Winning This Losing Battle

I have managed to lose the same as last week, I'm down another 0.6kg. I have now lost a total of 5.7kg (12.56lb) but have still got over a half  stone to go to reach my mid-summer target weight.

The running is going well, I even celebrated by doing 3... yes 3 10K runs today, just for funsies! Well in honesty it was a fitness test for myself to see how far my endurance and stamina has come along. I completed them but yes they did hurt, but that's all part of the masterplan... the masterplan is big, it will rock the foundations of my determination and grit... my will-power and fitness, however I cannot share with you right now as it is still being planned and will be announced soon enough!

the healthy eating is still going well and as always if you only use some imagination in the kitchen, the healthy option can tickle any taste buds! 

Well that's all I'm gonna go on about this week because I'm hurting from the inside out at the moment :) A good pain tho... a pain that says I have done something worth doing!

Here are some more new healthy recipes, and my healthy recipe page has finally been updated... phew!

 Steak with Low Fat Pepper Sauce

Homemade Prawn Fried Rice

Steak with Low Fat Pepper Sauce

Steak with low fat Peppercorn Sauce

A good steak of your choice is relevant here. To make this even more low fat trim as much of the fat off the steak as u can before cooking and serve with some healthy sweet potato wedges instead of chips. It’s lean, filling and packs a punch! Fillet steak is naturally leaner but naturally more expensive too so if you’re on a budget this is the route to take.

Serves 2:

2 medium steaks (fat trimmed optional)

2 shallots finely chopped

100g low fat soft cheese

100g crème fraiche

A splash of soy sauce

1 tablespoon of coarsely crushed peppercorns

Olive oil

Method

Ø   Place a pan on the hob and turn on to high heat. Preheat oven to 180ºc.

Ø   Massage a drop of olive oil onto the steaks and season both sides with sea salt. When pan is screaming hot place steaks on. Give them 2-3 minutes then turn them over for about 2-3 minutes. Take off the pan and place them in oven dish and bung into a medium/high oven to finish cooking if you like them well done, otherwise wrap in tin foil to rest.

Ø   Add the shallots to the pan and fry until softened, 3 minutes should be enough. Lower heat a little and add the stock, soy sauce, soft cheese and peppercorns and blend it all together with a spatula and simmer for few minutes until slightly thickened.

Ø   Remove steaks from oven and plate up, pouring the sauce over or serving in a gravy boat.

Homemade Prawn Fried Rice

Homemade Prawn Fried Rice

This dinner is a great homemade and healthy alternative to a Chinese takeaway. Please don’t feel like it is only prawns that can be used… as I say all recipes can be altered to suit your own taste. You can use chicken, turkey, beef, pork or whatever else tickles your fancy.

Calories 1007

504 per portion

Serves 2:

120g of brown or wholegrain rice

Fresh large prawns, about 6/8 each- peeled and deveined

1 clove of garlic

1 large shallot

1 medium egg

1 slice of cooked ham (optional)

A small head of broccoli

A handful of peas

2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce

Method

Ø  Cook the rice according to the packets instructions. Cut the broccoli into small flowerets, finely chop the shallot and garlic and shred the ham if using it.

Ø  When the rice is cooked, allow it to steam dry in a sieve. On a hot/wok pan add a little olive oil, add in the garlic and shallot and fry off for a minute without colouring it. Then add in the prepared prawns. Fry these off for 2 minutes until coloured all over then pick them out with tongs and set aside.

Ø  Add a little more oil to the pan and crack in the egg, move around and break it up with a spatula until cooked then add in the broccoli and peas. Fry all this off for 3-4 minutes before adding in the cooked rice.

Ø  Continue stirring the contents of pan/wok for a minute then add in the soy sauce, ham and prawns, give this all a good mix around for another minute then serve up into warm dishes.

Better Late Than Never

17-5-2013

This year I have left everything so much later in the garden Than I did last year. In hindsight last year was not a great year at all for growing because we had a great spell over Easter and I got carried away and started sowing and planting out like a mad man, then came a month of wet, cold, windy, weather that numbed and stunted everything.

I do learn my lessons and as I'm always saying 'its all about trial and error' so this year I controlled mt urges to get everything rolling early even with the great spell of weather we had before Easter again this year... It was like carbon copy because yet again we got a clod wet and windy month after Easter. So I am comfortable with my decision to hold off this year and not go nuts!!

So the Salad bed is starting to come alive, we got radishes, lettuce, spinach and rocket in here with room to sow more then these ones get up a bit. Peas are starting to come too and will grow up the trellis.

