following morning, I got to work in the kitchen.
Sometimes recipe ideas just work the first time, this was one of those times.  OH my goodness it was super-scrummy, hit the spot with just the right amount of ‘soft and crunchy’ and ‘sweet and…’ what’s the word I’m looking for?  Not savoury or sour either.  You know what?  Give this recipe a go and then let me know what you think the right word is to describe the ‘mayonnaise’ – I don’t think it’s ‘tart’ either.
So, here’s how you make Triple Pepper Egg ‘Mayonnaise’ and the all important numbers for those of you who like the nitty-gritty numerical detail…

Triple Pepper Egg ‘Mayonnaise’

1) Peel two hard-boiled eggs and chop them up in a bowl
2) Dice 20g each of red, green and yellow pepper and as much chili as you think you’ll be able to handle – if you like it hot, lots; if you don’t, then just a little.  Add to the chopped egg
3) Add whichever combination of herbs and spices take your fancy
4) Weigh out 75g of yoghurt and 5g of English mustard
5) Add to the egg, pepper, herbs and spices and mix well
6) Pile onto two Ryvitas (I sprinkled a little paprika on the top because I like it), and EAT!

Those quantities make quite a lot – you could easily spread it across three Ryvitas or reduce the numbers to one egg and 50g of yoghurt if you just wanted enough to pile on two, and if you wanted to ‘posh’ it up a bit then you could use one egg, 50g of smoked salmon and maybe some chopped capers – now THAT would be seriously yum!
Here’s the breakdown for the above quantities:
Calories: 259
Protein: 16g
Carbs: 25g (of which sugars, 5g)
Fat: 9g (of which saturated, 2g)
Fibre: 6g
There are lots of different things you could use for toppings, so I hope this has given you the inspiration and inclination to give this a go and experiment with some of your own creations – I’ve just had a flash of venison sausage in some sort of cold tomato and pepper based sauce/relish!
Let me know how you enjoyed this and whether you conjured up any of your own creations 🙂
Sarah

Nutrition Tips and Tricks

Top 10 Ways To Avoid Snacking

Posted on 27/08/2013


Having trouble controlling those unnecessary and unhealthy snacking urges?
Can’t seem to stop, even though you ‘promise’ yourself every day that you will?
Need some ideas, hints, tips and tricks that will help you stop snacking on junk food?
You’re in luck, read on!

Top 10 ways to avoid snacking

  1. Make sure your nutrition is up to scratch – you’re less likely to feel the need to snack on junk if you’re not being caught out by hunger pangs or dips in blood sugar.
  2. Lead yourself NOT into temptation – DO NOT go shopping when you’re hungry and STAY AWAY from the chocolate, crisps and biscuit aisles. NO, you can’t just wander down them and have a look; DO. NOT. GO DOWN THEM.
  3. Drink water – or something hot like fruity-herbal tea.  The brain, whilst being incredibly clever, is completely rubbish when it comes to telling you whether you’re hungry or thirsty – it sends you exactly the same message for both! Have a drink, the chances are you’re not drinking enough and are straying into mild dehydration territory.
  4. Clean your teeth – there’s something about newly cleaned and shiny teeth that psychologically puts us off eating – perhaps it’s because you don’t want to ruin that squeaky clean feeling, or because you know few things taste good with toothpaste; either way, this one is a particular favourite of mine.
  5. Chew gum – there have been studies on this; study participants all agreed that chewing gum helped reduce snack cravings and eating late after dinner.  Remember to make sure your gum is of the sugar free variety!
  6. Become your own nutritional Sergeant Major – go and stand in front of the mirror and have a strong conversation with yourself…
    • What are you? A SLAVE to your cravings for things which will undermine your progress?!
    • What do you want more?  To eat that bar of chocolate and/or bowl of ice cream, or have the body you’ve always wanted?!
    • Stop letting yourself off the hook! YOU’RE the one in control here – get a GRIP!
  7. Do something active – go for a walk, do the housework (hey, desperate snack urges call for desperate measures. Look on the bright side, what’s the worst that can happen here? You won’t snack AND your house will be spotless too!), do ANYTHING that gets you moving. Not only is exercise a great appetite suppressant it will also lift your mood
  8. Try on your clothes – you have clothes that are too small and you’re aiming to fit into, I know you do.  Haul them out of your drawers and wardrobes and try them on, then decide what you want more: that packet of triple chocolate cookies or to rock your wardrobe and feel fantastic in your clothes?
  9. Visualise  – create a vision board of what it is you’re trying to achieve.  Find pictures of bodies you aspire to have, print them out and pin them up.  Have those pictures on your fridge, on mirrors, set them as wallpaper on your phone and computers.If you’ve got the image know-how, put YOUR head on a picture of the body you want and VISUALISE yourself looking awesome NOW.  Keep your goals close and those unhealthy/unnecessary snacks won’t be quite so appealing
  10. Keep yourself, and your hands, busy – do the things you’ve been putting off for ages or make something (as long as it’s not food!), draw or paint something if you’re creative.
    One of my favourites is to actually treat my hands – I’ll file my nails, choose some nail polish, paint them and then rub in my favourite hand cream when my nails are dry; it’s impossible to snack with wet nails. Plus, finger snacks and hand cream really don’t go well together either.

