6 Reasons Why Meal Prep Is Important When Training

Baden Powell’s famous Scout motto ‘Be Prepared’ works because it’s simple and effective and a mantra that every person must abide by when considering their workout regime.

One key area, that is easy to overlook, is the preparation of your diet. The food you consume is vital to being able to get the most from your training sessions - get this wrong and you’re bound to fail. Not convinced? Here’s six reasons to ‘be prepared’ with your meals when training…

The right fuel

Every training regime must be supported by a balanced diet. This will ensure your body is fuelled by all of the essential nutrients you need to reach your maximum performance and boost your stamina. By preparing your meals properly you can plan out your day and week to make sure you consume a good balance.

Having meals prepared in advance will also ensure that you don’t skip meals, a mistake that can cause your energy levels to drop.

Recovery

Your diet isn’t just about providing the fuel you need to train. It’s vital that your body is able to recover, with protein key to help your muscles, cells and tissues repair themselves.

Getting the right meals prepared and ready to eat after your workout is vital to help this process.

Weight loss

Chances are that no matter what your training goals are, you’ll want to be leaner as a result of your workouts. Preparing your meals properly allows you to spend time counting your calories and using the right ingredients to make for a healthy diet. Most of us make our worst food choices when tired and hungry at the end of the day, after all.

Save time

Speaking of which, one of the reasons we make such poor choices is because we don’t feel we have the time to start cooking. By preparing meals in advance, when we have time to spend a couple of hours in the kitchen, we can save time later in the week.

This also helps when trying to fit everything into a busy schedule. Balancing work and family life can be tricky enough, without the need to squeeze cooking into your day too. By preparing your meal you’ll clear your schedule for more training time.

Remove temptation

It’s so easy to slip into bad habits and make poor dietary choices when you’re tired or in a rush – people reach for takeaways and sugary snacks out of convenience. If meals are prepared in advance you won’t allow yourself to be tempted to the ‘dark side’. Don’t neglect ‘in between times’ either, have a few healthy snack ideas that can tide you over in between meals without knocking you off course.

Car Drama

2 years ago in July I treated myself to my first 'nice' car. It had been a dream of mine for such a long time, to have a car that I could rely on and ultimately enjoy. I set my heart on a Mini Cooper, and soon found myself sat in a rather swish Cooper S convertible, and I knew there and then that I was going to be driving away in that very car at some point in the not so distant future.

Buy the car I did, and now 2 years later it is costing me a pretty penny or two. As much as I still adore this car, it has defeated the object of purchasing it... You see I put this car on a finance deal with the mindset that if I spent more than I would ordinarily on a car, it would be a more trusted vehicle that would NOT be in and out of the garage all of the time. 

If only that was the case...

In November alone I managed to break down 3 times. One of which times was on the side of the motorway on  my way home from Nottingham, it was cold, it was rainy and it just so happened that I was in my sports kit complete with shorts. Of course I had decided I wouldn't need to bring a change of clothes as I would be heading straight home for a shower.. Of course that's not what happened. So there I was forced to get out of the warm car, and stand behind the safety guard on the hard shoulder. It was then I remembered that I had my yoga mat and umbrella in the boot, so I set up a make shift camp on the side of the motorway until help arrived!

 I only have to call up the garage now and say 'Hi! It's Laura with the Mini..' and they will simply ask 'What's wrong this time!?'. When your car is in and out of the garage as much as mine is, you will get pretty pally with the team who fix your car up and take ££££ off you every few months or so! 

I have just been sitting here and thinking about how much my beloved car is costing me, and how much I still have to pay on it. I was pondering the idea of cutting my losses and selling it early and paying off the remainder of the finance and putting whatever was left on a newer car, but it just seems like a few too many hoops to jump through, but then I think about what could potentially go wrong next and suddenly i'm back to the initial thought. 

When I take into consideration the actual running costs on top of all the unexpected repairs, it's all pretty disheartening. The tax alone is just under £300 for the year thanks to the sports car addition on my model, that was a pill I was more than happy to swallow on an annual basis when I thought I would be waving goodbye to the guys at the garage in my shiny Mini. 

