Lose Weight and Gain Health

What a mixed bag today was!  I started well, had a dip and then a good ending.

Breakfast featured frozen blueberries, hemp seeds, Acaii powder and protein powder.

Plus an apricot. Blended with a dash of coconut water to create a very thick smoothie and then topped with raw buckwheat. Yum A Ling A Ding Dong! I felt peckish mid morning so had some dates, almonds, pumpkin and sunflower seeds.  I meant to just have these but may have had some more. Lunch was based on this lettuce I bought yesterday.  It was green at the base and then changed to purple by the end of the leaves.  I dressed it with a splash of olive oil and some lemon juice. Then topped with sundried tomatoes, capers, anchovies, tomatoes and taramasalata.    Lots of tasty flavours and a good variety of textures. I was then stuck with something work related so grazed which was annoying.  Grazed?  Pah!  I pigged out.  I took a packet of Skittles that came home in Harvey’s unfinished tuck box and then 2 slices of toast and marmalade.  Ridiculous behaviour.

For supper I had some of this sorrel I bought yesterday. It is quite lemony and was stronger in flavour than I expected.  So instead of eating it raw as I had planned, I added it to an omelette with some cheese. I haven’t had an omelette for ages and it was delicious.

Quite a tang left from that sorrel.  It’s the oxalic acid apparently.

I can go to bed tonight feeling very happy and pleased with myself.   Okay, so I did start with a Monmouth coffee.  I keep telling myself to stop drinking lattes but this is so good.  I don’t take sugar in it by the way, but this was the only spot to take the photo as it was busy in there today.

I made time at lunch time to wander round the market.  There are so many tempting fruit and veggie stalls in the market these days,  filled with wonderful produce. I bought some of these yellow and purple beans. Over at Turnip I bought 3 ripe peaches for £1 !  What great value. I also bought one of the green and purple lettuces.  Hope it’s good as it cost £2.20. This little flower shop always looks so pretty. Final stop was TAS, the Turkish cafe.  I chose a salad box with 6 selections in it: humous, falafel, tabbouleh, spinach and apple, chick pea and pepper and bulgur wheat, tomatoes and nuts which was fabulous.  Such a delicious box of yumminess. I love watching and playing tennis.  This year (and last year) I have rarely managed to play.  Lovely Annette kindly asked me to be her partner for the local tennis club annual tournament and tonight was our first match.  It was such a perfect evening for tennis and we had a good match, particularly considering we have never played together before.  We did lose but it was great to be out there running around and playing instead of sitting inside.

After our match, we went to Club Night and played some more so I played tennis for about 2 hours tonight.  I really enjoyed it.

Back at home, I just ate an apple and a peach with a cup of Rooibos.  I will probably ache tomorrow but I am so pleased I made time for tennis tonight.  Thank you Annette for persevering with me.

10 out of 10 for effort with exercise today.  I started the day with a 5 mile bike ride.  Not massively impressive other than that I did get up and go and as the area I live in is hilly, it was all up or down hill.

Those lovely people at Detox Your World had sent me a free sample of a product made by Raw Health.  It is germinated raw buckwheat – click here for more details.  Because it is raw, nutrients and enzymes have not been destroyed by cooking so it is healthier for you. It is dry and very crunchy.  I really liked it.

I sprinkled 1/4 of a cup on top of my smoothie.  I made my current favourite smoothie which is frozen blackberries, a fresh banana and kiwi fruit and fresh mint leaves.  Delicious.

What is Harvey looking at? Any ideas? An Elephant Hawk Moth.  The underneath is all pink and furry – cute. We had an early lunch of salmon fillet, potatoes in a small amount of mayonnaise with red onion and salad. The salad all came from the garden; spinach, 2 types of lettuce and pea shoots. We had an early lunch as we were meeting Holly and Richard at Ditchling Beacon for a walk along the South Downs.

Ditchling Beacon is 7 miles north of Brighton. At 248 metres above sea-level, Ditchling Beacon is the highest point in East Sussex and from its summit you get a stunning 360 degree view. Look south out to sea, north across the Weald or east-west across the Downs

It was sunny and hot until we got to Ditchling Beacon, thanks to a Sea Fog or Fret that had rolled in.  It was quite bizarre looking around.  It was sunny looking North, West and East but to the South, the stretch of coast between Seaford and Brighton was cold and foggy.  As we walked today, the Fret rolled in and with the wind it was quite cool which was comfortable for walking in but you wouldn’t want to sit and have a picnic in it.

