July Review And August Goals

Uh oh... It's that time of the month for me again where I confess to you all whether I've been good or bad and made it through the months goals. Writing down my goals really helps to keep me focused on trying to achieve them actually but last month was horrific in terms of goals, I don't think I have a single success :(  I know I didn't set too many goals in the first place but I still failed the ones I did bother making! So I'd run through them quickly and see what needs changing and how I can eventually make it better. 

Mankofit's Eat Clean, Train Dirty challenge
This 30 day challenge really got the better of me and I completely flunked out from like day 6! I just found eating as clean as her a little bit too challenging and only lasted about 5/6 days! Lol. I have tried to implement some of the things in my usual diet though like no fizzy drinks/sweets and eating more fish as well. The training dirty part wasn't too bad and I enjoyed most of her workouts but then I fell ill the day before Race for Life (imagine that!!) and completely fell off the wagon, both eating and working out!

Race for Life
It kills me to say that I did NOT complete Cancer Research UK's Race for Life. Literally the day before or 2 days before I fell really quite ill and couldn't make it on the last train to London on the Saturday before the race and there were no early enough trains on the day even though I was feeling better which really sucked. But thank you to everyone that donated and I'm sorry I disappointed you :(

Hair
I finally posted my most recent hair regimen and I'm so glad I did! Special thank you to Ibiyemi, Candice (Healthy Hair Diary) and Mo (Within My Locket) for their amazing advice, it's so lovely to be able to share with other people on the same journey as you, especially when the road gets tough! Thanks ladies I will definitely be implementing some of the advice I got and soon too!

So those were my three July goals... All failed...*sigh* Actually no, i posted my regimen before the month ran out so that counts as a success! Yay! *happy dance* For August I've decided to try something a little different and do weekly goals instead of monthly, I got the idea from Candice and I think it's a great idea to keep goals bite size and make them easier to achieve! So.. My goals for the week (until the 9th of August) are...

• Try out a new hair regimen with more moisture and see how it works
• Drink 1.5 litres of water a day
• Workout 4 or more times a week
• Start typing my literature review (dissertation chapter 1)

What are some of your goals for the week/month? Drop me a link in the comments box, I'd love to read them!

Reni x

Food, Glorious Food!

So truly, after exams I've been such a massive foodie/fattie that it's a tad ridiculous, but it's fine. It just means extra time at the gym and I've got the situation handled, Olivia Pope style! (gosh I miss that show) anyways, moving on to the topic of this post... FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD! Is it weird that I actually sometimes sing that in my head when a plate of indescribable  delicious looking food appears before me? You will see what I mean later on.

Anyways, on the evening of my final exam of life, ever I met up with a couple of girlfriends of mine that were all doing the same undergraduate course as me in Manchester, the perfect plan would have been to go out and get smashed like the 20-somethings that we are but instead we decided to have a nice grown up dinner since most of them are working now and it was a weeknight, boringgg. Haha, I kid. I don't really like getting smashed.

After much hassle, we settled on Smoak Bar & Grill for our catch up, it's the restaurant that's in the Malmaison hotel right by the train station and can I just say that this was the best decision anyone could have ever made? We started off with some Cosmos and Mojitos to get everyone feeling relaxed and chilled out and then had some chicken lollipops for starters. I really didn't expect to actually have my chicken on lollipop sticks.. It was quite an odd experience actually and it makes sharing a little difficult, sadly I don't remember the different types of chicken they had on there but there was definitely some Satay and Teriyaki in that mix.

Doesn't the Cosmo look so angelic? haha

Now that everyone was suitably relaxed, we did what girls do best and had a nice old fashioned gossip sesh about any and everything under the sun, from boyfriends to ex-coursemates to holidays and parties and I heard some pretty juicy details! Wouldn't you want to know? Sure you would! Ha!

Have I mentioned the service at this place yet? It is amazing, quite literally the best I've ever experienced anywhere in Manchester, the staff were formal yet friendly, the meals were very well presented and we were never left wanting for anything. They were slightly slow in bringing the food but that was because a large party of about 10 had come in just before us, boo! Now the moment I'm sure you've all been waiting for... What did I have to eat.. 

Sing it with me now; FOOD! GLORIOUS FOOD! I don't even know where to begin describing this burger! I remember looking at the menu and deciding that I would have some steak or a regular burger when the waitress came by our table to tell us about the specials that they had for the day. She started describing this burger called the Louisiana and she had me at hello! Something something beef, with such and such done to it, cheese and blah blah sauce and a hearty helping of PEANUT BUTTER! Yup, you read that right, and my goodness was it the most divine thing I have ever tasted! I use the word divine a lot right? No, this burger takes the cake, the ice cream and the cherry on top! It also came with sweet potato fries and onion rings. One of my friends had the steak with some peppercorn sauce and she said it was the best steak she had ever had in her entire life and she's as addicted to steak as I am to my burgers!

Sadly I didn't get pictures of anyone else's food, I didn't want to be 'that guy' at the table that wouldn't stop snapping away! But I did get a few shots of the girls afterwards and everyone looked nice and full and satisfied!

