Happy Wednesday everyone! Hope your week is going well :-)

These are my eats from Monday which here in the UK was a lovely but typically rainy bank holiday.

I have to prefix this WIAW with a bit of context and some general chitter chatter about having an ‘All or Nothing’ attitude. On Sunday evening myself and James decided to watch a movie with a bottle of red. I made a big bowl of sweet and salty popcorn and all was well. However once the popcorn was gone I started feeling snacky so got some of the chocolate I’d be given for my Birthday. Once I’d polished that off I though ‘well I’ve already buggered up so I might as well keep going’ so I had more chocolate and then ended the night with a big bowl of muesli and almond milk. Not really a big deal to be honest, but after successfully keeping the evening snackies at bay over the last couple of months, August hasn’t gone quite as well. Since the festival where I definitely indulged, I’ve also had my birthday, my birthday party and then my cousins wedding party and what has happened is that I’ve felt that since I can’t eat ‘perfectly’ I’d might as well say f**k it and eat to excess. In the past when I’ve done this I’ve then restricted my eating as a response, and the cycle has continued.

The evidence from Sunday night ;-)

I’m not making a big deal out of Sunday night cause it wasn’t that bad, but it has highlighted to me that I have this ‘all or nothing’ way of eating. I need to be able to go out and have a few glasses of red without then thinking ‘well I’ve drank all those calories, might as well have three bars of chocolate too’. I know I’m in a funny position with this amenorrhea thing, because any weight I do gain isn’t going to do me any harm. I’ve got more to share around all of this as I’ve also stopped weighing myself and calorie counting, so I probably owe you another wordy post, but I wanted to mention it here before I shared Monday’s eats. Anyhoo, on to the food!

I got up not feeling too stuffed from the night before and very much looking forward to my breakfast. I’d been drinking water with apple cider vinegar during the night to help my digestion so I just had my warm water and lemon juice before digging into this loveliness:

1/2 cup of oats cooked on the stove with 2 cups of water with some coconut oil roasted peaches and plums, vanilla bean paste and some full fat coconut milk. It was heaven in a bowl! I’d been inspired by this recipe from Gena to try roasting the fruit – they tasted incredible. I also had some black coffee:

The gym opened at 10 so I went up and did my usual Monday workout of 5 minute cross trainer warm up, strength workout 1 and the 10 minutes of HIIT on the bike.

I came home and made myself a big green smoothie with spinach, vanilla Life’s Basics protein powder, matcha green tea powder and maca blended with ice, water and vanilla stevia:

I had about 3 of those glasses full, so good! A little later I made a light lunch:

Courgette noodles with yellow pepper in a Thai inspired raw almond butter sauce which I made with 3 tbsp of raw white almond butter, sweet white miso paste and red chilli. I added some fresh chopped basil and parsley on top. It was absolutely delicious!

Mid afternoon I snacked on a pink lady apple:

Then a bit later made a green juice:

My usual blend of celery, cucumber, ginger and lemon, all drank from a wine glass since they were out of the cupboard!

For dinner I wanted something nice and hearty so I made my sweet potato and kale hash minus the tofu and courgette and topped with a large egg fried in coconut oil:

This has to be one of my fave meals at the moment. I use a pre oven baked sweet potato all chopped up and fry it with the onion in coconut oil so it goes all crispy. Believe it or not that was also my first ever fried egg! It will not be my last.

For dessert I had a full punnet of strawberries and made a chocolate protein dipping sauce with a scoop of chocolate sun warrior protein powder, about half a tbsp of raw cacao powder and some almond milk:

It was gorgeous! I would have usually followed that with a smoothie or something else, but I was so tired I ended up in bed at 8 and slept like the dead for 10 hours. I must have needed it!

All in all a good day of eats that helped me feel balanced without being as restrictive as I have been in the past. Having a decadent full fat breakfast did me the world of good and getting in a chocolate hit for dessert didn’t leave me feeling deprived or with a sugar crash because of the added protein.

I think my tips for handling a day after ‘over eating’ would be to not restrict the volume of food and perhaps just try and eat a bit healthier while watching your sugar intake so that you don’t end up craving more. Lots of water, green juices and smoothies, fruit and veggies are always good and most of all try not to worry too much about the calories. Remember that it is the consistent healthy choices rather than the one off indulgences that count over all.

