Hi everyone, hope your having a wonderful Sunday. I’ve had the best weekend!

I enjoyed this lovely soya latte with raspberry syrup at one of my favourite cafes Intermezzo in Newcastle

I started the weekend with a quick run, as usual I just went out and ran with no idea of distance or pace, I think I probably did about 3.5 miles. When I came home I made a smoothie:

This contained spinach, cantaloupe melon, vanilla sun warrior protein powder, maca, ground flax, water and ice then topped with some Kashi crunch. I hadn’t been planning on starting my green smoothie challenge until today but I couldn’t help myself!

Then I got ready for my day out!

OOTD: floral jacket: Warehouse, striped dress: Tu @ Sainsbury’s, belt: Dorothy Perkins, black quilted bag: Topshop, tights: M&S, ankle boots: New Look

I was also excited to show everyone my finished tattoo!

I’m so happy with it, I know tattoo’s aren’t for everyone but I love them and this one means a lot to me. I’ll explain the meaning behind it soon! I think its pretty tasteful and delicate and I love the colours.

Once we got to town we went to Olive and Bean for a bit of brunch:

I had granary toast with peanut butter and jam and a large soy latte and James had the continental platter. You can’t beat good old peanut butter on toast sometimes!

After that we had a look round the shops and went to see The Hunger Games at the Tyneside Cinema. I think I’ve posted a pic of their screen before but I just love its old fashioned style so much:

I really enjoyed the movie and thought they did a pretty good adaptation of the book. I also indulged in a little budget friendly shopping, I got a neutral coloured blazer and a bright pink sleeveless top from H&M and a fab pair of boot cut jeans from a charity shop for £4! After that James got the train home and I went to my parents. Its my wonderful friend Kate’s 30th Birthday today so me and my other best friend decided to surprise her. I fancied a drink so thought I would stay at my parents which is closer. My friend Claire bought Kate this epic cake:

Oh and yes, I did enjoy one of those cupcakes and a large slice of the cake (of course it wasn’t vegan but I’m enjoying my more flexible approach to that right now) plus a few glasses of Cava, Southern Comfort and lots and lots of crisps and chocolate. We had a great time! I’ve been friends with those two for over 17 years and they are the best friends ever, we had such a laugh just chatting and catching up. This morning I paid for both the alcohol and the sugar with a nasty hangover, but nothing a green smoothie can’t fix!

That was a very cleansing green smoothie with spinach, chinese pear, celery, vanilla sun warrior protein powder, ginger, maca, ground flax, water and ice. Along with a pot of kuricha green tea it sorted me out a treat!

It was lovely that both my friends commented on how much better they thought I looked with a bit more weight on and they were happier that I seemed to be more relaxed about eating ‘unhealthy’ foods and enjoying myself :-) At the end of the day I have to keep reminding myself that I eat healthily 90% of the time and a few drinks and sugary foods enjoyed with my friends is one of life's pleasures!

Today I’ve just been enjoying chilling out. I made myself a lovely big salad for lunch with romaine, cucumber, red pepper, sprouts, basil tofu, olives and home of my green goddess dressing:

I just love that tofu!

So I have started my green smoothie challenge – one green smoothie a day for at least 7 days. As I was saying on Friday I just feel the need for them at the moment and after recent indulgences I think my body will appreciate it. Like I said if you’d like to join in the challenge let me know and I can link back to your posts. Here’s some green smoothie recipes for you and my ultimate green smoothie recipe. I’m also feeling very attracted to salads and simple Buddha bowls right now while at the same time really wanting to do some baking! I think I’ll be enjoying the baking next weekend :-)

Have you had a good weekend so far? Do you have a favourite cinema or cafe? What kind of foods are you attracted to at the moment?

Lesson No 1: No matter how well you think you’ve been training, you can still pick up an injury. 10.5 miles in 1.31 average pace 8.42. Seems that my old injury from last year has resurfaced only this time on my other leg! I started to feel a tightness in my left IT band that got worse and worse and then a pain at the side of my knee. I had already decided to cut my planned 14 miles down to 11, but at 10.5 I could not physically run any more :-( Ice, Ibuprofen and foam rolling are going to be by best buds for the next few days!

Lesson No 2: Do not attempt to use the mandolin slicer you picked up on sale in Lakeland while making a salad in a rush. You will slice open your thumb and have it bleed for 2 hours:

At least the salad was tasty! This contained mixed organic leaves, red cabbage, carrot, green pepper, courgette, cucumber, chickpeas and the most wonderful dressing made from my damson sauce, hemp oil and blueberry balsamic. yum!

Lesson No 3: Green tea and sympathy from your best friend is the best comfort.

Lesson No 4: Cocktails with your Mam makes everything better:

I had a delicious raspberry sherbet containing fresh raspberries, cranberry juice, vodka and amaretto.

Lesson No 5: Copious amounts of Chinese food including tofu in spicy sauce, crispy fried greens and pak choy in garlic dressing will give you a food baby!

Lesson No 6: Wearing high heels with an injured knee may not be the best idea:

These are my fave pair of heels, I adore them although I don’t think dancing in them was very helpful for my knee!

