food

The Moans

~ lorz83 ~ Leave a comment

So perhaps there is something to say for endorphins – I’ve always pooh poohed the concept that there is such a thing as happy hormones, but having been totally and utterly shit for pretty much a whole year with regards to gym visits my moody miserable bitchy hormones (I simple call them The Moans) have been spiralling out of control and have taken me to a whole never level of Mizzog. So I think those little ‘Dolphins’ (dolphins always seem so happy don’t they) aka endorphins have in the past helped counter balance ‘The Moans’.  So I 100% need to get my lardy Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian combined sized arse back in the gym – I need some happy in my life and I’m certain my on again off again love, Gym can help me; so tonight I have got back on the wagon (or bike in this case) to start my quest to find some happiness (mission love me recommences for the hundredth time!)


So the reason for the lack of posts is plain and simple there’s been No Gym, some Gin (thanks to Craft Gin Club and my birthday) and No Games what so ever have been played (certainly no scrabble!!).

Although I’ve had the odd burst of gym enthusiasm over the past year, my visits have dwindled so much that I’m shocked every time I do manage to walk through the door and my card allows me through the barrier. I’m very much back to square one! Fitness levels are non existent right now, I managed 20.5km on the bike tonight in 65 minutes – Pathetic! And following my recent trips (oh yeah they’ve happened in the time since my last post, along with my birthday and my sisters) evidence of everything I’ve eaten and drunk over the past few months has taken residence on my stomach! Joy!  

My holiday in Barcelona was lush – Had the best time. It was relatively lazy, I’m really not sure how Mum and I managed to get some much of the touristy bits done last time we went, but because we had seen so much already we just enjoyed the city and the gorgeous Spanish sun. Race day on the Sunday was particularly hot especially being sat on a stand with no cover what so ever; my freckles definitely got topped up! We spent a day at the beach, I managed to have a little swim in the sea, and just enjoyed some much needed R&R. Following on from our last visit where I took my Mum to Uma (an alternative restaurant, think Heston wacky) I booked us into a more suitable restaurant this time around – Accès (www.acces-bcn.com/en) it was amazing! Staff were a delight and the food was outstanding; my Mum actually said that it’s the best meal she’s ever had. Throughout the holiday I also enjoyed numerous gin and tonics and sangria – It would have been too rude not to – Me gusta gin y tónicos y sangría.


Me and Sissy also spent a lovely weekend in Edinburgh (pre birthday girlie getaway). We flew up from Southampton on a little noddy plane (terrifying). Checked into the hotel and then had a little look around before heading back to the room to get ready for dinner. We had booked into Forage and Chatter (www.forageandchatter.com) and had the most amazing steak, it was delicious, so yummy. It would appear that Forage and Chatter is the place to go as Justin Trudeau visited a few days later whilst staying in the city. My sister then found an absolute hidden gem of a bar called Panda & Sons (www.pandaandsons.com) Such a cool place, from the outside it looks like a barber shop, you walk downstairs and through the bookcase door into the bar. Table service so no pushing and queuing, cocktails delivered right to you – Amazing!  We spent the next day exploring the Castle and the sights and then as we were in Scotland thought it was only fitting to try some Whiskey, so we went on the Whiskey Experience (which following on from the Bananaman cocktail my sister had had in Panda the night before we weren’t so sure how much of a good idea this was). All went well and we both found whiskeys that we like – It will obviously never be my tipple of choice, no spirit can replace my love for gin.


Although I’ve been feeling completely low and out of sorts of late, I have shared some really lovely fun family days with my Mum and Sister namely at stately homes and palaces. On my birthday we spent the day at Blenheim Palace and then a few weeks later we took a day off work and visited Hampton Court. Our family days have had a rather regal grand theme to them. Last Monday was my sisters birthday, she wanted to visit The Tate Modern so that’s exactly what we did. I was very sceptical about this, however I found myself appreciating some (you can’t appreciate all of it, a yellow Perspex triangle stuck on the wall and varying filled levels of Coca-Cola bottles are not art in my opinion, but what do I know?!?) We ended our visit with a scrummy afternoon tea at The Swan at The Globe (www.swanlondon.co.uk/afternoon-tea) complete with a Love Potion cocktail (I’m still awaiting the effects however)


To summarise, I’ve not been to the gym (and my tummy proves this) I have enjoyed some rather scrummy food (gin and sangria) in Barcelona, Edinburgh, Newbury (www.lussokitchen.co.uk = Best gelato and http://www.arigatodining.co.uk) and London (again my overindulgence is clearly visible).  

