Thursday 14 August 2014

Rambling TMI chat & a recipe!

This week I was ill. From feeling drained & a bit ‘off’ on Tuesday evening to sickness & diarrhea (I did say there would be too much information!) on Wednesday, with me splitting my time between the bathroom & my bed trying to recuperate. I felt totally wiped out & spent a huge chunk of the day sleeping.

This morning I felt better, still had stomach ache but questioned whether that was because I was still ill or because I hadn’t eaten since breakfast yesterday (and I saw that again within a couple hours! More TMI! Sorry!) I had that ‘morning after the sickness before’ quandary – should I have breakfast or will it make me sick again? I decided to go on the side of caution & leave it a couple hours to see how I felt. I walked the dog, the fresh air certainly made me feel clearer headed & dare I say it; hungry. I decided that what I needed was something quick & easy, that would provide plenty of nutrients that my body was short on after yesterday, was easy to eat but still tasted yummy. What ticks all those boxes for me is a smoothie, specifically an Oatmeal Almond Milk Smoothie. Yum. So I thought I would share my recipe. I use US measuring cups to get the quantities but I know not everyone has measuring cups so I’ll post it twice – one with cups, one with grams & milliliters.

Oatmeal Almond Milk Smoothie

Cups quantities
¼ cup uncooked oats
1 cup almond milk
¼ cup vanilla yogurt
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp honey *optional
1 cup ice
Gram & ml quantities
25g uncooked oats
240ml almond milk
75g vanilla yogurt
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp honey *optional
1 handful ice

Blend in a blender until smooth and enjoy!

Drink & enjoy :)
A yummy, easy breakfast that can be enjoyed any morning, not just when you’ve been ill!

Tuesday 12 August 2014

Strange things are afoot...

I need to lose weight. More importantly, I need to be healthier. As the media is constantly telling us, carrying extra weight & having a poor diet is not good for us in the long term. Increased risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, liver & kidney disease, even problems during pregnancy assuming of course you can get pregnant – being overweight can make conceiving difficult. No, not like that you dirty minded individual! Being an overweight woman can have a negative impact on your fertility & can increase your risk of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). In the short term it can be pretty bad too! The recent hot weather has been lovely but when you are overweight it’s not as much fun; you end up a sweaty mess in next to no time, you don’t feel comfortable or confident wearing a swim suit, you end up missing out on activities with friends & family.

All in all, being overweight sucks!

So, what am I doing about it? Sitting & moaning on my laptop? Well, yes BUT I am also getting my butt kicked by a personal trainer for an hour twice a week (there’s plenty to kick!) & I’m eating better. The maddest, craziest, strangest thing has happened though in the past week. In a truly shocking turn of events I have also started running. Yes – me, running! I don’t run. In fact, in normal circumstances I’d say if you see me running you should run too because likelihood is something is chasing me, but that’s how motivated I am feeling. I am not going to sign up for the London marathon or be the next Team GB Olympic hopeful any time soon but hopefully I am going to be a fitter, healthier, smaller version of me. Wish me luck on my ‘Fatty to Fitty’ challenge!

These babies are finally seeing some action!

Monday 4 August 2014

Already August!

I can’t believe that we are already in August – 2014 is flying by! I had a fun filled June & July with a week in Spain, lots walks with Mike & Dinky, Mike’s birthday, visits from friends. Even the weather has been on side with lots of sunny summer days.

Visit to Gibraltar
Day out in Marbella
Beautiful Ronda
What holidays are all about - yummy food,
lovely drinks & relaxing in the sun!
Meal at Abode Exeter for Mike's birthday

I’ve also started working out twice a week with a personal trainer. My life has been one long “I really want to lose weight” so me started another workout plan is nothing new sadly. BUT signing up with a personal trainer is new. I am hoping that having someone to push me, encourage me & keep me on track will help. I am really enjoying my workouts (although not so much while I am in the middle of them!) so I’m feeling hopeful that I will see some positive changes, both physically & mentally. I don’t have a lot of confidence in myself & am certainly not my own biggest fan but I am working on that. I am trying to see positives where it would be all too easy to see negatives, to recognise small successes & accomplishments, to see that a bad day is just a bad day not a bad week/month/year/life, to be proud of myself, to find joy in my life, to do more of what makes me happy, and to not apologise for being me.



In the vein of doing what makes me happy I have joined a pen-palling group. I love sending little notes, cards or gifts through the mail so having pen-pals is something that really appeals to me. Checking the mail & finding a pretty envelope or a postcard is so much nicer than a pile of junk mail & bills. It does mean I now have a LOT of writing paper, envelopes, stickers, pens & postcards! I have always loved stationery & now I have a good reason to buy it. I might have to admit that I have enough to see me through for a while now! It’s lovely knowing there are people as kooky & geeky & stationery obsessed as me out there. If you are like me & would like to exchange letters with wonderful people around the world then check out The League of Extraordinary Penpals.

Send more mail :)
I am looking forward to all that August has to offer - camping, League of Extraordinary Penpals meet up, a rally for Mike, my best friends 30th. Wishing everyone a wonderful summer :)