What is a Fret?  The good people at the BBC explain it perfectly here but it is actually a sea fog which is quite common in the East of England, more unusual in the South. We set off on a route Richard found for us which takes in part of the South Downs Way but is a loop around it.  Incredibly, in the group of people walking towards us in this photo ………… was Richard’s sister and her family!  What a coincidence. This was a beautiful walk.  Classified as having gentle gradients, which I agree with mainly.  A couple of parts were quite steep but no wonder – look at this beautiful undulating landscape. Pigs are so common in England but I rarely see them.  This was a large pig farm with lots of piglets.  I do not like the idea of eating these creatures when I see them. We walked through fields of Barley and Wheat. The Fret rolled further inland. The chaps are watching the skylarks. By the time we rejoined the South Downs Way, the view had disappeared in to the fog. These trees suggest it is often windy here!

That was a really good walk and one we would like to do again.  It was a good distance of 4.5 miles and the scenery was gorgeous.  Thank you Richard for finding it for us.

The Mr Whippy style ice-cream van in the car park at Ditchling Beacon sells excellent ice-creams and we all had one.  I felt justified after that walk and the earlier cycle. Back at home a roast chicken was ready in the oven and I picked some more lettuce and spinach.  We all really like roast chicken with gravy and lettuce – try it if you think it sounds weird.  It is delicious and much easier than cooking veggies. Accompanied by a baked sweet potato and washed down with a well earned cold beer.

I was happy with today’s eating and delighted with today’s exercise.  I hope you had a happy and healthy weekend too.

After my excesses of the last 2 weeks I decided a short, sharp shock was needed and intended to just eat fruits and veggies today.  You can probably guess by the title of today’s blog that I failed!

The first thing I did today was to have a wander round the garden.  I do miss it during the week when I only spend short amounts of time in it.  Do you know what these are?

My last few parsnips which have flowered!  They are about 8 feet high.  They are being cut down today as the parsnips are too woody but they are a spectacular plant.  Imagine all that growing from a parsnip!

This white rose has smothered the apple tree and the scent is quite divine.  Such a lovely thing to come home to each day. The clematis is in brilliant form again this year. I harvested my first strawberry crop.  3 perfect little berries. Impossible to resist and they tasted fantastic.  I intend to have lots of plants next year. These are the ingredients for a veggie juice: 1/4 of a large cucumber, 2 carrots, spinach from the garden, 1/2 a fennel bulb,1/2 a lemon and a Jalapeno pepper. Juicing is a great way to use up slightly past their best vegetables!  The Jalapeño gave it a very pleasant kick. Next on the menu was a banana and Matcha soft serve which I had seen recently on Choosing Raw.  Gena made a delicious banana and Matcha green tea ice-cream and I wanted to try it. 2 simple ingredients (frozen banana and Matcha) blitzed until smooth.  Excellent. I was still peckish so I blitzed some frozen blackberries, a fresh kiwi and a banana. What a stunning colour.  It tasted good too. Then a bot of boredom set in so I had a ham sandwich.  Later on a flapjack and then this happened – a pecan cupcake!  Oops.

While I have written this I have had a chunk of Cheddar and some celery.  A real failure in terms of excessive calories consumed but I did at least eat some very healthy foods too and some delicious food.  Tomorrow will be better.

I always though our compatriots in the North used the word “wee” to mean little but they also use it to mean a short distance or a short period of time.  So I have been away on a wee trip.  I have worked in 4 offices in 4 days, met new colleagues and been reacquainted with old.  It has been fun but exhausting.

My eating has been generally bad.  Too much of it and not all good quality.  This was the breakfast offering from my BA flight to Glasgow.

The Glasgow office is located in the centre of the city with plenty of food choices.  I went to M&S even though I can eat that anywhere and chose the Wholefood salad.  Liking the healthy ingredients. It was really good. In the evening I caught the train to Edinburgh but got off at Linlithgow with my colleague Yvonne who I worked with last year.  She chose a fantastic restaurant for dinner on Linlithgow High Street called Livingstone’s.

