My self-imposed ‘Junk Free Jaime’ for the month of November was broken yesterday 😦 I had hot chips! Why? Because they came with my meal!! Not a viable excuse.
I am confessing and moving on but am a little disappointed that I even ate them. I didn’t need to eat them but I did.
My week has been nothing out of the ordinary, just plodding along.
We decided to go along to our gym christmas party and it was a pretty good night, disappointing was the food though. I know you can’t expect much for $5 – beer, wine and soft drink was provided for the first hour but the food was party pies, sausage rolls, deep-fried goodness! We had made the decision to get a couple of pizza’s between 3 of us. I ordered the vego and hubby ordered the non-vego (which had not a shred of green on it). I was glad we did because I was not impressed by the food that ended up on offer.
Boot camp was cancelled this week so we decided to go for a walk in a local forest. They have dual access trails (mountain bike, walkers and horse riders) and if it wasn’t for the slightly flat tyre on our pram we may have done a little more than the 3km. There are 5-6km and even a 9.7km trail that can be done. Hubby and I might leave the kids with the grandparents one day and attempt the bigger one.
I decided on Monday that there were a few things creeping back into my diet that I don’t like. Hot chips, lollies, chocolate and far too much rice and bread https://acontractforlife.wordpress.com/2013/11/11/junk-free-jaime/. I have been doing really well and will keep up the good work. My willpower has definitely been tested in the last few days.
My current motto: Strong is the new Skinny.
Weekly Stats:
Over the last few weeks I have had a few recipes either shared with me or I have found them online so I have decided to share them with you.
They are either Paleo or clean eating recipes and of course they are super super yummy.
The first one is Vegan Chocolate Mousse and instead of using it as a dessert out of a bowl,
I decided to use it as icing on strawberry cupcakes and boy was it great.
Even my 2 year old thought it was fabulous.
Check out the recipe http://vegan-magic.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/chocolate-mousse-no-added-sugar.html?m=1
The second is chocolate dairy free ice cream, this stuff is seriously yummy and there are plenty of different ingredients that you could use to mix it up.
Ingredients
450 g full fat coconut milk…
2 tbsp raw honey
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 tbsp cacao powder
Directions
Combine ingredients in a large bowl. Make sure you use full-fat coconut milk. If you use light coconut milk or watered down.
Mix with a hand blender, hand mixer or blender/food processor.
Add cacao powder, then once everything is thoroughly mixed, place the mixture in a jar and keep it in the fridge overnight for a mousse like treat or in the freezer, be sure to leave the freezer mixture in room temperature for 10 min before eating.
Thirdly, yesterday I made Pumpkin Bread from a recipe that I sourced from the December issue of Woman’s Fitness Magazine.
It’s seriously nice and although it’s around 130 calories a serve it’s really healthy. My very fussy almost 4 year old came back for seconds of this one.
450 grams (3 cups) grated raw pumpkin
4 whole eggs
1/2 tsp sea salt
pinch nutmeg ( i used about a tsp)
honey to taste (i used about 3 tbsp)
1/4 cup (60 ml) olive, macadamia nut or cold-pressed coconut oil
350 grams (3.5 cups) almond meal
2 tsp gluten-free baking powder
handful of pumpkin seeds for decoration (which I didn’t use)
I served my pumpkin bread with a small amount of home-made marmalade rather than butter and it was delic!!
Jaime xx
I have done a bit of research about new years resolutions and what I discovered was horrifying. Wikipedia tells me that:
A 2007 study by Richard Wiseman from the University of Bristol involving 3,000 people showed that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail,[8] despite the fact that 52% of the study’s participants were confident of success at the beginning. Men achieved their goal 22% more often when they engaged in goal setting, (a system where small measurable goals are being set; such as, a pound a week, instead of saying “lose weight”), while women succeeded 10% more when they made their goals public and got support from their friends.[9]
Quoting Frank Ra (author of the new year’s resolution book “A course in happiness” [10]): “Resolutions are more sustainable when shared, both in terms of with whom you share the benefits of your resolution, and with whom you share the path of maintaining your resolution. Peer-support makes a difference in success rate with new year’s resolutions”.
