Initial summer thoughts

Overall, I'd like to lose around 9 pounds before the summer. I don't mean this as a quick fix, but lose it and not claim it back. It's just over 4kg. I have 9 weeks left of the '12 weeks to clean' experiment; so this equals about a pound or half a kilo a week.

To lose a pound, you need to burn off 3,500 calories, so 500 a day. This is a challenge for me, as I already eat fairly healthy, but I need to change something for this to be viable. So, I am going to make my portions smaller, and eat more often to boost my metabolism. I also want to up my exercise to 6 times a week; 3 sessions will be half an hour runs, 1 will be an hour's dancing, and I hope to do one exercise class and one workout video at home.

My problem areas are my stomach and my legs (and my double chin too, but I doubt this will change!) I'm aiming to do enough cardio to lose the excess fat, and then once I have done this, I can work on toning and gaining muscles, as there's no point in having muscles if they're covered in a layer of flab!

SW : 58.5
GW1: 58
GW2: 57.5
GW3: 57
GW4: 56.5
GW5: 56
GW6: 55.5
GW7: 55
GW8: 54.5

UGW: 51

Becoming pescevegan

So, it's controversial. It doesn't quite make sense. It cannot be explained.

What am I talking about? Become a pescevegan.

Now, I don't know if such a thing already exists, but I am trying out being a pescetarian vegan. I am already a pescetarian and have been for over 6 years now. Cutting a long story short, my mother said she would only support me if I still ate fish (protein blah blah blah) so I agreed. I don't get tempted by the thought of meat now, it is probably more of a habit now rather than a conscious decision every time I'm asked whether I'd 'just like to try some'.

After hearing statistics of how the dairy and meat industries mistreat animals, I was horrified; my natural yoghurt didn't taste the same, I didn't want red Leicester cheese on my jacket sweet potato. I was more horrified with how the animals were treated that were not killed directly for produce (e.g. male chicks). So, I'm going to try out being a vegan.

A couple of years ago, I started drinking soya milk. My mother bought some because apparently it's 'good for women'. I keenly transferred since I never really liked the taste of dairy milk. Since those days, I've tried out almond, hazlenut and only recently coconut milk, it simply depends on what's available in the supermarket. This isn't the hard bit, but I will need to choose dairy alternatives when I go to coffee shops, rather than the current skimmed milk option. Unfortunately, this is more expensive (in Caffe Nero it costs an extra 40p!), but recently I haven't really eaten/been out, so once in a while I'm sure I can splurge. After all, an extra 40p is worth not contributing to an industry which regularly exploits and harms innocent animals.

For me, the hardest will be eggs. Again, I didn't like the taste of eggs until the last couple of months, but recently I have been converted. This will be especially to avoid since my favourite weekend breakfast is 2-ingredient pancakes or an omelette and fruit. I suppose I will just have to settle for overnight oats or fruit by itself! Also, what about cakes?!? Cutting out eggs immediately cuts out any type of fluffy, light cake. Ah well, just think of the animals, just think of the animals.... (I try and tell myself)...

The problem I find with many dietary alternatives, whether they be vegetarian, gluten or dairy-free, is that they are not natural. Instead of such ingredients, added are chemicals, preservatives, colourants and the likes to make this food taste similar to the original product they are trying to mimic. As I'm trying to eat 'clean', this involves no processed foods, only things which have ingredients that you would use yourself, the names which one can actually pronounce. This will be hard, but this is only an experiment so I can only try for a while and see how it goes.

In conclusion, I'm not being overtly strict. If I slip up, no biggie. But when making my own food, I'm going to avoid using eggs, butter, dairy milk, cheese and yoghurt. I know a lot of people follow a 90% vegan rule, but I don't think I should set a specific percentile. The point is to be more conscious when making food choices, so I will try it out for a while and see how it goes.

Day 18 - fasting

Today I was fasting as it is Good Friday, which means that I am allowed one meal and two libations (snacks) only. I did the same about 7 weeks ago for Ash Wednesday, but I only had one libation as I felt ill and spent the evening sleeping, so I was not too worried about today.

I woke up late, 9.30, which I honestly hate doing as it sets me up for a bad day and I rarely get the things I need to done. I managed to busy myself for the morning, so did not have my first libation until 1 in the afternoon, and this was a fruit bowl consisting of a pear, some black grapes and some blueberries.

