Choc Berry Protein bars

I also made these chocolate protein bars featured in Jamie Eason's Live fit trainer series. The change I made surrounded the pureed baby food that I've never heard of. Instead I subbed in ~220g of frozen berries. Worked a treat! They are easily portable and make a great pre or post workout snack.

Agility; 25m. Included some pylometric work. 
Bike trainer: 10m | 4km. Warm up. 5 min easy, 5 min of 30s climb, 30s easy.
Strength: 30m. The gym was packed tonight, I did what I could on the equipment and then headed home to finish off the rest of the sets.

Failure to plan

...is planning to fail. So very true when it comes to my eating habits. 
I have to be organised. I have to be prepared, otherwise it leads to poor food choices. Last week proved that. I want to give myself every opportunity to make the right choices. So this weekend, with no study commitments I got into the kitchen.

Hello sweet potato and tuna patties! I based it on this recipe, but made some changes.

• 1 medium (about 400 - 300g) orange sweet potato, peeled, coarsely chopped
• 1 x 425g can tuna chunks in brine, drained
• 2 eggs, lightly whisked
• 1/4 cup almond meal
• freshly ground black pepper 
• handful fresh herbs (basil & parsley from the garden)
• spring onion if you've got it
• Chili flakes if you like it spicy (I forgot and ate mine with tabasco sauce)

Basically cook the sweet potato until it's mashable (either by boiling or microwave) then add everything else & form into patties, then lightly fry in your preferred oil.

The recipe said it served four, but I'd say I'll get five - six lunch servings.
They're in freezer ready to grab during the week. Score!

Sun; ride: 34:30 | 14.8km | 25.9km/hr.
Sat; strength: 20 min

Banana Almond pancakes (gluten free & low fructose)

A seriously good start to the day! I added a little granulated sugar because I knew there would be no syrup, just natural yogurt. The pancakes cooked up really well and were lovely, moist and filling. The batch made three pancakes with a 3.5 inch diameter.

Banana Almond pancakes (gluten free & low fructose)
Combine the following:
1 ripe banana mashed
1 egg beaten lightly
1 TBS almond meal
1 TBS brown rice flour (or coconut flour)
1 TBS nut butter (I used natural peanut as it was all I had)
1/4 tsp baking powder

Additional options (I added them all!):
Cinnamon
Vanilla essence
2 tsp cacao nibs
1/4 tsp granulated stevia

Cook as per regular pancakes. The only difference is that bubbles tend not to appear on the surface, so I just flipped them when the outer edge started to firm up.

Strength: 25m. Abs and arms.

Fructose free experiment continues

So I'm week three into fructose free. I'm doing my best to avoid it in all processed foods. That said I am having 1-2 pieces of fruit a day; limited to ripe bananas, oranges (now crazy sweet) & berries. Air popped pop corn and red capsicum are my snack saviors.

The Glucodin tablets have hands down been the best find. They are pure glucogen and I've been using them prior to running after work when I'm all out of energy. They do provide an almost instant lift and I haven't found the crash heinous.

I did have a hankering for chocolate and the "...well, naturally" bar was it. It was expensive and not something I'm prepared to purchase readily. There wasn't a whole lot of melt-in-your-mouth like regular chocolate, but it did hit the spot as far as dark chocolate goes.

I made these gluten free pancakes (omitting the oil & maple syrup) and served them with a fructose free salted caramel sauce.

Fructose free Salted Caramel Sauce (with rice syrup)
80g rice malt syrup
100mls cream
25g butter
pinch sea salt

Heat the rice malt syrup until it bubbles and turns a slightly darker colour, remove from heat add cream, butter and salt. Stir until combined.

I couldn't help but experiment over the weekend with some leftover cream. Almost wish I hadn't, it's pretty good!


Tues; ride: 36:40 | 16.23km | 26.56km/hr. Getting there was easy, coming back not so much, particularly into the headwind.

Into the weekend

More half day eats! I tried a Carrots 'n' Cake protein pancake recipe. I opted for only half the banana and found them to be a little dry. So on a repeat of the recipe this morning I added a little almond milk and they were spot on. Delicious with natural peanut butter and a sprinkling of cocoa nibs.

