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.

KSFL Szechuan Prawns - ending the first week in style

Wow, well today has been a good food day and I have my best recipe yet to share!

But before that, I need to mention something that happened just after I finished my post last night. I took the dog for a quick pre-bed stroll and before I knew what I was doing I'd broken into a spontaneous run! I ran several hundred yards, up a gentle slope before I got a bit puffed and slowed down again. This is not like the 'me' I've been for a long time and it made me very happy to realise my base level of fitness and my energy levels are already at a point where spontaneous running can become 'normal' again. In less than a week. That's impressive!

So, food today was good, which was useful because much of the rest of the day was tricky. I was in full parenting mode with an ill toddler who was very needy and clingy, so having already prepared lunch was very handy.

Breakfast was a chicken, bacon and kale soup made from the stock and leftover meat/veg from the pot roast last night. I fished out the bones (I missed a few little ones so this one isn't so great for kids unless you're very thorough), added some water, some chopped celery, half a bag of kale and three rashers of chopped bacon. Fifteen minutes of simmering and it was good to go, and it was very tasty indeed! After six consecutive egg-based breakfasts it was a welcome change and it really worked.

 

Lunch was the fritatta made the night before from a big pile of leftover veg and a pack of smoked salmon trimmings and dinner was my a major hit. I decided to adapt my usual Szechuan sauce recipe to make it KSFL friendly and boy, did it work a treat! Here's the biggest success of the week so far.

 

KSFL Szechuan Prawn Stir Fry

 

Serves 2

Ingredients

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1cm root ginger, finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped (more if you like it hotter)
1 tbs dark soy sauce
1 tbs rice vinegar
1 tbs tomato puree
1 tbs water
2 tbs olive/coconut oil
1 green pepper, finely sliced
Large handful breen beans, trimmed
Large handful mange tout
8 mushrooms, sliced
6 spring onions, sliced
1 pack of raw king prawns, defrosted/chilled
Steamed/bioled sliced white cabbage to serve (optional)

If you are using the cabbage as a side dish, set it off to boil/steam while you make the stir fry.

Combine the garlic, ginger, chilli, soy sauce, rice vinegar, tomatoe puree and water in a small dish and mix well. Put half the oil into a large non-stick frying pan or wok along with half the Szechuan sauce, add the vegetables and stir fry over a high heat until cooked. Serve it out onto warmed plates and then immediately return to the heat. Put the rest of the oil, sauce and all the prawns into the pan and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes until the prawns are cooked through. Spoon them over the vegetables along with the remaining sauce and serve alongside the cabbage.

If anything, I liked this better than my normal Szechuan recipe which includes sugar. This was such a win I can't wait to have it again. I'm now going to be on a mission to create KSFL versions of all my regular favourite recipes. Watch this space!

This evening I've already made another batch of burgers ready for tomorrow's lunches and this time I added a large handful of fresh rosemary and thyme from the garden. They smell wonderful so I'll let you now how successful they tomorrow. Tomorrow is weighing, measuring and KSFL workout day. I'm feeling good about it. I'll let you know...

Day 6: Digging a bit deeper

I can't believe I'm nearly through my first week! Today has been a good one. I've felt energised and alert, though I did get a tiredness dip early evening. That lifted as soon as I did the 10 minute workout and now I'm full of beans again.

I've also been doing a bit more reading about what exactly this diet does and why it works. I'm a bit of a geek in that regard, and need to know why something works before I can really trust it properly. It seems that I, along with all the other KSFL-ers around the country have now entered a state of ketosis. That does sound alarmingly medical on first hearing, but it's not as bad as you might think. It simply means that your body is burning fat for energy. Now that I'm through the withdrawal and clean of all those sugars and carbs that my body used to burn up, it's turned to my fat stores and is happily eating them up to get the energy it needs. Wahey! The process of metabolising fats for energy releases these little molecules called ketones into the body, and that's why those clever scientist folk decided to call it a state of ketosis. It's all explained rather well here if you'd like to know more.

