Goodbye 2013

And what an amazing year it has been.  So much progress has been made in my life on a personal front and our lives as a couple.  So many changes and so much planning has been put in place and I couldn't have enjoyed it more if I tried.  It really has been a year of discovery and progression in every way and is basically what I have been searching for for many, many years.

I know it sounds a bit naff when it is said like that but I don't know how else to put it! And how excited am I for 2014?  Wedding plans will be stepping up to full force once I have my exam out of the way and we both have some excited goals we want to reach next year, mainly from a fitness and financial perspective but also careers wise. We have both just felt such a huge benefit from the changes we have made in 2013, that we can't wait to carry them on. It's not about new year, new beginnings, it about carrying on where we left off before December rudely interrupted us!!

I wish everyone all the best in finding the motivation to be the best you can be and thank you for letting me share this amazing journey with you all!!

In bed and asleep before midnight on NYE?!? Love it :-)

It's all about goodbyes

In a food sense. I decided yesterday that I would be saying my final farewell to some of the unhealthy food I love and plan on giving up come the 1st, hopefully for good!!

Yesterday we stopped for lunch on the way home from Lincolnshire and I had my heart set on a pie and mash; they'd run out!!  So I had a burger with cheese and chorizo. Home made burgers made with lean mince aren't something I'm planning on getting rid of and chorizo will remain, as always, my naughty little indulgence, but is going nowhere!! Chips though, they're a gonner.  I had sticky toffee pudding for dessert, that is on the struck off list unless I can find one made without sugar, which I'm sure I can.  Dates are a great substitute in something like that. 

Tea was slow cooked brisket with mash.  Again, the beef alone is not a bad thing, in moderation, which wasn't on the cards last night! And I also nailed a bottle of red!! Pretty silly I know, I just feel like I want this as prep as I am totally committed to the cause once more come Jan.  Clean slate, no longer a woman who has lost 35lbs, I am starting it as a 140lb woman who has let go over xmas but wants to achieve a very specific goal aesthetically and fitness wise at the same time.  Tone and flexibility are the order of the day. 

Back to getting up at 5am today, I have come to the gym with Tom and then we are going to the horses before my on call shift starts.  Then its revision time!! I felt like I needed to come to they gym for my brain more than anything else!! I felt so muggy headed and down yesterday, pretty sure its not worth it all!! Dopamine today pls!!

Got to be at least a ten pounder

There is no way I haven't inflicted maximum damage as far as my weight goes this Christmas.  I manage to throw any form of control out of the window on Christmas Eve and haven't stopped the craziness since.  There isn't one night I haven't gone to bed feeling like I am fit to burst! Its really quite disgusting but sod it, I have been insanely well behaved all year and I am going to be even more strict come the new year.  I am really looking forward to it still, although I am going to go through a massive sugar craving stage I shouldn't doubt!!

I have over indulged and I had intended on not doing,  unfortunately when it came to it, I made no effort to resist whatsoever!  We are going to the gym on Monday and Tuesday morning as I am on call a day so will be pretty much stuck in the house or nearby from 9am.  It will be great to get back in there, I have an exam on the 10th Jan and my brain is in desperate need of dopamine!!

All is not lost, I am dreading the scales but will not be in the least bit surprised I shouldn't imagine.  I feel so bloated, can't wait to strip it back again!!

Time for the fat pants!

I am definitely guilty of 1 deadly sin today; I think I am one of the most glutenous people I know!! I am so insanely full I genuinely think I could rip!

I knew it was going to be carnage, I had hoped I could've managed to be a little more graceful though! Not the case.  I suppose I need to make the most of it as I fully intend on stripping right back in the new year. The food is just so, so tasty!!

I had a little chat with my niece today about how there are children that don't get anything on Christmas day and they are lucky if they even manage to eat.  I suggested that it would be a nice thing to do if she went and looked through her toys and found some that she could send to a less privileged child and she could write them a letter too.  She ran off and found a teddy that she could donate and we are going to help her write a letter to send with it.  It was very sweet.

Along with being too full, the sheer scale of gluttony and general over indulgence associated with Christmas makes me feel uncomfortable.  Its a shame it doesn't make me uncomfortable enough to not be a massive pig though!!  The crazy amount of presents children get embarrasses me, they aren't even remotely interested in what they open and its just so wasteful in so many ways, but then I'm not a mother so couldn't possibly understand the feeling of wanting to spoil them rotten!!

There is so much pressure on parents to buy loads of presents, I think a lot of it is self inflicted, but either way, its there.  I know of people who earn very little and put themselves into vast amounts of debt to give there children hundreds of presents.  They buy them iPads and then presents on top and they can end up venturing into almost a thousand pounds per child.  It just beggars belief, would it not make more sense to take the time to educate our children at this time of year and teach them to value what they have,  materialistically and emotionally? Or am I being way too whimsical?

The thing I like most about Christmas is the time off work, a warm house, lovely food and most of all; happy people, working together to put amazing food on the table; albeit way too much.  Slightly contradictory yes. I like to think that if I was a mother, I could teach my child to be appreciative in the simple things, its just a fine line between being a meaningful parent and just being an annoying pain in the ass though!

Anyway... I have had a lovely day, my sister made some amazing food and I am looking forward to doing it all again in Lincolnshire.  I do however, feel the desperate need to exercise damn it!!

Hope you've all had a wonderful time today and carry on enjoying the festivities xx

Good for the ego

So it was my second works do on Friday night, this was for the company that I left 3 months ago. After slipping on my size 6 shorts ;-) off I trotted.. I haven't really changed weight wise since I left my previous company, but clearly, I have changed considerably in size as people were amazed at how lean I had gone and how toned I looked.

Even though I know how far I have come, everyone likes to be told how good they look and its great to see genuine surprise from people as it shows that you have surpassed all expectations, which is part of why I have enjoyed this challenge so much, I have surpassed even my wildest expectations. 

I had another yoga session on Friday morning with Danny, as always it was a great workout and I always feel so refreshed after a yoga session.  We did a few new moves and I was pretty happy with the way I carried them off and I felt quite strong.  I did have a little bit of drama at one point though, Tom came to the gym with me and he suffered a sugar crash, which does happen from time to time, but he went to get some of his energy tablets and then I couldn't find him.  I expected him to come back upstairs but he just disappeared, I even sent Danny off into the blokes changing rooms.. what actually happened was that he was sat in the car for ages and I just couldn't see him.  He couldn't really carry on with anything after that unfortunately so he sat and watched my session.  He said it was good to see how far I had come, whilst being really quite amusing to watch Danny and me doing yoga as he is enormous and makes me look minute!

I have also spoken to Danny about helping me with a nutrition plan for the new year and he is going to do my fat measurements; I'm really looking forward to taking the next step in my transformation journey!

