Cheat days

Saturday was definitely my cheat day in terms of eating whatever the 'ell I felt like! I was craving pancakes and bacon but instead found a nice substitute from Venice Cafe- an egg and bacon sarnie!

I sort of miss real bacon- London's bacon is more like Canadian bacon. I guess it'll have to do for now.
White bread- check
salty bacon- check
perfectly fried egg- check
tasty artery cloggin sandwich- check! :-D

slathered in ketchup.. at least I ate it open faced for less carb action

More junk food for lunch.. I swear this wasn't my idea

schmorgasboard of lamb biriyani, fried chicken, chicken sandwich, lamb samosa, and french fries.

Party time! T's co worker hosted an I'm single and loving it party in a private room at the Zetter Hotel.. Okay, so I might have made up the loving it part but she looked very happy! Who wouldn't be with a successful law career and life in London.

I didn't really know that many people at the party so I kept my photo taking to a minimum..I did manage to sneak in a couple tho :)

After the party, we decided to grab a quick bite at a new burrito joint in Kings Cross called Burrito Cafe.

I ate the chicken salad with shredded chix, black and pinto beans, tomato, guacamole, shredded cheese and salsa. All the ingredients separately tasted fresh but it was sort of bland and missing a punch of Mexican flavor. I'm quite happy that its really close to our flat but I think if I had a choice, I would still go to Chilangos.

Yummy.. after eating we took T's friend back to the cocktail bar V.O.C.

We snagged some couches upstairs. I was really surprised at how not busy VOC and the surrounding area was last night.  I definitely think this cocktail bar will become more popular in the coming months.

cucumber and lemon water-so refreshing!

http://www.voc-london.co.uk/index.php/about

T made us breakfast this morning of sunny side up eggs with cinnamon and all-spice. If you haven't tried this combination, I would highly recommend it. Surprisingly, the spices work really well together  Delicious!

lazy Sunday mornings..

S.P.O.I.L.E.D! Just like her momma ;)

To my iphone thief

To the person that stole my phone last night:

• I'm sorry you're such an asshole and *("&*£&(*£($%&£*($Q"£&("*&$%£*$%£&$ BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!!!!!!!!
• I'm sorry you had to resort to stealing a cracked Iphone that probably means nothing to you.
• I'm sorry you didn't have a stable upbringing and a loving mom to tell you that stealing is bad and that karma is a bitch.
• I'm sorry you'll always have to lie, cheat, and steal your way to a half decent life.
• Finally, I think I'm going to forgive you now because I'll have a shiny new phone in a few days and you'll always have to get by by stealing other people's hard earned things and for that I AM truly sorry. I hope one day you'll become a better man...

The end :)

VOC

Katsu don

We went out to eat at Mai sushi last night. We've ordered delivery from here a number of times and the food has been good so we decided to to eat in.

katsu don is probably my favorite cooked Japanese dish. Something about rice, pork, salty soy sauce with egg is the perfect mouthwatering combination.

I love the presentation of scallops inside a real shell itself. So fun to eat! It was filled with spicy mayo, seaweed, tobiko, scallops and spring onion.

the only problem I had with this appetizer is that it was served lukewarm and it made it not taste as fresh. I would serve this hot!

crunchy tuna with asparagus and truffle oil (delish!!), alaskan roll with salmon, avocado, mayo, and crab stick

 

Mai sushi roll with four types of different fish and a bunch of tasty raw pieces of nigiri. 

After dinner we checked out a new cocktail bar in our Kings Cross hood called VOC. The drinks were fantastic and the bartender was super friendly! All in all, a good night.

Agenda: study, relax, friend's party

HIIT me baby one more time

I did a HIIIT workout yesterday for a total of 12 minutes and am shocked at how sore I am today!! Wasn't expecting that one..I set my gymboss for a 3 rounds of 1 minute intervals and repeated this circuit 3 times with a 2 minute rest in between.

• Mountain climbers (30 seconds knees to elbows and 30 seconds knee twists to opposite elbow)
• Lateral shuffle and reach
• V Sits
• Burpees

I had double the workout yesterday because I also taught Zumba later that night. Waaa hoo!!

Yesterday's lunch was a siracha fest. Roasted turkey on a bed of greens, cous cous, and lots of red stuff.

It was a pretty tasty and healthy lunch. Preparing healthy meals are so much easier when most of the work is done for you. I popped the turkey in the oven, laid out a bed of pre washed salad,Waitrose ready made cous cous and when the turkey was ready, I just placed it on top!

Dinner was made by T

oven baked rainbow trout w. asian seasonings, mushrooms filled with goat cheese, artichoke pieces, and truffle oil. YUM! The mushrooms were SO good.. I was sad there were only 2 pieces :(

I had eggs this morning but by mid morning I was hungry again so I made myself another goat cheese and
tomato sauce snack. I'm on such a goat cheese kick lately.. it's such a mild and creamy cheese!

Workout this morning: Tone It Up's Beach babe workout
I set my gymboass timer for 30 second intervals, 8 rounds and rest 2 minutes after the set. Complete 2 more times

• frog jumps
• side lunges with twist, 30 secs each side
• walk out with knee push ups (I did 1 minute of these because I couldn't fit that many in only 30 seconds!!)
• high knees
• waistline crunches, 30 seconds each side

I also did 3 sets of 10 reps of Tone It Up's arm workout

• Bicep curl to shoulder press
• Front raise and lateral raise
• Bent over row to rear fly
• Tricep kickbacks

My arms were burning by the end!!!

leftovers for lunch.. sadly I tried to recreate the stuffed mushrooms but they just didn't taste very good!

Since our usual cleaning lady is out of town, I spent most of the afternoon cleaning our flat. It took nearly 3 hours and I still feel like it isn't at its best!

Time to read my Chemistry book, sweeeetness!

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!