When I was losing weight, nothing gave me greater joy than discovering a food that was tasty but didn't have a lot of calories. Especially if it consisted of chocolate :)
Now, I know that there are a few "all or nothing" merchants out there, and if that works for you, then great. But I need my treats, however small, to keep me sane. If you deny yourself, then there's a strong possibility that one day you're going to fall off the wagon. Hard.
So here is a list of things that are really yummy, and under 100 calories. I've tried to stay away from fruit, health foods, "light" stuff and such, because these are generally marketed as "diet" food and it doesn't take a genius to figure out that most of these are under 100 kcals. No, I'm talking about the "hidden gems" that you might not necessarily realise are actually quite low in calories.
Now, these are proper treats, so they don't pack a very strong nutritional punch, and can be relatively quite high in fat and/or sugar, so you can certainly "spend" your allowance on healthier food. But will they sabotage your weight loss plan? Probably not.
These are just some starters for you, but I'm always on the lookout for more goodies! So if you know of any others, then please tell me about them in the comments.
Okay so considering I'm just back from another sniffle, I had totally expected this week to be really easygoing. Unfortunately, it was not to be...
I had my usual 'long' run on Sunday, where I planned to run 18km (around 11 miles). For the most part, it was beautiful. The sun was shining, it was warm, but there was a little bit of a cool breeze, which is no bad thing when you're out and about.
In fact, I would go as far to say as conditions were ideal. I ended up going around my usual park route, through Holyrood Park and out towards Musselburgh before turning back home.
By the time I got to Musselburgh, I was feeling quite good, so I thought I would go exploring. You see, on my way back, there is a VERY busy junction where the city bypass meets the main road. Que a lot of stopping and starting, waiting on red lights and a LOT of last minute sprinting to catch the green man.
So I decided to give that part of my route a miss, and went down a mysterious cycle path instead. "Heck," I thought, "it's going in the same general direction I want to go in, I'll be fine".
Except I ended up getting lost. Oops. Fast forward through about 15 minutes running about a faceless suburbia, and I finally found my way back.
All in all, I ended up adding about a mile to my journey, which took my 18km run up to 20.5km. Another 600 metres, and I would have done a half marathon.
I was just lucky that the weather was pleasant that day and I was feeling pretty good - it wasn't until I got lost that morale started to dip and I got a bit fatigued.
But, I always say that you can never tell if it was a good run or not until after you've finished. Somehow, I was able to come straight in from my run, get showered and head on into town without so much as a second thought. So I was a little tired, but not TOO tired. That's the sweet spot, really.
So yeah, Sunday's run. Tough but in a good way. Meanwhile, this morning...
I only did 5km (3 miles), but it felt like 40. After our lovely weather last week, we have come back to reality with a snowy and windy bump.
It looked okay when I peeked out the window this morning, sure there was a little bit of drizzle, but nothing I hadn't dealt with before.
Then I stepped outside.
Even with my extra layers on, the wind had a fair bite on it. I think I did the fastest warm-up I have ever done, and actually found some relief when I started running and was able to get all the lovely warm blood around my veins.
My relief didn't last long, though. When I was about halfway through my circuit, the slight drizzle turned into a fully fledged snow blizzard. Welcome to Scotland, everyone.
I was ages away from home, so all I could do was run through it. I tried to run as fast as I could, telling myself that the faster I ran, the faster I could get back to my lovely warm flat.
Even though I lost most of the feeling in my face and lower limbs, I couldn't help feeling as hard as nails.
But no, seriously. I was crying inside.
It was so bad that I skipped the cool-down completely and ran straight home. There was no way I was spending a single SECOND longer than I had to in that weather.
Okay so I know I've been fairly quiet of late, but I have a real honest reason, I promise you.
I've been ill. :( Yes, AGAIN.
That's right. PITY ME.
That brings my grand total of sickness up to 3 colds and 1 chest infection.
In the last two months.
I mean, come on immune system, can you make at least SOME effort?
So I missed my long training last weekend and spent it curled up in bed instead. I rarely let colds stop my day-to-day life, but after four of the blighters I thought I'd better take the hint.
I'm all better now, thank goodness. Hopefully that's my unlucky run over, but who knows? I've got a pump of Vick's First Defence and a bottle of multivitamins in my bag at all times now just in case, and I avoid sneezy people like the plague. I really can't afford any more breaks in my training.
Meanwhile, Mr MFC has been dealt a rather devastating blow this week. He has been diagnosed with exterior tendonitis, which is doctor-speak for "your foot's fucked". As a result, he may have to drop out of the Rock 'n' Roll half marathon.
I'm kind of gutted, because it was going to be our first race together and now it's looking like he can't do it. I'll need to think long and hard about whether I want drop out of it as well, because the last thing I want to do is rub his injury in his face by running a race that he wanted to do. Hum. We'll see.
So yeah, with sickness and injury it's not been a great week in the MFC house. Here's hoping the next couple of weeks are better.
11 days since my last half marathon, and I've signed up for another.
However, unlike the last one, this race will be on my home turf: Edinburgh.
I will be running Rock n Roll Edinburgh, which is in just over a month's time. What attracted me to it was the fact that it seems to be a cross between a race and a music festival, with rock bands playing at regular intervals along the route. It's also aimed at the more recreational runner, which I like. It definitely looks like it will be a good laugh.
It's not too far away, so I'm just going to keep my training at the same level and hopefully I'll be able to maintain most of the momentum I gained from training for Paris.
I might squeeze in some speed training too, but to be honest I'll be very surprised if I beat my French time: first of all, the Edinburgh terrain is a lot more challenging and secondly, I was hyper as hell in Paris. But I dunno, we'll see.
