Hello my lovely friends, happy Friday! Its so nice to have reached the end of the week isn’t it?

I’ve taken the day off work today to be able to get myself sorted ready for our weekend at Kendal Calling with Alpro Soya! Check out my Tumblr for my festival style inspiration!

I’ve had some awesome runs over the last couple of days. Wednesday morning I did a 6.5 mile run with a few sprints thrown in the middle in 55.14 average pace 8.29 (awesome!) and today I did my long run due to being away at the weekend, and did 11 miles in 1.37 with an average pace of 8.48. Considering that I’ve had no rest days between that and the great 10 miler I did last weekend I think that’s pretty good!

I also got in a a quick yoga podcast and a great strength workout last night at the gym based on my amended New Rules of Lifting for Women routine, it was hard core, well at least for me!

I’ve been loving the green smoothie action as usual, in fact these and big salads are all I seem to be craving at the moment:

Post run Wednesday: Spinach, mixed frozen berries, strawberry hemp (can’t wait to review this, I love it!), maca powder, barley grass, ground flax, msm crystals, water, ice, stevia, xanthan and guar gums. Topped with Alara Goji muesli and some amazing drippy sunflower seed butter, nom!

Post run today:

Kale, frozen banana, 3 kiwi’s, 1 scoop of vanilla sun warrior, maca, mesquite, spirulina, msm crystals, ground flax, water, ice, gums, stevia. Topped with raw rain forest nut butter sauce, goji berries and freeze dried berries.

It was quite warm after my late meeting on Wednesday and I just wanted something quick, easy and satisfying so I made up another smoothie for dinner, although I resisted the urge to make it a green one!

This was pretty awesome! Apple and Watermelon Smoothie (apple, frozen watermelon, rice milk, agave, xanthan gum) topped with a lot of treacle granola and some PB&Co Mighty Maple PB. This was a wonderful combo! I made sure I added a lot of granola to satisfy me as well as going back to the kitchen and adding more plus some maple syrup!

Considering that yesterday’s breakfast was a bit random and mostly liberated from the freezer it was wonderful:

Frozen blueberries, rhubarb and orange compote, crumbled banana sunshine muffin and some Coconut Vanilla ‘Yoghurt’: 2 tbsp of coconut flour mixed with 1/2 scoop of vanilla sun warrior protein powder, dash of agave and water. The coconut vanilla yoghurt was a revelation, I’ll be knocking that up when I’m looking for a yoghurt like fix but don’t have any handy! It would have tasted even better made up a little in advance and then chilled.

I’ve been digging the salads again for lunch:

Cos lettuce, carrot, cucumber, red and yellow pepper, sugar snaps, crumbled RAW Health Intensely Italian crackers with some home made pesto dressing – I will be sharing this recipe soon, it is amazing!

Last night I raided the freezer for an easy option:

My simple dahl with wholegrain rice (from a quick cook pack) and steamed broccoli and spring greens topped with a sprinkle of mixed seeds.

Followed by a bowl of double chocolate protein ice cream topped with candy covered sun flower seeds:

1 scoop of chocolate sun warrior, 1 tbsp of raw cacao, water, ice, agave, stevia, xanthan and guar gums.

So I think I am just about set for the festival, we have our tent, sleeping bags, wellies, sunscreen (here’s hoping) toilet roll and baby wipes! I’ve also got a stash of fruit, veggies and snack bars along with these awesome little oatmeal jars inspired by Yack Attack and re blogged over on my Tumblr:

Each jar is filled with half a cup of oats, raisins, cinnamon, chia seeds and a pack of stevia powder. All I need to do is add some water before I go to bed and in the morning I should have some tasty overnight oats! Genius idea eh? Obviously I’ll also be hitting up the Alpro stand and filling up on their goodies. I’m really looking forward to my first ever festival!

Oh, and just to be fully transparent: I have been invited to the festival as a guest of Alpro Soya to blog and tweet about the event in general, I’m not being sponsored or paid in any way and all my opinions are my own (of course). I’ve always enjoyed and appreciated Alpro products so feel that linking with them is in line with my personal ethics :-)

As I said when I first got the invite I had been thinking about trying to find a smaller festival to attend this summer. I’m especially looking forward to seeing Blondie, The Cribs, Frank Turner, The Charlatans, Young Knives and local band Smoove and Turrell. James is really into his music (and has even started his own blog!) so I’m sure we are both going to have a fab time!

