Hairy Dieters Spicy Bean and Vegetable Stew

Yup, back on a healthy streak this week. I’m back logging every morsel on my calorie counting app as this is the only way that I know works for me. It’s rather easy with lovely recipes like this though! This is essentially a bucket load of veg fried up with spices then simmered with cannellini beans in chopped tomatoes and water. The whole thing gets boiled down until you have a beautiful veg stew that I’m pretty sure is as healthy as you can get. Finished with a squeeze of fresh lime and a small dollop of creme fraiche and voila! When I did my own calorie count with some weighing of the veg I had to hand this came out at around 360 calories for a huuuge bowl. Happy days! I really enjoy the hairy bikers diet recipes. They have such a lot of flavor and feel like a real treat.

I’m optimistic now that I’m holding myself accountable for every calorie that I consume. Yes it’s tedious and time consuming but it works. It makes me stop and think twice about every snack, every bite, every ingredient, everything! Man, I haven’t had a single biscuit this week! (yes it’s only Tuesday…) So this may be my fate but if the system works then I just need to go with it. To be continued as always eh?

That being said, I’m off to my second cake club meeting next week but as it’s only once a month this is a total exception to the rule! Like my blog description states, I like the tasty treats! It’s balance people! Have I justified this enough yet…? Okay I’m ridiculous, I know…

Paul Hollywood Cheddar and Rosemary Scones

Today I had to rustle something up for a sharing lunch at the office tomorrow. Apparently everyone conjours up a dish of whatever they like to bring and share round for a tasty feast. I sensed a baking opportunity so decided that I had to call on Mr Hollywood for the delicious sounding cheddar and rosemary scenes. Fortunately you can find the recipe right here. (The baking time is 15-20 minutes at 220 degrees on a lined baking tray)

I may have slightly over-catered…

These are definitely delicious and so incredibly easy to throw together. It’s even easier if you have a food processor with a grater blade attachment. There’s an epic amount of cheese in this recipe so that really cuts down on the prep time if you’re after a quick fix.

Here’s the little beauties before going in for baking…

I made myself a slightly smaller ‘taster’ for scientific purposes to make sure the flavour was all good… I can confirm that this is the case…

This is the first time I’ve baked anything in a while and it was definitely nice to have an excuse to get back into it. Mr Hollywood, you have not let me down!

Oh and I made some rolls to make doubly sure that I have enough to take with me…

Too much?

London Colour Run

I’m SO excited!

I signed up for the London Colour Run last night. After seeing countless blogs and posts of people in the USA who have been lucky enough to do this, the chance to do it myself finally came! It’s not about breaking any personal records with this 5k, it just looks like so much fun! I’ve persuaded a friend to do it with me as it looks like the kind of event where you want a buddy to laugh and enjoy it with. I have no doubt that it would be fun going solo but it definitely looks like a ‘more the merrier’ event. I can’t wait!

Would you just look at how fun and happy that looks?! My understanding is that everyone starts with wearing white, you go for a 5k jaunt while getting bright paint powder stuff hurled at you and there’s a big lovely party at the end. What’s not to love? See what I mean about it not being about the distance and breaking any speed records?

So…. Excited!

Midweek Musings

Today I went for a midweek outside run. After getting stuck in going home time traffic, I just couldn’t face running on the spot in a gym full of the same much-fitter-than-me people. I wanted to get outside, get a bit of fresh air, feel a bit of the freedom that running has plenty of. I needed to get out in the big wide open… Okay maybe I’ve been sat in an office for too long today but now that the weather is warmer I don’t want to waste the opportunity for getting out there. The treadmill is the means to keeping my fitness maintained between runs at the weekend and for when it’s too cold or wet out (wimpy I know, I am far from hardcore!). The gym also serves the purpose of me being able to avoid going home traffic by going for a work out and then driving home later so I doubt I’ll ditch the membership any time soon. Today was just one of those unusual days where I just couldn’t face it…

So 5.6 miles later and by and large this went well. My legs are still feeling the shin splint pains which is a frustration but I know they’ll catch up. By the 4 mile mark things were really starting to get uncomfortable so tomorrow will need to be a rest day (which happens to coincide with a planned trip to see Iron Man in the evening, how convenient!). Despite the pains though this was a satisfying run. I didn’t even mind getting caught in torrential rain and getting soaked! Note to self, a white tech shirt is not the most flattering thing to wear when getting soggy is a possibility… But I digress (thank god for everything else including my run bra being impenetrable black!). If anything I kind of liked the downpour, it wasn’t half refreshing…

As a side note, the health kick is still going well. I’ve not been crazy strict with my diet but I’m a million times more mindful about what I’m eating. I’ve dropped a few pounds which has made me feel a little better about things in general. I still have a few more to go before I’ll be able to relax a little more but the fridge is stocked with salad and we have a ton of fruit for the week so it’s all good intentions right now!

