3. Make peace with food

The world we live in has gone diet crazy! Even though reports say that obesity is on the rise, more and more diets come to light. From zero carbs to fasting there really is a huge selection of 'Fad' diets to try.

Now I am not one for fad diets, though I can't say I haven't thought about them. My sister tried the 5:2 diet where you eat very little calories (500 for women, 600 for men), however she had a fairly active job and is also very active in general and found that it didn't work for her. My Mam has tried some, low/no carbs to not eating much (until she was given lectures by my sister and I!). The only foods I have an issue with are high fat and high sugar, so cake, doughnuts, chocolate, cheesecake (mmm...cheesecake). At one point I told myself that I simply did not eat these foods, even when they are in the house since my other half can eat what he likes (no hard feelings against him....hmmm) and I got on quite well, however, I slipped back into eating them when I got to my goal weight and inevitably the weight came back on.

I have figured that what I need to do is make peace with these foods, having them once in a while is not going to harm me but realising that eating them all the time will effect my performance in running and in general well-being is important.

It is four and a half weeks until my holiday to Spain with my best friend! Now back when we booked it I had planed to at least be in the low 60's in kg but that hasn't happened. I'm okay with that though, doing Insanity has made me fitter, my Fit Tests are improving each time and I can run 13.1 miles still with not a lot of training (not advocating this, I doubt it is good for your body!). We have both made a fitness plan for these last few weeks including Spinning, weight training, running, Insanity and other gym classes. I am so excited to get started! We both bought new notebooks and plan to use these to record our workouts, foods and feelings. :) Lets get this done!

Day 4. Feel like a zombie.

This week of induction is REALLY taking it out of me. In fact its doing it to all of us on this weeks induction course, its just so full on, with tonnes of information (all useful though).

I have been feeling the pressure lately with all the stuff going on, I don't know how I am going to do it all!

To the fooooood!

Breakfast: Matcha and apple juice as always.
Banana and date muesli with coconut milk
Tea with almond milk.
Note the ultra cool mug that was a Christmas present to myself...

Mid morning: Banana
Lunch: Low fat peanut butter and jam sandwich
one falafel ball
orange and blueberries

And instead of a cheesecake pot I got a natural yog and mango puree with granola pot :) Felt better after that and it kept me going through till dinner!

Dinner: Simple and tasty spag bol. Never fails.

Pudding was a vanilla and chocolate sprinkles fat free yog.





...then off to ZUMBA!

Really enjoyed my zumba class. It was my second time at a 'proper' class (not on the wii) and first time at this particular class. Really good, enthusiastic instructor and a good workout! Made all newbies feel welcome and we all had a good time!

Anyway, I wanted something so I made a protein shake with...
Some natural yoghurt
Banana
3 frozen dates (this didn't really work since I only use a hand blender)
1 tbsp cocoa power
1 scoop of soya vanilla protein power
few drops of natural vanilla extract
1/2 can coconut milk
Best protein shake I have made so far!

...also had the last 'protein' bun.


Only a half day on induction tomorrow.
Oh and it will be weigh day in the morning. YIKES.

Day 3. Unwise decisions.

Today on training we were taught about using the Mental Capacity Act when on shift. One of the 5 main aspects of this was being able to allow someone to make unwise decisions, when they have capacity to make them, as we all do it and are entitled to it.

Today I made an unwise decision. Not a serious one. But an unwise one nonetheless.
I had another cheesecake pot.
Did I enjoy it? YES
Did it make me feel good after? Felt too full and a little sick and an odd taste has stayed in my mouth.
Will I have one tomorrow? NO
Will I ever have another? Quite possibly!

So today's eats...

Breakfast: (Started with matcha and aplle juice) Apple and cinnamon porridge pot with a tablespoon of cocoa and berries flax seeds. This added a nice chocolaty flavour without being too sweet.
Tea with Almond milk.

 Mid morning: Nutri-grain bar
Lunch: small avocado, feta cheese and quorn ham salad with peas and a pear.
Also this is where the cheesecake incident happened again...
Afternoon snack was a choc orange Nakd bar but was still full from the cheesecake!

Dinner: Mozzarella and pesto quorn escalope with sweet potato chips, peas and a tomato with a little BBQ sauce.
Very yummy and simple.

Pudding: Yeo Valley peach and apricot yoghurt. Very nice!








