I have an amazing pancake recipe for you all. Grain free, dairy free and no added sugar. Just 4 simple ingredients and they taste out of this world!

They are super easy to make though if you’re making a large stack, they can be a little time consuming but I assure you they are totally worth the effort!

Banana & Coconut Pancakes

Makes 7-8 pancakes

Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas
3 large eggs (I like Omega 3 eggs)
4 tbsp unsweetened coconut
Coconut Oil

Chop the bananas into chunks and add to a food processor. Break in the eggs and whizz until the banana has blended with the eggs. Add in the coconut and blend until the mixture forms a thick batter consistency.

Heat a frying pan over a low heat and add in 1tsp coconut oil…

Once melted, pour in a small amount of batter…

Cook over a low heat until the bottom has firmed. Carefully flip the pancake and cook the other side…

You will need to add a little more coconut oil to the pan before cooking each pancake.  Once cooked, keep warm in the oven until all other pancakes are cooked.

We ate them plain as they are delicious as they are and we are dairy & sugar free. However, you could add some toppings such as maple syrup, greek yoghurt with berries & chopped nuts, chocolate spread, almond butter & sliced banana – the possibilities are endless!

If you decide to make them, give me a shout and let me know how they turn out.  Happy eating!

©2012 JAG's Fitness Blog. All Rights Reserved.

I love lower body training day. It’s my favourite, especially when I get to train fasted. I’m always so strong and powerful when I train fasted, I often day dream about how awesome it would be to afford to give up work and spend my time training and building a super hot bod!  But until my beloved wins the lottery, that’s not gonna happen :’(

I was a little bit apprehensive about training today. I should have trained yesterday but didn’t feel up to it due to a visit from Aunt Flo. Yesterday was spent on the couch reading, watching movies and snuggling up in my blanket.   A terrible night of sleep had me waking after just 5 hours and feeling shockingly bad. However, once I’d drank several glasses of water and some green tea I felt more like myself and decided to just go for it. The 20 minute walk to the gym is something I really enjoy now, it gives me chance to think about my training, listen to my music and prepare myself mentally for the challenge ahead.   As I rounded the corner to the gym, my adrenaline started pumping and I decided what the hell, I’m gonna go all out today and get me a new PB.  And I did :-D

I started off with front squats. Since I got my new PB of 75kg at back squats, I’ve been alternating every session between front and back squats. As my working weight for fronts is now 55kg and my working weight for back squats is 65kg, I’m catching up pretty damn quick!

FRONT SQUATS

20kg x5
40kg x5
50kg x3
55kg x6
55kg x6
55kg x4

An increase of 5kg on my front squats. Really happy with that and my legs felt strong on the first 2 sets. I’m thinking maybe I didn’t leave enough rest time in between 2nd and 3rd set as I only managed 4 reps. Will aim for 6 next time.

DEADLIFTS

60kg x5
70kg x5
80kg x5
80kg x5
80kg x5
90kg x3
100kg x3
105kg x1 (PB)

Super happy with my new PB!  I won’t lie, it was hard. It was fucking hard! But I loved every second of it :D  I don’t see it going up any time soon, I’m gonna stick with that for a while and focus some attention on my squats now.  Grip is getting stronger and the chalk is really doing the trick. No need for straps just yet, not that I would use them anyway!

LEG PRESS (FEET PLACED HIGH) – 120KG

1×8
1×7
1×6

I increased this last time from 110kg to 115kg and matched the same reps and have increased up to 120kg today and still matched the same reps. Think I will be going up to 125kg next week.

LYING LEG CURL – 20KG

1×8
1×6

I really loathe the lying leg curl machine AND the standing leg curl machine at my gym. They just don’t feel right, especially the lying leg curl.  I find the start position is unnaturally low and makes it awkward getting a full curl.  I have noticed my gym now has a GHR bench though so I think I’m gonna be a masochist and include some GHR’s in my workout regime – torture!

CALF PRESS (ON LEG PRESS) 75KG

2X12
1X10

An increase of 5kg again. Still matching the same reps as last time so this will go up again next week to 80kg. Thank you stiletto heels for my stupidly strong calves!

SEATED CALF RAISE – 20KG

2×12

This machine has been out of order the last few weeks so I was really happy to see it back in use again today!

