Working lunch

Many a time when I have been discussing healthy eating with the engineers at work, they say how tough it is when they are on the road all the time. Well today, I got a chance to give it a go as I was on site in London.

We all set out for lunch, a couple went off to the German Sausage place as it is a favourite of theirs but I really didn't fancy that; no idea what's in what so no thanks and the rest of us went off to Sainsbury's. I had a clear idea of what sort of thing I wanted, I just needed to find a fit.  If I could manage it, I wanted as clean a lunch as possible. I know there are many different thoughts around what classes as clean, but for the sake of this blog and anything I write, I refer to food that is as unprocessed as I can find and as close to its original form as possible. First item I was drawn to was a little tub of coconut, perfect.. What next? I skipped past all sandwiches, wraps, salad pots and pasta pots as these contain an insane amount of added crap, yet people seem to think they are a healthy lunch option.. I suppose to some horrors out there, they could be worse.

I finally came round to the cold meat aisle, one I am always drawn to but also wary of.  There is so much rubbish in this aisle, pumped full of water, preservatives, pulverised, reconstituted and basically so far removed from what it once was that its not worth the effort.  Lots of them even contain sugar I noticed today, I ended up with prosciutto eventually as this is just pork and salt. Could be better, could be a huge amount worse!! I then needed a 'carrier' substance, by this time I was bored of being in the shop and just wanted some ryevita, which I couldn't find, so ended up with gluten free oatcakes. These have some raising agents in them but where the lesser of all evils, really, I shouldn't have bothered with them but I wanted some crunch.  This all weighed in at 600 calories but I felt good after.

So what it does prove? Whilst the items I bought are fairly pricey, they only came in at a pound more than the sausage some of the others had and shite loads more nutritious and appetising (to me anyway). It is indeed possible to eat cleaner than one assumes, even when on the go.

I was thinking the other day, just how far I have come since I started writing this blog.  What started as a quest for aesthetics, has turned into a quest for my version of physical health perfection.  I say my version, because as we all know, there are a hundred million different opinions of what's healthy! I can only base mine on how I feel, how I look is still important but it is an inevitable outcome to my healthy, active lifestyle now! What a boaster ;-)

Now, what should I rename my blog to?!? Operationhealthfreak maybe?

The sugar debate

I have recently turned my attention to sugar in the diet and I am basically finding my way with an opinion on it.  What I need to remember, and was pointed out to me by my ever helpful at putting into perspective, Tom; I am aiming for optimum health over all else.  I am not shredding down to nothing for a competition.

From all the things I have been reading, I feel I am drawing close to an opinion that suits me and my life and that is that I am still avidly cutting out refined sugar.  This form of fructose contains absolutely nothing beneficial for my body at all.  I am going to be careful with the simple carbs I still consume, such as maple syrup and honey. And also I will still monitor the type of complex carbs I consume and opt for maximum nutritional value at all times.

So basically, I will take the food as a whole and monitor the nutrient content as a whole and decide if the benefits outweigh the short falls. 

The reason this got me thinking about it again was Lisa asked me the question about whether or not she needs to stop having her melon on yogurt for her breakfast because of the sugar content... My first response was that I thought you would have to eat loads for it to be an issue rather than gaining from the vitamins and minerals found in them.. Whilst at a quick glance, that opinion is correct, it is still flawed as far as having to eat loads goes as you do still need to use your common sense and eat in moderation, pretty much across the board when it comes to healthy eating!

Why wouldn't you?

If someone came to you and said that they knew of a way that you could have more energy, better skin, better attitude, better digestion and just better everything in general and best of all, you won't spend any more money than you do already. You'd jump at the chance of it wouldn't you?!

Indeed, until you found out that that meant eating healthily by cutting out as much processed rubbish as you can and all refined sugar.  It amazes me, just how much people fight against it.  Looking at how much Tom and I have changed in the time we have been concentrating on eating well, mentally and physically, you just can't argue it.  I for one, am totally different. I've said before, that the darkness I regularly experienced in my life has totally gone.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still a stroppy mare when I want to be and I get angry like the next person, but its different; there is a sense of serenity in myself now that I have never, ever had in my life.

Having a clean body gives you a clear mind, and the benefits of this are endless.

Also, if there is anything that I can do to prolong Tom's and my life together then I am on it.  I have mentioned before that Tom's father has Pick's disease, a form of frontal temporal dementia.  I read about things all the time that can help reduce the chances of contracting Alzheimer's, ways of eating and living a clean and healthy life; I am willing to put in the extra effort for that alone.. If I have the power to give us just one more day together, then I'm grasping that chance with all my might. Guarantee or not, you should always try and be the best and healthiest version of you that you can be.. You have control over this, this amazing miracle that is life is all yours and you should start treating it with the respect it deserves.. You will only ever feel the benefit!

