Hi guys, happy Friday! Hope you’ve had a fantastic week. I’m flying high as a kite right now as I got this fab delivery of vegan cakes!

Some of you might remember me mentioning that at last weeks tea party the caterers had promised vegan cakes but had let us down. This lunchtime the manager called into our office with this box of vegan treats to say sorry. How sweet is that? They included oatmeal cookies, orange mini cup cakes, almond viennese swirls and a slice of sticky toffee pudding (I’m saving that for later). I shared them with my colleagues and they tasted amazing! What a great treat for a Friday afternoon :-)

I’ve really been enjoying my green smoothie challenge and healthy feasting this week and feel miles better for giving myself a little break from caffeine and refined sugar, at least until those cakes showed up! There have been some delicious salads:

Chickpea and quinoa with veggies and green goddess dressing

Baked tempeh with veggies and tahini dressing

Last night I made a big pan of roasted courgette, pepper and red onion and had that with some of the baked tempeh and tahini dressing:

This was seriously good for such a simple meal! I’ve also been snacking on lots of fresh fruit and nuts as well as coconut butter and tahini to keep those fat levels up. For a snack I made a fab chocolate chia pudding with strawberries for more healthy fat action:

This was 2 tbsp of chia seeds, 1 tbsp of raw cacao powder, water and agave. So good!

I won’t list all of this weeks workouts but its been the usual apart from Tuesday as I was working late and couldn’t make Body Pump I did level 3 of the 30 Day Shred and this challenging 30 minute vinyasa flow which was great!

As I said I’ve been loving the Green Smoothie Challenge. I’m going to save pics for a wrap up in Sunday’s post – I’ve got recipes for Chocolate Ginger Pear, Chocolate Cherry Almond and Strawberry and Peanut Butter smoothies coming up for you, and they are amazing! If anyone has any posts they’d like me to link too leave me a comment or email me :-)

March wrap up

I can’t quite believe that another month is almost over but it really has been a good one. I love doing these little monthly reviews and goal setting as I find it very motivational to focus on what I have achieved and to set my intent for the coming month. In March I have:

• Had my tattoo done
• Enjoyed more yoga at home including trying out some different you tube videos
• Progressed some work towards getting my community business off the ground including scheduling some important meetings.
• Gained a several lbs! 
• Stuck to my new strict grocery budget
• Have given the flat a good de clutter and spring clean (although I’ll be doing more of that this weekend)
• Started doing planks again as part of my workouts and improved my push ups
• Became a member of the Diary Free Dream Team!
• As of today, became the owner of a brand spanking new iPad 3!

My tattoo was the first very early 30th birthday gift to myself, and now I’ve got my iPad! I’ve wanted one forever and had enough saved up already so thought I’d get one now. Makes saving that money on groceries and clothes all worthwhile!

Update on ‘lady problems’

Pinterest, I love you but you but I’ve accepted I ain’t ever going to look like that (source)

I haven’t seen any major improvement in that area but I really feel like the reduction of long periods of intense exercise (running over 4 miles) and my weight gain (I currently weigh over 21lbs more than I did in August last year!) has me on the right track. I know some of you will have noticed that I’ve become much more relaxed around my eating than I used to be. The fear of gaining weight and ballooning up is slowly subsiding as I have started to accept that I’m never going to have that skinny, muscular physique or bikini body and be healthy at the same time.  Some women can look great that way and be perfectly healthy but that just isn’t natural or sustainable for my body. Positive comments from James, my friends and family and you amazing people have really helped me too. It hasn’t been easy though and there has been the weekend evening snackies / overeating stuff to deal with as well as a few tears as I got rid of a lot of clothes now too small for me. However I’m more determined now than ever to try and forget what society dictates is healthy in terms of weight, size and appearance and instead honour my body as best I can. Now that my BMI is over 23 its a case of playing a waiting game hoping that my body will trust me enough to start functioning again as it should. I’m planning some more posts on this as well as how to gain weight in a healthy way as I’ve had some emails requesting them and I think its a really important topic to highlight so stay tuned!

