Food diary - January 26th, 2013

Breakfast - Fruit and oat bagel toasted, 1 half drizzled with honey and the other half spread with a bit of Lurpak lighter

Lunch - Tesco beetroot, crackers and cheese pack with half a bottle of Naked mango smoothie

Dinner - Tesco finest cheese and asparagus filo parcel with some salt and pepper potato wedges

Snacks - malteaser bunny, small slice of cake

Calories - 1,800

Not the best of days by a large stretch, but it's the weekend so I'm blaming it on that (tut tut!)

Food diary - January 25th, 2013

Breakfast - Half a bottle of Naked mango smoothie

Lunch - An oatcake and a Hovis digestive with some arran cheddar cheese

Dinner - Some pasta with a Quorn chicken arrabiata sauce, also had 3 chunky chips

Snacks - Nutz over chocolate Luna bar, melting middle chocolate pudding and a glass of semi-skimmed milk

Calories - 1,499

Not the best of days but I feel that because I never had a big breakfast or lunch, I snacked more later on.

Food diary - January 24th, 2013

Breakfast - Scrambled egg, beand, grilled tomato, 1 vegetarian sausage and a slice of wholemeal bread toasted with butter. Small bowl of muesli, glass of fresh orange juice and a mini chocolate chip muffin (We went to an all you can eat breakfast place, so I tried to stick to mainly healthier options)

Lunch - 2 slices 50/50 bread toasted with melted cheddar cheese

Dinner - Amy's Kitchen light and lean spaghetti Italiano (This was lovely, and only had 200 odd calories! Perfect after eating a load of rubbish earlier)

Snacks - 2 jaffa cakes, 1 square of dark chocolate

Calories - 1,520

I'd like to add that this was an estimate of calories - I didn't know how many calories my breakfast contained and so I may be severely off the mark, if so I apologise!

Food diary - January 23rd, 2013

Breakfast - 2 weetabix and some cornflakes with warm semi-skimmed milk

Lunch (if you can call it that!) - Starbucks grande iced caramel macchiato, slice of fairtrade chocolate chunk shortbread

Dinner - Marks & Spencer Count On Us cherry tomato risotto

Snacks - Some mango

Calories - 1,331

Food diary - January 22nd, 2013

So I'm a bit behind with these food diaries once again - I've been puppysitting so it's been a busy few days!

Here's what I had on the 22nd -

Breakfast - 2 Weetabix with some Cornflakes and warm semi-skimmed milk

Lunch - Strawberry salad with a toasted wholemeal pitta bread and some hummous

Dinner - Winter vegetable and rice bake

Snacks - Some mango, a malteaser bunny and 250 calories worth of something (can't remember what, how useful!)

Calories - 1,593

This was a pretty good day, with the exception of the malteaser bunny. Still I'm not going to be limiting myself too harshly, as long as I'm within my calorie goal. In time I'll try to work on replacing these treats with healthier snacks though!

Food Diary - January 21st, 2013

Breakfast - Bran flakes with semi-skimmed milk and raisins

Lunch - Quorn cornish style pasty

Dinner - Vegetarian haggis, neeps and tatties

Snacks - Tree ripened mango, Marks & Spencer bourbon brownie and Carte D'or vanilla ice cream

Calories - 1,828

Exercise - 30 mins yoga (Roxy's bite size yoga DVD)

So this was a pretty terrible day in terms of what I ate! Like I said before, I've been having a strange relationship with food this week - one day I'm being healthy, the next day I'm eating a lot of rubbish. Hopefully I get back into the swing of things soon, as I really do want to live a healthier lifestyle. If I compare what I'm eating now to what I was eating 1 year ago, its a huge improvement. So all in all, I've at least become a bit healthier!

Food Diary - January 20th, 2013

Breakfast - Wholemeal fruit scone with raspberry jam and some butter

Lunch - Salad (strawberries, cherry tomatoes, basil, Italian hard cheese and balsamic glaze) - I got the recipe from a website, 100 salad recipes or something? I also had a wholemeal pita bread

Dinner - Marks & Spencer plum tomato and camembert tart with fries and half a garlic flatbread

Snack - half a tub of tree ripened mango, some sweets (200 calories worth)

Calories - 1,433

This wasn't the best of days but I've had a strange relationship with food this week, and keep falling off the wagon. Part of me wants to live a healthy lifestyle, whereas another part of me wants to enjoy what I eat. I guess I just need to find a balance...

Food diary - January 19th, 2013

I'm a bit behind on my food diary, but thanks to MyFitnessPal I've got a record of what I've ate in the last few days! So I'll be putting a few posts up today in order to catch up (bear with me!).

Here's what I had on the 19th:

Breakfast - Bran Flakes with semi-skimmed milk and raisins

Lunch - Tesco Lighter Choices (?) egg and cress sandwich, 2 Quorn cocktail sausages

Dinner - Spaghetti with Giovanni Rana tomato and basil pasta sauce

Snack - Mango

Calories - 1,158

So my calorie total wasn't the best, but I was having one of those days I guess. I could have been healthier but I'm not going to worry over it.

