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Hi everyone, hope your enjoying yourself this Wednesday!

As always I’m joining in the WIAW party! These are my eats from Monday, I like to try and do different days for WIAW as I tend to eat different things / amounts depending on the day. I thought that since the theme is green this month I’d look at one of my green loves – green tea!

I got up and had my usual mug of warm water with lemon juice then tried to get as organised as possible before going to the gym. Every other week we have a team meeting first thing on a Monday morning so I need to get into work a.s.a.p. I made sure I had my lunch and snacks ready in the fridge and laid out my outfit for the day:

T shirt: Primark (only £3!), black skinny trousers: Gap, white vest: H&M, heart patterned socks: Accessorize, black exposed zip boots: New Look (not pictured)

That’s my current favourite tee, I love the summery print!

Then I headed to the gym. I started a new phase of Female Body Breakthrough starting with 5 minutes warm up on the cross trainer followed by strength training (including planks again!) and finishing with 20 minutes of HIIT on the step machine and bike. As I didn’t have time for a proper breakfast I made a very quick but extremely delicious vanilla protein frappe:

This was just ice, instant coffee, a scoop of vanilla sun warrior protein powder, a pinch of xanthan gum and water blended up. It was lush, cheaper and more convenient than Starbucks and was enough to satisfy my hunger and get me out the door. Once I was at work I made a big mug of green tea before the team meeting. After the meeting I had breakfast no 2:

A pink lady apple and a Gourmet Raw cacao cocobanana chocolate brownie plus you guessed it, another mug of green tea! I love that I can eat a brownie for breakfast as these are just so healthy. Lunch was a great salad based on my Confetti Quinoa Salad:

I mixed some leftover quinoa with hemp oil, apple cider vinegar, parsley and dried blueberries and added to a salad of cos lettuce, carrot and red cabbage. After lunch I had a green tea with chai.

For my afternoon snack I had brought some carrots and raw almond butter but I was feeling pretty hungry so when I saw a banana going spare in the kitchen I nabbed that too:

I also had yet another green tea!

Dinner was a big stir fry. I had picked up veggies from the green grocer at the weekend including choi sum and diakon. I also added some broccoli, carrot and mange tout to the mix along with a generous amount of the peanut lime sauce I’d made at the weekend and some leftover baked tempeh:

For a delicious dessert I had two plums topped with Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut butter plus a liquorice and cinnamon tea:

They were amazing! That Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut butter should come with a warning label its so addictive! The one time I don’t drink my green tea is in the evening as it does have a little bit of caffeine in it so I tend to go for my fave herbal blends.

I realised when I looked in my drawer at work that I may have a minor green tea problem:

I have a lot more at home too, at least I won’t be running out of that any time soon!

I started drinking green tea about 4 years ago and as of about 3 years ago I completely swapped my regular milky black tea for green tea. I love my spiced and herbal blends but some times I just want something that tastes neutral and fresh. The benefits of drinking green tea are numerous and include:

• High in catechins which have been shown to halt oxidative damage to cells
• Reduced risk for several cancers, including, skin, breast, lung, colon, esophageal, and bladder
• Can improve insulin sensitivity
• Can provide bone density benefits similar to exercise
• Promotes fat loss
• Increases exercise endurance

source

I always feel healthier for drinking green tea! As well as drinking as a tea, brewed and cooled tea makes a great liquid base for smoothies and even as the cooking water for grains like rice and oats to impart a delicate green tea flavour.

My favourite brands are:

• Clipper - my everyday green tea
• Clearspring’s Kuricha – has a lovely roasted taste and is very low in caffeine
• Pukka Green tea with chai
• Twinnings
• We Are Tea
• Cosy Tea jasmine and lemon green teas
• Teavivre loose leaf greens that I’m currently sampling
• Tea Pigs amazing matcha!

Are you a fan of green tea? Do you have a favourite type or brand?