Talking about sharing goals, that’s a tough one. My feelings on it are mixed. On the 17th October 2012 I thought it important to share my goals with my husband and my good friend Nic but anyone else would have to wait. In time I shared my goals with our family and a few more work colleagues. To a lot of my colleagues it was obvious, I would post my weight loss on a spreadsheet at my desk every week, if they were paying enough attention they would notice. Our family knew by our new-found focus on the gym and healthier eating options that we were doing something different.
Was I afraid of failing, yes i was!!
It took me a long time to share my journey on a blog and it also took me a good 12 months to share my photos on my social media page. I was careful not to post a lot of photos online during my journey as I felt an internal need to keep going as long as I could without the judgement of others.
I did a bit of research into resolutions and habits.
How about we choose a resolution and think about a habit that sits behind that resolution that we have the ability to change
A resolution for healthy eating may be to eat more fruit or to cut out soft drink and chocolate and a resolution for losing weight would be the habit of walking once a day or enrolling in a gym class once a week.
They say that you will have a 50% better chance of succeeding if you try to change habits – it’s also really important to set yourself one resolution, something that you can really sink your teeth into, making sure you give yourself the best chance of achieving that goal. For me it was about setting smaller goals, take my big goal “lose 30 kg” and break it down into 5 kg chunks. Write yourself a list of the ways you can achieve those chunks. For me it was keeping within my calories for the week, making sure I did 2-3 walks and 1 gym class and in the last few months it was a particular type of training for an event. In addition to that I always had a reward waiting for me at each milestone, a massage, a pedicure or even a $50 shopping voucher (small but in my view very essential).
Why did it work for me. I wrote myself a contract, I made myself accountable, I was only ever failing myself If I didn’t achieve those milestones. What did I do if I was a week late to a milestone, I just kept keeping on!
I never gave up because I had a broader picture of things, I had changed my mindset. I made sure that I could be flexible with my goals and be ok with that.
Share your story, never be afraid of others comments. If people get you down or are not encouraging, you are probably keeping the wrong company (harsh? Yes a little but necessary). I think a good or even better, a great support network is essential in keeping you accountable and honest. Give others the permission to call you on your behaviour (something I have learnt from my work). If you say you are not going to eat chocolate and a friend catches you out eating chocolate then know that you are doing the wrong thing and fix it!
So think about it, do you have to wait until the 1st of January to make a change that you have been wanting to make for a while?
If you have the determination and are prepared you will have the motivation to get where you want to be.
Jaime xx
So, there are a few things that have been creeping into my tracker again that I don’t like and its time to do something about it.
The wine………….I dont need the wine, yes its nice to unwind with a tall slim glass of slightly yellow liquid however maybe I should swap that out for sparkling mineral water and fresh lime.
Hot chips………I dont need the chips to go with the steak and salad for a pub lunch, I will make sure to say “no chips” when ordering and not be tempted to have a few (read the lot or all)
Lollies……They are in my desk drawer for bribes, yes i know, its sad but a lolly goes a long way in getting something done by a colleague and sometimes I just offer them around to be nice 🙂
Chocolate……Stick to the Well, Naturally stuff in the freezer Jaime, there is no need to be eating M&M’s, stop buying them
Bread & Rice………Its not junk but I have been eating a bit too much of it lately, there are plenty of alternatives.
Making sure that a fruit or vege is contained in all of my meals, so far today I’m doing pretty well……pumpkin in my banana smoothie, cucumber & celery mix for morning tea and lettuce on my sandwich with a piece of fruit for lunch. My afternoon tea consists of dry slaw with tomatoes and dinner is Tofu & Salmon with spring onion, chilli & tomato.
