The best intentions..

Don't laugh at me, I made it to class today, and even made it on the bus to the gym... But I decided to get off and get Chilango's for lunch and go take a nap. I honestly couldn’t do it. My intentions were there. I SWEAR!!

Sadly, I didn't even make it to my friend's Stella and Dot party last night. I hate, HATE cancelling at the last minute, but then again, I don't really plan on getting last minute fevers either. 

T brought me home dinner last night from Tohbang. Some Korean umshik to make the pain all go away somewhat bearable.

Our spread

seafood pajun

kimchi

chicken bbq

beef bibimbap

soondubuchigae

cheese omelet for breakfast

side of smoked salmon

steak salad

decided to switch it up a bit and get steak instead of chicken

• grilled steak
• lettuce
• pinto beans
• black beans
• mild salsa
• hot salsa
• light cheese
• light sour cream

YUM!! I could eat Chilangos once a week and probably not be sick of it. Delish! 

Our Friday night consists of relaxing and getting a good nights sleep before the big day tomorrow. I'm hoping I feel better than I do now! Fingers crossed...

http://www.london.gov.uk/event-meeting/2011/oct/nfl-fan-rally

TGI FRIDAY!!

Yay! I can finally say my weekend is here!! TGIF! :-) haha.. it feels so weird saying that since I haven't been in school since 2006. Yeesh! I'm actually a part time student though so my schedule has gotten somewhat lighter. I attend classes from Wednesday 9:30- 12, Thursday, 9-12, and Friday 9-1 p.m. Not too shabby.

Now you would think this still leaves me plenty of time to blog, workout, and study, but I'm finding it really difficult these days to manage my schedule. It's only been a couple weeks though so I'm hoping I just haven't "found my grove" yet. Here are some pictures from a couple nights back.

I made wild salmon for dinner prepped in:

• brown sugar
• soy sauce
• vegetable oil
• water
• garlic powder

I used this recipe again because the last time I made it, the fish turned out sweet and delicious. I baked the fish in the oven for 15 minutes on 175 C but the fish turned out a bit overcooked so I think next time I'll make sure to take it out after 10.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/grilled-salmon-i/detail.aspx

saute of zuchinni, red onions, and mushrooms in EVOO, salt, pepper, and garlic powder

yuum.. I could really taste the true flavor of the veggies since I didn't douse everything in siracha this time! :)

What a simple, healthy, and tasty dinner. Mmm mmm!

Lunch yesterday was soup,salad, and more soup!

I've rediscovered my passion for light ranch dressing again. Hallelujah! Thankfully I had a huge stash that was brought over to me by my family.

Waitrose minestrone soup from a container.

this soup is delicious; it contains lots of veggies, pasta, and beans all combined in a lovely tomato-ey broth.

3 hours later... I was still hankering for more soup so I heated myself a can of Cream of Chicken soup and added in some white rice. Cream of chicken and white rice soup! yumm-o

with lots of black pepper

So..  I haven't been to the gym since Monday. BAD HANNA. BAD! Please. Someone. Find. Me. My. Motivation. Again. It's just one of those times in my life where I have lost all will to work out. I'm completely content with sitting at home.. eating... sleeping... studying... eating.... sleeping.....studying.. Real Housewives.. Jersey Shore.. eating ...sleeping.... studying.. :-)

Back to that eating part. I ordered from My Sushi Club again last night since T was busy at work. My platter of sushi included the veggie platter consisting of asparagus, crab, cucumber, and avocado nigiri. I also had two temaki rolls, the California and eel and avocado.

bowl of miso soup

my eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach when I ordered the chicken katsu because I was super full by the time I got to this. I had a few bites and saved the rest for the hubs.

it was tasty though!

this little princess managed to sneak in half my California temaki roll when I took a bathroom break. I should have known man; she was eyeing my food all night! BAD GIRL!!

Guess who finally made it to the gym today!? Yes, I went because I made myself no other option but to go. This morning, I packed myself a peanut butter sandwich and and apple so I wouldn't have the excuse "but I'm too hungry to go to the gym!!" and I made sure I kept hydrated and visually pumped myself to go straight there. My vision didn't turn out exactly the way I had hoped (ie: sweat dripping, endorphins flowing). My workout was pretty tame but it still felt good to get in a workout either way.

Focus: Warm up 6 minutes on treadmill, Back and Chest, 3 sets, 15 reps

• lat pulldown (B)
• dumbbell chest press on swiss ball (C)
• seated low pulley row (B)
• chest fly on swiss ball (C)
• assisted pull up (B)
• push ups on knees (C)

stopped by Chilangos for lunch and scarfed this down immediately upon arrival at home. T'was delicious as always :)

• chicken
• lettuce
• pinto AND black beans
• mild salsa (inc. tomatoes) and hot salsa
• light sour cream
• light sprinkle of cheese

I've sort of fooled myself into thinking this is a healthy lunch. You do save yourself some calories though by eliminating the tortilla and going light on the sour cream and cheese. I was half tempted to skip the sour cream and cheese but no way man, it adds that much more flavor to the salad! Yummmy!!

Time to relax and reflect aka nap time!

