Blog – THE MUSCLE BAKERY

How to: Overnight Oats 🍨

Overnight oats became all the rage about 5 years ago, when all the health gurus were touting its awesomeness, flooding the blogosphere with grams of overflowing oat jar creations.

But, they weren’t wrong about the awesome part. There is a huge benefit in eating overnight oats (aside from the time-saving). As the oats soak overnight, their starches break down which improves digestibility. The soaking acts like a long cooking, which you won’t get from just heating them in the microwave or in a saucepan. (You’ll find that most people who suffer from digestive problems, find overnight oats much easier to stomach for this reason).

So, we are re-visiting this old craze because it’s a gem that needs to be revived!

(Not to mention all the crazy combos you can make with it!)

Here is our how to:

CHOOSE YOUR LAYERS
You are going to need a milk, a ground seed like flax or chia (or both), 30-40g oats, a filling like nut butter or jam, and fruit of choice. Extras include protein powder, yoghurt, syrups, nuts, seeds, chocolate chips (whatever you may fancy).

UPCYCLE YOUR OLD JARS
Save used jars for these overnight oats, not only do they look cool in a jar but you’re helping the environment too.

I love making them in almost over peanut butter jars as it soaks in all the hard to get to peanut butter that always gets left behind (or thrown away).

MIX IT UP
Add milk and ground seeds to your jar and mix, follow it with oats, peanut butter, jam, fruit, seeds and whatever else you may or may not wanna add. Give it a good swirl so that the oats are all soaking in the milk, helping give it a swirly pattern too!

LET IT SOAK
Leave in the fridge to soak overnight and bam. Ready to eat oats!

PEANUT BUTTER CHERRY OVERNIGHT OATS 🍒

Ingredients:
3/4 Cup Coconut Milk made w/ a tiny bit of protein powder to thicken up. Use whichever one suits your diet best.
1 Tsp Chia Seeds
1 Tsp Flaxseed Meal
25g Pip And Nut Maple Peanut Butter
1 (generous 🙄) squeeze of Bulkpowders Zero Maple Syrup
Handful of Waitrose frozen cherries
1 Savia Soy Yoghurt
1 Pack Quaker Oats GF Oats (30-40g Oats)

Method:
1. Pour milk, chia, flax and oats in your jar and roughly mix.
2. Add peanut butter, cherries and yoghurt + whatever else you want in there and again mix roughly.
3. Close your jar and leave overnight.
4. Enjoy the next day with a hot cuppa!

The beauty of this recipe is that you can make as many different creations as you like, so long as you follow the basic how to.

Look forward to seeing what combos you guys come up with! Don’t forget to tag us if you make them, we love to see. Find us on all social outlets @themusclebakery/ @themusclebaker 🙂

Fancy some creamy oats? Check out our How to: Make Creamy Oats

For 20% discount on Bulkpowders use code: MUSCLEBAKERY20 | 10% discount on iHerb using code: JCB887

All recipes created by The Muscle Bakery and subject to copyright.

Vegan Banana Bread Pt.2

We mentioned not long ago that Banana Bread is possibly one of the most re-created recipes amongst the foodie realms… it is after all, where all over-ripened bananas are laid to rest. RIP spotty bananas. We created not one, but TWO awesome banana bread recipes back then, check that blogpost out here.

Now, months later and with some overly spotty bananas in hand, we decided to make some more. Except this time with a recipe upgrade:

VEGAN BANANA BREAD

Servings: 16
Print

Author: The Muscle Bakery.

Banana bread made with sparkling water?!! YUP!! We wondered if the recipe would work with sparkling water as we originally tried it with Coke Zero and it worked perfectly. Our curious selves had to try it out, and we are SO glad we did!

Ingredients

Pea Protein Isolate

If you don’t have this, substitute with applesauce.
If you want to omit this or don’t have this ingredient, try adding a little bit more flour instead.

You will also need a metal loaf pan, not the silicone one.

Directions

Preheat oven to 170 Degrees C.
In a bowl mix together all your dry ingredients until combined. Then, fold in your wet ingredients until you get a thick batter.
Prepare a greaseproof baking sheet in your loaf pan then pour mix into it.
Bake for 30-40mins (until knife comes out clean when piercing it).
Leave to cool completely before slicing.
Then slice up and enjoy solo or with your fave nut butter!

