Fast Diet - Week 18 - #LoseDayTuesday

I am now into week 18 of the 5:2 Fast Diet!! To find out more about it, read my original post here.

I have been doing a lot of reading about weight loss plateaus and the reasons for hitting them and how to get through them. In my case I think my plateau is due to my body becoming used to Fasting and also a few little health niggles that I am dealing with at the moment preventing me from reaching my goals. Whilst I slowly go through the NHS process of elimination I am determined to also break through this lull in weight loss, where I can! I am limited somewhat by my health, but at every chance I get I am trying new things and new ways to shock my body out of its comfort zone. 

I've decided to reduce my FastDiet posts to once a fortnight instead of weekly, so that I can hopefully have some better results if I am tracking them less often. If I don't have any loss in one week I tend to feel quite down on myself, and that's counterproductive to what I'm trying to do. So I am going to keep fasting two days a week, keep working out as much as I can, and keep enjoying myself (within reason and calorie limits) on the other days of the week. I will keep Tuesdays as a "healthy post" kind of day, with recipes/workouts or other health-related posts. I am confident I can break through this plateau but also know it may take some time, and that is okay too. 

I am keen to check out some new recipes soon, and so in two weeks I will have some new meal ideas to share. But until then, here's two meals that I enjoyed this week on the Fast Diet!

Lunch - Tuna Tabbouleh Salad

I made a healthy and delicious lunch one Fast Day which was a take on Tabbouleh, but substituting tuna for any grain. I didn't really measure anything, and so tried to overestimate on the calories just to be on the safe side. 

Ingredients

1/3 tin of tuna

5 cherry tomatoes, chopped

1/4 red onion, chopped

1/2 bunch parsley, chopped

Bunch alfalfa sprouts

Squeeze lime of juice

If you combine all ingredients and let them sit for ten minutes, the flavours settle and absorb one another. 

Dinner

Fish Taco's! Yummy! I have made this one before way back in week 2 and loved it, so was thrilled to find I had everything I needed already at home!! I had a double serve though, as I had plenty of calories to spare! Total for dinner 330 calories.

Drinks - Fresh Ginger Tea (Gwyneth Paltrows)

I have had ANOTHER cold again this week, which pretty much means I've had the same recurring cold for about 3 months now! I am trying a whole swag of immunity boosting techniques now, and one of them was perfect for a Fast Day - fresh ginger tea. 

This is from Gwyneth's It's All Good and makes a delicious and hopefully cold-busting concoction! 

Combine 1 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of honey and 1 cup of boiling water and let it steep for two minutes. Strain into a fresh mug and enjoy!! 

Total calories for the day = 505

Exercise

Hooray I went swimming! It has now been three months since being to the pool, and so I was totally out of breath and feeling like I was struggling through chicken & corn chowder!! But, I did 1km and felt great afterwards so I'm excited to hopefully make it a more regular occurrence! 

I also did about 5 Tone It Up routines. I'll do a summary post on my favourites in two weeks, but I think they are just amazing!! 

Weight loss?

Total loss to date = 3.8kg (8.4lbs)

I'm not going to say much more about this. I'll get there! 

Goals for the coming fortnight

I am feeling positive about not checking in for another two weeks and feel like I can achieve so much more in that time! 

• Swimming, 1km
• 3 Tone It Up sessions per week
• 1 cardio session each week
• 2 Fast Days each week and one additional 16 hour fast

Wishing you a wonderful week!



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A little poke around Artichoke

It dawned on me the other day that without trying, there are certain things we do each weekend without fail, and spending about an hour in one fruit & veg store is one of them! Ever since Artichoke came to Hampstead we just love buying more fresh produce! I can't send my husband in unattended or he goes rogue and we end up with more parsley than we have vases (yes I have to store mine as though they are flowers, he seriously comes home with bouquets of the stuff!!). 

I never used to appreciate fruit and veg for anything other than something to accompany meat, but between Artichoke and my husband, I now actually love looking at new fruits and veg and am so intrigued by the different options available!  

