Protein Pudding Review

So I've got a little bit of a sweet tooth and love a good pudding, which is not always the best for my diet and training regime. So I went on a search to find something that would satisfy my sweet tooth and not affect my diet. 

To my rescue came MyProtein! I have used this company for a while now and tried many of their products since I started my training.  There products are great, they have a wide range and they are all affordable. 

So to curb my sweet tooth I took a look at the MyProtein Dessert. This comes in several different flavours:

Banana Split, 

Chocolate Pudding, 

Strawberry Sundae and 

Vanilla Custard. 

With 30g of protein per serving and low carbs it sounded like a perfect treat to crave my sweet tooth.

Here's a few nutritional facts about the Protein Dessert, for a 50g serving there is:

Energy (kJ/kcal) 756/179

Fat: 3.6g

of which saturates 0.5g

Carbs: 5.7g

of which sugars 0.9g

Protein: 31g

Salt: 0.2g

I decided to go for the Vanilla Custard as I love custard and don't get to eat it much since the other half doesn't.

Here's a quick how to:

The website states to add two scoops "approx 50g" and either 150ml of water or milk to a Myprotein shaker and mix until you are left with a smooth consistency before putting into the fridge to set for 10-15 mins.

So dinner came and went and my craving for a pudding and this product arriving I thought there was no time like the present to try it and see if this could be the thing I have been looking for! Following the instructions on the website I set about my task, I added the required 150ml of milk and two scoops to my shaker and shook until I reached a smooth consistency. I waited eagerly for the 15 mins to pass and quickly grabbed my shaker from the fridge. On opening the top of my shaker I found a dessert that kinda resembled the consistency of Angel Delight and if I'm honest a bit of a mess. 

I scooped out my wire ball and grabbed a spoon, the dessert tasted awesome not too sweet but enough to satisfy my craving and I finished it in no time. The only down side to this product was that it did leave a mess in my shaker, and digging the ball out was a bit awkward. The messy shaker was nothing that a good wash wouldn't fix but as for the ball ... hmm. Another  little thing for me was the size of the portion, it was quite big but that was just a personal preference.

So to test this product throughly I tried the dessert again a couple of nights later this time I opted to try a slightly different method. Instead of using my shaker I used a bowl, whisk and I slightly upped the milk too to 200ml. Using the whisk I found it so much easier and less messy to when using my shaker with the extra 50ml of milk I didn't really notice the difference. I tried the dessert with water instead of milk and found that it was just as tasty and the same texture as when I used milk. If you choose to try this dessert I would definitely recommend that you try different volumes of liquid till you find the one that suits you. An hey if you have to try a few desserts in the process what a shame :) 

MyProtein Vanilla Custard

Add two scoops to a bowl

Mix in 200ml Milk

Whisk until a smooth consistency

Put into the fridge

Wait 10-15mins

Enjoy :D

Overall I think this is a really good alternative to a traditional dessert if like me your in training and have a sweet tooth. I would highly recommend it.

A special thanks to THE HUT for setting me up with this awesome product.

Cheers Jamie

The Blaydon Race 2013

So in my build up towards the Great North Run my trainer and I decided that I should get some race experience. Mainly to acclimatise myself to normal race surroundings and see how I would fair in my first competitive run. After much deliberation we decided i would test my metal in the Blaydon 10k Race. The Blaydon Race is a six mile course set after a famous song in the North East written by Geordie Ridley, the song is about a journey from Collingwood Street in the centre of Newcastle along Scotswood road to Blaydon. The song is also used by several sports teams over the North East including Newcastle United.

A little bit about the race The 1862 Blaydon Races Song is the National Anthem of Tyneside.  The words of the song are used as a basis for everything in the race where possible. For example the event takes place every "Ninth of June" in accord with the song's first line:- "Aa went to Blaydon Races t'was on the Ninth of June" 
                    
The runners assemble at the public house "Balmbras" in central Newcastle (just as the travellers to see the Blaydon Horse races did in 1862) and are started on their run with the actual handbell mentioned in the song, which is brought out specially, under guard, from The Discovery  Museum, Newcastle and "away they gan alang Collingwood Street" on their way to Scotswood Road and Scotswood Bridge to finish in Blaydon itself . 

