At an Impasse

Today's post was going to be called Three Gold Stars - I was THAT confident of impeccable healthy eating success today as a) I was working from home all day today so I could plan precisely what I'd be eating as I'd have no temptations b) I only have healthy food stocked in the fridge and freezer and c) Last night I managed to uncover some self control. SOME! and told myself no more and walked away. MIRACULOUS.

This is how today unfolded:

Post-AB-ROCKING-Leanfit Sess SUPERlean Breakkie was as follows:

2 eggs scrambled, 2 slices of turkey ham (It is turkey so why is it called ham? I'm confused. It's tastes like turkey though!), watermelon (FYI: THIS IS THE MOST SUGARY FRUIT ON THE PLANET. So it's not advisable but I have a whole watermelon in my fridge to get through so I'm ignoring this fact for the moment.)  and a glass of Coconut Milk - such a revelation. I wish we could buy this at home

Mid morning snackeroo - It was meant to be just one of these babies.

NOT TO SCALE!

Unfortunately these are horribly addictive. Fortunately I enforce a strict three sachets maximum in the snack cupboard at any one time. I have learnt my lesson! So the damage wasn't too bad. I feel no minimum guilt.

Lunch = Saladarama

Peach, spinach, avocado, chicken and dressing - YUMMMMY. 

I normally just drink water but I decided to go crazy for once and have a fruit smoothie. 

I'm a girl living on the edge!!

But c.4pm things start to derail. The craving for a Starbucks Frap is shouting loud and clear and has been for the last hour so I decide to throw a light snack at it.

2 turkey rolls with some pesto and SUPERfibrous raspberries - 

This is guaranteed to keep me feeling full and distract the cravings, yes?

No. Or so my brain wants me to believe. So a little scoop of frozen lemonade followed. LOVE this stuff BUT also LOVE MYSELF for my portion restraint. Hooray for small victories.

Keys included to indicate scale

But then I wander back to the kitchen and end up with:

Actually make that two handfuls of unsalted pistachios

Craving crisis averted.

Hip, hip, hooray...........except......... I have effectively just eaten a whole meal and I am now craving pizza big time - I blame all of yesterday's ponderings of the Pizza Hut Park of Texas (I even checked my local pizza store location. Nooooo) but then I rationed that actually a cheese burger would be far healthier. Who am I kidding? But so far so good I have not succumbed. to. either. BUT

Now I really really want cheese. I don't keep cheese at home (too dangerous a substance currently) but I know that homemade Mac and Cheese is only $2.99 for a child's portion at the supermarket so that's only half bad.

Cheese, bread, pasta, yum, bread, cheeseburger, bread, frappaccino, babybel, major yum. This is what is consuming my brain on a loop.

I am meant to be having salmon and veggies for dinner but I am at a cross roads and I cannot even be distracted by the SUPERminiature doggie (it's guinea pig size but with slightly longer legs) that resides opposite and is currently delighting in the freshly cut grass. Even my devious plan to dognap it and convert it into my much yearned for house bunny (the neighbours would never catch on for sure - I will make it some miniature bunny ears and a fluffy tail) cannot distract me from my hankering for carbs (be assured I am drooling just thinking of the possibilities of adopting a house bunny AND of eating some cheese with any sort of side of carbs!)

The Life of a Carb Junkie is full of highs and lows! Electric shock therapy and/or a bout of agoraphobia has to be the only way to go. xx

'By jove, I think I've got it!!'

Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady - the fairest of them all

Well I have been battling my personal 'snacking ninja' alter ego for what feels like ages. Realistically it has only been maybe max 8 weeks BUT it's been BUGGING me like crazy. 

But I think I know that I've finally cracked it for me at this point and time.  I heart making progress ;-))

While I love the idea of going strict Paleo, honestly I'm just not prepared to go 100% strict Paleo at this juncture. I was just reading Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Diet (basically a vegetarian version of Paleo) yesterday which helpfully reinforced the Paleo messages and my appreciation for this approach to nutrition, except I also know vegetarianism or a slightly different sort of eating programme is NOT for me right now either. As far as vegetarianism goes my assigned role in my family is 'Baby Lion': I LOVE meat and I love that role in my family life. So meat stays. Grrrrrrrr.