I just love the decor of Artichoke! I love the crates and rustic feel and think it works well for a produce store, very earthy!! 

I love how all the produce has little bits of of dirt on them - they have actually come from the ground!! Everything has a strong smell of the vegetable that it is and makes cooking such a pleasure! And the variety is wonderful and seasonal. Because all the produce is locally sourced, there are actual seasons again, and I for one am embracing it!

I just thought I'd show you a little bit of every day life in Hampstead!

Psst!! If you are looking for a little more meg-made, I'd LOVE for you to follow along!

Gender Reveal Party Confetti Filled Balloons

I've been totally surprised and thrilled by how popular confetti-filled balloons have been on my Etsy store. I first made confetti-filled balloons for Madeleine's 1st Birthday last year, and after being asked so much when I bought them from, decided to start selling them on my Etsy store. I'm not sure if you've seen my photos lately on Instagram, but I've been busy shipping some rather large orders to a few companies in the USA who are going to be selling them too, which is totally exciting! 

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A new but related product which I have been testing and re-testing has been confetti filled balloons for a Gender Reveal Party, and have now finally listed them on my store. 

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gender reveal party confetti-filled balloons  gender reveal confetti filled balloons gender reveal confetti filled balloons

I kept testing different quality balloons in different colours until I thought I had found the winner. I had a lovely lady agree to test my potential winners, which worked out great, and she loved them..

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But when I tested with some polka dot balloons, I fell in love! The search was over!

gender reveal party confetti balloons  gender reveal confetti filled balloons gender reveal confetti balloons gender reveal

And because I was/am impatient and didn't want to wait another month for another test phase, I posed for a photo myself - - and so I must add a disclaimer in right now - No, I am not pregnant! Even my Husband raised an eyebrow and asked if this was my way of telling him, but I am not pregnant, just impatient! And yes, I do have Globophobia...

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But it was kind of fun pretending to be pregnant for five seconds, and if I am lucky enough to fall pregnant again, I'll be for sure using confetti-filled balloons to reveal whether Maddie would have a brother or sister. I think its such a fun way of involving friends and family in such a special moment in your lives. 

For my original confetti-filled balloons and other party supplies, see my Poppins range on Etsy or send me an email if you have custom requests (which I LOVE doing!!).



Psst!! If you are looking for a little more meg-made, I'd LOVE for you to follow along!

Hash Brown Cups

Finding out that I am gluten intolerant a year ago has been an interesting ride. I have said farewell to fresh white fluffy bread (the GF alternatives are fine as toast but thus far have failed to measure up on the freshness aspect) and goodbye to my beloved donuts (but I am going to start trying to make some GF donuts soon!!). But, with many goodbyes has also been lots of new discoveries and new ways of cooking. 

And sometimes, that means potato, a thousand ways! I try not to eat too many heavy and starchy carbs, but instead of bread, sometimes (and particularly at breakfast time) potato will be the only thing that will do! So coming up with new ways to enjoy it has been kind of fun. 

I had the one giant hash brown under eggs benedict, and that was wonderful for a group brunch, but not always ideal just for the two of us. 

Hash Brown Cups Hash Brown Cups Hash Brown Cups Hash Brown Cups 

So these hash brown cups are perfect to make when there's just the two of us, and actually use much less potato than a regular hash brown! 

To make the Hash Browns, grate one large (russet) potato and microwave for about 4 minutes, until the potato is soft, but not overcooked and stuck together. Then add a little GF flour, about two tablespoons, and mix through with your hands. 

Spread some melted butter into muffin tins to ensure the hash browns don't stick.

Then press the shredded potatoes into each muffin hole.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown. The potato is effectively pre-cooked in the microwave, so it is just a case of crisping them up!!

When they are crisped and slightly brown, you can then crack an egg into each one and bake for a further 7 minutes. I used a cupcake tin, so the cases were a little small for a full size egg, so next time I am going to use quails eggs!!

