Lunch time noodles!

The other week, Rob and I went into Newcastle and had the most amazing lunch at this place called Nudo Sushibox. I had the most delicious noodle box! It was quite large, and inside was noodle, vegetable gyoza (funny japanese dumplings - super yummy) and miso soup paste. They then added hot water, microwaved it for a time and that was it!!

Well it gave me an idea, because surely I could do something like that for my own lunch? And I totally can!!

Ingredients
Rice noodles
Mushrooms
Prawns
Miso paste
Hot water

So first I cooked my rice noodles (3 mins in hot water) then I drain, rinse and pop in my lunch pod. Then I slice my mushrooms and put them in and pop some cooked prawns in too. Or you could add in anything! Spring onions, dumplings, mussels, anything really. I shot in an unopened sachet of miso paste and I'm good to go to uni!!
When it comes to lunch, I buy a little thing of hot water, empty my miso sachet, pour over my hot water, and tada! Noodle miso soup :D

Nutritional Info: Calories: 293 Total Carbs: 47g Protein: 22g Fat: 2g

They're low calorie, but they totally fill me right up! Very yummy and perfect for cold days :)

New Workout!

I haven't posted on here in ages!

For the past couple of months I've been joining in with the Nerd Fitness challenges. It's such an amazing community over there and I've been having so much fun!

I've been struggling a lot with what I've been eating and generally just feeling like crap, therefore I eat like crap, and it's just not very good. However, I saw the film Catching Fire the other day and it made me all like...ugggh to be all fit and stuff. Basically Jennifer Lawrence is my idol and please can I be her?

So I came up with a workout. I add other moves in, but this is the core of the workout. Training like a career for the win!

Yummy Brekkie!!

This morning I treat myself to some yummy oat pancakes topped with peaches and frozen raspberries and honey.

They tasted so good and were just what I needed this morning to get me up and moving about.

My Monday's are so hectic lately, what with being at uni 12-5, then having to jump in the car and race to work, trying to get there for 5:30. It hasn't happened yet.


I'm going to the gym 3 times this week. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I've just come to the end of the second 6 week Nerd Fitness challenge and I'm already thinking of the next one. I have new goals, new plans, and I'm determined to keep at it this time. I lost my way somewhat in this last challenge, started eating sweets again and just not eating good. Which is all well and good except it's made me feel bad, sluggish and bad. I want to be feeling good again!

Ready for a Re-do

This is now my fifth week at university and it's not going as well as first thought.

I feel like I'm never settled, as I'm constantly on the move. I barely spend any time at my uni house and I'm almost always at home or at work. I miss my fiance like mad and I miss my family too, but then I want to spend time with my friends at the same time, but there really isn't enough time for all of this.

My diet isn't too bad. I'm not eating as well as I'd like to be, and I'm annoyed because I'm not using the food in my freezer as quickly as I'm used to. This week I'm only having 1 meal at my university house, which was tonight! It's bizarre and frankly I don't like it.

I have no time for either knitting or writing, and while the writing side isn't bothering me too much, the not knitting is! I have three projects on the go and had I been back at the flat with my fiance I know I would have been further on with them! I'm just not in to a new routine yet and it's really starting to get to me.

I need to try and sort myself out before I have some sort of meltdown, and I'm afraid that in the end something will have to give. I just don't know what it will be.

Ratatouille Bake

I didn't take a photo! It looked amazing, you'll just have to believe me when I say this :).

So in my fridge I had 2 courgettes, an aubergine and Greek yogurt (among other things) but I kept thinking that I wanted to do something with them. First I found a recipe for ratatouille, but then I kept thinking about this aubergine bake I had a couple of weeks ago so I decided to mix the two!

Ingredients
1 Aubergine chopped
2 Courgettes chopped
2 Tins of tomatoes
200g Greek yogurt
50g Cheese grated
1/2 red onion chopped
Splash of ground nut oil

Fry the onion in the ground nut oil in a frying pan. Then add the courgette and the aubergine, sweat down before adding the two tins of tomatoes plus any spices (I added Worcestershire sauce and chili). Then place this into a baking dish and top with greek yogurt mixed with the grated cheese. Then bake in the oven at 200C for about 20 minutes.

I served mine with a sweet potato :) This also made enough for three meals :D

Nutritional Info
186 Calories
13g Protein
14g total Carbs

Back at Uni...

And killing it!!

Yes, three days ago I returned to university for my very final year! And let me just say that so far, it's going well.

I've settled well into my house, and while I miss my fiance and my family, things are getting better. I've already been to the gym twice and am eating superbly if I do say so myself! I came home from lectures yesterday and got them typed up that same night - so long as I can keep this up, I think I'll be okay!

It's a horrible day today, but I walked to the gym, and spent about an hour there using the free weights, doing lots of squats and things. I also got to wear some of my new gym gear, the jogging leggings my mum brought me back from Florida. They're SUPER tight, but they make me feel sexy, so I like them :).

This morning for breakfast I've have a quarter of a honeydew melon, and I have a mango, raspberry, pear smoothie to drink once I've had a shower. Then for lunch I'm having my paleo pancakes, cause they're yummy and warm and it looks really cold out! Then I'll be off walking to uni for Fresher's Fair, then to the single lecture I have today, and finally home for my tea (leftover from last night - Spinach and ricotta filled pasta shells with a tomato and aubergine sauce - YUMMY!). And then I'm going bowling with the pharmacy committee!

Busy busy.

I'm really hoping that I can do well this week and manage to keep the weight off so I can win my dietbet. I've got myself some vanilla ice cream and galaxy counters for when I win :D

Yummy Lunches

So I've lost 2.6lb :D which is awesome! And I put it down to trying to be really good with what I'm eating this week. I don't know how many calories are in these things, but I know I've been getting at least 1200 a day.



Wednesday I had this lovely salad, made with fried bacon, a fig, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes and avocado. Plus a drizzle of homemade vinaigrette. It was so yummy! And very filling :) Just what I needed to get me through my afternoon of sewing.

