New CLASS By Yours Truly!

This is a quick promo for a class I'm starting on Saturdays!

If you're in London and need a great workout (yes I said great, I know it, ha!), look no further! Adura's here ;)

For more information, including prices, or to sign up, send me an email.

TIME/LOCATION
9am at Fitness First Oxford Circus

PRICES
First Class is Free
£10 drop-in
£40 for 5 classes
£70 for 10 classes

I Was Forced Out Of My Comfort Zone Today... I Think I Loved It!

HELLO!!!!!!

I'm not even sure why I'm so energetic considering that I SPRINTED in today's workout! I'm sure you've noticed I hardly ever talk about running on here. I have shared tips on starting a running routine (Read Part I and Part II) but I don't run anymore.
I used to run years ago but mainly for exercise and to keep challenging myself. I stopped about 3 year ago when I discovered other things I actually enjoyed.

Today's Fitter London workout started with 30+mins of running. We jogged for 5 minutes then did what felt like a million sets of 20s and 10s sprints, with rest in between each set. We finished off with a relay, which brought out my very competitive side... LMAO, I might have cheated while overtaking someone

I'll be honest I do love a good sprint but for just one set of 10 seconds, or something! Today's session took me WAY OUT OF my comfort zone, and after the sprints we jogged back to the gym and finished with 4 sets each of 6 reps of heavy kettlebell shoulder presses, dead cleans and rows. Heavy lifting, LOVE IT!

And guess who's teaching a spin class in less than 2 hours.... ME! (I'm going to sleep so well tonight!).

Nothing gets you fitter like constantly challenging & shocking your body! Why don't you try something different (and challenging, of course!) today? And when you do, tell me about it :)

Have a great day!

Healthy Eating On An Extra Tight Budget.

It all started with a picture I posted on Instagram a few days ago (view HERE). I can't count how many times I've heard the excuse of how it's hard to eat healthy on a budget!

I love this quote, "If something is important to you, you'll find a way"!

I woke up this morning very inspired - I had withdrawn £20 from the ATM yesterday and had no immediate use for it, in addition, I had some loose change (£5.22) in my wallet. I initially intended to set a budget of £25 but decided to make it more exciting ;) I love a challenge!

I posted this on Instagram and got some encouragement and interest:

I decided to post (on Instagram) as I shopped.

My first stop was my local halal butchers/food shop. 2 bunches of spinach for £1 and 3 plantains for £1 (they also sell more riper plantains at 4 for £1 but I want them to last as long as possible. Plus it's better for me to have less food at home, ha!), it started very well.
I also bought 2 whole 'boiler' chickens at £1.99 each, apparently boiler chicken is older (elderly!) chicken so it's tougher meat and ideal for stews. I like it because it reminds me of home (Nigeria) and I just like it.
I bought one (white flesh) sweet potato for 71p, bargain! Total: £7.19

On to the supermarket, I prefer shopping in Sainsburys but Morrisons is right beside the butchers and I couldn't be bothered to walk five minutes to Sainsburys <-- Don't be lazy like me, haha!

4 limes & lemons for £1, 5 bananas for just over 30p, things were looking good :)

Today was my lucky day, fresh mackerel (from £4.99 to £3.99 per kg) was on offer and I bought 4 whole ones for £3.77. I also bought the rest of the ingredients for my green smoothies, 2 tins of sardines in olive oil and frozen peas. I bought onions, although they were not on my list. I spent £10.21 in Morrisons.
There were no organic eggs in Morrisons, so I went to the 'Sainsburys Local' across the road and bought some (£2.25).

Everything came to a grand total of £19.65, do I didn't even have to break into my emergency fund! I had 35p to spare too, amazing!

SOME HEALTHY-SHOPPING-ON-A-BUDGET TIPS
1. To avoid impulse purchases, write a shopping list, plan what you'll cook/eat for the week/month before leaving home. The only thing I bought today, that wasn't on my list were onions!
2. Go to local small businesses because some things they sell are cheaper than supermarkets, and are actually better quality!
3. Buy frozen. Sometimes I buy frozen fish, especially when it's on offer. Of course fresh fish is better but if you're on a tight budget, buying frozen helps. Vegetables - I buy mixed vegetables, peas, broccoli, and a few others. Sometimes I buy frozen spinach, if I want to use it in okra soup.
4. Keep your eyes peeled for offers!

Do you think healthy eating is too expensive? Why don't you give my tips above a try, and let me know how you go?

Have a great week!

New Week, New Video... Of A Workout For Change!

Hello!

I hope you had a great weekend - it was SUNNY here in London. At one point, I literally RAN away from the sun and into the comfort of my home... like a vampire, ha!

I know I'm Nigerian, I know I grew up in the sun but it doesn't mean I love it 24/7. I like the warmth from the sun but not the heat on my skin, which always results in me being multi-toned - darker face, dark arms, less dark torso and slightly dark legs, no thanks! If you've been reading this blog for long enough, I'm sure you can tell no weather in the UK ever makes me happy :p

Do you know I'm a kettlebell instructor? Yep! I teach kettlebell classes for Fitter London, and after having over a month away from them - thanks to my holiday and 'Insanity: The Asylum', I almost hugged them when I got back!

Two Saturdays ago, I taught both classes so I didn't get to workout so I decided to play with some kettlebells and decided to share with you so you can give it a try soon :)

As always, you need to warm up and mobilise your joints before doing this, or any workout.

Five repititions of these four exercises, back-to-back:

1. Kettlebells swings - I used two bells here but one bell is just as effective (single arm swings)
2. Kettlebell swing-cleans - Again, one bell for single bell cleans works just fine
3. Ketllbells military (shoulder) presses
4. Kettlebell racked (front) squats

Rest for 1-2 minutes and repeat at least 3 times.

