Tag #vegetables

#Juneathon, update plus a lunch recipe…

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Ingredients for the stir fry…

The above means you are supposed to exercise every single day and blog, tweet of FB about it. Nowadays, however, most people just tweet or comment on FB rather than blog. Unfortunately, I haven’t managed to blog about my progress, until now, but have been doing the exercise which is my main aim.

Day 1 – 3 Gym
Day 4 – Sunday run – (Did 6 k along local roads and country lanes.)
Day 5 – Short walk
Day 6 – Gym
Day 7 – Gym
Day 8 – A long walk

Sunday run – (Did 6 k along local roads and country lanes.)

Also, I’ve written two posts about sleep and energy as I seem to be lacking on both counts at the moment.  These posts are out this weekend, so I hope you enjoy them.

Last weekend, I decided you use up the oldish veg and do a stir fry for lunch.  Here is the recipe…

Impromptu Veggie Stir Fry

Left over veg – I used cabbage and leeks

Onions

Chopped garlic

Mushrooms

Seasoning, including herbs

Smoked Mackerel

Hoisin sauce (about tablespoon)

Sesame oil

3 Eggs, beaten

Fry in sesame oil, the onions, garlic, mushrooms, seasoning and add the beaten eggs to form an omelette. Remove the omelette from the pan and cook the vegetables and add the sauce. When cooked, serve up with the chopped omelette and add the smoked mackerel. Lovely.

A great lunch, which was exceedingly tasty.

Veggie Stir Fry

Health and Fitness Update and Plan

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So I have to confess that I’ve put on a few pounds during the last few weeks. Concentrated on exercise but think I’ve become tired of dieting and staying at 1200 calories a day. Well, you would, wouldn’t you?

Recently, I’ve started to eat too many sweets, biscuits and so on but pleased to report that I found the experience quite bad, after months of being good. I felt exhausted and listless and to be honest, quite uncomfortable. The gym personal training session, this morning confirmed my fears and I’ve put over half a stone back on. However, recently I have stopped eating sweets and realise I need to eat more healthy stuff which will be easier now spring has finally appeared.

My plan is this:

Weigh daily

Record what I eat and drink daily

More vegetables and fruit

Healthier options

Exercise

Drink more water

I recently listened to a podcast about overeating and found the ideas interesting.

  • Affirmations in the evening (when it gets hard).
  • Tell yourself you WILL NOT OVER EAT, JUST FOR TODAY (worry about tomorrow.. the next day) Love this!
  • Just have one type of bad food, if you have to.  Studies show if you binge eat, you will buy a variety of foods (sweets, chocolate, ice cream). If you stick to one option, you won’t eat so much, which makes sense to me. *

 

* Source: Podcast – Primal Potential, Mastering Fat Loss, Strategies to stop binge eating (on Spotify)

 

 

Setting New Life Aims – Becoming Lighter (1)

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Discussing your happy life is so ubiquitous it becomes a bit pointless. What we really need to do, is analyse what we want to aim for, how, when and where in order to arrive at “the happy life”.

For this reason, I am starting this blog series with meeting aims. Most people may call them resolutions or goals and set them at the beginning of the year. By February, the majority have rescinded their resolutions and probably even forgotten them. However, if you call them aims, they become an ongoing process and enjoyed and improved upon.

Mark Manson wrote an article called The Most Important Question of Your Life. He asks how much pain do you want in your life? This pertains to the idea that you need to encounter negativity and experience a struggle. What you get out of life is not determined by good feelings and desire, but derived from bad feelings you are able to sustain. Therefore, if you are good at negative experiences then you are good at dealing with life. Are you good at dealing with negativity? No, like most of us, probably not.

We all are good imagining ourselves as skinny peeps, living in gloriously immaculate homes and eating copious amounts of fresh fruit and vegetables, but it isn’t that simple. Not in my world. Clearly how you define negativity, defines us.

If you want “the happy life” you have to determine what you really want. So listing goals can be helpful, but it is then better, in my humble opinion, to pick two and decide the route you are going to take. Therefore eliminate the goals and pursue two or three aims.

After you’ve narrowed down the ideas, start to break them down into a format that you are able to cope with. For example, last year I decided to start a blog. An arduous task because I was busy with lots of family stuff, etc. I broke it down and picked a blog site, chose a name, then started writing in the hope that somebody might read it! Still hoping, but there has been some good feedback and I enjoy it so what the hell! This year, am trying to write more intentionally and endeavour to make content my main aim.

To sum up…

– Brainstorm this year’s aims (family, job, travel, education, social life, hobbies, home)

– Pick the top two aims and focus

– Ask yourself if you are committed to the aim

– Break them down so they are not so daunting

Good luck and in a few day will post my pearls of wisdom about planning aims. Look forward to seeing you then.

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Dinner and #BoardCooking

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Sunday, 8 Jan – Well, after a socialable day yesterday, woke up feeling a bit flat today. Luckily, the family felt the same and suggested we go out for a posh sandwich and a wander around the old part of town nearby.

Must say after the usual problems of parking (now can’t park on the single yellow line), we rebelliously parked out of town and walked in thus saving paying to park on a Sunday. Not surprised people shop online. Not for me though.

