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MEATZA! HIGH PROTEIN, LOW CARB, GLUTEN FREE PIZZA {RECIPE}

2013-11-19T18:30:00.000+11:00

I'm quite the pizza fan I have to say. It's not something I eat a lot of, and I'm talking the gourmet, thin crust pizza. Not cheesy-stuff-whatever-you-can-into-the-crust-pizza. Eewww.

I don't eat a lot of pizza, but it is one of my favourite treat meals. I always order the gluten free bases from Crust pizza or make my own, but even so - the combination of the cheese and carbs does still leave me in a bit of a food coma sometimes!

So you can imagine the smile on my face when my coach George Saragas told me this recipe. It was a big smile! Because minus the small amount of cheese, this pretty much fits into my day to day eating plan. Winning. In fact, I can tell you I have made this without the cheese and it still is reminiscent of pizza.

In case you didn't get it. Meat + Pizza = Meatza. I know, I'm clever. I haven't googled that, but I'm sure I wasn't the first to create Meatza (sadly).

Obviously you can modify this recipe with your favourite pizza topping combinations. Be as creative or simple as you like! I'd love to see your creations.

If you want to try Meatza, then click to see the recipe!

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LEMON CHEESECAKE AMAZEBALLS {RECIPE}

2013-11-11T20:04:00.003+11:00

This is possibly the best protein amazeballs recipe I have made to date. I adore my chocolate flavoured protein treats, and love my peanut butter - but THESE are just ridiculously way too much like a lemon cheesecake. So that puts them top of my list. They are also John's favourite.

The French Vanilla Complete powder really makes these perfect - I have tried other protein powders since, and it's not the same. You can get that in the shop here.

Did I mention they are also ridiculously easy? One bowl wonder. Add ingredients, mix, roll, eat. In fact, you could just stop at the mix part and head straight to the eat part. Not that I did that.

Anyway... click for the recipe!
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THINGS I EAT #08 :: KANGAROO, MUSHROOM + CHIMICHURRI SALAD, THR1VE BREAKFAST + RAW CHOC TRUFFLE, EASY EATING + MEAL PREP

2013-10-29T16:37:00.001+11:00

Well it's been a little busy behind the scenes here! I can't reveal what's coming yet, but some exciting things shall be launched before the end of the year ... so that's my only explanation for no blog posts sorry.

The last few weeks have been very busy for me as we moved into our new apartment. My whole routine had to change and again Easy Eating meals came to the rescue for a week whilst we were unpacking and without fridge temporarily etc...

I have gotten back to my regular weekly meal prep again, which is the other half of the top right photo above. The other thing that helped me keep my nutrition on track was Thr1ve cafe in the Sydney CBD. Amazing place with totally gluten free, paleo meals which are so delicious. OH and a crazy good new range of some raw treats too.

And lastly, I'm finally back on track to my photo shoot goal. The past three weeks set me back from my original plan to shoot in early November, but I should be ready to go end of November now. Bring it on!

First up, Raw Protein Truffle Ball from Thr1ve. OMG. So good. Must try the rest of the range - Raw Chocolate Ball, Healthy Paleo Power Bar and Triple-C Crunch Bar.

Less than 70 calories in that rich little treat, but so satisfying.

Ingredients: medjool date, roasted almond butter, coconut oil, almond meal, raw cacao, raw protein powder.

Below is a yummy egg and egg white omelette with tomatoes, spinach and these delicious zucchini fritters. Exactly like I would make at home. So very good.

If you are in Sydney, you MUST visit Thr1ve!

Did I mention they even make Bulletproof coffee? (They call it mountain coffee on the menu).

Kangaroo + Mushroom Salad with Chimichurri

Ingredients

150g kangaroo fillet

4 mushrooms, sliced

1/2 tbsp organic ghee or butter

2 cups salad

2 tbsp Chimichurri (recipe below)

Method

Cook the kangaroo both sides in a non-stick pan until cooked through. Slice into 1cm thick pieces.

