KSFL macaroons. Sweet treats for tough days.

I got through that first week of being back on detox in the end. The headache lasted for five days on and off but it was worth it. I lost two pounds and half an inch in that week. My intention was to stay on detox for another week at least but that has gone out the window following a couple of emotionally tough days. Life in the Food Junkie household is generally fine at the moment, but there is a lot of Big Life Stuff going on in the background and it's taking its toll a bit.

So I resorted to a chocolate fondue as a cheat with a friend on Friday night. It was fabulous. Bananas, strawberries and some chunks of gluten free blueberry muffin dipped in a fondue made of dark chocolate and a glug of cream. Not too terrible as cheats go - and I let my friend lick the bowl out - but a cheat all the same.  That was meant to be it but then I'd forgotten the birthday party I was invited to at the local pub last night. I stuck to peppermint tea and water for the most part but a couple of shandies had found their way down my neck before the night was out.

And today I've been feeling a bit rough so I decided I needed a treat (again). This week isn't going well is it? But I'm trying to be as good as I can with my treat so I went online and did some recipe hunting. Here is my KSFL-friendly macaroon recipe. It's not all good, not at all, but it's not nearly as bad as reaching for the biscuit tin. They are devine too.

KSFL Macaroon Recipe

Makes 12-14 small macaroons.

100g dessicated coconut
2 tbs raw organic honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Mix the coconut, honey and vanilla essence in a bowl until all the coconut is evenly coated with the honey, then mix in the beaten egg white. Once thoroughly combined press the mixture into the bowl of a spoon and turn out onto a tray covered in baking parchment. I used a tablespoon sized measuring spoon for a nice semi-spherical kind of shape. This made 13 small macaroons for me but the quantity would vary depending on the size of the spoon you use.

Pop them into a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 10-15 minutes until they're lightly browned. I overdid mine a bit so aim for something a bit lighter than the picture. Once they've cooled completely eat them as they are or drizzle with dark chocolate, if you must. Make them when you have lots of friends round so you don't end up eating them all yourself. I've managed to stop at two so far but the rest are talking to me...

Back on detox, with muffins

Last week I put myself back onto detox. I'm now on day 7 and it's finally starting to get easier. I thought it would be no problem given I did it so recently and am half way there the rest of the time these days too. But no, it sees I must have slipped much further into bad habits than I'd realised because it was far from pleasant this time too.

The main issue I think was the caffeine which I'd only introduced gradually until I picked up a new type of coffee when doing the groceries. It was one of these instant coffees that also has real ground beans in it, best of both worlds kind of idea. It was on special offer and it made a rather nice cup of coffee. However I noticed after a couple of days of drinking it that I was craving the stuff. I really wanted that coffee. Not any coffee, but THAT coffee. I have no idea how much caffeine was in the stuff or what else might have been in it to make it so addicted but for the first time in my life I was experiencing real coffee cravings. I knew then that I had to come off it but that I didn't stand a chance with a tub in the house so I gallantly worked my way through it. I had my last cup last Wednesday lunch time and I haven't touched caffeine since. The headache lasted for five days. Five days! Ugh.

The sugar come-down grumps were much, much less. I felt tetchy for a couple of days but a good workout would see me through those patches. I worked out three times in the first 48 hours, just for the endorphins. I found the not-snacking element hard too. I think that's the biggest habit slip I've let happen. I usually get through an apple or two a day, just grabbed on the fly, or a handful of nuts will find their way into my mouth whilst sitting at my desk. Nothing too terrible, but a pleasant break in the fast between meals. I've had to up my meal portions again to stave off the hunger, so I need to think about that too.

But otherwise, it's going well. Weigh in is tomorrow so we'll see then what effect it's had on the pounds and inches. I've decided I want to lose another stone and a half and get into size 12-14. It's the first time I've been able to really work out a target other than 'less than now'. In the future I may change that but for now that is such a huge world away from where I was that it seems a good goal. I've just shrunk to the larger end of a size 14 already. I can fasten the jeans, but I bulge over them in a rather unsightly manner so they're not fit for wear in public yet. I'm a size 14 on top though. It's all heading in the right direction. :)

I have a recipe for you too. Two actually! The first is a variation on back here but made more interesting with the addition of some extra veg content in a secretive manner that makes them more appealing to fussy kids. Here they are when I had them the other night, served with roast butternut quash, kale, the obligatory couple of gerkins and a big dollop of caponata (an aubergine, caper, olive and tomato side dish that is a favourite round here):

Here's the how to:

Hidden Veggie Beef Burgers

Ingredients

500g lean minced beef (it doesn't have to be lean I just prefer a lean cut when I have to get my hands in it so the fat is easier to wash off my hands after shaping)
1 egg
1 onion, finely chopped
1 handful fresh herbs of your choice (the ones above had lovage fresh from the garden which was delicious)
1 courgette, grated
You can also add a small grated carrot if you can take the carbs but I didn't this time
Oil of your choice, for cooking

Throw all the ingredients apart from the oil in a bowl and thoroughly mix it together with your hands. Shape it into burgers and fry over a medium-high heat in the oil until browned on both sides. This mix makes approx 8 burgers depending on how big you want them.

The other yummy treat I have to offer you today is breakfast muffins! I saw these online yesterday and had to give them a go. They're fab! This is my variation but there are others online and according to one site I saw you can keep them for several days in the fridge. I suspect there will be a bit of batch muffin making in my life in the near future.

KSFL Breakfast Muffins

Ingredients

Filling of your choice. I used the mix below but you could vary this in so many ways. Just use what's in your fridge and go crazy!

1 diced courgette
1 onion
a few tablespoons sweetcorn
1 finely sliced stick of celery
2 handfuls of chopped ham

6 eggs
salt and pepper

Makes 8 muffins

Fry the filling ingredients until slightly soft, if needed (I didn't fry the ham or sweetcorn in this case). Mix all the filling ingredients together and spoon into muffin cases in a muffin tray. Fill them to approx half way up. Beat the eggs with the salt and pepper to taste and pour into the case, filling them up to about 1cm shy of the top of the case to allow for rising. Pop into a preheated over at 180 degrees for 25-30 minutes and you're done! Yum!

Living the lifestyle long term

Today it's been exactly four months since I started my KSFL journey and I am still living the lifestyle. It's been modified, and my success varies week to week depending on what else is going on, but when I fall off for a while it doesn't take much to get back on track and I've learned that even the effects of a week off-plan can be reversed by a week back on detox.

I don't have quite the slim, toned body I used to have in my youth, but then I'm in my mid-thirties now and have had two children. I could still do with losing another stone and hopefully I will eventually, even if it takes a while but even if I don't I feel comfortable in my skin as I walk down the street right now. I can wear leggings and not feel as though I'm making people feel ill and pick up clothes off the rail that fit.

