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Last night after I posted I did a good thing and a bad thing. Good thing = Yoga for Runners, bad thing = two more bowls (they were little bowls!) of muesli. I was just ravenous! I'm not going to beat myself up about it though, as I haven't been too bad with the snackies recently and this is the week before my TOTM when I usually do get snacky. I just wish I could manage the snackies a bit better when I get them, but for some reason all rationale just goes out the window. I should have just opened a bag of granola nibbles and had them and then at least I would know that I hadn't gone over 100 cals.

The yoga was brilliant. I found it a little hard to follow at first but then I got into the swing of it and found it really enjoyable. I even worked up a bit of a sweat! I can see me doing this a lot more often. Check out Yoga Download or I think you can download some sessions straight via iTunes for free, they are really good if yoga is something you could like to try out.

This morning I woke up to horrible rain! It is June isn't it? I made myself a big bowl of chia seed porridge (jumbo porridge oats, 1/2 tablespoon of chia seeds and water microwaved) with chopped strawberries and a tablespoon of almond butter. I mixed a load of the strawberries and almond butter right in with the porridge and then used the rest on top.


Very yummy!

Mid morning I had a vanilla protein shake. This held me over nicely to lunch time. When I made the turkey for dinner last night I fried off an extra steak and chopped it up for use in todays salad. Salad includes turkey, cos lettuce, alfalta sprouts, cucumber and carrot sticks. I served it with another big serving of hummus.


I followed my salad with an apple.


Before I left work for the gym I had a bag of Bear Fruit Nibbles that I had picked up at Waitrose at the weekend. These were pineapple and mango.


I loved these nibbles - just dried chunks of sweet mango and pineapple, perfect gym fuel! My gym workout was hard work. I dropped back to just doing 1:1 intervals at my usual resistance levels to try not to over strain my knees. I even tried a short run! I started by walking on the treadmill for 3 minutes to warm up before jogging and then running at a slow pace for the rest of the 15 minutes. I covered a little over a mile and my knee did really well. I could feel a twinge, but not pain like I had before. I then did 15 mins on the step machine, cross trainer and bike doing 1 minute medium to 1 minute medium hard intervals. I finished off with a 10 minute cool down on the recumbent bike and then did 3 sets of my usual abs exercises and a good bit of stretching. I still iced my knee afterwards to be safe but my legs are feeling so much stronger :-)

We had to have a quick pop to the shops for the hubby to pick up a couple of t shirts for our holiday so by the time I got home I was starving! For dinner I fried off a home made bean burger I had made a few weeks ago and frozen. I had needed to use up some of my home made salsa before it went bad so I thought I would make up a quick bean burger with it. Heres the recipe:

Quick and Easy Kidney Bean and Salsa Bean Burgers

1 tin of Kidney Beans rinsed
1/2 cup of my home made salsa (or shop bought salsa)
2 - 3 tablespoons of spelt flour
Hot chilli powder to taste (I use about 1/2 teaspoon)

Blend the beans and salsa with the chilli powder in a food processor to desired consistancy. I used the pulse function so that it didn't get too smooth, I like a bit of texture in there! Then add the flour a little at a time until the mixture becomes less sticky and a firmer texture. Shape into two large patties and either freeze for later or fry on a medium high heat or bake in the oven on a medium high heat until lightly browned.

I defrosted one of mine and then fried on each side for 5 minutes and served with steamed brocolli, cauliflower, sugar snap peas and some left over alfalta sprouts, plus some ketchup.


This didn't touch the sides! For desert I made a little bowl of mint chocolate protein goo (scoop of chocolate whey, kara coconut milk, natural peppermint flavouring)


And as I was still hungry I had an orange and two plums.


