Lorna's Sugar Detox Day 2 (part 2)

Lorna: 21 Day Sugar Detox, Day 2 (part 2)

By the time I got in though I was pretty hungry, but brain - dead from sitting on hot public transport for so long, so I just ate some fruit and drank gallons of water until Tom came in and we split a Spanish meat platter while cooking dinner together.

Lunch: (15.00) 500ml water; (16.30) Small green apple & 15-20g goji berries; (19.00) 60g 

Spanish cured meats; lots of water.

Dinner: (20.00) Brown rice with onions, bacon & peas cooked in a little stock; lots more water.

I know I should be avoiding fruit but I figured that was the healthiest snack I could grab... and I was fighting the urge to  make a big buttery bowl of pasta or some delicious white toast.

I definitely learned my lesson about not going too long between meals and snacks today though... when the other half came home and we popped to the shops for brown rice and meat, every kind of sugary treat was jumping off the shelves at me! Here's to a more sensible day tomorrow.

Total exercise:19,469 steps (approx. 15.55km) which apparently burned about 686kcal

Lorna's Sugar Detox: Day 2

Today I feel:

My husband came HOME from his TDY and I'm feeling pretttttyyy prettttyyy happy. I can finally start working out for my break instead of going home to let puppy-face out. Oh and the whole my husband is home thing is nice too!

We had Starbucks and Hotto-Motto (Japanese fast-food/bento take-out) so we can call it a "cheat" day today.

Now here's what you've been waiting for! Day 2 post of my friend Lorna's sugar detox adventure. Enjoy!

Lorna: 21 Day Sugar Detox, Day 2

Why do people complain about Mondays? Tuesdays are where the true evil lies!
People are prepared for Mondays, they know it will be a tough slog after the weekend so they prepare - whether it is getting up as soon as the alarm goes off or prepping their lunch the night before - people might not like Mondays, but they are ready for them. Tuesdays, on the other hand, just blindside you. Tuesdays are where all the problems of the week hit you.

Take my morning so far for instance...

05.55: Up
06.25: Out the door to walk to the train station
06.40: Arrive at the station and realise I've forgotten my travel card. Walk back home. Find travel card.
06.55: Out the door for the second time.
07.09: Finally get on a bleedin' train.

If ever there was a morning that deserved a giant, strong foamy coffee, it would be today but I will persevere. And look at it this way, my foolishness this morning is forcing me to get some extra exercise - according to S Health, I've already done 5,000 steps!

Himself is also attempting the detox, and he really missed coffee yesterday, complaining of terrible headaches but I reckon my first pangs of withdrawl won't hit until later today or tomorrow.
He is also trying new things - he doesn't eat nuts so he picked up a bag of that of t- touted superfood, goji berries, yesterday. Not too impressed by them. They are kind of like squishy yet dry raisins with a smokey aftertaste. But they say you should try any new food 3-5 times before you decide whether you like it, so we'll give them a go for a while.

My breakfast was a drawn out and bizarre affair today - I only managed my fizzy vitamins before leaving the house. Once I arrived in IKEA after my epic trek, I had some almonds to keep me going but then it was time to drive straight into camera tests ans showing the cinematographer around, and it was 11.00 before we could sit down to eat. Sadly that meant that we had just missed IKEA's bargain breakfast by minutes... and I had so been looking forward to it! Meat, eggs and a hash brown, while not the healthiest start to the day, would have been wonderfully filling and sugar free. Instead, as the lunch menu had already started, I had to improvise something breakfast-y. .. and that meant being a bit naughty and having some bread.

Breakfast : (06.10) Effervescent vitamins; (08.30) 30g almomds; (11.10) Smoked salmon (no dressing), minestrone soup with loads of veg, a wholewheat bread roll with butter and water.

We finished up in IKEA around 14.40 and because we had eaten breakfast so late we didn't fancy hitting the restaurant again but we were peckish. So we visited the bistro area on the way out... big mistake. The options are ice cream, doughnuts, milkshakes, hot dogs, meatballs, pizza slices and fries. I was standing in the queue wondering if fries or a pizza slice would be more of a cheat, and trying to reason with myself that at least the pizza had veg on it, when I caught myself - I couldn't give in on just day 2! So I just grabbed a bottle of water for the long journey home.