All in all, a killer workout and I can feel the DOMS starting to develop in my ass already. And I bloody love it! To celebrate my new PB, I created some grain free pancakes…

To be honest, they weren’t the best. I just don’t like the taste/consistency of coconut flour so I am going to recreate them with almond flour instead.

Here is the recipe anyway…

COCONUT & BLUEBERRY PANCAKES – Serves 1

4 eggs
4 tbsp coconut oil (or melted butter)
4 tbsp coconut milk
1 tsp sugar/maple syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 tbsp coconut flour
1/4 tsp gluten free baking powder

Blend eggs, oil, milk, vanilla, sugar and salt.  Sieve in the coconut flour and add the baking powder and mix until combined.  Heat 1tsp coconut oil in a pan and drop in a spoon of the batter mixture.  Cook over a low-medium heat until ready to flip over, cook underside for a few minutes.  Keep warm under a grill until other pancakes are cooked.

Top with your choice of topping.  I made some cream cheese frosting and covered with sliced strawberries.

I’m off now to enjoy my DOMS, drink some green tea and watch some trash on TV. Enjoy your evening folks!

©2012 JAG's Fitness Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts
200g jumbo king prawns
Virgin coconut oil
3 cloves garlic
Ground cumin
Ground cinnamon
Paprika
2 carrots
1 courgette
HUGE handful bean sprouts
HUGER handful of spinach

Melt 1tbsp coconut oil in a wok.  Mince the garlic and add to the wok on a low heat so that it doesn’t burn.  Simmer for a few minutes before adding in the cumin, cinnamon and paprika.  I don’t use exact measurements but if I had to guess, it would be 1.5tsp cumin, 0.5tsp cinnamon and 0.5tsp paprika.  Continue to simmer over a low heat for a few more minutes.

Whilst this is simmering, peel the carrots and use a veggie spiraliser to make veggie noodles from them and the courgette…

Add in the chicken and cook gently for around 5 minutes before adding in the prawns.  Continue to cook for a further 5 minutes, then  add in the carrot, courgette and bean sprouts.  Cook for a minute or two but ensure the veggies stay quite crunchy and add in a large handful of spinach right at the end of cooking.

Once the spinach has wilted, serve and devour :)

©2012 JAG's Fitness Blog. All Rights Reserved.

I’ve been such a busy bee in the kitchen lately!  I’m really loving making delicious food that is healthy too.

I’ve been looking for a good muffin recipe for some time now and was so excited to come across a fantastic blueberry coconut muffin recipe from Jessica at How Sweet It Is.

I made some slight tweaks to her recipe and was pleased that they didn’t take away from their deliciousness!

Blueberry & Coconut Wholemeal Muffins

180g wholegrain spelt flour
75g light brown muscovado sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1 egg
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
100g fresh blueberries

Add the flour, sugar and baking powder to a bowl and then stir in the coconut oil, coconut milk, vanilla and egg. Mix well until all combined and then fold in the coconut and blueberries.

Spoon into muffin cases and bake in the oven (Gas mark 4) for about 20 minutes.

I didn’t add any toppings but I imagine they would be to die for with melted coconut butter – shame I only have about a tbsp left in my jar and I am saving it until I can afford to buy more!

Just look at those exploded blueberries…

I just had to sample one and oh my days, they taste divine!  I plugged all the nutritional data into Weight Loss Resources and they come out at just over 200 calories so not bad at all!

I had the day off from work today and woke up wanting to get out and run.  That’s right – I go for 3 months with no running only to run 3 times in 4 days!

It’s so great having a park right at the bottom of my street and it was the perfect day for running laps around it…

I ran a couple of laps which totalled at about 2.5 miles and felt pretty good – the beautiful scenery definitely helped…

The route is quite undulating in places so it’s a lot more tiring than when I used to run the tow path.  I’m going to hit the tow path on Sunday for my longer run though as I think running the same lap over and over when you’re trying to build up to 10 miles or so would get pretty boring eventually.

Before I left for my run, I munched on 2 chocolate orange fudge balls which gave me a great energy boost.

Surprisingly, I had no appetite when I got back which is unusual for me as I’m normally ravenous after a run.  As I’m still trying to eat only when hungry I didn’t eat until those hunger pangs started which was at lunch time.  I had a major craving for scrambled eggs on toast…

Because of my spontaneous baking session dinner was running REALLY late – I needed something ultra quick that we would all enjoy so I opted for chicken fajitas – a family favourite!