Take a peek:

I've made a few new observations and realisations recently. Rachel Stevenson, my KSFL trainer and mentor suggested back in February that we set ourselves a goal for Easter and that if we stuck to the plan we treat ourselves. My treat was meant to be a holiday but it got postponed at the last minute so instead I treated myself to some new training clothes. I got new workout trainers, new socks, new workout leggings and then I scored a fab cycling top in a charity shop that I now use for classes. These purchases revolutionised things for me. Seeing my reflection in them I looked like someone worthy of wearing them. I looked good! Not perfect by any means - I still have bulges and I'm broader than many of the other women in class, but I look toned and comfortable and OK. I have since taken to sometimes wearing trainers, and cut offs and sporty tops out in public too. I would never have dreamed of doing that before because people who wore those clothes were a world apart from me. They were fit people. They were people for whom exercise and fitness were so much a part of who they were that they didn't think twice about displaying it publicly, and they wore that identity with pride. That wasn't me.

Why I didn't believe it was me, I have no idea. In my mid teens my average week involved three hours of ju-jitsu training, two of stage dance classes, one of badminton and walking a minimum of fifteen miles plus whatever we did in PE at school. Once I got to my late teens the dancing and PE finished but I started getting into weights, and the odd bit of running, but for some reason being fit never really meant anything. That was just what I did for fun. And then I got into my twenties, got stuck into a career that involved sitting at a desk for hours on end and got into a comfortable relationship that although it started off with us both being fit (we got to know each other as we spotted for each other whilst weight training) soon evolved into lots of cosy nights in on the sofa. And then the kids came. So I was unfit for a decade but before that I was consistently exercising regularly and I am again now. I don't intend to stop. I'm even starting martial arts classes again next week!

So now I am reclaiming an identity that was always there for the taking but that I didn't value myself and my investment in my own health and wellbeing enough to claim.

Hello world. I am Gina. I am fit. I am healthy. I am happy. I am going to work as hard as I have to to stay that way and if I wear trainers in public it's my way of shouting out to the world that I am proud of the way I am looking after myself now.

Thank you KSFL and Rachel for giving me the tools I needed to get here.

8 week results...

Yep, I know, I disappeared off the face of the earth for a while didn't I? I'm sorry, but I'll come to the reasons later. Given this is my first post for a couple of weeks I want to start it on a high, and boy do I have a high. The 8 week results are in.

Drum roll please...

In 8 weeks on KSFL I have lost a total of 16lbs and 21". And given I'm a full disclosure kind of gal and 21" doesn't mean a lot unless you understand what exactly is being measured, this is how that inch loss breaks down:

Chest: 3.5"
Waist: 6"
Hips: 4.5"
Thighs: 2" from each
Upper Arms: 1.5" from each

And how does that look? Take a peek:

 

Let me just bring that into sharper focus for you. This is what 8 weeks on KSFL can do:

Not only have a dropped more than a dress size (and several bra sizes, but let's not go there) I am also fitter than I have been in years. I can run around after the kids as much as I want to. I can do heavy work in the garden with ease. I no longer hesitate for a second when asked if I'd like to go for a long walk, play chase, or dance the night away. I can honestly say that I am a different woman.

I know I still have a way to go. There are rolls on these photos that I'd like to see gone. There's a load of clothes another dress size down in the wardrobe that I fully intend to get into again and believe it or not according to my BMI I am still clinically obese. I only have two pounds to lose to leave that behind but it's a line I very much want to cross. It has to be said though that anyone - even me with my skewed personal perceptions of my own body - looking at these photos from this morning wouldn't see an obese person. Not skinny, sure, but obese? With a flat tummy? Come on! It just goes to show what a flawed measurement BMI really is. It makes me wish that I'd been monitoring my body composition throughout this process because I've had several weeks where the weight loss has been painfully slow, if there's been a loss at all. I've known that it's been because I've been building muscle and I've even been able to see that, but checking my body fat percentages along the way might have given me more of a boost when I needed it.

So, where from here? I started my KSFL journey with the thought that I would do it for 12 weeks. There were photos out there of others who had completely transformed their bodies in that time and I was willing to give it that. Sure enough, I'm signed up for another 4 weeks and we'll see where I get to then, but there's more to it now than just counting down the weeks.

When I signed up and was told that really, these were changes for life I have to admit I was a little skeptical; not that these couldn't be permanent life changes for some people but that they would be for me. It was such a radical shift from what I was used to and from the diets I'd tried before. I just couldn't see how a permanent change would be practical. It took a while to settle into it but after a few weeks it was getting easier and then before I knew it, it had become quite normal. Now it's not only normal, it's infinitely preferable. Now I have actually experienced what it's like to have that chocolate binge on a clean system: glorious in the moment, slightly sickly soon afterwards and then significantly mood altering and craving inducing over the next 48 hours, I can hear what my body is telling me. I'm pretty confident that chocolate binges will always be something that I indulge in every now and again,  but doing so knowing what I'm doing, why I'm doing it and taking responsibility for the consequences just feels so much more honest and healthy.

I can now appreciate that no matter how well informed I was about nutrition beforehand it was almost impossible to make the right choices because I was being so strongly influenced by my hormones and my addictions to certain foods. I have never classed myself as an addiction-prone person. I've never been a smoker or a heavy drinker, though I have smoked on ocassion and drunk socially. I've never craved either or felt like I wasn't in control of my desires for such things. But sugar? Boy oh boy was I a sugar addict! I still am, because it's the one thing I do still yearn for quite regularly. When I do have it, the cravings come back stronger and I could oh, so easily lose myself in the sweetie aisle, never to return. But now I know what's going on. That's been the real shift for me, not just learning about the most up-to-date ideas about healthy eating but learning about myself, my own body, and my own mind. There's an honesty to my diet and lifestyle choices that I haven't had before, and I like it.  I'm now coming to terms with the fact that I might just be a long-term convert.

So, why haven't I been writing here so much? Well, because life has taken over again. I'm busy running my business, raising my kids, spending time with my partner, volunteering and socialising - and working out! I don't need to keep coming up with new meal ideas because I already have plenty and I'm easily able to make things up on the spot knowing that I'll only be using KSFL-friendly ingredients - because that's all I want. There's no working things out any more, no trying to find ways to emulate non-KSFL dishes because there's no need to. I'm happy with what I put on my plate and if it doesn't look quite like what someoone else might put on theirs then I don't give two hoots.

The way I exercise has evolved too. Doing half hour workouts every night wasn't really sustainable even though we were enjoying it and given our busy lives, sometimes the ten minute ones were tricky to fit in as well. For the last few weeks I've done a half hour - or longer - workout 3 or 4 times a week. Two of those are usually in classes with Rachel (KSFL and bootcamp - though I think I might give her circuit class a go sometime soon too), the others are at home. This feels sustainable and my fitness levels are still improving so I'd say it's working well enough for me. It also means I feel less guilty when we have a crazy weekend full of guests and don't get to work out for two days on the trot.

So it's happened. That thing that was talked about at the start. KSFL has become my lifestyle, not in some huge conversion, sing it from the rooftops kind of way, but it just landed, knocked on the front door, came into my house and stayed. Look what a huge difference it's made! It's welcome here. Very welcome indeed.

Spicy Lamb Yumminess

Today has been a Thursday which means it's also been results day! Another week on KSFL has seen me lose another two pounds, though my inches have stayed the same. It's progress, and it will do nicely, especially as I had those three cups of coffee over the weekend, that large bowl of fruit salad on Sunday, those couple of extra apples through the week and that chocolate on Tuesday (which was rather sickly actually), not to mention the several times I've indulged in a few sweet potato wedges or a spoonful of brown rice. A slightly relaxed plan seems to still be working, so we'll try another week of the same I think.

