A little porkie!

I had a thought this morning whilst driving to swimming, you wouldn't fill your car's petrol tank with rubbish and still expect it to work for you would you, yet that is what we do with out stomach's, and then we moan and wonder why our bodies don't behave as we expect them to!

Keep filling it with crap, and pretty soon it is going to give up on you, feed it with goodness and you will reap the benefits.

Pretty simple really isn't it!

~BREAKFAST~

 

Was up early this morning for a bank holiday to go for a swim, so just made myself up a big version of the Little Pot of Loveliness, porridge oats, mixed seeds, fresh raspberries and mango and a fat free peach and passion fruit yogurt, all mixed up, delicious!

 

 

~LUNCH~

 

We popped over to see my youngest niece this afternoon as it is her 13th birthday this week, and we took her a box of cupcakes as a treat ........ well, would have been rude to say no to one!!!

Seriously though, I had a banging headache so really didn't fancy anything else to eat for lunch today.

~DINNER~

 

Ooooo today's dinner was good, one of my absolute favourites.  I absolutely love pork and fennel together, it goes amazingly well.  And my pork, apple and fennel burgers are totally to die for, even if I do say so myself.

Using a lean pork mince, I simply add a couple of teaspoons of apple sauce from a jar and a teaspoon of fennel seeds and mix it all together.  I then form into burgers and place in the fridge to chill and firm up for an hour or so.

I then cook on a hot griddle, no oil, for about 8 minutes or so each side until cooked through.  Today, as this was our only main meal, I served them in wholemeal seeded rolls spread with more apple sauce and dijon mustard spread on them, and a salad of spinach leaves, tomatoes, beetroot, cucumber and avocado with a dressing of rapeseed oil, dijon and wholegrain mustard, cider vinegar and honey.

Normally I serve them without the rolls, and no-doubt the anti-bread brigade will shoot me down for having two rolls, but as I said, it was our only main meal today, we were hungry, they did the job!

Pork often gets a bad reputation as a fatty meat, but when you take away the crackling (yes I know its the best part but hey!) and outer fat, you are left with a very lean meat which as well as containing plenty of essential vitamins, such as thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6, riboflavin and vitamin B12, it also packed with high levels of minerals such as phosphorus, potassium, selenium and zinc.  As well as that, because pork requires your body to work really hard to digest it, lean pork allows greater fat burning.  How good is that, eating it helps you burn fat!!!

 

~EXERCISE~

  

Despite it being a bank holiday Monday, I was determined not to let this interfere with my fitness regime, so as already said, was up early to go for a swim. Unfortunately though it seems everybody else had the same idea!!  I thought it would be empty... it was packed.  And mainly packed with erm ... the retired generation!!  Now we all know how frustrating they can be on the roads ... imagine what it is like with them in the pool!

I managed 20 lengths dodging in and out of them and avoiding slamming into them when they just suddenly stopped for a gossip mid length, and was ready to give up when luckily one of the 'roped off' lanes for 'serious swimmers' became free, so I nipped in there and did another 40.

I'm not begrudging them being in there, I think it is brilliant and totally admire them for keeping up their fitness however they can, plus it is also a social thing for them, but it is a tad frustrating when you are trying to swim, in what is meant to be a fitness pool, and it becomes more like a social club for the oap's ;)  Luckily it seems most of them use it in the mornings, there are a few when I go in the afternoon, but not many.

  

I found it harder doing it in the morning too, I usually go in the afternoon and I guess all my muscles have warmed up by then, this morning was hard work and the first 10 lengths or so were like wading through mud, but I still enjoyed it.

 

I do the breaststroke, but I hate having my head in the water, have never learnt to breathe properly under water and it panics me.  So I do the breaststroke but with my head, well nose, above the water.  But looking around, so do most people in there!  It is my mission however to try and overcome this and practise my breathing, I can then move on with the front crawl.

 



Well back to work tomorrow, so I now have a pile of ironing to tackle, oh I know how to live.

Ooooo, before I go.  I have mentioned my friend Jen Mayes before, she really is one of my main inspirations for my new found healthy lifestyle, a lovely, amazing woman.  Anyway, she has now qualified and set herself up as a Personal Trainer and is based in Braintree, Essex.

So, anybody in the Braintree / Chelmsford / Witham and surrounding areas who is looking for a good, decent Personal Trainer, who totally understands the struggles of trying to get yourself into shape, please check out her website. Amazing Fitness .  Believe me, she has been there, her own fitness journey is truly inspirational. 

Thanks again for reading
Jo
xx