Made it!

Well I've done it. Yesterday I managed to jog slowly for 30 minutes without stopping! Very pleased with myself. Now I just need to get a bit faster.....

Getting back into it

The last week or so I haven't really felt up to exercise particularly. My cold, whilst not too bad, only allowed me the energy to go to work and do everyday stuff, and I had no energy left for exercise. So today I went out for my first jog in about 10 days. I did the 14 min x 2 jog again, and was very pleased that I completed it fairly easily with no apparent detrimental effect from having 10 days off.

The weather is not looking the best over Easter so I guess that may well be my last jog before the holiday. I was hoping to have reached the goal of jogging 30 minutes in one go by Easter, which hasn't quite happened, but hey, before Christmas I could barely run for 1 minute at a time, so even if I didn't quite reached my goal I have progressed well.

I shall have to try and plan in some kind of exercise over Easter - and not eat too much chocolate! Although that shouldn't be a problem as I normally buy my Easter chocs half price the following week...

Meal plan w/c 30 March 09

Not a great to start to the week really. I came back from my weekend away with a cold which has proceeded to get worse all week. Unfortunately its not a "stay in bed" cold, its just a "struggle through the day feeling off colour" kind of cold followed by doing nothing in the evening to recover. Anyway, so the only exercise I've done so far this week was a 20 minute exercise bike session on Tuesday night which I wish I hadn't bothered with because it made me feel worse. Plus I've eaten too much this week because I've been lying around in the evenings and not been able to distract myself.

Then on Monday evening the dishwasher broke. I wasn't impressed. We have quite a small kitchen so if you don't keep on top of things there is nowhere to do anything. As it happens its quite an old dishwasher and we were planning to get a new one anyway over Easter, but hey that means I'm stuck with washing up for two weeks so meals will now be simple and use as few pots as possible!

Mon 30 - spicy chicken and apricot stew with rice and steamed veg

Tue 31 - chorizo, aduki bean and vegetable stew with a small handful of bulgur wheat chucked in

Wed 1 - fray bentos chicken and mushroom pie with steamed veg

Thu 2 - freezer meal, so either frozen pizza and salad, or frozen chicken thing with oven chips and baked beans

Fri 3 - bolognese, baked potato and steamed veg, if my cold is up to it

Sat 4 - hopefully something in the slow cooker, I have a packet of diced lamb in the freezer so maybe a lamb casserole or hotpot

Sun 5 - homemade pizza

Weekend update

On Friday I made sure I went for a jog at work, and I started off the penultimate stage which goes as follows:

5 min warm up walk and stretch
30 mins: (14 min jog + 1 min walk) x 2
5 min cool down walk and stretch

Finally I managed to shake off the lethargy and continual stitches that kept happening earlier in the week. I did well on the above jog and managed to complete it with no problems, so I'm pleased with that.

I then went up to my parents for the weekend, for the purpose of hearing my Mum sing in the Messiah on the Saturday with the amateur choir she belongs to. It was very enjoyable! I also caught up with a friend, who is currently debating whether or not to become a mature student, and if so, whether to go the whole hog and go to university, or whether to do a distance learning course. And then I caught up with my little brother who has just come back from twelve months in Canada.

Anyway, with all that going on, all the travelling, the clocks going forward, and the late nights very little exercise happened. This morning I'm shattered, I feel like I'm getting a cold, and I can't wait to get an early night. My plan is to do a few minutes on the exercise bike if I feel like it today and tomorrow, and then Wednesday to repeat my 14 min x 2 jog again.

Meal plan w/c 23 March 09

Finally I have managed to have a bit more self-control on the food front this week! (Although I admit to a chocolate caramel shortbread from Starbucks yesterday - which didn't count because it was a reward for making the last payment on my student loan hooray!)

Mon 23 - turmeric chicken with mash and steamed veg, new Rosemary Conley recipe which turned out very nicely

Tue 24 - salmon with soy and mustard sauce, mash, steamed veg

Wed 25 - sausage and mushroom pasta

Thu 26 - frozen pizza with salad

Fri 27 - going up to my parents for the weekend so this will be a late meal on arrival, I expect we'll get something like frozen chicken thing, oven chips and frozen veg

Sat 28 - again at parents, probably baked potatoes with cheese and beans

Sun 29 - and still at parents, probably some kind of roast dinner

Exercise update

The exercise hasn't been as organised this week either as I've been at home. Monday morning I went for a jog, and completed the (13 min jog + 1 mon walk) x 2 again. It went fairly well, the terrain is quite flat around where I live but there isn't much grass to run on, its all concrete, so not so easy from that point of view.

On Tuesday I went on the exercise bike for 45 minutes in the evening. I'm burning about 300 calories in 45 mins at the moment which is not bad. I need a new DVD to watch before I do another bike session though!

Wednesday I didn't do any exercise as we went to visit my grandparents who live about an hour and a half's drive away. By the time we got back I was pretty tired.

Thursday I don't think I did anything in the end, although I did potter round the garden quite a bit.

Yesterday I attempted to go for a jog in the morning, but it didn't work and I got a really bad stitch. I think I tried to go a little too early before my legs had really woken up. So that just turned into a walk in the end which I suppose is better than nothing. We went window shopping in the afternoon so I did a bit more walking then too.

