This time featured on another website that featured my wedding many moons ago....
Enjoy!
Monday, 27 September 2010
Weekend of 'must haves'
I don't know whether these things have been cravings, but things I've 'needed' over the weekend have included:
* Apple Juice (well the actual craving was cider, but I had to think outside the box)
* Mars Bar
* Yaki Soba from Wagamamas
Mr H was my hero and not only supplied me with Apple Juice when we were walking around the shops on Saturday, but also drove me 20 miles to our nearest Wagamamas for dinner in the evening - what a legend!
Things aren't that enjoyable for me at the moment. I seem to be feeling sick pretty much all the time. I'm still managing to eat, but I think I could quite happily go without food. I had to do the Tesco shop yesterday, and I spent the whole trip with that horrible pre-sick watery mouth thing going on. Its meaning that I'm feeling like I could spend whole days in bed and the thought of exercise feels like quite a chore. That said though, I do enjoy exercise once I get started.
This week I've got quite a bit going on, tomorrow and Wednesday I'm at a work team event, I've got physio on Thursday, I've got the day off on Friday to go to a friends wedding and its my brothers Birthday party on Saturday night. As a result of all of this (and my eating of crap last week) I need to watch what I'm eating this week. I need to have a clean food week!
That means its time for a food diary. I spent last night preparing my food for today, so here is the run down:
Breakfast: 200ml Skimmed Milk Protein Shake, Steel Cut Oats (done overnight) with 1 tsp G&B Cocoa Powder, 1 tsp dessicated coconut, 2 tsp sweetener and a splash of milk.
Mid Morning: Banana
Lunch: Vegetable Crudities (Celery, Cucumber, Carrot), 1 Tomato, a boiled egg, some cheese, 2 chipolatas, chilli houmous - I cannot wait for lunchtime.
Mid Afternoon: Melon, Orange and Strawberry Medley
Dinner: Either Salmon, Pork Chops or Steak with Veggies. (need to see what goes out of date first).
* Apple Juice (well the actual craving was cider, but I had to think outside the box)
* Mars Bar
* Yaki Soba from Wagamamas
Mr H was my hero and not only supplied me with Apple Juice when we were walking around the shops on Saturday, but also drove me 20 miles to our nearest Wagamamas for dinner in the evening - what a legend!
Things aren't that enjoyable for me at the moment. I seem to be feeling sick pretty much all the time. I'm still managing to eat, but I think I could quite happily go without food. I had to do the Tesco shop yesterday, and I spent the whole trip with that horrible pre-sick watery mouth thing going on. Its meaning that I'm feeling like I could spend whole days in bed and the thought of exercise feels like quite a chore. That said though, I do enjoy exercise once I get started.
This week I've got quite a bit going on, tomorrow and Wednesday I'm at a work team event, I've got physio on Thursday, I've got the day off on Friday to go to a friends wedding and its my brothers Birthday party on Saturday night. As a result of all of this (and my eating of crap last week) I need to watch what I'm eating this week. I need to have a clean food week!
That means its time for a food diary. I spent last night preparing my food for today, so here is the run down:
Breakfast: 200ml Skimmed Milk Protein Shake, Steel Cut Oats (done overnight) with 1 tsp G&B Cocoa Powder, 1 tsp dessicated coconut, 2 tsp sweetener and a splash of milk.
Mid Morning: Banana
Lunch: Vegetable Crudities (Celery, Cucumber, Carrot), 1 Tomato, a boiled egg, some cheese, 2 chipolatas, chilli houmous - I cannot wait for lunchtime.
Mid Afternoon: Melon, Orange and Strawberry Medley
Dinner: Either Salmon, Pork Chops or Steak with Veggies. (need to see what goes out of date first).
Friday, 24 September 2010
Hank Marvin
My hunger levels have shot up. I've been getting a bit paranoid over the amount of food I've been consuming - its been ALOT! I know that my weight shouldn't be a huge concern for me during my pregnancy, but at the same time I do NOT want to balloon.
I was thinking about it in bed last night and I think I've come up with something... I've cut down my protein shakes. I was previously having 1 a day on non- exercise days (for breakfast) and two on exercise days (1 for breakfast and one after exercise). I bet this is why I could eat a horse a right now.
So today I've scrapped my own decision and I'm back on to at least one protein shake daily. Its 10am and I've had my protein & porridge this morning and I'm not hungry at all! This past week I've been hitting the fruit or the vending machine by now, so I think this has been the cause. Hopefully I can get things back on track now.
I actually read something quite interesting this morning on netdoctor.co.uk
Based on this I'd be looking at a maximum weight of around 10.5 stones - 11 stones by the time I'm full term. Basically back to where I started. But taking into account that a significant amount of that weight disappears in the act of giving birth, its clearly not something to get worried about. I wonder how I'll actually compare to this though!
I already think I've gained weight on my boobs. Mr H thinks Christmas has come early, they are enormous. It makes me really glad that I lost so much boob during my weight loss as I can only begin to imagine how uncomfortable I'd have been if they were still a 30H, they are bad enough at a 28F (well are probably a FF at least again now).
I got paid today, so I'll be heading to Tesco later to do a food shop and stock up on some sustainable munchies. I'm going to take into consideration all the 'superfoods' out there that are recommended during pregnancy and come up with some sort of uber shopping list that I'll share with you all next week.
I was thinking about it in bed last night and I think I've come up with something... I've cut down my protein shakes. I was previously having 1 a day on non- exercise days (for breakfast) and two on exercise days (1 for breakfast and one after exercise). I bet this is why I could eat a horse a right now.
So today I've scrapped my own decision and I'm back on to at least one protein shake daily. Its 10am and I've had my protein & porridge this morning and I'm not hungry at all! This past week I've been hitting the fruit or the vending machine by now, so I think this has been the cause. Hopefully I can get things back on track now.
I actually read something quite interesting this morning on netdoctor.co.uk
How much weight should a woman gain during pregnancy?
It is considered normal to gain 10 to 12kg (22 to 26lb).
For practical reasons the pregnancy is divided into three periods:
* the first period runs from week 0 to 12 where it is normal to gain 1 to 2kg (2 to 4lb). * the second period runs from weeks 12 to 28 in which it is normal to gain 300 to 400g (10 to 14oz) a week.
* the third period runs from weeks 28 to 40 and it is normal to gain 1 to 3kg (2 to 6lb) a month.
Where do the extra kilos come from?
* A total weight increase of about 11.2kg (24lb) is normal.
* A baby weighs approximately 3.5kg (7lb 11oz) before birth.
* The uterus grows to approximately 900g (1lb 14oz).
* The placenta weighs approximately 650g (1lb 6oz).
* The amniotic fluid weighs approximately 800g (1lb 12oz).
* The woman's breasts grow by approximately 400g (14oz).
* The weight of the extra blood is approximately 1.25kg (2lb 12oz).
* Water retained in the body tissues weighs approximately 2kg (4lb 6oz).
* The layer of fat beneath the skin weighs approximately 1.7kg (3lb 11oz).
Based on this I'd be looking at a maximum weight of around 10.5 stones - 11 stones by the time I'm full term. Basically back to where I started. But taking into account that a significant amount of that weight disappears in the act of giving birth, its clearly not something to get worried about. I wonder how I'll actually compare to this though!
I already think I've gained weight on my boobs. Mr H thinks Christmas has come early, they are enormous. It makes me really glad that I lost so much boob during my weight loss as I can only begin to imagine how uncomfortable I'd have been if they were still a 30H, they are bad enough at a 28F (well are probably a FF at least again now).
I got paid today, so I'll be heading to Tesco later to do a food shop and stock up on some sustainable munchies. I'm going to take into consideration all the 'superfoods' out there that are recommended during pregnancy and come up with some sort of uber shopping list that I'll share with you all next week.
Yesterday I was working in London and I made a trip over to Whole Foods in Kensington on my lunch break. It took me 2 hours... ooops!
It was amazing, it made the store in Picadilly look like a express store. Kensington was enormous! I spent a whole hour walking around and was in awe :)
I spent another £30 and got the following:
* Big tub of yellow split peas
* 2 x Clif Bars for Mr H (I can't have them now because of the Vitamin A in them)
* 2 x Nakd Bars (Banana Bread and Ginger Bread I think)
* 1 x Walnut Chocolate Brownie (slap my wrist!)
* 1 x box of mixed salady bits for lunch (yum!)
* 2 x packets of Ruby Popcorn and Black Popcorn
* Pita Chips
* Blue Maize Tortillas
* Chilli Chocolate
* Apple & Apricot/Pear & Banana Fruit Purees (ala Broad Bean to Runner Bean)
* A slab of Chilli Cheddar Cheese
* Another Jar of Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter
The store was amazing, once through the doors you were straight into the bakery section. The most amazing selection of fresh breads and cakes. If it wasn't chucking down with rain, I'd probably have bought more, but I didn't want everything to get soaked. They had a massive selection of cakes and desserts too. Heres a pic of some of the cakes they had
Seriously tasty looking right?
After the bakery section, I headed downstairs to the grocery section (passing a little florist on the way). The Fruit and Veg looked amazing, it was displayed so beautifully. They also encouraged to not use too much packing, so most stuff you could fill up bags of instead of buying pre-packaged. I didn't get a great photo, but here is one.
I just loved how everything looked like it had its place (like all those peppers on the top shelf). So after the fruit and veg there was dairy (and non-dairy alternatives), cheeses, meats, a chocolate counter, cookware, tins, packets, jars, powders, potions, lotions, just lots of stuff. I had a good wander and managed to resist from putting too much in my basket.
Back upstairs I headed for the ENORMOUS salad bars and filled up a box for lunch. It was expensive (£5.38 - based on the weight), but it was the most filling lunch I've had in ages. I had some roasted sweet potatoes, mixed bean salads, bean ragout, noodles, sauces, leaves, cheese, eggs, turkey, all sorts! Will definately consider this again for a London lunch, I usually spend a tenner on food on the days I'm in London, so this could be a switch and still within my budget.
Thankfully when I left Whole Foods it had stopped raining. I managed to get on the Circle line the wrong way though which meant I was really late back to work... though I would have been late anyway, but thats besides the point!
