Category Archives: The Diet

Monday Update: week one

So it’s Monday *1*. Time for the update on the whole “get fit” deal that I talked about last week.

To see the rest of the post, click on the ‘more’ link below – I’ve done this to keep the front page of the blog as free from my diet related hi-jinks as possible. I am aware that not everyone actually cares what I ate for lunch etc.

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So it’s time to be healthy once more

God was most certainly not a woman.

I came to this decision about the creator long ago, but lately it has been reinforced in my mind primarily because of the following:

I can have excruciating PMT, but easy to control weight.
OR
I can have medical intervention to eliminate the cramps that feel like Jack the Ripper is having fun with my ovaries, but weight that just seems to creep up no matter what I do.

Since blissful lack of PMT is, well, blissful for me – and coincidentally also much nicer for people that have to deal with the Uber Bitch from Hell that I can become – it is the weight increase that I am going to have to face.

Bugger.

I looked in the mirror day and had an “Ugh! Whale!” moment. The girls out there will probably know what I mean. The guys… Meh. You have your own worries to deal with, I know 😉 As an aside, what is it about gym clothes that makes them so unflattering? Isn’t hot, red, and sweaty bad enough?

So it is back to the push-ups, sit-ups, and depressingly healthy food for me. Not that I have exactly been excessively unhealthy the past few months, but clearly I haven’t been healthy enough. Sigh.

Because this blog is all about sharing, I thought I would share with you once again my favourite smoothie mix. And my previous ruminations on fruit.

I’m not looking for huge amounts of weight loss here. Even at my thinest when I was fourteen and hadn’t eaten for three months due to… all kinds of medical issues… I still weighed in at a buxom 10 stone. Right now I’m a bit more than that, but not horrendously so. What I am going for is a general tone and reduction in the “wibbly bits”. At my best (August 2005) I was pretty much a perfect size 14, even a size 12 in some shops (and man did I like those shops 😉 ). Right now I’m a generous 14 with occasional forays into 16 territory. I’d like to get back to being comfortably a size 14 again. One day it might even be nice to actually have a flat(ish) stomach, but let’s not get carried away here!

I tried something like this back at the start of the year, even set up a category for it, but y’all were basically pants at keeping me on the straight and narrow 😛 Let’s try this again, shall we? Once a week – let’s say Monday evening – I post an update. You cheer me on, and we all have fun. If I don’t post an update, you yell at me, and again we all have fun 😀

Deal?
(And no, you can’t have my current weight, because I don’t own any scales – at least, I’m pretty certain I wouldn’t fit on the set we have in the kitchen. I’ll have to remember to check next time I go to the gym).

(And yes I know Colin has a similar thing going on, and good luck to all of them, but I’ve never played too well with others. Gets a bit demoralizing when you slip off the wagon as I am sure I will do many times).

The little things

It’s the simplest things that can bugger up a girl’s attempts at healthy eating. Like brushing your teeth before settling down to enjoy a nice kiki and raspberry breakfast smoothie.

*sigh*

Today is going to be a very blonde day, I can feel it.

Cas’ perfect post-yoga breakfast smoothie

Back when I started this whole health kick, JB suggested in the comments that I should try smoothies for breakfast as a handy way of getting more fruit into my diet, and overcoming my inability to eat bananas, in one fell swoop.

Try it I did, and I’ve had smoothies for breakfast most days since! They’re great as you can drink them whilst sitting at the computer and not have to worry about getting crumbs in the keyboard. Even better, they are perfect for putting in a bottle and drinking on the train/bus on that long commute to work 🙂 I wouldn’t recommend making one the night before though – banana has a nasty habit of going all brown and icky, even in smoothie form, if left to its own devices for too long.

The following is my current favourite mix, great to have after your morning yoga session:

Cas’ Perfect Post-Yoga Breakfast Smoothie

You will need:

  • Two ripe bananas – in fact, over ripe or a bit bruised doesn’t matter here. It adds to the flavour.
  • A kiwi.
  • A good dollup of Greek yoghurt.

How to make it:

  • Chop up the fruit into small chunks (don’t forget to remove skins and labels) and place in a blender.
  • Add a good dollup of Greek yoghurt – how much depends on your taste and how runny/thick you want the smoothie to be. If you don’t use enough, you can always add more at the end.
  • Give it all a good whizz in the blender. If you don’t have a decent blender, I recommend that you get one – I got a hand blender like this one. It only cost £9.99 and does the job admirably, coping well with apples, which is something a lot of standard blenders find a bit hard.
  • Put it in a glass and drink it – that’s it.

You could also try:

  • Adding a clementine, or another kiwi, to the mix. You can put in any fruit that you have to hand, but I like the citrus mixes best. If you go for apples (and why not, they’re nice too), chop it up really small before you try to blend it. Whilst the firmer apples such as Pink Lady’s are great to munch on, on their own, I find they just don’t blend down enough to make a good smoothie – you end up having to half chew/half slurp the drink which isn’t great.
  • Plain yoghurt instead of Greek. I find the plain yoghurt lacks taste, but the grocery store doesn’t always have Greek yoghurt, so you make do with what you can get.
  • Oh, and when I said to make sure you removed the labels, I’m not joking. Especially with apples, where you blend the skin as well, it is VERY easy to forget there’s this little plastic label sticking to the side of your breakfast… No, don’t laugh, I’ve done this. Many times. Not tasty.

Anyone got any other mixes they want to share?
And don’t forget – only one day left to Name That Penguin!