Essentially I'm only here in the US for a short time and while I'm here I want to experience what America has to offer - culturally, educationally and also in culinary terms - be that good or bad (but hopefully only the bad in moderation ;-))), without having to Paleo censor myself all the time. Simply put, for example I have driven past Dairy Queen so many times and never stopped. Not even once, and I really do want to stop by just to satisfy my curiosity so that I can put my own reference to Samantha's Sex and the City Dairy Queen references. That and just this morning one of my Crossfitting ladies was raving about their milkshakes or 'Trip Treat' as she calls them, so I now feel obliged ;-)). So I hereby give myself permission to stop by Dairy Queen sometime, even just one time.

I still think Paleo is a great principle for great health so I'm committing to 70% Paleo :: 30% Non-Paleo as my personal goal at this point in time.

But what I'm eating is not really the crux of the matter, it's really the volume of food I've been consuming and the frequency of my snacking. That's my personal snacking ninja's specialty. So the ninja has been cut off. Simple as that.

Actually this matter has been taken out of my hands: This week I finally got around to doing some trip accounting and balance checking - in short, it is not pretty. Essentially, in just over a month I have already blown my self-imposed personal allowance for my four month US Trip out. of. the. water (which to some extent I was always kind of expecting) BUT shockingly to me, it has mostly 80% gone on food. I'm not sharing figures. But trust me. Its OBSCENE. And the reality is it's a looooooong time yet til I get another pay check so..... whilst my brain doesn't get the notion of 'food as fuel' it does appreciate that the Bank of Justine is finite and is temporarily closed for business so....

Discipline is back. with. AVENGEANCE, and as follows:

1. I get one trip to the store a week to shop for food.


2. I have to purchase UBER wisely and I find the most affordable healthy protein, veggies as well as some non-Paleo (but not too sugary) snack options and THEN check again to see if there are any equally healthy but more affordable options.


3. That food has to last for a week.


4. No exceptions. 


5. If I do dine out, then that meal that I should have eaten at home gets added to the end of the week, i.e. if I dine out three times, my scheduled food shop gets pushed back a day. 


6. TOUGH LOVE!!

Already when I go to the fridge/ cupboard/ freezer I'm find myself thinking that I can eat 'x' now - but once it's gone, it's gone. That's me for a week. A week with no nice edibles is a really long time for the snacking ninja. So better habits are already prevailing. Half quantities of protein are finding it's way onto my plate at meal times. Four squares of Divine 70% dark chocolate with ginger and orange - soooo good - is the treat. NOT the whole bar. (Next week this choco bar will not be allowed to make it to the cash desk - it costs 400% more to purchase in the US than in the UK. However good this chocolate is, the cash saving ninja must prevail!) The Minute Maid Frozen Lemonade - totally AMAZING btw- which is designed to be three portions - 100kcals each!! - is already lasting way, wayyyyyy longer than three treats plus it's cheaper and lasts soooooo much longer than the Simple lemonade drink (similarily scrumptious) that I also heart. I'm learning.

So now you know - Accidental poverty is the absolute answer to overcoming gluttony!! xx

FYI: For any Vegetarians out there Crazy Sexy Diet is such a fun twist on such a serious nutritional message if you appreciate a lot of sass and no frills honesty (although Carr's description of cheese as glorified mucus was a little too much honesty for my own gag reflex! That and I don't do enemas. EVER.) But I totally recommend reading this book if you feel stuck in a nutritional rut. Carr was formerly a NY model living the high life but after being diagnosed with inoperable cancer she turned her personal situation around through her diet. She still has cancer, but she has crazy sexy cancer. LOVE Carr's crazy sexy spirit. So inspirational}

p.s. I feel like I need to add a caveat to today's post: It is my own special gift ;-)) for personal money management that created my current money situation. I budgeted more than adequately for my USA trip but I just forgot to stick to it. People who know me too well know that's unfortunately just how I roll ;-)) So some remedial action is the logical natural step. That and my brain is being drafted out of holiday mode and back to the real world pronto. A bit of watching what I consume (figuratively and literally) is 100% guaranteed to get me feeling bikinilicious, right?! Even Audrey Hepburn would be jealous! Win Win huh!! People like Lady Carr add a great sense of perspective; temporary cash flow issues is nothing compared to a cancer diagnosis or a thousand other things I could think of so I have no complaints. Plus no dependants, children, pets etc will be harmed in this tough love trial. So panic NOT.

p.p.s. Weekly shopping day has been ordained as Thursday. So if I'm a tad grumpy Tuesdays and Wednesdays it's cos the cupboard is bare and I'm snacking on ice cubes ;-)) so please forgive me.