And then today I finally got round to doing my new Davina DVD again. Its really good but I've only done it two or three times since I got it as I've been focusing more on the jogging and exercise bike. Anyway, I expect that will make me ache tomorrow. Never mind, I have Sundays off anyway, although I may well do a bit more in the garden, which would be better than my normal Sunday afternoon snooze...

Meal Plan w/c 16 Mar 09

I've been off work this week and had a week off at home so have not been in my usual routine. Whilst it hasn't been the most relaxing week off I've caught up on some jobs, seen a few people I haven't seen for ages, and enjoyed the sunniest week since last summer!

Mon 16 - pub meal: lamb and mint pie, chips and veg, followed by orange and lemon zest sponge pudding

Tue 17 - chicken casserole ready meal with steamed veg

Wed 18 - carvery with grandparents for lunch, prawn salad for dinner

Thu 19 - salmon and vegetable stirfry with a chilli stirfry sauce

Fri 20 - chicken rarebit, mash, steamed veg

Sat 21 - bernard matthews turkey breast roast with roast potatoes and parsnips, and steamed veg

Sun 22 - homemade pizza

Meal plan w/c 9 March 2009

I'm a bit behind and unorganised again this week. I did however have a root through the freezer to see exactly what lurks in the bottom. An interesting display of frozen peas, pastry flakes and ice crystals mainly. I did however discover that what I thought was frozen black bean sauce was actually frozen stewed mashed prunes (low fat butter substitute for cake!), and there are several tubs of freezer burned unidentified goodness knows what to look forward to.

Mon 9 - salmon with creme fraiche and mustard sauce, mash and steamed veg

Tue 10 - fish pie and steamed veg - if I may say so it was one of my best fish pies ever!

Wed 11 - vegetable frittata

Thu 12 - cheese and tomato toastie and salad (had a very late lunch due to a meeting at work, got home late and wasn't in the mood for cooking)

Fri 13 - morrocan lamb steaks with mash, fried parsnips and steamed veg

Sat 14 - haven't decided yet, possibly some of the spicy chicken wings I found in the freezer that never got bbq'd last summer, with some homemade chips

Sun 15 - homemade pizza

Exercise update

Things didn't really happen on the exercise front over the weekend. I did try on Saturday. I was going out in the evening and I arranged it so that I would do an exercise DVD prior to having a shower and getting ready to go out. Unfortunately 20 minutes into the DVD the phone rang and I ended up having a 20 minute chat - so by the end of that I had to go and have a shower so I wouldn't be late getting ready.

Sunday is my day off exercise but I did have some extra time yesterdayso I was thinking about exercise, but I never got round to it. My body really hates exercising on a Sunday. We go to church in the morning so that involves having cooked dinner at lunch time but late, and pretty much I just end up wanting to sleep in the afternoons.

Anyway, today I got back on track again and went for a jog. I did the (8 min jog + 1 min walk) x 3 for the third time. Five minutes into the last block of 8 I got a really bad stitch though so I had a quick rest and gave up on the running then and just walked back down to the office. I think I will do this stage one more time before moving on to the next stage. Hopefully on Wednesday.

Recipe: Turkey and Asparagus Pie

In my opinion, this is one of the best ways of using up cold turkey or chicken. The quantities are not exact as its a bit of a bung it all together recipe - the only important thing is to get the consistency of the turkey mixture right. Too sloppy and your pastry will submerge whilst in the oven. Not enough moisture and it will dry up in the oven.

Ingredients:
Cooked turkey for two people
About 5 asparagus spears, chopped into lengths
A few chopped mushrooms
A chopped onion
Some milk
Turkey gravy granules
1 crushed garlic clove
Parsley, sage and thyme
Salt and pepper
1/4 packet of bought puff pastry - basically a square about the size of a pack of playing cards

Method:
In a large saucepan, with some oil spray, fry the onion until golden.
Add the mushroom and the turkey and continue to fry until brown. Add more oil spray if needed.
Add the asparagus and crushed garlic.
Then add the milk to the pan - add enough to cover the mixture in the pan plus a little more.
Thicken the mixture with turkey gravy granules. If you prefer use a stock cube and cornflour.
Add the herbs and seasoning.
Simmer for about 10 minutes.
While it is simmering preheat the oven to 200C.
Get a suitable dish, a deep one is better than a shallow one.
Roll the pastry out to the size of the dish.
Spoon the turkey mixture into the dish and top with the pastry.
Poke a hole in the top of the pastry with a knife and brush the surface with milk.
Cook for 30 minutes in the oven.
While its cooking steam yourself a selection of veggies to go with it.
Sometimes I do a little mashed potato as well.

The beginning of stage 6

Yesterday I completed the next jogging stage:

Stretch and warm up walk 5 mins
Jog/walk: (8 mins jog + 1 min walk) x 3
Stretch and cool down walk 8 mins

And yes, I managed to complete it with no problems. I could hardly believe it! The way my legs just managed to keep going in a way they wouldn't have done just two months ago.