We went to look around a gym just up the road from where we live as Tom is really missing going to the gym since we moved.  its more or less on his route home and has loads of classes on, has the equipment he needs and is pretty good value at £45/month.  Ok, its nowhere near as good as my £11, but not many place are that reasonable!! It does have a swimming pool and beauty centre too.  As a none member, I can also go and do some of the classes which would be good.  They do yogalates on a Wednesday evening and it will only cost me £5, so I may well go and do that from time to time with Tom; depending on how well I have got on with working the horses through the rest of the week and if I have anything on on the Friday.

Tom is just watching a Cirque de Soleil thing on tv whilst I am typing this and there is a guy doing some incredible stuff.  the flexibility and muscle control is absolutely incredible, he makes the most horrific moves look like a walk in the park; I would love to get nearer to that, I struggle to lift a straight leg to 45 degrees at the minute, but never say never; I wouldn't be where I am now if I did!

We have just been and treated ourselves to a pizza, I have been saying for ages that I want to have one as I haven't had one for such a long time and it will not be something I plan on eat for at least 7 months in the new year.  We went over to pizza express for a late lunch and my pizza was probably as big as my torso, but in true Sarah style, the plate was clean when I was done.  I am struggling now though!!  It was pork belly and apple sauce, so something a little bit different for xmas!

 

Not long now 'till xmas day, getting my training in whilst I can!!

A day off?!?!

Well, I say a day off; I went and rode two horses before work but I didn't go to the gym.  It wasn't too horrific as the traffic is calming down in the run up to xmas, I did miss it though. I'm not going in the morning either, although I really, really want to!! I think I am going to ride again and then that way, I can ride the others in the evening so it doesn't matter so much that they aren't worked on Friday.  I am going straight out from work for the xmas do from my old place.

I went and had my back done at lunch, David can't understand why I am still struggling so much and has said I need to take time out from everything.  Its just bad timing with the run up to xmas, but I know I really should factor downtime into my workouts. The problem is, when you are as prone to injury and issues as I am, you can schedule a week off and then on the day you come back, you injure yourself and one week becomes two.  He said my SI joints feel good, the only possible thing was he said my psoas felt tight.  I have damaged that muscle before (of course) but once I had fitted an emergency appointment in with David it was fine.

I went and took my shorts back to River Island after work as the zip has broken after one wear, they were on sale when I got there which was a bonus and I wanted to try on the next size down... They fitted!! Size 6 damn it!! Pretty much guaranteed to be a one off but still.. SIZE 6

We have chosen our band for the wedding! Exciting stuff, we are just confirming the details but they are pretty much appointed.  We have gone with The Craickers, we went to watch them the weekend we were in Manchester and are really excited about it.  The singer will be different for our wedding date  but Tom is going to go and check them out on Friday in Wilmslow, I should imagine they will still be awesome!  https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Craickers/419362130550 

Struggling with my mojo

In a gym sense!  Feel like I've been out of any form of routine for ages and feel like I have stagnated. One injury after another has forced me to just kind of mooch around the gym when I'm there for what seems like an eternity, and its really getting me down.  This SI issue is the main problem as it plays a part in so many different areas of exercise!  It couldn't be timed much worse with the run up to xmas and I have absolutely stuffed myself with crap in the office today, which doesn't help my mood either!! And I can not stop stuffing my face now I'm home, simply put; I'm on a binge I would say! Damn it, I hate it when that happens.

I should take a break from the gym really but I am going to have so much time off over xmas that I can't take 3 weeks off. So tomorrow I am going to go to the horses early and ride then go to the mall after work to see I'd I can change the shorts I wore the other night.  The zip is a bit broken which is rubbish after one wear and I want to try the smaller size on too.

Plus side, my eye feels loads better even though I still look like a freak! I need to get some stick on individual lashes to patch up the gap that the nurse conveniently made yesterday!

Tea was tuna steak with salad. Tom cooked it with garlic, salt, pepper and oregano. It was beautiful and rare and the oregano went amazingly with it, its not a herb I would ever have thought to put with tuna but it tasted incredible.  Tom want overly enamoured but he isn't a huge fish fan.

Yesterday we had venison loin, seared and served with a blueberry and red wine reduction. I've never had venison like that before and it was beautiful.  Its softer than steak texture and much smoother meat, definitely something I could happily eat more regularly; not something the bank would be so happy about though.  We got it on offer, it was £9 reduced from £16!! Nice lean little treat though.

A word of advice

Always read the label before you put anything in your eye!! I picked up what I thought were my eye drops this morning but unfortunately, they were Sammy's ear drops!! That at 5am is particularly unpleasant I can tell you, mad sprint to the kitchen for some milk to bathe it in and then of I trotted to they gym, yep you did read that right... The gym!

Possibly wasn't the best choice I could've made, I should have gone to A&E then as it would've been quieter. I just couldn't face sitting and waiting when I knew we were really busy in work and I was in on my own.  Luckily we had a contractor start and he is pretty savvy, so I have taken myself off to the Manchester eye hospital emergency room. After 1hr I have been triaged but I am now say waiting to be seen, and I have been sat waiting for an hour and a half.  As it is an emergency ward, more important cases get to be bumped above me unfortunately.  It gets to a point where you feel impelled to stay as you have waited it out this long and the other part of you just wants to get gone.. They put some antibiotic drops in when I was in triage and that felt fantastic, unfortunately they have worn off now and I'm fairly uncomfortable.  They tested the ph in both my eyes and they are the same, so that means that at least the damage isn't being worsened.  However, having a dry piece of litmus paper shoved in an already sore eye is not a pleasant experience. 

Its funny when you are in hospital or the doctors and they ask you on a scale of 1 to 10 how painful it is.  I never really know how to gauge it and also , how is that a proper scale to judge on?  Not only is it all relative to other pain you have ever experienced, it is also down to personal perception.  For all they know, I could be hard as nails and my eye is blistering up as I sit and wait... It isn't, but you get my point!! The triage nurse was saying that its a really common occurrence and people come in with things like super glue on their eyes!! OMG, I can't even begin to understand how that feels. I have managed to injure my eye a few times, the worst was when I stabbed myself with a juniper branch.  Mum had been trimming her plants and this branch had got stuck under my car, I yanked it out and it went straight into my eye.. Super painful I can tell you but no major harm done then either.  It really is amazing what we can put our bodies through and they still carry on going!

I am sooooo bored!! I wish I had brought my revision with me, I hate feeling like I'm waiting time! 

A chemical burn and 3 and a half hours later and I am free to fight the Manchester rush hour back to work!

Only happy when I'm hurting!