I was pretty pooped from the rushing around at lunch and the chocolate brownie didn't help matters. By the time I'd walked the 20 minutes to Waterloo to get my train in the evening I was shattered and consequently slept on the floor of the train because there were no seats. I can't wait until I look pregnant enough to ask people to give up their seats, until then - the floor it is!
I had a bit of a cooking session when I got home last night, not only making stir fry for dinner, but also making a squash/carrot/parsnip soup and also puree-ing down all the apples I got from my neighbours and another huge bag my Dad brought over at the weekend. I'm sorted for apple sauce for the rest of the year! :D
Oh and in other news, I found out this morning that the other lady in my team (junior to me) is coming back full time in January. It's making me feel really anxious about my job here as she is so fucking keen its untrue. We're having a meeting next month to discuss her expansion of responsibilities. I'm still planning on keeping this pregnancy quiet as long as I can. If I can get to January without anyone knowing, I'm going to try! I must keep myself as critically useful to the business as I can!
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Weekend Re-cap
I've already talked about the most important thing I did on Friday, but its worth mentioning that I also had my hair cut/coloured too :) So I now feel and look like a proper version of me, rather than the bedraggled version of me I had become!
My SIL's car had broken down after driving to Scotland and back so I had to go to Basingstoke to fetch her before heading down to the New Forest to the Hen Weekend. It made it quite a round trip! Fordingbridge is only about 30 minutes from my house, but adding an extra hour on the journey sucked, specially as the traffic starts to build up towards the coast on a Friday afternoon.
We made it down to the barn by about 5pm. This is where we would be staying for the next few days.
It was a great venue in the most idyllic location. It was nestled on the edge of a working farm along with some other smaller holiday cottages. This barn slept up to 18 people!
When we got inside we were told to go and find a room, it was very ANTM as we dashed from room to room trying to decide which looked the best! We ended up in a downstairs room with the en-suite shower room. We definately scored by arriving early.
Whilst we waited for everyone else to arrive, snacks were laid on and I swear I just ate constantly for about 4 hours! We eventually had dinner at 9pm when everyone was there and it was lamb chilli, jacket potatoes and salad. At the meal I noticed a heavily pregnant woman who was just eating a bowl of beef mince. Turns out that she only eats beef, chips and crisps (preferably Wotsits). I'm not being funny, but seriously?! For the sake of her unborn child she couldn't get over her food phobias? Over the rest of the weekend she only ate Wotsits, crisps and when we had a curry she had a plate of popadoms. Anyway, I digress.
After the meal we sat down to watch some films (after getting into my PJ's of course!). We started with Heathers and moved onto Ferris Buellers Day Off. I kept dozing off during both of them, eventually going to bed half way through the second film. I don't think it had helped matters that it was really cold in the barn so all I wanted to go was get into bed!
The following morning I was up at 7am - yup, the joys of not drinking meant I was fresh as a frickin' daisy at 7am! So I got dressed and went running around the farm.... with my camera.
It was seriously mind blowing, I felt so relaxed, so free, so happy. It was such a beautiful day. Here are a stack of shots from my run.
I saw lots of incredible spider webs, all marked out with dew, they were EVERYWHERE!
This dandelion almost looked frosty! It was cold and damp, but wonderfully fresh outside.
And doesn't this grass just look amazing? All those water droplets were just so worthy of a photo in their own right. So pretty.
I also saw quite a bit of wildlife, two swans flying over head which I tried to snap, but I got two blotches in the sky as my camera didn't focus in time. Which was annoying as I'd sprinted to try and get them! I also saw plenty of bunny rabbits and two deer :)
The farm was right next to a stream, it had several crossing points, the first was a suspension bridge that really wobbled around when I sprinted over it. But if I'd continued that way I'd have had to run through a field of cows and I thought that given that I was on my own, that wouldn't have been my best idea! This was the other rickety bridge, I didn't cross this one.
Running around the fields was great, some of the run I was in the fields other times I was on the tracks.
I got back to the barn about 8.40am and felt awesome. Some other people had woken up by this point and were already in the process of making a cooked breakfast - which was welcomed by my cold hungry body!
That day we walked into Fordingbridge for a look around, it was quite a small town, but fairly cute. We went to a park to see some ducks and to play on the slides, swings, etc.
There was horrid little girl at the river who kept chasing the ducks, I was totally willing her to trip and fall in. I couldn't believe her parents didn't care that she was chasing all the ducks. I was most unimpressed.
We walked back to the barn for lunch and I had a marmite sandwich - classic! I was hungry so totally could have eaten more, but there was a takeaway curry planned for the evening, so eating light wasn't the worst thing I could have done! After lunch we went to a pub across the road from the farm, where I proceeded to catch the sun quite alot! I was suprised how much my skin caught, I was wearing factor 25! We posed for some obligatory farm/hay shots when we got back.
After a short excursion to find some cows to tickle and getting my legs caught in a rogue piece of rusty barbed wire in a field, it was time to begin the Krypt-hen-factor. A series of challenges for the hens + bride to be to complete. There was a Hula Hooping challenge, a clay challenge, a picture challenge and a puzzle to complete. It was good fun! After that we were given an envelope with a challenge for the evening. We had to recreate a look each from the 1970's.
I'm not sure how well we did to be honest, I wore a flowery dress, drew a flower on my face, wore wellies and tied some string into my hair (and put a few plaits in). Here's some polaroids of me and my SIL.
Once we were ready we went to collect the takeaway (in our random 1960's-1980's looks). After food, more games were played. I won this badge.
There were more games as the evening progressed, beer pong, I have never..., 'Bride' and Seek, etc. I very much enjoyed Bride and Seek. The first time I hid in the shower and the second time I hid on top of a tumble dryer in a cupboard. By about 1am I was shattered and went to bed. I'm not sure what time the party finished, but the place was a mess when I got up at 8am the following morning. I spent the morning tidying so that when everyone got up it was mostly done. We had some breakfast (this time coco pops, a crossaint and a sausage - random!), and then I did some more tidying and we bailed!
It was a good weekend, but I think the bit I most enjoyed was the run I did on my own on the Saturday morning. I was totally glad to get home by midday on the Sunday to see my husband and my pugs.
My SIL's car had broken down after driving to Scotland and back so I had to go to Basingstoke to fetch her before heading down to the New Forest to the Hen Weekend. It made it quite a round trip! Fordingbridge is only about 30 minutes from my house, but adding an extra hour on the journey sucked, specially as the traffic starts to build up towards the coast on a Friday afternoon.
We made it down to the barn by about 5pm. This is where we would be staying for the next few days.
It was a great venue in the most idyllic location. It was nestled on the edge of a working farm along with some other smaller holiday cottages. This barn slept up to 18 people!When we got inside we were told to go and find a room, it was very ANTM as we dashed from room to room trying to decide which looked the best! We ended up in a downstairs room with the en-suite shower room. We definately scored by arriving early.
Whilst we waited for everyone else to arrive, snacks were laid on and I swear I just ate constantly for about 4 hours! We eventually had dinner at 9pm when everyone was there and it was lamb chilli, jacket potatoes and salad. At the meal I noticed a heavily pregnant woman who was just eating a bowl of beef mince. Turns out that she only eats beef, chips and crisps (preferably Wotsits). I'm not being funny, but seriously?! For the sake of her unborn child she couldn't get over her food phobias? Over the rest of the weekend she only ate Wotsits, crisps and when we had a curry she had a plate of popadoms. Anyway, I digress.
After the meal we sat down to watch some films (after getting into my PJ's of course!). We started with Heathers and moved onto Ferris Buellers Day Off. I kept dozing off during both of them, eventually going to bed half way through the second film. I don't think it had helped matters that it was really cold in the barn so all I wanted to go was get into bed!
The following morning I was up at 7am - yup, the joys of not drinking meant I was fresh as a frickin' daisy at 7am! So I got dressed and went running around the farm.... with my camera.
It was seriously mind blowing, I felt so relaxed, so free, so happy. It was such a beautiful day. Here are a stack of shots from my run.
I saw lots of incredible spider webs, all marked out with dew, they were EVERYWHERE!
This dandelion almost looked frosty! It was cold and damp, but wonderfully fresh outside.And doesn't this grass just look amazing? All those water droplets were just so worthy of a photo in their own right. So pretty.I also saw quite a bit of wildlife, two swans flying over head which I tried to snap, but I got two blotches in the sky as my camera didn't focus in time. Which was annoying as I'd sprinted to try and get them! I also saw plenty of bunny rabbits and two deer :) The farm was right next to a stream, it had several crossing points, the first was a suspension bridge that really wobbled around when I sprinted over it. But if I'd continued that way I'd have had to run through a field of cows and I thought that given that I was on my own, that wouldn't have been my best idea! This was the other rickety bridge, I didn't cross this one.Running around the fields was great, some of the run I was in the fields other times I was on the tracks.
I got back to the barn about 8.40am and felt awesome. Some other people had woken up by this point and were already in the process of making a cooked breakfast - which was welcomed by my cold hungry body!
That day we walked into Fordingbridge for a look around, it was quite a small town, but fairly cute. We went to a park to see some ducks and to play on the slides, swings, etc.
There was horrid little girl at the river who kept chasing the ducks, I was totally willing her to trip and fall in. I couldn't believe her parents didn't care that she was chasing all the ducks. I was most unimpressed.We walked back to the barn for lunch and I had a marmite sandwich - classic! I was hungry so totally could have eaten more, but there was a takeaway curry planned for the evening, so eating light wasn't the worst thing I could have done! After lunch we went to a pub across the road from the farm, where I proceeded to catch the sun quite alot! I was suprised how much my skin caught, I was wearing factor 25! We posed for some obligatory farm/hay shots when we got back.
After a short excursion to find some cows to tickle and getting my legs caught in a rogue piece of rusty barbed wire in a field, it was time to begin the Krypt-hen-factor. A series of challenges for the hens + bride to be to complete. There was a Hula Hooping challenge, a clay challenge, a picture challenge and a puzzle to complete. It was good fun! After that we were given an envelope with a challenge for the evening. We had to recreate a look each from the 1970's.I'm not sure how well we did to be honest, I wore a flowery dress, drew a flower on my face, wore wellies and tied some string into my hair (and put a few plaits in). Here's some polaroids of me and my SIL.