Then yesterday I have a mushroom, spinach and cheese omelette, which too was yummy :)

Then last night I had a vegetable dupiaza from the local take away xD. But I weighed myself this morning and like I say, I've lost 2.6lb :D

Detox!!

So here in the north of England, Autumn's properly hit. Even when the sun is out there's still that fresh breeze that means you need your cardi on. Today, I even wore boots!

As such, it's time for me to hit this new season with a bang. In a previous post I showed you my shopping haul, and this is my meal plan for the week:

	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday
Breakfast	Honeydew melon & Nectarine w/ Greek yogurt	Honeydew melon & peach	Porridge w/ peaches & blueberries	Pancakes w/ raspberries	Wheat a bix w/ peaches	Orange & peach	Porridge sachet made w/ water & honey
Lunch	Fig & roasted avocado spinach salad	Mushroom spinach omelette	Peach, avocado & fig salad + fruit jelly snack [@work]	Jacket potato [@work]		Porridge w/ raspberries
Dinner	Roasted courgette w/ sweet potato & corn on the cob	Indian take-away	Chicken Kiev w/ chips	Aubergine & tomato bake	Pork chops w/ mash potatoes & veg	Jacket potato [@work]	Rob’s bday ?

Obviously these are subject to change, though I don't think they will by any vast amount.

Shopping Trip!

I went shopping last night after work, and bought lots of healthy yummy things :)

Let's see, we have:

• Half a honeydew
• 3 Peaches
• 3 Figs
• 2 Avocados
• 3 Courgettes
• 1 Red onion
• Packet of mushrooms
• Bag of baby spinach
• Corn on the cob
• Cherry tomatoes
• Greek yogurt
• Canned tomatoes

And what am I going to do with all of this?! Honestly, I'm not 100% sure. I need to buy an aubergine, because on Saturday we're having an Aubergine, Tomato bake, which should be yummy. The courgettes I'm having tomorrow for tea as baked courgettes with corn on the cob and salad, which should be nice too. The figs and spinach will be going into salads; fig and roasted sweet potato salad and roasted peach, avocado and spinach salad. The honeydew shall be for breakfasts, with the oranges and nectarines I already have in my fruit bowl.

I'm really excited about these meals this week. The figs and avocado especially! I've never used figs, but I know I like them, so it should be interesting :D

Working Out

I've lost 2lb since starting my dietbet! Just hope I can keep that off this week and improve on it for next week :)

Today I didn't go to the gym, as I went yesterday, instead I did day 5 of the Blogilates Sweatember Calender. You have to subscribe to her site to get the password to be able to see the calender :) However, this was my favourite video from today's workout! My arms were dying!!

Low Calorie Vegetable Soup

This is a super yummy, very low calorie soup, that is perfect for me right now because I have a cold! But my diet-bet is starting tomorrow, so I need to be on the ball!

Ingredients are below. In a large saucepan fry the carrots, onion and leek, then add the tin of tomatoes, puree, stock and frozen peas. Bring to the boil then add the dried pasta shapes and simmer for a further 15 minutes :)



Ingredients (Makes 4)
2 chopped carrots
1 onion chopped
1 chopped leek
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1tsp tomato puree
1 litre vegetable stock
80g dried pasta
40g frozen peas
Splash of Worcestershire sauce

Nutritional Info
106 calories
0.8g fat
3.1g fibre
3.9g protein
94.2% vitamin A

Dietbet

I lost 3lb last week :)

This week I've been to the gym and on a 5 mile walk with Rob around a golf course, and hopefully I've been eating well enough that I'll have a similar loss this week, but we shall see. I did go out for steak for my tea again last night, so you never know.

However, yesterday I joined Blogilates Dietbet. The idea is you 'bet' $25 (£16.62) then you have an initial weigh in, where you weigh yourself and take photos, then you attempt to lose 4% of your weight in 28 days and if you manage you win! and get a share of the pot :).

4% of my weight is about 5lb, so that's just a little over 1lb every week, which I think should be more than doable. I'll be back at university for a couple of the weeks, so I'm likely to be going to the gym far more often, and as I'll be buying my own food again, perhaps I'll be eating a little healthier too. Also, in the next two weeks, (the first of the challenge) my parents are away, so I'm going to be deciding on my own evening meals.

I'm crossing my fingers that I'll manage, because I really want my $25 back lol.

Nerd Fitness

Last week I did the weekly ADF Fit Club post, and one of the girls who commented mentioned this website: Nerd Fitness. I figured I'd check it out, see what it was all about. As it turns out, it's brilliant!

I spend all my time on the site on the forums. They have a real life role-playing game, in which you level up by giving yourself quests and challenges through a 6 week period, and if you achieve your goals you may distribute points between the usual D&D style stats system (STR CON WIS CHA DEX and STA(stamina)).

They also have a place where you can log every day what you've been up to, what exercise you've been doing and what food you've been eating. It makes me feel accountable.

I'll be honest though, this week hasn't been my best. The first two days were okay, but then I went to a country show and out for steak and chips on Wednesday, then I'm at work yesterday and today, so yeah...not so good.

Tomorrow though, gym! I'm going to attempt to go three days in a row, but we'll see how well that goes. However, if I'm knackered tomorrow, I'll get my rollerskates out at least and go for a little jaunt :)

Links: Daily Battle Log - First Challenge log - Nerd Fitness Profile

Paleo(light) Pancakes

Starting off the week right!

This morning I had these pancakes for breakfast. They're the same as my other pancakes, except made with water instead of milk!

Ingredients
1 sachet instant oats (27g)
1 egg
enough water to consistency

Then fry like a pancake :) I had mine with a banana and a little honey.
Nutritional Info
166 calories
6.5g total fat
2.8g fibre
8.5g protein

Just another fad diet?

For a while now I've read a lot about a thing called Paleo.

The idea is that 10,000 years ago the farming revolution began, but before that we sustained as hunter gatherers for like 140,000 years and so we have evolved to subsist on things we could catch and cook, as opposed to the highly processed foods we now survive on. The 'Paleo Diet' therefore provides this idea: to live as our ancestors did, on unprocessed meat and fish, vegetables (not fried in a ton of fat), nuts, seeds and fruit.