It was such a lovely evening with these lot and we were one of the last tables to leave because we just wouldn't stop talking! Sadly, there was no room for dessert this time, after all that food I was feeling tooo stuffed to care about any of their yummy treats! After taking a random stroll through the city centre I ended up at my friends house and spent the rest of the night getting chocolate wasted like you're supposed to after exams! Haha, the bliss!

Till next time guys!
Reni x

Disclaimer: I am not in any way affiliated with Smoak Bar and Grill, I just think they do amazing food! No one is paying me to write this but why keep this little gem all to myself? Sharing is caring after all and I do care about all of you my wonderful blog readers!

Skinny Shrimp Curry and Coconut Rice Recipe

So I got one of my favourite compliments of all time recently, the "Oh, I read your blog, I really like it" or other variation. Fellow bloggers out there will understand when I say that finding out that 'actual people' read your blog is one of the best feelings in the world, I feel like my little corner in the big big interweb is actually useful to someone and that gets me all smiley :) :) :)

The person made a comment about really liking the health/foodie posts and since I haven't done one in a little while I decided to do a recipe post, welcome to "Skinny Shrimp Curry" as done by The Londoner. (In case you haven't noticed, I'm slightly obsessed with her blog! She does post the most amazing "skinny" recipes alongside a couple of really yummy looking "not-so-skinny" ones. This particular recipe has calories only 300 calories in a big bowl! Sorry I can't come up with anything more concrete!

So let's get started with the ingredients, I've slightly modified her recipe to suit what I had in my cupboard at the time:

• Olive Oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• Piece of ginger the size of your thumb, grated
• 2-3 tbsps Hot Masala (depending on how hot you like your food)
• 2 tbsps of brown sugar
• 1 tin of plum tomatoes (blitzed quickly in the blender)
• 1 tbsp low fat greek yoghurt
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Aromat seasoning to taste (or you can use about 2 Maggi/Knorr cubes too)
• 250 g of prawns (mine were the kind that are already cooked)

• Chop the onions, grate the ginger and chop the garlic

• Heat the olive oil in a pan and then add in all the chopped ingredients, fry them in the oil until the garlic and ginger become fragrant and the onions soften and become translucent (3-5 minutes). Be careful not to let the garlic burn! Burnt garlic tastes foul!

• Add the plum tomatoes and stir it in, adding the aromat(maggi/knorr), salt, black pepper, hot masala and black pepper. You don't have to add them in all together, i find it easier to do them one at a time, tasting in between to make sure nothing becomes too overpowering.
• You will need to cook the tomatoes for a while so they lose some of their water and have a less distinctive "tomato-y" flavour. Cover your pot and leave it on medium heat for approximately 15 minutes or till you have a thick sauce. Don't forget to check back frequently.

• Because they are already cooked the prawns can be added near the end to heat them up. Then add the tbsp of greek yoghurt. I must admit I was pretty nervous about this step but it turned out to be THE best thing about the recipe! It also gives it a nice orange colour which I really liked!

The Londoner suggested eating this yummy curry on its own or with some na'an bread but being the African I am, some rice seemed necessary to eat the "stew" with! So I opted for some coconut rice which is so simple to make it barely needs a recipe!

You wash your rice to remove some of the starch, put it in a pot, open a can of coconut milk and pour it into the pot, add a sprinkling of salt and cover. Once the coconut milk has dried up you can add some more water if the rice still isn't cooked but I prefer to 'steam' the rice to softness so it doesn't lose the coconut taste. To do this I turn the heat to the lowest to prevent burning add a tiny bit of water, cover the pot firmly and leave it for a few minutes and voila! 

Serve it up and enjoy your yummy skinny shrimp curry and coconut rice whilst it's still hot! 

Voila!

Reni x

Slightly Burger Crazy? Maybe.

So after I put up the picture of one of my cheat meals some time back in Insanity Month 2, I really started craving burgers but I wasn't allowed to eat any fast food as part of a week long exercise and clean eating challenge my friends and I put together, I shouldn't be eating fast food anyways but all those additives in the McDonalds are giving me severe withdrawal symptoms! So I decided to do something a little cheeky and make a burger, I tried as hard as possible to make it healthy without removing all the fun-ness (clearly not a word) from it! So here's how I did it, it's such a simple straight forward recipe! It looks a little long but really doesn't take that much effort! You will need:

• Lean beef mince meat (600 g makes about 6-8 burgers)
• 1 medium brown onion (chopped finely)
• Seasoning to taste(salt, ground black pepper, maggi etc.)
• 1 egg
• Burger buns (I got Kingsmill 50-50, healthy you see!)
• Veggies for the burger (I had lettuce and cucumbers, even more healthy!!)

And if you're feeling not-so-healthy add some bacon and cheese to that shopping list!