Have you been to a festival before? Any survival tips for me?

Hope you all have a great weekend and don’t forget to follow my Twitter and Tumblr for festival updates!

Well this has been one hell of a week! I’ve been so busy at work with an event on Monday, two evening meetings, a last minute funding bid to help write and interviews for a new member of staff, its been all go!

Obsessed with my stripey top at the moment!

Of course I’ve also had my exciting bits of news which have made the week go by a lot better. I managed to fit in most of my usual workouts:

• Sunday – Outdoor run – in set back week so didn’t track pace but about 4 miles
• Monday – AM gym workout, 5 minute warm up, 30 minutes strength – from ‘Define yourself’ phase of Female Body Breakthrough, 15 minutes HIITs on treadmill
• Tuesday – AM working late so did Davina Super Body DVD, Super Pump workout followed by Yoga Download Detox Challenge Flow
• Wednesday – AM gym workout, 5k speed intervals treadmill, 30 minutes HIITs cardio machines
• Thursday – Anything goes workout! AM – Yoga for Runners, PM Gym – 30 minutes random intervals on bike, 10 minutes HIITs on step machine, 10 minutes rowing, 100 stability ball crunches 
• Friday - AM gym workout, 5 minute warm up, 30 minutes strength – from ‘Define yourself’ Phase of Female Body Breakthrough, 15 minutes HIITs on bike

I was super happy this morning as I managed 8 full push ups! I had been neglecting this 2011 goal and thought I’d better start making an effort again! I did have a bit of an accident at the gym though – I fell off the stability ball while trying to do a prone jack knife (how tough?) and bashed my knee – the gym floor is basically concrete covered with a thin carpet, ouch!

As I’ve been working late I’ve been able to start work a little later in the day which means I’ve been able to enjoy a more relaxed breakfast! I had one of Maria’s pumpkin spice cakes with some sliced plums, Alpro Soya yoghurt, cinnamon and maple syrup:

That cake was delicious, thank you Maria! Another tasty breakfast included some sprouted wheat bread with almond butter sauce (almond butter mixed with apple and mango fruit puree) and a fruit bowl of apple, clemintines and plums:

That wheat bread is so good, it only has a single ingredient (sprouted wheat) and the serving I had there contains 10g of protein. It is so filling! I also had some bread for lunch with hummus and lots of veggies:

As I’ve been working late I’ve been hitting my failsafe late night meal of a green smoothie:

Tuesday night – spring greens, frozen strawberries, scoop of pb swirl spiru-tein protein powder, midori greens, berries powder, water, ice topped with roasted flax peanut butter, crumbled peanut butter puffins and some freeze dried berries.

Wednesday night – spring greens, blueberries, carob powder, hemp protein powder, midori greens, berries powder, water, ice, stevia topped with muesli and goji berries.

To keep me going at work this week I made a couple of portions of my I can’t believe its not M&S Whole Food Salad for lunches served on top of some spinach and red cabbage:

So tasty, I used kabocha instead of butternut since I still have mountains of the stuff!

For dinner these past two evenings I’ve had green lentils with onions, Linda McCartney vegan mini sausages, sweet potato with almond butter and roasted brussel sprouts:

I love sausages and lentils together, and the sweet potato with almond butter is heaven!

A tasty dessert was also had:

Frozen cherries topped with Alpro Soya yoghurt and peanut flour mixed with apple and mango puree and cacao nibs. I’m really loving frozen cherries right now!

Well I’m sitting here getting very excited for the weekend ahead! I have a nice relaxed evening and then tomorrow I’m hitting the town for some serious Christmas shopping! A couple of items for myself my just make their way into my basket too ;-) We are also planning on treating ourselves to Starbucks and lunch out. Can not wait! I’m also planning a massive cooking / baking session – I need some gingerbread in my life!

What do you have planned for the weekend? Have you tried any of the seasonal Starbucks coffees? Which would you recommend?

Hope whatever your up to you have a good one!