Nutritional Info (per slice of 16): 121 Cals | 1.9F | 20.4C | 6.3P

Free from Gluten, Wheat, Sugar, Dairy, & Egg.

Don’t forget to tag us if you try any of these recipes, you can find us on all social media outlets @themusclebakery

For 15% discount on Bulkpowders use code: MUSCLEBAKERY15

HAPPY (BANANA BREAD) BAKING!

Veganuary Week Uno 🌱

Let’s take part in Veganuary they said. It’ll be fun they said. No-one warned us about the cheese cravings, dangers of sudden fibre uptake and how easy it is to get fat. But, it aint all doom and gloom, have a read and find out what the experience has been like so far:

For those who don’t know what Veganuary is, we explained it in our previous blogpost: Top tips to tackle Veganuary.

DAY ONE: HANGOVER 💀

My first day as a vegan was quite uneventful, I skipped breakfast as usual (because bed minutes are worth more than breakfast minutes) and waking up on New Years Day still sporting the previous nights make-up (across face and pillow) to the realisation that it was now Veganuary and I couldn’t call up Mr Pizza Man for the usual fix was really tough. More so, with a hangover. But, I mustered up all my energy and rolled out of bed, first into the bathroom to turn myself from drug addict to relatively normal looking human and then into the kitchen to make some avo toast in true cliche Vegan style.

I hadn’t really given much thought to what being vegan implied, I just knew I didn’t want any other living being to suffer unnecessarily on my account, and no I have not watched Earthlings yet.

The hangover had claimed all my energy and nothing was gonna culminate in a greasy cheesy pizza.

The rest of the day was spent opening the cupboards in a majorly uninspired fashion, the hangover had claimed all my energy and nothing was gonna culminate in a greasy cheesy pizza. The night before the change, I spoke to my only vegan friend, and he advised me to throw out all non vegan products. I said I would, but I didn’t. Ingrained in my very being is my father’s voice saying “waste not, want not” or “starving children in Africa would fight over that plate”,every time I attempt to throw food away. So, when the temptation to whip out the cheese and crackers came along, I knew they had to go.

Sorry dad. Was there no one I could offload my brie on?

Humus and carrot sticks for dinner it is.

And with that, day one finito.

*Pats self on back*

DAY TWO: INSPIRED ✨

Woke up late (earning extra bed minutes) and in a huff decided to be pro-active in a bid to make up for those wasted hours. Chopped up all the veggies possible, laid them in a tray and popped them in oven to grill. +5pts to me.

Determined to stick to my plan, I spent a considerable amount of my lunch hour in the health shop along with most of my life savings; stocking up on organic fruits, vegetables, beans, pulses and vegan alternatives.

Then it hit me,Chocolate!

What the hell vegans? Why would you do this to yourselves, and more importantly, me.

Chocolate is my thing. I eat it every day.

Now, for any of you thinking about going vegan, let me tell you this; your chocolate will never taste the same again. Say goodbye to Green & Blacks Butterscotch bars *sad face*. This does not mean vegans cannot eat chocolate, we can, just not the deliciously smooth milk variety.

I’m a fan of all kinds of chocolate, so after a frantic Google search, I found that some of my favourites were in fact vegan. Lindt Excellence, as from 70% cocoa, awesome! It also helps if you (or in Lisanka’s case, your best friend) is a wizard in the ‘free from’ kitchen. *insert Hazelnut truffles here*

Anyhow, whilst on my splurge at the health shop, I discovered something much better than chocolate anyway, dried pineapple. My absolute favourite fruit ever. There are many versions of dried pineapple on the market, most of them heavily laced with preservatives and sugars. Sulfur dioxide is not something I want to be consuming thank you very much. I’ve become an additive snob along with my vegan-ism. Tropical Wholefoods ‘sun dried pineapple’ is 100% pineapple and is organic to boot. I may have eaten the whole bag in sheer excitement.

Lunch was a bit of everything. I went to the only vegetarian place I could think of close by and ordered enough food to feed a small country. Avocado and tomato salad, roast sweet potato and beetroot salad, 3 bean soup, falafel and humus. I must stress, I did not eat this all. The falafel and humus was enough and I saved the rest for later. I guess I tried to over compensate for the lack of obvious protein on my plate.