I hope they help; remember, not all snacking is ‘bad’ – may the unnecessary/unhealthy snack force be with you!
Sarah
PS – let us know if you’ve stumbled across, come up with your own, ways to avoid snacking that I’ve not mentioned 😀

General Tips and Tricks

The Seven Military Ps

Posted on 12/08/2013


My daughter is in the British Army.
The application and selection process took just over a year. The British Army is one of the best, and most respected, in the world – they don’t just let anyone in, you have to prove you’ve got what it takes and the qualities they’re looking for in a soldier.
She’s very au fait with the ‘Seven Military Ps’ – but you don’t have to be military to apply them to any area of your life.
There are various versions of the Ps, but the British military favourite is this one:

Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents P*** Poor Performance

I’ve mused on lots of alternative and more polite words for the fifth P but have come to the conclusion it works best with the one the Army chooses to use – it’s VERY clear in its message! It’s blunt, gets straight to point without dressing it up and accurately predicts the status of your performance if you ignore the first three Ps.
I’m a HUGE fan of lists. I can function okay without them but I’m far more effective when I have a list to work from. It’s a written list, too, not just a mental one – that’s just asking for trouble, especially if you have a lot going on in your life.

Putting the seven Ps into a health and fitness context…

First of all, I need to know what it is I’m trying to achieve. Is my primary goal to burn fat? Or do I want to add muscle? Maybe it’s both!
Once I know that, I need to PLAN how I’m going to realise those goals. What training will I need to do; how often will I need to train; and when am I going to train?
This is no different to planning a trip. Let’s suppose your best friend has moved to a new house and you’ve been invited to the housewarming. Before you leave, you’ll need to know how to get there: what is the address? How far away is it? What is the best way to get there? If you’re smart, the very first thing you’ll do is ask your friend for specific directions – after all, they know exactly how to get to where they are, the best way to go and which routes to avoid.
You certainly wouldn’t leap into the car without knowing where you’re going, play ‘heads or tails’ to determine whether you need to go left or right, and genuinely expect to arrive at the right place!
It’s the same with your health and fitness – you need to PLAN where you want to go (your goals) and get directions (training and nutrition programmes) from those who know exactly how to get there (experts!).
SO, now I’ve planned what it is I want to achieve and I’m armed with my training programme, I need to put it all into action!
To be at my most effective in the gym, I have to be know exactly what I need to do. This way I can focus on putting in MAXIMUM EFFORT, rather than vaguely remembering how many sets of which exercises I’m supposed to be doing, and which weight I used last time. (You wouldn’t leave for your friend’s house without your sat nav/map/or written directions, would you!).
The same goes for eating properly. Once you’ve settled into a nice nutritional routine – where you know what you’re supposed to eat, how much of it and when – you’d be forgiven for thinking you don’t need to worry about this element anymore.
In actual fact, this is the time when you need to pay MORE attention to it. Here’s why: when we get used to doing something and it becomes routine, it’s very easy for bad habits to slip in unnoticed – the odd handful of nuts here, the occasional spoon of peanut butter there.
Driving a car makes for a good analogy:
When I learned to drive, I was taught to hold the steering wheel with both hands in the 10 to 2 position – I’m sure it’s the same the world over. I was also taught that crossing your hands over each other would be an instant driving test fail.
I’ve driven pretty much every day since I passed my test, so how do I drive today?
Generally, with my right hand on the steering wheel with my left resting on the gear stick or on my lap. I don’t cross my hands…because more often than not I use just one to turn the wheel in circles – the power steering equivalent of crossing your hands!
How long did it take for those ‘bad habits to creep in? Not long at all. And why? I don’t know – because that’s not how I was taught or how I used to drive in the very beginning. I’m sure it’s the same for most people who drive.
Much to my daughter’s amusement, every now and again I try and drive properly; it feels AWKWARD! If I was to sit my driving test today and drive the way I normally do, I’d FAIL.
Thankfully it’s MUCH easier to rein in bad eating habits and return them to the way they should be! You just need to ‘eat aware’, rather than eating on auto-pilot.
Everyone who has ever been successful has made a plan and put it into action – there is only one level of performance they’re happy with and it’s NOT Ps five and six.
So what do you need to plan and how should you do it?
Well, different things suit different people, but here’s what I do:

  1. I grab a sheet of paper and my pen – my lists are always on paper
  2. I write down everything I need to do for that day, in groups. For example, everything The SPG is grouped together, everything general household is together, training and eating together and so on
  3. Next, I decide what needs to be done first and number each list item accordingly – if the demands of the day need to be executed with military precision then I’ll even attach times of the day to things (these are just a guide, but they do help to keep me focused and goes a long way to ensuring time doesn’t slip away from me)
  4. Then I cross things off the list as I go

My training schedule is printed on paper, it comes to gym with me and I make a note of my weights and reps as I go.
My food and the amounts I need are kept on a spreadsheet on my phone, for easy reference and I use My Fitness Pal to track it all – how much of what I eat, how much I’ve had to drink and when.  Every day!  And I ALWAYS make a shopping list before going to the supermarket!
Sounds a bit extreme? A far too detailed and suffocating way to live?
Maybe for some, but if you want great results and are getting frustrated because what you’re currently doing isn’t getting you there, then you need to PLAN, PREPARE and PAY ATTENTION to the daily details.
Be absolutely certain of your goals, make sure you are armed with the best training and nutrition programme to achieve them, then execute your plan with military precision and get involved with the daily details.
This way you’ll ensure your performance cannot be described as military P five and six, and your progress and results will improve dramatically.
I’ve made my list for today – how about you?
Let me know what you’re up to in the comments below 🙂
Sarah

exercises training Videos

Treadmill Exercises

Posted on 13/07/2013


What if I said you can use the treadmill to give your abs a serious workout?  What IF I said you can do some killer shoulder and tricep exercises on the treadmill?  Would you believe me?
Watch the video and I reckon you’ll be itching to get to the gym to stake your claim on one of the SHREDMILLS – although you might want to go when it’s quiet for the first few times, until you get the hang of the exercises!
Make sure you pay attention to, and remember, the form advice for each one:
1) PLANK POSITION – keep a straight line from your shoulders to your hips – don’t drop them!
2) REVERSE MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS – keep your shoulders, elbows and wrists in line. Pick your hips up, drive your knees in and keep your core TIGHT!
3) CRAB CRAWL – keep your abs tight, your hips lifted, and your hands under your shoulders.
4) HILL BLASTER – adjust the incline and speed of the treadmill to your athletic level.  Stay upright, drive your knees up, keep your abs tight, and stay on the balls of your feet!
And don’t forget, the SPEED IS S L O W – for your reference – 1mph = 1.6kph.
Enjoy!  If you try out these shredmill exercises, pop back and let us know how you got on 🙂
sarahSignature

Nutrition Recipes Videos

Dave Ruel’s Famous Fat-Burning Chicken Nuggets

Posted on 11/07/2013

This is a very simple recipe that will make any fat loss meal plan a lot easier to follow!
It’s super easy to prepare. It will take you about two to three minutes to prepare and only requires 15 minutes of baking time.
But be careful, just like some of Dave’s other recipes, these nuggets are highly addictive, and their flavour will put any greasy disgusting fast-food ultra fat nugget to shame.
Here’s the recipe!
sarahSignature