Chicken Fajitas

Makes 6 fajitas

6 chicken thighs
3 peppers (red, green & yellow)
2 red onions
My home made fajita spice mix
6 tortialla wraps
Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Cut the peppers into strips and slice the onions…

Slice the chicken into thin strips.  Heat a wok and drizzle in the olive oil.  When red hot, add in the chicken and cook until it’s browned off.

Add in the vegetables…

and stir fry for a few minutes.

Add in the fajita spices…

And cook for a few more minutes…

Then spoon into the tortilla wrap and add in spicy salsa, sour cream, jalapenos or anything else you might want to add in, then wrap up and enjoy…

Delicious!

Yesterday’s dinner was also drool-worthy – Lamb & vegetable skewers with Moroccan Cous Cous…

I had a fab new book delivered today, which I forgot that I had ordered – great surprise!

I’m not one for living by “food rules” but from what I read of Michael Pollan when I read In Defense of Food, he advocates a diet of natural foods, and an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables – those sort of rules, I can definitely do!  I’m looking forward to reading it.

Now I’m chilling with a glass of wine…

and I bid you all a great evening!

©2012 JAG's Fitness Blog. All Rights Reserved.

As I’m getting back into my running, I wanted some healthy, pre-run snacks that would give me an energy boost and taste delicious.  My pre-run snack of choice is normally a 9bar or a Nakd/Trek bar for a natural energy buzz.  However, the husband and I are trying to budget our food shopping a bit better (£132 a week on shopping is NOT cool!) so I decided to have a play around with flavours and create some new fudge balls.  I also wanted an excuse to break open this bad boy…

which was delivered from Funky Raw yesterday, along with this cute bag to carry my lunch to work in…

Taking inspiration from my favourite Nakd bars and with a bit of initiative of my own, I came up with:

Chocolate Orange fudge balls

Chocolate Mint fudge balls

Cherry Bakewell fudge balls

I tasted all 3 last night and OH.MY.GOODNESS – you must try them!

To make the choc/orange and choc/mint fudge balls, all you need to do is sub the cinnamon & vanilla for orange extract or peppermint essence – just a tsp of each is enough.

The cherry bakewell fudge balls were made with just dates, almonds, cherry flavour Nakd Raisins and 1 tsp almond extract – easy peasy!

I’ll be adding the full recipe to my recipes tab if you want the details.

Edited to add:

Recipes are now in the recipe tab – for quickness, you can find them here:

Chocolate Orange Fudge Balls
Chocolate Mint Fudge Balls
Cherry Bakewell Fudge Balls

©2012 JAG's Fitness Blog. All Rights Reserved.

I still really want to do Tough Guy too but I don’t think I’ll be able to afford it – booooooo!

So, I’ll be up and out of the house early tomorrow for a run.  No idea how far I’ll be going as I’ve not ran once since my half marathon, which will actually be 3 months to the date tomorrow – freaky!  My aim is to just get out there, enjoy it and take it easy – I’m not after breaking any speed or distance records, I just want to enjoy it.

Food wise, everything is going well so far. I seem to have found a bit of self control again which is a really nice feeling after spending so long grabbing anything and everything I could get my hands on.  I’m still only eating when I’m hungry which means I’m not eating nearly as regularly as I was before, but I’m feeling satisfied when I do.

Food from yesterday was only 2 meals, though they were both quite calorific so I wasn’t starving.  I fancied something savoury for breakfast, which doesn’t happen very often!  I opted for scrambled eggs on 2 slices of wholemeal toast…

Dinner was chicken fajitas, made with my own spice mix instead of using a packet mix.  They were amazing!

Fajita Spice Mix

(Makes enough for 2-3 servings)

• 3tbsp cornflour
• 2 tbsp hot chilli powder
• 1 tsbp paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 chicken stock cube, crushed
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chilli flakes

Mix well and sprinkle onto meat and veggies whilst cooking. Store the leftover spice mix in an airtight container.

I had 2…

I also had wine to celebrate the start of the new series of Strictly Come Dancing!

I love this programme so much – it’s so much more entertaining than X-Factor (IMO) and it also starts the run up to Christmas.  I’m taking part in a Strictly Sweepstake on a forum I use which means I was allocated a team to support – I was given Flavia Cacace and Jimi Mistry…

And after watching last night, my new girl crush is the stunning Aliona Vilani…

(Source)

Do you watch Strictly Come Dancing?  How about the US version Dancing With The Stars?