I stocked up at the market yesterday and found kale, it was a little pricey, but I treated myself and was finally able make my own kale chips. Tasty indeed. I've still got half a bunch, I'd love to try it another way. Ideas welcomed!

My stomach seems to have tolerated banana, which is good news seeing as I'll be all about the portable snacks when I return to work next week. In preparation I cooked up a huge batch of brown rice that I've frozen in half cup portions to mix with tuna and spinach or broccoli for an easy lunch.

I'm pretty happy to take my experiment of no/low fructose eating into a second week. At home is easy, out is tricky. I'm not going to be super extremist, but I'll attempt to make good choices. I tell you giving up the pistachio macaron that came with my coffee at Bisto Guillaume the other night hurt a little, that said tomorrow as part of the food and wine festival we're set-menu-lunching at the hands of a three Michelin star chef, the kitchen is already taking into account the fact that I'm pescetarian, I decided not to push my luck with sugar.

Tennis: 40m. The Man and I headed into the glorious afternoon to make the most of the free courts around the corner. We're hack players, just a bit of fun to run around and have a hit.

Almond milk

I seem to go through stages of tolerating milk. Usually I can have two lattes over the course of a day and suffer no ill consequences. On the other hand I know that if I drink a 500mL ice coffee I'll be in a world of pain. However of late, just one latte is causing me grief. Oh the bloat! I can't forgo coffee just yet, but I can forgo milk.

Purchasing almond milk can be expensive, and can contain a heap of sugar... So good Almond milk, I'm looking at you.

I've had success in making my own almond milk in the past and I'm at it again.
• Soak 1 cup of almonds in a cup of water over night
• Drain the water
• Blend the soaked almonds with 3-4 cups water depending on your preferred consistency (I've also used a stab mixer with success)
• Drain. I use a sieve, but if I find a nut milk bag in my travels I'll get one.

You can add a sweetener or some vanilla essence at this stage, but I prefer mine unadulterated.
Lasts 4-5 days in the fridge.

Don't throw the nut pulp out! I've been known to freeze it only to throw it into baked goods at a later date. I'm currently experimenting with roasting it lightly and forming nut butter.

1766

I didn't feel so ravenously hungry today. I'm not sure if it was the additional protein in my breakfast (protein powder + overnight oats is a winner, providing you don't mind the taste of your powder!), the tuna at lunch, the appetite suppressant that can be running or the fact that we ate and drank very well over the weekend in celebration of a wedding.

I was however craving chocolate, obviously! As if the above wasn't enough my artificially sweetened/lo-cal hot choc wasn't photographed. Honestly I try to avoid that stuff, the asapartame usually upsets my stomach, but I couldn't help myself.

Oh, and this recipe is a keeper. I subbed green beans instead of asparagus.

Kickboxing: 45m. Played with the kettlebells. How's the fatigue!

Run: 49:16 | 8km | 6:10/km. Speed session. Warm up: 15 min. Main set: 3x 800m effort (4:15, 4:10, 4:24 - they were meant to be at 4:06) 400m rest mostly jogging, some walking. Cool down: 12 min. I always wonder why I don't do more speed work, until I get out there and do it. It's hard. I find it incredibly uncomfortable and really tough. But if you don't train to run fast, I guess you can't expect to run fast.

1741

Today was far better than yesterday. A stint of casework in the morning saw me not eat or drink for five hours and left me with a debilitating headache and a feeling of faintness that I couldn't shake all day. Plus I was hungry. HUNGRY! Nothing seemed to satiate me. And thus I exceeded my calories burned.

I just had to jump back on the deficit bandwagon today. Coffee to start, followed by an egg scrambled with cottage cheese on a bed of spinach, with a toasted english muffin.
Homemade almond milk hot chocolate and cranberries. Moroccan Soup (whereby I omitted the raisins, but used a whole can of chickpeas = 215 cals per serve) with additional spinach. Sour cream & chive rice crackers - 2 serves, these could well be my downfall. Miso soup (it was cold here today!) and Vanilla tofu pudding (170 cals). Oh and tea, a few cups of tea.

How I felt? So much better than yesterday in terms of being satisfied. I am absolutely loving the lack of bloating. I even bought a new bikini today!

What I'd do differently? I could have had less for lunch and saved one of the pita pieces until later. I was pretty full after the bowl of soup.