So what does this cut out? Well it means that anything using wheat is out. That means breads, cakes, most cereals are now gone from your diet. Also most dairy - you can have eggs, but for some reason they say you can't drink cows milk, but I'm going to say this right now - we've been milking animals for a while now, and I mean like 75,000 years ago, so there we go. People who persist on the Paleo Diet also say that beer is out, well I'd just like to say that beer should most definitely be in. We as a race have been brewing beer for about 15,000 years, so I'd say you're good with that.

The problem is....well the problem is that people are like 'Oh for the last 10,000 years our diets have changed but we haven't' and it's like, okay, but Paleolithic man was extinct when the Neolithic age dawned circa 9,000BC, which is still a very long time ago, but in the Neolithic age we milked animals and brewed beer and made a form of bread. But that's still outside of your 10,000 year window.

I'm interested in this 'Paleo Diet', but frankly I'm not prepared to go at it full whack. But I am going to reduce my dairy intake, and try to stop eating bread. So we shall see :)

I'll let you know how it goes :)

Mmmm Snacks

I am a terrible snacker. I can admit it, and embrace it and try to change.

So today I came up with this little picture, which has four of my favourite good-for-me snacks on, which are what I try to reach for when I'm craving something naughty - like haribos or cheese on toast. Ugh, I have such a problem with melted cheese!


Anyway.

Here are four recipes. They aren't all under 100 calories, but they are all yummy and are a great substitute for that cake you're reaching for, stop it!

Some of them take a little more effort, but they are all cheap, because I am. I don't have money to spend on all these made-for-me ready-to-go healthy snacks, I have to make my own with what I have in the cupboard.

The one thing I will say is get yourself a popcorn maker. It has been such a revelation, and to know that a big bowl of it, to myself, is only like 100 calories is simply astonishing. I have to be honest, I haven't tried it with nutella on, I've been sticking to salt, but apparently it's to die for. So you'll have to let me know if you give it a go :)

Are you there?

I'm sitting in my room, listening to the second album of Foo Fighter's In Your Honor, the slow one, and I'm finding it hard to believe that I bought it seven years ago. It doesn't feel that long since I was listening to it in the back of the rental car on Sanibel Island reading The Dark by James Herbert (amazing book by the way, probably shouldn't have read it when I was 15...but oh well :D).

Anyway, I haven't posted anything in a while, because I've been so super busy I simply haven't had the time! First of all, it was Rob's graduation. Oh my god it was amazing. Got to be honest, I choked up a little seeing him going up there and being 'hooded'. Just that university is now over, and we're finally moving on to the next part of our lives. Even though I still have a year of university left, we're almost ready to begin properly living our lives. Like we want to.

Then we went on holiday to Cornwall for a week! However, at the start we first headed to London where I had an interview for a pre-registration scheme, and I was offered the place. Which is amazing! However, since then I've been offered a second one and have an interview with a company I really, really would like to work for. So we'll see. But we spent a week in Cornwall, walking a lot, reading an awful lot of tea, feeding animals and just generally enjoying our time together. It was lovely. Just really, really nice, and I was not looking forward to coming home, because I then started into two weeks of working overtime!

I'll be honest, I didn't mind doing the extra hours, in fact I had fun. The thing is I really, honestly enjoy my job. I work with a lovely bunch of people and every day is something different, and even when we have patients who maybe aren't as polite as I'd like, it's still a generally good day. In the middle of those two weeks, I also went to York with a friend from uni to meet up with some lovely ladies I met through the internet. It was a terribly fun weekend, though I did spend Sunday very hungover lol.

So, as you can imagine, the last three weeks haven't left much room for exercising and/or keeping up with the diet. I've decided that I'd quite like to get to under 10 stone before I go back to uni, but I'm sure that'll change once I'm properly back into the swing of things.

I went to the gym this morning. Had a go on the stair master. I only did 5 minutes, I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to walk again after that! But I did apparently do 15 floors, which I think is pretty impressive for my first go. My thighs though, oh Jesus Christ...let's just say it was difficult.

The next two days I'm going to be going out with my family, who - even though I've been living at home for about 10 weeks - I feel like I've hardly seen. But I'm still going to go to the gym in the morning! Got to get back on the horse as it were and start being good again :).

Sweating Buckets!

Morning!! Well...Afternoon now, but anyway.

I went to our new gym today - I'll get photos when I'm there next. It's lovely. What was once a ground floor windowless room is now a first floor expanse of lots of new machines, walls of windows and it's just lovely. I felt so much better and spent about an hour and a half there today - longer than I think I ever have before!

I did the workout I posted yesterday, after 25 minutes running to Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 5, and 20 minutes cycling on the recombinant bike while reading The White Queen. And I was dying!! It wasn't too hard to be honest, but it certainly finished me off.

According the the TechnoGym equipment computer the workout from yesterday burns around 250 calories - which is pretty good! Of course that'll be different depending on your build and what not. But yeah, 250 calorie in about 30 minutes. Not bad :)

Got my suitcase down today :D and started sorting out my wash bag. Going out to find a bolero thingy in a bit to wear on Tuesday for Rob's graduation, but then I think I'll be starting to pack :D

It's another very sunny day here, but I think today I'll actually sit in the sun :)

Working Out and Passing Exams

Guess what?!

I passed both my resit exams. Yaaaaay :D I am so beyond happy. I am finally entering into my final year at university. I've waited so long for this and now I'm here and I can barely believe this.

There may have been a Chinese take-away ordered and eaten tonight, but I can neither confirm or deny that haha. Right now I'm starting to think about my holiday, got my list done of what I want to take, as that way I should be able to pack a little easier and without too much hassle.

My gym has been shut, so I've been working out at home and with the weather being so beautiful I've been doing so outside. Not today unfortunately, as my knee and hip are going crazy! Proper shooting pains every so often when I walk. Not pleasant at all, hoping it's better for tomorrow.

