Brittany's Foodie Blog - Bulalicious Activewear |Surf, Swim, Gym|

Brittany’s Foodie Blog

Posted May 9, 2016

The past month has been busy and training has been tough as expected leading into an Olympic Games. Ensuring that I have been fueling my body with nutritious food has been important as well as hydrating and getting plenty of sleep.

When I say nutritious food I mean, eating a variety of foods that supply lots of goodness to my body, in the form of Carbohydrates, Protein, Fats, Vitamins and Minerals. I do this by aiming to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables (Vitamins and Minerals) chicken, meat, fish, natural yoghurt, eggs, milk, chickpeas, lentils (Protein) rolled oats, bananas, whole meal bread, brown rice, potatoes (Carbohydrates). I limit my intake of dalo, tavioka and white rice to very small portions or to none at all. High intakes of starch carbohydrates like dalo, sweet potato and tavioka can be stored as fat if we are not exercising enough to use the energy they provide us.

I love making delicious smoothies in the mornings for breakfast or on a hot afternoon after a sweaty training session.

A favorite Smoothie recipe of mine:

Banana Berry Smoothie
1 banana
½ Cup of mixed frozen berries
1 tea spoon honey
1 table spoon natural yoghurt
1-2 cups of coconut water or milk or plain water

I definitely recommend investing in a blender as it can be such an efficient and tasty way to fuel your body with goodness. The great thing about smoothies too is that they are filling and leave you refreshed and satisfied. I usually just go to the fridge and make recipes up on the spot with what is available, so it can be a very fun and creative task as well. I’ve found that kids love watching what I am putting in my smoothie so it’s a great way to educate them on healthy eating too.

Speaking of children, a recent highlight of mine was organizing a healthy picnic day with my family and little cousins at Suva Park. What a beautiful place on a hot sunny day! We packed chicken, homemade coleslaw, whole meal buns, boiled eggs, carrot sticks, apples, yoghurts, peanuts, almonds and homemade chocolate chip cookies as a sweat treat. The kids ran around and played the whole day and whenever they were hungry they enjoyed snacking on their healthy treats. It felt great seeing them enjoy it as much as us adults were, showing us that we did not need to buy them bongo chips, lollies and fizzy drinks to keep them satisfied for the day. By the time we reached home later that afternoon, the kids were fast asleep.