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Fat-Burning Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients

  • – 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts weighing about 6 oz. / 170 g each
  • – 1/4 cup / 60 ml of oat bran
  • – 1/4 cup / 60 ml of wheat germ
  • – 1 Tbsp / 15 ml coarsely ground flaxseed
  • – 1/4 cup / 60 ml coarsely ground almonds
  • – 1/2 tsp / 2 1/2 ml sea salt
  • – 1/2 tsp / 2 1/2 ml white pepper
  • – Pinch garlic powder
  • – 1/2 cup / 120 ml water or low-sodium chicken broth
  • – 1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Directions

  • 1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare baking sheet by lining with parchment paper or coating lightly with best-quality olive oil.
  • 2. Cut chicken breasts into nugget-sized pieces, about 1.5 inches square. Set aside.
  • 3. Next, combine all dry ingredients in a large container with a tightly fitting lid. Shake well. This is your coating mixture.
  • 4. Combine water and egg in a medium bowl. Dip each piece in the water/egg-white mixture. Then dip each piece in the coating mixture. Make sure each piece is well coated.
  • 5. Place on the baking sheet. When all of your chicken has been coated and your baking sheet is full, place in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden.

Nutritional Facts (Per Serving – 4 Nuggets)

  • Calories: 100
  • Protein: 12g
  • Carbohydrates: 7g
  • Fat: 3.5g

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About the Author

Dave Ruel knows what it takes to build muscle, lose weight and make bodybuilding & fitness nutrition tasty again!
Dave, aka the “Muscle Cook”, is a strong believer that bodybuilding and fitness nutrition DOESN’T have to be plain and boring and only composed of boiled chicken breasts, baked potatoes and broccoli. Without spending more time in the kitchen that you normally do, you can have meals that are full of flavours and that make it easier to reach your fitness goals…
He knows that it is possible to cook easy and tasty meals that will make you enjoy your lifestyle a lot more!  Over the past years he has helped thousands of people, in over 100 countries, getting incredible results. He has helped bodybuilders get shredded for bodybuilding shows, fitness models get ready for photo shoots and regular fitness enthusiasts transform their physiques!
Dave is also a competitive bodybuilder, a professional Fitness Coach and Nutritionist. He now shares this information with anybody who is serious about building muscle, burn body fat, and who wants to enjoy bodybuilding and fitness nutrition completely.
Dave Ruel is the author of the best seller: Anabolic Cooking, the Cookbook and Complete Nutrition Guide For Bodybuilding and Fitness.

General

Can Smiling And Laughing Help You Lose Weight?

Posted on 09/07/2013

Can Smiling And Laughing Help You Lose Weight And Burn Calories?

Laughing certainly does – a study published by the International Journal of Obesity (IJO) has shown that, depending on your weight and how hard you’re laughing, 15 minutes of hilarity can burn between 10 and 40 calories; total that up over the year and you’re looking at being one to four pounds lighter [1].
If you’ve ever found something SO funny you couldn’t stop laughing – you know, to the point where you almost cross the line into proper crying – you’ll know just how much energy you use and that you really do feel that you’ve had a good mini core workout!
In the IJO study it was discovered that laughing can increase the heart rate and calorie expenditure by up to 20% – FABULOUS!
But what about smiling?
Well, to my knowledge there aren’t any conclusive laboratory studies directly focusing on calorie expenditure, but there are plenty that look at the massive physical and mental health benefits of smiling.
Here are a few good reasons why you should SMILE 😀

1) SMILING WILL LIFT YOUR MOOD

If you’re feeling down, the simple act of putting a smile on your face (even if you don’t feel like it) causes the body to release endorphins (our natural painkillers) and seratonin (the happy hormone) into the blood stream – if you didn’t feel happy before, you certainly will after.
If you really want to make the most of this little trick – go and smile at yourself in the mirror, I’ll explain why in reason no. 2!