At about 3 I had lunch/dinner, which was a cod stew with tomatoes, lentils, garlic, Italian herbs and spinach. I really love this dish, it is so filling and full of good nutrients. For a side, I had four baby corns.

I then spent 5 hours cooking cakes - 8 lamb and rabbit shapes Madeira cakes. These were not for me, but for family and friends as Easter gifts. Although I have given up cakes and chocolate for lent, I thought I would make a little exception. I had the smallest offcut of cake, and drizzled a little melted white chocolate on top. How I wish I had not!! I felt so sick afterwards! I think this was because it was so sick and I had avoided such things for 7 weeks. Whatever it was, I am permenantly put off chocolate!

I hope by eating clean (and subsequently losing weight) that I will manage to lose some weight on my face. Whenever I look down, I feel my neck/chin and it is so comfortable. I doubt there are specific chin target exercises, so I just need to pray for the best!

Post-Easter lifestyle

After 6(ish) weeks of giving up chocolate, cake, sweets, crisps, biscuits and whipped cream for Lent, it is all over. I made it! Now I'm allowed to eat what I want, no restrictions. The thing is, I don't want to...

For some reason, I don't want to eat biscuits. I'm not tempted by the smell of chocolate. I don't feel the need to have whipped cream. I want to keep on with this lifestyle and carry on eating healthily and improving my diet and life over time. So, I thought I would devise a set of guidelines (note: not rules, I can be flexible) to stick to for the future. For now, I am going to call it my 12-week cleanse and see how I go.

• Finish the Couch to 5k running programme
• Workout everyday (if not running/dancing then do a 25 minute cardio workout)
• No chocolate (cocoa powder allowed)
• No crisps
• No sweets
• No fizzy drinks
• No alcohol
• No biscuits
• No non-clean cake
• No glutenous flour
• No potatoes
• No bread
• Avoid fruit after 2pm
• Cheat meal for carbs x1 a week (for special  occasions or if I'm going out/not at home)

So, hopefully I will manage to stick to this. Out of choice, I probably wouldn't choose any of these foods. What I do find hard is if I'm not at home or go out or someone else is cooking. I get quite conscious, but then I just let myself go and it spirals out of control. I'd really like to try for a couple of months to maintain my lifestyle not just when I cook for myself at home, but all the time. 

Day 17 - did someone say pizza?

Last night I had a bit of a binge; the day's food was fairly healthy, but I was rather hungry before dinner as I only had a salad and 4 prawns for lunch. Though, I'm pretty pleased I didn't really have anything too unhealthy in my house, so I had a nakd banana bread bar and Muller light Greek style lemon yogurt.

This morning, I was very naughty and broke one of my Lenten promises; yes, I weighed myself. I regret doing so,  but really wanted to know. I weigh 58.1kg, which is no progress at all really. The good news is, I did also measure myself and from the last time I did (God knows when) I have lost 0.75" off my waist, so all is not bad. I'm convincing myself it is just muscle mass which is causing the scales to remain stubborn!

After the day's measurements were taken, I went for a run : 5 min warm up walk, 10 min run, 3 min walk, 10 min run and 5 min walk. If I'm honest, the runs are hard for me. I always check the time left and it seems like an age to go; but afterwards, the satisfaction is fantastic. Being able to do something you never thought you would be able to do is a real surprise, I just hope I can use my willpower to carry on and complete the challenge!

I had the usual breakfast when for when I have a bit more time in the morning - 2 egg omelette + 2 fruits (today this was a kiwi and a pear). Egg keeps me full up for so long, I usually don't eat again until lunch!

I went shopping in the morning for about 4 hours (carrying all those heavy bags definitely counts as an extra cheeky workout!). Since I probably won't have time to go for a proper shop again until after my exams, I made sure to stock up. I went to a world food shop, a health shop (that is not Holland and Barrett) plus Poundland and Family Bargains. I discovered so many things that I doubted I would find locally, and some things at great prices (e.g. tahini and coconut oil which I found in my farm shop).

I bought some 1kg packs of cashews, Popping corn, dessicated coconut and also some almonds, rice cakes, dates, coconut milk, dried fruit, almond oil, coconut palm sugar, carob flavouring and the list goes on! As you can tell, I have a lot of baking planned for the next few months ;).

