Day 227: The cost of it all...

Yo!
I know these updates seem random and not so much daily, and that is probably how they will be, I hope to get an average of three updates a week (still no posting on weekends unless its for a special reason) so stay tuned!
So what with all the exercise and dieting taking place I thought I'd discuss the cost of this all, not just monetary cost but the other things.

Firstly, with this high protein diet is how much fatigue you suffer. The body is constantly repairing the damaged mussel tissue from exercise and uses the protein to do this,  also the body is digesting fats to help as they no longer have to be stored, so all in all the body is working very hard and as a result I feel constantly tired, I sleep well! (But also seem to sleep for much longer, so good idea to set alarms).
Also, on top of feeling tired, you will feel as if its a lot harder to move, sometimes you just sit and think, I can't be bothered to invest energy in moving.

Secondly, eating healthy is not cheap!!
This sounds a bit weird as you would have been told countless times that eating good is cheap.
Well maybe so a few years back but the prices of vegetables, fruit and raw ingredients actually cost quite a lot!
Admittedly most ready meals, and snacks have a lot of unwanted junk in them, but the cost difference is great indeed!

Interestingly the foods near the top are those that are the most acidic! Remember my post about alkaline and acid, and how it has a massive effect on your life? no?
 well look here:
FIRST POST 
SECOND POST

Anyway, with my current diet I'm consuming a lot of meats as well as quorn alternatives, so to counter act the masses of Acid I'm ingesting I've been sticking to my lemon water rule that's mentioned in the old post linked above.

You can make good food cheap if you create things in big amounts and freezing and storing so that you can eat these whenever you want, but learning what can be frozen and stored and what won't will leave you with a few obvious options, soup; covered in the last posts can be your greatest asset, they are easy to store and defrost  also can taste good while being healthy for you, but you will get sick of eating soup constantly.

My suggestion is to adapt meals you like into a healthy alternative, for example now and then I'll get massive urges to eat at burger king, and while this is completely out of the question with the current diet, there is an alternative! I have wholegrain burger bap, 2 meat free burgers from Tesco home brand, they have a lot less saturated fat compared to the official quorn ones,  place low fat cheese on them and you have a burger that is relatively good for this diet! The wholegrain adds good carbs while the meat free burgers have next to no fat in them but with all the protein.
So it is just a case of adapting and changing what you like for alternatives! If you have something you like but can't think what to switch it with, send a message and I'll try my hardest to think of a more healthy alternative.

A nice parody of the popular web series "EPIC MEAL TIME".

Have a great day readers! 

Chills of a frozen sun.

Hello readers, it's been a few days of intensive training (I'll talk about that later) I have a little treat for you, and of course another NEW section (as well as blog design, again... more on that later)

Since the cold air is here, and winter rapidly approaching I feel it's important for me to disclose on a few weapons on fighting the cold. I personally love the cold, I have an air conditioner on most days and sleep with fans on. When I sleep I find it so uncomfortable to be warm, I know this is a strange concept but I like to be at a certain temperature. Anyway enough babbling on about me, I'm here to help you!!

Kira's last post talked about making soups in batches so you save money and have delicious hot food with little preparation. 

Well I'm going to give you readers some great recipes!

First off a vegetarian option, I may not be vegetarian nor believe that most vegetarians realise that plants are in fact living beings as well, but that said I respect it as a lifestyle choice.

SPICY ROASTED PARSNIP SOUP:

Fight the cold by making a large batch of this (Recipe Serves 4) so if you double everything you can have 8 meals(make sure to adjust cooking time accordingly)!

You can freeze in plastic containers any you think you wont eat the next day, and re-heat in the microwave whenever you feel like it!

The cost to make this is very minimal, it will take around 10-15 minutes to prepare and only 35 mins to cook!

Ingredients:

• 
  
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds , plus extra to garnish
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• 1 large onion, cut into 8 chunks
• 2 garlic cloves
• 675g parsnips , diced
• 2 plum tomatoes , quartered
• 1.2l vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. In a bowl, mix together the oil and spices. Add the vegetables and mix well. Spread over a heavy baking sheet, then roast for 30 mins until tender.

2. Spoon into a food processor or liquidiser with half the stock and process until smooth. Pour into a pan with the remaining stock, season, then heat until barely simmering. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Garnish with cumin seeds.

