It's breakfast time on Day 4 and I am happily eating my Special Muesli (50g with blueberries and almond milk) and sipping my green tea. I'm in a reflective mood so thought I would update you on how I've been getting on over the last few days....I'd like to think I'm a pretty healthy individual who is able to make good choices for myself based on my goals but it's so much harder to do when you're away from home and on a hen-night!!!
Nutritionally speaking this has definitely been a weekend of highs and lows and I've learnt some key lessons. PREPARATION is going to make or break this challenge for me. If I don't think ahead, I'm pretty much doomed! I could just write about all the good stuff but well I'm too honest for that. When I get to the end of this challenge and reach my goals you need to know how I really got there.
After the good intentions of Saturday morning (Day 1), I then jumped in my car and scooted up the M6 towards Manchester having prepared nothing (apart from what I was going to wear that night)! Unsurprisingly about 2.30pm I was ravenous and needed food, and we all know the only option on the motorway is a Service Station, so this is what I had from M&S.
Half the cashew nuts (approx. 25g), a super-berry smoothie (no added sugar) and a low-fat prawn salad. I'm pretty sure there's some flaws here in terms of nutrition (e.g. the marie-rose dressing!!) Despite the fact it's low-fat, it's a combination of processed mayonnaise and tomato sauce (high in sugar) but there we go.
I finally made it to my cousin's house, we had a good catch-up and got ready with a glass of vino (as girls do!) And then it was off to Pizza Express! If you read my bio you will know that I love a Padana Pizza and so this is what I ordered, a Padana Leggera Pizza (the one with the salad in the middle and a super thin base). And it was totally yum!
It was then off to a Cocktail Masterclass which was great fun but made me realise I seriously don't like sugary stuff!! I didn't actually finish an entire cocktail on my own but had great fun making them and having a little taste of them.
Day 2 was a bit of a challenge as well, why did I not think to bring my Muesli with me??!! At about 11 am I ate a bacon-roll kindly made by my cousin's fiance, had a cuppa catching-up with my family and then hit the road again where I snacked on the rest of the cashew nuts, a banana and an Eat Natural bar. That night I had a big salad (baby spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado) and a small portion (fist sized) of lasagne. Before bed I did some stretching and rolled around on my physio ball to help shake off the long-drive.
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| This is Ernie - he's going to help me get a Peachy Bum!!! |
Day 3 I faired much better. Back in my own environment with healthy stuff around me I woke up to a bowl of Muesli, worked out for 35 mins and then mid-morning I had an Almond Smoothie (recipe and pics to follow, sooo yum!!). I went out with with friends for lunch and had Mussels in Cider. I don't think they had cleaned the Mussels properly and the cider sauce was gritty so I didn't have any, the mussels themselves were good though. I skipped the white bread that it came with and had some hand-cut chips. And dinner was this:
Hurrah!! Grilled chicken and avocado salad with baby spinach, carrots, tomatoes, cucumber and quinoa. And a drizzle of home-made balsamic and extra virgin olive oil.
So there it is, every morsel that crossed my lips this weekend in black and white! I'm now going to go and do my bikini-workout (even though every muscle still aches from yesterday!) A review on the work-out coming soon!
Love,
Lovely food diary Ally! It's great that you're so honest with yourself. The occasional pizza definitely won't do any harm (although it may bloat you in the shorter term as we know your body doesn't really like wheat).
ReplyDeleteThe important thing to remember when you decide to eat something naughty is first to make sure that you really, really take your time to enjoy it (because you'll feel full on less).
Another thing for us all to remember in terms of longer term success - instead of beating yourself up for giving in to temptation (or not having your ideal options available), just start doing something good for yourself as soon as you can - e.g. your bikini workout, or a cup of green tea, or the breathing exercises in my book to help you with reducing your stress levels.
With lunch, I'd suggest avoiding the Innocent Smoothie (it may not have added sugar, but it's full of fruit sugars and lacking the fibre from the original fruit to slow down the release of sugar into your blood -- which can end up as fat tissue on your body). You could go for another cup of green tea, or hot water and lemon instead.
Fabulous work lovely lady! You're off to a fabulous start!