There are Salads and then some!!

Sorry I have been a bit slow catching you up with my recent travels (understand: suffering a little with the post holiday blues. That and I can't find a way to stop laughing long enough at some unfortunate snaps to blog about them). But as I have also been wanting to write an EXCITING post on SALADS (a wannabe bikini body's mainstay) since fooooooooooooorever I thought I'd knock them both out of the ballpark in one swoop. Well at least attempt to!

Understand what I am about to reveal is VERY privileged information - YES I am about to reveal the secret identity of THE BEST SALAD you will ever consume.


I will duel anyone who thinks otherwise ;-)


First of all you must appreciate that that salads and I are:

Or until I get into a bikini, whichever comes first ;-))

Next you must understand that even the absolute 'Can't Cook, Won't Cook' type that I am, my homemade salads set the bar fairly high:

This was yesterday's salad a la casa de Justine: 

spinach, strawberries, almonds, grilled lemon chicken with drizzled mustard dressing

Today's salad was yesterday's leftover steamed salmon (SOOOO RIDICULOUSLY TASTY), spinach, avocado, strawberries, cherry tomatoes with drizzled balsamic dressing. Basically I'd been looking forward to lunch since I woke up!! Always a great sign.

Plus pack lunch salads CAN be equally great - these were my daily office staple over the last year or so since I started this mission - back in the day when I had a 9-5 office job. (You all hate me right now I can feel it ;-)) Don't worry I'll be right back with you in office hell all too soon!)

Again spinach but here with peppers, tomatoes, parma ham and balsamic dressing

Adding some fresh buffalo mozzarella to this is OTT good. Perfect if you are having a rubbish day!

SCRUMPIOUS SALAD STAPLES:

1. Just do spinach - it actually has some nutrient content compared to limpy old lettuce


2. Avocados don't taste great in the UK so I tend to avoid them - but they do make a brilliant salad staple and Stateside or anywhere the sun actually shines avocados are yummilicious .


3. Get creative - berries and fruit work really well in salads - chopped nectarines, strawberries and blueberries are all delicious and personal faves of mine


4. Dressings MAKE a salad but it doesn't need to be complicated - just some olive oil and balsamic dressing works a treat. Plus a little dressing goes a long way.


5. Personally I always add protein to a salad as it helps to fill me up: Try to avoid fake reconstituted meat products if you can avoid it. Best of all just throw in some leftovers to your salad. On the rare event that I do cook, I try to cook more than I need, so I can put the leftover cooked meat or fish in the following day's salad. If you're vegetarian or strict paleo then add in some nuts to the combo.


6. Go seasonal: I am SOOOOOOO guilty of eating the same salad combos week in and out so challenge yourself to mirror the seasons and mix your salads up as often as you can by using fresh produce.

You're taste buds will thank you ;-))

In all honesty I would never dare to lecture anyone on how to cook or what to eat but the 2376 salads I've eaten in recent times makes me feel like I can broach this subject with you all.

But onto the BEST SALAD you'll EVER taste. Actually I only discovered it this weekend. It was so good that I went back two days later to make sure. Honestly it was a revelation. If I end up on Death Row (not sure for what - decapitating someone with a lettuce for using lettuce in their salad rather than spinach maybe ;-)) I want this to be the last thing I ever taste.  So incredible. If anyone doesn't believe that fresh food can taste not just better, but sublimely better than your favourite junk food - I urge you to just try this:

Ensalada de Espinacas, courtesy of Manuels

Congress and 3rd, Austin, TX

It was UNBELIEVABLY GOOD

Manuels are actually famed for their Mexican fare but as I like to limit myself to one Mexican meal a day max as I'm not a big fan of rice and black beans - I opted for this. For once I didn't have order envy!!

For those that can't travel 6000 miles to Austin but would like your palate to experience a taste of heaven, here's the menu description. Best to call your new best Mexican friend and get them to help you assemble the following ingredients: 

Baby Spinach Leaves, Tomato, Red Onion, Avocado, Chili Ancho Strips & Queso Asadero and garnish with  Toasted Sesame Seeds and a Garlic and Cilantro Lime Vinagrette. Serve on it's own or with a side of grilled Chicken, Fish or Shrimp. 

Then prepare to just die of happiness!!

Last but not least on the salad front I wanted to share one of the most unusual, but surprisingly yummy, salads I've ever come across - which coincidentally I also had this past weekend:

A No Nonsense Salad courtesy of Beavers in Houston, TX

YES that is a complete half of a lettuce on my plate!!

