The busyness of work is reaching a localised peak this weekend. Tomorrow, I'll be at work from 3pm to 6am the following morning. This will thoroughly break my weekend, but I knew that would happen and I accept it as part of work that's been in-progress for the last 18 months. What the huge peak this week has meant is that I've made it to the gym once so far (Tuesday) and run home from work (also on Tuesday). However, I'm going to have quite a bit of fun cycling in to the office at around midday, then nipping to the gym at work, rather than at the morning peak and then back home again in the very early morning on Saturday. OK, teeny tiny detail of 15 hours in the office in between. And if things over-run, perhaps longer.
Still, it'll be very interesting to cycle well away from normal peak hours.
I just wish I was able to have a bit of fun with my new racing bike. *cough*
Thursday, 10 February 2011
Monday, 7 February 2011
Carrot and Parsnip Soup
Carrot and Parsnip Soup (serves 4; 126kcals, 18.5g carbs, 2.6g protein, 5g fat, 5.7g fibre, 2 portions fruit & veg):-
- 1 enormous or 2 medium parsnips
- 1 fat garlic clove
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- about 250g carrots
- 15ml extra virgin olive oil
- ½ Tsp Thyme
- 1 medium onion
Sweat the onion and garlic in some olive oil and add the vegetables and thyme, mixing through thoroughly.
Add made-up stock (using 1 litre of water) and cook on a low heat for an hour, minimum. (I use the "soup" setting on my JML StarChef jobbie which uses a low and consistent heat, having used the "vegetables - fry" setting to sweat the onion and garlic - only 1 pan to wash!)
Blend everything with a hand blender. Heat and serve or portion up and chill for later.
It's really smooth and creamy. I'll be using this as a hot lunch with a roasted chicken breast either on the side or as a snack later in the afternoon for a protein boost as this is quite a low protein recipe for my liking.
Friday, 4 February 2011
Weight loss: but I'm eating practically nothing!
It's a common cry; "I'm eating practically nothing, I'm starving, why am I not losing weight?", most usually heard part-way through a weight loss regime that involves reducing calorie intake.
Quite simply, the human body is pretty clever. Have you seen those documentaries on anorexics who survive on 600-800 kcals a day? They, even though they weigh very very little, exist on way below the number of calories required to maintain their weight and yet it takes significantly longer for them to lose any further weight than it should do given the deficit they're in. OK, they're a pretty extreme case, but it does illustrate what the human body can do when put under those kinds of conditions.
If you restrict calories significantly for a period of time (the length of which appears to be dependant on the individual) your body starts to become more creative about using those calories. The one I noticed more than anything else while I was losing weight was that I got cold. Not just because I had less fat to keep me warm but because my metabolism slowed down! My body decided that rather than using up fat (oh yes, and muscle too!) to fuel my needs, it would cut down on generating warmth. It wasn't a huge amount of temperature drop and I was still losing some weight but there was certainly a trade off there and I got oh so very very cold and had to wear many layers more than I was used to just to stay warm.
Other ways your body will adjust to the continued lower calorie intake is to stop laying down as much glycogen for ready energy for your muscles, so you'll get fatigued more quickly when doing anything physical; like getting out of bed in the morning perhaps...
Quite simply, the human body is pretty clever. Have you seen those documentaries on anorexics who survive on 600-800 kcals a day? They, even though they weigh very very little, exist on way below the number of calories required to maintain their weight and yet it takes significantly longer for them to lose any further weight than it should do given the deficit they're in. OK, they're a pretty extreme case, but it does illustrate what the human body can do when put under those kinds of conditions.
If you restrict calories significantly for a period of time (the length of which appears to be dependant on the individual) your body starts to become more creative about using those calories. The one I noticed more than anything else while I was losing weight was that I got cold. Not just because I had less fat to keep me warm but because my metabolism slowed down! My body decided that rather than using up fat (oh yes, and muscle too!) to fuel my needs, it would cut down on generating warmth. It wasn't a huge amount of temperature drop and I was still losing some weight but there was certainly a trade off there and I got oh so very very cold and had to wear many layers more than I was used to just to stay warm.
Other ways your body will adjust to the continued lower calorie intake is to stop laying down as much glycogen for ready energy for your muscles, so you'll get fatigued more quickly when doing anything physical; like getting out of bed in the morning perhaps...
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
I don't believe the saying
"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail". It's just so black and white. Hypocritical as all hell for me to say that as I'm usually hugely guilty of black and white thinking. Yet, I utterly do not believe that saying. I've proven it to myself pretty much all of last year that I can get by and even improve with little to no plan at all. I have this forward schedule of races to look forward to throughout the year but I have no training plan as such.