Add the ghee or butter to the pan and throw in the mushrooms. Cook for 5-8 minutes until softened and golden on the edges.

Throw the roo and mushrooms over the salad, then top with Chimichurri. Simple, but amazingly delicious!

Chimichurri

Ingredients

1 bunch of basil

1/2 bunch of parsley

1 garlic clove

Juice of 1 lemon

1/4 - 1/3 cup olive oil

Himalayan sea salt

Cracked black pepper

Method

Add all the ingredients except the oil to a small food processor and pulse a few times.
With the food processor on, drizzle the olive oil in and continue to whiz until emulsified.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Lastly, some more delicious, healthy meals from Easy Eating. I love these guys for when I'm not able to do shop or do my own meal prep. Just makes like simple.

But I do love my meal prep! Below are some of the meals for the week for both John and I.

THINGS I EAT #07 :: LISA'S VEGGIE PROTEIN "TOAST", PROTEIN CHOCOLATE BAR, GARLIC TOMATO BABY OCTOPUS

2013-10-07T09:00:00.000+11:00

I know some of you have been waiting for this post - in particular the Veggie Protein "Toast" recipe that Lisa gave me. It's so yum! Sorry for the wait.

Two more delicious recipes this week too - some grilled baby octopus and a single serve chocolate protein bar I mish-mashed together.

Read on for all the recipes!

THINGS I EAT #06 :: SWEET POTATO CHIPS, MAYVER'S NUT BUTTERS, YOUR TEA & QUEST BAR COOKIES

2013-10-03T07:00:00.000+10:00

This week I discover a few awesome products. Some totally natural nut and seed butters, I finally taste tested one of the natural protein bars sitting in my pantry and a herbal 'detox' tea. Oh and I made sweet potato chips.

FYI none of these brands paid me for these reviews nor provided free products (although I would happily accept ha ha). Even if they did give me free products, my review would be exactly the same - I never share anything I don't absolutely 100% love or use myself.

Read on for more!

GLUTEN FREE STICKY DATE CHEESECAKE & BRANDY CARAMEL SAUCE {RECIPE}

2013-09-25T15:25:00.000+10:00

This little delight was John's birthday cake request last year. I'm not sure why I never got around to sharing the recipe, but luckily Lisa asked me for a gluten free cheesecake recipe this week which reminded me that I had made this. So I'm sharing this oh-so-delicious birthday treat with you now ... only over a year later!

The recipe came about because of John's favourite dessert - sticky date pudding. But I refused to make him PUDDING for his birthday! I explained he must have a CAKE. Because cake. Duh.

So he then requested a cheesecake and I though, ok I can work with that and managed to stuff in some sticky date pudding components.

Personally, sticky date pudding doesn't do it for me. But in a cheesecake. Oh my, yes please.

Definitely a treat and not sugar free or dairy free as I made it primarily for John; but I've done my usual tweaking (twerking?) of ingredients to make it gluten free, more whole food based and with less refined sugars at least i.e. so I could have a piece ;)

Without further ado ... click read more for the recipe!

BLUEBERRY OAT BREAKFAST SMOOTHIE {RECIPE}

2013-09-22T14:37:00.000+10:00

I made this super easy breakfast smoothie for my Nourish + GROW group of mums who are testing out kid and family friendly recipes for me. Breakfast is of course one of those sometimes tricky meals to squeeze into the day, especially for kids, so I wanted to do something that was ridiculously easy and nourishing. Plus you can drink this on the go!

I personally work best with protein and fats in the morning, but on my higher carb days, I do enjoy oats before my training and the carbs are fantastic fuel. Kids on the other hand have boundless energy and can easily burn through more carbohydrates so this smoothie is the perfect start to the day for them! Good quality, whole food carbs are still important for growing bodies though - it's not an excuse to just load up on cheap crappy sugars.

You could easily add some protein powder to this and it's a great pre or post workout meal too.

Want to be a part of the Nourish + GROW recipe testing group?Sure! Just subscribe here and select Interested in "Kid + Family friendly recipes" ... then you'll receive weekly recipe emails to try out and share your feedback in the Facebook group.

