Fit-Ness part 2

My last post was so in the zone. 

So inspired.....then my birthday happened. 

It was a messy affair, on top of that i was at a friends house for the last 2 weeks looking after their Cat while they were away.....and then the old me kicked in.

Being away from the gym and it taking me at least an hour and a half to get home every night (which i know is normal for some people) took its toll on my positive metal attitude(PMA)

Before I went to "The Cat House" (as its known now). I checked to see if there was a gym near by. There was, but pay as you go for just 2 days was more expensive than one month at my regular gym. I took my work out clothes with me, hoping to get some HIIT training in, but with all the train delays (most days) by the time i got home, fed the cat it was bed time!!

So i fell into some bad snacking habits..."it's my birthday", yeah not for two weeks love. I do love to drag a birthday out but i was totally using this as an excuse to just eat and eat!!

On both the weekends i was at The Cat House, i did manage to drag my ass out for a run. The first was great, first outdoor run of the year! I was proud. Then a friend stayed over the next weekend and we headed out to do a Park Run! Again, awesome, ran the whole thing (as did my friend who I'm super proud of)

So now I'm home!!

Its been 4 days. And in that 4 days I've been for a run after work with a friend. Two runs before work (and this morning smashed yesterdays time!!) And been to the gym twice. Fit-Ness is back in the zone!! I had only put a pound back on over the two weeks. And I've managed to shift that so far and another one! So things are looking up!!

Watch this space for more updates!!

As always

Keep it Positive

Nessa

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Veganniversary - One Year In!!

Its been a whole year!! Since i turned Vegan!!

This last year has seen some massive changes in the Vegan movement and thats just from my point of view, i can only imagine how people who've been Vegan for much longer feel!!

This last year has made me feel mad at times, sad at times and believe in the human race again!! Wooo

There's some things I've realised that almost go hand in hand with Veganism. Vegans believe in the equality of animals and humans. So its obvious that vegans would be feminists! To believe in the equality of ALL humanity!!  We shouldn't be abusing animals for our pleasure just like we shouldn't be abusing other humans for our gain!!

Pre-gan (pre vegan) i was oblivious to how much suffering was happening to animals, and honestly, didn't really want to know because that would mean I'd need to change. And i wasn't ready.

When I'm passionate about something, you're gonna damn well know about it. But i know that getting passionate about Veganism only fuels all none vegans arguments that "all vegans are angry, shouty, pushy crazy people" but we're not....

Imagine you've got solid proof that your best friends partner is cheating on them...you go in with the evidence and they don't want to see it or hear what you've got to say. You're gonna get a bit irate, shout a little, all because you want to look after your bestie, you want them to see the truth. So you argue and maybe fall out for a little because you can't understand why they don't want to hear what you have to say....so you're gonna start looking a little crazy.

Well that's how i feel when someone comes at me with "a fact", i say it like this because the things people usually say to me are stuff that's now old wives tales, "eggs are a great source of protein" yeah maybe 50 years ago....we also have to remember that smoking was promoted by your doctor 50 years ago!

"Egg corporations aren't even allowed to say things like "Eggs are an important part of a well balanced, healthy diet" on an egg carton because it would be considered misleading, according to the USDA's National Egg Supervisor since eggs contain significant amounts of fat and cholesterol, and therefore can contribute to the leading killer in the United States, heart disease."

Want to learn some more facts about eggs
.... Eggs - Healthy or not?

I've had my moments over this year...bursting into tears after having a few bevvies with my besties (who aren't vegan) cos i want to teach them all this stuff that's now running round my head. I've got a bit sassy with people because the "facts" they're throwing at me have no context or its "bro science" you know, my mate told his mate who told his mate, so there for its now a fact!!

But I've learnt that i cannot lose my cool, because when i do no one will even think about listening. And I've never wanted to be someone who forces my beliefs onto others. But when people start pushing their way of life on me...or come out with "yeah well, my food shits on your food" (this was said before i even said anything about vegan!!) Prepare for me to start saying things you won't want to hear.... 

To anyone else talk about how nice your steak for lunch was...and I'll nod and smile, so when i say how nice my veggies and rice was, please have the courtesy to do the same!!

