Summer Breakfast Smoothie

After I had arrived home from my summer holiday, I realised that the eating out had taken it's toll on me. I felt sluggish, unhealthy and was really missing healthy, home cooked meals. So, I once again have kick started my healthy eating. I'm one of those people who just can't leave the house without breakfast, so finding a healthy breakfast (I don't really like cereal) that doesn't involve bread was my first starting point, and for me, the most difficult as I will happily eat salad and veg with all my other meals.

I decided that the best way to get a healthy start to the day was to make smoothies with fresh ingredients. Now, I don't believe in this whole juicing craze, as weight loss through this method is usually only temporary. But for one meal of the day, I think it's a great way to get a good amount of the right nutrients into your body - though I'm no expert on this!

Although I like to make different smoothies everyday, I thought I would share my favourite recipe so far.

Recipe

• 1 banana
• a handful of ripe strawberries
• 1 peach
• 2 tablespoons of oats
• 1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon 
• A small amount of semi skimmed milk
• A squeeze of honey
• 1 tablespoon of half fat crème freche

I added the oats (a tip from my friend Emily at dinedashanddessert) to keep me full until lunch time, and the cinnamon has great health benefits. To top things off, the strawberries make it a really pretty pink colour instead of a yucky brown colour that lots of smoothies end up being, making it look much more appealing to drink first thing in the morning!

Do you have any favourite smoothies recipes? Is there anything I could add or change to make it better for me?

Thanks for reading! x

Day 7 - End of my first week of establishing a healthy lifestyle and fitness routine!

Breakfast

Toast and honey, and a brew (Is it bad that I can’t start the day without one?)

Lunch

I knew we would be having a buffet style salad for tea as a help yourself kind of meal as we were having family round, so this style of meal is much more casual, more sociable and easier for us to prepare before hand. So for lunch I had sausages. Sausage sandwiches were on the menu for all, but I was aware that I had eaten bread for breakfast, so I made the decision to eat mine in a wrap with ketchup. Less than healthy, I know, but its Easter Sunday.

Exercise

Exercise was back on the cards for today. The workout was once again focussed on upper body. New today was cardio boxing which I admit I was very sceptical about to begin with, yet after I’d completely blown a couple of virtual punchbags I began to change my mind. I broke a little sweat and ended with a ‘long run’ (about 3 minutes). Tomorrow offers a full body workout though which I’m really looking forward to! I might regret that later but we’ll see how it goes.

Tea

The Easter Sunday buffet! I admit that the appeal of this was that I could control my own portion size, but on reflection this was disadvantageous really. I over ate because I got carried away catching up with family. But I’m not going to see this as a negative; now that I am aware of it I can keep an eye on it in the future – like next weekend for example when we have another similar family event taking place. However, it does mean I’ll have to pay special attention to what I eat this week, and maybe even try to up the exercise a little more – I’m feeling adventurous!

Bonus!

I am a massive lover of Pinterest and have been for a while now. I have a fitness board on it, and never really knew what to fill it with. Recently, I have been stumbling across some healthy eating ideas (maybe I’ll actually try them one day…) but never really knew what to post in it as motivation. I don’t like the technique that some others prefer, of pinning people with their perfect body. Fair enough, if that works for you, but for me it’s unrealistic to think I could look like that, nor would I want to be that thin – it’s just not one of my aims.

So I decided to search for some motivational, health related Pinterest quotes, and thought I would share an example of my motivation with you.

One of my favourites is a simple one, but acts as a reminder for why I am doing this: ‘focus on health, not on weight.’

On a final note here’s a little something that amuses me, and I definitely wish it worked like this: ‘I wish that each time I pinned weight loss tips on Pinterest I could magically lose 5 pounds.’ 

Extra Note

I may or may not continue posting everyday, I am unable to continue with the Wii workout as a 30 day fitness challenge for certain reasons (i.e. not being in a house with a Wii!) and am aware my food is less than exciting. However, I really like blogging so might try and think of other topics to write about in the future so that when I have established a healthy lifestyle and feel fitter, I can continue to blog. Any suggestions are welcome!!!