I spent most of my afternoon engrossed in vegan literature, i.e. Google, Pinterest and Instagram.

Inspired by the colourful offerings I held in the palm of my hand, I set to work on writing up an endless list of ‘to-do’ recipes. The first on my list? Bean burgers. What i ended up with? Lentil & Quinoa patties. Ah well, its only my second day, ill get this.

I know most vegans and vegetarians say this when they make a meat free alternative, but seriously, I did not miss the meat at all. My bean patty was divine and my mother agreed. Although, I’m going to be honest, I missed the slice (or two) of cheese.

For dessert? The remaining Hazelnut Truffles of course.

DAY 3: HELLO FIBRE 🙃

O.K, so none of these vegan blogs warned me about the side effects of upping your fibre intake dramatically. In hindsight I should have seen it coming. I won’t go into the technicalities, but I am under the mercy of my digestive system, and she’s not being very gracious.

To be safe, my breakfast choice was a Coconut Milk smoothie laced with flaxseed, oats and a generous dollop of Hazelnut butter. Somehow, it felt sensible to keep to liquids, or at least it seemed logical to me.

I’ve started slowly telling people that I am cutting out meat, dairy and any other animal products from my diet and for the most part everyone is surprisingly supportive. Vegans tend to get a bad reputation for being pushy, preachy, holier-than-thou know-it-alls, so the common response when you tell someone you’re vegan is a defensive one. I know, because I used to get that way.

I once tweeted something quite awful about a vegan, and how I wanted to slap her in the face with a steak. In jest, of course. It’s not that she was vegan, she was just an ass hole; an ass hole who happened to be a vegan.

I don’t want to be one of those people who sneers at your life choices at the dinner table, or aggressively pushes their beliefs on others.

Lunch was leftover bean patties paired with homemade sprout crispies; an idea that was inspired by one of many Vegan Insta-foodie accounts I have began to follow since starting Veganuary. My judgement clouded by excitement, but my fibre intake jeopardised. A decision I would come to regret.

I feel a constant need to eat and to be nourished, and as a result I’m eating copious amounts of nuts, nut butter, seeds and dried fruit, namely cashews, peanut butter and dried pineapple. I may be eating too much, but how can something so small be so calorific?

*sigh*

Dinner comes along and in usual post-workout fashion, am really tired, cranky and hungry. I only have enough macros left to eat protein and not much else and with that, for the first time since starting, i wish for some chicken. I give myself a few imaginary slaps and proceed to whip up some Satay Tofu. (Honestly… it was horrible, but i ate it anyway.)

Tomorrow will be better, surely.

DAY 4: BLOATED 💩

Not loving myself at the moment if I’m totally honest. I feel like a blow up doll. I’m swollen, uncomfortable and fat.

The thought of a lean scrambled egg breakfast was plaguing my mind. I banish the little yellow clouds of protein goodness from my thoughts and again opt for a liquid breakfast. Paired with a bowl of oats. Girl logic.

Getting ready for work was a chore, everything feels too tight and I was in no mood for the confines of hosiery. I look in the mirror and liken myself to a dairy cow who’s been pumped full of hormones. Even my face looks distorted. What’s happening to me?

Google will know.

“Is veganism making me fat and ugly?”

The short answer is yes, the long one is no.

There is a common misconception, that there are certain things one can do to “detoxify”

When you starve your body of all animal products, a lot of weird stuff happens. You might feel overly emotional and sensitive,experience unexplained aches and pains, tension headaches,flu-like symptoms bloating, constipation, diarrhea (or both), vomiting (or all three). You may start thinking your body is punishing you for deviating from what we all believe is our God given right, eating animals. I likened it to going cold turkey on Heroin, not that I’ve ever been a heroin addict, but if Eastenders taught me anything, it’s that addicts go through hell when they give up the goods.

Hang in there. It will get better, you will get better. Much better.

Your face wont always resemble a big hunk of celeriac (organic of course), I promise.