I love Dancing with the Stars too and am so excited that both series are running together this year – twice the fun!  Jennifer Grey, aka Baby Houseman is awesome!

I received a telephone call yesterday afternoon with some amazing news…

MY DAD WAS COMING HOME!

They were finally discharging him.  He has his Hickman Line in situ, his bloods are coming back down to where they should be and he has had his cast removed, wound checked, clips removed and been re-casted.  The consultant said his wound was healing “beautifully” – let’s just hope the antibiotics do their work now and clear this darn infection once and for all!

He came home just after 6pm last night and it was so good to see him sitting back in his arm chair where he belongs.  He was so happy to be home and we’re all thrilled to have him home.

WELCOME HOME DAD! I LOVE YOU.

I woke a little later than planned this morning after having a late night – I was still up at 2am which is NOT like me at all.  As a result, it was too late to make breakfast but too early for lunch so I made brunch and had wholegrain spelt pancakes with strawberries & chocolate chips.  I added in a sprinkle of allspice and used strawberry protein powder instead of cookies & cream like I normally do.  They were utterly divine!

Strawberry & Chocolate Chip Wholegrain Spelt Pancakes

Serves 1

• 100g wholegrain spelt flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch sea salt
• Sprinkle cinnamon
• Sprinkle allspice
• 1.5 tbsp protein powder (optional)
• 175ml coconut milk
• Chopped raspberries & strawberries
• Cacao nibs
• 1 tsp virgin coconut oil

Mix all the dry ingredients together and then stir in the milk, berries & cacao nibs.  Mix well.

Heat a tsp of virgin coconut oil in a heavy bottomed pan until red hot.  I use coconut oil because it’s good for cooking with high heats. Spoon in a ladle of the batter…

Once bubbles start to appear on top, carefully flip it over…

Once cooked, keep warm under the grill whilst the other pancakes cook…

Once the pancakes are all cooked, stack and drizzle with maple syrup…

And then add toppings of your choice – I use Greek yoghurt, fresh berries & flaked almonds…

And here is what they look like inside – check out the mushy gooey goodness of the berries…

And on the fork…

Things that have made me happy recently…

• My dad coming home – hurrah!
• Having a new race to look forward to – happy days!
• Mini JAG completing a GCSE maths exam paper (his aunt is a maths teacher) and getting a Grade C – not bad for age 13 huh? Grade C was the highest grade obtainable on this paper, he has another paper which goes up to a Grade A to complete still.
• Discovering a new band – Gogol Bordello.  I’ve not come across a band I love this much in a long time – I’m officially hooked!

Things that have made me sad recently…

• The stupid horrible Daily Mail website  - I don’t know why I read it, it always makes me so angry!  The article to rile me up today was this one, saying Katy Perry has a protruding tummy – get a fucking grip!

(Source)

• Being able to buy 12 donuts for just £2 –  is it any wonder we are dealing with an obesity epidemic?  Supermarkets should be banned from selling this crap so cheaply…

What has made you happy or sad recently?

©2012 JAG's Fitness Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Thank you all so much for your lovely words and best wishes about my kitty Bitsi.  Thankfully, she didn’t have an ear infection afterall.  When I got home on Tuesday at lunch time, I noticed the gunk had all gone from below her ear.  I picked her up to look and the foul smell had gone too.  I asked the husband if he had cleaned her up and he said no.  He held her for me and I looked into her ear and all I could see was a little congealed blood.  She didn’t flinch when I touched it and there was nothing leaking out.

After she ate lunch, she sat and cleaned herself and spent about 10 minutes cleaning the ear out.  She folded her ear right back and cleaned inside it and once she’d finished, we had a look and there was nothing there except for a wee scratch.  It looks like she must have been in a fight or caught her ear on a branch or something because that’s all that was there.

She’s back to her normal self now and the ear doesn’t appear to be bothering her anymore so I’m really happy about that – I get very upset when my fur baby is poorly :(

I had a great food day today, though a binge almost hit me at lunch time.  Thankfully, I managed to stave it off without too much damage.

As you will see from my earlier post, I made an orgasmic breakfast this morning…

I can’t take credit for this recipe, I got the idea from the lovely Angela @ Oh She Glows.

