What I Ate Wednesday - Rosie

As I've mentioned on here before, I don't really follow a plan, I just try and eat healthily.  I try and eat as much non-processed food as possible and also try not too eat too many carbs.  At the moment I'm trying to fit in lots of protein, fruit and veg instead.

I have no idea what my daily intake would equate to in terms of Weight Watchers - would be interested to know if there's anything that would be a no go or if my day would work out as a good Weight Watchers or Slimming World day as well as being generally healthy.

Without further ado, here is yesterday's day of eating...

Breakfast

Smoothie made with strawberries, bananas, hazelnut soy milk and a spoonful of peanut butter 

Lunch

Salad with eggs, ham, salad leaves, cherry tomatoes and shallot viniagrette

Snacks

Banana and a babybel

Dinner

Bramley apple sausages (grilled), roasted asparagus and sweet potato mash

Drinks

Five mugs of green tea

Two litres of water

What do you think of my What I Ate Wednesday? I must admit I felt mega inspired by Little B's What I Ate Wednesday yesterday too, she eats so much food but it's all amazingly nutritious.  She also referenced a healthy reminder that losing weight doesn't mean not eating, it means eating better.  Something worthwhile to remember!

Running Club

Yesterday was the first day of a little initiative we've started at work - running club.  Three of us that work there are really keen on keeping fit and getting better at running so we decided that on Tuesdays at 4pm we would get into our running gear, head out of the gate and go for a jog around the beautiful surroundings of our workplace.  I must admit, we did have a laugh when my two co-runners emerged from the changing room wearing exactly the same outfit!

I've mentioned on my own blog, but probably not here, that I'm lucky enough to live by the sea and my workplace is perched up on some small cliffs near Christchurch in Dorset.  Our run took us along the seafront and round a Quay.  Dodging beachgoers and people crabbing was interesting! I wore my GPS watch (which I'm going to review at a later date on here) which tells me that we ran 2.3 miles in 26 minutes. Just a little run compared to the five mile run I'll be doing in London on Sunday - eek!

It's actually the first run I've done with other people and I found it so much fun.  It's definitely more motivating than running on your own - no-one wants to be the first to admit they need to do a little walk! Plus it's nice just to have the company - running can get a bit lonely sometimes, especially when doing longer distances.  My favourite bit? When we ran into the sea at the end to have a little paddle and soothe our aching muscles! Cold seawater is absolute heaven on hot calves and shins!  We then trotted back to our cars sans-trainers to cool them off a bit!

On Monday I ran the 3 miles home in a somewhat shabby 35 minutes.  I've been having pains in my calves and shins over the last couple of weeks so it wasn't my best run.  I definitely enjoyed having the support on the run today, even just having someone to ask me if my legs were feeling okay and give me some encouragement made a massive difference!

On a final note, if you're someone who prefers giving support rather than receiving it you could always consider a career in the fitness industry.  If that is something you'd like to explore then Focus Training do some great Personal Training Courses including those for Fitness Instructors.  What I'd really like right about now is for someone to do the Sports Massage course and come round and give my legs some attention - they are sore! (Any takers? Anyone?)

Do you like to exercise in a group or do you prefer a solo approach? Have you ever used a personal trainer?

*post contains a sponsored link

Honey Roasted Butternut Squash & Feta Salad

I'm really getting into making my lunch for work - my favourite way though, is to make something in bulk that will keep me going for a few days. I just can't get motivated to make a salad every night!

At the moment, I'm trying to be super good so I wanted to make something involving butternut squash as it's zero points. My best friend and I were brainstorming salad ideas like the cool kids we are, and we came up with this. It was amazing. It's barely a recipe, really - but it got a lot of interest on Twitter so as promised, up on WAMK it goes!

I made the squash in one go and boxed it into three portions along with a chunk of feta and a segment of lime - come lunchtime, I just grabbed a bag of rocket and dished it up. So many jealous stares at work, and rightly so - bloomin' delicious!

Honey Roasted Butternut Squash & Feta Salad

1 Butternut Squash - 0PP

200g Light Feta - 10PP

1 tbsp Honey - 4PP

1 lime

Rocket, to serve.

= 14PP / 5PP per person

Serves 3

1. Preheat the oven to 200c.
2. Pierce your butternut squash randomly all over and then put in the microwave (whole) for 3 minutes.
3. This will make your squash easier to cut and peel. Get it out the microwave, chop off the ends and peel.
4. Chop your squash into fairly small cubes and put in a big bowl.
5. Add a tablespoon of honey to the bowl of squash and use your hands to toss the squash until it's all well covered in the honey.
6. Put your squash in a roasting tin, add a liberal amount of salt and pepper and scatter over some dried rosemary if you fancy, and put in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
7. That's basically it! Serve hot or cold with a handful of salad leaves and a crumbled up chunk of feta. I used 1/3 of a 200g block, 1/4 would have been plenty.
8. Squeeze fresh lime juice over the top... and you're done! SO TASTY.

Aubergine & Halloumi Parmigiana

Welcome to day 2 of my VoucherCodes challenge! (Day one is here) I had various plans with this meal, and then totally changed my mind and went for something entirely different. But it’s really nice, and really low fat. Amazeballs.

I’m calling this Aubergine Parmigiana, but it doesn’t actually have parmesan in it, so the name is totally misleading. I personally feel that parmesan completely disintegrates when used in a bake, and other, more robust cheeses are a better bet. Plus, I had some halloumi in the fridge, and I don’t need much of an excuse to use halloumi. This recipe is incredibly low fat. Weight Watchers-wise, the only pointed thing is the cheese, and it would be tasty without. But, as you know, everything is a little better with cheese.

Okay, a LOT better.

Aubergine & Halloumi Parmigiana
3 x Aubergines - 0PP / 175cal
1 carton Passata - 0PP / 160cal
1 can of carton chopped tomatoes - 0PP / 88cal
1 onion - 0PP / 46cal
1 courgette - 0PP / 18cal
6 mushrooms - 0PP / 20cal
5 garlic cloves - 0PP / 26cal
225g light halloumi - 16PP / 549
75g low fat cheddar - 6PP / 236 cals
100g spinach - 0PP / 23cal
2 tsp artificial sweetener - 0PP / 2cal
Herbs e.g. basil, paprika
20PP / 5PP per person

Serves 4.

Calories: 578cal / 145cal per portion
WW Points: 20PP / 5PP per portion

Total cost: £9.05 (£2.26/portion)
To reduce points - Use less or no cheese.

1. Preheat the oven to 200c
2. Slice the aubergines lengthwise and then griddle a few at a time with a bit of frylight (or dry) until charred both sides. When done, place on a plate.
3. Slice the halloumi and using the same pan, griddle until browned. Set aside.
4. Cook your mushrooms, onions and courgette in a frying pan or wok with the garlic until soft.
5. Add the tomatoes, passata and sweetener and stir well.
6. Add the spinach, and put the lid on for a minute or so until it begins to wilt. Then stir into the sauce.
7. Add a healthy pinch of dried basil and of smoked paprika, if you have any and stir.
8. Leave the sauce to bubble with the lid off on a medium-high heat for 10 minutes or so. The sauce will thicken and reduce.
9. Time to assemble. Spread some of the tomato sauce into an ovenproof dish, then lay some of the aubergine slices over the top.
10. Repeat with a layer of tomato, a layer of aubergines, until everything is in the sauce (I managed three layers of tomatoes, two of aubergines)
11. Scatter the halloumi over the top and then grate the 75g of low fat cheddar over that.
12. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the cheese is brown and bubbling.

This is so low that I took it into work for lunch! So tasty, and it reheats beautifully.