For a non-lettuce fan this lettuce was DELICIOUS

Just looking at this makes me wish Beavers was my local

Also on the sustinence front I made two other yummy discoveries last weekend - all thanks to my friend MariaMaria:

• Jamba Juice - Basically a smoothie bar. Peach Passion is my fave. Understand I sampled a few ;-)). In a land where junk food is rife - it's comforting to walk into a store and know that they only use natural ingredients in their produce. 100% guaranteed. Plus in Austin they are situated right next door to Starbucks so the decision to go healthy was EASY PEASY for once!

• Amy's. It's an ice cream parlour BUT with a difference. The queue is out the door and round the block long cos they only do special ice creams. They understand COMBOS and they appreciate showmanship. Prepare to see you ice cream tossed 7 foot in the air!!!

Check this out:

I was so sad to discover that my flight back to Dallas was delayed, until I discovered there was an Amy's opposite my gate.  That was a happy if slightly sugar high hour!!

Have I made you hungry? Well then my work here is done! xx

Terri's Chocolate Brownies

My eating of late has been 90% fantabulous just judging from how my shorts keep falling down today ;-)). It would be 100% EXCEPTIONAL if a) I didn't sneak some traditional carbs - pasta/ cereal when no-one was looking or b) was initiated into the miracle that is Justin's Chocolate Almond Butter. This is basically like nutella but healthy nutella AND it has my name on it so get your orders in quick ;-))

I would love to say that this great eating track record of late is all down to me and that I am finally a reformed character but actually it's all due to fitting in with the eating habits of much healthier people around me. I am (not so secretly) FASCINATED by what SUPERhealthy people eat - and my Texan friends fit the SUPERhealthy category to a Texan 'T'-Bone.  Best of all they have been kind enough to invite me to dine with them - something about preventing the men in white coats from visiting me too often (kidding!!) so I have had the opportunity to openly 'spy'.

My biggest revelation is how simple and easy my fave Texan duo's delicious meals are to create. These guys are bonafide Paleo converts but are practised at it and their meals actually make sense.  I don't know about you but whenever I try a new eating regime - RANDOM CRAZINESS is the name of the game. It takes me ages to figure out what works with what, what 'allowed' combinations I actually like and what is just plain edible!

I got to dine with the Texan duo and their family last night and the menu was as follows:

• Grilled grass-fed Bison (Buffalo to you and me) - died and gone to heaven good


• An incredible salad (check back later this week for more details and my planned 'Salad Hierarchy' post) 


• An avocado and tomato side dish - yummmmmmmmmmmmmy

Then bonding over Extreme Makeover : Home Edition (my now second favourite American show after Extreme Makeover : Weightloss Edition) - I got to chow down on some incredible chocolate brownies made by SF's Mom. This lady is so sweet, eek - has read my blog, clearly shares a passion for anything chocolate and does Crossfit too. Well just my new BFF!!

Terri was even kind enough to share the recipe for her lovely PALEO and yummy chocolately brownie creation and I found this gem in my inbox this morning so I just had to share IMMEDIATELY. Eat these chilled. Sooooooooo, soooo good, I even went back for (gasp) thirds.

Chocolate Brownie

(Sorry I didn't take a pic of Terri's actual masterpiece)

But eating Terri's Paleo Chocolate Brownies you would be forgiven for thinking you were actually eating these

Ingredients:
2 cups whole walnuts
2 ½ cups Medjool dates, pitted
1 cup raw cacao / cocoa (I had & used an unsweetened Cocoa powder / Hershey or Nestle)
1 cup raw unsalted almonds, roughly chopped
¼ tsp. sea salt

Directions:
1. Place walnuts in food processor and blend on high until the nuts are finely ground.
2. Add the cacao / cocoa and salt. Pulse to combine. 
3. Add the dates one at a time through the feed tube of the food processor while it is running. What you should end up with is a mix that appears rather like cake crumbs, but that when pressed, will easily stick together (if the mixture does not hold together well, add more dates). 
4. In a large bowl (or the pan you plan on putting the brownies in), combine the walnut-cacao / cocoa mix with the chopped almonds. Press into a lined cake pan or mold. Place in freezer of fridge until ready to serve (it is also easier to cut these when they are cold). 

I have only ever made this recipe cut in half ... SO GOOD!

