Well it has been exactly 31 days since I started my January Kick Start Plan. I haven’t drank coffee or caffeinated tea (except green tea), I haven’t ate heavily processed foods, refined sugars, soy milk, dairy, eggs, or any other animal products and I have ate a shed load of fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds and lovely fresh juices.

And I’m feeling awesome! I also apologise in advance for the long winded post but I feel I have loads to talk about!

I know some people would have been pretty put off by the ‘detox’ word, and I guess you could describe what I have done as a kind of detox, but it hasn’t really felt that restrictive. The focus for me has been on filling up on amazing healthy foods which have left me feeling vibrant, allowed me to sleep better than I have in a long time and improved my skin.

Some of the delicious foods I have been eating include:

Green smoothies and fruit smoothies

  Blended quinoa porridge

Cashew cream with fruit and granola

Nori wraps with cashew ginger pate

Cabbage wraps with home made broccoli, courgette and olive hummus

Salad beasts

Moroccan butternut squash and chickpea tagine

Soya bean and veggie thai green curry

Raw chocolate!

Even though I hadn’t drank a lot of coffee or ate buckets of sugar I still experienced a ‘detox’ headache in the first few days. In the middle of the month my energy levels dipped – although I think this was mostly due to improper fueling than the plan itself, but now I’m feeling really good and brimming with energy.

The plan I have followed has also meant that for the last month I have been vegan.

source

I went vegetarian last year after doing some reading and coming to the conclusion that it was the right path for me. I really wasn’t sure how I would deal with the vegan element of the plan, especially as I wasn’t eating processed foods or lots of soy products. I was actually amazed at how well I did. I can honestly say I have not missed animal products one bit. This leaves me in a difficult position. Do I continue to remain vegan or do I go back to being a veggie?

At the moment I feel more comfortable being a vegetarian that eats vegan most of the time. I think that allowing myself the flexibility to occasionally eat free range eggs and dairy (organic as often as possible) is right for me at the moment, plus I have a fridge full of feta and veggie parmesan cheese that needs using up! However, I really do think I’ll end up eating a mostly vegan diet overall, and I’m really happy with that.

What I have missed is coffee!

I love my flavoured coffees a couple of times a week, I feel like I’m having myself a little treat and I have really missed that. Detox tea just doesn’t cut it! I’ve also missed being able to eat more tofu and my spiru-tein protein powder (I’ve left these out as they are heavily processed and contain processed soy). 

So, at the beginning of the month I was carrying 4lbs ‘Christmas’ weight which came off pretty easily and on top of that I have lost an additional 5lbs, which I did not need or want to lose. I know I have some issues around fueling properly and eating enough when working late to figure out, but that’s for another post, and believe me I have a few thoughts I need to get out of my head on that! My new training plan has also gone very well – I wanted to focus on improving my plank hold time, work towards doing a full press up and work on my abs and general muscle tone. I’m really happy with the tone I have in my arms, especially my shoulders and my back. My stomach is definitely looking more defined too!

I last took my measurements at the end of November and since then I have lost an inch from my waist and hips and 5lbs. Current stats: height 5’6, weight 8st 11lbs, bust 35.5 inches, waist 26.5 inches, hips 33 inches.

All in all I feel I’ve had very successful January, but I still need to suss out how I can eat better to maintain my weight and not lose anymore. In fact I’d feel more comfortable gaining a few pounds but as I said, I could write a full post on this so will save my thoughts for then.

There’s also a few things I’ve done during the plan that I will continue to do:

• Make my own hummus rather than shop bought
• Drink freshly made juices
• Make my own almond milk
• Eat more raw foods
• Enjoy home made salad dressings full of good fats
• Eat lots of yummy raw chocolate!
• Take a vegan multi vit every day
• Add spirulina to my smoothies (gotta love that green!)

How has January gone for you? Have you started any new habits that you will continue on with into the rest of the year?

Before I go here’s a few pics of yesterday’s eats including a yummy new recipe! Before going to the gym I had a slice of sprouted wheat bread with apple pear spread and a detox tea:

I ran 5 miles in 45 minutes doing speed intervals on the tread mill and was chuffed to stick it out longer than my usual 30 minutes! I then did 15 minutes on the step machine, bike and cross trainer at a steady state for a total 1hr 30 minute cardio workout.

When I got home I made a fabulous big green smoothie containing spring greens, two nectarines, small frozen banana, pineapple coconut water, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, spirulina, matcha and maca. I topped it with half a pack of Bear Coco Cherry Pie Granola and goji berries:

So good! A little later I had a fresh green juice made with two apples, a pear, cos lettuce, celery, cucumber, ginger and lemon:

For a late lunch / early dinner I had a Beetroot, lentil and sunflower seed pattie on top of a huge super salad:

The salad contained lettuce, carrot, red onion, red pepper, cucumber, sprouts, herbamare seasoning, braggs and some cool oil. As I had lots of beetroot to use up I thought I’d try making up a new recipe based on the roast veggie and sunflower seed patties I made a while ago.

