Healthy Home Cooking ;)

I didn't think it was entirely possible. I know there are thousands of "healthy" recipes and cookbooks out there, but I've always found them to actually be kind of heavy meals, like I'd gain weight if I ate them all the time. The problem with eating light meals constantly is obviously the binge eating it causes, as well as the boredom.

Everything I read says, convenience! Oh this only takes 5 minutes, 10 minutes.. woah 15 minutes, thats ridiculous! Well personally, I like to apply a little bit of time to cooking, I enjoy it, but the foods I really enjoy cooking don't fit in with my diet (I'm an italian lover, god save me), and so I haven't had that little bit of therapy, without the guilt, for a long time, which really does contribute to my regular cracking on the diet. A lot of the time it isn't the food I'm after so much as the cooking.

So there I was on my yoga mat doing my stretching on the lounge room floor, when I looked up to realize the remote was not in reach and my show had ended. Sitting in something similar to an upside down pretzel, I figured it would be easier to just weather whatever came on, cue Jamie Oliver and the fabulous idea he gave me.

All I saw was an egg wrapped in glad-wrap (clingfilm), tied off in a knot, and boiled as such and Bam! I saw potential!

1 egg, with the yoke, may have a little bit of fat but that's actually a good thing if you work out- You want to train your body to use fat as a source of energy, to do this you'll have to eat some as well. If you eat little to no fat then your body will cling to all the fat it already has, make sense?

With a few alterations I've made this recipe quick, easy and full of flavour!

Egg Balls

What you'll need:

1-2 eggs (any kind)

Herbs of your choice (Fresh or dry, don't be afraid to experiment!)

• I used chopped fresh chives. As well as dry basil and lemon pepper. 

Veges (Any, its really up to you, but whatever you choose, pile it high!)

• I went for chopped spinach and tomatoes

+ A bowl and Glad-Wrap

I know most people associate egg's with cheese and oil, but this recipe requires neither! The balls hold their shape fine without any added oils. 

What to do:

•  Lay a piece of glad-wrap inside of the bowl, with enough hang over to tie it off. Place your egg in the glad-wrap bowl. 

•  Chop up your veges (and herbs if you used fresh). 

Cover the egg in veges and herbs. Avoid breaking the 

yoke if you like it whole or 

sunny-side style. 

•  Lift the Glad-Wrap away from the bowl, twist to remove most of the air and tie off.
•  Place your egg balls into a saucepan of boiling water and cook for 8-10 minutes, over ten minutes will cook the yoke through, while 8-10 minutes will keep it soft and runny.
•  Once cooked, using scissors, cut the knot off of each ball and unpeel the Glad-Wrap.

And Serve!

These are just fine on their own and depending on what you added can be very, very flavourful!

Enjoy!



Note

* Nutritionally Speaking, these are very light, and can work as either a snack or 2 for a meal (Breakfast, lunch or dinner). They're especially good if you're looking for something low-sugar.

* Experiment with your add-ins, particularly the herbs and don't be afraid to use veges you've never tried- They're what gives it the most substance.

* and before you say it, no, the Glad-Wrap won't melt when you boil it, I was a little worried too!


Eat Clean, Exercise and Moisturise!
Good Luck!

Rosie.x

Ahh no energy!

You would think that after all the times I've eaten the wrong foods, and not just a treat, like a lot of the wrong foods in one day, and subsequently felt like crap, I would maybe stop doing it?

Anywhoo, as you've probably guessed, I didn't stick too well to my diet today. There were biscuits, cake and not the small dinner I should have had, which would have made my earlier indiscretions reasonably harmless! (thats right, if you cheat during the day, and have a small dinner at night and also work out at night, you'll still lose weight.. well it works out for me anyway)

Its not actually the foods I'm annoyed about, so much as how de-energized I felt later when I tried working out. I was seriously considering not bothering, could barely even get going at first but I pushed on and managed to do about an hour and ten minutes of Zumba. So I got plenty of cardio, not too bad really. I'm not expecting a massive loss today, but neither should I gain too much.