So proud of her for hanging in there! It's so crazy how our body reacts to not having it's regular dose of sugar and caffeine. We seriously get addicted to the stuff and have to go over that "hump" to kick the "habit". Everything in moderation is key, but seeing how you feel when you cut out sugar completely is important too. I felt amazing when I dropped sugar for a week and have lost my sweet tooth so when I do eat/drink stuff with sugar in it now I enjoy small amounts whereas the old me would think it tastes bland and not sweet at all. If you drink pop, seriously kick the habit cold turkey, you'll thank yourself in a week when you don't even like it anymore.

"Sugar sugar oh honey honey!"

Today I feel:

I haven't been blogging in a while. The reason is simple... I haven't had anything interesting enough to say. I've been posting a lot of food pics and random tid-bits on my Facebook page, but other than that I haven't really been inspired to write any long blog posts. I think it's because I've fallen into a routine that works for me, and I've already told you all about it. I am not really doing anything "new", just maintaining and eating delicious and healthy food (80% of the time ;) ).

Now that I sit here typing this up I realized that I actually DO have some new "news" (is that redundant? I think it's redundant...). I recently got a job at a gym on an Army Station minutes away from my house! This means I have ZERO excuses to skip the gym, I can literally work out on my lunch break! Plus there's fitspiration everywhere I look (and perspiration....but that's to be expected). I am just SO excited to work here and finally be "busy" and get out of the house. Did I mention it overlooks the beach? No? IT OVERLOOKS THE BEACH!!!

Now that I've updated you guys on what i'm up to, lemme tell you about my amazing friend Lorna!!! She's an Irish gal who is currently working and studying in England. She's probably the busiest person I know but she decided to CHALLENGE herself to do a 21 day sugar detox! She was also awesome enough to share her experience and allow me to post it on this blog. So, on that note, I'll be posting anything she sends me and maybe it will encourage some of you guys to kick your sugar addiction too!

Lorna: 21 Day Detox, Day 1

We decided to give sugar one hell of a send off, with a Ben & Jerry's Core Sundae and toffee popcorn at the cinema last night, followed by an extremely late dinner of peri peri chicken, fries, garlic bread, corn on the cob and peas - all from a certain ubiquitous Portuguese chicken chain which left us waiting 40 mins for our food so we ended up taking it home in a doggy bag.

The post-Python midnight feast meant that I didn't wake up as hungry as usual, which was a good thing given my carb - free brekki, and being in a rush I didn't even miss my usual few sips of coffee.

Breakfast: (07.30) Scrambled eggs with green peppers; water (I had an effervescent energy tablet in mine, which I am sure has sugar as it is orange flavoured, but I need to get my vitamins!)

The real challenge came at the end of my commute - the posh supermarket chain offers its customers free coffee so I have gotten into a terrible habit of picking up a glutinous post - breakfast pastry with my free latte every morning. This entire store will have to be avoided for the next 3 weeks to avoid temptation!

Lunch: (11.30) Tesco Finest Edamame & Pea Salad - without the ginger and lemongrass dressing because the very first ingredient on the dressing list was sugar. I washed down my crunchy veg with some ginger tea.

Having spent the morning in school, I then had to go to work for 3 hours, and then it was time for a research trip to IKEA. It's a pretty long trek from the posh, quiet village where I am studying to north east London so I stocked up on nuts for the trip.

Snack: (15.30) About 50g almonds. Sparkling water (500ml).

Today was our first day showing the production assistants around the store and talking them through what will be required of them during the shoot in September, so we spent over an hour walking around the store - and then it was time to hit the restaurant for dinner. I decided to forgo the famous IKEA meatballs in favour of their special of the day - bangers & mash.

Dinner: (18.30) 2x pork & herb sausages with creamy, cheesy chive mash and peas. Sparkling water (500ml).

Ok, so I am sure that the mash had milk, butter and cheese in it and I'm supposed to avoiding dairy but I reckoned it was better than chips...and it was really delicious.

