Protein World

A while a go I was given the opportunity to trial Protein World’s premium weight loss package. I’ve been trying to shed the pounds I’ve gained since re-starting office work, and a quick fix like slimming shakes did seem appealing. However I’ve always been quite sceptical of diets like these, shakes and pills seem unhealthy and I’ve had a few friends who have had bad experiences with similar diets, light headedness, shaking and racing hearts have been common side effects.

I also know people who have done really well in shedding stones with these kinds of diets, only to pile the weight back on the second they stop having the meal replacements, shakes etc. Despite this I felt safe enough to give Protein World a go after a lot of research and reassurance from the brand.

So I stared my Protein World journey about two months ago now and overall it has been a success, I’ve lost 14lbs (1 stone) in total, although it has not been without its downfalls. In the weight loss package I received a tub of the best-selling slender blend protein powder, a tub of slender blend capsules, a tub of multi-vitamin capsules, a protein shaker and a weight loss guide; full of recipes and weight loss tips and tricks. Protein World also sent me a sheet of super cute gold transfer tattoos!

Each day you are advised to have two shakes (one for breakfast and lunch) and a balanced and healthy evening meal. You are advised to take one vitamin in the morning and one in the evening and slender blend capsule with your breakfast shake and one with your lunchtime shake. This goes up to two capsules in the morning and two at lunch after your first week.

My first week I was really committed, I stuck to a healthy diet and paid great attention to calories, fats and balanced meals. I managed to lose 6lbs in just seven days! That weekend I went away to Liverpool, taking my shakes with me! I stuck to a reasonably balanced diet, food-wise, but drank quite a bit of alcohol one night and was horrified to find that I’d put 4lbs back on when I got home!

I stuck to my diet after that and as I said lost a stone in two months, but in the first few weeks I felt a lack of energy and motivation – something I couldn’t rectify with coffee as it’s one of the ‘bad’ drinks listed by Protein World! However after about three weeks I was back to normal and was adjusting well to the new routine.

Over-all it’s been a pretty decent experience. The shakes and capsules have been easy to transport to and from the office and has worked out cheaper than my daily meals. Also the weight loss part has obviously been pretty successful and I’m feeling a lot better about my weight!

My one concern is the speed at which a managed to regain the weight I lost after a small binge! I would suggest weaning yourself off the shakes, rather than stopping outright, to anyone wanting to try Protein World. Your appetite should be smaller after trying this diet for a while so weaning yourself back onto normal foods by trying soups and light salads for a while instead of stuffing yourself will definitely benefit you more.

I think I’ll carry on with Protein World for a while longer and see if I continue to lose weight and feel healthier. If anyone else wants to give it a go you can click THIS link. If you do try it, and at any point start to feel unwell, do get in touch with a doctor immediately or tell a family member who’ll be able to help you – do not continue with the shakes until you are sure you are safe to do so!

Also I’d like to take this opportunity to tell any of my followers who are struggling with their weight, or any insecurities, that I’m here to help! No matter the time or day, no matter how insignificant or strange you feel your problems may be – I am always happy to listen. I will try my best to help and offer advice, or at least offer you the details of those who’ll be able to offer the best help for you. Just remember you’re not alone!

Have you ever tried Protein World? Or do you have any interesting diets that you would recommend? Let me know in a comment below!

Burger Parlour

A few posts ago I told you all about my crazy July and all the good things that happened for me around that time. As luck would have it I wasn’t the only one that fortune shone on that month.

Josh applied for a new job in June, heard back at the start of July, passed all the required tests and interviews and was offered a place at the end of July. He has just started his four year apprenticeship training and is insanely excited!

To celebrate even more good news we went to the Burger Parlour that has just opened up near us. We’d heard good things about it but had never had chance to go there, but with a reason to celebrate we thought we’d give it a shot!

Burger Parlour mainly serves burgers (surprise surprise) but also has pizzas, steaks, hot dogs and much more on their menu. There is also a super cute ice cream parlour attached to the restaurant which I was pretty excited about!

I had the Crispy Coated Chicken Burger which was is a bread crumbed chicken breast topped with bacon, brie, Hawkshead chilli jam and salad, served in a sesame seed bun with fries.

Josh went for the Wild Boar Burger which was a 5oz minced boar meat patty, infused with garlic, spring onion, honey and oyster sauce, topped with jalapenos and blue cheese. That was served with homemade crackling, pepper mayo and sweet potato fries.

If I’m completely honest I’m not a huge burger fan and only picked the option I did because I love brie! But I really did enjoy my meal, all the ingredients for the burgers (and other dishes) are locally sourced and the food has a wonderful ‘homemade’ feel to it.

Josh loved his meal but was slightly disappointed with the crackling, it came slightly anaemic looking and soft, whereas crackling is usually slightly darker and tougher/crispier. We asked for it to be cooked for a little longer but it returned anaemic and still oddly soft – we gave up on it after that.

For dessert I ran to the ice cream counter like a child running downstairs on Christmas morning! Josh opted for the chocolate fudge cake and I got a three scoop sundae with bubble gum, mint choc chip and cookies and cream flavours!

Dessert was brilliant and all the ingredients were, again, locally sourced – it’s always good to know where your food is coming from!

The service was also excellent at the Burger Parlour and you can watch the chefs cook your meal through the serving hatch that stretches along the wall of the restaurant.

Overall the meal and experience at Burger Parlour was excellent, with the exception of the crackling, so I’d probably give it a 4 out of 5 stars!

Have you been to a Burger Parlour recently? Where’s your favourite place to grab a burger? Let me know in a comment below!