I will say this though, the withdrawal symptoms are real. It will happen to you. Just think of it as a good spring clean. The body is ridding itself of mercury, pesticides, bacteria and hormones along with a whole host of other nasties found in animal based foods.

Thankfully, i didn’t have to worry about lunch today. Wagamama had my back. All the Edamame beans please.

Note to self: Stop buying dried pineapple.

DAY 5: STILL BLOATED 💩💩

The ugly continues.

I stare at my reflection in the mirror… how is this bloat even normal? I look like I’m in my third trimester, ready to pop triplets and my partner has already begun mocking me. ‘Stop sticking your belly out.’ he says … I wasn’t even. I start to think of all the moments in my life i wasnt bloated and took for granted.

F**K you sprouts.

I proceed to rummage through all my clothes, finding all and any baggy items, telling myself, ‘Today, i will refrain from eating fiber. I can do this.’

Breakfast was again a liquid option. With toast, toast is always a good idea, and 100% vegan.

In a bid to avoid any extra fibre, I steered away from all the cans of neatly stacked beans which I had impulse bought in my pre- veganuary excitement. My next best bet for getting some high protein foods in my belly? Tofu. I remembered a chicken nugget recipe i used to make, so applied the same ingredients and methods to the tofu instead. Thankfully, it was a success and possibly the best Vegan recipe ive made so far. #VegansOfIG rejoice. Tofu nuggets was born.

I start feeling a little bit better come afternoon and the bloat subdued after several toilet visits. (Gotta thank the extra dosages of lemongrass tea for that).

Then much to my surprise, an asos delivery came a knocking at my door, inside? Some new training gear! I popped it straight on, and pranced around feeling as light as a pringle. What a contrast to this morning!

Eager to test out the new gear, i opened up my NTC app and set off for a run. I started running and couldnt stop. I felt alive. For the first time in all of Veganuary i was PUMPED! Was it being Vegan that had made me able to run for so long? Maybe it was, who knows. Either way, i was loving it.

DAY 6: OK, I GOT THIS 🙅🏼

Fresh from the previous days motivation i woke up feeling great, not only had it been a while since i was capable of running 10k but for the first time all week… no bloat! YASSSSS! Guess this Veganism is kinda alright!!? With a smile on my face, i swirl up my daily dosage of super greens and hot lemon water before seizing the day ahead.

It was a busy day prepping bars for the week ahead, and even when my oven broke and toilet started leaking… my positivity levels were still high. After all, what is a broken oven in the grand scheme of things? Im alive, i’m healthy and have a fluffy gown that warms me up at night. It could be worse.

DAY 7: HAPPY ONE WEEK! 🎉

I would love to say that I woke up this morning feeling rested and refreshed. The truth is I was kept up half the night by my upstairs neighbour. 1 am is as as good a time as any to grind cacao nibs in your antique heavyweight bronze pestle and mortar (So 2017).

I know because after half an hour of racking my brains I asked him what the hell that was.

“I’m making chocolate, darling, come up it’s fabulous. I’ve got cacao nibs on the grind.”

“No thanks, it’s late. I’m trying to sleep.”

“Save me some.Goodnight.”

If I wake up at 10 i’ll get a solid 8 hours.

6 hours later, a frantic mother charges in my room like a bull in a china shop, looking for her charger (why in my room I don’t know).

I’m up. I’m annoyed. Tea.

I love the ritual involved in making a pot of tea. i opted for my favourite: mint tea.

Soak some loose green tea leaves in about an inch of water in a tea pot. Drain after a couple of minutes, this reduces the bitterness in the tea. Add a bunch of fresh mint leaves and add just boiled water. Wait 3-5 minutes. Pour. Sit outside. Watch the ships go by. Relax.

After about 6 months, endless cancellations and several illness excuses, our attempt at a girl date was successful. I met Liz and we ventured up the Rock and onto the new suspension bridge. The day was still, the sun was warming. The apes were out in abundance.

On our way back down from our trek, Liz was telling a story about how she and her family had been chased by a pack of apes because her youngest brother had mimicked one and proclaimed “OOOH” in its face.

As she demonstrated what her little brother had done over a decade ago, an adolescent ape (who up until that point had been indifferent to our presence and totally engrossed in a fruit peelings), leapt from behind her and onto her back baring its teeth whilst grabbing her arm. Luckily, she’s well acquainted with a quick backhand, and she shook the ape off. It seemed like she’d done this before.