I nearly got stitch after the second jog but managed to keep it at bay. However during the afternoon my legs started to ache/twinge a little, and they still feel the same today, so I think that now I'm getting on to more continous jogging I must make sure to stretch properly at each end, and maybe only go every alternate day and not two days in a row. Will see how it goes.

Must get myself some proper running shoes as well. It seems difficult to find the time. There is a shop very close to work - but either I'm going for a jog at lunch, or else I have my work clothes and shoes on if I'm not, and don't want to be running on a treadmill or whatever they do to analyse your feet in office clothes. I'm not sure what the best way forward is.

Menu plan w/c 2 March 09

Mon 2 - tofu and vegetable stirfry, rice noodles

Tue 3 - salmon with garlic butter sauce, roast parsnips, mash, steamed veg

Wed 4 - turkey mince bolognese, baked potato, steamed veg

Thu 5 - frozen pizza and salad

Fri 6 - (Choc Chip's birthday) smoked salmon and avocado salad, steak with pepper sauce, homemade chips, roast parsnip, steamed veg

Sat 7 - ciabatta rolls and vegetable soup for lunch , tea at church in the evening

Sun 8 - homemade pizza

Finally....

...I got round to doing some strength training again. Well, 15 minutes worth anyway. I have a few free weights which I use at home. The problem is I do it so rarely that each time I start again I have to use the teeny tiny weights. My aim is to try and do two lots of 15 minutes a week, and at least this week I have made some progress in that direction. I think that's been my aim for the last few months and the weights have not been employed very often at all.

Despite the fact I know that building muscle is great because then you burn more calories at rest, somehow doing weights feels like a lot more effort for not much gain. I suppose it doesn't help that I can only use tiny weights, as the effect of muscle building is reduced.

The other things with weights is that it can be hard to motivate yourself to do at home. Its not one continous movement like say the exercise bike, you have to think about each different exercise and its execution. I only have a couple of DVDs that use weights, generally DVDs are more cardio based. Its the Davina ones that use the weights and even then she focuses on low weights with high reps, rather than building up strength.

Oh well, I know I must try and do it so now that I've given it another go hopefully I can keep going!

Jogging update

All is going well, I have just completed the next jog/walk stage, three repetitions of the following:

Stretch and warm up walk 5 mins
Jog/walk: 6 min jog, 1 min walk, 5 min jog, 1 min walk, 6 min jog, 1 min walk, 5 min jog, 1 min walk
Cool down walk 9 mins (forgot to stretch AGAIN)

This went really well, I didn't have any problems at all. I had slight stitch in the cool down walk the first time I did this. I managed to go a little faster each time - and in fact today my final walk was only 7-8 mins as I had cut that off my time. I don't think I'll extend my route particularly though yet, I'll see how the next stage goes. In the 40 minutes I'm only covering about 4.2k at the moment - and that currently includes 22 minutes of running and the rest walking.

On Wednesday I shall do the first run of the next stage which is as follows:

Stretch and warm up walk 5 mins
Jog/walk: (8 min jog + 1 min walk) x 3
Cool down walk 8 mins, and stretch

That looks quite scary compared to what I did today, but its only an extra two minutes of running, so we'll see how it goes.

Meal plan w/c 23 Feb 09

Mon 23 - cajun chicken in gravy, mash, steamed veg

Tue 24 - smoked mackerel, bread, salad, lots of pancakes!

Wed 25 - lasagne, steamed veg

Thu 26 - fray bentos steak and ale pie, mash, veg

Fri 27 - something with tofu, going to find a recipe when I get home

Sat 28 - homemade pizza for lunch, tea at church in the evening

Sun 1 - at a friend's house for Sunday lunch, I expect it will be a roast

And the weekend

On Saturday we had visitors, my uncle and aunt came up for the afternoon. They still hadn't seen our "new" house - which we moved into nearly two years ago, so a long overdue visit! So the exercise I got in there was two hours housework (last minute tidying up and hoovering) in the morning, and an hour and a half stroll in the afternoon, showing them our local area.

It was nice to get out for a walk actually, as I think its been the nicest weekend weatherwise in quite a few weeks.

Anyway, they didn't leave till latish, I was thinking of doing some stretching exercises but too tired in the end so didn't get round to it.

Sunday morning I woke up with conjunctivitis, so that scuppered any plans for the day. I spent most of the day asleep. I didn't feel particularly ill but it's quite a strain on the eyes and head having one hugely swollen eyelid. You forget as well that with only one eye to look through you don't see perspective properly and sometimes have to try twice to pick things up!

Anyway, its on the mend today, but again no exercise done as I was feeling pretty washed out. I have a couple of busy days at work coming up now, so I think the plan will be exercise bike in the evenings and then hopefully will get out jogging again at lunch towards the end of the week.

Jogging update

I have now completed the (5 min jog + 1 min walk) x 4 three times. So I think I will move on to the next stage next week. Today I tried to go a little faster at times, and generally it made me start to develop a stitch. So I slowed back down and tried to breathe more deeply and it just about managed to ward the stitch off until the end of the running stage.

