Wow this weekend has flown over, wish I had an extra day off this week but no chance of that happening! Yesterday I was up early to go and do a grocery shop. I ended up buying far too much fresh produce as usual. I can’t resist those special offers!
I had a pack of nakd raisins and a mug of warm water and lemon before hitting the gym:
I did 30 minutes on the treadmill alternating between 6.5mph and 7mph every 5 minutes. I also did 20 minutes of steady state cardio on the cross trainer, step machine and bike for a total 1hr 30 minute workout.
When I got home I couldn’t decide if I wanted porridge or a smoothie so I had both! I made up some porridge with 1/2 cup of rude health fruity date oats and 1 1/2 cups of water. I then topped the porridge with some fresh blueberries and poured over a simple smoothie I made with half a gorgeous sweet mango and kara coconut milk. I finished off my layer up with flaked almonds and goji berries:
This was so so good! I used to make layer ups with yoghurt but this was even better!
As breakfast was eaten pretty late I wasn’t that hungry so later in the day I just made myself a green juice containing apple, pear, courgette, cucumber and parsley plus spirulina, matcha green tea powder and acai berry juice:
For dinner I decided to try the organic tempeh I picked up at Whole foods. I baked it in the oven covered with some cashew ginger pate and served it with steamed kale with soy sauce and parsnip chips with the last of the nut pate for dipping:
The tempeh was ok – I liked the texture but it definitely needs a sauce of some kind. Dessert was some heavenly hint of mint conscious raw chocolate:
I also had an apple.
Today I was back at the gym again for my strength workout. I would usually do this workout on a Friday evening but as I was doing it on a Sunday and therefore had a little more time I decided to warm up with a 5 minute treadmill run then do my cardio after the strength routine so that I would have more energy to input into the moves. I did the same routine as last week but increased my reps on some of the exercises:
- Incline push up on bench – body weight, 10 reps x 3 (up from 7 reps last week)
- Stiff legged dead lift – 12 reps (up from 10 last week) x 3 with 18kg barbell
- Chest fly on stability ball – 12 reps (up from 10 last week) x 3 with 2 x 5kg db
- Bent over row with tricep kick back – 12 reps (up 10 from last week) x 3 with 2 x 4kg db
- Shoulder press with squat – 7 reps x 3 with 2 x 7kg db – same as last week
- Forward lunges with bicep curl – 5 x each leg x 3 with 2 x 4kg db – same as last week
- Backwards lunges with bicep curl – 5 x each leg x 3 with 2 x 4kg db – same as last week
- Upright row with sumo squat – 12 reps (up from 10 last week) x 3 with 2 x 6kg db
- Weighted sit up on stability ball – 20 reps(up from 15 last week) x 3 with 1 x 8kg db
- Lower back extension on stability ball – 10 reps x 3 body weight – same as last week
I then finished up with 10 minutes of HIITs on the cross trainer, step machine and cross trainer for a 30 minute cardio workout.
To refuel I made a wonderful Tropical Recovery Smoothie. I added maca powder and matcha green tea powder to the recipe and topped my bowl with raw cacao nibs, dried pineapple and coconut:
Delish!
Lunch was eaten at my parents who were throwing a little party to celebrate the birth of my gorgeous little nephew last week. I took along a raw salad made up of carrot, courgette, cucumber, yellow pepper, alfalfa sprouts, mixed seeds and some braggs. I added some couscous with roasted vegetables and leafy salad from the buffet:
I also had a fruit salad with blueberries, mango and clemintine:
It took a lot of will power not to eat the chocolate cake on offer!
Dinner was more tempeh, this time I griddled it along with some asparagus and steamed kale plus some roast kabocha squash (nom!) I made up some sauce with sweet white miso paste, shoyu and water:
This was yummy, the sauce was fab. Sweet white miso paste is made from fermented soya beans – I found mine in Sainsbury’s so its quite easy to get hold of. You can make all sorts of sauces and dressings with it. Its definitely one of my favourite new ingredients.
For a little dessert I had two sliced apples, one with mesquite powder and the other with the raw brazil cacao bliss I picked up from Whole Foods for dipping:
I really loved both the mesquite and the brazil cacao bliss! The mesquite has a sweet malty flavour and although the brazil nut bliss wasn’t that chocolately it tasted really good.
Alison over at Physically Philosophical tagged me with the Four Things list, so here it is!
Four TV shows I watch
- CSI
- Got to Dance
- Being Human
- Any cookery shows
Four things I’m passionate about
- Healthy food and cookery with fresh produce and good quality ingredients
- Fitness
- Fashion
- The Voluntary and Community Sector / charity sector
Four words/phrases that I use too much
- F*ck (and its variations) – I stole this one from Alison, but I’m the same!