Click read more for the recipe.
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THE EPIC CHOCOLATE BANANA PEANUT BUTTER BIRTHDAY CAKE! {RECIPE}

2013-09-15T19:00:00.000+10:00

Last weekend, I turned 28. This weekend I got ID twice when we went to go see a show at the casino. 28 going on 16! I've always had a baby face. I have also always loved chocolate, peanut butter and banana. And baking. So much fun!

At my work, we always get a cake of the birthday person's choice for afternoon tea. I haven't eaten any of them so far ;) but for my own birthday, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to bake my OWN cake and bring it in to share with my awesome work team.Of course, it had to be gluten free, mostly dairy free (exception of butter) and use less refined sources of sugar. (I wasn't going to try a completely sugar free cake because I know it would be a bit risky for others' taste buds).
And so this epic layer cake was created! I mish mashed a few recipes together and modified them and then created some of my own too. John said it was the BEST cake I have ever made. I have to agree! You would not have a clue that this has healthy ingredients in it. No one guessed it had quinoa in the chocolate cake. I was rather smug about that!

It was also rather exciting cutting it open at work - I had no idea if the layers had all behaved themselves or if it was going to stay together ... but it did! The slice photographs are not fantastic as it was of the last piece that I transported home for John, so it was a little damaged.

18/09 update: I forgot to mention the best thing about this cake is that there is no beating of eggs and sugar - I just put most of it in my awesome Froothie blender and blended away! So. Easy. I swear, I never thought I would make cakes with this blender - it really is the best!

So if you have a special occasion coming up, then click read more for the recipe - this is your go-to cake. Enjoy!
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CHOCOLATE CHAI COCONUT PROTEIN BARS {RECIPE}

2013-09-09T19:30:00.000+10:00

So my coach George gave me this recipe for these protein bars ... I changed it slightly to suit what I had in my cupboard at the time, but oh.my.word these are the best protein bars I've made to date!

They are high in good fats and some protein, so perfect for a low carb day. Next time, I'm going to try and increase the greek yoghurt and take out some of the coconut oil to try and balance up the macros a bit more. But honestly, for a clean treat, who cares! These are a billion times better than reaching for a chocolate bar at 3pm.

Now I was going to save this recipe for a future ebook, but you were all so keen for it on Facebook, that I can't hold it back from you.

Click to get the recipe!

THINGS I EAT #05 :: SNEAKY MOCHA PROTEIN SMOOTHIE, CHOC PB BEDTIME PUDDING, EASY EATING CLEAN MEAL DELIVERY {RECIPES}

2013-09-06T18:30:00.000+10:00

I'm quite enjoying doing these Things I Eat posts! It's keeping my creative recipe ideas flowing in the kitchen - sometimes I get a bit boring with what I eat, for the sake of convenience.

Speaking of convenience, the most exciting thing in this week's Things I Eat is not the amazing bedtime pudding, nor even the mocha smoothie with sneaky veggies hidden in it ... but the delicious, healthy and fresh meals I had delivered from Easy Eating! This is the first time in over three years that I haven't done my weekly meal prep, and Easy Eating came to the rescue.

Click to read more and for the recipes!
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INTERVIEW :: SARAH KAY HOFFMAN FROM THE GUTSY GIRL + AN ORGANIC BEEF BURGER RECIPE

2013-09-05T09:00:00.000+10:00

Frozen Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Banana Sandwiches (Exhibit A why Sarah rocks)

I came across Sarah's blog 'The Gutsy Girl' some time ago on my own little research journeys about gut health. She has dealt with her fair share of digestive issues and now helps others work their own. Read on for my interview with her (and an amazing looking burger recipe!)

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MOCHA NUT PROTEIN BARS {RECIPE}

2013-08-28T09:00:00.000+10:00

I recently got some of the Vital Protein (pea protein) in the green coffee bean flavour - it's so delicious! Pea protein can be a strong taste to mask and the Vital Protein is by far the best tasting one I have tried.