Yes, I'll cycle to work and back a reasonable number of times and maybe at weekends if the opportunity arises. Yes, I'll run a bit when the opportunity arises. I'll avoid going for a swim if at all possible at the moment as I'm really just not loving the swimming still (despite it being My Sport in my childhood). So I'll probably drag myself for a dunking a few times before the first sprint tri, but there's no actual plan. I know I need to extend my runs a bit to have more confidence in completing the half marathon later on, but I also know that I could probably get through it right now if I really had to (dammit, I ran 14km with a rucksack on after a crappy day at work, I don't think another 6km would be a huge stretch, especially not having to dodge street furniture, traffic crossings and random other pedestrians dithering about). I also know from last year's experience that my sprint tri times will almost certainly improve even on last year's times because I'm just a bit fitter than I was last year and more used to doing triathlons, especially the transition bit, even though I've only done 3 in total.
What won't happen is that I will come even close to top of my category ranking. Not without some real dedication and proper training rather than playing at it. But despite having no concrete and detailed plan, I'm not going to actually "fail". I know I won't. It's not over-confidence or conceit, it's based in (albeit limited) experience.
My god. Perhaps I'm mellowing... Or perhaps I've just not got anywhere near my limit yet.
Yes, I'll cycle to work and back a reasonable number of times and maybe at weekends if the opportunity arises. Yes, I'll run a bit when the opportunity arises. I'll avoid going for a swim if at all possible at the moment as I'm really just not loving the swimming still (despite it being My Sport in my childhood). So I'll probably drag myself for a dunking a few times before the first sprint tri, but there's no actual plan. I know I need to extend my runs a bit to have more confidence in completing the half marathon later on, but I also know that I could probably get through it right now if I really had to (dammit, I ran 14km with a rucksack on after a crappy day at work, I don't think another 6km would be a huge stretch, especially not having to dodge street furniture, traffic crossings and random other pedestrians dithering about). I also know from last year's experience that my sprint tri times will almost certainly improve even on last year's times because I'm just a bit fitter than I was last year and more used to doing triathlons, especially the transition bit, even though I've only done 3 in total.
What won't happen is that I will come even close to top of my category ranking. Not without some real dedication and proper training rather than playing at it. But despite having no concrete and detailed plan, I'm not going to actually "fail". I know I won't. It's not over-confidence or conceit, it's based in (albeit limited) experience.
My god. Perhaps I'm mellowing... Or perhaps I've just not got anywhere near my limit yet.
Jerusalem artichokes
Most of the time, in my Abel and Cole preferences is set "dislike" for potatoes. We don't eat them (or rice or pasta or bread) all that often so it's easier to occasionally unset dislike when we want some. SO we often get a surprise in the substitution for the potatoes that would normally some in the weekly veg box; and this week it was Jerusalem Artichokes which I've never knowingly eaten. Thankfully I'd just been reading through the Abel and Cole cook book, in the Winter section (seeing as how it's Winter and that's the veg we'd be getting at this time of year) and already decided I wanted to try artichoke and almond cakes.
Artichoke and Almond cakes - serves 4 (175kcals) as starter or 2 (350kcals) for main course:-
Chop the rosemary finely and add to the artichokes.
Add the flaked almonds, flour, lemon juice and seasoning.
Mix thoroughly but gently so as not to break up the almonds too much.
Split the mixture into 4 and form into balls. This will be tricky and they may fall apart a little but stick with it and squeeze them together in your hands. Flatten the balls a little then leave to rest in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to firm up a bit more.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the flattened balls, squashing them a bit flatter with a spatula.
Fry gently in the pan, turning once, for about 15-20 minutes depending on heat and thickness.
Serve and eat.
In this case with a baked chicken breast on top, which went really well with the textures and flavours.
These are absolutely -gorgeous-! Really really tasty and a great texture. Thanks again Abel and Cole! I may even specifically order some artichokes before the end of the season so we can make more of these.
Artichoke and Almond cakes - serves 4 (175kcals) as starter or 2 (350kcals) for main course:-
- 250g Peeled Jerusalem Artichoke
- 1 tsps Fresh Rosemary, chopped
- 25ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 30g Flaked Almonds
- 30g Plain Flour
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Salt and pepper to season
Chop the rosemary finely and add to the artichokes.
Add the flaked almonds, flour, lemon juice and seasoning.
Mix thoroughly but gently so as not to break up the almonds too much.
Split the mixture into 4 and form into balls. This will be tricky and they may fall apart a little but stick with it and squeeze them together in your hands. Flatten the balls a little then leave to rest in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to firm up a bit more.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the flattened balls, squashing them a bit flatter with a spatula.
Fry gently in the pan, turning once, for about 15-20 minutes depending on heat and thickness.
Serve and eat.
In this case with a baked chicken breast on top, which went really well with the textures and flavours.
These are absolutely -gorgeous-! Really really tasty and a great texture. Thanks again Abel and Cole! I may even specifically order some artichokes before the end of the season so we can make more of these.
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