kayla itsines - Bikini Body Guide!

Proving that you don't always need a gym to workout. This was for week 4 of Kayla Itsines' eBook, "Legs and Cardio".  (Read on in this blog post to find out more about Kayla's Bikini Body Guide!) After a full day at school, full (ish) night of revision, I still summoned up some time at 8pm to visit my local park. It even has a makeshift step (pictured) I can use for step ups, knee ups, reversed raised lunges and tricep dips! I'm also going to somehow attempt to train for pull ups/chin ups on the pull up bars the park has. Gulp.

I've been so behind on blogging lately mostly due to the never ending bore of A Level revision.. exams soon approaching (10th June!!!!) So forgive me for the lack of posts. I've got loads of ideas and things I want to post about so they'll hopefully be arriving a lot more frequently come Summer.

But for now I'm going to talk about a v v v v v v (did I say very?) amazing personal trainer Kayla Itsines! I can't even remember how or when I found her Instagram account, but she's so down to earth in that she genuinely wants to help people get fit, be healthy and be confident in themselves - rather than doing her job solely for money purposes. She's different. She's an Aussie chick with a motivational, strong body (and mindset) and she supports so many people on Instagram with their transformations- and this is my biggest goal.. to get a transformation picture 8-10 weeks down the line and have her repost it (gonna take a lot of hard work, dedication and mostly courage to actually post the actual photo to my own account, yikes).

She also helps a lot of people who have had or have serious injuries/illnesses and to see someone who is somewhat disadvantaged achieve so much is inspiring - people comment the most kindest things to carry on encouraging them too. Sweet. It's not just about being physically fit, I exercise and eat healthy because it makes me happy. I'm overly-weirdly fascinated by the body and how powerful it is when it comes to strength, immunity, resistance and nutrition. A part of me thinks I'll perhaps go into a career in this area at some stage maybe, because I'm really interested in the body (the only part of Biology I ever enjoyed!).

So basically Kayla offers two different eBooks that you can buy and download instantly. I bought both but tend to use the workout book religiously whereas the nutrition book I adapt because I have a lot of other foodie ideas I like to use). You might consider it 'pricey' for an ebook, but what is given to you is totally worth buying for (so much cheaper than a personal trainer!) The depth of research, information and planning Kayla has put into it makes it worthwhile, especially when it can potentially change your life! Have a gander on her website to get a real understanding of what her ebooks contain http://www.kaylaitsines.com.au/ or follow her on Instagram @kayla_itsines This isn't a sales pitch or anything, this is my genuine recommendation.

None of the following images are on Kayla's nutritional plan, these are just my own foodies. I also can't reveal the full extent of Kayla's workouts or meal plans else that would defeat the object of you buying her book, she deserves your money hehe). Some foodies you may have seen on my Insta (here) and some which I haven't posted because.. well I worry my foodie frenzies become annoying to the non-health freak followers haha. 

Hence why I've done this post, to appeal to anyone who WANTS to see it.

Guess who's in charge of shopping in this house? Can't out train a bad diet! (Something which I need to learn and stick to myself if I'm totally honest) breakfast ideas

Left: 1/2 cup oats, 150ml water (or milk if preferred), one egg white, 1/2 banana, dollop of natural greek yoghurt, cinnamon and chia seeds. (Pancake taste, thick consistency, super yum). Right: wholewheat muffine, poached egg + poached egg white, salmon, pepper 

lunch ideas

THESE. Omg these are amazing. Unfortunately not homemade.. but. M&S Vietnamese style marinated pork salad bites in mooli wraps. For only 150kcals a pack, I'd eat 10 packs ngl.

Left: scrambled eggs (2 eggs), spinach, olives, chives and feta on wholemeal toast. Right: quinoa, grilled chicken breast, asparagus and Philadelphia mushroom sauce. Bottom: vietnamese mooli wraps, carrot crudites with sweet chilli dipping sauce, side salad of cos lettuce, cucumber, olives, sweetcorn, tomatoes and low cal french dressing, and a green tea to slurp after.

dinners

Left: inspired from a Spanish restaurant I visited years ago. Iceberg lettuce, dark leaf lettuce, sweetcorn, cucumber, crab sticks, king prawns, avocado, kiwi and pineapple. Summer must-have dish. Right: Sweet potato jacket topped with low fat cottage cheese, asparagus, salmon fillet and parsley.