Run: 21:21 | 3.8km | 5:36/km. There was a whole lot of procrastinating going on prior to this run. It was cold and a little bleak out. But I knew I'd feel better afterward. And yes, another run I live not to regret!

One year on

Today I celebrated with a choc mint berry smoothie.
Why? It's my one year blogiversary!

200mL homemade almond milk
100g frozen berries
1 tbs drinking chocolate
Handful mint leaves.
(213 cals)

A year on and I'm still as excited as ever to get outside and get moving. I love this time of year as it gets warmer and there's more time between rainy days. At the moment I'm putting more emphasis on my food choices, so expect that to filter through here over the next month or so.

Easy does it

I was recently given a huge jar of cherry jam. Not knowing exactly how I'd use that much jam, I did a little searching and found David Lebovitz's Easy Jam Tart. But there was tweaking. I wanted to see if I could make the tart Gluten free to expand my tiny repertoire. So I made a gluten free flour mix consisting of:
1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup potato starch
1/3-1/2 cup coconut flour
1 tsp xanthan gum

I just substituted the gluten free mix in for the 1 1/2 cups of plain flour the recipe called for.

The tart was good, albeit crumbly - at a guess this was due to being gluten free or my slight over cooking! Regardless, this recipe is a keeper and so very simple. I cooked it on Friday night and it was even better Saturday afternoon at the 'G. Shame about those Pies...

Run: 17:54 | 3km | 5:58/km. A run! Sadly not exactly pain free. A dull ache certainly noticeable in my knee. Still a run! I'm excited and it makes me more determined to keep up with the icing and stretching and strengthening.

Beep test: Level 6.4. Just going for gradual improvement here. Again could feel my knee, but

Babycakes Vanilla Cupcakes

I borrowed Babycakes from the library. It couldn't have come at a better time. Last night I dined with my closest girlfriends to farewell one who's off on a fabulous working adventure for the next two years. Between them they are gluten, wheat, dairy and sugar free. It threw up a few challenges. But I was determined to succeed.

The book really is lovely in terms of it's design and photography. And I wanted to believe everything would work. Alas I read some reviews and a lot of people seemed to have had quite a few issues with the results. Given the ingredients aren't overly cheap and can be difficult to source. I did a whole lot of reading prior to measuring and this is what I came up with.

Firstly you can find the cupcake recipe here. Health food it isn't!

Notes for the cupcakes:
• I used canola oil instead of coconut oil and dark agave nectar/syrup instead of light.

• I made my own apple sauce, just by chopping apples and cooking them on the stove top until soft. I absorbed additional moisture by placing the 3/4 cup applesauce on paper towel prior to folding into batter. A lot of commercial sauces I looked at had sugar added.

• I believe you can substitute one cup of the besan (chickpea) flour for 1 cup of rice flour. I didn't, but will try it next time.

• I reduced the temp from 190C to 170C and baked for 22min. I also tried 165C for 25min. Both worked, though the lower and longer cooking time resulted in fewer cupcakes sinking in the middle.

Babycakes (Vanilla) Frosting:

Enough to cover 24 cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups soy milk
• 3/4 cup rice or soy milk powder*
• 1 tablespoon coconut flour
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup liquid coconut oil • 2 tablespoon lemon juice
____
I used my kitchen aid and wouldn't do it any other way.
I added the powdered ingredients first and slowly added the wet.
However, once I added the additional 1/2 cup of coconut oil it turned into a curdled disaster, so I added
• 1 tsp xantham gum
It's an emulsifier and smoothed everything out.

The flavour was heavily soy based, so while the consistency was right, the flavour just wasn't, so I added
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder

I think I added more agave nectar to kick up the sweetness.

Next time I would:
• Use coconut or rice milk to minimise the soy flavour
• Only use 1 cup of coconut oil

The icing/frosting is quite forgiving once you get it right. For an even smoother consistency I placed the kitchen aid mixing bowl in a bowl of hot water to melt the coconut oil as it has a tendency to bead. I then beat it again until smooth.

Taste-wise:
The girls could detect a slightly different flavour, initially thinking it was ginger. But when I asked if it was 'beany' they nodded in agreement. It was commented that the cupcakes themselves were a lot less sweet, and far lighter than most gluten free treats. A thumbs up for those who do have dietary restrictions!