Do you feel you have an ‘all or nothing’ attitude sometimes? How do you handle it?

Hi guys, happy Friday! As always I am happy the weekend is finally here, its been a busy week! I had a late meeting on Tuesday, then working from home around meetings on Wednesday and Thursday so all go, go, go. Best of all we have had a little bit of sun, which means I can wear sandals without fear of getting wet feet :-) Here’s my favourite outfit from this week:

Collar necklace: Topshop, white blouse: H&M, white vest under blouse: H&M, black slim leg pants: Gap, gladiator sandals: Primark

Isn’t it amazing how some sunshine can lift your mood?

This weeks workouts:

• Saturday – REST
• Sunday – Kettle bell class (plus 30 minutes relaxed cardio on the cross trainer and bike waiting for class to start)
• Monday – 60 minute level 2 Vinyasa Flow from Yogaglo  
• Tuesday – Davina Super Body DVD, Super Pump
• Wednesday – Hot Yoga class
• Thursday – Gym – 10 minutes cross trainer followed by body weight one leg squats, incline push ups and tricep dips with legs raised x 3 sets, then 10 minutes step machine followed by lunges, squats and pull over sit ups with medicine ball, 10 minutes bike
• Friday – Gym – this strength and HIIT workout with a few changes – normal squats instead of split squats, increased weights on some exercises and just 10 minutes on the bike at the end. Also planning some yoga after work :-)

I’ve really enjoyed my workouts from this week, due to my usual schedule being shaken up I’ve been able to do some different things. I hadn’t done a Davina DVD in months! I reported on Yogaglo in my WIAW post and Hot yoga was brilliant as always.

The biggest thing to report about my eats this week has been the reintroduction of dairy in the form of full fat Total Greek Yoghurt. I was interested to see how my body would handle it and it seems to have been fine. I had it with a slice of Courgette Pecan Date bread and some strawberries for breakfast:

Then again with a baked sweet potato with some sunflower seed butter:

Such an amazing breakfast! The sweet potato and nut butter combo was out in full force this week, pre hot yoga I had it with almond butter and a side of steamed broccoli:

I like this meal before yoga as its still filling but not too much so that it makes me feel stuffed for my class.

This week I have also been loving the unsweetened almond breeze:

Oh my word this stuff is fantastic! I wasn’t expecting something so low in calories to be so creamy. I used it in a smoothie with nectarines, strawberries and vanilla sun warrior and it was delicious. I also made an amazing peanut butter cup smoothie with a cup of almond milk, chocolate sun warrior protein powder, 2 tbsp of crunchy peanut butter and a little ice:

This was so so good, I can’t wait to make it again! That milk is definitely going to be a regular item on my shopping list, even though its unsweetened I think the almonds have a natural sweetness which makes it mild and delicious. Gutted I can’t seem to find it on the £1 offer at any of my local stores!

Last night I had my usual smoothie in a bowl evening snack but added a raw chocolate shell:

Frozen raspberries with chocolate chip spiru-tein and ice blended and topped with melted coconut oil mixed with raw cacao powder and a sprinkle of sea salt (I used 1 tsp of coconut oil and 1/2 tbsp of cacao plus 1 drop of liquid stevia) – it hardened like a magic shell, heaven!

I’ve also had some lovely lunches and dinners, I made a herbed socca wrap stuffed with black beans, red onion and vegan cheese:

Utterly delicious! On Sunday night I made my Tofu and Sweet Potato Hash:

Then for lunches I’ve been having salads topped with beetroot, avocado and hummus:

Not getting sick of that combo any time soon!

On the Love List this week…

This smells incredible!

After all my raw chocolate making antics I got some raw cacao butter from Viva pure to replenish my stocks! This stuff has the most amazing scent, I can’t wait to use it in a few different recipes. Also…

Starting my IIN course! This week we had module 1 and a good all round intro to the programme // Connecting with great people – I’ve been emailing Nathalie another IIN’er for a while now, I love being able to talk to people that ‘get it’ plus she very kindly sent me some goodies in the post this week, thanks Nathalie! // getting some great feedback on my business brief // feeling content in where I am right now with diet and exercise :-)

In case you missed it:

• How my diet has evolved
• My grocery shopping staples
• Festival Food and Fashion!

Have you tried the unsweetened almond milk yet? Are you a full fat or zero fat Greek yoghurt lover? I also like the 2% but the full fat is so creamy! What’s on your love list this week?

