Food and Exercise Round-up (weeks 37 and 38)

The Stats (Wednesday 23rd October)

Weight:  8st 8lbs
BMI:  20.8
BFP:  35.5 (!)

The Stats (Wednesday 30th October)

Weight:  8st 9lbs
BMI:  20.7
BFP:  23.9

The Food

It's been a funny couple of weeks.  We had to have our old cat Whisk put to sleep.We miss him very much.  Work had very kindly allowed me to take the day we had him put to sleep off as holiday, and afterwards we headed straight out for a walk as a way of cheering ourselves up.  We had a lovely meal at the Moors Centre at Danby, and for the first time in a long, long time I had unrestricted cake - a giant slice of carrot cake!  We went out on the North York Moors again on Saturday and had another pub lunch - we felt like we needed some little treats.

On Sunday I recreated the St Clement's Cake for Alastair (and I had quite a lot of it too!).  As it was huge the office also benefitted on Monday.

One night the following week I made this Quinoa Breakfast Bake as a change from porridge.  It was nice - like posh rice pudding but for breakfast!

The Exercise

Much of my normal routine got suspended the week Whisk was put to sleep, but I did get a good run in last Tuesday - I went looking for hills, and this being Durham, I found them!

Given the hills and the fact it was officially the week's long run I was pleased with my splits - I think I'm getting faster!  At least I was - Thursday's run was a wash-out, as I mis-timed it after lunch (and we all know what that means!).  This Tuesday my legs were still really tired from Friday's Cross-Fit (of which more later..), and I had the bright idea of practising mid-foot striking instead of heel-striking which is what I do naturally.  Good in theory but in practice it made my calves so sore I've been hobbling ever since and I had to take an unscheduled rest day today!

And finally...Cross Fit!  I was absolutely petrified beforehand and my fear was entirely justified - we did this!  Given my lack of co-ordination it went as well as expected.  Dave (our coach) was very kind, he said to me and Angie "the intensity you were working at and the way you carried on was really good..." but then he couldn't help himself and continued with "...but your bar work was awful"!  I thought that was great, I like the way Dave tells it like it is!  I can't say I enjoyed it much at the time, as I don't like doing stuff I can't do well (the perfectionist in me) but I really enjoyed the cameraderie with Angie and Jim, with whom I did the WOD, and I felt brilliant afterwards, not only physically but also proud for doing something that challenged me both physically and mentally...I think I'm starting to get a bit addicted to Cross Fit, I'm already wondering if I can fit in another Cross Fit night a week!

Food and Exercise Round-up (weeks 35 and 36)

The Stats (Wednesday 9th October)

Weight:  8st 10lbs

BMI:  20.9

BFP:  27.6%

The Stats (Wednesday 16th October)

Weight:  8st 9lbs

BMI:  21.0

BFP:  25.8%

You will note that, although I was a pound lighter on Wednesday 16th, my BMI was higher than the previous week.  That's 'cos I shrank - I was 5 foot 4.1 on Wednesday 9th and 5 foot 3.7 pm Wednesday 16th.  Who'd have thought it?!

The Exercise

Shrinking aside, I've had a couple of brilliant weeks exercise-wise.  As well as cycling to work and back every day, last Tuesday, the 8th, I did a gorgeous run.  I've started running in the middle of the day which is a great way to fit a run in now that the nights are getting darker and also a fantastic way of breaking up the day at work.  I find that I spend the morning looking forward to my run and the afternoon feeling brilliant because I've done a run and it makes the working day much more cheerful and less stressy (thanks are due here to my bosses who don't mind late starts/long lunches as long as we work our hours).  This run was a good one - only two threshold sessions, and I'm already seeing a difference in my splits.

Mile 1 must have been a glitch though, I can't run a mile in less than 7 minutes without even feeling it, and that's a fact!  Even taking that blip out though, I came in at an average pace of about 9:40 which is fast for me, and I was well chuffed by that.

Wednesday was Pilates, which I started to do to increase my flexibility and to try and prevent the niggles that I inevitably seem to get when running, but which I'm actually starting to enjoy in its own right, Thursday was a particularly evil threshold session (which I'm pretty sure I did slower than Tuesday's long run!) and then on Friday my training buddy Jules came to visit!

