Swimming and Spice, and all things nice!

Aaaah, it's Wednesday, half way through the week! Time just flies when you're having fun!

Today is a swimming day which of course I am looking forward to. I really thought after yesterdays workout my body would be on strike today, but it actually feels good!! I feel very erm...... strong! Wednesday is the day I really push myself at swimming each week and aim for 100 lengths, so I need some good fuel inside me!

~BREAKFAST~

As I mentioned in yesterdays blog, the mix for the courgette & corn fritters made 6, so there were 2 left over and I had already marked them for my breakfast. (Matt is not a breakfast person, he can manage a bowl of cornflakes or a toasted hot cross bun and that is it ... unless its the weekend and he will have a cooked one.... we go out, I never cook it!).

So I reheated the fritters in the pan, and then topped with two dry fried eggs and a squidge of tomato sauce ........ yum!!! Again, with my half glass of protein shake.

~MID MORNING SNACK~

My mid morning snack didn't happen today as I had a visitor at work, but luckily my lovely filling breakfast and loads of water had seen me through.

~LUNCH~

Amazingly enough, quinoa didn't feature in my lunch today, I fancied a change.  I had some small wholemeal tortillas in the bread bin, a pot of prawns in the fridge, an avocado on the side and some spinach in the salad drawer.  So, a prawn, avocado and spinach wrap it was!

Spread half the avocado over the tortilla, (I wrapped the other half in foil and put in freezer, can use it another time to make the avocado and chocolate dessert ), laid some spinach on top, followed by some prawns, sprinkled with white pepper and a squidge of lemon and wrap it up!  Wrapped it in tin foil and put in the fridge at work. Delish!

I followed this with the Little Pot of Loveliness that I should have had mid morning.  Today I had added chia seeds and blueberries to the usual mix.

~AFTERNOON SNACK~

Today I did a huge swim, will tell you about it later, but was so exhausted afterwards and my muscles were achey.  So when I got home I decided to feed them some pure protein. So I had a couple of frying steaks, which I rubbed with a bbq spice mix and then did on the griddle pan.  I had these with some gherkin spears (love these) and a dollop of good old English mustard ... plus my protein shake .... did the job! YUM!

~DINNER~

My husband paid me a lovely compliment the other day, whether he meant to or not!  He told me he prefers my homemade curry's to an indian take-out!  I love indian take-out, so that's a huge compliment to me, bless him.

So tonight's dinner is my version of a Jalfrezi Chicken Curry, with onion and courgette (still got loads to use) bhajis!

 Chicken Jalfrezi (serves 2)

2 chicken breast, thickly sliced

1 red onion, quartered and split into 'leaves'

2 lumps frozen spinach (or handful of fresh)

1 400g tin chopped tomatoes

1 red and 1 yellow pepper, chopped into chunks

mushrooms, sliced (about 4 or 5)

2 garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp ground coriander

4 tsps hot curry powder

4 cardamom pods, crushed

So, first of all I spray the pan with frylight, then dry fry the spices.  I then add the chicken and ensure it is coated in the spices, then add the onions and  garlic to soften, followed by the spinach, peppers and mushrooms.  When all browned a bit or softened I add the tinned tomatoes, then leave to simmer slowly for about 20 minutes or so.

Onion & Courgette Bhaji's (makes 4)

2 red onions, finely sliced

1 courgette, grated and squeezed of most moisture

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp black onion seeds

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground coriander

2 tbsp gram flour (chickpea flour)

Add all ingredients to a bowl, add a couple of splashes of water and mix thoroughly to form a batter, not too wet.  Leave to stand for about 30 minutes or so, then divide into 4 large spoonfuls onto a baking try (I lined mine with silicon sheet).  Bake in oven about 180oc for approx 25-35 minutes, till golden brown and crispy.

~FLUIDS~

I haven't mentioned about drinks have I.  Well I always drink loads of water, always have done, it is honestly my most favourite drink out of everything.  I hate tea with a passion, and not bothered by coffee.  Sometimes I have one coffee in the morning and that's it, but not even done that lately.  I don't enjoy hot drinks really.

I sometimes add sugar free orange squash to my water, but it has to be very very weak, so that it just 'clouds' the water a little,  cannot stand it any stronger.  Very occasionally now I will have a caffeine free diet coke, but I prefer water.

I take a  big bottle of water with me whenever I workout, including swimming, which I always drink.  When swimming I keep the bottle at the end of my lane and stop every 10 lengths for a quick swig.  People think you can't dehydrate in water ... but you can!!

Although I hate tea, I quite like some fruit teas, and I quite often make a large glass full up then leave it in the fridge to go ice cold, its really refreshing.

And of course there is my protein shake I have everyday.  The one I use is called Maximuscle Lean Definition Promax Diet Chocolate .  It is 'an advanced high protein shake with proven weight loss nutrients'!!  Not sure about that, it has high whey protein for muscle definition, green tea and guarana to supposedly support weight loss by mobilising and burning fat and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) to support lean muscle and weight loss and is low GI.  Anyway, it is supposed to be ideal after exercise to aid muscle recovery or between meals as an alternative to snacking.  All I know is, I take a half glass in the morning, and a half glass in the afternoon, and it helps me feel full and stops me snacking on things I shouldn't!  I would never use it as a meal replacement, just as an energy booster and hopefully as an aid to my overworked muscles.

~EXERCISE~

As I have already said, today was a swimming day, and on Wednesday's I always plan to do between 80-100 lengths .  Well today I did 100, in 1 hr 15 minutes, a new record for me!!  The lady in the lane next to me was cheering me on at the end and told me I should develop my own move like Bolt or the MoBot, I said my arms were too tired to do anything just then!  I actually really enjoyed the swim, I always do but sometimes it is harder than others, sometimes it feels like wading through mud, other times you wonder where the energy has come from!  Today was a good day and I whipped through the water.  My left shoulder was hurting a bit to start after yesterdays intense gym workout, but that soon sorted itself out.  I mainly do breaststroke, and every now and then will do a couple of lengths on my back. Can't do front crawl, I don't find it comfortable for some reason, and I hate having my face under water too so am one of those who swims with their head up all the time .. but then I notice that actually most people in the pool do that!

There were some bloody obnoxious men in there today though.  It was really busy at one stage, luckily I had snagged the fast lane which two people can usually fit into, I was swimming close to the edge so that somebody else could join me.  This obnoxious great big man dived in and took to swimming up and down the centre of the lane, completely pushing me out the way and stopping me from swimming properly.  So he got a very sharp kick at one point and a glare and that seemed to sort him out!!!  Then this other man came in and sat at the end of the lane, put his goggles etc down and just sat there staring hard at me, as if to say 'get out, I want to get in and I obviosuly own the pool!!!!'.  Big mistake!!!  I was only at 70 lengths then, had another 30 to go, so he had a loooooooong wait!!  He soon gave up and went in another lane.  Always the bloody men, all splash, no action!

Anyway, off to read more of the book 'A woman's guide to muscle and strength ' now, will enlighten you on more from that tomorrow, you lucky things!!! ;)

Thanks again for reading!

Jo

xx