Stroganoff

Normally I make this with beef but last night used some kangaroo - this meat is perfect for stroganoff! So tender and such a lovely flavour!

Stroganoff:
Serves 4

• 450g Beef or kangaroo steaks
  
• 1 Med/180g Red Onions
• 2 Cloves Garlic
• 2 Tsps Thyme Dried or Fresh
  
• 300ml Beef Stock
• 1 Tbsp Plain Flour
• 50g Mushrooms
• 2 Tbsps Course Grain Mustard
• 300ml Low Fat Fromage Frais
• 2 Tsps Parsley Dried or Fresh
  
• Salt
• Pepper, Black, Freshly Ground
• 4 Servings/240g Basmati Rice Dry Weight

Cook the basmati rice as normal
Chop the meat into thin strips and slice the onions, garlic and mushrooms
Fry the onion and garlic in a little olive oil
Once onions and garlic have softened add the meat and thyme. Cook to seal the meat.
Add a little of the stock and the flour, cook for about 1 minute then add the remaining stock
Add the mushrooms and stir in the mustard, cook for another 3/4mins
Season with salt and pepper
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the fromage frais and parsley
Serve!

Food Diary 30th May

OK so I'm really, really making the effort to get right back on track and I'm aiming to get it right for a whole month, I've done it before and it was easy, I've just really lost focus this month. My diet has been good during the days then goes to pot in the evenings and that has to stop. I've been over calories most days for the last month but my weight and measurements haven't changed.

Felt really motivated yesterday after such a great workout and have decided to go ahead and book a block of PT sessions - I think if you book 6 you get a 7th free so I want to do that and have all the sessions this month.

Onto to food....

Breakfast: 30g Asda Vitality Flakes with 150ml skimmed milk followed by some greek yogurt with 25g protein poweder mixed in, and some water to thin it down.
Snack: 1 scoop protein shake with water after my workout, 1 small bar Green & Blacks - shared with my boyfriend! And a handful of his crisps
Lunch: Last of the salad I had made up for work during the week - can't believe how well that kept! With 60g prawns and 60g low fat fromage frais with some tobasco sauce and two Ryvita.
Snack: Cocoa Loco Nakd bar and a bbybel light
Dinner: Low fat kangaroo stroganoff
Snack: peanut butter cup

Drinks: plenty of water and a Costa Coffee Summer berry Frescato thing

Exercise: PT session (see previous post) 539 cals burned accoding to my HRM after subtrcting background cals - this is why I want to run more!

Daily Cal Quota:	1695
+ Exercise Cals	539
Total Cal Quota:	2234
Calories Consumed:	2009
Calories Left:	225

Calories (kcal)	2009
Protein (g)	141.0
Carbohydrate (g)	248.6
Fat (g)	51.4
Fibre (g)	18.5
Fruit & Veg	8.7
Water (litres)	2.8

PT Session 30th May

Wow I'm hurting today!

Yesterdays session was great! It was a gorgeous warm sunny day so the PT took me out for a 30 min jog along the beach - then up a bloody great big hill on the way bag to the gym! It was great but awful at the same time! I'm not much of a runner and although I'd like to run I rarely do so I did feel like I was going to die after 5 minutes and spent the whole time thinking my heart might actually burst out of my chest, but I really felt fantastic afterwards! It's the most I've ever ran so I'm quite chuffed!

After that we had 30 mins left in the gym so did -

Leg Press with a new exciting foot position! This was so much tougher and I really felt it more through the lower part of my thighs and my butt.
Thigh extension and straight leg deadlifts superset
Finished off with some ab work using the various benches for the first time - I rarely do ab work so found this so hard!
Incline sit-ups
Lying leg-hip raise - bit like this but on a bench without weight!
And then but keeping my legs straight and lifting from horizontal to vertical and kicking the PT at the top!


I ache all over today! Oddly my favourite kind of muscle ache is in my hamstrings - I love that feeling!

My heart is yearning but Paris is burning....

After spending the first half of the day unable to get Freddie Mercury's Barcelona out of my head I finally got my boss to approve some time off in late December (I'm an accountant year end is an awkward time for holidays) and book my little long weekend in Paris so have been singing Ladyhawke instead!

I'm so excited about going it's ridiculous - I came home and Googled the Eiffel Tower and found a stunning picture I now have as my desktop background!
We will be going just before christmas and staying in the cutest hotel I've ever seen! Manged to get a good early price courtesy of Expedia after reading all the reviews I could get my hands on and I'm very happy that we will be staying here, just round the corner from the Eiffel Tower!

Will be nice to see Paris at christmas time, I love christmas lights! Last time we went was in September and it was so incredibly hot and sticky so will be a bit different this time round!

Tuna in Honey & Mustard Dressing

Everytime I buy tuna I plan to do something different with it but always go back to the olf faithful honey and mustard!

Tuna in Honey & Mustard Dressing:
Serves 4

• 4 Steaks Tuna
  
• Juice of 1 Lime
• 1 Tsp Olive Oil
• Salt
• Black Pepper Freshly Ground
  
• 1 Tbsp Wholegrain Mustard
  
• 1 Tbsp/20g Honey, Pure, Clear, Average
• Handful of chopped fresh chives
  

Mix together mustard, honey and 1tbsp of chives, season with salt and pepper
Season tuna steaks with salt and pepper
Heat oil in griddle pan
Cook tuna steaks for 3-4 mins each side
Squeeze lime juice over tuna
Serve tuna and pour sauce over top.

Alternatively cook the tuna in the oven and a couple of mins before serving add the honey mustard dressing and stick it back in the oven.

Per Serving:

Calories (kcal)	194.6
Carbohydrate (g)	4.8
Protein (g)	28.4
Fat (g)	6.6
Fibre (g)	0.5
Alcohol (g)	0.0
Fruit & Veg	0.2

I usually serve with a few baby new potatoes and whatever veg I have in, last night was green pepper, mange tout and baby corn, and the last of some low fat sour cream and chive dip. Total calories for dinner were around 400.

Food Diary 27th May

*yawn* I'm getting bored of putting my food in, but I'm not getting bored of eating it which is the important part!

