Body like Beyonce: Fit February Smoothie Challenge.

So last weekend Beyonce really kicked up a storm in the media! From her mind blowingly epic performance at the Super Bowl half-time show to the announcement of her world tour! She’s really caused a ruckus! If I was to begin writing about all the reasons why she is epic I don’t think I’d ever stop! She’s like, the epitome of ‘woman’ or something! Second only to my mother in my eyes! Lol. But seriously though, Beyonce is just one of those people that you either love to love or love to hate, but either way you still love her! And to all those Kelly and Michelle fans I just have a few things to say to you. 1. I love Kelly too but seriously, you cannot deny the force that is KING BEY! 2. May you never be a Michelle to anybody in this life! (Check out this awful but somehow hilarious website!).

Anyways, one thing I’ve always wanted from Beyonce is her gaddem body!

EPIC performance! <3 <3 <3

I don’t know how she does it! And while she may not be the best role model for healthy eating and all, her body is always in perfect form when she needs it to be! As I mentioned in my last post I fell off the Insanity and clean eating bandwagon but I’m picking myself right back up and continuing from where I left off! Even though the week has already started I’m going to try and come up with some meal prep ideas and the like to keep me from over eating and eating the wrong thing! One thing I’ve learnt so far is that it’s not only about the calories; it’s about where they come from. So eating 2000 calories of lean meat, complex carbs and ‘good’ fats is going to do a lot more for your body than just 1000 calories from sugary and salty snacks. To motivate myself further I’ve decided to start a challenge for the remainder of February. Welcome to my Fit February Smoothie challenge!

At least one smoothie a day, everyday for the rest of February. Smoothie are a great source of nutrients and contain a lot, if not all of our recommended 5-a-day while also being delicious! If anyone is anything like me you probably hate greens! I’m not sure if it has more to do with the colour or the taste but foods like spinach and kale just make me think “Ew, ew, ew, NAS-TAY!” but that’s why I’ve had to modify the challenge a little bit, at least 2 of the smoothies every week MUST contain some leafy greens for their added benefits of iron and other nutrients. Ugh, I’m regretting adding this clause already, lol.

My very first smoothie of the month is one of my favourites, Strawberry and Banana! I got the recipe as a workout reward ages ago when I used to use the Nike Training Club app. The recipe is below and although I didn’t have any pineapple at the time it still tasted yummy!

4 or 5 strawberries

Handful of raspberries

1 banana

3-4 fresh pineapple slices

4 oz orange juice

Ice cubes.

And the instruction is to throw everything in the blender and blend until smooth.

Couple of the ingredients I included today, forgot to take a picture before I actually made the smoothie!

Mmmmmm, nice cup of strawberry and banana smoothie after a cold and wet day!

P.S: If you don’t have a very powerful blender I would suggest crushing the ice first! (I use some freezer bags, a hammer and a couple of dishcloths lol.) Also if you don't like bananas another "thick" fruit like mangos can be used instead, just try out with different things.

Does anyone have any fun recipes I could try out? This might be the longest shortest month of the year ever!

Reni x

The Open Relationship Paradox

Further to my previous post The Relationship Conundrum, I got to thinking about open relationships and whether the more hedonistic of my peers really are on to something. An open relationship means that you have a “special someone” who is the acclaimed love of your life but you are not exclusive in the physical aspect of your relationship. i.e. you can eff about with whoever you want and not have to explain yourself.

As much as my first instinct is always to condemn open relationships, I can’t help think but think of couples like Will & Jada and other unmentionables were I’ve seen it (sort of) work!

In the case of the Smith’s, Will said, “Our perspective is, you don’t avoid what’s natural. You’re going to be attracted to other people.” But isn’t that the entire difference between human beings and other animals of lower intellect? Yes you can be attracted to other people, there are always going to be people hotter than your boyfriend and sexier than your girlfriend but what’s wrong with the “Look but don’t touch” approach? God did not give us dominion over them so that we can stay acting like rabbits!

Don’t get me wrong I adore Will & Jada, they’re my second favourite Hollywood couple right after Jigga & Bey! But surely one must wonder, is it ever truly possible for you to completely separate the emotional and physical aspects of love and freely give one to one person and share the other half with multiple others?  Is love truly cursed by monogamy? in the famous words of Kanye West. Click here if you don't know what song I'm on about!

I don’t know, id be honest I’m a bit more traditional in my approach, I just don’t have the heart to know that the person whom I hold most dear to my heart is in some other girls bed for the weekend, sounds to me like a whole lot of pain and not much gain. Out of deference to his love for me, any individual I decide to invest my time in better be willing to allow some things, you know.