PLUS SOME REALLY USEFUL INFORMATION (A quick explanation by someone on the internet)  


Raw cacao powder is NOT the same as cocoa powder

Raw cacao powder is unadulterated and contains many more nutrients than traditional cocoa powder. It's sold mostly via health food stores and online retailers. Just google raw cacao powder to find retailers like rawguru.com, vitacost.com, and livesuperfoods.com which all sell the product (note: this is not an endorsement of any retailer). Many of these retailer sites also promote the benefits of "raw cacao powder." Many recipes are also found on the internet for such things as a banana cacao smoothie. Cacao in its natural state contains no sugars. Ehow.com describes the difference between raw cacao powder and cocoa powder this way:

"Pure, unsweetened cocoa powder tastes very bitter and rich, which is why it is most often used in sweets and confections. To get cocoa powder from the cacao bean, the nibs are first ground into a strong paste. The fat is removed, and the remaining solids are ground up again into a fine dust: cocoa powder. Because of its drying properties, using cocoa powder in a cake often requires the use of more shortening or butter in the recipe.

According to FDA guidelines, cocoa powder and cacao powder are simply different terms for the same powder, and are nearly interchangeable; however, "cacao powder" specifically refers to raw, unsweetened powder. "Cocoa powder," on the other hand, may still have a very small amount of cocoa butter present to enhance the flavor subtly."

Thanks Terri. I literally can't wait to have a go at recreating these - I have to do something to keep my shorts from falling down any further!! ;-)) xx

Come on......

Helloooo it's 10.05pm - so I've literally just got a few minutes to spend checking in with you all before I have to be in bed. Self-imposed curfews SUCK. OK, ok I've just spent 20 minutes catching up with One Twenty Five - who WOOP, WOOP is back from her week's holiday/ blog silence. Congaing right now. One week has never felt soo long even with a Royal Wedding to distract me.

In truth I'm happy that I will be in bed in 20 mins.... actually I could fall asleep right now typing this at my desk I am so knackered.

Tonight's Learn to Run Session, led by the infatigable Cat, has basically flogged me to death.  I have no doubt my L2R compadres were wondering how the heck is she going to walk 60km on Saturday - when the poor thing is laid out after a few runs at different speeds. FYI - I wasn't counting but I sure we did hundreds.  It felt like never ending torture. And don't worry peeps - I am thinking EXACTLY the same thing.

This Saturday. 60km. HOW?

My one and only saving grace is that fortunately my mental stamina is leap years ahead of my physical stamina.  I REALLY didn't want to walk the 5 miles home tonight post session but I did it and then ate a bowl of soup and some tomatoes and spinach although what I really wanted was something resembling this:

This made me laugh so much.

This is Lucinda's dinner snap from tonight 
- lovely thing doesn't want me to forget what a carb is.

I will get my own back Missus at 7am training tomorrow - NEVER FEAR. 

Day 3 Paleo complete. 25641 steps covered. Tomorrow's Paleo brekkie and lunch packed ready to go. 5am alarm for tomorrow set. Blog post done by 10.18pm.

COME ON!!
(p.s. These were AJ's magic words tonight which kept me running when I'd all but given up.  THANKS AJ - indebted as always.)

Chocolate & Raspberries: One of Life's Perfect Combos

Right now I am snacking on these lovelies:

Although I am secretly dreaming of a slice of this lovely:

Feeling happy as I've scored a hat trick on the eating proper food front so far this week. There is not a sandwich or a Pret bought dinner in sight, par example:

• Monday's Dinner: Stir fry turkey with mushrooms and yoghurt and a side of broccoli - Forgotton just how scrumptious this meal is and just how foolproof it is to make.


• Tuesday's Dinner: Leftovers from monday night - still yummilicious


• Tonight: Baked organic salmon and roasted veggies  - I would eat salmon - grilled, baked or the smoked stuff EVERYDAY  - I love it so much.

Even better news, the chocolate situation has been downgraded from:
Grade 4 - 'crazy eyes unless fed chocolate on demand, quantity undeterminable - symptoms include, irritability, an inability to think of anything but the next hit and seriously aching teeth' to a Grade 3 - 'once a day chocolate hit - though still a little too portion happy BUT at least conscious of the amount being consumed' situation. Really I'm just happy I'm starting to get a grip on the situation AT ALL!

I would go so far as to make the bold step of saying I'm going to try for a completely non-chocolate day tomorrow EXCEPT:

1. It's waaaaaay too early in my recovery for that


2. More colleagues are leaving tomorrow - sob, sob - but silver lining and all that, there is a high probability of cake and treats - maybe like the delectable creation above?! Any sugar consumption tomorrow will purely be done out of respect and sadness not greed.