Anyway, so I created this workout. There's a warm up, the workout and some stretching. It's an all over workout, with some cardio and some strength. Incorporate weights/bottles of water to make it harder and add resistance, but everything can be done without weights too.

It's a very long workout, so I've placed it under the cut. If you have a go at this, please let me know :)

ONE HUNDREDTH POST

This is my blogs centenary. My 100th post. I've been on this journey of weight loss, healthy living and generally sorting my life out for over seven months now.

First thing to say is: I've now lost 7lb since I restarted exercising and eating well after my exams. So wehey!

I did my final resit on Monday, and my results are going to be released tomorrow. Not sure whether it'll be 9am or 5pm...I'm reckoning 5pm but you never know. Not yet nervous, but I'm sure I will be tomorrow.

Yesterday, I went to Beamish Museum with Rob. It was so lovely! Cooler than it has been, and overcast, so it was the perfect day to go around it to be honest. There's an awful lot of walking involved. Plus, we had the most delicious fish and chips that have ever passed my lips. Fried in beef dripping. I didn't complete My Fitness Pal for yesterday, because I reckon my lunch alone was my daily allowance, then with the lasagne and chips, and apple pie and custard I had for tea. Oh I don't even want to think how many calories I ate yesterday.

Today I was very good, to make up for it. I had a smoothie for breakfast, which I ate on the way to town to shop with my mam (bought a peach jumper, brown knee high boots, some shorts for my hols, three pairs of pants and a rather special bra to wear under the dress I've made for Rob's graduation), then I had blueberry pancakes with raspberries and honey for my lunch, and a stir fry for my tea. I also did some pilates today - my thighs and stomach are killing me. Then I ate a magnum xD. So not completely good, but certainly better than yesterday.

Got many busy days ahead of me, but I'm looking forward to them. Hopefully tomorrow will go well, and I won't end the day in tears.

Another Day in the Sun

It has been very hot here the last couple of days and today's another on. It's currently 28C in the shade and 35C in the sun. To say I'm warm is a little bit of an understatement, but we'll go with that haha.

The problem when it's this warm is I don't get hungry, and I have to almost force myself to drink a lot of water. Of course, if I don't, I get quite sick, as I've found out before.

I had a very yummy breakfast :D

 I have no idea what's going on with this photo. It's the right way round on my computer, but I try to upload it and it turns.

Anyway, it's 2 wheat a bix, splash of milk, a tinned pear and a slice of watermelon. Comes to around 200 calories and it was yummy!!

We had a BBQ yesterday and played Formula D, so I have left over burgers for my lunch - yummy!!

Obviously I'm not going to the gym tomorrow, and it's my last resit exam in the morning, but after that I have a very full week! Getting my hair dyed and graduation dress shopping for my friend, visiting Leeds Armouries. It'll be all go :D

Hope you're all having fun in the sun, but be sensible! Wear sun tan lotion and take breaks in the shade :)

Evening by the Sea and Paris Dressing

Yesterday was a scorcher! I can't even begin to tell you. I'm no longer red but I am still a little sore xD. Anyway, yesterday evening myself, Rob, and two of his mates went to Saltburn. T'was so nice!

We ate fish and chips and had a good old wander about - my legs are sore today! I totally blame all the steps we had to climb.

 We saw yarn bombing! There's been quite a bit going about lately, mostly in Saltburn but also in Guisborough and all around. I was so impressed with them, as a knitter myself I could appreciate the time and effort that must have gone in to some of the pieces.

It was quite busy, with lots of locals out enjoying the sunshine. Up here in the North you know, we've got to make the most of it haha.

Oh! I booked mine and Robs holiday today, yaaaay! Now I just need to find somewhere for us to stay down near Cheshunt, preferably away from the M25. I need a map.





Today, I'm going looking at bridesmaid dresses with one of my other bridesmaids :). And since it's beautiful and sunny and because I'm feeling pretty good about myself lately, I thought I'd try and get into a dress my nana made for me 4 years ago, for a trip to France I took with Rob and his family.

The only time I've worn this dress has been out and about on a very hot day in Paris. It's my Paris dress and I'll always love it, solely for that reason. I've changed a lot since I was 18, my figure more than anything, but I'm happy to say that I totally fit into this dress!!

On the left is me in the dress now
On the right is me in the dress in Paris in 2009, holding the only thing I bought in Paris - a Parisian Vogue haha

Healthy Food and Exercise

I'm living with my parents at the moment, back home from university for the summer, and I was a little...worried, about how my diet would go. But as it turns out, they're both on diets too! My dads lost half a stone already, in about a month, so yeah. Woo hoo! My mam's jealous, because she's not losing anything, but she will, I know she will :).

Anyway, my mam has been taking all of our dinner recipes from these Rosemary Conley (how good does she look for 60 something btw?!) magazines and recipe books. And I thought, hmmm, I'll have a look through, and there was a breakfast suggestion in one of them that I just had to try. Well, I had it the other morning, and it's become pretty much my staple meal lately xD.

That's two wheat-a-bix with just a little milk (enough to make them a little soft) topped with sliced tinned peaches. It's 168 calories and it's delicious! Plus it's already a pretty decent start to one of your five a day, right?

It's such an awesome post workout breakfast I can't even begin to tell you.




Today I also went to the gym - it's moving, and I really hope the room it goes to has windows - I killed it! 5 minute warm up on the rower - high intensity, I was sweating before I'd even really started. Then I did this:

Now, you all know how much I love and adore Cassey Ho off of Blogilates. She's my major fitspiration - her and Jennifer Lawrence, they're both such beautiful healthy ladies. And she's been making these printables and today I was like - I am doing this!

I was a bit of a wimp and only did one set of each, but this wasn't the only thing was doing. I added on about 30 more squats, plus plie squats with heel raises, chest presses, skull-crushers etc.

I was dying! Then I did 10 minute sprints on the treadmill.

My stomach hurts now, and I can't tell if it's actual tummy ache or if it's my muscles xD, but it only really hurts when I stand up. But it's so sunny and warm out today, I really don't plan to do a lot of standing haha.

