Info all Articles

Wow this weekend has flown over, wish I had an extra day off this week but no chance of that happening! Yesterday I was up early to go and do a grocery shop. I ended up buying far too much fresh produce as usual. I can’t resist those special offers!

I had a pack of nakd raisins and a mug of warm water and lemon before hitting the gym:

I did 30 minutes on the treadmill alternating between 6.5mph and 7mph every 5 minutes. I also did 20 minutes of steady state cardio on the cross trainer, step machine and bike for a total 1hr 30 minute workout.

When I got home I couldn’t decide if I wanted porridge or a smoothie so I had both! I made up some porridge with 1/2 cup of rude health fruity date oats and 1 1/2 cups of water. I then topped the porridge with some fresh blueberries and poured over a simple smoothie I made with half a gorgeous sweet mango and kara coconut milk. I finished off my layer up with flaked almonds and goji berries:

This was so so good! I used to make layer ups with yoghurt but this was even better!

As breakfast was eaten pretty late I wasn’t that hungry so later in the day I just made myself a green juice containing apple, pear, courgette, cucumber and parsley plus spirulina, matcha green tea powder and acai berry juice:

For dinner I decided to try the organic tempeh I picked up at Whole foods. I baked it in the oven covered with some cashew ginger pate and served it with steamed kale with soy sauce and parsnip chips with the last of the nut pate for dipping:

The tempeh was ok – I liked the texture but it definitely needs a sauce of some kind. Dessert was some heavenly hint of mint conscious raw chocolate:

I also had an apple.

Today I was back at the gym again for my strength workout. I would usually do this workout on a Friday evening but as I was doing it on a Sunday and therefore had a little more time I decided to warm up with a 5 minute treadmill run then do my cardio after the strength routine so that I would have more energy to input into the moves. I did the same routine as last week but increased my reps on some of the exercises:

• Incline push up on bench - body weight, 10 reps x 3 (up from 7 reps last week)
• Stiff legged dead lift - 12 reps (up from 10 last week) x 3 with 18kg barbell
• Chest fly on stability ball - 12 reps (up from 10 last week)  x 3 with 2 x 5kg db
• Bent over row with tricep kick back – 12 reps (up 10 from last week) x 3 with 2 x 4kg db
• Shoulder press with squat - 7 reps x 3 with 2 x 7kg db – same as last week
• Forward lunges with bicep curl - 5 x each leg x 3 with 2 x 4kg db – same as last week
• Backwards lunges with bicep curl - 5 x each leg x 3 with 2 x 4kg db – same as last week
• Upright row with sumo squat – 12 reps (up from 10 last week) x 3 with 2 x 6kg db
• Weighted sit up on stability ball - 20 reps(up from 15 last week)  x 3 with 1 x 8kg db
• Lower back extension on stability ball - 10 reps x 3 body weight – same as last week

I then finished up with 10 minutes of HIITs on the cross trainer, step machine and cross trainer for a 30 minute cardio workout.

To refuel I made a wonderful Tropical Recovery Smoothie. I added maca powder and matcha green tea powder to the recipe and topped my bowl with raw cacao nibs, dried pineapple and coconut:

Delish!

Lunch was eaten at my parents who were throwing a little party to celebrate the birth of my gorgeous little nephew last week. I took along a raw salad made up of carrot, courgette, cucumber, yellow pepper, alfalfa sprouts, mixed seeds and some braggs. I added some couscous with roasted vegetables and leafy salad from the buffet:

I also had a fruit salad with blueberries, mango and clemintine:

It took a lot of will power not to eat the chocolate cake on offer!

Dinner was more tempeh, this time I griddled it along with some asparagus and steamed kale plus some roast kabocha squash (nom!) I made up some sauce with sweet white miso paste, shoyu and water:

This was yummy, the sauce was fab. Sweet white miso paste is made from fermented soya beans – I found mine in Sainsbury's so its quite easy to get hold of. You can make all sorts of sauces and dressings with it. Its definitely one of my favourite new ingredients.

For a little dessert I had two sliced apples, one with mesquite powder and the other with the raw brazil cacao bliss I picked up from Whole Foods for dipping:

I really loved both the mesquite and the brazil cacao bliss! The mesquite has a sweet malty flavour and although the brazil nut bliss wasn’t that chocolately it tasted really good.

Alison over at Physically Philosophical tagged me with the Four Things list, so here it is!

Four TV shows I watch

• CSI
• Got to Dance
• Being Human
• Any cookery shows

Four things I'm passionate about

• Healthy food and cookery with fresh produce and good quality ingredients
• Fitness
• Fashion
• The Voluntary and Community Sector / charity sector

Four words/phrases that I use too much

• F*ck (and its variations) – I stole this one from Alison, but I’m the same!
• Eeee well… (that’s a geordie thing I think)
• Oh my god
• At the end of the day…

Four things I've learned from the past

• It will all work out for the best in the end
• You always have another 10% you can give
• Don’t be afraid to do things out of your comfort zone
• Treat others as you would like to be treated yourself

Four things I'm looking forward to

• Going to York with James in February
• Going to London in March with my bestie to the Vitality Show!
• Running outdoors again
• Seeing my new nephew get older and start to develop his features and personality

Four things I love about winter

• Fairy lights
• Jumpers, hats and scarves
• Big bowls of warming soup or stew
• Dark evenings in with James with all my candles lit

I know I’m suppose to tag another four people but I think most blogs seem to have got this one, however if your reading and you haven’t yet been tagged consider yourself tagged!

Hope you’ve all had a great weekend!

In case you’ve missed it I’m running a GIVEAWAY to celebrate one year of Keeping Slim and Getting Stylish – check it out here. Thanks for all the entries so far, its been great reading about how blogs have inspired you!