I'm now going to give up on the plan I have as I don't like the way it continues, and just increase my jogging time by 2 minutes after each three sessions, and slowly reduce the number of 1 min walks I take. In theory I could be jogging for 30 minutes at a time in 5 weeks! Kind of hard to believe. But then hey before Christmas I couldn't jog for more than 1 minute at a time.

Nearly a disaster today - I exercise at lunchtime, and I work in an office. Today there were only two of us in, and while I was out the other person went out for lunch, locking internal and external doors as no-one remained. Unfortunately I only take the external door key with me - it was jolly cold sitting in the foyer for 45 minutes!

Recipe: Chicken Rarebit

This is one of my favourite recipes at the moment, its suitable for a mid-week meal, it has only a few ingredients, oh and its full of calcium (er...well cheese anyway):

Chicken Rarebits (serves 4)

Ingredients:
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts
olive oil, for greasing
140g coarsely grated cheddar
1 heaped tbsp wholegrain mustard
3 tbsps milk
150g cherry tomatoes, on the vine
brocolli and new potatoes, to serve

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200 C. Slice the chicken breasts in half horizontally so you have two thinner pieces that will cook quicker. Lightly oil a shallow baking dish and arrange the chicken in it in a single layer. Mix the cheese, mustard and milk together, then pile the mixture on top of each piece of chicken.

2. Place the tomatoes all round the chicken. Cook for 20-30 minutes until the chicken is golden and the tomatoes are squishy.

3. Serve with the brocolli and new potatoes. Suggest to everyone that they squash the tomatoes on their plates to blend into the cheesy sauce.

Variations:

- Any old tomatoes are fine if you don't have cherry vine ones.
- I prefer to use an oil spray rather than actual oil
- Brocolli and new potatoes are not mandatory, I always just eat a pile of whatever veg is lying around with them!

Enjoy

Menu plan w/c 16 Feb 09

Mon 16 - indian takeaway with friends

Tue 17 - tuna steak with sweet n sour sauce, mash and steamed veg

Wed 18 - chicken in white wine casserole, mash , steamed veg, maybe roast parsnip as I have about 5 parsnips that need eating

Thu 19 - chicken fajitas

Fri 20 - turkey pie, mash (small amount!) and steamed veg

Sat 21 - friends over for lunch which will be soup and sandwiches and stuff, so probably use up some ready meals in the evening, with extra veg on the side

Sun 22 - bring n share lunch at church, have agreed with a friend that I will take microwave rice, as she is doing a slow cooker curry

Stage four

Today I had a go at the next stage on the walk/jog plan. It was quite a jump up from stage three and I wasn't really on top form as I've had a niggly cold over the last few days, but nevertheless I made it, although quite slowly. Forgot to stretch at both ends though - really must try harder with that.

Warm up walk 6 mins
Walk/jog 24 min: (5 mins jog + 1 min walk) x 4
Cool down walk 10 mins

So that includes 20 mins of running - officially half of my 40 minute exercise is now actual running! Well - very slow jogging possibly, but I'm working on it.

I shall try and do that twice more this week and see how we go.

I haven't managed to get any strength exercises in for a while. I had visitors at the weekend and its very hard to get a moment to yourself when you have to entertain people.

A good run

Today's walk/jog plan went well.  I did the 3 mins jog + 1 min walk x 6 again today and it went even better than the first time.  I went slightly faster at the start this time whilst not overdoing it and I finished 2 minutes earlier than previously.  I may have to come up with a slight extension to my route.

However this evening I'm not feeling so good.  I think I may be coming down with a bit of a cold.  It wouldn't surprise me as two others at work have already come down with something within the last week.

I'm planning to run again tomorrow lunchtime but will have to see how I feel.

Soon I shall have to think about getting some proper running shoes.  I didn't buy any straight away in case I didn't get on very well but I think I will probably stick with it.  

Meal plan w/c 9 Feb

I'm a bit more organised this week:

Monday: chicken breasts roasted in gravy, mash, steamed veg

Tuesday: salmon fillet in soy mustard sauce, mash, steamed veg

Wednesday: thai green vegetable curry, basmati rice

Thursday: baked pork steak topped with a little stuffing, mash, steamed veg

Friday: (parents coming for weekend) shepherd's pie but with potato slices not mash, steamed veg

Saturday: pub lunch, and then a light tea later

Sunday: some kind of chicken casserole in the slow cooker, maybe with roasties, and steamed veg

Exercise update again

Its not been the best week for exercise - but that would be because of the snow that has fallen all week and ruined most of my outdoor plans. I had two days off work because the public transport was cancelled and I had no other way to get in. I got a lot of housework done that had been waiting a long time though!

I managed one run mid week - and I managed to get up to the next stage which was great! I did:

8 min warm up walk and stretch
24 mins - (3 min jog followed by 1 min walk) x 6
8 min cool down walk and stretch

And it was absolutely fine. I did make sure I started off slowly and didn't speed up until about jog 4. In fact I think overall I could probably walk faster than I am currently running. Never mind, its the minutes that count, the speed and distance come later.

The weather still looks very cold and icy at the beginning of next week so I'm not sure how well that will go either.

I did get on the exercise bike this week today, I did a new record today of just over 330 calories in 45 minutes. And my legs have finally stopped hurting from the Davina DVD!

