Every so often I get into a bit of an eating rut, I'll stick with the same things everyday and find myself getting bored. After having a rough few weeks I haven't really been eating properly and old bad habits would slip back in. I'd be training just as much but feeling really drained from lack nutritional diet. This is where Holland and Barrett and Nic from Nic's Nutrition comes into play to help get me back on track. What were they going to do then? A personalised diet plan and top goodies from Holland and Barrett... so did I feel 'me' again?
The box of goodies from Holland and Barrett arrived with my weekly meal plan. The best part was discovering this wasn't a 'diet' it was just a good healthy eating plan with plenty of tasty food.
// The Holland & Barrett Product List
Manuka Honey Coconut OilCacao PowderLinseedsChia SeedsOatsNakd BarsQuinoa ChipsDark Chocolate DropsCashew NutsBear YoyoBran Crisp BreadsBounce BallsWot no dairy dessertsKallo rice cakesOatly milkGreen Tea:
If you look at the plan you'll see I needed other bits to go with it such as fresh produce but it didn't cost me too much extra. The plan itself gives me grazing time, something I was doing wrong when I realised I'd totally fallen off a wholesome healthy eating plan. I should be grazing because I wasn't eating enough for breakfast for the amount of exercise I was doing, meaning the afternoon binge and evening lull were clearly going to set in.
With Nic's plan I decided I'd prep my meals on the Sunday before - it sounds odd but it made me feel mentally organised as well as actually being organised. I had a plan and I felt ready for my week, what had been happening was I'd get up make a tea or coffee, look in the fridge and chose toast if I couldn't think of something to have! That was about to change as Monday set in.
I won't bore you with the day to day details but I must tell you I feel satisfied everyday before I went to bed. No tummy growls and I actually felt full throughout the day - but comfortable full. The products that I love the most were the Kallo salt and vinegar rice cakes, chia seeds, manuka honey and the oatly milk. The one that really surprised me (as I thought I wasn't going to like them) was the bran crisp breads, honestly eating these took so long to actually chomp through that hunger had left before I finished!
The meals were perfectly balanced throughout the week giving me a broad range of options. I loved making the blueberry muffins although felt like I was sinning having two at a time. I tend to avoid muffins due to the calorie count but that obviously is down to high sugar content, these however were perfectly nutritious! The other thing was the chia seed puddings. I absolutely loved this. I have since made them again and again, they are my evening treat if I am climbing the walls for something sweet. They are so tasty and replace a naughty sugar filled supermarket chocolate mousse.
It was such a great experience to take part and I feel like I have the spring in my step back. The products from Holland and Barrett were really good actually, all supporting smaller companies with varieties that cater to food intolerances. I'd never had Oat milk before but it will be replacing my standard cows milk in my porridge now. Overall it gets a mighty thumbs up... so as a special treat as I'm feeling generous here is my eating plan I followed so you can have a go too.