Salad bed

Peas

 The garlic was planted out a few months ago along with the potatoes and onions as not much would faze them at all. i had strawberries in this bed last year but gave them a new location in containers this year.

Garlic growing

Strawberries

Potato drills and Raspberries

Onion bed

 I made 2 new raised beds this year, one is for my carrots and parsnips ant the other is for cabbages and cauliflower, I have left posts sticking up so I can easily net off to keep out the butterflies.

Kitchen garden

 In the greenhouse everything is going well, homemade paper pots for the sweetcorn so the whole thing can be planted out. I also put beds into the greenhouse this year because I find the growbags can dry out very quickly in there.

Sown sweetcorn

Tomato plants

Young leek seedlings

This is really the start of it and it is not too late for anyone else wanting to grow your own, make a start now and fall in love with a great new hobby.

More Loss

Stronger, Faster, Fitter 

I'm now into week 5 of my first 8 week program of 'A New Me' and it is all going superb. Results are really showing on the inside and outside, my clothes are fitting much better and I have gotten rid of the horrible bloated look and feeling especially after eating. I am feeling a lot more energised, stronger, faster and fitter in my training... I am supposed to be doing my long runs each week at a slower pace but am naturally getting faster and faster, which I really need to work on controlling.

I have found that refuelling is so important when losing weight and exercising (I don't want to call it dieting because I am not depriving myself of anything in my diet, I am just eating a lot healthier and am still rewarding my efforts with regular healthy treats along with an unhealthy treat now and again... If you deprive yourself that's when you will fail because you will resent it). Eating the right amounts of carbs are essential because this is your fuel for the body to use. I know some diets call for you to cut out carbs altogether but if you are exercising I personally wouldn't recommend it because your body will dip too much into the fat supply for fuel too quickly, now I know that might sound ideal, but believe me it is not-you will become grumpy, sleepy, dopey and any other dwarf you ought not be... Carbs are what gives your body the energy to exercise and yes, too many will turn into fat if not burn off, this is why I said 'the right amount of carbs'. This is going to vary for each individual.  

Protein will play a huge part in refuelling too as this is whats needed to repair and ease sore muscles.

As you exercise, no matter what kind of way, what happens is the outer fibres of your muscles will fray and break (this is natural) now when this happens the bodies natural defence kicks in and starts to repair the muscle and build an extra lair of muscle fibres, so if we take the protein on board it works much quicker on this process and lessens pain.


So all in all refuel, correctly and you are helping your whole process greatly, If you don't you everything will become much tougher and make you ant to give up... DON'T GIVE UP!!


This week I lost a further 0.6kg, its not an awful lot but its still moving in the right direction plus I am building muscle and muscle weighs more than fat. That is a total of 5.1kg, losing on average a bag of sugar a week off my body weight (its not a bit of wonder I'm running faster). Hey that's 11lb and 5 ounces... I have basically given birth to a big baby!!! :)

Slimming down-Toning up

3 Weeks In, Getting Thin.... ner 

So I am now 3 weeks into my new fitness regime and everything is going great... have a slight twinge in my left glute (bum cheek) but apart from that I'm feeling fitter and stronger.


My fitness plan as previously shown is approaching the half way point, it is strict but I am enjoying every moment of it. I am keeping myself motivated through fitness magazines and films, sometimes all you need is to see a clip or a picture to inspire you to do something physical.


In my training program I'd say the toughest thing has to be the sprint sessions, now when I say sprint, at the moment the bursts are probably at about 70% of my max because I'm not fit enough yet and don't want an injury by pushing myself to stupid limits. Now they are getting a little easier the more I do them but the first time I completed them, by quads (thighs) were cramping up on the cool down and when I got home I threw up! Body shock to say the least but sometime the body needs a good shock!


So in just over 3 weeks from I have started, I have ran 47 miles to date, all clocked by a great free app Runkeeper on my smartphone, it is great for designing the runs you want to do and keeps track of everything you do by tracking your phone on GPS. I would highly recommend it to anyone running or starting out. 


Week 1 I had lost 2.7kg, week 2 I put on 0.3kg now week 3 over and I have lost a further 2.1kg so that's a total of 4.5kg in just over 3 weeks... now they say a picture says a thousand words..

Before & after 3 and a half weeks

Before & after 3 and a half weeks

Here are some of the recipes I have come up with for healthier meals and for re-fueling purposes. There will be more to come!


Breakfast of Champions 

Hot Beef Pocket

Creamy Pesto Pasta