Unsure of tonight's snack...
Maybe a banana or some blueberries. Of course there will be teapigs tea :D

No exercise today, sat with a bandage on my wrist because we have no supports round the house and an ankle support on that I bought at the weekend, which will hopefully help the pains I have been getting during my runs.

Day 2...Keep me away from cheesecake

Today has also been a fairly good day! Another full day of training/induction, today involved an afternoon about basic life support and it was really good to get a detailed update to add not only to this job, but my nurse training too! :D

Oh and before I go on, last night I had a square of dark chocolate before bed to get rid of some cravings and hunger pangs followed by lemon and ginger tea. :)

Onto the food!

 Breakfast: Started off with some matcha and apple juice (not in photo)
Then 2 slices of wholemeal toast and reduced fat peanut butter. I'm new to the reduced fat PB, I'm not sure how I feel about it, its smooth for one and I usually get crunchy, but we will see where that goes.
Toast was followed by tea with almond milk.

Mid morning: Nutri-grain, strawberry. Very yum.
Lunch: Smoked salmon, falafel x2 and feta cheese salad. Odd mix but I was just using things I found the the fridge! Tuned out to be quite tasty! Followed this with an orange.
Then....
I bought a cheesecake pot....
It was a tub of  cheesecake 'filling' with a tub of biscuit crumbs. Sooo good! I was full in the afternoon so I didn't eat the banana.
But did have 2 small chocolates when I got home.

For dinner was Thia coconut curry with quorn chicken bits and veg. Very yum. The recipe is from the Hairy Dieters book. I have herd mixed reviews but its nice to have a cookbook from the UK since all my health ones have American ingredients in that can be a pain to get a hold of.
This was served with 1/2 cup boiled rice.

For pudding was a Shape chocolate dessert. Again, YUM.









I am feeling a little on the peckish side so there will be a snack tonight, but I am not sure what. I think maybe an options hot chocolate and an apple or banana. No workouts today, my wrist is suffering from all the press ups when doing the Xtrainfit dvds and the chest compressions on the dummy today, and I felt more pain in my ankle so I am letting things rest tonight.

Loose estimate of calories today is about 1750 so far before evening snack, after will be around 1890.

Night! :)

Day one of taking a closer look...

Well, knowing that what I ate today was going up on here defiantly made me re-think my food choices, helped with that 'second thought'.

So overall today has been a good one, I was a little worried this morning as it was my first day of training as a Bank Support Worker, (getting in some experience before I become a real life nurse! Ek!) it is a week long induction and I didn't know what there would be in terms of food/temptations. So I made my own lunch and stuck to it, even though they had cheesecake pots and that seems to be my current weakness.

So onto the fooood!

Breakfast: Matcha green tea (from teapigs ) with apple juice
Bowl of date, coconut and banana muesli with almond milk
Tea with almond milk

I usually struggle with cereal based breakfast as I am usually hungry within 2 hours, but this stuff seems to do the job fine and the natural slow energy release from Matcha tea really helps!

Morning snack: Apple - it was huge! (also a small coffee before training started)
Lunch: Quorn ham and Philadelphia sandwich on wholemeal bread, a pear and some blueberries (another small coffee - they were tiny)
Mid afternoon snack: Nakd Banana Bread Bar - These things are yummy!
Lunch seemed to keep me going till three (even had it before 12, I never do that but I was so hungry!)

 After I got in just before 5 I was hungry...again. I wanted something small but would leave me feeling O.K. until tea was ready so I had one of the protein bun things I made (they were really dry, this always happens when replace some flour with protein powder, do I need more moisture in the mixture?)

Dinner: we made chilli, veggie version for me and mince for Nick.
In the veggie one went onion, courgette, red pepper and Morrison's meat free mine, along with other typical chilli bits and 1/2 cup of boiled rice.

Pudding: Yeo vally yog. YUM. I tend to get low fat yoghurts but this time I got these...soooo yummy. It was only 127kcal for the pot which isn't really that bad for a creamy dessert. After washing up I let the food settle before going to do some core strength yoga.

Supper: After yoga I had planned to have a cookie and cream kitkat and a option hot chocolate, but, I felt nice and healthy after yoga and I didn't really want to spoil the feeling so I snooped in the fridge and got a large carrot and a serving size pot of hummus. Worth it. So Nice!




