A couple of weeks ago I was sent a pre release tub of Good Hemp Chocolate Fit Shake protein powder sweetened with stevia to try out. Stevia, which is a naturally derived calorie free sweetener has only recently been approved for use in the UK and Good Hemp have added this natural sweetener to their already wonderful Chocolate Gym Shake.

I’m a massive fan of Good Hemp’s products and the Chocolate Gym Shake is definitely my favourite. Considering it is made with hemp it really does taste delicious! Each scoop is 145 calories and contains 17g of protein. Its also fairly affordable which is great for a minimally processed vegan protein powder. A 1kg tub costs £29.99 (currently on offer for £26.99)

I love this product because its vegan, minimally processed and tastes great! I’d already been using the previously sweetened version of Chocolate Gym Shake – I’d even just bought myself another tub! The new formula tastes just as delicious and perhaps a touch sweeter and more chocolately, it kind of reminds me of a more milk chocolate taste.

In fact its the only hemp based protein powder I’ve been happy to drink straight up just blended with water. Of course I’ve regularly been adding it to my green smoothies post strength workout to help with muscle repair:

I’ve also been enjoying on its own as a smoothie in a bowl:

My current favourite way to use it is to make chocolate protein pancakes!

Chocolate hemp protein pancakes (serves 1, vegan)

• 1/4 cup of Good Hemp Chocolate Gym Shake
• 1/4 cup of spelt flour
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• 3/4 cup of non dairy milk

Combine the dry ingredients then add the milk and stir well. Heat a frying pan over a medium high heat, add a touch of oil and pour out the batter to form a medium sized pancake. Once bubbles start to appear on the surface flip and cook the other side. Keep cooked pancakes warm under the grill while you use the rest of the batter. Serve with your choice of fruit and sauce / syrup.

These taste wonderful and because the protein powder is already sweet they don’t need any further sweetener added. Yum!

GIVEAWAY and Special Offer

The lovely people at Good Hemp Nutrition are offering 5 lucky readers the chance to win a tub of Chocolate Gym Shake!

To enter (each of these counts as a single entry – please leave a separate comment for each one):

• Leave a comment to this post with how you would use the Chocolate Gym Shake if you won 
• ‘Like’ my Facebook page and leave a comment below stating that you have done so
• Follow me via Google Friend Connect (link under the ‘follow me’ section on the right) or follow me on Blog Lovin or Twitter and leave a comment below stating that you have done so
• Tweet about this giveaway: ‘check out @keephealthstyle GIVEAWAY’
• Sign up to receive blog updates via email using the link to the right and leave a comment below stating that you have done so 
• Post about this giveaway with a link back to this post on your blog and leave a comment below stating that you have done so

In addition to the GIVEAWAY, Keeping Healthy Getting Stylish readers can get an exclusive 25% off the Chocolate Gym Shake by using code GOODL1 which I think is a fantastic saving!

Giveaway open to UK residents only (sorry international friends!) and closes at 12am GMT Friday 16th March 2012 , good luck!

Welcome to the new look Keeping Healthy Getting Stylish! I decided to have a bit of a makeover yesterday, I hope you like it! I’ve tried to make it a bit more streamlined and pretty! I’ve updated my About and Recipes pages as well as adding some links to posts featuring OOTD’s, Workouts, What I Ate Wednesday posts, Green Smoothies and my Weight Loss tips down on the left. I would really love to know what you think!

Other than teaching myself how to use html and Photoshop (I knew my Art degree would come in useful one day!), this weekend has been pretty relaxed. I’ve been back on the coffee big time:

I added a cube of frozen full fat coconut milk which worked well to cool the coffee down a touch. It did add a bit of an oil slick on top, but it tasted great and I love me some healthy coconut fats!

Along with that coffee for breakfast, yesterday I had a simple bowl of oats with vanilla stevia, sea salt and topped with melty coconut sugar. I also had a big bowl of the most delicious sweet mango and blueberries:

For lunch I had a big salad:

Absolute gorgeousness! This included romaine, spinach, cucumber, carrot, red onion, chickpeas, avocado, fresh apricots and balsamic vinegar.

For dinner last night I made a socca fold over stuffed with mashed avocado and some leftover tempeh that I’d baked on Friday night:

Plus a big pile of broccoli of course!

Yesterday we decided to have a little trip out to the shops. I keeping saying I’m not going to buy anything but I actually found a few good bargains:

I got a pair of bright orange cloth shoes from Topshop which I got reduced because they had a tiny mark on them (£9), a spiky necklace also from Topshop (just £3.50) a little charity bracelet for £2, some great yoga pants from TK Maxx, The Maccabees and the best of The Smiths albums (2 for £10) and more of my favourite Ultrabland. I was really chuffed with those purchases!

This morning I was up for my long run, just under 9.5 miles! It was a nice relaxed and enjoyable run. I’m really chuffed with how I’m managing the increase in distance each week. I was a hungry beast when I got home and only pancakes would do! I made my chocolate hemp protein pancakes with banana, strawberries and maple peanut sauce:

Absolute heaven!

My stash of home cooked frozen beans was running low so I decided to cook up a big pan. I had been meaning to make more chickpeas but I was all out so I used the last of my dried black beans. I used a cup of the freshly cooked beans to make some black bean hummus (1 cup of black beans, 1 clove of garlic, juice from half a lemon, 2 tbsp tahini, 1 tbsp of olive oil, pinch of salt). I had some for lunch on rice cakes with avocado and veggies:

Not the most appetising colour, but tasty non the less! Other than that there has been the usual smoothies, green juice made with lots of added lime juice, some dark chocolate covered coffee beans and this grape juice slushie:

I blended some ice with grape juice and a pinch of salt (to help rehydrate me after the run). Lovely :-) Currently I am enjoying one of these:

My home made protein vanilla and grape juice ice lollies! They aren’t perfect - the protein powder separated but I do like the stripes! They taste wonderful! I just blended vanilla sun warrior with grape juice and froze in ice pop moulds.

Hope you’re having a good Sunday! Do you like the new look and what do you think of the updated About and Recipes page designs?