My word this week has been crazy busy, I worked late last night, had something on earlier tonight and I’m working late again tomorrow night. Bring on the weekend!

Yesterday’s eats were pretty uneventful (but tasty!) – hummus with raw cauliflower and cucumber for snackage, roast veggies and tofu for lunch and leek potato and bean soup for dinner followed by raspberries, apple, cottage cheese and agave for desert. However breakfast was something special. I have seen a few bloggers add egg whites to their porridge to up the protein content and thought I would give it a try. I cooked 1/2 cup of Rude Health Fruity Date Porridge with one cup of water in the microwave. Near the end of cooking I added in 4 tablespoons of liquid egg whites a tablespoon at a time, mixing the porridge while I went. It went wonderfully creamy. I then added 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, agave syrup and a chopped apple. I topped my bowl with a melty teaspoon of almond butter. I also had a cup of hazelnut and cinnamon coffee, I really needed the caffeine kick yesterday morning!

 

This was the best bowl of porridge I’ve had in a while. As much as I love my protein powders, sometimes I don’t want to be eating something chocolate or vanilla flavoured. This will allow me to still get in that protein after a workout – so important for good recovery, but with a neutral taste.

This mornings breakfast was 2 slices of toasted linseed rye bread with cashew butter and an apple, carrot and ginger wholefood juice made in my blender.

To make the juice I added a chopped apple, carrot and piece of root ginger to the blender with some water and blended it together. As I can’t afford a juicer this works pretty well. You also end up retaining all the fibre in the juice which may make it a different texture but will help to keep you feeling fuller for longer.

This mornings snack was some Total 2% Greek Yoghurt with half a bag of we are bear coco cherry pie granola. I also ate two un pictured plums that had been meant for lunch but I was hungry!

I’m so happy I found the 2% Greek Yoghurt at the weekend. I thought that the 2% may be the right balance between the full fat and 0% and I was right. This is just spot on, still creamy but with less fat, calories and more protein than the full fat. Yum!

Lunch was some Broccoli, Cauliflower and Kale soup with two kallo rosemary crackers and the 2 little plums that survived my morning snackies.

I had a busy afternoon, finished work, did 5k of speed intervals on the treadmill at the gym followed by abs exercises, hit Sainsbury’s and then home. I snacked one of the new nakd bars – the Berry Delight, along with a mug of teapigs Super berry tea while I took part in an online focus group which was really interesting.

I really liked this new nakd bar flavour, it is like the Berry Cheeky version but for me has a slightly nicer texture and more intense berry flavour. The tea was also delicious!

As I knew I’d be busy I decided to pick up something for dinner while I was grocery shopping so I didn’t have to spend time cooking when I got home. I had a voucher for money off a salad box so I filled a medium box with Moroccan chickpea salad, sliced peppers and some black olives. I served it on some spinach and romaine lettuce.

I love this chickpea salad, it contains golden sultanas that are lovely and sweet. For desert I made some protein ice cream using a scoop of cookies and cream spiru-tein, soy milk, ice cubes and xanthan gum. I topped it with raw cacao nibs and some agave syrup.

What’s your favourite lazy dinner? I would usually go for an omelette or soup but when I’m being really lazy I tend to go for a pre prepared salad or something similar which requires zero preparing or cooking apart from sticking it on a plate, and sometimes not even that!

Hope all your weeks are going well, I’m off to try and catch up with everything I haven’t had time to do so far! Catch you later :-)

I woke up this morning after a night of deep sleep filled with freaky dreams. I tried to analyse what they may mean – I believe you should analyse your own dreams as I think its the connections / relationships you have with people or things that is the key to their deeper meaning. What I came up with was interesting – I think I’m probably being affected by a personal situation more than I may realise and it is therefore making itself known through my dreams! Do you ever try and analyse your dreams? 

I know I say this all the time but this breakie was super! I made up a big bowl of chia seed oats (scottish oats, water half a tablespoon of chia seeds) and then crushed some strawberries with a fork until they became all jam like. I stirred this into the porridge then added some peanut butter sauce (2 teaspoons of smooth peanut butter mixed with warm milk), a couple of sliced strawberries and a teaspoon of black cherry jam.

This tasted amazingly good! I love how peanut butter sauce makes the peanut butter go further and fill the bowl with its flavour, mmm!