Followed by another teapigs tea (they are tasty!)
This tea was superfruits, as you can see they use whole bits of fruit and leaves so you get a full taste (thought I'd add in that teapigs has not had any involvement with me writing this, they just do genuinely good tea!)

 This was the result. YUM.








So, good day I think. I have felt good about my good all day and because I had planned it the night before I felt more in control!.
I totted up the calories for the day (I'm still not 'offically counting') but it came to around 1700 and that is including drinks. So well done me! Ha!

I will be back tomorrow! :)

Commitment issues with food and weight loss

First of all I have stopped the vegan pledge, after just under 2 weeks of being vegan. I found myself stepping into old habits with food, such as eating crisps and biscuits that were vegan, mainly for the sake that they were vegan..I very rarely eat crisps or biscuits!
So yeah, stopped that and now I am back to plain old veggi. I say plain old but I have been veggie for so long that I am comfortable with what food I can cook that is healthy and yummy. I usually like planning my meals and looking for new interesting thing but with degree work and the lark my motivation has suffered with just about most things.

I have been thinking over the last few days about my stuggle to get under the 9st 7lb/8lb mark (133/134lb). I have come to the conclusion that 9st 7lb has been my dream weight since I can remember. I remember being 13st and dreaming about that weight, how I'd look and what clothes size I would be. Now I am here I am still getting used to the smaller me, the smaller tummy the thinner but muscley thighs. One thing I never dreamed about was the ability to be able to run for a whole 13.1 miles (current best of 2 hours 23 mins ;] ). So yeah I am currently needing that little extra motivation to get things back into gear and start losing again. Another 10lb until my BMI is slap bang in the middle of healthy. Now I know BMI is something that I shouldn't really worry about but I feel that I need to lose a little exta, I am not quite where I want to be yet. I know to get there I will need to alter my current eating habits a little.

I have some amazing converse waiting for me when I reach 9st 4lb (130lb), they should be motivation enough but I still have some work to do with my realtionship with food such as reaslising when I am bored rather than actually hungry etc. Drinking water is another thing, I just don't have enough!

In terms of the commitment side of things realtes to me getting past that 9st 7lb. Currently I seem to be able to keep goals up for a short while and then I either get bored of it or just eat too much and think 'Oh well..I will just start again tomorrow..' which I know isn't a good thing.

Running.
What is that again?
I kid. I did do a 5k run in just over 33mins the other day on the tredmil. I am aiming for faster but I did come off that tredmil a little woozy so I think that if I worked any harder I would have fainted. Never a good thing in the middle of the gym. I am doing night shifts next week so that will throw my routine up in the air but you gotta keep on going and manage issues along the way.

I'll update soon on progress and the lark. Hopefully I will get those converse soon! :)

Day 10 of vegan. Things could be better...

I need help!

Since going vegan I haven't lost any weight like I had expected to. In fact I have put a little on...

I know why. I wanted to try making vegan goodies like shortbread and scones to see what the vegan version is like...and yes they are yummy. Not really a good thing.

In my first week I had craving for crisps. I never eat crisps! But I did, I had some Kettle chips. Too many kettle chips if I am honest.

I do feel different...in a bad way. Currently I am buzzing off coffee and I have just come back from the gym so still buzzing from that too (which is why this post makes no sence).

I still want to lose weight, I think I still have around 10lb to go. But nothing really seems to be moving. But then again I read somewhere that you need to keep changing your eating habits as you go. Currently I am eating enough to maintain around 9st 7lb - 9st 10lb. My goal is 8st 10lb - 9st 2lb. I know that to do this I need to cut out the junk and eat for veg, however, when I do this a little bit of junk always leaves me wanting more. Darn additives....The only thing that this doesn't happen with is 70% dark chocolate. Which, by the way is amazing!

So yeah more veg. Less junk.

Started my first 3rd year nursing placement yesterday! Had my first vegan mishap. I asked for a coffee thinking I could have it black then I was given a one with milk...I can't say no to that! So I drank it, mainly to be polite but they know now about my vegan challenge.

Sorry that this has probably made no sence, but any advice or comments would be great! :)

Vegan Pledge Day 4

Day 4! Yey!

Going out for a friends birthday tomorrow so I will need to do a little research tonight to make sure I stick to vegan drinks and I plan to take a vegan pasty with me for those late night munchies, which will hopefully stop me form buying chips and other more fatty, icky things!