Lesson No 7: Water, green smoothies and green juice will make you feel great, no matter how much alcohol you consumed last night:

Green smoothie containing romaine, spinach, courgette, banana, 2 nectarines, peanut butter swirl spiru-tein, spirulina, maca, msm, stevia, water, ice, xanthan and guar gum topped with damson sauce, peanut flour sauce and choc covered sunflower seeds

Green juice containing all organic cucumber, celery, broccoli, carrot tops, radish greens, lemon and ginger

Green smoothie containing kale, banana, plums, cinnamon, ginger, hemp protein powder, mesquite, spirulina, water, ice, xanthan and guar gums topped with raw pecan butter, freeze dried berries and buckwheaties

Lesson No 8: No matter how tired you feel the next day or how much ‘unhealthy’ food and alcohol you consume, its all worth it to celebrate your cousins Catherine’s hen do:

:-)

What lessons have you learned this weekend? Hope its been a great one!

Before todays exercise and eats I'll catch up on yesterday afternoon and evening fun!

Before I headed out I had a mid afternoon snack of a chopped apple with greek yoghurt and a little agave syrup and cinnamon.

I met up with one of my friends and we had a quick trip to the fruit and veg shop on her high street so I picked up a few bits and pieces while I could get them on the cheap. We had a lovely walk around the park before heading up to our other friends house. We had such a good time! I ended up drinking the whole bottle of red and snacked on the chips and salsa I had brought with me, and some walkers sensations crisps with some other dips. I just couldn't keep my hands out of the bag, I'm not even that fussed on crisps, but I guess when your having a drink you don't care. We were all very drunk by the end of the evening, we danced about to Lady Gaga videos and played some old hip hop and rap stuff we used to listen to on nights out. I would have posted a photo of us, but believe me it was not a pretty site!

When I got back to my mam and dads I had a pint glass of water and ate one of the apples and the two plums I'd brought with me before passing out. I woke up at about 5am feeling like utter crap, my head was banging and my tummy was not happy. I guess I got what I deserved! I don't feel guilty for indulging in a good drink, I don't drink often and I really enjoyed myself.

When I got up this morning I had a mug of warm water with the juice of half a lemon (I had picked up a couple of lemons from the fruit and veg shop) to try and kick start the detox process. I then had my bowl of muesli with half a chopped banana, some fresh raspberries and a chopped pear with skimmed milk.

It was delicious and helped to settle my tummy.

I pulled myself together and then headed back from from my parents via the supermarket for my big grocery shop -

It was a big haul! I also picked up this cute dress, I love breton stripes, when I saw this for just a tenner I couldn't resist.

After the shopping was sorted I did 30 mins of Tae Bo followed by my weights routine from my April training plan. I managed to get my plank hold up to 1 min 10 secs, which considering I was hungover was really good. I finished off with some stretching, my hips have been quite tight since the run yesterday so it was nice to stretch them out.

For lunch I had a slice of toasted rye bread with two poached eggs topped with a little nutritional yeast and a green monster (which I was totally craving) made with spinach, frozen banana, scoop of vanilla whey, chunk of cucumber that needed using up, a teaspoon of maca, hazelnut and almond rice milk and some water.

Fab lunch!

I spent the afternoon doing the cleaning I didn't do yesterday, while I was doing that I tried a cup of Lady Grey Tea in my new mug.

It was lovely to have that for a change to decaf or green tea.

I then did a little yoga for half an hour. I've decided that I'm really not feeling the Geri Yoga DVD so I thought I would try out an app I bought on my phone called YogaStretch. You can design your own custom sequence of poses and theres music and guidance through each pose. It was really good, I tried some more complex and difficult poses I've never done before which really tested my strength and flexiblity whilst stretching me out. After that I had a big fruit bowl and a cup of green tea for an afternoon snack. I was trying to get as much fruit and veg in my system as possible after all the alcohol and salt I consumed last night.

The bowl contained a chopped apple, red grapes, a satsuma, a sliced kiwi and a random carrot I had lying about in the fridge.

For dinner I wanted to try out a variation on a recipe that I had seen Jamie Oliver making on his 'Jamie at Home' show.

Laura's Coleslaw

1/4 red cabbage
1/4 white cabbage
1 carrot
1 red onion
1 white onion
1 fennel bulb

Half a big tub of Natural Yoghurt
3 tablespoons of garlic olive oil
1 teaspoon of mustard
2 cloves of garlic minced
Ground black pepper

Finely slice the cabbage and fennel (I used the slicer on my food processor) then grate the carrot and slice the onions and mix together in a large bowl. In a seperate bowl mix together the yoghurt, oil, mustard and garlic and add the pepper to taste. Then mix the yoghurt dressing with the sliced veggies.

This coleslaw is lovely and tangy, the fennel gives an aniseed flavour and the mustard adds a little heat. Much healthier than shop bought coleslaws that tend to be either high in fat or if a low fat version, full of added nasties.

I had mine with a baked chicken breast and mixed salad leaves and spinach. I'll be eating this combo for lunch the next couple of days too.