Mid morning I snacked on some fromage frais topped with some whole almonds, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.

Lunch was a bowl of Lentil and Spinach soup from my frozen stash – I must make more as this soup is perfect for chilly autumn days.

I also had three little greenages.

This was my first time trying these – they tasted just like sweet plums!

Before I left work for the gym I had a Berry Cheeky Nakd Bar.

I decided to do my run on the treadmill at the gym so I could do some speed work. I did:

0.0 – 0.5 miles – 6 mph

0.5 – 1 miles – 6.5 mph

1 – 1.5 miles – 7 mph

1.5 – 2 miles – 6.5 mph with 30 sec sprints to 7.5 mph

x 2

After I’d done those 4 miles (36.30) I came home and did Yoga for Runners for 20 minutes. If your interested in trying out some yoga for free you should really check out the yoga download site it has a great selection of free sessions – you listen to the audio and print out a pdf pose guide to help you through. I really enjoy my little yoga sessions!

Dinner was a big salad containing: little gem lettuce, spinach, cucumber, beetroot, red onion, orange pepper, carrot, basil tofu and extra chopped basil.

 

I love this basil tofu, its texture and taste kind of reminds me of sausages for some reason! For desert I mixed a chopped apple with fresh blueberries, cinnamon and this new oat milk:

I thought I’d give the oat milk a try. Its quite a watery consistency but tasted ok. I was still a little peckish so I had this jazz apple too.

 

Have you tired oat milk? What did you think?

I have a few things to catch up with tonight, I can’t believe its Wednesday already! I’m also very excited as I have just received an extra special delivery and I’m expecting a few more over the next few days – watch this space!

What a fantastic day I’ve had! I’ve been getting far too excited about all the wonderful fruit and veggies contained in my food co op box, along with discovering a brilliant local food wholesalers, but more on that in a minute…

Breakfast was heaven in a bowl: a twist on the peanut butter and jam combo. I started by making some porridge using quinoa flakes, scottish oats and jumbo oats mixed with some chia seeds (for healthy fats) and water. I added a little agave to sweeten it up. I then topped the porridge with some defrosted strawberries all mashed up and topped that with a portion of peanut butter mousse. I added a few grape nuts for crunch.

A-maz-ing!

Lunch was a bit of a mish mash of random things that needed using up. I crumbled two of my lentil, feta and spinach muffins and added some tomato and basil passata which I warmed in the microwave and served with some cos lettuce, spinach and carrot salad.

This was surprisingly tasty and satisfying. I also had a peach and an apple.

Mid afternoon I snacked on another of the brand new Nakd Bars. I had forgot to mention that the first one I tried was the cocoa mint and it was absolutely delicious! This one was the cocoa delight.

It tasted very chocolately and had a lovely texture, very nice but the cocoa mint is still my favourite!

Today I’d decided to change up my routine. I usually head to the gym on a Friday morning which I’ve been doing for a few months now and always find myself rushed, which I hate. I like being able to sit down and really enjoy my breakfast. So today I thought I would try going after work. I did 35 minutes of HIITs on the step machine, bike and cross trainer as well as getting my induction on the Vibro Plate. It was really weird! I’m not yet convinced but I will try it again next week and see how I go. I also did some back and chest exercises and some core work with the stability ball.

This morning my work colleague brought in my food co op box. I’d ordered the £7 premium box. There had been a bit of miscommunication as we thought this was a mixed fruit and veg box but it was actually only veg. As a sign of good will they added in some additional fruit. Check this out:

I couldn’t believe how much I got for £7! It contained:

• Aubergine
• Butternut Squash
• 2 garlic bulbs
• 2 limes
• 3 small sweet potatoes
• 1 green pepper
• 2 pointed red peppers
• A stack of runner(?) beans
• Huge bag of mushrooms
• 2 large red onions
• vacuum packed cooked beetroot
• 2 apples
• 2 pears
• 4 plums
• 2 oranges

We also decided to pay a trip to what we thought was a meat wholesalers. When we got there I was amazed at the place. Not only did they sell meat but also fish, fruit and veg, eggs, cheeses, fresh bread and pastries, all at excellent prices. I was in foody heaven! For £20 I got:

   

• Pack of stewing beef steak
• 3 turkey steaks
• Pack of stir fry turkey
• 2 huge chicken breasts
• 3 leeks
• 6 Royal Gala Apples
• Spinach
• New Potatoes
• Baking Potatoes
• Cauliflower
• peppers
• Broccoli

I have plenty of ideas on how I will be using all these amazing ingredients over the next few days. Watch this space for lots of recipes!