You can use the online Car Cost Calculator from Motorparks to work out what you spend on your car on a day to day basis, I have just been having a play, and when it's broken down into £ it doesn't seem overly bad, but I know that I could be paying much less. 

It's true what they say, we live and we learn. 26 year old me has grown up a lot in the last 2 years, and if I was to purchase a new vehicle now, I wouldn't be fantasizing about the car colour (well maybe I will), leather seats or the soft top roof...I would be thinking about the running costs, the petrol consumption, the car tax and all of the more economic factors. 

Next time around I will tackle the car hunting process with a much more leveled head.

Fun Fitness Additions

Fitness has been a big part of my life over the last 2 years, and I genuinely cannot believe that it has been that long (2 years in June) since I decided to turn my lifestyle on it's head and make some big changes, that have not only stuck, but become a way of life.

My love of fitness has opened up so many other passions to me, one of which happens to be my admiration for gym kit. I very recently changed some furniture in my bedroom, and this meant taking all of my gym wear out and transferring it into a new chest of draws. It was only in this moment that I realised I owned more leggings and sports bras than I did anything else. 

When it comes to my sports wear I like to add a bit of fun to my wardrobe, the reasoning behind this is because for so long, everything I owned was Black. I felt that Black slimmed me down, and didn't draw attention to the parts of my body that I was uncomfortable about. Now it's a completely different story. The brighter, the bolder, the more out there... The better.

When I am looking to purchase a new item for my bulging gym wardrobe I look at the following aspects:

- Is it bright?

- Does it have a quirky saying/slogan?

- Can I personalise it?

For me I want something that is going to look good, and put a smile on my face each time I wear it. I especially love it if I can add a personal touch to it, like maybe throwing my name or Instagram name somewhere on the item. I recently got my hands on a new Tee from Spreadshirt, Spreadshirt have a variety of different T-Shirt designs from hen party's right through to training tee's!

Printing T-Shirts is the name of the game and they even have a online T-Shirt Designer so that you can design and personalise your very own creation by adding photo's and custom text. As I already had an idea of what I wanted I looked through the Women's Funny Gym collection and decided on a Black 'You Can't Squat With Us' tank top with Pink neon text. On the back I personalised it and picked a funky font that featured my name on the lower back.

The order process was simple and the product arrived within a week, and the finished tank top looked brilliant. I was so pleased with the end product and have been incorporating it into my work out attire for the last few weeks now. It has washed really well and I love the loose fit it provides.

I have been really impressed with my experience with Spreadshirt and I will definitely be using them again, you can personalise so much more than just T-Shirts on the site, and they have a whole range of gifts that you can add your own mark to, such as sweatshirts, hoodies and mugs!

Birthday Planning for a 5 Year Old

I have been so behind in getting everything I want to say about Leo over these last few months, and this is something that I will be changing. We have so much going on right now, and it is all definitely something that I want and will document, but that will have to wait for another post. For now though I want to focus on an exciting event that is taking place next month, Leo turns FIVE! 

Yes FIVE!

It's been Five years of firsts for both Leo and I, we have had some incredible moments, and we have had some equally trying moments, but when I look back at everything we have done, everything that we have achieved and everything that is yet to come, I feel an intense sense of pride. Leo has over come so many hurdles that have been lay in the path before him, and even when he has stumbled, he has always, always got back up on his feet again.

With Leo turning Five, I really want to give him an incredibly special day this year. This will be the first time I have ever thrown him a party, but with it being his first year of school and the first year he has really actually asked for a Birthday Party, I am determined to give that to him.

This year Leo's Birthday falls on a Monday, which means he will be at school. It will be hard not having him with me on that day, but what I plan on doing is organizing his party for Sunday the 26th June so that we get to celebrate as close to his actual big day as we can. In fact the more I think about it, the more I think that we will just celebrate his birthday a day earlier this year. There will be friends, yummy food and all of his friends. I will have all of his gifts ready for him to open and enjoy too. This way it means he gets to enjoy everything without having to wait until he get's home from school on the Monday. 

