Grey sky. Grey water. White soup.

Now I don't need to tell you Melburnians that the weather has started to turn. As I look out my balcony to the bay all I see is grey sky, matching with the grey water. And trees that are almost horizontal. And birds that must be thinking 'And those humans complain about a little turbulence when they are wrapped in a blanket and wearing those little eyemask things...".

Winter is heading our way. Salads become less appealing and all of the delicious, vibrant summer fruits, whilst still imported in to our supermarkets, start to taste like, well, expensive air. We start to have slow cooked food in all its rich red, brown, orange glory.

Whilst we typically associate the colder months with heaver foods and matching rear ends, it doesn't have to be so. It is still possible to eat according to our bodies syncronicity with the seasons and stay feeling light, healthy and full of energy.

Enter my 2nd favourite soup (although, sometimes it does knock the spicy carrot soup off top spot).

Creamy cauliflower and leek soup. This soup is ingenious. It has a lovely, rich, creamy flavour without including any dairy at all. It is also very simple. It is Vegan, dairy free, gluten free, almost fat free and yet tastes just as good as anything you would order in a restaurant. The tofu is helpful in regulating hormones whilst providing protein. The leek and garlic provide liver nutrients, potent anti-oxidants and are just generally good cold weather fare.

Creamy Cauliflower & Leek Soup
Serves 4

1 Small Head of Cauliflower
1 Leek
2 Cloves Garlic (Feel free to add as much Garlic as you like. The more the better over the winter months, I say! )
1 container Silken Tofu
1 Litre Water
Organic or MSG free Vegetable stock

Slice leek and garlic and sauté in a pot with some olive oil. Roughly chop cauliflower and add to leek and garlic. Cook for about 2 or 3 minutes. Make up 1 litre of stock according to directions on the pack. Pour into pot. Simmer until vegetables are soft and approx 1/3 of the liquid has evaporated. Drain tofu and add to the pot. Blend with a hand blender until soup is a smooth and creamy consistency. More water can be added if the soup is too thick or alternatively continue to cook the soup if you would like it to be thicker – this depends on the consistency that you like your soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Sorry, no picture today. Just use your imagination. White soup. Incorrect lighting. Poor angle. And there you have it, a synopsis of most of my food photography.

Much love for the weekend kids! I will try and get some pictures for you of all the superwomen and men as they run past my door for Ironman Melbourne.

I Get by with a Little Help from my Kindle

Sometimes, life is about compromising. Health and fitness is no different. Whilst its important to have a plan and a best case scenario in your head, its also important to be able to accept that sometimes motivation, work, energy levels, various commitments and the ability to give a stuff can get in the way. It hhow you deal with it that counts. One of my favorite quotes, goes something like this... "Life is tough for everybody, its how you rise to the challenge that defines you"

On the 3rd week into my heart rate base training, I am learning to make friends with stationary bikes, runs that are done at the same pace as walks and doing whatever you have to do to get things done. Ordinarily, I would absolutely, under no circumstances read a book or magazine whilst exercising. It is about as helpful as coming back from a run to have a smoke (which, by the way, I used to do when I started this healthy lil' lifestyle). But when you are staring down the barrel of a 105min steady pace ride staring at a blank wall, interventions are required.

I had my Kindle, magazines, ipod, phone and Garmin. I would usually laugh at a person like me, but the result was that I was able to get it done, which is what base training is about really.

I also had a great view from the bike of the marquees being put up for Ironman Melbourne - so exciting.

After a 4.30am start, a 2hr ride and lots of running around, by dinner time I could.not.be.bothered. I contemplated having toast for dinner, then I contemplated a smoothie and as I stood in the kitchen, I realised it was time to suck it up and just get dinner done too. I have a crazy schedule and I spend a lot of time tired, but if I ate toast every time I was tired, well, I would be eating an awful lot of toast!

I decided on Amaranth and Chili Chicken Pasta instead. It was SO much better than toast and realistically, it only took me 15 minutes to cook. Not only did my body get better nutrition, it tasted better and I felt better about being able to just get over it and spend the extra 10 minutes in the kitchen. I got my protein fix for building and repairing my muscles, healthy grains from the amaranth pasta and antioxidants and flavour punch from the garlic, chili and spinach.


Amaranth and Chili Chicken Pasta
Serves 1

45g dry Amaranth pasta (or any kind you like) cooked as per instructions
100g Chicken tenderloins, cooked
1/2t Chili, chopped
1 clove Garlic, chopped
4 Sundried tomatoes, finely diced
Handful of baby Spinach


1T Vegan Parmesan

Combine your cooked chicken, chili, garlic, tomatoes and spinach in a pan over low heat until it is heated through, the spinach has wilted and the aroma of the garlic and chili starts to release. Place chicken mix on top of drained pasta. Top with your vegan parmesan.

 So the lesson for today boys and girls is that you rarely ever regret putting in the time and effort to train hard and eat right. You almost always will regret not making the effort, though. Did I mention today was brought to you by the letter B and the number 5? Nevermind...

An Ode to Base Training

And the base training begins...
After a little chat with a mucho qualified co-worker about how astoundingly poor my exercise efficiency is (read previous blog to get the background), I have decided to nix the last triathlon of the season in favour of starting my base training now. I am anticipating that instead of the usual 12 or so weeks that you usually base train for, I will likely need 402 weeks to get my body at the efficiency level that it should be. I may have overestimated. Only time will tell.

