Houston, we have a problem.

...in which an issue is encountered.

While out running last night my knee decided to sort of stop working. I'm not sure why, as all I'd done was stop to change the tune on the MP3 player as I didn't want to listen to whatever had shuffled itself on, but when I started running again my knee made it clear in no uncertain terms that it was not going to co-operate in this endeavour any more. It had been fine up until then, so I'm really not sure why it suddenly decided it wasn't going to work any more.

I had to walk/limp the last 1.6 miles or so home (this happened at about 5 miles in and I was aiming for 6.6 miles - I didn't take my mobile with me but I'd have called A to come and get me if I had). I found this a bit frustrating because the rest of my body was perfectly happy to keep going and I'm fairly sure I could easily run 8 miles or so if it wasn't for that knee, but there's not much I can do about it.

Since running is currently the main form of exercise I do this is a bit of a problem; it feels a bit better today but I know better than to run on it for a few days, so I'm going to stick to the exercise bike and see how that goes - on the plus side the 75 minutes I did running/walking/hobbling means that I only need to do about 15 minutes each day for the rest of the week to fill up my fit log (this is a Slimming World thing - I'm currently going for my Gold Award, which means doing 150 minutes of exercise a week over 5 days for 8 weeks).

Today I made what my Very Significant Other (VSO) described as "the nicest beef stew I've ever tasted" so I thought I'd record it for posterity here, since it was totally made up on the spot (done in the slow cooker)

4 -500g extra lean casserole beef, cut into bite size chunks
1 onion, finely chopped
3 - 4 small tomatoes, quartered (cherry would do - I used Vine Ripened tomatoes from Sainsbury's),
5 carrots, peeled & chopped into bite sized chunks
1 swede, peeled & chopped into bite sized chunks
1 500g carton passata
600 ml beef stock
2 cloves garlic, crushed
~2 Tbsp Paprika (I just sprinkled it in out of the jar so quantity may not be exact)!
1 1/2 tsp sweetener
Low calorie cooking spray

(Preheat the slow cooker if required - ours has an "auto" setting that it has to be left on for 20 minutes before cooking but I've no idea if that's a normal feature)

Spray a frying pan or wok with the low calorie cooking spray and heat over a medium heat; add the beef, garlic and onions and fry for 5 - 10 minutes, until the beef is browned

Put the swede and carrots into the slow cooker and add the stock. Transfer the beef, onions and garlic into the slow cooker and sprinkle the paprika and sweetener over the mixture; stir well to mix, then add the passata and tomatoes and stir again.

Leave the mixture in the slow cooker for 4 hours on high, then turn down to low for 30 minutes or so.

Serve with boiled potatoes and superfree veg (I used fine beans and broccoli).

Friday 11th July

Healthy A: Milk

Breakfast

Fruit (nectarine, apple, satsuma)

Lunch

Bacon and tomato on a wholemeal roll (healthy b)

Dinner

Beef stew with potatoes, fine green beans and broccoli

Snacks/Drinks

Yoghurts, fruit, lean meat, more fruit, coffee, a bit more fruit and some fruit (having a hungry day)!

Exercise

15 minute exercise bike (I hope...about to go and try the leg now).
Update - 30 minutes done on exercise bike and the knee actually feels better than when I started, so I'll do the exercise bike thing tomorrow as well and then maybe do a short 2 mile run on Sunday...