Tonight for dinner we had a lovely spicy lamb mince dish. I wanted something with a moroccan twist but the recipes I was finding all required spices I didn't have, so I made it up. It's yummy though. I included a handful of dried apricots thinking it was a cheat I could justify, but then in the class tonight Rachel told us that we could include fruit in our meals because eating them with protein negates the blood sugar rise and insulin peak that we work so hard to avoid on KSFL. So it was all legal! Marvellous!

And blogger won't let me post photos tonight, so you'll just have to imagine something mouthwateringly good instead.

The Food Junkie's Spicy Lamb Mince

Serves 2 generously

Ingredients

1tbs olive/coconut oil
400g lamb mince
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped/crushed
1 red pepper, chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 red chilli, finely chopped (optional)
Whatever spices you fancy - I used 1tbs of Dal Makhani spice mix that we had in the cupboard which contains coriander, chilli, onion flakes, black pepper, ginger, salt, garlic, cloves, nutmeg, star anise and mace, but any combination of the above or similar would be worth trying)
Handful dried apricots, finely chopped

Fry the lamb, onion and garlic in the oil until the meat has browned then add the rest of the ingredients. Let it simmer for 20 minutes or so and you're all done! We served ours with quinoa and steamed cabbage and it was very nice indeed. There is even enough left for my other half to take to work for lunch tomorrow.

A KSFL pancake day

Apologies for disappearing for a few days. I was at a conference over the weekend and it's taken a while to catch up with myself since being back. I wasn't sure how well I'd stay on plan but it turns out that the friend who was putting me up for the weekend is doing Atkins so instead of grabbing a takeaway on the Saturday evening we went back to her place for pork chops and salad, and on Sunday morning she treated me to a fry up! I'd taken a packed lunch on Saturday and was home for dinner on Sunday, so I didn't even need to use a cheat meal. I even managed to stick to water and peppermint tea on the Saturday night party. (Yes, this was a club that served peppermint tea. It's amazing what you can get in a big city that you can't find out here in the sticks.)

I have had the odd small cup of coffee over the last few days as well. It's not something I intend to make a habit of but being out of my routine and in other people's spaces made me feel more inclined to have one here and there. (I've had three over three days.) So far I haven't felt any unpleasant effects and I haven't had one today so I might feel more relaxed about having the odd one when out and about from here on in. The good news is that I can now quite happily drink the stuff without sugar which would have been unthinkable before, so at least they will be slightly less toxic when I do indulge.

My antics over the weekend and the subsequent chaotic catch-up did mean I ended up having three consecutive days without a workout, but I put that right tonight with a full half hour one from the DVD and I seem to have suffered no ill effects for the few days off. It was a good one, I was up for it and worked hard happily.

On to today. It's pancake day! There was no way I was going to not have pancakes today so I did some research and found a KSFL-friendly pancake recipe! Don't they look great? The recipe is below.

 

But before that, we had baked sea bass for tea tonight which is super easy, and super yummy. Just take your whole sea bass (cleaned), give them a run under the tap, stuff the cavity with spinach leaves and wrap in foil. Bake in a hot oven (about 220c) for 25-30 minutes and you're done. We had ours with some greens and it was just lovely. Watch out for bones though!

And then, the moment I'd been waiting for, it was time to try making those pancakes. They were a little delicate so flipping had to be done tentatively, but they worked! They're more of a scotch pancake than a crepe, but I prefer those anyway so I was more than happy.

Here's how to make them:

KSFL Pancakes

Ingredients

Makes 6 small pancakes

2 ripe bananas
1 egg
1 tbs almond butter (check the ingredients - the one I bought is 99.5% almonds and 0.5% salt, nothing else)
Olive/coconut oil for cooking

Mash up the bananas in a bowl, add the egg and almond butter and mix until well combined. Then spoon out into a hot frying pan with a bit of oil in it. Once you start to see air pockets coming through from the bottom it's time to turn them - which you need to do gently as they are quite delicate little things. Give them another minute on the other side and you're done!

Not bad, eh?

Celebrating success with BBQ ribs

OK, I admit it, I'm not really going to be cooking over a barbecue in February, but today's challenge was to come up with a recipe for a KSFL-friendly BBQ sauce to go with the ribs I bought the other day. I'm pretty sure that Worcestershire sauce isn't really on plan given the fact that it contains sugar, but for the sake of half a teaspoon, especially now I'm able to relax a little bit post detox (though not a lot - I still have a lot of weight to lose) I've taken the risk with this one.

I have to be honest, this wasn't the most barbecue-like of BBQ sauces, though it wasn't a million miles away. It was tangy, and sticky, and very tasty but it didn't have that smokiness that all good BBQ sauces should have. I will have to keep experimenting!

Ingredients

1 tbs olive/coconut oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 chopped chilli (optional)
1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar (I think cider vinegar would be better)
1 rack of ribs

Fry the onion and garlic in the oil until soft, then thow in the rest of the ingredients and let it simmer for 5-10 minutes. Blitz it with a blender/mixer until smooth. Place the ribs in a raosting tray then pour the sauce over. Grill on high, turning regularly until they are cooked well and are brown and crispy at the edges. Serve with the veg of your choice and sweet potato wedges should you so wish.

The results are in!

Well here we are folks! It's been 28 days and although it started off tough it's improved enormously as time has gone on and now it's just fantastic. And with results like these, even the hardest moments were so worth it.

In 28 days on Kick Start Fat Loss the KSFL Food Junkie lost 11lb and 15.5"! Five inches of that is off my waist. And just take a look at how that translates pysically:

 

 

How pleased to do you think I am with these results? Pretty damn. :) And just yesterday I had to say goodbye to a pair of trusted jeans that were slightly snug a month ago but that I can now pull on and off without undoing the button so I'm down a dress size too. Today I'm wearing a pair of trousers that used to fit but I shrunk accidentally by tumble drying them. They fit perfectly now. How's that for serendipity?

All I have to say now is bring on the next 28 days!

A Quick King Prawn Lunch and a crunchy treat

I had a busy day today but despite being up in the night - again - with a small boy (I keep being told one day they'll regularly sleep through but we're yet to experience it) I haven't really felt it until this evening. I still managed a full 30 minute workout (workout 2 from the DVD) as well. I did that one last night too and I can really feel it in several places. I'm off to bed as soon as I've written this. It's crunch day tomorrow for those 28 day stats and I'm looking forward to measuring, photographing and revelling in the changes.

Lunch today was very quick and simple - it took me all of 5 minutes to prepare - but also very yummy. As always I'm going to share it with you guys, well, a picture of it anyway.

The Quick King Prawn Lunch

Serves 1

Ingredients

1 serving of fresh king prawns
Handful mange tout
Handful spinach, chopped
Half an onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 garlic clove, sliced
1 tbs olive/coconut oil

Toss the lot into a non-stick frying pan and cook over a high heat until the prawns hve cooed through and the spinach has wilted. Serve up and enjoy!

