Happy Wednesday everyone, only one more day and we are officially into the Christmas countdown! I’m so excited!

Thanks again to Jenn for hosting the WIAW party! These are my eats and happenings from yesterday. I got up and did my usual Tuesday morning yoga – I did the Yoga for Runners 20 min podcast while trying to wake up! I drank some warm water with lemon juice while I was getting ready then made breakfast:

I had a wonderful kabocha squash smoothie (roast kabocha, vanilla sun warrior protein powder, ice, hemp milk, cinnamon, ginger) topped with shoyu roasted squash seeds, buckwheaties and maple syrup. I also had a delicious Vanilla Nut Teeccino with some stevia and hemp milk. I love Teeccino – this was a new flavour from iHerb, its caffeine free you brew it up just like coffee, its well tasty!

I decided to wear some of my new clothes I got at the weekend, OOTD:

New mustard yellow coat: New Look (half price), new wool snood: Primark, basic grey tee: H&M, black ankle length trousers: Whistles, cream flats: Next.

I had seen a very similar coat in Warehouse that I loved but when I saw this in New Look almost exactly the same and half the price I snapped it up! I’m in love with the scarf too, so warm and cosy!

I had a morning of meetings at work so by the time I got back to the office at 11am I was starving! I had some chopped veggies with some Red Pepper, Cashew and Mesquite raw dip and a pink lady apple (that turned into 2 apples as I was still so hungry!)

Red Pepper, Cashew and Mesquite Raw Dip (adapted from Kristen’s recipe, makes about 3 servings, vegan, raw)

• 1/2 cup of cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
• 1 large red pepper, de seeded and roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp of mesquite powder
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• Pinch of salt

Transfer all ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth, store in the fridge.

This would also be delicious as a salad dressing, spread on some crackers or in a wrap!

For lunch I decided to have something a bit different. A while ago I’d ordered these raw coconut wraps from Viva Pure. I filled them with some carrot ribbons mixed with tahini and raisins. I had more filling left over so I also made a couple of wraps with some nori (I keep some nori in my snack drawer at work now as every so often I get a craving for it and its handy for wrapping stuff in!):

These were so delicious! The coconut wraps had a nice texture and very mild coconut flavour. The carrots, tahini and raisins went surprisingly well with the nori too! These were also pretty filling, I had a Nakd bar with me as an afternoon snack but I didn’t feel hungry at all which is practically unheard of for me!

After work I headed to the gym. I did 20 minutes of HIITs on the cross trainer and step machine (10 mins each) and as I had some time I did 10 minutes on the rowing machine at a steady state before my body pump class. It was a good class but I am so ready for the new release!

Dinner was something I’d made at the weekend ready for a quick mid week meal – Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chilli!

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chilli (based on my Veggie Chilli recipe, vegan, makes 3 medium servings or 2 large)

• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 peppers, chopped (I used a yellow and green pepper)
• 1 courgette, chopped
• 2 sweet potatoes peeled and chopped into small pieces
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup or 1 tin of cooked black beans (I cooked mine from scratch)
• 1 tsp of hot chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp of ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper

Begin by frying the onion and garlic in a little oil over a medium heat. Once the onions have softened add the peppers and courgette. Continue to fry for a further 2-3 minutes then add the sweet potato. Add the tinned tomatoes plus a little hot water if needed to cover the vegetables. Cover the pan and simmer for 15 minutes or so until the potato is tender. Add the beans and spices – adjusting amounts to your desired spiciness! Serve.

I got 2 large portions and one small portion out of the recipe. I had one of the large portions with some spinach and it was lush. The perfect comforting meal on a cold night! I also served it up in my pretty new bowl as I managed to smash my old favourite ‘pasta, salad, rice’ bowl! I was quite taken with the little hearts on this one and it was on sale :-)

For a bit of a dessert I made a bowl of protein ice cream with 1 scoop of peanut butter swirl spirutein, ice, water and stevia and topped it with peanut flour sauce and cacao nibs:

So so good! A bit later I had a nice big mug of cococardio while reading up on allotments!

In addition to that I also drank loads of water and lots of green and peppermint teas, I was so thirsty!

