Hello everyone! Hope you are well and happy that the weekend is here! I’ve had a packed day and therefore have a packed post!

I had a bit of a bad time last night. After I’d posted and thought my snackiness was over I had a total binge fest. I ate Dark Chocolate Dreams straight from the jar, three small bowls of muesli, a frozen chocolate avocado cup, nakd raisins, I just couldn’t stop! I felt so guilty. Then to make matters worse I had my weigh in and unsurprisingly I haven’t lost a single pound of the 5 lbs I gained on my holiday (I’m now 10st 1 / 141lbs). To say I was in a bad mood this morning was an understatement!

I went to the gym and did 30 minutes of intervals followed by abs and upper body weights. While I was at the gym I gained a bit of perspective and started to feel a bit better, I’ve said that 10st is my ‘happy’ weight and I’m only 1 lb over that so it isn’t too bad really.

Breakfast was a bowl of berries and chopped apple with some We Are Bear Coca Cherry Pie Granola and fromage frais mixed with a scoop of Nutty Berry Spiru-tein.



This combo worked really well together, and I love the pink fromage frais!

Before we left for the wedding I had a snack of a chopped nectarine and clemintine with a few seeds on top.



I’ve just came home from the wedding (I’ll cover my eats further on in the post) and made myself this gorgeous green monster with loads of spinach, 1 frozen banana, soy milk, maca powder and cinnamon.



Just what I needed!

Outfit of the Day



This is my outfit for the wedding – Dress: Topshop, Black Peep Toe Shoes: Office, Black Satin Bag: Accessorize, Head Band: home made. I also wore a little black blazer.

I went for vintage style make up with black flicked eye liner and neutral eye shadow and my new MAC Russian Red lipstick. I went for a pearl white nail varnish rather than a dark or brighter colour on my nails as I though that might be too much with the red lips. I pined my hair back in a simple bun.

Eddie and Becca’s Wedding

I love weddings and this was a really lovely day. I actually welled up when she walked down the aisle and you could see Eddies face, they were so clearly in love with each other! Here’s a few snap shots from the day:









I decided to have some fun with the snap shots, I quite like the vintage / retro style of these pics!
Do you like weddings? Eddie and Becca make such a lovely couple, and the day was really good fun.

What do you have planned for the weekend? I have quite a busy one! I’m swapping my usual Saturday run to Sunday when I’m going to try and run from my house to my Parents (around 9 – 10 miles). Tomorrow I’ll be cleaning and tidying the flat, doing some cooking and baking and having a trip into town to get some groceries from the market. I can’t wait, I love my grocery shopping! Hope you have all had a great week x

I woke up really early this morning, just at the same time that I have been waking up in Majorca. I didn't mind as I wanted to get out for my first outdoor run in about a month!

As soon as I got up I thought I'd might as well see what the damage was and weigh myself. I have put on 6 lbs! I'm not too bothered by this as I was already 3 lbs under my 'happy' weight (10st / 140lbs) so thats only 3 lbs to lose.

I had a cup of hot water with lemon and then I set off on my 3 mile run. I wore my knee support and used my shoe inserts. I really enjoyed getting out and running in the fresh air. I could definitely tell that I was slower than usual but I managed just over 3 miles in just over 30 minutes. My knee was ok during the run but it has been quite painful during the day. I've iced it a few times and I'm hoping that it will be ok tomorrow. It seems that any hope of putting in a really good performance at the Great North Run is slipping away from me, at this rate I'll be happy to just finish the 13.1 miles! I have a new training plan in mind but even that may have to be scaled back, I think I'm going to have to just do the best I can.

After my run I made a blueberry green monster for breakfast. It included spinach, frozen blueberries, a scoop of vanilla whey, hazelnut and almond rice milk and for a little extra thickness and energy a couple of tablespoons of porridge oats. I had the smoothie in a bowl topped with goji berries and pumpkin seeds.

For lunch I started with a bowl of miso soup with some chopped spring onion (which I had a strange craving for)

Then I made myself a delicious Tuna Bean Salad inspired by a dish I had while on holiday.

