My interests? Hm.

Well, I feel like my interests have really changed over the past couple of years. A lot of people are still going through that stage of going out and drinking 3 or 4 times a week, but I definitely grew out of that a year or so ago, and that’s fine by me.

My main interest now has to be writing and keeping up with my blog. I obviously go to the gym but I can’t say I always enjoy it! Oh and cooking, obviously. To be honest, you know a lot of my interests just from reading my blog.

I’ve become so much more creative and there are so many things that I want to learn about to extend my knowledge and find other things that I enjoy! There are so many more things out there for me to try.

I love Autumn because…

Now the summer has ended (boo) and we’re going into Autumn. This has to be one of the better seasons for me, even if it means going back to School or University. While I was planning this blog post I came up with a whole page of reasons I like Autumn.

To start with the air gets more crisp and fresh as the cold sets in, none of this hot and muggy nonsense we’ve been having in England.

The changing colours of the trees and the crunch of leaves under your shoes, how can you not love it? Dog walks in the autumn are definitely the best! And not forgetting when it gets darker a bit earlier in the evenings…

TV…need I say more. All of my favourite TV programmes start again in the autumn, there’s just so much to watch and X Factor is basically the count down to Christmas right?

It also means it’s almost time for Thursday late night shopping too. Wandering aimlessly through shops as dusk settles and the shop lights light up the street. Walking through the markets is so much nicer than when it’s boiling hot and it’s something I’m going to make more of an effort to do.

Not forgetting the food (you knew it would come up at some point!).the hot soups, homemade stews, apples at Halloween, all kinds of pies, huge pots of chilli and yes, of course, a Sunday roast dinner! No more of all this salad business, but don’t worry I’ll be finding autumn alternatives and keep you posted!

I don’t normally treat myself to new clothes that often, I get a few staples and work around that. However recently I’ve felt the urge to look for a few new bits thi season. I’d love a chunky cardigan for when it gets colder and I need a new coat too. I can’t wait to get out my woolly chunky snoods, they are unbelievably warm and great for when you go on walks. And boots as well, always a must.

It also seems like the perfect excuse to have a bit of down time to myself. After summer being so hectic and just plain crazy, it’s time to have those cosy Sunday nights that don’t require much thought. Light up a nice smelling candle and do some writing or watch my favourite TV programmes and let everything else wait till Monday morning.

Fortunately, or unfortunately in some cases, I’m all into new starts. So, as September is in full swing, and we’re already a week in, it’s time to pack up the rest of my things and move back to Kingston ready to find a new job. I actually cannot believe it’s already a week into Septembers. It feels like only last week it was the beginning of the summer holidays.

Lastly, but by no means least and without a doubt the best bit, it means it is time to almost get ready for Christmas. And I LOVE Christmas, I mean really love it, but I will have to save that for another day or I will get too overexcited and it’s only September after all.

So for now, I will live in the moment and enjoy Autumn while it is here!

Coconut Prawns with Glass Noodles

This is an amazing recipe I made this evening from the Clean and Lean Diet Cookbook, a definite buy for anyone wanting to eat really healthy food. Anyone that knows me well enough knows that I absolutely love cooking and I love to experiment with new recipes and make them my own. Obviously this blog is all about losing weight and eating a healthy diet so I thought this was a perfect recipe to share, and definitely one of the best dishes I’ve cooked in a long time!

As it says on the recipe page, top tip: ginger is good for your digestive health and can help your body to break down fatty foods.

Recipe:

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

20 tiger prawns, raw and unpeeled

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed

5cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 red chilli, finely sliced

50g creamed coconut

3 tbsp of soy sauce

250g glass rice noodles

A bunch of coriander, to garnish

1 lime, quartered, to garnish

Method:

1. Rinse the tiger prawns under cold water
2. In a wok, heat the oil and gently fry the garlic, ginger and chilli, until well softened. Add the creamed coconut and 120ml boiling water. The sauce should be of a thick consistency. Simmer for approximately 5 minutes; do not allow to boil.
3. Add the prawns and continue to cook until they have turned pink.
4. Add the soy sauce and taste. Add more of both if needed to adjust the flavour.
5. Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to the packet instructions.
6. Serves the prawns over noodles, sprinkled with coriander and a wedge of lime on the side.

