Hello Folks 

I’m back with a post today that might help some of You. I often get messages from Ladies asking for help after a big blowout. I thought this was appropriate for today. I’m just back from a fantastic hen weekend in Bristol. Three days and nights of drinking, eating, laughing etc etc. We had a fantastic time and that’s what life is all about. Making memories with good friends and having fun. I don’t feel one bit guilty for a second of it. I enjoyed every bite of food and every drink. We all have hens, weddings , parties etc that’s life and it’s there to be enjoyed.

However, it’s Monday now and time to refocus and get back to my healthy habits. Exhaustion and dehydration are making me feel sluggish and demotivated. Tackling these issues one at a time and ticking them off the list helps me. I don’t jump straight back into it the first day. I ease myself in with a “transition day ” first. This usually works for me. I think it’s important to get the body and the mind in sync first. Getting into the right headspace is just as important as food prep, workouts etc etc. If the mind is not right, the body won’t perform. 

I’ve put togeather a few of my top tips and tricks that I use to steer myself back to normality. I hope You enjoy them and find them helpful. Please share the link with anyone who might like this post. 

Thank You for reading 

Love 

Maria xxx

• Let go of the guilt, You had fun with Your besties. Move on enjoy looking at the photos and don’t worry about the indulgence. Life is for living. 
• Do a healthy food shop, Your body needs good nutrition ASAP to help recuperate. Plan a family meal like a roast chicken dinner or a beef casserole. Something hearty and warming is the kind of comfort food that will help bring You round. I know it’s tempting but junk food won’t help You at this stage. 

• Make enough food for tomorrow as well. Food prep sorted. Being organised will make You feel calm and in control. 
• Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate if You find it hard to drink water, try herbal teas or sparkling water with lime is very refreshing. 
• Get some fresh air, go for a walk If You are feeling too delicate for the gym. Put on those headphones and listen to some good music. A good blast of fresh air will clear Your head and help You to sleep. 
• Chill for the evening, watch a movie or read a book for the evening. There’s no point pushing Yourself too much on the first day. You will be much better at handling tomorrow if You get enough rest today. 
• Relax. A hot bath always helps me to destress after all the running and racing. Light a few candles and add some Epsom salts to the bath. A long soak before bed will send you off to a deep sleep. 
• Go back to Your plan tomorrow. You will feel calm and ready. Don’t deprive Yourself to make up for the weekend. Just carry on as normal with good nutrition and training. Eat well to fuel those workouts and You will be back on track in no time. 

Hi Everyone 

I had been feeling very de-motivated last week week. I think it’s since the weather changed. It’s so nice to put on the fire and snuggle up on the sofa in the evenings. Sometimes a little chill- out time is good for the soul. There’s times in life when our bodies are telling us to slow down and take some rest. I think November is the perfect time to indulge in a little rest and relaxation before the busy Christmas season kicks in.

I have been doing a little meal prepping .Last December I found it was a lifesaver to have some meals prepared and frozen for the busy times at work. It can be so easy to fall into temptation when I’m up to my eyes. I have filled my freezer with some staple dinners such as spagbol, chicken curry, beef casserole, beef curry. So handy to have at the ready. For anyone who struggles in December I highly recommend doing this. When it comes to the war on fat You need to be two steps ahead of Yourself.

  
  I had a few bad days last week, We had been away for the weekend and it really took me a while to get back to routine. It can be difficult at this time of year when it’s so cold and miserable. It can be easy to slip into comfort food. Especially if I’ve had a few drinks over the weekend I felt so exhausted and lethargic I found it hard to get motivated again. Then I had a head cold aswell so I got no exercise done at all. I didn’t go to my Unislim class either. This made me feel even worse. 

Anyway this is a new week and Yesterday was my first day back on the wagon again after my little break. Once I get one good day under my belt I’m flying it again. Monday meal prep was in full force yesterday. There’s nothing like it and now I feel organised and in control again. 