I also treated myself to my first ever 'gym kit'. Before, I was using some thick tracksuit bottoms and cotton t-shirts for running. Comfortable as they are, the weather is getting hotter and I really needed something cooler to run in. So, I have a pair of black running shorts and a neon orange cropped sports bra. I definitely think this will be a motivation to start running more! I'm a bit worried about showing my stomach, but I though that I could always wear vests on top, or alternatively this would be an initiative to run faster so people wouldn't see my fat rolls moving up and down!!

For lunch, I made a simple salad of lettuce, rocket, beetroot, yellow pepper, spring onion, cucumber and cherry tomatoes, and had this with half a peppered mackerel fillet for some protein. This was at about 3 o'clock, and now at 5.20 my stomach is starting to rumble. I am waiting for a doctor's appointment so don't have any food on me, but will have a snack when I get back rather than eating something after dinner like I did last night.

I did indeed have a snack, which was a strawberry crunch nakd bar; these are so tasty!! But they write all the ingredients include measurements, so I'm going to try and make them myself as a snack (as they are quite dear).

Then, I carried on with my cooking surge and made a cauliflower base pizza- a recipe I used from blogilates.com. It was so tasty- I think it might have even tasted better than normal pizza! My family enjoyed it too, which is always satisfying to hear as they are very sceptical about any recipe I mention that is 'clean'.

This pizza was so filling! I piled it high with green peppers, mushrooms, olives, red onion and sweetcorn, and a little red Leicester cheese. I didn't have anything else to eat that evening as my stomach was a good level of full after the pizza.

Day 15 - exhausted

I didnt go for a run this morning, but that didn't stop me having pancakes for breakfast! 2 bananas, 4 eggs and a little baking powder served two people, and then for topping I had a kiwi, some black grapes and agave syrup. I felt so full after this as I ate at about 11, so didnt have lunch/dinner until 4.30 pm.

For dinner, I made zoodles using my spirilazer, and for the first time made a creamy avocado sauce (usually I do tomato). For 4 people, I mixed 3 small avocados, handful of basil, 3 cloves of garlic and 2/3 tub of cottage cheese in a blender, then served with sweetcorn and halved cherry tomatoes. It was very delicious! I will definitely be trying the same some time soon!

I had 5 hours of dance classes between 5 and 10, which was so exhausting and tiring, but at the end I felt so good for getting through and not giving up! Exercise really does increase happiness. I had the equivalent on 2.5 litres of water during this time, but nothing to eat as I did not feel hungry in the slightest and also did not want to make myself feel I'll or have indigestion.

When I got home, I went straight to bed! I don't know yet if I will go for a run yet tomorrow morning (depends how I'm feeling) but I will definitely walk my dog at some point during the day and have a nutritious breakfast!

And now, time to sleep!

Day 14 - a little party never killed nobody

Yes it took me 20 minutes to get out the house, but at least I did it. Today's run was harder than usual, which I found surpring because of the 20 mins I ran non stop only 2 days ago. I guess it must be down to the amount of unhealthy food and dessert I had yesterday; so for next time, I should bear in mind that although I can have 'cheat meals', I should keep the portions small otherwise I do immediately see an effect on my overall health.

After a half hour dog walk, I made myself lunch. I really wanted to make some clean wraps which I've seen all over instagram, so I filled 3 rice wraps with thinly sliced raw carrot, red pepper, cucunber, lettuce and tofu. I has a side salad with this and it was so filling despite it was just vegetables!

I did get hungry at about 5.30, so I made some kale crisps. I had a quick dinner of last night's leftovers; I had to eat it in about 15 minutes, meaning I was rushing, which made me feel a bit uneasy. I just hate eating quickly, I honestly don't know how people do it!

Tonight I am going to a party. I'm not going to lie, I usually drink. A lot. I only started drinking alcohol properly a year and a half ago, but since then this habit has gradually got worse. Before, I used to be able to go out and not drink and still have a fantastic time. Then for some reason, I felt more confident with alcohol. Other people started to notice me a little more. I used to forget how unhappy I was during the day. But recently it has got too much, with me drinking between 12 and 20+ units in a single night, maybe once a week or once a fortnight, then not remembering what happened the next morning. This is the worst feeling, and got to the point where last week, I didn't even drink that much, but I had 100 pounds stolen, most things had fallen out my bag without me noticing, I was kicked out of a club, sick along the street and in a taxi, and I even passed out in the middle of a road.