I thought animals were supposed to appreciate vegans?

Exhausted from our ordeal we head off for lunch. But first, a quick stop at the supermarket for some lettuce i needed.

Sixteen impulse buys and £50 later we made our way to Wagamamas for lunch. By the way, vegan bacon bits exist, as does “just add water” sausage mix (vegan of course) and Lotus biscuits are Vegan. You’re welcome.

Wagamama’s always delivers, those edamame beans are life. I have been tempted to hit it up everyday instead of cooking myself but, my bank account denies me this luxury. We engross ourselves in eating these little green pellets of protein goodness, sip on green tea and enjoy eachothers company.

One week Veganuary down, i celebrate by making a Veggie Paella and treat myself to a bag of crisps. Yolo.

Note to self: The stated amount of rice in mother’s recipe is correct. Do NOT add more rice. Repeat. DO NOT ADD MORE RICE.

We hope you enjoyed our week one Veganuary. It has been fun to do, (challenging somewhat) but exciting to try new recipes and foods and not as hard as you may believe it to be! You may feel that it is impossible to do it and give up *insert favourite animal based food here* (most people say cheese) BUT, eating LESS also makes a positive change on our environment! Try it 😄

This text is based on the experiences of Elke Hurtado and Lisanka Trinidad. Written by them both. You can find Lisanka Trinidad and some of her blogposts on Just Weight and Tea.

Much love,

The Muscle Baker ❤️

Free-From Eats: Brunch It (Malaga)

Brunch It Cafe

Location: Calle Carreteria, 46 29008 – Malaga📍

Whenever i need to go somewhere the first thing i do is find somewhere new to eat, (it isn’t really worthwhile without some good food) so one quick search and i found this cute place in Malaga. The typography and cool design kinda sold it to me, the food looked pretty good too. Thanks Instagram.

To get to this location, we used the Sat Nav as we are not very familiar with the area. It’s a good job we did as there were roadworks around the area, which meant a sudden route change. Best suggestion is follow directions as best and as close as possible then park and walk there.

The decor is modern, blacks and whites with a fresh tone from plants, fruits and ornaments. Their large window opens up to allow seating on the front, there is a bar seating area at the entrance, then more seating indoors with one ‘lounge’ table with sofa seating towards the back of the establishment.

To start off I ordered a fresh fruit/veg smoothie. There was a few to choose from and each had a description of what they would help with ie. Digestion, alcalizing, energising etc. I chose the ‘Kotao’ which was for ‘digestion’ and comprised of apples, pear, ginger, lemon and spinach.

They were all priced at €3.50.

The other half decided to go for a slice of their freshly made pizzas, parma ham and pumpkin flavour made on a focaccia style base which looked and smelt DIVINE. (These moments are when i realise how much i miss cheese.)

Anyhow, the pizzas/ sandwiches etc are all made with their freshly baked focaccia style bread and each piece is sold by weight not by slice which is pretty cool. Especially if you’re one of those unlucky people who always ends up with the smaller pieces 😛

For my mains, after much deliberation I chose a salad, bacon salad to be exact. In hindsight it was not the best option and I should have gone for the quinoa salad or veggie burger, which had initially caught my eye. I’m used to eating turkey bacon so when the salad came it was a lot greasier and it was the typical Spanish bacon which has loadsa fat pieces and i dunno i just felt bad eating it. I think the wanting of cheese clouded my judgement!

By default, my partner chose a burger. There was a few to choose from including a turkey burger, veggie burger and soya burger by the names of Buey, Crunchit, Pavo Eco, Veggie & Tofu, all priced at €8.90 and came with a side of fresh cut chips.

Same goes for all their meals, they have a bit of a variety to choose from, designed to suit all and any. They even have a veggie and vegan pizza option: veggie had olive oil, cucumber, aubergine, peppers and Pecorino cheese (made from Sheeps milk) and vegan one had sweet onion, aubergine, cucumber and pepper. Each of the pizzas also had a different type of cheese, some with mozarella, others Parmesan and even one with provolone.