Moro restaurant

We went out to dinner at Moro last night and I tried my best to be GF but I sort of had a don't ask don't tell policy going on.. I didn't ask if the food was GF and I didn't tell anyone (well.. besides the hubby) that I was on a GF kick. Sometimes its better not to get other peeps involved! Besides, I'm pretty sure the food was 80%GF

First, I started off with some sweet potato fries at home since our dinner reservation was at 9:15p.m.!

• sweet potatoes peeled and cut into fry like pieces
• rubbed with love and olive oil
• sprinkled with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper
• in the oven max temp for 20 minutes, flipped midway through

Back to dinner

We ordered a bottle of this lovely Spanish Tempranillo wine. It was a nice sipping wine and also complimented most our dishes. I'll let Wikipedia describe the wine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempranillo

charcoal grilled sardines with harissa

piquillo peppers

These were very mild yet delicious peppers. I could seriously eat a whole small plate full of em!

white pork sausage with a bean puree

patatas bravas smothered in mayo and tomato sauce.. Drool worthy fo sho!

Wood roasted mackerel with lentils, gem lettuce, piquillo peppers, fried garlic and sherry vinegar

I loved this mackerel dish! The fish was perfectly cooked and the saltiness of the fish was well balanced by the creamy lentils, roasted peppers and greens.. Yum!

I also took a few bites of T's lamb with eggplant and rice. The rice was so buttery and delicious that I had to be reminded that it was the bone marrow not actual butter!

We went out for a couple cocktails at VOC after dinner and then called it a night. I woke up this morning with a huge hankering for T's special sunny side up eggs with all spice and cinnamon. My body was also craving bread since I didn't have any last night with dinner. It's actually easy to say no to the bread basket for a change since I have a set goal to go GF for only a month. I would highly recommend setting realistic goals in order to prevent slip ups in the future. For example, I probably wouldn't be able to stick with the no bread rule if I didn't have a timeline as to when I could start eating bread again. I can give up bread for a month-easy peasy!

GF bread that is :)

with some pure Olive spread. 

• No dairy
• No hydrogenated oils
• No artificial additives
• No GM ingredients
• No gluten

this is just what my body was craving this morning!

I crawled out of the house and into the gym. I did not want to go to but I literally forced myself because I knew my body and mood would thank me afterwards!

Workout: Tone it up's Sandcastle workout

• warm up 10 minutes jogging on the treadmill

3 sets

• lift straight leg out with dumbbell fly (3kg weights) 10 reps, switch legs
• curtsy lunge with bicep curl (4kg weights), 10 reps, switch legs
• single leg deadlift with upright row (5kg weights), 12 reps, switch legs
• hee haw- lean back while doing a dumbbell front raise (2 kg weights), 10 reps *my quads were quivering!!*
• tummy tuck on hands with glute lift, 10 reps, switch legs
• stability ball hamstring curls, 10 reps
• Stretch 10 minutes

I picked up lunch at Chilangos on the way back from the gym. Their chicken salad is the perfect guilty/healthy pleasure.

• lettuce
• pinto AND black beans
• chicken
• mild and hot salsa
• guacamole
• I added in some brown rice and cottage cheese for some extra protein at home

I also doused it in more hot sauce..

This should keep my full til dinner!!

I'm SUPER SUPER excited to go see Kevin Spacey in Richard III at the Old Vic tonight. Sam Mendes also directed the play! Shhh.. don't tell anyone but I used to have a massive crush on Kevin Spacey.. I think he's weirdly hot, hahaha!!

Purrty bird

protein shake before heading off to PUNCH class yesterday

• skim milk
• frozen berries
• 1 ripe banana
• ice
• agave nectar
• scoop protein powder
• toppings: honey oat crunch cereal

PUNCH class was held in the main gym floor because our teacher was sick. I was sort of dreading going downstairs because the sub had mentioned only doing 30 minutes of boxing and 15 on the powerplate. I thought powerplate, really?!? *!"&£*"&£$Q*(&£$"*!!!  If I wanted to go to a powerplate class, I would have gone at a different time! My inner grumbling aside, the class actually kicked my ass. We did one circuit of 3 body weight exercises for one minute each (crunches, pushups, squats) and then boxing with the instructor. We then did another circuit with the TRX machine (pull ups and pushups). I had never used TRX before but it works your body in such a different way since you're holding your body up at an angle. I can definitely feel a soreness in my back and chest this morning!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4fUS7yITAw

I stopped by Chilangos to get another chicken salad

• grilled chicken
• black and pinto beans
• lettuce
• brown rice (I added this at home)
• mild and hot salsa

such as tasty and satisfying lunch !!

After lunch, I met up with a friend and walked around Holland Park. It's such a beautiful park I had never explored before. Especially these pretty birds!

the Kyoto Garden was such a peaceful escape.. almost makes you forget about all the rioting going on

the fish were ginormous!!

http://www.fezmangal.co.uk/index.html

My friend recommended this Turkish restaurant called Fez Mangal near Ladbroke Grove for dinner. I got some takeaway for me and the hubs. I ordered the mixed grill dinner, mixed meza platter, and the lamb chops.

I made sure to load my plate with lots of veggies!

meat fest- the meat was really flavorful and it didn't taste "unhealthy". I felt like I was getting the true flavor of the meat instead of tasting oil or butter. It was delicious!

more speculoos oatmeal and it's time to do some Zumba!