Goals for April

source

• Enjoy some baking, cooking new recipes and try my hand at making proper bread with yeast
• Spend lots of time with my family and friends over Easter
• Maintain my current weight
• Get booked on to / do my food hygiene training
• Arrange my first healthy eating workshop with a community group (eeek!)
• Have fun with my iPad!
• Start extending my weekend runs to 10k in anticipation of Great North Run training

This weekend is going to be a baking, cooking and general domestic goddess weekend! I really want to try my hand at baking some bread so fingers crossed it will turn out ok! I’ll also be doing some experimental cooking for Easter that will hopefully result in a couple of new recipes here on the blog. Of course I’d like to maintain my weight while still enjoying a more relaxed attitude to eating. I also need to update my food hygiene training before I can start delivering my healthy eating workshops so I’d love to get that done, and hopefully as a result of linking with some of my contacts I’d like to have my first ever workshop booked in! The final goal is to gradually increase my mileage on my weekend runs. Despite those lady problems I’m registered to do the Great North Run for the third time this year and its something I’d still like to achieve. However I will be taking a much more relaxed approach to training and the race itself, enjoying myself will come before trying to get another PB!

Now on to the weekend send of love list…

Reiki stones in my water bottle!

My manager at work is a Reiki Master and has charged some red jasper stones with healing energy for me. She suggested putting them in my water bottle. I’m not sure if I’m 100% sold on reiki but it won’t do me any harm! I have to say its pretty awesome to have a Reiki Master as your boss, she gave me a guided meditation this afternoon too, love my job! Also…

This fab new blog discovery Messy Nessy Chic // The weather!!! Its been incredible this week // wearing my new pink sleeveless top from H&M // getting the summer sandals out of the cupboard

What have you been loving this week? How has March been for you? Do you have any goals for April?

Hi Everyone, I'm blogging this morning with a slight hangover but I've been looking forward to telling you all about last night!

Just a quick update on yesterday. I had my weekly weigh in and I've lost 2 lbs since last week so I was really chuffed. That puts me back at 9st 13 (139 lbs). I wouldn't mind losing a couple more pounds next week in preparation for my holiday but I've decided that I'm not going to stress it, especially considering what I ate and drank last night!

I headed to the gym yesterday morning and did 20 mins of cardio on the cross trainer and step machine followed by my free weights session as described in my June training plan. I had a great workout and tried out a new exercise - wood chops with medicine ball, I was really impressed with how much this worked my core muscles, particually my waist. I can really feel that workout this morning I've got DOMS across my whole upper body.

We had a big community event on at work so I got myself ready really quickly while chugging this smoothie (spinach, vanilla whey, frozen mango, frozen blueberries, kara coconut milk) down my neck.

Not a very pretty colour but really tasty!

As we were holding our community event I took along a few snacks for during the day - an apple, orange and Nutty 9 Bar.

I also ordered a turkey salad from the cafe that was doing the catering for the event, it wasn't anything special unfortunately, just 3 slices of deli turkey, cucumber, red onion and shredded iceburg lettuce. It was eaten in such a rush I never got a pic!

After work I went to my hair dressers appointment. I haven't had my hair cut since December so it was desperate for a trim. I love my hairdressers as they have a massage chair and give you a head massage while washing your hair too. They even now serve Tea Pigs tea! She did a lovely job of my hair, its not much different to how it was before, just minus the dead ends and plus a few layers.

I rushed off to my friend Charlies and we got ourselves dolled up for our night out! The evening was amazing. We both had such a brilliant time and the food and drink was fantastic. The NewcastleGateshead EAT food festival is two weeks of activities across the two towns including farmers markets, resturant events, a cupcake fair etc. The event last night was the launch of the festival and was held in the beautiful Victorian Saltwell Park in its Saltwell Towers building. The weather was lovely last night so there was lots of tables outside.