I think yesterday is a good example of how I’ve been trying to eat a bit more intuitively, I probably didn’t eat that much today compared to what I do usually but I was listening to my body. I ate that extra apple because I wanted to and didn’t eat the nakd bar just for the sake of it. In the past I’ve eaten according to my meal plan and at set times without really tuning into my bodies needs and that’s something I’m really trying to balance out. Now I’m becoming more comfortable eating more when I feel my body really needs it (rather than because I’m bored or stressed) and likewise I’m also trying not to eat just for the sake of it because its ‘time’ or because I have food available. I know that today I could have risked being low on energy for my evening workout but I feel like I know the signs when my body is really in need of more fuel and I was confident that I would have enough energy for my class.

Do you try and eat intuitively? What does eating intuitively mean to you? I know I’ve blogged a bit about this before – for me its something I’m constantly working on, some days I do well and other days I totally fail, but I know its worth the effort!

Hope your having a great week!

Big Budget Challengers, I’m going to be posting my final Big Budget Challenge round up tomorrow evening so if your doing a Big Budget post let me know and I’ll include you in the links!

Hello everyone, hope your having a good week so far. I don’t know about you but I’m definitely starting to enter holiday mode now even though I still have a week of work left. Tomorrow evening we have our big Christmas party and awards evening for the community groups and charities we support at work and then on Friday we have our staff Christmas party. I can’t wait!

These are my eats and happenings from yesterday! I got up ridiculously early to do my usual Tuesday morning yoga. I did Yoga for Runners and my word it felt good, my legs have been getting progressively tighter so it was nice to stretch them out!

OOTD: ‘Stag’ necklace: Primark, navy coat: New Look, stripy scarf: Accessorize, mustard yellow jumper dress: H&M, diamond patterned fishnet tights: Accessorize, black ankle boots: New Look

Breakfast was another squash smoothie, I just can’t get enough of these at the moment! It contained a mix of roast butternut and red kabocha, kara coconut milk, vanilla sun warrior protein powder, ice, cinnamon, ginger and ground flax. I topped it with some Bear Apple Pie Granola and some maple sugar:

I adore the maple sugar, its a new to me ingredient that I sneaked on to an iHerb order and its gorgeous! I’ve used it to make homemade maple nut butter too. I also had a cinnamon and hazelnut coffee with stevia and coconut milk.

Mid morning I snacked on some carrot, cucumber and the most delicious raw maca dip:

I made the dip following this recipe from Raw Living and it is amazing! It tastes like caramel – next time I’m going to add a pinch of salt for a salted caramel, yum!

For lunch I had a big salad with little gem lettuce, spinach, home grown alfalfa sprouts, braggs and some maple balsamic baked tofu:

I baked the tofu for Monday evenings dinner – it was marinaded in a mix of maple syrup, blueberry balsamic vinegar and shoyu and it tasted amazing! This salad could have really done with more veggies and a better dressing but my fridge was a bit lacking and I didn’t have time to knock up a decent dressing, it still tasted good but could have done with some extra oomph!

Mid afternoon I snacked on a little bag of blackcurrant fruit yu’s:

I won these in a giveaway the lovely Rachel was hosting and they were very tasty. They kind of reminded me of jelly tots for some reason!

I have to admit, at this point in the day I was starving. Work was busy so I had no time to nip out and find something to eat and my snack drawer was empty. I’m usually much better at planning my meals so that I have enough but today was a failure!

After work I hit the gym. Even though I was hungry I didn’t feel too tired. I did 10 min HIITs on the step machine and cross trainer (20 mins total) and then I had my Body Pump class. We did the new release – Body Pump 80 for the first time. It was good to be doing a fresh routine although a few of the tracks are pretty similar to the last release. I found the lunge track to be the most challenging!