Once we were ready we went to collect the takeaway (in our random 1960's-1980's looks). After food, more games were played. I won this badge.
There were more games as the evening progressed, beer pong, I have never..., 'Bride' and Seek, etc. I very much enjoyed Bride and Seek. The first time I hid in the shower and the second time I hid on top of a tumble dryer in a cupboard. By about 1am I was shattered and went to bed. I'm not sure what time the party finished, but the place was a mess when I got up at 8am the following morning. I spent the morning tidying so that when everyone got up it was mostly done. We had some breakfast (this time coco pops, a crossaint and a sausage - random!), and then I did some more tidying and we bailed!
It was a good weekend, but I think the bit I most enjoyed was the run I did on my own on the Saturday morning. I was totally glad to get home by midday on the Sunday to see my husband and my pugs.
Monday, 20 September 2010
Can I still have Protein Shakes?
Once again the weekend has been and gone. It doesn't really feel like I had 3 whole days off - boo!
On Friday I went and saw my doctor. They have given me a due date of 18th May 2011, though I still reckon it'll be nearer the 21st May 2011 - but heck, what difference does 3 days make?! It was quite strange really, because they didn't check that I actually was pregnant, just totally took it for the truth. I wonder how many time wasters the NHS experience in a year?!
The doctor ran through the basics:
* No undercooked Meat
* No Pate or Soft Cheeses
* No booze
* No Smoking
* Cut down on Caffeine
* Don't take regular vitamins, stick to specialist pregnancy ones
* Folic Acid
* No Vitamin A
* blah blah
She did say that the advice around the risks of undercooked eggs has been relaxed, afterall they are screened for salmonella! I'm not too worried about the risk of having a dippy egg, and if I fancy one, I'll totally still indulge.
Things worth nothing are that I am allowed to use my nasal spray for hayfever. She said during the first trimester they advise people to try and go without, but she said that if it was terrible it was worth using to keep my stress levels down. Its already made such a difference! I've used it twice this weekend (just one spray each time) and its helped keep me sane.
In terms of pain relief, only straight paracetomol are ok. I knew this anyway, but it's worth mentioning I guess!
She asked whether I had any questions, I had two!
1. Can I continue with exercise often and to a fair level of intensity?
Yes! She said I should listen to my body and if it wants to rest, let it rest, if it's ok, carry on. The main thing to bear in mind is that the dizzy factor means I need to be more careful (and I know this I cannot get over how dizzy I get when I stand up now!). She did however highlight the miscarriage risk, but also pointed out that intense exercise was unlikely to cause miscarriage in its own right, but it could trigger a miscarriage that would have happened anyway. I'm ok with that. Apparently I've got a 20% chance of miscarriage anyway, so I'm loving the 80% in my favour for a successful pregnancy.
2. Can I drink my protein shakes for recovery?
Yes! I took in the label of my GNC Soy Protein Isolate (same as the H&B one) and she said there was negligable amounts of things I could worry about. She did say that it was her duty to tell me that the best thing would to be to alter my diet to contain more protein, but in her opinion drinking protein or eating it would make no difference. Taking this into account, I've decided to only drink protein shakes after exercise. So no more protein shakes in the mornings of the days I exercise.
Other than that, I didn't really have much else to ask. I've made a 'booking appointment' with the midwife for the 6th October. This is something like a 2 hour appointment when they'll ask about family medical history, lifestyle, take all sorts of samples, and goodness knows what else. I guess at that point it will start to feel a bit more real as I'll be 8 weeks exactly - only 4 weeks away from my first scan at that point.
Coming up: Re-cap of my weekend (I would have done it this morning, but I forgot my camera cable and I took some awesome photos!)
On Friday I went and saw my doctor. They have given me a due date of 18th May 2011, though I still reckon it'll be nearer the 21st May 2011 - but heck, what difference does 3 days make?! It was quite strange really, because they didn't check that I actually was pregnant, just totally took it for the truth. I wonder how many time wasters the NHS experience in a year?!
The doctor ran through the basics:
* No undercooked Meat
* No Pate or Soft Cheeses
* No booze
* No Smoking
* Cut down on Caffeine
* Don't take regular vitamins, stick to specialist pregnancy ones
* Folic Acid
* No Vitamin A
* blah blah
She did say that the advice around the risks of undercooked eggs has been relaxed, afterall they are screened for salmonella! I'm not too worried about the risk of having a dippy egg, and if I fancy one, I'll totally still indulge.
Things worth nothing are that I am allowed to use my nasal spray for hayfever. She said during the first trimester they advise people to try and go without, but she said that if it was terrible it was worth using to keep my stress levels down. Its already made such a difference! I've used it twice this weekend (just one spray each time) and its helped keep me sane.
In terms of pain relief, only straight paracetomol are ok. I knew this anyway, but it's worth mentioning I guess!
She asked whether I had any questions, I had two!
1. Can I continue with exercise often and to a fair level of intensity?
Yes! She said I should listen to my body and if it wants to rest, let it rest, if it's ok, carry on. The main thing to bear in mind is that the dizzy factor means I need to be more careful (and I know this I cannot get over how dizzy I get when I stand up now!). She did however highlight the miscarriage risk, but also pointed out that intense exercise was unlikely to cause miscarriage in its own right, but it could trigger a miscarriage that would have happened anyway. I'm ok with that. Apparently I've got a 20% chance of miscarriage anyway, so I'm loving the 80% in my favour for a successful pregnancy.
2. Can I drink my protein shakes for recovery?
Yes! I took in the label of my GNC Soy Protein Isolate (same as the H&B one) and she said there was negligable amounts of things I could worry about. She did say that it was her duty to tell me that the best thing would to be to alter my diet to contain more protein, but in her opinion drinking protein or eating it would make no difference. Taking this into account, I've decided to only drink protein shakes after exercise. So no more protein shakes in the mornings of the days I exercise.
Other than that, I didn't really have much else to ask. I've made a 'booking appointment' with the midwife for the 6th October. This is something like a 2 hour appointment when they'll ask about family medical history, lifestyle, take all sorts of samples, and goodness knows what else. I guess at that point it will start to feel a bit more real as I'll be 8 weeks exactly - only 4 weeks away from my first scan at that point.
Coming up: Re-cap of my weekend (I would have done it this morning, but I forgot my camera cable and I took some awesome photos!)
Thursday, 16 September 2010
Free Apples!
Squee! Imagine my suprise yesterday afternoon when the doorbell rang. Surely no one knew I was home? I never answer the door if I'm not expecting anyone, but I was pretty bored so broke my own rules and headed to the door. It was the man from across the road with a giant crate of assorted apples from his garden. He asked if I wanted any - heck yes! I took most of them. I can't wait to cook these up tomorrow. Going to make some massive batches of unsweetened apple sauce and maybe some apple pies/slices. Oh the decisions!
What would you do with a massive stash of apples?
Things in camp me+1 are going ok. Yesterday we told the rest of our parents. Mr H really wanted to tell someone, so we decided to tell his parents - I swear I heard the squeals from the Isle of Wight where they'd been told over the loudspeaker on the telephone in a cafe! We also drove over to my Dads house in the evening and told him, my Step Mum and my Nan. Bless them all, Mr H's Mum is going to knit blankets and my Step Mum was itching to find something we want knitted and even my Nan is thinking about coming out of knitting retirement to make matinee jackets - SOOO CUTE! However, telling everyone has been tainted with a few issues.
1) My Nan is 90 years old and who knows who she may tell. Whilst its only likely to be my Aunt/Cousins & My Brother, I don't want the news to get as far as Facebook (thinking Cousin posting to say congrats for example). This worries me.
2) We've already had our first pathetic disagreement with Mr H's mum over names - SERIOUSLY!? She asked in passing if we'd thought of anything yet, and we said we had discussed a few. She liked our choice for a boys name, but said she hated the idea of the girls name we like - and suggested a really tacky trailer park name. I think she will really struggle with how we're going to go about 'kids'.
3) Both Mothers have already got carried away, my Mum was awake all Tuesday night searching the internet for baby items and the MIL actually bought two things yesterday (though she hasn't told us what).
Anyway, the polls are in and are currently looking like this:
Boy : 2 votes (Mr H's Mum & Mr H)
Girl: 2 votes (Me & Mr H's Dad)
I think yesterday was the first day I might have got just a little bit excited. I was crunching some numbers trying to figure out what we can afford and did some rough costings. The best thing I worked out was that if we both save £250 a month from here on in (on top of the savings I already have), it means that we do not need to eat into our £1000 a month savings to cover the deficit in my salary. Which means that at the end of 2012 when I'd be back at work, we'd have a tidy sum stashed away so we could think about moving house.
Other than that side of things, this whole nausea lark sucks! There was an accident on the road on my way to work and it held me up for an extra 30 minutes (so 1.5 hours in to work). The traffic was just moving so slowly and the vibrations of the car were horrendous. Even having been at work now for over an hour my stomach is still churning. I think I'd honestly just prefer to be sick and get it out of the way, this feeling sick thing is just like being hungover all day. I am not impressed.
I'm hoping to get over to the gym at lunchtime, because I've had a cold I've not done anything since last week. Going to do a full body workout as it's the last day this week that I have access to the gym. Got a yummy lunch lined up too! Leftover Ratatouille with Fiery Chilli Pesto and a little grated cheese on top and a wholemeal pitta, I cannot wait until lunch.
What would you do with a massive stash of apples?
Things in camp me+1 are going ok. Yesterday we told the rest of our parents. Mr H really wanted to tell someone, so we decided to tell his parents - I swear I heard the squeals from the Isle of Wight where they'd been told over the loudspeaker on the telephone in a cafe! We also drove over to my Dads house in the evening and told him, my Step Mum and my Nan. Bless them all, Mr H's Mum is going to knit blankets and my Step Mum was itching to find something we want knitted and even my Nan is thinking about coming out of knitting retirement to make matinee jackets - SOOO CUTE! However, telling everyone has been tainted with a few issues.