Thank goodness its Friday! I know I’ve had a short week but I am ready for the weekend already!

I’ve been continuing to focus on raw clean foods over the last couple of days:

Breakfast on Thursday was just wonderful – organic blueberries, viva pure raw granola and home made almond milk:

Simple and perfect!

This mornings breakfast was some pudding made with 1/4 cup of viva pure chia super food porridge mix, additional tbsp of chia seeds and 1 cup of almond milk (combined and left to thicken overnight) with fresh strawberries and blueberries:

More salad beasts have been consumed:

Spinach, rocket, little gem, red onion, spring onion, courgette, cucumber, sprouted lentils and beans with tahini miso dressing.

Tonight I made my Tofu and Sweet Potato Hash for dinner but used spring greens, cauldron marinated tofu and lots of fresh basil and parsley:

Such a huge plate of yummy stuff!

Last night, after eating my leftover black beans with brown rice and tomato less guacamole for dinner I made a giant bowl of double chocolate protein ice cream for dessert:

I had a bit of an accident while making this due to leakage from the bottom of the blender so it turned out a bit weird, still tasty though! This contained 1.5 scoops of chocolate sun warrior protein powder, crushed ice, water, stevia, 1 tsp of raw cacao powder, xanthan and guar gums and cacao nibs for topping.

For dessert this evening I made the most amazing raw cacao coconut frappe!

Raw Cacao Coconut Frappe (serves 1)

• 1 cup of almond milk (could use coconut milk too)
• 1 cup of water 
• 1 tbsp of raw cacao powder
• 2 cups of crushed ice
• 1 tbsp of coconut nectar or agave nectar or sweetener of choice (I used 1 tbsp of coconut nectar and a few drops of stevia)
• 1/4 tsp of coconut extract or 1 tbsp of coconut butter
• 1/2 tsp of xanthan and guar gums

Blend all ingredients in high speed blender till smooth. Enjoy!

I had this in my new shake cup and it was absolutely delicious and genuinely tastes like the Starbucks Mocha Coconut Frappe I enjoyed so much in NYC! I will be addicted to these from now on! You could easily use chocolate protein powder or cocoa powder instead of the raw cacao or add a tablespoon of desiccated coconut too. So so yummy!

Workouts have been pretty good. On Thursday I did some freestyle yoga when I woke up then headed to the gym for a 3,2,1 workout after work. This absolutely killed me! My muscles were so tired for some reason I could do no where near my usual reps and weights! This morning I was back at the gym for a quick workout – 30 minutes of intervals on the usual gym equipment followed by abs and core exercises.

Well I have a pretty relaxed weekend planned catching up with family and friends, a long run and hopefully some chill time! Hope whatever you are up to its a good one!

May Sponsor Giveaway!

I am very happy to announce my first ever blog sponsor giveaway! The wonderful Viva Pure, Nakd and The Raw Chocolate Company have kindly supplied the following products for you my lovely readers!

Main prize:

• Complete set of Nakd bars – Gingerbread, Cocoa Orange, Pecan Pie, Berry Delight, Cashew Cookie, Cocoa Mint, Cocoa Delight
• Range of The Raw Chocolate Company products including raw chocolate covered goji berries, mulberries and raisins, banoffe, pitch dark, lavish, minted, twilight and loaded raw chocolate bars
• Viva Pure packs of raw buck wheaties, raw granola and coconut sugar

4 runners up will also receive a full set of Nakd bars.

To enter (each of these counts as a single entry – please leave a separate comment for each one):

• Leave a comment to this post stating what you have enjoyed the most from Keeping Healthy Getting Stylish so far this month
• Follow me via Google Friend Connect, Facebook, Blog Lovin or Twitter and leave a comment below stating that you have done so
• Tweet about this giveaway mentioning @keephealthstyle and leave a comment below stating you have done so
• Post about this giveaway with a link back to this post on your blog and leave a comment below stating that you have done so

Giveaway open to UK residents only (sorry International friends!) and closes at 12am GMT Friday 20th May 2011, good luck!

As per my new training plan Tuesday morning began with a very early yoga session. I did the Yoga for Runners podcast which lasts 20 minutes almost as soon as I had woken up. It was great, not so much a workout but just an opportunity to focus and relax my mind before my day started, although it did work up a little sweat!