I love the coffee and chocolate flavour combo, so whipped up these yummy mocha nut protein bars using both the green coffee bean and the chocolate flavoured Vital Protein powders. They have been sitting in my freezer and make a great little snack to grab when you have that chocolate craving!

The protein and fats fill you up and they are low in carbs so they worked well on my low carb days (winning)! Read on for the recipe!

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THINGS I EAT #04 :: PB CHOC PROTEIN PANCAKES, SUPER LEAN GREEN SMOOTHIE + ROASTED (CARBY) VEGGIES {RECIPES}

2013-08-23T09:00:00.000+10:00

This week is I bring you some more protein pancakes (but oh-so-good), a super version of my lean green smoothie (perfect if you're not a fan of the greens flavour yet) and one of my regular meal prep veggies.

Read on for the recipes!

INTERVIEW :: SOL ORWELL + KURTIS FRANK FROM EXAMINE.COM TALK SUPPLEMENTS, PLUS A GYRO MEATBALLS + FRENCH FRIES RECIPE

2013-08-15T08:00:00.000+10:00

I was really excited a few weeks ago that Examine.com released their ebook Supplements Goals Reference Guide. These guys are my go-to resource for all things supplements because they provide unbiased information on pretty much every supp you could think of, plus they have done all the hard yards of sifting through thousands of clinical research studies and pulling all that info together in the one place. And in easy to understand language too!

I had connected with Sol Orwell, the founder of Examine some months ago on Facebook - and with the similar interests in health and fitness, we have stay in touch. Sol has a pretty cool background story and I even got some great information from his business partner Kurtis Frank (the man who reads all that research!) about how to choose the best supps and decipher all that marketing hype.

Oh and how about a discount on the ebook too? Sure why not!

Click read more to check out the interview and get your ebook for a special price for the next 72 hours only!

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THINGS I EAT #03 :: CLEAN "KFC" CHICKEN + SWEDE CHIPS, PROTEIN CHOC MYLKSHAKE + ZUCCHINI EGG WHITE PANCAKES {RECIPES}

2013-08-14T18:30:00.000+10:00

Ok I'm a little bit excited about Things I Eat #03! All three of these recipes are killer. Those I-can't-believe-this-is-healthy type dishes. YUM.

Plus you could easily eat all three of these in a balanced day of nourishing eating. Zucchini Egg White Pancakes for breakfast, a Protein Mylkshake after your training or as a snack and ZBC & Swede Fries for dinner. Best tasting day ever!

Read on for the recipes!

REVIEW :: WHEY WHIP PROTEIN ICE CREAM ... YES MORE PROTEIN DESSERT!

2013-08-12T19:53:00.000+10:00

After you all drooled over the FroPro review, I realised that it wasn't yet available to everyone around Australia. Someone mentioned WheyWhip and then someone else (me) mentioned they would review that one as well.

The sacrifices I make for you!

Read on for the review on this creamy, protein packed treat!
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EMOTIONAL EATING PART TWO :: 5 TIPS FOR MANAGING YOUR FOOD MOOD

2013-08-08T08:00:00.000+10:00

Last week I shared my recent lapse into mindless/emotional/binge eating; the post was getting rather lengthy, so I decided it split it up - plus some thinking time on things is always good! If you haven't already checked out the two past blog posts I shared, here they are again -

>> Practical steps to breaking snacking habits
>> For a swift kick up the backside!

Before I share my top five tips, I also wanted to share a little more psychology behind our eating habits and that sometimes elusive word "willpower". I have been researching around the psychology of emotional eating and discovered some very fascinating things!

Way back in 1999, (funny how old that seems now!) a dude called Professor Baba Shiv and his buddy (co-author) Alex Fedorikhin conducted a very interesting, although simple experiment. They asked half of 165 grad students to memorise a seven-digit number and the other half a two-digit number. Simple enough right?

After they memorised the numbers, the students were offered a snack choice of either chocolate cake or a fruit bowl, for participating in the experiment.

