…the snow that is:

Yep, that’s at least a foot of snow. What’s going on? I love a little bit of snow but this is crazy. There was no way my car was going any where today, I was going to try and bus it to work but my manager told me to just work from home and I certainly wasn’t going to argue with that! It is very beautiful out there though :-)

Breakfast was a lovely warm bowl of hot cereal made with water, oat milk, egg whites and brown rice syrup with pears, mixed dried fruit and nuts and maple syrup.

I also had a gingerbread coffee with oat milk, yum!

I decided that I would take a break for a couple of hours before lunch and have a walk to the shops for milk and eggs. I was surprised that the gym was still open on my way past so I popped in and did 45 mins of HIITs on the cross trainer, step machine and bike plus my abs and core exercises. That plus a 30 minute walk in 12 inches of snow gave me a hell of a workout!

At least I got to wear my new hat and scarf (from Next):

Totally mis matched clothing but warmth comes before fashion when its –5 outside!

For lunch I made a Pumpkin and Pearl Barley Risotto inspired by this recipe from the Scandi Foodie (love this blog!)

Roasted Pumpkin and Pearl Barley Risotto with Feta and Pine Nuts (makes 1 serving)

• 1/2 onion finely chopped (I used a couple of shallots)
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1/2 cup of cooked pearl barley
• 1 cup of roasted pumpkin
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil (plus more for frying)
• Hot vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon of toasted pine nuts
• Approx 50g of feta cheese (I used organic, vegetarian)

Begin by blending the roasted pumpkin and olive oil in a food processor until pureed, then set aside. Fry the onion and garlic on a medium heat until transparent then add the cooked pearl barley. Add a little veg stock and simmer for a minute or so. Add the pumpkin puree to the pan with more veg stock – continue to add the veg stock until the risotto reaches your desired consistency. I left mine quite thick. Pour onto a plate or serving bowl and top with the toasted pine nuts and crumbled feta. Enjoy!

I served mine with some black kale and spring greens sautéed in 1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil plus a little soy sauce. It was really tasty but if I was making this again I would actually skip the feta and mix in a good bit of nutritional yeast (or parmesan) for that strong cheesy taste instead. Still really delicious and easy to make!

I also had a Cookies and Cream Spiru-tein Shake in a bowl topped with cacao nibs.

Late afternoon I had a pumpkin spice cake bar plus a sliced pink lady apple.

Dinner was a bowl of Leek, Greens and White Bean Soup with some raw carrot sticks on the side followed by an orange.

I had a craving for raw veggies that I knew a couple of lovely raw organic carrots would satisfy.

So as of right now I have no idea how the rest of my week is going to plan out due to the weather. I’m a person who likes routines and some predictability so this is going to be tough. However, I may not like change, but I am highly adaptable when required! I guess I’ll just have to go with the flow, I’m mainly concerned about fitting in my workouts but as I have given myself lots of flexibility this month I don’t need to worry about sticking to a set training plan.

How do you cope when your normal routine gets turned upside down?