Topnotch Nutrition

the challenge.” Like many other young girls this was the first boost of motivation when it come to starting out on a fitness journey. However, Hattie also went through another change when she switched her diet from a carnivore one to plant-based. “Becoming Vegan made me want to understand more on the best types of plantbased foods out there for us.” There are so many alternatives out there on the market today that switching to a Vegan or Vegetarian diet makes sense to many. By simply switching up your protein and dairy sources it can be an easy shift to make. However, ensuring you are getting enough of the vital vitamins and minerals is essential. “Women usually lack calcium, iron, vitamin D and iodine” so ensuring you are consuming enough of these will help you on your journey. “Foods rich in vitamins such as fruits & vegetables” are the perfect way to get in these nutrients.

After ensuring you are getting the right nutrients into your diet many want to know how they can gain lean muscle mass. “You need to be eating enough food in order to build muscle (calorie surplus) and plenty of proteins, fats and carbs.” Ensuring you are hitting your daily macros by tracking them may help (you can find macro calculators free online). Although you don’t want to get too consumed by the numbers so this should only be a shortterm solution to ensure you are getting the right micros/macros in to reach your goals. Another question that tends to be flung around the health and fitness world is whether eating at certain times affects your results. “This is false, although you should try to avoid eating just before going to sleep as it’ll be slightly harder for your body to digest your food but won’t be harmful.” Sticking to certain times to consume your food isn’t going to change your results. However, ensuring you are eating at quality times, ones that suit you best, will help you enjoy the process and enjoy the foods you are eating without having to worry. Food is about enjoyment and loving creating the meals you put together, while still nourishing your body and fuelling it for your workouts. There is no right or wrong when it comes you eating, you can eat In certain ways to help you achieve certain goals but doing what works for you and makes you happy is the best way to eat! Consume your food, don’t let it consume you!

CHOCOLATE ORANGE Protein Oats

Ingredients:

40g Oats 50g Grated Courgette 200ml Unsweetened Almond Milk 20g Chocolate Orange Protein Vanilla Flavour Drops

Toppings:

50g Frozen Blueberries 10g Bourneville Orange Chocolate Instructions:

1. Place all ingredients into a saucepan and heat on medium heat.

2. Stir until heated.

3. Pour the mixture in a bowl and add the toppings.

4. Enjoy!