The Tilda Rice Urban Tri with Bradley Simmonds

What they say:

Bored of the same old exercise regime? Struggling to find the time to stay healthy? Join us this June and try something new as we host our first ever Urban Tri:Try event; an exciting and energetic combination of HIIT, yoga, and a trial of refueling Tilda recipes from a lineup of esteemed industry experts.




What I say:

Ok, so incase you hadn't noticed, I go to a fair amount of fitness events and, to be completely honest, some of them are incredible, some of them you leave thinking what a waste of time! This one, however, thanks to Tilda rice, certainly slotted into the first category.... and I left wishing I could return the following night!

Our hosts for the evening

Oh, now I'm interested! What made this one so good?



Amazing Venue

As we walked into the venue, the upper floor of Lumiere Studios in South East London, we knew this was going to be a little more special. Forget your usual warehouse HIIT venue, filled with plants, decorations and ambience, this space felt so tranquil and inviting, and as the organisers greeted us at the door to welcome us in, we knew we were in for a treat!



Shots to begin!

And we were right! After toasting one another with a pre-workout orange, ginger and turmeric shot to get us fired up (which, I only discovered when writing this post, actually contained wholegrain rice!), we were straight into our HIIT workout. Led by PT to the A-listers, Adidas Ambassador, and general Instagram sensation, Bradley Simmonds, we were taken through an intense 45 minutes of squat jumps, burpees, chest presses, planks...and everything in between. Forget your usual 'event' workout- Bradley took it to the next level, and made sure NOBODY finished before dripping in sweat!

Sweaty indeed!

With the event being run by Tilda, it was very focused on the nutritional side to training - something I feel very passionate about. So, after the intense session we'd just had, it was vital to feed our muscles with a high protein snack, which helps to repair the tiny tears in the muscle fibres and build them back stronger than before.

Chef Chris Baber snapping his rice ball creations

In line for a mid workout treat

The thing that was different about THESE protein balls, however, was that they were made with rice! Yes - rice! A slow release, high protein, gluten-free grain, substantial enough for that post workout feeding window, yet easily digested so as not to feel heavy in our tummys as we moved on to part two of the Urban Tri.... Yoga  with Steffy White.

Enter, Steffi!

500 hour advanced yoga instructor, founder of White Light yoga retreats, Lululemon ambassador and all round wellness guru, Steffy took us through an amazing flow that had us stretching off our hard worked muscles, gritting our teeth in various strength poses, and killing ourselves with laughter as she made lighthearted jokes throughout the session. When it comes to yoga, sometimes I find instructors a little too 'zen' and a little too serious, whereas Steffy's energy and upbeat personality fully comes through in her practice.












Now, here's for the best part. Because do you know what round three of the Urban Tri was? FOOD! Yes, that's right - eating! Without a doubt, this is definitely my kinda triathlon, and as we made our way over to the long tables, we wasted no time getting stuck into the freshly cooked Moroccan Vegetable Pilaf.



As we all commented on how we wished we could have professional chef Chris Baber on hand to cook for us like this every day, he revealed his secret - the recipe was actually dead easy!



Using the Tilda Basmati rice microwave packets, all you need to think about actually cooking is the vegetables, throw in the rice, sprinkle on some almonds, sultanas, a touch of greek yoghurt mixed with harissa paste, and that's you - done!






For desert, yep, you guessed it - more rice! Proving just how versatile the Tilda range could be, Chris whipped us up a Pear and Almond Tart served alongside Spiced Rice Pudding with Coconut. Now, given I love ANYTHING with a bit of stodge (and looking at his website, Chris also shares my love of carby, satisfying porridge), this rice pudding is about to become my new go to desert! Made with steamed Tilda basmati rice simmered in coconut and topped with mango, it's a pretty healthy way to do desert too.





As we finished our meals and the event came to an end, we were given a bag full of healthy goodies, including fitness blogger fav Pip and Nut almond butter, supercharged Matcha Green tea, a selection of microwave packs from the Tilda range and recipe cards to recreate our delicious dinner at home, alongside our very own Tilda embossed yoga mat, Tilda really didn't cut any corners in making sure their event topped all others!




And the best part? Every single penny from the ticket sales was donated to the Felix Foundation, a charity which works with various food suppliers to reduce food waste and food poverty, proving not only does Tilda's CSR go towards to improving the health and nutrition of their consumers, but the wider society also. Tilda - when can we do another one?!

Hosts closing off the evening

If you want to re-create any of the dishes Chris served up on the evening (and I'd highly recommend you do), visit https://www.tilda.com/eat-well/recipes/ where you can find the recipes for everything we ate, alongside many more. Who knew rice could be so versatile?!

Until next time!