I am looking to book the local leisure centre's soft play area and get all of Leo's friends to come along for an afternoon of fun. I have never entertained so many children before, so this is going to be an occasion that really puts me to the test! Think party games and ample disposable supplies so that I can literally bag everything up and bin it at the end of the party! You see there was a method to not having the party at home!

Leo has set his heart on a Bowser Castle Cake, and as I look at the Pinterest inspiration I have been busy pinning, I can already envision myself having a melt down over the icing. That being said though, last year when Leo asked for a Mario Kart 8 cake, I spent hours the day before getting it all together for him, and when he laid eyes on it the next day, his reaction melted away all of the frustration I had in making it. In fact hearing the excitement flicker across his face and light up those sparkly eyes of his, I could have cried with pride. He was so pleased with that cake, that he didn't even care about presents. He thought the cake was his gift! 

All he has asked for this year is his party and his Bowser Castle Cake, so I will be pulling out all of the stops to make this all happen for him, and I will have to get creative in what I get for his main present this year, as he genuinely has not asked for anything.

I just want to give Leo a special day, a day that celebrates him. A day where there's no school, stress or anything like that. Just a day of smiles, laughter and love that celebrates Leo turning 5 years old.

A Fitness Update

It's been a while since I posted about my fitness, but it is still something that I am actively pursuing, and more importantly enjoying. The last few months I have turned everything I was doing on it's head, I seemed to plateau and my results went backwards instead of forwards, and I found that I was no longer enjoying what I was doing. I was disappointed in myself and realised that I needed to make some changes in order to regain the control over something that I was loving.

In hind sight I realise that I was over doing it, it's true what they say, there most certainly is the possibility of to much of a good thing. I found myself at the gym multiple times a day for the many different classes that were going on, I was enjoying them, but my back track seemed to continue. I kept ploughing forward almost trying to convince myself that more was better. 

I knew that something had to change.

I took absolutely everything back to basics, I thought about what worked for me and decided to revert back to the plan that I had been using and loving before I took things a little bit to far. I decided to listen to my body and re-gain the control that I had lost. 

I haven't been to the gym now in 2 weeks.

I have realised that I have everything that I need at home in order to get everything that I need to do done. I decided to restart Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Guide from week 1 and really get my eating back on track. I am now 5 weeks into the guide and I am already starting to feel leaner again, and it couldn't come at a better time, because in just under 5 weeks time I am jetting off to the clear blue skies of Greece, and I honestly believe that it is because of this that I have finally pulled my finger out.

To think about just how much I have turned things on their head, you really have to look at how my habits have changed. I am the perfect example of an alarm snoozer. I am the least morning person you could meet, and I have been known to leave it until mere minutes before leaving the house in time to get Leo to school. However over these last few weeks I have been making the conscious effort to get up in the morning, get outside and do some high intensity training or getting my work out's done bright and early in the lounge. Of course I can't function before I have had some caffeine, but in the spirit of being healthier I have been enjoying some Mighty Matcha Green Tea!

For me getting the work outs done and dusted in the AM, really sets me up for the day ahead. I am up hours before Leo awakens, I can finish the work out and shower before I need to awaken my sleeping beauty and get him up, fed and off to school. 

I am doing all of my cardio in the great outdoors, which is proving to be a lovely way to burn those calories rather than staring at the cross trainer screen for an hour every other day. In fact I am doing so much more walking, that I am going to treat myself to a Sketchers Memory Foam Leisure Trainers! 

Now once that morning work out is done, that's me done for the rest of the day. No more hours spent in the gym, I am getting everything done, seeing results and im back to enjoying it again.

Enjoying what you are doing is ultimately the most important aspect in anything you apply yourself to. It keeps you moving forward and on target.

We have some news!

It's been a little quiet around here of late, but it's been a very busy few weeks. So much has been happening and I have been spending my time with that beautiful little man of mine. In fact we have some exciting news, and no...Before your mind races to 'She's pregnant!' I can rule that one out before the rumor mill really gets going. It is exciting though, Leo and I, in the next few weeks to months will be moving out of the family home... Just the two of us. 