Wholegrain spelt pancakes

Makes 4 mini pancakes

65g spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
10g protein powder
Pinch sea salt
125ml coconut milk (or milk of your choice)

Toppings:

Maple syrup
Greek yoghurt
Fresh berries

Mix the dry ingredients together and then stir in the milk.  Whisk until blended.  Heat a heavy bottomed frying pan or skillet with a spray of oil until hot.  Drip the mixture into the pan and watch until you see bubbles appear on the top.  Carefully flip over and cook the underside.  Stack and add your toppings and enjoy.

Mid morning, I made a latte but tried it with vanilla rice milk for a change.  As I posted recently, I’m trying to cut down my consumption of dairy produce as they wreak havoc on my stomach if consumed in large quantities.  This isn’t to say I’m going to cut it out entirely as I just couldn’t manage without my Greek yoghurt.  However, I’ve noticed cow’s milk in particular gives me a funny tummy so I’m experimenting with other types of milk.  I tend to use coconut or rice milk in my porridge now though I’m soaking some almonds overnight as it’s been too long since almond milk was in my life!

The rice milk latte was surprisingly creamy – it looked a lot darker in the mug than it normally does.  It had a lovely nutty taste to it that reminded me of hazelnuts.  I’ll definitely make this again though it won’t be an every day occurrence as the sugar content is a little high (it’s made from fermented rice).

Lunch was  wholewheat wrap filled with tuna with carrots on the side.  I didn’t get a picture because I’d already eaten half of it by the time I remembered.

After lunch, I went home and that’s when the urge to binge struck me.  I decided I fancied a packet of crisps so ate one and straight after, I ate another.  Once I’d eaten those I ate some fizzy sweet laces and that’s when I managed to talk myself out of it.  In the grand scheme of things, it’s not a binge and I managed to overcome it without too much damage – I still felt guilty for hours afterwards and mentally berated myself for it.  I’ve come to terms with it now though and am proud that I stopped it when I did.

Later in the afternoon, I snacked on two satsumas…

Dinner was a throw together meal of baked sweet potato, grilled chicken breast with piri-piri spices, salad and a ciabatta roll.  I ate the husband’s two tomatoes and they were lovely – and he brought me two more home today!

I also had an ice cold glass of sparkling mineral water with ice and 2 frozen strawberries…

The frozen strawberries gave the water the loveliest hint of strawberry – delicious!

I’m going to leave you with a new inspiration picture of mine – the amazing Ava Cowan working out.  Whilst I don’t want to look as vascular as she does, I think her physique is awesome and it definitely inspires me to kick my arse harder in the gym!

Who inspires you to train harder?

I won’t get too much chance for training over the coming days as my dad finally goes into hospital tomorrow to have his knee re-opened, have his knee joint taken out and an antibiotic block put into the joint space.  He’s suffered so much since May but so much worse over the last month or so and he’s deteriorating on a daily basis.  Positive vibes for my wonderful daddy would be very much appreciated :-)

©2012 JAG's Fitness Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Apart from the long day, it’s actually been a good one.  I’m having a mad obsession on cook books at the moment and the book people came to deliver my order of 4 brand new cook books – hurrah!  They are:  A healthy Italian cook book by Gino D’ACampo, The Chilli Lovers Cookbook, Cook Express containing 700 recipes and a Comfort Food Recipe book.  I’ve already book marked several dishes that I want to make over the coming week.

I also picked up at the shop a Men’s Health Special entitled “Fuel” all about nutrition.  As you know, I’m not a big fan of Men’s Health but this actually didn’t look too bad.  No doubt it won’t really tell me anything I don’t already know but there are some pretty cool recipes inside.

Speaking of new recipes, I made the most delicious chicken risotto last night in an attempt to get mini JAG eating more vegetables.  He adores fruit but it’s such a struggle to get him to eat veggies and we sat and had a family discussion about it the other night and he promised to try and eat more vegetables.  In the risotto, I added 2 very finely chopped red onions, a finely chopped sweet red pepper and some frozen peas.  Result?

He loved it!  Hurrah!

I got the recipe from CookUK and though it was quite calorific, I will definitely make it again.

Chicken Risotto

350g risotto rice
2 medium onions
450g chicken breast
100g peas (fresh or frozen)
40g fresh grated parmesan
1 sweet red pepper
1.5 pints chicken stock
1 glass white wine
25g butter
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 teaspoon saffron
2 garlic cloves
Salt & Pepper to taste

PREPARATION

Slice the chicken thinly
Finely chop the onion
Finely chop or crush the garlic
Finely grate the parmesan cheese
Wash the risotto rice in cold water
Cut red pepper in half, remove seeds and pith then chop

Method

Add 1 tbsp olive oil to a frying pan on medium heat, Fry the chicken on a medium heat for 3 minutes until cooked, turn the chicken as it’s cooking until the chicken is cooked through.  This should take about 5 minutes.