The next day, I vowed to not drink until my birthday, which is about 3 months away. Not only is alcohol damaging in the long term, something which is so easy to forget when those effects are not so visible now, but it is also full of calories and sugar, in addition to putting yourself in danger.

So today will be the first party that I will try not to drink; less than a week ago I promised myself the same thing (twice) yet I still caved in. Today is going to be different. Tonight, I will plan in advance, taking with me some drinks (iced tea, flavoured water) so that I can resist temptation. I'm not saying that it will be easy, probably far from it. But I have the motivation now. I've been eating clean for almost two weeks now, and I exercise four times a week, so why ruin all this work and slow down the process by a couple of drinks that I won't remember in a few months time? I have 10 weeks to go until my birthday and 12 week clean eating goal; I can't stop now.

Day 13 - overeating

I had planned to go for a long dog walk at 7 this morning, but I just couldn't find the strength to wake up. Instead, I woke up at 9, had a shower and made a 2 egg omelette. To go with this, I had some agave syrup, 4 strawberries and 1/4 honeydew melon.

I returned home at about 12, a little hungry, and finished off the fruit I didn't have enough time to eat for breakfast while doing work.

I had lunch at 2, which was a very filling bowl of carrot and coriander. I was avoiding work, so I had 2 handfuls of raw kale to keep me motivated despite not being hungry. If I'm honest, raw kale isn't as great as I'd hoped, so next time I'd either boil it or make kale crisps.

For dinner, I stuffed myself. My stomach is now making very weird noises and I worry how I will be able to run tomorrow. For dinner I had teriyaki salmon, teriyaki tofu, quinoa egg fried rice, BBQ peppers and onions and some salad. I had second helpings of the quinoa fried rice, tofu and BBQ onions and peppers. I felt so stuffed afterwards.

I didn't have time to exercise today, only a short half-hour walk with my dog; but tomorrow I hope to wake up at 7 and go for a run, followed by a fruity breakfast.

After the dog walk, I had 2 helpings of rhubarb and apple crumble (however it had very little sugar in the stewed fruit and not much topping). For the first bowl, I had some natural yoghurt, and the second time I added some homemade custard. I really need to avoid desserts as they do make me feel very full and unable to move! However, with it being a Sunday I thought I would kind of take a day off. Also, I need to stop taking seconds as it fills me up waaaaaaay too much!

Day 12 - midnight binge

Looking at my instagram posts, all I can see are carbs. I thought I was making wise choices, but this doesn't seem to be the case.

Bad thoughts aside, today I had noticed a change in my body; my stomach, although not flat, did appear less bloated than usual. Maybe this was progress (it has been almost 5 weeks since I started running, and it is usually said that people notice a change in their own bodies after a month).

Today I attempted the third run in Week 5 of the Couch to 5k challenge, which meant running continuously for 20 minutes. Truth be told, I was petrified because I had only just managed to run for 8 minutes earlier in the week. But I managed to do it, I didn't even stop to tie up my shoelaces with 2 minutes to go.

After 15 minutes, the satisfaction far outweighs any struggle beforehand, and this high keeps me motivated to carry on until the end. Results keep me motivated, and feeling less breathless during the run shows a change that has occurred mentally and internally, even if physical results are yet to show.

What seemed to be a good day foodwise soon became embarrassing.

A breakfast of black grapes, apple and kiwi was followed by a midday snack of curly kale crisps. At about 4 I made homemade sushi using quinoa, and ate this with the rest of the wakame salad I had bought yesterday. This was so filling and delicious, and a lot healthy than normal sushi!

I was extremely tired and wanted to go to sleep at 6, but my mum warned that I'd find trouble sleeping for the whole night, so instead I opted for some peach white tea to boost my energy levels.

My stomach rumbled quite a lot, and what I had planned originally to be rice cakes with toppings turned out to be a full blown feast. First of all, I had 2 rice thins with cottage cheese and honey and another two with tahini and fig jam. My stomach felt a little uneasy eating this, but it was so delicious I had to carry on.

Regrettably, I was sitting downstairs in the kitchen trying to pass the time, so food was a lot more accessible. In addition the the rice cakes, I had some sweet popcorn from grazebox, and then a punnet of their bonnie wee oatbakes (which taste amazing as well).

I was only eating because I was bored and avoiding other things, not in the slightest because I was hungry. Now I feel so bloated and full!
The lesson is not to eat late, make sure to have a no carb craving before 6ish to avoid later binges.

