My Fatal Flaw

You know how in many Shakespearean tragedies the protagonist/s have that one fatal flaw that ultimately leads to their tragic demise?

Like Romeo and Juliet were two brash and hasty in their decisions, Macbeth who was too consumed by his ambition, Hamlet- riddled with indecisiveness....

And it came to my attention that I, too, have a fatal flaw. A fatal 'typical healthy living blogger' flaw (I probably have a lot of other flaws that could objectively be fatal, however this is a healthy food blog... so I'm gonna stick with that theme!)

What is my fatal flaw that will lead to my utter and complete annihilation? (Or something along those lines :)

It is without a doubt my inability to leave food on my plate. If it tastes good, I'm eating it all, no matter what. (If it tastes bad I may just leave a few crumbs for the bin) This came to my attention this morning when I had just finished my run and was going about making my breakfast.

I was hungry, bordering on hangry and definitely rungry (how many other plays on hungry can I fit in here?) and so I poured in a substantial amount of buckwheat groats, a big ol' scoop of choc protein powder, a quite large banana and generous sprinkles of coconut butter throughout the cooking process and afterwards. Needless to say, there was a lot of breakfast!

Chocolate coconut protein buckwheat porridge

All that melty coconutty goodness and warm, gooey rich chocolatey-ness was just too much to handle!!

The first few bites of this sunshine yellow mug of delicious-ness were out-of-this-world good! Then the richness factor of the meal started to kick in and about halfway through I was kind of... done? But there was still a whole half a mug there and so on I trudged (I know, it was tough) and finished it all!

And yes, like all those tragedies listed above, it didn't end too well. I wasn't sick or anything, I just felt kinda yuck and knew I'd had a bit too much :)

It seems to be the same with anything I make really. Even if I know I've made a bit too much and it's literally overflowing out of my bowl/ mug/ plate/ saucepan I still manage to finish it because it just tastes too good to waste.

You may be wondering why I don't just package it up for another time, however more often than not there's only a small amount left that just wouldn't be satisfying the next time (have I mentioned my hunger before?) and so I just shovel it down.

I know it's not the best and I should be listening to my hunger cues, stopping when I'm full etc. But I feel like I do so many other things well (making sure my body is well fed with whole nutritious foods and moving to feel good) that if I only have the one fatal flaw when it comes to food, I'm ok with that.

Now I'm thinking back fondly of that rich, decadent buckwheat porridge. See, didn't last too long :)

What about you?
What would you say is your fatal flaw when it comes to healthy eating/ living?
Are you a 'finish everything on the plate' kind of person?
Ever tried chocolate buckwheat? It is gooood

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend, relax, enjoy any spare time you have for yourself, eat something delicious and tell someone you love them, I feel we don't say that enough to the ones we love :) Bye friends! :D

A review of the [significant] decrease in miles

Hello friends!

If you're a long-term fan of Steph 2 chef (fan/ reader, they're really interchangeable right?) you might recall me writing a post about how my 2-hour 20+km runs were leaving me burnt out and over running (how was I surprised? I pushed myself too hard for any kind of love I had for running to motivate me)

You may also recall me saying I was going to decrease my mileage in order to regain the love I have for the sport.

I'm not gonna lie to you guys, because this space is a space where I can be honest and tell you the truth. I ended up forcing myself to get up at 4:30am in the morning to complete my 2-hour runs before school in the burning-out stages of my running because I was scared that if I didn't I'd fail. I'd lose my identity as a runner, I'd probably gain a lot of weight because my body was used to such ridiculous distances and I would be buzzing around full of energy because I hadn't done a decent workout.

Yep, I was freaked out. But then something crazy happened. I decreased my miles and the world continued to spin! Not only that but I was feeling a heck of a lot better after running, I remembered what those good exercise-produced endorphins felt like, I remembered what it was like to have energy for the remainder of the day and walk around without having to feel every muscle in my legs. I didn't gain any weight and instead lost my uncomfortable running bloat I'd managed to become accustomed to. Better yet, I got to sleep-in, to truly let my body rest for a good 8 + hours and then not stress it out with a double digit run.

Now-a-days I'm running between 5-10km (very rarely 10, generally around 7) and I'm feeling great. It baffles me when I think back to the pitch-black mornings I forced myself to jog out into and then continue to do so for hours.

Run whatever you want to run :)

Why do I feel the need to write this? I guess I want to make it clear to all those who, like I did, suff3er with an exercise obsession that is simply unhealthy. Those who don't look forward to their workouts but force themselves to power through every single day, gradually feeling worse and worse. Those who have an internal freak out when they are inhibited from being able to do their workout and don't know how they will function otherwise. Those who swap out valuable things like spending time with family or even sleeping in favour of a workout. Those who just feel blah.

Because now that I look back on it, that was me.