Happy July!

Into the seventh month of the year, we're over half way to 2014! Hasn't it been going quickly? I certainly think so.

Yesterday I received an email from one of the places I applied to do my Pre-Reg with, I'll be honest, I expected a rejection, because that's all I've got so far, but no! It was an email asking me to go to an assessment day on the 18th July :D. Unfortunately, it's in London. I don't live in London, I live quite far from it in fact. But I'm going to get there :).

So I have just over two weeks to properly tone myself up. I'm obviously not going to loose a lot of weight in that time, but even 4lb will make a difference, though I'm unlikely to do that what with my exams and the dirrty hot dog from Varsity I'm going to be eating after each one, hehe.

The plan now is to get a holiday booked (to start the day after this interview thing) and get a premier inn or travelodge booked for this interview. I also need to find something to wear! I need to look awesome and professional and like I know what I'm doing lol.

I'm going to be posting more recipes in the next couple of weeks (hopefully) and also coming up with some other workouts for indoors and for outside in the sun :D

Exercise and Low Calorie Day

As you may know, I use both Fitocracy and MyFitnessPal. I think they're awesome apps and perfect for keeping a track of your fitness and food. Plus I LOVE gaining levels on fitocracy :).

This is the workout I tracked today:

I hope you can see that. I'm very achy, especially after working out yesterday too. I'm planning on having the weekend off, but I may end up popping to the gym tomorrow - we'll see.

Super Calorific Indian Takeway and Under 200 Calorie 'Fry Up'

The other night, me and Rob had an indian take away and it was soooo good. They weren't nearly as bad as I thought they would be, mine was about 750 calories in total.
That was mine. So yummy.
A dopiaza, half a thing of pilau rice, half a thing of chips and half a HUGE naan. It was just what I needed, and I need to look into a really low calorie curry, because I really do love them.

Then I went to the gym today. I forgot my bottle of water though, so I was bloody knackered at the end. Enjoy the sweaty pic of me.

I only spent 10 minutes on the treadmill, then did:

• 10 reps each leg elevated lunges
• 20 of those ab spike things on the exercise ball
• 10 weighted squats (10kg)
• 10 plie squats
• 10 reverse flies (3kg each hand)
• 20 chest press (10kg)

Today for lunch, I wanted something warm, because when I'm revising in the dining room I get really cold! But it's hard to have warm food without toast or something, and I'm trying not to eat too much bread. So I had a 'fry up', except none of it was fried, there was no oil involved and it came to only 196 calories!

2 slices of ham

1 tomato

hand full of mushrooms - quartered

and a poached egg 

Super yummy, nice and filling, and just what I needed to warm up :)

'Fitspiration'

The other night I was talking to my fiance, we stayed up till 1am talking in fact - t'was nice. Anyway, at one point we got on about fitness, and about me going to the gym and what I'm doing and why I'm doing it.

I started on the whole 'weight loss journey' for just that - to lose weight. But along the way my reasons for exercising and eating right has changed, and that's come from the experiences I've had in trying to maintain a healthier lifestyle.

First off, what have been the benefits I've noticed in being healthy:

• I haven't been ill nearly as much as last year
• I feel better - not just physically, but emotionally - I'm more able to deal with the stresses in my life
• I've saved money
• I feel more confident when I go to the gym

...to name a few.

All of those things, not one truly has anything to do with losing weight. They're to do with simply feeling better on the whole. And the other day I realised why I go to the gym, why I want to eat well and be as healthy as I can be; I want to be strong and fit to deal with life's ups and downs.

This may be tmi, but I want to be able to have marathon sex without getting tired. I want to be able to run for a bus (should I ever have to), I want to be able to run away should anyone try to attack me, or I want to be able to fight back, and be stronger than any assailant. I want to be able to carry heavy boxes with ease and not worry about hurting myself, I want to be able to run up lots of flights of stairs without it killing me. 

These are the reasons I run and I lift weights and do pilates. Not to fit into jeans a size too small, or to see the numbers go down on the scale - they're simply the markers of progress, not the end game.

I haven't been to the gym the last couple of days, as I've been moving out my flat, but I'm back tomorrow, and shall be posting my workout on here for you :). Trying some new moves :D

Lots of Yummy Food

Woke up early this morning and spent about half an hour in the gym. Not long, I know, but certainly long enough. After my time in the gym, I made myself some pancakes again, but this time I added blueberries in, and instead of a chopped banana, I had raspberries and honey :D.

 It was so yummy!

And it made me feel good, which is all I wanted from this new 'diet' thing. I'm still trying to lose weight and be sexy in a bikini of course. Me and my fiance have decided that we're going to go somewhere sunny, after my resits :).



Then for my lunch, oh my lunch :)

Two rashers of grilled bacon, one grilled tomato and one poached egg. So yummy, and just what I wanted. I really wanted something fatty to be honest, and my brother was making bacon sandwiches, and I've heard that eating fat without carbs is better for you or some such thing. So yeah :)

I'm feeling much better today, better about having to do these resits and better about myself. Looking forward to two weeks on Monday when this will all be over :)

Self Worth

(jsyk, this isn't going to be the most linear of posts)

I've never been the sort of person whose self worth has been tied in to how I look; how I think I look, how I believe other's perceive me, and what I know other's to think of me. It's just never been something that's really impacted my life. That's not to say I don't care, because I do. I care that my thighs jiggle, and that I don't fit into my jeans, but that doesn't mean it has any relevance on how I feel about myself as a whole.

However, there is one thing that has a major impact on how I feel about myself, and that's how well I perform academically.

Put it down to being one of the 'clever ones' through primary school, then being placed into top sets through secondary school, where these expectations of A and A* GCSE's are thrust upon you and if you're not living up to your potential you get taken into a room with all of the subject teachers and asked why you're not doing well, and essentially are made to feel about 2 inches tall (I should know). Then I went on to college - college was good. I studied Maths, Chemistry and Biology to A-level. Not easy subjects, I know, and I didn't particularly excel, but I passed at grades C and above, which was enough to get me into University to study Pharmacy.