Day 10 - realisation

All I can think about is yesterday; I started off so well, but as the day went on it just got worse and worse. Just thinking about my binge in the evening makes me feel disgusted with myself (5 slices of pizza and about 9 or 10 mojitos and Pimms and lemonades). I'm not even supposed to be drinking fizzy drinks because of my braces!
At least I didn't go for a kebab last night on the way back, I was so tempted, but thank god I fell asleep in the car and went straight to bed when I got back.

I am trying to think of ways to avoid something like yesterday happen again ; I think it might have been the breakfast of pancakes that my body is not used to. Also, my lunch was not so filling (just some fruit), so my body might have felt it needed to compensate later. I need to work harder to resist temptation, that just because food is there I shouldn't always take it.

And now today all I can feel is anger, everything is frustrating me. So many things are going wrong today and I'm just blaming others, when in reality it is all my fault.

So this morning I didn't go for a run, and as a detox from the day before I had an apple, kiwi and some black grapes for breakfast. Pretty soon after, I did feel slightly hungry, but I didn't eat lunch until 4 because I was out with friends.

For lunch, we went to Carluccio's; we ordered some sharing platters for starters, but I avoided the brunschetta and olives and just had 6 calamari rings.

For main, there was little choice. Mostly pasta and a lot of meat, the salads weren't particularly healthy and the fish dishes were very expensive. I settled for Penne Giardiniera, which consisted of large penne tubes, not really in a sauce but with courgettes, chilli and garlic. On top there were fried spinach and parmesan balls, notably delicious, and I also have graten parmesan on top (who doesn't?!)

We were having desserts, and since I have given up chocolate and cake for lent I only had one option which was ice cream. I decided on the Affogato, which is the sweet treat I usually choose when going to Italian restaurants. It consisted of 3 scoops of delicious vanilla gelato served with a shot of espresso. I usually only drink iced lattes with syrup as I find the taste of black coffee too strong, but the ice cream makes the coffee creamy enough to enjoy.

After this meal, I felt satisfied but not at all stuffed. I've found this to be the case when I've been out a lot recently, which I think is probably down to wiser food choices. I feel like I need to apply my eating habits to every situation - not just when I'm at home and cooking for myself.

Day 8 - lots of cooking

A late rise today meant I had breakfast at 10.30 today; I had 5 strawberries and some honeydew melon to go with the other half of my chia seed pudding from yesterday. Note to self: chia seed pudding is better the fresher it is.

I was fairly hungry from the night before still, a feeling which I'm not used to. I drank plenty of water in the morning and had an early lunch at 12.30 as I was cooking for my family and they were already hungry. Being still satisfied for breakfast meant I didn't stuff myself for lunch.

I made a salad with cherry tomatoes, red onion, celery and cucumber. I also had a kipper fillet which I made in the microwave (one of my new favourite brunch foods and only 200 calories) and sweet corn and avocado on the side. Eating breakfast not long before meant I was not even tempted by second helping.

I made a dinner of zoodles (noodles made from a zucchini using a spiralizing machine) with a tomato and basil sauce. I also added olives, capers, button mushrooms, garlic, red onion and prawns, with some parmesan on top. On the side I had boiled carrot sticks and broccoli.

Exercise-wise, I went to a dance class for an hour; not too strenuous, but I enjoy the body conditioning warm ups especially. 
From returning home, I wasn't hungry, but fancied food. I resisted the temptation by drinking water and going straight upstairs, busying myself with the computer instead.

A fairly successful day I'd say. Feeling satisfied but not stuffed and glad I managed to fit in some exercise

Day 7 - when one wants a kebab

Last night I set my alarm to 6.30am; I didn't manage to get out of bed until 6.50, however I went on a run as I thought this was more important than doing my make up before leaving at 7.45. It was raining, only lightly, but this still put me off going outside. What if it gets worse? Won't I get a cold? Will I damage my phone? Nonetheless, I forced myself to go for a run.

Today was the first day of week 5 of the Couch to 5k challenge, meaning three 5 minute runs. Yes, it got more difficult as time passed, and the rain worsened, but by the third run it had started to get easier. I realised that this was more of a mental challenge than a physical one, and just listened to my music and made sure my feet didn't stop moving.