I should pity the people that fight it, the people who can't draw motivation to change their lifestyle from being told they have a life threatening illness that they can do something about by simply saying no to a shitty piece of cake or crappy old doughnut. Its sad, very, very sad.. There are millions of people out there that would give up everything to have a body that they can fix, simply by getting a grip.

Ever changing

I started blogging last night and realised I was rambling more than usual, so I stopped.  I was writing about what esle I have discovered about sugar and I was doing a seriously bad job of it.  I think the problem is, the science of food is such a complex beast that I am still attempting to get my head around it.. So rather than me blather on, I strongly urge you to read up on the ill affects that sugar has on our bodies.

I also realised something else, I have mentioned before how much my life has changed on this journey and I couldn't imagine being any other way ever again, what hadn't clicked was the fact that I have had so much success with it this time as apposed to any other time, because I have embraced my journey as one of self improvement, one of being as healthy and fit a version of me as I can be and learning a wealth along the way.

 The reason the penny dropped was a conversation I was having with my mate Lisa. She has decided she wants to make a serious effort to get healthy, she has done as we all do and gone through stages of dieting and not stuck to anything but she is determined this time. She has been reading a book by Gillian Riley called Eating Less - Say goodbye to overeating and it has totally changed her view to weight loss.  By all accounts, the title doesn't do it a great deal of justice but it explains how you dont want to be looking at a diet but more about changing your relationship with food, understanding how it affects you both mentally and physically AND being as healthy and fit as you can be.  Her opinion is that once you embrace this, you will never fall off the waggon as you aren't on one to fall off; you are embracing health as a way of life and the benefit of looking fantastic is just a lucky byproduct! I have to say that I totally agree with that and its what I have been discovering over the last year, I just haven't realised it until it was put so simply!

I will write some more about the sugar thing in another post, I need to understand it more and digest it (pun not intended!) further to get my head around it.

AMAZING

That's how I felt at the gym this morning.  I wanted to do some low intensity cardio this morning as I wanted a carb heavy day; I will explain this shortly.  I expected to be sore and stiff for the first half an hour, as this is what normally happens and I had fairly sore legs from leg day anyway.. However, this was most definitely not the case.  I felt so string and free, I managed to sustain 7 + for about 45mins on a 4 incline. I'm not sure why exactly I felt so strong, but there are a couple of possibilities. Firstly, yesterday I had a protein heavy day; again I will explain this later, and secondly, I have been concentrating a lot on my pelvic flexibility recently and I have a feeling that this is the most likely reason.  Being less restricted in my pelvis allows my legs to move in a less impaired gait, in theory there should be much less strain on joints as the impact will be absorbed more evenly due to the leg tracking much straighter. This in turn allows the stride to be stronger and fatigue greatly reduced.

So, back to the food comments.  I decided that I really wanted to have some hardcore carbs for once, something I never really do as they are so calorific. As I am starting to view my macro's over the week, I thought I would give it a go with cycling them.  Yesterday was protein day and today carb.  I dont even know where to start with fat if I'm honest, so I haven't tried.  As a result, I have noticed a couple of quite significant affects that I'd never even considered.  My decision was initially purely greed driven.  Yesterday morning through to most of the day I felt really quite bloated, it started around 10.30am.  I continued to feel bloated for most of the day and thought that I wouldn't be able to ride, but by the time I got to the horses it had eased.

Lunch was a combo of some of my favourite things and was incredibly tasty.  I didn't feel it was missing anything really but then I did have avocado, which obviously isn't renowned for its protein, but it does have lots of tasty fat in it! Couldn't resist.

Tea was a bad ass egg white omelette with salmon and good old peas.  The salmon fillet was one of the ones that you get ready frozen, I have tried these a number of time but they just aren't as nice as buying a side of salmon and portioning it up for freezing, it seems to be much more fishy and a totally different shape.  Not sure why, Tom thinks that maybe they are smaller fish and that possibly affects the taste.. I dont know why, but it is the only obvious difference. 

I was crazy excited about my food today.  Breakfast was toasted rye bread, cashew butter and banana... So amazing.

Lunch was dates, rice, craisins, cashews and peas.. Sounds a little random but was very, very tasty! Forgot to snap it though I'm afraid. And tea was one of my favourite little treats; pasta and pesto!! Wooo, spoilt. 

The possible affect of today was extreme fatigue! I had a massive fatigue headache and felt totally drained with really heavy limbs by the end of the day.  I still feel headachey now tbh. I dont know if both of these physical symptoms are as a direct result of the macro balance but it is definitely something I would like to investigate further and I'm pretty convinced it is, after all, different food creates different chemical reactions in the body.  I am going to do the same thing either next week or the week after so that I can see.  If this is the case, it means that I will be changing my ratios to up the protein and decrease the carbs... Fun times! 