Breakfast: 40g Asda Vitality Flakes with 150ml skimmed milk and 250ml cranberry juice
Snack: 1 babybel light and 2 mandarins
Lunch: Turkey broth with a wholemeal roll
Snack: 110g natural yogurt with 40g blueberries and 40g raspberries
Dinner: Tuna steak with honey mustard dressing with new potatoes and veg followed by a Magnum Temptation ice cream
Snack: Haribo at the cinema

Drinks: 1 coffee, two latte's and water

Exercise: none

Daily Cal Quota:	1695
+ Exercise Cals:	0
Total Cal Quota:	1695
Calories Consumed:	1923
Calories Left:	-228

Protein (g)	105.8
Carbohydrate (g)	251.7
Fat (g)	55.6
Fibre (g)	18.0
Fruit & Veg	4.6
Water (litres)	2.0

Food Diary 26th May

Breakfast: 40g Asda Vitality Flakes with 150ml skimmed milk and 250ml cranberry juice
Snack: 1 babybel light, 1 mandarin and 1 small banana
Lunch: More of the salad I had yesterday but with two multi-grain ryvita added
Snack: 110g natural yogurt with 60g blueberries and marshmallow capella drops then 2 oatcakes with half a tub of extra light Phili before leaving work for the gym
Post Work-out: 1 scoop vanilla protein shake with water
Dinner: Higgidy Skinny Butternut Squash & Red Pepper Pie - slightly burnt :(

Exercise: 4 min warm up on the bike, 10 mins intervals on the cross trainer then full body weights - I left the weights until the end as I was still really sore from Saturday!

Daily Cal Quota:	1695
+ Exercise Cals:	366
Total Cal Quota:	2062
Calories Consumed:	1821
Calories Left:	241

Protein (g)	119.8 (27.1%)
Carbohydrate (g)	185.4 (39.3%)
Fat (g)	66.0 (33.6%)
Fibre (g)	22.0
Fruit & Veg	6.1
Water (litres)	2.5

Possibility of having a Magnum ice cream later but not fussed at the moment... that would take up all but 2 of my remaining 241 calories.

Food Diary 25th May

Slowly getting back on track after my weeks holiday and that 2.2lbs I put on is gone now!

Food for yesterday -

Breakfast: Asda's own version of Special K - Vitality flakes I think... 40g with 150ml skimmed milk and a 200ml glass of cranberry juice
Snack: 1 babybel light and 2 mandarins
Lunch: grated carrot and courgette with spring onion, red pepper, yellow pepper, lemon juice, ground pepper, 60g prawns and 60g low fat fromage frais
Snack: 110g natural yogurt and 60g blueberries with banana nut crunch capella drops. 1 vending machine latte with half a sachet sweetner and gingerbread capella drops. When I got home I had a protein shake and 2 peanut butter cups as I was starving!
Dinner: "Fajitas" Turkey strips in fajita seasoning cooked on the griddle pan with red onions and green and yellow peppers in a tortilla wrap with some sour cream and chive dip and 60g random mushrooms on the side. Had planned on having tuna steaks but they are cook from frozen ones that take 30 mins and we didn't have time before the movie.

Then we went to the cinema... I did ok at first with some sweet chili snack a jacks and a small bag of Malteasers - I wanted a treat but to stay within my calorie allowance! But then OH had bought a big bag of pringles and I had a couple of handfuls of those!


Total Cal Quota: 1695
Calories Consumed: 1804
Calories Left: -109 (but still under maintenance allowance!)

Protein (g) 142.6 (32.5%)
Carbohydrate (g) 202.0 (43.1%)
Fat (g) 47.7 (24.4%)
Fibre (g) 14.0
Fruit & Veg 6.1
Water (litres) 2.0

Got some omega oil tablets with evening primrose oil and have take n the first one this morning - I keep getting the taste of mackerel in the back of my throat, not nice at all! Hopefully these will help the salt cravings a little.

For this week I have my calorie allowance set for a half pound loss only. I was getting a bit fed up with all the planning and weighing and wishing I could just not bother with food at all because it's too much hassle! People always harp on about eating healthily being just as quick and easy but I disagree! It was much easier to pop down to the canteen for a bowl of soup and some bread or fill up a salad bowl of stuff other people had prepared or baked potatoes with a pot of filling, I also didn't have to think about what I was having until I got there! I'm not saying eating healthy is difficult or takes a lot more time but it certainly does require more thought and effort and sometimes I just feel like I cannot be arsed! So I figured increasing my calorie allowance gives me a bit of space to relax a bit more

Salt

Just scoffed some green and blacks 70% dipped in peanut butter - I was really craving something salty and have been for the last couple of weeks - I've probably had a lot of crisps over the last 4 weeks actually. And I have been adding a fair bit to my food when my boyfriend hasn't needed any - it's not like me really I only normally bother if I have chips - rare these days.
It just dawned on me that in one of my recipe folders I have a torn out article about different cravings and what they mean, and how to get over them.

It says that cravings for salt or salty foods - crisps, pizza (had two in the last fortnight), marmite, soy... all linked to stress! That makes so much sense for me right now! These last few weeks I have felt properly stressed, not just the usual being a bit stressed from being busy at work and stuff but properly stressed feeling. The article says stress weakens the adrenal glands that regulate the balance of sodium and potassium in the body, the brains natural calming chemical, gamma-aminobutyric acid, is depleted by stress so needs to be supplemented by you to restore balance.
They recommend I get more essential fatty acids like those found in oily fish, nuts and evening primrose oil.

Is tuna an oily fish? I'm having that for dinner tomorrow! Going to give this a go and make an effort to eat more foods with EFA's and see how I feel. Got prawns for lunch tomorrow and I'll have some of my seed mix with extra almonds as a snack instead of a banana. Have salmon for dinner later in the week and a big bag of prawns for lunches.

Going to think about taking evening primrose oil again as well, I took it when I was in school for period pains/symptoms and although the pill sorts most of that out these days it's still a rather unpleasant experience, I just keep forgetting to pick some up!


Have also been reading around about drinking too much water after a chat with my mum and came across this
"As the water content of the blood increases, the salt content is diluted. Consequently the amount of salt available to body tissues decreases, which can lead to problems with brain, heart and muscle function."

Now I don't think I'm drinking a 'dangerous' amount of water or anything but I have massively increased how much water I'm drinking and it's interesting about the salt thing too.... is it obvious I'm bored tonight!?

