Vegetarian or Pescetarian

It seems that I have become a pescetarian aka a vegetarian that can’t help but eat fish.

This is actually quiet unintentional. I was researching Vegetarianism and seeing what changes I can make to eat less meat, not because I’m overly ‘green peace – don’t kill animals‘ that kind of vibe, but because I wanted to see if there may be some health benefits for me in it, which there is for many people. I was going to begin this after baby was born, and I was always intending to eat fish as a source of protein and Omega-3, but apparently the baby wants me to start early.

I have completely gone off meat, specially chicken. I was a huge steak fan, the more blood the better. However the last time a had steak I found myself trying to chew it and just wanting to spit it out. I also tried having chicken in pasta and curry, and both times the texture made me feel uneasy and I just wanted to throw it up.

Being a nutritionist I have actually studied the vegetarian diet and the need for ‘complete’ protein.

What is a complete protein?

There are 20 amino acids that can be found in protein. 13 of them are considered essential, as the body does not function to its full potential without them and the body can not build them either. The other 7 are considered non-essential as the body can build them when they are needed.

Here is the catch…

Only animal protein contains complete protein – all the amino acids that are essential found in one single food.

The closest non meat food that provides almost all the essential amino acids is Quinoa.

So if you want to insure that you get all the essential proteins in one meal you have to be smart in matching up two or three foods to insure you are getting ‘complete proteins’.

Here are some:

• Peanut butter on wholewheat bread
• Peanut butter on rice cakes
• Humus made from chickpeas and sesame paste
• Trail mix with peanuts and sunflower seeds
• Rice and beans
• Bean soup with a wholewheat roll
• Vegetable stir-fry with tofu, served with rice or pasta
• Vegetarian chilli with wholegrain bread

 

There are plenty more ideas out there, just google, ‘complete protein meal ideas’.

 

Super Mum – Update

So, the first thing I can’t believe that I forgot to mention is…

We are expecting Baby Number 2!

Evelyn may not look excited in the photo but she will be when the baby lets here. To tell you the truth i was actually hoping she would cry when I put her in the cot, but to my surprise, the one time i needed her to cry, she didn’t!

So yep, we are expecting ‘Bean’; our chosen pre-birth nickname, in late July! which is perfect really. its right at the end of school terms in the UK so he/she will be able to have summer birthday/BBQ parties. One thing I never got to do is have a sunny warm birthday, with my birthday being in January.

Other News

I have recently ticked off another item off my Bucket list, and qualified as a Registered Nutritionist! “Can I hear a Whoop Whoop”  

So now I’m in the middle of producing a website and putting together my first healthy eating food plan for people to buy! The company is called BNutri and here is our new logo.

I figured that once Baby No. 2 is here, it’s going to be pretty hard to juggle clients and find a good time to Skype with them, especially if the baby is attached to my boob! Don’t get me wrong I am NOT AGAINST public breast-feeding, but feeding a child while doing business is a little bit too hippy for me.

Super Mum

Growing up I have always been inspired by driven, busy, hardworking and ambitious, powerhouse women. Ones that CAN DO IT ALL. I think it’s also to do with my need to organise and prepare and plan things all the time – I just find it exciting! So I have always dreamt of having a successful business, a family, and loving husband. I have 2 out of 3, and I thank my lucky stars for it every day. Every time I look at my beautiful daughter and her heartwarming smile, and my wonderful caring husband that I always dreamt of, I feel truly blessed and grateful for what I have.

Getting that 3/3 however and reaching another goal would be amazing. I am currently putting together a Dream Board with my husband to put around our bedroom mirror so we can really focus on what we are aiming for. Has anyone else done this?

 

New Years Resolutions

Firstly I’d like to say, I’m NOT a big fan of these New Year resolution things. I believe that if you want to change enough you should start on the day that you come to that decision, not wait around until the following Monday or the next month, or worse still, the first day of the next year; which if you fail it with in the first 6 days, and statistically people quit their resolutions by the 6th day, you have a whole year to go back to your normal self and plan once more how next year you will change (not).

So how do you not fail your resolutions?

1. Make realistic changes – you’re not going to go from a size 18 to a 6 in a year, not if you’re doing it properly. Make achievable goals, ones that may seem small, but when achieve motivate you to continue or to make further goals.