The students that had to remember the seven-digit number were nearly 50% more likely than the other group to choose chocolate cake over fruit.

Coincidence? I think not! The researchers discovered that willpower and cognitive processing essentially draw from the same pool of resources.

It starts to make sense that when you are tired, stressed, had a long day at work; you're much more likely to reach for the packet of cookies after dinner. Or stop at the drive-by on the way home. So since your willpower (or self-control) is from the same fuel tank as cognitive thinking, you can see how this directly effects your emotional eating habits too. It doesn't seem to matter if you are enjoying (or hating) whatever task it is that is draining your cognitive fuel tank; the effect is still the same that it depletes your self-control.

this is actually enough to blow a puppy's mind...

This worked the other way on an experiment with dogs too. One group of dogs had to just sit, nothing else, for a few minutes before they were then allowed to play with their favorite treat “puzzle” toy that required them to figure out how to shake the treats out of it. The second group of dogs were allowed to just do what they wanted before being given the toy.

As you can expect, the dogs that had to sit i.e. exercise self-control; gave up trying to get those treats out of the toy much earlier than the doggies that were just chilling out first. The chilled out dogs were more determined to get those treats because they hadn't tapped into their cognitive fuel tank; so they had more energy for solving the puzzle.

Now don't start thinking that you can just use a long day at work as an excuse to eat poorly! Use the knowledge to be aware of when you are going to be more vulnerable to reach for the ice cream tub. Number one, awareness and number two, management. Below are my top five tips for learning how to manage your emotional eating. This is what has worked for me, but I would love to hear any other strategies from your own experience too as I do believe we will all have different triggers and things that work better for different personality types.

Click READ MORE the 5 tips for managing your emotional eating...

THINGS I EAT #02 :: EGGPLANT BURGERS, COOKIE YOGHURT + BULLETPROOF COFFEE {RECIPES}

2013-08-07T08:00:00.000+10:00

Welcome to the second edition of looking at things that I eat! This week we have some of my favourites - eggplant burgers, yoghurt (LOVE) and bulletproof coffee (even though I'm only having the very occasional coffee right now).

Click READ MORE to see the recipes!

REVIEW :: FROPRO PROTEIN ICE CREAM ... YES PROTEIN DESSERT!

2013-08-05T19:30:00.000+10:00

I've noticed that there seems to be a new trend of "protein ice cream" emerging in Australia at the moment. As a President of the Ice Cream Fiend Association (that doesn't exist, but if it did, I'm president for sure) I had to find out more about this stuff. I mean, ice cream that's full of protein?! Whaaaa ?

There are a few ones around, but I decided to try out the FroPro first. Yup I might just be trying some other ones in the future ... to help you make the best protein ice cream decision you can of course. All in the name of ice cold research!

EMOTIONAL EATING PART ONE :: YOUR FOOD MOOD + MY OWN EXPERIENCE

2013-08-01T08:00:00.000+10:00

via www.mischiefchampion.com

I recently shared my latest experience with emotional eating on the GET ZOMT Facebook page a few days after it happened (and I had managed to screw my head back on and reattach my brain!) I know there others out there who also battle or have battled emotional eating, so I wanted to share my tips on how to recognise it and how I got on top of my recent "relapse"!

Emotional / mindless eating is something I have personally battled. Since cleaning up my nutrition + starting Juice Plus just over 4 1/2 years ago, I've learned how to manage it.

But I slipped up last week for the first time in well over a year. It caught me by surprise so took some time before I even recognised I was doing it! It's something that will always be a part of my nature, but the longer I practiced good habits, the less it happens.

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THINGS I EAT #01 :: PROTEIN WHIP, SUPER SMOOTHIE, RAW CHOCOLATE + FUDGE {RECIPES}

2013-07-31T12:43:00.000+10:00

One of the most common questions I get asked is -

"What do you eat every day?"

Most days, it's pretty much the same really, especially Monday to Friday. I don't like spending heaps of time doing food prep for my meals, so tend to repeat it each day.

