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Fit Bunn

Everyone knows what happens this time of year - more food, more alcohol and more laziness! Well, not me. This winter I am keeping control of my life and spending the 6 week run-up to Christmas getting super-fit.

I've got myself a fitness plan with activities every day - the daily cycle-commute to work along with some longer bikes in there too, push-ups, arm workouts, core workouts and runs. Our meal plans have been juggled to be a bit healthier whilst maintaining a good carb:protein ratio to compliment the mix of cardio and strength training I have planned.

Why am I boasting? Well, I want you to join me of course! Although I have my dedicated fitness blog, Running Bunn, I think it's important to include a bit of fitness over here too. Everyone should be doing some exercise, I was an 'ideal weight' but very unhealthy for years. Now I can happily say all that lethargy and depression has been severely punished and I actually really look forward to a good workout these days!

So, make yourself some fitness goals for winter, whether it's to run up the stairs instead of walking or to finally get that 5k run done in under 40minutes. When I get up in the morning to see pouring rain I know I can't just get the bus because I wouldn't reach my goal that way, it's such a great motivator! And I bet you'll feel fantastic come Christmas Day.

Spiced Blood Orange Infusion

As much as I adore mulled wine I have been trying to cut down on my alcohol intake for a while now, so I need a good alternative for the winter.



You will need:
125g Blood Orange Pure Fruit Tea - The best is from Wilkinson's of Norwich.
1 Cinnamon stick broken into small pieces
1tsp Cloves, crushed
1tsp Black peppercorns, crushed
1tsp Cardomom seeds (not the green pods, the bits inside), crushed
¼ Nutmeg, grated

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl, ensuring the spices are evenly distributed. Pack into a dry jar until required. A few weeks will allow the spices to mix an mellow a bit.
Allow ½ dessert spoon of tea per cup. Ideally make it in a teapot and allow to steep for 5 minutes before straining into cups or mugs. If you like a sweeter drink add a little honey or brown sugar and a drop of vanilla essence.

I love Sequins!

I love Christmas (yes I said that word!) and I really love getting dressed up so I tend to make a big deal of every single day during December. I'm really glad that sequins are now considered OK to wear rather than in the sole the domain of Pat Butcher because they make everything sparkly and beautiful. So, here's some of my favourite bits from around the web to brighten the dark nights, and days, of Winter. Obviously they don't go together, but this way you could have a bit of sequin sparkle every day!

Sequin Cowboy Boots - £235 - Wrap

Daisy Sequin Leggings - £15 - Boohoo

Sequin Heart Mock Shirt - £24 - Next

Sequin Disc Necklace - £16 - East

Lipsy Ballerina Dress - £65 - ASOS

Tuna & Vegetable Couscous

Sandwiches can be so dull. This week I decided to make a Mediterranean inspired tuna couscous for me, the Mr and the kid to enjoy for lunch (even though we'll all be eating it in different places!) Sorry I can't give amounts, I always guesstimate.

Ingredients
Couscous
Vegetable boullion (I use Marigold, but Knorr or Oxo might do)
Aubergine
Courgette
Yellow Pepper
Mushrooms
Cherry tomatoes
Olives
Feta
Tinned tuna (I use Reel Fish because it's responsibly sourced and tastier than most other brands)
Olive oil
Sesame oil
Fresh mint
Lemon juice

Method

1. Pour as much couscous as you need into a big bowl with a teaspoon of boullion/stock powder and cover with boiling water. Leave to soak in for 5 minutes before fluffing up with a fork.
2. Cut the feta into chunks and add to the couscous along with the olives, fresh mint, a squeeze of lemon juice and the tuna.
3. Slice all your vegetables, brush with a mixture of olive and sesame oils and char on the griddle until tender. You'll need to do this in batches, and you'll need to open a window too as it can get quite smoky!
4. When the vegetables are cooked and cooled, slice them a bit smaller if you like before adding to the cous-cous.
5. Mix it all up, add a load of black pepper, salt if needed and perhaps a squeeze more lemon juice.
6. Delicious for lunch with a cup of peppermint tea.

Soulmate Food Juice Cleanse

I've found myself getting really wound up this past week about one particular subject - detox diets. I've been stressing myself out about 'tailor made' 'lifestyle meals' company Soulmate food. In case you're in the same cocoon I obviously was and have never heard of them, this is a company which sends you ready meals through the post for an exorbitant fee of 'less than £25 a day'.

The part of their service I'm most interested in is the 'Juice Cleanse' which is a short-term detox diet. They say:

"Jump start your metabolism for long term benefits.
Our amazing fruit based, all natural cleanse not only rids your body of harmful toxins, but will help to increase metabolic performance and energy output, leading you on your journey to optimum health.
This scientifically designed juice and smoothie cleanse helps to improve efficiency of body function and digestion, due to a cleaner colon, leading to improved absorption of nutrients.
Greater efficiency equals enhanced energy levels and mental clarity."

