My Healthy Week

So yet again I attempt a health kick but this time I thought documenting it would be a good way to keep me on track.  To help, I put together a weekly meal planner, this also made the weekly food shop soo much easier.

Weekly Meal Plan

I know that I need to drink a lot more water so I have been trying different infusions to encourage me to drink more. I'm really loving cucumber, mint and lemon, a great source of vitamin C and a really refreshing drink.  I've also seen these great inspiration bottles so I did a little DIY to help keep me on track to drink at least 2 litres a day.

Lemon, Mint and Cucumber Infused Water

For breakfast I'm very predictable. I love porridge with a diced apple and a good sprinkle of cinnamon. I have this pretty much everyday day however I sometimes treat myself on the weekends. To see my decadent porridge check out my apple crumble porridge, it's just delicious.

Cinnamon Apple Porridge with Almond Flakes

Monday

Lunch: I am absolutely loving sweet potatoes at the moment, I can't even remember the last time I had white potatoes, I topped this jacket with Philadelphia Light with Chives.

Sweet Potato Jacket with Chive Philadelphia, Tomatoes and Cucumber

Dinner: This was my first experience with making quinoa, it went well with garlic prawns and very filling.

Garlic Prawn Quinoa with Sweetcorn, Tomatoes and Avocado

Tuesday

Lunch: I find work lunches can be quite difficult but this was a simple chickpea, spinach and avocado mixed salad topped with some pine nuts.

Chickpea Salad

Dinner: Last week I made a batch of burgers and popped them in the freezer, these are perfect for saving some prep time on a weekday. I pulled out my George Foreman and made this delicious burger recipe. A homemade burger on a bed of sautéed garlic spinach and sweet potato mash topped with chive Philadelphia and onions.

Homemade Burger on a bed of sautéed garlic Spinach and Sweet Potato Mash, topped with Chive Philadelphia and Onions

Wednesday

Lunch: Salads are great in the summer, Wednesday was a tuna, chickpea and spinach salad. For a sweet treat in the afternoon I've been loving dipping strawberries and grapes into Fage Total 0% fat free greek yoghurt.

Tuna Chickpea Salad with Fruit and Yoghurt

Dinner: I picked up some salmon with pesto from Waitrose, it's even part of their 3 for £10 which is great. I paired the salmon with roasted asparagus, sugar snap peas and tomatoes.

Roasted Pesto Salmon, Asparagus, Sugar Snap Peas and Tomatoes

Thursday

Lunch: For lunch I had the second piece of pesto salmon with two bags of the Birdseye vegetable sunshine mix and some asparagus.

Roasted Salmon with mixed Veg and Asparagus with Fruit and Yoghurt 

Dinner: Bolognese stuffed peppers with a sprinkle of parmesan, if your looking for a low carb diet then a great idea is to switch out your spaghetti for peppers.

Bolognese Stuffed Peppers

Friday

Lunch: I had the remaining bolognese stuffed peppers and some extra tomatoes for lunch.

Stuffed Peppers and Tomatoes with Fruit and Yoghurt

Dinner: Tut Tut. Friday evening was a bit of a fail. I went out with friends and gave in and had a chicken and pancetta pizza rather than a salad - I have no will power :-(

Chicken and Crispy Pancetta Pizza

Saturday

Lunch: I was running low so I used up the remaining bits from my fridge to make this warm veg salad. In the afternoon I caught up with a friend in town for a coffee and tried the Lime refresher from Starbucks, this is definitely a new favourite.

Warm Veg Salad

Dinner: Cottage Pie. I used my bolognese recipe and bulked it out with the Birdseye veg, these are great, really easy and no fuss. I then topped it with sweet potato mash and a sprinkle of parmesan.

Cottage Pie with Sweet Potato Mash topping

Sunday

Breakfast: Like I said some weekends I break from the porridge mould and try something a little different. Pancakes are my thing but with this health kick I knew my typical recipes wouldn't cut it. I have heard lots about banana or protein pancakes so I thought i'd give them a try. 

These Banana Oat Pancakes were delicious, just 1 banana, 2 eggs and 25g of oats. A perfect quick healthy breakfast topped with greek yoghurt, raspberries and a drizzle of maple syrup.

If you are not on a health kick then take a look at some of my not so healthy pancake recipes - Cinnamon Swirl or Bacon Pancake Strips.

Banana Oat Pancakes with Raspberries and Greek Yoghurt

Lunch: After several cold salads for lunch this week it was great to have a warm dish. Garlic chicken with garlic sauteed spinach and roasted tomatoes and sugar snap peas.

Garlic Chicken with roasted Veg

Snack: As a little snack I made these little apple slices sandwiched together with Meridian almond butter.

Apple Slices with Almond Butter

Dinner: Finally the last meal of the week was the remaining cottage pie.

I am very impressed with my healthy week, only one bad meal. I hope you find some healthy meal ideas here.

My favourite was the burger from Tuesday's dinner and those banana oat pancakes from Sunday's breakfast.

The exercise regime starts next week, I am hoping it is going to go just as well as this weeks meal plan - fingers crossed. I love Jillian Michaels 6 week 6 pack video and there are some great routines from YouTubers like Lucy Wyndham-Read and Carly Rowena.

Let me know if you have any tips and tricks for getting fit this summer.

Mel xoxo