All diets start on a Monday... or do they?

No! They can actually start any day, so why put it off until Monday?  Get started today!

This morning I had a delicious courgette omelette, it's filling, proteins packed, gluten free, sugar free and lots of other healthy buzz words I'm sure, but best of all (especially for busy mums) quick and easy to cook!



So here's the recipe:

Grate 1/2 a medium courgette and squeeze out the excess water
Grate a small carrot
Thinly slice 1/4 onion or chop a spring onion
Mix all together with a large egg
Season with salt, pepper and optional chilli sprinkles
Heat some frylight in a pan
Add you mixture and press out in to a large fritter shape or 2 smaller ones
Cook on a medium heat until set and dark golden, then flip and repeat
Eat as it is or top with a poached egg or mayonnaise

And teatime - well! I made beetroot hummus from a recipe by Stephanie haferty (see her book 'no-dig home and garden' for the recipe), and had it with a baked chicken breast which was cooked with garlic and lemon and some baguette, it was delicious. The tartness from the lemon went really well with the slightly sweet beetroot taste of the hummus.

Just another manic monday.....

Yep, manic, why are Monday mornings so incredibly hectic? And that before I've even left the house!
I'm hoping it gets easier as the children get older, but oh my goodness I can't believe how many times I have to repeat myself - 'have you brushed your hair?' 'have you brushed your teeth?' 'Put your shoes on' 'have you put your dinner money in your bag' it goes on and on!



Anyway, my Monday +Weight Watchers grub so far -
Breakfast: 2 pieces of toast and an egg - 9sp
Lunch - chicken and salad wrap - 9sp
That leaves me 12sp for tea time so planning on a jacket spud with tuna and sweetcorn.
After a morning in work the +Fitbit is reading 3012 steps - I'd best get walking between my patients this afternoon.

I'm back!

Hi there! Firstly I apologise for being a little absent but I've been struggling with time, family and a back injury! But am now mended and back to being organised.... ish.

This weeks shop - I went to Aldi for a change, I found lots of bargains and different brands to try, mostly this has worked out well and would absolutely shop there again and recommend it.

This weeks menu - hey! who knows! After all I did say organised.... ish.  I have planned tomorrows tea, so in keeping with traditional Monday grub - it will be jacket potatoes all around with various toppings to suit each person, this usually consist of the following in various combinations - beans, cheese, tuna, sweetcorn, coleslaw.  We tend to have this on a Monday as its quick, easy, healthy and filling.  I've also got some potatoes planted at the allotment, which should be ready towards the end of July (I think), I've planted some charlottes - beautiful for salads etc, some winstons which make delicious jacket potatoes, and also threw in some supermarket maris piper which had decided to chit themselves in my veggie rack - a bit of an experiment, but time will tell.

I'm still +Fitbit  crazy, but have also decided to throw in some +Weight Watchers  to boost my weight loss efforts, I've experimented with the app and website over the weekend, and officially start tomorrow, which is Monday - because all diets start on a Monday.

That's all from me for tonight, I'll pop by with another food/menu update in the week, goodnight folks!

Just not feeling it...?

No matter how determined you are at the start of the year, its so hard to keep your motivation going especially during a busy week with the family.  This week has been a huge struggle for me - following last weeks amazing step totals and new +Fitbit badges, so far this week I've not met my step goal once!  Now not only am I not feeling the love for fitness, moving and anything energetic, I'm now also annoyed with myself for not achieving this week... pffft.... vicious circle - NO!  No, no, no! I could just sit in my pj's all day, drinking coffee and eating chocolate - or I could put on my work out gear and get this thing done! 

So far this year I have done looooong walks, and also used my treadmill (quite good when its raining actually, I can put a film on my laptop and then walk and watch.  But I've spotted the rarely used xbox and wii in the cupboard - I think I might give these a whirl today, well, do a session on the wii fit this morning, break for lunch - pop to shops as I still need to get a mix for tea, then back home and watch and walk before the school pick up.... yes, that is the plan - current steps today - 854, step goal 15,000 - what am I waiting for? No more excuses! Go, Go, Go!!!

