Food for Weight Control

The first few days of the Cheer Up Challenge have actually gone very well. There have been a number of cakey temptations in work that I have smugly evaded and I managed to walk away from half price Ben & Jerrys in Tesco (after spending probably two minutes staring longingly into the freezer cabinet).

Raw Chocolatey Slices

After scanning raw food websites, selecting the best bits of different recipes for raw food brownies and experimenting a lot with stuff that really doesn’t blend together very well, I decided on my final combination of ingredients.

Then, I told one of my friends I was going to bring “special brownies” for a treat after dinner one evening. She was very excited indeed. However, she ended up being enormously disappointed when I turned up with these, not because they aren’t yummy, but because if you are expecting anything resembling a brownie, you would be disappointed too.

Breakfast Muffins

Forget Starbucks with their calorific coffee and their "pretending to be good for you" muffins. These muffins are super satisfying and contain a whole load of good stuff to start your day with. They're really easy and quick to make too.


This recipe makes 6 muffins (one to taste test, and one for each morning before work, ideal!)

Spinach and Mushroom Carbonara

Carbonara is one of those really gooey delicious dinners that tastes amazing until you realised how much fat you just consumed through cheese and cream. This recipe is a much lighter alternative!

Cheer Up Challenge

It turns out having an achy back doesn't really suit my lifestyle. As much as I hate to admit it, I have been a little bit grumpy for the past few days. Of course Egg-style grumpy is most people's normal emotional state but I need to pick myself back up and get back to my normal overly-cheery self.


As a result of not being able to do my usual exercise and having serious bike withdrawal symptoms, I've even been laying in bed lazily in the mornings rather than the usual jumping up and hitting the day with a running start. Not only that but the eating has gone downhill too, more than downhill actually, more like fallen off a cliff! I've been finding myself exhibiting zero willpower and have been letting myself have any treats going "because I have a sore back". I amazed the ladies in my office as I recalled my attack of the munchies one evening last week, I'm even too embarrassed to say what I ate but it was pretty impressive.

Courgette Loaf

When someone told me you could make cake from courgette I really wasn't convinced. I quickly learned though that it gives a fantastic moist texture and nobody can really tell what the random ingredient is that you're using! 


This recipe is a great alternative to fruit cake or tea cake, it's sweet enough to satisfy a cakey craving but still healthy enough to make it fairly guilt-free!

Bouncing Off Cars

My post-Canada training plan was going marvellously; I had come back with fresh motivation and was even keen to get in the pool and get some serious swimming time in on the lead up to Bala in September. My intention was do to the Swanage Olympic distance triathlon this weekend as a bit of a tester, mostly to see how I would find the swim but also to have a good, hilly blast on the 25 mile course.


Unfortunately this plan was scuppered by a man in a silly orange car that decided to not look in the direction of oncoming traffic and to drive straight into the side of me instead as I cycled home from work earlier in the week. It wasn't a very dramatic, high-speed collision - in fact it was almost slow-motion - but it was enough to give me a good jolt and cause Bianca a bit of damage.

Change of Perspective

I had a marvellous holiday in Canada. After trying to "be good" for a couple of days I realised how boring I was being so I just got into the holiday spirit and indulged in anything I wanted. Many a Canadian was in awe at my disgustingly impressive food tolerance levels, which appear to grow with every alcoholic beverage consumed.


Suffice to say, when I returned home I felt like a blob. A very relaxed, refreshed and happy blob, but a blob nonetheless. The thought of a hardcore detox did cross my mind but honestly, I had been having so much fun whilst away and I realised that at home I'd been denying myself of a lot of the things I enjoy all in the name of being healthy. So a detox didn't appeal at all. In fact, I think there is a lot to be said for my mental and emotional well-being. It's like something clicked in my brain whilst I was away and instead of being racked with guilt about putting on a few pounds, doing very little exercise and eating my body weight in cake I just felt like it had all been a very worthwhile experience.