Happy Monday!

I'm not quite sure what ailment I suffered from yesterday but I felt awful. It was a mix between food poisoning, the flu, and a stomach bug. I've now been left with a slight cold and stomach pain.

I haven't really been eating very well lately so I decided to get my dose of nutrients and minerals with a smoothie.

• 1 cup skim milk

• handful of frozen berries 

• 1 scoop each of nature's green powder and whey powder

• 1 banana

• 4 ice cubes 

• agave nector for sweetness

I was craving more comfort food so T made us spaghetti and garlic bread

Lots of cheesy-ness on the garlic bread.

Back on the healthy eating track this week. 

 

Multigrain egg bagel sandwhich with bananas and peanut butter.

Workout: Zin 31 cd

Lunch was sauteed bok choy, mushrooms, wholewheat pasta and oven baked salmon. I tried to make the veggies the biggest portion on the plate. The veggies were sauteed in minced garlic, light soy sauce, sesame oil, siracha, salt and pepper. They turned out so lovely! The salmon was just EVOO, salt pepper, garlic, and cayenne pepper. Delicious and filling :)

Back to work on my business/marking plan!

Back to Lahore Part Deux

New reading material from the library. I got the recommendation for the book on the left from the YMCA instructor who covered our 3 days of nutrition. It's a hefty book but I find the topic of healthy eating very interesting (even though I haven't really been practicing what I'm reading lately!)

We went out last night to Lahore Kabob House. 

 

I love BYOB restaurants :)

 Mixed grill appetizer plate-lots of tender chicken and beef

kebabs

 the lamb chops are probably my favorite dish at Lahore. So tender and juicy. Yum!

King prawn curry

Okra

We also ordered the lamb biriyani, chicken tikka masala, fish curry, and of course garlic naan. We were definitely steered in the wrong direction of ordering too much fun. We had SO much left over.

Drunkey Monkey time!
http://www.thedrunkenmonkey.co.uk/

 

Singapore sling cocktail..

We spotted another space invader!! :-D

So.. I'm not sure what exactly I ate (might have been the cranberries on top of singapore sling drink I ordered at the Drunken Monkey) but when I got home, I immediately started having cold shivers and intense flu/stomach bug symptoms. Crazy how my night can go from pleasantly fine to dramatically ill in a matter of a few hours. Needless to say, it hasn't really been my finest month in terms of my health and physical well being. I finally started to feel alright by late afternoon today but I'm assuming its the hot tea flu medicine that Tarek has been feeding me. He also made me udon soup earlier this morning which was just what my shivering body needed. :(

Time for more recovery and dinner!

Last day of class!!!

 

berrylicious protein smoothie with bear apple crumble granola on top! Yumm..

T made me an egg white omelette yesterday morning before my final day in PT class. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by! I still have 2 more projects to turn in by the end of the month but my days of attending class are O-V-E-R. It's bittersweet but I'm really looking forward to whats in store.

Close up!! Last night's crazy festivies consisted of a celebratory dinner w. the classmates and then out for drinks and dancing.. Luuuurvee to dance. I don't care about my aching feet! I'm hoping to snag some pictures of the night out from a classmate. Good times had by all :)

Saturday agenda: recovery mode, get in a Zumba workout, relax, and a repeat visit to Lahore Kabob but this time w. a bigger group. Yay!

Personal day

Last night's dinner of shepherd's pie (Bigham's) and sauteed veggies:
in the mix:
Mushrooms
Garlic
Bok choy
siracha
soy sauce
seasame oil
salt and pepper

the vegetables were a super tasty side

a nice crispy mashed potato topping

 

T made us another omelette this morning. Breakfast together is becoming quite the tradition lately. I'm not complaining because I've been trying to get my husband to eat breakfast and if this is the only way he'll do it, then fine by me!

 

The omelette included shallots, mushrooms, cheese, and garlic on top of a 1/2 of a sesame bagel. Delish!

