Rain, rain, go away...

How can yesterday be so sunny and today be so rainy?

Breakfast: Steamed kipper, 1 slice of seeded toast, 1 poached egg
Lunch: 1 raw pepper, half a cucumber and a handful of tomatoes with houmous.
Dinner: Pan fried salmon with rosemary roasted new potatoes, sugar snap peas and carrots
Snacks: Small lunch box sized Malt Loaf

Last night my Boyfriend and I had a really lovely evening sitting outside and having a BBQ. We BBQ'd some lamb, after marinading it in some Moroccan spices which gave it a really nice flavour. Now I know that lamb isn't the most healthy thing you can eat, however I really like it - When was the last time I had it? Probably over 2 months ago, so I just ate mindfully, trimmed off all the fat and as it was BBQ'd, a lot of the fat also dripped into the BBQ. When will I eat it again? not for a while, so I don't really see a problem :-) We also BBQ'd a beef tomato that we bought at the Alton Farmers Market yesterday and I had mine with a lot of steamed carrots and peas as well as some rosemary roast new potatoes. As always, it was really, really yummy.

I also remembered to defrost one of the sacred fishies, so I was fortunate to be able to have a delicious kipper for breakfast this morning. However, rather than just have the kipper looking all sad and alone on a plate, I bought some bread yesterday, so transformed my breakfast into a slice of seeded toast, one poached egg and a kipper. As well as it being really filling, I didn't put any butter or spread on my toast as the egg was wet enough for it not to matter - Additionally, there are apparently a number of health benefits to eating kippers, namely:

Benefits to eating kippers

1. Kippers contain phosphorus, potassium, iron, zinc and vitamins B-12, A and E.

2. kippers are high in heart-healthy fatty acids such as omega-3, with about 0.2 to 0.7 grams of omega-3 per serving

3. Kippers are rich in DHA which is a fatty acid essential for the growth and development of brain. Studies show that DHA is most readily absorbed in the morning hours – so perfect for breakfast.

4. Kippers are are low in saturated fat and total calories, so if you're watching calories, you should be watching kippers going into your mouth....  :-)

I appreciate I'm not going to win any awards for food photography, however it tasted a lot better than it looked on my plate and if you mashed the egg up onto the bread, it wasn't dry at all. Once I'd eaten breakfast and had a lovely cup of tea, I headed off to see my sister and my niece and unlike yesterday, I decided to plan my lunch so I didn't need to default to yet, 'more meat'. Whilst my sister lives near Swindon, they have managed to get electricity where they are (I was born in Wiltshire so am taking the mick out of myself, more than anyone else :-)) and as such - I was able to put my houmous and veggies into her fridge.

When I arrived, my niece was having a nap - I took the chance to catch up with my sister which seems like something I could do every time I see her, however it seems to be the case that when you have small children, you spend 99% of your time focussed on them, so talking to each other becomes a lot harder. By 12:30, my niece had finally gotten up - It was nice to see her and she decided it wasn't too bad seeing me either, showing me her pink watering can and preferring to water the patio than any of the plants.

Unfortunately the weather in Swindon was utterly dire - we were planning on going to a local park, however it mostly rained all afternoon so instead we just drank a lot of tea on the sofa and played all kinds of games with my niece including 'multicoloured worm' with a coloured tunnel and 'let's name all the fossils', which involved my niece showing me, my sisters fossil collection and naming all of them.

Unfortunately Aunt Flow also decided to make an appearance 2 days late, so I'm writing this with rather bad stomach cramps, even though I've taken ibruprofen and am feeling really sorry for myself. Driving back along the M4 was pretty bad and it took me quite a lot longer than it took me to drive down there as it was 40mph for most of the way. After I got back, I made myself another couple of tea and settled down on the sofa with a hot water bottle and watched a couple of episodes of 'Whitechapel' which I'm really getting into at the moment. God knows what I'll watch when this is over, it's hard to find any horror / murder / thriller things on TV.

Dinner was another fish dish - pan fried salmon with rosemary roasted potatoes, carrots and a new addition - sugar snap peas! I got them in my latest Riverford delivery and unlike the greens or the lettuce, they've lasted a couple of days which is awesome as I've run out of frozen peas and couldn't be bothered to buy any more. In a weeks time, I'll be able to go food shopping whenever I want to :-) It was nice, but I now feel stuffed... I really do think I'm doing too much, even though a lot of it is just vegetables.. 