Drinks - water, green tea, lemon and ginger tea, decaf coffee, decaf tea

I don't know what it is but I'm feeling really disorganised at the moment, it just doesn't feel like theres enough hours in the day! I'm looking forward to the weekend when I hope to have a bit more time to get myself sorted. I think its the holiday coming up, I always worry that I'm going to forget something important! Hope all your weeks are going well, at least we are now over half way through. I just hope this horrible weather improves! x

Today I’ve been working from home which has been great. As I’ve said many times before, my focus is ten times better when I’m at home and I’m happy to say I managed to get all of my to do list completed.

I started the day with the 30 Day Shred levels 1 and 2 – it was so tough! Breakfast was a yummy Butternut Smoothie topped with some muesli:

One of the great things about working from home is being able to enjoy a more elaborate lunch. I decided to make a cauliflower risotto inspired by this recipe. I just popped half a head of cauliflower in the food processor and chopped till fine, then in a pan added some hot vegetable stock, nutritional yeast, soy sauce and some chopped fresh basil. I served it with some sesame almond tofu on top.

This was delicious and really filling considering its just cauliflower! I finished my meal with two sliced jazz apples.

Mid afternoon I made myself one of Mama Peas Pumpkin Spice Lattes:

Wowsa, this tasted amazing! I used decaf coffee and rice milk which worked perfectly.

For dinner I decided to use the beans I had left over from yesterday’s meal and make them into a bean burger. I popped them in the food processor along with some red onion, carrot, fresh coriander and some hot chilli powder plus a little bit of egg white to help it bind. This formed two burgers so I popped one in the freezer and then oven baked the other. I served it crumbled in one of my high protein wraps filled with spinach and hummus. I also made some parsnip chips and roast broccoli with chipotle ketchup for dipping.

I have a serious love of bean burgers in any form, I absolutely adore them and I’ve had a serious craving for a few days now. It tasted especially good with the hummus. This was also my first time making parsnip chips and they turned out really well although I couldn’t finish them all!

Desert was a bowl of pumpkin yoghurt:

Pumpkin Yoghurt:

• 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup of greek yoghurt (I used full fat)
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
• maple syrup or agave to taste

Combine all ingredients until smooth and serve.

I topped mine with some almond butter, granola and a little cinnamon.

All the cinnamon I’ve eaten today has really depleted my stores, I’m going to have to get to the shops asap to re stock, I think I’d have a panic attack without cinnamon in the kitchen! I love cinnamon, its full of antioxidants and it has been shown to help keep blood sugar staple and avoid cravings so its a wonderful food for me. Are you a cinnamon fan?

I got really excited today as I know what will be coming in my first organic vegetable box on Friday:

I’m going to see if I can swap out the celery for another veggie as I’m not a huge fan. I’m having lots of fun thinking about what meals I’m going to pull together with this lot :-)

Hope all of your weeks are going well, bring on hump day!

Hi everyone, hope your Monday has been good so far!

Last night me and the hubby went to see a blues guitarist over in Newcastle. It turned out to be a fantastic gig, the venue was very small and had a great atmosphere. I was pretty tired this morning after my late night though, plus the fact that I’d only ate a small banana for my dinner I was not only tired but starving!

I decided that coffee was in order. I made a cup of cinnamon and hazelnut coffee with kara coconut milk which was utterly delicious. I also had a large bowl of Dorset Cereal Tasty Flakes with 2 small chopped plums and kara coconut milk.

I don’t know why I didn’t look for this before, but I noticed a website address on the pack of coffee as I was putting it in the bin. Square Orange Foods sell a great range of Beanies flavoured coffees. I do like what I ordered from Jacc’s but it didn’t taste as good as the Beanies which I had originally bought from TK Maxx. I think I'm going to order some more of the Beanies and see what its like.

Mid morning I snacked on a small chopped carrot with almond butter.

I had a few meetings in the morning, one of which finished earlier than expected. I thought I would have a quick look in Tesco before my next meeting and I ended up spending £30 just like that (why does that always happen?)

I did get these cheapo funky boots:

Not too bad for £20, I know they’ll probably only last this season but I love a good wedge heel and I have loads of trousers I can wear these with. I also bought magazines – Elle and Living Etc for Christmas decorating porn. Getting so excited for Christmas now!

