Info all Articles

For the last few days I’ve been feeling a little bit run down. I didn’t think much of it but then last night my throat started feeling a little sore and I was really tired. I think that may be why I succumbed to the snackies the other night. I can not be coming down with a cold this close to the Great North Run. Let operation Fighting Fit commence!

I started my morning with my usual mug of warm water and lemon juice but added a some chopped fresh ginger. I love fresh ginger in general but its excellent for helping to stave off a cold. I decided I would still do my Davina DVD. I always feel better after some exercise and I think sweating it out does me some good. Breakfast was Rude Health Fruity Date porridge made up with water and a scoop of chocolate whey mixed in then topped with mixed frozen berries, Greek yoghurt and grape nuts cereal.

I love the hot / cold combo with the porridge and still slightly frozen fruit, yum!

I popped out to the chemist before my lunch and bought some Berroca tablets. I don’t usually take any vitamins but I thought that drinking a glass of water with a Berroca tablet in to top up my vitamin levels won’t do any harm.

For lunch I had some of my favourite soup – Lentil and Spinach along with a nectarine and two plums.

This soup is wonderful if your fighting a cold as it contains ginger and chilli and is so warming.

Mid afternoon I snacked on some Total Greek Yoghurt with pear puree and honey.

For dinner I made up a big raw veggie filled salad including spicy roasted chickpeas, spinach, cos lettuce, carrot, yellow pepper and cucumber. I added a tablespoon of spicy peri peri dressing too.

Delicious, and all those raw veggies are going to support my immune system to fight off this cold. Peppers are an excellent source of vitamin C too.

I also made myself a high protein egg white spelt wrap (3 egg whites, 2 tablespoons of spelt flour, combined and fried like a large pancake on both sides) to which I added a tablespoon of mixed seeds to make it a seeded wrap.

Adding the seeds worked really well! I filled it with lots of smooth peanut butter and a sliced golden delicious apple.

 

This was just so good, the peanut butter went all melty in the warm wrap – I think I’ve found a new favourite! This wrap is an excellent mix of high protein, complex carbs and good fats so would also be good for breakfast.

I was still feeling a bit snacky and fancied some fruit, but then I had the idea for making an immune boosting smoothie:

Laura’s Cold Killer Smoothie

• 1/2 cup of goji berries soaked in 1 cup of water for at least 1 hour (Vitamin C)
• Mixed frozen berries and strawberries
• 1 orange
• 1 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon of chilli
• 1 heaped teaspoon of raw cacao powder or cocoa powder

Add all ingredients (the gojis and the water they’ve been soaking in) to your blender and wizz.

This actually tasted a lot nicer than I was expecting. It really tastes healthy and fresh and the raw cacao and strawberry with hint of chilli and ginger goes so well together.

I’ve also been drinking plenty of green and herbal tea throughout the day so hopefully I have kicked that cold out!

Tomorrow I’m going to start doing a bit of carb loading in preparation for The Great North Run. I’m already feeling pretty hungry due to this cold so as long as I’m eating healthy unrefined carbs such wholemeal bread, pasta, fruit etc I’m going to give my hunger free reign for a change, I see a few bowls of muesli in my future!

Plus Size Models – what’s your thoughts?

Today the first ever plus size fashion show was held during New York Fashion Week. I have a bit of difficulty with the whole ‘plus size’ model thing. Why does it always have to be one of two extremes? Its either size 0 or size 16 why can’t we have models that are in a more healthy range? Some times I wonder if promoting plus size models is just as unhealthy as promoting size 0 models. The model in the article I have linked to above looks amazing and at 5’11 and 12st 7 probably is more of a healthy range and shouldn’t even be labelled as plus size. What’s your thoughts on this? By promoting plus size models are we promoting being unhealthily overweight, just as we are when promoting size 0 models at the other end of the scale? As a lover of fashion I wish clothes could be shown on healthy models (I also believe some women can be naturally really skinny or naturally bigger and still be healthy) of all shapes and sizes rather than really skinny or plus size. These are just some of my thoughts, I certainly don’t want to offend anyone but I think this is an interesting debate – I’m really interested to know what you think!