Breakfast was yummy. I remembered to bake the spring onions today so they were soft and sweet, and went really well with the saltiness of the bacon rashers. Add to that an onion and spinach omelette and it was quite a feast!

Roast spring onions are one of the easiest things to make and they really are fab. All you do is wrap them in foil and pop them in an oven on a tray at about 175c for 15 minutes or so and they are done! You can put them in along with the bacon if you're happy to oven cook it, and even the tomatoes if you fancy them warm, and then you just have to knock up a quick omelette while they cook. Breakfast perfection!

Lunch was chicken and egg salad, in the nice new LARGE tupperware tubs I bought specially to cater to our large salad needs. And dinner was one of my absolute favourite meals. A pot roast chicken! With a ton of veg. Marvellous!

Fancy a recipe? It's a good one! Very quick and simple, though a medium to large slow cooker is required.

KSFL Pot Roast Chicken

Ingredients

1 chicken - the largest size that will fit into your slow cooker
Veg of your choice, chopped (I used celery, kale and broccoli. Post detox carrots are great in this.)
Olive or coconut oil

Oil the sides of your slow cooker pot. Place a handful of veg in the bottom then put your chicken in, upside down so the breasts are at the bottom. Shove the remaining veg around the chiken and into the cavity, anywhere that you can find space. Put the lid on your pot and pop it in the slow cooker on high for approx 8 hours.

By the time you come in after work the aroma from your slow cooker will be just heavenly and your bird will be moist and tender. The veg will have cooked in the chicked juices so will be lovely and soft and flavourful too. Really. Mmmm...

Now I'm getting into more of a routine with all of this I'm realising I'm going to have to schedule my days a bit differently. Today, even though I got up at 6:30 and my other half got the kids dressed I was still only sitting down to eat breakfast at 8:10 because I spent the whole time between preparing and cooking food. I was still in my pyjamas with only half an hour to eat, shower, dress - smartly - for a business women's networking meet up, so make up and hair had to be done and get the kids out the door with their multitude of bags - some of which still had to be packed - for school and playgroup. We did have lovely nutritious and filling meals but it made the morning very rushed indeed.

So lesson learned. I have now already made the fritatta for tomorrow's lunch and breakfast will be a soup made from the leftovers of tonights tea. Yes, that's right, soup for breakfast! I'm getting a bit tired of eggs so thought we'd mix it up a bit. I'll let you know how that goes tomorrow. Watch this space...

Day five: into the swing

I must start today by saying a big Hello! In the last 24 hours links to this blog have been posted in various places and I've been blown away by the response. I've had hundreds of visitors! Apart from being slightly unnerved that so many people have now seen my blubber pictures it's really lovely to know that so many people have taken the time to click through. I do hope you've enjoyed what you've read. Thank you so much for dropping by!

I'd love to receive comments and hear how others are getting on. I'd also really love to know if you've tried any of the recipes. If you have suggestions for improvements to any of them, or try variations that really work (or don't), then please comment to let me, and everyone else know, then we can all learn from each other's successes and failures. There will be no other time when so many people are going through the same stages of this plan together so it's a unique opportunity to share our experiences. How has this first week been for you?

Today has most definitely been a better day. I started the day with a 6am workout. It was the last thing I wanted to do when I got out of bed but by the time I'd done it and got the endorphine kick I was definitely glad I did. Rachel is right, it really does set you up for the day! I wouldn't recommend doing it on a carpetted floor in flannelette pyjamas though. I now have slight friction burns on my elbows. I think I'll change into a t-shirt tomorrow.

Today might have been easier for being a Monday, and it was a busy work day for me. Lunch was potentially tough. I was at a business co-working event where the lunches were all variations on sandwiches, with chips. I stayed strong though and tucked into my salad with roast chicken and by the time I'd finished that luscious 'chip smell' had mostly faded from te room we were to work in all afternoon... I followed the co-working event with a free swim, jacuzzi and sauna in the spa facility at the hotel and I did actually do some swimming before relaxing so I managed to fit in TWO lots of excercise today! Although I have to admit that having access to a free spa did help my motivation just a little bit.