Paprika Pork

Another favourite...

Took picture of this a while back but forgot to post...

Paprika Pork:
Serves 2

• 15ml Olive Oil
• ½ Med/90g Onion
• ½ Med/80g Yellow Pepper
• 2 Servings/300g Pork Fillet
• 2 Tsp Paprika
• 30ml Creme Fraiche, Half Fat
• 1 Tsp Parsley, Dried (though preferably fresh!)

Heat the oil in a pan, fry the onion
Add pork and paprika, cook for 3-4 mins
Add creme fraiche and some black pepper
Add parsley and serve with rice

Nutrition per portion without the rice:

Calories (kcal)	271.8
Carbohydrate (g)	5.6 (7.8%)
Protein (g)	33.7 (49.7%)
Fat (g)	12.8 (42.6%)
Fibre (g)	1.3
Fruit & Veg	1.0

Excuse photo of my boyfriends crotch...

BBQ Chicken

One of my favourite meals! It's so quick and easy and nice and low in calories and always amazingly tasty!

BBQ Chicken:
Recipe serves 4

* 2 Tablespoons Tomato Puree
* 2 Tablespoons Dark Brown Natural Muscovado Sugar
* 2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
* Pinch Salt
* Fresh ground Black Pepper
* 4 Servings/600g Chicken (or turkey)

Per Serving:
Calories (kcal) 199.3
Carbohydrate (g) 10.8 (20.6%)
Protein (g) 36.4 (74.1%)
Fat (g) 1.2 (5.3%)
Fibre (g) 0.3

Simply mix everything in a bowl, add chicken breasts or sliced turkey, stir in and leave in the fridge for ideally an hour or more but less time is fine too.
This time I also chopped up a small red onion and half a yellow pepper and mixed those in with the turkey and fried all together in a little garlic oil

I serve with a handful of organic baby new potatoes and some salad in a low fat vinaigrette type dressing, this time I used up some left of low fat sour cream and chive dressing for the potatoes. Normally I'll use a whole chicken breast but went for turkey steaks this time.
Adding the veg, oil, potatoes, salad, dressing a dip, for me, brings it up to around 491 calories



And I cooked it in our "new" kitchen!

Ouch!

Personal trainer session yesterday and I'm really suffering! Haven't ached like this for ages! I was feeling a little fragile after some drinks on Friday and although we didn't take it easy in the gym he did have me take much longer rests between exercises than usual.

Started off with the usual 5 min warm up on the cross trainer at level 5 then 8 - my heart rate was so high! It was already up in the 120's before I even started!

Moved onto the squat rack for three sets at 40kg, 60kg then 80kg - only managed to get half way through the set at 80kg as my wrists couldn't take it so finished it off back at 60kg. It's so frustrating - 60kg is fine on my legs and I know I could go heavier but I have problems with my wrists and don't want to push my luck.

Next did the leg press - drops sets to failure

Then onto some arm work with supersets of lat pulldowns and tricep pulldowns

Finished off with some core work - apparently my legs are "nice and strong" now so he got me to attempt an exercise I couldn't even begin before and I managed it quite easily so was very pleased! Next I did 30 seconds plank and 30 seconds side plank each side x 2. First set I managed fine but second set I fell a few times as my shoulders were sore!

Really pleased with how much easier the core stuff was since I haven't actually done anything specifically for my core!

Looking forward to my next PT session - just wish I could afford more than one a week!

Quick Update...

So I'm back home after a week of visiting family and having a wee bit of a 'starting over'
I didn't do brilliantly while I was away but I definitely could have done much worse! I ate quite well at my mums but it fell apart a little at my dads place - they have 3 young kids so always have loads of whatever foods they have in - days 1 and 2 I did quite well, day 3 I re-discovered biscuits and cheap chewy sweets!

I only managed one long hilly walk and one 30 min gym visit - I had planned for two 1 hour visits but couldn't make it on day one and didn't want to do full body weights 2 days in a row so thought I'd do 2 half hour split workouts. It feels like a really pathetic excuse but the gym down in Glasgow had really awful lighting which gave me sore eyes, a headache and made me feel faint so all I managed was legs then about 1min on the cross trainer!

Anyway, the damage... I've put on 2.2lb, gained 1 inch on my chest and remained the same everywhere else.
I'm actually wondering if the wait gain is TOTM related as my chest always gets bigger then. TOTM was due to fall when I was away and I decided to take second pack of my pill with no break so I'm wondering if I've got a month of feeling bloated ahead of me or if it will go down after a few days of eating well.

Off to the gym now with D - think it will be a short cardio session for me this morning as I have the personl trainer tomorrow which will mostly be weights - I think!

Easrly Wiegh in

I'm heading off for a few days to see my family so decided to weigh and measure today - good result and it's given me a bit of a motivational boost - though I am thinking about those apple donuts in the fridge...

I saw my mum after I'd lost some of the weight but haven't seen my dad since christmas so I'm really hoping he will see a difference since I am now 17.6lb lighter and have lost a few inches. However, typically it is TOTM and I can really notice the bloating! It's so much more obvious to me now I've lost weight. Oh and I've been an emotional mess the last few days - I cried 4 times watching Scrubs last night!! I even cried when Christopher Biggins didn't manage to sell his collection of clocks on Cash in the Attic!

Loss: 01/02/09 - 15/05/09
Weight 17.6 lb
Bust 3.4 inches
Under Bust 3.5 inches
Waist 4.0 inches
Hips 2.9 inches
Hips at Widest 2.4 inches
Top of Thighs (L) 2.0 inches
Above Knees (L) 1.8 inches
Calves (L) 0.7 inches
Upper Arms (L) 1.1 inches

Annoyingly though, I might look good naked now but I look crap in my clothes as nothing fits and I don't have any cash to buy new clothes - not that I really want to when I still have weight to lose but it would be good to get a couple of cheapo bits and pieces from Primark or New Look. I'm secretly hoping a parent might take pity and help out but it's very unlikely!

Food Diary 12th May

Was a very stressful day at work today and my boss had bought me a pack of Rolo's as he lost a bet to me yesterday - I didn't make the bet for Rolo's and to be honest didn't actually agree to it...but anyway, they were on my desk and I wasn't bothered about them then after lunch things got a little bit...tough and I reached for the Rolo's. They were crap but they hit the spot.