1) My Nan is 90 years old and who knows who she may tell. Whilst its only likely to be my Aunt/Cousins & My Brother, I don't want the news to get as far as Facebook (thinking Cousin posting to say congrats for example). This worries me.
2) We've already had our first pathetic disagreement with Mr H's mum over names - SERIOUSLY!? She asked in passing if we'd thought of anything yet, and we said we had discussed a few. She liked our choice for a boys name, but said she hated the idea of the girls name we like - and suggested a really tacky trailer park name. I think she will really struggle with how we're going to go about 'kids'.
3) Both Mothers have already got carried away, my Mum was awake all Tuesday night searching the internet for baby items and the MIL actually bought two things yesterday (though she hasn't told us what).
Anyway, the polls are in and are currently looking like this:
Boy : 2 votes (Mr H's Mum & Mr H)
Girl: 2 votes (Me & Mr H's Dad)
I think yesterday was the first day I might have got just a little bit excited. I was crunching some numbers trying to figure out what we can afford and did some rough costings. The best thing I worked out was that if we both save £250 a month from here on in (on top of the savings I already have), it means that we do not need to eat into our £1000 a month savings to cover the deficit in my salary. Which means that at the end of 2012 when I'd be back at work, we'd have a tidy sum stashed away so we could think about moving house.
Other than that side of things, this whole nausea lark sucks! There was an accident on the road on my way to work and it held me up for an extra 30 minutes (so 1.5 hours in to work). The traffic was just moving so slowly and the vibrations of the car were horrendous. Even having been at work now for over an hour my stomach is still churning. I think I'd honestly just prefer to be sick and get it out of the way, this feeling sick thing is just like being hungover all day. I am not impressed.
I'm hoping to get over to the gym at lunchtime, because I've had a cold I've not done anything since last week. Going to do a full body workout as it's the last day this week that I have access to the gym. Got a yummy lunch lined up too! Leftover Ratatouille with Fiery Chilli Pesto and a little grated cheese on top and a wholemeal pitta, I cannot wait until lunch.
Wednesday, 15 September 2010
First cold of the Season
And it's hit me really hard. It started Monday morning, but lunchtime I'd gone through all the tissues I had and Mr H came delivered me to Tesco to get more. By the time I went home at 5pm even my boss said she'd never seen me look so awful - thanks!
I spent the rest of the evening curled up on the sofa directing the husband in how to make dinner :)
Tuesday morning arrived and because I'd gone to bed with swollen eyes (as a result of them watering so much and all the sneezing) they were swollen even more!! I could barely open them. Today was a day to sit at home and feel sorry for myself - so thats exactly what I did. As it turned out, Mr H has got something sinusy anyway so he took the day off too. It's never good both of you feeling poorly as neither of us really felt like looking after the other - still the dogs made good warming devices and much of the day was spent of the sofa.
Today I'm feeling a bit better, but still quite sniffly and sneezy. I've also got a strangely sore tongue. I don't remember burning it on anything, so I wonder if I bit it during the night or something - or perhaps its just a side effect of feeling run down. Whatever it is, it hurts to talk!!
As a result of feeling coldy, I've basically eaten everything in sight. I was really unprepared for this cold and usually like to have a few freezer based meals that I can just chuck in the oven when I feel crappy - as the last thing I want to do is cook!
Still, I'm feeling a bit better today and have already got tonights dinner out of the freezer. Minute steaks which I'm planning to serve with some grilled courgette, peppers, mushrooms & onion. I think lunch will probably be some Red Pepper & Chorizo soup. I bought the Chorizo ages ago and have just not had the time to make the soup yet!
In some random news, I think I've got an addict living in the house. The addict goes by the name of Dolly. Her addiction is Cobnuts! It's getting out of hand, she's cranky, she's obsessively barking at the back door to be let out to eat more nuts, she hides in the corner of the garden consuming them thinking I don't know what she is doing, when she knows I'm coming outside to get her she fills up her mouth and legs it inside thus creating a few more seconds to try and consume more before I get hold of them - ITS ACTUALLY INSANE!
What I do find interesting though is the similarities between the canine world (well Dolly at least) and the shame of eating something say like chocolate in the human world - which I've been known to eat in another room so no one knows what I'm doing. It's both obsessional and compulsive. Scary stuff really.
This is the face of an angry young pug, looking at me, thinking 'Give me my nuts Bitch!'
Having now realised that I'm strong at resisting angry face, she's got for straight tail sulking on the sofa.
On closer inspection, she's ready to offer up cuteness in the hope that I've forgotten about her cobnut habit and will let her back outside to her stash, but as a seasoned pug owner I can resist even these charms.
On closer inspection, she's ready to offer up cuteness in the hope that I've forgotten about her cobnut habit and will let her back outside to her stash, but as a seasoned pug owner I can resist even these charms.
At least whilst she's in this sort of giving mood, I can make the most of her keeping me warm, even if I do know that she doesn't really mean it as its the cobnuts talking :P
Oh and as a side note, to those of you who have shabbyblog.com backgrounds on your blogs, please don't think I'm being rude by not ever commenting on your posts - I just can't access them at all, my computer gets as far as loading up the background then gives me an error message and then kicks me off. Boo!
Monday, 13 September 2010
Times are a Changin'
I was not so great at blogging last week... there has been a change of plan/focus.
I'm pregnant.
As of today I'm only 4+2 along, so it's clearly VERY early days. Things could still go wrong and the more people that know the harder it will be if something does go wrong, but what I have realised over the weekend is how much information is lacking on the internet for active healthy pregnant people. So what I hope to achieve my blogging about these early days is a resource for future ladies in the same boat.
So you might be wondering what went on last week! For about a week I've had insanely sensitive boobs, not like period due sore boobs, like boobs so sore that if someone just looked at them I could feel it. This for me was not normal. My period was due on Thursday and it didn't arrive, so I took a test. There was an extremely faint line after about 10 minutes, but Mr H wasn't convinced so we assumed it was incorrect. I tested again Friday morning, another faint line, Mr H still unconvinced. Friday night I went on a mission to find a sensitive test - 4 supermarkets later and nothing!! Saturday morning I did another test, another faint line, this time a little clearer... Mr H still unconvinced. We got in the car and headed to 2 different Boots stores - both closed (despite saying they opened at 8.30am) and ended up getting a First Response test in Superdrug. We got home, I took the test, glaring positive. Mr H finally convinced :)
We were at Thorpe Park on Saturday for a friends 30th Birthday, I couldn't go on 99% of the rides. I blamed my shoulder sublux which fooled 4/6 of the other people there, however 2 of them totally guessed why. To be fair, it was Mr H's best friend and his fiancee and we know they'll keep it to themselves. Having a little girl of their own who is about to turn 2 makes them pretty good sources of knowledge, so I can imagine there will be a fair few phonecalls to them over the coming weeks.
I'm amazed already at how different my body is feeling, other than the crazy sensitive boobs, I'm bloated beyond belief. Tights feel tight, trousers feel like they are cutting in and I'm most comfortable in a pair of pj bottoms! Then theres the tiredness, the last two nights I've been asleep on the sofa by 8pm. On top of that theres the restless sleep, tossing and turning all night, feeling sick late morning to late afternoon (and on all car journeys), going off chocolate, not being able to eat large meals, craving salty things, feeling dizzy if I stand up too quickly - seriously this is not much fun.
On Sunday I saw my Mum, then some friends, then my Dad. We decided that other than our two friends guessing, that I should tell my Mum. After all, if something does happen, having someone we can get support from would be good. Plus my Mum is retired and if I need anything she's only a 20 minute car journey away. I was at her house for 1.5 hours before I sucked up enough courage to tell her - incidently as I was on my way out of the house!!! I ended up staying another 30 minutes whilst she squealed and was just generally gobsmacked. I think she showed her excitement much better than me and Mr H combined. I think even more so for Mr H it feels less than real. If it wasn't for my body feeling so different it would probably feel really surreal to me, but I've got that constant reminder. I'm sure it will sink in and the fear/apprehension will subside and be replaced by excitement.
So yeah, not much else to say really at this stage. I'll hopefully be able to gather some useful information over the coming weeks as I find out what I should/shouldn't be doing regarding exercise, what I should/shouldn't be eating, etc etc. Pregnancy is clearly a minefield and I'm like a deer caught in the headlights.
I'm pregnant.
As of today I'm only 4+2 along, so it's clearly VERY early days. Things could still go wrong and the more people that know the harder it will be if something does go wrong, but what I have realised over the weekend is how much information is lacking on the internet for active healthy pregnant people. So what I hope to achieve my blogging about these early days is a resource for future ladies in the same boat.
So you might be wondering what went on last week! For about a week I've had insanely sensitive boobs, not like period due sore boobs, like boobs so sore that if someone just looked at them I could feel it. This for me was not normal. My period was due on Thursday and it didn't arrive, so I took a test. There was an extremely faint line after about 10 minutes, but Mr H wasn't convinced so we assumed it was incorrect. I tested again Friday morning, another faint line, Mr H still unconvinced. Friday night I went on a mission to find a sensitive test - 4 supermarkets later and nothing!! Saturday morning I did another test, another faint line, this time a little clearer... Mr H still unconvinced. We got in the car and headed to 2 different Boots stores - both closed (despite saying they opened at 8.30am) and ended up getting a First Response test in Superdrug. We got home, I took the test, glaring positive. Mr H finally convinced :)
We were at Thorpe Park on Saturday for a friends 30th Birthday, I couldn't go on 99% of the rides. I blamed my shoulder sublux which fooled 4/6 of the other people there, however 2 of them totally guessed why. To be fair, it was Mr H's best friend and his fiancee and we know they'll keep it to themselves. Having a little girl of their own who is about to turn 2 makes them pretty good sources of knowledge, so I can imagine there will be a fair few phonecalls to them over the coming weeks.
I'm amazed already at how different my body is feeling, other than the crazy sensitive boobs, I'm bloated beyond belief. Tights feel tight, trousers feel like they are cutting in and I'm most comfortable in a pair of pj bottoms! Then theres the tiredness, the last two nights I've been asleep on the sofa by 8pm. On top of that theres the restless sleep, tossing and turning all night, feeling sick late morning to late afternoon (and on all car journeys), going off chocolate, not being able to eat large meals, craving salty things, feeling dizzy if I stand up too quickly - seriously this is not much fun.