If you are interested and would like to learn more about the race please follow the link provided.

http://www.blaydonrace.org/

After a few months of training it was finally race day Sunday 9th June. I awoke early to a grey and cold looking day perfect conditions to run? With uncontrollable butterflies in my stomach thoughts turned to my first big race! What to expect? What time would i finish? Would I be able to finish? all these kept running through my head. I sat try to calm my nerves and ate my normal breakfast thinking this might help which it didn't. I did the final checks in my bag to make sure i had everything i needed and it was time to leave.

With a small supporting crowd who included my fiancee, my future in laws and the fiancees brother and sister in law, We headed up to Newcastle for the start of the race. I had arranged to meet my trainer who was also taking part in the race along with several of his other clients outside St Nicks Cathedral close to the start of the race at 2pm for a pre race chat and warm up.

With a final goodbye to my cheering support who were heading off to the finish the nerves really started to kick in. With the race due to start at 3pm the weather had totally changed from a damp wet and grey morning into blue skys and 18 degree heat. I would just like to point out i have never ran in such temperatures before, all of my training had been in typical english conditions of freezing cold with plenty of wind and rain thrown in, so how would I fair in such glorious conditions?

At 2.50pm we lined up near the start line, the buzz of the fellow runners around me was something I had never experienced before and started to ease my nerves, At roughly 3.06pm i crossed the start line activating the time chip on my shoe and I was off. The start of the race was a little cramped with thousand of runners all trying to get off to good starts through the winding route out of central Newcastle, I composed myself not to fall into the runners curse of sprinting for the first mile then slowing right down as the race went on. I faired well for the first 3.5 miles of the race going at a nice steady tempo, I was set to complete at a time goal I had set myself. In a slight error of judgement I took a glass of water from the drinks station as I passed and in trying to consume while continuing to run I took in far too much air which proceeded to give me a stitch. I did have a water bottle with me but with it being such a hot day I thought the extra water might help oh how wrong I was! I dug deep through my stitch and would not let it slow my pace, by the time I reached the 4 mile mark my stitch was gone and I was ready to push myself for the final 2 miles.

The 5th mile went rather quickly and the end was in sight, the closer we got the more people there were on the sidelines cheering us on. As I came down the exit ramp of the Scotswood bridge I started to look out for my cheering support, about 500 meteres from the exit to the bridge I saw the first part of my cheering crew my fiancees brother and step father. Giving them a cheeky wave as i passed i used there encouragement to push my pace on and get to the finish. As I entered the final stretch of the race I could see the finishing line in the distance and there was the face I was looking for my gorgeous fiancee cheering me on with the last of my cheering crew, I mustered all the energy I had and started to sprint towards the finish, dodging in and out of the runners on the final stretch I crossed the finish line.

My official finishing time for the 6 miles was 47.33 a great time and a great achievement in such hot conditions.  With my first race complete I can look back on it with found memories and feel very proud of myself. 

Now the real training starts!!!

 

The awesome 16th birthday cake i made my cousin

So i was born 7th April 1987 on the same day exactly 10 years apart my cousin Danielle was born. Sharing a birthday with another family member is a bit strange at first but you get used to it. Anyway this year i turned 26 which meant my cousin was turning 16. My aunt and cousins live in Leicester and with the rest of my family living down south, it was arranged that we would all go to Leicester for the easter weekend to celebrate Dani Lou's sweet 16.

In a phone conversation with my mum a month previous or so i got asked/decided that i would attempt to make my cousin a birthday cake for the celebration. Speaking to my cousin on what she wanted all i got was i want chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream, at least she knew what she wanted. Now me being a budding chef and baker by trade mother in law to be is always giving me new recipes to try and new ideas, when we mentioned that i was going to make the cake for my cousin she proceeded to call up the bbc food page online and show me a cake made by Lauren Pascale for a Chocolate Cigarillo cake.

I decided that this was the cake i was going to do, but me wanting to challenge myself and partly show off my skill to my family decided to go for a 3 tier version. Now the next challenge was how to make a chocolate on chocolate on chocolate cake not overly sweet and sickly.

After much searching online and through cook books it was decided that i would attempt to make a chocolate beetroot cake. If im honest i was not keen how could beetroot and chocolate in a cake taste amazing! So i went to the shops with my list of ingredients got home and set about making my first practice cake. Eagerly awaiting the cake to come out of the oven and cool just so we could try it, who doesn't love cake i no i certainly do! The cake finally cooled and time to tuck in i cut slices for both myself and fiancee and the results were incredible. Never have i had such a moist delicious tasting cake that was not overly sweet and left u wanting more.

