Fitness

MY VEGAN MONTH REVIEW

Published on July 19, 2017July 19, 2017 by simplycarinaxoLeave a comment

Hey guys,

Firstly, I am so sorry that I have been MIA recently! I have now finally got the internet back and will be trying to get back to blogging regularly again!

As you know I spent the last month being vegan. I really enjoyed the challenge and only caved once to have a nibble, literally a teeny bite of an egg and of a teeny bite of a slice of salami. However although I managed pretty well I did miss certain things, or rather a month without was fine, but a forever without stresses me a little aha. Thus I have decided for now to allow myself the occasional exception, eg. 1 croissant a month and a dippy egg or something.

You may think well that’s not being vegan and no, it isn’t being 100% vegan, but you know what, I am still proud of myself for the changes I have made so far. Leading a mostly vegan diet is still making a bigger impact on my health, the environment and animal welfare than if I hadn’t made any changes at all! I used to eat a lot of meat and dairy and I do hope that I will eventually become 100% vegan, just not right now.

So here just a couple of my Vegan meals from the last month:

Hope you have all been keeping well!

Love Carina xo

VEGAN WRAP PIZZA

Published on June 22, 2017June 24, 2017 by simplycarinaxoLeave a comment

Good morning guys,

Yesterday I decided I would try making a pizza with wraps. I have seen so many people doing this and thought it was about time I tried it. I was plesantly surprised! It was yummy!

I started by putting a very thin layer of tomato pasta sauce on a wrap and then putting a second wrap on top. I thought a slightly thicker base would be nicer and the little tomato sauce stuck the two wraps together. Then I topped the second wrap with more tomato sauce, shallots, cherry tomatoes, vegan feta, salt, pepper, dried basil, parsley and oregano and cooked in the oven for about 10 mins till cheese had melted and the wrap looked crispy. Finally I topped it with fresh basil and a drizzle of balsamic. It really was rather tasty and I shall definitely be making this again! Its so quick and easy!! And filling!!

Have you ever tried wrap pizzas?? What are your favourite toppings, I’d love to know!

Love Carina xo

SMOOTHIE CLEANSE!

Published on April 20, 2017 by simplycarinaxoLeave a comment

Hey guys,

After another week of not loosing anything – oops – I have decided to do a 4 day smoothie cleanse this week. Four days of only drinking smoothies – woo aha! Lots of vitamins, not many carbs and hardly and sugars! I need to get into the swing of not allowing myself treats again aha!

I always wonder why I allow myself treats occasionally when I know they are not good for me in the first place, for three reasons. One, the obvious being weight wise. Two, they create a risk of me falling off the wagon. Three, I think I might be lactose intolerant (I will write a post on this sometime) so chocolate and the likes give me a bad stomach!

I am starting today and I will be drinking three smoothies today. I am excited to see how it will make me feel, if I will feel satiated enough and also how my stomach will react.

I will write down all the smoothies I make and will share my favourites with you at the end of the four days!

So let’s begin!

Love Carina xo

WHAT I EAT IN A DAY

Published on April 5, 2017March 3, 2025 by simplycarinaxo1 Comment

Hello my beautiful friends,

Here’s a what I eat in a day from last week as I am currently in the Peak District!

So after a couple too many drinks the night before aha I had a breakfast to help cure my mini hangover. Dippy eggs, bacon and an Innocent smoothie.

I had a late start at work, my shift only starting at 12pm so I could enjoy my breakfast in peace and lunch at work was only at about 3pm. I got this yummy avocado chicken salad!

After work I hit the gym and so dinner was a bit later, but I was ready for it. I made a little portion of a chicken green veg stir fry with some corn on the cob, which I absolutely love to eat with just a little butter and salt – yummy!

Love Carina xo

2 STONE DOWN

Published on April 4, 2017April 3, 2017 by simplycarinaxo2 Comments

Good morning friends,

So I completely forgot to mention yesterday, but after a bit of a standstill the past two weeks (having been ill the first and then just not quite back into the swing of things the second) I have managed to loose 2kg / 4.4lbs this week!!! This finally brings me down to 89kg!! It has been quite a while since I have been under 90kg! I am soo happy to still be making progress.