On Sunday I saw my Mum, then some friends, then my Dad. We decided that other than our two friends guessing, that I should tell my Mum. After all, if something does happen, having someone we can get support from would be good. Plus my Mum is retired and if I need anything she's only a 20 minute car journey away. I was at her house for 1.5 hours before I sucked up enough courage to tell her - incidently as I was on my way out of the house!!! I ended up staying another 30 minutes whilst she squealed and was just generally gobsmacked. I think she showed her excitement much better than me and Mr H combined. I think even more so for Mr H it feels less than real. If it wasn't for my body feeling so different it would probably feel really surreal to me, but I've got that constant reminder. I'm sure it will sink in and the fear/apprehension will subside and be replaced by excitement.
So yeah, not much else to say really at this stage. I'll hopefully be able to gather some useful information over the coming weeks as I find out what I should/shouldn't be doing regarding exercise, what I should/shouldn't be eating, etc etc. Pregnancy is clearly a minefield and I'm like a deer caught in the headlights.
Thursday, 9 September 2010
City Rainbow & Whole Foods (mini) Haul
I had a bit of an odd food day yesterday. My initial plan was to get up early & get to Whole Foods before my day of meetings. However, when I discovered it crashing down with rain at 6am I had an extra hour in bed before heading into London.
I arrived in London at 9.30am and headed straight for Konditor & Cook. This was a mistake. In my mind I had 'Pecan Brownie'. In reality I ended up with Curly Wurly Brownie and a Fudgepacker Brownie. Thats right, instead of the one type of Brownie they didn't have, I bought two random varieties! I wasn't actually overly impressed with either. The Curly Wurly one was much nice, but had just a tiny amount of cheesecake swirling on the top and the Fudgepacker just appeared to have a fudge sauce drizzled over the top. For the place I consider to be the best Brownies in London I was disappointed. I actually think my cheesecake brownies are better and for a fudgepacker brownie I'd expect at least chunks of fudge in the cake mix!
Anyhoo, so I ate one on the walk over to my meeting. On the way I met a really cute black & whitecake cat. I really like city cats, they are hard as nails!
Once at my meeting, I poured a glass of fresh orange juice and the meeting began. At midday the buffet arrived. I had a cheese/ham quarter, 2 roasted vegetable quarters (a bit nasty really!) and a chicken salad quarter all on brown bread. I topped up with a small handful of ready salted crisps which tasted amazing and quite possibly the worlds smallest Banana. Afterwards I ate the second Brownie and sat back in my chair for the rest of the meeting knowing full well I was in a sugar induced coma and was unlikely to be able to participate in any discussion.
The meeting finished about 1.30pm and I walked over to my office, I walked with some colleagues so didn't make my planned diversion through Borough Market. As the sugar began to wear off I had a real craving for more salty crisps. I had a real mental battle over whether or not eating the crisps was a good idea. I was worried that if I didn't eat, I'd buy a stack of unnecessary things from Whole Foods. However, I won the battle deciding that I could live without the crisps and that I'd just get dinner pretty sharpish after leaving the office.
I headed out from work at 4pm and headed straight to Piccadilly. When I got on the tube at Southwark the sun was shining, when I exited the tube at Piccadilly there was torrential downpour. This morning as I'm typing this, my shoes are still soaked through from the downpour. Thankfully I did have a waterproof coat and an umbrella, but it didn't save my feet! I met up with my friend on Shaftesbury Avenue (he'd had to take shelter from the rain as he only had shorts & a t-shirt on!), so I went to resuce him with my umbrella. From there we walked over to Brewer Street to Whole Foods.
Whole Foods was quite exciting, though not as big as I had expected. I guess for the uber store I need to go to the Kensington Branch - on my list of things to do next time I'm in London.
That said, they had a great selection of fresh fruits/veggies, cheeses, dairy products & store cupboard essentials. I also spied some awesome looking vegan cakes. Unfortunately, given how bad the weather was and how much I was running around London, I had to make my purchases sensibly - booo! No cakes for me as they'd have got mushed in seconds in a bag with my laptop.
This is my haul. I got:
* Teapigs Chilli Chai - I really like the Chai tea and I love chilli, so I hope I like this too.
* McCann Steel Cut Oats
* Crunchy Peanut Butter
* 3 Pulsin Bars
* 2 Clif bars
* 1 Almond Bounce Ball
* Bag of Choco Coconut Granola
I also got this bag to bring it all home in which I could also fit my laptop bag in so made the journey around London much easier!
After Whole Foods, we went over to a Sam Smiths pub where I had a generic diet Cola and a few salt & vinegar crisps whilst we decided where to eat. We decided on Japanese and set off to Osatuma where I had another Diet Coke (this time branded) and Chicken Yaki Soba. It was delicious. I totally dig that pink ginger stuff they put on top, its yummy.
After eating, we were into the 'after work rush' in the pubs, so we tried a few before we found one with seats. On the way the rain had cleared and there was the most AWESOME rainbow across the sky. There is something about Rainbows in cities that I really love. It was at this point that I got a bit pissed about leaving my camera at home, my iphone camera just didn't really do this justice!
In this next/last pub I mixed things up a little and had a lime & lemonade which was nice and refreshing. We sat upstairs and we were the only people up there! The windows were wide open and there was a lovely breeze coming in. We chatted for a little while longer before I realised it was 7.30pm and I was hoping to get the 8.05pm train back so I'd have some time to spend with Mr H and the puglins before bed. We finished our drinks and hot footed it to the tube. I made it back to Waterloo with plenty of time. The train journey went quite quickly, I was playing games on my iphone and checking out some blogs.
I arrived in London at 9.30am and headed straight for Konditor & Cook. This was a mistake. In my mind I had 'Pecan Brownie'. In reality I ended up with Curly Wurly Brownie and a Fudgepacker Brownie. Thats right, instead of the one type of Brownie they didn't have, I bought two random varieties! I wasn't actually overly impressed with either. The Curly Wurly one was much nice, but had just a tiny amount of cheesecake swirling on the top and the Fudgepacker just appeared to have a fudge sauce drizzled over the top. For the place I consider to be the best Brownies in London I was disappointed. I actually think my cheesecake brownies are better and for a fudgepacker brownie I'd expect at least chunks of fudge in the cake mix!
Anyhoo, so I ate one on the walk over to my meeting. On the way I met a really cute black & white
Once at my meeting, I poured a glass of fresh orange juice and the meeting began. At midday the buffet arrived. I had a cheese/ham quarter, 2 roasted vegetable quarters (a bit nasty really!) and a chicken salad quarter all on brown bread. I topped up with a small handful of ready salted crisps which tasted amazing and quite possibly the worlds smallest Banana. Afterwards I ate the second Brownie and sat back in my chair for the rest of the meeting knowing full well I was in a sugar induced coma and was unlikely to be able to participate in any discussion.
The meeting finished about 1.30pm and I walked over to my office, I walked with some colleagues so didn't make my planned diversion through Borough Market. As the sugar began to wear off I had a real craving for more salty crisps. I had a real mental battle over whether or not eating the crisps was a good idea. I was worried that if I didn't eat, I'd buy a stack of unnecessary things from Whole Foods. However, I won the battle deciding that I could live without the crisps and that I'd just get dinner pretty sharpish after leaving the office.
I headed out from work at 4pm and headed straight to Piccadilly. When I got on the tube at Southwark the sun was shining, when I exited the tube at Piccadilly there was torrential downpour. This morning as I'm typing this, my shoes are still soaked through from the downpour. Thankfully I did have a waterproof coat and an umbrella, but it didn't save my feet! I met up with my friend on Shaftesbury Avenue (he'd had to take shelter from the rain as he only had shorts & a t-shirt on!), so I went to resuce him with my umbrella. From there we walked over to Brewer Street to Whole Foods.
Whole Foods was quite exciting, though not as big as I had expected. I guess for the uber store I need to go to the Kensington Branch - on my list of things to do next time I'm in London.
That said, they had a great selection of fresh fruits/veggies, cheeses, dairy products & store cupboard essentials. I also spied some awesome looking vegan cakes. Unfortunately, given how bad the weather was and how much I was running around London, I had to make my purchases sensibly - booo! No cakes for me as they'd have got mushed in seconds in a bag with my laptop.
This is my haul. I got:
* Teapigs Chilli Chai - I really like the Chai tea and I love chilli, so I hope I like this too.
* McCann Steel Cut Oats
* Crunchy Peanut Butter
* 3 Pulsin Bars
* 2 Clif bars
* 1 Almond Bounce Ball
* Bag of Choco Coconut Granola
I also got this bag to bring it all home in which I could also fit my laptop bag in so made the journey around London much easier!
After Whole Foods, we went over to a Sam Smiths pub where I had a generic diet Cola and a few salt & vinegar crisps whilst we decided where to eat. We decided on Japanese and set off to Osatuma where I had another Diet Coke (this time branded) and Chicken Yaki Soba. It was delicious. I totally dig that pink ginger stuff they put on top, its yummy.
After eating, we were into the 'after work rush' in the pubs, so we tried a few before we found one with seats. On the way the rain had cleared and there was the most AWESOME rainbow across the sky. There is something about Rainbows in cities that I really love. It was at this point that I got a bit pissed about leaving my camera at home, my iphone camera just didn't really do this justice!
In this next/last pub I mixed things up a little and had a lime & lemonade which was nice and refreshing. We sat upstairs and we were the only people up there! The windows were wide open and there was a lovely breeze coming in. We chatted for a little while longer before I realised it was 7.30pm and I was hoping to get the 8.05pm train back so I'd have some time to spend with Mr H and the puglins before bed. We finished our drinks and hot footed it to the tube. I made it back to Waterloo with plenty of time. The train journey went quite quickly, I was playing games on my iphone and checking out some blogs. Once back to Winchester I had the epic task of getting back to my car which was practically in another post code it was so far from the Station entrance. I decided to run it to speed things up and with the extra weight I was carrying in my bags it definately raised my heart rate nicely.