I am also back down to my pre Christmas weight, that last couple of pounds were incredibly difficult to shift! 

BAD move!

As I have mentioned before, I have read on more than one occasion that you should soak nuts before eating them. The only problem with that is that soaked cashews really aren't that nice.  It makes them a little bit soggy and rubbery. Well I stumbled across a page where someone mentioned that you should dry them out after too, so just spread them on a tray in the oven and have the heat on really low for an hour or two.  You also only soak cashew for around 2 to 3 hours.

So, I tried this and I just have one word of advice if you wish to keep your sanity and that is, quite simply, DONT DO IT!! They are absolutely incredible and more moreish than a morsesome thing or moreish day, damn it!!

I tried making some overnight buckwheat for my breakfast on Sunday.  I soaked them with milk and cocoa powder and then warmed them up on the morning, added raspberries, yogurt and cacao nibs.  I think it would've been better if it had been cold, but was seriously tasty and soooo filling.  Tom was starving after we had been food shopping and I will still merrily full and I didn't eat again until 3ish!  I think we need to try and introduce them into Toms daily menu somewhere as he really struggle to feel satiated.

I've recently been reading about all of the wonderous health benefits of turmeric.  We have always used it fairly regularly, but only recently have I paid attention to its benefits.

Now that I know about it, I feel the need to try and include it in pretty much everything I eat!! I have also decided to add it into my horses feeds, they will always benefit from natural supplements and is considerably cheaper than specific equine supplements! 

I made an almond meal (left over from making the milk) and turmeric crusted salmon fillet for a late night supper last night, it tasted fantastic.  If I did it again I think I would try adding some amchur powder to the crust.  I haven't ever used it before but apparently it is quite a bitter taste and I think it would complement the earthy taste of the turmeric really well.

I tried slow cooking some chickpeas over the weekend and the results were fantastic.  A much more even texture and fuller taste than you get from using the pressure cooker.  I then spread them out on a tray and froze them, once frozen they can then be put into a bag together and left in the freezer.  Sorted!  Some were left out and Tom worked his magic tonight, he made a turkey and chickpea curry.  It was divine, we will defo be having that again! He had intended on keeping some for his lunch tomorrow, that's not quite gone to plan!! 

I followed this up by making some Golden Milk this recipe talks about a spice blend mix, but I just used Turmeric, and I didn't use honey.  I used homemade almond milk, cinnamon, black pepper and sweet almond oil, as well as the amazing Turmeric paste that it instructs you to make. And what can I say, WOW, absolutely amaaaazing!  It reminded me of liquid egg custard, so creamy and just bloomin amazing.  The paste keeps for up to 3 weeks in the fridge, so I will be making more of this little treat! Apparently it is quite the cure all!! We'll see, in the meantime, its a great little sweet tooth fix!!

Lots of tatsy paste, ready to go!! 

In progress....

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Killer 3!!!

As I say about everything, there is always a 3 involved.  In this case it is the dreaded 3 week craving hell! It happens every time I stop drinking and eating crap after a bad binge.  Everything makes me wants to get all things unhealthy and stuff them in my face!!

Me giving up refined sugar is no mean feat. I have a crazy sweet tooth, and no matter how much I try and persuade myself; there is no substitute for the good stuff!! I honestly wish there was, but there isn't!!  I am of the wondering at the minute, about cheat days. I can't decide if I will see it as cheating myself out of a challenge or a good reward!  I'm torn, between the want to abstain and the want to indulge! What I could do is have a day every now and again where I sack of my calorie and macro counting and indulge in freshly made goodness, without refined sugar or crappy additives.  So I could have raw chocolate, I could have nuts, I could have frozen yogurt without sugar, sugar free brownies... You get the picture anyway, I could eat at will but with some thought... I could even make my own bread and have an amazing sandwich; one of my all time favourite indulgences that bumps towards 700ish calories... Undecided

Sore hamstrings are today's hamper, I have found a sport massage therapist who also massages horses and she will come to the house after massaging Millie and massage Tom and me.  The plan is for Thursday and then go from there.  No idea how much yet but I have felt really good still, even after bumping chiro on another fortnight so I think I may bump it on a couple more, I feel at the min that I would benefit more from massage than manipulation.

We had a 'healthy' full English this morning.  Turkey rashers (would just get turkey breast and slice in future as these are full of rubbish it seems) fresh eggs from the yard, water boiled and then toasted rye bread. Unbelievably, I have just come to add a picture and I didn't take one! I must admit, I think if I have it again, I will just have it on a treat day and have lean, crispy bacon. As well as its bad point, bacon has a lot of good (Apparently) so I may turn a blind eye to it very occasionally. Who knows, I feel like I am being hypocritical.. But then that is the joy of my journey being all mine, I can pretty much do what I want!