This time last year I was shattered and instead of turning a negative into a positive I’ve allowed this feeling to make me feel shit. Well enough’s enough and I need to take control again and to quote the gorgeous Bradley Simmonds I need to “Get it done” 

So watch this space 
L x

Time flies (and so do I)

~ lorz83 ~ Leave a comment

So apparently time flies when you’re having (or not having) fun! I promise that I had started typing up a post back in August but I managed to get side-tracked (by absolutely bugger all) and failed to post it! Before you think it, I’m useless I know I am!

So in the non-posted August blog I’d typed the following opening paragraph…..Well I’m actually rather impressed with myself (and it takes a lot to impress me!) I went to the gym Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday and then I did my third Body Combat class Saturday morning.  The Thursday, Friday and Saturday visits I’m particularly chuffed with as I joined Charlotte for her PT session Tuesday evening (I’ve moaned soooo much that Phil has run off to Mexico and I won’t see him until the 5th September!) and Sammy completely broke my legs (I sense he took great pleasure from this, calling me a Princess due to my bitchy moaning and defeatist attitude – He’s even invited me to join them for this weeks sesh, he’s a glutton for punishment!) I’d then written this…..My gym visits certainly play an integral part towards Mission Love Me; however I know I have many other demons I need to address to graduate with flying colours.  Last Thursday Charlotte was my shrink for the evening, she told me things I already knew (just choose not to acknowledge) she also shed some light on my non-existent love life.  I have always (well perhaps not always, I’m certain when I was around three years old I didn’t) hated myself.  I never think I’m good enough, hence I will always go above and beyond to please others in what ever way I can with the aim to be accepted and loved.  This self-loathing has stemmed from various obstacles throughout my 33 years – being bullied at school, Dad having an affair, breakdown of friendships etc. team this with me being a complete and utter emotional idiot and I’m paving the way for me to completely sabotage my love life and subsequently my happiness.  How depressing is that?!?  So basically the jist of my little therapy session is that my love life sucks because I choose people that I know can’t be with me or who I know will at some point reject me as this confirms my beliefs that I’m not good enough.  When someone tells you this, actually says it out loud, its just the saddest, depressing thing.

I think its safe to say I was still feeling rather mopey and sorry for myself after events with SKoA and a few other things when I was typing last. Hence I desperately tried to channel my hurt and upset into my gym workouts to push myself that little bit more which did help; along with hoping that SKoA’s black halo slips and chokes him at some point, this too has massively helped.

My gym visits had been up and I was feeling heaps better and then on the weekend of Silverstone (Ooh i’ll write a bit about the MotoGP weekend in a bit) my ear felt a bit odd. Over the course of the weekend the odd feeling turned into an ache combined with an annoyingly loud ringing in my ear. I went to the doctors on the Monday and was told that all looked relatively fine, there was a little redness so I was given a spray to use but was told the ringing should clear. Well it didn’t! In fact it got worse. I honestly wanted to go all Van Gogh and cut my left ear off, the ringing was intolerable. So the following Monday I went back to the doctors and saw my GP this time who looked in my ear, pulled a face of disgust and told me my ear looked bloody awful and I had a perforated eardrum! Thankfully 3 weeks on following a course of antibiotics my eardrum is healing and the ringing and buzzing has stopped; I have however had a poxy cold – I think I may have picked up a lurgey on the flight home from Florence (oh yes you have read that correctly – Florence!)

