Catch up in photos!

Breakfast: 1/2 Melon and 2 Kiwis

Working on my egg addiction! 16 Hen Eggs, 4 Duck and 2 Goose! 

Breakfast: soft-boiled eggs on Ryvita, with avocado and beetroot

Planking with Luna, she loves to join in with everything I do!

Lunch at work! Peppers, Avocado, Celery, Carrot and  Sweet chilli Sauce in a tortilla.

After our planking session I had a lovely run today with my training buddy Luna! 

Getting the hang of it

This week was the start of week 6, and as much as I thought I was reasonably healthy beforehand, it's taken me 6 weeks to get in to the correct frame of mind, and now I'm here, I'm getting the hang of it.  There are a lot of things I don't eat, and I've just recently given up cheese for lent, and I LOVE cheese, especially feta cheese. So, my list of foods I don't eat now include Meat (including all fish) Milk, Milk Products (ice cream) Cheese and a reasonable list of processed foods.  I do still eat eggs, and yoghurt (only Greek) and I think it will remain that way, as my body is responding well to this way of living.

Luna our husky is also doing very well, she is especially good at being my designated personal trainer, and we had a fantastic run today, her pace is improving very well to match mine, and we cut 5 minutes off our run time since last we did the same route.  She has also gained a much needed 11lbs since we brought her home from the rescue centre and she is in great shape at the moment. Today we ran a total of 4kms in exactly 30 minutes, this was a mixture of both road work, and trail running. 

Today's Meals

Breakfast/Post work out snack

Hazelnuts, Greek yoghurt, 2 bananas and honey

Lunch:

3 ryvita crackers (120cals) , a pita-bread (150 cals) , 1 duck egg (hard boiled) 1/2 an avocado,

Salad : 1 beet, 1 carrot, 4 inches of cucumber, stick of celery, 1/2 a bell pepper 

Dinner:
Broccoli,Kale, 1 Carrot, 7 mushrooms, one serving of noodles, soy sauce

Snacks:

1 bread bun,  tbs of hummus, left over salad from lunch 

apple and satsuma
1 hard boiled hen egg.
10 prunes,  cashews

Thought for the day concerning diet, too much bread/bread products. 

Luna keeping me company whilst I blog

So, it's half way through week 4 already, and I'll admit, I haven't been eating as clean as I could have been, or should  I rephrase that, I haven't been eating as clean as I SHOULD have been, the 7 roses chocolates from last night are testament to that! I also haven't been keeping a food diary, I try, but I always seem to forget, so for the next 4 weeks I am making it a top priority to keep a food diary.

Now! for a little photo opportunity here, who say's it can't be a little bit funny? So here's me, with the smallest bit of muscle definition starting to creep in!! Not quite guns yet, but getting there! I've noticed my right arm is increasing in mass faster than my left, so I've taken note to work my left arm more! May have to swap hands whilst walking the dog as well for an extra bit of a work out!

Me being a bit silly! 

Meal Preperation

Today I'd like to write a little bit about my food preparation! It took me awhile to get my head around batch cooking, but once I started, I certainly didn't regret it!

Here's a photo of what I'm talking about.

Pre made lunches of Cous- Cous and Quinoa

 :

As a vegetarian I have  found it harder to organise meals in advance, unlike meat dishes these are more difficult to freeze, however as a vegetarian it is more important for me to prepare my meals in advance, If I am out and about, it's very difficult for me to pick up lunch from a store, a ready made sandwich almost always contains meat,  even the egg sandwiches are egg and HAM, and if they are not meat, then they are cheese, and this is something I also try to restrict in my diet, with the long term goal of elimination. 

The above photo includes some of my dinners and lunches for a week. 

These are:

lemon and coriander cous- cous with chickpeas and roasted vegetables. 

Spicy cous - cous with chickpeas and raw carrots and bell peppers

Quinoa with blueberries, feta cheese and Greek yoghurt

These are very carbohydrate based, however I have tried to include protein in them, they however are for more convenient for me than anything else at the moment,  I can just pick one up, pop it in my bag and go to work. (I work at KFC, not a  lot of food there for me to eat!!)

and yes, they do help me maintain my vegetarian diet. My next step is to pre prepare my own snacks!

Breakfast Egg Muffins with Kale and Mushrooms!

So, hows my diet going ?? Not too bad, I will be posting another photo of myself next week, the first 4 weeks have really been about trying to get the balance right, I've had a few falls with snacking, which is what I will be addressing this week, but mostly this is down to not consuming enough food  in my main meals.

Week One

My quest for fitness started before I set myself a 12 week challenge, it started years ago through educating myself on food and diet requirements, and taking an interest in hiking, running and weight lifting. Through educating myself about food I made the decision to become a vegetarian, with a longer goal of living a vegan lifestyle. I'm not starting this challenge from a sitting down position, I am not entirely new to exercise  but I know I could be doing a lot more, and over the next 12 weeks, instead of monitor my scales, I'm going to monitor the way my  body looks and feels. So, here is my starting photo! Week 1: Not my most glamorous of photos!

My next photos will be taken on weeks 4, 8 and 12 !