We started off with an organic Wagyu Beef Burger from a local farm in Northumberland. I had mine in a wholegrain bun with fried onions, slice of tomato, fresh salsa, spicy onion relish, organic tomato ketchup and shredded lettuce.

It was probably the most delicious burger I've ever had!

Everything during the evening was all included so we helped ourselves to a few glasses of wine - I had a few glasses of a lovely fruity red. There was a bar with a proper mixologist making up cocktails. We had this amazing cocktail called Bitter n Twisted.

I think it contained gin, lemon juice, some apple liqueur and sugar syrup. There was something sweet and sticky around the rim of the glass as well. Very alcholic but amazing! He also made some cocktails using a locally produced Sloe Gin sorbet. I'm not sure what else he added to this but it was beautiful.

We also sampled some tofu noodle broth from a local asian resturant called Barn Asia. They poured some broth over these little bowls and we ate it with chop sticks and then drank the broth.

This was fantastic! I'm definitely going to try and re create this at home. The broth was very fragrant and spicy.

We sampled some Cuban food - not sure what was in these balls but they were delicious, the other crackery things were a bit too fishy for me.

During the evening we also got to sample various canapes including Chicken Terrine, Pea Mousse with Coconut Cream, Cream Cheese with Chive Flowers and Mackerel with Chilli Jam. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance for a pic. I also tried a danish pastry iced bun and some fruit sticks from a Mad Hatters Tea Party Stall.

We also tried some of the most amazing cupcakes ever. We shared this big one, iced like a rose and the little one, as well as several other small ones.

The red velvet cakes were just fabulous. I could have ate hundreds of these, I'm glad theres no cupcake shops near me or I'd be 20 stone in no time!

Before we headed home we tried a glass of Light Ale from a local brewery in Wylam.

This had a lovely light taste and wasn't too strong. When I got home I enjoyed this bag of chocolate coins before going to bed.

A perfect way to end a perfect evening! We both said that we will definitely be coming back next year.

We had a brilliant time!

As I said at the begining of the post I'm suffering for it a little this morning! I still have my cold as well, although I'm much better, thanks for all your lovely comments to my last post. Today I'm going to make a start on packing for my hols as well as doing loads of laundry. Tomorrow, my Aunt and Uncle are coming up from Brighton so I'm having dinner at my parents (yet another reason why I'm not stressing on the weight loss for next week!) I'm also guessing that the weekend will involve lots of football, you can't really avoid it can you! I don't mind it that much, I just hope that England do well. What do you have planned for the weekend? Hope whatever your doing you have a good one!

I am now the proud Auntie of baby Daniel William who was born this evening weighing 7lb 15 ounces. I’m so chuffed, I can’t wait to see him tomorrow!

My word it feels like I haven’t stopped today! I was up nice and early this morning to get a big grocery shop in. When I got back from shopping I made a lovely breakfast – a huge bowl of blackberries and a chopped apple with muesli, hazelnut and almond rice milk and some passion fruit.

 

I also made myself a pot of detox tea. A great start to the day! I received the call to let me know that my Sister had gone into labour so I thought I’d whip up a quick batch of basic ‘baby boy’ cupcakes ready to give her as a gift once the baby had arrived. These are just a very basic recipe from the cookbook I got at Christmas but fingers crossed they taste good. None for me as these aren’t vegan and are full of sugar, I was proud I managed to resist cleaning the bowl out like I usually do!

A little while ago I saw a recipe on Choosing Raw and knew that I wanted to try it out. I have been loving this blog recently for interesting recipes. For lunch I made some Cashew Ginger Nori Wraps:

I followed the recipe for the cashew pate exactly but just used one cup of cashews. I used ribbons of carrot and cucumber for the filling. The cashew pate is pretty high in calories and fat (good fats though!) but I only used about a third of the mixture for this wrap, and the nori and veggies are very low in calories themselves. I thought they were delicious and the cashew pate is so tasty! I served mine with the leftover carrot and cucumber made into a salad with some pomegranate seeds, toasted sesame oil, soy sauce and ginger. Yum!