Beetroot, Lentil and Sunflower Seed Patties (makes 4 large patties)

• 3 medium beetroots, roasted until tender
• 1 tin of green lentils, drained and rinsed
• 3 tablespoons of sunflower seeds
• 1 tablespoon of ground flax
• 1 tablespoon of water

Add the roasted beets and lentils to a food processor and blend until the mixture starts to come together but still has a little texture. Add the ground flax and water and lightly blend again. Put the mixture into a bowl and add the sunflower seeds, mixing well. Form into 4 large patties. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least on hour before cooking (can also be frozen). I coated mine in a little spelt flour and fried on a medium high heat in coconut oil for 10 minutes a side. The flour coating just makes them a little crisper. These don’t hold together amazingly well so you have to take care when flipping them!  These are so good, love the nutty little sunflower seeds!

I followed this with some blueberries and pomegranate seeds:

Then I was up and out for James work leaving do. It wasn’t a big  night out, just a few drinks after work. I always drink soda water with ice and lemon when I’m driving. When we got home I had a cocoa orange nakd bar, 4 chopped apples (two shown here) and a cup of sleepytime tea:

As I’m off work this week we are having today as a bit of a chill day. I’ve been trying to re organise the kitchen a bit and have made my first attempt at Socca which is a pancake / flatbread type dish made with chickpea flour, I know its going to be a big favourite of mine from now on! I’m also going to make some cookie dough balls! I’ll share pics and recipes tomorrow. Hope all your weeks have got off to a great start!

I don't know what was with me this morning but I was lying wide awake at 5.30, in the end I decided to get up just before 6 so I could head into work early and catch up on things.

I had my usual Friday morning weigh in and I've dropped another pound (now 10st) so I'm pretty happy with that. I thought I might have gained after eating pizza and chocolate last week so I'm happy that things seem to be balancing out.

For breakfast I made myself a big bowl of chopped fruit and muesli -

 

two chopped peaches and red grapes

 

 

a few tablespoons of home mixed muesli

 

 

...and skimmed milk. Can you tell I had too much time on my hands this morning?

 

I ended up getting into work at 7.30 so I had a lovely hour and a half to myself in the office just being able to potter on and get things done.

Mid morning I snacked on some more red grapes and a pot of greek yoghurt.

 

For lunch I had four turkey, hummus and cos lettuce wraps, three savory rice cakes (forgot to take a pic!), carrot and cucumber sticks and an apple.

 

 

I know that I really enjoyed my pitta bread with turkey and hummus yesterday but I have to say I enjoyed these wraps with just the lettuce leaves even more! The lettuce is lovely and crunchy, plus I get more turkey and hummus eating them this way!

 

Today I also experimented by trying a decaf coffee for a change. What can I say, I'm living on the edge!

For dinner I made some Chicken and Vegetable Tikka Masala with brown rice noodles. This recipe is inspired by a Jamie Oliver recipe in Ministry of Food.

Chicken and Vegetable Tikka Masala

2 chicken breasts, sliced into bite sized pieces
1 large head of brocolli chopped into florets
1 large head of cauliflower chopped into florets
1 chopped onion
1/2 jar of tikka masala curry paste (I used Pataks)
500g of chopped tomatoes or passata
400g tin of light coconut milk
2 tsp of minced ginger
Tablespoon of vegetable oil

In a large deep pan fry off the onion and ginger in the oil for a few minutes, then add the chicken, followed by the veggies, then add the curry paste. Continue to fry the chicken and veggies in the curry paste for a couple of minutes, then add the coconut milk and passata. I also added some water to thin the sauce out a little. Simmer gently for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the veggies are tender. Serve with rice or noodles of choice!

I served mine with some brown rice vermicelli noodles.

This was very rich and spicy. I still think I prefer thai green curry but this is nice for a change. This recipe made 4 large portions. 
 
For desert I made some Chocolate Tofu Pudding. I've made the vanilla version a few times and thought I should try making a chocolate version!

Chocolate Tofu Pudding

1 block of mori nu silken tofu
2 tablespoons of chocolate rice milk
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
2 tablespoons of agave

Blend all ingredients in a food processor then transfer to bowls / containers and chill in the fridge. Serves two.

 

This was so delicious! I liked this better than the chocolate mousse I've made with greek yoghurt before. This is really rich and chocolately tasting, absolutely lush! I had to really stop myself going and eating the other portion. I ended up having a bowl of raspberries with chocolate rice milk instead. 