Jules is awesomely fit.and I was worried about keeping up with her, but I just about managed.  We made the most of our weekend exercise-wise - Friday was a particularly brutal Cross Fit which took me way out of my comfort zone with forward rolls, which made me feel sick and dizzy and running backwards which I absolutely hated.  Saturday was rest day - a trip to Kendal and a night in the very pleasant Stonecross Manor Hotel.  We snuck a little swim in in the hotel pool but spent most of our time in the leisure complex in the sauna and the hot tub!  On Sunday we zipped up The Calf, down the other side and back round to Sedbergh on the Roman Road, and were very lucky to be just ahead of some pretty grotty weather all day - we missed the rain beautifully!  We made some new friends.

On Monday we did a lovely little recovery run.

The Food

And what is exercise without food...?!  We feasted on tortilla chips, home-made guacamole and tomato salsa on Friday night, followed by Chicken and Bean Enchiladas and so-called "Guilt-free Sticky Toffee Pudding".  Personally I don't feel guilty when I eat sticky toffee pudding anyway, but this was made with fresh dates, maple syrup and wholewheat flour and so was not only very tasty but much healthier than it could have been.

Saturday was notable for a visit to a lovely wholefood cafe in Kendal, where as well as a very nice quesadilla (still feeling Mexican) I had an amazing wholemeal scone with jam and cream.  The cafe is called The Waterside Cafe, it's by the river and I would heartily recommend it.

On Sunday we had a fantastic post-walk meal at the excellent Black Swan in Ravenstonedale.  I had a delicious pork stir-fry and a wonderful coffee/sweet treat combination - it was basically clotted cream topped with dried apricots stewed in rum and spices.  It tasted of Christmas!

I often find that just a taste of sweetness is enough at the end of a meal and this was perfect (and, to be fair, rather more than just a taste of sweetness!).  All in all, a fantastic weekend of good exercise and and good food with one of my very favourite people in the whole world.

Food and Exercise Round-up (week 34)

The Stats

Weight:  8st 9lbs
BMI:  20.8
BFP:  29.0%

The Exercise

It's been a busy few weeks!  Since coming back from my holidays I've done many extra hours at work (ugh...), started my half-marathon training plan, started Pilates and started Cross Fit!  On the grounds that I do so much else I'm only doing two runs per week, one threshold session and one long run.  I've completed Week One and just have my long run to do before I've completed Week Two (I've fallen into the pattern of having Sunday as my rest day and doing my long run on Monday).  My two threshold sessions have been appropriately brutal (and done on my stop-watch rather than Run Keeper so I have no idea how fast), but my first long run was just lovely.  Slow and steady, that's the way I like it - I can't wait for tomorrow's 50 minute one.

I ran negative splits for the first time ever (I think), without even trying!  I was well chuffed.  My plan of going back to short distances and working my way up gradually, combined with lots of stretching, Pilates and the exercises my physio prescribed seems to be working, and I ran the whole thing without any of the niggles that I've been having bothering me.

And after getting a bit bored of the circuit training classes I was doing after a change of instructor (we did the same thing every week) I started Cross Fit.  I've been twice and I think I'm addicted.  The two sessions I've done so far have been brilliant workouts - I've been gasping, sweating, red-faced and grinning afterwards!  I've even like the working in teams which is surprising given my prediliction for solitary exercise.

My first session was a partnered one:

And on Friday evening me and my team of three worked through this:

I couldn't quite believe we'd done it!

I had incredibly sore quads after my first session, so it was maybe not the best idea to do a 15 mile walk the next day - it was gorgeous though!

The Food

I made Green Tomato Chutney with tomatoes from our garden!

It's strong but tasty, and goes very well with both mature cheddar and venison sausages.

We did a little walk yesterday, and on the way back called into the very nice Brockbrushes Farm.  As well as enjoying an extremely decadent scone with jam and cream in the cafe we also stocked up on treats.  My favourites were a punnet of gooseberries, which I had stewed with honey, nuts and 0% Greek yoghurt (gorgeous!), and some very good Northumberland Sausage Company venison sausages.  I'd recommend this lovely little farm shop/fruit farm highly -lovely cafe with tons of home-baked treats (giant portions!), lots of high quality fresh local produce and also some interesting non-perishables - like this chocolate-flavoured wine!

Marrow Time

I grew a splendid marrow.

It made Baked Marrow Amatriciana, which was rich and delicious, and Smashed Curried Marrow which made a nice lunch piled into a wholemeal pitta bread.

The insides of the sections that made the Baked Marrow Amatriciana made Marrow and Pecan Cake which I took into the office and which was greeted with much praise, much to my pleasure.