So Silverstone and Round 12 of the MotoGP was a fabulous weekend. It started on the Thursday (which if I’m honest was the best day of the four) with Day of Champions. We arrived just before 10am, contended with a rude carpark marshal before heading into the track. We had a little look around the stores and then got in line ready for our Paddock Pass visit. Now I was on a bit of a mission ( / stalk) and I basically was on the look out for Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa as it was their autographs I’d been hoping to get after missing out on getting them a few years ago. We walked past Rhys Edwards (former Communications & Marketing Manager for Honda Racing Corporation) saw Monster Energy and Crutchlow’s bestie Jake walking alongside Lucy and baby Willow…..so we were getting close, I could smell the leathers haha. Mum and I weaved our way through the crowds until we found Jorge’s motorhome and then we waited……..and waited……..We saw Artur Vilalta, Lorenzo’s Communication Manager and Marc Rovira Jordana his personal trainer come in and out of the trailer…….then we saw his team manager Wilco Zeelenberg……it was just a matter of time and the hour or so of patiently waiting paid off! Not only did Jorge sign my photo, is was an absolute dream and let me take a picture with him (which he may have regretted when I was faffing around telling him to ‘hold on, one minute’ whilst I flipped the camera screen) I’m completely in love, he was so friendly, the perfect gentlemen – Swoon. With aching feet, sunburn and little time left in the paddock I’d pretty much ruled out seeing or meeting any of the other riders…..but with around 20 minutes left on the clock we walked past Repsol Honda hospitality and saw a few people going in and out that who I recognised so had a really good feeling that Dani was inside, and sure enough he was! Yay!! Now Dani doesn’t like crowds of people, so when other people started flocking around him I began to lose hope that he’d sign my photo, but with a little smile and a ‘please can you sign this for me Dani’ he took my sharpie and photo and signed it before zipping off on his scooter. BEST DAY!!! Race weekends are long and tiring we spent the day there Friday for free practice, opted for a day shopping in Milton Keynes on Saturday as it was pouring with rain and then back there at 7am Sunday morning for race day! Dad came Sunday morning so me and Mum met him at the track. Good races, some unexpected results but all in all it was a fantastic and memorable weekend.

img_7220

Jorge & Me

One of the many photos I’ve taken of Pedrosa signed by Dani himself – Eek

Hmmmm what else have I been up to? Oh yes, Sunday before last my sister and I drove to Gatwick, for a tour of the South Terminal and a flight to Pisa! Yes! We actually boarded an aeroplane this time and we only blimin’ well made it all the way to Italy!! Yip to the Pee!!!  We hadn’t got excited or got our hopes up just in case the trip didn’t happen, but thankfully it was all relatively plain sailing!  Our EasyJet flight departed on time and we arrived in Pisa around 17:30, we purchased our bus ticket and waited for the next one to arrive to take us into Florence.  The bus was a little late leaving which was a little annoying, however we were in Italy, which was more than we achieved in June so we didn’t let it bother us too much.  The bus dropped us off at the train station so there were lots of people milling around and the queue for the taxi was pretty long so we opted to walk our hotel, it was only 30 minutes away, although perhaps walking with suitcases on cobbled streets at around 8pm wasn’t the best idea (I just wanted to get to the hotel as soon as poss and we did get to see some of the gorgeous city all lit up)  We checked-in at Hotel Home, freshened up a little and then went out for dinner.  Let me tell you Italians don’t do small portions and they also offer like 12 courses (perhaps not 12, but there’s lots!)  After eating lots (too much) food we walked back to the hotel and settled down for some much needed sleep to prepare us for the delights Florence had to offer Monday morning.  Waking up fresh from a good nights sleep we started our day with breakfast at the hotel and then walked along the Arno down towards The Ponte Vecchio.  We crossed over the bridge looking in the windows of all the jewellery shops homed there and continued wandering through the cobbled streets and back across the river until we arrived at the spectacular Piazza Del Duomo.  Honestly the pictures (and I took lots) don’t do the cathedral justice, it’s magnificent renaissance dome, the octagonal baptistery, the white marble teamed with the green Prato marble; it’s just completely stunning.