* I could only find soy milk powder, sourced from Sunnybrook Health Store.

A helping hand

These Chocolate Quinoa Protein bars got me through the week. I'll definitely be making another batch this weekend.


Kickboxing: 45m. Kicking, core and cardio.

Fri; run: 3:15:18 | 30km | 6:31/km. I cracked the 30k mark. Finally!! And I felt good majority of the time. There was a lot of positive self talk - I CAN do this. Pain set in at 28km, but that's a lot later than usual. I tried to drink every 2km and had nutrition at the 45m/1:30/2:15 mark.

Wed; kickboxing: 45m. First session in a week or more... Hard work. Lots of upper body strength - of which I have none.

Tues; run: 1:07:41 | 10.81km | 6:16/km. Running has not felt this effortless in quite some time. Ran home from work and loved every minute. Was prepared to have a battle on my hands, but nothing of the sort transpired. Dare I say it felt easy. Running is never easy!

Where did the time go?!

I go back to work tomorrow after six months off. Six months! Crazy. During the time I laid a whole lot of ground work for a new career/job, spent two months overseas visiting Europe for the first time and trained and ran the Gold Coast Marathon. Then I finally took up kickboxing and kayaking, after wanting to do so for a while. I also visited new places that have been on my go-to list for quite some time. And even cooked with Fennel for the first time.

Of course, I could have done more. But I needed to find a balance between activities and finances! I've had the most wonderful break and feel relaxed. Work is also supporting my return on a part-time basis. So as of next week I will have Friday off - I will use this primarily to get my long run in/massage/errands etc. If I am successful in my new path I will not have this level of flexibility for a very long time so I'm making the most of my situation now!

I do have reservations going back to my current job. It is emotionally draining and mentally taxing because I am so under stimulated. All the more reason to continue with a solid marathon preparation and keep up the kickboxing & kayaking!

Run: 59:07 | 10.01km | 5:55/km. Pretty happy to see some sub 6min kms. I feared they were long gone. Felt good running today for the first time in a while.

Kickboxing: 50m. This session had it all and I totally put 100% in. Felt really good to do so.

Recent eats

I seem to have got my kitchen mojo back. It comes and goes, I know that and I've just had to ride through it. I only ever share recipes I'd make again. These all fit the bill. The first two also come with calorie/kilojoule counts which will be handy for when I'm using Fitday again. Any day now...

Gina's skinny recipes came through with the (baked) goods; this household was a fan of the Chewy Granola Bars. I subbed dried cranberries for raisins and made it with a flax egg (1 tbs ground flax + 3 tbs water) purely because I didn't have any eggs. Worked a treat, though I do advise waiting until cool to cut. I was totally impatient and a corner broke off. Still tasted good.

I have a summer haloumi recipe, but stumbled across this winter one (you'll need to scroll down). Warm mushrooms + haloumi = delicious and super quick which is perfect after a kickboxing session.

The snapper and kipfler potato recipe is slightly modified from Donna Hay's magazine. I've been wanting to try it for ages. Our new oven is super powerful, I'd look at roasting the potatoes for 20 mins next time!
Serves 2

400g kipfler potatoes thinly sliced
1 garlic clove thinly sliced
handful sage leaves
200g snapper fillet cut into 4
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 200C (400F) • Place potato, garlic, and sage on baking tray, spray or drizzle with oil • Roast for 30 mins • Increase temperature to 220C (425F) • Brush/spray fish with oil and season with salt and pepper • Add fish to tray with potatoes and cook for 10 mins.

I served it with some greens and a salsa verde mayo:
Small handful parsley
1/2 tbs chopped chives (I keep chopped frozen chives on hand)
1/2 clove garlic crushed
lemon zest
lemon juice
all mixed with (light) whole egg mayo.

Today I rest. 2hr run was on the cards, but we're heading away this weekend and there's food to cook and a car to source. Transmission in current car gone rendering it un-driveable. Pushing the long run out to Monday.

Wok it

So the plan last week was to get cooking. Due to unforseen circumstances, which one has to readily accept while renovating, I was without a kitchen sink, stove and dishwasher for the start of the week. I did manage to crack out the camping stove to cook. Dish of choice was Spicy Prawn Fried rice with just a few changes I omitted the one egg white, because I can't stand waste and had no desire to freeze one yolk, I added 1/2 - 3/4 cup chopped celery to increase the vegetable content and I used fresh garlic and some fresh ginger to marinate the prawns.