Or not!! Finally got myself feeling pretty much normal again by Friday and then had my work xmas do. Obviously, I just had to wear heels so now my feet are killing me; even though I danced barefoot all night! I then decided that that clearly wasn't enough to be getting along with so rode with my SI belt on, and whilst it felt a lot better when I was riding, damn, my hips are sore now! But that just wasn't enough either, whilst I was cleaning the house I turned and smacked my knee cap straight into the edge of the door.  I have the knobbliest knees ever and that smarts more than a little, normally it wears off but this time it hasn't... Brilliant.  On the plus side, my size 8 shorts are too big!! They must be sized on the big size but I have lost another inch on my hips since I bought them.

We went to watch the theatre production of War Horse yesterday at the Lowry theatre, Salford Quays. The production was done by The National Theatre company and I don't think there are words that could explain just how unbelievably amazing it was. They use 'puppets' for the animals and the detail was mind blowing, whoever directed it made sure that every knew EXACTLY how horses behave at all times, you totally forgot that they weren't real and as a horse owner, this was a magnificent thing to behold, as they captured what makes these animals so incredibly beautiful and noble and I was truly blown away. It was also a cry fest from start to finish for me, very, very emotionally drained after and I don't think I saw a single person who wasn't crying on the way out.  I can't recommend going to see it enough, you have to see it to believe it.

I don't even want to weigh myself in the morning, so don't think I will! Save myself the pain, it has not been a particularly healthy weekend, finished off by a beautiful roast lamb tea followed by a fantastic pineapple pie; all made by my dad so I would imagine it was all heavy on everything my diet avoids... But soooooo tasty! I need to make the most of it over the next couple of weeks though, as I plan to really step it up a gear in the new year!! I sat up in bed the other day and I have unbelievable abs now, I just need to shed the last bit of fat from there so I can see them!! I may have to speak to a specialist to get my diet bang on, as it is not going to be easy but I REALLY want to see these bad boys!! Bring it on, pretty excited about it tbh, I love pushing myself like this.

Blood, sweat and tears

I haven't been this sore for some time, that is the joy of low intensity workouts; they lack the exuberance to destroy every fibre u posses, including that of your being! My quads have always been a sore point for me, quite literally. When they tie up they do it in style and day 2 is always by far the worse.  A couple of PT's have told me that I mustn't be getting enough protein in my diet, I protein loaded on Monday, but was somewhat lacking yesterday and that was possibly a mistake.

I had to give in and get some ibuprofen with codeine yesterday as my back was really giving me some sh*t! I have never ventured into this world before but felt that I was making it worse by favouring it.  Anyway, no ill effect other than the urge to clear my throat constantly!! I have just read that its a naturally occurring opiate; I really should've expected a little more from my foray!  It was only over the counter stuff though, so I wouldn't have thought it would be particularly strong. It was more my lower back, lumbar/sacral region yesterday rather rather than the SI pain I was getting the day before, progress of sorts.

I rode again last night and this eased it considerably once again! So riding may well be the cause of a lot of my woes, but currently it is somewhat my saviour in a way. Interestingly though, Millie, who I rode last night is one of the trickier horses for me to get right for reasons I always blame on myself. She is quite long in her back so seems to really suffer with my imbalance, this manifest itself by her being tense and resistant to certain movement. However, when I first started riding and was sore, she went exceptionally well and it was only when my poor, achey body started to bed in that she started to play me up. I think it was down to the fact that as I was sore, I was actually guarding myself by holding onto my posture correctly and carrying myself through my core; basically not being lazy.  This just compounds my thoughts on her issues being my issues, poor lady.

I have continued to go to the gym throughout this, I know, smacks a little of an obsession but I feel so rubbish if I don't go and doing gentle exercise means there is a small chance it will ease my pain. I did a short spin on the decline bike (not a clue what its actually called!) and then stretches to ease the pain in my back.  This did work until I decided I could be working on my neck flexibility whilst my back was bad... Erm, its all joined dear! So, this morning I am on the same bike thing, getting myself a bit warm and then may attempt some stretching. My glutes are currently numb from sitting on them in this position, I really do lack resilience in any way!

As I was getting changed yesterday, a lady came over to me who I know from the classes I used to do and she said how impressed she was with my transformation and how amazing I look, which is always great to hear. She had noticed that I have been doing a lot of yoga and asked if it was purely down to that.  Whilst I attribute a lot of my latest toning to yoga, I also had to break the news that no one wants to hear... The way I have done it is to be strict with my calorie intake, stop drinking all the time and be 100% committed to getting myself in the shape of my life.  Her response was the same I hear from most and one I used for many years, along the lines of loving a drink and a good meal. You have to want this more than any of that unfortunately. There are no quick fixes, no miracles.. Just good old fashioned, blood, sweat and tears!!!

As sure as eggs is eggs

Or is it? I was making 'healthy cookies' and my eggs were Chia seeds! You add water to them and they go to the consistency of eggs, great idea and less calorific, looks somewhat like frog spawn though! 

The rest of the cookies were coconut, mashed banana and cocoa powder... The result, not worth the effort tbh. They really didn't taste great and the texture wasn't brilliant either, quite gutted as they tasted pretty good before cooking.  I couldn't quite put my finger on why either, which is pretty annoying.

I also got to use my red quinoa, it cooks much bigger than the white quinoa and isn't quite such a strong taste.

 Pretty little tails!

 Tasty goo

The finished items, they look like burgers !! 

Ah well, lesson learned anyway. 

We were out in Manchester on Saturday, one of Tom's mates was over from Peterborough and we thought we would show him the delights of Manchester and the Xmas markets.  We also went to watch a potential wedding band who were brilliant, just need to see if they are available now! 

Unfortunately, the afternoon/evening drinking super strong beer did nothing for my health.  I felt dreadful when I went to bed and I felt no better through the night and the next day, my stomach took huge umbrage to our shenanigans and had no intention of letting me get away with it lightly.  

This weeks pain! 

I had a PT session this morning with Martin, the trainer that left a couple of months ago. It's was an absolute horror, he had me doing circuits of weighted squats, pull ups then clap push ups for 20 mins solid.  I really, really struggle with squats anyway; they are something I want to drastically improve and just don't seem to get very far.  Tbf, I haven't worked that much on them since Martin has gone and I need to get back on it.  He said I looked in good condition and my legs were showing some good form, which is always good to hear. I am now struggling horrifically, my sacroiliac joint has been screaming all day and I also have terrible tummy ache.  I needed to ride tonight though so I had to put up with the pain, it was Breeze and Lara's turn tonight and I can't lunge them due to one injury or another that they are carrying. 