However, I'm getting ahead of myself, first things first. Breakfast! This was slightly tricky because my other half had a long run planned for this morning so needed to have a carb day. We'd pre-cooked some brown rice so I did two variations our egg fried vegetables, one with and one without rice and they were yummy! Well, the rice-free one was anyway.

Doesn't that look good?

Here's the recipe for the rice-free version. If you're having a carb day you can add pre-cooked brown rice in the last few minutes of cooking.

Ingredients

3 eggs, beaten
Olive or coconut oil
A large handful of purple sprouting broccoli, chopped
Green beans, chopped
5 mushrooms, chopped
Half a yellow pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped

Heat approx 1 tbs oil in a large non-stick frying pan and add the eggs. Keep stirring them until they're cooked through (and scrambled), then remove them from the pan and set aside.

Add another tbs oil to the pan and thrown in all the veg. Stir fry until they are cooked through, but still a little bit crunchy then tip the scrambled eggs back in and stir them through. Remove from the heat, serve and enjoy!

This is a great breakfast option as it's pretty quick and simple and you can use any veg that you have to hand.

I came home to find tea waiting for me! I'd put liver and onions into the slow cooker in the morning and my lovely partner had steamed a huge pile of cualiflower, broccoli and cabbage to go with it so I was sitting down to a slap up meal within five minutes of walking through the door! I only have one work day like this a fortnight so it's a real treat for me to experience a bit of role reversal and my other half really pulled it off.

I need to say here that the liver dish didn't work so well in the slow cooker. Usually meat is extremely juicy when slow cooked so I hope this would help combat the liver's tendency towards being dry, but it didn't. Clearly, a quick, hot cook is the only way to go with liver, so I won't add this recipe to the blog. It was still tasty, just a little dry.

Tonight I went out to the local pub to meet some friends and once again was very good, drinking just water and herbal tea and staying strong when the popadoms, chutney and curry came out. It made me realise I must be through the withdrawal phase now. I've had a busy, long day with an early start and I haven't felt overly tired, and I've had very little problem avoiding all kinds of temptations. Long may it continue!

Day four: Starting the upwards curve

I had great expectations for today. Day four! The end of withdrawals! And then I was up twice in the night with one of the kids so my other half did the early start with our pre-dawn-waking children and all our good intentions of starting the day with our 10 minute workout flew out the window. I still felt irritable, although fortunately my muscle aches are much improved, I've had no headache and I've been less tired, so all in all it was an improvement, not just quite the magic 'feeling on top of the world' I'd hoped for.

So it was a glum start, and the only way to combat a glum start, especially on a Sunday in this house is with a really good breakfast. Fluffy cinnamon and raisin pancakes are one of my weekend breakfast staples but they are obviously not an option any more so I decided to give the cinnamon and banana omelette from the KSFL booklet a try. Thinking this wouldn't be enough to see me through the morning I made it into a two course breakfast with stir fried broccoli with lemon and garlic (one of my all time favourite ways to cook brocolli), tomatoes and avocado to start and the banana omelette to finish. How is that for indulgent?

 

 

And yes, we did have garlic for breakfast. At least we both ate it...

 

Fancy making that broccoli dish yourself? It makes for a great side dish to go with all kinds of things, is really quick and very tasty. I kept my lemon juice quantities lower than I might usually after Rachel advised us that a little lemon juice as a dressing is OK, but no more. The original recipe I lerned from my cousin, Kd, but here's my KSFL version:

 

Lemon and Garlic Broccoli

 

Serves 2-3 as a hearty side dish, 3-4 as a normal portion

Takes 5 minutes prep time and 5 minutes cook time

 

Ingredients:

 

1 head of broccoli, cut into florets (I slice the bigger ones but that's optional)

2 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive or coconut oil

Water

 

Put all the ingredients except the water into a large non-stick frying pan and fry over a high heat, stirring regularly, until the broccoli is cooked through but still crunchy. Add in a splash (1-2 tablespoons) of water at intervals if the pan becomes too dry.