In the end the Man didn't realise it was 'diet' food. A major plus in my books!

The plan this week is to cook a whole lot more now that everything's back in.

Run: 2:31:59 | 23.39 km | 6:30/km. Let's be honest I was a little worried about this run given my epic hangover and less than stellar fueling yesterday, however I managed perfect pacing and didn't feel too bad throughout! I'm not sure I can keep 6:30 up for 42km, but today spot on. Nutrition was all good too. I think I'm just going to rely on gels rather than the power shots. They don't work for me quite as well.

Fri; run: 38:24 | 6.24km | 6:09/km. The day totally got away from me. Sometimes you just have to do what you can. This was it.

I'm a convert

Who knew overnight oats were so delicious. Not me. I am not porridge's biggest fan. Every winter I try, really I do, to love porridge. But the texture gets me every time. I thought overnight oats would be much the same, turns out they're not.

This is a texture I can get my tongue around! Creamy from the yogurt and softened by the soaking I'm liking these for breakfast. Perfect for a pre-run breakfast.

How I make mine?
1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup greek yogurt (full fat)
1/2-1 tsp vanilla paste - just adds a hint of sweetness
(Approx 177 cals before add ins)

Run: 1:21:08 | 12.66km | 6:25m/km. My head cold is still kicking around a little and not feeling 100% awesome on the running front just yet. So glad to have knocked this one out amongst the rain.

Morning tea

My regular morning tea snack is cranberries & nut clusters (270 cals), but I wanted to test out something a little less calorie dense. These are about 180 cal a bar, significantly less, but equally as satisfying.

I roughly used Kelsey's Muesli Granola Bar recipe, where I left out the coconut and substituted wheat germ for flaxseed and added some chia seeds. I found they benefited from an additional 5-10min in the oven after being cut, to crisp them up further.

The flavour is good, I wasn't madly in love with the texture (maybe I do need to get some flaxseed). They definitely hit the spot at 10:30am but my hunt for an even more awesome baked bar continues, especially since these ones have disappeared...

Commute: 55m | 20.6km | 22.47 km/hr. On cooler mornings I can definitely get away with a pre shower ride and a slow commute on the Gazelle. On the warmer mornings and afternoons when it's blowing a hot northerly headwind I just want to be off the bike. Hence the decision to ride Pearl again this morning. The bonus being that I got to ride to work with my man.

Tracking Part II

However I didn't need FitDay to tell me the time in which I would consume the majority of my excess calories. That would be on arrival at home after work. I'm usually ravenous. I could eat a (tofu) horse. And I'd usually have a fair crack at doing so. I had to change this habit and fast. Now my go-to snack after work on warm days is:

• frozen banana, frozen berries (less cals) or a mix
• 1/2 cup low fat milk
• 1 tsp to 1 tbs honey (depending on my sweet craving)

Whiz! Usually rendering a very thick smoothie that is sometimes best eaten with a spoon! ~230 Cals for something I find tasty and filling.

Otherwise it's a piece of raisin toast and not the entire cupboard contents. Far less time consuming when you're logging food and really, far better for me.

Oats are not for me

I just can't come at porridge. I've tried, really I have, to like its texture and its stick to your stomach lining goodness, but I just can't handle the mouth feel. On a day where I know I'll be running I like to have a pretty substantial breakfast and a bowl of 'sweet' Quinoa does it for me. It was Heidi from 101 cookbooks that inspired me to try it for breakfast.

I usually cook up a batch and freeze it in 1/4 or 1/3 cup portions for use during the week. I either defrost it overnight or just pop it in the microwave when I'm ready to eat.

I've been known to prepare it with Almond milk, which adds to the Quinoa's nuttiness, but it works equally as well with regular and soy milk. This version includes stewed apples with vanilla, greek yoghurt and almond butter. So very satisfying.

Run: 32m | 4.8km | 06m 40s/km. I was pumped for this run, I had to wait until the afternoon for some clear weather and it was a serious disappointment. I felt awesome for the first three minutes and horrible the rest. I'm not talking OMG this is hard, I'm taking OMG if I don't stop I'm going to lose my stomach contents. Hopefully next week I'll come good.