2. START NOW  – If you want to change (really change) don’t wait until next Monday, throw that sandwich in the bin, don’t light up that cigaret, join the gym your walking past, or sign up for those classes you have always wanted to do.

3. Adapt your lifestyle to fit a change – If you want to quit wasting money on going out and getting drunk, but your friends don’t want to try to do anything else, maybe you should question the company you keep. Never let anyone stop you. If people aren’t being supportive of what you’re doing and are encouraging bad habits instead, maybe you should try spending less time with them, and more time with people who share your interests.

4. Minor Set Backs – When people for example diet, and they fall off the wagon, their minds goes into crazy thinking and decides ‘I’ve already failed, might as well eat the rest of the fridge content’. This is perfectly natural. Do NOT do this. If you eat a slice of cake that exceeds your daily calorie intake in one spoonful,    1. Acknowledge It 2. Get Over It 3. Continue Your Diet. Do NOT just give up and start eating rubbish again. This is why most people fail their resolutions because at the first sign of a fail they give up.

My resolution for this year – Be Less Judgmental Of People

 

Baby number two

There is so much to consider before having baby number two… One of the things that bothers me most is… The way I look! Vain I know.

I was once (18 months ago) a tiny size 6 (US 2). I thought being 23 I would snap straight back into shape, but that did not happen. Why?!

Here’s why I didn’t lose my baby weight

I was naive and thought it would drop off because I was young…

I went on maternity leave 6 weeks before my due date (I worked in retail and walked around for 8 hours a day) so I stopped being as active.

I usually had a healthy lunch, and only an hour to eat it in followed by a 20 minute break in the afternoon to munch on a much craved mud cake slice (only from Muffin Break© conveniently places across he road from my work!) – Where as at home I had all the time and means to eat what I wanted and when I wanted.

I wanted to eat healthy and carry on working out, but by 8 weeks I was so exhausted that once I had breakfast all I had energy for was to get back into bed and rest.

All these things contributed to me putting on all they weight I should have from the beginning on the pregnancy, right at the end.

Once baby was out, I just wasn’t motivated enough to lose the weight. My metabolism had slowed down… And my indulgence in food had grown beyond my control. Although I have gone through small splatters of health freak mode, it was not enough.

So here I am faced with the want to have another child NOW! And the fact that I am not back in shape, feeling unhappy and crap about by appearance…

My Solution
As I only want 2 children. Baby number two is my final chance to do all I didn’t in pregnancy number 1 and to finally reward myself with a boob job after successfully losing the weight and getting my dream figure. So I am going to forget my worries and really go for it.

Here is my bucket list for during and after baby number two (for myself)…
1. Eat healthy and continue exercising.
2. Complete the course and qualify as a nutritionist. 
3. Start my own business.
4. Attend baby groups with both little babies.
5. Recuperate my knee and train for a triathlon.

What would you do for your bucket list…?

Award nomination’s

I have been nominated the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award… by Dorian and her Mom. They run a beautiful blog Dorian’s Hand in the name of their lovely one year old. Be sure to check it out…

As part of the rules I have to answer the questions they have set me and nominate another blog(s) and set them some questions.

Here are the blogs I nominate…

Do It and How

This blog does exactly as it says, it shows you what you want to do and how it is done, its simple and creative, and gives you great ideas for everyday life, be it creative ideas for kids or help with your home chores.

Fit To Be Loved

This is a great blog for needle felting, it come with great ideas and a craft which is well-loved and complete to perfection. There is a link to an Etzy shop that comes with great reviews, be sure to have a look.

Finally…

Wonder Of My World

It’s a a blog after my own heart, it’s all about the life and travel and the baby. Lots of quotes, beautiful photography and general down to earth everyday living. This girl is fabulous!

 

Im going to ask you the sasme questions as I was asked…

1. What inspires you most to write?
2. What it your favorite thing to do in the entire world?
3. If you could travel anywhere in our beautiful world, where would it be?
4. What is your favorite book?
5. What are you most proud of?
6. How has your blog helped you most?
7. What is your favorite childhood memory?
8. What is your biggest passion?
9. Your favorite food?
10. What is your favorite quote?