I want to preface this with; I do like my course, and I do quite like my university, and (while we've had our differences) I do like my lecturers too, but I hate university.

Today, I got my results for the four exams I sat about a month ago. I passed two (Pathology and Pharmacy Practice - yay!) and failed the other two (Drug Substance and Pharmaceutics - not so yay). I was devastated. From not one of the exams did I leave and think 'Well shit, failed that one'. Each one I left feeling hopeful, that maybe for the first time in my university career I wouldn't have failed an exam. Maybe this time I'll be clever, maybe this time I'll show these lecturers, this university, the world, that I am actually good at what I do.

This was not the case.

I spent a while crying, and frankly I'm still not quite over that. Because all I could think about, was not just that I'd failed exams, that I would have to resit and it kind of mucks up my plans for summer, but that I was a failure. I'd gone and done it again, thick ol' Becky, back again.

I thought, 'Why can't I just get this? Other people do. Other people manage just fine? Why am I so fucking stupid that I can't manage to pass two stupid exams?' My perception of myself plummeted. I was no longer, Rebecca who is a whiz at making clothes, who can whip up the most delicious cake ever in no time, who can write epic novels (that may never see the light of day, but oh well), Rebecca who is strong, who can lift weights with the best of them, and has an amazing relationship with an amazing man. I was just Rebecca, girl who can't even get through one stupid degree course.

All I wanted to do was crawl into my bed, and sleep for the rest of my life. I wondered - would the world be better off without me? I thought, I must be dragging down the universities stats, that I'm putting my family through needless stress (because my mum stresses right along with me), that I'd spoiled my fiance's plans.

It's a horrible feeling, feeling like you're useless. Not just stupid or thick, but actually useless - what good am I?

University, while I have enjoyed parts of it, has ruined me. And should I, God forbid, actually fail off this course with only 1 year to go, I will never go back. Give me a full time job. Give me a mortgage and a life. But I would never, ever go back to university, not even if you paid me.

What's truly annoying though, is I know I would be an awesome pharmacist. I work in a pharmacy now, and I love it. I really, really do. Even the patients that drive you insane, I just love talking to people, and advising them on their health choices. I really do like going to work. I love learning from the pharmacists we have in. I just really hope I get the chance to do that.

I've done a ton of revision already today, and my alarm's set for 6.15am (yay) so I can get to the gym for 6.30, back home for 7.30 and revising by 8am. Got a meeting with a lecturer tomorrow afternoon, and this time I am going to kill these exams. There is going to be no question as to whether I've passed, because I'm going to. I don't want to think about the alternative.

Dress Making

My fiance, Rob, is graduating from University after four years on the 16th July. Thus, I need a posh frock to wear. But of course, I'm not going to be buying one!

I saw this dress on Pinterest and just loved it. Though I wasn't fussed on the gathered top, or the binding/pleats round the bust, I knew I had to make a dress like this.

So I was straight on to Burda and found this pattern: Contour Bust Pattern. It's so cute and looking at photos of other peoples projects I knew that was what I wanted.

A couple of weeks ago I bought my material, this lovely green and a slightly off white for the contrast. I bought my zip and matching thread, too. Then today I took it all to my nana to see what she thought.

Unfortunately the photo I took of the pattern pieces on the material, ready to be cut out, got corrupted. But we ended up with 2 upper bust pieces (one for the front, and one as interfacing [different to how the pattern specifies]), 1 lower middle bust piece, 2 lower side bust pieces, and 2 back pieces (plus 2 pieces for back interfacing).

Each piece was extended on all sides allowing for a half inch seam, and for the lower pieces we added an extra two inches to the bottom, so it'll sit nicely on my waist and we also found that we had to extend the back panel pieces by about an inch each way (thankfully my nana has a seam ripped xD).

Then I sewed it all together, following the curves. This was the first time I sewed curves and I'm happy to say it went very well :).

Then I tried it on, and it fit perfect!

For the skirt of this dress, we're planning on making a very simple gathered skirt, we'll also be adding a halter neck strap and maybe a bow like in the original dress.

The next time I'm round (which should be Friday) we might make the skirt. Although I also have a petticoat to make for my future sister-in-law, to go under her prom dress.

All in all it went very well :) and I can't wait for it to be finished so I can wear it!!

Yummy Lunches and Exercising in the Sun

It's a delightful day today! Lovely and warm, terribly sunny and I've been awake for hours!

This morning I took my mam and her car to the MOT place, then I went to my nanas, and made the bodice of my dress (post to follow). I then took my mam to pick up her car, then had my lunch. 'Twas super yummy! I was wanting to cut out bread and chips, but my mam bought ciabatta from ASDA so I kind of had to have one. I topped them with avocado, tomato and mozarella, then toasted it :).

Then I went outside and exercised!

Got me sunnies on :). As you can see I used my yoga mat, but even still I'm covered in a rather horrible red rash - I'm quite allergic to grass, but only when touching it.

Tonight I'm going back up to our flat to finish cleaning it, after the pub quiz of course (we won last week!), then I get my level three results on Thursday morning. I'm just about holding on to my sanity...just.

Hopefully we'll actually get our holiday booked soon too :)

Super Yummy Breakfast Pancakes

Morning! I'm off to work today for 4 hours, and when I work these Saturdays I always want to eat something for breakfast that will stop be being hungry until 2pm when I get home. Today, I think I'm on for a winner!

Cassey Ho, off of Blogilates, has started a new webseries entitled Cheap Clean Eats. I've never tried any of her recipes before, because generally I simply can't get hold of the ingredients she uses what with being in England and all. But this one, with a little substitution, I can do! (If you want to make the actual recipe, which is definitely lower calories, click on the link above).

