Hunkering Down

Time is really flying this week, probably thanks to having Monday off work, but I’m still pleased that it’s Friday tomorrow. This weekend I’m meeting up with a group of friends from university for a trip down memory lane and to wave goodbye to one of them. She’s going with her husband on a round the world trip for five months! We’re going to eat in our favourite noodle bar from university and maybe have a few drinkies in our old hang-outs. It might also include a walk to work off all those noodles, depending on whether the wind ever dies down!

If it’s possible, the wind was even worse last night. It was really howling around the house and rattling the door and windows. There was a mega draft coming through the door that left me shivering, so I hunkered down with a warming spicy stew.

I love to eat stews all year round, but it was especially good on a night like that. It followed my usual stew formula – loads of veggies, some protein, some carbs, and lots of spices. This one had carrots, courgette, aubergine, leeks, mushrooms, sweet potato, chickpeas, tinned tomatoes, chilli powder, cumin, coriander powder, ginger powder and pepper. Despite the long list of ingredients it was so simple to make because I just chopped everything up without too much care and threw it into a big pan. I took the photograph before I’d finished piling it all into the bowl, but once it was all in it was overflowing … just how I like it.

On my fitness schedule for yesterday was some cross-training. There was no way that I was going outside again, so I settled for doing the 30 Day Shred. I haven’t tackled any of Jillian Michaels’ workouts for a while, so I’d forgotten how tough they were! I intended to do levels 1 and 2, but halfway through level 1 I decided that just the one level was enough to ease me back into some sort of strength training.

I strained my right pectoral minor muscle (the one between your arm-pit and collar bone) way back in May. It was sore, but I could still run, lift weights etc, so I ignored the discomfort. It refused to go away, so in December I sought help from my chiropractor and decided to let it heal by leaving off the weights and being careful in yoga. That injury is also known as “benchpresser’s shoulder” – haha … I’ve never done a bench-press in my life! It’s been feeling a lot better lately, although I can still feel some discomfort, so I decided to use very light weights for the Shred. Even that was tough and I was shocked at how much strength I’d lost in my shoulders. Also, I’d not done a push-up for months, so it was like the first time all over again.

This morning my shoulder is a little sore, but nothing major. I do have mild soreness in my bum and inner thighs, so I must have done some good with that workout. I’ll not be lifting heavy anytime soon, but I would like to do some strength training once a week while my injury continues to heal.

What do you like to eat when the wind is howling and the rain is battering against the windows?