When I got home Mr H had been a complete sweetie and had been food shopping and done all the washing up ♥
I got into my pjs and snuggled up on the sofa with the pugs to watch Holby City on the planner. We got a relatively early night by being in bed at 10.30pm on the dot.
I had a pretty random nights sleep though. At 11.30pm I got a text from a friend inviting us to their wedding rehearsal on the 28th September.... I'm doing a reading at this wedding and should probably go, but it clashes with a 2 day team event we're having at work. I had better practice the reading though anyway, perhaps do a test run with my Mum as the audience at the weekend. After the text I got back to sleep and woke up again at 1.46am with our cordless phone beeping. It's brighter than the sun so we cover it at night, but sometimes whatever we cover it with knocks it out of its cradle and the battery starts to die. So it beeps to alert you to that fact. I was out of bed in seconds and literally ripped the phone apart. This morning it took me some time to relocate both batteries and the plastic cover that I removed. The last time I woke up was 1 minute before my alarm went off at 5.44am, needless to say feeling a little bit crap for the amount of times I'd been woken up during the night. Mr H soon rectified that though with an app on his Iphone informing me that its only 107 sleeps til Christmas. Squee!
Todays plans are pretty straight forward, Choconut Podge for Breakfast, 2 x Protein Shakes, Banana, Quarter of a Honeydew Melon, Ham/cheese/Spinach Pitta for Lunch, Paquito Squash Soup and Rolls for dinner and one of the Pulsin bars (Energy Bomb!) before my workout this evening.
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
The Importance of Pre-Workout Fuel
During the working week, I do most of my exercise in my lunchbreak. This is about 4 hours after eating my breakfast and around an hour since my mid-morning snack. Even though I eat mid morning, I can quite often be hungry again as I set off for the gym (which is a 5 minute walk away). Working out hungry sucks. Fact.
Today I had a mug (well I use the term mug loosely, it was a paper cup) of Chai tea and a slice of PBGB (packed with Almond Butter, Sugar, Chocolate & Oats) and went to the gym without any sign of the grumblies.
I had an AWESOME session. According to my HR monitor in my 1 hour 3 minute session my stats were as follows:
Max HR - 177
Avg HR - 146
Calories Burnt - 706 (200 more than usual)
Time spent in the various 'Sport Zones' (MM:SS)
1 - hardly anything
2 - 15:21
3 - 26:00
4 - 19:36
5 - 1:50
I ran 2.4k on the treadmill at 10kmph then hit the weights for entire body and did some floor work and ab stuff. I also completed 90% of my physio routine aswell :)
Lesson learnt from today: Picking the right fuel for a workout makes all the difference.
I'm going to stock back up on Bounce Balls and have a look around for some new pre-workout foods.
What are your favourite pre-workout munchies and how soon before working out do you consume them?
Today I had a mug (well I use the term mug loosely, it was a paper cup) of Chai tea and a slice of PBGB (packed with Almond Butter, Sugar, Chocolate & Oats) and went to the gym without any sign of the grumblies.
I had an AWESOME session. According to my HR monitor in my 1 hour 3 minute session my stats were as follows:
Max HR - 177
Avg HR - 146
Calories Burnt - 706 (200 more than usual)
Time spent in the various 'Sport Zones' (MM:SS)
1 - hardly anything
2 - 15:21
3 - 26:00
4 - 19:36
5 - 1:50
I ran 2.4k on the treadmill at 10kmph then hit the weights for entire body and did some floor work and ab stuff. I also completed 90% of my physio routine aswell :)
Lesson learnt from today: Picking the right fuel for a workout makes all the difference.
I'm going to stock back up on Bounce Balls and have a look around for some new pre-workout foods.
What are your favourite pre-workout munchies and how soon before working out do you consume them?
Forthcoming week...
I didn't get round to posting yesterday, I was feeling pretty crappy. I was convinced I had a cold, but a good nights sleep last night seems to have helped. I guess it was just hayfever + sleepiness!
Nothing particularly out of the ordinary happened yesterday food wise and I didn't go to the gym at lunch because I was concerned about the possibility of getting ill.
Today is a new day and this week looks pretty good. Today I'm off to the gym at lunchtime and might do something additional this evening whilst Mr H is out at the gym. Means that we'll get to eat together when he comes home :)
Food for today looks good too!
Breakfast: 200ml skimmed Milk Protein Shake, Choconut Porridge Combo, Berocca.
Mid Morning: Chai Tea & PBGB made with Almond Butter (Yummy!)
Lunch: Wholemeal Pitta with Ham and Chilli/Tomato Chutney & spinach (which has an attractive face on complete with eyes, lips and a moustache courtesy of Mr H and my lunch stickers, 200ml Skimmed Milk Protein Shake
Mid Afternoon: Banana
Dinner: Not sure yet, possibly something wrap based, gnocchi based or soup based.
General plans over the week look controllable. I'm working in London tomorrow and might possibly have dinner with a friend. I want to head over to Whole Foods, so we'll probably find somewhere around there to get some grub. Although I may end up just staying out for a diet coke and getting the train home if his girlfriend is in tow. That probably sounds a little lame, but I get a bit fed up of seeing my friends all the time with their other halves, I think its healthy to have time apart to spend with your besties and I've not seen him on his own since he got together with her well over a year ago. Anyhoo, I digress.
The only other things I have to contend with this week is a trip to Thorpe Park for a 30th Birthday on Saturday and a shopping trip with some friends on Sunday. Both should be quite manageable, one with a pre-packed picnic, the other with a sensible head on and eating well the rest of the day.
Overall goals I'd like to achieve this week:
* Swimming - 41 Lengths to beat!
* Running - 6 miles at least, we must get back on our Sunday Run-days
* Gym - 3 times (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday)
* Physio EVERYDAY
* Food Diary everyday
Fingers crossed I do better this week than last, theres only 3 weeks of the month left to make a difference!
Oh and one final thing, we nipped into Waitrose last night to get some milk. The car park is underground. This little mini caravan thing had driven into the carpark and got stuck! Hilarious! I can't believe people who drive vehicles with height don't read the signs. FAIL!
Nothing particularly out of the ordinary happened yesterday food wise and I didn't go to the gym at lunch because I was concerned about the possibility of getting ill.
Today is a new day and this week looks pretty good. Today I'm off to the gym at lunchtime and might do something additional this evening whilst Mr H is out at the gym. Means that we'll get to eat together when he comes home :)
Food for today looks good too!
Breakfast: 200ml skimmed Milk Protein Shake, Choconut Porridge Combo, Berocca.
Mid Morning: Chai Tea & PBGB made with Almond Butter (Yummy!)
Lunch: Wholemeal Pitta with Ham and Chilli/Tomato Chutney & spinach (which has an attractive face on complete with eyes, lips and a moustache courtesy of Mr H and my lunch stickers, 200ml Skimmed Milk Protein Shake
Mid Afternoon: BananaDinner: Not sure yet, possibly something wrap based, gnocchi based or soup based.
General plans over the week look controllable. I'm working in London tomorrow and might possibly have dinner with a friend. I want to head over to Whole Foods, so we'll probably find somewhere around there to get some grub. Although I may end up just staying out for a diet coke and getting the train home if his girlfriend is in tow. That probably sounds a little lame, but I get a bit fed up of seeing my friends all the time with their other halves, I think its healthy to have time apart to spend with your besties and I've not seen him on his own since he got together with her well over a year ago. Anyhoo, I digress.
The only other things I have to contend with this week is a trip to Thorpe Park for a 30th Birthday on Saturday and a shopping trip with some friends on Sunday. Both should be quite manageable, one with a pre-packed picnic, the other with a sensible head on and eating well the rest of the day.
Overall goals I'd like to achieve this week:
* Swimming - 41 Lengths to beat!
* Running - 6 miles at least, we must get back on our Sunday Run-days
* Gym - 3 times (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday)
* Physio EVERYDAY
* Food Diary everyday
Fingers crossed I do better this week than last, theres only 3 weeks of the month left to make a difference!
Oh and one final thing, we nipped into Waitrose last night to get some milk. The car park is underground. This little mini caravan thing had driven into the carpark and got stuck! Hilarious! I can't believe people who drive vehicles with height don't read the signs. FAIL!
Recap of the Weekend
Firstly, lets look at my weekly goals and see how I did:
* Food Diary everyday - pretty much
* Exercise 5 times - pretty much :P
* Beat 36 lengths in 30 minutes at the swimming pool - yup, 41 lengths
* Run 9 miles (thinking probably a 3 miler and 6 miler) - nope, ran zero miles
* 2 litres of water a day - yup
Nothing to write home about really, must do better!
The weekend was good, despite not getting in any structured exercise, I did a fair amount of manual labour and stacks of walking.
Saturday was the local fete, Mr H and I were in charge of the hoopla stall
Just look at the colours of those drinks! Apparently they were sugar free, but anything that colour cannot be safe for human consumption!!! We raised £82.60, which was more than £30 more than last years takings :D
The fete had lots on offer. Yummy cake made by the WI, unpictured as it did not last long enough! Local beer...
Ferret Racing...
Beautifully arranged raspberries, the size of cherry tomatoes...
Talking of tomatoes, look how perfectly sized these all are! Practically identical.
Blackberries which made the ones we picked in the woods earlier in the week so insignificant!
and finally, carrots and onions! I never will understand why onions have to be displayed in a glass dish filled with fine sand. Weird!
It was lovely to get involved with the local community and meet some new people. We will definately be getting involved again next year, perhaps we'll try and get on the fete committee.
Saturday evening was a bit of a wipe out. We were rather tired from a whole day helping out, so we caved and ordered in a curry. Last time we did it we felt terrible the day afterwards, I guess our tummies are just not used to such rich food. But we'd clearly forgotton that! About half an hour after eating we felt bad again. Takeaway curry is definately off the menu for good! It's not worth how bad it makes us feel.
Sunday I was up early to head down to Bristol to support some fabulous ladies running their first Half Marathon. I got into Bristol about 10.45, it took me nearly an hour to make my way into town around all the runners! However, on my detour I found a pretty cool old dispensary building. Check out the seperate entrance for Women. Awesome! The extra doors were all sealed up now, but I love things like this.
I finally found Gayle and her husband and Kat's husband. We then started waiting for the runners to return. We had quite a haul of cake, just waiting to be eaten.