In the meantime, spare a thought for me, riding at about 4km an hour so that I can keep my heart rate under 140 beats per min. I have set my schedule and it looks something like this:

Monday - Bay swim + resistance exercise
Tuesday - 1hr ride + 40 min run
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Bay swim + resistance exercise
Friday - 1hr ride + 40 min run
Saturday - Bay swim + resistance exercise
Sunday - 1hr20min ride + 50min run

Praise baby cheeses that my new job allows me to spend a good chunk of time training, because if I was still restricted to 1hr sessions I would get absolutely nowhere!

I am on day 4 of my program and I have to say I love it. You will notice that there is no pool swimming scheduled. This is because, now that I work at the seabaths, it seems criminal to drive to a chlorinated pool to swim. In a cruel and unusual twist of fate I forgot my ipod for one of the ride sessions on the spinbike. One hour with nothing but me, the wall and a garmin to check the time on...constantly!

So I will keep you updated on how the base training goes and if I ever become more efficient than an 80 year old. I might even do a post about what sort of resistance training i'm doing. I know, you can't wait, can you.

And now on the flavour of the month. Mango berry smoothies! I have been loving this smoothie post workout. Its sweet and icy cold. The protein helps to repair the muscles from the long workout while the berries help to counteract some of the oxidative damage. The mango has anti-inflammatory properties, is rich in vitamin C and a great source of carbohydrates. One of the things you need to consider when you are increasing your exercise is the effect it will have on your immune system. Often if we increase too quickly and do not properly nourish and replenish the body, we can end up with colds and flus or just generally feeling unwell. Having this smoothie straight after exercise is just one of the ways I make sure that this doesn't happen to me!

Mango Berry Smoothie

Serves 1

1/2 Mango (I like to freeze it in ziplock bags so I can portion it out)
1 serve Protein powder (whey, pea, rice soy, etc)
350mls Almond milk (or cows, goats, rice, soy etc)
2 handfuls frozen mixed berries

Freezing the mango in portion sizes makes smoothies quick and easy and also means that they stay nice and thick when you drink them.

As always, place all the ingredients together and blend, blend, blend.

Voila!

Whats the plan for your training this week?

Rest Days and New Salad Recipes

Today was all about recovery. After 4 days of 4.30am starts and workouts that went something like this - triathlon, circuit weights session, hill climb interval training on the bike, run tempo training and sprints, I felt like a bit of rest and relaxation was in order. My hamstrings on the other hand screamed that it was in order.

I have been eating my favorite raw salad (the one that I posted the recipe for a few weeks ago) as my go to salad every other day and I have to admit that it has finally run its course.

So as I pondered what kind of new salad I would  make, I opened my fridge to see mounds of food. It appears that I have acquired a case of food cleptomania. The top 2 delicious ingredients that were in my fridge that had to be used asap were edamame and raw pistachios.
Edamame are green soy beans which are usually left in their pod and quickly boiled in lightly salted water. They have a fantastic creamy texture and are a great source of fibre, protein, Folate, Vitamin K and Manganese. I got them from my local Japanese deli, already cooked and ready to go. They can also be found in the frozen section of some supermarkets.
Now I know what you're thinking. Pistachios are disgusting (well, that's what I think anyway) but I am now a convert thanks to the owner of my local health food store who urged me to try a raw, un-dried, unsalted pistachio that had come straight from the farm. They are delicious. They are mild, sweet and have a crisp texture. Pistachios are a good source of Potassium, Magnesium, protein, Folate and fibre.

Pistachio, Pumpkin & Edamame Salad

Serves 1

3lge slices Pumpkin (approx 5mm thick) cooked in the oven for 10 minutes or until tender
2 handfuls Baby spinach
10-15 Pistachios, shelled
10-15 Edamames beans, de-podded
1T Avocado
2-4t Lemon juice
Salt & Pepper to season

Arrange the spinach on a plate. Cut the cooked pumpkin in to chunks and scatter over spinach. Add the shelled and de-podded pistachios and edamame.

In a separate bowl mash avocado and slowly add lemon juice until desired taste and consistency is reached. Add salt and pepper to dressing and then spoon over salad.

It may be hard to find the raw pistachios unless you live in the bayside area, but if you are having difficulty then they can always be swapped for chickpeas.

Hope you all enjoy it!

I'm Baaaack.

Why hello there! I know, I know, I have been a very naughty blogger. But i'm back. Lets have a quick catch up so that we can get on with the important stuff.

Since you saw me last I have...

Had my last day at a rubbish job that I hated
Eaten a McDonalds Happy Meal (someone needs to question that name - the only thing 'happy' about it was the price)
Booked a trip to Dubai, the UK, Costa Brava and Singapore
Done a 60km ride in 35 degree heat with 45km/hr headwinds (more brain-training than anything else)
Agreed to participate in the Ride to Conquer Cancer with my Mum - a 200km ride over 2 days with some camping in the middle. It will be so exciting!
Gone back to what I love and know - Personal training and Nutrition. My new office is now, literally, on the beach.
And finally...drumroll please...participated in my first ever triathlon.

I was more nervous than you could ever imagine, but after the swim was called off due to poor weather I calmed down a little bit. It was a great opportunity and I felt very lucky to be provided with a uniform, clubhouse to base myself from, personal masseurs, lots of yummy food and a fully paid for entry (gotta love corporate triathlons).

A special shout out to the best mum and step dad in the world who acted like it was the olympics and I had just broken some kind of world record. Much appreciated. Happy to live the illusion for an afternoon.

Now its back to business as usual guys. Stay tuned for new adventures, tips and of course, food, food, food!