It was my better half's 25th birthday today! It has been a very wonderful day, I got to spend the entire day with him doing various things. :)
Ever since going to pick those strawberries and gooseberries, we've been planning on going back there to get some more berries. This time I planned my outfit a bit better, didn't have to hold on to my skirt all the time when we were out in the fields.. It was so nice, it's kinda therapeutic in a way. And being a farm girl my brain seems to be programmed for fruit and berry picking, I just know which berries are ripe and which ones to leave behind.. Please don't ask how I know that stuff, it just comes to me automatically... :D
Our plan was to just get strawberries for the cake I made today, but ended up coming home with a box of loganberries, raspberries and strawberries. Oh yum. Can't wait to dig into those. :D Shame I'm going away tomorrow, I can't really take any with me unless I put them in my big suitcase. And that will only end badly I think, I'm pretty sure I'd just have smushed berries by the time I'd get to them.
And this masterpiece is the cake I made for my other half for his birthday. It was a very simple strawberry cake recipe with butter cream icing. Shame it didn't turn out quite as pink as it is in the recipe, I should've used some food colouring! Oh well, it still tastes absolutely delicious. :D I've never been good at spreading icing on cakes so it doesn't look quite as pretty as it may look in the picture. Other half was chuffed with it so I think I did well.
Anyways, food! We went to TGI Friday's, it's probably one of our favourite restaurants (I think the Angus Steakhouses in London beat everything 100-0 for my other half, he loves his steak) and we do go there a few times a year. It's a ~30 minute drive away so we don't really just pop in when we fancy it. There's one thing on their menu that makes me want to go back - the Jack Daniels Sesame Chicken Strips. I could just have that on it's own and be quite happy for the rest of the evening.
So yeah, chicken strips for starters and then a very lovely French Canadian burger with sweet potato fries as my main. The French Canadian has maple syrup basted chicken breast, melted French brie and bacon (which I always ask to be left out), served with a yummy garlic mayo on the side. And me being greedy and obsessed with their Jack Daniels sauce, I wanted an extra pot of it with the burger.
So yeah, Finland tomorrow! I'm god awful at packing, right now our bedroom looks like someone just went through my wardrobe and threw everything around the room. I've got my suitcase in there, all ready and waiting to be filled up, but instead I just piled all my stuff on our bed. :D I'm so organised though! Got plenty of clothes for exercising, more shoes than I'll probably need, even some jeans and a hoodie in case it gets cold (which I really doubt, it's so warm over there during the summer).. Prepared for everything!
I wanted to go and enjoy the wonderful sea air for the last time before I go. In a very funny way I will miss this so much even though it'll be even more peaceful over in Finland. Oh and climbing up the sea defences is a really fantastic workout, I should just spend an hour going up and down the rocks and see how exhausted I get.
Oh and since this is my progress check week, a small notice. I am doing an early weigh in tomorrow morning as I am not taking my scale with me, however I will not be doing a progress check. Why? Because I need to get up at 5:30 in the morning and I really won't be in the mood to take my measurements or anything (I really hate getting up early). And in a way it'll also keep me in check next week, that thought of a progress check after I come back haunting me every time I'm about to say 'yes please' to another plate of cake.. :D
I will not be posting quite as much during my holiday, I will try to keep in touch though! x
Ever since going to pick those strawberries and gooseberries, we've been planning on going back there to get some more berries. This time I planned my outfit a bit better, didn't have to hold on to my skirt all the time when we were out in the fields.. It was so nice, it's kinda therapeutic in a way. And being a farm girl my brain seems to be programmed for fruit and berry picking, I just know which berries are ripe and which ones to leave behind.. Please don't ask how I know that stuff, it just comes to me automatically... :D
Our plan was to just get strawberries for the cake I made today, but ended up coming home with a box of loganberries, raspberries and strawberries. Oh yum. Can't wait to dig into those. :D Shame I'm going away tomorrow, I can't really take any with me unless I put them in my big suitcase. And that will only end badly I think, I'm pretty sure I'd just have smushed berries by the time I'd get to them.
And this masterpiece is the cake I made for my other half for his birthday. It was a very simple strawberry cake recipe with butter cream icing. Shame it didn't turn out quite as pink as it is in the recipe, I should've used some food colouring! Oh well, it still tastes absolutely delicious. :D I've never been good at spreading icing on cakes so it doesn't look quite as pretty as it may look in the picture. Other half was chuffed with it so I think I did well.