As always

Keep it Positive

Nessa

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Fit-Ness - The Intro

Its almost my 29th Birthday as i write this....and for the last few years I've been guilty of being one of those, "lets start doing something about my body" every new year! (or usually after my birthday seen as its so close to the holiday period)

I don't do diets....i hate the word...the word alone makes me want to go and eat a whole packet of bourbons!! I know i am no good with harsh restrictions, so i don't do it to myself! 

But i know my way of eating (both pre-gan and Vegan) haven't been the best. Better than i ever used to eat, but that's easy when everything i used to eat was beige, not counting the ketchup!!

When i turned vegan i thought (naively so) that this would be the end of me being over weight (or obese to quote the doctors!) I thought it would force me to eat well...and I guess it forces me to eat better. but as i said in the previous sentence, most Bourbons are VEGAN!! and they are NOT healthy!

I'm coming up to my first anniversary of being Vegan, and as i look back on the last year, I'm ok with what i was eating, there's a LOT of amazing vegan food out there, and being in London, i have eaten out a lot. and not a lot of that was ever healthy. But as i came to realise in my vegan journey, the animal and environmental side of it became a lot more important to me as i went on. I have learnt that i eat a lot of processed food, but i am making that a smaller part of the food i consume.

Just before Christmas i started back at the gym, I've always been on for the gym or Zumba or something, but back last year, i was struggling with pain in my ankle and then i went traveling for a little bit, and that all resulted in me becoming lazy.
I have fixed the problem with my ankles now (who knew a simple heel insert would be the difference between absolute agony and sure comfort!?!)
So back to the gym i went, with the help of a friend, we started going together, we both need each others motivation at the minute and i am truly grateful for her!!

I have been eating well....well better, and keeping a diary which has been helping me be more conscious of what i'm eating (and that's a lot of the battle) and what better way of keeping me on track than to announce it to the internet so you guys can hold me accountable. Lets be clear, until i like fruit, I will never be as fit as i could be, because even if i get my main meals 100% spot on, my sweet snacks will always be terrible, but there will be less of them! So if you see me (or catch me on Instagram) having a biscuit or Ice-cream. Don't go in too hard on me!

So That being said, welcome to Fit-Ness, the name for my fitness Journey Blog, I will try to do updates often on where i'm at with training, my weight and my food. 

My goals:

• to be fit (being able to run for a good distance without wanting to pass-out!)
• To be strong! I would love to be able to squat my own body weight by the end of the year!
• To be happy in my own body! (Not interested in being skinny, I want to be curvy and less jiggly than i am currently!)

As always

Keep it Positive

Nessa

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Splitting the Bill - The Taboo of our age!

Been wanting to write a post about this waaaaaaay before i turned Vegan....

I feel its a bit of a taboo in this day and age, a bit like asking for money back that you've lent someone. Or anything surrounding money!

I'm a really straight up kinda girl. I don't believe in letting the elephant in the room grow!

Just like if i lend someone money. When i need it back. I'll ask, but i know so many people who wont. They'll just wait for the other person to offer it back. I recently lent a really good friend some money, and when i felt i could do with it back; i asked. I also said if she couldn't pay me back at that point it was totally cool, and by totally cool i meant it, if she didn't have it at that point, i would have waited. But as Mama Ward taught me, don't ask don't get!!

For instance there's always something going on at work, someones birthday or someone leaving and in the office culture we have, we tend to get the whole team to put in some money. But some people aren't very good at paying up. This Christmas i got the presents for our manager and i asked everyone for the money, only a fiver, until i got it. But i know other people have been in charge of getting a birthday present and because they only asked once, didn't get the money from some people in the team. Now its too awkward for them to ask for the money back.
And that's not fair.

As for splitting the bill, its always annoyed me. If I'm with a few best friends and we all have the same to eat and drink. Split that bill, totally cool.
But when i go out to work with work or a bigger group its a different situation.
If i go out to eat and I need to watch my money, I'll only have a soft drink and a main. And when others at the table are buying bottles of wine and starters and extras. It would make my part of the bill sometimes double what i was planning....trust me if I could afford it I'd be getting starters and all the good stuff!!

But i have specifically chosen the cheap option cos its all i can afford. Me, i'm happy to say i cant afford it, but for some people its a hard thing to say.

Now I've turned Vegan i don't want to split the bill for not only the previous reason, but now for the reason that i don't want to be paying for other peoples meat or dairy. 

This world is supply and demand i totally get that, so i will use the coins i have to demand the things i want.

I urge vegans everywhere, use your money to demand some change!