And I didn't even feel a tinge when my colleagues were all indulging in post - dinner desserts.

We left IKEA shortly after 19.30 and I finally got home close to 21.30 (damn you 'planned engineering works') after taking the bus the last leg of the journey instead of walking (lazy, I know, but I was quite tired and I had already done over 10,000 steps!).

My other half hadn't eaten, so was settling down to what looked like a delicious dinner of roast chicken and roast veg (sweet potato, courgette & red peppers) so I said I would have a little as a snack - but a few bites in he realized that the chicken wasn't 100% cooked (our oven is not the most reliable contraption) so we both ended up just having a few bites of chicken and veg.

Snack: (21.45) A few pieces of roast chicken & some roast veg.

Total exercise: 13,897 steps (approx. 12.15km) which burned about 557kcal.

Day 1 down fairly successfully I reckon...

I hope Lorna share's more of her sugar-detox updates! I will most definitely post updates :)

Better Pi"late"s than never!

Today I feel:

I wanted to do something low impact this morning (mostly because of a teensy tiny hangover... ;) ) so I decided to hit up some pilates.

For some reason people put pilates in the same category as yoga. It is true that they are both low impact workouts but I assure you they're not the same thing.

I, personally, enjoy pilates a bit more than yoga because it reeeally hits your core. It's ALL about the core and lengthening your limbs (not literally...just...stretching haha). Plus it kind of makes me feel like a ballerina when I do the straight leg stretch with my toes pointed and stuff.

If you are wanting to get into pilates I strongly recommend blogilates, she doesn't mess around and there are tons of free videos.

Beachbody is also coming out with a new program called PiYo which incorporates pilates and yoga but isn't your grandmas workout video so you'll sweat without killin' your knees.

Here's an update on my "maintenance"! This was super important to me because I have always gained weight back after following a "program".

As of today (a pretty cheat-full weekend) I weigh 119lb, which technically a 2lb gain from 2 weeks ago when I completed the 21 Day Fix, but with the way the body fluctuates I'm going to call this a successful maintenance!! Plus my stomach is still flat!

I am feeling that I'm gaining some strength but I honestly have not been following a strict gym plan. I have been alternating between gym days, 30-minute home workouts, and just being out and about walking outside more. This wasn't the plan but I'm pretty happy about my body and where I'm at physically so can't complain! Definitely wan't more definition though so will have to  commit to more gym days.

Case of the Thursdays

Today I feel:

I don't even know why I'm so sleepy! I started the day on the right foot, taking my pup for a walk through what felt like a giant cloud it was so foggy.

I did a circuit training class for the first time today. One of the ladies from Book Club invited me to join her and three of us ended up going after the Book Club meeting.

 I got it in my head that circuit training was strictly in the weight room, but it was actually a group class in the aerobics room. There was a nice super-happy Japanese man that led the class. He spoke some English but mostly just gestured and yelled at you if you were doing something he didn't like. There were 10 stations set up that each of us spent a minute doing and then went on to the next station. It was set up in a circle (duh, Iryna, circuit training). Mostly he had us using body-weight and resistance bands, there were a couple stations that used dumbbells. We did the circuit two times and then did a group workout.

I'm not gonna lie, I got a little cocky when he told me and the other new girl to grab the light weights because we are "new" and grabbed some heavy weights to "show him"....I don't necessarily regret it....my pride was at stake...but I will definitely not be reaching anything on the top shelf tomorrow morning.

This is an example of what a "circuit" might look like. I just found this one and I kind of like it so I'll probably be doing this for my morning work-out tomorrow.

If there is a class opening up at your local gym, try it out!

Weekends...oh you!

Today I feel:

I just came back from a long walk with my dog. It decided to pour right in the middle of it so we both came back soaked. I swear my dog thinks I made it rain....she kept giving me the "make it stop" look.

It has been a lovely sunny memorial day weekend. We didn't go to the gym (because it was closed) but did a loooot of walking. I'm also feeling pretty tan lately.