Lunch was beautiful! I had honey smoked mackerel with banana on rye bread.  Not what you would initially want to couple with mackerel I wouldn't imagine, but I love it with marmalade and that is a massive no if avoiding refined sugar. It was indeed, insanely tasty!  I love toasted rye bread with pretty much anything it would seem! 

We indulged in a a lot of fakery today, the last part of it being a 'roast' evening meal.  I found a quorn family roast, basically a giant sausage!  I didn't think to read all the ingredients, if I had, I wouldn't have bought it... Its just not worth it as it is so full of stuff that I have no idea about health wise. We had it with roasted sweet potato and curried cabbage.

Again, I think I would rather have a good piece of turkey or a totally vegetarian roast in future!

I am torn in general as far as quorn goes now, I know I literally only raved about it a couple of days ago, but it is genuinely full of crap.  Some types moreso than others, I need to read up on it more.  I said I wasnt going to but I am guessing that unprocessed animal fats in general may well be healthier in moderation, than additives that may or may not be in quorn... Watch this space!! 

We're a funny breed!

Its interesting how some people see my wanting to eat and live healthily as something a little bit OTT and I guess, annoying. I'm not sure what it is they find so irritating, I dont make a point of talking about it unless someone engages me in it first.  You get the usual "what's the point, why not just enjoy yourself" comments. But the problem is, I absolutely love living like this.  I get so much satisfaction from taking the time to plan my food, to see what I can get from it and also loving every meal that I have.  It not like I have to force it down me and it causes me huge amounts of distress. As anyone who has read my blog from the start will know, nothing but good has come from this new life and it has changed my opinion of myself and the world I live in for me.  So, I think if people took the time to stop being het up about it, they would actually be impressed rather than, what I can only assume is threatened in some way.  I know that sounds arrogant but I dont mean it to, I think people who are aware that they could be healthier but dont have the motivation to do so, just see me as a constant reminder. Yet, I have no issue if someone is happy and healthy on the path they have chosen, but these people are generally impressed by my drive and commitment!!

I had my yoga PT with Danny this morning and he took my body fat measurements before we started.  Bicep and illiac crest were impressive at 4 and 3 respectively, but as expected, my blooming tricep and subscapular readings were DREADFUL! 17 and 11 respectively there, the difference between my bicep and tricep are ridiculous!! Danny was pretty surprised by this reading, that's for sure.  I just carry a big pad and the head of my triceps, and always have! I think that was what my measurements were when Liam last took my reading.  Anyway, I am 23% which was around where I expected.  We input my readings into the men's calcs first and it had me at 17%! Oh yeah, read it and weep boys

Felt pretty good in yoga, by balance is still quite a way off but improving all the time.  Danny was trying to get me to do kick backs from downward dog into plank, and I was bloody useless. He is always really bouncy so pulled it off really well, I on the other hand, was hilariously pathetic! Something else to work on though.  He has created a great sequence for me to work on and I really could feel it working the weaknesses in my legs and feet, which is great news.

I enjoyed all my eating today, I felt satisfied and at no point did it make me sleepy, which is a bonus of course.  Tomorrow I am treating myself to some overnight oats and cacao powder with pink grapefruit and then for lunch I have red quinoa and TWO, yes TWO, free range boiled eggs in their entirity!

Breakfast combo was a little strange, even by my standards, but I actually really enjoyed it.  Cottage cheese, blackberries and corn thins.

And another masterpiece from Tom for tea. Quorn steak strips and egg fried rice. This is the first time I have had this type of quorn, it smells like wet dog when it is being cooked and the smell took some getting used to, but then it was really very tasty.  Slightly higher in saturated fat than normal quorn though.

I have had a little walk around the quays where I work for the last two lunch breaks, mainly because I had errands to run, but it was really enjoyable. Unfortunately, one of my little errands bought me face to face with this:

I absolutely love galaxy!!  I miss it less than I love feeling good though! 

 I have said to one of the guys who is trying to get healthy and lose a considerable amount of weight, that we can go for a wander on the days he is in the office.  He really needs to get out walking and it does me and my stiff flexors good to be up and moving!

Feel the fear!

I would love to be able to enjoy leg day, but I just spend the entire time worrying that I am going to hurt myself.  If I am going to injure myself, this tends to be the way I do it.

I attempted some weighted back squats today, nice and deep.  I haven't braved them since I obliterated my sacroiliac joint in one of the PT sessions I did.  I was ok doing it with just the Olympic bar and then I added 5 to each side and I could feel it straight away.  Its my form, it just turns to sh1t the min I increase the weight and then when I am pushing back up from the very bottom, my pelvis becomes unstable and I dont push up straight.  I spoke to Martin, the PT who set me doing this and he doesnt want me to avoid it, but at the same time, I just can't face being injured the way I was last time.  I want to work on my technique at a weight I am happy with, I have nothing to lose by taking my time and everything to lose by pushing it.