We did also go out tonight! Since it was his birthday and I'm leaving tomorrow, I suggested that we go out for a nice meal together. Also gave me a nice opportunity to dress up a little! I love it how my legs go all wonky when I wear heels, they look so alien in both pictures. Did not even register that at the time, giggled to myself a bit when I uploaded them.
What really annoys me is that I think I'll have to dump heels for good. :( The ankle injury I had a few months back just keeps coming back on a smaller scale, especially when I walk in heels for longer than a few minutes. The pain does go away instantly after I take the pressure off my ankles and it doesn't actually hurt when I move my ankles, but when I walk it just feels so uncomfortable. I'm only tiny, please don't take heels away from me! :<
Anyways, food! We went to TGI Friday's, it's probably one of our favourite restaurants (I think the Angus Steakhouses in London beat everything 100-0 for my other half, he loves his steak) and we do go there a few times a year. It's a ~30 minute drive away so we don't really just pop in when we fancy it. There's one thing on their menu that makes me want to go back - the Jack Daniels Sesame Chicken Strips. I could just have that on it's own and be quite happy for the rest of the evening.
So yeah, chicken strips for starters and then a very lovely French Canadian burger with sweet potato fries as my main. The French Canadian has maple syrup basted chicken breast, melted French brie and bacon (which I always ask to be left out), served with a yummy garlic mayo on the side. And me being greedy and obsessed with their Jack Daniels sauce, I wanted an extra pot of it with the burger.
So yeah, Finland tomorrow! I'm god awful at packing, right now our bedroom looks like someone just went through my wardrobe and threw everything around the room. I've got my suitcase in there, all ready and waiting to be filled up, but instead I just piled all my stuff on our bed. :D I'm so organised though! Got plenty of clothes for exercising, more shoes than I'll probably need, even some jeans and a hoodie in case it gets cold (which I really doubt, it's so warm over there during the summer).. Prepared for everything!
I wanted to go and enjoy the wonderful sea air for the last time before I go. In a very funny way I will miss this so much even though it'll be even more peaceful over in Finland. Oh and climbing up the sea defences is a really fantastic workout, I should just spend an hour going up and down the rocks and see how exhausted I get.
Oh and since this is my progress check week, a small notice. I am doing an early weigh in tomorrow morning as I am not taking my scale with me, however I will not be doing a progress check. Why? Because I need to get up at 5:30 in the morning and I really won't be in the mood to take my measurements or anything (I really hate getting up early). And in a way it'll also keep me in check next week, that thought of a progress check after I come back haunting me every time I'm about to say 'yes please' to another plate of cake.. :D
I will not be posting quite as much during my holiday, I will try to keep in touch though! x
It's too hot! I know I really shouldn't complain because the English summer isn't that long, but still! Our office is like a furnace - small room with two computers and a TV that heats up (it's like a radiator..) + the sun heating up two outer walls all day. Ooft!
I've been doing low carb since Sunday. In the end it's quite simple, just lots of veg with any variety of meat I fancy at the time. I am running out of veg to use though! Need to pop to the shop around the corner tomorrow when I go walking, I'm just going through all of it so quickly now. I do quite like just eating salads at the moment though, I really don't like the thought of slaving away in the kitchen in this heat. Just stick some meat under the grill / in the oven, make a salad and that's it, minimum effort.
Today I had some premium beef burgers with roast peppers (with tons of garlic), cucumber and beetroots for lunch. The dressing on top is ranch dressing. And for dinner I cooked fajitas for everyone, I did end up eating them with the tortilla wraps though.
I've noticed how I wait til late evening before stepping out of the house. If I can, I delay my walk until about 8pm. It's just so much nicer to go out when the sun isn't melting your flesh and there's less people around. And I got lucky with the tide being down as well, walking on the soft sand is absolutely wonderful. I really want to walk from end to end of this strip of beach one night when the tide is down, but I'd need to time it perfectly so I'd have enough time to do so.
Oh and on a more positive note, water weight has worked it's way out of me again. I really need to stop doing it to myself though, it really annoys me to see the water buildup every Sunday. I know exactly how it happens and I still do it. Stupid girl.
I've been doing low carb since Sunday. In the end it's quite simple, just lots of veg with any variety of meat I fancy at the time. I am running out of veg to use though! Need to pop to the shop around the corner tomorrow when I go walking, I'm just going through all of it so quickly now. I do quite like just eating salads at the moment though, I really don't like the thought of slaving away in the kitchen in this heat. Just stick some meat under the grill / in the oven, make a salad and that's it, minimum effort.