Tonight I'm off to see my lovely work friend - It seems we're spending a lot of time together at the moment, I guess it's kinda like 'hysterical bonding'? We know things will change in a week, so we're making the most of it. I know she'll still be in my life, however I won't see her every day like normal. 

However - not all change is bad. I'm still motivated to change my lifestyle and to see my body change.. so will be keeping up the motivation for next week - MY FINAL WEEK AT WORK!!!!! 

Benefits of Coconut water - Are there any?

Considering I didn't have to do anything today, I have been incredibly productive so far

After an amazing nights sleep, I woke up to find myself incredibly stiff and achey - I think my Body was reacting to all the bending down and carrying things on Thursday afternoon. I actually woke really early, considering I didn't have to get up at any particular time and once awake, I find it almost impossible to get back to sleep so instead I made myself a cup of tea and read more of my book. It's actually really interesting - The Diet Myth: The Real Science Behind What We Eat, by Tim Spector. It's all about the microbes in your gut and where you're born in the world affects what microbes you have and how you react to different food. Hence why Greek people can eat loads of olive oil products and have a really low rate of heart disease, yet if UK or US people did it, it would increase as we've not been raised on the same diet. 

I'm only 40% of the way through on my Kindle, but it's really interesting and it's not pushing a particular diet at all. It's also discusses the latest fads 'Fat is bad for you', '5:2 diet is amazing' etc. It will be interesting to see what he concludes overall. 

Once up, I stripped and remade the bed and put my sheets in the washing machine before having a shower and undertaking the mammoth task of washing my very long hair. It's one of my sisters birthdays today, so I sent her a text (already sent her a card and gave her a present) wishing her Happy Birthday and then got on with the task in hand: Cooking and eating my kippers for breakfast. 

It's an odd thing, but how do you cook a kipper? I had no idea until I asked Google and found out it was incredibly simple - stick the kipper in a bowl of water, cover.. and leave for 5-6 minutes. Hey presto! Unfortunately Google failed to mention that the water (and subsequent kipper) will stink out your house for a good few hours afterwards, so I don't suggest eating them if you've got friends or family coming round, unless they love the smell of smoked fish :-) 

The kipper was nice, however it looked a bit sad on the plate, on its own, so I think I might eat my other one with some scrambled egg and maybe a grilled tomato. Either way, it was to have a break from porridge and know that what I was eating was healthy and good for me (and also very tasty). 

After that, I headed off to buy yet more bird food for the bird mafia that had settled both sides of my garden fence, silently judging me for the empty bird feeder and after that, I went to Sainsburys to grab some additional ingredients for tonight as I'm planning on using up some of the things in my cupboards and making spaghetti and meatballs. I actually think I did pretty well in not putting lots of random things into my trolley, however I did decide to try some coconut water and see if it as tasty as my Vegan friend suggested it was.

Apparently, coconut water:

• Is low in calories
• Aids in weight loss
• Gives you perfect skin
• Reduces blood pressure
• Is naturally fat & cholesterol free
• Has more potassium than four bananas
• Is super hydrating
• Solves Hangovers
• May be better at replacing lost fluids than a sports drink or water

According to a lot of people, it has a 'sweet, nutty taste', however having drunk it, I can't say I'm a massive fan as it actually reminds me slightly of the 'Cystitis powders' you have to mix with water and drink when you've got a bad case of cystitis.  Having read quite a few articles on it, the conclusion seems to be that the only proven benefits are to hydrate, reduce sodium, and add potassium to diets. There doesn't seem to be any proof it helps in weight loss and despite being high in sodium, it still contains sugar - and after all, sugar is sugar, so drinking a lot of it and thinking it will help you lose weight doesn't seem to make sense.

Additionally, most fruit and vegetables contain a lot of potassium and eating / drinking those will give you more benefits as they contain a number of other nutrients that coconut water doesn't. 

Unless you're a hardcore gym go-er or looking to replace essential electrolytes (potassium and sodium) lost during a high energy exercise session, there doesn't seem to be any proven studies to show that it can reduce or combat any diseases. 

I think I'll be sticking to water, or Cherry Pepsi Max for the time being :-)