I'm not going to lie, it was hard at first to significantly reduce the amount of exercise I was doing but it didn't take long to realise the benefits to my body . After that it became obvious that my body wasn't happy before and is recovering now. After maybe a week or so, I didn't even worry about how much my exercise routine had changed and instead focused on the pleasure I got from my short HIIT bursts of Purely Twins workouts or my 30 minute runs.

Crazily my hunger hasn't hanged all too much and I think I realise that I definitely was not eating enough during my crazy-long run days. My weight hasn't changed at all, and if anything my muscles look more defined and toned than they ever have before. Win!

The only thing I regret is the weeks and weeks I put myself through this. My body wasn't happy and I wasn't happy and I guess I'm grateful that I finally managed to realise this now. From here on out I listen to my body and I respect it because it deserves it! :) Love your body people, look after it and it will look after you!

I feel like having gone through this and then coming out of it I have a kind of obligation to share my experience and encouragement to others. You can enjoy exercise. You can love your body. You can free yourself from this awful feeling you have come to know. You are strong and worthy of self-love!

What about you?
Have you ever suffered with an exercise addiction?
How do you make sure your not pushing yourself too hard?
Favourite quote about loving your body?

That's it from me today friendly friends. Today I'm linking up with Spoons for Thursday's Thinking Out Loud link-up, so be sure to head on over and check out what everyone else is thinking about today! Have a fabulous day and do something you love. Bye!! :D

WIAW #60 Deliciousness!

Happy Wednesday friendly friends! Do you know what makes this Wednesday extra happy? For me at least? Last exam! Yes! So stoked and ready to crash tomorrow... before heading back to school next week for the last 3 weeks of term. Yeah, I don't understand either!

Any who, along with studying like a boss I've also been eating like one too, because using one's brain requires lots of energy!! On that note, here's everything I ate on Tuesday, a rest day from exams :). Thanks as usual to Peas and Crayons for this awesome WIAW link-up each week!

Pre-run: 6:30am
I took advantage of not having to be at school by 8, so slept in a little bit and had a lovely 40 minute treadmill run (it's coming into Winter over here in Aus, in case you were wondering about the treadmill scenario) and because I woke up hungry, I consumed 2 dates prior to my run at 7:00am.

Breakfast: 8:15am
After stretching, showering and guzzling water my breakfast was cooked and I was HUNGRY!

 In that delightfully yellow mug was a big serving of choc protein steel cut oats with some of my home-made cashew butter scattered throughout and on top. It was extremely delicious!

 Warm, gooey, chocolate-y... what more could you ask for?

Lunch: 12:30pm
I wasn't hungry for hours after breakfast but as lunch time rolled round I knew I should probably eat something to keep that metabolism chugging along and keep my body happy so I set about making something I just really felt like:

 A big ol' stir fry!

 Firstly I sauteed off some garlic and onion with sesame oil, then I added in some chopped brocoli, capsicum, eggplant, zucchini and mushrooms for a few mins until tender, next I threw in some peas, corn, satay tofu, spinach and brown rice vermicelli (that had soaked in boiling water for a couple of minutes) and mixed it all together on high heat until combined and delicious!

 Happy Tummmy!

Snack: 4:15pm
We had a literature excursion type thing scheduled for this night at the theater to see a play called Glengarry Glen Ross, so I ate a pretty hefty snack to tide me over until around 8:00pm when the play finished.

 Chopped cantaloupe, granny smith apple and a big mug of soy milk:

Dinner: 8:00pm
After the play (which was...interesting. The actors were amazing, but I don't think I fully understood what was going on... and every second word was a swear word) my stomach was growling and I took out these falafel type things I had made that afternoon:

 Red kidney beans + lentils+cumin+paprika+ginger+pepper+steamed mashed pumpkin and potato- all whazzed up together in a mini food processor and baked in the oven (180 degrees Celsius) for around 40 mins.

 Very tasty and filling!

And that's what I ate this past Tuesday!


What about you?
Do you normally have a pre-workout snack? It sort of depends for me. My stomach can do just fine without one but I feel like my energy levels are significantly better with a little sustenance inside.
Fan of stir fry?
Favourite portable dinner?

Still hungry for more? Head on over to Peas and Crayons to see what everyone else has been nom-ing on! Bye for now guys, have a great day and as always, eat something delicious! Bye! :D

My favourite foods that I eat. Repetitively.

I don't like repetition.
Or so I thought...

I know I don't like change and I don't like changing up a routine I've grown comfortable with, but when it comes to food, I like to mix things up and hate having the same things ever. single. day.

But then I started to notice a few meals that kept popping up on my memory card, over and over again and I realised that I do in fact, eat some of the same foods quite often. At first I thought this was a bad thing, you know like I'm not venturing out of my comfort zone or trying new flavours, but then I came to realise that these are my favourite meals and that's why they're always popping up in the craving section of my brain.