B: 100g low fat natural yogurt, 40g blueberries, 10g chopped almonds, 1 scoop vanilla protein and a little water as it is a bit thick and sickly!
S: 1 babybel light and 2 mandarins
L: 70g free range chicken breast grilled with black pepper and tons of paprika in 100g low fat fromage frias, 60g tomato, 35g orange pepper, 50g grated carrot, 30g crated courgette, 1 spring onion, fresh basil, ground cumin and black pepper
S: pack of Rolo's
D: 4 ryvita with 60g extra light Phili, 1 slice peppered ham and some basil leaves
S: 2 peanut butter cups, and um... 2 more
Drinks: 3 cups tea and 2.4L water so far

Exercise: 30 min walk at lunchtime s it was a beautiful day!

Daily Cal Quota:	1437
+ Exercise Cals:	0
Total Cal Quota:	1437
Calories Consumed:	1166
Calories Left:	271

Protein (g)	93.9 (32.6%)
Carbohydrate (g)	117.9 (38.3%)
Fat (g)	37.2 (29%)
Fibre (g)	14.8
Fruit & Veg	4.3
Water (litres)	2.4

And in other exciting news...today I switched my gas and electricity supplier to Scottish Hydro Electric to save my self £100 ish this year! Whoop! I may go crazy and do some ironing later.

Food Diary 11th May

Trying to catch up a bit as I just haven't had the time to get online the last couple of days. Can't be bothered with Sundays but it was good until the evening when I binged on crisps and chocolate!

Anyway, Monday:

B: 100g low fat natural yogurt, 15g chopped almonds, 60g blueberries and 1 scoop vanilla protein
S: 1 babybel light and 2 mandarins
L: Sweet potato and carrot soup and a tall skinny latte from Starbucks
S: 120g low fat natural yogurt, 10g chopped almonds, 00g blueberries and 1 scoop vanilla protein
S: post work-out 1 scoop vanilla protein shake
D: 1 fillet sea bream, 1 small sweet potato and 1 quarter parsnip chopped into wedges/chunks and smothered in black pepper and cumin with a little olive oil roasted in the oven, with asparagus and baby corn


My presentation skills aren't up to much...

Drinks: 3 cups tea, 1 latte, 3L water

Exercise:
Full body weights - gym was pretty busy last night so we hung about a bit waiting for some machines to be free and ended up running for the lat pulldown and chest press, each did one set then swapped x 3, we did the same with shoulder press and seated row then leg curl and thigh extension - was a nice change and made the time fly by! Finished on the leg press and really struggled on my last set as I had gone too long without food so I skipped my 15 mins HIIT


And I can't resist posting another food pic just because my cat popped his head in!

My poppies went a bit floppy :(

Ooops, nearly forgot!

Daily Cal Quota:	1437
+ Exercise Cals:	331
Total Cal Quota:	1768
Calories Consumed:	1617
Calories Left:	152

Protein (g)	143.4 (35.7%)
Carbohydrate (g)	154.2 (36%)
Fat (g)	50.7 (28.4%)
Fibre (g)	16.3
Fruit & Veg	8.2
Water (litres)	3.0

Weekend Binging Again

I seem to lose all self control at the weekends now and it's starting to piss me off! I just really lack self control - if I want something I want it now! I've never saved up to buy anything, I'd always rather go into my overdraft than wait, I can't tell myself on a Wednesday that I'll have a treat at the weekend as once the idea is in my head I need it NOW! I've never learned to play my guitar because it takes so long and I want to play actual tunes not chords right from the beginning.

I say it every Sunday but I am once again determined to get back on track with a full good week or else I'm going to end up looking like this...

Step

Oh dear, I'm really rather skint this month but have somehow ended up buying a Reebok step! I checked the measurements and when I realised the Wii Fit board would fit on top I had to have it! I really enjoy Wii Fit and it gets my heart rate up and burns fair a mount of calories but the step aerobics on it is a bit easy with the board being so close to the floor.

I only did 20mins today as I wasn't in the mood but didn't want to do nothing. The Wii Fit has a basic step and I think the other is just called advanced...anyway I did both twice, first with the step and second with the step and some dumbells - was much better with extra height, my game score sucked but I worked harder! The step will also come in handy for working out at home when I can't make the gym and have some proper dumbbells.

150 cals with max HR 166 (that was during the hula hooping I did in the middle!)

Yesterdays max HR was 191 when working my shoulders!

Protein Pancake

Have been wanting to try one of these for ages but with my chocolate mint protein powder I wasn't so sure it would work. Now I have some vanilla I thought I'd give it a go!

I blended some oats with low fat fromage frais, vanilla protein powder, blueberries and 2 eggs and 2 egg whites - was aiming for one egg plus 3 white but I broke the yolk. I made too much and used to small a pan so part of it turned out like a lovely pancake and the rest was a bit like sweet blueberry scrmbled eggs - tasted great, texture was a bit rubbish and it was a bit dry. I will try again in a bigger pan and have some yogurt on top for extra moisture!

Food Diary 9th May

Had my PT session this morning which was great! I was moaning about my slow process and pathetic upper body strength so we focused on shoulders, arms and back today with 15 mins intervals on the treadmill - I'm really not a runner so I'm really happy with my progress on the treadmill - it's amazing how much further/faster you can go with someone there encouraging you!

When I'm struggling with my weights he'll help give them a little push for a rep or two to get me to complete the set, but usually his hands are just there not actually doing anything but because I think I have help I manage to do so much more, it's only when I hear "it's all you" that I realise I can actually do it which encourages me to work even harder - it's amazing what a wee bit of motivation and determination can do for you!

B: Finally sussed out the whole protein powder in porridge thing - previous attempts have been gross and gone in the bin but I got it right this morning! 20g oats, 200ml skimmed milk, 20g seeds and goji berries mix, 25g vanilla protein powder
S: 1 scoop vanilla shake with water post-workout
L: Greggs chargrill chicken oval bite with some cheese and onion crisps
S: Snack a jacks mini bites - I got starving and desperate while shopping! 6 sports mix sweets - felt sorry for myself as had a really bad headache!
D: Half a bowl of sweet potato and carrot soup with 2 small slices bread followed by "Cheesecake" - 1 wholegrain Ryvita spread with extra light Philidelphia and a little apricot jam on top! Heaven!
S: Have snack a jacks and Malteasers for the cinema later on and will have protein shake when I get home as I think I'm going to hurt a lot tomorrow!