 

Serve!

 

Now, doesn't the banana omelette that followed look devine? It so is! It's definitely one to have in the back of your mind as a weekend treat.

 

 

 

For lunch I took the left over juices from the fabulous lamb dish that we'd had last night and used it as a stock for a soup. I added celery, mushrooms, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and five thick rashers of unsmoked bacon, plus some more water and left it to bubble away for a little while. It really worked!

 

 

That topped us up nicely for the afternoon and unlike yesterday when, in retrospect, the lack of protein in our butternut squash soup left us with a real energy dip in the afternoon, this most definitely did not. Protein in every meal folks - it's a must! That's our lesson learned!

 

Dinner was another real hit. The packs we were given when we started KSFL included a sample meal planner for the first week. One of the meal ideas was burgers, and it just had to be done, though I added an egg to the recipe to help the burger mix bind and a handful of herbs for extra flavour. We had them with a huge mixed salad drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil and a roasted chicken thigh thrown in for good measure - I'd just cooked a big batch of thighs and drumsticks to use for lunches in the week. I also included pickled gerkins which are an essential element to any burger meal in my mind. They are a little cheat because although I read the ingredients on the jar and they are mostly just gerkins, vinegar, salt and mustard seeds (which I didn't eat) there are also 'flavourings' which I know could be hiding all kinds of nasties. So I throw my hands up now and admit I cheated, a little bit, with three gerkins. But in the greater scheme of things I think I can live with myself for this one.

 

The Four Ingredient Burger

 

It tasted even better than it looks, honest!

 

Here's the recipe:

 

The Five Ingredient Burger!

 

Serves 2 generously

 

1lb minced beef

1 large onion, finely chopped

Handful of fresh herbs (I used rosemary and thyme), finely chopped

1 egg, beaten

Olive or coconut oil

 

Throw the beef, onion, herbs and beaten egg into a mixing bowl and mix it up with your hand. Really give it a good squish about. Divide the mix into four equal parts and shape each into a burger shape.

 

Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan, add the burgers and cook for 3-4 minutes over a moderate high heat until they are nicely browned on the bottom, then turn them and give them the same amount of time to cook on the other side. The amount of time it will take your burgers to cook will depend on how thick you make them. I tend to squish them to no more than 1.5cm thick so that they'll cook through without burning the outside, though a slightly crispy crust can be very yummy too.

 

Serve with a mountain of salad and munch up!

 

After a day with that much tasty food in it, things had to start looking up eventually. After the kids were in bed we finally got a chance to do the 10 minute work out and immediately, our moods lifted. We chatted about how we were both finding the diet and realised that we were feeling less grouchy and that the cravings that we'd both struggled with for the first couple of days were pretty much gone.

 

I also rather naughtily stepped on the scales. In four days I appear to have dropped four pounds. If that's not an incentive to keep going then I don't know what is.

Day three. Ouch.

Wowee. Today has been a tough one, mostly because I haven't felt a noticeable improvement on the withdrawal side of things. There's been a slight on-off headache and I've felt grumpy, unmotivated and really tired. Unfortunately today this has been combined with some serious muscle pain following the first KSFL workout. I think I may have made it worse rather than better by doing the KSFL fitness test last night, which I definitely found harder for having done the big workout the night before. I can normally knock out a few press ups but it felt like my arms could barely hold me last night. At least it shouldn't be hard to improve on my numbers in a week's time...

So I failed to make it to boot camp this morning, figuring that if I needed to hold on to something to lower myself into a chair I wasn't going to be up to much in a muddy field. Instead I walked the dog for a mile, starting out slowly and gradually building up the pace as my muscles warmed up. I walked him again, just for half a mile this evening and I think it's easing a bit now. So sore, tired and grumpy have been the themes for today. I have however eaten very well indeed!

We started off this morning with boiled eggs with bacon rashers, celery, mange tout and spring onions for dippers with grilled tomatoes on the side. Looks pretty, yes?