During the afternoon I cooked up some millet for my grain of the week, roasted lots of veggies, left some almonds soaking ready to make almond milk and made a huge pot of my Leek and Greens Soup. There was a little left after I’d portioned this up ready for the freezer so I had a small bowl.

A little later after cleaning the flat I made an orange, cucumber, apple and mint juice inspired by a recipe in the Innocent Smoothie recipe book.

This was fabulous and so refreshing!

Dinner was an awesome salad:

Warm Butternut, Lentil, and Fig Salad (makes 2 servings)

• I medium butternut squash, peeled, chopped and roasted
• 1 tin of green lentils, drained and rinsed
• 2 dried figs, finely chopped
• 1 bag of salad leaves (I used rocket and mixed leaves)
• 2 tablespoons of pine nuts, toasted in a pan

Dressing:

• 2 tablespoons of oil of choice (I used my Cool oil)
• 1 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
• chopped basil or parsley

Combine the roast squash and lentils in a bowl. In a separate bowl or jar combine the ingredients for the dressing. Put some of the salad leaves on to a plate or bowl and top with the butternut and lentils then add the dressing and the toasted pine nuts. Enjoy!

This was lush! I thought I would miss having a bit of goats cheese or feta in there but I really didn’t. Delish!

Dessert was two chocolate avocado cups from the freezer with a sliced pear, cinnamon and agave syrup drizzle:

So yummy! I adore these chocolate cups – a great healthy chocolate hit.

Thanks for all your comments regarding sports bras yesterday! Shock Absorber definitely seemed to be most peoples favourite sports bra brand. If anyone is interested Dorothy Perkins are offering £5 off the Shock Absorber range they stock (I hadn’t realised that they stock them!) follow this link for more details.

I really enjoyed making my ‘sushi’ today. Have you ever tried making your own sushi or have you used nori before? I’m going to try using nori for wraps more often instead of bread or my usual egg white wraps. I think it would taste good with hummus and veggies!

I really can’t wait to see my new Nephew tomorrow! Hope your all having a great weekend :-)

Hello! Hope you have had an awesome weekend. I have had an excellent one, I’ve been so busy and have enjoyed so many things :-)

My weekend started as most of them do now days with a run. After last weeks wonderful 13.1 miles I decided to drop my mileage back a bit and do a different, more hilly route. I did 9.2 miles in 1hr23 with an average pace of 9.03. That’s only a second off last weeks pace, and as this route is a lot more hilly I was pretty chuffed. It was a strange run, I had to stop and remove a layer as I was too hot, then I got too cold, I almost tripped over crossing the road and my iShuffle kept flying off, very frustrating!

Today has been a rest day and I feel like I’ve needed it! I’ve enjoyed some blissful time in the kitchen this weekend too. Tasty eats have included this post run green smoothie:

This contained red lettuce, frozen banana, two peaches, scoop of fruit-ein powder, maca, mesquite, spirulina, coconut water, xanthan and guar gums. I topped with a sauce made from peanut flour and maple syrup, pomegranate seeds and coconut shreds. So tasty even though the spirulina turned this a horrid colour!

For dinner yesterday I made a Thai Green Tofu and Veggie Curry using up some thai green curry paste I had stored in the freezer. I just stir fried some pressed tofu I’d marinated in mirin and shoyu then set aside while I fried aubergine, yellow pepper and asparagus with the curry paste and some fresh ginger. I then added some reduced fat coconut milk, the tofu and simmered for a while. I served with spinach and brown and wild rice:

This was delicious, I loved the aubergine as it absorbed all the curry, yum!

