diet Archives - Megan Taylor

A Models Exercise Regime

As a model it is part of my job to train hard to make sure I am in good shape.
Luckily I have always been sporty and enjoyed basketball, gymnastics, running and ballet to name a few so working out doesn’t tend to be a chore for me.
As an adult with some responsibilities I find it increasingly difficult to prioritise exercise.
To make sure I work out regularly I often have to wake up very early.
Below I have also outlined what my typical week of exercise looks like.
“A Models Exercise Regime”
I go to my husbands bootcamp classes Elevate Sport.
If I can’t make a bootcamp class because of work commitments I will do a workout at home from one of Liam’s workout plans.
…no one knows yet but he has some exercise and nutrition ebooks coming out soon and I have been his guinea pig.

Below are some images from a recent sporty test shoot where I got to wear some of my newest sports attire.
You can see how I got on and what I got up to at my test shoot on my YouTube channel.
Photographer: Rob Wilkinson
MUA: Sarah Heap

{Sports Bra: H&M}

When I was younger I was obsessed with Adidas, often channeling my inner Sporty Spice, even when I wasn’t working out.
I was a bit of a tom boy in my football and basketball shirts.
These days I like to wear the prettiest of exercise clothes which in turn motivates me to workout more.
A lot of sports companies now have such beautiful clothing that it is quite nice to follow your exercise with a cheeky brunch without having to get changed.
Even the high street have got on board, with companies like H&M and Primark having some gorgeous affordable sports clothing.

{Pink Sports Vest: Primark}
{Running Leggings: Nike}
{Trainers: Nike}

Megan’s Typical Week Of Exercise
“A Models Exercise Regime”

Monday – 45 minute morning bootcamp & 1hr evening bootcamp
Tuesday – Speedy 4km run
Wednesday – Rest day
Thursday – Speedy 4km run
Friday – 45 minute bootcamp & 1hr gymnastics class
Saturday – Slow fat burning 7km run
Sunday – Rest day

I have had personal trainer and sports therapist Liam Grimley ( @elevatesport ) explain why each of these sports work so well as a combination.

Slow aerobic runs makes your body build fat burning cells to make you a better fat burner. You burn mostly burn fat when you run at this intensity.

Fast runs help you to deal with lactic acid better as a runner, durging these runs you produce a bit of lactic acid, but you are allowing your body to deal with it. You burn a bit more sugar than fat when you run at this intensity.

Anaerobic workouts like Bootcamp are great for your strength and muscle tone and allow you to work on specifics like your abs and arms, which running does only very slightly. You burn a lot of sugar at this intensity and very little fat.

Gymnastics is a mixture; there is a lot of powerful, toning work in your floor work and jumping and flipping. It’s also fab for your body control / postural strength and your flexibility.

After all of these workouts your metabolism is revved up so that you keep burning energy, mainly fat, for many hours afterwards.

{Sports Bra: H&M}

I hope you have enjoyed my fitness blog post.
What workouts do you do?

Frozen Fruit Smoothie Recipe

I love to have a smoothie after a workout rather than a juice because when juicing you loose the majority of the fibre from the fruit. When you loose the fibre you are not going to be as full up from your drink.

I like my smoothies to be fruity and sweet. I am not a fan of vegetable smoothies and juices so I try to conceal the vegetable flavours that I do add. In this smoothie I have added a little bit of kale to add iron to my vegetarian diet.

This smoothie tends to keep me full for about 2 hours.

Ingredients

Coconut water (150ml)

Ginger (frozen and grated to taste)

Frozen mango (handful)

Frozen raspberries (handful)

Frozen melon (handful)

Frozen kale (a few leafs)

Method

Pour your coconut water in the blender

Pour in all of your frozen fruits on top of the water

Grate your frozen ginger into the blender

Blend all your ingredients adding a little more coconut water if the ingredients are not blending together or give the mixture a poke with a long wooden utensil (turn the machine off for this) if there is a bubble in the mixture

Serve in a glass with a spoon

Enjoy x

Crunchy Cashew Kale Crisps

I had some kale that was almost out of date and only a handful of cashew nuts so I decided to create my own
Crunchy Cashew Kale Crisps.
They were really yummy but definitely gave the house a bit of a funky, yet healthy smell.
These kale chips are a healthier alternative to normal movie night snacks. They would be great for a Monday movie night when, let’s be honest, we are all at our healthiest.
These crisps were really easy to make and tasted really yummy. The chew of the cashew nuts is the best bit.