I have found one little treat today. I was in Morrison's earlier and I saw that they had rolls of pig skin for crackling. It's just the skin and it's clearly a waste product from their butchering so it's for sale extremely cheaply and I thought that I'd get some. We don't eat crisps or chocolate any more, but once in a while a little snack would be lovely. Clearly, crackling isn't very nutritious - it's mostly fat - but it is yummy and most importantly it IS on plan! So I brought it home (for 71p I got four rolls) and I scored one, salted it and popped it in a high oven on a tray. By gum, it comes out lovely! We had crackling as a starter for tea tonight and it felt totally indulgent. I still have three rolls left in the fridge too.

But that's it for now. I'm off to bed. Watch out for those photos tomorrow...

Counting down the hours... the last few days!

Today is day 27. It seems to have come round very quickly all of a sudden. These last two weeks have positively flown. There's just tomorrow to go and then on Thursday I do my final 28 day weigh in, measure and photograph. I had a cheeky weigh this morning and discovered I'm down 3lb already this week so whatever was causing my period of stasis has moved on, thank goodness. I was pretty sure I'd lost some weight and size because I feel different again. And also because when I do hill climbers I can get my knees a little closer to my chest because there are less rolls of fat in the way.

I still feel as though I've taken a happy pill. Even when something annoying happened with work today I just huffed for a moment and moved on. It's fab!

I didn't get to post last night because I went out to the local pub for a Stitch & Bitch gathering. It was a really fun evening and I drank water and chamomile tea, then got to eat some of the leftover food that they'd made for the dominos team. They'd made meatballs in a tomato sauce and once I'd quizzed them on the ingredients I knew they were completely clean, and very yummy they were too. I had a chat with the couple that run the pub (they are also friends of ours) about KSFL and when they start up their regular menu again in March they are going to look at having a KSFL-friendly meal on it. Wahey! We could even go out for dinner and stay on plan! I'm looking forward to it already.

Before I went out we had a lovely dinner of veggie chilli with sweet potato wedges and guacomale. I couldn't believe I hadn't made guacomale earlier in the detox because it's totally clean - and delicious! I'm not going to post the veggie chilli recipe because there are already several good ones out there, unless people particularly want me to. Let me know if you do!

Here's how to make your own:

Guacomale

Ingredients

1 large, ripe avocado, halved and destoned
1 large or 2 small garlic cloves, finely chopped
Juice of half a lemon
3 cherry tomatoes, finely chopped
Freshly ground balck pepper, to taste

Scoop the flesh of the avocado out into a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Mash it all together with a fork until it's well combined and there are no big pieces of avocado left.

That's it! Serve it up and enjoy!

Tonight's dinner was also lovely and again was a recipe I'm very familiar with that is already pretty much KSFL-friendly. In my pre-KSF days I'd have put a load of carrots in as well but as I was going to serve it with brown rice I decided to keep it easy on the carbs and used butternut squash instead. It worked just as well. Here it is:

KSFL Greek-style Lemon Chicken Casserole

Serves 4

Ingredients

8 chicken thighs and/or drumsticks
4 sticks celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
Large handful fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 butternut squash, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped/crushed
Juice and finely grated rind of 1 lemon
1 cup of chicken or vegetable stock

Throw all the ingredients into the slow cooker and cook for 7 hours or so, stirring ocassionally if you so wish. Serve with brown rice and/or greens.

Back on track with some pollock and lime

Well, it looks like my crazy few days of birthdayness are over. The cake has almost all been eaten and the kids will soon finish it off so temptation will be much less and I'm feeling good about keeping clean for the rest of the week. I'm really enjoying this now.

Workout 4 is a tough one isn't it? I really felt it for a day or so afterwards, in a good way, and in the upper body too. I need more of that! So tonight I jumped straight in and tried workout 4 on the DVD. Yep - that's another tough one! I'm not ashamed to admit I had to do a fair bit of modifying down and I only did the first two sets, but I still worked hard and worked up a sweat. I tend to avoid looking at myself in mirrors too much but when I had a bath just now I did and my shape is really changing a lot now. My bulges are less all over, my shape is more toned and even though I'm still big I'm beginning to look like a fit big instead of a blobby big. Things can only get better, not least because I just signed up for another 4 weeks of KSFL. So you're stuck with me for a while longer...

Up for a recipe? I'm aware that as time goes on with KSFL my portions are getting smaller. If I'd seen the plate of food I had for tea tonight a few weeks ago I'd have felt I needed double it to stave off hunger and cope with the lack of carbs. I was still adjusting to the fact that the 'fullness' I used to need from the carbs was actually bloating from over-eating them. This was my tea tonight and four hours on I'm still not hungry. Give it a go yourself and see!

Pollock with Lime and stir fried veggies

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 pollock fillets
1 lime, cut into thin slices
1 small handful of fresh parsley
Veggies for stir frying (I used 1/4 savoy cabbage, 1 stick celery, 5 musrooms, 1 courgette, 5 spring onions, small handful mange tout) 
1tbs olive/coconut oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Juice of half a lime 

Place the pollock fillets in the middle of a fair sized piece of tin foil, sprinkle with chopped parsley and place the lime slices on top. Wrap up in the foil, place on a baking tray and cook at 180c for 15 minutes.

Whilst the pollock is cooking throw all the veggies into a wok or non-stick frying pan along with the oil and garlic and stir fry until tender (about 5 minutes). Drizzle the lime juice over the veggies and give it a good stir through for a minute before serving onto plates. Remove the pollock from the foil parcel and place on top, spooning any juices over. Eat up!

Still here, buried under the cake

I must apologise for the radio silence over the last couple of days. Things have just got a bit crazy with my son's birthday, and they won't let up for another 24 hours as we've got his party tomorrow. Present wrapping, balloon blowing, cake baking (and yes, a little bit of cake eating)... It's a busy, but fun time and he's having an absolute ball.

Normal service should hopefully resume by Sunday, but I didn't want to go too long without posting my official results for week three. They were disappointing. No weight loss and just, if I was very enthusiastic with the tape measure, a loss of half an inch off each thigh. Given that I have stuck to the plan and been working out lots this wasn't the boost I was hoping for, but I've been told that a number of others have experienced the same at week three. I can't imagine there aren't some dramatic differences going on inside this body, but for some reason they are just not choosing to show themselves yet. I don't want to think about how I'll feel if the same thing happens next week, but hopefully, it won't. I need to remind myself that my totals are still a loss of 8lb and 11 inches in three weeks, and that aint bad really!

A day on and I've picked myself up, I've eaten a piece of chocolate birthday cake (slowly, savouring every bite) and once tomorrow is out the way I will be going back to full detox for the rest of the week to see if that can help me shift some weight and size. I need to really, because instead of a cheat meal this week I've given myself permission to have cake on two ocassions - one yesterday on the birthday itself, and one tomorrow at the party (and in the interests of total honesty, I did also lick the spoon today after I spooned the cake mixture into the tin). So in reality I'll have had a sugar kick on three consecutive days. It will be interesting to see how I feel on Sunday/Monday without it.

Have a good weekend folks!