It is pretty refreshing having a "cheat" (there was definitely booze involved) without feeling guilty. Treating yourself is ok, as long as it's in moderation and doesn't become your lifestyle. I don't know how many times I freaked out about eating pizza in the past because "OMG my diet is ruined!!@#"...seriously, just eat well the next day and you're good to go. To gain 1 lb you need to overeat by 3,500 calories. The mistake I would make is "OMG my diet is ruined....might as well eat the rest of that pizza!!!". THAT's how I gained weight. You don't get insta-fat from a spoon-full of ice cream.

TREATCHOSELF!! (...in moderation)

Speaking of treat! Last night's dinner was da bommmmmmb (patting myself on the back).

Spicy Mustard-Glazed Salmon w/ Rice Noodle Stir-fry

1 salmon filet (1.5 red)

1 bunch bok choy (1 green)

1/2 cup mushrooms (1/2 green)

2/3 cup cooked rice noodles (2 yellow)

1 tsp sesame oil (1 tsp)

1/2 tsp spicy mustard (free)

garlic flakes (free)

seafood seasoning mix (free)

1 tsp soy (if you aren't doing the fix ;) )

If you want a little bit more flavor use a mix of spicy and honey mustard...it's seriously delish.

Preheat oven to 400F. Rub your salmon on the skin side with seafood seasoning and place skin-down in an oven-safe dish sprayed with pam. On top of the salmon spread the spicy mustard, season with seafood seasoning or whatever you have on hand (salt and pepper should do it!). I also sprinkled some garlic flakes on top. Bake for 15 minutes or until you can flake it with a fork (my oven usually does it in 20).

While the salmon is baking boil your noodles and get a pan out to sautee your bok choy and mushrooms. Warm up the sesame oil and throw the veggies in the pan (or wok if you have one), sautee until the bok choy wilts down (about 5 minutes). Throw in the noodles (they cook fast!) and stir fry together. Add garlic flakes and soy sauce, toss a couple more times, then serve!

Like I mentioned before, I'm eating a little bit more since I'm not trying to lose weight just maintain, but I'll keep posting recipes using 21 Day Fix measurements for those of you doing the program!

Hitting the Gym: Legs on FIRE

Today I feel:
Today was leg day which means I'll be learning to walk all over again tomorrow...or worse, the pain won't actually hit me for another day which means it'll last forEVER.

Here is what our routine looked like today:

Day 3: Legs

Barbell squats (video)

Leg extensions (video)

Leg curls (video)

Leg press (video)

One time at the gym my form was a little off on squats and one of the trainers came up to me and gave me this little piece of advice. "Just pretend your husbands face is right under you...and you have to fart really bad...so you have to hold it in so you don't fart in his face...." Her advice half worked because now I have to tighten up my body every time so I don't start cracking-up imagining that scenario.

I forgot to mention that before we actually get in the weight room we do 5 minutes on the treadmill just to warm up, usually just walking on an incline. And don't forget to stretch! (Now I just sound like your mother.)

For dinner I made some seasoned baked chicken with a side of roasted brussel sprouts and a boiled purple sweet potato. (sounds boring now that I read it)

Ingredients:

1 boneless skinless chicken breast

1 cup brussel sprouts

1 small purple sweet potato

garlic flakes

salt

pepper

2 tsp olive oil

chicken seasoning of your choice (I used half the spices in my spice cabinet lol)

Preheat oven to 350F. Rub a boneless, skinless, chicken breast with a tsp olive oil (ohhh yeahhhhh) and place in an oven-safe dish. Season on both sides with salt, pepper, or seasoning of your choice. Bake for 40-45 minutes depending on how thick the breast is (I don't play games with under-cooked chicken). (1 red)

Toss the brussel sprouts with a tsp of olive oil, garlic flakes, salt, and pepper. Baked in the oven at 350F for 40 minutes (because it's how long the chicken breast takes and I didn't feel like going to the oven an extra time...yup).  Make sure to rustle your brussels every once in a while so they get color on all sides.

Purple sweet potatoes are an Okinawan thing and they taste more dessert-y like they are flavored with something...anyway, they're good, try em. (1 yellow for you 21 Day Fix-ers). Boil em up and eat them plain, they don't need any seasoning!

Day 4 is REST DAY! Yoga and naps....allllll day.