And the week's up! Here's today's eats, drinks and moves.
On rising/in bed: Green tea with pomegranate in my favourite mug.
Before exercise: 5 raw almonds and water.
Exercise: Woke up feeling very stiff and sore from Friday's kettlebells. But decided to power through and get my run out of the way before the excuses were too persuasive.
I ran for 15 minutes to warm up and then did stretching and strides - 5 x 50m uphill strides and 5 x 100m flat strides. Given how lead-like my legs had felt when I headed off, I was amazed at how I flew through these strides. I felt light as a feather! Then I ran 20 minutes home, 10 of it slow and the last 10 at medium pace. Felt fantastic!
Brunch: I made scrambled eggs for me and Tom, served with the last few pieces of home-made bread from Wednesday (now fit only for toast), and some sauteed spinach. I had planned to have avocado with it too but the avocado had gone off! Meh. Also had coffee.
Snack: Big bunch of red grapes.
Late lunch: Sunday is bread-baking day, so I made some more bread - splitting the mixture in half after the first prove. One dough gets baked today, the other dough gets put in the fridge to bake on Wednesday. I've been asked to share the bread recipe which I shall do very soon.
I had some bread with some goat's cheese, rocket, basil and home-made cherry tomato and vanilla jam from The Little Paris Kitchen by Rachel Khoo. Oh, this was so good! The jam was lovely and sweet and went very well with the cheese. And the bread was to-die-for as always.
I had a bit of a domestic goddess day actually - I made the bread, the tomato jam, walnut and rocket pesto, spinach hummus and strawberry and coconut ice-cream.
Dinner: Penne with walnut and rocket pesto, broccoli, more rocket, mozzarella and chilli alongside grilled courgette, artichoke and asparagus. Asparagus has been another favourite this week - you might have noticed that when I like something I tend to repeat it a few times in quick succession :)
Dessert: No picture as the photo I took turned out all grainy (sorry!) but I had a scoop of my home-made strawberry and coconut ice-cream. I got the recipe from Honestly Healthy. It's just strawberries, coconut cream and agave nectar.
Then I had another cup of green tea with pomegranate, and I think I might have another one once this post is finished :)
So there you have it....another series of food what I ate! I really enjoyed doing this, it always makes me more mindful and encourages me to be more creative in the kitchen. And tracking, whether it's writing by hand in a notebook, filling in cells in a spreadsheet or doing a visual record like this, is always a fab way to keep yourself motivated and monitor your progress if your goal is a healthier diet and lifestyle.
These are things I noticed (you may have too) during the series that I'm pretty pleased about:
- I eat a lot of vegetables (particularly green vegetables)
- I eat breakfast every day, even if it's just small
- I drink a lot of herbal and green tea (but do allow myself one coffee a day, if I want it)
- I have alcohol and treats at the weekend, and only occasionally during the week
- I enjoy my food, take a lot of pleasure in it, have a positive attitude towards it and cook things I like to eat
- I get protein in the form of eggs, nuts, seeds, legumes (this week it was mostly chickpeas) and dairy (like Greek yoghurt) - I probably could be more mindful of protein and iron intake though, something to take on board
- I'm working on a balance with gluten (today is possibly not the best example though!) - I choose rice noodles where possible and have gluten-free pizza bases, but also do enjoy a loaf of home-made bread
- I try to have a strategy on days when I'm busy/have to be up early (Tuesdays and Thursdays)
- I try to keep my hunger in check and eat meals/snacks that will satisfy me
- I try to keep waste to a minimum and use up leftovers/food already in the house
- I always try to make the healthiest choice possible but I am a human female and that means chocolate and/or wine is required every now and then :) I try to balance any indulgences by being as active as I can be.
I think this food what I ate series also reminded me how much easier it is to be healthy and mindful if you plan ahead. I remember in my WW days I used to have the bare bones of the day, food wise, planned out - I knew what I was going to have for dinner and usually lunch each day so everything else could fit in around that.
I've definitely learned over the past eight years that it will always take effort for me to live the healthiest life I can. Some years it's been easier than others but for the most part I still have to psych myself up and still have to consciously make the healthier choices. Even now, it's still not easy and not always my natural mindset!
It's been good to be reminded of principles that helped me succeed all those years ago that I can call on when I feel the need to get back to basics. While I much prefer the more intuitive way I eat now, and for the most part I trust myself to make the best choices for myself and my body, it does me no harm to zoom in every now and then to make sure I'm still on the right track but enjoying myself (and life) at the same time.
I hope you had fun sitting at my table with me this week - it was certainly a pleasure having you :)