Review: Gymbox

Today, 24th  September 2018 I tried out my first Gymbox   class. The gym just opened at Cannon Street and I was lucky enough to have a taster of the facilities. See below what I got up to, what I thought of the class and if I would recommend it as a top workout spot in London. What class did I do? I did the BadAss class Who was the instructor? Phoebe What was the class like? Described on their website as 'the next level workout for your derriere', I can confirm that this class certainly does make your booty burn! The class was 30-minutes and consisted of a dynamic, cardio warm-up and then 2 sections of weight-based workout. Squats, lunges, pulses were, as expected, all included in the workout. The 2 sections of workout were made up of 3/4 exercises which you did for 1 minute each before switching, complete all the exercises and then have 30 seconds rest. You then repeated that section through again before moving on to the 2nd section. I definitely struggled

What I Eat in a Day: Weekday Edition

I know a lot of people often struggle to come up with ideas of what to eat and, working in an office with a commute home, it is almost too easy to just abandon cooking a fresh meal and order a takeaway.

Top tip: Find 5+ meals that you know are easy to prepare, don't require a lot of time and you can make in bulk. Leftovers are great for lunch the next day!

I've put together a list of some of the things that I eat throughout the week to hopefully help you come up with ideas!

Breakfast

I eat breakfast at work so always have something that requires minimal effort to put together.

Currently I eat 70g Shreddies Max Oat Granola cereal with skimmed milk.

kcals
370
protein
18.1g
carbohydrates
58.9g
fats
5.4g

This is quote a high carb content however, I like to get my carbs in towards the start of the day and have a lower carb dinner. This is just my preference!

Overnight oats are also a staple for my breakfast.

- 50g oats (I like Rude Health's 5 grain)
- 150ml almond milk
- 1 scoop MyProtein chocolate smooth protein powder
- 15g chocolate chips
- frozen berries

Stick it all in a jar or airtight container and leave in the fridge overnight. Take to work, stir it up and enjoy!

kcals
390
protein
28.7g
carbohydrates
43g
fats
10.3g

Note: frozen berries are quite sour - use fresh fruit and just add in the morning if you prefer

Lunch/Dinner

Like I mentioned earlier, finding recipes that you can make in bulk and then use leftovers for lunch has been a massive time-saver. It also helps save money. Working in London is expensive at the best of times without spending £8 a day on low-quality lunches. Here are a couple of favourites of mine that I have been making recently

Bolognese/Chilli

Bolognese and chilli are 2 things that I can make without consulting a recipe. Super simple and actually very very similar in the ingredients!

- 400g low fat mince (I use MuscleFood)
- 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
- 1 beef stock cube (made into 200ml)
- onion, garlic, a chilli, peppers

For chilli add:
- 1 tin of kidney beans (in chilli sauce if you can find them)
- Chilli flavour mix, you can use a Schwartz packet mix or use spices from home

Method:
- chop the garlic, chilli, peppers and onion and fry until soft then add the mince to the pan
- wait until the mince has browned before adding the chopped tomatoes and stock
- add the kidney beans and chilli spices now
- mix it all together, bring it down to simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan

Serve with pasta, rice, pitta bread... whatever you like!

These macros are for 1 serving of bolognese, not including any pasta

kcals
166
protein
21.5g
carbohydrates
5.5g
fats
6.1g

Chicken, chorizo and prawn jambalaya

Packed full of delicious ingredients and so cheap and easy to make, this is a firm favourite. Click above to see the recipe (without prawns). When making it with prawns, I just fry them up in a separate pan until cooked through and add to the jambalaya about 5 minutes before serving.

kcals
387
protein
39.7g
carbohydrates
28.5g
fats
11.3g

If I haven't made lunch, my favourite place to go in London is a salad bar called Tossed. Make your own salads with whichever base, proteins, veggies and dressings you want! They have a nutritional calculator online so you can calculate your macros.

My favourite salad is spinach and supergrains with grilled chicken, halloumi, cucumber, roasted peppers, pesto and olive oik. Not forgetting salt, pepper and chilli flakes!

Snacks

Working in an office, the urge to snack is real. Sometimes this can come from boredom but often you are genuinely hungry in the afternoon so you need to be prepared. My work locker is FULL of food!

Some snacks that I always have on hand:
- popcorn (propercorn or metcalfe's)
- chocolate covered rice cakes
- satsumas
- yoghurts
- hummus
- protein shake

As long as you have your portions right, these snacks can provide a small, light bite to get you through the rest of the day!

Hopefully this is something that you may find helpful, let me know if you want to hear more about the kinds of things I eat!

CFG x

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