So since I started my weightloss journey I have lost 2 stone! When I look in the mirror I sadly struggle to see any difference, but other people have commented they can tell, and when I put on my jeans I can tell I’ve lost as I need to wear a belt with them now to keep them up. So I guess the changes are starting to show slowly but surely! I can’t wait to see how my journey progresses!

Love Carina xo

WHAT I EAT IN A DAY

Published on March 29, 2017March 29, 2017 by simplycarinaxo2 Comments

Hello my beautiful readers,

Time for another what I eat in a day.

So yesterday, as most Tuesdays, I had a day off and spent all morning working on this blog and planning future posts. For my breakfast I made this yummy smoothie: 1 banana, 10 frozen strawberries, 1 slice of pineapple, 1tbsp of cocoa, 1 tsp of matcha powder, 1 tsp of green boost powder!

At 1.30pm I was still working on my blog whilst catching up on watching YouTube, but paused to make a quick bite of lunch – courgetti spaghetti – yummmm! 1/2 a courgette, a handful of olives, tbsp of green pesto, 1 slice of ham, pepper et voila!

In the afternoon, I went to the gym doing some cardio and some weights. When I got home I cooked some dinner – a tasty green veggie stir fry rice dish! Broccoli, green beans, kale, bean sprouts, onion, garlic, chicken and soy sauce! Twas very yummy and I treated myself to some beer too, a light 2.8% small bottle from Lidl.

After dinner, I ran myself a bath and had another beer and watched some very powerful and interesting documentaries about the meat and dairy industry – I will write a post about these documentaries soon! Well that’s it for today or rather yesterday aha! Hope you enjoyed!

Love Carina xo

MINI PRIMARK HAUL

Published on March 24, 2017March 24, 2017 by simplycarinaxo2 Comments

Hello my beautiful readers,

On my day off on Tuesday I went into Newcastle in the afternoon as it was such a nice day, although really windy, and I just needed to get out of the house for a bit and enjoy some me time. I popped into Primark as I needed some new leggings and trainers, but as usual ended up picking up a couple of other things too, so I just thought I’d share!

First I just picked up some plain black leggings; they are my no.1 wardrobe staple. I then spotted this cute peplum top for only £3 and had to get it. Admittedly it’s not quite warm enough yet to walk around in tops aha, but it has such a cute floaty shape and is great for layering. Shoe wise I only needed new light breathable trainers but I fell in love with these greeny/grey slightly sturdier trainers and had to get them too!

Next I decided to treat myself to some new gym wear; having new stuff to wear to the gym is always motivational don’t you think? So my old gym trainer were very worn through and needed replacing, these black ones are super lightweight and airy which is perfect for the gym. I always get sweaty feet and hate trainers which are too thick and don’t let your feet breath, so I hope these will do the trick. On my way to town on Tuesday I dropped of some clothes at a charity shop, including a pair of gym leggings which were just too large, so when I saw these beautiful leggings I had to get them! Such cute floral pattern with a bit of meshing at the knee – I am in love! Although I’m a sweaty mess at the gym it’s nice to at least feel a little pretty in what you’re wearing aha. I also decided to get a new sports bra as I really liked the back mesh like pattern.

Just to mention, this is the first time I’ve posted photos of me in skin tight clothing and part of my stomach out, but you know what, it’s all about self love, and I felt great taking these photos and knowing I’m on my journey to self improvement makes me very happy and proud, this is my body, the only one I’ll ever have and I am learning to love it!

Love Carina xo

WHAT I EAT IN A DAY

Published on March 23, 2017March 1, 2024 by simplycarinaxoLeave a comment

Hello my beautiful friends,

It’s time for another What I Eat In A Day post!

Last week I stewed up some plums which were just a bit past ripe to enjoy, and then totally forgot about them. Yesterday morning I spotted them in the fridge and decided to make some French toast as it’s amazing topped with stewed plums! I had a soft roll which needed eating so I cut it into three parts and then dunked it into my cinnamon and egg mix (cinnamon is a must for me when making French toast) and then fried it in the pan (no butter or oil). The plum compote I just warmed up in the microwave and enjoyed with the French toast. I also made myself a berry smoothie to drink throughout the morning. I can’t do mornings without a smoothie aha, it’s so much a part of my routine now!