I hope that I have lost a little this week, after putting on 1.5lb last week I need to lose that again to remain on track to be 8st 13lb by Christmas!

Off to the gym tomorrow for the first time in ages, planning to do a speedy 5k run and some weights, I've missed the weights!

I had sent my engagement ring off to be re-sized a few days ago and got it back today, now down by 3.5 sizes it fits like a dream and it is soo shiny! Really happy to have it back on the correct finger again!

Today's food...well eaten 195 over. Doesn't sound too bad but I do like to keep to 1600 rather than 1800. Anyway with going out tomorrow I know I'll be going over with the drink I have. Fridays are weigh in days too, but I'll do that after tea and before I head out.

Breakfast
 Bran flakes and banana with soy milk

Snack
2 Small cookies

Lunch
Cous cous with avocado and carrot
apple

Snack
Eat Natural bar and 1 small cookie

Dinner
Linda Mcartney veggi pie with boiled potatoes, carrots and gravy
Green and blacks chocolate (1 row)

What let me down today was the extra calories from cookies and a slightly bigger lunch as I had no salad leaves left but it was yummy and kept me going for a good while!

Vegan Pledge Day 3

A full 3 days :)

Feeling great! I have even reduced my bread intake which I feel good about, although I did have one slice of toast with tea today. Anyway here is how my eats look for today:

Breakfast
Cranberry wheat's and soy milk

Snack
Berry delight nakd bar

Lunch
Salad, with baby leaves, carrot, 1 red pepper, 2 salad onions, 1 small avocado and 5 cherry tomato's. Pear

Snack
2 small home-made vegan cookies and vanilla redbush tea with soy milk

Dinner
Tofu and mushroom stir fry
Still hungry so had a slice of toast and spread.
Alpro soya chocolate pudding and another small vegan cookie.

Snack
Been having crisp cravings so having a bag of sea salt and balsamic vinegar Kettle chips tonight, along with another cup of vanilla red bush tea but without the soy. :)

Total calories today of 1500.


Happy days <3 b="b">

Vegan Pledge Day 2

A little healthier today though there is still work to be done!

First off I must thank the friends at uni for being supportive with my vegan pledge, it makes it so much easier for me so thank you!

I haven't really had any cravings today, apart from wanting a coffee at uni and only having the money to get one out of a machine that does not offer a soy alternative. Boo to that, but tbh it could be worse!

I got the wonderful partner of mine to pick me up some Green and Blacks 70% Dark Chocolate. Yum. I am aware of the tiny bit of milk that may be on the dark chocolate used in the same production line but Green and Blacks do a good job with their cocoa trading so I am willing to bypass that for now.

Got back with my old gym today! There was an offer of a free month of training so how could I resist! Paid £10 instead of £30. Result!

So todays food stuffs.

Breakfast
Branflakes with banana and soy milk

Snack
Cashew Cookie Nakd bar

Lunch
Veggi salad: Baby leaves, carrot, celery, 1/2 green pepper, red chilli, drizzled with lemon juice. YUM...but maybe reduce amount of chilli next time.
Vegan carrot cake from my uni. Amazing!
Orange

Snack
Trail mix (coconut, Brazil nuts, apricot, banana chips etc)

Dinner
Courgette and mushroom Jalfrezi with boiled rice
Rose wine (made sure it was vegan!)
Row and 1/2 of Green and blacks

Sounds like a lot but only 1743 kcal. Enough room for a pear later if I get hungry :)

Going to concentrate on protein and veggi/fruit intake

Protein: Prob not that much
Veg: 5 portions
Fruit: 2 portions (maybe 3 if I have that pear)

Looking forward for tomorrow!

Woman with a plan (run..quick!)

I was on the vegetarian society website the other night and they are currently doing a 7 day meal plan for healthy eating. Find it HERE. I looks really nice! I am adapting a few bit otherwise my shopping this week would have been a little too expensive (currently waiting for tesco delivery. I love getting them..is that sad?).
I have even planned out my breakfast and lunch to attempt to keep me on track, hopefully it will all go well!
Here is what I have planned for tomorrow(and I will let you know if I stick to it!)
Breakfast: Carrot cake porridge - porridge with grated carrot and apple plus sprinkled cinnamon
Snack: Pepper cut into sticks
Lunch: Wholemeal bagel with extra light laughing cow (and possibly spinach)
Snack (Pre gym) : Banana
Dinner: Vegetable Quinoa
Evening snack if needed: Yogurt or some nuts

Sounds pretty good if I'm honest :) I have never tried quinoa, but I have seen some recipes using it, so I think I'll give it a go. If you have used it, and have recipe ideas then please let me know!