2) WE’RE ATTRACTED TO PEOPLE WHO SMILE AND THEY’RE CONTAGIOUS

Smiles are contagious [2].  So if you’re feeling a bit down at the moment, go and SMILE at yourself in the mirror!
Not only will the body’s chemical effects kick in, but we react positively to people smiling at us and we find them much more attractive [3]. It makes no difference whether that smile belongs to someone else or your own reflection either.
Chances are you haven’t actually seen yourself smile for a while. After all, how many of us actually go around smiling at ourselves in the mirror?!
If the mental image of yourself is a less than attractive one, with a big cheesy grin absent from your face – change that right now! Go and beam at yourself in a mirror and see if you don’t feel happier and more positive 😀

3) SMILING HAS A POSITIVE EFFECT ON YOUR ENVIRONMENT

People who smile have been found to have a more positive effect on their environment and others respond more positively to them [4]
The UK can be a pretty anti-social place – especially London during the morning and evening rush hours – so I rather enjoy playing the ‘SMILING GAME’ now and again. The rules are dead simple: throw a killer smile at someone and see if they smile back.
It’s a great game, not only does it make me feel good (see reason to smile no.1) but it will make the other person feel better too, especially if they smile back (see reasons to smile no.2 and no.3!).
If you work in the public service sector and want further reasons to smile at your customers, consider this: restaurant staff who give their customers service with a smile tend to receive larger tips [5] and repeat business too [6].
We don’t have to see the smile either to know it’s there and be affected by it. How many times have you spoken to someone who is cheery and smiley on the telephone and responded in the same manner? Plenty.

4) SMILING CAN REDUCE STRESS

This is linked to reason to smile no.1. Mark Stibich, PhD, consultant at Columbia University is of the opinion that if you slow down your breathing and replace a tight facial expression with an open smile then you may be able to reduce the negative effects of stress.
Reducing stress can lower blood pressure, improve digestion and regulate blood sugar.

5) SMILING CAN MAKE YOU LOOK YOUNGER

The muscles we use to smile ‘lift’ the face and makes us look younger.  They make us very attractive to other people and not just in the physical sense of the word.  So if you’re feeling old and tired, SMILE – it’s like a free facelift!

6) SMILING CAN HELP YOU LOSE WEIGHT

Well, based on all the above I certainly think so!
When we’re feeling upbeat, happy and positive we’re far less likely to seek emotional sanctuary in the nearest tub of ice-cream.
When we feel good about ourselves we’re more likely to do more things that will perpetuate this feeling.
Stress sparks the production of cortisol and THAT can cause our bodies to hang onto body fat (especially belly fat) – now if THAT wasn’t a good reason to start smiling the stress away, I don’t know what is!

And finally…

So now you know – laughing and smiling CAN help you lose weight, burn calories and are SUPER good for you too!
Just in case you need a bit of a hand to get the laughter and smiles going, here are some videos and a GREAT song to help you along 😀

I’ve lost count of how often I’ve watched this Skype Laughter Chain video and, every time, WITHOUT FAIL I can’t talk for laughing when the two guys start laughing at the man in the yellow shirt.
By the time it gets to the chap in the t-shirt following them, and the girl who follows HIM I’m done – I’ve got tears of laughter rolling down my face, my abs are aching and I can’t breathe 😀
Be happy! Click play and if you join in with the silly dancing in the video, so much the better 😀

Keep smiling!
Sarah
(1)  Energy Expenditure of Genuine Laughter, International Journal of Obesity 2007
(2) Wild, B; Erb, M; Eyb, M; Bartels, M and Grodd W. (2003). Why are smiles contagious? An fMRI study of the interaction between perception of facial affect and facial movements. Psychiatry Res. 2003 May 1;123(1):17-36. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12738341
(3) O’Doherty, J., Winston, J., Critchley, H. Perrett, D., Burt, DM., and Dolan RJ., (2003) Beauty in a smile: the role of medial orbitofrontal cortex in facial attractiveness. Neuropsychologia, 41, 147–155.
(4) Abel, MH, Hester, R. (2002). The therapeutic effects of smiling. In An empirical reflection on the smile. Mellen studies in psychology, Vol. 4. (pp. 217-253). Lewiston, NY, US: Edwin Mellen Press. xiii, 275 pp
(5) Monetary significance of the affiliative smile: A case for reciprocal altruism. Tidd, Kathi L.; Lockard, Joan S. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, Vol 11(6), Jun 1978, 344-346.
(6) Affective Service Display and Customer Mood. Tsai and Haung 2002

