Prancing through pollen

Running-wise, I’m nearing the end of my 10 week training plan. It’s the same plan I followed last year – ie. one for complete beginners. Because I’d stopped running over the autumn and winter, I was nearly back to square one when I started training again this spring. However I had to brace myself yesterday as I was actually ready to drop my walking intervals to just one minute! To seasoned runners this must seem like I’m making a big fuss about nothing. But – seriously – except for when I raced last year, I’ve never got beyond running for more than 3 minutes at a time – with 2 minute walking intervals in between. Thanks to a long list of injuries last year, I never even got to up to week 8 in my training. So this was a big deal for me.

I decided to keep things simple by a. running on grass and b. running very slowly (yes – even slower than usual!). 

The running on grass thing would have been made a lot easier, had the grassy area in question been mowed recently. It hadn’t, so to cope with the longish blades of grass I had to develop a sort prancing technique. Thank God there were no witnesses to this. As a result I’ve now got yellow-toed running shoes, as the pollen I pranced through adhered itself to my feet…

Running very slowly helped me to make it, just about, to the end of the session. I was so slow, however, that if someone had videoed me and then played it back to friends and family, I would imagine that some of them would have been delighted by the ’slo-mo’ effect  they saw (no specialist equipment required!). Ah well, at least I did it. Hopefully I’ll be a little bit faster next time.

Friday photo

Eat your greens…

The salad I planted is doing well. I’ve started another tub-full from seed to take over once we’ve munched all of these.

Our eldest has just started to venture beyond cucumber, and likes to nibble on a bit of lettuce now and then. Hurrah! I have to keep creative to get my boys to eat their veg. So far my tactics have been limited to claiming that their favourite film/TV characters love to scoff their greens. My latest ‘lie’ was yesterday - 

“Jedi Knights just love peas, you know, they have them for tea every day. It gives them enough energy to perform Jedi Mind Tricks.”

Thanks to my constant fibbing, they also believe that Wallace and Gromit love casserole, that Spiderman eats broccoli and that Batman crunches carrots to help him see in the dark…

It works – so hopefully I’m not such a terrible mum for feeding them false information…

Plan B progress report

Realise I haven’t been that forthcoming about my progress in the last few weeks. Well, as far as the scales go, nothing to report there – they’re sticking at the moment. HOWEVER… my jeans are getting more and more comfortable to wear and I’m seeing my body is continuing to change shape – bum’s getting a bit smaller, thighs are a bit less flabby – stomach still leaves much to be desired – but overall I’m still pleased with how things are going. At some point I may even get brave enough to post a pic of myself!

I don’t know if you noticed, but a few weeks back I started to get all panicky again, and giving myself short term goals – all to be measured in x pounds lost in x amount of time.  It was as if I’d thrown Plan B out the window! Once I got back into my exercise routine, after all the family illnesses had subsided, I realised, yet again, that this was still how I wanted to do things – ie. make exercise the focus of my weight-loss efforts. I know it’s going to take much longer this way – but it’s how I want to do things this time round. I’m speaking as someone who’s dieted on and off for at least half of my teenage and adult life – something that worked in the beginning, but is just no longer an option. My body and mind have simply had enough. I’d rather get as fit and healthy as I possibly can – and let my body adapt in its own time. It’s already working – several people I know have now commented that I’ve ‘obviously lost weight’. And that christening I fretted about? Thanks to Phil’s sage advice I took time choosing a nice outfit to wear and felt great on the day. I’ve got to remember that my self-conciousness is not always about my weight – sometimes it’s because I feel scruffy, or I haven’t had my hair cut for a while – just general ‘take care of myself’ stuff. I’m such a slow learner…

Hot stuff

 

Curried mushrooms with lentil dahl and spinach

 

 

My culinary efforts for today – this dish is a real favourite with Mr Noyoyo and myself.