Once I had returned, I wasn't as tired as I had been previously, which definitely lifted my mood. It wasn't until I returned home at 9 that I had breakfast, half of my Chia seed pudding I prepared last night. I wasn't really hungry, as I had been drinking a lot of water, but I ate nonetheless as I never like to skip meals.

About 10.30, my stomach was rumbling already, which probably meant I didn't have enough for breakfast. I'm a really advocate of listening to your body, so I planned to have a snack of melon once I had returned from the dentist to boost my metabolism and fill my body with nutrients before the 2pm fruit allowance cut-off time.

I wasn't hungry when I got back, so I just waited until Lunch to eat. There were some leftovers from yesterday's barbecue, so I had a Linda McCartney vegetarian sausage (which FYI are so delicious!), some tuna steak in teriyaki marinade, roasted peppers and curried onions. This made up my protein, so to go with it I had salad with tomatoes, cucumber and chives, and also some sweet corn and avocado. Very filling and very delicious!!

In the evening, I was at my boyfriend's house for dinner; he always eats carbs and fairly unhealthy food. However I managed to persuade him for us to make something not too bad, butternut squash and ricotta lasagne. There was a lot of cheese, however I did not have seconds and had salad with cherry tomatoes and feta cheese on the side. Eating slowly, it was very filling.

For dessert, I had some natural frozen yogurt, which was about 100 calories. It was tasty and satisfied my sweet cravings (although I refused figs as it was a lot later in the day - maybe about 7.30pm). I felt so bloated afterwards, this is the affect of white carbs!!!

I went to a party in the evening. I only had a small bit of salty caramel popcorn vodka, I wasn't really up for drinking. Immediately I felt hungry and wanted a kebab! I was searching everywhere for some savoury snacks which were not crisps (which I have given up for lent), but none were found. In hindsight, I am very grateful as I was only eating because I was bored/that is the effect on my body of alcohol.

The lesson is: don't feel pressured to drink just because you go out. If you don't want to, there is no one telling you you have to. Also, avoid midnight munchies by going straight to bed and sleeping- you won't remember the feeling of hunger in the morning!

Day 6- typical english

Waking up at 7.30am, I felt fresh. I had friends over from last night, so I decided to make an English breakfast. Resisting the temptation of fresh baguette, my mother's homemade sundried tomato loaf and vegetarian sausages was hard; however, it was worth it as even after my breakfast I felt extremely full. My breakfast consisted of 2 pieces of smoked salmon, some mushrooms and 2 fried eggs in my attempt to eat more protein. I did have seconds and thirds of the mushrooms, but I think in total the breakfast must have come to no more than 500 calories.

As I had not been on a run this morning, I decided to go on a half hour walk with my dog. The fresh air is so lovely, I could not praise its effects more.

I was not hungry at all. I had activities between 3 and half 6, so thought I should have a snack beforehand as I knew I would get hungry later. So at 2pm I has 8 large strawberries while reading the newspaper, which were delicious.

Being a Sunday and having a friend round meant that today we had a barbecue. I love barbecues as they usually mean fish, roasted vegetables and lots and lots of salad! They also mean plenty of seconds usually! Today I had a very large tuna steak in teriyaki marinade, some roasted red peppers, curried onions and salad. I was rather good today as I only had seconds of the salad, even though it was difficult to resist as we were sitting and talking at the table, and I find myself always eating no matter what I'm doing at the table!

After dinner everyone had some of my mum's homemade pavlova, but I resisted. Instead, I busied my hands by preparing chia seed pudding for breakfast tomorrow.

To conclude, eggs really fill me up, probably because I am not used to eating them, and haven't for years because I just didn't like the taste. After dinner I felt the perfect level of full, I should definitely remember this in the future when considering taking seconds!

Day 5- a fresh start

The last 2 days were bad. Really bad. If I have steered away from my goals so much in only half a week, I worry what could happen over the next 90 days. But today I vowed to get back on track.

First thing's first, I got out of bed at 7.10 for a run. Not the easiest to do, but I knew I that it would be difficult to do tomorrow as I'm going to a party tonight. As soon as I get outside, immediately I see the positive effects. The fresh air to me is like entering a swimming pool, a different world in which you feel free and invincible.