Food diary - January 18th, 2013

So as promised, here is a healthy food diary! I'm pretty pleased with what I ate, it's definitely an improvement from my normal diet!

Breakfast - 'green' smoothie - spinach, kale, oranges, banana and milk (Tone It Up recipe)

Lunch - Carrot sticks, small pot of Sainsbury's low fat hummous. Half a toasted wholemeal pitta bread

Snack - Luna bar (caramel nut brownie)

Dinner - Homemade sweet potato chips, roasted brussels sprouts. Homemade dip (Greek yoghurt, 1 garlic clove and chives.

Snack - Tassimo Milka hot chocolate, 2 maryland cookies (treat for the day - I needed something!)

So apart from my last snack of the day, I'd say that was pretty good going! The main thing is that I made everything from scratch pretty much, and so I feel like I know what I'm putting into my body as opposed to eating ready meals which contain who knows what. Hopefully I can keep this up, although I know every day isn't going to be perfect. At least I'm giving it a shot.

Food Diary - January 17th, 2013

So this is going to seem like an unhealthy post, but I promise that tomorrows post (what I ate today) is going to be much better! I decided to have a slight treat day before I really jumped on the healthy eating bandwagon. I went shopping last night and so I can now start eating healthy!

Breakfast - Fage Total 0% greek yoghurt with honey

Lunch - Convent Garden carrot and coriander soup (half a carton), Co-Operative petit pain

Dinner - 1/3 Tesco Finest Mozzarella, pesto and tomato pizza. A handful of Morrisons Kitchen garlic potato slices

Snack - small slice of apple pie with Carte D'or vanilla ice cream

I know it seems like a load of rubbish but like I said, it was a treat day. And now I don't have any junk in my fridge so I won't get sidetracked (hopefully!).

So whilst I'm typing this, I'm drinking a 'green' home-made smoothie - healthy or what!? Stay tuned for a healthy food diary tomorrow!

Food Diary - January 16th, 2013

So I know it's a day early but I've had everything that I'll be eating today, excluding a slice of apple pie and ice cream! Here it is:

Breakfast - Costa Latte (Tassimo) with light whipped cream and caramel drizzle sauce

Lunch - Convent Garden Carrot and Coriander soup, small petit pain with some lurpak lighter

Snack - Oatcake with a slice of Arran cheedar with herbs

Dinner - McIntosh Veggie Haggis, neeps and tatties

Snack - Will be the apple pie later on

Calories (according to MyFitnessPal) - 1,565

Overview - Again, not the healthiest I could be. I'm going on a big supermarket shop tomorrow so will be buying loads of healthier stuff then, just trying to use up things in the fridge at the moment. I haven't got my Yoga DVD yet but am expecting it tomorrow so from then I'll be including exercise (hopefully!). Also, I'll be going on a walk tomorrow so will log that as well!

Some more reviews will be coming up shortly, along with some recipes possibly??

Food Diary - January 15th, 2013

I've started using MyFitnessPal to track what I'm eating calorie-wise, so not only will I remember to put everything I've eaten in the diary, but I'll also add the total calories for the day as well (might not be 100% accurate, but according to MyFitnessPal is the total calorie count for the day).

So here's what I had to eat and drink yesterday:

Breakfast - Small glass of Tropicana 50/50 juice (to use it up - see review)

Lunch - Quorn cornish pasty

Snack - 2 mini Munchie chocolates, 2 Quality Street chocolates, a Jaffa Cake, and a Terry's Chocolate Orange segment (Bad!!)

Dinner - Mashed sweet/maris piper potato with some feta cheese crumbled on top, and a small petit pain with Lurpak lighter

Snack - Small slice of apple pie with some Carte D'or vanilla ice cream (2 small scoops)

Drinks - 3 glasses of water

Calories: 1,666

So according to MyFitnessPal, my daily calorie goal is 1,780 calories. This is because I want to lose about 5lbs (any more and I'd be underweight regarding my height) and am focusing on toning up. My problem is that I think I can eat anything as long as I'm within my calories, and I want to focus on eating healthier foods within my calorie limits. Here's hoping I can do it!

Overview: Today was terrible. That's all I can say! I'm really lacking in motivation to cut out the sweet treats, and I know this is one of my vices. If I work on this, I genuinely think my diet wouldn't be too bad (not by any means healthy but nothing to worry about too much!) 

I may do a review on MyFitnessPal as well, as I only discovered it yesterday but think it is really helpful to those who don't actually count calories - it may give you a reality check, and is also a helpful aid to healthy eating. Keep your eyes peeled if interested in reading this review! 

Review: Tropicana 50/50 Drink

Hello! So I thought it would be a good idea to review some of the 'healthier' foods and drinks which I have tried, in order to give alternatives for unhealthy options and stuff like that. Hopefully they are useful to some people , but if not then I can always stop doing them! For now lets give it a try :)

Today, I'm reviewing the new Tropicana '50/50' drink, which claims to have 50% less calories and sugar than an ordinary orange juice drink (pretty sure that is what it says on the bottle, I'll edit this if wrong!). They reduce the calories and sugar content by using Stevia, a natural sweetener with no calories which has recently become popular in the UK (I think it has been around longer in the US, and I'm not sure about other places' use of Stevia).