I am going to make November Junk Free Jaime and hope it kicks me back into eating really well all of the time and not just really well most of the time.
Jaime xx
A friend of mine has asked me to blog on meal planning and more specifically what we have for dinners. I can honestly tell you that its nothing special and sometimes very simple and I’m more than happy to share with you.
I use a meal planning and shopping app which is available for iPad & iPhone http://www.menu-planner.com/ and have been meal planning (dinners only) for more than a year now. We find it really essential in eating well. What we have found on the odd week that we haven’t meal planned is that we feel unorganised and end up eating badly and feel much better when we get back into routine, after all we all like some sort of routine in life.
At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter how you meal plan, it may be a scrap of paper that you pop up on your fridge or an excel spreadsheet that you careful plan with.
I will list a handful of our essentials, hubby and I are creatures of habit and don’t deviate from our favourites very often. Something else to remember is that once a week we have takeaway, these days it’s a healthier version of what it used to be and I will also share those options below:
Salt & Pepper Tofu w Salmon
This one is really easy, we buy 200 grams of pre-packaged smoked salmon and a 300 gram pack of Non-GMO Silken Tofu http://www.morinu.com/tips/tofutips_nongmo.aspx.
I cut the tofu into cubes and dust in a mix of rice flour, cayenne pepper and sea salt.
There are 2 options for the tofu, you can pan fry with coconut oil (or whatever you have on hand) or you can bake in the oven with a spray of coconut oil.
I serve this with chopped spring onion and red chilli and a side of fresh chopped fresh tomatoes/cherry tomatoes.
Roast Chicken
I buy a whole chicken from Aldi most weeks, it’s a great mid-week dinner.
I spray the chicken with a small amount of coconut oil and sprinkle with rice flour. I then bake in the oven at 170-180 degrees until cooked. I buy a 1-1.5kg bird and it generally takes approx. an hour in the oven.
Cut veges (Sweet Potato, Pumpkin, Carrots & sometimes Cherry Tomatoes) are then bake for approx 45 mins with a sprinkle of coconut oil.
I serve with gravy.
Spaghetti Bolognese (Low calorie version)
Make your pasta sauce however you like.
We typically use either pork or chicken mince these days, browned with onion, garlic, carrot & maybe zucchini depending on my mood.
I add in canned tomatoes and a pinch of stevia, salt & pepper.
The reason why this dish is low-calorie is because I use Slendier Slim Pasta http://slendierslim.com.au/products/pasta.html which is a fabulous low-fat version with 125 grams generally being under 15 cals which means we can have a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
I have tried to freeze and defrost slim pasta and it doesn’t work well so best to have fresh
Omelette
Generally Friday is a day we have an easy dinner.
A few eggs whisked and cooked in the pan. There are several toppings we use for this one.
Leftover chicken and a bit of cheese
Smoked salmon, capers & a couple of small pieces of Bocconcini
A small potato chopped and cooked before hand makes a wonderful topping.
Pork Chops w Cheats roast veg
This one is simple.
Pan fry your pork steaks or chops in a pan with a little coconut oil
Chop veg (for us that’s pretty much the same as the roast chicken meal (sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot) and steam in the microwave) we have a sensor cooker and it takes about 7 mins
We then finish these in the pan whilst the meat is resting.
Serve with your favourite sauce or gravy
Another variation to this meal is to serve with fresh dry slaw and tomatoes
Vegetarian Burgers
Toast your favourite rolls
I buy the pre-made vegetarian patties from the supermarket but if you can make your own the better you can tailor them to your taste
Beetroot relish (instead of butter), avocado, lettuce, tomato etc
Add whatever you like on a burger but try to keep it healthy
and NO you don’t need chips with a burger. If you like chips then think about making your own sweet potato ones and baking them in a little coconut oil
Wraps or Taco’s
We always have wraps in our cupboard and something we love to put in wraps is chicken or pork mince. We also use beef or chicken strips from time to time.
