Resistance is definitely not futile!

Today was THE best workout ever at the gym today, totally totally loved it.  Today was resistance training, will tell you more later in the page.

Apologise for no blog yesterday, I chose an early night instead after a couple of nights of poor sleep.  I really do not function well without a good 7 hours a night, I am up at 5.30am during the week ... I need to be in bed and asleep by 10.30 latest, and I need uninterrupted sleep!  Not possible with a husband like mine who snores, grinds his teeth and last night developed some very weird high pitched whistle in his nostril as he breathed .... he is lucky he is still breathing as I briefly considered putting a pillow over his head!!!!  I adore him really, and I love knowing he is there beside me every night ... just wish he did it a little more quietly!

Normally when I am tired I become very lazy, but am so pleased that I found the energy yesterday to go for a swim, and did not find therapy or comfort in food.  It shows how much my life has changed in the last few months, I didn't even consider going 'off track'.  I love the healthy food I now eat, it really feels like it is nourishing me and I get all my comfort from that these days.

So, on with today!!

~BREAKFAST~

 

No picture needed for this today, was good old simple wholenut butter on wholemeal toast topped with banana .... love it!

 

~MID-MORNING SNACK~

 

Today was the loveliest, juiciest peach.  Peaches are a fruit I normally tend to overlook, for some reason the thought of eating them puts me off, I always make such a mess, and today was no exception, but I must eat them more ... it was delicious!

Fresh peaches are a great good source of  Vitamin C which has anti-oxidant effects and is required for connective tissue synthesis in the body.

Consumption of foods rich in VitC helps your body develop resistance against infections and help eradicate harmful free radicals.

 

~LUNCH~

 

Another salad today whilst the sun is still shining, today's was light feta, beetroot, mixed leaves and spinach, avocado, chia seeds and pumpkin seeds for a bit of crunch.

Usual dressing of rapeseed oil, apple cider vinegar, wholegrain and dijon mustard and a squidge of honey.

 

~AFTERNOON SNACK~

 

My body was 'zinging' after my work out today, and I wanted to keep that feeling going, so I couldn't wait to get home and give it some more 'zing' with a berry protein smoothie.  Love this so much.  Frozen raspberries, frozen yogurt, almond milk, fresh strawberries, cinnamon, coconut oil and chocolate protein powder.

I also had a little bowl of delicious wasabi peas ... these are too good, I have to make sure I don't go back for more and they become my new crisps, and two of my homemade seeded crackers topped with homemade hummus and a couple of sunblushed tomatoes.

Was like a big kiss of flavour :)

~DINNER~

 

My boss was talking about a baked risotto today, which sounded delicious, but the one he was talking about was made with butter, and cream and lobster bisque ... you get the idea!  But it got me thinking I could make something equally flavoursome but with less fat and more goodness!


I came up with Baked Chorizo and Vegetable Risotto.

In a pan on the hob I warmed a tablespoon of rapeseed oil (so much better than butter!!) and sauteed an onion (finely chopped).  I then chopped up 3 small cooking chorizo sausages and added to the pan to lightly brown and release the oils.  Then pushed the onions and chorizo to the side and wiped the pan of most of the oils, added 200g arborio rice and mixed with rest of the mixture, letting it coat in the flavours.  I then added a good glug of white wine and about 200ml of chicken stock and let it boil slightly.  I added some chopped up asparagus and a chopped pepper, followed by a carton of chopped tomatoes.  Give it all a good stir then bung in the oven, with a lid on the pan, for about 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, give it a quick stir and add some chopped fresh spinach, chopped basil, about 20g of grated fresh parmesan and 2 tablespoons of fat free fromage frais and stir again.

Serve with another quick grating of fresh parmesan and enjoy!!

 

And we did just that ... delicious!  (And there is enough left over for my lunch tomorrow, yayy!)

 

~EXERCISE~

 

As I said earlier, I LOVED today's workout, and it's all thanks to my friend Jen Mayes who is a personal trainer.  She posted a fantastic blog,Weight on my mind - Amazing Fitness,  about resistance training and it made me reconsider what I do and make some changes ... for the better.  I already do quite high weights, but felt I had to do as many reps and sets as I possibly could to get results ... this was just resulting in me feeling drained and exhausted.  I was doing reps of 15-20 and sets of 5-6, really over pushing myself.  After reading her blog, I kept to higher weights, but switched to reps of 12-15 and sets of 3-4 with a 60 second break in-between each set. I found I focused more on each rep and concentrated more on my breathing, and I could literally feel every muscle working and responding, such a brilliant feeling, I came out on a total high and my body is still buzzing.

 

I love resistance training!!!!

 

Thanks again for reading!

Jo

xx