Breakfast was a bowl of Dorset Cereal low fat flakes with blueberries, chopped apple, almond milk and some almond meal (leftover from making the milk). I also had a mug of yerba mate tea:

Lunch was a salad including spinach, romaine, lentils, carrot, cucumber, dried cranberries, spicy pumpkin seeds, cool oil and herbamare seasoning:

I also had a bowl of grapes. Mid afternoon I snacked on half a 9 bar before hitting the gym for my first ever Body Pump class! The class was fantastic, I absolutely loved it. I still need to figure out the best combo of weights for each track but I felt like I had an excellent workout. I’m looking forward to next weeks class already!

Dinner was Thai Green Vegetable and Soya Bean Curry with steamed greens, brown, wild and red rice, shoyu, ume vinegar and a sprinkling of mixed seeds:

I sometimes forget how much I love Thai Green Curry! I was so chuffed when I found a vegan curry paste – I still have some stashed in the freezer.

Dessert was a little experiment: pumpkin protein pudding! I blended a tin of pumpkin puree with 2 scoops of vanilla whey protein powder, cinnamon and ginger. I had half topped with grape nuts cereal:

This was nice but I wish I hadn’t used my old whey protein powder, it just goes to show how my taste buds have changed as this tasted way too sweet and artificial. Wish I had used Sun Warrior or even my vanilla hemp instead!

This morning I was off to the gym first thing. I did 30 minutes of speed work on the treadmill followed by 30 minutes of HIITs on the step machine, cross trainer and bike followed by my abs and core exercises. I really felt good during this workout, I think that I’m much better doing my cardio focused workouts on a morning when possible. I’m going to see how I can rearrange my days so I can do it more often.

Breakfast was a giant smoothie containing kale, spring greens, 2 nectarines, frozen mixed berries, vanilla hemp protein powder, matcha green tea powder, maca, spirulina, ground flax, 2 large tablespoons of almond meal (leftover from almond milk making), xanthan gum, rice milk and water. I topped it with some viva pure raw apple honey granola and goji berries:

I had this bowl plus more – it practically filled the whole blender, it was extremely filling. The granola tasted amazing – love the size of those huge crunchy chunks!

Lunch was some Clearspring miso and ginger brown rice ramen noodles with carrot, cucumber and red pepper plus 2 Clearspring tamari and black sesame rice cakes spread with tahini:

This was so good, I am in love with those noodles and the rice cakes with tahini tasted just amazing. I also had some fresh pineapple and blueberries:

For the first time in ages I wasn’t hungry for my usual afternoon snack, very weird especially after my workout this morning. I decided to just wait until dinner and make sure it was a big satisfying meal! I really fancied a sweet potato so I made a one pan, hash type dish that turned out to be so good I want to write it out as a recipe so I don’t forget!

Tofu, Sweet Potato, Courgette and Kale Hash (serves 1 hungry person!)

• Half a standard block of tofu (mine had been frozen then defrosted which gives it a more spongy texture)
• Tofu marinade: 1 tbsp of dark soy sauce, 1 tsp mirin
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 sweet potato, microwaved for 5 minutes then chopped into 2 cm squares
• 1 courgette, chopped
• 1 cup of chopped kale
• Oil for frying (I used coconut)
• Seasonings – I used dried oregano, herbamare and shoyu, but you could play around and use what you fancy

Begin by cutting the tofu into strips or squares and marinating in the soy sauce and mirin for at least an hour. Heat some oil in a pan to a medium heat and gently fry the tofu until browned. Set aside. Add more oil to the pan and add the onion and courgette and fry on a medium heat until they are beginning to brown, then add the partially cooked sweet potato followed by the kale. Continue frying until the sweet potato has browned and the kale has wilted down a little. Add the tofu back to the pan along with the seasonings. Serve:

Seriously this was amazing. I love how thrown together meals can turn out so good!

Dessert was two chopped apples with Plamils Coffee Chocolate:

I’m really feeling the DOMS after yesterdays Body Pump – I can really see why so many of you love it! I’m so glad that I decided to give it ago. What workouts / fitness classes have you not tried yet but would love to give a go? I would love to try a proper Pilates class or a kettlebell class.

Hope your all having a good week, I feel like I’ve never stopped as work has been pretty busy. I’ll be back tomorrow with a review of Crazy, Sexy Diet, have a good one!