Don’t forget to check out my Chocolate Hemp shake GIVEAWAY!

I’ve been feeling exceptionally spring like this week, we have been enjoying some amazing weather. All of a sudden I’ve started craving things like crisp green apples, refreshing smoothies (well I kind of always crave those), strawberries and asparagus. I can’t wait for the spring to really kick in!

Pretty sunrise!

This has been a good workout week:

• Sunday – AM outdoor run approx 3.5 – 4.5 miles, 30 minute power yoga flow
• Monday – AM 5 min cross trainer warm up, strength workout B from Base phase of Female Body Breakthrough, 10 min HIIT step machine, 10 min HIIT bike
• Tuesday – AM free style yoga, PM 20 min HIIT, Body Pump
• Wednesday – AM 5 min cross trainer warm up, strength workout A from Base phase of Female Body Breakthrough, 10 min HIIT step machine, 10 min HIIT bike
• Thursday – PM Yoga class
• Friday – AM 5 min cross trainer warm up, strength workout B from Base phase of Female Body Breakthrough, 10 min HIIT step machine, 10 min HIIT bike

My yoga class last night was really good, we did some tougher poses that really challenged me and left me feeling really stretched! Food wise I’ve been using up that magic mixture all week, firstly spread inside a herbed socca served with lettuce and alfalfa sprouts:

I also had some spread on home made raw juice pulp crackers with a pile of veggies for lunch:

I’ve also been using up some tins of Amy’s soup I’d been sent ages ago for review:

This was the vegetable and barley soup topped with sprouts and alongside some Lydia’s raw crackers. I also had a tin of the lentil and vegetable soup with blue corn chips on the side for dinner last night:

Both were pretty good for a tinned soup! Of course no week of mine would be complete without a green smoothie or two! I had a massive craving for one yesterday morning so made a light one in a glass to accompany my raw granola and coffee:

The smoothie contained spinach, alfalfa sprouts, a pear and a nectarine blended with water and a few drops of vanilla stevia. I had it along with a bowl of Living Intentions raw cacao granola and some home made almond milk. I also had a green smoothie post workout, a chocolate pear and ginger one made with the amazing new stevia sweetened Chocolate Hemp protein powder from Good Hemp, spinach, sprouts, pear, fresh ginger and topped with dried pear, buckwheaties and bee pollen:

Snacks wise I’ve been enjoying apple and carrot with raw tahini for dipping…

…nectarine and frozen raspberries with home made almond milk…

…and persimmons with raw matcha green tea cookies and a glass of almond milk:

The best raw milk and cookies ever!

Oh and I have to give a special mention to this amazing Gourmet Raw brownie I tried:

This is the Carob Hazelnut and it is amazing, tastes like Nutella in a bar!

On my weekend send off Love List this week…

Popchips! I loved these when I visited NYC and they are now available here in the UK. I was very kindly sent these to review and can’t wait to try all the varieties. They are available from these retailers. Also…

March arriving – and seeing the light at the end of winter // Pinterest – I’ve become even more obsessed this week! //Having a spring clean in my work office and feeling organised!

What have you been loving this week? Are you feeling full of the joys of spring yet?

First off I would like to say a massive thank you to for all the supportive comments to my last post. I’m pretty overwhelmed to be honest! I was so nervous about pressing the publish button but I’m glad I’ve been able to share my feelings and plans for the future. Thank you all so much for your support! I’m feeling very positive about all of these changes right now.

A couple of today’s grocery shop highlights – cans of coconut milk from the Oriental store at £1 each, purple potatoes (can’t wait to try these!) bags of dried mixed berries and dried apple pieces just 45p each!