Jamie's Italian

I am a food super-fan. You only need to take one glance at my Instagram to realise I’m a hard-core foodie (seriously though I do not recommend looking at my Insta if you’re on a diet, its burger central at the moment).

As well as the eating part, I quite enjoy the cooking part also. I absolutely love cooking shows and am a celebrity chef fan girl, of which my absolute favourite is Jamie Oliver. Seriously though his 15 minute meals rock my world.

So you can imagine my excitement when Josh told me he’d booked us a table at Jamie’s Italian in Liverpool! We were booked in for an evening meal after my graduation and I genuinely don’t know what I was more excited about; my graduation or eating at one of my idols restaurants!

The restaurant itself looks modern Swiss meets classic lumberjack inside, with wooden walls, recycled metal tables and so many waiters sporting lumberjack beards that I began to wonder whether it was through choice or if it was a compulsory part of the uniform at Jamie’s.

Our waiter, who sported a particularly bushy beard, was really friendly and chatty and took time to discuss the menu and cocktails with us despite the restaurant being jam packed.

After much deliberation I decided on the crab and avocado bruschetta for a starter and Josh chose the crispy squid – we’re both big seafood lovers.

The white and brown crab meat came served on a bed of crunchy fennel. This was piled high atop the crisp bruschetta and avocado spread then drizzled with yogurt and chilli. The taste was absolutely sensational, I love crab and the chefs cooked and prepared theirs perfectly!

Josh’s squid came lightly battered, fried with chilli, parsley and garlic. I didn't try the squid but considering he managed to demolish it in about five seconds I think its safe we assume it was good! I did however try the garlic and lemon mayo that it was served with which was beautiful.

For my main course I chose the ‘famous prawn linguine’ which was prawns fried with garlic, fennel, tomatoes, chilli, saffron and lemony rocket served up with fresh linguine pasta – made fresh in the restaurant that day. The dish was cooked to perfection and was an extremely generous serving considering I choose to have the ‘small’ portion.

Josh’s main was the crispy Italian-spiced duck leg, which was slow roasted and served with a watercress, lentil, orange and fennel salad topped with a fresh pomegranate and orange dressing. I ended up getting everything but the duck and orange scraped onto my plate as, in Joshua’s own words, he ‘doesn't eat anything green’.

Despite the restaurants attempt to poison him with salad, Josh loved his main course, the duck was cooked perfectly and the salad was beautiful, even if it was sloppy seconds!

We also ordered a side of garlicky green beans between us which are served with spicy Sicilian sauce and pecorino. They were beautiful but pretty spicy so do not order if you don’t like hot foods!

By dessert we were pretty much full but couldn't resist ordering off the beautiful menu! I opted for lighter option of strawberries soaked in elderflower and lemon, served with baby basil, poppy seed crisps and frozen yogurt.

Josh, true to form, went for the not so light option of the ‘molten chocolate praline pudding’, which I just about had time to photograph before it was gone it three swift bites!

Overall the meal was amazing, the atmosphere was great, the service was spot on and the prices were really reasonable! Five stars to Jamie’s!

Have you ever been to Jamie’s Italian? What did you think of it? Let me know in a comment below!

Green stuff

This morning I posted a picture of my breakfast smoothie on Instagram saying “Green stuff in bed”. I was planning on doing a recipe post for it sometime this week but as I’ve already received a lot of your requests to post the recipe I thought I may as well put it up today!

I’ve been on a bit of a health kick recently (something that is very rare for me) as I’ve noticed my skin and hair were looking slightly off. I decided to ditch the bad diet I’ve had recently, which consisted of eating junk food all day or not eating at all, and aim for a healthier lifestyle.

Is there a more Instagram-able way to get healthy than by making smoothies? I think not! So I started research some good recipes for breakfasts. I’ve always struggled with breakfast, I’m just never awake enough to eat anything, so being able to drink my brekkie was an excellent alternative! Plus it’s an excellent way to aim towards your five a day!

The recipe I have is designed for two medium servings or one large serving, the picture on my Instagram shows a large serving. I’ve dumbed down the recipe slightly as I found it hard to follow and removed all the weird pricey ingredients – trust me it’s good enough without them! Here’s what you will need!

•          3 Apples
•          1 Banana
•          1 kiwi
•          15 green grapes
•          1 mango
•          ¼ cucumber
•          ½ lime
•          1 handful spinach
•          1 tea spoon of flax seed
•          1 smoothie maker, food processor or hand blender

Step one: Start by prepping your fruit. Peel your apples and banana, remove the apple core then chop both into small pieces and put them in your blender. You can put the grapes in whole.

Step two: More fruity prep! Cut your mango and kiwi in half then scoop their edible insides into your smoothie maker with the rest of the fruit.

Step three: The veggie bit. Peel your cucumber and chop into small pieces and add it to the fruit. Shred the spinach with your hands and chuck that in as well. Squeeze your ½ lime into the smoothie maker as well, get as much juice out as you can but don’t worry if there isn’t a lot – a little goes a long way with citrus!

Step four: Add your flax seed and put the blender’s lid on, or cover whatever your making your smoothie in – this is important! Then get blending! When your mix is smooth and runny you can either sieve it to make it extra smooth or serve it up bits and all!

Tip: Remember to serve it in your most presentable cup and vintage paper straw to make it Pinterest worthy!

Okay so that last tip was a bit of a joke but good props never hurt! I hope you all enjoyed this post and have fun making the recipe! I got all of the ingredients for this recipe (except that flax, you can get them here) from Aldi, so it was super affordable and there was plenty or fruit and veg left over to snack on and make smoothies for the rest of the week!

Let me know if you try this recipe, if you do share your pics on Instagram and tag me in them ‘@alicelouisealk’. Let me know what you think of this recipe in a comment below!