So in terms of taste, this product is nice. The only thing I can't handle is the overly-sweet aftertaste that the product leaves, probably from the Stevia within the drink. For me, I don't like my fresh orange juice drinks to be overly sweet, and so I prefer drinking a small glass of the normal Tropicana orange juice to get a better flavour. If you can handle the after taste, however, then this product might be something worth looking into! There are only 40 calories in a 200ml glass of the Orange juice with bits variety, and so if you are a worrier over liquid calories like myself, this is definitely a good option.

So to sum up, I love the idea of this product. I can only comment on the flavour that I have tried, however, and so I might try the other flavours in the range in order to see if these don't have such a sweet after taste. I would however recommend it to those who are trying to be a bit healthier, but still get the benefits of fruit juice.

Another point I might add is that I am not going in-depth with this review - I am not comparing the vitamin content and other nutritional values of this drink in comparison to regular Tropicana. I would recommend picking up both varieties when you are next shopping and comparing the nutritional values to get a better idea of the product.

So I'll see how these reviews go, and may have another one coming up shortly!

Food Diary - January 14th, 2013

So today has been a pretty rubbish day - shock horror. I'm struggling to find the motivation at the time - When I'm full, I want to eat healthily so much. However it's a different case when I'm hungry!

Today:

Breakfast - Small bowl of bran flakes with raisins and semi-skimmed milk

Lunch - Twinings Chai Latte, Lidl Multiseeded crusty roll with Lurpak Lighter butter

Dinner - Quorn 'Carbonara' sauce with spaghetti

Snack - Medium-sized slice of chocolate cake

Drinks - 3 small glasses of water

Overview - Pretty rubbish is all I can say to be honest! I really need some extra motivation in order to get me started properly - Am looking at yoga DVD's as we speak as it's something I really want to try. Hopefully this will give me the kick that I need!

I will be posting any exercise that I do also, however if I put nothing then that day I'll only have been walking or something - nothing too intense.

Food Diary - January 12th, 2013

I'll get right into it - here is what I ate and drank yesterday:

Breakfast - Tassimo Costa latte with gingerbread syrup

Lunch - Boots Cheese Ploughman's sandwich, bottle of Shapers cloudy lemonade (7cal - sweetener which I know is bad for you, but I didn't want water at the time!)

Dinner - 4 Quorn scotch eggs and a Hovis digestive biscuit thing with Arran cheddar cheese (the herb kind)

Snack - small handful of sweets, bag of prawn cocktail crisps

Other drinks - 1 glass of no added sugar dillutin juice (apple and blackcurrant), glass of water

Overview - This way a pretty bad day to be honest... Where I went wrong? With the breakfast and dinner in particular. By having a small dinner, I snacked more later on - I don't normally have this sort of thing for dinner, but the scotch eggs were going out of date that day. Also, I need to stop drinking stuff with sweetener in it! 

In terms of today, I'm going out for a Chinese meal for my Dad's birthday. I'll probably have vegetable chow mein, with some fried rice and a glass of water or apple juice or something. I'm just going to post what I'm having the rest of today as I know what I'll be having:

Breakfast - I had a Rumblers granola pot - the belgian chocolate one (from yesterday's Boots meal deal) with a glass of Tropicana orange juice.

Lunch - I think I'll have some carrot and coriander soup with a small petit pain and some Lurpak light butter

I'll also be drinking water throughout the day.

After the Chinese meal, I'll probably have a small slice of birthday cake as well since it's a special occasion (I'm starting the excuses already!) and try to be a bit healthier tomorrow to make up for today and yesterday.

Food Diary - January 11th, 2013

So I've missed the first 10 days in January with this food diary, but I really want to post an honest food diary and see where I'm going wrong with my diet. First off, I'll post a bit about myself...

An overview of my body:

I'm 6ft tall, and currently weigh 9 stone 10lbs. I'm not overweight by any means for my height, I just want to tone up and eat healthily in order to benefit my body, my skin and my happiness! So I won't be as strict with myself as I would if I had some weight to shift.

My diet:

I have many vices, including pasta, potatoes, pizza (carbs in general really!) and CHOCOLATE. I'm a self-confessed chocoholic, and I cannot get over this addiction. I'm trying, and hopefully by the end of the year I will have improved my diet in terms of chocolate consumption, we'll see.

Now for yesterday's post:

Breakfast - Half a large mango

Lunch - Small bowl of home-made lentil soup, with a small crusty roll grilled slightly in the oven. I had lurpak butter on the roll (not great for you but tastes amazing!)

Dinner - Marks&Spencer's Sweet Chilli and Mango stir-fry. (Has about 400 calories, and tastes amazing! If you like mango then you'll love this take on a stir-fry (assuming you like stir-fry as well of course)

Snack - 3/4 of an Oreo Creme-filled Brownie. Oh dear.

Drinks - 2 large glasses of water, 1 small cup of dillutin summer fruits juice (no added sugar)

Overview - I'd say that my day was pretty good, apart from that brownie at the end. I'm only human, though, and I'll just have to work on reducing the amount of 'treats' in my diet.