Honestly, eating this I did not feel like I was eating diet food! I'm so full and it was so yummy! You just have to make them :D

Ingredients
1 Quaker Oats So Simple plain porridge sachet
Dash of cinnamon
1/4 cup semi-skimmed milk
1 egg
1 banana
squidge of honey

Basically, just shot it all in your blender (but only 1/2 the banana) and blend until smooth. Then fry like a pancake. I made one thick one, or you could make a few little ones. Then I chopped up the other half of the banana, folded my pancake in half and drizzled it with a little honey :)

Nutritional Info
264 Calories
6g fat
9g protein

Cats and Bridesmaid Dresses

This morning I ate a weight watcher's yogurt for breakfast. My initial plan was to have the yogurt, go to the gym and swimming then come back and have a banana. However, I was in the gym longer than expected, ended up proper sweaty! I did 10 minutes on the rowing machine (did 2 km), then spent a while with the weights doing squats etc. Got some help carrying the exercise ball and step by some proper large bloke with no neck (everyone's so friendly while we're all sweating it out!). Then I went into the pool and did 4 laps, so 100m. Not a lot, but I was knackered!

I'm giving myself the weekend off as I'm at work tomorrow and on Sunday it's a friends 80's style 21st birthday party, where I'll be drinking margaritas and sangria by the pitcher - no bother :D.

Now, yesterday, I spent a little time waiting for Rob (he was helping his dad collapse the shed in the pouring rain) so I played with Tomcat :D

He's a proper sweetheart. He's about 18 years old, and he's looking a little scruffy, and he molts like nothing else. But he's always pestering for a cuddle. He's the biggest softie ever :) I love him.

Today I also went looking for at bridesmaid dresses with one my bridesmaids. Mostly it was just for colours and styles, but it was very fun! and I saw some lovely dresses which gave me a much better idea as to what sort of thing we're going for :)

Tomorrow I'm not going to the gym or anything, as I'll be at work. But I'm still going to be good with what I eat and such :) My tummy already feel firmer!

My Day in Pictures

I've had a rather productive day today! and I was very good. I'm feeling a bit full and tired tonight, as I had fish and chips for my tea - they were yummy and they came with a cuppa (always nice).

It absolutely poured down in Whitby! We got soaked walking down the 199 steps from the abbey to the shops. The water literally ran in rivers around us. It stopped eventually though, thank god.

We did our shopping, buying sweeties (not for me) which I'm going to pop in a jar and tie with a ribbon for a present. And we got some smellys too, but they were for my mam to give someone. We would have had a look around the shops more if it weren't for the rain.

But finally it stopped! We had fish and chips and then walked back through town and up the 199 steps.
Though we had to stop half way up.

Look! Just look at all those steps!
We were bloody knackered xD

Then we saw some baby seagulls! It was like springwatch, but right in front of me.
They're in the nest between those two chimneys ------>

When we finally reached the top we had to have a sit down. It was a lovely view, now that the rain had stopped. Unfortunately, due to some major subsidence issues going on, we couldn't sit at the bench where Rob asked me to marry him, but we were pretty close :)




Then on the walk back we saw some ponies! Well...they were huge, so they were definitely horses.





Tomorrow I shall be going swimming and looking at Bridesmaid dresses with one of my bridesmaids, so that'll be fun. And I might take that bikini photo - we shall see :)

Good Morning!

It's been a good morning so far!

I had a weight watchers yogurt and a strawberry smoothie for breakfast, then I went to the gym! For like an hour and a half!

This is the workout I tracked through Fitocracy. However, I did more than this, only it doesn't really let you track everything.

I did these funny exercise ball spike press-up things that I saw Cassey Ho doing:

They were super hard, and I did about 30 of them (which is where my press ups came from). And my form was not nearly as good as Cassey's but I tried really hard!

I'm going to be brave today, and I'm going to get a photo of me in a bikini, as a sort of before photo. The thing is, I'm not really unhappy with the way I look, I'd just rather my curves were muscle rather than fat. I don't really want to be any smaller than I am (I happen to like my big bum and hips).

Anyway, time for a shower! Then I think I'll get some writing done before I go to Whitby with Rob for fish and chips!! :D

Oh I Ache!

Yesterday was a good day. I had cereal for breakfast, tuna and cucumber on crisp breads for lunch, then bacon egg and beans for tea (I skimped on the chips).

I also did quite a lot of exercise!

My house (that is my parent's house) has a huge back garden, so I did quite a few sprints up and down the lawn, before getting into this 'Crossfit Style' work-out I found online.
It's called - The Ladder and can be found here. Now I am a wimp, so there was no way I could do 50 press ups. So this is what I did:

20 press ups
20 lunges (each leg)
15 sit ups
20 squats
5 burpees
30 second plank
Then I repeated it back up the other way!

I'm so sore today. Which hasn't been helped by the fact that I've been clearing my flat today, climbing up and down four flights of stairs with heavy boxes and bin bags is not fun. I'm covered in bruises!

But you know what? I feel firmer already. And I'm going to go to the gym tomorrow and Friday hopefully, might even go swimming on Friday. Tomorrow I'm also going walking around Whitby, up those 199 steps, so that'll be a pretty decent workout too :)

I'll be ready for the beach in no time haha :D

What to do, what to do?

Today was one of the first proper days to myself that I've had in awhile. While I was at work at 5.30-8pm, I was off the rest of the day, and with no revision or uni work to be done, I started at a bit of a loss.

I didn't get up nearly as early as I wanted, I ended up staying in bed til 9.30am. However, once I got up I went outside and did these two workouts: Bikini Body and Ballet-Inspired. My thighs were killing me!

Food wise - I could have been better - what's worse is what I did eat didn't make me feel very good (I've got a cold anyway, so I don't think that helped). Today I ate: Breakfast = bowl of shreddies. Lunch = hot dog bun (so bad) & dairylee dunker & half a bag of jelly babies (and I wonder why I feel bad?!). Tea = vegetable pasta bake.

I also went on my rollerskates today! Only for like...10 minutes, but I felt it in my thighs and my bum. I was very wobbly to start with. I'm quite good on inlines, but when it comes to proper roller skates, I'm a bit crap. But I got the hang of it eventually :).

