Makes 12

INGREDIENTS 

3 Cups rolled oats

1/2 Cup of honey 

21g Chopped nuts of choice (I used peanuts)

100g Butter

48g WHEYD Vanilla Protein Powder

1/3 Cup of raisins

2 Apples, peeled and grated

2 Tbsp Chia seeds

10g Sunflower seeds

1tsp Cinnamon 

1/2tsp sea salt

METHOD

1️⃣ Line a tray with baking parchment, and preheat the oven to 175c.

2️⃣ Add the dry ingredients and apple to a large mixing bowl.

3️⃣ Melt the butter and honey in the microwave, then stir into the dry ingredients. 

4️⃣ Flatten out in the lined tray and bake for 10-12 mins, until golden. 

Allow to cool before serving.

Key Lime Energy Balls

100g Almonds

100g Cashew Nuts

150g Dates

50g Vanilla Protein

3 Limes, Juiced

50g Desiccated Coconut

Soak the dates and nuts in cold water in the fridge overnight. Empty the water and blend in a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine. It should look like a dry mixture. Roll into 50g balls.

Apple Pie Energy Balls:

1tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2tsp ground nutmeg
50g Rolled Oats

10 Pitted dates
2 small apples, peeled and sliced
75g Almonds
2 tbsp Raw Peanut Butter
1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
15g Flaxseed, to roll in

Soak the dates in cold water in the fridge overnight. Blitz the oats and dates in a food processor until combined. Then add the rest of the ingredients and blend. Should look like a dry mixture. Roll into 50g balls.

Do you know the single most important thing for fat loss, that comes way before even a calorie deficit?

ADHERENCE.

adherence:

noun
/ədˈhɪr.əns/

The fact of someone behaving exactly according to rules.

The fact of the matter is, your body doesn't care what diet you are following, (ketogenic, vegan, paleo, blah blah blah...) YOU HAVE TO ADHERE.

You have to follow the rules. You wouldn't enter a running race and then run your own route, would you?

The same goes with following any diet or lifestyle change, you need to stick to what you're doing, consistently, otherwise, I'm afraid it just won't work.

There are various reasons we don't adhere, maybe you don't have the drive to follow through with your goal, or you're doing it for the wrong reasons, or you've been feeling very stressed recently for one reason or another....OR it could, more than likely be due to this...

Now, this is where I will introduce to you a new phrase - DIETARY FATIGUE.

I could talk about this topic all day, but I will try to make this short and digestible for you!

Dietary fatigue is exactly what it sounds like - being tired of the dietary changes/habits you are following.

Maybe you have been super motivated for the first 6 weeks of your new plan and you're just loving the positive changes you have felt/seen, but you're getting fed up with having to think about what you 'should' be doing every second of the day.

We're only human, that's totally normal. So what can we do about it? How do we get our mojo back and get out of the slump we're in?!

Actually, it's pretty simple!

Let's compare it to the gym, say you've had a really intense couple of weeks at the gym and you've hit some PB's, ( ha, I wish!) you've been working really hard and focussing a lot of your energy on getting fitter/stronger.

You will need to taper off at some stage, right? Right!

Realistically, you aren't going to be able to keep going for long going at the same pace you are before burning out. It's the same with your dietary habits, inevitably you need to take a break.

If you feel like you have been working so hard and focussing all your energy on this one thing and it's really taking it out of you, it's ok to take a break. Give yourself some slack.

Now, I'm not saying go and eat whatever you want for a few weeks by any means. But maybe let yourself have those drinks at the weekend and have a couple of biccies with your cuppa, put an extra thick spread of butter on your toast.

At the end of the day, we want this to be a sustainable change to your lifestyle, we want to engrain those positive habits, so make sure you aren't getting stuck in the same place feeling frustrated with yourself.