Awesomefication - building strength takes guts!

What makes them x-rated? I hear you say! Well, one, they look downright sexy. And two, the noises you make when you eat it will be x-rated ;) Surfing around on Pinterest looking for some new breakfast recipes to try I came across a few variations of baked eggs. Some are called Turkish eggs, others use Moroccan spice mixes to add extra depth of flavour. The dish is really versatile so you can adapt the flavours to suit what you fancy. I made mine a spicy breakfast version which you could easily make for dinner as well. Rich and moreish  it is packed full of protein, low on calories, filling, and super tasty. It's a winner all round. This is my recipe for 2 portions. Bear in mind that you can chop and change ingredients for what you have available: 3 muscle food chicken chilli sausages  Handful frozen onion Handful frozen peppers Half can haricot beans Carton of passata Half tsp frozen chopped garlic Tsp paprika Tsp Sriracha (use chilli or chilli...

So I check in with my nutrition coach Simon every week. I weigh and measure myself, take outputs from my fitness pal to send onto him, and let him know what is and isn't going well. He keeps a eye on how my nutrition is moving along and will advise on any adjustments he thinks I need to make, as well as answer any of my questions. As the weeks are moving along I can see that this routine is as much for my benefit as it is his. It gives me a window to ponder, recognise and record my progress. On average I lose around a pound to a pound and a half a week. Some folks might think that's not much, however, that pound and a half signifies so much more than just the weight on the scale. Anyone who has done a diet or slimming club where a weekly weigh in is involved will know that they generally measure your progress on the scale alone. In my experience I would lose a few pounds one week, zero the next, put on, lose a few... you get the idea. No consistency, up and down like a yo-yo....

My legs are aching and wobbly, my arms are rebelling each time I lift them. But I am revelling in the comforting ache knowing that I am sore because I worked hard at training last night . I've missed that feeling. 5 years ago I had a great breakthrough in my weight loss and fitness regime. I was moseying along nicely, loving life. I had shifted over 4 stones in weight, I had a new job, I was loving my new found passion for exercise and good food. Everything was going great! Better than great, life was awesome! Then...KABLAM!  Life totally sucker-punched me in the guts. I fell pregnant and unfortunately it resulted in a miscarriage. Needless to say I was distraught and felt completely lost for a long time afterwards. When it happened I was the healthiest and fittest I had ever been. The pregnancy was a surprise, and at the time I felt like it was the most amazing gift that my husband and I had ever been given. When I miscarried I felt like my body had just let me down. I bla...

It has been just over a week since I finished with fight camp.  After it finished I was totally up for stepping up the exercise regime and attacking every class I could get to.  But of course, the plan never quite went off as I had hoped.  Life got in the way, I had a wedding at the weekend which I was rushing about getting stuff for and work was quite hectic so I only managed to squeeze in two sessions.  I’m having serious withdrawal.  I am missing the structure and routine of the early morning workouts.  Don’t get me wrong, I have been enjoying the extra hour under my duvet, but I just don’t feel as energized through the day and have been relying on my coffee addiction to get me going in the mornings.  It has also been hard to get that same intensity during my workouts.  You take for granted how much the trainers encouragement during the sessions actually kept you going.  It is a totally different game going it alone.  Actually having ...

To weigh or not to weigh? That's the question I am asking myself these days. I'm talking food by the way, not my body weight (we'll get to that later in the week!) For a while now I have been in the habit of reading the nutritional values on packets for the calorie and fat content. I've become aware that I've turned into one of those women you see in the supermarket who reads the packet of every item she picks up, one of those women I used to spot, feel sorry for them then call them a saddo for being so consumed with what they were eating. How times have changed, I'm like a walking-talking calorie content reference book nowadays. In recent weeks, following the nutritional information provided by the Fight Camp trainers, I have stopped counting calories and weighing out my portions. It's a surprisingly hard habit to break. It goes against everything I have programmed myself to do. I now go with how much noise my stomach is making and stop eating once it shuts...

There are two recurrent question that people are constantly asking me once they notice the difference in my waistline. In fact, these days most people only want to talk about my health and fitness exploits! 1. What are you eating? and 2. What exercise are you doing? But the eating question seems to be the one that interests people most. Well, guess what ... there is no big secret to eating in order to lose weight! The funny thing is that I'm eating what most folk eat and most of what I have to say on the topic, you will have heard before. It's about the choices you make about food and the way you cook it. If you want to lose weight of course there needs to be sacrifices and you need to be sensible about it. BAD HABITS My weakness is crisps, I love them in any shape or form and before I overhauled my diet I would be consuming 1-2 packs a day. Walkers Sensations Thai Sweet Chilli !!! I could wolf a party bag of those bad boys in one sitting! So at the start of this venture I erad...

As I write this I am shovelling my big ass salad into my gob at a great rate of knots that would rival a homeless man who hasn't seen food in a month. The salad was made with the intention of it being two servings, not gonna happen, it's all gone and it's only 15 minutes into my lunch break. My stomach was actually growling at me earlier, I simply couldn't get the red grapes I was eating down my throat fast enough (" Stop teasing me Goddammit, keep them coming! ") I'm pretty sure the sun worshippers down the hill in George Square could hear it's demands. 2 days into Fight Camp and despite wreaking havoc on my metabolism, I am loving it! My thighs and shoulders are feeling a bit dead after this morning's session, but i couldn't be happier! It's gut busting, cellulite quaking (if its not quaking yet, it bloody well should be), intense, hard work (they weren't joking when they said 'willpower required'), but it's also cracking ...

Back In September 2010 I received an email from one of the Sports Lecturers in the college I work for, asking if I would be interested in being a 'real life client' to an HND Fitness, Health and Exercise student. Feeling it was time to make a change I offered my services, convincing myself that I was 'doing my bit' in helping out a student and also secretly hoping that I would be able to make a dent in my ever increasing weight problem. I had my reservations and on more than one occasion I thought about pulling out.   Little did I know at the time that by saying yes, it would be the one of the best decisions I ever made. Weighty Matters ... On returning to work from my holiday to celebrate my anniversary, I found an email lurking in my inbox from my assigned student. A really nice guy called Will. We arranged to meet up and talk about what I wanted to get out of our working together. I knew what I wanted. I wanted what every woman wants, I wanted the holy grail, t...