Drinks: 3.4L water, 1 cup tea and 1 bottle raspberry water, will take a bottle of water to the cinema too

Exercise:
PT session

Treadmill - quick warm up and 15 mins HIIT on an incline - 1 min walking then 1 min running, gradually going up to 2 mins running - he wanted me to keep going but I started feeling a little sick so we stopped then!

3 sets of:
Shoulder press 15kg then 10kg each arm then... I don't know what it's called but I hold one of the loose machine disc weights to my chest and push it straight out, out a shoulder height and out above my head to hit the PT's hand - did this with 15kg

Then over to one of the cable machines for 3 sets of:
Front raises with a bar pulled up from the from floor with elbows straight to over my head - only managed 5kg
Dumbbell rear lateral raise with 4kg dumbbell each hand

3 sets of cable standing rear lateral raise ant 15kg each arm - can't remember if this was supers sets with something else...

2 sets of:
Bent over rear delt row 8 reps of each of the 3 hand grips, started at 15kg then 10kg for set 2 and the first two hand positions for set 3 were 5kg then down to 2.5kg for the final one!

Dropsets on Rear delt row starting at 25kg going down 5kg each set

Finished on 3 sets of:
Cable crossovers
Push ups - can't do full ones but at least he didn't assume I couldn't do them! On my final one he told me to get further down and I got stuck and ended up with my face on the floor being laughed at - I think he new I wouldn't make it back up!

Daily Cal Quota:	1437
+ Exercise Cals:	513
Total Cal Quota:	1950
Calories Consumed:	1929
Calories Left:	21

Protein (g)	118.1 (25.2%)
Carbohydrate (g)	233.1 (46.6%)
Fat (g)	59.0 (28.3%) bit too much bad fat in here today!
Fibre (g)	22.1
Fruit & Veg	1.3 My fruit and veg never gets very high on the weekends - need to sort this, it's just because I have no weekend routine.
Water (litres)	3.4

Food Diary 8th May

Went to the opera last night and had some dinner out before hand - we're both a bit skint so it was a 2 for 1 voucher somewhere cheap with a small menu! I was unecessarily bad though but I really enjoyed it!

B: 1 scoop vanilla protein shake with 00ml skimmed milk, 20g oats, 180ml skimmed milk, 1tsp muscovado sugar, 25g dried cherries, gingerbread capella drops
S: 1 babybel light and 2 mandarins
L: Salad of 40g orange pepper, 90g tomto, 45g grated carrot, 35g crated courgette, fresh black pepper, fresh chives, 40g king prawns, 110g low fat fromage frais
S: Starbucks skinny latte, 110g low fat natural yogurt, 40g blueberries, banana nut crunch capella drops
D: chicken enchilada's and a raspberry vodka with diet coke and soem of my boyfriends koppaberg cider
S: small tub of chocolate ice cream at the opera

D: 2L water, vodka and coke, starbucks skinny latte, some cider and 1 crppy vending machine latte

E: Not an exercise day but it really should be!

Daily Cal Quota:	1443
+ Exercise Cals:	0
Total Cal Quota:	1443
Calories Consumed:	2062
Calories Left:	-619

Protein (g)	152.7 (29.6%)
Carbohydrate (g)	191.2 (34.7%)
Fat (g)	73.1 (31.9%)
Fibre (g)	16.7
Fruit & Veg	5.2
Water (litres)	2.0

Alcohol 11.1 (3.8%)

Food Diary 7th May

Yep, still slacking off at work! Not doing my proper job this week so not got a lot of motivation!

Yesterday was better, until the evening when I discovered the prawn crackers were still in the kitchen, then ate loads of sweeties... they were very tasty sweeties though and worth every calorie!

B: 1 scoop vanilla protein shake with 200ml skimmed milk, 20g porridge oats with 180ml skimmed milk, 1tsp muscovado sugar, 25g dried cherries and gingerbread capella drops
S: 2 mandarins and 1 babybel light
L: salad of 65g low fat fromage frais, 80g king prawns, 70g shredded lettuce, fresh black pepper, fresh chives, 10g onion, 120g tomatoes, 20ml balsamic vinegar
S: 120g natural yogurt with 80g blueberries
Pre-workout snack: 1 scoop vanilla protein shake with water, 2 oatcakes and about 10g flaked almonds
Post-workout snack: 1 scoop vanilla shake with water, followed by a few prawn crackers
D: Kangaroo stir fried with veg and homemade sauce - stock, soy, sesame oil, thai 7 spice mix, ginger, lemon grass and garlic
S: peanut butter cup and sweeties

Drinks: 1 coffee, 1 tea, 1 fruit tea, 1 starbucks skinny latte and 3.7L water

Exercise: full body weights and 15 mins HIIT


Daily Cal Quota: 1443
+ Exercise Cals: 433
Total Cal Quota: 1876
Calories Consumed: 1946
Calories Left: -70

Protein (g) 153.7 (32.4%)
Carbohydrate (g) 254.4 (50.3%)
Fat (g) 36.5 (17.3%)
Fibre (g) 18.9
Fruit & Veg 9.6
Water (litres) 3.7


Kangaroo was awesome - JAG, buy some!
It was very much like an expensive fillet steak, smelled fantastic while cooking and tasted even better, was buttery soft and very flavoursome - again I did use a sauce with a lot of flavour but could still get a good idea of the kangaroo taste. Will be having these again just with some veg and sweet potato wedges.
My cat went a bit effing mental when we gave him a bite! He does growl and get a bit protective (violent) when he has some really good food - chillout cat, I don't want to steal it from you! I've never seen him react like this though, he was in kitty heaven!
At £2 for a good steak I'll definitely be buying more kangaroo!

1 steak at 170g has 170 cals, 35.7g protein and 2g fat

Food Diary 6th May

Getting caught up on my food diary's to avoid slacking off!

I should be working but I'm getting bored of it now *yawn*

Hmm, can't even remember what day the 6th was!?

