My latest obsession is cottage cheese bagels which are so easy to make and, in their simplest form, only have 2 ingredients – cottage cheese and flour! I’ve started experimenting with the recipe and got some great results. They have more protein than your average bagel and no emulsifiers or preservatives. They freeze well and are great sliced in half then toasted the next day.
You can scan this QR code to see the original recipe then I’ll show you my adaptations below.
Pictured below are these three versions:
Wholewheat and sesame – use half wholewheat flour and put sesame seeds on top
Cinnamon and raisin – add a tablespoon of cinnamon to the dough then knead in a large handful of raisins
Mature cheddar and Parmesan – add a large handful of grated cheddar to the dough then add finely grated Parmesan on top
Today is the final check in with Beth after 6 months on her coaching program (which you can find out more about here)
Beth’s coaching has totally and utterly changed my life. In the last 6 months I have lost over 2.5 stone but that is just the tip of the iceberg. I could not have believed 6 months ago that my life could change so much for the better.
Before I started coaching I used to have an internal battle with myself about which 2 or 3 days I would exercise each week. If I managed 1 or 2 workouts/runs then I saw that as a win. I needed Beth to hold me accountable so that I would exercise. 6 months later Beth is lecturing me about the importance of having rest days as I just can’t get enough of exercising!
I initially said that one of my goals was to try and have at least 4 dry nights a week and to drink moderately on the other nights. I have drunk alcohol moderately on 3 nights in the past month and had several months of not drinking at all. What is most amazing about this is that I have loved every minute of it. Why would I get drunk and not be able to get up for a run the next day?? I don’t recognise myself and this is down to the videos, podcasts and coaching that Beth has shared with me. I haven’t had to be a hermit either – I’ve still really enjoyed sober nights out, parties and several camping trips.
Other positive side effects of this coaching are:
I have more energy
I sleep much better
I am happy
I am calm
I am mindful
I rarely get stressed and if I do then it passes quickly as I am much better at taking control of situations
My blood pressure is normal
I am more productive at work
I don’t usually need to get up for the loo in the night
I don’t hate photos of myself
I don’t have to wear baggy clothes anymore
People keep telling me I look great
I spend all the money I used to spend on booze on clothes (good job I don’t drink much as I can’t stop buying clothes as everything I try on looks great!)
My dogs are getting great walks/runs
I’m setting a good example to my kids
I no longer spend lots of time worrying about my health
I no longer have constant internal battles with myself about drinking, eating healthily and exercising. It just comes naturally.
No food is off limits
I no longer avoid carbs
I don’t get stressed if my hubby puts a huge glug of oil in the pan when he’s cooking
I can run up hills without stopping
I can run 10 km in under an hour
This coaching is the best money I have ever spent and can’t thank Beth enough. Having someone in my corner who is so empathic and passionate about me and my health has been amazing. I’m going to have to carry on attending Beth’s boxercise classes so that I still get my Beth fix every week.
I am astounded at how I managed to do Chatsworth 10K in 56 mins 45 seconds yesterday. With 192m elevation – most of which is in km 2-5 – it was very challenging. Previously my fastest 10km was 69 minutes! 6 months of health and fitness coaching has really paid off!
I’ve been reading and listening to a lot about alcohol recently. I’m really interested in the effect it has on sleep. I often wake up in the early hours and can’t get back to sleep when I’ve been drinking. Apparently that’s quite common according to the literature. However, I drank last Saturday and last night but felt like I’d slept pretty well – I woke up in the middle of the night but got straight back to sleep again. I’d put this down to drinking much more moderately than I used to and drinking plenty of water in between alcoholic drinks. Look at my Garmin sleep scores though! I clearly didn’t get the right kind of sleep on Saturday or last night! That explains why I feel so lethargic this morning!
I feel like I’m on the verge of quitting alcohol completely and this is adding weight to the argument for quitting. What did I gain from drinking last night? We had a lovely Thai curry at a friend’s then watched a film. I would have enjoyed both just as much without a drink. I would have got up and done park run this morning and that would have made me feel great. Instead I’m lying in bed lamenting over the fact I drank last night. What is the point? Well, back to the quit lit to fill my head with positivity about not drinking! Here are a few recommendations:
This naked mind app
The unexpected joy of being sober by Catherine Gray
I just made these pancakes that I discovered on instagram. I added a big handful of frozen blueberries to the mix which worked really well. Full of protein and fibre so great after a run. They were delicious! Scan the QR code to see the instagram post!
I have to say I’m not the best at moderation, particularly when it comes to alcohol. I’m great at having no alcohol but once I have one drink I really struggle to stop until I fall asleep (sometimes in the middle of a party!) Then I wake up the next morning feeling rubbish and waste the day feeling sorry for myself. So, this week I had an internal battle going on in my head about whether to drink last night or do parkrun today. In the end I gave myself a good talking to and made myself drink in moderation. It worked! I got up feeling fresh as a daisy this morning and smashed Graves parkrun! It was mostly easy to drink moderately but there were moments where it could’ve gone either way. I did it though and practise makes perfect!
I forgot to make my overnight oats last night but really fancied some this morning. So, I just covered the oats in boiling water to soften them and left them to cool while I blended the kefir with fruit and prepped the fruit to go on top! Voila! You wouldn’t know they hadn’t been prepared last night!
Until last week, my only goal for running was getting to the end of the run. It felt like that was a big enough achievement. However, I have signed up for an extra 2 months health and fitness coaching with Jazzy B fitness and Beth, my coach, wanted me to have a goal to work towards. As I’ve lost most of the weight I was planning to lose, a weight goal of a few pounds didn’t seem enough. So I’m aiming to run Chatsworth 10K on 22 September in an hour or less. To help me work up to this, Beth has set me some running goals for the week and one of them was to do parkrun in 30 mins (which is a personal best for me). Well I totally smashed that goal today as I did it in 27:30 mins!!
I haven’t been organised enough to make my overnight oats this weekend but I wanted to get back into my routine of having kefir every day so I threw together this breakfast smoothie which was delicious!
