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Thanks for all the comments to my last post on unusual ingredients and where to find them, I’m so glad the post was useful! Keep a look out for Part 2 as well as a post on tofu as requested. One thing I realised that I didn’t mention in relation to some of those products was the cost. A lot of them aren’t exactly cheap. I tend to try and use discount codes whenever possible and time my purchases accordingly when offers are on the go. Another aspect for me is that experimenting with food and ingredients, along with spending money on clothes and magazines brings me immense pleasure! You have probably guessed from reading the blog I have little social life to speak of ;-) so my ‘disposable’ income gets spent on stuff like that, although I have to say I am due another budget challenge as I have been hammering the old credit card a bit too much recently!

Tuesday kicked off with my home strength workout. I did the same reps as last week, and worked up a good sweat! Breakfast was chocolate mesquite overnight oats with 2 chopped pears:

The other pear is hiding underneath all that chocolately goodness! I mixed 1/2 cup of oats with some chia seeds, a tablespoon of mesquite, a scoop of chocolate sun warrior, some ground flax, 1/2 cup of oat milk and a cup of water then left in the fridge overnight to thicken up. I served it at room temperature. I’m quite liking the overnight oats / breakfast puddings at the moment although they don’t compare to lovely hot porridge! I think they come in handy when I want to get some sun warrior protein in but I don’t want a smoothie.

Lunch was an awesome salad which included lots of rocket, alfalfa sprouts, pearl barley, carrot, red onion, red pepper, avocado and a sweet miso dressing (flax oil, apple cider vinegar and sweet white miso). I also had half a honeydew melon:

I ate the melon before the salad as I know that melon digests very quickly and is sometimes best eaten before other foods. I wish I had chopped this up as it was a bugger to eat with a spoon!

Mid afternoon I snacked on some of my delicious high protein hummus with red pepper and cucumber for dipping – so loving this hummus!

Before I left work for yoga I had one of my leftover cookies taken out of the freezer along with a mug of yerba mate tea for an energy boost:

Yoga was really good. I seem to be getting better each week, I constantly amaze myself at how flexible I can be. It does help that we have an awesome instructor who adjusts our postures and helps us to move into postures more deeply. I’m still not able to do some of the tougher poses like crow or plough like the others in the class but I can put out a damn good boat pose! As it is Ashtanga yoga we are moving through the postures quite quickly so it gives me a great workout, I was shattered by the end and had wobbly leg syndrome again!

When I got home I refuelled with a massive green monster that included spinach, savoy cabbage, mixed frozen berries, an orange, tablespoon of peanut butter, oat milk, spirulina, matcha green tea, milk thistle and echinacea tincture. I topped it with some goji berries and flaked almonds:

I also snacked on three apples.

This morning I had a late start at work so I headed out to the gym first thing. I did 30 minutes of speed intervals on the treadmill then 30 minutes of HIITs (high intensity interval training in case anyone wasn’t sure what that stands for) on the cross trainer, step machine and bike followed by my usual abs and core exercises. I had to use the stability ball for my full sit ups as I have a really sore tail bone area at the moment for some reason!

Breakfast was a bowl of porridge made with the last of my power porridge mix made up with some added oat bran for creaminess, oat milk and water. I topped this with some cashew cream and a sliced juicy nectarine. I also made myself a fresh carrot, beetroot, cucumber and ginger juice:

The cashew cream was so good with the hot porridge and nectarine, it kind of went all melty!

Lunch was the other half of the melon (chopped this time!):

Followed by a big bowl of Kabocha Squash Soup:

This is so easy to make, just roast the kabocha with its skin on then add to a pan, add veg stock and some fresh parsley then blend using a hand blender. You get this amazing sweet velvety soup.

Mid afternoon I snacked on some raisins, walnuts and brazil nuts:

Sometimes a simple cheap snack like this is just as nice as a pre packed snack bar.

For dinner I made a meal based on an Anthony Worrall Thompson recipe in Cook Vegetarian! Magazine:

Italian Leek Stew (makes 2 servings)

• Olive oil
• 2 large leeks, washed and chopped
• 1 tin of cannellini beans
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 carton of olives, preferably pitted then chopped
• Handful of fresh basil

Begin by frying the leek in the olive oil on a medium low heat until softened. Add the beans and chopped tomatoes. Simmer on a medium low heat for 15 minutes then add the olives. Add a good handful of chopped fresh basil and serve:

I served mine with some steamed tender stem broccoli.

Dessert was half a bar of Conscious Goji and Coconut Raw Chocolate with two sliced pink lady apples:

This flavour raw chocolate tasted amazing! I loved the coconut and goji combination.

I’m still feeling really buzzed off last nights yoga class. Although I’m no where near as good as most of the others in the class, I know that I am improving. I used to really compare myself to others, especially in relation to running speed, distances and times, then I realised how pointless that is (although I know that some people can use those feelings in a positive way, for me they always left me feeling inadequate). Everyone is different and the only person you can truly compare yourself to is you! As long as I know I am making progress, I’m happy that I’m achieving something, no matter how that may compare to others. Have you ever found yourself comparing your performance to others? How did that make you feel?