On offer were Chocolate Chip Cookies made by Alex, Raspberry/Chocolate Blondies made by Kat, Banoffee style Millionaires Shortbread and the pictured cupcakes supplied by Gayle, PBGB (made with Almond butter) made by me and some Fudge Babies made by Hannah.
Despite not running 13.1 miles, I did partake in a little cake eating! The girls who ran the Marathon did super well, Hannah ran it in around 2.10, Kat in 2.20 and Alex in 2.30. Amazing! They certainly deserved their cakey rewards.
We went to an eatery called the Watershed where I had a Flatbread with Olives, Feta and Peppers on. It was really lush, but I couldn't finish it all was a little too rich towards the end. Afterwards we had a mooch around the various shops of Bristol, firmly cementing the idea into my mind that I have to return after for some serious shopping! Hurry up September pay day please.
I made it home about 7pm (after passing 3 accidents on the M4!!) and went straight into making Beef/Beer Stew.
It was nice, but not as amazing as it is when it's allowed to simmer for 3-4 hours. I let it cook for about an hour in total so the beef wasn't as soft as it could have been. But I was pretty freakin' hungry, so I had no choice. I served the stew with some brocolli and parsnips.
I was wrecked in the evening and I'd not even run a half Marathon, just watched one!
* Food Diary everyday - pretty much
* Exercise 5 times - pretty much :P
* Beat 36 lengths in 30 minutes at the swimming pool - yup, 41 lengths
* Run 9 miles (thinking probably a 3 miler and 6 miler) - nope, ran zero miles
* 2 litres of water a day - yup
Nothing to write home about really, must do better!
The weekend was good, despite not getting in any structured exercise, I did a fair amount of manual labour and stacks of walking.
Saturday was the local fete, Mr H and I were in charge of the hoopla stall
Just look at the colours of those drinks! Apparently they were sugar free, but anything that colour cannot be safe for human consumption!!! We raised £82.60, which was more than £30 more than last years takings :D
The fete had lots on offer. Yummy cake made by the WI, unpictured as it did not last long enough! Local beer...
Ferret Racing...
Flower show, I love looking at the beautiful flowers people have grown in their gardens...
Fruit/Vegetable exhibits, again all grown by local people. First up, Pears...
Beautifully arranged raspberries, the size of cherry tomatoes... Talking of tomatoes, look how perfectly sized these all are! Practically identical.Blackberries which made the ones we picked in the woods earlier in the week so insignificant!and finally, carrots and onions! I never will understand why onions have to be displayed in a glass dish filled with fine sand. Weird!It was lovely to get involved with the local community and meet some new people. We will definately be getting involved again next year, perhaps we'll try and get on the fete committee.Saturday evening was a bit of a wipe out. We were rather tired from a whole day helping out, so we caved and ordered in a curry. Last time we did it we felt terrible the day afterwards, I guess our tummies are just not used to such rich food. But we'd clearly forgotton that! About half an hour after eating we felt bad again. Takeaway curry is definately off the menu for good! It's not worth how bad it makes us feel.
Sunday I was up early to head down to Bristol to support some fabulous ladies running their first Half Marathon. I got into Bristol about 10.45, it took me nearly an hour to make my way into town around all the runners! However, on my detour I found a pretty cool old dispensary building. Check out the seperate entrance for Women. Awesome! The extra doors were all sealed up now, but I love things like this.
I finally found Gayle and her husband and Kat's husband. We then started waiting for the runners to return. We had quite a haul of cake, just waiting to be eaten. On offer were Chocolate Chip Cookies made by Alex, Raspberry/Chocolate Blondies made by Kat, Banoffee style Millionaires Shortbread and the pictured cupcakes supplied by Gayle, PBGB (made with Almond butter) made by me and some Fudge Babies made by Hannah.Despite not running 13.1 miles, I did partake in a little cake eating! The girls who ran the Marathon did super well, Hannah ran it in around 2.10, Kat in 2.20 and Alex in 2.30. Amazing! They certainly deserved their cakey rewards.
We went to an eatery called the Watershed where I had a Flatbread with Olives, Feta and Peppers on. It was really lush, but I couldn't finish it all was a little too rich towards the end. Afterwards we had a mooch around the various shops of Bristol, firmly cementing the idea into my mind that I have to return after for some serious shopping! Hurry up September pay day please.
I made it home about 7pm (after passing 3 accidents on the M4!!) and went straight into making Beef/Beer Stew.
It was nice, but not as amazing as it is when it's allowed to simmer for 3-4 hours. I let it cook for about an hour in total so the beef wasn't as soft as it could have been. But I was pretty freakin' hungry, so I had no choice. I served the stew with some brocolli and parsnips.
I was wrecked in the evening and I'd not even run a half Marathon, just watched one!
Friday, 3 September 2010
Hooray for Friday
I'm so glad it's Friday. Even though this week has only been 4 days long, they've felt like a very long 4 days.
Last night we did indeed have Eggs Benedict. Waitrose have just launched a big push on their Duchy range which meant that the wholemeal muffins I was planning to get were out of stock. Stupid offers. So I ended up with White Muffins and I also picked up a Schwartz packet of dry Hollandaise sauce, its only 95 calories for the whole pack, so I didn't think it was that bad.
Once home I set to cooking, got the sauce on the go, poached 4 eggs in boiling water (with a little vinegar), toasted the muffins, cut up some of the nice ham I got at the Farm shop earlier in the week and wilted the spinach. Then I stacked up the sliced muffin and devoured.
It was such a quick easy dinner and was also nice and light. This was especially good as we planned to swim later in the evening.
After dinner we loaded the pugs into the car and went to the local woods for a walk. I had an alterior motive of wanting to pick blackberries. Mr H thought that me wanting to pick berries was hilarious, but once we were there I think he enjoyed it more than me. Being over 6ft with long arms he was able to reach all the high up berries and the ones further off the pathway.
Here are a few pics, first the dogs running down the path
And finally a pick of our haul. I've stored them temporarily in an old blueberry punnet, will probably freeze them tonight. We collected about 200g. Not too bad for 30 minutes work.
About 9pm we set of to the local swimming pool for 30 minutes. I managed 41 lengths this time, so an improvement on the 38 previously. It was really good. When I got out of the pool my body felt really strange almost like I was still floating and my legs were a bit jellified.
This morning I feel ok, got a little bit of tension in my calves (probably from my gym session yesterday). Will just need to keep mobile during the day to ensure the dreaded DOMS don't set in!
I've got meetings most of the day, so don't plan on hitting the gym. Will try and get out on a run this evening though, a short 3 miler.
Food for today looks like this...
Breakfast: 200ml Skimmed Milk Protein Shake, Choconut Porridge Combo, Berocca
Mid Morning: Nakd Bar & Chai Tea with Agave
Lunch: Courgette, Watercress and Spinach Soup with 1.5 slices of Amaranth & Quinoa Rye Bread (last bit)
Mid Afternoon: Strawberry & Grape Medley
Dinner: Something with Halloumi.
Anyone have any good Halloumi recipes?
Other than my run this evening, I'm quite looking forward to just chilling and watching some TV with the pugs curled up on the sofa. Mr H is at band practice and won't be back til about 1am.
Tomorrow we have the village fete and we'll be getting our Hoopla on. I'm so going to have a slice of WI Cake.
Sunday I'm off to Bristol to meet up with some ladies from a forum (some of whom also blog) to support them in the Half Marathon, and will possibly participate in some more cake eating.
I just hope the sun keeps shining!
Last night we did indeed have Eggs Benedict. Waitrose have just launched a big push on their Duchy range which meant that the wholemeal muffins I was planning to get were out of stock. Stupid offers. So I ended up with White Muffins and I also picked up a Schwartz packet of dry Hollandaise sauce, its only 95 calories for the whole pack, so I didn't think it was that bad.
Once home I set to cooking, got the sauce on the go, poached 4 eggs in boiling water (with a little vinegar), toasted the muffins, cut up some of the nice ham I got at the Farm shop earlier in the week and wilted the spinach. Then I stacked up the sliced muffin and devoured.
It was such a quick easy dinner and was also nice and light. This was especially good as we planned to swim later in the evening.
After dinner we loaded the pugs into the car and went to the local woods for a walk. I had an alterior motive of wanting to pick blackberries. Mr H thought that me wanting to pick berries was hilarious, but once we were there I think he enjoyed it more than me. Being over 6ft with long arms he was able to reach all the high up berries and the ones further off the pathway.
Here are a few pics, first the dogs running down the path
Being typical pugs, I did have them both looking at me standing right in the centre of the path, then as soon as I snapped the camera they had dispersed!
I've noticed that there are some crazy big slugs about at the moment, I don't really know where they go during Summer, but these past 2 weeks I've seen loads!
And finally a pick of our haul. I've stored them temporarily in an old blueberry punnet, will probably freeze them tonight. We collected about 200g. Not too bad for 30 minutes work.About 9pm we set of to the local swimming pool for 30 minutes. I managed 41 lengths this time, so an improvement on the 38 previously. It was really good. When I got out of the pool my body felt really strange almost like I was still floating and my legs were a bit jellified.
This morning I feel ok, got a little bit of tension in my calves (probably from my gym session yesterday). Will just need to keep mobile during the day to ensure the dreaded DOMS don't set in!
I've got meetings most of the day, so don't plan on hitting the gym. Will try and get out on a run this evening though, a short 3 miler.
Food for today looks like this...
Breakfast: 200ml Skimmed Milk Protein Shake, Choconut Porridge Combo, Berocca
Mid Morning: Nakd Bar & Chai Tea with Agave
Lunch: Courgette, Watercress and Spinach Soup with 1.5 slices of Amaranth & Quinoa Rye Bread (last bit)
Mid Afternoon: Strawberry & Grape Medley
Dinner: Something with Halloumi.
Anyone have any good Halloumi recipes?
Other than my run this evening, I'm quite looking forward to just chilling and watching some TV with the pugs curled up on the sofa. Mr H is at band practice and won't be back til about 1am.
Tomorrow we have the village fete and we'll be getting our Hoopla on. I'm so going to have a slice of WI Cake.