So what you do is, you put the mince, onion, egg and seasoning in a bowl and mix it all together with your hands, mashing it all up like you're playing with play-do (but you're not so be a little careful!) when it's all combined, divide them up into 6-8 patties and make them round and a little flat with your hands

Put them on a tray lined with foil (you can also use greaseproof paper), cover with cling film and put in the fridge for 20-30 minutes. This step allows the beef to 'rest' and avoids crumbly patties too making an overall more tender beef.

'Resting' Patties

Pre-heat the oven to about 200-225 degrees C and then pop your patties in. Leave them in there till the juices run clear and the meat is thoroughly cooked.

In the last 10 minutes of cooking the patties, put some bacon in the oven and allow it to grill till it's nice and a little crunchy.

Cut your burger bun open and pop in the oven for a  minute to heat it up, if you're being a bit cheeky layer the patties with cheese while they are in the oven and allow the cheese to melt all over the patty.

Bring out the buns and the cheesy patties. Lay your veggies on the bottom bun, followed by the patty and then the bacon and lastly the top half of the bun. Don't forget the ketchup!

Serve with a side of fries/salad, on it's own or even deconstructed (no buns) and enjoy!

Yummy!

Definitely went in on the food! Plate is very nearly licked clean!

And if you feel bad when you're done be like me and have some fruit! LOL.

Hope you enjoyed the recipe, let me know if you try it or have any other ideas on how to make the burger even more delicious by dropping a comment in the box below.

See ya!

Reni x

Insanity Month 2: It's Not A Diet, It's a Lifestyle!

Hey beautiful people,

So I thought maybe it's time for another update on Insanity and how it's all going. Well I'd start by saying month 2 is whooping my ass! My goodness, in the first week my body was so sore, I could barely move! My calf muscles ached, my thighs were burning, everything you can imagine aching, was aching... So awful! But now I'm in the third week and even though the workout is still as intense it's not so bad anymore. Two of the workouts are about an hour long so waking up early enough to do them before lectures has been a task, I start at 9am most days so that would mean waking up at 6.45 to start working out so I can be in the shower by 7.45/8.00. Anyone that knows me knows that getting out of bed before 8 is such a problem, so I do them mostly when I get home just before bed instead.

Before I started month 2 I was complaining to my friend that I wasn't seeing any differences in my body and blah blah but finally that is changing slowly but surely, I feel so much better and more confident, clothes are fitting better and I even lost 3-4 kg as well! So yeah, Insanity is doing me justice finally! Also my fit test results have really been improving (except the suicide jumps/burpees I can't do them to save my life). Basically the fit test is where you do each of the moves below in one minute and see how many you can get while maintaining good form! I have only 1 more left, hopefully there will be even more improvement!

Move	Fit Test 1	Fit Test 2	Fit Test 3	Fit Test 4
1. Switch Kicks	52	94	100	102
2. Power Jacks	31	38	46	53
3. Power Knees	45	78	87	108
4. Power Jumps	7	17	28	43
5. Globe Jumps	5	6	7	8
6. Suicide Jumps	9	9	9	10
7. Push-Up Jacks	8	14	19	27
8. Low Plank Oblique	29	24	35	45

I've learnt so much about correct form with exercise and I've been modifying some moves so there's less impact on my knees. Anyways, enough with the bragging and trumpet blowing (but if I don't do it then who will?!) here's some stuff that I've found has helped me so far in my journey to a healthier body.

• Eating breakfast; usually people don't eat because they aren't hungry or there isn't enough time but the longer you take to eat after you wake up, the more likely it is that your body will go into starvation mode and start holding on to fat, obviously a big no-no. So I've been trying to get out of bed 10 minutes earlier so I have enough time to make a Quick Smoothie or have some cereal before uni.

• Eating 3-4 times a day; same sort of theory as before, it's better to keep your metabolism running through the day than have long periods of no/junk food then one massive meal to compensate. When I was being really good, which has been so much more difficult of late, I'd have a smoothie around 9, 'light lunch' at 12.30, lunch again at 3/4 and then dinner at 7, 8 at the very latest and try not to eat anything really carb heavy like rice/pasta after 4.

• Setting weekly/monthly goals; for me this is such a great motivator, just trying to reach the goals always motivates me to continue, and finding people; friends or otherwise, to hold you accountable when you slip up is always a good way to ensure you at least try and stay on track. I have a really good buddy system going on right now with two friends, we hold each other accountable for working out and also clean eating without being judgemental.

• Having a cheat day or two; nothing much to say on this one except we are human beings with weaknesses and sometimes we just want that little bit extra love to come from our food!

Just look at these bad boys from Home Sweet Home! "Sweet Carolina" burger with fully loaded fries on top and the massive Chilli Dog with sweet potato fries below! Amazing!

It's not a diet or a phase, it's a lifestyle! Trying to change your lifestyle and incorporate some form of clean eating/regular exercise into it now means not having to do it at 40! For some more tips look up the Anti Diet by the Londoner, she has some really good advice on there and even though I just found it I'm already addicted! It's charm is in the simplicity. Here's to conquering the last week and a half of Insanity! How are you guys doing with working out and eating good? Any other helpful tips for me? Let me know in the comments box.