Today I had some premium beef burgers with roast peppers (with tons of garlic), cucumber and beetroots for lunch. The dressing on top is ranch dressing. And for dinner I cooked fajitas for everyone, I did end up eating them with the tortilla wraps though.
I've noticed how I wait til late evening before stepping out of the house. If I can, I delay my walk until about 8pm. It's just so much nicer to go out when the sun isn't melting your flesh and there's less people around. And I got lucky with the tide being down as well, walking on the soft sand is absolutely wonderful. I really want to walk from end to end of this strip of beach one night when the tide is down, but I'd need to time it perfectly so I'd have enough time to do so.
Oh and on a more positive note, water weight has worked it's way out of me again. I really need to stop doing it to myself though, it really annoys me to see the water buildup every Sunday. I know exactly how it happens and I still do it. Stupid girl.
It's like a ridiculous rollecoaster at the moment. Seriously. Two barbeques over the weekend have left my body so bloated and full of salt. Despite trying to drink tons of water it wasn't good enough to clear it all out for today. Really annoys me, I know it's physically impossible for me to actually gain weight at the moment (I burn way more calories than I consume) and it's purely because of all the sodium in my diet over the weekend, but argh!
And I've completely lost track of time as well, my plan was to go on low carb for two weeks before I go to Finland. And I'm going next Friday. Well, still got five days for it.
And I've completely lost track of time as well, my plan was to go on low carb for two weeks before I go to Finland. And I'm going next Friday. Well, still got five days for it.
Right, let's get this request out of the way first. I got a very nice comment about my calves on this post and he also requested me to take some pics of me flexing my calves. Well, I thought that it's a good time to get some progress pics going at the same time!
The pics on the left were taken 5th of May, so there's a good few months between. As I have been staying clear of doing high impact workouts, the muscle growth isn't massive, especially in my arms. I'm more tanned than anything else haha (and of course my legs are still as pale as a dead chicken, I just don't tan down there...!)! Oh and I really miss being a redhead, can see the pink hair in those arm pictures. *sob*
In other news, today has been a lot about food. It was definitely what I needed, got some bad news today and I just wanted to block it all out and spend some time with the family. The sun was out, dogs were messing about in the garden and the smell of grilled meat filled the house and the garden. Absolutely delightful.
And this is what my plate looked like (kinda..)! A buger, a hot dog with a sweet chilli & pork sausage, fried onions and plenty of salad. I did go for seconds, I had two more burger patties, one sausage with the bun and a bit of tuna steak with salad and onions. I feel happily full now. And for pudding my mother in law made some very delicious gooseberry fool - funnily enough tasted more of rhubarb than gooseberry!
As the afternoon was spent worrying about various things, I only managed to go for a walk after dinner. I do think I made the right choice here, as it was nice and cool and very quiet. And the sunset was so beautiful. I'm so glad I take my phone with me everywhere, I would've missed this incredible shot of the sunset otherwise. The nature is such a wonderful thing.
The pics on the left were taken 5th of May, so there's a good few months between. As I have been staying clear of doing high impact workouts, the muscle growth isn't massive, especially in my arms. I'm more tanned than anything else haha (and of course my legs are still as pale as a dead chicken, I just don't tan down there...!)! Oh and I really miss being a redhead, can see the pink hair in those arm pictures. *sob*
In other news, today has been a lot about food. It was definitely what I needed, got some bad news today and I just wanted to block it all out and spend some time with the family. The sun was out, dogs were messing about in the garden and the smell of grilled meat filled the house and the garden. Absolutely delightful.
It would be rude to say no to Pimm's on a day like this!
And this is what my plate looked like (kinda..)! A buger, a hot dog with a sweet chilli & pork sausage, fried onions and plenty of salad. I did go for seconds, I had two more burger patties, one sausage with the bun and a bit of tuna steak with salad and onions. I feel happily full now. And for pudding my mother in law made some very delicious gooseberry fool - funnily enough tasted more of rhubarb than gooseberry!
As the afternoon was spent worrying about various things, I only managed to go for a walk after dinner. I do think I made the right choice here, as it was nice and cool and very quiet. And the sunset was so beautiful. I'm so glad I take my phone with me everywhere, I would've missed this incredible shot of the sunset otherwise. The nature is such a wonderful thing.