And i urge everyone to say no to splitting the bill if you don't think its fair!

As always


Keep it positive

Nessa

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Vegan Life Live: Sunday: Day 2

Day two baby!!

Brought a friend with me on the second day, shes not vegan, not even close, but she does have a lactose intolerance and has been trying to look for alternatives for dairy, she has also seen how often dairy comes up in the ingredients for things so in a way understands the struggle of a vegan.

She wanted to use the day to try and learn some tricks for living without dairy, and i took my chance to maybe open her eyes a little.

I was wearing my new T-shirt from Ethics and Antics so being me took the opportunity for a little photo! I LOVE a long line T-shirt!! So this was a perfect match for me!!









We started the day much as i had on Saturday, food time! I'd had my eye on a few other stall after I had Happy Maki the day before. We settled for a Vegan Doner from What the Pita and it was AMAZING!! Serious stuff. I got the meal deal, which was a Doner, Drink and Baklava!

Que crazy picture of me enjoying this bad boy!!











Next we had a look around a few stalls and then we popped over to the Cinema to watch Forks over Knives, I've seen this before but it was great to hear that my friend wanted to watch it, as its all based around the health of eating a plant based diet with lots of evidence to back it up. I think its a great documentary to watch for anyone who wants to live a healthier life.





We went up to the Veganuary room after to hear a talk on "life after cheese" which was great for my friend, and lots of people in the room shared cheesy tips!

Keeping the Dairy free theme of the day we went and queued up for Yorica, now if you live in London and you haven't heard of Yorica? Where have you been!! This place is totally free from....if you're allergic to something, you can probably eat here!! Cookies and Cream ice cream, always a pleasure never a chore! As creamy as their ice cream is, its not sickly. (no moo here!)


Then my FAVE part of the day, we went to watch a talk by the Fat Gay Vegan, He's a vegan blogger with a difference, the difference being, he tells you about all the good food and he is so passionate about veganism without being preachy or putting people down (he's pretty funny too!)
He gave me some great tips on keeping my blog alive.

Again such a great day!! Thanks Vegan Life Live!!

Keep it positive

Nessa

Instagram : @endless_night07
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Vegan Life Life: Saturday: Day 1

Saturday morning i got up early (early for a Saturday Morning) and jumped on the tube up to Ally Pally! (Alexandra Palace to most people) for Vegan Life Live!

I'd had tickets for this for a while so was super excited to go! My bestie from the North had tickets too, for the Sunday, but ended up not being able to come, she gave me her ticket so i'll have a second blog up about Sunday too!!

First things first, downloaded the VLL program and tried to make a plan on what i wanted to see...

My plan looked like this: (I say looked cos it did change!)

Saturday:
12:15: Clea Grady (From Veganuary)
12:30: Cinema - Food Choice
1pm: KingCooksDaily
2:45: How to eat well with Veganuary
5pm: Cinema - Ghost in our Machine

First things first: goody bag!! (not pictured Ape, coconut curls, i ate these on the way in as i missed breakfast!)

Second thing: Foooooooodddd!! Happy Maki

Straight to happy Maki!! I've been following Happy Maki on Instagram for a while now and by God do i love sushi! After putting my goodie bag into my tote i made my way straight to the back to find their stall, as soon as i get in the queue it doubled, and from what i saw the rest of the day, it didn't look like it got any smaller! For those who don't know Happy Maki  They are a vegan Sushi stall that have been making their way around Veg festivals for a while now....but the exciting news is they are opening a restaurant down in Brighton (another other vegan hub of England)





I had the Fully Loaded: It was awesome, super tasty and really filling! I highly recommend going to see them!

There were so many cool stalls at the event, too many to do a in depth section on all of them or this blog will be far too long for anyone to get through, so here's a quick run down of some of the samples i had mooching around.

Morgan's Brew - I had a taste of the green tea gin. I'm not really a massive gin lover! But add green tea and i'm excited!!

Treevitalise - When i heard "Made for hangovers" I tried some....i'm sure its good for you, but i think i'll just stick to drinking regular H2O.








Mobile Massage were there for the day, and I've been hitting the gym for a few weeks now, so i decided to treat myself to a massage, they have a deal where you pay anything from £10 to £20 depending on what you feel the massage was worth. It was a great 20 minutes of heaven, they lady who massaged me did my back, shoulders and head and i felt every knot worked out.