For desert I had my first go of making a 3 minute cookie. It worked really well and was a quick and delicious snack!

Drinks - water, green tea, lemon and green tea, lady grey tea, decaf tea

Well I can't believe the weekend is nearly over again! I've had a really good weekend, even with the little hangover I'm very happy! I'm going to have a nice bath and hopefully be in bed by 9 to catch up on the sleep I lost last night. I still have a bloody head ache! Hope you've all had a good one! x

After the EAT Festival Party I stayed at my parents rather than getting a taxi all the way home. Its just an excuse to sleep in a double bed by myself for a change really! For breakfast I had a bowl of home mixed muesli containing two large tablespoons of Dorsets Cereals Roasted and Toasted Muesli, jumbo oats and brown rice puffs. I added two chopped plums and a couple of chopped strawberries and topped with skimmed milk.

Lovely stuff!

I headed home quite early and popped to the shops for some groceries on the way back. When I got home I snacked on a quick apple before doing some blogging and trying to catch up on blog reading!

Lunch was 4 Kallo Savory Rice Cakes topped with cottage cheese mixed with a teaspoon of nutritional yeast served with chopped cucumber and carrot on the side.

I followed that with a green monster containing spinach, 1 frozen banana, teaspoon of maca and some kara coconut milk. I indulged my smoothie in a bowl addiction and added a few grape nuts on top for crunch.

I had the biggest green monster craving and this sorted me out!

I spent the afternoon going through my holiday clothes to check what needs to be washed / ironed etc before next week. I know I'm going to have a manic week and worry that I've forgotten to do things so I'd rather be as organised as possible now!

Mid afternoon I made a chocolate cherry smoothie in a bowl. I blended a scoop of chocolate whey with a few frozen cherries, 8 ice cubes and some water. This blended up lovely and thick.

I'm loving having my protein shakes in almost ice cream like form. The cherries add very few additional calories but add extra nutrients and fibre and the creamy texture makes it so much more satisfing than just drinking a watery protein shake. If your not into the protein powder thing I'm sure you could recreate this by just using a tablespoon or two of cocoa powder instead of the protein powder and perhaps a little agave syrup for added sweetness.

For dinner I defrosted a portion of my Thai Red Tofu and Vegetable Curry and served it on a bed of steamed savoy cabbage and bok choy.

Today at the shops I thought I would pick up a tub of quark as I enjoyed eating it so much the last time I got it. I wanted to do a little experimentation with it and I've had this idea in my head for a fab desert for ages so I thought I might as well give it a go tonight!

Cheesecake in a Glass
(serves 1)
125g of Quark Cheese
1 pack of Coca Cherry Pie Bear Granola (or subsitute with 3 tablespoons of any granola that doesn't have too much dried fruit and nuts)
Fruit of choice for topping - I used mixed Forest Fruits defrosted from frozen - other ideas could be strawberries, passion fruit, blueberries etc
Agave syrup

Pop the granola in a bag and use a hard blunt object like a rolling pin to crush it down a bit. You don't want a fine powder but not huge chunks either. In a bowl mix the crushed granola with a teaspoon of agave and a tiny bit of warm water. This should make the granola change texture and become more sticky. Press this mixture into the bottom of a glass or bowl. In a seperate bowl mix the quark with a small amount of agave, depending on how sweet you like it. Carefully spoon the quark on top of the granola base and smooth out the top. Now add your fruit topping and a sprig of mint for decoration if your feeling posh. Now stuff your face with cheesecakey goodness!

This comes in under 300 cals and makes a lovely healthier version of cheesecake and looks so pretty in a nice glass bowl or even a wine glass.

As the match is on and I'm trying not to have anymore alcohol this week I made up a big jug of Orange, Mango and Cinnamon iced tea using 3 tea bags and then chilled in the fridge. I've added a wedge of lime, ice cubes and served in a wine glass so I can at least feel like I'm having a drink. Ok, well maybe not like a proper drink but it will have do me for tonight!

Summer Confidence Challenge Update - I'm still doing ok, I haven't been too bad on the snackies apart from the muesli craving I had and obviously I indulged at the EAT Festival but I was always planning on doing so. I'm glad that I've lost two pounds this week, but like I said in my last post I'm not going to stress myself if I don't lose anymore next week. I enjoyed last nights indulgences so much, plus I'm eating at my parents tomorrow so I'm likely to go a bit off plan then too. I've managed to continue with most of my training plan despite my knee injury so a lack of exercise shouldn't really have impacted too badly. I've continued to moisturise / fake tan daily and use deep conditioning treatments for my hair. My hair is now dyed a lovely deep reddish brown, and the trim I had yesterday has made a huge improvement. This week I need to give myself a home manicure and pedicure and generally get myself pulled together ready for Majorca!

I don't mind a bit of footy so I'm embracing the World Cup. I've had today's matches on the TV while I've pottered about and I'm getting ready to watch the England match right now, I really hope we win! Hope your enjoying your weekends, don't forget to check out my post on the EAT Festival, you have to see those cupcakes! GO ENGLAND! x