Oh yeah, looking at my WLR diary I'm starting to think maybe I should have skipped a couple of food diary entries! My boyfriends brother came to stay with us as we both had Wednesday off and since he has spent the last few years living in China and Vienna and was only back for 1 week we thought it would be a good opportunity to spend some time with him.
He arrived Tuesday night and they both came home late, via the Chinese takeaway - they called to see what I wanted but I declined - glad I did as when I tried some of my boyfriends it just tasted greasy and disgusting.

Wednesday we got up late and had panini's for lunch then headed down to the beach for some bowling and Magners. The bowling was interesting, we got the broken lane that kept thinking you had hit a skittle that was still standing so were guaranteed 1 point each turn even if the ball went in the gutter. Then when the machine put the skittles back down half of them were squint and off balance so would randomly fall for some unexpected bonus points! I still lost.

My vanilla protein powder arrived on Wednesday so I'm looking forward to experimenting with that a bit more than I could with choc mint! So far all I have tried is peanut butter cups with cocoa and chocolate caramel capella drops and mixing some vanilla powder with natural yogurt - reminded me of Angel Delight.

B: 1 scoop vanilla protein shake made with 250ml water and 100g natural yogurt with 1 scoop vanilla protein and 60g blueberries
L: Panini with brie, bacon and cranberry
S: 1 pint Magners and some prawn crackers from the boys takeaway - I hate these things, they are so addictive!
D: Shark fajitas - shark strips in fajita spice mix in tortilla wrap with salsa, soured cream, guacamole, peppers, onion and lettuce x 2 and a couple of boyfriends brothers homemade potato wedges

Drinks: 2L water (ish, I didn't log it all), pint Magners, 1 coffee

Exercise: Bowling and walking to/from the bowling!


Daily Cal Quota: 1443
+ Exercise Cals: 208
Total Cal Quota: 1650
Calories Consumed: 1775
Calories Left: -125


Protein (g) 155.3 (35.4%)
Carbohydrate (g) 132.3 (28.3%)
Fat (g) 50.8 (26.1%)
Fibre (g) 9.2
Fruit & Veg 2.6 (apparently the apples used to make cider don't count)
Water (litres) 1.4
Alcohol 10.2%

not too bad considering...

Shark is great! I recommend it, it's so cheap too! Has a more meaty feel to it like a tuna steak but also reminded me of cod - hard to comment on the flavour since we had fajita spices on it but it definitely tasted good, not the best texture for fajitas - a little on the soft side but still worked well.

Time

I need some.

Work is really really busy so no time for proper posts :(

Have still been going to the gym and eating well though!

Exercise

Here is what I currently do at the gym. I'm doing this twice a week on a Tuesday and Thursday and on Saturday's I see a personal trainer and the routine changes each time but mostly involves a lot of heavy weights!

Warm up
5 mins on the bike at anything between level 6-10 and keeping the speed as high I can I think it's RPM..whatever it is I keep it over 80 at first then over 90 towards then end of the 5 mins

Lower Body Weights
Leg Press 3 x 8-12 reps, once I can manage 12 I increase the weight. Today I put the weight up to 90kg
Leg Curl 3 x 8-12 reps currently at 40kg
Thigh Extension 3 x 8-12 reps currently at 40kg

5 mins on cross trainer keeping the speed and level as high as I can

Upper Body Weights
My upper body is rather weak and it's taking a lot longer to increase these weights
Lat Pull Down 3 x 8-12 reps at 35kg
Incline Chest Press 3 x 8-12 reps at 25kg
Shoulder Press 3 x 12 reps at 15kg - will try increasing this on Thursday
Seated Row 3 x 8-12 reps at 20kg

HIIT
Didn't do this today but would usually get on the bike for 15-20 mins for some HIIT - I love this part and usually end up working harder/longer whenever a really good song comes on - also if you get on the right bike the angle of it and the mirror is perfect for people watching!

Food Diary 5th May

So there's a few changes to yesterday...

Boyfriend came home with some sea salt and balsamic vinegar Kettle chips so my evening snacks were those, 1 Ryvita with light Phili and smoked salmon and no protein shake.

The new numbers:

Calories Consumed: 1526
Calories Left: -76


TODAY:

B: 1 scoop choc mint protein shake with 200ml skimmed milk followed by 20g porridge with 180ml skimmed milk, 1tsp muscovado sugar, 25g dried cherries and some gingerbread capella drops
S: 1 babybel light and 2 mandarins
L: 4 Ryvita with 60g extra light Phili and 3 slices smoked salmon
S: 115g low fat natural yogurt with 60g blueberries and 10g flaked almonds and some capella banana nut crunch drops
D: Large bowl sweet potato and carrot soup
S: post-workout protein shake with water, 2 scoops choc mint
S: 1 peanut butter cup

Drinks: 1 or 2 cups of tea, one crappy vending machine latte with gingerbread capella, maybe a fruit tea or two and plenty of water

Exercise: Full body weights

Daily Cal Quota 1443
Calories Consumed 1467
Exercise Calories 335
Calories Left 311

Didn't manage and HIIT at the gym as I was too hungry - need to start having some oatcakes before I go and I just don't have the energy otherwise - I did also go a bit later today so had longer between my last meal and the gym

Food Diary 4th May

I've been struggling to get myself in the mood for eating well the last week and I'm still struggling this week, doing much better and have bought some lovely foods to try keep me interested!

Breakfast: 20g oats with 180ml skimmed milk, 1 tsp dark brown natural muscovado sugar, 25g dried cherries
Snack: 1 Babybel light, 1 tall Starbucks skinny latte
Lunch: Cream of Chicken soup - wasn't organised enough to bring my own lunch so was canteen food today - fortunately our canteen is great!
Snack: 2 mandarins
Dinner: 1 plain bagel toasted and each side served separately with some extra light Philidelphia and a slice of smoked salmon on each and half a bag of salad with some balsamic vinegar
Snack: 2 peanut butter cups and I've got one slice of smoked salmon left so will have that on a ryvita with some more cream cheese and I'll have a 1 scoop protein shake with water later on too to get my protein for the day up bit.

