Have been so busy, new video for the week!

Hi everyone, sorry I have been a bit M.I.A. I have just been so busy lately, my daughter is heading off to Australia for over a month which is going to kill me and I have been busy arranging passport, getting her motivated to get packing and today the day has finally arrived and her and I are travelling back to my home town Gisborne where I will hand her over to my parents who will then fly out next Wednesday..phew!

Here is my YouTube video for this week, I'm so sorry it's late I had a few technical difficulties!

I hope you are all well, and I will definitely be posting from Gisborne and will upload some photos. Take care, Barbs xx

And so the vlogging starts: Week 1

Here is my first vlog which I am just calling Week 1 because I cannot come up with a fancy schmancy name for my vlogs, it's what happens when you stay up too late and are so tired that you can't come up with anything clever. Enjoy!

Ebony and Ivory

Yesterday was such a glorious day, the weather was amazing and I loved my workout in the morning. I was sweating as if I had just  landed in Samoa, walked across the tarmac and instantly felt sweat dribbling down my legs, which incidentally did happen last year :)

The weather is definitely warming up here in New Zealand and I'm loving the extra burn I'm getting, however, I have also acquired the most ridiculous tan lines. My arms are shocking, I'm ebony and ivory in one! I wear a really good sunblock and yet I still tan. Genetics plays a huge part in this as my parents' are both part Polynesian. Do I think it's a bad thing having my skin change colour? no absolutely not but I would like an all over tan rather than looking like a walking life sized neenish tart!

Excuse the grainy picture!

I did it, I'm back at YouTube!

Well like I said a couple of posts ago, I'm back at YouTube and I am extremely glad to be back there. I have reconnected with some fantastic friends, and am so happy that anyone actually remembers me :) Relationships are so important when you are on a weight loss journey and I realise the importance of keeping those relationships going. I am so excited I can barely contain myself!

So here is the video I posted at 4:30am this morning with my lower eyelids hitting the table as I rendered this video for what seemed like an eternity! Note to self, never video on two different formats, silly, silly goot! Am I tired, hell no! I even did my 7.8km this morning, it's a fantastically brilliant day!

Feeling a little ho-hum

Well today, actually yesterday it's 2:17am at the moment, yesterday was a bit ho-hum, I felt a bit out of sorts like I've had a disturbance or something and I cannot get back into line, does that make sense? Yeah I think it does.  When I get like this I tend to feel a bit let down or lost even and then that's when the cravings kick in and boy did they ever do that today...grr...yesterday! I obviously need sleep don't I?

Curbing those cravings were a lot harder than usual, in fact I felt it was near impossible to stay on track, but I pulled myself together and came through, I've been feeling a bit like this for almost a week and it's driving me nuts! Luckily working out and eating right is so ingrained in me that I will not go off my plan!

Another thing that is not sitting well with me at the moment is that I promised I would help a friend with his weight loss and well, I haven't been, there's a communication issue and seeing that I don't like to be a giant pain in the ass, I have left it at that and now I feel bad about it. I guess I will just wait and see if he still wants me to help him to get moving and to reach his goals which I would love to see because he really deserves it!

There's not much else to say except I wish my rendering would hurry up so I can upload this video to youtube and then go to bed!

Nite xx

Salmon with Gremolata & Jasmine Rice

My favourite fish of all time is salmon, it's rich, full of omega oils and while it can be expensive to buy fresh, you only need a small amount. The gremolata takes this fish to a whole new dimension, the lemon and herbs are fresh and tasty it's a power packed vitamin meal.

You can use brown rice instead of Jasmine, whatever floats your boat :)

NOTE: The fish is cooked on the stove and in the oven so you will need a pan that can be put into the oven.





Ingredients - serves 2

2 x 150g salmon fillets, skin on
2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning (approx)
1 tablespoon olive oil


GREMOLATA
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely or grated
3 tablespoons flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind


TO SERVE
6 asparagus spears
1 cup of jasmine rice

Preheat your oven to 180C (350F)

Bring water to the boil in a steamer and steam the asparagus until tender, at the same time cook the rice as per directions on the pack.

Place the lemon rind, parsley and garlic into a bowl and mix together. Take a chopping board and sprinkle the mixture onto the chopping board. 

Season the salmon fillet with with a little sea salt and cracked black pepper then sprinkle cajun spice over both sides of the fillets.

Heat a non-stick pan with the olive oil and cook the salmon skin side down until the skin is crispy then flip the salmon fillets over and put the pan into the oven to finish the cooking process. 

Remove the salmon fillets from the pan and place onto the chopping board covering the salmon with the gremolata, cover both sides of the fish.

TO SERVE

Divide the asparagus spears onto each plate and place a fillet of salmon (skin side up) on top of the asparagus. Lastly place the rice next to the salmon and garnish with coriander and a slice of lemon.

My crazy love affair with lettuce!

My daughter's think their mother has lost the plot because while they sit down to eat their calorie laden icecream, I am sitting there with a bowl of lettuce, yes that's right lettuce! No dressing, no nothing just the lettuce and it has to be iceberg. I've become a bit of a looney detective going through the lettuce display at the supermarket checking them all before finding the biggest and healthiest looking lettuce I can find. Just yesterday one of the staff came over and said "you must really like lettuce", I said to him "I'm like an alcoholic is with booze, I can't get enough", and it's true, I can eat a whole one everyday! Is eating this like a maniac helping with my weight loss? you betcha! It helps curb my appetite especially at night, as I've always been a night time snacker and when I get the urge, I just dive into the fridge and grab me some crisp green goodness. My daughter says it's like living with a human sized rabbit!

So what are the health benefits of eating lettuce? It's low in saturated fat and cholesterol, a good source of iron, vitamin B6, K, A and C and is high in dietary fibre. It also contains traces of omega fatty acids and folate. Is this the only vegetable I eat? no of course not, I eat a lot of dark greens, carrots, sprouts, mushrooms and a lot of cruciferous vegetables. So come on, get your lettuce on!