Sunday I'm off to Bristol to meet up with some ladies from a forum (some of whom also blog) to support them in the Half Marathon, and will possibly participate in some more cake eating.
I just hope the sun keeps shining!
Thursday, 2 September 2010
Green Goblin Goo
For some reason I cannot seem to add the picture of dinner to the post I made yesterday. I'm beyond caring about it being in the right place, so here is it - Courgette, Watercress & Spinach Soup with a Crusty Roll.
The soup was pretty good actually, I think made even better by the fact that it contained 1 free onion and 2 free courgettes!
Courgette, Watercress & Spinach Soup
1 Onion (I used a giant red onion)
3 Courgettes
4 Handfuls of Watercress
4 Handfuls of Spinach
Vegetable Stock (I used about 1.5 pints)
1. Chop up the onion and courgette and brown in a saucepan in a spritz of oil.
2. Add the Watercress and Spinach and allow to wilt a little
3. Add the stock and simmer for 20 minutes before blitzing!
Even Mr H liked this. I could tell by the way he looked at the Green Goblin Goo that he wasn't too impressed, but after he tried it he was won over.
I didn't blog about it yesterday, but after my first haul of goodies from the farm shop... I ALSO went to Waitrose and got a few bits... 
* 2 crusty rolls for dinner (were nice, but actually far too crusty for my liking - I'm lucky to have survived with my teeth intact!)
* Bar of 70% cocoa chocolate for baking
* Bag of Organic Jumbo Oats - only £1 BARGAIN!
* Box of Grape Nuts (as I keep seeing people mention them and thought it was time to give them a go)
* Jar of Chilli & Tomato Chutney (it's yummy)
I really had such a swell day yesterday. I had a mini lie in, sucessful dr's appointment, great shop at the farm shop, a nice chat with my next door neighbour and a random old lady out on the main road whilst I was checking our water meter, a fab physio appointment (they don't want to see me for 4 weeks this time), another great haul in Waitrose (and another nice chat with another old lady!), dog walks, exercise & homemade soup... and I even got some work done too (after all I was working from home).
Today is unlikely to be as good, but even so the agenda is looking pretty awesome. I have some good meals lined up, a gym session, a dog walk in the woods so I can get berries & a late night swim.
Breakfast: 200ml Skimmed Milk Protein Shake, Choconut Porridge Combo (with a new type of flaxseed that I think I prefer to the last variety I used)
Mid Morning: Last of the Chocolate/Banana/Oat Muffins and a Chai Tea
Lunch: 200ml Skimmed Milk Protein Shake (post gym), 1.5 slices Amaranth & Quinoa Rye Bread, Fiery Chilli Houmous, Cheese, Cucumber, Red Pepper, Tomato, Ham (build your own sandwich)
Mid Afternoon: Grapes, Blueberry & Strawberry Medley (possibly with a banana)
Dinner: Eggs Benedict (minus the Hollandaise) - I'm so excited about this!
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
White Rabbits
Can you believe it's the 1st September? Where on earth did August go?
I have a confession to make.... I put the heating on last night! Lesson learnt though, I forgot to turn it off and woke up at 5am baking hot in bed - whoops! Hopefully we'll get out to Argos to buy the fan heater instead of racking up a large gas bill this early on in the season.
I didn't make it to the gym yesterday lunchtime, my thighs were aching really bad. It's definately the downside of DOMS having to sit at a desk all day. I was ok on the Monday, but by the end of tuesday (after sitting down all day), I could barely move! Good news is that I'm much more mobile today, working from home so plan to run or exercise video and swim.
This morning I had an appointment with the doctors regarding my face. The second doctor was equally baffled and has referred me to the ENT clinic at the local hospital. Unfortunately my shoulder has used up my entire private healthcare benefit, so I'm on the NHS waiting list. I'm under instructions to take as many photos as I can next time it happens (I usually only take head on shots).
On my way back from the doctors, I thought I'd nip out to the local watercress farm as I have the intention of making soup for dinner this evening. When I got there, I had a rather pleasant suprise! They have going through a major refurbishment and have embraced farm shop love! OH.MY.GOSH Talk about creating the perfect store for me!!
They are still in the process of setting things up inside, previously they used to sell local cheeses/meats, their own watercress, gifts, cards, furniture and garden centre bits. They appear to have scrapped 80% of the furniture (and I think most of the remainder was in the sale), same goes for gifts and have pretty much replaced the entire inside as a food shop. ♥ ♥ ♥
As a result, my shop for watercress turned into a £20 shop picking up a variety of bits and pieces. This is my haul:
* Locally grown squash
* 2 bags of local watercress
* Sugar free gummy bears for Mr H (because I love him so)
* Giant Avocado
* Peanut Butter & Co Dark Chocolate Dreams
* Some Halloumi
* Some yummy looking Ham produced in Maldon
* Some Teapigs Chai Tea (I've been looking for Chai tea to try for a while)
* A slice of homemade Rocky Road with Macadamia Nuts ♥
...and finally some freebees of 2 courgettes and an onion that didn't look appealing enough for anyone to buy, doesn't bother me though!
There were lots of things I've wanted to try for a while and couldn't find and a few extras. I can't wait to see how the place ends up when they've finished setting up. I could see trolley's loaded with hundreds of more local products just waiting to get put up on the shelves. I'm excited.
Before I move on, just thought I'd show you a dodgy 'taken through my windscreen' photo of the watercress fields
Our current Sunday Runday route takes us past these Watercress fields.
Talking of running, I wanted to share with you part of the book we bought at the weekend.
What do you think about when your running?
I have a confession to make.... I put the heating on last night! Lesson learnt though, I forgot to turn it off and woke up at 5am baking hot in bed - whoops! Hopefully we'll get out to Argos to buy the fan heater instead of racking up a large gas bill this early on in the season.
I didn't make it to the gym yesterday lunchtime, my thighs were aching really bad. It's definately the downside of DOMS having to sit at a desk all day. I was ok on the Monday, but by the end of tuesday (after sitting down all day), I could barely move! Good news is that I'm much more mobile today, working from home so plan to run or exercise video and swim.
This morning I had an appointment with the doctors regarding my face. The second doctor was equally baffled and has referred me to the ENT clinic at the local hospital. Unfortunately my shoulder has used up my entire private healthcare benefit, so I'm on the NHS waiting list. I'm under instructions to take as many photos as I can next time it happens (I usually only take head on shots).
On my way back from the doctors, I thought I'd nip out to the local watercress farm as I have the intention of making soup for dinner this evening. When I got there, I had a rather pleasant suprise! They have going through a major refurbishment and have embraced farm shop love! OH.MY.GOSH Talk about creating the perfect store for me!!
They are still in the process of setting things up inside, previously they used to sell local cheeses/meats, their own watercress, gifts, cards, furniture and garden centre bits. They appear to have scrapped 80% of the furniture (and I think most of the remainder was in the sale), same goes for gifts and have pretty much replaced the entire inside as a food shop. ♥ ♥ ♥
As a result, my shop for watercress turned into a £20 shop picking up a variety of bits and pieces. This is my haul:
* Locally grown squash* 2 bags of local watercress
* Sugar free gummy bears for Mr H (because I love him so)
* Giant Avocado
* Peanut Butter & Co Dark Chocolate Dreams
* Some Halloumi
* Some yummy looking Ham produced in Maldon
* Some Teapigs Chai Tea (I've been looking for Chai tea to try for a while)
* A slice of homemade Rocky Road with Macadamia Nuts ♥
...and finally some freebees of 2 courgettes and an onion that didn't look appealing enough for anyone to buy, doesn't bother me though!
There were lots of things I've wanted to try for a while and couldn't find and a few extras. I can't wait to see how the place ends up when they've finished setting up. I could see trolley's loaded with hundreds of more local products just waiting to get put up on the shelves. I'm excited.
Before I move on, just thought I'd show you a dodgy 'taken through my windscreen' photo of the watercress fields
Our current Sunday Runday route takes us past these Watercress fields.Talking of running, I wanted to share with you part of the book we bought at the weekend.
What do you think about when your running? My mind often wanders when I'm running. I'll think about what I'm going to eat when I get home, cake recipes, plans for the week, plans for the future, encouraging my legs to keep on going. I'll play back conversations in my mind and wish I'd thought of that snappy comeback at the time I was having the actual conversation, I'll think things over that are bugging me and try to come to a conclusion weighing up my options, I count... generally in 20's... especially up hills, I sing out loud when I think I'm far enough out of hearing range of the houses, if my ipod dies I'll keep the beat going in my head, if it's a clear morning, I'll just listen to the sound of my feet hitting the road, my heart pounding in my chest and try and make a rhythm out of the two, with the back drop of (often) crazy bird song.
Getting back to my first sentance in this blog about August vanishing, I'm quite glad September has arrived. Today the sun is shining, but there is a still a crispness outside. I actually love this crispness. I love being able to see my breath in the air, I love breathing in the air so cold it makes my lungs ache, I love dewey mornings, I love torchlit dog walks at night, I love spiderwebs glistening in the late sunrise, I love watching the flocks of birds coming home to roost in the early sunset. Autumn totally rocks!
I think I mentioned yesterday that I'd made a bouquet for Saturday, I took one photo of some of the flowers close up and it's really cheery. I love all the different shades of pink and how many petals are on these flowers. So pretty.
Anyway, enough of the random ramblings. On to my plan for today...
Breakfast: Berocca (with a 9am Dr's appointment, this was all I had time for after I got up late!)
Mid Morning: Chai Tea with the Rocky Road (the tea was ok actually, but it did have a tonne of Agave in. Next time I make it I'll have to measure how much I put in to see if it's worth drinking at all!)
Lunch: Amaranth & Quinoa Rye Bread with Poached Eggs & Spinach
Mid Afternoon: Green Monster made with skimmed milk, handful of spinach, a frozen banana, 1 tsp flaxseed and a tsp of Dark Chocolate Dreams - delicious!
Dinner: A soup containing Courgette, Watercress and Spinach most likely, served with a fresh crusty bread roll.
And I'll probably get a protein shake in at somepoint too.
As I'm at home today, I'll probably post pictures of my meals as I go. What a treat for you all :P
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