Working up a sweat, and some Sticky Lemon Pork

Last night we did another half hour work out from the DVD. I was really looking forward to it, very much 'up for it' and gave it my all. I seem to have found my exercise mojo again. I certainly worked up more of a sweat than I have previously - I even wondered if we'd turned the heating up but it was actually off. I followed it up with the abs section which I hadn't tried before and I managed about two thirds of it with only a little bit of swearing - something to build up on. I had so enjoyed doing my made up upper body workout the day before that I/ve decided to put a bit more effort in on my top half. I feel as though the workouts give my legs a good workout every time but sometimes my arms/shoulders/chest/abs could handle more so there'll be lots more abs section for me!

I had a bit of disappointing news this morning though. Being woken by the youngest at 5:45 meant I had a little longer than normal to get myself ready so I did a cheeky weigh and measure a day early. I have lost no weight and no inches in 6 days. This has been quite a blow because although I've added in the odd bit of good carbs (a carrot and some sweet potato on Saturday, 3 sweet potato wedges on Sunday and a tablespoon of brown rice with dinner on Monday and Tuesday (which does seem to have helped my morning energy dip) and had the one cheat meal I've otherwise been really good. I've only had one rest day and in the other days I've done two 12 minute, two 30 minute and one 45 minute workout. It doesn't really feel fair.

I need to try and keep perspective. I'm in this for the long haul and with over three stone to lose it was never going to happen overnight, but even so to see no shift at all isn't exactly encouraging. Maybe I'll suddenly lose a load before tomorrow. Tonight I did another half hour work out so I've done all I can, though I know the next few days will be hairy. Tomorrow is my son's second birthday so there will be cake. It's his party on Saturday so there will be cake then too. I think I'm going to try to stay on plan apart from two small pieces of cake as my cheats for this week. I know we're only supposed to have one but I'm giving myself permission to doubly celebrate the anniversary of pushing out nearly 9lb of small boy, just this once. I'm working out lots, hopefully that will offset it a bit...

Onto other important things, like food. Anyone fancy some Sticky Lemon Pork? This was dinner tonight and it was particularly lovely.

 

KSFL Sticky Lemon Pork (Also works really well with chicken, for the record)

Serves 2

Ingredients

400g pork, diced
1 tbs olive/coconut oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped

Throw all the ingredients into a non-stick frying pan over a high heat and stir regularly as it cooks. As the liquid reduces the meat will start to brown. Eventually it will reduce to a thick, sticky coating over the lightly browned meat. Remove the meat from the pan and set aside while you use the same pan to stir fry the vegetables of your choice. Pile on a plate and enjoy!

Feeling good and a Chickpea Tagine

Today has been a good day. I started it with a chat with Rachel about my thighs. Not the most usual of conversations to have at the school gates, but on KSFL I guess anything goes! Since Thursday's workout at the session I've found the aspects of the workouts involving my thighs to be much harder. It's felt as though I've only just done a workout and they're exhausted - even climbing the stairs gives me that lactic acid build up feeling. They are constantly firm and warm, and just haven't seemed to move into that 'day after a workout ache' phase.

I decided to mention it because it's affecting my enjoyment of the workouts and it's just not something I've experienced before. Rachel advised trying a few more carbs and taking another rest day. Well yesterday was a rest day so I was having none of that, but I decided to make it a rest day for my thighs and devised my own 12 minute workout focusing just on the upper body and arms. It was really good fun actually. I've noticed that my upper body suffers less generally than my lower with the KSFL workouts and when I used to weight train a heavy upper body workout was part of my weekly routine. Since starting to get fit again I've kind of missed it, so I enjoyed this and my arms and torso felt nicely worked afterwards.

I've been really aware that today I have felt GOOD. I've felt light, and have found great enjoyment in all kinds of little things. My mother in law rang and asked how I was after the viral thing last week and I replied, instinctively, that I felt great. How often do you really, honestly say that to someone? I've got on well with work today, enjoyed my kids and been able to let little niggles just wash over me. I'll have more days like this please!

I was describing my KSFL journey to our visiting friends at the weekend and both myself and my partner admitted that it took almost two weeks before we felt we'd settled into it and were really feeling the benefit. We'd both found that hard after being told that once the withdrawals were over by day 4(ish) we'd start to feel fantastic, and then we hadn't. I suppose that KSFL is such a huge shift from our previous lifestyle that it took a while to get established and to feel 'normal'. I spent so much time cooking and planning meals it felt that that was all I did. There was no time for relaxing because I was either exercising, preparing food, planning food or shopping for it. It wasn't easy, but if there's anyone reading this who is going through that right now I can promise you that it does get better. I've even gone against the advice and haven't planned a menu for this week. I just know I've got a range of meat and fish in the freezer and tons of good veg that I can make all kinds of yummy clean meals with, I just need to decide a day ahead what we're going to have so I can let whatever I need to defrost. It's finaly become normal. I don't have to think so hard about it any more.

And I am happy. I feel good. Even my thighs feel a bit better this evening. This stuff is working and I can honestly say that I have no doubts about my decision to take this journey any more. I just want more!

That includes more clean food, which is where tonight's recipe deviats ever so slightly. I was naughty with tonight's recipe and threw in something that isn't quite on plan. There are 8 dried apricots in it, just because I couldn't imagine a tagine without the sweetness of the apricots to compliment that smokiness from the cinnamon. It turned out VERY sweet to my more sensitive palate so they could actually be omitted. I just didn't today.

This is a vegetarian clean meal, done in the slow cooker. I used to eat a lot of veggie meals but they'd often involve dairy so they've been off the menu of late. I do like taking meat breaks every now and again and this is one of our family favourites. If you're in a less veggie mood you can throw some diced lamb in and that does tast lovely, but because of the chickpeas it might be a bit much, at least in the detox stage. We served it with brown rice, but a pile of greens would do just as well. With the chickpeas, sweet potato and brown rice this is quite a carb-heavy meal by KSFL standards, so just be aware of that before diving in.

KSFL Chickpea Tagine

Serves 2 generously (Or 2 normal portions plus some for lunch the next day)

Ingredients

1 tin chickpeas
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped
8 dried apricots, chopped into small pieces (or less, or none)
Half an aubergine, chopped
1 courgette, chopped
6 mushrooms, chopped
Half a butternut squash, chopped
Half a sweet potato, peeled and chopped
Handful of mange tout, chopped
freshly ground black pepper
3/4 tsp cinnamon

Thros all the ingredients into your slow cooker pot. Give them a good stir and cook for approx 6 hours on high, stirring ocassionally if you happen to be passing (not essential). Serve with brown rice or green veg, or both if you're super-hungry.

Meatballs, fake spaghetti and a delayed hangover

Today has been a good day diet-wise. We went to a 5 year olds birthday party at a soft play venue but we were well prepared with our prawn salad packed lunches and coped admirably whilst surrounded by people drinking coffee and eating chips and crisps. Dinner was a very lovely meatball meal that I'll share the recipe for shortly.

Tonight though, we both feel as though we've been hit by steam trains and are completely exhausted. My other half has been prowling around the kitchen craving something sweet and snacky (and finally settled for a banana - yey) and I'm feeling all grumpy again. So I'm guessing we're either just not up to wrangling three small children (we acquired an extra for the day) or we're experiencing our food hangover from yesterday. We shall see what happens next week when we indulge again, but for now, it's clean eating all the way again. Let's see what tomorrow has in store for us.

