Loses and gains

Yesterday I weighed myself and today I recorded my body fat percentage with my personal trainer. 

This is a hard lesson to learn. I've written before about how the scales aren't the best thing for monitoring how you look... 

So the results are in...

Yesterday I had dropped a kg from january- amazing all things considering!! 

However, today I find that I've put on 1% body fat!! This means my weight loss is artificial and ive actually only lost muscle!! MY HARD EARNED MUSCLE!! 

As my PT said this morning- consistency is key. But it's bloody tough! My problem is that I've been super super good- then super super bad straight away :( 

Consistency in mediocracy is key. 

Let them eat cake....

So as some of you may know it's been a massively crap February for me and rich as we lost Richs dad. 

We had been doing really well eating healthily and working out- starting to see good results. 

This is a little blog just to say sometimes life has a funny way of throwing things at you. And that sometimes there is more important things in life than being healthy and how you look... 

My personal highlight whilst grief stricken was choosing between the Bakewell tart in my left hand and the creme egg in my right- the choice was clear to me: both. 

It's also a time for family and great friends and making the most of each moment of happiness- often meals out and lots of wine! (Thank you to all who assisted!)

I have no regrets about the food choices I've made in the last few weeks and i certainly won't be beating myself up about it whilst I cook my third batch of pancakes tonight ;-) (shrove February Ye?!) 

So the morale is- as my personal trainer told me: when you are upset or down- nourish your body. Feed it what it wants and don't worry about consequences. 

But more importantly- learn from these times and pick yourself back up and get back on "the wagon" (I hate that expression!)

Off to Thailand on Friday for two weeks of sun, sea, cocktails, currys and rice. And ice cream. And apple yoghurt. 

When we are back more health posts and vids to follow!!! Operation beach body will re commence!  

Han 

Seeet potato hash :)

Hi all! 

Been a while since my last blog post. I've  mainly been eating chocolate, take aways and bread due to some hard times :( sometimes life has a way of throwing you off track. I guess it's how you deal with it and how you get back to normality that count. 

However, true to form I'm back :) 

Me and rich did really well in January kick starting healthy eating and now we can relax it just a little ;-) the preparation was exhausting but we've learnt so much about food and new tricks!! 

Last nights dinner was fab- excellent for using up lots of veg from the fridge and very filling- cheap too! It doesn't look massively glamourous but it tastes good!

Sweet potato hash 

Dice and Boil some sweet potato.

Dice and Fry up some veg- I used peppers, mushrooms, red onion, courgette, add seasoning. 

Pop them all in a food processor or just mix together by hand. (We are going to blitz ours to be a bit finer next time)

Make flat sized burgers from the mixture and simply fry! (In spray light or a healthier oil!) 

Pop two poached eggs on top and serve with ketchup ;-) 

Enjoy :) 

When the going gets tough...

The tough have monster munch, christmas chocolate and fish fingers ( not all on one plate). 

#firstworldproblems but we are currently looking for a flat to buy in London ( very exciting!!) but also very tiring and stressful. Every night we are consumed by right move or are traipsing half way across London to view a hovel to potentially call our own. 

Last night we viewed 3 places and it was  very cold and involved lots of standing around and I was feeling poorly :( I decided on the bus on route to property number 1 that somewhere there was a packet of beef monster munch calling my name. 

Phase 1. Beef monster munch consumed on 40 minute walk to next viewings (eating whilst walking causes negative calories right?!)

Started to feel more poorly (#poorme) and by the time we got home I was in pjs,onesie and faux fur throw- imagine the glamour. It was at this point that the chicken and cauliflower rice I had planned just didn't cut it. 

Phase 2- old school classics. 

Bring on the fish finger sandwich with beans. Even better, cooked for me by rich whilst I drank tea feeling sorry for myself. 

Phase 3. Poorly= chocolate. For the first time ever in my life we still have christmas chocolate left past New Year's Eve. (Stupid dark chocolate replacement) so last night I carried on the roll and had some chocolate coins and baubles! 