We had our hash brown cups with baked eggs served with home made baked beans (recipe will come soon I promise) which was just heavenly. 

I love how different and fun these cups are, and love finding new ways of enjoying my favourite dishes. I think they look great and would make a fun brunch with friends, as you can prepare so much of them ahead of time! 

Psst!! If you are looking for a little more meg-made, I'd LOVE for you to follow along!

Fast Diet - Week 17 - #LoseDayTuesday

Week 17 of the 5:2 Fast Diet!! To find out more about it, read my original post here. 

It's been a good week on the Fast Diet. I feel like it's another slow start to my plateau busting attempts, but I feel like I've made some good choices and am back on the right track. It dawned on me that summer is just around the corner... the whole "summer bodies are made in winter" approach has struck a chord and gave me something new to focus on! I've never really been a frolicking bikini babe, but I do love me some sundresses, so it'd be nice to be a little more svelte!!

I am getting a little bored with Fast Day food at the moment, so am pretty excited that there's going to be a new Fast Diet Cook book out soon! Bring it on!

But until then, here's my Fast Day menu suggestions for this week:

Lunch - Two egg mushroom omelette

I made it through to 4pm without a bite to eat, but at that time, I was RAVENOUS! I was going to make a tasty big lunch, but when I figured out my dinner plan, I knew I needed a lower calorie lunch. Obviously I would normally cook the mushrooms in butter (obviously!), so they were a little more dry than normal, but that was sorted out when I put them in the omelette. 

Ingredients

1/4 red onion, peeled, and finely diced 

1 large mushroom, sliced

2 small Free-Range eggs 

4-6 spinach leaves

1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese 

salt and pepper

Oil spray

Method:

1. Quickly cook the mushrooms in a few sprays of oil, and then lightly cook the onion as well. 

2. Rinse the pan and heat it for the eggs. In a bowl beat the eggs and then pour them slowly into the pan. 

3. Swirl the eggs for the first few minutes until it starts to set.  

4. When the eggs are nearly set, sprinkle some parmesan cheese, the spinach, mushrooms and onions over one half of the omelette. Flip the other half over and cook for another few minutes until it is fully cooked through (but still a tiny bit runny). 

Dinner -  Lolo Turkey Meatballs 

Meatballs in a tomato sauce. On a Fast Day. Heck yes!

This recipe is from the Fast Diet Recipe Book and is definitely worth a calorie splurge! The standard calorie count for the recipe is 264, but I had a few extra meatballs, so am going to assume that I had closer to 330!

Recipe post here!

Total calories for the day = 500

Exercise

I mentioned last week that I had discovered the Tone It Up girls, well I am a little obsessed now! 

The girls are Karena and Katrina and they are friends who have a whole empire built around them working out together. They are so strong, feminine and love pink! I find them really easy to follow and well, if I can be half as strong as they are I'd be kind of thrilled! 

I've found a few of their workouts to do at home and I just love them! In the past week I did two of the HIIT sessions, one Love Your Body Legs and Booty and one quick Love your Body Abs and Arms workout. It has taken 4 days for me to be able to squat down to pick Maddie up without my quads and hamstrings absolutely burning!! But it is such a good pain that I welcome it wholeheartedly! 

We were all too sick again on the weekend to get to the pool, so alas, no swimming again! I am so over this damp and miserable winter! It'd be so lovely to be healthy and able to exercise outdoors again!! 

Weight loss?

Total loss to date = 3.7kg (8.1lbs)

I feel like this teeny tiny loss is okay, I'm only just re-starting my Fast Diet goals, so I know it will take some time to get going again. I feel like I'm heading in the right direction again though, so am feeling optimistic that I will push through my plateau and reach some new goals in the coming months!

Goals for the coming week

My goals for this coming week are:

• 3 Tone It Up sessions
• One long walk
• Swimming session (fingers crossed)

I wonder whether anyone else has any plateau-busting tips?

Psst!! If you are looking for a little more meg-made, I'd LOVE for you to follow along!