But I do like to throw in a few different things to keep it interesting! Which is where this blog series idea came from - a weekly rundown of some things I eat. I'll also include recipes where I can - think of it like a quick peek into my nutrition!

Click read more to check out the very first of the THINGS I EAT series - what better to kick it off than with some sweet, high protein treats!

VIDEO RECIPE :: BLENDER BANANA CHOCOLATE COCONUT BREAD - WITH A SNEAKY INGREDIENT!

2013-07-29T19:00:00.000+10:00

Blenders are not just for smoothies! They are for banana bread too - really! I lurvvveee my Froothie Optimum 9200 blender, it really is the BEST blender I have ever had.

This delicious AND healthy banana bread is chock full of chocolate and coconut. Three of my favourite foods in one, nourishing, high fibre treat - that's a win!

Plus it's gluten free, dairy free and refined sugar free. Oh and full of fibre, because it has a sneaky ingredient - cannellini beans! Don't say "ewwww gross!" I promise, you would NEVER know they are in there, trust me. But what a fun way to get in some extra fibre or another serve of whole food for the kids. Plus, they bulk it up and that means you can reduce the flour / nut meal too.

So click read more to out my latest video recipe - Blender Banana Chocolate Coconut Bread (try saying that fast ten times)!
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12 TIPS TO REDUCE THAT COSMETIC CRAP FROM YOUR LIFE (THAT YOU'RE BASICALLY EATING)

2013-07-25T08:00:00.000+10:00

I just read a great post from Jo (one half of Two Modern Cavewomen) which addresses the absolute marketing bullshit and hype that surrounds much of the "natural" and "organic" cosmetic products. It's exactly how I feel about the supplement industry, but we can save that for a rainy day.

Jo's post got me thinking though ... I haven't really shared my approach to all this cosmetic stuff and it is a very important part of your overall health.

I often mention organic produce and food on here -- it is my preference overall. This mostly came about when I changed my eating habits and also started researching how to manage my PCOS naturally. PCOS disrupts the female hormone balance and fixing this is a super, super important part of managing the symptoms and overall syndrome; added growth hormones to our animal products is not conducive to balancing this out. Overall, the switch to organic a few years back definitely made a difference to my PCOS symptoms and health overall.

INTERVIEW :: GRAHAM BROWN ON REVERSING TYPE 2 DIABETES, CLEAN EATING +A TURKEY MEATBALL RECIPE

2013-07-22T18:00:00.000+10:00

Graham's before and after photos over about a year

I met Graham last year and his story inspired me so much. We are talking about a man who has taken control of his health and changed his life forever through clean eating, exercise and lifestyle changes. I had the pleasure of interviewing him and hope his story inspires YOU to be the best version of you!

GET ZOMT: I know you've totally changed your life through nutrition and exercise. Can you share your journey from where you started?
GRAHAM BROWN: I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes on April 13 2012. My day started like most of my days with the exception that my vision was somewhat blurred, and then other symptoms like dehydration frequent bathroom visits, like every 10 minutes or so kicked in! I knew something was not right!

I hit the local GP, explained my symptoms and a blood glucose level (BGL) measurement was taken. I returned a reading of 29; innocently I asked the GP, "Is that bad?" (Normal BGL readings pre-food is 4-6 and 4-8 post food). He explained that I was Type 2 Diabetic and he did not know how I had not had a stroke!

THE GREEN SMOOTHIE - GUIDELINES TO DELICIOUSNESS!

2013-07-18T18:30:00.000+10:00

You would have no doubt heard about the myriad of wonderful benefits of The Green Smoothie...if not, then maybe you've been living under a rock!

Either way, I've put my tips into a handy little infographic about how to make those vivid green drinks actually taste GOOD. Because honestly, you don't want to make the green slime mistakes that I have - follow these tried and proven tips to make your own Green Smoothies reach a state of deliciousness! Having a really super duper blender makes them amazing too - no veggie clumps or yucky chunky texture!

If you like this infographic, you can share it easily by copy and pasting the code below OR just link back to this blog post :)

Click read more to see the full infographic...

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