Happy Friday! I know its been a 4 day week but I’m still more than ready for the weekend. After all the rest I got over Easter I thought I would have went back to work on Tuesday with a spring in my step but its taken me a couple of days to get back into it. I think the fact that I’ve been working on a huge report hasn’t helped. At least I was able to work from home under the influence of a lot of coffee to give me a kick start:

 

My make shift desk plus epic amounts of strong black coffee!

After all the Easter eating and cooking my grocery budget is now non existent so I’ve been making use of leftovers and doing my best to use up the things we had already bought in. Last week I had treated myself to some of the new Alpro Pouring Yoghurt in Vanilla (was on offer in Tesco) so I’ve really enjoyed eating that this week! First up with fresh pineapple and my favourite muesli for breakfast…

…as a snack with frozen raspberries…

…and for breakfast again with strawberries, kiwi fruit and more muesli:

Its so delicious but is very sugary so its definitely a ‘treat food’ for me, but oh so good! I’ve also enjoyed a couple of green smoothies. This one contained spinach, pineapple, banana, vanilla sun warrior, maca powder, ground flax, water and ice then topped with kashi almond crunch and coconut:

As for using up leftovers I made a salad topped with some of the M&S roast veg and couscous salad from Easter Sunday lunch:

…and the leftover carrot and bulgar salad with veggies, home made raw crackers and sauerkraut:

For dinner I raided the freezer for a bag of home made chilli with soy mince and served it with some leftover balsamic roasted green beans:

Those beans are so good! I’ve also been using up my jar of Zest pesto in a big bowl of raw courgette ‘spaghetti’ with chickpeas:

Don’t be fooled, there was over 250 cals worth of pesto in that bowl, delish! I also raided Aldi for some of their super 6 cheap veggies. I got some broccoli that was on offer and also some sweet potatoes. Accompanied by home cooked adzuki beans from the freezer and a generous drizzle of tahini miso dressing it made the perfect cheap meal!

For sweet treats, my protein ‘ice cream’ has made a re appearance this week:

I made this with a scoop of smore’s spiru-tein protein powder, water, ice, stevia and xanthan gum then swirled in some raw cacao sauce made with raw cacao powder, water and agave. This tasted absolutely wonderful! I also treated myself to a peanut butter chocolate chip lara bar:

They are quite simply lush!

As for my workouts, they have been brilliant!

• Saturday – approx 5 mile run (still going garminless for now)
• Sunday – REST 
• Monday – AM 5 min cross trainer warm up, strength workout A from Dial it in phase of Female Body Breakthrough, 10 min HIIT step machine, 10 min HIIT bike
• Tuesday – PM, 30 minutes random cardio on gym machines, Body Pump class 
• Wednesday – AM 5 min cross trainer warm up, strength workout B from Dial it in phase of Female Body Breakthrough, 10 min HIIT step machine, 10 min HIIT bike
• Thursday – PM yoga class 1hr 15 
• Friday – AM 5 min cross trainer warm up, strength workout A from Dial it in phase of Female Body Breakthrough, 10 min HIIT step machine, 10 min HIIT bike

I just realised that I’d been saying I was doing the ‘Dial it in’ phase of Female Body Breakthrough for the last 4 weeks when it was actually the ‘Define yourself’ phase, doh! Anyway, this week I started the ‘Dial it in’ phase. Its great to be doing some different exercises again. This phase combines high weight low rep moves (like deadlifts) with low weight high rep moves (like single point rows) – I love the mix of this, it also means it suits me better as I only have limited equipment at the gym so can only lift as heavy as the weights we have available.

On the weekend send off love list this week…

My tattoo is completely healed now and looking great! I’ve been showing it off in my cap sleeve blue polka dot dress (H&M) along with my favourite floral scarf (New Look). Also…

Watching Enter the Dragon on TCM Wednesday night. I love how bad ass Bruce Lee is in that movie! // Drop Box – its made making working from home so much easier // the kindness of bloggers – Maria surprised me with a little parcel of green tea that she had going spare as she knows how much I like it :-)

How has your week been? Has it been easy getting back into the swing of things after Easter? What’s on your love list this week?

