Dem bones dem bones......

There was no blog yesterday ... I actually took a day off, a rest day.

I had every intention of doing a double day, 2 hours gym followed by 1 hour swimming, but by the time it came to going I was so so tired, my whole body felt limp and pathetic and I knew I just needed some rest.  Although the weekend was coming up with no gym, it would still be a busy one, and my body was crying out for some complete rest and recovery.

So instead, I went home, and I got into bed, and I slept... all afternoon.  It was so needed.  I had made the stupid mistake of thinking I HAD to exercise everyday, regardless, I HAD to push myself to get the results I wanted and if I dared to miss a day, I was really letting myself and my body down. 

Infact, it's the complete opposite.  By continuing to keep pushing your body to the max you are causing yourself more harm and pushing yourself further away from getting the results you want.  Last week I felt fantastic, totally buzzing and alive and vibrant.  This week I struggled, I really struggled, every day, and my body didn't want to play game, but I still kept pushing it, ignoring all the signs it was throwing me, thinking I knew best.  If I hadn't of finally listened yesterday, I could have done myself some real damage.

Rest is important to allow your muscles to repair, rebuild and strengthen properly.  Building recovery time into any training program is important because this is the time that the body adapts to the stress of exercise and the real training effect takes place. Recovery also allows the body to replenish energy stores and repair damaged tissues. Exercise or any other physical work causes changes in the body such as muscle tissue breakdown and the depletion of energy stores (muscle glycogen) as well as fluid loss.  By ignoring these needs, the result is the body continues to breakdown from intensive exercise, resulting  in feelings of general malaise, staleness, depression, decreased sports performance and increased risk of injury, among others.

You can read more about this by visiting my friend, Jen Mayes, blog, Rest and be Thankful. 

I now realise that I am not letting myself down by foregoing a day of exercise in favour of rest every now and then, I am actually helping myself, and my body, to perform better, and it needs to become part of my training program from now on.

I also took a day off from Healthy Eating yesterday, well, not as such.  I still started the day off on two slices of Nimble Wholemeal topped with peanut butter and banana, and then had a pot of my little pot of loveliness mid morning.  I skipped lunch as I literally went home and slept.  For dinner as I was still so tired, we ordered an indian take-out in, and do you know what, I loved every mouthful.  I still kept my choices relatively healthy, I chose a chicken tikka shaslik, which is marinated chicken flame grilled with big chunks of pepper, onion and tomatoes, no thick gloopy sauce.  I also had a sag bhaji, which is spinach and onion, although probably has a lot of ghee in it I should imagine, and chick pea bhaji, basically chick peas cooked with different spices, in quite a dry sauce.  It was so delicious.  I have never been a big one for the thick sauces anyway, I prefer to taste the spices and other flavours rather than have them all drowned out in a gloopy sauce.  I also had a cheeky glass of a lovely crisp chablis, and it was good!

So today I am back on it like a car bonnet, we had planned to go for a long walk today but we ended up spending the day over my parents house, which was lovely.  I adore my parents, they are both getting on now, in their mid 70's, and suffering with their health and it breaks my heart to see it.  My Mum is suffering with very painful knees and waiting to see if she needs to have a knee replacement or keyhole surgery to repair them, she is in constant pain.  She never complains about feeling ill, so we know when she does she is really in pain and suffering.

This is another reason that spurs me on with my resistance training, as it is meant to be very beneficial in maintaining bone mineral density.  Bone will form in response to stress, so when muscles pull on the bones during weight lifting, they stimulate the bone to increase its density.

Also, by strengthening your quadriceps, the large muscles at the front of your thigh, helps prevent or indeed slow the progression of arthritis of the knee, as they support the muscles, ligaments and tendons that support the bones and cartilage of the knee.

~BREAKFAST~

 

So today was started with a couple of slices of Nimble wholemeal topped with reduced sugar and salt baked beans (with loads of vinegar and white pepper) and two dry fried eggs.  A good dose of fibre, protein, iron and calcium, and low GI carbs.

~LUNCH~

 

My lovely parents took Matt and I out for lunch today to a little local pub, although I hate to eat a heavy meal midday, so I chose a chicken, mango and avocado wholemeal sandwich, which was absolutely beautiful.  It was literally sliced breast of smoked chicken, layered with slices of fresh mango and fresh avocado, tasted amazing.  This came with a handful of ready salted crisps and a little mixed salad, and I ate the lot, along with a couple of Matt's chips and a forkful of my Dad's pie and cheesy mash ... well you have to try it all!  And a cheeky half of Doombar, a fabulous Cornish ale which is Matt and mine's favourite.

 

 

~DINNER~

 

Tonight is my tasty Quorn and bean pie, a version of the classic cottage pie.  First of all I stab a few baking potatoes and a couple of sweet potatoes and put them in the oven to bake for a good hour or so. 

I slice and dice up all the veg, (today I used onion, mushroom, pepper, courgette, carrot and leek) and soften them in a little rapeseed oil.  I then add the Quorn mince and stir it all together and let cook a few more minutes.  In a mixing jug I add a beef stock cube, a squidge of HP brown sauce, a squidge of tomato ketchup, a good slosh of worcestershire sauce, a large teaspoon of Marmite and some boiling water, mix it all together and add to the quorn mix, along with a tin of reduced salt and sugar baked beans, and let it all simmer away for a good 10-15 minutes to reduce the sauce down.  I sometimes add some chopped tomatoes, and although I had some to add today, I decided to leave them out as there was enough sauce.  I season with lots of white pepper and then spoon all this into a large ceramic dish.

When the potatoes are done I scoop out all the flesh and mash it up with a fork, by baking them like this there are no lumps and it gives a lovely buttery flavour to the mash.  I simply add a grating of nutmeg, mix again and then spoon it over the quorn mixture, levelling it out.  I then top this with some reduced fat grated cheese and pop in the preheated oven at about 180oc for about 35-40 minutes.

There is enough here to do us for tonight's dinner and tomorrow too.

 

 

Served with a good dollop of spicy brown sauce, yum!

So my body has now had two days complete rest and some good sleep, tomorrow we are definitely off on a good long walk and I can't wait, I feel ready for it again.

Thanks again for reading
Jo
xx