Want to know what else soups can do? they not only fight the cold but they can fight illness, the next soup is a Chinese medicinal soup

CHICKEN SOUP RECIPE WITH DANG SHEN AND GOJI BERRIES:

Serves 1

Most people, more so if you live in or near a city, will have access to a Chinese herbal medicine shop, little known fact if you go in with the exact amounts you need they can usually give you just the right amount of what you need.

Dang shen, also known as codonopsis root, has a gentler herbal flavor compared to ginseng. Omit the ginger if you do not like it much.
This is a pleasant light herbal soup.

Ingredients:

1 fresh chicken breast
500g old cucumber (老黄瓜 lao huang gua)
1 slice ginger
4 dried chinese mushrooms
6g codonopsis root (党参 dang shen)
5 red dates
1 tbsp chinese wolfberries / goji berries(枸杞子 gou ji zi)

Soup base:
1.8 liter of water
3 bouillon cubes

Directions

1. Cut the chicken breast into bite-sized pieces



2. Cut the old cucumber into sections and remove the seeds



3. Wash and soak the dried chinese mushrooms in hot water



4. Wash and clean the codonopsis root and halve it if it is too long



5. Wash the red dates and remove the seeds



6. Bring the water to a boil and add the bouillon cubes



7. Add all the ingredients into the chicken stock



8. Bring soup back to a boil



9. Low heat to a slow simmer and simmer for about 50 minutes



10. Serve

Something for you sea food lovers, Thailand's most eaten soup, if you like food with a spicy bite, and like seafood then this is perfect for you!

TOM YUM GOONG:

Serves 2

Ingredients:

12 uncooked prawns, deveined with tail on
1 small fresh red chillies, chopped
1 tbsp lemongrass, chopped
1 tsp ginger, chopped
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp lime juice
1 tsp sugar
2 green onions, chopped
50gms button mushrooms, sliced
500mls fish stock

Directions:

1) Put stock in pan and add prawns, chilli, lemongrass, ginger, sauces, juice, sugar, onion and sliced mushrooms.

2) Bring to boil and simmer uncovered until prawns are tender.

Serving Tip: Garnish with whole coriander leaves

These last few days I've been following a fairly strict diet and exercising, either using my weights in a fitness plan coupled with running each night.

I've moved into a fat burning plan, not something sustainable as its not great for you to do, sio I'm only on this for 28 days.

It basically swaps all my meals for high protein low fat alternatives, you still take carbohydrates, just not much in proportion, the proportions are: 60% protein  20% carbs  20% fat  also meeting  2000 calories.

With daily exercise and this diet I've noticed two things, firstly I'm very tired most of the time, this is down to the body working really hard to break down fat in the body and convert the protein into muscle.

Secondly, I've lost a lot of weight very quickly, within 2 days I lost just over 5 pounds, now granted it always falls off fast at the start and the slows down so I was kinda prepared for this.

I would say the biggest problem has been adjusting what I eat, being a picky eater means I've had to endure some things I'd not normally touch... like cottage cheese.

So if you wanted to follow this but to a less extreme, Switch all your breads to wholemeal, switch rice to brown rice, eat a lot of salmon, topside steak, egg whites (not yolk as that is where a lot of unneeded calories are) lean mince, 0% fat yoghurt, skimmed milk, fruit, vegetables (this was hard for me as I only like a few limited vegetables, so to subsidise I bought a drink that I will review in a minute) and of course a lot of chicken!

Another new thing I like is Quorn burgers (I get the tesco brand as they have half the saturated fat of the official quorn ones)

Basically cut down on junk, high fat foods, and try out new foods!

I hate most vegetables, and for me to take vegetables I thought it might be easier for me to drink them, so I tried out both the original and the Fruit and carrot vegetable drinks from V8.

1. Orignal:

Tastes of nothing but tomato soup, I can drink it, it is not amazing for me and I'd probably like to try it warm as a soup more than a drink, I'll post later if that worked ok.

Taste: 5  Smell: 6  Texture: 5  *total* 16/30

2. Fruit and carrot:

I had massive reservations on this one, I personally hate the smell and taste of carrot.