 

Please be sure to…

– Thank the blogger who nominated you, linking back to their site.
– Put the award logo on your blog.
– Answer the ten questions they have set you.
– Make up ten new questions or use the same questions for your nominees to answer.
– Nominate people

 

The questions I would like to answer…

1. What inspires you most to write?
Evey day things, be eat something im proud of that I achieved, something beautiful ive seen while travelling, or down to earth mummy business. I like to share and compare with others how they act in different situations, especially to do with motherhood!

2. What it your favorite thing to do in the entire world?
Might sound coring to some but its ‘Spend time with my baby girl and husband’ Once you experience a loving family and home you will never want anything but to have as many memories as you can to treasure together.

3. If you could travel anywhere in our beautiful world, where would it be?
America – never been but it has always been my dream! something tells me that in my past life I must have been a Cali girl 😉

4. What is your favorite book?
Anything by Sydney Sheldon… sadly he passed away some years ago, but his crime/mystery books are amazing!

5. What are you most proud of?
completing my degree, being a competitive national swimmer when i was younger, and giving birth to my beautiful baby girl Evelyn.

6. How has your blog helped you most?
It has giving me something to do while on maternity leave 🙂

7. What is your favorite childhood memory?
Going camping by a lake with my mum and grandparents.

8. What is your biggest passion?
sports and nutrition!

9. Your favorite food?
I am such a foody, so I guess it depend on the day.

10. What is your favorite quote?
“Nothing worth having ever comes easy… if it did everyone would do it!”

 

I would also like to thank all those people who read my blog, it really does mean the world to me!

Smoothy Recepies

 

I like to make things simple, so put in as much of what you like and just follow the recipe lightly by adding the main ingredients…

 

Black and Blue
The name is because it helps the body heal (FYI)

Spinach

Milk

Banana

Blueberries

Blackberries

 

 

 

Dark Chocolate Blueberries

Spinach

Almond Milk

Cocoa Powder

Blue Berries

Ice Cubes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breakfast Smoothie
This is what I have first thing every morning – fills me right up for the day!

 

Coconut Milk

Celery

Apple

Banana

Kiwi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fruity rainbow

A variety of fruit to give you a boost, with sneaky spinach in there too…

Banana

Milk

Spinach

Raspberry

Mango

Kiwi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Berry Treat

Milk – Any

Raspberries

Blackberries

Blueberries

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wagamama’s Super Green Juice
This is sweet and refreshing, I first tried it in Waga Mama’s and fell in love with it.

Apples

Mint

Celery

Lime Juice

My Household Chores

Being a busy mum and business women I often struggled to keep on top of my household chores, until I devised this weekly plan, although my baby brain is almost passed its, its sometimes nice to have a little nudge in the right direction when your memory temporarily lapses.

I have my house rules…

And then my weekly chore list, which is pretty simple; there are everyday tasks, and weekly tasks. I take on one weekly task each day and add it to my weekly list, that way it all gets done.

I like to keep it on a blackboard, so if i feel any chores need adjusting or changing, i change them! (e.g. clean cooker, whipe down surfeses etc.)

Who does what?!

If you’re struggling to decide who does what, I like to use the ‘roll the die’ trick. Simple – right out the things that need doing then roll the die and allocate the jobs according to what is rolled! Each person rolls the die until a job is allocated to them that isn’t occupied by anyone else.

Hope this provides you with a few idea.

Good luck everyone…

Pregancy and Baby – Things I will do second time round!

When you’re a first time parent, you have many great ideas about how you will do what’s best for your baby, and how you will make sure that he/she is more developed than other children and how you will try and be that perfect mother…

Then you get pregnant, and wonder how you could ever be glowing when you spend the majority of the time feeling sick and tired and pretty much like an old crippled woman.

With my little girl now going on to 8 months I have learnt a hell of a lot, and no doubt there’s more to come, but here are some things I will be doing next time.

Things I will do differently with pregnancy number two:

1. Continue exercising – no matter how tired I get I WILL continue to work out to the best of my ability and safely. Losing baby weight is no fun, so best stay in shape from the start.
2. Craving food in moderation – last time I craved chocolate, and I ate a lot of it! At one point I felt like Bruce from the film Matilda, eating all that chocolate cake! No matter what my next craving is, I will NOT abandon a healthy diet, and will eat the bad craving food in moderation.
3. Treasure every moment – spend as much time with my Husband and Daughter before baby number two arrives. I will enjoy as many sleep in’s as my daughter will let me enjoy. Most importantly I will commit myself to my daughter and prepare her for the new arrival.