Exercise DVD review part 2

I bought the new Davina DVD - Super Body Workout - for Christmas for myself, and I've finally got round to doing the second part of it. So Tuesday night I did the 40 minute Super Sculpt section, a combination of weights exercises and squats, plus a few abs exercises:

8 minute warm up
18 minute weights and squats section with 1 minute cardio intervals
6 minutes abs section
8 minute cool down

I think that equals 40 minutes!

The warm up was fun, the weights and squats section was excellent, quite a few new weights exercises, and as the exercises are combined lower and upper body its double the work and efficiency. However two days later my legs are still quite painful, ooh those inner thighs! Sometimes I found it difficult to concentrate on both my arms and legs at once but I guess that will come with practice. The cardio intervals are good to keep up the heart rate.

Davina seems to be the only person who uses weights on a DVD which is really good (as weights in my opinion are rather dull and a lot of effort on your own) however she does do quick reps, a high number, with a low weight rather than focusing on building up the upper body.

The abs section was fairly straightforward, but I find my neck aches after a couple of minutes and I can't complete all the exercises, again just practice needed. And the cool down was fine - fairly standard.

So I will definitely be doing this section again, a great toning workout but at present I think my legs will only be able to cope with it once a week max!

Meal plan w/c 2 Feb 09

Mon 2 - glazed lemon chicken with roast potato and sweet potato, and steamed veg

Tue 3 - tuna steak with cauliflower and brocolli cheese, mash, steamed veg

Wed 4 - baked italian coley, baked potato, steamed veg

Thu 5 - chicken and vegetable stirfry, rice noodles

Fri 6 - homemade pizza

Sat 7 - steak with homemade chips, steamed veg

Sun 8 - friend taking us out to dinner (late birthday present for me)

We really DO eat too much...

On Saturday I decided to do some baking. I'd had a very busy month at work and Saturday was my first chill out weekend since Christmas. So I decided to bake some muffins and had a look through my recipes. I fished out an old recipe card, one I'd inherited from Mum, for apple and raisin muffins. The card looked like it came from the 70's or 80's but the recipe seemed straightforward - and at the bottom it said 125 calories per muffin!

Wow I thought. I have a Starbucks muffin once in a while and the lowest calorie one clocks in about 275 (skinny something fruit or other muffin) all the way up to about 600 for a double chocolate or equivalent. As an aside my local have stopped doing the breakfast bran muffin which disappointed me a lot - although even that had about 550 calories. The day I found that out was a huge shock - lesson learnt that healthy does not always equal low calorie, and that muffins are essentially cake even if they are full of bran and pine nuts and things.

Anyway, I digress. I found my muffin tin and muffin cases and started cooking. The recipe said it made 16 muffins - my tin only held 12 but whatever, I'd make them a bit bigger. However when I had finished the mixture and started putting it in the cases I spotted the reason for the low calorie count - they were going to be tiny! The finished muffins (and I only made 11 in the end) filled about half of the muffin case rather than muffining over the top! I should have used normal fairy cake cases.

No wonder we were all thinner in the 80's - our muffins were less than half the size! Anyway, they tasted pretty nice. I would have taken a picture but Choc Chip was out for the day and had taken the camera and by the time I remembered, I'd eaten most of the rest or put them in the freezer.

It always bugs me that the sandwich shops have such massive pieces of cake - and the above would show this is not an unreasonable moan. People say to me, well just eat half and save the other half for another day. Unfortunately that never works - I think about the other half all afternoon and end up scoffing it anyway. I'd rather pay half price for half a piece.

The joys of cake.......

Meal Plan w/c 26th Jan

A bit retrospective this week - its been our busiest week of the year at work (and I do mean a rolling year not a calendar year!) so things have been hectic and meals have been what I can be bothered with on the night:

Mon 26 - friend's house - lamb chop with veg and gravy

Tue 27 - bolognese, with baked potato and steamed veg

Wed 28 - Moroccan chicken casserole

Thu 29 - Moroccan coley casserole (with leftovers from last night!)

Fri 30 - Asda four cheese pizza

Sat 31 - Roast chicken breast with vegetable gratin

Sun 1 - homemade pizza

Somehow too much pizza always gets into my menus...

Moroccan Chicken

This is one of my favourite recipes at the moment - it's great for cold winter days, really warming, and full of loads of veggies! It's a slow cooker recipe (crock pot for all you Americans!)

Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil
1 onion thinly sliced
1 crushed garlic clove
2 carrots thinly sliced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
425g/15oz tin of chickpeas
350g/12oz sweet potatoes cut into cubes
450ml/2 cups chicken stock
finely grated rind of 1 lemon
1 tbsp lemon juice
8 skinned chicken thighs

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add onion and garlic, cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until beginning to turn golden.

2. Stir in the carrots, then the salt, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger and pepper. Add the chickpeas, sweet potatoes, stock and lemon rind. Bring just to the boil and transfer to the slow cooker.

3. Arrange chicken on top of vegetables, pushing it gently into the liquid

4. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours. Stir in the lemon juice just before serving.

