Ankle Angst

I mentioned in my previous post, I have had some trouble with my left ankle (the right one isn’t great either) over the last few years. Basically one crazy night back in the day I rolled it badly and it’s never been the same since haha. I can tell you the exact date and time actually lol. It was about 11:50 on 18^th of October 2011, running like mad men to get into Jesters for Sophie’s 20^th birthday. I went down and have been going down out of the blue on the same ankle ever since. I can be drunk/sober wearing heels or sports trainers, it just collapses out of nowhere.

It is extremely frustrating and painful when it happens, but I know I need to wear a support and exercise the ankle muscles to strengthen them.  What’s the most frustrating is that I can be in a good health kick spurt, and it hinders most types of aerobic exercise. RICE is obviously my first port of call, however after it has rehabilitated back to normal, I tend to just use the elyptical machines- cycling and the cross trainer. I like rowing as well and doing a free work out with weights and ab excercises.

Keep plodding on!

PS today was a bad day. An angel cake AND a packet of hoola hoops! Lets just say the holiday starts now, I mean my out of office is on right?;)

9 Pounds Down! - Writing lists and being Organised

I am buzzing. I am making good process. I’ve been watching what I eat and going to the gym most weekdays and I’m feeling all the better for it! Don’t get me wrong most gym sessions include a 15 minute jog on the treadmill and some rowing, but hey ho I am definitely feeling the results. WOOOOO. Definitely motivated to keep going.

Weight: 89 kilos. (I know this doesn’t sound like much of a loss, but when I said 90 give or take it was definitely more give than take lol)

Size: 16, Got a new pair of skinny black trousers for work that definitely would not have fit just after Christmas

Mood: Motivated

I have had some barriers in the last few weeks. Namely a very weak ankle which I’ll go into more detail in a separate blog post! Also I am going on a short holiday with my boyfriend to Barcelona this weekend. Whilst I hope there will be a lot of walking * que fitbit champion of the week*, I also anticipate a lot of eating and drinking. I am not going to skimp out on my holiday! ;). Oh and pancake day. Had a couple of cheeky pancakes #nom. Though have also decided to give up cheese for lent. I am not particularly religious, just enjoy the idea of the challenge. Let’s see how long this one lasts haha.

The main reason I wanted to write this post for, was to remind myself the importance of writing lists, planning food, and being organised.

These are a couple of my food plans that I like to stick to my desk computer at work as a visual reminder, but I also love doing it and thinking about what I can eat for a week.

TOP 3 BREAKFAST/LUNCH TO TAKE TO WORK

Scrambled eggs

Eggs are so easy, cheap and quick. They fill you up for the whole morning, especially if you have it with some baked beans. I make mine in the microwave at work in the morning. Boom. Breakfast sorted no planning required.

Yoghurt Oats

This one requires a little bit of planning. Nothing major. I stick some porridge oats in a jar, some natural yoghurt and some frozen fruit. At the moment in the freezer i've got frozen mango, strawberries and banana. If I do it the night before the fruit has normally defrosted by morning. A little high in sugar but keeps me going til lunch time.

Frozen Soup

I like to make soup in big batches on the weekend, and then stick it in the freezer in portions for me to take to lunch in the week. I try to have a wholemeal roll/muffin handy to have with it, but also have been enjoying, Kallo paprika rice cakes (only 31 calories per cake). My go-to soups to make are minestrone (wouldn’t have this with the roll), leek and potato, and carrot and red lentil. I love experimenting with new flavours and bunging everything together that I have in the fridge/cupboards. I think the last batch made at least 4 portions so there is always a back up lunch in the freezer.

Salads

Not gonna lie, Salad isn’t my favourite thing to have for lunch. However you can make them more interesting with things such as tuna, prawns, boiled egg, olives, sundried tomato, pine nuts (expensive!) and chicken.

I will try to update with my progress in the next couple of weeks. I am going to try on the bridesmaid dress again tonight to work out how much it needs to be taken up, so we will see how it feels now i'm feeling a little more confident.

Toodle pip! 

Fit, Fresh, Frolicking and Fabulous 2017

Having read online other weight loss journey blogs as inspiration; I have decided to post on this blog as a motivator. I am getting well into the whole body positivity #bopo concept, and although I don’t feel confident enough to share this with the world just yet, it’s a good place to start. 

Let me just start by saying from the off I am not on a strict diet/ exercise plan. I am using ‘myfitnessplan’ to monitor my calorie intake, and going to the gym/classes and using my fitbit to reach daily steps goals. I will eat what I want to eat, drink alcohol with my friends and enjoy a pizza/ chocolate from time to time, but generally am trying to will be eating healthy/balanced alternatives during the week (especially in the office). As much as I plan ahead with bringing lunch into work most days (gotta look after the pennies!) there will be days where I fancy a chicken and stuffing sandwich from tesco next door. And that’s okay! #yolo :)

I am a proper foodie. I spend all time thinking about food, planning food, eating food. Perhaps this blog will be a good outlet for all my food energy haha.