For Lunch I had some vegetable soup with low sugar toast (Warburtons tiger bread at 0.5g of sugar per slice is by far the lowest sugar bread I have found). For some reason however, I started feeling full and a bit queasy halfway through my soup so didn’t manage to finish it.

Dinner was a bit of a naughty meal as it was the leaving do from one of my work friends. We all went to an Italians and enjoyed some yummy food. We all had olives and bread for starters, then for mains I ordered a breaded chicken with asparagus in a tomato sauce with vegetables and garlic bread (the only thing that was disappointing was that there was so many potatoes in the vegetables I was hoping for more greens) but the chicken was super tasty and such a large portion that I only managed half and got the rest wrapped up to take home. With the meal I enjoyed a glass of white wine and the we got a shot of limoncello on the house after dessert. Although I was really full I indulged in a hazelnutty thing with meringue and chocolate filling for dessert.

So that wraps up my what I eat in a day!

Love Carina xo

BEST FRESH JUICE EVER!

Published on March 5, 2017March 2, 2018 by simplycarinaxoLeave a comment

Hey my beautiful friends,

Just a short post to share my absolute favourite fresh juice at the moment. Sadly juicing is just a bit expensive so I don’t always treat myself to this, however we do have a good market fruit and veg shop in Durham and sometimes they have some amazing deals on, so when I had a look the other day I stocked up! They had Jaffa Oranges (usually £1.85 in Tesco) on sale for only 60p!! Bargain!!!!!

Anyhow, to the drink – it’s nothing special, just freshly squeezed oranges and grapefruits, but the combination is kinda amazing!

I would usually squeeze 3 oranges to 1 grapefruit (although here I used 4 and a sprig of mint and squeeze of lime too). Just remember to pop in the fridge to chill or add and ice cube or two – it is the most tasty and refreshing when cool! Let me know if you try this and enjoy it too!

Love Carina xo

WHAT I EAT IN A DAY!

Published on March 1, 2017March 1, 2017 by simplycarinaxo2 Comments

Hey there my beautiful friends,

So I thought I’d start a What I Eat In A Day post every Wednesday, hope you enjoy!

Breakfast: Smoothie Bowl (frozen mixed berries, 1 banana 1/3 of a mango – topped with oats, cacao nibs, chia seeds, coconut, blueberries and pomegranate) 900ml of mint and lime water

Snack/Lunch: Decaf filter coffee, 1 pear and some more water

Post Gym Snack: Fresh orange and grapefruit juice (4 oranges, 1 grapefruit, half a lime and a sprig of mint)

Dinner: Tuna Mayo Salad (mixed leaf salad, 1/2 tin of tuna mixed with red onion and mayonnaise, cucumber, green olives and 2 slices of organic white bloomer bread with sunflower spread)

I got up at about 9.30 am and made my breakfast – yummy and very filling! At about 12.20 I made my coffee and cut up a pear, but I actually struggled to eat the pear, having had nearly a whole 1l of water throughout the morning which filled my stomach and left me rather full. I had the gym at 2pm though so felt I should at least eat the pear to give me a bit more energy. So at 1.30pm I left for the gym for the second part of my programming session, adding some leg and ab work to my gym routine. After my session was over a stayed a little longer and did some more arm work. When I got home at about 4.30pm I made myself some freshly pressed juice and ran a bath, again haha, I do love my baths! At 6pm I popped to the shop to get some salad and cucumber and then came home to make this yummy salad. I am nicely full now and the only thing else I might have tonight is a cup of tea and maybe if I’m feeling peckish when I settle down to watch the Vikings (which btw if you haven’t seen yet you really should!) I might have a small portion of low sugar Tyrrells sea salt & cider vinegar crisps.

Well there you go, my what I eat in a day.

I hope you have all had a wonderful day,

Love Carina xo