What does this work, I hear you ask? Everything!

It's a great strength AND endurance workout - going heavy and not resting between exercises will give maximum results. The swings work your hamstrings, glutes (butt) and core. The cleans do the same PLUS the back and shoulders. The shoulder presses work the... shoulders, of course! And the squats mainly target the glutes, quads (thighs) and core, also your shoulders as you have to keep the bells up.

So yes, it's a total body workout :) Why don't you give it a try? Watch this video a few times before trying the exercises, and as safety is important - start light. If you try it, please comment below or on the video (YouTube).

Someone's commented on the video already:
"Thank you, I just did that with 10kg weights why am I burning in my shoulders and glutes lol. :) thanks for a "rest day" workout" 

Quick & Healthy Breakfast: Eggs & A Green Smoothie

I can't count how many times I've been asked, "Could you please suggest a healthy, quick breakfast?". Most of us are busy and don't have time to spend over ten minutes preparing breakfast, then another 5-10 eating it. This is where most people end up eating one of those snack bars that claim to be healthy but are packed with sugar... let me know if you want me to name names ;)

ENTER - *planning your meals* <-- This is a key step in sticking to your healthy goals. The days I've had no food in my fridge have been the hardest for me to eat clean and healthy. And my best days have been those where I've planned in advance so I don't find my self starving and nowhere near healthy enough options.

Anyway, back to the reason for this post! A healthy serving of protein, healthy fats and carbs & vitamins from green vegetables makes for a well rounded breakfast. My ideal breakfast is an omelette with veggies and fish, yum! But I don't have time to make an omelette, especially during the week when I have a 7am start at the gym. I make my green smoothies in 2 (sometimes 3) day batches, |

e.g. I made some on Monday night, I had one serving on Tuesday morning, another on Wednesday morning and a half serving on Wednesday afternoon.

• Tuesday's breakfast was: green smoothie and eggs, 
• Wednesday's was green smoothie and baked mackerel.

As seen in this video below, it takes very little time to make eggs, if you're REALLY pressed for time, you could go one better and boil 2 eggs the night before, cutting your preparation time right down.

Have you tried this combination for breakfast? Or green smoothies with something else? What did/do you think?

Try Something NEW This Week!

Hope you had a good weekend, I know - it flew by right?? The weather here in the UK has been amazingly warm and I'm sorry I have to complain BUT it's a bit too warm because we don't have ACs readily in our homes. This country wasn't built for summer because we have about a total of 1 month of warm weather!

After my 30 days of Asylum (which I'm almost done writing the review), I was reminded about how important, and effective, it is to switch up your routine sometimes. Your body gets used to your regular routine and you might find you hit a plateau.... to avoid that, keep switching things up.

My challenge for you this week is:

• Think of one kind of training you have never tried or haven't done in ages.
• Do it at least once this week.

I'm using my jump rope (I haven't incorporated it in my routine for a while), at least twice this week!

What will you do this week? Tell me!

Thank God It's Friday... ALREADY!

It's going to be Christmas before we know it... I can't wait for another holiday ;)

I have to apologise for not posting as often as I used to but I almost feel like screaming from the roof tops - My blogging/recording mojo is back! Woohoo!

As I hadn't recorded a recipe video in months, I decided to take baby steps and start with a simple recipe. I'm currently editing the video and it should be up on Saturday or Sunday :)

The TOP 3 things you will be seeing more of:

• Recipes (my favourites!)
• Workout blogs and videos
• Posts/Videos answering questions sent to me.
  and a close 4th is more on skincare/haircare because I've kinda slacked on that.

It's really hard balancing being self employed, promoting myself (I have to pay my bills!), blogging/recording and life. I'm still working on it but I think I'm slowly getting a hang of it.

Anyone have tips on how to balance everything?

Happy New Month & Second Half of 2013

I CANNOT believe it's July already! This year has flown by!

Hope you had a good, relaxing weekend, it was nice and sunny here in London - a rare occurrence so I made the most of it.

As it's the second half of the year, I decided to re-share my story both as a reminder for longtime readers and also to let new readers know.

I can't tell you how many people stare at my old pictures in disbelief because they assumed I'd always been in good shape... wrong! I worked hard to get here, and I'm still working hard to maintain it all. I love food, I always will, and this love for food is what caused my rapid weight gain when I moved to the UK in 1998.

Click on the image below to read my story up to 2010, I've learned a lot more since then and there'll be another post on that soon.

Losing the weight is half the battle, keeping it off is what really tests your willpower. Trust me, ANYBODY can lose weight - either from doing it the sustainable way through healthy, clean eating and exercise or starving themselves or even through surgery. When you get to your goal weight, you can't just sit back, relax and fall back into old habits. You have to resist the constant temptations of unhealthy (albeit yummy) foods and stick to your new healthy routine. 

Although I've never gone back to anywhere near my heaviest, I have had some setbacks - remember when I came back from a 6 week break in the US and looked a little rounder? It was a very busy time and a larger portion of rice here and a biscuit or two there all added up. Luckily, I got back on track after a while. Nobody's perfect - I know I'm not!

Funny thing is - I can't remember why I started this blog post now. But I hope someone finds it useful and motivating. As I like to say - IF I DID IT YOU CAN!

While we're on this topic, if you need help and guidance reaching your goals, you could sign up for the next round of The Get Trimmer Challenge (starts on Monday 5th August) or contact me for Personal Training (which includes Nutrition Advice) either online or 1 to 1.

I will be announcing an offer on Online Personal Training, to celebrate the second half of 2013... keep your eyes peeled. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram (both @Adura_O) as I'll be sharing it there.

Have a great week and I'll see you on here soon. I should be recording a recipe video this week, watch this space :)