"I don't have time"

There a quite a few people who say to me I don't have time to exercise, in my head I see myself slapping them upside their head and telling them "don't be stupid". Sorry but there is always time, and for those that feel they don't have time the best thing that you can do is to spend an evening creating a YouTube playlist of 10-15 minute workouts EVERYONE can find a spare 10 minutes in the morning to work out. Do a 10min HIIT workout for one whole week straight and see how quickly you'll want to keep up with it and also increase the time.

Why HIIT? If you only have 10mins a HIIT workout is the best workout you can do - QUICK & EFFECTIVE, and you'll notice differences in your body very quickly. 'HIIT, or high-intensity interval training, is a training technique in which you give all-out, one hundred percent effort through quick, intense bursts of exercise, followed by short, sometimes active, recovery periods. This type of training gets and keeps your heart rate up and burns more fat in less time.' (source)

1. Increases Your Metabolism

Combing high intensity with interval training results in EPOC, which speeds your metabolic rate and “translates into a metabolism boost for up to 48 hours after a complete HIIT routine,” says Salvador. This means you’ll still be burning fat even after you’ve left the gym.

2. Quick and Convenient
Long gone are the days of not having enough time for exercise. HIIT workouts is can be done anywhere: at home, in a hotel room, in a park, at a gym, etc. And most are 30 minutes or less! Who can’t spare that?

3. No Equipment Necessary

No dumbbells? No problem! HIIT workouts generally use only your body weight, since the focus is on getting your heart rate up and keeping it there. These workouts result in “optimal muscle building and muscle retention couples with fat loss and increased calorie burn,” says Salvador.

Many workout challenges that you can find and save in Pinterest use the princicples of HIIT training. 

After reading all that I DARE you to say you don't have time!

HIPHOP TABATA 2 - Keaira LaShae

No bananas? How about plantain?

The one ingredient I must have in my morning smoothie is 1 banana, but sometimes, it can happen that I have run out and not had time to get to the shop for more. Plan B is usually reaching for the frozen ones from the kale, mango and banana smoothie mix I buy from Aldi, BUT if that is not available plan C comes into action, I use half of a plantain. 

The plantain idea was suggested to me by an Instagram follow who also kindly messaged me all of the nutritional details too!

Plantains look like bananas, but are more starchier and have less sugar, it's very rare that you will walk into an African kitchen and not find plantain. They are treated more like a vegetable and more often than not are either fried or boiled. You can also get green plantains BUT these have to be cooked before eating. 

Plantains do have more calories than bananas which is why I only use half in my smoothies. 100g of plantain holds about 122 calories vs the 89 calories in a dessert banana.

Plantains have more vitamin C than bananas. 100g provide 18.4mg of 31% of the daily recommended intake BUT boiling and cooking can destroy much of the vitamin content - so that's a good reason to use them in your smoothies.

Vitamin B6, also called pyridoxine, generates several important neurotransmitters that carry information from one cell to another. A serving of plantain can provide up to 24% to your daily amount needed of vitamin B6.

Vitamin A is a powerful antioxidant, it helps with sight and enhancing skin complexion. 100g of plantains can provide you with 37.5% of the daily recommended intake. Vitamin A can boost your immune system as it antioxidant properties can nutrlize free radicals and help prevent inflammation.

Plantains can provide about 20% of the daily recommended intake for Potassium, and is one of the most potassium rich foods on the planet. Potassium regulates blood pressure by combating the effects of sodium.

The fibre content of plantains can regulate the digestive system.

Magnesium can help to regulate blood pressure and help in the prevention of osteoporosis as well as controlling blood glucose levels via carbohydrate metabolism and insulin regulation. Plantains offer about 16% of your daily need for magnesium.

Nutritional Facts About Plantains

One cup raw plantain has roughly (in recommended daily values) (1, 2):

• 181 calories
• 47 grams carbohydrates
• 1.9 grams protein
• 0.5 grams fat
• 3.4 grams fiber
• 27.2 milligrams vitamin C (45 percent DV)
• 1,668 IU vitamin A (33 percent)
• 0.4 milligram vitamin B6 (22 percent)
• 739 milligrams potassium (21 percent)
• 55 milligrams magnesium (14 percent)
• 0.9 milligrams iron (5 percent)

Plantains are typically eaten when cooked, which changes the fruit’s nutritional value. One cup of cooked, mashed plantains has:

• 232 calories
• 62.3 grams carbohydrates
• 1.6 grams protein
• 0.4 gram fat
• 4.6 grams fiber
• 1,818 IU vitamin A (36 percent)
• 21.8 milligrams vitamin C (36 percent)
• 930 milligrams potassium (27 percent)
• 0.5 milligram vitamin B6 (24 percent)
• 64 milligrams magnesium (16 percent)
• 1.2 milligrams iron (6 percent)

Blog post information sources:

http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/plantains.html

https://draxe.com/plantains/