My MyProtein order came in the post the other week eeeee. Natural Vanilla Whey Protein, Protein Crispies, Crunchy Peanut Butter and a shaker (not pictured). I definitely recommend their whey protein, especially for value. The peanut butter is 100% peanuts too, no added palm oil, salt or sugar. Definitely worth buying. However I wouldn't recommend the protein crispies, not a huge fan, I'd rather use oats as a yoghurt topping than these flavourless "crispies"..

I genuinely hope these inspire people to make healthy yummy stuff, and let me know if you decide to try some! Yum. Note: I'm NOT qualified in nutrition or personal training in any shape or form lol, everything I eat or do is through self-education (from research/people like Kayla/ebooks etc) so take from it what you like, but I'm not totally clueless..

New gym shorts, purple as usual!

green protein smooooovies

Snacks and/or post-workout meals

Greeeeen (and pink) smoothies! Left: handful of spinach, handful of kale, 1/2 frozen banana, 1/4 cup raspberries, plain whey protein powder, 100ml water, 100ml coconut water. Middle: 25g strawberry whey protein powder, 100ml unsweetened almond milk, 100ml water, two acai berry powder capsules, 1/4 cup raspberries, dollop of low fat fromage frais, added ice. Right: similar to the first one but replace coconut water with water, tastes a lot different/lot thicker. Bottom: 1/2 frozen banana, 200ml unsweetened almond milk, ice cubes, 1tbsp almond butter, 12.5g (half serving) of vanilla protein powder and a handful of kale. I was inspired online by this one, an article recommended a good balance of carb, protein and healthy fats to refuel after intensive plyometrics and weight training workouts (I'd just finished one of Kayla's workouts!) Hope to post more of these soon. All blended in a cheap £15 blender :)

bluebell girls - final piece

This is my development shoot from the previous post, and featured is my final piece (final image) for my A2 Level Photography of my Unit 4 book. (Last ever shoot, last ever book, kinda sad its over). Such a fun shoot and glad to leave the last one on such a high. Massive mahooooosive thanks to the two beautiful models Sophie Lacey and Charlotte Hewitt who were super fun to spend the day with and photograph! I left them covered from hip-to-toe in rashes after asking them to lay/bathe in the bluebell woods and tulips - oops. Also I potentially could've nearly killed Charlotte as we revisited childhood tree climbing fun during the shoot - double oops.

Either one of the above will probably be my actual final piece - haven't decided yet

Beautiful eye shadow make up done by Soph!

Sophie portraits - View full screen for larger and higher quality photos Charlotte portraits Click on each photo to view larger! MISC

'cause you were all yellow

Ah Ah Ah! I loved doing this shoot with my beautiful cousin Soph! This is nearly one of my last shoots for my Unit 4 A Level Photography and covers the "evolution of freedom and its growth in life". Basically just trying to show photos that depict freedom, carelessness, natural beauty and energy by the sunshine load. This was in Bygrave (please don't arrest me farmers, your fields still have flowers in I promise) and we got absolutely covered in rapeseed - great time for me to wear black trousers and black Vans.. not.

I had quite a few people tell me how much they liked the collab picture I put up on Instagram of Sophie so I thought I'd upload the rest onto here. For my final piece for A2 Photography I'm developing this shoot next week but with Sophie + an extra model and this time in a lavender and sunflower field, so look out for my next post and expect another floral overload! Caution sunglasses advised.

Blinded by the yellow yet?

Massive thanks to Sophie Lacey for being a fantastic model and putting up with my crazy orders to lie down in a field and pose with stems poking here there and everywhere! Super pleased with this shoot and cannot wait to do it all over again next week