I am currently 90 kilos (give or take) 5”4, size 16, and 24 years old. Lets see where 2017 takes me!

Gym life

Kalkan

This year we visited Turkey again with our extended famalam the Hoskings and had a jolly old time. Mum, Dad, Heather Nigel and Tom and George had already been there a week to scope the joint, suss out the best beaches and restaurants and to just get familiar with the place (and to enjoy the lovely 35 degree sunshine ofc!) Generally, I don’t like to visit the same holiday location more than once, as I would prefer to use the opportunity to see more of the world! However this little gem, is a town I would love to revisit. Our villa was stunning, the locals were the friendliest bunch I have ever met, and the town was so quaint and pretty, yet had a bit of spark to it and some nightlife. We operated the standard set up of balancing meals out in restaurants, with boozy barbeques in the villa (+games articulate and the like).

Hayley and I enjoying the nightlife

 

Tom enjoying his pina colada....

 

When buying the meat for our BBQ, the local butcher gave us extra chicken and threw in some seasoning on the house! One of the locals fixed Heather's shoe when she was looking to purchase new ones. On every occasion they went above and beyond to keep the tourists happy!  Our daily routine involved getting up and eating eggs for breakfast, having a stroll down into the town for a cocktail , a Turkish shave, petting one of the friendly stray dogs, playing relay water hockey in the pool (which I was surprisingly good at!) and then enjoying G&T on the roof top terrace of the villa.

The view from the roof of our villa

 

Unfortunately Jon had to leave early to do some modelling work back in London (as you do) so we bought a uncanny flag from a nice blind man to ensure that he was represented at all times. Oh and we bought fezzes, because we are hilarious.

Tom and George

 

Hayley and Chris

 



Selfie fun

 

Dinner in Kalkan

My highlight from this trip was seeing a pretty hefty sea turtle from the roof of a boat that we’d hired for the day to see the old roman ruins of Turkey along the coast. Oh that’s another amazing thing; the roman architecture is amazing! And its not made a song and dance about at all. Literally you drive past a coliseum style structure just to get to the beach!



Dat sea doh.

I can’t think of a better way to spend a relaxing break with some of my favourite people!

Glastonbury 2015

After a frantic stomach churning race for tickets back in October, myself Natalie and Rach got the long awaited privilege to attend the legacy that is Glastonbury festival. I’d read the entire do’s and don’ts, done the line-up planning and homework, yet after 5 days of tent life I genuinely only feel like I’ve experienced about 10 percent of what is Glastonbury. I had a wicked time, watched some sick bands and consumed copious festival food. A month later I will try to do this blog post justice!

We set off bleary eyed and stomachs full from Hayley’s homemade spag bol at a cheery 5:30 am, having loaded my tardis Micra with a ridiculous amount of stuff. Then came many of the pitfalls of being a Glastonbury noob. We got lost, so lost, on the way to finding the carpark, which then left us queuing with everybody else trying to get in at opening time at 8:00. THEN some steward bitch pointed us in the direction of gate A (because the queue was shorter than gate D) which was like half an hours walk North of where we wanted to camp. I had been told that the first hour of Glastonbury is hell, lugging all your shit into the unknown, when you’re just desperate to sit down and have that first beer. That is in a nutshell correct lol. At one point I gaffa taped my hand to stop it rubbing on the handle of my granny shopper trolley (used to transport booze, borrowed from Nanny). This actually proved to be a surprisingly successful method until our other sack barrow broke so we committed to camping in that spot. On which we were horrified to realise we’d only travelled about 1 cm on the map! HOW BIG IS THIS PLACE????

 

Rach snuggled up cosy in Jezza 2.0

Once the arrival of doom was over, and we were nicely settled in our camp (specifically less than 100 meters away from some sawdust loos – a dream!), we got our Glastonbury onnnnnn. There’s so many things to do that aren’t the music, so on the first few days – Wednesday to Friday, we took the opportunity to explore. The letters on the hill are great, silent disco, and fireworks from Kat and Pav’s set up. One of my favourite areas was the Greanpeace area, which had a large boat slide, which you had to dress up as a fish to go down, and had live music sets playing. We also trekked it to unfair ground and ShangriLa which were pretty awesome.  Our camp was a short walk from an area called silver hayes, which had loads of cool structures and sets.