For dinner I took the lazy option and had some steamed spring greens with tamari and ginger and a bowl of broth topped with two Linda McCartney vegan sausages:

Simple but tasty, and most importantly quick to make! I pretty much inhaled this :-)

For dessert I did my usual post body pump thing and made a bowl of protein ice cream, I just never seem to get sick of this! I made this bowl using a 1 1/2 scoops of smores spirutein powder, ice, water, stevia and the gums. I added an additional tbsp of cocoa powder to give it more chocolate flavour and topped with some chocolate covered sunflower seeds:

I also had another good handful of those chocy seeds, they are addictive! I finished the day with a big mug of cococardio hot chocolate with a dash of kara coconut milk:

Not a bad day but I was really annoyed at myself for not taking more food to work with me, I hate feeling that hungry and I was lucky that I had the energy for my workout and that the broth I had for dinner filled me up quite well. I’m now on a mission to re stock my snack drawer! Oh, and apologies for the shocking photos, we’ve had pretty much zero natural light so I’m resorting to the flash and my phone camera, very annoying!

Have you tried Body Pump 80? What did you think? Have you ever been stuck hungry with no chance of getting out to buy some food? Have you any Christmas parties to look forward to?

Happy Friday everyone! I’ve had a great day as I decided to take today off work for a ‘me day’. Last year I visited the November Farmers Market in Newcastle and really enjoyed it. I thought it would be great to go again and I wasn’t disappointed! I bagged (all organic) several kabocha squash, black kale, curly kale, rainbow chard and broccoli.

Photo from last years haul of beautiful veg

I also met up with the lovely Nicky for a coffee – we put the world to rights and talked all things squash over a Starbucks ;-) I have been spoilt this last week with two blogger meet ups (I met the wonderful Jess last week) and it has just reminded me how grateful I am for the friendships and support I have via blogging.

This weeks workouts have continued to be excellent. I’m finishing week 5 of my 6 week plan and I’ve increased my weights in my strength workouts again this week – I love the progress I’m making :-)

• Monday – AM gym workout, 5 minute warm up, 30 minutes strength – from Base Phase of Female Body Breakthrough, 15 minutes HIITs on treadmill
• Tuesday – AM Detox Challenge Flow Yoga Download 15 minutes, PM gym workout 20 minutes HIITs on cardio machines, Body Pump
• Wednesday – AM gym workout, 5k speed intervals treadmill, 30 minutes HIITs cardio machines, 2.30 minute plank
• Thursday – Anything goes workout! AM – 30 Day Shred levels 1&3 back to back followed by a bit of random yoga for 10 minutes
• Friday - AM gym workout, 5 minute warm up, 30 minutes strength – from Base Phase of Female Body Breakthrough, 15 minutes HIITs on bike

I’ve had some majorly tasty eats this week, and yes, I enjoy thinking up fun names for my smoothies ;-):

Banana Chocolate Beetroot Cake Smoothie, containing spinach, beet greens, raw beetroot, 1/2 frozen banana, chocolate hemp protein powder, water, ice, gums and muesli on top

Squash courgette banana bread smoothie containing kale, 1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 cup of roasted kabocha squash, 1 courgette, vanilla sun warrior, maca powder, spirulina, vanilla stevia, cinnamon, ginger, black strap molasses, ice, water, gums topped with almond butter, goji's and buckwheaties

My current favourite smoothie, eaten on Halloween and many times since – Creamy Pumpkin Squash Pie Smoothie. This bowl of utter awesomeness contained frozen pumpkin puree, roast kabocha squash, soy milk, ice, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla stevia, gums topped with maple syrup, buckwheaties, cinnamon, salty shoyu roasted squash seeds.

Yummy breakfast – Kashi Go Lean, frozen mixed berries, soy milk

 Chopped salad with tofu feta – courgette, carrot, red onion, beetroot, cooked pearl barley, tofu feta, parsley

Buddha bowl – steamed greens with shoyu, roast kabocha squash, edamame, wholegrain couscous, black sesame seeds

Delicious dessert – fresh organic pineapple, coconut flour sauce, freeze dried berries

Booja Booja Rum Sozzled Sultana Chocolate Truffles – heavenly!

The Creamy Pumpkin Squash Pie Smoothie, Tofu Feta and Booja Booja truffles in particular were gorgeous. I enjoyed the tofu feta, however it actually reminded me a bit more of cottage cheese so I’m now on a mission to create a tofu cottage cheese – I really fancy some with cherry jam and almond butter mixed in!