 

Its also the first time I've tried the chocolate rice milk. It tastes amazing! Just like a proper chocolate milk. I can see myself drinking most of the carton tonight if I'm honest. My will power just isn't here right now, I'm sitting here really trying to resist a major raid of the kitchen cupboards! Don't know what it is but I could just stuff my face, even after eating that big curry and those bowls of pudding and raspberries.

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

So what does everyone have planned for the weekend? I'm so glad the weekend is here at last, this week has felt really long. I feel like I have loads of stuff to do, so glad that we have an extra day off here in the UK. Heres my weekend to do list, I'm taking the opportunity while blogging to get this all written down!

• See friends and family (hopefully including bbqs!)
• Run x 2
• Strength workout
• Training plan for May
• Natural Balance foods review and GIVEAWAY! post
• Make some fuel bars
• Grocery shop
• Clean flat and do laundry
• Sort out boxes under kitchen bench and get paint and brushes out ready to paint window sills
• Sort out old magazines and make inspiration board / file
• Chill out!

I hope I can get everything done, I seriously need a bit of chill time!

Well I'm still feeling hungry right now! I'm going to make a cuppa and hopefully that will give my body time to register that its full. Hope you have all had a great week and have a fabulous weekend planned! x

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 was up first thing this morning to get my gym workout in before we started our busy day. I did 10 minutes of 1 minute intervals on the cross trainer and 10 minutes of 1 minute intervals on the step machine followed by my weights routine as described in my training plan. I ended the workout with a quick plank and side planks and some stretching.

I also had my weigh in this morning, I've lost 2 pounds since last week and I'm now down to 9st 11! (137 pounds) I think this is mostly down to my mid week illness and after todays eats I've probably put that 2 pounds back on plus some more!

I had a quick and tasty breakfast of a chocolate cherry green monster in a bowl (spinach, chocolate whey, frozen cherries, ground flax and vanilla rice milk) with a few grape nuts for crunch.

Then we headed off to the Dr Who Exhibition! For anyone reading who isn't familiar with Dr Who (I'm sure everyone in the UK must be by now!) its a sci fi show from the BBC about a dude that time travels in an old fashioned Police Box and has lots of adventures on his way (thats the best way I can think of describing it!) On the way we grabbed a coffee from Costas, I had my usual skinny caramel latte.

It was great to see so many of the genuine props, costumes and models that have been used in the show as well as coming face to face with loads of the well known characters:

Cyber Men

K-9

Darleks

The T.A.R.D.I.S (with the hubby)

Big scary alien (and goofy me!)

Total geek fest!

After we had enjoyed the exhibition we wondered through town to a new Asian buffet style restaurant called LAUS 202. It had loads of choice, as well as the usual buffet it had a 'Chefs Island' serving freshly made Sushi, various grills and skewers, dim sum and even freshly made waffles. There was almost too much choice! I know these buffet style chinese restaurants can sometimes not be the best quality, but everything seemed really nice and the restaurant was beauifully decorated.

I started with a small bowl of creamy vegetable soup (phone pics as didn't want to keep whipping my camera out)

Then some boiled mixed veggies, thai green curry, tofu in sweet and spicy sauce and some crispy fried greens.

I shared a small plate of sushi with the hubby, I had the one with the bite out of it, which was tuna.

I then had some cantonese chicken, beef in black bean sauce, a few wide noodles, two vegetable filled spring rolls (which were wonderful) and more boiled veggies

I couldn't resist one last plate of the sweet and spicy tofu with more veggies and crispy greens

I finished my feast with some fresh fruit - melon, grapes and apple.

It looks like I ate a mountain of food here (and really I did!) but the plates weren't that huge and I didn't finish the last two plates even though I didn't feel as stuffed as I usually do, like after eating pasta or pizza.

We had a look round the shops and then headed home to catch up on some TV. I bit later on I started to feel peckish so I made a green monster with spinach, frozen banana, skimmed milk and maca powder topped with grape nuts. I turned out a lighter green than usual due to using the skimmed milk rather than my usual rice milk.

I also snacked on an apple

I didn't want anything like a normal dinner after all that lovely Asian food so I just had a bowl of natural yoghurt with two chopped peaches and some Tropical Bear Granola Nibbles.

Drinks - water, green tea, decaf tea, coffee

Today has been a good day!

I am now going to spend the rest of the weekend trying to sort out this bloody laptop, its going to take me ages to reload and organise all of my music and photos back on to it. I will be making very sure I back up from now on! So what does everyone have planned for the weekend? I've got a couple of runs planned, seeing friends and family and possibly going to see SATC 2 but I'll have to see how things plan out with that. I also need to spend some time thinking about my holiday and planning what things I still need to sort out, including myself! I'm thinking of setting myself a little summer confidence challenge to make sure I'm feeling and looking great for my hols, more info to follow me thinks!

Hope you have a great weekend and if your here in the UK, a good bank holiday Monday too!