Upon opening I was greeted with a very pleasant zesty smell, I poured it into a glass and looked hard at the substance, it was carrot colour, I thought perhaps the smell was a disguise for something truly revolting. After a few moments to prepare myself I took a generous swig, and I can say hand on heart it tasted amazing! I could not taste any carrot, only a fruity explosion of orange, mango and lime!! Beautiful as a normal drink, add to the fact that a portion of this counts as one of your recommended five a day in not only fruit but also vegetable!! I will be breathing this stuff!

Taste: 9   Smell: 9  Texture: 9  *Total* 27/30

This concludes this information packed post, I've divulged some soups that you can store in the freezer and give you a cheap constant supply of food!

Oh also, I've shared with you my opinion of the V8 drinks, lastly remember this?

Well I'll tell you I've had a lot more energy than normal while using this, and even though I'm drained from the diet I still have the energy for the runs and exercise so I'd defiantly advise this to anyone who is athletic or training for an event.

Don't forget to comment, It's comments that help direct me to making better posts, blogging about what the readers what to know about as well as my own subjects, take care my beautiful, beautiful readers!!

Kira says...

As mentioned many a time in A Song of Ice & Fire, "Winter is coming" and it is very clear that Autumn is here with the trees getting naked and the weather going tits up. So really during these cold months we all want something hot to eat and comforting after a day of hard graft.

I recommend being prepared through out, if you're working early/late in the day you're going to be too tired to fuss about with food prep and will buy a bag of chips or something equally unhealthy and waste money.

Instead pop down to your local farmer market/grocery outlet and support the farmers during these tough months. Get a selection of vegetables and some stock cubes and start getting creative with soups/broths/stews. Nothing is more satisfying than a flask of hot tomato soup and a wee wholemeal roll for your lunch when it is frosty outside.

Make a large batch of the soup and put portions into tupaware/take away boxes to put in the freezer. This will save prep time and mean your veg won't go off in the fridge after a week.

There are many recipes online for different soups!

I know this post has been a bit random but I just wanted to share what I find helpful when Winter comes and dieting becomes slightly more of a chore.

Day 210: Preparing for change.

I'm going to post this under the "Adventure" section even if it is a health and fitness theme.
Today I bought some new products (Will be reviewed later in this post) these play into the start of my new adventure.
Getting fit! Stage 3: acceptance.


I have got to the stage of accepting that I will only achieve my desired results thought a lot more work, and more dedication, and while I have greatly upgraded my life style and general health, I realise now that it's only once it clicks that you can truly accept progression.

Originally I had great ambitions ans was making the easy mistake of taking on too much too soon, and after a while the hectic lifestyle started to grind down slower due to fatigue amongst some other factors. This made it very easy to not progress and in fact slow me down.
I blogged before about people not making it a big enough deal, and because it was not made into a big deal by them to their peers, it was not a big deal to them either, but on the flip side, make too much of it to your friends and the pressure to succeed can become immense.

So first steps to making any changes and making them lasting are:

1. Make it a big deal to you.
You need to be in a place to really want the changes you desire, and not just for selfish needs like appearance but also consider the beneficial health effects that tie in with it.

2. Let your peers know you want to do the changes, and make it important that they know.
When telling people you respect, you will get two kinds of reactions. The first type will be encouragement, offering advise or just wishing you luck, the second is dismissal. Dismissal is a reason a lot of people keep their changes to themselves, fearing that peoples negative attitudes might effect their own moral or hamper the progress. Personally I think dismissal is a good thing, this offers you the chance to prove them wrong, while at the same time benefiting your own life.
Remember, do not fear failure, because its a concept that can not exist if you learn from mistakes. True failure would be to just not try, to hope for the best, or to just flat out give up without learning anything.
If you fall at a hurdle, analyse it, why did you fall? was the goal or milestone over ambitions? was it thought a lack of knowledge? if so, learn the weakness and get back into the fight! as long as you are willing to win, you will do just that!

3. Knowledge is power!
Before you do anything, read up online, or in a library and magazines just what it is you are trying to achieve, be aware that magazines mostly have agendas to push products, take information from multiple sources and determine for yourself what is useful information.
You will discover that their are easy ways to achieve some things while others are a lot more difficult.

4. Do it NOW!
Nothing says I'm ready like taking immediate action! So go outside do your stretches and a light run, or plan you're diet, or even if you just want to quit a habit, look online and start gathering information.
A huge amount of people fail just because they don't take actions enough.
Knowledge - Action, and repeat, the only time you should not take action is if you are already reading up or physically can not take the desired action, in which case make that action as soon as you possibly can, use this to build momentum.