After my run, which consisted of: 5 mins warm up walk
3 mins run
1.5 min walk
5 min run
2.5 min walk
3 mins run
1.5 min walk
5 min run
5 min cool down walk
I had to get ready to teach and for going to London straight after, so I didn't have time for breakfast. I am a real advocate of eating breakfast everyday, so took some cottage cheese, pineapple and grated carrot mix to have on the train at 10 o'clock. I wasn't really hungry, and really didn't think I could have any carbs after yesterday's buffet, so this was a great light alternative but it still made me feel very full!

I didn't feel hungry for a long time; maybe this was just because my mind was occupied with walking and sightseeing, or maybe it was all the food from yesterday.

Anyways, everyone in the grohp we were with decided to have fastfood. As a two, we made the conscious decision to steer away from fast food and instead went to Wasabi, basically a japanese version of pret a manger or EAT, for lunch at 3pm. It took me ages to decide, as it does wherever I go, but here it took me a while to steer away from the hot food. It is delicious, I have had it many a time before, but I doubt the vegetable yakisoba and tofu katsu curry is much healthier than McDonald's.

It took a lot of willpower, but I managed to choose the mixed maki set, with 4 salmon rolls, 4 avocado rolls, then 6 larger rolls which also had crabmeat, tempura and fish smelt roe (I think it is called!). With two sachets of soy sauce and a small packet of wasabi, I felt satisfied, but not stuffed; the optimum level of fullness! There was no grubby fatness feeling, no salty aftertaste and I definitely had more energy to carry on walking. This is how all food should make one feel!

The 50 minute train journey back home traditionally consists of some form of eating to pass the time. My friend had never had a milkshake before, so we settled for these as they were more convenient to get than going via Soho for a bubble tea. Originally I thought I may resist, however I allowed myself to have a regular cookie milkshake (rather than a small) due to the day's walking and the fact I will not have dinner later.

All cookies bar three had Belgian chocolate chips in them, so I opted for salted caramel and pecan and flapjack flavours. They added vanilla ice cream and the outcome is absolutely divine and so moreish! I have given up cookies for lent, but allowed myself them as they were blended!

In the evening, my stomach was satisfied so I ate no more. However, I did go to a party and drank. A lot. I really need to stop drinking; I know how bad it is for your health and I don't want to damage my liver. Hopefully I can drink less or resist temptation and drink not at all.

Day 1- 01/02/2014

For some reason I didn't sleep well last night- I kept waking up and thinking it was time to get up, but then when the time came to go for a run, I felt too tired and comfortable in my bed to go. So, a bit of a bad start. This means I must go tomorrow. Also, I was rather thirsty, so I should prepare to have a glass of water my by bed for the morning.

So I started off the day with the usual- porridge oats- which I eat while on the bus. I felt rather full afterwards. Gradually, I think it would be good to decrease my porridge intake and introduce some fruit into my breakfast regime.

It's usually about 3.5 hours later that I have a snack, always fruit. I have a bit of an addiction to grapes; they're just so easy to eat and transport and are undeniably tasty! Today I added a plum to my usual portion of red grapes.

For lunch, I had a salad with tomato, cucumber, chives, yellow pepper, smoked salmon and a quorn egg. I find that some sort of protein helps to keep me full until dinner, and as I do not eat meat I find the best way to get this is from fish, quorn, an egg or beans. After lunch, I felt rather full, but still ate my pot of orange as part of my quest to consume fruit of the day before 2pm, and because I wasn't eating dinner until much later than usual and wanted to avoid snacking in between.

It did take a lot of willpower not to snack once I had got home. My mum had made sweet and sour vegetables, and it looked so good! But I persuaded myself that I had plenty to do before I went out, that I was short on time as it was. This managed to work and I soon forgot about the food my mum had made.

For dinner, I was going out for a friend's surprise birthday to Prezzo, an Italian chain restaurant. The menu consists of mostly pizza and pasta, and I decides to go for the latter as I rarely eat pasta nowadays but it is one of my favourite foods (instead, I use a sprilizer to create zucchini and carrot noodles :3). I had spaghetti with king prawns in a chilli, tomato and garlic sauce. It was fairly tasty, not mind -blowing, and came in at just under 500 calories. Not bad. I did have extra cheese too as didn't want to feel as though I was restricting myself.

It was difficult not to order dessert while everyone else was eating their cake (giant cupcake made by myself- picture below)- especially as the remainders had been placed right in front of me! However, I felt good afterwards for resisting.

