Your Five A Day

World No Tobacco Day

The 31st May is World No Tobacco Day and also marks a month of me giving up smoking. I must confess I have relapsed a couple of times. The first time was a total disaster. Drink and will power do not mix and I must have got through the best part of a packet of 20. I also woke up with the worst hangover I've had in years which I put down to the ciggies. Even if it wasn't the memory is enough to make me never want to smoke again (when I'm sober that is).

The second time wasn't as bad. I was feeling really fed up and just thought sod it - one or two won't harm. So I bought a packet of 10 (I haven't done that since I was a student!) and smoked three before realising how silly I was being.

But apart from those times I've been very good. I'm not saying it hasn't been a nightmare though. It has been absolutely awful. But I now have a milestone in touching distance so I'm hoping that once I get to the end of the month it will become easier.

I'm also happy that so far I've not had to use any no-smoking aids apart from willpower. But we'll see ... It's only been 3 weeks - there's a long way to go.

Yes, We Have No Bananas!

I've started making smoothies for breakfast. I'm not really a breakfast person except in the winter when I like porridge or I go to the local cafe for a fry-up. But in the summer I get up earlier and in the heat I don't really fancy something too stodgy first thing in the morning. So smoothies seem the perfect answer - plus they're a great way to help me get one or two of my five a day.

The problem I'm having is variety. At the moment all the smoothies I've made seem to be banana based with another fruit thrown in - so banana and blueberry, banana and strawberry, banana and peanut butter (it's lovely, honest!). I like the creaminess bananas give smoothies and they're sweet and I have got a sweet tooth. And best of all the local market sells huge bowls of ripe bananas for pennies.

But I need to test out different flavours so I'm going to start experimenting with different smoothie recipes. Any ones that I make that turn out half decent will be added to our collection of smoothie recipes.

Great British Menu

Today is the final of Great British Menu. This has been the best week by far - I feel that in the earlier episodes there's far too much padding in the shows and it's so obviously done for when it's repeated on UKTV Food. This week though has been great and I was so pleased last night when Glynn Purnell won the pudding round with his wonderful burnt cream in an egg cup served with strawberries and honeycomb with a maximum 30 points from the judges. I just hope the viewers felt the same as they did and he wins tonight.

Although I can't take to the man I have been interested in the way Chris Horridge has created gourmet meals that are also good for you. Personally I think there's nothing wrong with gorging on fat and sugar when you go out for a nice meal but I can understand that in this day and age of healthy eating some people aren't and he is catering perfectly for them. I found a nice article from The Times which goes some way to explaining his philosophy.

Great British Menu - BBC site.

The books from the previous series are available from Amazon. I haven't tried many of the recipes but was very proud when I made Gary Rhodes' Kentish apple mousse with toasted honey syrup apples and it worked!!

The Fit Flop

I got an email from a friend with a link to the Fit Flop. Apparently they're designed so that with every step you take the Fit Flop will help tone and trims your legs. The Fit Flop’s uniquely built multi-density midsole activates muscles midstep to help tone thighs, calves and glutes - she quoted from a press release obviously.

I didn't take offence - she knows I'm on a mission to tone up my legs before I go on holiday and anyway I love them. They look ok and if they can help me get slender thighs then I'm all for them.

Ricky Hatton

I've managed to get tickets to see the Ricky Hatton vs Juan Lazcano on Saturday (yes I know I have to go to Manchester but I'm sure I'll cope) and I'm sitting here watching him on Gordon Ramsey's The F Word thinking to myself "no wonder he lost against Mayweather".

In between fights the man has the most awful diet. I knew he had a problem with ballooning in between fights and now I can see why. Before Ramsey got hold of him he lived on takeaways and junk food when he wasn't in training. And even I know that yo-yo dieting is not the way to go to lose weight and stay healthy.

Read more about how Ramsey helped Hatton here and take Louise's advice and get yourself on a proper long term diet plan.

Wow! I never thought I would write a diet post!

Hoodia Gordonii

During my research into diets I kept coming across something called Hoodia Gordonii. Now, as I'm not one to read Heat magazine et al, I somehow missed that it's the celebrity slimming aid of choice. Heck, there's even been a row about whether Oprah endorsed it or not which completely passed me by (not, apparently)!

Anyway, as it's so popular I decided to write about it for our Slimming Pills section. I don't think it's going to be something that I'll use but hopefully the information I've found out about Hoodia will be enough to help you make up your own mind.

No Smoking Signs

I found these great no smoking signs to buy online. As I work from home I think it's the law that I should have them displayed anyway. But I'm hoping that they will help to remind that I should be smoking - I was very naughty last night, but I'm paying for it today.

Also, I seem to have hijacked this blog by going on about my quest to stop smoking. I think I should leave it for a while and give the others a chance to write about something. And also write about some other things myself!

PS - I have managed to write quite a bit about smoking though! Some of the facts are very scary.

Tesco eDiets

I was trying on my bikini this morning and I have to say that I didn't look as good in it as I thought I would. I've just had a look at my holiday snaps from last year and there are definitely a few extra pounds on my thighs that need shifting before I subject my body to other beach-goers.

Tesco eDiets have been running ads on the TV for a while now offering a 10 day free trial when you sign up their online diet plan. As it was one of the diet programmes we reviewed I think I might give it a go.

They offer 16 different plans including ones for different types of health problems such as low-sugar, low-salt, low-cholestrol etc and if you're diabetic they've got a diabetes plan. I'm thinking of going for the Spring Fresh diet. If you want to take advantage of the 10 day free trial then read more about Tesco eDiets here.

Marathons Are Coming Back

And not the type that Paul reckons he's going to be running next year - please note dear reader that there has been a distinct lack of posts about his planned endeavour ...

No I'm talking about the chocolate bar. Mars is to bring back the original name of Marathon nearly twenty years after they were renamed Snickers. Opal fruits are also making a comeback and while I know it's not going to make any difference to the taste of two of my favourite sweets there's just something nice about it. Now all that needs to happen is for Wispas to make a permanent return and my life shall be complete.

If you love chocolate but not what it does your hips then take a look at some of our alternative chocolate ideas.

Walking

My family comes from the country and it's lovely to go home and take in the fresh air by going for a brisk walk. But in London apart from the parks it's difficult to really get out in the open air. I went home yesterday for the day and we walked for miles through woods and fields, along streams and bridle paths. I looked at trees and smelt gorgeous flowers ... can you tell it's done wonders for my spirit?!

Apparently we need to walk at least 10,000 steps a day to stay healthy and when I'm in London I doubt I do half of that. There's loads of walking clubs you can join and I had fun this afternoon selecting some great products for our walking shop. If you want to find a walking or rambling association in your area take a look here. And I'm definitely entering the competition to try and win a walking holiday I found.