I was starving by the time I managed to get my lunch so I went and bought a few additional apples to help fill me up. I had some Courgette and Watercress Soup, 2 seeded crackers, 2 satsumas and 2 small russet apples.

I ended up eating another 2 small russets, I was famished! Before heading to the gym I also ate one of my pumpkin spice cake bars.

I’m glad I ate those extra apples as I doubt I would have had the energy to get through my workout. I did 15 minutes of HIITs on the cross trainer and step machine then did my abs and core exercises before heading into another awesome 30 minute spin class.

For dinner I had a home made bean burger served on a grilled flat mushroom with swede ‘chips’, sautéed cabbage greens and ketchup.

 

Those swede chips were really tasty, I can’t decide which I prefer, these or parsnip chips, yum!  Desert was Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Spiru-tein Protein Ice cream made with kara coconut milk, ice cubes, xanthan and guar gums topped with some raw cacao nibs.

So filling and creamy!

Big thanks to all of you that have signed up for Secret Santa. Hopefully I will be emailing you all later tonight or tomorrow with who you will be buying for. I think we are all going to have a lot of fun and get some lovely little gifts!

I love my new boots but I’m a bit annoyed that I ended up spending so much completely unplanned and on a whim. Do you ever end up spending by ‘accident’? Are your impulse buys successful?

My word I feel like I have not stopped today, just been so busy at work! At least it makes the time fly by.

As I had an evening meeting to attend I decided to head to the gym this morning. I did 30 minutes of HIITs on the cross trainer, step machine and bike and 2 sets of my abs exercises finishing off with a plank that nearly killed me. I rushed home and made myself this delicious Chocolate Cherry Green Monster (frozen cherries, spinach, chocolate whey, soy milk) in a bowl and topped with two tablespoons of Dorsets Cereals Berries and Cherries Muesli.


Loved this, will so be using muesli for topping my smoothies more often! Lots of crunch and chew! Lunch was a bowl of Lentil and Spinach Soup followed by some strawberries.


I had more work meetings in the afternoon. As soon as I was finished I snacked on an apple and two babybel light.


I had a break between meetings so headed to Tesco for a quick mid week shop. Wish I could have headed to Lidl for some bargains but didn't have the time! I had my evening meeting and was so glad to get home and chill. I made myself one of my homemade Bean and Salsa Burgers out of the freezer with a big mixed salad including spinach, mixed leaves, red onion, carrot and cucumber and a blog of ketchup on the side.


For desert I decided that I quite fancied a 3 Minute Oatmeal and Raisin Cookie. I topped it with cashew butter and had a chopped apple on the side.


Warm cookie and melty cashew butter -so good!

I have a few outfit pics for you now! I received my ebay bargain vintage top in the post and I am over the moon with it. Its really good quality and has a lovely loose fit and none of the yucky smell some second hand clothes come with.


I loved the little label - 'Sing and Smile'. I tried it on with these topshop high waisted trousers. What do you think? (Please excuse the shiny fore head I'd just got in from work!)


I also had a dressy up session trying to decide what to wear for my cousins engagement party on Saturday evening. Usually I would have gone out and bought a brand new dress but due to my Budget Challenge I knew I needed to wear something I already own. I think I'm going to go for this purple silky shift dress and my fab sky high heels from Dune.



What do you think?

Huge big thank you to everyone who commented on yesterdays post, I'm even more excited about next weeks trip after hearing about some of the fab places I can go! I don't think I'll be able to visit them all but I'm going to damn well try!

Right I'm off to watch Gok Wan - what do you make of 'How to look good naked?' He's doing a guy tonight which should be interesting! Hope your all having a good week x

Hello guys, hope the week is treating you well! Of course I am back today for another WIAW!