Was in bed fast asleep at 8:15. Rock and roll.

Anyway aside from making you all feel jealous of my fish finger supper- the morale of this blog post is sometimes you just have to have what you fancy. I would be lying if I said I didn't feel a tiny bit guilty but I'm up- off to the gym, feeling a bit better and back, as they say, on plan. (Urgh back to American preachy- 'back on plan guys!')

Enjoy some treats but just not too excess everyday and guess what- life goes on and weight comes off. 

Try something new!!

On Friday I went to Rich's gym and was one of only two girls! I think gyms can be quite scary and I know as a girl it is hard to feel comfortable and get straight in there. 

Top tips! 

1. Read up- invest in a fitness magazine! Everytime women's fitness arrives on my doorstep I get firstly a sense of guilt, and then one of intrigue. It's so good to help you learn about what to do and why- pick a few exercises and try them out at home first before braving them at the gym.

2. YouTube! There are some really good exercise videos to try on YouTube and seeing videos of people working out can help you improve your form. 

3. Just do it!! Be brave. Get out there and pretend you know what you're doing- I always look at people in the gym and steal ideas- I don't know if they have had years of personal training or if they are rustling up their own routine. I think looking confident is half the battle. 

4. Let's face it- most blokes (and some girls) are way too busy looking at themselves in the mirror to give two hoots what you are or aren't doing!! (You all know I'm too busy taking selfies to look at other people- follow my Instagram account!!) 

Try a new peice of equipment this week at the gym! On Friday I tried inverted sit-ups- will post the video as evidence!!!

Hilarious photo of myself struggling below- your welcome. 

Banana ice cream- taste sensation.

So this happened tonight...

I've shared the recipe for the pancakes before (1 egg, 1 banana mixed and fried). But tonight I upped its game. Served with banana ice cream and hot dark chocolate sauce...

Ice cream: (courtesy of my sister n law) 

Simply peel a ripe banana and pop in the freezer over night. 

Put it in the blender with a spoon of natural or Greek yoghurt... Et voila- completely guilt free banana ice cream!! 

Topped with some melted dark chocolate  which goes all hard on top of the ice cream. 

So amazing we contemplated having it twice in one night- I mean it is pretty guilt free.... 

No carbs before marbs- so what to eat?!

I'm not off to marbs but I like the saying. 

As part of our cutting back on processed foods we have inevitably cut back on carbs. 

Now I've got to be honest, well I love crisps, bread, rice, pasta etc I'm not entirely addicted to them. I have more of a sweet tooth- that's why I think this step hasn't been massively troublesome.

I think as a nation our reliance on carbs is one more of convenience and cost. Whilst out and about your main lunch choice is always going to be a sandwich. Breakfast- usually cereal or toast. Dinner a carb, meat and veg. I partly think our addiction to carbs is one of habit more than lust. 

My biggest downfall is that I adore chips. Chip shop, mcdonalds, pub. Any variety- I'm not fussed. If I do need a chip hit now I make my own- peel and cut up potatoes Pop them in the oven with spray light herbs, salt and paprika and wait patiently! Love them :)

Other vegetable Tricks of the trade:

Have your carb intake at lunch and not at dinner- carbs release energy throughout the day so have them at lunch to help you get through the afternoon at work- could stave off stacking too. 

Swab to wholemeal! This is such an easy change to make but im lead to believe that wholemeal carbs are better for you- think bread, pasta, brown rice. 

Or even better still- cheat with veg! 

Swap out spuds for sweet potato- I actually prefer it- makes nice roast potatoes/ chips. 

Sweet and carrot mash instead of potato.

Courgette peeled/ shaved can make great pasta- simply stir fry and serve along with bolognese. 

Carrots done in the same way can make good pretend noodles in stir fry and cauliflower in the food processor and then baked makes an excellent rice substitute. 

For me I think it's more about seeing enough food on the plate and having seperate things to eat rather than what they actually are... Try a pretend carb at dinner time and see how it goes :)