Following on from things I’ve been treating this week as a kind of ‘transition’ week in my workouts. I haven’t started my new yoga classes yet and I’ve still done a couple of runs because I don’t want to stress my body out any more by throwing big changes of routine at it:

• Sunday – 5 mile treadmill run at steady comfortable pace, Kettlebell class
• Monday – Gym, 5 min cross trainer warm up, strength A from Female Body Breakthrough ‘Dial It In’ Phase, 20 min HIIT on bike
• Tuesday – 20 min Yoga for Detox, 10 min HIIT cross trainer and step machine, Body Pump class
• Wednesday – 5k treadmill run at a steady pace, 10 mins HIITs on cross trainer, step machine and bike
• Thursday – Zumba Exhilarate ‘Ripped’ DVD, planks, sit ups, push ups
• Friday -  Gym, 5 min cross trainer warm up, strength B from Female Body Breakthrough ‘Dial It In’ Phase, 20 min HIIT on step machine

I’ve enjoyed some lovely eats this week. I had a couple of late nights at work so I went with my trusty green smoothies when I got home:

Spinach, 2 frozen bananas, hemp milk, vanilla stevia, pinch of gums, water, ice, topped with dried figs, tahini and bee pollen. (I also put in a lot of add ins – maca, ground flax, chlorella tablets, pro biotic tablet)

Black kale, frozen cherries, chocolate sun warrior protein powder, tbsp of peanut butter, water, ice topped with a sauce made from peanut flour and cacao nibs plus the add ins above.

After Body Pump on Tuesday night I made an amazing chocolate peanut butter cup recovery smoothie:

This was 2 tbsp of Vega choc-o-lot powder, 2 tbsp of peanut flour, 1 heaping tbsp of crunchy peanut butter, water, ice, gums topped with cacao nibs. Yum!

I also busted out a Gourmet Raw brownie for dessert one night:

This was the Cacao Mint and it was delish! This tasted much more like a regular brownie than other raw brownies I’ve tried before, it had a lovely fudgy texture.

I’ve also had some super breakfasts:

 Vanilla protein chia seed pudding with banana, apricots, goji berries and honey plus a vanilla nut teeccino with hemp milk

Large bowl of Dorset Cereals muesli with apples and hemp milk plus a teapigs matcha green tea with manuka honey

Vanilla courgette bread oats (1/2 cup oats and oatmeal cooked stove top with water, grated courgette and vanilla sun warrior) topped with pecans, cranberries and maple syrup

For lunches and dinners I’ve had salads:

This was based on my Confetti Quinoa Salad – quinoa with red onion, cucumber, carrot, parsley, dried apricots, hemp oil, apple cider vinegar plus romaine lettuce and home grown sprouts. I had been hoping to add avocado but they didn’t ripen in time!

Today’s lunch! Spicy almond kelp noodles – raw green tea kelp noodles with carrot and courgette in a spicy sauce made from loads of home made raw almond butter, toasted sesame oil, coconut aminos (you could just use soy sauce), red chilli, ginger and sweet white miso topped off with a few goji berries, amazing!

My veggie loaf with some wonderful cauliflower mash and steamed purple sprouting broccoli, such a tasty meal!

In addition to those I’ve been snacking my little heart out all week. On Monday I bought a 200g bag of almonds and a 400g bag of raisins to snack on at work and they are almost all gone! I’ve also been eating carrots with lots of nut butter and home made raw kale chips.

Now I am feeling so ready for the weekend! Its my lovely Dad’s Birthday today (Happy Birthday Dad!) and my Sister’s tomorrow so we are going out for a bar meal to celebrate. I’m also going to finish up my ‘clean eating’ January tomorrow as I’ll be out for said meal, plus I need some coffee back in my life!

Tonight I’m going to relax by making a big pan of chilli (perfect for the cold night expected), roasting up those purple potatoes and watching movies on Netflix with a bowl of popcorn. Bliss! What do you have planned for your weekend? Hope whatever you are up to you have a good one!

Hello everyone, hope your having a great week! I can’t believe its Wednesday already. I thought for WIAW this week I’d give you a different day for a change, so this is what I ate on Sunday.