So below are a few of the meals that happen on repeat around these parts and that I've grown so accustomed to that I could probably whip them up asleep (and wouldn't be surprised if I did ;)

Oat balls/ truffles:

You guys have seen these a lot because I post about them a lot, because I like them. A lot. See this post, this post, this post, this post (possibly my favourite), and we'll end it with this post :).

That was only a few of the links... Anywho, they're delicious, super easy to make and awesome as a make-the-night-before-and-not-have-to-think-in-the-morning breakfast! (see here)

You may have also noticed that beautifully deep-purple stuff in the picture above and you may have already guessed, but it's my beloved fro-yo!

I guess it all started back to this post Since then I've been buying all the fruit and freezing it to whaz up with greek yoghurt to make all different flavours of 'frozen yoghurt'.

This guy was 1/2 chopped banana + a handful of frozen blackberries + 3 spoons greek yoghurt, whazzed up in a mini food processor until smooth. So good!

Another breakfast creation that is going no-where in the foreseeable future is my beloved smoothie bowls!

Smoothie Bowls:

Smoothie:

+ home-made granola:

= Happiness:

Again, I just can't seem to get enough of this warm, fudge-y, refreshing, fruity bowl of awesome. And have made many, many, many, many (and many more) smoothie bowls in the past 1-2 years or so.

Onto the savoury stuff (although, this isn't really savoury... ahh well :)

Baked  and stuffed sweet potatoes:
I love me a full baked sweet potato stuffed with delicious-ness and have come to realise that I have at least one every week (generally 2).
My favourite combo of the minute is piling on top some beans, lentils, peas and corns that have been fried up together in a pan with some coconut oil (see this post) :

But I'll stuff em' with nut butter, coconut butter, falafel, salsa, hommus, Mexican beans- whatever I'm craving at the time really!

And no, there are no knives or forks when i have a baked sweet potato boat I can holg onto like a hot dog. Things do get a little messy, I will admit!

Lastly, the ever favourite grilled sandwich that features about once a week. Every week:

The grilled veg sandwich.
Originated here.
Can also be found here, here, here and here.

It's a beats. It fills me up and tastes so, so good!

This guy was on some dark rye bread (love that rye flavour!) spread with hommus, topped with spinach, grilled pumpkin, a curry veggie patty, grilled mushrooms + capsicum + zucchini+ eggplant and the other slice of hommus spread bread:

Toasted in a sandwich press!

There are no words people. Go and make this now.

And if you're anything like me, take pictures of it while you eat it... because you know, that's normal :)

Nom.

What about you?
Do you have favourite meals that you eat on repeat?
Are you a same meals everyday kind of person, or have to change it up?
Are you a fan of rye bread? I just can't get over the flavour :)

I hope you all have a fabulous day, do something you enjoy, give someone  hug aaannd just relax for a few mins, I think we all need to do that sometimes (me especially!) Bye for now friends!! :D

There is no such thing as too much salsa!

Hidy-ho friends and welcome to my world filled with running, writing and admittedly quite a lot of Mexican food.

I've mentioned it before and I'll mention it again, Mexican food is my favourite type of food. I love the flavours, I love the ingredients, I LOVE it! However I've never actually been to Mexico or tasted real Mexican food... so maybe my real love is Australian-Mexican food ;) I've heard that we've completely butchered Chinese food over here in that they don't even eat honey chicken!?!

Welllll, now I'm starting to get off topic. Let's take a re-wind back to the title of this post and take a glance at a lunch I made myself while studying for exams: (definitely lifted my spirits!!)

Yes. I made myself a tortilla. Yum.

Haha, no, that was simply my base, spread with hommus, for the deliciousness that was cooking away in a pan and... sitting away in a bowl?

A beautiful blurry photo of mixed 4-beans, lentils and taco seasoning, cooked with a splash of water until absorbed and flavourful.

Spooned onto my quite large wholegrain wrap.
Next? SALSA!

I used to always spoon on the store bought jar of tomato salsa thinking it was the best thing ever (literally spooned it on everything!) and then I made a home-made version with all the fresh herbs and veg... I can't even.

In my bowl was some chopped capsicum, tomato, spinach, coriander, corn, onion, chili and lots of lemon juice (would have also been awesome with some chopped avocado but I didn't have any :) and plonked on top of my beans:

Haha, yes, I will admit that was probably a little too much for the wrap to handle... but it was not too much for me to handle as (and I think this will become my new life motto) you can never have too much salsa!

I should probably invest in this shirt :)

So yes, I carefully piled on that mountain of salsa and enjoyed every single bite!

Somehow managing to wrap it up in the process:

So fresh and zingy and vibrant and DEEEEELISH!

Your turn:
If you had to choose one cuisine that you could eat for the rest of your life what would it be?
Do you make your own salsa?
Are you a fan of coriander/ cilantro? Apparently it's the most hated herb on the planet! I like it :)

That's all from me today folks, enjoy the rest of your day and make sure you eat something delicious! Bye!! :D