Hi everyone! How was your weekend? Filled with fun and Christmas cheer I hope.  I’m definitely in the Christmas spirit now.  Despite my cold I wasn’t going to let it beat me.  I decided to rest exercise wise, but I managed to drag myself to work.  I’m glad I did because it was filled with busy Christmas shoppers.  It’s funny how stressed customers can get in the festive season.  My manager ended up having a serious argument with a customer over a snow globe!!!

I never seem to get stressed over Christmas shopping, I actually really enjoy it.  On my break this Saturday I managed to fit in a little shopping for the big day.  I picked up cards, gift wrap, some gifts and some beautiful decorations to jazz up my tree…

Obviously I wanted to put the Christmas tree up as soon as I got home, but the boyfriend managed to somehow convince me that it was bad luck to put it up this early.  So I am aiming for the end of this week for sure! 😀

I haven’t had much of an appetite this weekend, but I did eat some hearty and wintery breakfasts:

On Saturday for lunch I decided to keep it simple and just have the broth from last night dinner…

I wasn’t hungry at all when I got home, but thought I should eat something so I whipped up a quick Pumpkin Smoothie.  This time I decided to use the pumpkin butter that I recieved from America and topped it with some granola.

I put in more xanthan gum that usual so it had more of a moussey texture…it was fab!

Yesterday I decided to make my first trip to Waitrose to check out their health food range…

and no I didn’t stop there…

Oh my!  To say I went a little wild in the aisles is an understatement.  I did actually have a lot more in my basket but took some of them out before I got to the check out.  I’m now fully stocked up on energy bars for the next coming month. 

Ok.  I admit it!  “My name is Jemma.  I’m a health food addict!”

To be honest I only went in for the basil and smoked tofu, but came out with way more than expected.  That seems to always happen when I’m out buying health foods.  I’m very happy with my stash. Waitrose seem to have the best range of health food that I have seen in any supermarket, a lot I have only seen on the internet. I will be definitely going back in the new year to pick a few more goodies. 

For lunch yesterday I decided to use up the baked aubergines that I made last weekend.

Recap…

This time I served them with stir fried brussel sprouts, peppers and savoy cabbage.

They were just as good! 🙂

For dinner I wasn’t hungry again so I just ate an apple, and two clementines.

I had a huge cook-off in the kitchen and made a huge batch of my Healthy Chilli,  a Carrot and Red Lentil Soup, cooked up some pearl barley and rice, chopped some veggies for meals in the week, cooked some swede and brussel sprouts, roasted some potatoes for one of Alfie’s meals and even boiled some eggs for snacking…phew!

It sounds like a lot but it will save me some time in the week.  I get asked a lot about how I manage to fit everything in with uni, fitness, cooking and a part time job.  I find that planning and being organised is a huge help.  I normally use Sunday’s to prepare for the upcoming week by cooking huge batches of food that and chopping up vegetables to make cooking easier in the week.  I find that cooking up stews, casseroles and stews are great as they freeze really well and then all you have to cook is the side dishes.

Fitting in workouts can be difficult too, but I also try and plan these in.  I usually know what I have planned work wise at uni a few days before hand so I can plan my work outs around my work.  I like to work out at least 5-6 days a week either early in the morning or in the early evening depending on what time I finish university that day.  This can mean going to bed early or waking up early, but it’s all for a good cause!

Also preparing everything the night before is a great tip.  I usually get my lunch, snacks and clothes ready the night before to save time in the morning.  Sometimes I even plan my breakfasts the night before to save me dithering in the morning (this tends to happen a lot!).  I also like to leave my work out clothes out too in a place where I can’t miss them.  This is usually on the banister outside my bedroom door, so they are the first things I see when I walk out on to the landing!  Nothing makes for a better motivational boost!

How do you manage to fit your workouts around your daily life and activities? 

There’s still time to enter my MuleBar giveaway!!!