When I first got on Breeze it was like someone had a blade in my pelvis every time she moved, it was really quite unpleasant.  I had to really concentrate on holding my weight using my core, otherwise it was unbearable and then all of a sudden the SI pain was gone! Obviously something had gone into spasm and riding opening up my SI joint helped release it.  It still a tiny bit sore but the majority of the pain is now in my lower back and stomach; which as a rule go hand in hand for me! I desperately want to be able to work out, pain free.  I really wish I knew why I was so flimsy, it's so damned frustrating.  Will be interesting to see what state I am in in the morning! I have ordered an SI belt to hopefully help me get through my latest useless body failure! 

A yummy little surprise

Well, not really a surprise as I ordered it; but still yummy

We have Quinoa in the red and black variety, it's somewhat of an elusive beast in shops around me so it had to be ordered online.  Along with it there are some cacao nibs, again as rare in the shops of Manchester as a bikini in Iceland! And whilst I was on there, I got some cacao butter too.  So far, I have had the nibs in my yoghurt and mixed into some overnight oats and I love them.  A slightly strange experience by themself, but I absolutely love the texture.  I only ordered a little bag as I didn't know if I would like them, I will be ordering a bigger bag next time.  I got the cacao butter as it is meant to be amazing for your skin, I just need to find out how to get it on there as it is totally solid.  It smells fantastic and it's taste is pretty mild and very creamy, almost silky.

I had my second yoga PT with Danny this morning, we went for the hour and it was a killer! He's been going to sessions in the week and practicing and had a great session ready to hit me with.  It pretty much worked the entire body and there were some killer holds, it's these that really get the blood pumping and the heart pounding.  It amuses me that we are both stood there, bustin some moves that to the untrained eye, basically look like nothing, yet we are huffing and puffing and merrily sweating our asses of. Love it! We did some moves that are great for strengthening the lower back too and I was pretty pathetic, we are going to ensure that no matter what else we do in a session, we will always do lower back.

I got a text from Martin the other day, my other PT that left recently and I was gutted.  He is taking some sessions on Monday in the gym so I have booked myself in for that! Pretty excited, will see how I have been doing whilst left to my own devices! 

Sports massage and manipulation.

I had the afternoon off work today so booked myself in for a sports massage and then an chiropractor appointment with David.  My knee has been bothering me again so thought I should just get checked out even though I was only there a couple of weeks ago.

They ask you to fill out a form that includes questions like: what area are you having problems with? My entire body When did you first notice this? I can't remember not having problems What causes your pain? life 

Poss not the answers she was expecting.  Anyway, she cracked on and got stuck in. I absolutely love sports massage and will defo make a point of going more often, she really got into my sub scapula area and the tops of my shoulders (can't remember the name of the muscle) were really knotted.  Also, unsurprisingly, my ITB's were pretty damned sore, but she said they weren't dramatically bad.  The right side was far worse than the left though.  She said my quads and ham strings were beautifully soft and smooth and complimented me on the tone and shape of my legs. Woop!! 

Cacao butter update! 

It melts with the warmth of your skin, we are now two little greasy balls. It smells soooo good!

Happy birthday to me!

This is how I spoil myself on my birthday: thick sliced whole grain toast with a slice of hot smoked pastrami, topped with Chorizo and wild mushrooms.. It is one of my favourite feasts in the world and is so unbelievably full of saturated fat and a billion calories... But my gosh, it is worth every unhealthy bit! I used to scoff this every weekend, no wonder I had so much weight to shift. 

We have had a lovely day, I get BYOB (book your own birthday) day off work, so Tom booked a day off and joined me.  We started the day with a nice ride out down an old railway track about half an hours drive away, we haven't been out in the wagon to ride together for months, so it was nice to give Toms improved riding a run out.  He looks a little strange I'm theis pic as he has his body protector on under his jacket! 

 Two very hairy ladies with him!

Action shot! 

 View of the road ahead, nice to get away from the traffic! 

We didn't do a huge amount in the afternoon, just made the sneaky snack at the top of the page and then went and checked out some chairs that the church hall have an we can use for the wedding, they're perfect, and all for a small donation to the church. Every little helps! 

We had plaice for tea, was quite a let down.  The recipe said to cook it in the oven but I think it should've been grilled or pan fried as it was really quite boring.  It had lemon and capers with it and it just wasn't really igniting any flames for us.  Dessert however, was a different story.. Another naughty little birthday treat; mum had made me a chocolate sponge cake with Buttercream filling, mmmmmmmmmmmm.  She used the Green and Blacks organic cocoa powder and it made the buttercream absolutely incredible.

Mmmmmmmmmmm

We had weigh in and measure in, results of weigh in was I am a touch lighter (can't remember the figure now!) but body fat is the same.  Measure in; lost a quarter of an inch around my thigh and bicep and half an inch around my waist, the rest have stayed e same.  I'm quite impressed with that, I have been working my trunk more this month and it seems to be working. 

Pics, comparisson with last month.  I think I look bigger in the side shot this month! The one I am most pleased with is the back view, I think it looks quite a bit better.  

Well, that wasn't so bad

The hangover has been bearable, although it has to be said that I didn't enjoy the drink as much as I thought I would.  It was a great catch up with Tom's brother and sister-in-law, we went to watch the rugby league final at Old Trafford. The game was incredibly boring actually, which was a shame but we mooched into Manchester and had a few drinks and some food. We got the last train back and I insisted that we walk home to burn some calories, it's only about 2 miles, but when you're a little bit rough around the edges it's a loooong 2 miles. I haven't braved the scales today, should be interesting in the morning! 

We have also achieved quite a bit today which is a surprise, we started the day off with a little exercise in the form of us racing each other around the kitchen table whilst pushing my niece and nephew along in boxes! They were squealing with delight whilst my ham strings and glutes were screaming! It was really quite hard work and actually made me feel quite sick. I then went on to shave Sammy and Milo, this makes my lower back go numb. It must cause a nerve to be pinched in my lower back when I am leaning over at that height, not great.  

We had our lentil soup thing that we love for lunch and then headed over to the horses so I could clip Millie and ride. I absolutely hate clipping, getting covered in little tiny flecks of spikey hair for over an hour; in your eyes and up your nose.. Not nice, but worth it for the end result! 

She's starting to lose all the weight she had wedged on over the summer, which makes my life considerably easier! 

For tea I tried something new. We quite often have quorn sausages and chicken pieces, but we bought some mince the other day and I made it into a cottage pie tonight with sweet potato topping. It wasn't my finest triumph, I used corn flour to thicken it and I should've used gravy granules really. 

Looking forward to lunch already!

