Bank Holiday Brunch

I personally think that I should win girlfriend of the year award for this…

I stayed out at a friends house on Sunday night, whilst The Man went out for a few (too many!) pints with the boys. Knowing that the kitchen was bare and The Man’s stomach would be empty, I stopped off on my way home in the morning and picked up croissants. I then made the ultimate croissant breakfast – one savoury, one sweet. The first one had a rasher of crispy bacon and melted cheddar cheese and the second one was filled with melted chocolate, which was perfect for dipping in a frothy coffee. It’s like having a main course and a dessert!

Croissants & Coffee

Obviously I am totally aware of how unhealthy this is, so here is a workout to burn it off!

Grab a barbell and put a weight on that you can use for the entire workout. I used 15kg which might not seem like much but there are a lot of reps – those Clean and Presses really do get you!

30 x Clean and Press
30 x Squats
30 x Deadlifts
30 x Press Ups

Row 500m as fast as you can.

20 x Clean and Press
20 x Squats
20 x Deadlifts
20 x Press Ups

Row 500m as fast as you can.

10 x Clean and Press
10 x Squats
10 x Deadlifts
10 x Press Ups

Row 500m as fast as you can.

Thinking about it, I’d probably recommend you do the workout first then eat the double croissant wonder afterwards, otherwise it could get messy….

Me Vs. Post Workout Hunger

My appetite after running is incredible.

Take this morning for instance.

Before leaving the house, I drank a pint of water and ate one of the homemade Hot Cross Buns I had made the night before (another post to come on those!) I knew as I was eating it that it was a bit of a mistake and that I should only eat half, but I don’t really do the whole ‘save half for later’ thing – I salute those who can manage this, but I am more of a ‘have one now…and then have another one later too’  kind of girl. That my friends is why I will never be a skinny minny.

Anyway, I then ran 6.5 miles as scheduled with Gym Buddy. It was a windy run again (no, still not that sort of wind, even after the hot cross bun) which made it tough, but the sun was shining so we kept our chins up.

On returning from my run, I then had my real breakfast which was a banana, oats, yoghurt and berries (the hot cross bun was more of an accidental breakfast, so doesn’t count alright?) and some more water. Pretty substantial right? A good blend of carbs, protein and fruit – just what my body needs post run.

By 10:00AM, despite 2 cups of coffee, my stomach was rumbling! What is that all about??

Fortunately for my belly, one kind soul at the office had brought in some homemade Tiffin. Which as it happens, tastes suspiciously like Rocky Road. Anyone know the difference?! Either way, it was yummy.

So belly was satisfied for a little longer. But it came at a price. Before 10:30AM I had almost certainly consumed more calories than I burnt running this morning.

There’s still a lot of hours left in the day to eat my way through!

I’m not suggesting for a second that I would have been better off staying in bed this morning and therefore having a slightly smaller appetite. I’d rather gain all the fantastic health benefits of exercise and eat like a horse any day.

I just can’t help but think it’s all a little bit unfair that my appetite seems to totally overestimate my calorific needs! I’ve been exercising regularly now for nearly 12 months, you’d think my body would have realised that I am definitely NOT going to let it starve.

So come on appetite, relax, chill out, I will continue to feed you cake – I promise!

WIAW #4

I’ve made a fantastic discovery. Meridian Natural Almond Butter. I’ve seen it cropping up in various food blogs for some time now, so I know it’s nothing new. I picked it up totally on a whim a few weeks ago. Now here’s the shocking part…there’s still about a quarter of a jar left in the cupboard! That has NEVER happened with peanut butter (you can read why here – I can’t bring myself to type that shameful confession again.)

I know what you’re thinking, that if there is still some left weeks later, then it must be because it tastes like crap. But no! It tastes good, great in fact, especially with porridge. It’s just that, the slightly grainy texture and less sweet taste is not quite addictive enough to make me want dive head first into the jar as soon as it is opened. This is amazing news for me!

So here it is, on top of my morning porridge, made with semi-skimmed milk and a big handful of raspberries. Again – no green at Breakfast time today.

Porridge with raspberries and almond butter.

On Monday night, I cooked Spaghetti Bolognese, making sure there was plenty left over for lunch the next day. Nothing beats left overs for lunch, especially things like Bolognese which are always even tastier the second day. A handful of rocket salad and I have my greens. There are also tomatoes, red peppers, onions and mushrooms in the sauce so I’d say I’ve hit my veggie quota here!

Wholemeal Spag Bol with Rocket Salad

For dinner I made one of The Man’s favourites (and another super left-over lunch!) Chicken & Chorizo Paella. Aside from the obvious lump of green (Spinach and Rocket Salad) there are also green peppers and peas in the Paella, as well as yellow pepper and red onion.

Chicken & Chorizo Paella

Throughout the day I also munched my way through a banana, an apple and an orange and guzzled down 2 cups of coffee and 2 cups of tea. Don’t worry – I also drink looooooads of water. I’ll finish there, because all that water makes you need to go for a wee at least a hundred times a day…

WIAW #3

It dawned on me last week when I was catching up with a variety of WIAW posts, that in actual fact, most people post up pictures of their food from Monday/Tuesday rather than scramble around on Wednesday trying to photograph everything and write the post!

Therefore, here is WIAY (What I Ate Yesterday) or I suppose WIAT (What I Ate Tuesday).