Drinks: 4 cups of tea, 1 skinny latte, 1 fruit tea and 2L of water so far

Exercise: for today and yesterday this has been housework and clearing out some old clothes and shoes - I have 14 pairs of shoes/boots to take to a charity shop - and still have a large cupboard filled with shoes somehow!

Daily Cal Quota:	1450
+ Exercise Cals:	0
Total Cal Quota:	1450
Calories Consumed:	1424
Calories Left:	26
Cals to Maintain Weight:	1950

Calories (kcal)	1424
Protein (g)	95.9
Carbohydrate (g)	166.1
Fat (g)	43.3
Fibre (g)	13.4
Fruit & Veg	3.0
Water (litres)	2.1

Fruit & Veg isn't great, I haven't had much fruit today and normally have a salad at lunch and more veg with dinner.

I've left my loss rate at 1lb a week as 1.5lb only gives me 1200 calories a day which just isn't enough!

Music

I need music to exercise, it really is the only way I will do it. The very odd occasion I've gone to the gym without my ipod I've ended up either slacking off and going home early or just really not putting in enough effort.
I always keep a spare pair of earphones in my gym back so that if the worst happens I can always plug into the cardio equipment - it's not the same but better that the sound of blokes gossiping in the weights area.


I treated myself to an ipod nano because I hate sweating on my ipod touch - the nano has only gym playlists on it and nothing else and my touch has everything else so that I have no choice but to keep the two ipods separate...and that way I can justify the expense!
I got the free engraving and I was thinking of some inspirational quote since I was using it for exercise, but after some thought I decided I'm really not a motivational saying sort of girl, so I plagiarised a t-shirt and had it engraved with this

My current gym playlists are -

1. The newest and current favourite:
St. Jimmy - Green Day
Pipedown - Babyshambles
Cherry Lips -Garbage
Apply Some Pressure - Maxïmo Park
Schools Out For Summer - Alice Cooper
Monkey Wrench - Foo Fighters
Henrietta - The Fratellis
Welcome To Paradise - Green Day
Black Math - The White Stripes
I Predict A Riot - Kaiser Chiefs
Just A Day - Feeder
This Fire - Franz Ferdinand
Michael - Franz Ferdinand
Dance, Dance - Fall Out Boy
Call Me - Blondie
One Step Closer - Linkin Park
Runaway - Linkin Park
Annihilate now - Idlewild
Propane Nightmares - Pendulum
The Other Side - Pendulum
Dope Nose - Weezer
Nice Guys Finish Last - Green Day
Sex On Fire - Kings Of Leon
Big Yellow Taxi1 - Pinhead Gunpowder
Standing In The Way Of Control - The Gossip
Going Underground - The Jam
Living Is A Problem Because Everythin Dies - Biffy Clyro
Quick And To The Pointless - Queens Of The Stone Age
In The Morning - Razorlight
Pattern Against User - At The Drive-In
Modern Way Of Letting Go - Idlewild
Fell in Love With a Girl - White Stripes
Over My Head - Lit
Tainted Love - Marilyn Manson
Between Angels and Insects - Papa Roach
Sweet Cherry Pie - Poison
Chop Suey - System Of A Down
Shinobi Vs Dragon Ninja - Lost Prophets
Breathe In - Bush
The Great Australian Midget Toss - The Frustrators
When You Were Young - The Killers
Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones
No You Girls - Franz Ferdinand
Excuse Me Mr. - No Doubt
Great DJ - The Ting Tings
This Boy - Franz Ferdinand
Evil And A Heathen - Franz Ferdinand
Bad Mouth - Fugazi
2 Songs Crashed DJ Schmolli / Gwen Stefani vs. Blur
Granite - Pendulum


2. The girly one
Crazy - Britney
Crazy in Love - Beyonce
Breathe - Blu Cantrell and Jay Z
I kissed A Girl - Katy Perry
Disturbian - Rihanna
Lose My Breath - Destiny's Child
Just Dance - Lady Gaga
Poker Face - Lady Gaga
Baby Boy - Beyonce and Sean Paul
Boys - Britney and Pharell
Do Something - Britney
What you waiting for - Gwen Stefani
Catch You - Sophi Ellis-Bextor
Don't Stop the Music - Rihanna
Me Against the Music - Britney
Glow - Nelly Furtado
Dirrty - Christina
Fighter - Christina
Sexy no no no - Girls Aloud


3. The 80's one
Valerie - Steve Winwood
Out ofTouch - Hall & Oats
I Love Rock n Roll - Joan Jet
Heaven is a place on earth - Belinda Carlisle
Walking on sunshine - Katrina and the waves
Kids in America - Kim Wilde
Beat It - Michael Jackson
99 red Balloons (in German of course) - Nina
Push It - Salt n Peppa
Tell it to my heart - Taylor Dayne
Holding Out for a Hero - Bonnie Tyler
I am the one and only - Chesney Hawkes
Cold as Ice - Foreigner
Wake my up - Wham
Eye of the Tiger
Running with the Night


4. The dance one - this one is full of old/new/random dance stuff and I dont always know the names so some are made up
My My My - Armand Van Helden
Somebody's watching me - Beatfreaks
Everytime We touch - Cascada
Get Down - Groove Armada and Calvin Harris
Handsfree - Sonny J
We are your friends - Justice vs Simian
Somebody to love - Boogie Pimps
You know I will be there
Lola's theme - Shapeshifters
I think We're alone now - dance version
The weekend
Rhythm of the night
Step back - something form my Pump it up exercise DVD
Children of the night
Pump it up - also from Pump it up DVD!
Fly on the wings of love
Step across the line
Dance With somebody - dance version of Whitney
Call on me - Eric Prydz
Lonliness
Shooting Star - think this is Scooter...
Clouds above - dance version of Whitney
Damaged
Here Comes the night - Scooter
Cant Stop Moving - Sonny J
Genesis - Justice
D.A.N.C.E. - Justice
I See Girls - Pharell
Toop Toop - Cassius
Feel Good - Phats & Small
Turnaround - Phats & Small

Copied and pasted from itunes, I pick a playlist depending on my mood and stick it on random, they are all longer than my worout so they last ages before I get bored!

Recipe: Spiced Carrot & Sweet Potato Soup

Adapted from the Gordon Ramsay recipe in my previous post...