Dinner was a big success. Lovely italian style meatballs in a tomato and spinach sauce with fake spaghetti. I've no idea how I've managed to still feel grumpy after eating this. It certainly doesn't deserve it.

KSFL Meatballs with Fake Spaghetti

Serves 2
 
Ingredients

For the meatballs:

2 tbs olive or coconut oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
500g beef mince
1 tsp dried oregano
freshly ground pepper
1 egg, beaten

For the tomato and spinach sauce:

1 tin tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped
4 mushrooms, finely chopped
two large handfulls fresh spinach, chopped
salt and pepper

For the fake spaghetti

1 courgette, half a butternut squash and two sticks of celery, cut into thin strands

Lightly fry the onion and garlic for the meatballs in 1 tbs of the oil until soft, let it cool slightly then put it in a mixing bowl with the minced beef, oregano, pepper and egg. Mix it up well with your hand and form into small balls. You'll probably get about 20. Pop them in the frying pan with the remaining oil over a high heat and turn them frequntly until they are browned all over and cooked through. Lay them in an oven-proof dish.

Into the same frying pan, throw the garlic, mushrooms, and spinach and fry for a few minutes till lightly coked then add the tin of tomatoes and stir. Once it's warmed through and well mixed, pour the sauce over the meatballs and place in the oven at 180c for 15-20 minutes.

Whilst it's cooking, place the fake spaghetti vegetables into a pan of warm water and boil for 10 minutes or so until the vegetables are soft. Drain and lay on plates, then pile the meatballs and sauce on top. We served ours with some green beans but you could use any side veg you fancied, or none at all. Enjoy!

Having now tried this I can tell you that the butternut squash doesn't make a particularly good fake spaghetti, though it is tasty. The courgette and celery stay more string-like and pull off the texture much better. When I do this again (which I will - it's lovely) I'll use more of those and omit the butternut - or maybe just roast it as a side dish. You of course can do as you wish!

The Big Binge

I ate chocolate cake, with hot choc fudge sauce, and it was marvellous.

We had friends visiting last night so we made the most of the opportunity to have our cheat meal in company. Our main meal was actually on plan - slow cooked lamb cutlets with tomatoes, onion, celery, squash and carrots (a week 3 addition), served with sweet and normal potato wedges (I only had a few sweet ones) and cabbage. However, it was accompanied by some lovely red wine of which I drank a glass and a half and was followed up by the heavenly chocolate cake above.

I thoroughly enjoyed every mouthful, even if I did only manage about 2/3 of my portion before my belly just said 'No more!'. I waited for some horrible reaction to take place and nothing really dramatic did. I did get a bit bloated but not to the point where I was uncomfortable and having lost several inches there was space in my jeans for it. As I lay in bed I realised I was getting quite windy and I'm still a bit bloated and windy this morning, but again, not enough to feel unwell from. I feel fine after the wine, but then I stopped drinking after dinner and had drunk a good pint of water before I went to bed. I do feel slightly dehydrated this morning but have no headache, just a bit of a dry mouth. I was expecting a 'food hangover' today, though I wasn't sure what it might feel like, but I actually feel fine. I'm pleasantly surprised.

Having done detoxes and experimented with my diet before I already knew that I was likely to react to the return of wheat, and I did. In the past I seem not to have too much of an issue with dairy and the fact that I finished off the jug of chocolate sauce with a spoon and felt no real ill effects seems to back that up. I will have to wait and see if I experience worse cravings now I've had a big sugar hit or if anything else changes but so far so good. I really enjoyed my cheat meal and I'm looking forward to the next one (which I already know will be my son's second birthday party next weekend), but I'm also happy to be back on plan and looking forward to my prawn salad at lunch today too.

Citrus beef kebabs anyone?

Today has most definitely been a good day. I had a good night's sleep (both children slept through), woke feeling slightly stiff, but in a good way from last night's workout, and then we took photos. Last week I was a little disappointed in the photos as there was only a very slight noticeable difference between them, but this week, wowee! I'm a changed woman! OK, I'm still blobby, still clinically obese in fact, but my stomach sticks out much less and one of the creases in my back has almost completely disappeared. If there can be that much of a change in two weeks I can't wait to see what four weeks will do! It was a serious pick-me-up.

And I had a good day. My mood was good, I felt relaxed, and happy, and energised and all those things I was told I'd feel on KSFL but that just took a bit longer to come into effect. Even a grumpy toddler couldn't phase me today. Long may it last!

I rounded off my good day with a meal I'd been looking forward to since I decided to try it. And it was a very appropriate ending, being totally and utterly delicious. These kebabs are juicy and lemony and just devine. They are definitely worth trying yourself.

Here's how to do them:

KSFL Citrus Beef Kebabs

Serves 2

3 tbs Balsamic vinegar
rind of 1/2 lemon
2 tbs lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, crsuhed or finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tbs olive oil
2 steaks - whatever cut you prefer
1 green pepper, cut into chunks
1 onion, cut into chunks
1 small courgette, sliced thickly
6 smallish mushrooms
12 cherry tomatoes

6 kebab skewers (metal or bamboo)

Mix the balsamic vinegar, lemon rind and juice, garlic and cumin in a small mixing bowl. Cut the steaks into chunks and mariade in the vinegar/lemon mixture for as long as possible (mine had 4 hours). Just before cooking, slide the meat onto the skewers alternating with the vegetables. You don't have to use these vegetables, just use whatever you have in that would suit. Drizzle the remaining marinade over the kebabs and grill on high, turning once, until cooked (approx 8-10 minutes for mine). Serve with the greens of your choice and sweet potato wedges (if you're beyond week 2).

The halfway point

Today was results day again, and in camp Food Junkie that meant more than a little trepidation before getting on the scales and whipping out the tape measure. I have to admit I was a little disappointed when I weighed myself this morning. I have lost just 1 lb this week. I know I've had a few days off the exercise and I have had the odd small snack of nuts, but even so after losing 7 lb last week I was expecting something at least a little more. I have a fair amount to lose after all.

I know, I know, they say that inches are what matters, so I swallowed my disappointed and got on with the measuring. Those results are better. I have lost another 4.5". That brings my two week totals to 8 lb and 10" and four of those inches are from my waist. I need to remind myself that all of this has happened in just 14 days because when you remember that it's pretty impressive really, isn't it?

Class was fun and I managed the full workout so I'm now officially classing myself as better and fully capable of keeping up with my exercise sessions. So that will be another half hour workout from the DVD tomorrow evening and Rachel's 45 minute bootcamp on Saturday morning. Bring it on! Even with a few days off my improved fitness was noticeable tonight. I managed to do full burpees almost every time (I just had to ease off halfway through the last burpee set) so my personal challenge for next week is to do all of them. There's a small perverse part of me that is actually starting to enjoy them - and I never, ever thought I'd say that!

I'm afraid there are no recipes today as I need to shower and get to bed, and also because today we've eaten meals that I've already shown here before. I have a treat in store for tomorrow though, so be sure to check back then.

I hope everyone else has had a good second week. Bring on week three (and that cheat meal...).