When I got home I was also surprised to see that the lovely people at Natural Balance Foods had sent me a package. This was totally unexpected and I was chuffed to bits as I’m loving the new bars:

For dinner I put some of those veggies to good use. I made a stir fry using chicken, sliced runner beans, broccoli, red onion, green pepper and mushrooms. I made a sauce using lime juice, fresh ginger, sesame oil and soy sauce.

For desert I whipped up a giant bowl of double chocolate protein ice cream (scoop of chocolate whey, tablespoon of cocoa powder, soy milk, ice cubes, xanthan gum, dark chocolate chips)

I do have a bit of an addiction to this stuff, it just seems to satisfy my hunger like nothing else!

I’m so happy that the weekend is here. I don’t really have any big plans apart from a lot of cooking. The hubby is working all weekend so I’ll just see how things go. I may make a trip into town and make a start on shopping my wish list! I’m also itching to get out for a run and I’m determined that any bad weather won’t be putting me off. I think a relaxed 6 miles followed by some yoga should do the trick. Have you got any big plans for the weekend?

Have you ever tried getting some of your groceries from a community food project? Do you ever shop at wholesalers?

I also got paid today so I have officially finished my Big Budget Challenge! I’ve learned a lot about how to better manage my finances. I’ll be doing a full post on what I’ve learned very soon so watch this space! I’ll also be posting details of my awesome blog GIVEAWAY in the next few days – I’m really happy to be able to offer some brilliant prizes.

Hope you have all had a great week and have a fabulous weekend ahead of you! Catch you later :-)

What a beautiful day it has been! I'm so glad that this is due to continue into the weekend :-)

I woke up bright and early this morning, feeling much more energised than yesterday, and had my Friday morning weigh in. I was very suprised (especially after my treats in Birmingham) to find that I'd lost a pound and I'm now down to 9st 13lb (139lbs). This is the first time I've dropped below the 10st mark (140lb). I don't mind dropping down a few pounds under my 10st - 10st 7lb 'happy' weight as I'm anticipating a weight gain from my holiday and a few other things I have coming up where I will be indulging. I'm still kind of in awe when I look down at the scale and see numbers like that, honestly sometimes it feels like I just popped into existance weighing 12st and it was all downhill from there. I sometimes feel like this isn't actually real, and that one day I'll get on the scales and they'll say 13 or 14st again, this is a mind set that I really need to get out of! I hope that one day I will get to the point when I don't care what the scales say, it is just a number afterall. I think I've just spent so long using them to tell me if I've done well or failed its difficult to move away from them!

Anyway, after that suprise I went and made myself a lovely mug of warm water and lemon juice. I then hit the gym when it opened at 7am. I did 10 mins of intervals on the cross trainer and  the 10 mins of intervals on the step machine before doing my supersets of strength exercises as detailed in my training plan. I decided to do a few less reps on my deadlift to save my legs for my distance run in the morning. I'm still totally loving this quick little workout that gets in a good bit of cardio and strength at the same time!

I went home and quickly got showered and dressed then headed straight into work. I had my breakfast at my desk, and it was really tasty today. I had greek yoghurt mixed with a scoop of chocolate whey, strawberries and Cocoa Cherry Pie Bear Granola.

All I can say is that this tasted amazing. I love the chocolate and strawberry combo, I don't think I could ever tire of it!

Lunch was another portion of my Brocolli and Beetroot Salad from last night followed by a lovely crunchy braeburn apple.

Mid afternoon I snacked on a cocoa orange nakd bar and a cup of decaf tea.

Still can't get over how a mix of dried fruit, nuts, cocoa powder and natural flavouring can taste so damn good!

I didn't stick it out at work very late, the sunshine was calling my name! So I headed home and opened all of my windows wide. We have a small communal garden at the back of our flat, but its north facing so we don't get a lot of sitting out in the sunshine opportunities. I tend to just open all the windows and invite the sunshine in! (or commandeer my parents garden and a sun lounger - my plan for tomorrow!) Instead I decided to try and do as much cleaning as I could tonight so that I could just relax over the weekend. I ended up flying round the flat with the hoover and duster, the beauty of living in a 1 bed flat is cleaning doesn't take long!