3. My exceptionally well placed desk and it's within arm's reach to the fabulous cake table/ office social hub ends tomorrow. Office shuffle commences Friday - shifting to an as yet undisclosed location and just like musical chairs there are apparently not enough desks for everyone following the reorganisation - another more innovative way of enforcing the recent management cuts ;-)

Long live my Cake Monitor's reign for one final glorious day! xx

Getting back into the kitchen

I've been avoiding the kitchen like the plague for too, too long: As much as I adore my flatmates the never ending curse of emptying the dishwasher and the sink of crockery, pots and pans of late has made me never want to enter the kitchen let alone think about cooking - so I've been skipping breakfast, buying readymade sushi or salads for lunch and then filling up on shop bought carbs for dinner (chocolate is a carb fyi!!) Brocolli, green beans, squash and vegetable stirfrys are a distant memory for me at the mo.

In total last week I probably ate 3 home cooked meals - when I say cooked - I am referring to scrambling eggs. To be honest I and my skin are feeling the effects of all the processed crap. Let's just say I am FARRRRRRRR from looking my best and with the start of British Summertime today it's time to find my healthy eating groove again before the sun realises it's Summer!

So inspired by Challenge Hannah's anti-microwave and processed foods stance, my uber amazing flatmate who cooked up a storm today and catching up with Hugh F-W of River Cottage fame on 4oD this afternoon, I have decided that ALL the meals I consume for the next 7 days will be prepared and cooked by moi from scratch - breakfast, lunch AND dinner - no excuses.

So it's a complete supermarket boycott for the next seven days. This is going to be T.O.U.G.H. particularly as I haven't actually got any real food in atm.  But if this boycott doesn't ensure I cut out the masses of junk in my diet, well nothing will.

Do you worst dishwasher xx

From {Pancake} Feast to {Snack} Famine

This marks the first of many, MANY platters of biscuits and various tempting delectables that I will be steadfastly resisting until those excess lbs I put on last month are shed. A bold claim considering my long and ardent affair with chocolate bourbons! Crisp biscuit shell, soft centre. Major yum especially dipped in tea or milk.

Please excuse the smudge – someone else, NOT ME, was snapped en-route to a sugary top up! Since today I was at a conference with 170 strangers, I thought it best not to linger too long whilst photographing the biscuits – that would just be weird!!

Despite my best attempts to give up chocolate as of Monday – I hadn’t thought it through sufficiently and pre-planned. On Monday I got trapped in a hall for six hours with no suitably healthy edible alternatives and only £1 in change on me. As I couldn’t leave that particular hall, having spent two hours queuing to get past armed guards, security checks and getting finger printed – there was no way I was missing my place in the queue so I stayed in that hall staring at the little café until my rumbling stomach eventually got the best of me and I went to investigate the healthiest snack that could be purchased for £1: 3 seconds later it became clear there was NADA fitting that description. So I went for the best of a bad lot and decided that a *New* dark chocolate Kitkat must be marginally better than a regular Kitkat or a Mars Bar. It certainly didn't taste as morish as a regular Kitkat but I forced it down. Desperate times!

Pic courtesy of chocoblog

Plus I’d also forgotten that yesterday was Shrove Tuesday and that I was invited to an epic pancake party. THANKS RM. There is no healthy way round a pancake eating contest – Wait......it wasn’t a contest?! Are you sure? Well I certainly got into the pancake eating spirit i.e.I lost count of the number of yummy pancake topping combinations I sampled. The company was equally delightful and I even left with a promise of an invite to a Learn-to-play-Poker night. Nothing like substituting one addiction (sugar/ overeating) with another (?gambling!!)

But today, very appropriately Lent has commenced and with it, a much needed 40 day snack famine. Day 1 is almost complete and my biscuit-impenetrable resolve hasn’t “folded” yet!! xx

(p.s. I realise that the day is not yet over BUT since I have blogged it, I can't cheat. It is so written in the laws of blogland)

Quelling the Inner Sugar Demon

I am still battling my Inner Sugar Demon like crazy - BUT there has been a little progress. For one, I WANT to get myself back on track - I have written myself a list of all the problems and issues currently causing me stress/worry and I am proactively taking each one in turn and dealing with it as best I can. This is massive progress from burying my head in the sand of the last fortnight. Secondly, I am consciously trying to rein my greediness/ sugar weakness in and not allow sugar to be my personal emotional crutch.