Recovering with a good old chicken curry

Viruses suck don't they? As far as viruses go this isn't that bad, I'm just exhausted and achey but as I was on Mum duty today there as no chance to rest up properly, although I did chill out on a sofa with a peppermint tea whilst my toddler ran riot in a soft play centre this morning. Still, I'm off to bed as soon as I've updated and I'll lick this thing before long. I want to be doing those workouts dammit! Tomorrow is weighing, measuring and KSFL class day, and there's no way I'm missing that.

But in the mean time, back to food! Dinner tonight was a chicken curry made from the breasts from the chicken we roasted yesterday and had the drumsticks and thighs with salad for lunch. I made it up on the spot and it worked out really well. I served it with cauliflower rice which I'd heard rumours about but only tried today. It's great! Just grate half a cauliflower head, mix with a beaten egg and stir fry for a few minutes. It's just the accompaniment a curry like this needs, is a lovely teture and very tasty.

Fancy a go? Feel free to vary the recipe by swapping in a different combination of veg, or a different meat. You also don't need to use pre-cooked chicken, you could add raw chopped chicken breasts in at the initial frying stage instead. It's up to you, but here's what I used.

KSFL Chicken Curry

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 tbs olive/coconut oil
1 onion
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1.5 cm root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp mild chilli powder (feel free to use medium or strong if you like more kick)
1 green pepper, chopped
1 courgette, chopped
handful mange tout, halved
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 tin chopped tomatoes
large handful fresh spinach, chopped
2 cooked chicken breasts, chopped

Fry the onion in the oil and add the garlic, ginger and spices. Once the  onion has started to soften add the fresh vegetables, apart from the spinach. Once they are lightly cooked, add the tin of tomatoes, frozen peas, spinach and chicken breasts and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve with the wonderful cauliflower rice (or brown rice if you're having a carb day) and devour!

An answer, and a fish supper

This morning it all became clear: why my workout yesterday was so poor and why I may not have been myself for a few days. I woke with swollen glands, bone aches and tiredness beyond tiredness. Even walking up the stairs felt like a monumental effort. It seems I have succumbed to the viral thing that has been working its way round the rest of my family. Being a full time mum whilst also running my own business means that I tend not to get the option to take time off, but I did manage to get 45 minutes after I'd finished a job for a client to lie in bed before the school run.

Having taken advice from both Rachels I am taking a day or two off from the workouts to let my body sort itself out. I am however sticking to the plan diet-wise and drinking lots of lemon and ginger (a couple of thin slices of lemon and four or five of ginger root with hot water - it's yummy and good for you). I had six almonds as an afternoon snack and half a banana and some blueberries after dinner. It seems strange to me not to be piling in the fruit when I need an immune system boost so that was my compromise. Fingers crossed I'll be all better soon.

I have managed to get blogger to let me post a photo of Sunday's banana and blueberry omelette at last. It was even tastier than it looks.

Banana, blueberry and cinnamon omelette

And tea tonight was pretty god too even though my appetite wasn't up to much. It as pollock, baked with spinnach, lemon and spring onion. I'd normally put some ginger in to but I don't have much left in the house and wanted to keep it for my soothing drinks.

Fancy a go yourself? It's super easy. Here's the recipe with ginger - it's optional.

Baked Pollock with Spinach, Lemon, Spring Onion and Ginger

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 pollock fillets, chilled (I used frozen ones, just leave them to defrost on the side for a few hours)
2 large handfuls of fresh spinach leaves
1 lemon, finely sliced
3 spring onions, sliced
1.5cm piece of ginger root, peeled and finely chopped

Cut two pieces of cooking foil approx 20cm long and place a bed of spinach leaves in the centre of each one. Put a pollock fillet on each bed of spinach and top with the lemon, ginger and spring onion. Wrap them into foil parcels and cook for 12-15 minutes at 170c. Serve with side vegetables of your choice and enjoy!

The KSFL Big Breakfast

After my big grumbles yesterday I thought I'd better start today on a high, so I did, with a KSFL Big Breakfast. What is it? Quite simply, it's an omelette containing everything that you'd normally have in a fry-up. Well, the KSFL-friendly parts anyway.

Doesn't it look yummy? It was! Paired with an avocado it set me up for the day perfectly.

KSFL Big Breakfast Omelette

Serves 1

1 tbs olive or coconut oil
One small onion, chopped
A tomato, chopped
3-4 mushrooms, chopped
3 rashers of bacon, chopped
3 eggs, beaten
Salt and pepper

Fry the onion, tomato, mushrooms and bacon in a medium non-stick frying pan on a high heat until cooked through. Add salt and pepper to the beaten eggs to taste and pour over the other ingredients. Keep on the heat for another 2 minutes until the bottom is cooked then transfer under a hot grill until the top is browned and the egg is cooked through the middle.

Serve with aocado, or celery sticks, or whatever else tickles your fancy and enjoy!

And today has been better in many ways. My mood has been up, partly helped by a pep talk with Rachel S and partly due to the fact that I've expanded my diet a little. Following her and Rachel H's feedback on facebook earlier I had a mid-afternoon snack of a small handful of almonds and then had a few slices of roasted sweet potato alongside my lasagna (the other half of the monster one I made yesterday) and greens for tea. I was feeling much better mood-wise, my bowels finally started moving and all was looking good. Then once the kids were in bed, I got down to my workout.

It didn't go well. As I have done every evening since Thursday (bar my rest day on Saturday) I set up the first 30 minute workout from the DVD. Every day I've done it I've been able to do more of the harder versions of the excercise and was thinking I might give workout two a go in the next day or so. Except this time my legs felt like lead and every move felt like I was doing it through treacle. It was really, really hard and the magical 'oomph' that has burst from me as soon as I've got going with every other workout so far, propelling me through and making me want to push myself just wasn't there. I felt so tired I ended up stopping half way through.

So I've done just over a ten minute workout. I've done what I need to to stay on plan but I didn't enjoy it and I felt pretty rubbish afterwards as well. I've come to rely on the feel good factor a workout gives me as a pick-me-up and for that to have got-up-and-gone was pretty down-heartening. So tomorrow I'm off all the carbs again and we'll see what effect that has. Watch this space...

Will a 'creamy' KSFL lasagna help beat the day 11 blues?

It's been a tough one here today, actually, it has been for the last few days really. My other half has dropped 9lbs in as many days and was beginning to feel quite unwell, lethargic and weak. With no need to lose any more weight (I'm the porker of the pair) my beloved has started to introduce good carbs with every meal. Sitting down to eat next to someone who is eating things you'd love to, but can't for now is extra tough, but at least I'm no longer worried about their health.

I am really struggling with my mood and my energy levels though. I am having several periods in the day when I could just fall asleep where I stand and I haven't yet managed to pinpoint a pattern with regards to mealtimes. I was under the impression that now my blood sugar is no longer leaping up and down like a hyperactive rabbit my energy levels would be more consistent and raised overall. So far I haven't found this. I need to add here that I am living with two small children, both of whom have had coughs and a persistant viral thing that has left them slightly off colour for weeks, so they are both more whingey than normal and we've only had one unbroken night of sleep so far this year. I have managed to fit in a few lie-ins and naps to make it up, but still, I feel knackered!