Oh and don’t forget to check out my Coyo Coconut Yoghurt GIVEAWAY!

Quick Blog update: I wanted to do a little update about the blog and the direction it's going in. In the future I am going to be doing some sponsored posts. I’m mentioning this because I want to be fully open and transparent about everything and I will be receiving some remuneration for these posts. I will be writing the posts myself and I will only be doing them on topics that I feel are relevant and in line with my own views and beliefs. All sponsored posts will be clearly marked as such. As I've blogged about before, I'm in the process of trying to establish my own business which isn't cheap to get going so any additional capital I can put towards it is going to be very helpful. It's also worth highlighting that so far I've chosen not to run Adsense, Food Buzz or other ad streams, the content of which I would have little control over. Instead I've taken inspiration from my fashion blogger friends and have looked for sponsors: healthy living brands I believe in, small businesses, as well as other bloggers looking to promote their sites. Anyway, I just wanted to be open about this and thank you all for your continued support!

Have a great weekend!

Hello everyone, hope your having a great week! I’ve just about recovered from my weekend at the wonderful Kendal Calling Festival. We had such an awesome time, the weather was perfect and I actually really enjoyed the whole camping experience!

  OOTD: orange sun glasses: New Look, strapless sun dress: Accessorize, pink scarf: gift, beaded necklaces: various, black leggings: H&M, tan cross body bag: Mango, wellies: Boules

Although the weather was good the grass was a bit damp so I stuck with the wellies, plus it meant that I didn’t get yucky stuff on my feet in the toilets!

The whole festival was just brilliant, we enjoyed drifting around the fields popping into the various tents and stages to enjoy some amazing music:

The Main stage where we enjoyed Chase and Status, Vintage Trouble (such a great band!), Young Knives, Beardyman and The Charlatans.

Riot Jazz stage:

We just enjoyed the complete randomness of the whole place! Loved the big sofas for seating and the beautiful fairy lights!

Kaylied Stage where we discovered two great bands, Molotov Jukebox (the lead singer is ‘Tonks’ from Harry Potter movies!) and The Worm:

We also loved wondering around the other little stands and stalls including the Vintage fair tent:

 

I almost bought a top and a bag but had ran out of cash!

Sailor Jerry’s bar:

I had a few Sailor Jerry’s with ginger ale and lime – my new fave tipple!

Of course we also spend a bit of time at the Alpro stand!

I ate a lot of yoghurt:

I think I tried every flavour, the cherry and blueberry were certainly my favourite. I also loved the vanilla and chocolate dessert pots. Both myself and James really loved the vanilla yoghurt with granola too, although the portion sizes were tiny…

So I kept going back for seconds… and thirds :-)

I also enjoyed a lovely back massage and we got our photo taken in the giant alpro bowl:

We had to shout ‘plant goodness’ hence the dodgy expressions on our face!

Speaking of food, I ate a lot over the weekend, especially as a vegan I was so well catered for!

Chickpea and spinach curry from a Nepalese cafe:

The most gorgeous peanut curry with veggies, tofu and rice from an Indonesian stand:

Lovely falafel with salsa, hummus, tahini and salad in a whole grain pitta:

Last but not least a huge Thali from a vegetarian Indian stand called Ghandi’s Flip Flop:

This included 3 different vegan curries, 3 pickles, rice and an unpictured poppadom, delish!

I did try and get some fruit and veggies in via fresh juice:

I loved this ‘multi vit’ combination of carrot, apple, cucumber and orange. My jars of overnight oats worked perfectly as breakfasts too! 

We just can’t wait to go back next year! Of course I have to say a big thank you to the guys at Alpro, all the staff on the stand were such good fun and how they managed to stay so chirpy at 8am I do not know!

Here’s to 2012 Kendal Calling!

What / who would be included in your perfect festival? I loved Kendal Calling but my dream festival would include a gypsy style caravan to camp in, all vegan food stands, yoga workshops, raw food cooking classes, photography classes, a vintage clothing fair stand with a personal shopper service, a poetry or literary tent, a sci fi costume theme and to really mix it up on the music front I would have the Foo Fighters, Lady Gaga and Jamie Cullum headlining!

Hope your having a great week!