Stir the chicken whilst cooking to ensure it’s evenly cooked. When done, place the chicken to one side. Add the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and turn the heat to low. Add the onions, garlic and sweet peppers.Fry at a low heat for 10 minutes stirring the ingredients frequently. The idea is to soften the onions and peppers. When the ingredients are softened, add the cooked chicken and fry for a further two minutes.Now add the risotto rice and fry for another two minutes stirring constantly. make sure the rice is coated with the olive oil. Add the saffron. Add the wine and stir. When the wine has been absorbed by the rice add a ladleful of the chicken stock. Each time the stock is absorbed, add another ladleful. When all the stock has been added and absorbed, the rice should be moist but will “stack up” as shown in the picture.This process will take about 25 minutes. Add the frozen peas and continue cooking for 2 minutes. Now add the butter, parmesan cheese and peas. Add slat and pepper to taste and stir well for 30 seconds. Remove the risotto from the heat and leave it to stand (covered with a lid or plate).

I was so excited to receive a fabulous new gadget in the post today…

A new, wireless MP3 player by Sony that I will be testing out over the course of the next few weeks.  I can’t wait to get my tunes on it and try it out on my run on Sunday.  And they sent me a pink version – hurrah!

It’s also come at a perfect time as I am embarking on a new challenge starting on Monday which has been set up by three lovely dudes on WLR.  It’s running for 7 weeks which will finish just in time for my holiday on 31st August and there are no set rules as such, you have to devise your own but you also have to stick to them over the next 7 weeks.  For this reason, they have to be achievable goals – no point setting yourself up to fail!

Here are my goals:

(*) Set my calories to lose 0.5lb per week
(*) To weight train 3 times per week WITHOUT FAIL!
(*) One body attack class, one HIIT session and one run per week
(*) No alcohol whatsoever
(*) Minimum of 30% protein

I know all of the above goals are attainable and I also know that by sticking to them, I will lose the extra lbs that I gained whilst training for my half marathon.  I will also of course be doing my daily 10 minutes of the air climber challenge :-D

So, I shall be drinking my last bottle of Koppaberg this evening and making the most of it!

Food has been lovely today.  I started off with porridge made with semi skimmed milk, apple, cinnamon, Greek yoghurt, blackberries & pecans…

Mid morning was a skimmed latte and 2 satsumas…

Lunch was supposed to be an omelette but I wanted scrambled eggs and toast instead…

Mid afternoon, I snacked on a Virtue Bar but I forgot to snap it in my boredom at work.

Dinner was a home made lamb burger, made with lean minced lamb, red onions & fresh rosemary.  I served it on a ciabatta bun with olives…

Can you see the fresh herbs in a little water?  My lovely colleague Debbie picked them from her herb garden for me.  Note for Loony – they have replaced the dead cactus!

I’m going to get my cider now and watch The Biggest Loser.  I’m at work in the morning but only until 11am and then I shall be walking to the gym for my workout.  I’m thinking of giving body pump a try as I’ve not done a class in AGES!

Have an awesome evening folks!

©2012 JAG's Fitness Blog. All Rights Reserved.

I had a moment of realisation this afternoon whilst making a snack – I have a mammoth nut butter collection!

The entire collection

Coconut Butter and Raw Chocolate & Almond Spread

Peanut Butters

Almond, Cashew, Rainforest, Hazelnut, Brazil & Pecan Butter

Tahini & Pumpkin Seed Butter

I never realised just how many different nut butters I had – I think I may have to start eating more of them!  What is your favourite nut or seed butter?

My knee has been feeling a lot better today.  I was at work until 3pm but I came home and iced it a little this afternoon and have rested it, which sadly meant no body attack – booooo!  However, I knew the rest was necessary as at the moment, my race on Saturday is far more important.

I have STILL not sorted out my wardrobe so I desperately have to do that at some point this week – it really is in a massive jumble.  I have so many different clothes that I can’t find and I know it’s because they’re buried beneath so much crap that I don’t wear.  I hate my procrastinating – it’s a bad habit that I really want to try and overcome!