When I was planning dinner I wanted to make sure that I was getting in some carbs to help fuel my run tomorrow so decided to make a pitta pizza. I defrosted a wholemeal pitta, sliced it open and topped with tomato puree, fresh tomato slices, red pepper, courgette and mozzerella cheese. I served it with some spinach leaves.

I didn't cook it for too long as I like my mozzerella just melted rather than browned, I just love melty cheese!

Desert was a bowl of 'Green Ice Cream'. I made up my usual green monster mix of frozen banana, spinach, rice milk, maca powder and added in an additional kiwi then blended and left in the freezer to harden up a bit.

I topped it with a load of agave syrup for added sweetness.

I've just snacked on another braeburn apple and I'm considering hitting the chocolate stash a bit later as well!
Drinks - water, green tea, decaf coffee, decaf tea

So the weekend is here! What do you have planned? I don't really have any set plans apart from fitting in my run which makes a lovely change. I think I will try and get through to my parents house and enjoy their sun trap back garden for a while and just chill.I can't wait! Hope you have all had a great week and have a fun weekend planned x

Well thankfully my snackies last night were sorted out by the protein shake, honestly I could have eaten my way through the entire kitchen! I find it quite interesting that when I feel snacky I always seem to go for dried fruit, nuts and muesli type stuff. When you feel snacky is there something that you always go for?

This morning I decided to have more of my home mixed muesli for breakfast. I bulked it up with jumbo oats to give it a bit more staying power and used skimmed cows milk rather than the rice milk for some added protein. I also had a chopped kiwi and an orange.

Mid morning I snacked on half a pot of cottage cheese with a big bunch of red grapes.

Lunch was a bowl of my delicious African Inspired Sweet Potato soup (see my recipes page for the recipe) which was incredibly filling, followed by an apple.

Before I left work I quickly snacked on a Berry Cheeky Nakd bar to give me some fuel for my run.

Since I am now offically in training for the Great North Run I have changed up my training plan to include a shorter mid week run in addition to my weekend distance run. Last week I did 5 very hilly miles so this week I wanted to try doing about 4 miles as fast as I could to get in some speed work. I choose a reasonably flat route, although theres no where particually flat around Durham :-( and a route where I wouldn't have to cross too many roads. As I was running during rush hour traffic I didn't want to have to stop for 10 seconds each time I needed to cross over. I started with the first mile at a warm up pace and then I decided to try and just go as fast as I could. I was exhausted and found it quite difficult but it was the first time in a while that I've ran on an afternoon rather than a morning so that might have been a factor. I did 4.86 miles in 43.28, heres my splits:

When I got home I decided to try out our new rowing machine for 10 mins. I was quite impressed with it! I then did 2 sets of my abs exercises and a bit of stretching.

Dinner was a big serving of chilli from my frozen stash served with a large pile of steamed brocolli, carrot and cauliflower to make sure the meal had plenty of bulk. Hopefully this will help me avoid any more snacking later!

I followed that with an experimental protein cake - I used vanilla instead of chocolate whey to see how that would turn out and then added a spoon of cashew butter on top. It was delicious as usual, so glad that I've started making these as there just so satisfying and filling!

Drinks - water, green tea, decaf coffee, decaf tea

Tomorrow I get to work from home! I love working from home as I get to focus so much better without distractions, I always get more done at home than at work, plus it means that I can structure my day to be more flexible, so tomorrow I'll still be up early for my DVD workout but then I'll be able to get my food shop done in the morning which will leave me free to crack on for pretty much the rest of the day until the hubby finishes work at 8. For the first time in a while I haven't planned my meals too strictly so when I go food shopping tomorrow I'm going to see what I fancy and see whats on special offer and go from there.

I was also really happy when I came home to a delivery of Nakd raisins and Cocoa Orange Nakd bars. I loved them so much when I was trying them out I decided to order a big stash from their website. I actually had a bit of an internet spending spree at the weekend which also included an order for some Bear Granola Nibbles I've seen all over blogs recently, and a couple of posters I'd like to frame for the flat - I'll post some pics up when they arrive.

Well I hope that everyone is having a great week!

I've noticed that I seem to be getting more visitors this week so if your new to my blog I really hope that you have found it an interesting read, and please don't be shy I really love receiving comments to my posts! x