Low Carb Noodles

I saw these noodles advertised in the Sunday paper. Until now the only way to buy this kind of  noodles (made from konjac, a Japanese root) was from overseas (Miracle Noodles) or in an Asian food store (shirataki noodles). They are now available in the health food section of Woolworths, as Slim Pasta (Angel Hair).

Last night I decided to have a go at cooking with them. First you have to drain and rinse them, then soak them in hot water for one minute.

They swell up a bit after soaking in the hot water. Drain, then toss into your dish.

Bon appetite!

I found the noodles to be quite flavourless on their own, so you’d definitely want to eat them in something, rather than underneath or on the side of  a dish as you would with rice.

They are low carb, but because of the properties of the konjac, they swell slightly in your stomach, so I felt quite satisfied after the meal, even though there was no rice.

We’ve tried a few different gluten-free noodles and these ones are pretty good. Rob said he’d happily have them again.

Program 1.1, Day 2

Starting day 2 of my new (old) program on Wednesday morning. Here are the exercises I'll be doing.

Front Squats


Push Ups


Hip Dominant Back Extensions


Standing Split Stance Cable Row


Face Pulls


Tall Kneeling Pallof Press ISO


followed by KB swings

Program 1.1, Day 1

Have pulled out another of my old Mike Robertson programs to start on Monday morning. Here are the exercises I'll be doing.

Romanian Deadlift (RDL)


Chest Supported Row


Offset Split Squat (weight in one hand only: if right foot is in front, hold weight in left hand)


Standing Split Stance Cable Press


Shoulder I, T, Y (on floor)


Ball Rollouts


External Rotation at 90 Degrees


followed by bike intervals and medicine ball slams

Self-Doubt

I weighed myself when I got up yesterday. For some reason I'm OK with not weighing myself at the start of the week, but sometimes as it gets closer to the end of the week I feel like I want to get on the scales to see if what I am doing with my food and exercise is 'working'. Scale weight doesn't tell the whole story, but when I get on the scales and my weight is going the opposite way to what it's supposed to, I have a moment (OK, a whole day) of self-doubt. Is how I'm eating helping me or hindering me with weight loss? Am I doing enough exercise? And on and on.

I woke up this morning, didn't get on the scales, looked in my favourite mirror (the one with the most flattering lighting) and felt much better. I thought about how good I've been feeling the way I've been eating lately, how soft my skin is and how much more energy I have. I thought about how I've been enjoying my exercise. And I pushed those feelings of self-doubt aside.

How do you deal with feelings of self-doubt?

Dragon Fruit

Yesterday in our fruit and veg box we received a dragon fruit!

I’ve never eaten one before so today I Googled to see if ours was ripe to eat. Apparently it was, so I decided to dig in!

  

Look, it’s like a fruit version of beetroot!

It had a strong sweet perfume, a melon-like texture and seeds like a kiwifruit. Different!

Confident, much?

This morning when I started my workout I was alternating between pull throughs and DB rows. There was a guy working out near me but I wasn't paying too much attention to him. He came over after I finished my last set of the group and asked me what the pull throughs were for. I said glutes. He said he'd never seen them done before and that he thought I was 'posing for him'. I just laughed. Jerk.

Raw Vegan Brownies

 

This is one of my favourite homemade sweet treats.  The original recipe is here (along with nutritional info) but I thought I’d repost it on my blog along with some pics.

Raw Vegan Brownie

Ingredients

brownie:
1 c walnuts
1 c dates
1/4 c cocoa powder
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icing:
2 avocados
1/2 c agave nectar [or maple syrup] 
1/4 c cocoa powder
2 T coconut oil
1 T vanilla extract
dash salt
dash cinnamon

Method

Process the brownie ingredients until blended and dry chunky. Press into a small pan.
Put all icing ingredients into blender, and blend on high till smooth. [I put ingredients in large bowl and blended with stab mixer]
Spread icing over brownie and pop in freezer to set for 1 hour.

Cut, serve and enjoy!

 

 

Lemon-scented polenta porridge

recipe from fit food by teresa cutter

Lemon-scented polenta porridge
serves 4

3½ cups water
150g (5 oz) polenta
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut essence
Finely grated zest from 1 lemon
Juice from 1 lemon
1/4 cup pure maple syrup or honey
1/2 cup low-fat coconut milk or malt-free soy milk
4 bananas, sliced
1 punnet blueberries
2 tablespoons flaked toasted almonds

Bring water to the boil and pour in polenta. Turn down to a gentle simmer.
Add the salt, vanilla, coconut, lemon zest, juce, maple syrup and coconut milk.
Cook over a gentle heat stirring frequently for about 20-25 minutes until nice and thick.

Divide between serving bowls. Top with sliced banana, blueberries and toasted almonds.

I See Red

My neck still isn’t completely better (and it’s making me feel quite worn out), so I didn’t do a workout today.

I (unintentionally) had a lot of red food today.

Breakfast was quinoa and yoghurt topped with a diced peach and a diced plum

Lunch was roast beef with relish, cherry tomatoes and cucumber

plus sandwich thins with avocado and tomato

Dinner was gluten-free spaghetti with garlic, capers, olives, chilli, black pepper, tomatoes, spinach and olive oil

 

plus some canned salmon

Have a good weekend!

