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Thanks for all your great comments on yesterdays post regarding ‘plus’ size models. It seems that we all wish that a variety of body shapes and sizes could be represented on the catwalk. Hopefully one day things will change, and using models that differ from the standard size 0 will become the norm rather than something that still grabs the headlines!

I think that yesterdays assault on my cold must have done the trick as I've felt much better today! I got up and went to the gym and did 30 minutes of gentle cardio – just enough to work up a sweat, followed by some chest and back weights a couple of side planks and some work on the stability ball. This is my last workout before the Great North Run on Sunday and it felt good to gently work my legs. I came home and made myself a lovely carb filled breakfast:

 

A standard green monster (frozen banana, spinach and soy milk) along with two slices of my home made soda bread from the freezer toasted and smothered with almond butter and naturally sweetened black cherry jam. I just adore this bread, so dense and filling. It was also nice to have a ‘plain’ green monster for a change, however I did have to use a spoon to fish out lumps of banana. I really need that new blender!

Lunch was a big salad including cos lettuce, green pepper, red onion, carrot, tuna and two crumbled kallo rosemary crackers (for additional carbs) plus a tablespoon of balsamic salad dressing.

The crackers added a lovely flavour and crunch! I also had two plums and a nectarine.

We have a new member of staff at work and this was the end of her first week so she bought some cream cakes in. I would have usually passed but I thought it would be rude to say no ;-) also if I’m ever going to be able to relax on the eating front its now! I had a chocolate covered cream filled éclair which tasted delicious.

Unfortunately it left me with a head ache and a bloated tummy – its interesting how my body reacts to unhealthy food now. I used to be able to eat stuff like this all the time with no problem but now its like my body says ‘you must be kidding putting that crap into me!’ and rebels.

When I got home from work I was extremely excited to see that I had received some goodies from the lovely people at natural balance foods:

New Nakd bar flavours! They haven’t fully announced the new flavours yet so I won’t spoil the surprise, all I will say is that they all sound delicious. My husband thought I was a bit crazy as I literally let out a little squeal of excitement, I’m such a child sometimes :-)I really had to stop myself from launching into these and stuffing my face! All in good time…

For dinner I had some of my delicious falafel bites in one of my home made seeded spelt egg white wraps with spinach and ketchup along with some carrot, yellow pepper and cucumber on the side.

 

My wrap was so tasty, love the falafel bites!

I had been planning a chocolate peanut butter mousse desert made with the last of my Total Greek Yoghurt stash but after the éclair at lunch I decided to try and go with something a bit lighter. I made a huge bowl of vanilla matcha green tea protein ice cream (1 scoop of vanilla whey, 1/4 teaspoon of matcha powder, soy milk, 8 ice cubes, 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum) instead which I knew would fill me right up. I topped it with a few dark chocolate chips and some agave syrup.

Check out the volume in that! This was super delicious, has left me lovely and full, and this bowl couldn’t have been more than 200 calories.

Marks and Spencer Love

This morning while I was at the gym I saw the new Marks and Spencer advert:

I was really impressed with some of the pieces in the advert. I’m very much an M&S undies girl – I love their Ceriso range which is now being moved into their Limited Collection range. Obviously M&S food is one of my favourite things too. What do you think of their clothing? I have to say there’s quite a few pieces I would like to add to my wardrobe! I know they don’t go the whole way, but I also like that they use more realistically sized models in their promotions too.

Great North Run – Let the count down begin!

Less than 48 hours to the Great North Run, I’m so excited! I’ve checked the weather forecast and it looks like unfortunately for me, it will be cold with light wind and rain. I hate running in the rain! It may actually work for my benefit as I’ll run faster just to get to the end! After talking to a few people who have ran it before I’ve decided that I’m not going to go and worry about trying to achieve a particular time, they have advised me to just go and enjoy the whole experience. They said that some people who have gone and wanted to run a particular time and have then missed it ended up not fully enjoying the day and appreciating it for what it is. I know that I have ran that distance in 2hrs 5mins during training which is bloody good for someone like me so I have nothing to prove to myself.

Tomorrow I had been thinking about heading over to the big expo at the Quayside in Newcastle, but to be honest I think I would much prefer having a relaxed day at home getting mentally and physically prepared… and eating lots of carbs of course ;-) I also have grocery shopping and cleaning and tidying to do.

Any of you guys who have ran half marathons or marathons before got any last minute advice for me?

Hope you have all had a great week and have a good weekend planned too!