Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway! I really enjoyed reading all of your favourite porridge toppings and I can’t wait to try some of them out. Here are the winners:

Emma, Jessica, Tam, Olivia, Becky and Roz. Congratulations everyone! Please email me at keepingslimgettingstylish@gmail.com with your address and I’ll post your sample packs of Rude Health Fruity Date Porridge straight out!

I’ve had another lovely chilled out time today. The hubby was working so I decided to walk to the gym in the snow. It was beautiful but unbelievably cold, even though I was dressed like a yeti. Before I left I ate an orange and some Bear strawberry fruit yoyo’s along with my every day mug of warm water and lemon juice.

At the gym I ran 3 miles of speed intervals then 2 miles at a steady speed and the last mile as fast as I could (total 6 miles). I didn’t hang about to do anymore cardio as I knew the walk in the snow would be tiring enough! From the gym I walked to the little out of town shopping centre near me and picked up some groceries, more Christmas gifts, and a couple of thick jumpers and a fair isle hat and scarf for me. The jumpers aren’t anything special – just practical, i.e. warm! I’ve recently realised I have very few warm clothes. The hat and scarf set is lovely – I’m sure they will be featuring in my next outfit of the day! The lovely Cait commented on my last post that I maybe a ‘committed self gifter’ I couldn’t agree more! That’s the trouble with Christmas shopping, you always see things for yourself. Luckily I have a little budget for things I need, plus Christmas money from my parents :-)

By the time I got home it was lunch time and I was starving! I made a big bowl of the most delicious Cherry Almond Porridge – 1/2 cup of power porridge oat mix, 1/2 cup of vanilla rice milk, 1/2 cup of water, 4 tablespoons of liquid egg whites, 1 teaspoon of brown rice syrup, 1 teaspoon of natural almond flavour, defrosted dark cherries and flaked almonds.

 

Am-az-ing. I also made a big pot of Amaretto tea which I had with some agave to sweeten and vanilla rice milk. Lush.

I spent the afternoon roasting up sugar pumpkin from my veg box and cooking up pearl barley for my ‘grain of the week’ – I have some really lovely ideas for healthy and tasty recipes with these two so check out next weeks posts! I also made a pot of Carrot, Ginger and Orange Soup – recipe to be shared later in the week too!

Mid afternoon I had a bowl of French Onion Soup (which had been in the freezer) along with two small sliced pears with cinnamon and ginger.

For dinner I had a Roast Root Veg Sunflower Seed Pattie with steamed greens and black kale, raw carrot sticks and ketchup and a little soy sauce.

I’d made the pattie by blending up my roast sweet potato, parsnip, beetroot and red onion from Friday nights roasted root veg with feta in my food processor then added some sunflower seeds and shaped the mixture into patties. I refrigerated the pattie so it would firm up then fried in coconut oil on both sides till browned and warmed through. It was really tasty, the coconut oil gave it a nice added flavour as well.

Desert was two chopped apples and some Green and Blacks 70% dark chocolate:

November review and December plans

As this is the last Sunday in the month, although not yet Dec, I’m going to do my monthly review.

This month I have:

• Kept up with my weekly spinning and yoga classes
• Ran 15k each week (split between a 5k during the week and 10k on a weekend) – even when I really wasn’t feeling it!
• Lost 3lbs and half an inch off my hips
• Changed up my HIIT sessions and increased the resistance levels on all gym equipment
• Included more whole grains in my diet by having a ‘grain of the week’. I’ve continued with my new vegetarian diet and have had quite a few days when I have eaten vegan
• Signed up for next years Great North Run!

Just like October and September I have continued to lose weight without really trying and without weight loss being a goal. Since September I’ve lost a whopping 12lbs! I have found that my binges have been under control and I’ve been able to eat more mindfully which combined with the new vegetarian diet could be why I’m continuing to lose weight. I know that I’ll gain a few pounds over Christmas so I’m happy that I have some wiggle room! I’m also finding that monthly rather than weekly weigh ins are much better although I have had a couple of sneaky weigh ins when I feel I’ve over eaten to see if I’ve gained. This needs to stop as it really doesn’t help me on my quest for finding some balance and being able to maintain a healthy weight. I’ve also gained half an inch on my waist but I think this may be down to a bit of bloating.

I’m also very happy that I’ve managed to stick with my running goals even when I really wasn’t up for it. I’m very happy with what I have achieved this month!