I started the day with an early morning workout  (posted here if you are interested!) then came home for my usual weekday breakfast of raw oats with plain natural yoghurt and frozen blueberries. I’m not much one for green things  at breakfast time (is anyone?!) so it’s pinky/purple instead!

Oats with yoghurt and frozen blueberries.

We had some clients in for a meeting in the morning, so I managed to snag 2 M&S Extremely Chocolatey Biscuits with my mid morning coffee. They didn’t hang around anywhere near long enough for me to take a picture of them, so you’ll just have to take my word for it when I say they were scrummy!

At lunch, I made up for my lack of green things with a home made Tuna salad which contained 4 types of green (Rocket, Spinach, Cucumber & Avocado) as well as some cherry tomatoes. I rounded off with an orange. You know what an orange looks like, right?

Tuna Salad.

For dinner I wanted something super quick and easy as The Man was out so I didn’t feel like cooking anything too involved. I went for chicken and noodles with loads of stir fried veg (onion, green peppers, beansprouts, spinach and mushrooms.) It might not look very ‘green’ but there are two green vegetables in there!!

Chicken & Noodles.

In the evening, I had a cup of tea with a couple of squares of Green & Blacks dark chocolate whilst working  on my crochet project.

 

WIAW #2

It was a bright but bitterly cold morning in SE England today. In an attempt to balance the changing seasons, I decided on a winter menu to warm me up and a spring themed outfit to brighten me up.

I gave my usual x-biking class a miss because my hamstrings were super tight from yesterday’s work out. Usually a bit of soreness wouldn’t deter me, but with a 10k run to complete on Thursday  morning, I figured I’d give my legs a chance to fully recover (in fact, I might even get the dreaded foam roller out tonight!)

On to the food…

There is nothing quite like the power of porridge to warm you up on a chilly morning. Even better, add grated apple and cinnamon and it’s a little bit like eating apple pie for breakfast!

Porridge with grated apple and cinnamon.

Our office is freeeeeezing so I reverted back to a winter classic – soup. I pushed the boat out by going to M&S to pick up lunch rather than just Tesco (fancy hey!) and got this delicious Spicy Lentil Soup and a crusty brown roll.

Spicy Lentil Soup with Wholemeal Roll

Later in the afternoon, I had a bowl of fruit salad. It hit the spot  but left me shivering brrrrrr.

Fruit Salad

Continuing on the winter warmers theme, I made honey mustard chicken, with mashed potatoes and peas for dinner.

Honey Mustard Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Peas.

Now I am going to settle down with a cup of tea and work on my latest project – crocheting a blanket for a friends bump that will soon be a baby. I’ll save posting pictures of that until it is a little more impressive…

My First WIAW

Long before I even thought about plucking up the courage to start this blog, I regularly sought out WIAW posts to feed my inherent curiosity about other peoples eating habits as well as find some tasty recipes too.

For those of you that haven’t got a clue what I am talking about, WIAW is an acronym for ‘What I Ate Wednesday’. Every Wednesday, there is a sort of ‘Bloggers Party’ if you will, hosted by Peas and Crayons where people post photos of all of their eats for the day.

So here it is, my very first WIAW post…

On Wednesday’s, I typically do a double session in the gym. I start the day with an X-Biking class before work and then in the evening after work I return for Body Pump. That means I am  hungry hungry hungry!!!

Oats, yoghurt and frozen raspberries.

This is my breakfast of choice, a diet staple of mine for almost 6 months now. 40g of  Sainsburys Oats with Oatbran and Wheatbran, 150g of low fat natural yoghurt and frozen raspberries. DELICIOUS! I’ve even converted The Man over to yoghurt and oats, but he likes his with a spoonful of honey instead of berries for sweetness. I’ve been known to add a teaspoon of peanut or almond butter for extra deliciousness, which I would totally recommend….but since both The Man and I seem to have a rather insatiable liking for peanut butter spoonfuls  (oh alright, peanut butter fingers!)  we can’t always be trusted to keep a jar in the house *hangs head in shame*.

Wholemeal roll filled with sweet chilli chicken, cherry tomatoes and a rocket and spinach salad.

Mango, grapes and strawberries.

At lunch I had a wholemeal roll filled with sweet chilli chicken, cherry tomatoes and some rocket and spinach salad. Followed by a  fruit salad of mango, grapes and strawberries.

Wholemeal spaghetti with tomato and smokey bacon sauce, spinach, rocket and parmesan cheese.

A pretty typical dinner for me on a Wednesday. I get in from work at around 6:00 PM and need to leave for body pump by 6:50 PM so I need to make something quick and easy. Pasta is my Go-To option and not that I would feel particularly guilty if it were regular white pasta but we do usually have wholemeal (does that go someway to making up for the peanut butter shame?!)  Since I am pushed for time, I open a jar of tomato based sauce (I will not apologise for that!) add fresh vegetables, parmesan cheese and a good sprinkle of black pepper – et voila!

Protein shake.

When I arrive home from Body Pump, I usually have a protein shake, which I make by adding the powder to water and then whizzing it up  in the blender with frozen berries to make it colder and tastier.

Hot chocolate.

After I’ve had a nice relaxing bath to soothe my stiff muscles, I like to snuggle up on the sofa in my dressing gown with a mug of hot chocolate – Green & Blacks Organic naturally…because it was on offer this week at Sainsburys!

So that, Ladies and Gentleman, was What I Ate [this] Wednesday.

What did you eat this Wednesday?