Tuna Bean Salad (makes two servings)

1 small tin of tuna
1 tin of harricot beans, drained and rinsed
bunch of spring onions chopped
half a yellow pepper chopped
half a red pepper chopped
tablespoon of balsamic vinigrette

Mix all ingredients together and serve on top of some mixed salad leaves.

This was really tasty! I also had a golden delicious apple.

Mid afternoon I snacked on some lemon corridander hummus with sliced green pepper and cucumber for dipping.

Dinner was a bowl of freshly made Courgette and Watercress Soup

Followed by a bowl of greek style yoghurt with flaked and chopped whole almonds topped with some agave syrup.

I also had another apple, this time a pink lady.

I'm happy to have had a day of really healthy eats!

I have only three weeks until my next holiday when I'm heading down to Brighton to stay with my Aunt and Uncle. I'm therefore planning on having three very healthy weeks with plenty of exercise - a bit like my Summer Confidence Challenge again!

Post Holiday Detox

I think the body can naturally detox itself quite well but I feel that after last weeks eats I need a couple of weeks of healthy foods and no alcohol! To be honest I think doing a 'detox' for me is more mental than physical. I just feel better after cleaning up my eats a bit. I may have a day next week when I just eat fruit, veggies and nuts to give my body a break.

This week I'm going to be trying to keep an eye on how much fruit I'm eating. I ate a load of sugary fruits like pineapple and dates while I was away and along with the deserts and ice cream I feel a bit sugared out. I'm going to stick to just apples and berries this week, along with lots of veggies. I'll also be avoiding caffeine and alcohol for the next couple of weeks as well as keeping an eye on my portion sizes. I'm not going to be going down the protein shake route like the Summer Confidence Challenge as its just too boring for me! Hopefully this will be enough to lose the few pounds I've gained while away and reduce some of the bloating I've been experiencing because of that over eating.

I'm also going to start myself on a new training plan for the next three weeks. Theres not really much to review from my June training plan due to my knee injury and holiday so I think its just best to think onward and upwards and get an early start to July!

July Training Plan

Monday - Gym 20 minutes on crosstrainer (level 10 / 14), step machine (level 14 / 18) and bike (levels 7 / 12 / 18) doing 1 minute intervals (with 30 seconds of standing on the bike at level 18) - abs exercises - 20 x full sit ups, 20 x bicycle crunches, 20 x crunches, 20 x side reaches, 20 reverse crunches, 30 sec plank hold x 3 sets

Tuesday - DVD - Davina Fit - Top Fit section

Wednesday - Run / Gym / Yoga - I'm going to leave my Wednesday workout flexible and see how my knee fairs. If it isn't too bad I will try and do a 3 mile run, if not I'll do a gym workout like Monday but with a short treadmill run. I will also try and fit in some yoga or yogalates depending on what time I have available.

Thursday - DVD - Davina Fit - Top Fit section

Friday - Gym - 10 minutes on cross trainer (1 minute intervals) 10 minutes on step machine (1 minute intervals)

Upper body and Abs Supersets (will use weights that really challenge me in the last 4 - 5 reps of an exercise)

x 3 sets:

bicep curl with a squat - 12 - 15 reps
tricep dips - 15 reps (BW)
sit ups on stablility ball - 20 reps

x 3 sets:

Tricep kickbacks - 12 - 15 reps
Chest press on stablility ball - 12- 15 reps
Leg raises - 15 reps

x 3 sets

Shoulder press on stablility ball - 12 - 15 reps
Three point dumbbell row - 12 - 15 reps
Wood chop and reverse wood chop with medicine ball - 12 reps on each side

Saturday - Distance run (I hope!) I'm planning on gradually increasing my distance each week from this weeks 3 miles.

Sunday - Rest Day

I think this should be enough to get me back on track, and fingers crossed my knee will be improved enough to continue running. Have you ever done a detox diet before? If so what did it entail? Do you even believe in detoxing?