We weren’t sure if to stay for dessert but like most occasions, i was there… i may as well. But, much to my disappointment i wasn’t able to have anything as none were wheat-free or vegan friendly (without dairy/egg) so i opted for a green tea to soothe my tummy post-food and watched the other one eat a Nutella stuffed focaccia. Sigh.

Price: ☺️ | Location: 😰 | Service: 😄 | Food: ☺️

The place is super cool, the layout is awesome, the decor is trendy and they even have iPads on the tables so you can surf the net. I wouldn’t consider it to be an ‘organic’ place per say, more like a healthified eatery with Italian vibes. They have meal options to suit all and any which is great, especially if you’re travelling there with a variety of people who have different diets and even though they don’t specifically cater to Gluten-Free they do have salad/ smoothie options to choose from. Perfect place if you’re not Gluten/ Wheat intolerant as you can enjoy any of the burgers or pizzas too, whether you’re Vegan or not.

Caters to Vegan/ Vegetarian diets (and people who love pizza).

Tip: For anyone counting calories/ macros etc my advise would be to log in similar counterparts to what you are eating and be mindful about it. Eg. bean burger isn’t hard to find on MFP, and it is very unlikely that there is a vast difference in macros. Trust me, at some point, someone has logged in something similar in MFP, a quick search and you’re good! If at the very least, for peace of mind.

Another from our series of #EatsFreeFrom as we travel around taste testing all the delicious (free-from) foods for you!

Any requests? Let us know! 🙂

Much love,

The Muscle Baker

Some tips on travelling fit!

So, we travelled over to the UK for a short but sweet trip so thought it would be cool to share some ideas for travelling fit that you can apply yourselves when travelling anywhere.

We will take you through our luggage and pre-prep travel essentials, as well as advice on meal / snack options during travel (as we encounter them).

So, here we go:
First, here is our top 8 essentials that we simply cannot travel without:

1. Protein Powder

You all may be thinking, ‘are you for real?’ And yeah, yeah I am! Packing 1 or 2 scoops of protein powder into a tub or bag won’t take up much space and means that with 7 hours of travel ahead and my protein catered for, I’d just need to grab some snacks here and there to hit a balanced nutritional intake. It also means that if I’ve struggled to hit my protein at the end of the day (which tends to be the case) I can just have a pre-bed shake and I’m good to go!

I find that carbs are always easier to obtain anyway, bags of Snack-a-jacks, popcorn, fruit, porridge pots etc are all great carb sources and as a fussy eater who tends to get regular flare-ups, would much rather keep the intake simple and safe!

Tip: pack your scoops seperately in sandwich bags, shove them into an empty shaker and leave in your hand luggage. That way you don’t need to faf around to make yourself a shake during travel and if any accident happens all your protein powder will safely explode into the shaker and not into your bag.

My go to protein powder at the moment is Bulkpowders Strawberry Casein, mainly because I’m not intolerant to it (yay). But, also because I find that Vegan protein blends i need to mix with fruits, berries or nut butters to mask the ‘chalky’ taste while this one tastes great on its own which is ideal during travel.

2. Buscopan

As explained above, I am always a meal away from severe flare-ups and cramps, so I always pack some Buscopan to help with that. I also find that flights make me quite bloated and cramp-ey as it is, I would usually take one pre-flight to help ease the discomfort slightly. I also packed some Deflatine with me just incase, which i would take during flight if bloat symptoms got too bad.

3. Liquid Sweetener

Ok ok, this is not exactly an essential but having coffee just doesn’t taste the same unless I have my Vanilla Cinnamon flavour stevia, so I pack it with me for whenever coffee is calling. The small size means that I can carry it on with me and enjoy coffee just as I like it as I travel on the plane or grab a Starbucks to go.

4. Powdered greens

I have this every morning upon wake up and it really helps me regulate my digestive system so naturally I’d take my usual dose pre-flight but also take extra with me for the following few days abroad.

It will ensure that my tummy is as regulated as possible, even with all the varying factors such as different foods, travel stress, etc.