Ingredients:
820g chopped Sweet Potato - 4 medium sized sweet potatoes
150g Red Onions - 2 small onion
3 Cloves Garlic
2 Tbsps/30ml Olive Oil
260g Carrots - 4 medium
3 Cubes/1500ml Stock Cubes, Vegetable, Low Salt, Organic, Made Up, Kallo - I used two cubes and 1000ml water and then added the remaining after the soup was cooked as it was too thick to blend
2 Tsps/10g Salt, Table, Average
4 Tsps/8g Pepper, Black, Freshly Ground, Average
2 Tsps/8g Chilli Powder, Average
3 Tsps/3g Thyme, Dried, Ground
90g Onions, Raw, Average

Method:
Chop the carrots and sweet potato into small chunks
Sweat the onion and garlic in the oil over a medium heat for 5-7 minutes until soft.
Add the sweet potato and carrot. Season and cook for another 6-7 minutes until the vegetables start to soften.
Stir in the thyme and the fresh or dried chilli, then pour in 1000ml of the stock.
Stir and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30+ minutes until the carrots and squash are soft and beginning to break down.
The veg will break down a lot but it's best to add more stock and stick it in a blender before eating.

I prepared way too much veg and had two pots of this on the go together

I also felt that the thyme had made the soup go a bit brown and wanted a nice bright orange colour...so I thought it was a good idea to add a couple of drops of red food colour, but my had slipped and I poured in loads leaving me with a luminous but yummy soup.... annoyingly when I blended up the pot with no colouring it went a lovely orange colour anyway - so don't add food colouring! Not that most people would...

Nutrition:
per portion assuming the above serves 8
Calories (kcal) - 151.3
Carbohydrate (g) - 26.0 (64%)
Protein (g) - 2.4 (6.3%)
Fat (g) - 5.0 (29.7% - mostly olive oil)
Fibre (g) - 4.2
Fruit & Veg - 1.9

My first ever successful homemade soup!

I don't normally make soup, I'm rubbish at preparing vegetables so it takes me a very long time to make and no matter what I do or how exactly I follow a recipe it always turn out really bland. But this time I used a Gordon Ramsay recipes for butternut squash and carrot soup, I used sweet potato instead of butternut squash, and it turned out really tasty! Good thing since I've made enough to feed me for a week!

Not soup


Nearly soup


Soup!

a

This is my 'a' key, it had a mishap.



So if my posts make no sense they may be missing some a's!

Personal Trainer

I've been seeing a personal trainer through my gym for a couple of months now, unfortunately it's not cheap so I'm only going once a week at the moment - but it is worth every single penny!

I'm just back from doing tough cardio session with him and have never worked so hard in my life! Normally we will just do weights but I've been slacking off this week and have failed miserably at running three times a week so he decided to torture me with the cardio!

5 min warm up on the cross trainer
15 mins HIIT on the treadmill
20 mins HIIT on the rower
20 mins of pure hell on the spinning bike

Loved every single minute of it and according to my HRM burned off a fantastic 591 calories with a Max HR of 189 and average HR of 157 - not that I know what any of this means right enough!

I wore a rather bright pink top today and by the time I was done my face did actually match my top!

Next week we are going to sit down for 10 mins or so before working out and have a look at my goals and come up with a plan now that I have reached my first goal of losing 1 stone.

Meat!

So this evening the lovely D took me on a trip to Makro! I wanted to make the most of our huge freezer and stock up on some meat for the next few weeks.
I managed to behave myself and stay away from the sweets and alcohol and came away with 6 kangaroo steaks, 6 ostrich steaks, a bag of blue sharks steaks and a could of sea bream. Looking forward to cooking these! No idea what the shark will be like but it was cheap so decided it was worth a try!



Hmmm...

Lunches...

I'm currently addicted to my new favourite salad:
Grated carrot
Grated courgette
Finely chopped yellow or orange pepper
Finely chopped tomatoes - normally I can't eat tomatoes without feeling as though I may throw up but I quite like them in my salad for some added moisture - but they have to be chopped really small!
Chopped spring onion
Fresh chives
Tons of freshly ground black pepper

I'll throw in some meat, either tinned tuna, grilled free range orgasmic chicken breast or some king prawns

My dressing is either low fat cottage cheese or low fat fromage frais

I make a big tub of the veg on Sunday night and it will usually last me 4 days. each night before bed I add the dressing and meat. Everything is weighed for my food diary.

I used to just get some soup from work but have been finding it far too salty and prefer to stick to foods where I know exactly what is in then - I now go for shop bought fresh soups or homemade (this is yet to happen!!)

I want to get into the habit of eating more carbs with lunch on gym days as I always need more energy and calories and want to see if the carbs help. I'll most likely stick with my regular salad but have less of it and stick it in a wholemeal wrap or pitta.

Weekends I tend to end up having lunch out and try and stick with the healthiest sandwich/salad I can or I'll have soup if I'm at home. Lunch on the weekends seem to be the worst meals of my week, I try to stick with something healthy but often forget and end up just having anything and fitting it in with my daily calorie allowance - I'm going to make an effort to be a lot more organised with lunches this month.

Below is a copy and paste of my list of lunch ideas. I find it easier and cheaper to stick with something similar through the weeks but don't want to end up bored eating the same foods each week so I put together this list for some easy inspiration and to stop me making excuses for slacking off!

Wholemeal wrap or wholemeal pitta with:
- Chicken or tuna, salsa and salad
- Chicken or prawns, low fat fromage frais and salad
- Tuna with light Philidelphia
- Humus and veg
- Smoked salmon with light Philidelphia and salad

Ryvita or wholemeal seeded bread (open sandwich) with:
- Avocado, prawns and low fat fromage frais
- Low fat cottage cheese and sliced peach
- Banana and dates
- Low fat Philidelphia, tomato and basil
- Brie and grapes (for when I'm feeling a bit indulgent!)
- Light Philidelphia with smoked salmon and rocket

Eggs:
- scrambled on toast or Ryvita
- Poached on toast/Ryvita with or without some grilled bacon
- Omelette with veg and some extra egg whites

I'm not a fan or rice or pasta salads as I don't like cold rice or pasta and I tend to not bother with hot lunches unless it's soup or eggs
- Avocado, prawns and fromage frais