I'm also saying nothing about the football, what a joke! Hope you have all had a good weekend! x

I’ve had quite a busy couple of days since I returned from Brighton. I’ve been having a major de clutter in preparation for a re organising the flat (and to make space for all the things I bought on my hols!) as well as wanting to get back on track with the healthy eating and exercise!
Yesterday morning I had a quick weigh in – I’ve gained 5lbs! I’m not too worried about this as I lost the weight I gained on my last holiday pretty quickly.
I’ve got straight back into the exercise – yesterday morning I hit the gym for 30 minutes of HIITs on the cross trainer, step machine and bike followed by weights and abs. This morning I was out for my weekly run, I did 8 miles and it was tough! My pace was really slow today, I managed the 8 miles in 1hr19, I was just glad to complete the distance!
I’ve followed both my workouts with some tasty breakies! Yesterday I had a Chocolate Cherry Green Monster (Frozen cherries, chocolate whey, spinach, soy milk) topped with some of my new cacao nibs and a few grape nuts.

It was delish! Loving the cacao nibs, crunchy and slightly bitter, yum! This morning I made myself a bowl of slow cooked oats with a scoop of peanut butter Spiru-tein, half a mashed banana (I had ate the first half as running fuel!), some strawberries and topped it all off with my new favourite thing in the world – Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter.
Heaven in a bowl!
Yesterdays and today’s lunches have both been tasty salads followed by gorgeous fresh fruits:

Simple tuna salad with balsamic dressing

Marks and Spencer Whole food Salad Shaker on top of mixed salad leaves, carrot and cucumber

Nectarine, blueberries and strawberries

Nectarine, peach and blueberries

The Marks and Spencer salad is so tasty, I’m going to try and recreate it next week I think!

Mid afternoon snacks have been some hummus with veggies, as well as half a slice of a RAW cracker, which was so tasty!


Today and yesterday’s dinners have both included tofu. I decided to try and recreate the Asian Tofu Noodle Bowl that I sampled at the EAT Festival last month -
Asian Tofu Noodle Bowl

• Half a block of firm tofu
• Vermicelli Brown Rice Noodles
• 1 head of Pak Choy, chopped
• Half a red pepper, chopped into thin slices
• 3 spring onions, sliced
• 1 carrot, made into strips with a veggie peeler
• 2 teaspoons of grated ginger
• 1 minced clove of garlic
• 1 teaspoon of chopped chilli (I like it hot so you may want to reduce this!)
• 1 cup of hot water
• 4 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of oil
• teaspoon of vegetable bouillon

Dry off the tofu with kitchen paper and try and press out any excess moisture. Chop into bite sized pieces. Prepare the broth by adding the hot water, bouillon, soy sauce, ginger, chilli and garlic in a pan. Add the noodles to the broth and simmer until done. Stir fry the tofu in a hot pan or wok until golden, then added the veggies and stir fry for another two minutes. Transfer the tofu and veggies to a bowl and pour over the noodles and broth. Eat!

Tonight I made a simple Tofu stir fry. I marinated the tofu with soy sauce, agave syrup and ginger then stir fried it with pak choy, red pepper, carrot, courgette, spring onions, more soy, ginger and a little chilli.
Very tasty! I love how the tofu crumbles with the veggies, gorgeous!
Deserts have been a frozen chocolate avocado cup, chopped apple and raspberries.

…and chopped apple, peach, fromage frais, walnuts and agave.

Although I’ve been trying to get my eating back on track I’ve still be feeling really snacky. I’ve managed to just stick to snacking on the odd apple so far. I’m hoping I can avoid a major cupboard raid before the weekend is out! How’s everyone’s weekend going? I’m going to try and figure out Ebay tomorrow to sell some of my old clothes, all in the name of my Big Budget Challenge! I think I’ve decided that even when my Big Budget Challenge is officially over I would still like to have a couple of months were I save up and then have one big splurge, rather than buying little bits and pieces here and there. I think I’ll get more pleasure that way!
I’m actually hoping that this post makes it on to the blog ok as this is my first attempt at posting from Windows Live Writer, fingers crossed! Well I’m off to finish my Chai Green Tea (loving this) catch you later! x

On the news this morning they were saying that today should be the warmest day of the year so far in the North East. Its a shame that the horrible wind had to go and steal the warmth away! I've spent most of the day in my fleecy hoody to keep me warm as our office is an old drafty building. I'm still happy though as at least you can really feel that spring is finally on its way!