After our afternoon mooching around and taking everything in, my sister set out to find us a restaurant to go to for dinner.  The restaurant she chose was called 50 Sfumature di Gusto (50 Shades of Taste) with it’s very own ‘red room’.  Sounds ummm intimate right haha, but it honestly wasn’t seedy and the food was amazing!  We both highly recommend it, oh and the melon liquour, forget limoncello it’s all about the meloncello – delicious!  Following our scrummy dinner (and three free shots of meloncello) we walked back to the hotel and asked for access to the private rooftop terrace.  We took the lift to the top floor and walked through door 1000 and made our way up to see Florence glowing in a moonlit sky.  The rest of our time spent in Florence consisted of lots of walking and eating!  Tuesday we started off by walking up to the Piazzale Michelangelo for views across the city and the surrounding Tuscan countryside, then in the afternoon we made our way back to the duomo and we climbed Giotto’s Campanile aka bell tower (or death tower as we like to call it – the narrow 1330’s stone stairs are terrifying) for yet more spectacular views of this dreamy city.  Our four days in Florence came to an end and on Thursday afternoon we caught the train to Pisa for our final stop before the homeward journey.

The train was a little eventful – you have to get your tickets validated which although my sister has mentioned as she’d visited Rome last year we failed to see the machine to do it.  Luckily the train was delayed a little so I dashed off and ran the length of the platform to get the tickets stamped -Such a blimin’ faff!  We arrived in Pisa around 17:00 checked-in at our quaint bed and breakfast, showered and changed and went out for our last Italian meal.  Again my sister chose the restaurant based on online reviews and found Il Peperoncino.  It was fab -the owner was very welcoming and funny (the map had taken us to the rear of the restaurant and all he kept saying to us was “Why you two gorgeous girls coming to my back entrance – I’ve got a lovely terrace at the front, why you come in this way?!” He had us in stitches.  Again we were not disappointed with the food (I of course struggled with the portion sizes as I had all week, an issue my sister didn’t have!) we walked out the front of the restaurant (we didn’t want any more grief) and wandered down in the direction of the leaning tower.  I can assure you that its definitely wonky and it wasn’t due to the Peroni I’d had at dinner; it was just as wonky Friday in daylight!  The tower is rather impressive, and we were both surprised with its location.  The leaning tower is right next to Pisa’s Duomo and is in fact it’s bell tower – Who knew that?!?  We mingled around with all the other tourists and did a stop of shopping, had our last giant pizza lunch before heading back to the B&B to collect our suitcases and take our taxi back to the airport.

36bcdbd1-24d4-46eb-8b9b-fff57c6fa0f1

So our Italian vacation was a success as was my weekend at Silverstone.  Gym visits have gone from one extreme to the other (due to stupid holes in eardrum and cold!) I really need to get back on track now I’m back and almost feeling 100%.

I had a fun day today at Friendsfest but given I’ve typed up an essay already I’ll tell you all about that next time.  Oh and I’m starting Spanish lessons Tuesday evening so I’ll fill you on them too!

Thanks for reading – Sorry it’s sooooo long and it’s taken me an age to post!

L x

HWP – Week 5

~ lorz83 ~ Leave a comment

We’re five weeks into the HWP and all seems to be going well, with lbs dropping left, right and center.

Last week was a recap week, discussing the food topics covered over the previous 3 weeks. The group shared views on the course so far, how we’ve found things, what’s worked for us, what hasn’t, the changes we’ve made etc.  It’s good to get input from others, we shared information about products we’ve tried and tips on meals and meal prep.

The group catch up was then followed by the weekly exercise class – 30 minutes of Helen out us through our paces. All 7 of us started the session on the exercise bikes (good luck to anyone else who wanted a go, I think there was one or two bikes what didn’t have HWP peeps on them) Helen then set up 7 work stations for us to move around (she really knows how to have fun!?!) We each took our turn, getting hotter and more knackered after each one – What’s that saying, “No pain, no gain”

There’s no food club this week, however exercise class is still on – So I might have sore aching limbs Friday morning – Eek.