My bowels are not behaving normally on this diet and although they are moving it's sluggish, slight and inconsistent. I'm now over a week late for my period so have been feeling premenstrual pretty much the whole time I've been on the plan. Admittedly this might account for some or all of my bad mood but I have no way of knowing until my cycle decides to get going again. Again, I can't necessarily blame all of this on KSFL because I'm not the most regular of women but nine days is pushing it a bit.

I'm interested to know how others are finding things, and I know there are lots of you reading this now. Is anyone else going through similar experiences? Have you found any magic cures?

So that's my grump, or grumps. Today I am not having a happy KSFL day, for the most part. I say for the most part because there is one aspect of KSFL that really is working for me, and that's the workouts. I am LOVING it! Because of our timetables with work and kids it's really tricky to do the workouts first thing so I'm now getting into the habit of doing them in the evening. This works out fine except the only time my mood seems to lift is after them! Or rather, from about 30 seconds into them. And because I'm enjoying them I'm not just doing the ten minute workouts. Oh no no no. That wouldn't give me nearly enough workout pleasure. I'm doing a 30 minute one. Every day. For fun.

Now that is something I wouldn't have believed I'd be saying two weeks ago. The jury is still out on whether I'll stick with some or all of the diet aspects of this plan long term (I imagine I will with some) but I can already believe that my exercise habits will be changed monumentally by it. And thinking that does lift my spirits.

That's enough rambling from me about feelings. There is much more important stuff to talk about: Food!

I'm going to skip over the two days I missed because I mostly used recipes I've already covered (or variations of them) and I didn't take any photographs. Today though, I was back on track.

Breakfast was my Sunday morning treat. Last week I loved my banana omelette so much that I swore it would be a weekly treat and it was that time of week again, except this time I really pushed the boat out and scattered a few blueberries over it as well. Oh my goodness, it was amazing! This is definitely one to go for when you need to feel like you're treating yourself.

And I have a lovely photo of it too but it's refusing to upload right now so you'll just have to wait for that one. :)

And dinner was lasagna. Rachel Holmes posted a really lovely looking lasagna recipe a few days ago and it really turned me on to the idea of eating lasagna, and soon. For me a lasagna just wouldn't be the same without the contrast between the meaty and the creamy layers and it gave me an excuse to try something I've read about a few times but not actually tried yet: making a creamy sauce out of cauliflower.

Now I've tried it, and by gum, it really works! Honestly, its not the same as a really creamy, thick, cheesey bechamel, but for something made out of basically just cauliflower and squash it's amazingly good, and it actually has the right kind of flavour! It's fabulous. This is something you just have to try. I used courgette as my fake 'lasagna sheets' instead of the butternut squash that Rachel used, only because I used butternut in the creamy sauce. They worked well but I think lightly fried slices of aubergine might work even better. So if you try this, go with whichever one tickles your fancy most.

KSFL Lasagna (Carb and dairy-free)
 

 

 

 

Serves 4 generously
 
Ingredients
 
For the meat filling:
 
1 tbs coconut/olive oil
800g minced beef
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic (finely chopped or crushed)
4 celery sticks, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
half an aubergine (finely chopped)
8 large mushrooms, chopped
Two 400g tins chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp dried oregano
 
For the 'creamy' sauce:
 
1 large cauliflower, chopeed into chunks
1/3 a butternut squash, shopped into chunks
Water
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
 
For the 'lasagna' sheets:
 
2 large courgettes, sliced into approx 4mm slices
OR
2 large aubergines, sliced and lightly fried in coconut/olive oil
OR
1 large butternut squash, sliced

Put the cauliflower and butternut squash for your sauce into a pan of water and set off to boil. You want it to be well cooked and soft. While it's boiling, prepare the other elements.

For the meaty filling, fry the onion and garlic in the oil and add the mince to brown. Then, add the rest of the ingredients and leave to simmer for 20 minutes or so, uuntl the liquid has reduced and all the veg is cooked through.

Prepare your 'lasagna' sheets - whichever option you go for, then when the cauliflower and squash are soft, prepare the creamy sauce. Drain the cauliflower and squash but reserve some of the water, then pop it in a blender along with the salt and nutmeg and mix with as much of the cooking water as needed to give it a thick, creamy consistency.

When all the elements are ready, assemble your lasagna in a large oven-proof dish with a meat layer first, then the 'lasagna' sheets, then the 'creamy' sauce and repeat until you've used it all, making sure you finish with a nice thick layer of creamy sauce.

Pop into a preheated oven for 25 minutes at 180c and serve with a nice big portion of steamed greens. Yum!

Roast Turkey Drumstick, and some stats!

One week in and I've lost, wait for it... 7lb and 5.5"!

That will most do very nicely indeed, but the best bit is one that I didn't fully realise until tonight. The spontaneous running the other day should have given me a hint but the work out at the session tonight really showed me that my fitness has improved massively. Last week I felt I could barely finish the work out and was so exhausted that the walk out to the car was hard. This week not only did I manage more of the harder versions of the excercises but I was still going strong at the end. I could have done more!!!! I'm already looking forward to next week and I've bought the DVD so that I can do more at home.

I appear to have been bitten by the fitness bug. Who'd have thought it?

I am however still extremely passionate about food, but because it's late I'll keep this brief and share the very successful recipe I made up for the large turkey drumstick I got dirt cheap from the supermarket the other day. For £1.75 there was plenty of meat on there for two of us, but I wanted to figure out a way to cook it without it getting dry. I didn't fit in the slow cooker, so I decided to roast it with garlic, but just keep it wet by covering it with a tin of tomatoes. The big advantage of this is that the tomatoes and the other veg I threw in with it slow roasted together so were packed with flavour. It worked well. The turkey was moist and very tasty - the garlic really added something special.

Here it is just out the oven:

And this was dinner:

Fancy having a go? Here's how:

Slow Roasted Turkey Drumstick with Garlic, Tomatoes and Roast Vegetables

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 turkey drumstick (approx 650g)
2 large garlic cloves peeled and cut in half lengthways, or 4 small one peeled and whole
1 400g tin tomatoes
3 celery stalks, chopped into large chunks
Half a butternut squash, skin and seed removed and chopped into chunks
Ground pepper and dried mixed herbs

Take your turkey drumstick and stab it, deeply, four times with a non-serrated kitchen knife in biggest flesshy parts. Push a garlic clove (or half of one) onto each hole until it is buried beneath the flesh. Place the drumstick on a roasting tray and pour over a tin of tomatoes. Toss the celery and squash chunks into the tomato juices and lightly sprinkle with ground pepper and mixed herbs.

Cover well with foil and cook at 160c for 90 minutes, then remove the foil and turn the temperature up to 190c for 30-45 minutes. Once cooked, strip the meat from the bone and serve alongside the roast veg with something green and leafy.

Tomorrow morning it will be one week since the first pictures were taken so I'll take some more, but I'll wait until I've seen them until I post them. I may wait until I have some really impressinve 'after' shots in  few more weeks time. I also may not be posting for a few days as I'm going away for a night and we have house guests as soon as we return, but normal service should resume by the end of the weekend.

Over and out for now.