Arcadia - a giant spider with fire and a DJ (as you do)

 

 

Glasto has a splendid ‘bring your own booze’ policy. So we pretty much packed our ‘spirit rucksack’ with a bag of wine for the day and some spirits for later. You don’t want to have to go back to your tent if you can avoid it! I hit the drink a bit too hard on the first night, after chilling out with Kat and friends in West Holts , bar crawling the circus area and losing them at the silent disco. I ended up losing the tent watching the sunrise on Glastonbury Hill. And…… then proceeding to not be able to function the next day.

 

We saw a secret set from Bastille, but my other favourite acts include (and in this order); Lionel, Pharell, Hozier, Kanye, Charli XCX, Chemical Bros and Mark Ronson.

THE. FOOD. Our days literally revolved about what we were going to eat that day and when. My highlights were a chorizo and halloumi burrito (devine) and a gorgeous creamy mushroom pasta. There is everything and anything you could ever think of. It’s perfectly acceptable to have paella for breakfast y’know.

Oh and the weather was sick.  I am so keen for next year. Bring on Glasto 2016! 
 
 


Enjoying George Ezra from the top of the hill



Horrific journey home

 

Rach loving life with Lionel

Pushing Yourself

Pushing Yourself

On graduating university, you find yourself presented with a number of huge life decisions to make; what jobs shall I apply for, shall I save up and go travelling? Shall I save up and move out of my family home? Shall I pursue my career, What is my purpose in life?!?! etc etc commence quarter life crisis.

I realised that throughout the my whole life I was presented with a number of choices - pick from these secondary schools, choose from these GCSE's, A Levels Universities. This moment was the first in which I did not have a option laid out in front of me, and actually had to do some thinking of my own.

When I left in the summer I returned to my seasonal waitress job at Hever castle. On hindsight, that job was a great summer job, the people were amazing and I am still in contact with a lot of them.  However at the time I could not help thinking that I did not want to be a waitress for the rest of my life. I was worried that I would get comfortable there and stuck in a rut. During one lunch break I scribbled some notes on a spare paper napkin of a blog post I wanted to write, and I actually havent got round to it until now.

The big wide world is scary. I quit my job at Hever with many concerns and worries. I did not have another job lined up but I felt like I would benefit from 'the fear'. This is in reference to the popular series F.R.I.E.N.D.S  - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_cLMqfwNL4. This is the idea that whilst you are in one job there is nothing pushing you to go after another.

I'm of the opinion that believing in yourself and pushing yourself to do things you have never done before is an unavoidable junction in life. You have to make things happen, and take the leap. Someone I look up to Louise of SprinkleofGlitter once told me if you do what you've always done, you will get where you've always gotten. I also believe that willingness and enthusiasm will shine through. You have to be brave. And things WILL work out in the end. lol.

On that note, I have actually got a new job now. I'm not sure if it's what I want to do for the rest of my life, but its a step in the right direction. And if I don't like it after x amount of time, I'll go travelling :).

I am also training for a 5k run. I know that doesn't seem like very far, but im also very unfit anand I pay over £80 a month for a gym which I should probably use more lol. So I will keep you updated with my progress.

I feel like this blog post has been very rambly and bitty, and in my mind it was always going to be something triumphant. One of my new years resolutions (ive litterally just decided lol) is to write more blog posts, as I just read some of my old ones and its nice to read back some of my old thoughts. I feel like if I'd written this post when I intended to, looking back at it now would be interesting, to see how far I have come.

Anyway, every blog post needs at least one picture so heres a lovely one of Natalie and I in Devon this summer :) Completely irrelevant but its a nice picture haha.

I've got a brand new combine harvester...

SOMERSET

This weekend my course friend Sean and I took a little road trip to Taunton to visit our friend Emily, recreating the town mouse and country mouse story. After predicting a horrible traffic ridden journey we were pleasantly surprised by the lack of cars and had an enjoyable road trip (got to see stone henge at sunset!). On arrival we got a tour of Em's beautiful house, and appreciated the night sky in the countryside - not something Sean and I are used to! 

On the Saturday we ventured out into Taunton town and got a cheeky Greggs for lunch, and purchased all the BBQ food. Then travelled on to a tiny village called Denton where Em generously funded way too much sugar for one days intake haha (coke float, milkshake, fudge, icecream, flake). We went to the coast, and saw Wales! (the country not the animal ;)) 

After many unforeseen complications (BBQ broken, outdoor lights broken, parents coming back earlier than anticipated) later that evening a group of us including Em's friends from home dined alfresco under the stars and sat round an open fire pit. I had a lovely weekend, saw shooting stars, met loads of new people (and animals) and can't wait to go back!

Emily's home-made jams

110 years young