I have also got myself some coconut milk to try as a milk alternative. Not because I want to give it milk, but because when I tried becoming vegan in my teens I tried soya, sweetened soya and rice milk and to be honest I was never really fond of any of them, and I like my cereal in the morning! Toast can be too dry at times!

(Shopping arrived)

I love it when the cupboards are full of nice things again!

Right.. so... running....
I need to get back into the habit of going during the week as one long run on a Sunday probably isn't the best thing for my training.

Fitness:
Gym tomorrow :)
I have bought Jillian's 30 day shred, so this will be my next challenge to do it for 30days on the trot. Hopefully with good results since I have put on a pound or two (a weekend of apple crumble followed by a Monday of chocolate fudge cake. Ooops)

Slimming world:
I have decided that it may be time for me to leave, as I feel I may work better with allowing myself small amounts of the good stuff (peanut butter..good for protein) and learning to limit my portion size, something that slimming world doesn't teach you about. So I have gone back to what I was doing before, calorie counting. Not obsessively, just so I am aware of how much is going in and what I am using during the day from exercise.

Overall I am feeling good, much more relaxed with having no job (besides having no money =/) and more confident during my nursing placement. I will post tomorrow to let you know how the plan went.

Planning on making some healthy brownies this week, will try and include pics and recipe when I'm done so watch this space!

Hello!

Bit of a lame title since I doubt anyone will read this for a while, but I couldn't think of anything more inventive (mainly because fantastic 4 is on TV and I'm trying to think of things to do for bonfire night).
Anyway this is like my 5th blog or something, I start them, I get into them then I lose interest as I can never really think of anything interesting to write. I was the same when I was little and I used to try and write diaries but would give up a week or so later. So I'm giving it another go.

My main reason for trying again is to help change my relationship with food, especially now I am training for the Brighton Half Marathon! At the moment my long runs are about 5-6 miles and with 15 weeks before the big event my training is increasing every week. I'm not a fast runner, not in the slightest, more of a enthusiastic plodder.

So my main problem is snacking, mainly when I am on my own. The other day I was thinking why this happens, why as soon as I have the house to myself I go to the cupboard and see what junk food I can nibble, and I always regret it.
So I think this began when I was little and I would ask my mum when I was allowed to start having snacks without asking. This lead onto me sneaking biscuits when no one was in. Then when I was in secondary school I used to eat nothing at school and come home and BINGE on just about anything before people came home from work. I have always felt bad after eating a lot but for some reason I don't have the willpower to stop myself from starting.
I need to work on distraction techniques and see what works for me.

I would love to start pole fittness at my uni but I'm scared that everyone else will be thin and then theres me with well..flab. I have started zumba at uni which is a really big step for me, because I hate going places on my own, I am a very quiet person and I find it difficult to start conversations with people. I am hoping soon I can force myself to a pole fittness class.

Hopefully working on my food intake will help my running too. I have tried food daires and calorie counting but I get bored with them after a while and stop doing them. However I do find when I do these things that I am less likely to snack as much, since I have to right it all down.

I have made some positve changes to my diet. I now drink less tea and coffee ( I am finding that coffee now gives me headaches) and more green/herbal tea which helps me sleep better and feel more healthly. I am now vegetarian, I was veggi during secondary school for around 5 years, and well, I missed it, it feel its more me. Plus it is helping me be more aware of what I am eating during meals (just need to work on the snacking). I buy cakes and chocolate and crips mainly for the other half who can eat as much as he likes and still be skinny -_-, Which when of couse ups my temptation.

I have a few ideas I could try:
Buy the expensive dark (70-80% cocoa) chocolate I loooove in hope I see it as more of a treat.
Cut of certian foods for a week. i.e crisps for 1 week and cake for another.

I'll add more in later posts if I think of them (or try them!). I need to start thinking of things like my running, sometimes I don't really want to go out but after I have I feel achieved something and I feel great about myself. So if I get myself to write something on here a few times a week it might just help me fight the food battle.