Add your favourite vegetables remembering that roasted or steamed pumpkin or sweet potato is a great addition.
One of our favourites is beef wraps with mushrooms and pumpkin.
Add your favourite sauces to taste.
Fish & Chips
Wow, we do things differently these days. I can’t think of anything worse than a grease stricken piece of battered fish.
We buy either fresh or frozen fish, lightly coat in rice flour and pan fry. Sometimes adding a cut up squid tube and always with home-made sweet potato chips, tartare & sweet chilli sauces. Yum yum!
Marinated Chicken & Salad
I used to buy a portuguese chicken coating from the supermarket before I realised how many ingredients were in the pack so now we make our own coating.
We chop some spring onion, garlic & chilli and marinate the chicken for 30mins – 24 hours depending on our time.
Once cooked we pop it on our favourite salad greens (lettuce, tomato, capsicum, cucumber, coleslaw) and top with a little balsamic glaze
Homemade Pizza
I make the pizza dough following the instructions on the box of http://www.lighthousebaking.com.au/category/products/bread-pizza/
Our pizzas are also a lot different these days. We don’t have a lot of cheese, we still have meat but the non fatty variety. It’s not a salami filled pizza but more so lean chicken and a bit of bacon, add some capers, cherry tomatoes, Bocconcini, sun-dried tomato or capsicum and bake in the oven. Delic!!
Takeaway options
So as I mentioned above, like a lot of things in our diet so has changed out takeaway options.
I don’t think we would ever step foot in a KFC store again, yes, sometimes we will stop at McDonald’s but will always go for the healthier options of wraps without mayo and or cheese and will not have the chips with a meal, always getting water over a soft drink. Hungry Jacks seems to be on the worser side of calories so we will steer clear as well.
Our healthier options these days will consist of a steak sandwich or burger from a local takeaway shop, a Thai option or maybe a healthier curry with only a little bit of rice. We steer clear of the butter chickens and will go for a tomato based curry over those made with coconut milk. Generally on takeaway nights I will have a much healthier lower calorie lunch to compensate for a slightly higher calorie nightly meal.
The KFC option would consume my total daily calories in an entire meal where as the steak sandwich or Thai beef salad are a much better lower calorie option.
Share some of your favourite meal options in the comments below, we are always looking for new favourites
Jaime xx
As mentioned earlier in the week https://acontractforlife.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/cool-night-classic-5km-run/ I participated in the Cool Night Classic which I was happy to have finished with what I thought was a pretty good time.
There needs to be some thought process around what I train for next – do I need something? Yes I do, I need something to keep me striving forward. I need an exercise goal.
There are a lot of activities in and around Brisbane at the moment that I am looking into, one that has caught my eye is ‘The Holt Bolt’, similarly to The Stampede however not a lot of mud, it is a 6-8 km obstacle course which you can do up to 6 times a year with the idea to better your time with every ‘bolt’. Sounds like something that could be worth doing.
I didn’t do much exercise over the weekend apart from Boot Camp which to be honest was more than enough. This week we were split into 2 groups of 4 and each group flipped a truck tyre up the driveway to the conservation park, we assumed we would stop at the top of the car park but our trainer had a better idea (well in his head). We had to flip the tyre up the ‘stairs of death’ then down the concrete path that leads you back to the car park. It was a hard slog and almost 40 mins and 1.25km later we arrived back at the car park, suitable tired, thirsty and very dirty. What a work out that was!
I was lucky enough to take the tyre home for the week (not that I have done anything with it, unless you count my boys washing it). I may get some time to use it on Saturday before taking it back to Boot camp on Sunday.
I do wonder what this weeks session will bring…….