I love it when I make a lunch that has me looking forward to it from the moment I make it. Tbh, I am always pretty excited about the stuff that I make but, sometimes definitely more so! I thought I would try water frying the prawns, I combined them with garlic and ginger and water frying them meant that they stayed beautifully tender.  It didn't smell great so I was quite concerned it was going to be ruined, far from it.  Water frying is just what it says on the tin, you put a small amount of water in and away you go. I then finely sliced some chestnut mushrooms and dry fried these in the remnants of the prawns until they were browned. I then cooked my latest obsession of courgette ribbons and leeks, all added together with tomatoes and peppers.  I love veg, you get so much back for so few calories! 

Everything but the courgette and leek, you wouldn't have been able to see a thing otherwise! Below is the pan full of courgette and leek, this by itself is about 80 calories! Bargain

Tea tonight was amazeballs ;-) another Thomas triumph, he wasn't convinced though as it had dried fruit in it, which he really doesn't like.  It was a Nigel 'girly hands' slater recipe, green lentils and Cous Cous with dates, lemon juice, roasted cashews and raisins. I could definitely have that for lunch as will still taste amazing cold.

 In fact, it would go perfectly with those prawns! 

Today's pains!

Going crazy with the bold type again ;-) I'm basically in a considerable amount of pain today, my knees are bloomin killing me and they are sore to any pressure at all, crouching is not pleasant, nor is walking down the stairs. All around the tops of my legs is sore and my back is occasionally complaining.  So, what I thought I would do is wreck my upper body in this mornings session; tomorrow should be fun! I have been fighting off a cold all week, everyone in work is sick at the minute so I wouldn't be surprised if I do get something. This may not be helping my joints etc, all my limbs feel so heavy! Oh well, can't afford to be sick a I don't get paid, so off to bed! Night night

Green loveliness

Whilst not strictly in keeping with my normal diet, I always have and always will love, love, love green pasta.  I know it's not whole grain and is simply spinach dyed white pasta but I just fancied it.  I made it with courgette ribbons, wild mushrooms, leeks and garlic, win a drizzle of olive oil. YUMMY

 

I could merrily eat this all day long. I love the red pasta too but have never found that on its own.

I have actually made it for lunch again tomorrow! I do like to have my faddy moments.  I have made some more overnight quinoa too but it's a batch I bought from Waitrose, it just doesn't seem to cook the same, and I have run out of almond milk to cook it in so had to use normal milk, which is so much harder to heat up as it boils much more viciously.

I am still feeling the knee from the weekend and to add insult to injury, my leg session from yesterday has seized everything up, which doesn't help! I had to do the first 10 mins at 3.5 as my left hip flexors were so sore, it took me half an hour and a rant at Daybreak on the TV before I loosened up! I felt good after that, I didn't have chance to do any stretching though as I couldn't be bothered to pack my bags last night, which made me late this morning. 

I was looking at the fridge tonight and wondering at how different the food in it is from this time last year, i find a great deal of satisfaction in a good looking, full fridge.  There is one item I can see in there that is really naughty and pointless and that is cordial. I am yet to find a decent replacement for this! 

                       

I have also just noticed the Lurpack, I cant actually remember the last time this was used! I would find it really quite interesting to have a nosey in people's fridges; I need to get out more! 

Not a great deal to report back on today, outside of the usual pain update! I will leave you with one last thing that amused me no end whilst I was in Tesco earlier, I don't even think it needs explanation! 

Overnight everything!

I see the Americans blogging about overnight oats all the time, so decided to see what all the hype was about yesterday and I loved it.  I had oats, cinnamon, cocoa and vanilla soaked in almond milk.  I then stumbled across the idea of overnight quinoa, perfect! 

Firstly I cooked some quinoa in almond milk and then I soaked the cooked quinoa, a few rolled oats, a spoon of organic cocoa, cinnamon, maple syrup and a few dried cranberries in almond milk overnight. Everything had absorbed this morning, so I added some milk and then microwaved it. It was really, really tasty.  It is fairly calorific but is a great post workout breakfast, I just need to reduce the pre workout calories.

I apologise for the rubbish picture once again, if I had more time I would make it pretty, but I'm sure you can all appreciate that spare time is not something in abundance to me!

Tasty but not pretty: overnight quinoa.

Legs were the order of the day today. I felt pretty good, although I am always quite fearful on leg days as I always feel I am teetering on the edge of an injury.  I just make sure I am careful, which means progress is slow, but it is progress none the less; which is preferable to injury!

I started to feel really quite poorly coming up to lunch, I simply don't have the time to be ill right now so I took evasive action in the form of vitamin C loading and carbohydrates.  I think the latter is a mental thing, but I always crave them when I'm feeling poorly. I feel like its a treat, which is a pickmeup in itself! So I bought an olive panini and had it with my prawns that I had cooked last night. it was some good tasting stuff! Bread is one of my weaknesses, I love the speciality ones and absolutely love making awesome sandwiches with chorizo and mushroom antipasti, Emmental cheese, pâté, salami etc, etc... Not all in together though! I used to easily whip up an 800ish calorie lunch every weekend by making these little masterpieces and I really do miss them! Everything in moderation though and I find that giving these things up, makes them a 1000 times tastier when you do have them! 

Amazing discovery alert 

No, Not the bold text, although I have to admit I have only just paid attention to that! No, a simple, yet beautiful thing:  heat a Nakd bar up in the microwave, sooo tasty.  Someone mentioned it some time ago and I had totally forgotten until yesterday; so not entirely my discovery but something everyone should try! 

Speaking of which, we tried that Stevia that I got from tesco and I think it is absolutely rank! There is no sweetness as far as I am concerned, just a weird, bitter taste.  Tom thought it was really sweet, but this is just another example of us both interpreting sweet and bitter differently.  I do think it is my brain that has it a little wrong! I got a different brand today (cant remember the name) and to me, that's much better. 

I skipped tea tonight, I know, tuts all round... However, I decided that whilst I was purchasing my feel better lunch, that I would buy a tub of apricots and some Rachel's dairy love vanilla yoghurt. I've annihilated the apricots and half of the yoghurt. I think there were about 350grams of apricots in the container; there is exactly 0grams in there now! So, not only am I full, my tummy is going mental! So on that note, I was going to write more but I just nodded off and the iPad smashed into my face.. So I think that may be a sign!! 

A little party in your mouth!

My birthday treat was at Northcote Manor up near Osbaldeston, it's chef is Nigel Hawarth, who carries a Michelin star. 

I don't know how well you can read this, there are a couple of things on there that were different. The liver was actually sweetbreads, a new experience for both of us and one we aren't entirely convinced by! The Roedeer course was actually lamb, and it was insanely tasty! We also didn't have the wine, something we would do another time but we felt we have enough of that coming up. The service and surroundings were beautiful and it was an amazing meal and experience, one we plan on repeating at other highly rated/Michelin starred establishments! 