My fiancee while looking for bits for our wedding came across a cake shop on an industrial estate in Washington uk where they sold boxes of chocolate cigarillos exactly what i was looking for to finish my cake for £10. Saving me much money from online purchases and the worrying thought that they might arrive in the mail totally smashed and unusable.

Anyways after 2 more practice cakes it was time to make the real thing, Being a baker by trade easter is one of the busy'ist times of year and the added pressure of making a 3 tier cake after working a 4am till 12pm shift at work all week was enough to push anyone over the edge. But i did it i got my head down an concentrated and after many hours of baking, whipping buttercream, filling and decorating my 3 tier masterpiece was complete.

For those wondering my cousin loved the cake as did the whole family and words were uttered about making my own wedding cake! Well there is no chance in hell of that :)

Protein and Protein Shakes

Protein shakes you might just think these are for the try hards and the beefcakes who inhabit the free weight room in the gym. But when you look into it they are really useful and have helped me to get to where i am and will help me achieve the goals i have set myself.

I first thought about protein shakes back in June 2012 when i was looking for a way to add more protein to my diet but without having to spend mega amounts of money in the supermarket on fresh meat and fish. So i questioned a regular gym going friend who i knew was into body building what i should look at and where to start. He sent me a link to a company called Myprotein, after perusing there website and confusing myself to beyond belief i had to seek further help from my friend on what i should start to take. After much deliberation i decided to go with the Impact Whey Protein. Having a sweet tooth i thought lets not try any of the vast arrays of Chocolate proteins on offer, i will stick with the bog standard natural and see what its like.

A couple of days later a my parcel arrived my 1kg bag of protein and a shaker. I was eager to try my recent purchase so i did my workout for the day and read the recommended amount of protein to add to the water, shook an down the hatch it went. I must admit the taste took some getting used to a bit like dried milk powder but it was certainly drinkable. I started off just taking 1 shake after my workout to help with my recovery and i was noticing how quick i could recover, It was working! I got half way down my first bag and decided right time for a change i will try one of the other flavours on offer. Banana was the flavour of choice and it was amazing totally loved it! With 150ml of water it had the taste and consistency of a Frujji banana milkshake amazing! I could drink this stuff all day.

As my training got tougher and i started working with my personal trainer i decided that i was going to start doing two shakes a day, one first thing in the morning and one post workout. I was getting used to the Impact Whey Protein that i had now been taking for nearly 6 months and decided to have a look at what else was on offer in my price budget. After much research i ordered a 1kg Impact Whey Deluxe in Strawberry Cream flavour and a 1kg Impact Whey Isolate in Banana. 

How i do it is 1 30g scoop of protein to 200ml of water. Using the Impact Whey Deluxe in the mornings and the Impact Whey Isolate as my recovery drink. Since i have started on these i have also recently adding Creatine Monohydrate which is another amazing product.

I cant speak highly enough of Myprotein they have an amazing array of products at very reasonable prices and would recommend them to anyone.

For anyone interested here is the link to the site go and check it out!

http://www.myprotein.com/home.dept

My journey so far! A Brief summary of me.

Hi my name is Jamie, i am a 26 year old male living in Durham in the United Kingdom. Ive always been a keen sports person, playing various different sports ranging from Cricket to Badminton but have always struggled with my weight. 

In August 2010 i made the decision to leave my family home in Cranleigh Surrey and move 300 miles north to Durham to move in with my girlfriend. When i moved to Durham i weighed a whopping 19 stone 8 lbs and set about changing my lifestyle and finally getting into shape. 

As my lifestyle changed i started to notice i was starting to loose weight nothing major just little bits here and there. As time went on i started to use the wii fit and i know this sounds strange but running for 20 mins on that on the spot in the flat was pretty much what i used to do, that and cycling a mile to work and back everyday. As time went on even more weight dropped off, i started to feel great about myself and started to up the amount of exercise i was doing.

To cut a very long story short 2 1/2 years later i had dropped to an amazing 12 stone 8 lbs still pretty much doing the same routine.

In October 2012 i decided that i wanted to take my fitness and training more seriously and started to venture out of the house running. A big shock to the system but something that i needed! I found myself a personal trainer and joined a gym and have worked hard to tone and get myself Physically fit.

Now April 2013 almost 3 years from moving out of home i weigh a grand total of 13 stone 5 lbs and loving life.

My journey from fat to fit has been a long and pretty tough one along the way but i wouldn't change it for the world. I am a much happier, confident and fitter person than i ever thought i could be.

Its proof that even the lazyist  of people can change for better!

Cheers J