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. 

The post Getting back to Healthy Lifestyle after a heavy weekend of indulgence. appeared first on Mrs. Dillon's Diary.

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 

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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. 

belly pork starter

chargrilled cowboy steak

  
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. 

Obligitory bathroom selfie

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

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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.

Beach fun

Nachos by the beach

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. 

Thai red curry

chicken teriakyi

banana springroll

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

The house wine is delicious

Greetings from Cancun

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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.

sneak peak at the menu

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.

our yummy lunch

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.

great coffee

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

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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.

All extras have a YUM value.

So here’s what I ate.

For breakfast I had an omelette

1 egg, peppers, mushrooms, tomato, onion & spinach. All free.

With a 30g slice of wholemeal toast.

I weighed my slice of bread and it was 40g so I cut the top off.

Portion control is crucial for weight loss. In my experience I have only ever lost weight when I have been mindful of my portions.

I used a teaspoon of ballymaloe relish this was 1 yum.

For lunch I took a chicken salad with me to work.

It was 3/4 of a medium chicken fillet.

There is no limits to the amount of lean chicken you can have on US but I felt this was plenty for me.

Salad was spinach, cucumber, onion peppers and a few grapes.

I was allowed 60g of carbs here too but I didnt feel I needed anymore food so I didn’t bother.

I had kept the other 1/4 for my 11 am snack.

I also took a hard boiled egg, & 30g cashew nuts as snacks.

The cashew nuts are yummed at 2&1/2 Yums.

The grapes are 1/2 yum for 15.

I split them between my salad and my snack.

I am highly sensitive  to sugar & my body reacts to it by craving intensely.

Any sugary snack will send me crazy.

That’s the reason why I use nuts as a snack they are high in protein but also high in calories.

Once I weigh them they are perfectly fine.

I also took a few strawberries and grapes as a little dessert.

So around 4.30 pm I was feeling peckish again.

This is where I had my nuts and a hard boiled egg with a glass of sparkling water.

I got home from work about 6.45 or so.

I had an apple and a cup of tea with skimmed milk while I was making dinner.

We had garlic and oregano chicken from the U.S book.

I wouldn’t usually eat chicken twice in one day but they were in the fridge ready to go.

Cover 2 chicken fillets in oregano and fresh garlic add a drop of water.

Marinade for 20 mins.

Bake at 200degrees for 20 mins or until cooked through.

There was 2 potatoes left from the night before so I chopped them up, added a few herbs with 1 cal spray and a bit of Franks hot sauce (free) And baked them for 15 minutes or until crispy.

I threw a bit of salad in a bowl and voila Dinner was ready.

Even Mr Dillon thought it was lovely.

My yum allowance is 7 do I’ve only used 4.

I also earned 4 Yums by walking for an hour.

All in all the day went great & im certainly not hungry.

Looking forward to tomorrow already.

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