My Day in Dot Points

• 40 minute jog with Rob and TJ
• banana blueberry smoothie

• eggs with onion, mushrooms, silverbeet and goat cheese, on gluten-free toast

• pork stir-fry with garlic, ginger, chilli, onion, carrot, zucchini, mushrooms, silverbeet and oyster sauce, served on basmati rice and topped with slivered almonds

• watch My Kitchen Rules

See you tomorrow!

Sandwich Thins

I didn’t sleep well last night but managed to get up at 6.45 this morning and go for a walk with Rob and TJ. When we got home I did some foam rolling. I was feeling quite tired afterwards, so stretched out on the floor in the sun and fell asleep!

After I woke up I did a bit of tidying up around the house then went to the gym to do a 7km treadmill run. It was quite hard work today.

When I got home I had a banana blueberry smoothie

Lunch was some roast pork, pumpkin, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes

plus some Helga’s sandwich thins, split, toasted and topped with avocado and tomato

I was quite excited when I saw these sandwich thins advertised last week. Amused by small things, aren’t I?

They’re like a thin English muffin and I think they’d probably make a good low-carb burger bun alternative. One sandwich thin (top and bottom) is 43g and has 21.8g of carbohydrate.

Two things I’m not so keen on: they’re quite sweet (sugar is listed as one of the ingredients), and they’re made in the USA! Can't Helga's make these in Australia?

Dinner was also bread-based: a gluten-free wrap with lamb and salad (dressed with olive oil and lemon juice).

Looking forward to Rob coming home from work so we can watch My Kitchen Rules together (I’m recording it). See you tomorrow!

Fruit & Veg Delivery

My neck was still a bit stiff this morning, but not as bad as yesterday. I decided to take the day off the gym though, just to be on the safe side. It was a lovely morning, so I went for a walk with Rob and TJ. When I got home I tried to do a little bit of weeding, but that aggravated my neck, so I settled for trimming our front hedge. That took a while and it was fairly light work so it was quite late by the time I had breakfast. I always find gardening thirsty work, so I had a banana and peach smoothie, with a couple of crushed Oat Brits sprinkled in at the end (not pictured)

Because I had breakfast so late, and hadn’t done much in the way of exercise, I didn’t really feel like having any lunch. I had a snack mid-afternoon and that kept me going until dinner.

Late in the afternoon our fruit and veg delivery arrived

Looking forward to trying that pineapple!

Rob sent me a text when he arrived at the train station so TJ and I walked down to meet him. We sat in the sun for a bit when we got home, then I made a stir-fry using leftover roast chicken from Sunday night

The sugar snap peas from today’s delivery were delicious!

Off to spend the rest of the evening with my Valentine. See you tomorrow!

Stiff Neck

I woke up with a stiff neck this morning so I’m glad I’ve got a few days off before I start my next block of work and didn’t have to sit at my desk today. I managed a 40-minute jog on the treadmill this morning but the rest of my day has been pretty quiet.

Breakfast was a banana & peach smoothie, which I had with a piece of gluten-free fruit toast (not pictured)

Lunch was grated zucchini, carrot and spring onion mixed with Thai marinade, plus a bread roll with chicken (not pictured)

Dinner was salmon, chickpea and lemon frittata

plus some pumpkin soup, with a slice of gluten-free toast (not pictured)

Rob said he’ll treat my neck when he gets home tonight so hopefully I’ll be feeling better in the morning. See you tomorrow!

Banana & Peach Smoothie

No cafe breakfast this morning. I went to sleep with a headache and woke up with a headache (probably not enough water yesterday) so downed a couple of glasses of water then took TJ for a walk to the shops to get the Sunday paper and some yoghurt for a smoothie.

Banana & Peach Smoothie

Ingredients

- 1 cup skim milk (I used lactose-free)

- 200g plain yoghurt (I used lactose-free)

- 1 banana (approx 100g)

- half yellow peach (approx 50g)

- handful baby spinach

Method

- Blend together and enjoy!

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Lunch was tuna and beans

 

with mixed greens, tomato and red onion

Dinner was roast chicken with roast pumpkin, onion and zucchini (it tasted better than it looks)

Off to watch Friends With Benefits. See you tomorrow!

Workout Alternative

This morning I felt quite tired so instead of doing a workout at the gym I decided to go for a walk with Rob and TJ then do a spot of ‘landscaping’. When I did the garden beds a few months ago, I pulled out lots of rocks. They’ve been sitting in a big pile by the garage, getting in everyone’s way

This morning I moved them all out to the driveway side of the house so we can eventually get rid of them all. It took me about half an hour to move them all

No more rocks to trip over!

I find gardening or landscaping is a great alternative to a traditional gym workout.

After my efforts I sat outside and enjoyed a banana blueberry smoothie

Lunch was a salad with mixed greens, celery, spring onions, tomato and canned chicken, dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, plus a bread roll

Dinner was a salmon, chickpea and lemon frittata with salad, plus a slice of toast with sterol spread (not pictured)

Finished a big job for work today (proofreading a 480-page book) so am looking forward to having a relaxing weekend.

See you tomorrow!

Show Me Your Salad Dressing

Do you have a favourite homemade salad dressing? Care to share?

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This morning I felt like running on a softish surface so I went to the nearby footy oval and did laps around that for about 40 minutes. Made it a bit easier on my legs, but it was a bit boring!

Breakfast was a banana blueberry smoothie

For lunch I made a salad and topped it with a Thai Marinade

I also had a bread roll with roast pork (not pictured).

Dinner was very simple: steak, baby potatoes and corn

Don’t forget the butter!

OK it’s actually Flora Proactive Buttery, but you get the idea!