5. Serve with heaps of fluffy couscous with some fresh mint stirred into it.

(Serves 4)

Other suggestions:

This works well in a normal oven too - follow the recipe as above but place it in a casserole dish instead of the slow cooker. Add some extra liquid so that all the meat and veg is just covered. Cook it for an hour and a half on 180C (350F). You may want to add some cornflour for the last 20-30 minutes to thicken it up a bit.

I've tried the following variations with success:

• tinned green lentils instead of chickpeas
• adding other root vegetables instead of chickpeas, such as potato or parsnip
• you may only need 1 thigh per person if they are big, or chicken breasts work as well
• you may not need the salt depending on how salty your stock is
• BUT don't leave out the sweet potato, its not the same without it

Enjoy!

Solved a problem

Today I tried to add a couple more minutes into my walk/run plan:

7 mins warm up walk and stretch
23 min walk/jog: (2 mins jog + 1 min walk)x3, (3 mins jog + 1 min walk)x2, (2 mins jog + 1 min walk)x2
10 min cool down walk, forgot to stretch

Total 40 mins, 16 mins jogging

Must remember to stretch argh! It just flies out of my head. One day I will regret it!

Today I consciously slowed down and paced myself right from the start, so that I could make it through the three minute sections - and everything went to plan. Then it occurred to me that I had been going quite a bit faster at the beginning last week. That would be why I started to run out of energy towards the end then... So, must try and remember that lesson, even if I feel fine to start with, I have to pace myself and not race otherwise I wont make it to the end!

Exercise Update

I did another run on Thursday, with the 2 minute jog/1 minute walk cycle. I made it through, although it was hard work in the middle. I just slowed down until I was going really quite slowly, but still running, as I think at this stage stamina is more important than speed. I might try to add a couple more minutes of jogging in next week. I'm not sure I'm quite ready for it, but I can always go back again if I don't make it.

The exercise bike is going well - I beat the 300 calorie mark the last two times I've been on it (in 45 minutes). So I'm quite pleased with that. I've been increasing the intensity slowly and I seem to be coping with it. I'm not sure how accurate the calorie counter on the bike is, but I guess its all relative and if I keep beating my own score then at least I'm burning more calories each time.

I haven't quite got round to doing much in the way of toning, strength or flexibility exercises in the evenings. We're very busy at work during January, so hopefully when February rolls round I may feel a little more like it. Maybe I should try and start slowly, just doing 10 minutes at a time or something. If I've already been for a jog or on the bike I feel like I've done enough for the day, but I really need to do a bit of strength work as well. I think I need to try and strengthen my stomach a little - maybe it will make me less likely to get a stitch when running.

Meal plan w/c 19 Jan 09

Mon 19 - homemade vegetable soup with bread and butter

Tue 20 - thai green chicken curry, rice, steamed veggies

Wed 21 - frozen chicken bbq pizza (man came to fix boiler, he didn't finish in the kitchen till 9pm!)

Thu 22 - italian baked fish, with baked sweet potato and boiled veggies

Fri 23 - turkey pie, with steamed veggies, and maybe a little mash

Sat 24 - beef pot roast in the slow cooker, roast potatoes and parsnip, steamed veggies

Sun 25 - homemade pizza

Back to the old route

Went back to my old route today for my walk/jog and fared slightly better. I chopped a bit out of the middle and the timing was about right:

9 min warm up walk, and stretch
21 mins: (2 mins jog + 1 min walk) x 7
10 min cool down walk, forgot to stretch

Total 40 mins, 14 mins jogging

My last jogging section now came on the main road, but it was a big downhill so gave me a bit of momentum to finish that final bit! I got through it okay today, no particular problems, so was fairly pleased. I do feel like rather a wuss for finding running for 2 minutes at a time quite a challenge, but keep remembering I've got to compare myself to me and no-one else.

All the other joggers out at lunch time seem to go very fast and look much better than me! Today for the first time I caught another one walking, I was beginning to think no-one else ever did walk/run programmes.

And then I hate it when I pass a person in the other direction and my brain thinks I have to look like a proper runner and makes me speed up a bit and try not to puff too much!

Must think in baby steps!

Homemade Pizza

Homemade pizza is our Sunday favourite these days, who needs a roast dinner anymore! I just put the dough on (in the breadmaker) before we go to church, then when I get home its all ready! Just let it rise, prepare the toppings, and then I cook it in my special microwave pan, which is designed to make it extra crispy on the bottom!

This one was smoked sausage (reduced fat!), green pepper, mushroom, and some red chilli (but not on my half!). Yes, I only ate half, I have to share it with Choc Chip, although I'm sure I could polish off the lot if it came to it hee hee!

Tried a new route

Today I tried a new route for my run, I want to try and have only a 10 minute cool down walk instead of 15 minutes. Well, the route I tried didn't work. It was one I had walked many times before, but I hadn't realised how many small inclines and hills it involved! They are really not as obvious when you are just walking. Plus the route had a lot less grass on it, and running on pavement is a bit harder on the knees.

So, anyway, I was doing the same plan again with 2 mins jog plus 1 min walk x 7 with a little walk either end. I again lacked in energy in the first half but I think it could well have been due to those unexpected hills. I started getting into it towards the end again. I'm still going to have to stick at this stage for another couple of runs at least though.