A photo from my Instagram account. If Your not following me already come on over. I love Instagram I find it so inspiring and it helps put me in a great mood. There’s so many pretty things on Instagram to look at. I always get great ideas for meals on there too. Instagram is all visual, it’s photos instead of status updates. This works very well as there’s a lot of positivity.  The best time to check Instagram is first thing in the morning. Honestly it puts me in a good frame of mind for the day. 

  
I’m following the Unislim plan so I use my own recipes and weigh out the carbs 60g dry pasta or rice per portion. If anyone wants recipes let me know I will do a post on them no problem. 

As always thanks you for reading and please share this post.

Love Maria 

  

Hi Everyone,

Hope you are all enjoying your bank holiday Monday. Myself and Mr Dillon indulged in a little treat last night. We headed off to Flannerys bistro in Ballinrobe for a little piece of foodie heaven. I would much rather sacrifice junk food or take aways and go for one amazing meal like this one. Let me tantalise your tastebuds with a rundown of what I indulged in last night. 

 

So for starter we both went for the belly pork. Slow cooked pork & black pudding with a delicious smoky bbq dressing and a vanilla purée. Absolutely mouthwatering. There was a good selection of starters soup, garlic mushrooms, goats cheese salad, spicy beef salad to name but a few. It was hard to choose as there were so many I’d have loved. I hadn’t tried the belly pork in Flannerys so I said I’d give it a whirl and it was worth every bite. 
On the main course menu there is loads to choose from. Stir fry, pasta, fish, chicken, duck,steak etc. There were also a good selection of specials. A few fishy dishes, but neither of us eat fish.There’s a butternut squash risotto for any veggies that looked amazing. We both decided to go for specials, I had the chargrilled cowboy steak. Mr Dillon went for Duck. We are just too predictable. 

 

 
The chargrilled cowboy steak was absolutely huge. I love my steak medium and it was just perfect with that gorgeous chargrilled smoky taste in the outside and perfectly soft pinkyness inside. It came with mushrooms, onions and pink peppercorn sauce on the side. I had never heard of cowboy steak and I don’t know what cut of meat it was. It looked a bit like a TBone. All I know is it tasted absolutely amazing and I just just couldn’t finish it. I mean seriously it was absolutely huge. 

  
My snapchat followers will have already seen a live running commentary of our delicious meal. I didn’t get a photo of Mr Dillons meal, he is not as social media obsessed as I am. Anyway his plate was clean and he was delighted with the duck, which came with veg and baby potatoes. Yummy!

  
I went for salad and sweet potatoe fries as my sides. These were both amazing, and the salad was deliciously fresh and crisp. I really hope more restaurants start adding sweet potatoe fries to the menu. #sweetpotatoefries are cool carbs and very popular among foodies. Well done Flannerys for being so fashion forward with sides. 

 

 
So next up the dessert menu. All the desserts in Flannerys are amazing. You can tell they are made from scratch in house. There is serious attention to detail and it shines through in every bite. There was an apple and hazelnut crumble, pavlova, sticky toffee pudding and chocolate fondant among others. Again we are just too predictable. I went for the chocolate brownie, while Mr Dillon opted for lemon cheesecake. 

 

Chocolate brownies are my weakness and this one was particularly delightful. Crisp and crumbly on the outside soft and gooey on the inside. Well worth ditching the diet for. Vanilla icecream was the perfect partner to the richness of the brownie. A drizzle of white and milk chocolate completed this indulgent treat. 

  
So Flannerys bistro is located at corn market Ballinrobe Co Mayo. It’s only a 15 minute drive from our house so it’s pretty handy for us. I drove on this occassion and let Mr Dillon have a few pints. I think the food is well worth the drive. You can check out Flannerys on Facebook 

Flannerys bistro
Or at their website 

Flannerysbistro.com
As always folks, thanks for reading. If you decide to try out Flannerys bistro let me know. I’d love to hear how you get on. If you are a restaurant owner and would like us to do a review get in touch at maria@mrsdillonsdiary.ie 

Please share my post on your social media accounts.