It's been a long time coming, but it's actually becoming a reality. Day by day we edge ever closer to our new lives, and I am over the moon about all that is to come. Leo has always been my right hand and as we enter this next chapter of our lives, I know that we are going to become closer than ever. Of course as it's coming up to two years since we moved back into the family home (temporarily...) all of the furniture is in less than great condition, it basically means that we are starting all over again. 

Although we aren't completely set up just yet in terms of our perfect home, I am still using this valuable time to prepare everything that we will need. I am on the hunt for bargains and deals that are going to put us in a position to just move straight out when the perfect house pops up. It all seems to be happening so quickly right now, and slowly but surely I am ticking the essentials off the list. There is still so much that I need to purchase, but that's what sales are for! I have been loving the House of Fraser Sale over on Love The Sales, and it quite simply could not come at a better time!

Here are a few of my must haves:

Amalfi coast set of 3 scented reed diffusers £15.00 (Was £30.00) *Bottom Right*

Lucia jacquard super king duvet cover £88.00 (Was £110.00) *Top Right*

Mocha faux fur throw £84.00 (Was £120.00) *Top Centre*

Nova Rim Side Plate Set Of 4 £24.00 (Was £48.00) *Middle Centre*

Regatta set of 3 tea towels £9.80 (Was £14.00) *Middle Left*

Arthur Price Grecian Box Of 4 Stainless Steel Serving Spoons £27.70 (Was £36.00) *Bottom Centre*

Speaking of great deals, if you are in the market for some new kitchen pieces or gadgets, make sure to check Aldi out on Thursday 5th May! Aldi's Special Buys are bringing in some great items from leading names, that are going to be snapped up as quickly as they come in.

Russel Hobbs is a house hold name and from the 5th May for a limited time, you can purchase the Grind and Brew Coffee machine for a fantastic £69.99! I have to admit that I do have my eyes on this, and may just have to purchase it and hold onto it until we move out. Alongside this they have the Russel Hobbs Canterbury Toaster (£14,99) and Kettle (£14.99) that will spruce up the kitchen work tops.

One of the products that I really like the look of is the BWT 2.7 Litre Mineral Water Jug (£12.99). I am always buying bottled water, but with this useful kitchen gadget I will simply be able to fill it up and store it in the fridge.

Along side these great products you will find:

Russel Hobbs Digital Microwave - £44.99
3 Piece Ceramic Coated Pan Set - £19.99
20cm Ceramic Coated Frying Pan - £12.99

These are just a selection of my favourite items, there is so much more coming in. I will most definitely be popping along to Aldi next month to purely stock up on house essentials.

Remember... 'Once it's gone, it's gone!'

I do love a bargain, but I do also enjoy the finer things in life, so a sale is the perfect opportunity for me to stock up on a few of the essentials I want to see around my home. I have some big plans over the coming months for sorting out our future home, so you can expect to see me sharing some good deals along the way. 

Right now I am just feeling so incredibly positive about the future, and I know this excitement is only going to continue to grow as we prepare for our new lives in our new home. 

Pizza Express Review - Worcester

Pizza Express has been a family favourite for many years, and today that remains as true as it ever was. When it comes to eating out it's often hard to please the entire family, Leo will always demand his need for pizza, where as I want the option to be able to eat a healthier meal, and Luke who is pretty easy going will change up what he wants on a day to day basis. I guess the hardest part out of all of that, is for me, trying to find that healthier option on a menu that is going to make everyone else happy too.

Yesterday (Saturday 26th March 2016) my little family visited the Worcester branch as guests of Pizza Express for their #PizzaExpressFamily campaign. This is for us is our local establishment, and having eaten there on a number of occasions before, I knew that we were going to be well looked after. 

We arrived with rumbles in our tummies and were more than ready to feast our eyes upon the menu. We were greeted warmly and shown to our table which was prepared and waiting our arrival. The team gave us all the time we needed to make our drinks order, and as we had got carried away chatting they were very patient with us. I ordered a Cappucino as I felt like I needed a small caffeine fix before anything else, and decided to try their new Watermelon Chill, which was incredibly refreshing.