The route I did had only a 5 minute walk at the end - not quite enough. I think I shall go back to my original route and modify the middle section a little. The problem is it takes 10 minutes to get to the nice flat grass bit whichever way you go and I've been trying to avoid jogging back down the main high street where everyone can see - I think I just have to get over that!

And as for stretching in public - oh I feel very silly doing that! I think I shall just move on to doing it in my office before I go out and when I get back, not ideal, but its very hard to stop in the street and stretch.

I didn't have a great weekend, very tired and headachy all the time. Its our busy period at work at the moment, and its all getting a bit much. Still I had a good nights sleep last night, I think I'm surfacing again, as today I felt some energy returning.

Running not so good

My last two running sessions have been deteriorating. Yesterday I did the same plan as Tuesday, with the run/walk programme consisting of 2 min jog followed by 1 min walk x 7. I JUST made it to the end.

Today I did the same thing, but first I got a bad stitch, and then my energy just gave out in the 6th jog. So I gave up the running and just took a brisk walk back to the office.

I think I'll have to try again with that stage next week and see how it goes. I have been quite tired and busy this week so I don't expect that helped on a Friday.

Tomorrow I'll either have a go on the exercise bike or have a go at the second half of my Davina DVD. I have to go into work in the afternoon so I'll see what I feel like when I get home. Hopefully I will be feeling a little more awake tomorrow after an evening of relaxing.

Recipe: Beef Burritos

Beef Burritos - serves 2

Ingredients:
250g lean minced beef
1/2 small chopped onion
1/3 chopped green bell pepper
1 crushed clove of garlic
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp ground cumin
salt and black pepper
4 tbspns salsa
2 tbspns tomato puree
handful grated cheese
some shredded iceberg lettuce
2 large tortilla wraps

Method:
1) In a frying pan brown the onion and green pepper
2) Add the minced beef and cook till brown
3) Stir in the chilli powder, herbs, cumin and salt and pepper
4) After a couple of minutes stir in half the salsa and all the tomato puree
5) Spread lettuce on tortillas
6) Top with the beef mixture
7) Top that with the rest of the salsa and the grated cheese
8) Wrap it up and munch away!

roughly 450-500 calories per person

Meal Plan w/c 12 Jan

(Sun 11 - missed off last plan, but want to start on a Monday now - homemade pizza with pancetta, mushroom and yellow pepper)

Mon 12 - out, bring n share buffet at choral class, turned out to be mostly egg sandwiches and cake!

Tue 13 - turkey mince bolognese, steamed veg, Choc Chip cooked and forgot to do any carbs with it

Wed 14 - chinese takeaway with a friend

Thu 15 - honey mustard chicken thighs, mash, steamed veg

Fri 16 - minced beef burritos and salad

Sat 17 - salmon fillet with citrus sauce, mash, steamed veg

Sun 18 - homemade pizza probably with either smoked sausage or pepperoni

Made it to stage two!

Running went well today:

9 min warm up walk and stretch
21 mins - 7 x (2 mins jog + 1 min walk)
15 min cool down walk and stretch

I had a couple of extra minutes in there somewhere as I hit a hill and couldn't run up it. But overall it went quite well. I think yet again I have hit another limit so I will need to do that programme at least a couple more times before going on to the next step. I found it quite hard work today, but I just about managed to keep going till the end. 14 minutes running! Not bad.

Exercise and schooldays

I only realised a couple of years ago that its possible to learn to run, and to learn how to become better at running. At school I was the kid who was picked, well not quite last for team games, but probably second or third to last. I wasn't the fat kid - but I was the kid who slowly got slightly chubbier each year. The highlight of my school PE days was coming last in the girl's cross country age 15.

I used to dread the athletics in the summer, with the horrible 800 m and 1500 m run round the track. I distinctly remember either walking the entire way, or pulling out after a lap with "breathing problems". Now that I look back at it, I wasn't particularly fit, but in my head, that was the box I lived in and the box I would stay in. The "not very fit" box. The "will never improve my fitness because that's just the way I'm meant to be" box.

The teachers didn't help matters. The good kids - the naturally good at exercise kids - they got the help. They got the training. They joined extra-curricular classes and school teams, and the teachers focussed on these kids, and all I ever heard was, "you didn't put much effort into that now did you?" Consequently by the time I got to the top of the school - I didn't bother to even try and put effort in.

Why did none of the teachers ever say, "hey I can see you need a few tips on how to get better at running/breathing/throwing the ball, let me help you?" Or even, "hey don't you realise exercise isn't about which school is the best at kicking a stupid ball round a field, its about keeping each and every one of you healthy for life?"

Of course every one has their own individual accountability, but a helping hand/kick up the backside at a vulnerable age would have meant a lot to me - and would probably mean a lot to all those kids out there who really hate their PE lessons.

So for anyone out there who had similar experiences - YOU CAN DO IT. You'll get there, and you're not alone.