As for my plan, it kind of went out of the window, The room by about 11:30 was so busy you pretty much had to shuffle everywhere.

I did manage to get to see Clea from Veganuary which was great, she talked through why she became vegan, and how she'd been veggie most of her life. And what i thought was most important, was how we need to be positive on social media, as Vegans, I also think this goes for everyone. There's so much negativity online, and negativity breeds negativity. Vegans are known for compassion and we need to show that to everyone and everything. You'll never win friends by shouting at them.
Later I went to see the how to eat well with the founders of Veganuary, they talked a lot about Dr Michael Greger's book "How Not to Die" Including giving out a hand out on "The Daily Dozen" (laminated no less, ohh fancy)

I missed @Kingcookdaily But that's ok, just means i'll have to take a trip to Shoreditch to try his food.

With the 2 movies i wanted to watch i was worried i'd miss out on other things if i sat for an hour and a half to watch them and figured i could watch them another time. So most of my time was spent checking out all the stalls...I bumped into Wear Your Voice And i was wearing a t-shirt of theirs which i got from York Veg Fest.










So i went on the hunt for some more Vegan tops. and i came across Ethics & Antics and grabbed an absolute steal of a bargain! (picture to come on the next blog!)

Phew that was long, hopefully you made it this far! I'll be writing up Sunday antics soon!

Keep it positive

Nessa

Instagram : @endless_night07
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One Bowl Vegan Chilli

Hey Peeps!!

This weekend i decided to embark on a massive cooking fest!! Since the holiday month I've been pretty slack at cooking big batches of food to freeze. Relying on rice packets and kohinoor curry packets (which by the way, if you haven't tried these, they're an amazing alternative to a take away, half the cost and half the calories, I'll pop a post up about them soon)

Anyway i digress.

I ended up making what I'm calling a one bowl chilli. Meaning i don't need to put any rice with it as it's packed full of goodness which should keep me full!!

I got the original recipe from Jamie Oliver and as with most of my cooking, i added extras, because i can!!

The ingredients in black are as per Jamie's recipe, the ones in grey are my own addition or tweek.

3 Small Onions
1 Tablespoon of Garlic Powder

1 Teaspoon Chipotle Paste
2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
2 Tablespoons ground cumin
2 Tablespoons ground coriander
2 Tablespoons smoked paprika
½  Teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 Tablespoons tomato purée
500g Tried Green Lentils
2 x 400 g Tins of red kidney beans
1 x 400 g Tins of black beans
4 x 400 g Tins of chopped tomatoes (Extra’s as i’d added so many beans!)
1 litre Home Made Vegetable Stock

400g Frozen Peas

150g Frozen Sweetcorn

50g Frozen Broad Beans

As a total (rough guesstimate) the total pot came to 4535 calories.

I managed to get 11 portions out of it. You could get more if you wanted to have a side of rice or tortillas with it.

So that came to 412 calories per portion, which with a 30g serving of some Gary (Vegan cheese) comes to a well balanced lunch or dinner.

Enjoy cooking (promise I'll get better at taking pictures of my food!!)

Keep It Positive

Nessa

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!!

So last year was pants in the blogging department….apologies about that, but it's a new year and it's a new…..nah!! Not going down the road of a new year new me, but i do want to get back into this again.

As you’ve seen my blog has been a mashup of life events so far….so this year is going to be the same a mashup of life events. But….from a renewed, back to not giving a **** about what anyone else thinks, view of my still fairly new vegan life!!

AAGGHHH she said Vegan!!!

Yep, thats right, vegan…..scared...are ya...are ya??

Well don't be, it's something no one ever thought i’d be able to add to the list of labels i have. Me included!! But it is a way of life for me now.

As i write this it's the second of January and therefor Veganuary….

Veganuary is maybe something you’ve heard of, especially if you live or travel in London, they have loads of posters on the underground this year, which is great exposure.

Check them out if you want to find out more….

Veganuary

I’ve got Vegan Life Live coming up on the 7th and 8th of January, so I’ll be trying my best to document how that goes.

Vegan Life Life

Got a little trip to the Steal City (Sheffield) for some epic burger action in February. 

I’ll be throwing up some recipes I've been loving and working on, some views on eating out (which for Veganuary is looking super exciting!!) and some updates on getting fit!!

Keep it positive

Nessa