5. Keep a routine.
There are no key rules, but without this rule in place you will have a very hard time making results, and more importantly be able to keep track of them. Always keepo a record of your results, this way you can effectively track progress.

Ok now these basic steps to making lasting changes are complete, lets move onto some products I'm giving a go!

I'll start off with something not so much healthy, but more tasty.

I recently purchased some of this beautiful tea, I don't know about you readers but a cup of tea can put me in good form for the rest of the day!
if you're like me, and love citrus, lemons and oranges, you will love this tea, its supple and has a zesty crunch to it making it refreshing as well as delicious, I highly recommend a try!

Keeping on the tea trend...

I had a spate ofg difficult sleep, and while my normal remedy was a hot bath and some horlicks, I also found a less heavy drink.

Extrasensory explosion, it has a deep smell of herbs and tea, its taste is no fantastic to me, but I'm not a hardcore tea drinker, I did find restful sleep with this on every occasion that I tried it.

You can find out more about it here:
< HERE >

Now onto health and fitness related pills.

Ginseng has a multitude of benefits, and if I can get something from a natural source i'd rather do so.

Since I'll be running a lot more often, and since I've had a break from it for a while I figured I'd buy some Manchurian ginseng, it is great for maintaining high stamina levels, and since I've had a break from running I figure that if I take these 50 tablets by the time I've done so I'll be back to decent fitness levels and stamina will be a lot higher, this will make the transition of not running to running often a bit more manageable.

Remember me banging on about the Neuro bliss drink?
Well it was pretty tasty, and had 2500% RDA of Vitamin  B12, the happiness Vitamin, this drink was amazing, it drastically improved mine and my flatmates mood when we used to drink it, but at a pricey £1.80 per drink it was often more of a luxury. Well I discovered these tiny pills in holland and barett, they contain the same 2500% B12 content, but for a mere £3.99 (on offer from £5.29) Anyway that means for the equivalent of 100 bottles of neuro bliss, I can buy 100 tablets for just over £5, a obvious choice really.

If you think you could use a little mood "pick me up" then get yourself some of these!

Wellman, the Rolls Royce of vitamins contains a whole world of vitamins designed and for men, there is a female alternative surprisingly called Wellwoman. I've not yet taken this, so I'll write a better review later, it costs around £8.50 and as I open the box I'll write what you get for your money.its a cool design, time went into the packaging design, Two sheets of pills, with again nice packaging design. Inside is a leaflet  witha bunch of other products on it with a lot of detail as to what they do. Basically its just a massive advert, and oh my they have some products indeed!! From hair support to skin, prostate to over 50... a massive array of potions and supplements.

I'm still working on the graph for foods, I'm going to break it into elements, like protein, dairy etc instead of the original plan, anyway i hope there was some useful information in this entry, good luck readers and remember I love you all!!

Kira: Don't forget your best dress

Hey how's it going folks? I know it is an important time of year for many younger folk out there. You've got your results from exams, be it GCSEs, A-Levels, Degree. But this week sees most of you go back to the education place of your choice and I thought I'd throw a few tips out that I find helpful. 

1. Don't panic. One of the worst things to do is panic that this new place won't accept who you are.  They wont judge you on your level of skill, they are there to teach you after all.

2. Meeting new people should be a fun thing not a stress, be yourself and you can't lose. When you get past mandatory education the only bullies are simple minded folk who need a while longer to grow up. Don't pretend to be something you're not, people won't appreciate that you've lied through your back teeth.

3. Be prepared, get all your equipment, Summer projects, uniform/outfit etc. ready at least a day before. Then you have time to pull things together if you've not thought of something. I find keeping a list over the Summer helps. Forgetting stuff can be embarrassing for you especially if you're called out in front of every one who have remembered their things.

4. Dress for your course. If you're going into an Art course there is a huge chance you'll do something pro-active on the first day so wear something comfortable that you don't mind getting a bit messy. If you're doing engineering or something where you may be introduced to machinery then have your hair tied back and don't walk around with your earphones dangling down your shoulders.

5. Bring cash, if you have some that is. That way if you're asked to get some equipment on the day you're prepared. You may also want to get lunch at the local eatery with your new acquaintances.

I know these are pretty much common sense but really in such a stressful time people do forget. Blogging Fusion Blog Directory