We began with an Amuse Bouche of carrot soup which was delicious. We declined starters as we selected a hearty main course of Scottish beef with summer vegetables.  It was perfectly cooked and not too huge so there was plenty to eat but not enough.   Yummy.  This was enjoyed with a bottle of Merlot we shared. The restaurant then provided a raspberry sorbet which was very small (that is a teaspoon) but perfectly formed and full of flavour. We did treat ourselves to a dessert and it was worth every calories as it was fabulous.  It was a de-constructed Black Forest Gateaux.  Every mouthful was quite divine. All too soon it was time to hop back on the train and say farewell to Yvonne. Hello Edinburgh!  It had been a long day which started at 4:30am and ended when I got to my hotel at 11pm. This was the view from my hotel in Edinburgh.  It was sunny 🙂 I met my colleague, Zoe, in the foyer and we had a very enjoyable walk around in the early morning sunshine.  Zoe used to live in Edinburgh and wanted to see some favourite places and I was very happy to be shown around.  I have not been to Edinburgh for about 23 years and was excited about seeing it. We returned to this canal area in the evening and sat outside enjoying drinks until nearly 10pm.We had a lovely evening near the canal and then 10 of us went for a curry at The Indian Cavalry Club which was excellent.  One of the best Indian restaurants I have been to. Shame it is so far away!

We had some excellent popadoms and then I tried a colleague’s cheese dosa.  For my main I had a chicken curry called ‘Red Fort’ which was in a yogurt and almond sauce with Tandoori spices, a sag aloo (spinach and potato) and an onion bahji. It was a fun end to a good day.

I worked in another Edinburgh office today alongside Phil who I worked with so much last year but had only met once before so it was good to spend some time with him.

So having spent 3 days with lots of colleagues, both at work and socially, it was time to head home.  I couldn’t wait to get back as it had been a tiring trip.  My gorgeous children had made dal and flatbreads for dinner.  So happy to be home 🙂

Our wonderful weekend finished with a fun morning and brunch out at the Ramsgate Brasserie.  Thank you to Harvey for these photos of our morning together:

Today’s blog has a different theme to the usual one.  It is connected to health and is something I think is incredibly important.  I ask you all to please READ ON – THIS IS IMPORTANT.  Important to me.  Important to you and potentially important to future generations.

I am against Genetically Modified (GM) crops for many reasons.  Partly because I do not think anyone can be certain what the long term effects may be on our bodies.  We are what we eat and I do not want my chromosomes to be effected by something I eat that has never previously existed.  Partly because I think companies such as Monsanto that produce these seeds, are falsely altering crop production and altering the natural balance of our ecosystems in ways we do not understand the impact of.  Partly because I think these companies are becoming too powerful so I refuse to buy anything produced by their seeds (as much as I am able to work out what they have produced).

The current issue that has really concerned me is seed patenting.  I have copied the following from a friend’s Facebook page as it explains the issue very clearly to me and so hopefully to you too.

The US, British and some EU governments want all seeds categorised and standardised. To achieve this they need testing. Testing costs vast amount of money. The only companies that can afford this are the likes of Monsanto, Bayer, BASF, Syngenta. This then leads to regulation and makes seed saving by individuals illegal. With their vested interest in GM seeds, they and their scientists advocate GM and sadly many people believe the marketing. Once farmers have bought GM they’re in a loop of only being able to buy seeds from the big companies who own the seeds and also having to, as the plants are deliberately sterile to create repeat business for seeds and their own chemical sprays. 

I checked, and guess what? Following a Supreme Court decision on 13th May farmers in the US can no longer save seed from year to year without breaking the law (or if the seed is modified sterile) having no crop. 
If we go the same way here, within a generation the means of producing even the simple food of a domestic vegetable patch will be owned and price controlled by big business.

Monsanto are buying seed companies.  Potentially, in a short period of time, all seeds could be owned by a few enormous companies.  No farmers will be allowed to save seeds to use for next year’s crops.  By altering seeds to make them sterile, we could end up with all seeds for our food having to be bought each year from a small number of companies who favour GM seeds.