The point of all of this is, no matter how crappy you feel, no matter how hard it is to put that dvd in,  just do it anyway, just do it!

Final note: Eating badly and trying to lose weight is much like putting dirty fuel in your car. It'll go, but not well enough to get anywhere.

Its all in your attitude..

You know those days when you have a lot going on and you just feel like saying to hell with it and eating a cake then going to bed? or contemplate all of the annoying little chores you have to do and so think you've got it hard enough? Why put extra pressure on yourself? Well we all do it, I myself in particular did this for years, but then there are those days when you look back and really wish you'd used that portion of your life more wisely. Sometimes, you've just gotta be tough on yourself and say, what do you want?! Exercise! you know it will make a difference and you'll be happy afterwards so put those stupid shoes on! or the classic, Do not put that in your mouth, find something else to do.

Yes indeed you do have to be "tough" on yourself, but then, why is it so hard to convince ourselves to take those necessary steps, even when deep down we know we want to?

Plausible Reason 1: You've been overweight for a long time, been put down for it for a long time and so have gotten into the habit of telling yourself its okay, you're okay and there's nothing wrong with you and therefore can't emotionally handle being "mean" to yourself.
- I did this, and the day I stopped I practically had to scream at myself to realize I was not okay, I was not happy, I want to wear the clothes I see, and why the hell shouldn't I? Why not me?

Plausible Reason 2: Your thoughts are a regular stream of, "Dieting is so hard, Man I want chocolate, I can't control myself, I'm lazy, I'm too lazy to exercise, I'm a failure, I can't do anything right".
- We conform to our mental picture of ourselves and strive to validate it. You've already failed before you even started, and honestly this is a bit of a cop out, you're convincing yourself to take the easy way out, basically disabling yourself. Think right, think enthusiasm! Exercise and diet are your ticket, not a jail sentence. Think right and you'll do right, don't make excuses, we are the masters of our mind.


There are a long list of reasons, but these are pretty common and all share the same end result= nothing, no change, no gains.

Anywhoo theres my "something to think about" for today. What always gets me is studying, its tedious and tiring, and causes intense snacking!

Even if I only employ this will power today its still a good feeling and I want to enjoy it:

Before sitting down to study I drank a green tea (to keep me awake, fatigue makes dieting, not impossible, but still difficult). And a low sugar-low fat yoghurt, full of protein so even if I did snack I wouldn't overeat because it fills you up plenty! and snack? Something sweet? Something treat worthy?

Cherries, strawberries and dry roasted almonds (meaning they weren't roasted in oil!) + a big bottle of water. I've been snacking pretty badly lately so something fresh sounds good and with the way I work out, so long as I don't go crazy, snacking during the day is alright, dinner is where it matters for me since I have a really light dinner and then workout. Sugar free chocolate has been serving me well as well, its hard to eat too much of.

Baking is another issue, I always make something whether it be cake or cookies and it certainly doesn't help any, to lessen the amount in my fridge, I put about half of whatever I make in my sister and her boyfriends fridge for them, but still, doing a no baking challenge for a week or two might be a good idea. I'll have to plan!

On the exercise front I did pretty well yesterday!  I went to the gym in the morning but unfortunately arrived late meaning I only got to do about half of the class I was going to, like 20 minutes worth of cardio, but later that night I put some funky music on and got into a dancing mood which equated to half an hour of stretching, an hour of practicing tap, and another hour of abs, inner thighs, butt, arms and balance workouts! I did this after having a really early morning to get to the gym! Felt like a superhero :)

Tips from today:

* Be aware of when you've actually got a good reason to quit and when you're just making excuses.

* Don't disable yourself, do you honestly think telling yourself you can't do it will help? Get excited about what your doing!


Exercise, Eat Clean and Moisturise!
Good Luck!
Rosie.x