Food Recipes

Healthy Snack Bars – Six-Pack Snacks

Posted on 07/07/2013

sixPackSnackBars

As fabulous as sugar snap peas are, and my current six-pack snack of choice, there are times when they just won’t do; there are times when I JUST. NEED. MORE and healthy snack bars are the way forward.
A large bar of chocolate would fit the ‘MORE’ bill, or even a small one, just as long as it hits that sweet spot!
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, and I’ll try breaking it to you as gently as I can, but bars of chocolate, big or small, aren’t going to help you get into shape or carve out an amazing six-pack (sorry, that wasn’t very gentle was it).
Of course, you’re not going to do massive damage if you don’t eat such things very often, BUT choosing one of these healthy snack bars instead will kick cravings for sweet things into touch.
The recipe for these six-pack healthy snack bars comes from 100 Healthy Raw Snacks and Treats written by Carolyn Hansen.
She’s a nutrition expert, fitness professional and gym owner AND been a national bodybuilding champion; she knows her stuff and has put together her top 100, so we don’t have to go through the pain of finding out what works and what doesn’t (you’ve got to love her for that!).

Six-Pack Snacks – Healthy Snack Bars

You can decide which, and the various ratios, of nuts (oooh, nuts again!) and seeds to use for your healthy snack bars; I chose:

  • 50g golden linseeds (aka flaxseeds)
  • 25g unsweetened, dried cocount
  • 25g pumpkin seeds
  • 35g walnuts
  • 50g almonds
  • 200g sultanas
  • Shake of cinnamon
  • Shake of nutmeg
  • Splash of lemon juice

(Those quantities make about four cups of seeds and nut mix; the sultanas, two cups – I doubled the quantity to make double the healthy snack bars to cater for the locust-like teenagers in the house).
I put everything into a blender and whizzed it up until it was like a sticky dough, then I pressed it into a dish, sprinkled some coconut on the top and put it in the fridge.
THAT’S all there was to it.
The first batch of healthy snack bars dough was really quite sticky – I’d used more sultanas just to make sure everything stuck together – so decided to have another go, using different nuts and fewer sultanas.

  • 80g golden linseeds
  • 20g dried, unsweetened coconut
  • 50g mixed chopped nuts
  • 50g chopped hazelnuts
  • 100g sultanas
  • Shake of smoked paprika

Next time, I’m going to keep some of everything out of the blender to mix in, whole, at the end – my blender is a bit of a beast and has no concept of ‘coarsely ground, leaving a few bits quite chunky’.
These first healthy snack bars, as I said, were really sticky but they firmed up nicely in the fridge and, because of the nutmeg and cinnamon, tasted like Christmas – this was a bonus and makes them absolutely ideal as a healthy Christmas treat replacement for the usual chocolates.
If you want healthy snack bars that are SERIOUSLY sweet, then this version is definitely for you; they’re dense (without being horribly heavy), a little bit is very filling and, WOW, are they going to nail sweet cravings when they strike 😀
The second batch of six-pack snack healthy snack bars were totally different – they were really nutty, not as sweet and adding the smoked paprika gave them a really different edge.
I’m totally in love with these healthy snack bars; not only do they taste A-MAZ-ING, they are super-quick to make and don’t require any cooking, which means all the nutrients remains intact. There’s no artifical sugar, no added fat, no flour, just 100% raw ingredients which are all GOOD. FOR. YOU!
[styled_image image=”http://sixpackforgirls.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/sixPackSnackBars.jpg” alt=”six pack healthy snack bars” w=”0″ h=”0″ align=”center”]
Now, STOP! Before you rush to the kitchen, skipping with joy, let me finish this bit with a word of caution…
These healthy snack bars are seriously YUM, and just because they have the word ‘healthy’ in their name doesn’t mean you can eat endless quantities of them and not suffer the consequences.
The big clue here is in the title Carolyn chose for her book, ‘100 Healthy Raw Snacks and Treats’; snacks and treats – meaning now and again, in treat size quantities, NOT all day, every day and as much as you like.
The difference between these healthy snack bars and your average Snickers, for example, is what they have in them rather than a vast difference in calories. Your Snickers bar contains all sorts of refined ingredients along with the sort of fat you really don’t want to be eating, ever; these healthy snack bars, on other hand, do not.
These six-pack healthy snack bars have ingredients that can help you burn fat (remember, nuts can help you burn fat), will help keep your skin and hair looking great, and will leave you feeling great, anything but deprived and guilt-free – safe in the knowledge you’ve placated your sweet tooth without compromising your nutrition by resorting to junk food; awesome!
Carolyn has lots of other recipes up her sleeve (99 of them, in fact) and I’ll be telling you about a few of them over the coming weeks – no-bake cheesecake that’s just full of healthy ingredients sound appealing? I’ve got my eye on that one!  Or you can go and discover them for yourself HERE.
If you want numbers and comparisons for your healthy snack bars with a Snickers bar then read on – if you don’t care about that; off you go to the kitchen, have fun and let us know how YOUR six-pack healthy snack bars turn out 😀
Sarah - founder of Six-Pack for Girls