5. Protein Bars

Packing a few bars in your bag means that you don’t have to stress too much about food along the way, with a bar or protein shake (or both) tiding you over. Also, if like me, you like having a sweet treat everyday, taking your own means that… a.) you can pre-log the nutritional info into My Fitness Pal/ Fat Secret and work your remaining macros around them & b.) Not worry about hunting down a sweet treat that caters to intolerances that doesn’t have a million calories.

I find that there is no middle ground of healthy treats out there, they either cater to those wanting the high protein/low-fat/ low-carb/ macro-friendly variety or they cater to intolerances, thankfully The Muscle Bakery tries to cater to both, so would much rather go with something i trust incase winging it doesn’t really work out. (Plus, you’re not really the Muscle Baker if you don’t have any of your own treats, surely!) 😛

From the whole range of MB treats my ‘travel friendly’ suggestions would be our Nuttylicious and Lean Malts, mainly because they have the best macros but also because they are the ones which would hold better during travel and not melt fully.

6. Reading glasses

This suggestion may sound random (and if you are not blind then keep on scrolling) but, keeping healthy isn’t just about what you eat but in general doing little things that make you feel better as a whole. For me, skipping the contact lenses and travelling with my glasses on is key to that. Travelling with your contact lenses on may attribute to making your eyes look tired (and add sexy looking bags to your eyes), they would also dry out your eyes if your drift off to sleep which isn’t ideal. So, keep your contact lense carrier in your handbag and just pop them in when you arrive to your destination, your eyes will thank you.

7. Concealer

During travel, the less make-up i wear the more comfortable i am! In and out of check in/ customs/ getting to the flight makes me hot and bothered which then affects my make-up and makes it look clammy and horrible. But, there is one item i do not go without, my trusty Mac Prep & Prime concealer! This is coming from a person who has absolutely no extensive knowledge on make-up, i just apply the basics and always opt for natural looking (not cakey) concealers or foundations and this is exactly that, except it hides my eye bags which is why i love it.

I add it on pre-flight but also top up post-flight if i need to, it helps brighten up my face a little without having to apply a full face of make up. Add a little lip gloss or lipstick if you want to glam it up a bit!

8. Travel moisturiser

Like mentioned earlier, travel in general can leave you feeling quite ‘meh’ so packing some travel size moisturiser’s can help make you feel a little less of that ‘meh.’ Pack some in your handbag (make sure they are under the 100ml allowance) and freshen up once you land. A quick face wash, moisturising cream and Prep & Prime concealer… you’ll feel (and look) like a new person!

When travelling, choices may be limited, you fancy comfort food and you just feel ‘meh’ from the flight rushing and the flight itself. (Atleast this is the case for me everytime.)

So, I thought I’d tackle it head on and try see what were the best options to choose during several occasions on my trip:

Pre-flight breakfast:

This was a simple one: 2x meat-free burgers and a side of broccoli. It doesn’t sound like the most appetising meal but it does fill up the belly just right without sitting too heavy for the flight ahead while delivering key nutrients that I would need.

I find low-carb/ higher protein breakfasts keep my hunger at bay for longer so would rather choose this over a bowl of oats which would fill me up too much and have me hungry again in no time.

I had it with my usual Amazing Grass Powdered greens and a Dandelion Citrus Tea.

Airport snack:

I don’t usually buy anything at the airport, maybe a coffee but I prefer to buy on plane when I’m settled, but… I had a £10 Gibraltar note that needed changing into Sterling so thought I’d make use of it to check out what I could purchase.

Admittedly, the choices were limited, the usual buttery flapjacks disguised as the the healthy snack or a choice of pastries, sandwiches & donuts. Where is that Muscle Bakery when you need it huh?

After a quick scan, I did find a little gem: Sugar-Free Blackcurrant jelly at 8cals per pot… Perfect. I paired it with a bottle of water and an Americano.

Plane food:

The food selection on the plane wasn’t amazing but I was impressed to see decent healthy options, here is a few that I spotted:

It was awesome to see another ‘Zero’ drink option aside from Coke Zero for a change. I do fancy fizzy drinks every once in a while and would opt for a ‘Zero’ type drink as it wouldn’t be high in sugars or calories, but am intolerant to Cola nut which means Cola isn’t an option. More establishments should offer a wider ‘Zero’ variety as kids are also affected by the caffeine in Cola and would be better off having something like above.