Fast forward to Tuesday, the race that stops the nation – Melbourne Cup. We always have a lunch at work and this year, like others, I was the one organising. It’s hard work to collect money and cater for almost 50 people but I had a completely different mindset this year in regard to food, I was going to do my best to make it as healthy as I could however on a cheapish budget. We ended up with chickens, ham, homemade coleslaw, rolls, fruit and some other naughty bits and pieces but everyone was pretty happy with the result which I was relieved about. What I did find hard was buying the things that I don’t purchase anymore. The pre-packaged potato and pasta salads were definitely something I wasnt happy about, technically I could have made these myself which would have been much cheaper and healthier but I didn’t have the time. The hardest part was the soft drink, I actually had to select off the shelf and purchase 9 bottles of that stuff and I was quite disgusted when I looked in to the trolley and realised that half of the trolley was filled with what ended up costing me $6.57. The 9 bottles of soft drink cost less than 3 packs of coleslaw 😦 I was appalled! Sugary carbonated preservative filled bottles of colour only cost $0.73c each however I couldn’t even buy a punnet of tomatoes for less than $1.25. There is nothing right about this situation. It’s outragous that good food is so expensive!!
I had my measurements taken at the gym on Tuesday night for the first time. I have been taking them myself when I feel like it (no more than 6 times in 12 months) and havent been doing a very good job. One of my goals is to better these measurements over the coming months.
My current motto: Strong is the new Skinny.
Weekly Stats:
For 19 years Brisbane’s corporates have been hitting the pavement to raise money for Brisbane charities, with more than $670 000 being raised over the event’s history. This year the charity partners are Special Olympics Australia and The Salvation Army’s Streetlevel Mission. I entered the competition with a work team from St. Andrews War Memorial Hospital. You can walk 3km or run 5km.
As a bit of history, I have done the ‘Couch to 5km’ training program a few times now. The year before I was pregnant with my eldest son (2008) I trained and ran the 5km Brisbane Bridge to Brisbane in just under 42 mins.I was extremely excited as I crossed the finish line that I had achieved my goal of completing 5km. Unfortunately I remember walking a fair bit of it because I just couldn’t manage to run the entire race. I also realised that my husband and mother in law finished in under 49 mins and they walked it! A few months later, we were married and I was pregnant with our fist child, training became something “I used to do”.
This time around I used the C25K program as a guide and just wanted to run as far as I could and better that running time every week. 12 months ago I remember running on the treadmill at the gym, looking into the mirrors which thankfully were to the side and thinking how big I looked, I couldn’t imagine being smaller let alone 3 or more dress sizes smaller. I used to train in a baggy t-shirt and was very conscious about what others thought of me.
Every Tuesday when I would go to the gym there was a guy there who was already running, he used to get on the treadmill, smash out exactly 5km and would do it around 21-22mins. He like me was trying to better himself with every run he did. I remember thinking “i could never run like that”. I could never go to the gym and run 5km, get off the treadmill and go home, that was to me, IMPOSSIBLE.
Switch ahead to Tuesday this week, I was 2.5km into a 4km run on the treadmill and all those thoughts came back to me however it was – I CAN run without much thought, I CAN just smash out 4-5km on the treadmill. I AM closer to being that person that I NEVER thought I could possibly be.
I woke yesterday feeling pretty flat and unusually for me I had to take Panadol for a headache which water would usually cure and I wasnt firing on all 8 cylinders, maybe only 4 or 6 at a push. I told my husband on the way up to the race that I wasnt really looking forward to it however when we arrived he atmosphere was pretty good and after a trip to the photo booth caravan and a few silly photos I was feeling pretty good. With over 4400 people you can imagine the start line was a little crazy, it took us a few minutes to pass over it and we were off. I had told hubby that I would be running for a time so would probably not stick with him. My pace started off fantastic with the first km in less than 6mins, the race went really fast and before I knew it I was starting to pass team mates that had gone ahead of me at the start. ME, the girl who couldn’t have done this 12 months ago was passing others. I was absolutely amazed when a colleague came up beside me 100m from the finish line and encouraged me on, my colleague is a seasoned runner and although he wasnt running for time I was so very happy with myself. I crossed the finish line with a time of 32:05mins. What made me even happier was hearing the announcer call me husbands name just over a minute after I crossed the finish line. For someone who has not run 5km in probably almost 20 years and done minimal training I was super impressed and very proud of him.