Day 6

So this one is going to be a boring day but I’ll post it anyway just to keep up to date…

Breakfast

Toast and honey followed by a brew

Lunch

Ham salad wrap + twinings

Exercise

Rest day – told you this was a boring one!

Tea

Pizza!! Saturday means treat night (or it does this week anyway). However, although it was pizza, it could’ve been worse. Sainsburys do a fresh pizza similar to the famous ‘Asda pizza’ (just me? No?) where they make them fresh in store for you to cook yourself at home. And yes, I know it was a pizza, but I had a vegetable one so that: a) I was still getting some vitamins/nutrients and b) because it’s actually my favourite flavour pizza.

I know this wasn’t the healthiest of days, and I’ll admit I did zero exercise, but it’s nice to have a day off anyway. Back to it tomorrow though, although tomorrow’s post will reflect Easter Sunday food so I’m not going to pretend it will be healthy at all – exercise makes a comeback though!

Day 5

‘Woke up this morning feeling fineee’ – Easter weekend! To me, this means family time, which does often mean over indulgence in fine foods. I’ve been good today though, promise!!

Breakfast

Same as the last few days…

• 2 slices of toast and honey
• A brew!

Lunch

The salad has been restocked which means one happy person right here. It’s actually a good job I love salad and veg or it would be so much more difficult for me to eat healthily. I’m finding it surprisingly easy at the minute (touch wood!) but eating the right foods and learning what to eat is really helpful. Today for lunch I wasn’t particularly hungry as I had a later breakfast than usual, so I had a ham wrap with tomato, cucumber, spinach (controversial but I actually really like it – just call me Popeye!) and a little red onion. I followed this with a Twinings, just for a change, you know? (heavily loaded with sarcasm, sorry!)

Exercise

Today was the first day I had to exercise with people actually in the house. Wow. Very early on in the day I made it known that while I was exercising, NO ONE was allowed to be in the same room. So that how it happened really, easy as pie (I wish there was pie…)

I was quite shocked at the workout today… jumping lunges?! Is that even a thing?! Apparently so, and it hurt – good pain of course. The running section was also a little longer today and boy could my calves tell it.

It was a ‘day off’ for the plank challenge today. I’m not sure if I agree that that’s a good thing or not but I’m trusting it for now.

As the evenings are lighter it’s easier to get out for an evening walk, and as it wasn’t raining that’s just what I decided to do. There’s a little circular walk near to me that takes about 45 minutes, and is less than 2 miles. It’s so nice to be out in the fresh country air and doesn’t feel like I’m actually exercising. But luckily for me, it counts!

Tea

Ok, I’m making no apologies for this but it had to be another Hairy Bikers meal. As its Good Friday, we would usually have fish and chips. But not today! My healthy weapon of choice today was a meal I’d been excited to try for a while: Cod, wrapped in Parma ham, served on a bed of roasted vegetables and sprinkled with parmesan cheese. De-li-cious! Once again, low calorie, all natural food, yet so satisfying. Good work, Si and Dave!

Because I’d been so good with food all day I decided that in Good Friday tradition I was allowed a couple of hot cross buns for pudding. I mean it would have been rude not to really. And because of that extra walk, I then sat in bed with a guilt free Baileys on the rocks and enjoyed a wild Friday night with Netflix.

Day 4

Today has been such a sunny day! Like I said a few days ago the weather really affects my mood, especially when it comes to exercise and eating healthily. I was so determined to get out for a walk today; either a peaceful stroll in the fresh country air, or plug my Ipod in and listen to some happy music while wandering through the trees and by the river. But, I’m blaming uni work for me not getting out. So close to the end now! Anyway, back to what’s important here…

Breakfast

I’ve got quite hooked on this breakfast at the minute (I tend to get bored quickly though so watch this space!) so this may not change for a few days, but it’s both yummy and filling:

• 2 slices of toast with clear honey
• 1 cuppa with semi-skimmed milk

Lunch

It’s the end of the week, so although I REALLY wanted salad today (it’s the weather, I tell you!) I couldn’t have it… a grocery shop has now happened! So instead I had….

