That being said, I have had enough of my blog break by now, I want to share in the Christmas love with you. I'm loving all the Christmas themed posts on everyone else's blogs.
Food wise I think I'm doing OK. I'm probably eating more than I should, and far more sweets than I am used to, but isn't that what Christmas is for?! As a consequence I have put on about 2-3 pounds on in the past two weeks. To be honest I am completely alright with that, and lets face it, I'm probably going to put a few more on next week. However in the past few days I have seen my weight stabilise and plateau, so I do think/hope that I am getting the balance between treats and whole foods just about right. To be honest I'm starting to get fed up of treat foods already. After working to eliminate sugar from my diet over the past couple of months, now that I have reintroduced it, I am finding myself having to be careful, otherwise I feel the effects! It's quite a good thing really as it is stopping me from going overboard!
Exercise wise, I stuck to my normal gym routine last week and went four times, however this week, this evening is the first time I'm going, and probably the only time this week. The other evenings are spent either out with friends or spending time with family, which is nice to prioritise this time of year.
Of course, today is Wednesday, so it is WIAW time. This week's WIAW photos were taken on Monday when I was actually ill, and spent most of the day inside willing myself to get better: which worked! I learnt that when I am in the house all day with not much to do, the fridge calls out my name a lot! Usually I suppose it wouldn't be as much of an issue because if it doesn't fit into my calories for the day then I don't eat it, plus I don't usually eat sugar, so usually I just don't have the stuff in the house to tempt me! Now that I am trying to enjoy a few treats in moderation, it gets a bit harder. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself though, I know I usually eat very healthily, so a couple of weeks of a few treats won't undue all of my hard work. Plus there's nothing like a bit of overindulging to make you want to eat even healthier than usual come January!
I'm still loving these egg whites, although at £3+ they are quite pricey, so I don't think I'll be buying them every week, but I just don't like to waste a yolk! To my egg whites I added one whole egg for some extra filling power.
Plus a dollop of lemon and coriander houmous!
Alongside a mug o lemsip. I hate the stuff, but I wanted something soothing.
Then it was vitamin C time! Two satsumas with a mug of almond milk tea.
Later on I found this chocolate caramel flavour coffee in the back of the cupboard which I had completely forgotten about.
Which I had with almond milk and some baklava! I've only had baklava once before and loved it, so I chose it as one of my Christmas treat items: love the stuff!
I was then off to the shop to stock up on tissues and food, however whilst there I hit the mother load. They had just reduced a lot of meat, and it was all stuff I normally buy! I got a good weeks worth for about £15, I think I easily saved £5+ . It has all been popped in the freezer ready for clean eating come January.
I was on a mission to heal myself through food, so obviously I had to make some soup!
I basically made Spicy Cauliflower Soup (Paleo), but I added other veg I needed to use, including broccoli and carrots, plus I added some chicken that I needed to use up. I chopped up plenty of garlic, and would of used more, but it is all I had!
I also added extra spices, which helped clear my sinuses, and I am crediting this soup with making me better! One mistake I made with this soup was to use light coconut milk instead of full fat: it just really isn't worth it, so I won't be making that mistake again!
Topped with both white and back pepper.
When mid afternoon hit, I really fancied something sweet, but felt like I should have some fruit too, so I made a bowl with loads of lovely food in it. I chopped a pear and sprinkled with cinnamon, added a cherry bakewell (without the cherry - yuck!), and warmed in the micro for 30 seconds. I then topped with 2% total greek yogurt, a blob of carmalised biscuit spread and a few blueberries. I got the caramelised Christmas spread from Waitrose, and the stuff is so addictive, more than half a jar is gone already: if you left me to it I'm sure I could finish a jar in one sitting, I wouldn't even need a spoon! Soo good, but soo bad for the waistline, not sure if I will be buying it again, as it renders my willpower obsolete.
It is at this point that I let you all down, as I went over to Iestyn's for dinner to celebrate his mothers birthday, and I didn't take any photos! The food was good, so I'll just describe what we had. Our starters was home made chicken liver pate served with salad, granary toast and home made chutney. Dinner was pork chops cooked with onions, chopped apples and white wine, served with new potatoes and veg. Dessert was a very light, but very boozy Cava jelly. I only ate half as I had to drive home and it was very strong.
To make up for the lack of photos, I will instead share with you pictures of the cookies I sent and received as part of Tamzin's Christmas Cookie Swap!
I received some cookies from Sarah who writes over at Welsh Girl Eats. I said that I'm all for 'healthy' cookies, but at the same time it is Christmas, so I'm also open to a bit of sugar and flour too: either way, cookies are good! So what Sarah did is send me two different kinds. On one side I had gluten free and vegan raisin cookies, recipe which can be found here, and I shall be making my own soon! Plus I got some double chocolate chip cookies, which were amazing. Unfortunately Iestyn saw these so I had to share, and they didn't last very long, but I loved them all, thank you Sarah!
The lucky lady to receive my cookies was Laura, and I sent her some Vegan Salted Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip cookies. My first time baking with a flax egg, I've always been a bit scared of them, but I'm glad I took the plunge, especially as Angela's recipes always look so good, but I might experiment with cutting down on the sugar next time!
So that is all for me from now, I have a review that I'm hoping to get up this week too if I have access to a laptop. I'm also hoping that my charger will be here for the weekend! I have my work Christmas party tomorrow evening, out with my sister and Iestyn for Black Friday, and then a meal out with friends on Saturday evening... not sure if I can hack three nights in a row, but I will give it a good go, all I have to do now is decide what to wear!
Have you been to many parties this Christmas? I haven't so far, but the rest of the week is jam packed!
How do handle the Christmas indulging? For me this time of year is abut enjoying food, so that is what I'm going to do!
What is the best thing you ate today? I had gingerbread porridge oats and a chopped pear, topped with caramel sauce... nom nom nom!
1 comments:
Yeah I love those egg whites but they're just too expensive to buy every week. And I hate wasting yolks as well!
I went to Bruges for my works Christmas party at the weekend and I'm going out for a meal and a boogie with my friends from home so fairly busy!
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