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I enjoyed the boot camp...rain and groin injury aside

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Determined: David Skinner endures the pain during last weekend's boot camp at Clearwater Beach.
It's now been a month since The Royal Gazette's chief photographer David Skinner started the 100-Day Challenge. In his report this week he whines about a mid-winter “dip” in the ocean, braves his way through a pulled groin muscle and shares a few tips on healthy eating.

When I told Graham Frith, my trainer at Positive Results gym, that this week's boot camp was going to be at Clearwater Beach, he replied: “Ah, God's country!” Well, I must have taken a wrong turn, because where I ended up was no serene Garden of Eden.Saturday morning's activities were put together by and for the amusement of the Sea View gym trainers Jenille and Antoine. Yup, nothing like going to the beach in the middle of a winter storm. Thanks guys. And nothing like going for a swim and knocking into icebergs.The main event took its toll on me. I pulled a groin muscle during the sprints. It's very funny to watch the expression on people's faces when they discover that you've pulled a groin muscle. The men's faces scrunch up like they've just eaten one of those sour candies they've stolen from their kids followed by a very disturbing, worried, panic-stricken look which tells me they're thinking: “I hope I don't have to do anything to help him.”With the women, it was more of an interested and confused “is that injury what I think it is?” stare, before their maternal instincts take over and they want to help. I got this one, ladies but thank you.Why am I telling you this? Well, after it happened and I was giving my injured muscle some TLC with an ice pack, a female voice from the crowd shouted: “I better see that groin in your story!”Well, here it is for all to see. Think I care? No, I have no shame. Good heavens, when we went down to the beach to do our push-ups, with our rear ends in the cold, shrinkage-inducing water, I donned an old construction hat that had washed up on the beach. Do I have any pride? Not on your life nor did, apparently, the person wearing Wellington boots.I see you going back to see if you had read that word correctly. Yes, siree Bob, Wellington boots someone had the nerve to wear Wellington boots to the beach. Was this a fashion statement? It wasn't in the last issue of Vogue I checked to make sure. The co-host of our show, Rachel, had decided to wear a pair of Wellies to the beach. Look Rachel, I'm known for my teasing, and I'll embarrass just about anybody, but when you do that, it just writes itself. There's no way we're going to get away with that rubber foot adornment and not face a ridiculing from Skinner.The final event for the day was the tug-o-war competition. Before it had started there were a few brave souls who had decided to frolic in the waves for a few minutes. Not dis bye, um um, dem gurlz can do wat dey want, I'm waitin' til de twenyfourph of May, and U'm holdin' a dark ‘n' stormy, even if, as Jenille pointed out, the freezing cold water will be good for my pulled groin muscle. I'll just stick with the pain, thank you.The tug-o-war took place in mid-calf-high water, and so, as you can imagine, the losers were going to find themselves head-first in the water, which was good motivation to win and look something like a distorted cover shot for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition.So did your team, Sea View Turbo Challengers, win? No. We came second. Did I end up in the water? Not on your life, and here's how keep this in your notebook for future reference. I found that by trampling on your own team members while they are flailing around and gasping for breath, you can pretty much stay dry. Sort of my version of walking on water.One of my biggest challenges in this 100-Day programme has been the eating. The problem is not sticking to the diet plan, but what to do with it. My daily 5.30am routine is to feed our cats, read the newspaper and start on that day's meals. It's a lot of prep work. I start out with a pre-workout protein shake with fruit, oats and flax seed. That is followed by the preparation of my breakfast egg whites and turkey bacon that I will take to work and eat at about 9.30am. At 11am, a snack of fruit and Greek yogurt. For lunch, it is lean protein, half a cup of complex carbohydrates . . . and the list and time schedule goes on. So, basically, you're eating every two-and-a-half to three hours. But, like I said, I find myself making the same thing every day, so the boredom kicks in, and I think this is where most diets fail.Do not despair! In walks Rebecca Haak, the chef from Miles Market, to give us a few healthy recipes to break that boredom. She gave us two simple, quick, wonderful recipes a sweet crêpe and a savory one.I couldn't get over the savoury crêpe, and the reason why is that I really don't like the ingredients that went into it spinach and, ugh, pesto. I don't like them at all keep them away from me.However, what she did with both crêpes was close to magical. The sweet crêpe was divine. It was filled with strawberries and topped off with her own concoction of a chocolate sauce and a sweet yogurt. The recipe has given me new hope and opened my eyes to what new dishes I can make to break the boring, hum-drum ritual of broiled chicken, fish and ground turkey.Rebecca is passionate about healthy cooking, and she is more than happy to share and educate people with the delights she has discovered. She has promised to give us a few more tips in the near future and I will pass them on.Finally, in the words of the pop group The Black Eyed Peas: ‘I gotta feeling that tonight's gonna be a good night' this evening don't forget to tune into ZBM TV 9 at 8pm to watch the first showing of the 100-Day Challenge.

<B> Basic crêpe recipe </B>

Ingredients

1 whole egg (look for Omega 3 eggs)

5 egg whites

1 tbs quinoa flour (can be found in most supermarkets and health stores)

Directions

· combine ingredients together in a blender until well mixed

· spray a shallow frying pan with olive oil-flavored Pam non-stick spray

· pour crêpe batter into a shallow frying pan

· flip crêpe to cook evenly on both sides

Sweet filling

Ingredients

fresh strawberries

melted coconut oil

1 tsp agave syrup

1 tsp cocoa powder

1 tsp Greek yogurt

1 tsp protein powder

Directions· fill crêpe with fresh strawberries· mix melted coconut oil, agave syrup and cocoa powder to make chocolate sauce. Set aside.· mix Greek yogurt with protein powder. Set aside.· top with chocolate sauce, Greek yogurt mixture, a little vanilla extract and agave syrup· finish off with a little sprinkling of protein powder for garnish

Savoury Filling

Ingredients

Tomato spread

tomatoes

olive oil

sea salt

garlic cloves, minced

Pesto sauce

basil

pine nuts

parmesan cheese, grated

Garnish

fresh spinach

avocado

Directions:· cut tomatoes in half and drizzle with olive oil·slow roast in the oven at 200F for 2 hours· cool tomatoes.· place in a blender with sea salt and fresh minced garlic. (You can freeze this and use later) Set aside· mix basil, pine nuts and parmesan cheese to pre-make pesto sauce. Set aside· spread tomato mixture onto your crêpe, top with fresh spinach, quarter of an avocado, a little pesto sauce with a little basil and a few pine nuts added· fold over and sprinkle with a little parmesan cheeseEnjoy!