Things I will do differently with Baby number 2!

1. Breast is best – I will commit myself to breast feeding; especially now i know what is to come. Before I had a naive idea of it being easy and the baby sleeping through the night, boy did I get a reality check quickly?
2. Sleep when baby sleeps – I will sleep when baby sleeps, and eldest daughter, if they are ever in sync.
3. Let Hubby do it! – I will let my husband do the majority of the work around the house while he is on paternity leave. He can also spend lots of time with our daughter while me and baby rest and adapt.

 

 

Picking Bridesmaids

I have recently had to pick bridesmaids and the maid of honour. Here’s the thing… I stressed a lot over whether or not the MOH that I  have picked was the right one. Here are my tips to you…

1. Take your time – you don’t have to pick the maids until you have to buy the dress, so I would give it sometime between the engagement announcement and asking the potential bridesmaids. See how relationships flower or sour between the engagement and wedding… A lot of people like to make things about themselves, a good bridesmaid and especially MOH will know that this isn’t about her dress but about your big day.

2. Its NOT about them – it’s ALL about YOU; and you don’t have to be bridezilla to make sure the maids behave, they should just know that this is the day that they assist you and make sure everything goes to plan.

3. Don’t worry about their upsets – If someone expected to get picked but didn’t use the age old reason of ‘You wouldn’t see your +1 all day and I wanted you both to have a good time together!‘ or forget about them and remember that it’s your special day and what you say goes. Do not feel obliged to pick them just because they picked you, that’s not how it works.

4. Calm and relaxed – that is how you should feel the day of your wedding and of course you should be happy and excited. The maid of honour should be one that makes you calm, relaxed and happy. The chances are, you will feel anxious and nervous and the last thing you want is to listen to a self-centred friend that cares about nothing more than the superficial things in life. Pick the friend that makes you feel at ease.

5. It is only a title – Maid of Honour is nothing more than a title, it does not have to mean anything more than that. In some circumstances your in laws give you no choice in who will fill the shoes of MOH. The most important thing is that you picked the right groom… all the rest can go to hell 🙂

 

Dating a cyclist…

If you are just starting to or have dated a cyclist or deciding whether to, here’s what you can expect…

 

1. Expect your weekend to be spent at races… these races could be all over the country, but mostly they take place in the middle of the English country side (the middle of nowhere), Having come to one of these event you will probably be expected to do bottle changes for your man… No matter how supportive you are, you can’t help but think of all those things you could be doing on this fine day, instead of being stuck in a field with no toilet for a couple of hours.
2. Smoother legs than you… Yep they shave their legs for races, to prevent their skin being ripped off if they fall. So from now on you’re competing for the smoothest legs award!
3. When they are not cycling… chances are they are talking about it. Although this varies partner to partner, but generally cycling will occupy at least 40% of all conversations.
4. It’s a battle between weight loss and hunger… They love their food, and if there not eating lots then they are trying to eat less in order to lose weight for a big hilly stage race – keep out of the way at dieting times, as they may get cranky!
5. Post-race chat… depending on the race results, this can be either a pleasant or a not so pleasant experience… anyway you look at it within a few races you will be an expert on tactics, and know all the lingo to go with the sport.
6. Sky planner is now Cycle planner… Your sky planner will be full of cycling programmes especially during the Tour de France season, you either put up with it or you find yourself a different TV to watch.
7. You will be ‘encouraged’ to ride… Most women that are either married to or have been with cyclists for a while will get roped into cycling themselves at one time or another. From there you either love it or you hate it… choose wisely.
8. The bikes takeover… they take over your house, garage, garden, pretty much anywhere with space or storage. Not only bikes in fact, but race wheels, spare wheels, a spare frame, TT handle bars, tools, and the Water bottles take over at least one kitchen cupboard. The upside is they have no right to complain about the amount of room your shoes take up.
9. Say buy to that beautiful hotel in the Maldives that you once dreamed of staying at… unless you’re very rich, the bikes will take out a large chunk of your family finances.
10. They all dream to be the best… and don’t you dare doubt them for one minute… we all know that its statistically imposable for most of them to go higher than maybe a Cat 1 but never the less, you are to encourage and promote their dream no matter what!

Having said all that, its really nopt for everyone, but i wouldnt change James cycling for the world!