We have all now been booked in for a second nutrition talk with Kim and 1-2-1s have also been booked to go over out fitness plans – We’ll all be slim gym bunnies in no time.

L x

HWP – Week 4

~ lorz83 ~ Leave a comment

Week 4

Last week we discussed how sleep and stress can impact weight management.

Our daily lives are so fast paced these days with numerous factors that can cause us stress be it traffic (hands down this gets me riled up, I have terrible road rage!) work, family / friends, even health and weight can stress us out. When we are under stress our bodies undergo something called the ‘fight or flight’ response, whereby stress hormones are released.  Our response to this serge of hormones can often be to overeat, which in turn leads to increased body fat (which in my case then makes me depressed, which relates back to last week and emotional eating – Everything’s linked)

Cortisol, the stress hormone which makes us alert in the morning and sleepy at night can be disrupted by poor food and drink choices which can cause a topsy-turvy affect whereby we are sleepy in the morning and wired at night. Try avoiding stimulants such as sugar, caffeine, alcohol and nicotine to get some undisturbed Zzzzz.

Food class was followed with a 30 minute workout (Helen was back from her jollies and ready to make us all sweat!) Six of us stayed for the exercises this week, so in pairs (like Noah’s Arch) we worked our way through three different exercises.  I was paired with my new partner in crime, and like naughty school girls we giggled and chatted whilst completing the tasks (you need to have a laugh when you’re in the gym, it has to be fun)

Following on from our workout with Helen, Charlotte and I continued our gossip and exercise with a stint on the treadmill, cross trainer and lateral machine – Needless to say I was blimin’ knackered and had a very good night’s sleep – Yay.

Remember if you’re interested in taking part in the next HWP course or simply want some more information you can contact the team at Nuffield Newbury on 01635 569944.

L x

HWP – Week’s 2 & 3

~ lorz83 ~ Leave a comment

Week 2

The Healthy Weight Programme kicked off properly on the 21st April, where fellow group members and I met with Kim and Helen for the first food club and second gym class. Due to other commitments only half of us made the session, but for those of us who did attend promising results are already being seen (on the scales at least) with a total weight loss of 11kg between 5 of us – Pretty impressive wouldn’t you say.

The first food class looked at portion control. We discussed our eating habits and portion sizes, looked at why we might eat more than we need to and what we can do to reduce the amount of food we consume. I guess it would be easy to think that simply eating smaller food portions will help with weight loss, however this isn’t necessarily the case as you need to be eating the right foods in the correct ratio. So we will all be trying to follow the 50/25/25 rule going forward – 50% of plate is for Vegetables (above ground) 25% is Protein and the other 25% Grains.

Following on from the food class, Helen set us a core muscle 30 minute workout. Now I’m not entirely sure I have any core muscles (my neck seemed to ache more than my tummy) but I did, along with the other ladies manage to complete the tasks set. As if this 30 minute session wasn’t enough for my poor old body to take, three of us foolishly followed Helen down stairs for a Spin class (what I thought would be my first and last)

Week 3

Last Thursday, Week 3, we discussed emotional eating, which affects all of us. I tend to think that emotional eating relates to feeling down, stressed perhaps; but it can of course be the complete opposite (who doesn’t enjoy going out for a slap up meal to celebrate a birthday, or another ‘happy’ event). There’s a biscuit lover amongst the group and she said that boredom is a trigger for her, so boredom leads to Bourbons – ‘Boredbons’.

Kim gave us all a sample weekly meal plan for us to use for guidance. I know that I’m still struggling with breakfasts as I faff around so much in the morning getting ready (hard to believe but some work does have to go into this youthful face of mine before I leave the house). I have been blitzing up smoothies and adding protein powder as recommended by Kim, it has been turning my smoothies a weird shade of green (looks like something Slimer’s left behind – hmmm appetising!)

Helen was of on her hollibobs so Emma looked after us and put us through our paces for the workout. I foolishly said that the kettlebell we were using to squat with was light so Emma kindly got me (just me – I’m Special) a heavier weight to use.

