Lean in 15 - A Month Of Eating The Body Coach's Recipes

Buying this book was yet another helpful recommendation from the same colleague who suggested the 5K (holla, Andrea - thanks for keeping me motivated). I got it for £7.99 on Amazon at the end of January with the intention of eating as many of his recipes that I fancied - at least across the whole of February. I was keen to shake things up too - I'd been living off salads and chicken which was delicious but bordering on bland.

It arrived really quickly so I was able to get started straight away. I loved the book, flipping through every page the moment I opened it. The pictures and layout are colourful as well as glossy. He's also sectioned all the recipes according to when they should be eaten - low carb for everyday and carb-based for post workout meals to refuel. On top of that, there's some snacks and a section for his at-home HIIT workout (no equipment, no excuses).

It's a fantastic book for basic food education and re-working your relationship with food as well. His main focus is eating food that nourishes the body and staying away from the scale (or 'sad step' as he calls it). I didn't mind staying away from the scale so much with all that Christmas weight sat on my hips. I did struggle not to count calories though - I just couldn't avoid entering the recipes into MyFitnessPal to make sure I wasn't going over my daily calorie allowance. Most of the recipes were heavily vegetable based which was calorie-friendly, but I did have to halve quite a lot of the meat quantities to keep to my daily goals.

Another thing that a lot of people comment on is the cost. It does cost money to eat fresh, particularly as a lot of the recipes call for added ingredients to flavour the dish (ginger, lime, spring onion, chilli) which can stack up pretty quick. My first weekly shop was £67 where I usually spend £40 - but a lot of that basket were things like coconut oil (which is still going strong) and spices that I didn't have in my cupboard already. Subsequent baskets were around £50-£55 so still expensive but the portions are huge even with my meat quantities halved so the cost was well worth it to me.

I definitely had my favourite recipes - usually anything that involved cheese (come at me cheesy chorizo). The thing I liked most about the book was how easy to make the recipes are. None of this 'broil this', 'ferment that' or 'grow your own asparagus' bullshit that you get in a lot of other cookbooks. Just straightforward recipes that can usually be chucked in one pan and completed in 15-20 minutes.

At the end of the 5 weeks of Lean in 15 recipes, I ended up losing 9lbs. However, I should point out that I think this more to do with a calorie deficit than the recipes themselves. I didn't buy this book for weight loss - I bought it for fresh and tasty recipes. The weight loss that came with it was reassuring though. Especially since you see so many amazing transformations through his 90 Day SSS Plans on his social media.

All in all, I really enjoyed all of the recipes that I tried in the Lean in 15 book and it's got a firm place on my cookbook shelf. I'm moving on to the BBC Good Food Low Calorie cookbook next and will let you know how I get on with that. In the meantime, here's some pictures of some of my Lean in 15 dinners from Instagram because YES - I'm the type of instagrammer that takes picture of food #judgeme

Lunch at The Woodspeen

Every now and then it's nice to do something a little bit fancy. On this occasion, Fraser and I went to try out a brand new restaurant in Newbury called The Woodspeen.

Opened in October last year, it's run by internationally acclaimed Michelin star chef John Campbell and serves seasonal food from local sources. It's quiet country setting is highlighted in the light and airy interior design with a wall of windows looking out onto the rolling countryside. Both Fraser and I agreed before even tasting any food that we already wanted to come back.

The staff were so friendly and attentive without a sense of rushed hustle-bustle. It was highly relaxing and we were immediately made to feel comfortable. Our first taste of the restaurant was their homemade bread, served with homemade butter and houmous. We ordered our drinks (a decent merlot for me) and enjoyed every last bite of this bread.

We decided to try out the Lunch/Pre-Theatre menu. To start, I had the courgette soup with salmon, sweetcorn and watercress topped with avruga caviar.  Fraser had the smoked ham and chicken terrine served with kohlrabi, apple and yuzu and a side of brioche. Mine came out with the soup in a seperate jug which the waiter then poured around the centrepiece. It really added a touch of theatre to the starter, especially given the bright colours.

Every bite was incredible. We sampled each other's dishes so I can agree that his was just as nice as mine. We followed the starter with a main of braised lamb neck fillet, smoked wet garlic potato, plot peas and pickled beetroot. I wanted this dish to last forever. The lamb was perfection and we both agreed that the potato was the best we'd ever had (sorry, Mum). 

Finally, we finished with a gorgeous dessert each. I chose the pistachio and olive oil cake topped with a buttermilk sorbet and poached apricots. Fraser chose the vanilla panna cotta, with muscat jelly, raspberries and mint. Again we sampled each other's dishes and both were equally delicious. 

The whole experience was wonderful. Especially since the restaurant garden was just across the road and we saw the chef himself wandering around the vegetables there as we were leaving. Just next to the garden is a cookery school where John teaches masterclasses for things like bread-making and steak. Fraser and I are already looking at these courses and planning our next visit. Knowing that their menus change with the seasons, there's always going to be something new to try here.

I've recommended this restaurant to everyone and thought I'd share my experience here. If you're ever in the West Berkshire area, I highly recommend you treat yourself to a meal at The Woodspeen :-)

Tabitha

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