This is my own take on the recipe, being at home meant I was able to use tiger prawns as they are quite expensive, if I was still at uni I would adapt it to what I was able to afford!! Also the original recipe used a green chilli but I decided to use a red chilli, which gave it a good kick.

Curry in the making!

The final dish!

Moroccan Chicken Pot Pies with cumin and a crisp filo top

One of my favourite dishes is chicken pie, unfortunately I would normally make that with puff pastry, not good for the diet! So I’ve been meaning to try this one for a while and it was absolutely delicious, a great twist on your class chicken pie. The spices work so well with the chicken and vegetables and the filo top tastes just as great as puff pastry would, if not better! You must try it if you love chicken pie. It says to serve with a crisp green salad but personally I don’t think that’s needed, maybe a bit of broccoli if you feel you want more veg.

So here’s the recipe and some pictures to make you want to try it even more:

Ingredients:

Spray oil

2 large onions, finely sliced

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

3 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp paprika

4 chicken breasts, cut into chunks

3 tbsp cornflour

600ml chicken stock

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

100g frozen peas

Salt and pepper

3 sheets of filo pastry

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180c.

Spray a little oil into a large pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook gently for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time, until softened. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a further minute before adding the cumin and paprika. Then, allow them to toast for a minute.

In the meantime, toss the chicken pieces in the cornflour and a little salt and pepper until evenly coated. Stir these into the onion mixture and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add the stock, stirring all the time to blend in the cornflour without any lumps. Turn up the heat and add the carrots, peas and seasoning. Allow to come to the boil, then pop a lid on and reduce to simmer gently for 5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce thickened.

Meanwhile, prepare the topping, slice up the filo pastry width ways and separate the sheets.

Once ready, divide the pie filling among six ramekins or hot pot dishes. Then divide the filo strips into six bunches. Pick up the bunches and lay one messily on top of each pie. The more bits that are sticking up and messy, the more likely the filo is to crisp up. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and piping hot, the filo is crisp and golden brown and the sauce is bubbling.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and serve.

For anyone wondering, there is also only 320 calories per serving!

The Sad Reality

I’m not sure if many of you know but over the summer I’ve been working in a local convenience shop (which I cant name or I’ll be in trouble!). So while I’ve been working there, I’ve really noticed the eating habits of some of our customers.

Now I will just add in here that I know it is quite hypocritical what I am saying and that I shouldn’t be so judgemental when I know that I have also been out and spent £5 or even more at a time on junk food. However, saying that the whole point of my blog is that I am on a journey to a better life, and by the time I have children I will have figured out a good balanced diet for them! I certainly don’t want them having sweets every night…

I mostly work evenings, which obviously doesn’t always paint a very good picture as the customers are normally there for the chocolate or alcohol.

But this is honestly not the most shocking part. The amount of sweets that parents buy for their children is incredible, incredibly awful that is. We often have our regular customers come in on a daily basis and since I work 4 or 5 days a week I do pick up on what they buy quite a lot.

Cringey I know but with obesity in the news headlines more and more frequently, it’s interesting to observe families to see what they’re like! And who doesn’t love a good bit of people watching.

Anyway there’s one particular family that comes to mind as I’m writing this. As far as I’m aware I have only met the two sisters and their mum.

The sisters argue like crazy, even in the shop, I even get embarrassed serving them – it’s that bad!