The numbers…

Hello number fans! Here’s everything numerical you could wish to know about the six-pack healthy snack bars.
These numbers all work with the assumption that each serving is 30 grams (what IS it with 30 gram serving sizes?!) which was not deliberate on my part – the first batch of healthy snack bars ingredients worked nicely into 12 pieces, and the second into nine.
Healthy Snack Bars – First batch – per 30g serving (about 12 pieces)

  • Calories: 138
  • Protein: 3.1g
  • Carbs: 14.75g
    • sugars: 12g
    • fibre: 2.3g
  • Fat: 6.4g
    • saturated: 3g

Healthy Snack Bars – Second batch – per 30g serving (about nine pieces)

  • Calories: 164
  • Protein: 4.3g
  • Carbs: 12.5g
    • sugars: 8.5g
    • fibre: 3.6g
  • Fat: 11.4g (seriously!)
    • saturated: 2.3g (phew!)

Comparison: 57g Healthy Snack Bars v 57g Snickers bar

Snickers Bar

  • Calories: 271
  • Protein: 4.3g
  • Carbs: 34.5g
    • sugars: 28.8g
    • fibre: 1.3g
  • Fat: 13.6g
    • saturated: 5.2g

Healthy Snack Bars – First batch – per 57 grams

  • Calories: 262
  • Protein: 5.9g
  • Carbs: 28g
    • sugars: 22.8g
    • fibre: 4.4g
  • Fat: 12.2g
    • saturated: 5.7g

Healthy Snack Bars – Second batch – per 57 grams

  • Calories: 312
  • Protein: 8.2g
  • Carbs: 23.75g
    • sugars: 16.15g
    • fibre: 6.8g
  • Fat: 21.66g
    • saturated: 4.37g

Are you confused? Have you looked at the healthy snack bars v Snickers comparison numbers and wondering if I’ve gone stark raving mad?
Batch two contains MORE calories than a Snickers, AND more fat too! It has double the amount of fat than batch one, also, but less saturated fat? WHAT is going on?!
Take a deep breath and relax, there’s no bad news here.
Tweaking the various ingredients of your healthy snack bars will, obviously, alter the nutritional breakdown; if you want lower sugar content, use fewer sultanas. If you want a lower fat content, simply choose nuts and seeds that are lower in fat than others.
The important things to remember, when you’re looking at those three comparisons, are

  • It’s not just the number of calories consumed that’s important – WHERE all those calories, and grams of, are coming from is equally important; not all calories are created nutritonally equal
  • The healthy snack bars DO NOT contain: refined sugar, corn syrup, hydrogenated fat, trans fats, artificial flavourings or preservatives – the Snickers bar DOES
  • Remember the title of Carolyn’s book – snacks and TREATS! The number of calories you consume is still important, so treat these like a treat – a little bit of what you fancy now and then, without all the junk.

Sarah - founder of Six-Pack for Girls