I didn't have to be in work till a bit later this morning so I thought I would try and work out for a few minutes longer. I did Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred Level two and the first two circuits of Level 3. I don't think I have ever sweated so much in my life! After that I had a serious craving for a green monster so used up the last of my bag of spinach (about 2 big handfuls) some frozen blueberries, oats, vanilla whey powder, ground flax and a tablespoon of peanut butter (I briefly considered not adding the pb to save on calories after my weight gain / excessive food this week but then I thought screw that! pb just makes this extra delicious.)

It looks a really strange colour but tastes fabulous! I got to sit down and savor it instead of having to rush about getting ready like usual which was lovely.

Lunch was another juicy nectarine - these taste beautiful at the moment, just the perfect ripeness!

Followed by another bowl of Chilli Bean soup. It was just what I needed to warm me up in the drafty office!

My mid afternoon snack was a pear and some cottage cheese

I was working late again tonight so I made up some dinner last night in the form of roast veggies (brocolli, sweet potato, red pepper, red onion) with diced turkey steak fried off in a little oil with hot chilli powder. I've never ever thought of roasting brocolli until I read about other bloggers doing it. It tastes lovely, will be doing it more often!

I've just got in from work having come home via the shops, got some lovely cabbage, brocolli and kale for over the weekend as well as a box of grape nuts as I've heard these talked about on blogs and fancied giving them a try. I was hungry when I got in so had a couple of rice cakes with cucumber and carrot.

I'll probably have another couple of those rice cakes in a bit as still hungry! I'm not counting these as evening snackies as I had planned on having them as I knew I would be hungry when getting home from work.

Drinks - water, green tea, decaf tea

Even though it hasn't felt that warm today my thoughts have been turning to Spring. Like everyone else I feel a spring clean coming on, I have loads of stuff I want to get done around the flat as well as refreshing some of my home accessories to be more spring like! I like to get new cushions, bedding, towels, bathroom and kitchen accessories (when I can afford them) in nice colours to brighten things up. I've already given my wardrobe a spring update but I haven't really been able to wear it much as its stayed so cold, so fingers crossed its sunshine from now on! Have any of you guys been in the spring clean mood?

So glad its Friday tomorrow, even though I'm working a few hours on Saturday I just can't wait for the weekend! I also have my weekly weigh in tomorrow so will be seeing if the pizza had done any damage or if my weigh gain / loss theory works! Wish me luck x

I can't believe it, after I posted last night the bloody snacking came back! I had an apple, then some more brown rice puffs, a couple of spoonfuls of dessicated coconut (?!), a glass of milk and some raisins. I'm pretty sure that this is boredom related, when I'm parked on the sofa in front of the TV I seem to need something to shovel in my gob the whole time. I think I'm going to have to challenge myself to no evening snacking for at least a week and see how I get on.

This morning I had my weekly weigh in and I've gained 3lbs! Now I'm not going to go into a melt down like I did the last time this happened, as this time I have a theory. The last time I spontaneously gained weight (4lbs) was exactly 4 weeks ago. I'm wondering if this weigh gain is related to my monthly cycle. I'm on the pill so my cycle is kept to exactly 4 weeks. I can't check back further than this as I wasn't keeping a good record over January although I did record a weigh in on the blog in what would be the week after this and I lost 3lbs. The week after my weight gain in Feb I also lost weight (5lbs) so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that when I weigh in next week I'll drop what I seem to have put on this week (heres hoping!) I know that I have been extra snacky this week but I certainly don't feel like I've ate enough to gain 3lbs!

Anyway, after all of that I went and made breakfast. I had porridge topped with natural yoghurt and some plums which I had nuked in the microwave for a few seconds with honey and cinnamon.

Mid morning snack was an apple and two babybel lights.

Lunch was two oranges followed by a bowl of leek, potato and sweet potato soup.

Work had my head battered in, and even though I should have really stayed back a while I decided to head home at 4. When I got in I had a few savory brown rice cakes and a cup of decaf tea.

I watched a bit of the Eddie Izzard Marathon documentary I had Sky + the other day, he is crazy but totally amazing. He's ran all of those marathons for such a good cause, very inspirational. I really want to do the Great North Run at some point, fingers crossed for 2011!