The juices, which contain 'all natural ingredients', come as a three day package (18 juices, £150) or five days (30 juices, £200). Your daily allowance of 6 bottles comes numbered and named, but with no other information on ingredients or nutritional information. At first I thought this must be against the Food Labelling Regulations 1996 but, take a look at page 24 and you'll see that Soulmate food are exempt because they sell the products from the premises on which they are made.

Still, I wanted to find out a bit more about what was in the juices, so I emailed them asking for ingredients and nutritional information. Their response was:

Each juice contains around 900 calories per day and the flavours are as follows:
- detox breakfast - carrot, orange, ginger and super foods
- vitality - pineapple, banana and coconut
- berry active - antioxidant blend, cherries and mixed berries
- earth - a blend of berries
- tropical - orange, mango and passion fruit
- nutrilicious - strawberry, banana, grape and orange

Unfortunately an estimated calorie content for all six juices combined isn't exactly the nutritional breakdown I was after, and the flavours still don't tell me exactly what's in the juices. I decided to focus on finding out about ingredients and asked what exactly was in the 'super foods' and 'antioxidant blend'.

"The antioxidant blend is a concentrated blend of berries, as berries are brilliant antioxidants. Also, the superfoods is a blend of fruit, vegetables and mushroom extracts to increase mineral and vitamin content."

I was starting to get frustrated at this point, I couldn't understand why Soulmate food was so against disclosing the contents of their juices. I pressed for more information and asked for a full list of ingredients saying I have allergies, including several species of mushroom. Not entirely true, but I thought perhaps an allergy risk might make them more forthcoming. I was wrong.

"I would have to find out from our chefs about the exact ingredients. But I do know that we do not send anything to people with severe allergies as we are not a free from kitchen and the juices will be made amongst other things. We would strongly advise you not to do our juice cleanse."

Oh right, of course, so people with allergies should not buy these products. When you go through the ordering process there is a note at the bottom saying the service is not available for people with severe allergies but I still think the site is misleading. On the website they say they cater for people with food intolerances, and when you look into the Juice Cleanse information provided it appears that the only ingredients are those listed, there is no clue to there being a mysterious mix of fungus and vegetables in there.

Don't get me wrong, I know that legally this company does not have to disclose the ingredients or nutritional breakdown of their products, but shouldn't we be taking more responsibility for what goes into our bodies? You wouldn't buy anything from a supermarket without knowing the ingredients and if you asked for a list of ingredients in a restaurant and were fobbed of like I was by Soulmate food, wouldn't you be a bit suspicious?

On their website they cite one of their aims as educating people about healthy eating. How can you educate when you're hiding so much?

4 items, 4 outfits

Recently I realised that I have a severe lack of clothing that a) fits and b) isn't ancient. I decided that what I needed were some mix-and-match style items which can easily make the transition from slouchy mum to marketing queen and then classy cocktail drinker too. Well, here's what I ended up with...

Clockwise from top left : Cat Print Blouse, £19.50 M&S : Striped Cardigan, £39.50 Per Una : High Waist Bootcut Jeans, £28 Next : Rose Print Denim Jeggings, £25 M&S

And here's how I look...

Sorry about the rubbish photos - I'm not really a fashion blogger you know! Anyone else got wardrobe staples that go with everything?

Fashion Break: Military Coat

Having watched a whole lot of Torchwood recently I have fallen in love with the idea of a long blue military style coat. I stumbled across this in Next the other day and love it! Unfortunately, they only had it in a size 6 or 8 at the time, so I might have to order it online. Gorgeous quality and would look amazing with black jeggings and a pair of boots.

Military Belted Coat - £90 at next.co.uk

Glow in the Dark Halloween Roses

What smells like roses and glows in the dark? Glow in the dark roses!

These things are amazing. Perfect for a halloween party in the evening and gorgeous white roses during the day. These will be available from Interflora from 22nd - 31st October with next day delivery, so set yourself a reminder!

Project Life by Becky Higgins

I've tried scrapbooking very briefly before but always got disheartened by how boring and rubbish everything looked, and sticking photos and tickets and things down always felt a bit strange, a bit like I was ruining them.Then there's the amount of effort that goes into them. Hours are wasted just trying to get the right layout of combination of crazy patterned paper.

Image Credit

So, when I saw the Project Life scrapbooks by Becky Higgins I was totally excited. Simple, easy and beautiful. You buy a binder, plastic pages of pockets and a 'core kit' containing all the notecards your heart could desire. Then you add photos, tickets, memories - and there's your scrapbook.

Image Credit

As much as I really want to do one of these, the kit you need to start off comes at a staggering £58. The binder alone is £16.99. So for now I think I'll give it a miss, I don't think there's a hope in hell of me convincing Mr Bunn that £60 worth of stationery is money well spent.