an ok kind of week

So not a great week, an ok kind of week, but not a great week...but decided not to be to hard on myself and have to remember to just try again next week, so go a little slower. It's been a bad week with killer headaches, aka migraines. So just scraped through the week with getting all the day to day stuff done - put the exercise on the back burner. Did manage to get a little bit in though, especially some stretching and walking when we had sunny days.  

Meals were ok, not great, but ok - had to feed my migraine some comfort food! Monday was take away, as we were home late. Tuesday was baked chicken with white beans and veggies, also had a mixed berry crumble for pudding with custard - it's this chilly Autumn weather - it gets me every time! Wednesday was turkey meatballs in a tomato sauce with onions, garlic and spaghetti. Thursday was yummo (I guess that means it was not good for the diet) - spaghetti pasta with potatoes, peas, bacon, garlic and chilli* - the migraine loved it - almost gone this morning (thank god) and now I'm wishing there was left over’s from last night for breakfast!  *this recipe was modified from here.  Dinner tonight will be something like baked chicken and veggies with a green salad on the side.

As a family we are loving these cold Autumn evenings - Fridays we love especially as we settle down with some TV shows from home - at the moment we are watching 'The Block', snug inside with a baked dinner and a pudding with custard...mmmm. Not sure it's great for the diet, but it's great for the soul and that's got to be good for you! 

 

Here's the link to my favourite baked chicken dish - sorry Jamie couldn't find it on your Jamie.com website.

crispy and sticky chicken thighs with smashed potatoes and baby tomatoes 

Alison 

Did it again and the motivation for it

Yep, did it again. Pulled on the trackies after a bit of morning blog reading and headed downstairs to the 'room of doom'. So here I am again, pretty happy with myself! Just have to remember to go easy, baby steps and all that.

There have been times in my life where I have embraced exercise and diet with that all or nothing kind of gusto. Only for a short time though. A few weeks later I'd be tired, sore and grumpy and would easily fall back to into the arms of my bad old habits. Mmmm, it was comfy there. Yo-yo diet and exerciser, yes that's me. 

But now that I'm older and wiser (well older anyway, i know this because my knees hurt a lot after doing about 3 lunges) I have learnt from my previous attempts and this time I'm really (really) going to try to give it a serious go. This time it's going to be a far more gentle approach and with the thought of it as a 'new way of eating' and not just a 'diet'. My focus will be more on on my health this time around, not just weight loss like it was back in the old days in my 20's & 30's. 2 kids on and a chronic inflammatory disease in my lungs has changed my view on life.  Now it's time to actually get serious about things and pull myself out of a 10 year rut!

So today, back downstairs I plodded. Did 5 mins stretching, 10 mins on xtrainer thingy, 5 mins on rower and then another 10 mins stretching including some girly pushups, hip extensions, squats and some extra stretching for the lower back (had a bit of a sore back last night). Basically I follow the exercises in this video put together by James Duigan (Elles personal trainer) from here. Then back upstairs to have a protein shake to wash down a vast array of vitamin tabs! Also included some Total Greens in my shake. 

I managed to avoid chocolate & vino yesterday, it was hard but I did it. No coffee but quite a few teas and one really naughty cuppa was when the kids came home from school and we had some afternoon tea. Naughty me had a cookie or 2. But I promise to faithfully improve on this afternoon tea addiction, in time. Well, try to anyway (my sweet tooth is a killer!). 

Dinner was pretty good, I thought, baked chicken with white beans, cherry toms and red peppers with a mixed leafy green salad. Followed dinner with a mandarin and then later a 'sleepy time' tea (peppermint, camomile and fennel) to help me sleep. 

Dinner tonight is tuna pasta salad. 

So, all in all I think I'm off to a good start. Will see how we go tomorrow.

** just wanted to mention where my motivation came from yesterday. I like to read through my favourite blogs in the mornings (because I can). And 2 really stood out yesterday. Both totally different blogs, but both written from the heart. The Clea Salavert Library, dedicated to the memory of one very special little girl. I find so much inspiration in this one little blog. 

**And on the health and fitness side of things, DaniV from Health and Fitness Mum has been a bit of an inspiration for me since stumbling upon her blog.  I really liked her body love post and it got me thinking about my own body and which bits i like (might join in the body love blog, but a bit scared to) and which bits i don't ie. the bits I need to change. So I've made a start on those bits. Thanks for a kick start to my motivation. 

Alison