My eating on a weekend does differ from my weekday eating as I feel like I have a little more time to prepare things (such as juicing), plus I tend to eat a bit more on a weekend – being home and in the kitchen I can’t help it! I love Sundays for being able to enjoy a nice lie in. I got up at 8am (yes, 8am is a lie in for me!) and had the usual mug of warm water with lemon juice and a banana:

I headed to the gym for it opening at 9am and did a little over 5 miles on the treadmill just running at a nice comfortable pace. Then I went into the Kettlebell class which I’m still really enjoying! I’m trying to balance out my breakfasts a bit so that I’m not having as many green smoothies so I made up something a bit different post workout:

Protein Buckwheat Bowl (vegan, serves 1)

• 1/2 cup of raw buckwheat soaked overnight then drained and rinsed
• 1 scoop of protein powder of choice (I used vanilla sun warrior)
• 1 tbsp of ground flax
• Water or non dairy milk (enough to create a creamy consistency)

Combine all ingredients together in a bowl, adding a slow stream of water until a creamy texture is reached. Serve with fruit, nut butter or whatever your heart desires. I also added some maca and mesquite powder to mine and topped with a generous serving of tahini and Clearspring blueberry jam. It was utterly delicious, the jam and tahini went so well together! Buckwheat is also a great source of protein so even if you left out the protein powder and just used non diary milk it would be very nutritious. I also had a mug of black vanilla nut teeccino:

A bit later I was ready for some lunch. Last week I had been spent some samples from Gourmet Raw to review including these raw crisps: 

I made up a snack plate with some home made raw cheesy kale chips, Gourmet Raw red pepper crisps, carrot, cucumber and basil, hemp and pine nut pesto for dipping. I also had a pink lady apple on the side:

Those crisps were fantastic! They reminded me of those ‘squares’ crisps you can get, but healthy and much, much more tasty. I think I have a new addiction! You can get 10% off your first order from Gourmet Raw with code GR001, check it out!

Late afternoon I made my usual weekend green juice:

This contained cucumber, celery, parsley, ginger and lemon. I also had a large bowl of grapes.

For dinner I decided to make use of some brussel sprouts. I know they won’t be in season for much longer and I love them so much so I want to make the most of them! I made them in my favourite way – stir fried with maple syrup, pecans and cranberries. In fact I love them like this so much I thought I’d note down the recipe!

Maple Pecan Stir Fried Brussel Sprouts (makes 1 – 2 servings)

• About 2 cups of brussel sprouts
• 1/2 tbsp of coconut oil (or oil of choice)
• 2 tbsp of pecans
• 2 tbsp of dried cranberries
• 2 tbsp of maple syrup
• 1 tbsp of shoyu or soy sauce

Toast your pecans if desired in a dry pan over a medium high heat, set aside. Chop the ends of the sprouts and finely shred them with a knife or food processor. Heat the coconut oil over a high heat in a large pan or wok. Add the sprouts and stir fry for about 10 minutes until they have softened and started to turn brown and crispy. Add the maple syrup and shoyu and toss to combine. Continue stir frying for a couple of minutes so the maple syrup caramelises. Chop the pecans and add to the pan with the cranberries then serve:

I had the brussel sprouts alongside some parsnip chips and some grilled basil tofu. This was delicious! Without a doubt my fave way to enjoy sprouts.

For dessert I had half a bar of RAW Health Very Cherry Chocolate and three fresh apricots:

I also enjoyed a mug of my new licorice and cinnamon tea:

Before bed I snacked on some of these salted chocolate kale chips as they came out of the dehydrator:

So delicious, I have a big bowl full for a snack at work later today!

Does your eating differ on a weekend to how you usually eat during the week? In what way? I definitely snack more on a Friday and Saturday evening than during the week!

I’m in love with that Protein Buckwheat bowl, I really prefer raw buckwheat to cooked buckwheat. Have you tried buckwheat before, what did you think?