Love Maria

Hi Everyone 

Hope all Is going good at home. We are indulging in pure luxury here in Mexico. We are eating and drinking and relaxing in the sunshine. There’s loads of tours and activities but we are too lazy to do them. After a hectic few months at home We are delighted to be able to unwind and have some down time.

  

    

     
We would happily recommend this resort to anyone for a honeymoon or even just a holiday. All inclusive is a great option as there are so many different options in the resort to chose from. We have had some Mexican food which was just fabulous. I definitely intend to try a few Mexican recipes once I return home. I’m sure I can modify them to make them healthier. There’s  A lot of steak strips, guacamole, spicy veg and tortilla wraps etc etc

 

      

We have tried some french food and last night we went to an Asian restaurant. This was super tasty and we really enjoyed it. It was fairly simple food but done really well. Here’s a few snaps of what we wolfed into. They look almost the same, it was just the sauces that were different really. 

 

   
For Dessert we had banana spring roll this was very similar to banana fritters. Battered banana deep fried with ice cream and chocolate sauce. Yummers! 

 
The breakfast buffet is absolutely huge and has everything from fruit, porridge, omelette, pancakes, bacon , sausage, all kinds of bread, waffles. There’s cold meats, cheeses, bagels, as well as traditional Mexican food. There is loads to choose from, & everything is delicious. I’ve been sampling a tiny bit of everything. Isn’t that what holidays are for experiencing new things. Plenty time for healthy eating once we return home. I will take some photos tomorrow to share with you all.

Tonight we are going for Oriental again as its on special here tonight. So may aswell embrace it. I will keep you guys posted tomorrow on how we get on. 

Thank you for reading folks, We absolutely love it here and are enjoying every bite of the delicious food. Chat soon,

Love Maria xx

 

   

So have any of You eaten at The G Counter?? In Wellpark Galway?? The G Counter is situated just behind The G Hotel. We have been before and it’s one of Our favourite places to eat in the city. The last time We ate there was back in February I think just a few weeks before We got married. We went for breakfast and I was well impressed with the place.

 

So two weeks ago while getting a break from the hospital canteen We decided to stop by The G Counter again for a bite of lunch. There’s always a relaxed fun atmosphere in the place, but they are serious about food. I actually spotted Pat Divilly while We were there …starstruck!!  

We got a table straight away, it was busy but not too packed either. We had a look on the menu. They have a great range to choose from. There’s everything from salads to burgers to rotisserie chicken to all day breakfast, a good few veggie options too.

 

So I decided on the duck noodle salad, I was being good to myself so I had chips on the side. The chips come with “chip sauce” this is a mix of brown sauce & vinegar so the friendly waiter told me. Mr Dillon chose the belly pork burger. This looked amazing, when it came. It was basically shreds of slow cooked belly pork shaped into a burger and served in a brioche bun with chips on the side. I had to have a small taste and it was delicious.

 

My duck and noodle salad came with fresh orange segments. The combination of flavours were to die for. The duck juicy and full of flavour while the salad was fresh and zingy from the bursts of orange.  There was a bed of noodles too so this would have been quite filling on its own.

We also had tea & coffee and I had a sparkling water. The desserts looked amazing but I had to decline on this occasion as I had indulged in the chips.  I think the bill came to €32 or something near that. We thought it was very good value for such a gorgeous meal, a lunchtime delight.

We love The G Counter and hope to return again next time We are in Galway. It’s an easy place to get to and there’s free parking which always helps. The G Counter also serves wine & beers although We weren’t drinking on this occasion. It’s a great spot and definitely worth a visit. They also have a delicious range of bakery goodies that looked amazing. Oh and the coffee is great too.

 

So check out The G Counter and let me know how You get on. If You would like me to review Your business You can contact me on maria@mrsdillonsdiary.ie

Bye for Now,

Love Maria xx

So I’ve survived my first day on unislim. It went absolutely fine.

I was prepared and that always helps.

All lean meats and poultry are free on US once the fat is trimmed off.

All veg is free, most fruits are free except the high sugar ones.

There is a carb allowance once I stick to the guidelines I’m ok. Continue reading