• A tin of Heinz tomato soup
• A salted caramel Twinings

Exercise

I was actually really excited to do exercise today. As silly as it sounds, I missed doing my workout yesterday, I already feel better in myself just upping my exercise to 30 minutes a day instead of none (the shame!). So back to the Wii workouts. The workout today focussed on upper body strength and toning. I feel like I should explain that the box comes with a leg strap to put the nun chuck in when you’re not using it and includes a red stretchy band with black handles on the end. This is to create the tensions for upper body exercises that you are missing from not using weights. However, by the end of this workout I actually didn’t feel like I had done much cardio, so I embarked on a 5 minute run (on the spot, in my living room, of course!) and felt much better for doing so. Overall I burnt off 150 calories today which I was pretty happy with. Baby steps!

A friend also sent me this link today which I found really interesting, and it actually makes sense! If you’re wondering where all the fat disappears to when you lose weight then check this out: http://qi.epfl.ch/en/sondage/show/222/

Tea

I know I said that I would try to find some more interesting recipes but these Hairy Bikers ones are working so well for me! Tonight’s tea was Paprika Chicken served with a small amount of rice. The recipe bulks out the meal with plenty of onion and peppers, and uses smoked paprika for that extra flavour which works so well.

As it was a nice evening and the start of a bank holiday weekend I did treat myself to half a pint of cider, but it’s important to treat yourself occasionally. So that’s that. 4 days done and dusted. Let’s see what tomorrow brings!

Day 3

So today’s post may be quite a short one as it’s not too dissimilar to yesterday…

I worry that my blog may become a little boring so I’m going to make the effort to find different healthy meals from other places, which may also act as further encouragement to carry on eating healthily.

Breakfast

• Toast with honey (natural sugar!)
• Standard morning brew

Lunch

•          Salad wrap with a small amount of toffee flavoured Wenslydale cheese…mmm!
•          1 bag of quavers
•          Twinings!

Exercise

So with regards to the EA Personal Trainer workout for the Wii, every 3^rd day is a rest day! About time, little unfit me woke up feeling about 80 this morning with aches and pains everywhere from yesterday’s lunges. Proof that it’s working though!

I carried on with the plank, 30 seconds again today. It felt a little easier than yesterday but I’m pretty sure that means I’m doing it wrong…

I really wanted to get out for a walk today as well but the lovely British weather is very off putting, so I did some reading for an essay instead – you win some you lose some I guess.

Tea

Back to the Hairy Dieters food again…fish cakes tonight! I was actually very sceptical about this as it said one portion was only 187 calories – serve with veg or salad. Hmm. That really didn’t sound very much for a main meal. However, I was pleasantly surprised! The fish cakes were more fish than potato (great for those of us who don’t love potatoes!) and had onion and lemon in with the mixture. I served it with a simple side salad and lemon juice. I then finished off the meal with a greek yoghurt, and surprisingly wasn’t hungry all night.

Day 2

Waheyy I made it to day 2! Woke up this morning to horrible weather; rain, wind, hail and snow! It’s supposed to be March?! I don’t know about you, but when the weather is a bit grim it really affects my mood, what I eat and what I choose to do with my day. So I’ll admit I nearly caved at breakfast time. But it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, so it’s all good! I am also trying to increase my water intake instead of snacking throughout the day, and so far it seems to be working.

Breakfast

I looked through the cupboards for something nice to eat, but then I remembered the 3 chocolate crispie cakes I ate after tea last night and went straight back to the fruit drawer. I really didn’t feel like fruit this morning, so instead this is what I ate:

•         2 slices farmouse white toast with unsalted, light, Lurpak
•         A cuppa tea with semi-skimmed milk! (This will probably be here every morning…)

Lunch

For lunch today I was going to make a ham salad, but then I saw a portion of the Hairy Bikers Chicken Biryani was left over from last night, and I hate seeing food go to waste. I ate it cold as I didn’t fancy hot food – doesn’t always seem right on a lunch time does it? So this wasn’t a very interesting lunch but I ate it anyway…

•          1 portion Hairy Bikers Chicken Biryani
•         1 Alpen Light cereal bar (lemon drizzle flavour, tasted like cheesecake, yum.)
•          1 Twinings Salted Caramel green tea

Even just the smell of those Twinings green teas is enough to satisfy any unhealthy craving at the minute, which is a pleasant surprise!