Dinner was some tofu marinated in hoi sin sauce stir fried with brocolli, carrot and red pepper.

Followed by some Green and Blacks dark chocolate, yum!

Drinks - water, green tea, decaf tea

Exercise - rest day

Well I haven't had many comments on my last post to help me decide what desert to make on Saturday! Thanks to the comment from Laura, I think I am going to go for the chocolate tofu mousse with dark cherry compote, I just hope it turns out ok!

Well I've got a fab weekend planned! What has everyone else got going on? I've got grocery shopping, a run, yoga, cooking, night out at my friends, calling in at my mam and dads and a strength workout. Looking forward to it! Hope you all have a great weekend what ever your up to xxx

It was Friday morning weigh in day, and I wasn't particually looking forward to it considering the Easter weekend excesses! However, it wasn't too bad, I only gained a pound (10st 2) which doesn't bother me at all as like I said last week, weight maintenance is my goal not weight loss as long as I don't exceed 10st7.

After that I felt the need for a big bowl of porridge so I made some with oats, chia seeds, almond butter and sour cherries. It was lovely! I just added a tablespoon of chia seeds to my oats then added some water and nuked them for a bit adding vanilla rice milk at the end then topping with a spoonful of almond butter and some sour cherries. I liked the taste of the chia seeds in the porridge, it kind of thickened it up but I don't think it made me feel any fuller than normal.

For a mid morning snack I had some Cantaloupe melon (which had been on offer in the shops last night) with some green grapes. I love how fresh fruit can be so beautiful and sweet, it was just delicious.

For lunch I had a bowl of African inspired sweet potato soup, I've seen this floating around the blog world recently. I made this last weekend as I had two sweet potatoes that were on the turn and needed using up. Heres my version -

African Inspired Sweet Potato Soup

2 sweet potatoes peeled and chopped
1 large onion chopped
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
Teaspoon of minced ginger
2 gloves of garlic crushed
About half a cup of red lentils
Enough hot vegetable stock to cover the veggies
2 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter
Tablespoon of olive oil

Sweat the onion, garlic and ginger in a little oil until the onion becomes soft, then add the sweet potatoes and the tin of chopped tomatoes. Then add the vegetable stock and lentils. Simmer for about 25 minutes or until the sweet potato has softened. Remove from the heat and allow to cool before blending the soup with a hand blender / jug blender. Add the peanut butter and blend again. This makes about 4 large portions or 6 smaller ones. This makes a lovely rich soup which could also be used as a sauce for veggies.

I had it today with some spinach which I briefly wilted by dipping in boiling water before adding to the soup and a few slices of cucumber I needed to use up. I also had an apple.

For a mid afternoon snack I had a little tub of my fave Greek Yoghurt.

Although I haven't had a really bad week at work, I feel so ready for the weekend and was really happy to get home! For dinner I made some Thai Green Curry with chicken, brocolli, cauliflower and red pepper (I'd made this a while ago, this was the last portion from my frozen stash) and had it with some wholemeal noodles.

For desert I just couldn't resist making a bowl of banana soft serve with some of my dark chocolate bunny thrown in!

I was trying to go for chocolate chips but my food processor had other ideas so I just left it with big chunks of dark chocolate, yum!

Drinks - water, green tea, decaf tea

Thanks for all the comments for my last post about me signing up for the Great North Run, they were all lovely and encouraging! Officially I'm still thinking about it, but I feel that I have my heart set on it now! I'm planning a long run (for my standards anyway!) in the morning. I'm aiming for 5 miles. I'm not going to worry about speed, I'm going to just enjoy going the distance and see how I feel.

So whats everyone got planned for the weekend? I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this good weather! I don't know what it is but I feel like I'm just craving some decent sunshine. Its probably cause we've had such a bad winter, I think my body just needs it!  Tomorrow I'll be running, seeing friends and family, and going for a walk round the park if its nice. Sunday I'm hoping for some relaxing weekend cooking as well as not so relaxing grocery shopping and cleaning :(
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and get some good weather, wherever in the world you are! x