The Sun is Shining…

Finally! FINALLY the planets aligned this weekend with some gloriously sunny weather and my legs finally at the stage where I could make the most of these most perfect of running conditions. I managed two 6 mile jaunts this bank holiday weekend and while these weren’t in record breaking times, they were as satisfying and enjoyable as I could hope for. These were also happily the longest runs I’ve managed after this year’s injury. My knee hardly flinched and my ongoing battle with the ol’ shin splints seems to be calming. All in all the alternate running days method seems to be working for me.

Look, I even stopped to take a picture of how bloomin’ gorgeous it was this morning. I nearly got squished by a heard of bikes in the process but that’s neither here nor there…

It’s not been lost on me that today was supposed to be the day I did my ill fated marathon. I guess I’m feeling fairly at peace with this. Yes, it would have even a perfect day with the sun shining but I’m lucky that my knee has been making slow but sure progress to recovery. In a way, being able to do both runs this weekend has brought me full circle back to roughly where I was before the marathon entry happened. Just a content runner pleased to be out in the morning sun. Maybe next year will be different and I’ll finally get my marathon but until then, I’m back being able to enjoy the whole process of just running. Surely that’s why anyone runs in the first place? For the pleasure of just doing it? So while there was no medal and shirt of glory to take home with me today, I still had a very nice good old fashioned morning run and at this stage, that’s enough for me. Frankly, after months of pain and frustration, maybe that’s worth more than a bit of metal on a ribbon. For now at least…

And the scales return…

My other half got batteries for the bathroom scales…

And I ignored them for another few weeks…

And then I knew I had to get on them again for this one reason…

There’s now a few pounds to shift.

God I’ve really let myself down. I know I’ve been eating in a manner that ignores the laws of calories and now it’s reached breaking point. The good news is that I haven’t needed to replace my wardrobe to accommodate these extra pounds and it’s totally fixable. I’m giving myself this month to get this fixed but this means I need to ditch my ‘ignorance is bliss’ attitude to the scales. They don’t lie and it is now very evident that these are the only things that can keep me on the straight and narrow of weight maintenance.

It would be glorious to have a life where I will never need to worry about my size. To be in some parallel universe where I can eat what I like and nothing bad happens… This is not my world. Deep down I’ve always known that I am going to be battling this fat demon forever. I guess it’s just part of who I am. I’ll never be a stick but if I don’t keep a damn close eye on things then I’m easily going to spend my life overweight and in denial with a fear of standing on a tiny square with a digital readout. I guess that’s just me. I don’t want to have to count every single calorie that I consume but maybe those weigh-in’s are going to be what I need to keep a big fat dose of reality in check.

So I’ll spend May sorting this. I’m already working out so it’s definitely the diet that needs addressing. I know this. With everything I eat I am aware of whether it’s a good choice or a not so great choice. This is not rocket science. I am done kidding myself. I am done with pretending that I am immune to biscuits and pizza and wine and chocolate and everything delicious… Gah. Well, no there are tasty delicious foods that are healthy and not waistline destroying. This is the thing I need to learn. Less restricting and denying, more embracing the healthy eats that can be just as satisfying and tasty. It’s time for a new mindset. Who knows, maybe this will be the last ‘oh god I need to change’ post…

Patience…

Right, this week will be different. I will resist the temptation to jump on the treadmill every day at the gym and know my limits. My legs were killing me last week and not just in the usual ‘oh hey physical activity, this is a bit more uncomfortable than the sofa’ way… More of a ‘hey these bits of you from the knee down can’t take it anymore lady, GIVE IT A REST WILL YOU!’ kind of way… So today I managed a comfortable 5 miles in the great outdoors and tomorrow will be a crosstrainer day. No matter how tempting it is, I think I need to stick with alternating these activities in the week to have any hope of getting back to my usual 6 mile comfort zone of the days before ‘kneegate’.

I felt the need to fit a fitness post in to remind myself that I am more than a just a food fan (aren’t we all?!). I really do enjoy running and the last few months have been impossible for keeping this as a focus. Well no longer, I am still fighting fitter (or at least in relatively less pain) and so I really want to keep the momentum up. I just need to learn some damn patience to let my body catch up with what i want it to do… Oh the frustration!