 

I meant to roast the spring onions first but I forgot and I have to admit that neither of us could stomach much of them for breakfast as they were a bit strong. I won't forget again!

Lunch was a roasted butternut squash soup that I forgot to photograph, and dinner was total and utter hit! I bought some really nice big lamb chops the other day and I popped them in the slow cooker along with a load of veg this morning. The result was just spectacular and we will so be having this again!

Fancy a recipe? A slow cooker is required for this one and it took all of 10 minutes to prepare (plus 7 hours in the slow cooker to cook).

Slow Cooked Lamb Chops

Serves 2 generously

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive or coconut oil
3 spring onions, chopped (I used the ones we didn't eat for breakfast)
2 large lamb chops
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 courgette, chopped
Half an aubergine
1 onion, chopped
1 tin tomatoes
Salt and pepper

Oil the base and sides of the pot and spread the chopped onions over the bottom. Lay the chops on the onions and spread the rest of the vegetables on top of them. Pour the tin of tomatoes evenly over the lot and toss in a pinch of salt and pepper. Pop the pot in the slow cooker and cook on high for approx 7 hours, stirring occasionally.

Serve up and devour!

Here's hoping the withdrawal eases tomorrow. I'm off for an early night now.

Into Day Two

Wow, what can I say? I can now see why KSFL gets the results it does. Those workouts really do work you out! My first session last night was great. I already knew Rachel would do a great job of informing us all and motivating us to get to it and stick to it. And then to blast it in the work out! It was a lot of fun, and used a lot of puff, and I can feel it today. Good stuff!

I've begun to get more into the diet too. Today has been a lot easier than yesterday. Already my headache is gone (I had been reducing caffeine in preparation so that impact was less than it could have been) and I'm feeling a bit more as though I know what I'm doing. I also went shopping today to a farm shop nearby that specialises in meat, mostly locally sourced and all top quality stuff. I also visited another local farm shop that do great veg at very reasonable prices so our fridge is now groaning under the weight of KSFL-friendly ingredients and I'm going to enjoy cooking up a storm with it all. In fact, I already have been!

Breakfast was a definite hit. Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon accompanied by stir fried veggies and tomatoes. Again, the peppers in the stir fry ar emixed because we've got them in the fridge and even if we're not supposed to eat any other than green ones on the detox I'm guessing it's a small sin in the greater scheme of things and I'll stick to green once we've used them up. Doesn't it all look pretty on the plate?

Dinner last night was this rather lovely pork stir-fry and it was packed full of flavour. Interested? Well here's a recipe:

KSFL Pork Stir Fry Recipe

Serves 2

3 tablespoons olive or coconut oil
3 pork steaks, cut into pieces
2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped
6 spring onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
8-10 mushrooms, chopped
2 tomatoes, sliced
8 savoy cabbage leaves, stem removed and chopped
A big handful of green beans
Half a head of brocolli, sliced
2cm root ginger, skin removed and finely chopped
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
Water (if needed)

You also need a big frying pan or a wok for this one.

Pop one tablespoon of oil, the pork and the garlic in the pan or wok and stir fry over a high heat until the pork is cooked through and beginning to brown slightly, then remove it from the pan and set aside.

Toss the remaining oil, all the veg plus the ginger and soy sauce into the pan/wok and stir fry until cooked. You may need to add the odd splash of water to keep it from drying out and sticking too much, just keep an eye. Once it's cooked, add the pork and give a good stir for a minute or two to combine and reheat the pork.

Then serve it up! Yum!

Ready to rock and roll!

Right, here we go! I'm not sure whether to count today as my official start day or not because my first KSFL class and intro session is tonight, but I've read the booklet and taked to Rachel, and am trying to mostly get it right today. I think I'll officially treat today as a practice run because I'm not 100% on a few things and I did start the day with a small cup of coffee after a rough night wih a coughing child, but that was at 6am and I've been a good girl since 6:30am.