- Eeee well… (that’s a geordie thing I think)
- Oh my god
- At the end of the day…
Four things I’ve learned from the past
- It will all work out for the best in the end
- You always have another 10% you can give
- Don’t be afraid to do things out of your comfort zone
- Treat others as you would like to be treated yourself
Four things I’m looking forward to
- Going to York with James in February
- Going to London in March with my bestie to the Vitality Show!
- Running outdoors again
- Seeing my new nephew get older and start to develop his features and personality
Four things I love about winter
- Fairy lights
- Jumpers, hats and scarves
- Big bowls of warming soup or stew
- Dark evenings in with James with all my candles lit
I know I’m suppose to tag another four people but I think most blogs seem to have got this one, however if your reading and you haven’t yet been tagged consider yourself tagged!
Hope you’ve all had a great weekend!
In case you’ve missed it I’m running a GIVEAWAY to celebrate one year of Keeping Slim and Getting Stylish – check it out here. Thanks for all the entries so far, its been great reading about how blogs have inspired you!
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Love the look of that smoothie! :) And well done for resisting the temptation of chocolate cake! You have killer willpower!!
Your giveaway’s so exciting!! (I tweeted about it btw!)
Have a great week Laura! :D
Love your food porn and your four things, great post x x
That tropical smoothie looks delicious. I’m still sitting on the fence abount tempeh. It’s so strange, but I think you are right that it does need a sauce! :)
Well done for resiting the chocolate cake :)
I wasnt enamoured with tempeh when I tried it either, I much prefer tofu and have not bothered getting it again. I think the texture was a bit chewy and too meat like for me. You are right maybe a sauce would help. Have fun at the vitality show- I went a few years ago with my mum and we had a great time and got a lot of freebies too! :)
hmm that fruit salad looks so yummy though, I think that would help me resist the chocolate cake! :)
Great strength workout! When I read your blogiversary post earlier I wondered how long I’d been doing my blog and realised it was exactly a year today, what a coincidence!!
I was umm-ing and ahh-ing about buying some miso paste in Tesco today because I wasn’t sure how I’d use it in recipes. I didn’t get it in the end but might have to add it to next week’s list now, it seems like it could be a versatile store cupboard ingredient :)
Ha ha, I definitely use your top used-too-much word FAR too much!
I’m not entering your giveaway because it’s not all gluten-free but congratulations on a year :-)
Wow, you did 90 minutes of cardio and survived on a juice for lunch? Can we swap stomachs/brains/willpower, even just for a day? Pretty Please?
Anyway, I think I use those four phrases an awful lot too. We bloggers like to swear, it seems ;) And I would love, love, love to visit the Vitality show, but I’m a bit scared of the capital on my lonesome. Luckily my training day in Feb in London is located almost directly next to Kings Cross Station.
xxx
Oh, and happy blog(i?)versary! I won’t enter the giveaway as there are too many components of it I can’t use (though those carob bars look gorgeous) but I wanted to tell you how much I love and appreciate your blog anyway. It’s especially helpful to have someone else in exactly the same snow situation as me when it does come down – a bit of solidarity/empathy in the face of a blizzard never goes amiss.
Emma – glad you like the giveaway, thanks for the tweet!
Tam – thanks
Jemma – I know, it was ok and I quite liked the texture but it needs lots of flavour added to it
Maria – glad you enjoyed the vitality show, I’m really looking forward to it!
Helen – I have to say the fruit was really good, it did help my will power!
Laura – love that we both started our blogs on the same day!
Bronagh, I really love the sweet white miso, you can add it to soups, sauces and to add creaminess to mashed potatoes or swede. I love its savory taste!
Eleanor – no worries, I understand about the giveaway.
Jessica – it was weird, I just didn’t have a massive appetite but I think it was because I was so busy running around on saturday, if it had been a lazy day I would have been famished! I was a little apprehensive of London on my own last week but I’ve been a few times now so I can tackle the tube ok! So glad that you enjoy the blog, and I agree that some solidarity with Durham things is handy!
I love the look of your smoothies – I’m going to have to get into the smoothie groove :-)
Also admire your wilpower to pass on the chocolate cake … you’re a better woman than me!
Haha, I loved “eeee, well..”!
Good progression on the weights. Adding a couple of reps a week is what you’re looking for — good work!
Oh, I went to the Vitality Show last year. It was really good…and I came back with a ton of goodies.
Definitely going back this year!