These are my eats and goings on from yesterday. I had a work meeting mid morning and was working from home around that, so I thought I’d get a run in first thing with having a bit more time. As I missed my long run at the weekend I had considered running it yesterday, but I just really did not have the motivation. I am struggling a bit with my long runs at the moment, especially when the weather has been so poor! Before I left I had my warm water and lemon and half a banana for some fuel:

I managed to do just under 6.5 miles which I was really pleased with. I have no problem doing shorter distances like 3 or 4 miles but when it comes to the longer ones I’m finding it very difficult to get motivated.

I am going to try and power through, but I’m also considering taking a little long distance running break as well as taking some of my own motivation advice! I am well prepared in terms of training for the Great North Run Half Marathon and that’s not until September so I can afford to relax things a bit. Last thing I want to do is burn out mentally or physically. Any way, I did cheer myself up with an amazing breakfast:

I made a thick socca pancake using 1/3 cup of gram flour, cinnamon, vanilla stevia, a pinch of baking powder and 1/2 cup of water. I fried that in my little pan and it turned out brilliantly. I topped it with a tbsp of almond butter and the other half of the banana. I also made a smoothie with 1 cup of unsweetened soy milk, 2 peaches and some frozen blueberries which was absolutely lovely. Of course there was also coffee!

Then I got ready to head out for my meeting, OOTD:

Trench style coat: Warehouse, basic tee: H&M, necklaces: Warehouse, ring: Topshop, black ankle length trousers: Zara, cream flats: Next, bag: Accessorize

I’m so in love with that coat! Its a really flattering fit and is good for the unfortunate rainy weather we’ve been having.

I got home at lunch time and made myself a tasty salad:

This contained romaine, cucumber, red pepper, red onion, black beans and half an avocado. After that I got settled down with my laptop but not long after I was starting to get hungry again so I made a Mocha Protein Frappe:

The best thing about working from home is having access to my blender! I just whipped up some ice, chocolate protein powder, instant coffee, cocoa powder, water and a pinch of xanthan gum with some stevia to sweeten. It turned out so creamy and give me a great afternoon lift!

Even though I’d worked out in the morning I was registered for my Body Pump class and since I was feeling pretty good I didn’t want to miss it. I made sure I had a decent late afternoon snack to fuel me up:

2 wholegrain rice cakes topped with 2 tbsp Peanut Butter & Co Smooth Operator (i.e. the best peanut butter in the world) and a sliced pink lady apple. Then I was off to Body Pump and surprisingly I was full of energy – perhaps thanks to that mocha! I had expected the class to be a killer but I was ok and only dropped my weights for the back track, although when I actually did it I think I could have easily managed my normal weights, win! Still loving the new squat and lunge track too :-)

I’ve been having a serious craving for a good bean burger recently so while I was making my lunch earlier I’d decided to make some ready for dinner. When I’d actually made them I thought they were a total recipe fail, they were very ‘wet’ and I didn’t think they’d hold together at all. I baked them before I left for body pump thinking they would need quite a while in the oven to be edible but they actually turned out fantastically!

I had one in a Food Doctor seeded pitta with spinach and ketchup along side half a baked sweet potato. Talk about hitting the spot, this was so good!

After dinner I had a little sweet snack of some raw chocolate covered goji berries and a sliced persimmon:

A little later, as is my normal eating pattern now, I had a big Cherry Vanilla Sea Salt Protein Smoothie in a bowl!

Yes I’m still enjoying these, but sans Popchips topping as unfortunately I have ran out!

I also had a big mug of Kuricha tea:

Enjoyed while I crashed out on the sofa and the day caught up with me! Throughout the day there was also lots of water and plain green tea of course :-)

I was really surprised at the level of energy I had considering how much I’d worked out, and equally surprised at how well those bean burgers turned out, a couple of unexpected wins! As for the running motivation, well I’m trying not to be too negative about it all. I think I’ll be seeing how I go and keep my fingers crossed for some sunshine!

When did you last have an ‘unexpected win’? How do you deal with lost motivation?