Thank you Mr Burgin, I love you! Xxx

In the blink of an eye

Another amazing weekend is done and dusted!! Yesterday, I spent the day being a supporter instead of being the supported for a change.  Tom took part in the 10k mousdashe run, a charity event in aid of prostate cancer and mental health awareness.  The name comes from the fact that it's Movember and everyone had stink on moustaches, even the women; great fun.

                                

The run was held in Platt Fields park in Manchester, this was a fun little mural on the wall of one of the buildings. I always like it when there is an area of green and touch of countryside in the middle of a town, it's like a little bit of escape. 

And then there's me! Removing it also removed most of my skin, right sticky little beggar!

Here he is, digging deep onto his last 5k.  He did a great time of 53mins 21, he was aiming for a hour as he has only been training for 3 weeks and he was sick all last week so didn't do anything! 

Today we went out for a walk with Nic, we left the location and planning up to her and she informed me it was a fairly straight forward walk so I assumed Tom would be ok with his legs being sore from the run, unfortunately, it wasn't as straight forward as we had all assumed! It took us around 3hrs 15 and was pretty flipping hard! Sammy was flagging about half way, but he did pick up.  We managed to stumble upon a pub for some sustenance, unfortunately, they didn't take cards! So we soldiered on and made it through! 

Worth it for the bleak beauty of the moors

It was a great walk out, I love it when you get a touch of weather when your out and about. It was a bit drizzly and cold but was totally still; exhilarating to an extent.  My cheeks were on fire for a good hour or so after. We finished the day off with a late lunch at The Dun Cow, up the road from our house.  I had a small chicken salad like a good girl... then finished it off with a fairly sizeable sticky toffee pudding with custard!! Mmmmm this weekend won't have done my waistline any favours and from next weekend, we have something on every weekend up until new year!! The thought is actually bothering me quite a bit, I want to let my hair down and enjoy myself but I desperately don't want to pile the pounds back on! I wish I could cope with being around pissed people when I'm sober; I can't!! 

And last night, well, that deserves a post all of it own. Tom took me put for an early birthday meal, it was incredible... 

Yoga is on!

Great session this morning with Danny. It was fantastic to see how much he has been inspired to look at a totally different way of training and has taken to it so much. He said it has had such an amazing affect on him mentally and physically.  Again, I come across someone starting a new journey in their life and I find myself getting excited for them, to have a realisation and find something that enriches you in every way is bigger and better than anything money can buy. And as ever, I feel privileged to be able to be even a tiny part of it, in this case a yoga PT guinea pig part!

Tom has pulled another blinding tea out of the bag, homemade fish fingers using Basa.  I think I have mentioned this fish before, its a type of catfish and of course, it doesn't effect the hard hit common fish stocks.  Its a very gentle tasting meat and is softer than the white fish most are used to, probably a great starter fish for the non fish lovers. These fish fingers were AMAAAAZING!!

I nipped to tesco at lunch time apartndy were collecting for the food banks.  They supply you with a list foods that they need and you buy whatever you want and as much as you want.  Such a great way to give and sooo easy, unfortunately, in the time I was walking in and out, not one person took them up on it.  I bought 4 bags of rice for £1.60; hardly a bank breaker!! I find it gives me a boost at the same time as helping others, more people should really give it a try! 

After making my insanely calorific brownie, I saught out an alternative for the sugar part and this is currently all the rage as well as being pedalled as the least offensive of all sweeteners.  Unfortunately, I didnt read the label properly and this has maltodextrose in it too. I need to understand what that is before I make a judgement on it. I tasted it and its quite strange, will have to see how it goes. There was one that was defo just Stevia but considerably more expensive. 

Lunch for tomorrow is prawns and roasted veg with crushed puffed quinoa sprinkled on it.  Should be amazing and comes in at about 300 calories! I am a little stuck for breakfast tomorrow, I need to keep my calories down as we are having chickpea Dahl for tea and that's pretty calorie dense. I dont want veg as I am having veg for lunch so I'm not sure what I want. So far I have 20grams of bran flakes and that's it! I will just have to grab some yoghurt to go with it! 

Sack my sacroiliac joint!

Finally I went and had my back done and its my SI joint on the left side that's the issue, somehow I had totally mashed it up. Clearly that's a non-technical term there, David found it really quite strange as I still felt really strong in all the proprioception tests, which is unusual and the pain radiating into my groin is quite an advanced sign of SI pain too! All my symptoms fit and he could feel how displaced it was, it had also caused my right SI joint to drop down and inwards which was restricting my right leg movement somewhat.  Not like me to make a mess of myself without trying!!

Danny, one of the PT's that recently left the gym to go on the cruise ships has just come back as he really didn't like it. Whilst he was away he learnt how to teach basic yoga. Perfect, I have asked him to give me some PT session of yoga to begin with and then introduce some strength work too.  I have my first session tomorrow.

Tom has been experimenting with his cooking this week, he has gone through what we have in stock already and mastered the menu around it. We had spicy beef burgers on Monday, which were amazing. Last night was an absolutely incredible butternut squash and pearly barley recipe, it can be found on the BBC website.  And tonight we had a naughty calorie night which was a yummy Gruyere and leek soufflé and a mug brownie. The latter was because I have wanted to make one for ages and someone posted a link on Facebook!! It is the easiest and most amazing creation on the planet and all I can advise is for you to never, ever make one! Its just asking for trouble.  Normally, bone idleness stops me making a cake; now I can make a mini cake it 3 mins, start to finish!! I'm still well in my calories though as I made sure I saved a big hunk of them for tonights tea and I was quite under on Monday and Tuesday. Next challenge is to work out a lower, healthier alternative!

I have also stumbled across a new tasty treat that isn't so unhealthy, I spotted it whilst mooching about on instagram, which is a great place for meal ideas. Popped quinoa! You literally just heat up a pan and quickly heat the grains whilst shaking it around and away they go. Super tasty, nutty treat that could be used on just about anything. I have used it in tomorrows lunch of chickpeas and tuna and it really adds a great amount to a very simple dish.

Here is the pearl barley and butternut squash dish. Tom added some turkey to it too.

Its such a creamy dish, so addictive too! We will definitely be having that again. Pearl barley is one of my favourites anyway, which helps. I think Tom is now a convert too; job done!

A little bowl of popped quinoa. The dish I saw on instagram was a chocolate bark type thing, it just prompted me to investigate the popped quinoa.

Super duper soufflé! Excuse the mats, I really need to work on the composition of my food shots. People make their plates and layouts look so pretty and appealing on instagram, mine look far from that! I know it has no bearing on the taste, but reading this, you can't taste it anyway!

 

Pretty impressive for any attempt, let alone a first attempt!

And now, the beauty that is a cup full of unhealthy naughtiness

YES!!

