Cauliflower Lentil Curry

Well I was looking for a bit of inspiration to put with turkey. Turkey is incredibly lean but tbf I am not its biggest fan but I was getting in to a rut with chicken and beef.  So I made this curry and served it with strips of grilled turkey.

This recipe is easy to follow and tastes lovely. It was quite mild so you might want to experiment with the chillies (I put 1 in and took the seeds out so it was husband friendly!)

Also I replaced the potato with a sweet potato to make it cleaner and I halved the salt. (I also ditched the vinegar, but only because I forgot to make the garnish 2 hours ahead LOL)

http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Cauliflower_Lentil-Curry-Martha-Stewart?columns=4&position=1%2F12

H xx

It’s time.

So I’ve just done my before pics. Apparently these had to be done in a sports bra and shorts. Having looked at them and the ones I did in a top and trackie bottoms I can see why.

The ones in bra and shorts are nothing short of horrific you can see exactly the issues. I knew my stomach was massive but my arms and thighs are bigger than I thought and I’ve got more rolls on my back than a bakers. Maybe I’ve not been looking closely enough recently but my skin is dull and I am carrying a lot of excess weight. Katie Hopkins would bloody love me!

But here’s the thing. I’ve done the worst bit. I’ve faced reality. I’ve had a year a good 9 months of indulgence but now it’s time to woman up. The purpose of these pics is not to beat myself up, what is done is done. The purpose is to allow me to see what I need to do and then in a few weeks, months, years remind myself of how far I’ve come.

I am in no doubt I can get myself to where I want to be and probably beyond. It won’t be easy by a long way but I know I can.

It’s time.

H x

Bacon wrapped chicken with lentils

I saw this recipe on TV this week (being on maternity leave has its advantages!)

http://www.itv.com/thismorning/food/bacon-wrapped-chicken-breast-with-herbed-lentil-and-spinach-salad-dale-pinnock-recipe

It is very quick, REALLY simple, very filling and tastes really good too.

I used Chilli Olive Oil just to add a bit of a kick. I think you could probably add a bit of garlic too.

A great recipe for midweek when you get home from work and just CBA!

H x

BRING. IT. ON!

Giddy, giddy, giddy.

I’m a right little giddy kipper today. Had my first proper postnatal session today with my PT (JForce Fitness) and I feel so motivated it is untrue! I am really up for this.

We went through a whole bunch of simple exercises that I need to be doing every day to help sort out the diastasis recti and my abs in general.

I keep thinking about how hard some of the sessions were before I got pregnant and potentially how hard they are likely to be again and how much further I can go beyond where I got to last time and even that doesn’t phase me (at the moment!)

Next week we’re going outside to do a fitness test. That’s right, doing something outside, in the cold (and knowing the Yorkshire weather probably wet too!) but even that doesn’t bother me, I’m looking forward to it (Someone remind me of this when I’m whinging next week that I’m cold LOL)

But for now, I feel more motivated and more positive about fitness than I have done in about 9 months.

Yeeeeaaaahhhhhh

H x

Here we go…

So Saturday saw me hook back up with my fantastic personal trainer Jason (J Force Fitness) I’ve been driving myself mental wanting to get back training. I’ve racked up a whole load of weight, bad habits and a shed load of self doubt. Saturday was in initial consultation, checking out a few medical type things and discussing what will happen in the next few months.

Prior to the consultation Jason had asked me to fill out a postnatal fitness questionnaire. There was a grid of pregnancy/post natal ailments and I felt like I was playing bingo. I seemed to be able to circle a fair few, some more embarrassing than others! But I figure I needed to be honest about where I am physically and mentally so that I can get back in to fitness in the right way. One thing I do know from when I was postnatal with Imogen is that smashing ab crunches etc is not the right way to go especially after a diastasis recti.

Soooooooo the sum total of the consultation is that I won’t be smashing circuits, well not yet anyway. I need to do some strengthening work first to sort my abs out (I still have a gap in my rectus abdominis of about 3 finger widths, according to the physio), so I need to work a little on sorting that out first.

Jason also suggested I need to be doing some walking. This I can handle. I’d love to be smashing some burpees (ok maybe not love but I want to get back to that level and beyond) but for now I need to build it up slowly.

You’d think that walking with a baby in a pram would be the simplest thing to achieve in the world, WRONG! Today I would have loved to give it a bash but an 18 week old with acid reflux and a nasty cough just meant he was puke central and wouldn’t even settle in the pram! Once the other half was home it was too dark to go out walking on my own so I headed to the gym and walked for 30 mins on the treadmill.

There were a few things that occurred to me whilst I was walking nowhere on the treadmill.

1) I bloody hate treadmills, so frickin boring
2) The last time I was in the gym proper, I was 36 weeks pregnant and gigantic!
3) 5 months out of the gym feels like forever and everything makes me nervous again, just looking at the TRX I was thinking “what on earth do you do with that again?”
4) I caught myself gazing longingly at the squat rack! (WTAF!?)

So it was hardly the most epic of work outs BUT it is a start, slow and steady wins the race.

H x