Anyway, it was great to get out and about and chat with family and wander around the shops. Popped into a new pub/restaurant and had a quick drink too. Surprisingly, we’ve had a few new establishments arrive locally, which, as so many pubs are closing down, is encouraging.

This evening I decided to finish up yesterday’s leftovers. Bought some seabass so chopped up courgettes, mushrooms, onions and garlic. Also, added herbs, paprika, cream cheese and wine. Cooked the fish and removed the skin, then cooked the veggie mix, added cheese and wine and after a few minutes threw in the spaghetti.

Have to say, although it looks a mess, it was delicious and I’ve managed to get rid of a few leftovers. Called it board cooking because all the ingredients are prepared on a board and then tossed in a pan. Easy, quick and yummy.

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Proposed Healthy Month Plan – August

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After a family wedding and subsequent holiday, everything is now back to the old routine.

This means a serious plan to get back to a healthy diet and exercise plan.  The plan is to do a series of healthy months and call the idea Healthy Month (probably one in four months). Therefore, the first one will be Healthy Month – August.  Or #HealthyAugust.

The plan is:

Eat healthy meals with a focus on fresh vegetables and fruit.

Low alcohol consumption.

Exercise almost daily.

Blog, Facebook or tweet about progress.

My goal is to lose 2 lb a week which is quite a challenge for me.  It seems a good month to do the above, but I am aware there may be the odd outing when I will succumb to some booze or naughty food.  However, I plan to be strict.  Anybody want to comment on the idea? Feel free to comment below and/or join me!

Don’t forget to follow my blog.  Thanks.

Andyx

 

 

 

The next blog (part 2) tips for gaining a good relationship with food…

Food for thought…

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I am not a nutritionist, but like researching new diets and understanding how people eat. The problem is that we, as a modern community, like fatty food and sugar. But, our bodies do not. With copious amounts of healthy food (veggies/fruit) and exercise, it is fabulous to feel invigorated and happy.

However, it is very difficult to do this isn’t it? The answer is to almost cut out sugar and bad carbs such as white bread, red meat, chocolate (although partial to some dark chocolate) for most of the time.

What seems to work is to eat when hungry.  Devour lots of fresh vegetables, pulses, fish and chicken and the odd fillet steak and pint of beer for a treat.  Stop eating when nearly full and only eat when hungry.  Tricky with a family, but focus on the outcome and try the best you can.

Some people think eating a healthy diet is synonymous with being boring.  This is ostensibly a blocking method and not facing reality.  The food you eat does not have to be tasteless, in fact, far from it.  What can be tasteless is the same tedious meat and chips dinner, week after week.  Look on YouTube for inspiration and cook away.

This week’s lunches are pasta with chicken, vegetables or a boiled egg.  All packed up again.  This really stops the hunger and helps with the afternoon munches.  My other piece of wisdom is this.  Don’t follow recipes just go with the flow.  Do some research for creativity and vision, then go for it!

Chicken/Egg Pasta Lunch

Pasta, olive oil, ground pepper, herbs, lemon juice with veggies (onions, broccoli, mushrooms, spinach, pepper)

 

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The Veggie Experiment

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Food is a passion and I enjoy cooking.  In fact, I cannot grasp the latest concept of “cooking from scratch” because, to me, there is no other way.  You are either cooking or not.  Warming up does not count.

There are minimalists who are on a vegetarian or plant based diet.  This is not for me.  However, I have become interested in the subject and explored the possibilities of eating meat free meals.  Weight is a battle for a lot of people and it is best to eat less bread, pasta, red meat and the worst culprit, sugar.  But most people don’t want to cut them out completely do they?

Eating an abundance of vegetables, lentils, chickpeas, couscous may be the answer, but it is harder to make them interesting.  Because of this, I came up with the idea of preparing packed up food for lunches for the following three reasons.

  • Health
  • Variety
  • Fulfilment (Cooking process and satiety)

Is is not about eating copious amounts of processed food and then regretting it and feeling like a blob or starving yourself.  It is about eating well.  Aim to have tasty recipes and enticing food by spending time on the food creation.  Buy locally sourced cabbage, sprouts, spinach, tomatoes, onions, apples and so on.  They will be far fresher, tastier and maybe cheaper.

Being a minimalist is not about owning less, it is about owning what you need to enjoy life.  I cannot claim to only own a few things, but I am on the journey.  What is fascinating, is the whole ideology of enjoying experiences and so have spent a few weekends exploring and experimenting with food prep for work lunches.

Here are some of the ones that I have enjoyed.  A few ingredients, prepared simply so that I can eat mindfully and feel satisfied.

Lentil Salad

Lentils, onion, pepper, lemon juice, olive oil, carrots, orange oil (by scrapping orange with fork), orange segments and mix.
Chickpea Winter Stew

Chickpeas, onion, passata, broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, pine nuts, herbs, ground pepper.  Serve with couscous.

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Bean Salad

Kidney and mixed beans, passata, spinach, herbs, chilli, red pepper.  Serve with rice.

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They were packed up and frozen for the week’s lunches and enjoyed by all!

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