Good effort all round and cannot wait for the next event………..just to figure out what that will be.
Jaime xx.
I have worked my arse off for the last part of this week because I had to.
Wednesday to Friday last week was a write off due to being unwell but I made sure I dragged myself up at 6am on a Sunday morning to smash it out at Boot camp with my PT. Boot camp is held at a local conservation park that has a paved walking track and a set of stairs named the ‘Stairs of Death’. The first trip up was pretty good, a fast walk up and a run down but the second trip was a killer with a heart rate of 180bpm. My heart rate stayed between 160 & 180 for the entire hour long session with an average of 167. I had my biggest calorie burn ever in a 1 hour period of 740cals. I was pretty stoked with the result and felt fabulous for the rest of the day.
Some pretty exciting news in our house is that we have just got a chicken coop and 3 lovely ladies (Henny, Penny & Lenny). Hubby and I decided that there wasnt really anything we wanted for our birthdays (2 weeks apart) so we bought some chickens instead! We have had them just over a week and the boys are loving going out to say hello, feeding them the scraps and changing their straw and just this morning we got our very first egg. We were so very excited (and so were the boys lol).
We have also expanded our vege patch for some more home-grown goodness, 2 gardens beds have turned into 5 which we have partly filled with soil and will plant in the coming weeks.
I had a PT session on Monday which was great but as I mentioned in an earlier post, https://acontractforlife.wordpress.com/2013/10/29/lesson-learnt/ I got in a wee bit of trouble for not eating before training. After losing almost 30kg by myself with little or no help from any professionals I still need some guidance about the rights and wrongs in regards to food and training. I will get there.
On that note, I have been attending PT sessions for 6 weeks now. I have kick started my weight loss again, losing 2.2kg in the last 6 weeks and I am fairly positive I am leaner. In that time, I have upped my daily calorie intake, changed my eating habits and have been doing a lot of different exercises. I don’t think I could have flipped a truck tyre 100 times 6 weeks ago.
I am also in training (so to speak) for the Cool Night Classic in Brisbane on Thursday night. I haven’t done a lot of running of late although I know I can do it without a problem I would like to get a good time. My original goal was to do it within 30 mins however I think under 33 mins is more likely. Time will tell. My 4km run on the treadmill last night had me doing it in 27:46 mins which means I should be able to do the 5km’s in under 35 mins. I will aim to beat this time.
My current motto: Strong is the new Skinny.
Weekly Stats:
Yesterday I got in trouble.
I attended my weekly PT session at the gym with my trainer. 2 mins in and he seemed to be a little cranky with me.
His question was “What’s in your water bottle”?
My answer “Lemon water”.
Another question “What else”?
My answer “Lemon water”.
That’s all I drink, what else would be in my water bottle…………right?
The interrogation began………when was the last time I ate, what did I eat?
The short version is that I didn’t have anything to eat before training!! I had a snack at 2:30 which consisted of 150 calories of dry slaw and some dressing and a small biscuit. I also had a slice of the boys ham at around 5.
It was obvious to my trainer and closer to the end of my session very obvious to me that I needed to eat something more substantial in the hour before going to training.
In addition to that I went for a 3km run before our session. Over the course of the day I hadn’t consumed nearly enough calories to train to my full potential and by the time I got home I felt dreadful.
I was a little light-headed and my body was telling me to rest.
Message received, no more lectures required 🙂 Eye eye captains birds eye. I will do as I’m told and eat before I train from now on 🙂
Jaime
A contract for life 