Food has been really fantastic today!  I had a bit of a kitchen mishap this afternoon when trying to make chocolate coconut butter.  However, I made a mistake adding the cacao right at the start as it didn’t liquidise so in the end, I gave up and threw it away.  I am going to try it again though but will add in the cacao towards the end when it’s all gone melty.

Something that didn’t go wrong however, was my delicious chocolate, pecan & maple syrup soft serve – all I can say is OH. MY. GOD!

I made it with:

• 1 frozen banana
• 2 tsp cacao powder
• 1 tbsp pecan butter
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• 
  

I sometimes add in a scoop of protein powder to give it an extra boost but I didn’t really have any flavours that would compliment the chocolate/pecan/maple so I omitted it.

It really was heaven in a bowl!

Rest of my food for the day was equally delicious.  I started off the day with berocca and green tea in my new mug…

and followed it with porridge made with coconut milk, Greek yoghurt, strawberries & pecans…

Mid morning was a skimmed latte and 2 satsumas…

I had to crop the above picture as there were 2 urine samples on the desk – nice.

Lunch was a prawn salad with jumbo king prawns, mixed salad leaves, kidney beans, spring onions & feta cheese…

Mid afternoon was my amazing bowl of “ice cream”.  Dinner was a wholemeal flatbread pizza with chicken, mozzarella, red onion, mushrooms & jalapenos…

I’m off for the evening now – mini JAG has his first basics exam for Army Cadets on Wednesday so I have to help him revise – wish him luck!

©2012 JAG's Fitness Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Hope you all had a good day, mine has been pretty freakin’ fantastic.  I woke up this morning feeling super sore which I have really missed – welcome back DOMS!  I walked out of my bedroom like the tin man, it was most amusing.  As the day wore on though I started to loosen up a little and I have a date with my foam roller after I have typed up this blog.

I had originally scheduled myself to do hill sprints today but I figured it wasn’t the best idea considering I beasted my legs yesterday.  So, I swapped around my rest day for today and will do the hill sprints tomorrow evening.  I’m also hitting the gym after work tomorrow afternoon to train my upper body.  I don’t often train twice in one day but I’ve been looking so forward to running hills that I want to get out there tomorrow, rain or no rain.

Food has been utterly divine today, despite going over my calorie allowance by 350 – never mind though, I have a minus balance thanks to all the exercise I’ve been doing – yay!

I started off the day with a bowl of porridge with coconut, Greek yoghurt, strawberries & pecans.  I was asked by a lovely reader how many calories my porridge normally contains.  It varies on a day to day basis depending on what I put in it but mostly it ranges from 500-700 calories, sometimes a little more.  I know this might seem like a lot of calories to spend on one meal (especially if you are losing weight and therefore on a paltry calorie allowance) but let’s not forget I eat maintenance calories.  I also start off with a large meal and eat smaller meals as the day goes on.

Mid morning I had some delicious cherries & a skimmed latte…

Lunch was a turkey salad, made with sauteed red onion, red pepper, courgette & mixed beans with 140g turkey steak & cherry tomatoes…

Mid afternoon, I had a protein frappucino.

Dinner was chicken breast, marinated in spices & Greek yoghurt and grilled.  I served it with Moroccan Cous Cous salad, the recipe of which is below…

Nutritional breakdown:

Calories: 2354
Protein: A whopping 231g (40.1%)
Carbs: 187g (30.4%)
Fat: 76g (29.5%)
Fibre: 25.2g
F&V: 9

Drinks: Lots of water, 1 skimmed latte, 2 green tea, 1 protein frappucino

Exercise: Foam rolling & stretching

Moroccan Cous Cous Salad

200g cous cous
30g butter
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 pint vegetable stock

Add the butter to a pan and melt.  Add in the onion & garlic and spices and sautee for 3-4 minutes until soft.  Add in the cous cous and stir so that it is coated with the butter and the spices.  Add in the vegetable stock, bring to a simmer and then turn off the heat and cover for 5 minutes.  Fluff up with a fork and serve.

Easy peasy!

It’s a lovely fragranced dish and even the husband gave it two thumbs up – quick, simple and delicious, what more could you want?

I had planned to sit and read my female fitness mags tonight but the husband and I started watching The Hangover and got totally side tracked.  I will start reading them before bed and carry on tomorrow.

Enjoy your evening folks!

©2012 JAG's Fitness Blog. All Rights Reserved.