-Serves 1
-Prep time: 5 minutes
-Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

Kale (two big leaves minus their stems)
Cashew nuts (1/4 cup)
Red chilli (personal preference, I used a whole chilli which was very hot!)
Salt (pinch)
Pepper (personal preference)
Olive oil (approx. 2 teaspoons)

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 170°

2. Blend the cashew nuts into tiny chunks in a blender. I use this one.

3. Cut the kale leaves off its stem. Leaving the stem behind cut the leaves into little shreds.

4. Cut up your chilli’s red skin into teensy little pieces, leaving the seeds behind.

5. Throw your cut up leaves, chilli and cashew nuts into a roasting tray. Add a glug of olive oil and mix everything together.

6. Cook for 15 minutes, turning every five minutes. 15 minutes allowed me to achieve a mixture of crunchy crisps and chewy crisps.
If you want a more crisp texture cook them for 20-30 minutes but making sure you check them regularly to not let them burn.

7. Either eat warm or let them cool for ten minutes to have slightly crispier crisps.

Hope you enjoy them.

If you make them, make sure you tag me in pictures on Instagram or Twitter @itsmegantaylor

Autumnal Granola Recipe

The nights are getting darker, the wind so much chillier and the autumn leaves are falling at a rapid speed. I personally love this time of year. We can layer up our clothes, put the fire on and have an excuse to hibernate at home with a great movie, hot water bottle and a cup of hot chocolate. That’s not to mention the great anticipation of the festive Christmas period.
The only downside to the chillier season is pushing myself out of the door in the morning. I have to eat breakfast before going to work otherwise my tummy rumbles like a mini earthquake. When I am cold I tend to crave a warm croissant or a fried egg sandwich sssh. I have come up with this granola recipe which is low in GI, super healthy and can be eaten warm or cold. Shop bought cereals, granola’s and muesli’s are full of unnatural sugars and ingredients that you would never find in your kitchen cupboards. My granola recipe is full of seeds and nuts and the only sugars are date syrup and honey…very natural and wonderfully sweet for that yummy sugar hit in the healthiest way possible. The great thing about this recipe is you can just use anything you have in your cupboard you don’t have to follow the recipe meticulously. You don’t need to go out shopping for any expensive ingredients…have fun experimenting.

Don’t forget to tag me in photos of your granola if you make it. @itsmegantaylor
Here is how to make my autumnal granola recipe.

Time

Prep: 5 minutes

Cooking: 10 minutes

What you will need

Syrup:

1 tablespoon Coconut oil

1.5 tablespoon Date syrup

1 tablespoon Honey

Granola bulk:

1/4 cup Mixed seeds

{I used: flaxseeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds}

3/4 cup Mixed nuts

{I used: haselnuts, Brazil nuts, walnuts. If you want a mix of nuts but don’t fancy spending a fortune on bags of nuts, Waitrose do a great mixed nuts bag so you can get a good variety in your granola}

1 cup Jumbo oats

1 cup Coconut flakes

1 cup Quinoa pops

3/4 cup Raisins

2 teaspoons Ground cinnamon

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 160°

2. Blend your mixed nuts in a blender until lightly mixed. Do not let them go to dust…unless you are aiming for more of a muesli texture.

3. Throw all dry ingredients into a baking tray (nuts, seeds, coconut flakes, quinoa pops, oats, raisins).

4. Melt the coconut oil, date syrup, honey and cinnamon in a pan on a low heat until mixed together.

5. Pour the syrup over the dry ingredients and mix together.

6. Place in the oven for ten minutes, mixing up the ingredients every few minutes.

7. Leave to stand until cool before storing to prevent the ingredients going soggy.
Enjoy with yoghurt, milk or even by itself as a healthy snack.

Chocolate dipped, orange zest shortbread biscuits

My mum found this scrumptious butter biscuits recipe last week in the Saturday Mail. There were a whole list of recipes for baking aimed at baking beginners. Ever the competitive spirit I took the simple shortbread recipe a step further adding orange zest and chocolate. I personally believe, chocolate makes everything better.

INGREDIENTS
150g unsalted butted, softened and diced
225g plain flour, sifted (plus extra for dusting)
100g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
1tsp vanilla extract
Zest of 1 orange
50g of dark chocooate
(You will need a cookie cutter or glass to cut them and a rolling pin)
(Makes approximately 30 cookies)

STEP 1
Preheat the oven to 180°.
Using your finger tips, rub together the butter, flour and sugar until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

STEP 2
Using a wooden spoon, mix in the egg yolk, vanilla extract and the zest of one orange.

STEP 3
Form the dough into a ball, then turn it onto a lightly floured surface kneading the dough for a few seconds.

STEP 4
Roll out the dough to a thickness of 5mm using a rolling pin.

STEP 5
Using a cookie cutter, cut out 30 cookies and place on baking sheets. You do not need to grease the sheets. Bake for 10 minutes.

STEP 6
When turning golden at the edges, leave them to cool then decorate your biscuits with chocolate however you wish. I went for the dipped effect.