The issue is not about whether you agree or disagree or don’t care about GM crops.  The issue is whether or not seed patents should be allowed and why.

To read more about the organisation protesting about the patents being given to companies like Monsanto, please click on No Patents On Seeds.  Then read about it and vote.  Hopefully you will vote against it.  At the very least,  have a look and consider it.  Please do not let the planet’s future seed production be owned by a handful of increasingly powerful companies, unless you think that is a good idea.  This is really important and effects us ALL.

Beside the seaside.  And I do like to be with dear friends and their lovely children.

What a Mums and kids weekend it has been.  Having survived a serious episode of juniper berry poisoning, I got sunburnt!  I ate too much but did at least manage to get a long walk in.

Several of us had juniper berry poisoning but we set off with vigour from Ramsgate towards Broadstairs.  It was high tide so we headed up to the top of the cliff tops.

It seemed like quite a long way there today but we finally arrived.We were a party of 11 but we found a table ling enough at Morrelli’s.  After a sandwich for lunch we had an ice-cream and then set off back to Ramsgate. The tide had gone out by the time we had eaten so we walked down to the beach. The cliff top walk is lovely but I much prefer being on the beach.We have all known each other such a long time we have a very long catalogue of tales to tell and shared times to reminisce about.  It is fun to share the tales with our children too.  With such delightful company, and in the summer sunshine, we had a blustery but lovely walk back. What are Harvey and Maddi looking at? Starfish!  Maddi spotted them and they spent a very happy time on a mission to seek and save the starfish.   We were finally blown back to Ramsgate marina where we booked a table for dinner and headed off to our house to relax. A much needed cup of tea and more chatting opportunities. We had dinner in La Magnolia, an Italian restaurant with a pizza oven. Eaten with a salad and then we had ice cream sundaes back at the house.

So an amazing weekend so far.  Too much to eat and not all healthy but a good walk and so much laughter, that must be burning up loads of calories 🙂

What an exciting day.  I have a sore throat from screaming so much.  It was Ladies Day at Ascot so I took my first day of annual leave so far this year and set off with Lara.  I did have a blueberry, banana and Tahini smoothie first to set me up for a day of treat eating and drinking.

We managed to arrive at exactly the same time as our friends who travelled down from Warwickshire which was perfect. I am very lucky to be invited by the same family each year and we have our little traditions which I love.  We head for the same restaurant and enjoy a chilled glass of something.  Still or sparkling? So good to be with our dear friends in such a special place. I had a dressed crab salad, with new potatoes and bread.
It was lovely to spend a day with my girl too. After lunch we went for a stroll.  Here comes the band. Here comes her Majesty and we were at the front 🙂 Unfortunately all my pictures of the Royal family passing were blurry.  I only took a small bag and my small camera which just doesn’t do the place justice.  This picture of the carriages on the way back to the castle show how close we were though. We move around during the day.  For some races we stand at the very front, as we did for the first race of the day. We sometimes stand on the grass in the middle of the enclosure and we ended the day at the top of the grandstand.  The Queen spends the day in her box, which is the black and white curved box in the picture below or in the Winners Enclosure where she hands out prizes, or in the case of today, receives them too 🙂 We had so much fun.Pimms?  Yes please!
It was fun getting dressed up and they have tightened the dress code recently which I am in favour of as it makes the day more special.  I love how this dog wore a fascinator too.

Going to Ascot is always special and I feel very lucky to be invited each year.  It is a wonderful day out spent with special friends.  Today was even more exciting than usual.  The main race of the day is the Gold Cup.  Our Queen owns and races many horses and today her horse won.  This is the first time in Ascot’s 207 year history that the reigning Monarch has won the Gold Cup.

What made it even more exciting was that Lara, myself and 2 others in our party had all bet on Estimate to win.  I probably only gamble once a year when I come to Ascot and always with small stakes.  But that does not diminish the excitement of watching the race.  As the horses race along the final straight the crowd goes wild, roaring and cheering.  You can physically feel the roar, like a wave coming over you, as the horses race by.  It was so exciting.

The crowd here are very fond of the Queen who was clearly delighted with her win.  They played her very happy reaction to the win on the big screens so we all cheered and celebrated again.

Congratulations Estimate and well done for making a fantastic day out, truly memorable.