Once I had returned home, I didn't feel 'full' as such, a feeling I have become too accustomed to in the past couple of months. I went straight upstairs to avoid picking at any food easily available. With time, I started to feel more and more bloated, which I assume is from the wheat or gluten in the spaghetti. So I'm glad I didn't have dessert!

All in all, a fairly successful day food wise, though I should avoid wheat and carbohydrates as they do make me bloated even if I haven't consumed that many! Also, I definitely think it is a good idea to avoid desserts when possible; they are so addictive and unnecessary if one has had a satisfying dinner.

Day 2- 02/04

I admit, it was a struggle to wake up; a warm bed and extra half hour of sleep are much more attractive than braving the cold and doing exercise. Nonetheless, I hadn't been on a run since Sunday, and I had to get moving if I wanted to complete my goal of running 3 times a week.

Previously a jogging virgin, 3 weeks ago I made the decision to take up running to improve my health, finally taking advantage of the 'couch to 5k' app, an initiative which is part of the government's Change4life campaign. So far I am on week 4, and struggle to run 5 mins without stopping; so I am still very sceptical about the claim that I should be able to run half an hour in just over a month's time. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

I started off with my usual porridge oats but today with coconut milk. I need to start having smaller portions, as I tend to feel incredibly full afterwards!

A break of red grapes and later an orange contributed to my 5 a day. Tomorrow I am going to bring just one portion of fruit as usually I just eat the second one out of habit, not at all due to hunger.

For lunch I had the same as yesterday with my protein intake coming from another quorn egg and some smoked salmon. I started to feel very hungry at about 4 despite drinking lots of water; maybe this was due to boredom?

A piece of salmon with a sweet chilli marinade, some cous cous, mushrooms with melted cheese and various vegetables made up my dinner. I didn't feel fully satisfied after this (but I thought I would wait for it to settle first).

Later on in the evening, I had a sweet craving so I made some flapjacks, inevitably eating the sweet, sugary mixture along the way. I did feel a tad bad after this, but I suppose it is a one off.

Waiting for the flapjacks to bake, which took a lot longer than expected, I did eat out of comfort and boredom; there were some sweet and sour vegetables left, so I warmed this up with some cous cous, and once finished continued to eat cous cous out the bowl. After this I did feel very guilty, so hopefully next time I will avoid this. Boredom and stress seem to influence me the most when it comes to making bad choices; I need to learn to control my emotions as it just leads to a downwards spiral.

I did try a piece (and a half) of the flapjack, but hopefully I will be back on track tomorrow. I suppose it gives me not to go for a run tomorrow morning.

new beginnings

Apparently it takes only twelve weeks to notice a transformation of your body; only twelve weeks, they say. That's three months. A quarter of the year.

So, I thought I would give it a go. I eat fairly healthily already, and I have started running a couple of times a week, but I want to make the most of what I could have.

Today is the last day of March, just under three months until my birthday, until prom and and 'bikini season'. When else would be the perfect time to start this challenge?

But there is one daunting problem- exams. Everyone has something they do when they're stressed, or bored, or tired- some smoke, others drink, some starve- I overeat. It's not just the case of an extra helping or the occasional dessert, oh no, when I stress I tend to eat all my cupboards out to avoid doing what I should be at all possible costs.

Nonetheless, I have the same amount of hours in my day as Beyonce does- meaning I shouldn't try and make excuses. So here are the changes (specifically not rules!) that I would like to live by, for the next twelve weeks at least:

1. Running three times a week. Usually in the morning, with the eventual aim of being to jog for half an hour non-stop.
2. Not eating fruit after 2pm- this will be a big challenge for me as I love snacking and I love fruit. However, they contain a lot of sugar and it takes a while for the body to digest them. Thus, I will aim to eat any fruit in the first half of the day. 
3. Keeping a foodmood diary- not just recording what I eat, but how I'm feeling. This will hopefully help me to cut cravings and understand how my body is working so that I can make wiser choices.
4. Cut down on the carbohydrates, sugar and snacking. Unnecessary, and it makes me feel stodgy afterwards. Food should be fuel for the day, providing energy for all sorts of activity.

There will probably be more along the way- I will update as I go long.

It is difficult to measure this from now as one of my Lenten promises is not to weight myself, but I will judge by how my clothes look and how I feel. I will update this with thoughts/feelings/challenges/recipes and of course food diaries.

You can follow my instagram @taliaflorence for up to date snaps!


Wish me luck,
Talia