Tomorrow, I'm off shopping in the morning, so I'm going to be up nice and early to get a workout in. Hopefully, I'll also be finishing my shorts - I got them all cut out, but then my sewing machine broke while I was making a petticoat. I'm hoping it's just due to some netting stuck under the bobbin, otherwise I'm screwed and I'll have to use my nana's machine.

Here's hoping all goes well tomorrow :)

Summer is finally here

which means that it's time for a holiday in the sun, which means I shall be wearing a bikini.

The last couple of months have been pretty hectic, as I've been getting ready and through my exams. I was all set to be so good in May, doing that 2 day diet thingy, but I should have known it never would have lasted. Frankly, I was far too stressed out to think about dieting or going to the gym. I haven't weighed myself, I don't want too, all I know is I no longer fit in to my smaller size jeans. All that hard work just flown out the window.

It's my finace's graduation on the 16th July, and I'm fashioning myself another dress (with the help of my nana again), and then on the 19th (hopefully) we shall be jetting off with 4 of our friends to sunny Menorca for 7 days in the sun. And I want to be fit for it!

Thus, tomorrow begins the start of me getting ready for a bikini. I shall be going to the gym, and swimming, as often as I can. I'm also hopefully going to start going to a Kettlebell class, and hopefully rollerskating - if I can find anywhere that's flat enough for me to do that.

For the next four weeks I'm going to be using Cassey Ho's Pop Pilates for Beginners Calendar

As I haven't done any pilates for a very long time, I think I need to take myself through a sort of refresher to build my strength back up.

Tomorrow morning I shall be going to the gym and doing the first video from the calendar. I might even get the rollerskates out, though probably just out my front, just to get used to them again.

Now that I'm home I'm also hoping to eat a lot better. Any thought of a diet went right out the window, with me basically scranning everything in sight - not good! Seriously, crisps and sweets and cans and bottles of pop, alcohol (so much alcohol). Just bad things, that only made me feel bad for eating (physically - not emotionally, frankly they were glorious until I ate too much and made myself ill). So now I'm going to be back on smoothies and fruit and grains and good things that make me feel good.

I'm hoping to come up with some more little workouts as I go - especially for abs and legs. I'm reckoning that it's going to be all go on here in the next month or so :)

Wish me luck!

Sausage Casserole

There is already one sausage casserole recipe on here, but this one is slightly different...not very, but a little bit.

Today I had my last exam! I'm at work all day tomorrow then I need to start clearing my flat out as we're moving out this year (so sad), so it hasn't quite hit me yet that I really don't have anything to do anymore. But I wanted something yummy and warm for tea to celebrate :)

I didn't take a photo, but it did look amazing, but very similar to all the other sausage cassroles I've made :)

Ingredients (serves 2)

4 reduced fat sausages

2 carrots

1 onion

Handful of mushrooms

Can of chopped tomatoes

Can of haricot beans - drained

1 garlic clove

Drizzle of olive oil

100mL chicken or veg stock

2 baked potatoes

1. Grill your sausages until sealed, then set aside - do this as you're doing the rest really.

2. With the oil, fry your onion, garlic, mushrooms and carrot until soft, then add them to your casserole dish

3. Add in the tomatoes, beans and stock, and chop up your sausages and add them, too. Season well.

4. Bake for 20 minutes with a lid, then take off the lid and continue baking for 15 minutes.

We served ours with bake potatoes :D

Nutritional Info

662 Calories

8.2g Total fat

104.5g Total carbs

19.2g Fibre

39.3g Protein

147.5% Vitamin A

Vegetable Pasta Bake

This is a very yummy pasta bake, it's full of vitamins (200% your GDA of vitamin C) it also has your entire recommended daily allowance for fibre (though I tend to aim for 20g, per serving this has 14g). It's very easy to do, and requires very little effort, which is ideal for me, what with being a student and all :).

Ingredients (to serve 2)
3 handfuls of dried pasta
1 courgette
1 red pepper
2 tomatoes
1 onion
1 crushed garlic clove
handful of frozen green beans and peas
200mL vegetable stock
some grated cheese

Boil your pasta, and while that's going, chop up your onion, courgette, pepper and tomatoes and grate some cheese. Then fry your onion and garlic until soft, before added in everything but the cheese. Simmer for about ten minutes, then drain you pasta and mix with your vegetables before adding to an oven proof dish. Cover with cheese and bake for 30-35 minutes.

I used full fat cheese, because I think it melts nicer, but you could use low fat cheese to reduce the calories. Also, if you dry fry your ingredients you'll reduce the calories too. But you need a little fat in your diet, so I generally cook using just a little bit of oil.

Nutritional Info (per serving)
475 Calories
25.7g total fat
14g fibre
24.3g protein
116% vitamin A
274.4% vitamin C

2 Day Diet Update

I haven't been very good with this diet. My diet days have slipped into days where I simply don't snack,  which is good, I suppose, but they were meant to be more extreme than they have been.

The fact is that since my exams started, I don't have the drive to be good. I've barely been going to the gym. All I do all day is wake up at 7am, revise until noon, eat my lunch, take a 30 minute break, then revise until 5pm, have my tea, and sometimes revise until 9pm. I'm driving myself into the ground. But today, I'm going to the gym, and I'm determined to go tomorrow also. This weekend, I'm going to try and get myself back on track, because I only have two exams left, and I want to look good by the time they've finished haha.

I've been taking vitamins every day too. Zinc and vitamin C and a multi vitamin that's meant to be good for your hair and such. Every morning I wake up with a sore throat. This is not good, as for me this means there's a cold/flu coming on. And every year after I finish my exams, I generally end up in bed for about a week with a rather severe cold. Because while my exams are going, I'm so stressed out that the increased levels of cortisol and such keep my immune system running at superhuman speeds.

But this year I have to work straight after my exams, so I really don't want to be ill. Thus the zinc and the looking after myself. For once, I want to finish my exams and just go straight into enjoying my summer, not stuck in bed wondering if I'll ever feel good again.

I'm about to post a recipe for something we had for tea the other night. It's actually low calorie, which is more than I can say for the curry we had last night or the nachos we're having tonight xD