42 things that go through my head when working out

1. Right let's do this...
2. Where's my sports bra?
3. I can't find my sports bra, Oh well no exercise today then
4. Damn it, there it is hanging off the radiator
5. Bloody hell this thing is tight
6. Let's just do a couple of bounce tests
7. Yep, still working to hold them in
8. I'm really tired from that jumping.
9. Maybe I should just leave it for today
10. No. Come on you can do this
11. DVD on
12. Wait, where are my weights
13. Right....2 jars of sauce it is
14. Ok let's go
15. I feel good. I can do this
16. Squats. I hate squats
17. I'm tired...how long have I been doing this....
18. 2 minutes. Great
19. Why are they so smiley?
20. I'm not smiling and I'm doing exactly what they do
21. Oh good - active rest
22. No! More rest! I don't want to keep going and this is definitely not fun
23. How has she still got a full face of makeup!?
24. Do they pause half way through to retouch her makeup?
25. Why am I sweating so much!
26. Move Cat! How am I meant to squat thrust if you are lying in the way
27. What do you mean I'm only just finishing Lap 1!
28. My legs hurt
29. I wish you would stop telling me to keep with it when clearly I am on Hard level not Beginners as promised
30. I look ridiculous with these sauce jars
31. This had better be burning off 500 calories
32. I think I might cry
33. Squeeze two more in?
34. I'm actually ok just lying on the floor for now
35. Last set!
36. I've got this
37. I haven't got this
38. How am I meant to stand in the shower after?
39. I might have a bath so I can lie down
40. I hate you TV work out people
41. Finished!!! I do not feel good like they promised
42. Now I've done some exercise can I have extra cheese for dinner?

C x

Recipe - Low-carb Pizza

As many of you will be aware I am currently trying to watch what I eat. Now pizza is pizza and I'm not offering a miracle pizza with no calories but what I am offering is a slighty healthier, just as tasty pizza option so you can munch away without so much guilt!

Click the picture to watch!

C x

Lack of Inspiration

I have been a little bit quiet on the blog front this month. No special reason, I've just been a little stumped when it comes to blog post ideas.

Once again I wish I could tell you about all the fun and interesting things I have been doing but really it is just a case of me working late, drinking on the days I'm not working late and sitting in bed eating fried chicken at 3am.

I walked through London earlier today, and when I say London I mean the center of it all. The hell that is Oxford Street. It wasn't actually that bad at 8.30am, there was still some ducking and weaving, but there were no shops open at that hour so there was less agro than normal. Anyway, I was walking through Oxford Circus heading toward Piccadilly with a Starbucks in one hand and my mobile and cigarette in the other and I thought, 'Oh get me, people might think I'm a proper Londoner',until I ruined it all because I'd forgotten to plug my headphones in and the incredibly helpful Google maps lady told me to 'turn right at Regent's street' and I lost all credibility because only a non Londoner would need Google maps to get them from Oxford Street to Piccadilly Circus. Unless you just happen to be utterly crap at directions like me. The illusion I'd created was shattered by this point though and I thought to myself 'well it can't get worse, I might as well be a legit tourists and take some photos'. I tried to resist the urge to tell my fellow commuters I do in fact live here and they shouldn't judge me.

I've also been watching The Riot Club trailer on repeat because those boys are just too good to look at and well... why not? Other things I like to do in my spare time include:

• Eating burger cheese slices
• Getting lost in Buzzfeed
• Questioning why as of late I keep going out drinking without eating first resulting in a whole load of toilet bowl hugging
• Watching my cat stalk flies
• Doing anything but blogging really

Things I should be doing in my spare time:

• Going to the gym or in fact doing any form of exercise that doesn't just consist of getting up to turn the TV on
• Churning out blog posts at an alarming speed so you can all share my joy in life
• Going to the bank to sort my finances 
• Being proactive in enjoying London and all it has to offer

I'm hoping that this is just a brief lapse in creativity but I need to find it soon because my course has started again and it requires me to write stories. If they need me to write a story about procrastination I'm the girl for the job. Or I might just have a sleep. 

C x

Keeping up

I feel like I haven't blogged in ages! I have been so darned busy with work and University that I just haven't had the time!

Work has just been mad. I am enjoying it so much but the time just fly by and I am trying to keep on top of all the work. I have never been in a job before where I get in to work, look up and realise that it's lunch time and the morning has flown by. It's really refreshing to be somewhere that I'm not bored 80% of the time and that keeps challenging me. There are so many different events taking place as well as the weekly tours around the school that I have to do for people. This weekend I worked Saturday as we had an Open Day and I spent the whole day rushing around making sure it all went smoothly. We've also had a Fashion Show and we are having a Garden Party next week. It's just all so much fun :)

University has also been non stop. I've just handed in my final essay of the course and now I have just 3 weeks to try and revise like mad for my 3hour exam and I am terrified! I have a massive stack of books to get through and this isn't even half of them:

Looks like I'm going to be doing lots of reading over the coming weeks but I have taken half term off so I'm going to have a few extra days to study! I've also just signed up to my final course in my degree - Advanced Creative Writing and I am really excited that I am finally nearly there and that I am finishing on something fun.