The end of week 2...

As you may know I'm aiming for 2016 miles in 2016, 2 weeks in and I'm at 83.46 miles, that leaves 1032.54 miles to go! Where does this stand I. The grand scheme of things? It means I've made nearly 1 extra mile - not a lot, not quite a day off, but I'm a mile up 👍

And to top it all off, I achieved my +Fitbit highest stepping day ever this week -

Eating - I've not done too bad this week, just under on my calories all week, only 2 glasses of wine! 

Weight - disastrous! Well I put 1lb on! The hubby thinks this is likely to be muscle, but I'm ok with it - I 'feel' slimmer, and my tummy feels happier from not eating junk. 

All that said, it is only week 2, so let's keep going, keep moving and do this! 

#findyourfit #fitbit #myfitnesspal #determination #Perseverance

Happy new year!

Yes I'm a little late with my happy new year, but I hope so far you've had a great one!

So what plans do I have and what can you expect on my blog this year....
Firstly 2016 for me is about family, money saving, healthy eating and getting fit - and how will I achieve this whilst also working 3 days a week?  With plans and lists - my favourite things, because lets face it, without these I'm quite likely to forget everything.

So firstly family - you may or may not know, my little family consist of yours truly, Mr Moo-Moo (nickname given by my littlest squishy), my 2 daughters and of course Fifi the dog and Honey-boy the guineapig.  We're a busy household, the girls obviously have school Monday - Friday, plus various clubs which include, cross country, rainbows, brownies and swimming.  I work Monday to Wednesday - which means we have to use afterschool care for the girls, and Mr Moo-moo works full time and shift work which means we have to fit family outings and trips around this.  I'm hoping to share our days out, trips away and camping with you - the logistics, costs and fun we have along the way!

Secondly on to the money saving, now its my job to organise the shopping and grub - so I will mostly be on-line shopping, I find this cuts down on impulse buys, I can plan my weekly menu from the comfort of my settee and have the cupboard, fridge and freezer on hand, which is essential in cutting down on duplicate purchases.  I mostly use +Sainsbury's, my main reason for this is that they have nectar points, we like to save these through the year and then the points contribute to the Christmas shop; last year we clocked up a fantastic £80 which was fantastic to add all those extra luxuries to the shop. 

Now that said - I do also like to support local business, so will also use my local butcher and greengrocer, the quality of these are fantastic and I can't grumble at the prices either.

In addition to this we are luckily enough to have an allotment, its not huge, but it does give us the opportunity to grow our own, spend time in the fresh air and have a family interest - plus the girls love a shed picnic in the summer.  We are nowhere near self sufficient, but every little helps as the the saying goes.  I will post updates on this, but also have a separate blog for the allotment -
http://myallotmentadventure.blogspot.co.uk/

Thirdly - healthy eating and getting fit - that old chestnut! I know, this is something I aim to do at the beginning of most years, but this year I have to do it! I'm increasing my exercise - and no I'm not going to the gym, I have purchased a fitbit and intend to clock up 2016 miles in 2016 - by walking, hoping, crawling, running (eventually!).  It works out at around 5.5 miles a day - yes this does seem quite a lot, but I want to have a goal, not an easy one and not an impossible one, but I think this target is do-able.  Along side this I'm going to eat healthy whole food - not all the time because that totally unrealistic and I think would be setting me up for a big fat fail, so I will be tracking food with +MyFitnessPal  - which syncs with fitbit to give accurate calories burned, exercise, sleep etc.  

Well there it is in a nutshell - what I will be aiming to achieve and blogging about through 2016,I've added pages for each section along the top, so check back regularly and I hope that some of it helps you along the way, please feel free to comment and make suggestions - happy 2016! Lets do this!