I also did some work on the leg press, making sure that on the extension I pushed out through my heels.  I do it by slightly raising my toes.  I do normal width and closed legs.  I also did single leg raises, I am gradually increasing the weight on these and I can really feel them improving.  The workout area was heaving again this morning so getting on the machines was a little frustrating, I spent some time on the wobble plate, working on my balance through my core and pelvic stability as well as squatting on in, which was fun. Finished off with 10 mins hill climb on the spin bike.. Pretty sure I am going to feel that in the morning!!

So my learning curve on my nutrient balancing continues.  I love that it has made me rethink my meals, quorn is definitely going to be my friend on this quest, it ticks all the boxes really.  Breakfast tomorrow is cottage cheese and corn thins. Cottage cheese is a great protein source without being too high in saturated fat, even in the full fat version.

Lunch is something I am pretty excited about having. I have made a tomato and cucumber salsa and I am having it with salmon and toasted rye bread. Mmmm

I am having quorn sausages as snacks for the day. It means I can get my protein up without affecting my fats

I have been having to top up my protein with the hemp protein powder that Tom bought, I just dont seem to be able to hit it without going right over on my fat.  So tonight I also added in some chia seeds for extra protein and the benefit of not being high in Omega 3 too.  I am sort of getting used to the taste and it is what I need!!  Looks rank though!

Tea was an interesting one, I was really short on protein and none saturated fat, but pretty much nothing else. So I had 2 quorn chicken style breasts, which are super yummy, and made an egg white omelette with toasted cashews and flavoured with garam massala and chili flakes.  It was actually really enjoyable! I really like the idea of eating for targets but making it taste good too, it a more challenge all of my own.  

A day of tasty morsals

So, after realising I had been making quite an error when it comes to my nutrient balance, today was the first day of trying to get it right.

My hardest challenge appears to be getting the calories without exceeding the fat! Admittedly, the ripe avocado's that I am working through aren't helping me here.  Granted, this is good fat, but it is fat nonetheless. The amount of saturated fat I am allowing myself is really easy to reach too, especially when you have a new found taste for full fat yogurt!! I appreciate that fat is a requirement of a healthy diet, so I won't be getting hugely hung up on it, they are guidelines at the end of the day and I am now aware.

I started off by just having corn cakes for breakfast without the cashew butter, even though this is packed full of great energy, I have avocado that is perfectly ripe so have had to swap! My post gym breakfast was berries and full fat yogurt. I have gone for Lancashire Farms bio yogurt and it's incredible!!

Doesn't look too amazing, but was fantastic with a good puff of cinnamon.

My snacks were fine beans, runner beans and celery. Not the most amazing snacks I have ever experienced but something to tide me over! Lunch was beautiful, avocado, tomato and toasted rye bread.  I love the combo of rye bread and avocado, I do believe they were made for each other! The colours were outstanding too.

And tea consisted of an amazing Thai style turkey stir fry, all fresh ingredients prepared by the beautiful chef Thomas! And it consisted of less than 200 calories! Oops, still miles off my newly adjusted calories, in fact miles off diet calories too!! Calling the trusty quorn sausages. Great source of protein and very little fat, perfect to bump up my protein and a little bit more towards my calories.  I am still low on my protein so I am having to give in and have some of Tom's hemp protein powder, as I am a little over my saturated fat, I am going to have to mix it with water. Its pretty gross as it is, its going to be even worse with water!!

Its really tough following these guidelines, but as I already know, it will be worth every second of the struggle and I love reviewing my diet to and trying to improve it in any way I can! 

So, after all of this, this is what I have come out with : 

Fat, glorious fat

I had quite a shock today when I happened to venture onto the My Fitness Pal page that shows you your nutritional breakdown for the entire week.  My fat intake is waaaay over!

So, on being horrified at this, I have done a goals review.  The breakdown for the week also showed I was really down on my carbs, the problem with this is that I'm not hugely fussed about my carbs, I'd much rather take in more of the healthy fats really.  I upped my protein to 25% as I am doing quite a lot as far as muscle building goes at the min and I had a quick rummage on google and found the suggested fat intake for women and it said between 25 and 35% with less than 7% of that being in saturated form.  So I have opted for 35% and this leaves me with 40% carbs.  Still fairly high carbs, I will just have to see how I get on.  You can break the types of fat down per g as a percentage of your total g's, so I have done that and entered it it as a guideline if nothing else. 

I will just have to put more forethought into my diet on a rolling basis, and not just day by day now.  I really want to get it right and reduce my body fat percentage if I can by myself.  I have upped my calories to 1400 as I'm not that fussed about weight loss now. MFP suggested 1750 as a maintenance allowance but that's insane! I worked it out based on an article I read and now can't find, but it uses fancy calcs for basal metabolic rate and adding and taking away calories based on your lifestyle; this came out around 1400 so I thought I could go from there and see. 