Booja Booja Mini Review

The Booja Booja truffles I’d been sent to review, and I was actually quite surprised at how much I liked them. I’m never sure when it comes to ‘alcoholic’ choccies – but these had the perfect balance of rum flavour and the most smooth truffle centre with chewy sultanas surrounded by a crisp shell. Booja Booja chocolates are all vegan, and they also do some raw chocolates as well. They are in my opinion the very best vegan chocolates I’ve ever came across – if your wanting to get a special Christmas gift for a vegan or someone with intolerances or allergies you seriously can not go wrong with these. The packaging is beautiful, and veganism aside, I would choose these over a box of Thorntons any day!

Have you tried any Booja Booja products? Their ice cream is on my must try list! Any plans for the weekend? If your in the UK do you have any Bonfire Night plans? I’m hoping to have a few people round for eats before heading to our local bonfire and fireworks display, I can’t wait!

Right, I am off to go roast some squash, have a great one!

Hey everyone, hope you're having a great Wednesday! I’m having a good week so far, I had another great healthy eating workshop at the community centre last night. As its Wednesday that can only mean one thing:

These are my eats and goings on from Sunday. I started the day with a very early run, we wanted to go to the cinema to see the Avengers movie and make the early showing so that meant an early start, no Sunday lie in for me!

As usual I had my warm water and lemon then got all suited and booted for some where around 6 miles of horribly cold and windy running. Even though I had two pairs of gloves on my fingers were numb and ached. I can’t say I enjoyed the run much but the hot shower afterwards was great! For breakfast I decided to indulge in a slightly unseasonal squash smoothie:

This is quite an autumn / winter type smoothie but considering the weather we’ve been having you wouldn’t guess it was May! I had a bag of roast kabocha squash in the freezer that needed using up so I’d defrosted it overnight and blended it with ice, two scoops of vanilla sun warrior, ground flax, cinnamon, ginger and a little vanilla stevia. Then I topped it with some of my raw tamari ‘roasted’ almonds, dried cherries, dried pear and maple syrup. It was divine! Then I needed coffee:

I had that mug x 2. It was the last of my vanilla coffee and I must buy some more, its Wednesday and I’m already having coffee withdrawals!

I thought I’d save some money on the expensive cinema snacks by taking my own. I had two large chopped carrots, home air popped popcorn, pretzels and some dried mulberries plus a bottle of water:

Those snacks kept me going nicely! The movie was awesome, James is a self confessed Marvel fan and it was geekasms all round! Once we got home I was pretty hungry so grabbed some rice cakes and topped them with red pepper hummus. I also had a pink lady apple:

A little later on I would have usually made myself a green juice but I have to admit I just couldn’t be bothered to clean up the juicer afterwards. I also felt like I needed something a bit more substantial so I made a basic green smoothie instead:

Spinach, banana, water and stevia. Quick and easy and hit the spot! I had two big mugs full.

Dinner was absolutely fantastic! I just had a couple of slices of baked marinated tofu, half a giant baked sweet potato topped with almond butter and lots of steamed broccoli with soy sauce:

For something pretty simple it tasted so good! Then for dessert I decided to treat myself to a bar of Raw Dark Mint Chocolate from The Raw Chocolate Company:

This chocolate is the bomb! I put it in the freezer for 20 minutes so it was hard and crunchy, very good indeed! After that I made myself a hot chocolate:

This was 1 1/2 scoops of cococardio with water and stevia. It was perfect for such a cold and blustery evening!

I’m pretty happy with my eats but I feel like I should have probably ate a bit more after running that morning. It is good to notice some different habits are forming though. Usually I would have just had one scoop of protein powder in my smoothie but after seeing how low the calories would have been I made sure I added the extra scoop and additional almonds on top to give it more saying power. I would also never ever have eaten a full bar of chocolate like that either. Even though those are small bars, I would have only allowed myself half. Boy did I enjoy eating the full thing! I think this shows me the difference between eating to lose weight and eating to maintain weight, and how for a long time I didn’t make that shift.

What’s your favourite cinema snack? Do you take your own or buy it at the theatre?

I absolutely loved that tofu, broccoli and sweet potato dinner! What’s your favourite simple but really tasty meal?