Rome wasn't built in a day!!!

I am now 5 months into my journey, and I am loving the subtle changes that every day brings to my body, internally and externally.

They may not be obvious to others, but I can see them, and I can definitely feel them.

If I had of been on one of the zillion fad diets I used to follow, I would have visually seen a huge difference by now, and then I would have decided I had done enough, and stopped, and reverted back.

However, now I view things completely differently.  I KNOW, it will take time, I KNOW, it will take a lot of effort and hard work, but more than anything ... I KNOW, it will be worth it!!  I am in it for the long term baby ... and this is the best journey I have ever been on!!

The pciture on the left was taken about 3 years ago, at the start of another fad diet.  I hate this picture so much, I think I look like a 'Weeble'!!  I had never realised how big I was.  From this I went up and down over the last couple of years, never thankfully back to that size but close!  The picture on the right was taken about 3 months ago.  I still have a very very long way to go, 2 months after the start of my journey, but I am loving the difference already.  I will get a more updated one done this month.

~BREAKFAST~

 

Big tasty kiss of flavour for breakfast this morning, two slices of wholemeal toast topped with scrambled egg, made by using 1 egg and extra egg white, with chopped spinach mixed in and topped with poached salmon.

Lovely, tasty and filling.

~MID-MORNING SNACK~

 

Just a lovely, juicy, ripe, full of flavour nectarine this morning, I shouldn't say 'just', it was so much more than 'just'!!

~LUNCH~

 

A gorgeous lunch today, using light halloumi cheese.

I griddled it this morning just by slicing and placing on a hot griddle pan, whilst I was making my breakfast.

I then added it to a salad made of spinach, mixed leaves, beetroot, sliced pear, some dried apricots and some nuts and seeds, finished with my usual dressing of rapeseed oil, dijon and wholegrain mustard, apple cider vinegar and agave nectar.

This was so so tasty, even my colleague commented on how good it looked .. but I wouldn't let him taste it, it was all mine!!

~AFTERNOON SNACK~

 

I couldn't wait to get home and knock up one of my smoothies again today, they are so filling and so damn tasty!!  For today's it was frozen raspberries, frozen fat free yogurt, fresh strawberries, almond milk, cinnamon and  a scoop of chocolate protein powder.

 

I also had some oat cakes topped with reduced fat soft cheese and sundried tomato paste.

 

Completely re-energised me!  Complex carbs and protein, what could be better!!

 

 

~DINNER~

 

I am not a huge fan of roast lamb, I always find it so fatty and leaves my skin feeling like it is 'leaking fat' afterwards, however my husband loves it and every now and then I have to cater to his tastes!!

A couple of months ago I tried a recipe posted by the lovely Jo Wheatley who won last years Great British Bake-Off.  It is her version of Kleftico lamb, and it is gorgeous.

So last night I put our small lamb joint into a marinade of fresh lemon zest, fresh lemon juice, chopped up fresh rosemary, crushed garlic, cinnamon and 2 teaspoons of rapeseed oil, and left it to marinate overnight and most of today.  When I got home I put it in the oven with two lemon halves and more rosemary sprigs and lightly covered in foil.  Cooked it on low (150oc) for two hours, then removed the foil, increased the heat to 180oc and cooked for a further hour.

It is amazing, any fat rendered away from the meat and into the channels of the roasting tin, and the lemon completely cuts through any fatty lamby flavour, leaving it tasting fresh and vibrant.

I served it with some roasted vegetables (carrotts, peppers, courgettes, onion, tomatoes), some steamed broccoli and cubed baking potatoes and sweet potatoes which were done without oil in the Actifry.

 

~EXERCISE~

 

So gym day today, and I was once again really looking forward to it, and I loved it whilst I was doing it, and I loved the results afterwards.

 

I did a quick 20  minutes cardio on the reclining bike and treadmill then hit the weights for an hour.  I kept the weights high, the reps medium, and the sets low ..... and it was brilliant.

 

I hate the cardio part, BORES.ME.RIGID!!!  I have to force myself to do it, and in my next session on Thursday I will push myself to have another go on the stepper, and try to convince myself I like it!!

Thanks once again for reading
Jo
xx