One thing I did do this morning was take my first photos. Oh how horrible it is to see those views of yourself that you never normally get to see, and the idea of sharing them is cringeworthy, but I things can only get better and by being open up front about the state I'm in at each stage will keep me accountable. Please feel free to avert your eyes...

I followed my photo session with a KSFL breakfast of a 3 egg (or rather a 6 egg split two ways) omelette with mange tout, onion, savoy cabbage and pepper. I may have slipped up by using a yellow pepper as I only noticed in the booklet that it specifies green. I will find out tonight! It looked and tasted lovely, but I do think I'll need to come up with some more interesting omelette variations before long.

Recipe time!
 
Approx 1 tablespoon of olive oil (use coconut if you have it)
1onion, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
A handful of mangetout (about half a bag), sliced in half
6 large savoy cabbage leaves with the thick stalks removed and chopped
6 eggs, beaten
Pinch of salt and pepper
 
Fry the vegetables in a large pan in the oil on a medium heat until they start to go soft, then mix the salt and pepper in with the eggs, give them a last little beat and pour the egg mix evenly over the vegetables. Then leave it to stand on the heat for 2-3 minutes before transferring the pan under a hot grill for another 2-3 minutes until it looks nicely browned on top. Voila!

By the last few mouthfulls I was getting really full so was quite hopeful about avoiding any snacking urges mid-morning, but I made the mistake of popping into a supermarket after the school run to pick up some more legal foodstuffs. It made me realise eactly how many aisles were just off limits to me now. It was coming up to 10:30 as I left and my tummy started to grumble when I saw the caramel popcorn by the till. I was good though, coming out with two bags stuffed with fresh veg and posh tea. I drank half a litre of water as soon as I got into the car and that seemed to help stave off any other pangs.

It's now 1pm so I'm going to break for lunch. It's shop-bought unfortunately as I'm working out of the office today, but it is a leafy salad with cucumber, chicken and boiled eggs. The dressing is in a seperate packet so easy to avoid and I'm definitely hungry now!

Bring on tonight when I will go to my first class and do those measurements. Gulp!

The anticipation

Hello world! Wecome to the blog! Let's start with a bit of an introduction:

In six days time I will be starting on the Kick Start Fat Loss plan. My local, friendly fitness instructor, Rachel has joined this shiny new franchise and starts her classes next week. I've known her for a few years now, firstly as a fellow Mum in the playground and more recently I've been going to her Saturday morning bootcamps in an attempt to shift my post-pregnancy weight. It has been partially successful but I still have several stone to go and ever since she started posting pictures of the transformations that can take place with KSFL I knew it was something I had to try.

I'm not afriad of working hard on the fitness front. In my past I've been active in martial arts, dance and weight training over different periods, but it's been nearly a decade since I was training regularly in anything physical. I'm also not averse to changing my diet. I've spent time as both a vegetarian and a vegan and I studied Naturopathic Medicine for a while so have a good grounding in various approaches to health through diet and detoxification. However right now I eat pretty much everything - although I do try to keep things healthy with minimal processed and pre-prepared foodstufffs - and apart from a weekly bootcamp which I don't always make it to my only regular excercise is walking the dog, for less than a mile a day usually. Time for a change I think!

My only concern about taking on this plan is that I am a complete and total food junkie and on KSFL there is a lot to cut out. Admittedly a lot of wht is cut out isn't that good for you in the first place and instinctively I'm much more drawn to a diet plan that uses only natural, unprocessed foodstuffs instead of 'low fat this' and 'sugar-free that' as this one does.  But I do love flavours, and textures, and experimenting in the kitchen, so suddenly finding myself so very limited in terms of ingredients is going to be challenging. I'm not the kind of girl that will be happy with seven different variations on an omelette to see me through the week, so I'm going to have to get creative.

That's what this blog is for. I'm going to document my culinary adventures on the KSFL plan, share my successes and my failures (no doubt there will be many) both for myself an anyone else who happens to be passing. Comments and ideas are always welcome, particularly from others on the KSFL journey. It all starts here...