Every day that I work, they come in a buy so much junk food, it makes me feel sick even thinking about it. Obviously the shop has a small chilled section and we have steak slices or chicken and bacon or chicken tikka, you name it! The girls also buy these because they are normally on offer…they have got to be the most awful looking things ever!  Plus the thought of all the calories, fat, carbs and processed meat that goes in them makes me feel quite nauseous!

I’m going a little bit off topic here. So out of the two sisters, one must be about 14 who is a pretty average size (surprisingly because of what she eats) and the other is about 15 but she is without a doubt overweight, obviously at no surprise to any of us. I think its really sad that this has happened to her but whenever they come in with their mum, it’s not like she does anything about it and still lets them buy it.

No their mum is a different case, the complete opposite to myself, where she doesn’t eat enough…and it’s pretty obvious.

I think its pretty bad that we live in a society where eating disorders are so common nowadays. Yes, the NHS say that they are addressing it but they clearly aren’t or obesity cases wouldn’t be rising so rapidly and unfortunately it’s something I see everyday. I’m only one person out of thousands who are obese but I am slowly getting there and one day I hope to be able to influence and help people on their own journey to a better life.

Also, if you actually read this, please let me know! I have no idea who really reads it so it would be nice to actually thank whoever you are. (sorry family, you don’t count because I give you no choice but to read it!)

Weekly Update

It’s now been a week since I got back from being on holiday and I feel so much healthier already. Before I went on holiday and when I first got back from Greece, my work trousers were slightly (or actually a lot) tighter than when I first bought them a couple of months ago. It was one of those things that I tried to ignore but my mum commented on it so it was clear I wasn’t maintaining my weight and evidently gained some of it back.

However, even in just a week I almost need a belt to hold my trousers up and my work top isn’t as tight around my stomach now. I already feel like I’m making better decisions on the food imp buying and when I’m eating out, basically a lot of salad. I also can’t get enough of nandos spicy rice! Plus I’m still trying new food; I tried no-carb spaghetti few days ago, which was surprisingly filling and tasty. I’ve also been working quite a lot which does distract me from thinking about eating food, even though we mainly sell food and drink there!

I’m just so proud that in a week I can see that much of a difference in my work clothes! It really helps with motivation and keeping me going when sometimes I honestly want to pack it in and give up. However, I then think about my health and all the confidence issues that come with it and realize that it actually is very important to carry on for myself.

This is quite a “bits and bobs” post today, really an update of the goings on of the past week.

When I was at work on Tuesday, a lady came in while it was quiet so there’s often time for a little chat, normally about the weather or the news. Although this one took a turn towards weight loss. At the time there were a load of “lads” across the road from the shop and she said that she was often self-conscious about her weight and her looks, I was shocked she would be so open with a stranger!

It’s nice though that some people can be comfortable enough to trust me with something so personal. She then told me about how after she had her children, she gained several stone and tried every diet out there to try and shift the weight but nothing seemed to work until she got proper advice from an exercise class she started going to at Salisbury hospital.

I must say she looked good for her age considering she had had children and it was clear her confidence had boosted.

The one thing that really struck me during our conversation was that she had a similar view that I did, that some people cant help but be nasty about the ay you look. So I told her about the time that I got up the courage to go for a run but as I was running, some “lads” shouted out the window at me, not the most encouraging experience vie had. Once id finished, she was very shocked at what happened.

I think it really goes to show what the community can sometimes be like and it really is a shame that people feel like they have to stoop so low and make comments to people. I feel quite sorry for them to be honest (!) but whatever makes them feel better!

This "weekly update" has turned into a complete essay and if you've made it this far, well you're an absolute star! ⭐️ I promise there's only a little bit left to go. 

So my diet is going well as I said before, I've been eating less and drinking more water and it is starting to really show! I've also noticed that I'm not as hungry as I normally am, I haven't figured out whether it's down to stress or drinking more water to suppress my appetite or what but something is going right!

I'll leave it there till my next recipe (yes, there's another one coming soon!) or my next weekly update. 

You're all so great, much love! X