Sunshine on a rainy day…

After spending several minutes this morning hovering by my open backdoor and doing the hokey-cokey (left leg out, left leg in, etc), I decided that the rain was going to hold off long enough for me to go for a run. (Note to self – get a waterproof running top and be done with it!) I was so glad I did. Even though it was torture at times, whilst I was puffing away and my face quickly turned a rich tomato red, I got to witness some amazing breaks in the cloud and explosions of brilliant sunshine, which resulted in a ’sense of enormous wellbeing’. I’m definitely making progress with my running – not so much with speed, but with stamina – so I’m holding on to that thought as the Race For Life looms closer. Exercise has truly been my saving grace since the beginning of the year as I’ve struggled to get back on track with my eating. I can tie myself in knots fretting about what I’m putting in my mouth, which only leads me to eat more. But when I exercise all that fretting seems to fade away a bit and I feel so much more positive. Whenever I’ve yo-yo dieted in the past and then wailed about my ensuing weight-loss woes to my husband, he’s always repeated the same three words to me – “exercise, exercise, exercise…” Whenever he wants to lose a few pounds he just goes for a long bike ride (30 miles is the average!). And then within a couple of days you can practically see the fat melting off his body  - it works so well and so quickly! I’m always very envious about this, but I know I can’t get indignant – I expect if I did that sort of distance I’m sure it would work for me too!

Service with a snack
A very strange thing happened to me earlier this evening as I was trying to sort out a problem with my online grocery shop with Sainsbury’s. As the lad in customer care put me on hold to speak to his manager, I was treated to the dulcet tones of a recording of a woman, accompanied by background muzak, offering me recipe suggestions. “Take one ciabatta, tear in half, lovingly smother in olive oil, scatter with juicy roasted cherry tomatoes, warm in the oven, enjoy as a mouthwatering snack “… – that sort of thing. There were about three recipe ideas which were offered in rotation and repeated (yep – I was on hold for a while), and I couldn’t help but wonder which Sainsbury’s brainbox came up with this idea and how they thought it would help. Did they really believe that irate customers would immediately be placated, reverting Homer Simpson-style to drooling with mouth open, thinking to themselves “Mmmmm… ciabatta…” Who knows? Maybe this tactic really works for them with most people?!

Friday photos… on Saturday

Happy Birthday to me! For my birthday I was given an amazing present from my lovely husband and children – a new digital SLR camera, so expect lots more pics on this blog – of considerably better quality than any previous efforts so far!

After lunch and a trip to the cinema, Mr N and I headed back to my parents’ house, where they were waiting with the kids with a surprise birthday tea. My mum, bless her, had put on a delicious spread that was pretty healthy, and was actually, for me, all the more enjoyable for it. Amongst the offerings were…

The obligatory cheese and pineapple chunks on sticks

 

Juicy, crisp crudités

 

Olives and Brie - Mr N's faves

Fabulous fruit salad...

...and elderflower pressé to add a little fizz to the meal

There was a yummy birthday cake too, but I was too busy blowing out the candles to take a picture. What a great day!

Baby steps

Here’s a tip for anyone struggling to find healthy snacks in their local supermarket. Baby food. No, I’m not talking about  surviving on mashed up veg or rusks – no matter how many celebrities may have sworn they lost shed-loads of weight by eating out of a jar. I’m thinking more of the sort of snacks you can buy for toddlers – and having had two kids of my own I’m quite the connoisseur now! Below I’ve listed the sort of benefits I’ve found from swapping normal snacks for kiddie fodder - 

Cereal Bars
It’s scary how many cereal bar brands are packed full with sugar – but I’ve found Organix cereal bars to be a real find – they’re low on calories and have no ‘nasties’ in them – and no added sugar at all. More importantly I find they are a delicious and satisfying treat. (I promise I’m not being paid to be this nice about them – I just really like them! There are, of course, plenty of other options – some other brands make ‘fruit bars’ which count as a portion of fruit each.)

Crisps & crackers
Again, children’s versions of crisps and crackers tend to be additive free – just check the packet before you buy – and are usually produced in very small portions. By swapping your usual bags of crisps for a child-friendly pack of ‘corn puff shapes’, you are, in my experience, consuming less than half the calories, and a fraction of the fat.

Fruit puddings
Some baby food brands make delicious fruit purees that are packed in pots, just like yogurts. Not everyone is going to like the idea of eating a puree, but I’ve found them very handy as an alternative, healthy pudding. They’re also great for swirling into plain yogurts or porridge.