They also had Coconut water which is another great healthy alternative, however with the uncertainty of what foods id be consuming I’d much rather stick to water (unless i am dying from a hangover and i need some extra electrolytes to save me).

If i had to choose a meal from all those available i would 100% choose the porridge, not only is it really filling (you can add a scoop of your protein powder if you want to), it also gives you some fuel for the rest of your journey, and it’s easy to log into MFP without having a wifi connection.

I was however not hungry at all and majorly bloated (probably due to disruption to my usual morning toilet visits) so opted for a Deflatine chewable and a mint tea to soothe the discomfort.

Post flight:

I got really hungry towards the end of the flight so whipped out one of the Muscle Bakery bars I had packed (which I kinda wanted to save for later in the day but couldn’t resist).

I had it with the hopes of just grabbing a late on-the-go lunch on the train journey. (Obviously I didn’t anticipate the madness that is rush hour on the London commute).

Train travel:

On my way out of departures I saw M&S food store *REJOICES* so popped in and grabbed a few simples: BBQ chicken slices, pineapple chunks, marinated olives, a bag of pea crisps and a bottle of water.

I needed some protein intake so opted for some chicken slices. I could have had a sandwich as the options provided there were great but there were no wheat-free options available so decided to get my carbs from the fresh pineapple which actually went down a treat in the excessively overpacked train heat.

Tip: Did you know that pineapple contains Bromelain which is a kind of proteolytic enzyme. Its qualities include improving protein digestion, reducing inflammation and treating indigestion.

Pineapple itself has been traditionally used to enhance digestion as well as ease inflammation. Because it is considered a proteolytic enzyme, Bromelain has the capability to fight off inflammation which may affect the tissues and organs in the body, helping the body be cleansed from harmful toxins. It also helps prevent blood clotting and improves food and nutrient digestion.*

On the second leg of the train journey I had the olives and pea crisps. Olives if eaten in moderation are a great snack, especially if you’re into salty foods. But… I don’t know this moderation thing when it comes to olives and ate the whole damn pack which seriously dented my macro allowance for later on in the day. SIGH. (Worth every salty bite though.)

Note: The reason I was trying to save as much macros as possible is because I was most likely going to dine at a restaurant (out of my choosing) so to be safe would much rather eat small meals/ snacks that provide me with nutrients I need during the course of the day which won’t affect my food choices later on for dinner. Eg. If they only sell pizzas, I don’t want to be THAT person who says no sorry because of *insert excuse here*.

(For more info on flexible dieting read this blogpost.)

Dining out:

The choice of restaurant was an Italian, and the menu? Filled with delicious gluten/ wheat/ dairy- laden items. *SIGH*

They did provide gluten-free pizzas bases, however I can’t have cheese either and pizza without cheese just isn’t fun at all is it? After contemplating all the different options and whether eating cheese was worth the painful bloat. I decided not to and went for the default choice: Caesar Salad, no Parmesan, no dressing with olive oil and balsamic vinegar instead. (Extra extra ok the vinegar of course.)

Final meal:

I capped off the day with a pre-bed protein shake and Lean Malt as I was below on my protein intake and really fancied something sweet after dinner. (Protein powder and extra bars came in handy here.)

As you can see there was quite a variety of foods, including fruit, veggies, some sweet treats as well as the ‘essentials’. Ideally I would have much preferred better meals, but i had to work with what i encountered without wanting to mess up my tummy by eating something i am intolerant to just because it was easier.

This blogpost was done based on my own experience and working within my constraints and goals, but i wrote it because i felt that just maybe it could help others who are not so inspired, who suffer from intolerances or who like sticking to their diets, so that they too can get some ideas and keep motivated!

Did you like this blogpost? Do you feel there is something you also do that helps you #TravelFit? Comment below and lets see what ideas other people have!

Any questions? Hit the comment button, i’ll be ready to answer.

On Twitter? Join us: @themusclebakery / #TravelFit

With love,

The Muscle Baker <3

References:
http://www.naturalnews.com/039123_Bromelain_anti-inflammatory_enzyme.html#ixzz4MEg99Vze
http://www.naturalnews.com/039123_Bromelain_anti-inflammatory_enzyme.html#ixzz4MEfpRpun