Although the sugar war is by no means over - I must have snaffled about 8 M&S chocolate Birthday bites from the cake table today and tonight, whilst I couldn't persuade myself NOT to do a post dinner trip to Tesco and I came home with the following goodies:

I served myself only a single portion and put the rest away in the freezer for another day. Even this rudimentary level of control has been completely lacking of late. A few days ago, an entire tub of ice cream and a packet of giant buttons would have been inhaled without a moment's thought. So happily eating just a single portion is a BIG step. But best of all, my "treat" didn't taste even remotely amazing.

Next time I get this particular craving - hopefully I'll remember that. xx

Fitbug or rather Fatbug!!

Well I'm not quite back to normal but I'm getting there: My knees only started aching after walking 4km of the 8km I covered this morning so that's a great sign.  I'm hoping I'll be back doing some much needed sweaty cardio this weekend, pretty please. I promise not to go too crazy on my beloved knees.

But since I don't have training to keep me occupied in the evenings, I have found that my old friend the Snack Monster has returned, every night without fail.  Not great. Not great at all. To prevent any more snacking, for tonight at least, I decided to complete my FitBug profile for today and quantify the exact damage of all this mindless eating.

For those that haven't heard about FitBug - FitBug is essentially a very precise pedometer designed to track your kcals expended, but the extra bells and whistles, such as the FitBug website that is also part of the package, track your calorie and nutritional intake alongside. FitBug set you weekly goals to achieve, monitor your progress and also run regular competitions and leagues to motivate you to increase your fitness and daily exercise. The current virtual FitBug challenge is "Walking the Great Wall of China" - 237 miles in 8 weeks - Bring. It. On. As you know, I LOVE a challenge, ergo, I'm so far loving the FitBug.

Basically you wear your FitBug device all day long - plug it in to your laptop etc to download the data onto your internet FitBug profile and input what you ate for the day by selecting your food from the database or by building your own recipe from ingredients. FitBug works out all the kcals and nutritional info for you, it won't, however, actually doing the cooking - for that I apparently need a house husband!!

Plus any foods you eat frequently - eg porridge, sushi, chocolate, salmon, pasta, porridge, sushi etc can be stored as favourites, to save having to keep searching the database. In total the whole process literally takes about 2 mins and it's completely PAINLESS, unlike squat jumps!

My FitBug still needs to run a few more days before it can accurately determine exactly how much of a pig I REALLY am! it can set my first goals for number of kcals in and daily number of steps to achieve. Plus you don't have to walk/run all the time, you can substitute steps for swimming, circuits, anything really - just input the details and the FitBug adds this to your daily tally.

Well this was me today:

My kcals in and kcals out are not quite the right way round for the magic weight loss equation I think.

As you can see for dinner, I basically consumed a hippo, it's baby, the entire contents of the fridge, and then some.  Actually I didn't eat quite that much but I did eat 90% junk today. BAD, BAD, BAD - I really, really must go food shopping tomorrow, so please let my bank card cooperate.

{My second discovery of the day was that being made redundant means that your Bank card stops working 10 days before the end of the month rather than 3 days - or is that just me?! Regardless I'm a Waitrose/ M&S girl no longer - instead I'm off to the Pound Shop/Asda for some more affordable and most importantly LESS calorific fare.}

If you're interested, here's the gruesome details of what I did actually eat today - the sweet tooth is back with avengeance:

I've never really been into counting calories as it's just been too much hassle before tools like this emerged. But since I have a FitBug for a free trail period (one good thing has come out of my job recently!!), I'm determined to make the most of it. 

BUT most of all, I'm D.E.T.E.R.M.I.N.E.D. to cut the junk food and the CHOCOLATE out my diet - really THE STORY OF MY LIFE ;-)) xx

Box(of Chocs)ing Day

I may have slightly overdone it on the Christmas chocolate indulgence front. To be honest I’m not sure I can face any more chocolate until at least Christmas 2k11! Fortunately I’ve been keeping potential waist expansion in check via the following exercise regime:


1 x run with lil’ sister – though not sure she appreciated my running tips
1 x walk with elderly retriever around the block – she also ignored all my instructions
1 x walk with Dad and fluffy mop around the park
1 x emergency crisps buying expedition (on foot) to the 24 hour garage - it’s almost as if ma famile don’t want me in the house!
1 x set of walking lunges to the DVD player to put on Sherlock Holmes

p.s. Best Christmas gift ever: remote controlled helicopter – device predictably only lasted a few hours but the emergency crash landings were priceless. xx

Best way to avoid temptation - GIVE IN TO IT!!