Perhaps I’m the only mum who’s decided to have a sneaky taste of what she’s been feeding her little ones and thought “Mmm…not bad!” In which case, I’m a freak! But it works for me. A piece of fruit, would of course, be the healthiest snack of all, but all the above have often helped to me keep boredom at bay when I’m doing my best to have a wholesome day. By the way, you’ll usually have to head to the baby food section of your local shop to have a chance of finding any of these – most supermarkets keep them all together like this.

Friday photo

It’s that time of year when my salad no longer comes in a polythene bag! I’m going to plant all these out tomorrow – and I’m very much looking forward to eating my first homegrown salad of the season.

My top 5 worst diet foods

Greetings pop pickers! Here’s another top 5 for you  -  the worst foods I’ve eaten when on a diet – usually because I took things to extremes and binged on them because they were ‘allowed’ instead of moderating my portions of normal, healthy food, instead. I cringe so much when I recall some of these and hope I’m not the only person to have ever lost their senses in such ways as dieting madness took hold of me…

5.Pasta n’ Sauce
A staple of the Slimming World regime and very tasty, for food out of a packet, it can be. Trouble is, like all ‘packet’ food, I severely doubt Pasta n’ Sauce is that good for you. Sure, it may fill you up, but I always felt uncomfortable chowing down on something that had to be re-hydrated to be eaten. And a lot of salt seemed to be involved, too. Slimming World deemed this ‘free food’ in the sense you can eat as much as you like of it, but the only thing I felt it was free of was nutrients…

4. Sugar-free jelly
When I dabbled with Weight Watchers last year, I was delighted to see that sugar-free jelly was allowed. If I was starving – and whilst I was on the ‘quickstart’ thingy I was a bit – I’d gobble one, or two, or, eek, maybe three of these. The amount of chemicals I cheerfully consumed in the process doesn’t bear thinking about. Again, I ask, “Weight Watchers – where oh where are the vitamins and minerals in this stuff?”

3. Weight Watchers yogurts
Whilst on Weight Watchers, I also got into the habit of stockpiling these little beauties – which I have to say are actually pretty tasty. But again, I would take things to extremes – at only 1 point or less each, I was packing away an enormous amount of aspartame-laced dairy items each and every day. A balanced diet? Good Lord, no! I have also in the last year developed a dairy intolerance – milk and yogurts now play havoc with my skin, and all I can get away with is the odd bit of cheese. What a mess…

2.MullerLight yogurts 
Pretty much the same deal as the WW yogurts, except that I was allowed as many as I liked of these on Slimming World. So I did. I’d have several a day – and these are pretty hefty yogurts – fitting the bloody things in the fridge was always a challenge. At the time I was attending a weekly ‘Fat Club’ (as we called it) consisting of several friends, all keen to shift our post baby blubber. Most of us were informally following the Slimming World plan. Once I squirmed inside when my pals chitchatted about the merits of MullerLight. “Bit worried about the artifical sweeteners in them, mind.” said one. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry – I can only ever manage one or two a day, so that’s alright, isn’t it?” replied another and I watched, red-faced, as everyone else nodded in agreement. Oh dear, oh dear.

1.Weight Watchers Fruities
By far the worst of my diet food offenders, because their crimes were committed on so many levels. These practically points-free sweets did nothing to encourage healthy eating. They tasted a bit funny. They used a weird sweetener in them. They had a warning on the packet that said that consuming too many of them at once would result in a laxative effect. Did I heed that warning? Heck no, but I was spared multiple trips to the loo. Instead, I was able to enjoy crippling stomach pains for several hours. Lovely!

So there you go. Realise I’ve only got myself to blame for taking things too far. Which is why I prefer to make things up as I go along now – I’d rather have a small morsels of  delicious and nutritious grub than cram my gob with ‘frankenfoods’, ta very much.  

POINTless!

Checking out…

My little one has succumbed to chicken pox – so what I thought was just a temperature, is going to take a while to settle down – so I’ll be playing nurse for a bit longer.

Eating has been going reasonably well – but a sick child meant no run today. Not too worried though, the scales show that I’ve maintained my weight loss so far and someone commented today that I looked like I’d lost weight – .

Anyway – doubt I’ll be able to keep this daily posting up – not just the sick child thing – but I think it’s making for a really tedious blog – not just to write, but to read too, I’m sure! I’ll be a bit more flexible in how often I keep updating my progress and will think of some more fun posts soon – such as another top 5, maybe?