We have just arranged a paleo dinner party with my mate Jo who I have mentioned before, she is big into cross fit and paleo really suits her. Oh how times have changed! You couldn't get much further from how we used to be and we are so much more stable and happy and most of all healthy than we used to be! I am on main course responsibilities; decisions, decisions!!

Bit of a mixed bag weekend

There's been a lot of busying about of all different kinds this weekend, nothing unusual
though.

It would appear that the work I have been doing to strengthen up my feet may have been working; I took Miss Moo out to Somerford park farm ride with my friend Amy and her horse Angie. Normally, when I go cross country I end up with horrifically tight calves due to standing in my stirrups and ever since that guy from the running shop pointed out how week my ankles and feet are, it has been obvious to me what causes it.  Instead of supporting my weight on my feet, I let my ankle flex as far as it will go and lazily hold it that way.  They are nowhere near as bad as usual today, I have ridden the other two nutcases this afternoon though and they feel a little tender, but a vast improvement.  I say nutcases; they are normally meek little ladies but today, oh no, today they were right little rotters! Trying to buck me off all over the place, conspiracy!! Anyway, it was a great day at Somerford and Moo jumped her little socks off.

These were the best I could get, they were being a right pair of fidget pants! 

We were incredibly lucky with the weather, it was lashing it down all morning, I have the soggy chicken pics to prove it! 

I was really proud of my will power too, normally after going round Somerford I enjoy nothing more than a big piece of cake from the shop or a toasted sandwich.. I resisted and even when Amy had a toasted bagel, big piece of apple cake and some sweets, I just had a coffee and some almonds I had taken with me. Its all about the planning!  I'm not gonna lie though, I was crazy jealous! 

I was ready for my tea when we got back though, that's for sure! I made one of my favourite dishes, curried lentils and crispy fish. I love the texture and the fact that its never the same dish twice, but is always tasty! 

Today was a shopping and prep day, I was immensely proud of our shopping trolley content but totally forgot to get a pic! I had to be crazy creative to fit everything into the fridge and cupboards though!! I found a recipe for cloud bread the other day and have been pretty excited about trying it out! Needless to say, my clouds must've rained out as they looked naff all like the pics! My eggs were super fresh and they just didn't go fluffy enough, made for an interesting lunch though and they tasted good.  We had them with turkey and salad.

More like pancakes than clouds!

Nice protein packed lunch none the less.  Rest of the day was spent riding and prepping for meals through the week, lots of veg cutting and Tupperware.. Everybody loves Tupperware!!

Today is a good day

So I passed my exam with flying colours, it wasnt a particularly hard exam but I haven't sat an exam since I was at college so it was good to break that barrier and its the first of what is hopefully more professional qualifications to come. I have never bothered with them before, basically because I hate studying for exams and I'm incredibly lazy! Its funny though, I can merrily spend hours and hours reading around health, fitness and nutrition.

So, we decides we would go out for tea as a celebration.. That's a bit of a minefield if you want to stick to the no crap rule, but I managed it pretty well.  Water as a drink, smoked salmon and blini starter (I only had one blini out of the 3) and then sirloin steak with a mushroom and a tomato (it came with chips but I had 2 and left the rest, so did pretty well I think.

Something left on my plate ever is progress!!

I went and did my weight and body fat today as I haven't done it post xmas.  I have put on 1% of fat apparently, not too impressed there but something to work on I guess!  I feel I need to do something drastic with my diet now, I just dont know what or how just now.  I am thinking of cycling my days, I did it once before and it helped, but I was bigger then and not as strict so I need to do some research! 

Its great to be back!!

For the first time in ages I felt amazing at the gym yesterday. Obviously, what this meant was that I should totally beast myself into submission; which of course I did and today, my God, don't I know it now!!

I felt clean, I felt supple and I felt strong. It really doesn't take long for your body to say thanks to you for being good to it.  I am so sore around my trunk, all the way up to my arm pits today. I managed a fairly light workout this morning, which basically consisted of locating muscles I didn't destroy yesterday and destroying them too!! I am shattered now, this week is going to be a killer.  Fingers crossed I pass this exam and then I can relax again!

Not a great deal to report as I am shattered and need my sleep! Night night

Healthy weekend number one

Have had a great weekend of revising, riding my horses, eating healthy, wedding dress shopping and healthy meal prep.

I was pretty exhausted come Friday evening so the plan was to have a quick tea and then early bed. We had a slightly different take on one of our standard, quick tea favourites; well, mine was a slightly different take. Quorn sausages, red quinoa and peas. I colourful little plate of loveliness

Saturday was our normal 5 am awake and get to the horses nice and early, we somehow still ended up running late for the vet appointment Sammy had for a lump on his ear.  Almost £600 worth of quote later and he is booked in to have it removed and have a deep cleanse on both of his ears as they are a little bit infected.. Nice.. A quick trip to Waitrose for my king prawns and then home for revision, which is going pretty well I think!  