There was no change for me at weigh-in this week, but I really wasn’t expecting there to be as I’d been out the Friday before and I ate and drank lots (massive oops) so to stay the same I was actually really pleased. Lets see what Week 4 has install for us all – Eek!

L x

3, lost count & zilch.

~ lorz83 ~ Leave a comment

I can’t believe how quickly last week flew! Seven days pasted in a flash. So what did last week see me getting up to? Well standard Monday – Starts with me as always being all Boomtown Rats asking the question “Tell me why I don’t like Mondays?” Once I’ve got halfway through the day my mardiness is at a high but stable level and I then have to try and psych myself up for PT. So I must admit I wasn’t looking forward to seeing Phil as I thought I would get told off for not going to the gym and for not doing that leg paralysing workout sheet he gave me the week before. To be honest I don’t think he was impressed with my lack of gym visits however I couldn’t walk; a simple visit to the toilet felt like it took about hour round trip, so there wasn’t much I could do really. Monday he went easy on me, thank god. But I’ve been told I need to bring my A Game this week – Eugh! This week Phil has told me we’ll be doing a HIIT session, now I’ve told him its more likely to be a LIIT or MIIT – I’ll fill you in next week (if I survive).

Tuesday evening I met up with my new gym buddy and fellow HWP member and we did our own little circuit sesh. We established that we are both moany bitches in our PT sessions, but apparently this isn’t reserved solely for our trainers, as we also bitched and moaned to ourselves doing the exercises we’d chosen and set up – Go figure. Wednesday as you know is my evening away from the gym. Thursday was the second HWP. Only half the group could attend this week, but we’re off to a promising start with a total of 11kg lost between the 5 of us there for weigh in. The food class covered portion control and the gym class this week worked on our core muscles. After the 30 minute gym class Helen was taking a Spin class and somehow managed to persuade 3 of us to join her. Well that may well be my first and last Spin class! It’s hard work and I was a sweaty mess at the end of the 45 minutes. I am however amazed that my legs did not ache at all post workout. I was convinced that I’d need a scooter to get around Friday/Saturday, but no, my legs completely surprised me and caused me no issues what so ever. Amazing! So perhaps I need to give Spin a second chance.

There was no gym Friday night (sorry Phil) because I had a dinner date with one of my besties for a very long overdue catch up and gossip. Now I had intended to be good and sensible and not actually drink lots (I’ll admit now that I also had a cheeky Pinot a lunch) but some evenings don’t go to plan and a number of cocktails were consumed – Oops! How do you go from classy civilised Cosmopolitans and Espresso Martini’s to copious messy cheap Hubba Bubba cocktails?? The evening goes from Sex and the City to Towie in a clink of a plastic glass. Oh dear. This being said I did as always have a fabulous evening – Thanks Chick – Mwah x

aimee

Thankfully I had foreseen that Friday night could get a little messy and I’d pre-empted a Saturday morning hangover and so took some Ibuprofen at the start of the evening. I got to my sisters (my night out crash pad) around 3am was asleep by around 3:30am and alive and kicking at 8:30am Saturday morning. Impressive given the nasty cocktails we’d been drinking. Now although I was feeling fine, I still opted to have a lazy Saturday spending half the day with my sister before heading home. Sometimes a chilled out weekend is required (I am getting old after all).

Yesterday I had a lush day with my sister and mum and we went for a walk / hill climb at Beacon Hill. This place has been on our doorstep all these years, but it was actually the first time we’ve ever been there. Gorgeous views of the Berkshire and Hampshire countryside and Highclere Castle aka Downton Abbey. After our trek we headed back to my sisters for a scrummy roast dinner. Yummy. After dinner I headed home to watch the MotoGP race which saw my Yamaha boys clinching the first and second step of the podium – Yay. So the weekend concluded on a high just as it had started on Friday evening.

beacon

Sadly there have been no dates this week and subsequently no board games played. A potential date with the cute Italian may be on the cards for Sunday, but nothing is set in stone just yet. I will of course keep you posted.

Hope you all have a fantabulous week.

L x