This morning I made a fabulous bowl of Cacao-Coco Berry oatmeal using Carries technique of cooking the oatmeal in 2.5 times the amount of water in the microwave. I added some stevia and coconut extract then poured it over some fresh blueberries and mixed frozen berries and then topped with a big spoonful of Artisana cacao bliss, more berries and toasted coconut:

This was one of the best bowls of porridge I have ever had! It was just so delicious and voluminous. The cacao bliss melted in to the oats, yum!

Today we were off to my parents to a family party for my Aunt and Uncle coming up from Brighton and my Nephews 3rd birthday. I made a lovely couscous salad to take with me:

Jewelled Couscous Salad (vegan, serves 2-3 generously, adapted from recipe in Leon: Naturally Fast Food)

• 1/2 cup of barley couscous
• 1 tsp of vegetable bouillon
• 1/2 cup of hot water
• 1 tin of green lentils, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cucumber, finely chopped
• Large bunch of parsley, finely chopped
• Seeds from 1 pomegranate
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil (I used my cool oil)

In a large bowl combine the dry couscous with the vegetable bouillon and hot water. Cover and set aside. When the couscous has absorbed the water fluff up the couscous and then add the lentils, red onion, cucumber, parsley and pomegranate seeds. Mix well. In a separate bowl combine the lemon juice, garlic and oil, pour over the salad and mix again. Serve warm or chill in the fridge, will keep nicely for 2 – 3 days:

I had this with lots of salad greens, hummus and veggies, so tasty and very filling! I also made some Coconut and Vanilla Cupcakes:

These are the Golden Vanilla Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World but subbed with whole wheat flour and natural caster sugar. They turned out perfectly! I made some coconut icing using my own recipe:

Coconut Cream Icing (vegan, will ice one large cake or at least 16 small cupcakes generously)

• 1 pack of firm silken tofu
• 3 tbsp of agave syrup
• 3 tbsp of coconut flour
• 3 tbsp of desiccated coconut
• 1 tsp arrowroot powder
• 1 tsp of coconut extract

Add everything to a food processor and blend! Transfer to a bowl and chill in the fridge before icing (I made this the day before and left in the fridge overnight) I had been planning on using my new piping bag but decided to leave that challenge for another day!

After icing I dipped these in some toasted coconut for decoration. This icing would also taste great on banana bread or carrot cake, nom! These tasted so good, the cupcakes were light and fluffy and the coconut icing was so moreish!

To use up some greens in the fridge I made a green smoothie for dinner with cos lettuce, spinach, frozen cherries, cocoa powder, soy milk, mesquite, stevia, xanthan and guar gums and topped with cacao nibs, gojis and peanut flour sauce:

This was a beast and had to be poured into one of my mixing bowls! Soo good :-)

I have not only one but two OOTD’s this weekend! Last night we went to see one of James favourite guitarists, Aynsley Lister play an acoustic set in a small local venue:

Floral top: Forever 21, white vest: Topshop, tan leather belt: Topshop, skinny jeans: H&M, sandals: New Look, bag: Mango, bangles: various, gold bird earrings: Accessorize.

I decided to go for a bit of a boho look. The gig was really good, we even got to chat to Aynsley before he went on stage, he was a really nice down to earth guy, love feeling like a groupie!

Today’s OOTD for the tea party:

Swallow earrings: vintage shop, cream cardy: Zara, floral tea dress: Forever 21, skinny jeans: H&M, ‘pumpkin’ bag: H&M, wedge boots: Florence and Fred@ Tesco

Do you like cupcakes? What’s your favourite cupcake flavour? I had a peanut butter cup one once which was amazing, and I loved the Hummingbird Bakery Red Velvet Cupcakes too! My coconut ones were so easy to make I can see myself enjoying lots more vegan cupcakes in the future!

Have you enjoyed your weekend? I have an extended weekend as I have tomorrow off work to spend with my Mam and Auntie – I’m really looking forward to it. Hope you have a great week ahead :-)