When we were at the horses, we decided to poke our nose into the hens coup to see if they have been laying since they got let our of their compound to roam free around the yard.  Wow, 25 beautiful as free range as they come, shiny little eggs! And they are schamaaazin!! Their yolks are so rich and creamy, it really does make it horribly obvious just how 'free' most free range eggs you get in the shops, aren't! 

Unfortunately I didn't think to take a pic of the yokes! We have put a right dent in them between Tom, myself and my parents.

Today was another early morning as I had arranged to meet my friend Jo at one of the local bridal shop as they were holding a samples, up to 75% off sale.  I was dreading it tbh, I seriously thought that it was going to some kind of crazy bride to be war, with hair pulling and scratching!! Thankfully, it would seem that people are quite lazy and the prospect of being somewhere at 9 am on a Sunday put a lot of people off.  I really didn't expect to find anything, but my god I did and it was reduced from £900 to £200!!! I want some adjustments doing to it, Jo knows a lady who is a great seamstress so I will see if she thinks the changes I want are feasible.  I still feel I should go and look at what else is out there are there may be something that is good to go as is, although I doubt it for the price I have got this one for.  I'm made up!! 

Had a couple of coffee's and a great catch up with Jo afterwards.  Jo has been into fitness for years, she is pretty hardcore! She is a qualified PT and also a GNVQ assessor, which she is going back into starting next week.  She completed tough mudder at the end of last year and has just got into crossfit, which she is loving.  Its funny though, both of us are pretty fiery girls and always have been, but she commented today that she is just so much more relaxed and her anger has pretty much dissipated.  Another advocate for clean and healthy living and regular exercise if ever there was one! Its great that we have both got there at the same time as we can genuinely appreciate what each of us re up to and the route our lives have taken, without running the 'god you're boring' gauntlet that appears to happen from the still loving living the down and dirty lifestyle.

I made some Lamb Kofta's for lunch, we bought some lean lamb mince as it was on offer.  Granted, even lean lamb mince isn't really lean, but they were super tasty and so much better than the shop bought nonsense!

mmm, lovely, lovely fat glistening away!

As we had this about 11.30, it meant that I was famished by mid afternoon and as I was revising I just lacked the willpower to stop myself eating! So we went for Quorn burgers and I turned mine into an inside out burger! A tasty little treat and under 200 calories, that's a little bit of cream cheese on there.  I wish i could find really good beef tomatoes in this country, they just don't exist in amazing form and I love them!!

Spot the revision peeping out from behind the snack!

I feel like all I have done today is prepare food!!  I tried the first attempt at making some sweet potato crisps.  I mixed them up with a little bit of olive oil and some turmeric.  I absolutely love Turmeric and the health benefits are endless, I just want to try and find the actual root from somewhere if I can as I want to start feeding it to Sammy, he is clearly going to be one of those dogs that is going to grow lumps and bumps all over as he gets older, so I am willing to give anything a try and Turmeric is known for its anti-tumour properties.  I need to refine the cooking side of it, I think I put them too high in the oven to start them off so they burnt a little bit around the edges and stayed a bit wet in the middle, so I had to baby sit them under the grill.. but damn, they taste fantastic and they are going to be mid afternoon snacks for work.  This is them, pre burning!

I think I need to invest in a mandolin, this was really quite boring!

As we only used half of the lamb for lunch, I thought I might as well finish the rest of it off for tea and also carry on the sweet potato thing so a made a de constructed sweet potato cottage pie! As the lamb is pretty fatty, it means that you need very little to create a sauce for it.  I just added a Kallo organic veg stock cube, some cumin and tomato purée, along with carrots, parsnips, peas, courgettes and mushrooms and it was incredible if I do say so myself!!

I think I have been writing this blog for almost half an hour now and the majority of it is about food!!  

Anyway, nearly done, I just need to share a pic of my tasty lunch tomorrow and my little haul I am taking to work with me to feed me through the day! King Prawns and home made mayo free slaw is the lunch menu of the day tomorrow.  Its red cabbage, chicory, carrot, olive oil, lemon juice and honey and it is really, really tasty!!

Phew, medal for making it to the end!! Its amazing how much the prospect of nice food makes you feel better about a day in the office

Say hello to Bertram

My body has definitely taken great umbrage to my unhealthy binge fest I embarked on over Christmas. I have a boil the size of Pluto on my forehead and I spent most of yesterday attempting to kill it, the outcome was not what I wanted at all and I have bruised my forehead from messing with it so much, I have had to put a plaster on it just so that I will leave it alone!!