I skipped class today because I came down with a minor cold yesterday and I needed a de-stress day. I did some Zumba this morning at home and a little sweat was just what the doctor ordered. I've been so scared to do anything drastic on my foot lately that I've avoided exercise like the plague these past couple weeks. Today I decided that I was doing more harm to my body than good just sitting and sulking on my ass. Definitely the right decision to get some endorphins flowing w. a small workout. I have faith my foot will heal soon :)

Lunch:

Waitrose spinach and ricotta cannelloni with some bolognese sauce and sliced up cheese on top (I forgot which kind I sliced up)

sauteed mushrooms and spinach for some extra veggies.

A very filling and delicious lunch!

I found another fitness website I love:

http://www.bodyrock.tv/2010/10/07/new-5-week-diet-challenge-for-super-hot-body/

Protein balls

I made these protein balls after seeing the recipe on a fellow blogger's website. OMG. They are SO GOOD. They tasted exactly like cookie dough, just like Gina promised! Yum! I didn't have quite enough for a tablespoon of maple sugar so I added in a generous squeeze of agave nectar. I'm going to have to hide these away so I don't tempt myself.
http://fitnessista.com/2011/01/ballz-for-all/
Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of chocolate whey powder

2 tablespoons almond butter
2 tablespoons coconut flakes
1 tablespoon and 1/2 of maple syrup and agave nectar
sprinkle of sea salt
generous sprinkle of cinnamon
tablespoon of dark chocolate chips
Ingredients mixed in the food processor and formed into balls:

the balls *hehe* have a nice crunchy texture from the protein powder and I love the almond butter taste with the sweetness the honey/agave nectar imparts. I have a feeling I'm going to be making more of these!!

Breakfast this morning:

Another protein and complex carb filled breakfast consisting of an omelete with sauteed yellow peppers, shallots and peppered boursin cheese on whole grain toast. A proper breakfast to fuel me through a day of outdoor training/assessments. We couldn't have asked for better weather today. Regent's Park was sunny and beautiful. oh and I passed! The only downside to this day was my ankle and the mud stains on my shoes!!

Dinner tonight was a mix of Bigham's mac n' cheese and turkey escalopes and veggies from T's work cafeteria. I only had to pop the mac n cheese in the oven. Simple is exactly what I needed after today's workouts. My body is so sore!

chocolate creme filled cake. It wasn't very good but somehow it managed to disappear. Hate it when that happens!

Exciting news... Tanya Beardsley is coming to London to teach a Zumba masterclass FREE to Zin members. I signed up and am SUPER stoked. She IS the Zumba Queen. :o) :o)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F5yLMum6ro&feature=related

Business cards

I think my ankle is starting to heal! This is great news!! It still hurts in the morning per usual but it isn't AS painful to walk on it. So yes, what I thought was a foot injury, turns out its my ankle instead. Unfortunately, my outdoor assessment is today so I'm going to be a pain in someone's ass and have to have them modify their exercises for my bum ankle. I'm praying for a quick heal so I can get back to my usual spunky self :)

The hubby brought back home my favorite mexican in a takeout box! Carne asada with pinto and black beans and all the other fixins. Yum!

They were definitely not stingy with the guacamole.

My business cards have arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited that I just might start handing them out to strangers. hehehe..

Quick muffin breakfast and I'm off to study my teaching portion of today's assessment. I'm hoping someone's looking out for me today!! :)

Last week

 

Yay!! Green monster muffins are back courtesy of: http://thechiclife.com/2010/07/green-monster-muffins-recipe.html

I also had help chopping up the spinach in our new food processor. I had used our blender previously and it hadn't worked out too well. This chopped the spinach perfectly!

I subsituted vanilla extract for almond and used strawberry fat free yogurt instead of applesauce.

They turned out great. I really love the flavor almond extract gives the muffins. Yum!

The hubby was craving mexican last night so he made chicken and shrimp fajitas. They were delicious! :). We finished the third season of True Blood last night. I'm not sure if I'm digging the show anymore. It's addicting but sort of redundant at the same time. I'm so tired of everyone crying on that show!!

Time to get ready for school ma! It's my last week. Dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!!!!