Although I've been super busy I have still found time to make my garden grow, it's amazing that I have managed to keep something alive as I am normally completely rubbish with keeping plants alive.

I have also started my 'I must lose a stone' diet again so I've been making some very yum and colourful dinners. It is hard to stick to all of this when there is a buffet lunch available every day for me but I'm going to try and be good especially with Summer approaching (although I say that optimistically).

Things are ticking along nicely with a holiday being booked soon and another Summer in London approaching.

xxx

Chicken Soup - Recipe

If you are a regular follower then you will know that I am a fan of broths instead of thick soup. With that in mind with lots of cold and sniffles going around what better than a little chicken broth to make you feel tip top. It's so simple to make and tastes lush.

Ingredients

2 onions, peeled and sliced  
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely diced
25g plain flour
55g butter
1.2 litres chicken stock
1tsp of ginger
500g cooked chicken, skinned and shredded
1 tbsp freshly chopped spinach
salt and freshly ground black pepper

  

Method to the madness

  

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat and gently fry the onions, celery and carrots until they start to soften.

 

Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock and bring the mixture to the boil, stirring as you do so. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then reduce the heat until the mixture is simmering and simmer for 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

 Add the cooked chicken and cook until heated through. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

Stir in the parsley and serve.

 xxx

Coconut Chicken Soup - Recipe

I don’t really like soups. There I said it. I don’t know what it is but I just can’t get on board with liquid for a meal, it doesn’t feel like I have eaten. What I do like however is broth. Basically, flavoured water with food in it. There is a lovely Thai restaurant in the Leicester Sq area that does a beautiful coconut chicken and mushroom broth and I crave it so much I thought I would try and make my own and do you know what – I think it’s almost as good. 

Ingredients

100g brown rice

1.2l chicken stock or vegetable stock

1 tbsp finely root ginger (or cheat like I did and get it out of a jar)

1 stalk of lemongrass, thinly sliced (same as above)

2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped

250g skinless boneless chicken breast, thinly sliced

175g chestnut mushrooms, sliced

200g cherry tomatoes, halved

The juice of 2 limes

2 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)

200ml carton coconut cream

a handful of chopped spinach

NOTE: I have included rice in the ingredients for this recipe but when I made it originally I didn’t make it with rice. Instead I just kept it as a brothy soup for a light lunch. Later in the week I cooked rice and added to the soup so we could have this for dinner and it was a bit more filling. It is gorgeous whatever your soup preference.

Method to the madness

(If using cook the rice in boiling salted water for about 10 minutes, until tender, then drain and set aside).

Meanwhile, heat the stock in a large pan, add the lemongrass, galangal or ginger, lime and chillies and simmer for 5 minutes. Next add the chicken and mushrooms and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, lime juice, fish sauce and coconut cream and simmer for 5 minutes more. Scatter over the spinach and serve (with a little cooked rice spooned in if desired).

Honestly the best soup in the whole world. Try it and you will see!

xxx

Weighty Issues

Something new readers will not know is of my continued efforts to lose weight and eat better.

Last year I was doing really well. I had dropped a stone and half, I was going to the gym 3 times a week (which I still hated but forced. I don't think I will ever like the gym.) and I was feeling much better about myself....And then I climbed over a park gate, my dress got stuck at the top and I fell with my ankle twisted under me and a with a rip in my dress.

I didn't break it but I did sprain it VERY badly meaning that all my hard work and gym time had to stop and with it the weight piled back on and I avoided the scales.

My saviour came in the form of a very lovely girl called Sarah who needed someone to do a case study on for her nutrition course. I volunteered and promptly set to work cutting out all white carbs, most sugar and all the fun things in life. Keeping a food diary meant that I had to look at the food choices I was making and realising that someone else was going to see those 5 babybels I ate in a row made me stop.

I have now been eating brown rice, weighing my cheese and scoffing down fruit for 12 weeks. I have managed to lose a very respectable 13lbs or 5.8kg for the Americans/Australians/Anyone else. I am 1lb off a stone and I have been promised a present so I am very eager to see how I've done at my weigh in tomorrow.

So far I haven't been indulging in exercise, my ankle still twinges a year on so I need to be careful but I have said to myself that once my exam is over I will make a real effort to work out and hopefully keep losing.

I am doing this to be healthy and happy and because I need to do this now before I become old, or pregnant and I can never get my body the way I want it. I still have 34lbs or 15.4kg to go but I am optimistic that I will have lost this by the end of the year and I will finally be satisfied that my body is a happy place. xxx