Plus, it gives me more reason to eat pizza, er, I mean, carbo-load. And we all know how I can't get enough of that ;)
So I was given the chance to try out a new style of dance workout at the weekend - Booiaka.
While I have been going to Zumba for a good few months now, I was quite keen to try out something a bit different.
Unlike Zumba, which is full of salsa and "up high" movements, Booiaka is more of an urban, R'n'B style that moves your lower body. Think sexy bum grinds and you get the idea.
In fact, I'm rubbish at describing it. Here's a video so you can see for yourself -
The class was fun, although it was a bit slower paced than Zumba, so I'm not sure if I got the same calorie burn out of it. I really should have taken my heart rate monitor to determine for sure. Oh well. Hindsight is 20/20 right?
The format is different to Zumba in the respect that you only learn the one routine in one session, whereas in Zumba you just bounce your way through several. It's good in the way that you can properly get stuck into the movements, but as you're doing the same dance moves over and over again, it can get a bit repetitive.
But I must admit I prefer the style of Booiaka - I enjoy wobbling my bum around and the music is a lot cooler than some of the Zumba pieces!
So will I go again? Definitely. Not sure if it has the same addictive quality as Zumba but it certainly has a lot of potential. Plus, I'll be able to showcase my newly acquired bum grinding moves next time I hit the dancefloor!
They're bound to be hot. Especially when I've had a drink in me.
And I have no idea where it came from or how I did it.
On the morning of the race, when I woke up, I was a nervous wreck. Completely and utterly. And I had reason to be.
You see, on Friday morning, I woke up with a familiar tickle in the back of my throat. But surely nobody is unlucky enough to get the lurgie THREE times in a row? Except, apparently, I was.
As soon as I felt something was up, I ran to the nearest chemist and bought myself a packet of Soothers, a bottle of Vicks 'First Defence' and some Lemsip Cold and Flu capsules. I had a race in two days. There was no way I was letting this virus get the better of me.
So for the next day or so I took the First Defence and the Soothers religiously. Don't get me wrong, the First Defence stuff was good at keeping the virus out of my nose, but it couldn't stop it from sliding down into my throat. And while the Soothers were good at easing the steadily growing pain, they didn't do anything to fight the sore throat off.
On Saturday, I flew to Paris. My throat was stilling niggling me and I was praying it wouldn't get any worse. Unfortunately, by Saturday night I was feeling weak and shaky. My big 'carb loading' meal turned out to be a massive dud, because I could only stomach a little bit of it.
I was screwed.
I went back to my hotel room and got into bed as quickly as I could, armed with my cold and flu meds, and prayed I would feel better in the morning.
That night, I had an awful night's sleep. The worst I've had in a while. I woke up one hour before my alarm was due to go off, and I couldn't get back to sleep. My throat was still sore and my chest felt a little tight.
Now this is why I have that medical disclaimer to the side there - because a sensible person would have let it go and rested up.
But I'm not a sensible person, I'm a runner. I had worked so hard over the past few months and I wasn't going to let a couple of wee germs get in the way.
So I ran.
I took a packet of Soothers with me, and promised myself to eat one every four kilometres. But after the fifth kilometre or so, my chest loosened up and I felt much better.
I had also promised myself to take it easy- but that promise was quickly broken. I know I was aiming for a race time of 2.30 - 2.40, but when I saw the 2.10 pacer drift by, I couldn't help myself but try and tag along for as long as I could. I think I did quite well, and I managed to cling on to him for around 15 kilometres before he drifted away.
However, I wasn't alone. Far from it.
When I realised how slow a runner I was, I imagined that in Paris, I would be the one hobbling in at the end alone and barely quick enough to avoid getting scooped up by the sweeper.
But the reality was far from that - as I crossed the finish line, I looked at the people around me. Some were old, some where young. Some were male, others were female. But they all had one thing in common: they all looked pretty fit. And I managed to keep up with them!
Even though the sore throat chest thing made me a nervous wreck before the race, I am kind of grateful for it in a weird kind of way, because it gave me an excuse to go at my own pace. I was terrified of comparing myself to others, but the sore throat meant that because I wasn't at the top of my game, I couldn't.
Yeah, lots of people overtook me. But whenever they did, I just thought to myself "it doesn't matter, they're not ill like I am".
But hey, I also overtook some people as well. And when I did, I felt as smug as hell :) You could definitely tell that I had trained in a hilly city, because any time the gradient changed slightly, I was able to power onwards while others flagged. I knew how to take advantage of the downhills, and had the leg power to drive myself on the uphills. It was nice to gain ground back on people that had overtaken me on the flat.
I think the moment I realised I was definitely going to finish was when I hit the 19th kilometre at around 2 hours in. I take around 12 minutes to walk a kilometre, and the sweeper was taking 3 hours to complete the course. It was then I realised that even if I walked the rest of the way, I wouldn't get picked up by the sweeper. Then I knew I was definitely going to finish,the pressure was off and was able to enjoy the whole experience a lot more.
But I totally felt like I was going to pay for my run, and after I finished I was nervously waiting for my chest to spontaneously implode.
But the implosion never came. I still have a little bit of a tickly throat, but I'm starting to believe that the tight chest was purely psychosomatic.
Isn't it funny how ill you can make yourself just by worrying?! The mind is certainly a powerful thing.
So yeah, in a nutshell, I did it. This time last year, I couldn't even run a bath. So I'm really chuffed. Onwards to the next adventure!
So I leave for Paris tomorrow, for my very first race.
There are a lot of things swirling around my head right now. Chances are if I was to write them down here, you'd all think I was nuts. So I'll keep them to myself.
Instead, I'll just show you this pin that seemed to resonate with me today.