Nearly on to the next stage

Today's run went really well. It just goes to show you can never tell one day how you will be feeling the next day. And it was fantastic weather - very cold, still not above freezing at lunchtime, but the large grassy area I walk/run on was covered in frost, with that pale blue winter sky and a low sun - beautiful.

Today I did:
10 min warm up walk, quick stretch
19 mins - (1 min 30 secs run + 1 min walk) x 4, with (2 min run + 1 min walk) x 3 in the middle
15 min cool down walk and stretch

So the same amount of running (12 mins) as last time, but with fewer breaks. Feel very pleased with myself. I suppose running for 2 minutes without stopping isn't terribly impressive, but its something I don't think I've ever done in my life before today!

Meal plan w/c 4 Jan

Meal plan:

• Sun 4th - homemade pizza with sweet chilli turkey topping
• Mon 5th - out (friend's house) - braised lamb with baked potato and veg, sticky toffee pud
• Tue 6th - frozen pizza, mega meat feast
• Wed 7th - moroccan chicken and root veg casserole
• Thu 8th - frittata with extra veg
• Fri 9th - steak with homemade oven chips
• Sat 10th - out (grill bar)

Wish it was Friday already

This week seems to have gone on forever - and its only Thursday. That's what you get I suppose after having an easy couple of weeks over Christmas and then back to the grind at the beginning of January.

Had a good exercise bike session yesterday:

4.5 mins warm up - level 3
36 mins - (4 mins level 4 then 30 secs level 3) x 8
4.5 mins cool down - level 3

Calories burned 291.

We have bought as our Christmas present to ourselves a small telly to go on the wall above the exercise bike. Previously we had been watching DVD's by setting up a laptop on top of the fish tank! The telly is much better -Choc Chip spent yesterday morning setting it up.

Feeling a bit tired today, went for a walk/jog at lunch but didn't quite have enough energy.

10 min warm up walk, quick stretch
20 mins - (1 min 30 secs jog + 1 min walk) x 8
15 min cool down walk and stretch

The lower part of my legs was aching a bit today, and I had to give up on my second jog as it goes up a slight slope (unavoidable) and couldn't make it up. I did get into the swing of it and made it to the end. Have a slight headache now. Don't know if I'll have the energy for a run tomorrow, will see how it goes.

Slow and steady

Running went well yesterday:

10 min warm up walk, couple of stretches
20 min walk/run - (1 min 30 secs jog followed by 1 min walk x 8)
15 min cool down walk plus stretches

I managed to accomplish this quite easily which felt good. I know its only baby steps at the moment but probably better to do baby steps and feel good about them rather than overstretch myself.

I did feel the stitch trying to come back but managed to get rid of it this time. No leg or breathing problems at all.

Then in the evening I did 20 minutes of a yoga DVD I have. I would have done a bit more but the phone rang and it was my Mum calling for a chat, so I called it a day on the yoga.

New exercise DVD

Just after posting my last blog my new Davina DVD (Super Body Workout) arrived in the post so I decided to have a go at that instead of going on the exercise bike. I did the first section of the DVD - Super Fit, which is an aerobics workout including punching and kicking routines. The warm up is about 8 mins, the aerobics about 22 mins and the cool down about 10 mins (total 40 mins).

It turned out to be quite a good level for me, I could follow the routine easily, but by the end of the workout section I had a very pink face and was sweating somewhat. The routine is 11 mins long and repeated twice. There is nothing terribly exciting about it but its something new to do, and felt quite effective. The warm up is good, as always with Davina DVDs, the stretches are held for a good length of time. The cool down section involved some gentle core stability work as well as stretches.

I didn't ache at all the next day. When I get time I'll have a go at the next routine - Super Sculpt, which is toning based.

Back to work today, and back into my lunchtime exercise. I did quite well on the "run" today, developed a slight stitch but managed to keep it at bay. Did the following:

10 min warm up walk, followed by calf stretch
20 mins consisting of 8 x (1 min 15 secs jog + 1 min 15 secs walk)
15 min walk (forgot to stretch again at the end ...dur)

Apart from the slight stitch this was the best I have felt, so may try and move up to 1 min 30 secs of jogging very soon.

The day after Christmas

My Christmas was a little later than most people's. Due to a stomach bug laying low to the husband (now to be referred to as Choc Chip) on Christmas Day itself, the turkey didn't really happen. So we had it yesterday instead, along with all the accompaniments, and very nice it was too.

However the cunning plan of recently changing my weigh-in day to a Friday didn't work out well this morning given that I stuffed myself yesterday. So I must now keep the leftover goodies for treats, and try to not stuff myself on chocs/nuts/cheese inbetween meals, as I now weigh the heaviest I've weighed for quite some time.

Anyway, the plan is not to stress about weight, but to go easy on food, and plan in the exercise. So... Dec 31st I went in to work for the day, although came home early, and then did my Rosemary Conley Salsacise DVD (50 mins). Yesterday we had Christmas Day so that was a day off from exercise. I'm not back at work until Monday now so have plans to go on the exercise bike this afternoon, and either the bike or a DVD tomorrow.

On Monday hopefully I will get back into the running again. I just wish it wasn't so cold. It hasn't been getting above freezing all day, and the sun hasn't appeared either - its really not condusive to outside exercise.