As always it was service with a smile, and they all made conversation with Leo which was just lovely. Of course Leo loved this too and before long he had stolen my camera and was snapping away at the service team. They asked Leo what his plans were for after lunch and Leo told them all about how we were going to be taking a trip to the cinema to watch Disney's Zootropolis!

Leo had already found the selection of colouring material that had been prepared for him, and he decided to start writing his name for us all to admire. Our drinks were with us quickly and as we had pretty much instantly decided what we were going to eat, they took our food order right then and there.

Luke and I decided to share the Classic Italian Antipasto and Leo had the Dough Balls. I haven't had an Antipasto before, but after hearing such amazing things I decided that it was a must, and boy was I not disappointed. I couldn't believe my eyes when a huge plate of Italian meats and accompaniments arrived on our table.  That big plate was shared between myself and Luke, and every bite was just incredible. I don't often eat bread, but whatever this bread on the platter was, it was so moreish that I couldn't stop eating it! If you are heading to Pizza Express soon, Luke and I highly recommend the Antipasto!

Leo demolished his dough balls and actually helped us finish off some of the Antipasto in the end. It was nice to see him actually trying some new things for once, because he can be so fussy at times, and that in it's self is so frustrating. In the past Leo has refused to eat the Dough Balls which has meant that I have eaten them all, but on this occasion my little man did not waste one single bite (Aside from the salad...)

The starters were cleared away and within a few minutes our main courses arrived. Leo had decided on the Piccolo menu, which meant he was in for a 3 course treat! Leo followed his Dough Balls up with an American Pizza (Pepperoni), 

I had set my heart on the new Leggera Superfood Salad, it ticked absolutely every box for me and I even got to add grilled chicken to the meal which just sealed the deal. The salad along is under 500 calories, and is a mix of green lentils, black rice, edamame beans, red quinoa, chickpeas, cranberries, pumpkin seeds and kale, all mixed up in a tasty vinaigrette on a bed of mixed leaves, rocket, cucumber, roasted red and yellow peppers, red onion and finished with fresh parsely and light house dressing. 

Fancy a takeaway right now? Here are some Pizza Hut Voucher Codes!

Luke ordered the Margherita Bufala which was a pizza with torn Buffalo mozzarella and tomato. All of our food came out together and I was once again blown away by the generous portions that were provided. I could not get over the size of my superfood salad, and after eating such a big starter I knew that I was going to be taking some of it home with me (and I did, I ended up finishing it off for my dinner later that night!).

They very kindly took the remainder of my food away and put it into a takeaway box so that I could take it away with me. While they were doing that for us, they kindly brought us the dessert menu, and I have to admit that I wasn't going to indulge in pudding, but after seeing the Raspberry Sorbet, I couldn't resist. So while Leo enjoyed his Brownie, Luke and I shared the sorbet, which was so tasty.

All 3 of us enjoyed a fabulous meal, from the food, right down to the service we received. Everyone was welcoming, accommodating and the food was just fantastic. You cans see the chefs busily preparing orders in the open kitchen, and I took Leo over for a closer look, and he was fascinated by it all. The chef even looked over and waved at Leo as we stood and watched, and that again just highlighted how friendly everyone was, which for a 4 year old just made his entire visit!

Keep an eye on the #PizzaExpressFamily hashtag as everyone who is taking part in the campaign are sharing their personal experiences! Not to mention that on Thursday 31st March from 2:00pm - 3:30pm we are hosting a Twitter Party with some pretty great prizes up for grabs, even the chance to win a family meal for your own family!

Tune in with @lovelyleosmummy!

A massive thank you to Pizza Express for looking after us and sending us away with full bellies! We had a great time and can't wait to visit again soon!

If your suddenly in the mood for pizza here is a Papa Johns Promo Code for you.

Disclaimer: We were guests of Pizza Express as part of the #PizzaExpressFamily campaign. All thoughts and opinions are our own.