A quiet one today

Due to my back/pelvis still giving me hell, I had to take it easy in the gym today. Normally I would've been doing my cardio, but the impact of just walking is a little too painful so I spent the whole time stretching and manipulating and foam rollering!! It felt pretty good actually, doesn't feel brilliant now but it's not horrific. As much as I hate to admit it, I don't think riding when it's sore does me any favours, so I will have to work them from the ground for the next few days. Tom tried massaging it last night, but where it hurts the most is all bone, so not sure what's going on there at all, maybe it's the ligaments.  I have my appointment on Wednesday anyway so we will see.

Really tasty lunch today. Organic king prawns, black eyed beans and sweet corn with garlic, ginger and lemon. Super tasty and under 400 calories, just about managed to get a shot of it before I scoffed the lot! I am having a push to really rain my eating back in and stick to 1200 through the week whilst I'm hurt, see if I can stop being so starving through the day again! Really helps when I'm preaching to everyone else as it makes me reassess what I'm eating too!

Damned pelvis

The pain I had a couple of weeks back has come back in anger, I think it was from the running I did on the treadmill on Friday. It is exceptionally painful when I stand up straight or try and carry anything with a bit of weight behind it.  I have a chiropractor appointment on Wednesday anyway so I am sure he will sort it.  Its a horrible pain, it shoots all round my left side and into my groin, not nice at all and wears me down by the end of the day. Anti-inflammatories don't really touch it and the only thing that eases it is to go to bed!

The good thing is that it doesn't hurt too much when riding. Whether it makes it worse is debatable! Its going to have quite and impact on what I can do next week that's for sure. Oh well, it's not like I haven't been here a million times before and come out the other side.

The thought of Christmas and all the calories I will be consuming has been playing on my mind a lot and Tom and I have decided that we will only drink when we are actually out rather than when we are eating meals at home, it'll help anyway.

I've been thinking about how to start with the guys from work and I am going to get them to do a food diary for the week.  I want them to eat as they normally do and make a note of all of it.  This is for a number of reason, I want to get to know what they like and what sort of foods they rely on, and I also want to know what sort of calorie intake they are currently on.  I also want them to go and buy some food scales, go and get their weight and body fat done on one of the boots machines and take measurements and photos.  This gives me some time to work out the sort of meal suggestions I want to give to them. 

I drove over to Urmston this afternoon with Millie, I went out hacking (riding), with Helen from work.  Had a great afternoon and Mills was a really good girl, I am struggling quite a lot with my back now though!! Damn it.  I also nearly bought us home another little puppy dog, it decided to adopt me and the horsebox

The challenge is on!!!

There are 2 guys in the new office I work at and they both struggle terrible with indigestion. So much that they are on proton pump inhibitors every day and Mark went for a gastroscopy the other day and he choked so much that he burst blood vessels in his eyes! So today, I laid down the challenge that I could rid them of their issues but they would have to restrict their calorie intake, stop drinking and I will in turn give them meal ideas and plans.  Amazingly, they are both really up for it! No pressure there for me, should be a nice little challenge if they will keep it up. What's an even bigger challenge is that they are both mobile engineers, so it will ask take quite a bit of planning!

Went to see one of my mates tonight, she's a PT and loves her hardcore fitness, the type I love but can't do as it just breaks me!  She completed tough mudder in October and is now into her next challenge of crossfit.  She had hired herself a nutritionist which I am extremely interested in noseying in on! Obviously, her regime will be super intensive so high energy and protein, I am just really interested in everything like that. She wants to be totally ripped and I know her well enough to know she will achieve it!

Totally wrecked my back in the gym this morning! I felt great when I was there and I can really see the difference with my ankle strength now. I was on the treadmill for an hour and decided that I would do 10 mins of running, on my toes and only on 8.5. My calves were more than happy with themselves, but my back isn't in the last bit amused! Bloody thing.

Upper abdominal cramp

Is not a pleasant experience! My abs are still sore from the workout I did,  I was doing upper body today so thought I would be ok, but I wasn't! I went to do some drop downs ( not sure what they are actually called, reverse pull ups basically) and my upper and cramped up. It felt like a Chinese burn!

Other than that though, had a great upper body workout and I haven't done one for ages, so that was good.

Yesterday was legs day, I'm always fairly wary of pushing those days as I am so scared of knackering my knees all the time. I still had a good workout, I just need to build up the strength more and stabilise the legs in general.

I am still working on getting my mind set out of weight loss.  As much as I do still want to lose fat, I need to take a fresh outlook on myself. Tom said this a while ago, he needed to stop viewing himself as a fat man who had lost loads of weight and start viewing himself as a slim man who wants to work on certain areas. I definitely need to take a leaf out of his book and dencasext! I am now a slim woman who wants to tone certain areas of her body!! I just love seeing that weight go off the scales!! At least what it proves is that I am finding it easy to maintain my weight, which I was fairly concerned about.

Everything is starting to become incredibly painful, DOMS is kicking in in super style!! I have had a dreadful afternoon, the cravings for unhealthy food have been almost unbearable!! I haven't had cravings like that for such a long time, just goes to show it really doesn't take long to get back into bad habits and I hate it!!!

Tom made an amazing tea tonight, mum has dug out an old recipe book she has for vegetarian meals and this was one of them, with some of the usual Tom tweaking. It's inspired by a Russian dish, the none vegetarian option has fish in it. It's called Kulbyaka and is basically rice, mushrooms and egg encased in filo pastry.

I don't think I need to worry...

..about being sore tomorrow, its kicking in already! My upper abdominals are really quite tender and I can feel tightness building up in my intercostal's too!! I am going to guess that my lower abs will be sore in the morning and I could really do with feeling it in my love handles, as this seems to be the hardest place for me to engage and tone but I could feel it when I was executing some of the moves on the cable machine, so here's hoping! Getting out of bed is going to be fun at the very least.

I have been struggling with a low level headache for the last couple of days, not sure if it is hormones or my neck causing it.  I do get it sometimes but I'm never quite sure what causes it, not sore enough to stop me doing things but enough to annoy!!

It was lovely riding tonight, the moon was really bright and the air was really still.  Its one of my favourite times to ride in the colder, darker months of the year, there is something really quite relaxing about it.  Lara's leg seems to have coped with her work on Sunday, so worked her again tonight and hopefully she is good to get back into it, I'm missing having a horse to jump, especially after getting so into it again!

I've found a new toy!

Well, its not really a new toy, its the cable machine and I have found a new routine on it. I decided to actually look at the routines printed on the machine itself and there is one for the trunk. I did this and a few other abdominal exercises as my workout this morning and if I'm not in agony tomorrow, then I am going to be a little disappointed!!

