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Hi everyone, hope your all getting through the first week of 2011 ok. I’ve had a funny couple of days as yesterday I was working at home again due to the burst pipe and broken heating system at work but today I have been back as thankfully it has been fixed!

As I was working from home yesterday I decided to go to the gym first thing. I did 30 minutes on the treadmill doing 5 minute speed changes followed by 10 minutes of HIITs on the step machine, cross trainer and bike. I then did my abs and core exercises:

• Plank – I managed to hold it for 1 minute, gives me a good starting point to work from to meet my 2 minute goal!
• Full sit up x 20
• Bicycle crunches x 20
• Regular crunches x 20
• Side reaches x 20
• Mountain climbers x 20

x 2 sets

I came home and made breakfast which I practically inhaled, 2 slices of organic sprouted wheat bread (only ingredient is sprouted wheat) one slice with almond butter and one slice with apple pear spread plus a detox tea.

I also made myself a super green juice containing two small apples, 2 celery sticks, cucumber, kale, ginger, spirulina, acai berry juice and milk thistle tincture.

Energy in a glass!

Mid morning I had a mug of sweet white miso soup. Lunch was another basil tofu and rice salad beast with green goddess dressing.

I also had half a sweet juicy mango and a sliced kiwi.

Mid afternoon I snacked on two cherry bakewell babies and an apple.

Dinner was courgette pasta with red peppers and mushrooms in a tomato and garlic sauce topped with some fresh basil.

This was so delish! After I posted about this meal at the weekend a few of you were curious about how to make the courgette pasta. I use this spiraliser which is just fantastic. If you don’t want to fork out for this then you can use a veggie peeler to make long ribbons which you could use in a similar way, although its not quite as good as getting the proper spirals!

Dessert was a big slab of my RAW Very Cherry Chocolate.

This tasted fabulous. This slab is half of the full size bar and is less than 200 calories. Its a shame this stuff is so expensive as I’m seriously hooked. Its fine to eat as part of my detox too as it has a very simple ingredients list and is only sweetened with agave so no refined sugars. I also ate another apple and drank a sleepy time tea.

This morning I got up and did my new yoga / core strengthening routine. I started with a 5 minute warm up of jumping jacks, bum kicks and skipping then did a 20 minute Yoga for Runners podcast. After the podcast I did the following exercises:

• V ups x 20
• Side plank – 30 seconds on each side
• Bridge with leg raise – 20 raises on each leg
• Side to side on all fours – 20 each side
• Donkey kicks – 20 each side

The side to side exercise was so tough! Breakfast was inspired by Averies Chocolate Brownie Oats. Last night I mixed 1 mashed banana with 1/4 cup of oats, 1/4 cup of quinoa flakes, 1 scoop of chocolate sun warrior protein powder, 1 teaspoon of ground flax, 1 tablespoon of chia seeds, hazelnut and almond rice milk and a little water. I left this in the fridge overnight then topped with walnuts this morning for a delicious and quick breakfast. I also had a cup of detox tea.

Mid morning I had a mug of brown rice miso soup with ginger. Lunch was a bowl of Spicy Sweet Potato, Leek and Coconut Soup with mango and kiwi.

Mid afternoon I snacked on a big pile of raw veggies with what was left of my green goddess dressing for dipping.

Dinner was a roast veg and sunflower seed patty fried in a little coconut oil on top of some caramelised onions with balsamic, swede and parsnip mash and steamed cavolo nero.

This was a wonderful dinner, I would usually add ketchup for flavour but as ketchup is pretty sugary I opted for the onions – they tasted great! For dessert I whipped up an amazing smoothie – Strawberry and Peanut Butter! I combined some frozen strawberries with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, hazelnut and almond rice milk and 4 ice cubes. I also added some xanthan and guar gum for thickness then topped with a little granola.

Fabulous!

Do you do specific exercises to work your abs and core? What’s your favourite exercise? I love bicycle crunches!

Today is my little sisters due date, she’s expecting a little boy.  She already has one little boy called Harry. I can’t wait for her to have my second nephew! I love being an Auntie :-) I went to the shops earlier and bought some cute little outfits for him. Do you have any nieces or nephews?