Mixed report:

• For the past two days I’ve WALKED to and from Work and as such have covered the very impressive (even if I do say so myself) 22 MILES on FOOT – Hooray! This has taken a Herculean effort and has to be the furthest I’ve ever walked in 48 hours - clearly I don’t get out much!! My feet however are not feeling so ecstatic, though I’ve spotted a home remedy tip on my recent internet travels which I’m keen to try out.                         

(MSN Life and Style)

• As well as completing my almost marathon walk (admittedly in four parts with 8 hour breaks in between – but those don’t count surely), I have also managed two SuperChick circuit/interval sessions. I am still struggling massively with the running portions of the sessions. HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE running distances over 50 metres – though SUPERChick Founder Cat’s Top Tip yesterday to “MOVE MY ARMS” has made a massive difference!

However I still have considerable scope for improvement on this front if this morning’s performance is anything to go by when my fellow SuperChick, complete with dodgy hip and after impaling herself on the spiky railings around Achilles – one of our Hyde Park Training Grounds, still outpaced me with CONSIDERABLE ease. Have to admit though without said running buddy, I would probably just have dived into a bush for a breather before returning back to base! Hopefully the physio don’t work their magic too quickly otherwise I will be trailing in her wake permanently.

Note the delicious view we had whilst crunching abs at 7.30am this morning:

• I am in no danger of challenging Achilles for the best abs anytime soon if today’s shocking performance at resisting SUGAR is anything to go by  ................................................................……………………………………………………………… O.K. I confess I had two slices of a colleague’s Birthday chocolate and raspberry cake. Yesterday I managed admirably and not a gram of sugar (knowingly) passed my lips, but clearly I am unable to resist temptation or the PEER PRESSURE of certain wayward colleagues who coincidentally already have fabulous figures – NOT FAIR!?

However though I’m VERY cross I’ve fallen off the wagon sooo quickly, I am pleased that it wasn’t for a Kitkat or some other everyday confectionary but rather for the most amazing and, as I can personally verify, delicious, chocolate cake (there were raspberries baked into the chocolate sponge – see HEALTHY!!).

Mireille Guiliano – (sensible eating guru extraordinaire and most importantly CHAMPAGNE QUEEN -she was President of Veuve Clicquot and as such I trust her good judgment implicitly!!), would be V. proud. Her basic philosophy behind French Women Don’t Get Fat is to regard eating as a pleasurable activity and as such only to eat a little of the best quality and tastiest offerings available – if you’ve had better or tastier - why bother eating something that is mediocre? Mireille would probably not agree that two slices could be classed as a “little” but I have walked 22 miles in two days – I can’t possibly have offset the 2200 calories I’m supposed to have burned. Can I?

Additionally I should stipulate that we had no computer or telephone access in the office all morning so it was almost impossible to do anything other than chat and eat cake. If only all work was this much fun!

Perhaps I should leave my copy of FWDGF on my desk between me and the cake table to prevent future slipups otherwise I’m going to have to boycott all Birthdays between now and June 19th.

The Birthday Nazi x

Last Supper

Well this is it - my last edible treats for a month - and my last chocolate supper comprising of two cream eggs and packet of mini eggs went down a treat and shamefully totally GUILT-FREE.  Tomorrow the real work of this mission starts - reigning in a decade's worth of poor eating habits and only consuming 1600 kcals of natural, organic (where practical), wholesome and SUGAR-FREE nutrition EVERY DAY.  Getting my fitness up and running is definately going to be a total breeze by comparison. 

I have certain very lucky friends (who will remain nameless out of pure jealousy!) who can simply put mind over matter and not eat chocolate or cheese (my second love!) for months and even in one case years - I can only look on salivating but in complete admiration and shock - clearly they have far superior brains than my puny specimism OR mine has just been completely addled by years of junk food addiction (according to today's SuperChick Fact of the Day):

As I'm not woMAN enough to achieve this massive feat on my own and i) don't have access to my own  personal chef and ii) realise that it is just not practical to have electrodes attached to my chocolate-grabbing fingers 24/7, I am therefore depending on Patrick Holford to help wean my brain off the wrong, but currently so delicious, type of fatty acids. But more on this later. x