Exercise

This is the impressive part. I did a workout 2 days in a row. I’m impressed to say the least. I did the second day of the 30 day challenge as mentioned in my previous post, and it was much tougher than the first one! It had a lot more lunges involved in it, and though it’s a low intensity workout, for someone who hasn’t exercised properly in a while it was pretty tough going. I also burnt off 150 calories in this workout which is a good start. I think I’m going to ache tomorrow – no pain no gain though, right?!

Also did the plank challenge – all about that core!! 30 seconds today, told you it ramped up quickly.

Tea

For tea tonight we had:

•         Steak – with onion gravy
•          Mash
•          Broccoli
•          1 Kit Kat to finish with

A good old meat, carbs and veg – a simple, yet balanced meal. Nothing exciting but does the job I guess.

I finished the day off with a Twinings green tea before bed. Happy times.

Day 1

So, today I have decided it’s time to get fit, get healthy, and start feeling good about myself. In the past I have had friends offer to do it with me as support, but they never quite live up to the mark (sorry guys!). So I’m doing it on my own and I’m blogging so I hopefully stay focussed this time (fingers crossed!). I’ve also decided to use My Fitness Pal, which is an app that helps you keep track of what you eat, a bit like a food diary but online. I’ve wanted to do a blog properly for ages too but didn’t know what to write about, so here goes!

Breakfast

Breakfast is always an issue for me. I hate cereal unless it’s coated in sugar and all the unhealthiest foods sound so appealing first thing on a morning. As much as I love vegetables and salads, fruit rarely appeals to me. This doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it took me a lot to commit to this….I ate an apple. I did it. Though I understand from previous failed health kick attempts that an apple alone is not filling enough for breakfast… so here’s what I ate:

•         1 Braeburn apple
•          1 tablespoon of half fat crème freche
•          1 slice of dry toast
•          A cuppa tea (couldn’t start the day without it!)

Lunch

With only a few weeks left at uni I have a lot of work to do, and have gotten into a really bad habit of snacking from sheer boredom, or just as a break from staring a screen for hours on end. But, I managed to make it until lunchtime without snacking. Hurrah for me! For lunch, I ate the following and really enjoyed it:

•          1 Ham and salad wrap (homemade, of course!)
•          1 Bag of quavers (only 85 calories)
•          A Twinings Caramelised Apple green tea

Exercise

I did some exercise! This in itself is an achievement as of late (don’t judge me!). Not being able to dance as much as I would have like to this year has resulted in me becoming very unfit, and feeling generally sluggish. So, I have started a new challenge; yes, it’s another challenge which I have previously tried and failed.

I really feel uncomfortable doing exercise in public so it had to be something inside my home to start with. EA Active Sports Personal Trainer for Wii is something that I have had for a while, and really like that it gives you short term goals, a rest day every third day, and gives you encouragement as you’re working out. It’s very similar to an exercise DVD actually. As I haven’t done ‘proper’ exercise in a while I picked the low intensity workout and completed Day 1! Yey! According to the programme (not sure on its accuracy) I burnt 112.8 calories – regardless of the calorie counts accuracy I could definitely tell I had done a workout which is definitely a positive! Now to keep it up…

In addition to this I have started an ‘easy’ 30 day plank challenge. Today was only 20 seconds but it ramps up pretty quickly!

Tea

For our evening meal we eat as a family, and as I’m at home during the day right now, I’m responsible for cooking it. I am a massive fan of the Hairy Bikers, and their recipe books for dieting have some delicious, but normal meals in them – and they’re all under 500 calories! What I have learnt from previously making their meals is that they don’t cut food out, they just substitute ingredients for healthier alternatives. Get ready to eat lots of peppers and onions as they recommend them a lot for bulking out meals! Tonight’s choice was their Chicken Biryani which is absolutely delicious. I feel like I have eaten a proper meal and don’t feel like I’m eating fewer calories at all!

•          Chicken Biryani
•        3 small chocolate crispie cakes (a treat!)

Thinking ahead to the next few weeks, there are several obstacles that could throw me off, or more likely – that I could use as an excuse! I’m determined to overlook these this time though, let’s wait and see!