I have a sort of bruising pain on my knees today, I do get it sometimes and its definitely tension higher up in my legs and that causes something to pull on the inside of my knee cap.  This is the only pain related to my knees that I can feel when I actually touch it, it doesn't happen very often and it isn't horribly painful, its more annoying than anything else!

Yummy lunch today, I had salmon with garlic wild mushrooms, leeks with philly and pepper and avocado. I haven't got a picture though as the kitchen is FULL, everyone thinks I'm obsessed enough already so that wouldn't have helped!!

We went to a concert on Sunday, my friend Nic plays in a band (http://www.wernethconcertband.org.uk) and she is also a composer.  Her latest piece was being played as part of the concert, it was a great afternoon and her piece was fantastic. Its incredible what talent people posses and you never really appreciate it until it is possessed by someone you know.

I need to have a word with myself!

I am letting myself get into bad habits at work and I need to stop it.  It's so difficult though, there is literally crap food there every single day! Tbf, Friday was my own fault as I bought all the goodies in to help raise money for children in need, it isn't until next week, but the BearFaced campaign was on the Friday.

I took another comparisson pic from my stretching, I think you can definitely see an improvement now.  The top one is the latest

We went shopping this morning and I have purchased another size 8 item, this time it isn't sports kit either, its a pair of shorts from River Island! I never thought for one second I would get down to comfortably fit in a size 8 when I started this quest!!  

Tom and I went to the gym this morning before we went shopping, it was good for him to get the opportunity for a change rather than just the daily cardio he gets from his ride to and from work.

A couple of nice little shots from my afternoon at the horses

Whats going on?!

I've clearly been neglecting my upper body workouts recently, today I decided that was what I was going to concentrate on and I was pretty feeble!! My arms were shaking like mad by the end of it and I can feel them starting to stiffen up now, tomorrow should be interesting.  Feeble or not, I still felt pretty good. I also had another really good day at work, I am learning so much and I love it!! The move was definitely worth all the fear of the unknown aspect, and to actually be somewhere where they support you is great; so refreshing.

I think tomorrow will be an all over yoga routine after about 30 mins on the treadmill to warm me up, it shouldn't be long before I get my hormonal all over body ache and joint pain now so I need to make the most of it! The scales were teasing me again this morning, hovering between 139.8 and 140 but stopping on 140!

We are doing the bearfaced thing at work tomorrow for children in need. Basically, you don't wear any makeup and just stick a little paw tattoo on your face. I think it's a great ideas but have only managed to persuade 4 of the girls to do it, the others would rather be seen dead than go out without makeup on! Faire enough, makes me feel blessed that I can happily go out all over the place without makeup, my skin would feel horrible otherwise! Anyway, in preparation I have exfoliated with sugar and extra virgin olive oil. If you haven't tried it, you really need to. I looked into it when I was going through a stage of having terrible skin, this was a few months after having the copper foil fitted and I think my body was just rebelling! It doesn't make your skin in the least bit greasy as you would expect, it just softens and regulates the natural oil levels and, at the same time, extra virgin has brilliant anti inflammatory priorities.  All the chemicals in shop bought products can dry your skin out too much and this can result in an over production of natural grease and breakouts.  Tom also uses it on his patches of psoriasis when he is having a flare up and it is brilliant. He gets them on his cheeks, eyelids and eyebrows and the next day they will almost have disappeared. I say it's psoriasis, we just assume it is but he doesn't get it anywhere else.

Now, can you tell what it is?

Today is a good day!

It started with the scales teasing me, they hovered between 138.9 and 140 but stopped on 140. Progress though!!

I then did a great hour of cardio on the treadmill, I have blistered the under side of my heels though as I had that much of a stomp on.  And my stretching was bloomin brilliant. I am only a hairs breath away from straightening my legs with my palms flat on the floor just in front of my feet. 

It only takes a day like this every so often to make it all worth while!  Its not often I am that pain free either, it just makes me more determined to push on with my stretching too.

I have been making an effort when I am on the treadmill to watch the way I walk. I can see my reflection in the windows now its dark so I can see how close my legs move to each other.  I have been making an effort to bring them out a bit so that I don't almost kick myself on every stride, its amazing the difference it makes to the pain in my legs, its immediately almost totally gone from the start.  I am wondering if that's why I have blisters actually, my strike point of my foot will be different so it will be an area of skin that isn't used to being battered.  My feet are also really pathetic and blister with the slightest change of anything!

Lunch today is super yummy! I have a cauliflower and parsnip soup base (which comes in at a whopping 80 calories, or there about!) I have added some quinoa and the Dal and curried chickpeas I still had left.  Really tasty!! I don't have a pic as it really doesn't look appetising, you will have to take my word on it!

Gungo Peas!

My latest discovery at the local Tesco! They're really tasty and cook incredibly well in the pressure cooker, the best results of all so far.  The Tesco near where I work is brilliant, there are a lot of different cultures living in the area, so they stock items that are popular all over the world and you generally wouldn't see in other Tesco's.  Ignorantly, I'm not sure what area of the world these are popular in I'm afraid, but they are very tasty so I can see why!

This mornings gym session was incredibly frustrating, I really wanted to do an abs focused yoga routine but only remembered that I needed to download that specific routine, when I got to the gym. Well, after 30mins downloading, the install failed.  It turns out that it needs WiFi to install rather than plain old 3g.  So I had to improvise, felt pretty good though, much more free through my lower back, but I still need to contact David and keep forgetting!!

I was in an horrific mood yesterday afternoon and it didn't improve when I got to the horses as Lara's leg has swollen back up following me starting to being her back into work after her month rest that I decided on, due to the leg swelling and not improving. Quite gutted, it has been stable for the last 2 weeks and she felt fantastic when I worked her on Sunday, totally sound (not limping) and really keen.  Fingers crossed its coincidental and she is OK today. I did so little with her on Sunday, so if it is a direct result of that then this does not look promising.  I won't get any chance between now and the new year to compete anyway, but I wanted to get her back fit so she was ready in Jan.

I do also think it is the lovely, lovely curse of female hormones.  Drives me mad that I can't control this aspect of my life, I wish it was as easy as identifying it and dealing with it.  I feel somewhat better today, but it is still brewing away in the background!!

Its also not helping that I feel like I am still stuck, I have a right little pot belly that I just can't shift and the inside of my thighs seem to have ground to a halt as far as sculpted improvement goes.  I don't want to get hung up on things, but these are the area that I really need to get a grip of and everything just seems to have stopped, right before December too which is a killer month.  My birthday is the first weekend and then it all goes down hill from then on! 

The quest to not cross my legs all the time is still under way and proving to be incredibly difficult!! I am determined to crack it though. 

Lunch today; the aforementioned Gungo Peas, leek, asparagus, curly kale and salmon. Pretty tasty if I do say so myself, missing my normal garlic overload though.