I didn't think I could subject you all to seeing him naked! I know I look silly but desperate times etc

First day back in work yesterday, its quite nice to be able to ease yourself back in gently with a two day week actually and not all people are back in yet so the roads and more importantly, my desk, are fairly quiet.  It was also so enjoyable getting back into healthy eating! One of my friends mentioned the Paleo diet on her FB page, I have read about it blefore and just before xmas I read an article about a chrones sufferer who has changed her life around by going 'paleo'.  I am still of the same opinion as I was before though, which is that I hate the fact they give it a silly name and a rather flimsy reasoning, when the reason it works for people is that basically, they cut processed crap out of their diet but unfortunately, it also eliminates a lot of really good foods.  I like the idea of it but I absolutely hate the amount of saturated fat it requires you to consume.  There are some great paleo recipes out there that I will be using but for me, that diet route just isn't right. If it works for you then great and this post isn't about me ripping into the diet plan, I am just explaining why I won't be venturing down that route. 

Lunch today is a recipe pinched from a paleo site Cauliflower fried 'rice' and I had that with 150g chicken breast and all for under 300 calories 

I can't recommend this enough, its amazing and so low in calories. Perfect! 

I had a yoga PT this morning combined with a nutrition review.  Yoga was really good, my flexability is starting to return and in true Danny style, he had us doing some moves that made us look like toddlers trying to walk for the first time! Not the most graceful pair every to have ventured into the gym but its great fun and a really good way of identifying just where your body is at its most restricted, mine is definitely around my pelvis and shoulders.  Did some work to improve the 'shelf' of my glutes so that I can improve the shape of my bottom too, its so flat! That was pretty painful, mainly in my leg quad, which I can only attribute to my tight calf!! Some things never change! 

After yoga we went through the food diary that I sent over to Danny last year, he said its one of the cleanest records he has ever seen and if he had to be critical then it was mainly to not use low fat versions, take in more protein and eat more regularly.  I go too long between meals, especially lunch and tea.  I used to be good at leaving no more than 2hrs between meals but I got out of the habit and got lazy, shouldn't be too tricky really.  There are a few little tweaks to make but all in all I am doing pretty well it would seem! What a little show off!! 

I have shifted 5 of my 8lb Christmas gain, so I am also pretty happy with that!! 

It's good to be back!

Its been great today, not stuffing my face and eating rubbish; I'm not going to lie, it has been pretty hard as far as wanting to pick goes as I have been revising most of the afternoon. I had to settle myself on rice cakes, which is tough when there is a massive bowl of cheesy mash in the fridge that is left over from my parents NYE party.

We did our measurements today, it wasn't pretty, even if it was expected.  I have put an inch and a half on round my waist and an inch on around my hips.. and don't I know it.  We went to my sisters last night as she was having a bit of a party and I just could not find any clothes that I was comfortable in.  That hasn't happened to me for such a long time and was one of the most notable things that I love about losing weight, so a great reminder for me of at least one of the reasons behind all the effort!

Tom got a pasta maker for his secret santa present so he made us some fresh pasta yesterday, we couldn't find any wholemeal pasta flour though so unfortunately we had to make white; but it is a work in progress anyway as not something either of us have ever done before.

Not the most uniform bunch of pasta and I doubt they would let us into Master Chef off the back of it, but its a start!

A plate of yummyness! We had some Chorizo sausages left that we needed to use before today (not diet food!) just added some peas and olive oil and hey presto, it was super tasty and the pasta was fantastically smooth.  Its a shame it takes soooo long to make it!

I made a new batch of cashew butter yesterday too, it went a little bit wrong in that it decided to go crazy whilst I was blending it and ended up oozing out underneath the container part of the blender and made a right good sticky mess, almost impossible to get out of the nooks and crannies of everything.   I have no idea what made it do it, the only thing i can think is that I blitzed it for a little while longer and maybe that was enough.  The blade top has also decided to wear away and bits of plastic shavings were everywhere... not entirely sure what to make of that, hopefully I haven't totally busted it!

Lunches are made in preparation for getting back to work tomorrow.. boooo! I have gone for some grated carrot as I thought I would like a bit of crunch to go with the rest.  That is going with garlic mushrooms, dry fried courgette ribbons and sliced leeks, a few cherry tomatoes and some grilled salmon.  The Salmon is missing of this pic as it was taking forever to cook and I was getting impatient!

I'm trying something slightly different for breakfast, I have some egg whites, cottage cheese and the rest of the salmon that I cooked; not totally new for me but I haven't had anything like that in a while!

I have pics, I need to create a new stats page though so its clearer from this year.  I don't have time to do it atm as I need to concentrate on my revision; I will get something updated in a couple of weeks once that is out of the way; or I may do it on a break from revision at the weekend but it depends what else I have to do.. no rest for the wicked; but for cutie pies like Sammy, that's all there is!