Decembers Goals

• Enjoy the festive season!
• Retain some healthy balance whilst still indulging
• Continue with regular exercise

I would usually plan a monthly workout schedule but this month things are going to be busy so I’m going to plan out my workouts on a weekly basis instead. I’d still like to try and workout 6 days out of 7 apart from Christmas week, do some form of running (without setting myself any mileage targets or challenging myself to run outdoors) and get some strength training in. My yoga class has now finished until the New Year but I’d still like to try and fit some in at least once a week as well as some spinning classes. I think having a flexible approach for a change is going to be refreshing and will enable me to be ready for getting down to business come January. I’m also really looking forward to a bit of detoxing come January too.

Current stats:

• Weight 9st 2lbs
• Waist: 27.5 inches
• Bust: 35.5 inches
• Hips: 34 inches

What have you achieved this month? Do you have any goals for December?

I know there’s probably loads of these kinds of posts on blogs at the moment but I really wanted to write my own ‘keeping healthy over the festive period’ post as in the past I have struggled with binging at this time of year.

Christmas is a time of indulgence. Delicious but not so healthy food and drink is every where. In the past I have really taken advantage of being able to eat and drink what I want and this has often resulted in some serious binges.

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Now at the end of the day it is Christmas, the last thing you want to do is not eat chocolate or enjoy your food! However, I do think there is a balance between a bit of controlled festive indulgence and all out f**k it lets just eat everything in site.

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I also know that if I just mindlessly stuff my face I will not feel good about myself and will feel guilty, bloated and generally crappy. So here are my plans for enjoying the festive season as healthily as possible:

• Continue to meal plan: I know that meal planning isn’t for everyone but for me its a really useful way of not going over the top, avoiding food waste and keeping myself generally organised. I’m going to continue to meal plan to help ensure that my meals are still fairly well balanced and so I don’t end up eating chocolate for breakfast, cheese and crackers for lunch and Christmas cake for dinner! Well at least not everyday ;-)
• Decide what you want to indulge in: Instead of mindless eating I’m going to decide what treats I’m going to indulge in and shop accordingly (see next point). At the moment I’m thinking chocolate (obviously), cheese, wholemeal bagels, chips and salsa, ice cream, red wine and home made baked goods like cookies and scones.
• Go shopping with a list and stick to it: In the past me and the hubby have done our Christmas shop and basically just filled the trolley full of crap. This Christmas I shall be shopping with a plan – i.e. just to buy the goodies I know I really fancy.
• Continue to exercise: I know that the temptation is to sit on your arse and eat sweets but I know how much better I’ll feel if I get moving! My gym closes between Christmas and New Year so I’ll be using my DVD’s plus the resources in this post for some home workouts.
• January Detox: I’m already planning a bit of a January detox. I actually think our bodies are pretty effective at detoxifying themselves without having to ‘do’ a detox however, a detox for me is just as much mental as physical, I feel miles better making that special effort to eat more healthily for a few weeks. I’m planning to eat vegan and as unprocessed as possible so it will be a nice little challenge for me at the same time!

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What are your plans for Christmas indulgence? Are you happy to just go for it or do you make an effort to keep things balanced? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with enjoying your food at Christmas time, I just know that for me, I need to have a game plan to ensure I don’t end up binging. What are your favourite Christmas treat foods? I love my cheese!

I’ve had a really good day, work is a bit more relaxed this time of year. I started the day with my usual Davina superbody pump DVD weights based workout for 45 minutes and then made a tasty breakfast:

Brown puffed rice with two chopped plums, chopped pear, coconut milk, desiccated coconut and a few dried cranberries, yum!

Lunch was last nights dinners leftovers – haricot beans with olives, red onion, cucumber, carrot, spinach and cos lettuce. I also had a couple of sliced kiwi:

Mid afternoon I snacked on more silken vanilla cinnamon tofu pudding. I headed home and did my hour long Yogalates DVD. I felt so chilled out after doing it! Dinner was one of my roasted veg and sunflower seed patties fried in coconut oil in a wholemeal pitta with carrot fries and cavolo nero sautéed in coconut oil topped with shoyu and mixed seeds plus ketchup for dipping:

Oh so good! Desert was two sliced apples and a frozen chocolate avocado cup:

This was the last one in the freezer, I’m going to have to make more!

I’m also so glad the weekend is almost here, I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to get a few items on my to do list ticked off, as well as getting to see my friends and family and visit the Christmas market in Newcastle. Hope your all having great week! :-)