Chocolate Powerballs & Power Workouts

Those of you who know me well know I absolutely hate the thought of any sort of ‘diet’. I never ever weigh myself (it's way too depressing to judge if you feel good by a number on a machine) and the thought of depriving myself of food in order to look good seems like a wasted life to me – yes I know that’s dramatic but I really LOVE my food (and my wine). I literally cannot miss meals without wanting to rip somebody's head off so food for me is a really important, and enjoyable, part of my day.

That said, I have been gluten free for a number of years, as well as free from a long list of other foods which I am intolerant to. For those of you who are interested the list includes: potatoes (I blame my Irish heritage for putting 3 types of potato with every meal growing up), tomatoes, all the deadly nightshades, apples (I react as badly to apples and gluten - goodbye lovely ciders) and strawberries (Wimbeldon is just not as fun these days). So after years of being ill I simply have to cut certain foods out of my life which doesn't seem like such a hardship in order to have energy and be pain free.  So I feel like I already have to be careful of what I eat, but for health benefits not to deprive myself or fit myself into something. So the thought of a high protein, low carb, counting calories or low fat lifestyle really doesn’t do it for me. Saying that, I do like to be healthy but I do believe you can be healthy and eat really tasty food.
 
Recently I started looking at the ‘eating clean’ thing that I heard people talking about and I have to say, whilst I don’t personally feel the need to do it 100% of the time, I really am loving the taste and how it makes me feel. Inspired by the likes of Madeline Shaw and Deliciously Ella, I have finally moved onto looking at treats and snacks which are not only gluten free and dairy free but also guilt free. I have to say the thought of healthy, guilt free treats did not appeal one bit but after a relapse of feeling ill recently and realising my sweet tooth was partly to blame, I decided to give it as go. And to my utter surprise, it turns out raw chocolate goodies are unbelievably delicious and totally curbing my sweet tooth. So I thought I would share with you some recipes I've been working on. ​

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