If I don’t count the fact that a) it is Monday and the weekend (and my week-long hiatus working from home) is over and b) it was so cold this morning that my bits nearly froze off.
I felt extremely sorry for Evs who cycled the 21km to work this morning at 7am. That boy has dedication.
I, on the other hand, drove to work in my nicely warm car. The one that has the heated seats.
Hope that you have had a great weekend – here’s a glimpse of mine in no particular order captured through my trusty iPhone.
Whipped oatmeal with leftover crumbled brownie//Experimenting with making some sugar-free granola//Shopping for floorboards and a new buffet (that’s our dining table too!)//Rugging up and watching episodes of House//Friday night take-away – organic chicken, fat chips and salad//Seeing how my new haircut looks au natural (i.e. no straightening)//Long walks in the sunshine down the river trails//Dogs on the couch!! Awww//It’s a Red Wine kind of weekend//Sunday morning breakfast – protein pancakes topped with peanut butter and blueberries. Coffee and Sunday paper a must.
What did you get up to this weekend? Prefer a relaxing or a jam-packed type of weekend?
The best part of the weekend for me is undoubtedly the time when I come padding down the stairs in the morning sleepily in my pajamas, woken up by the smell of freshly brewed coffee and the paper on the table.
Once I’ve read the paper, I settle in with my second cup of coffee for the day and read my favourite blogs and articles.
And more often than not I come across articles and posts that make me smile or think and I always say to myself – “I should so share this!”.
So, in the spirit of sharing the love and getting you geared up for the weekend with some good, juicy bits and bobs to read – here are a few things I loved this week:
Cannot for the life of me remember how I found this site but it will make you literally Laugh Out Loud – hopefully not making you snort out your morning coffee like me. It wasn’t funny.
I know we’re all about The Avengers now – but here’s a great post on the Hunger Games comparing the movie to the book. Agreed with it all.
An easy visual infographic on what we already know about sugar but don’t want to believe via MindBodyGreen
I’m totally guilty of not doing this but here’s a great post on how to clean your makeup brushes – naturally! Via Crunchy Betty
This made me smile with tears in my eyes – a beautiful piece written from an Indian father’s perspective on bringing up his daughters as a friend
This might not come as a surprise to many, given I haven’t really talked about it much here on the blog.
Deep breath.
I, uh, kinda, haven’t really exercised.
As in since THE START OF THE YEAR.
I also haven’t quit my job, read more books and completed my Food Safari adventure.
I thought I was being all responsible and shit by taping my goals to the wall and announcing them to the world to see. But the reality has been a little different to what I envisioned for this year.
Fast forward – my inspiration board sits propped behind my computer monitor, I haven’t REALLY achieved much on my list and I still feel as lost as I did all those months ago.
Mistake #1 – I forgot that life gets in the way.
OR – shit happens.
Meaning that you can’t EVER plan for everything, despite your many goals and desires. I am happy that I have them there, but if there is anything the last few months have shown me, it’s that life keeps going and things get shuffled around.
Bigger priorities come into play and the little things don’t seem to matter so much anymore.
I’ve been feeling that same restlessness I had at the start of the year – difference is the level of optimism and motivation.
On Tuesday, Evs and I went down to the shops to run some errands. Before we embarked on a whirlwind of things, we sat in a little cafe, coffees in hand and an almond croissant between us.
I told him that I was feeling, for lack of better word, blah.
I told him that I don’t feel like I have an aim in life.
And he told me something, which made me realise why I married this guy in the first place.
He said - “You have been so focused on one path, on something that doesn’t even make you happy anymore. You have so many other options there – look around and do what makes you happy”.
Perhaps I got a little goal-happy with my inspiration board – not saying I don’t WANT to achieve everything I have there – I just think I need to redefine them a little.
Open my mind up to other possibilities.
Achieving goals is HARD. It takes patience and self-discipline – two things I struggle with constantly.
But sometimes to achieve these goals, I think it’s totally ok to step back and realise when things aren’t going to plan. To change direction slightly or to refocus your energy to keep that internal motivation going.
I have a few simple steps to help me refocus:
Revisit your goals and break them down into smaller more achievable tasks – Every little action or choice brings you that one step closer to your goal and it doesn’t seem as daunting.
Stop procrastinating – Quite funny since one of my goals WAS to stop procrastinating. Epic #FAIL. Just get started – making that first step will get you set in the right direction and create a momentum to keep you going forward. Often, it’s the first step that is the hardest to do. If it’s fitness related for example – make a deal – “Just do 15 mins”. More often than now, you will find that those 15 minutes will fly by and you can keep going. If you only do the 15 minutes – then you have done what you promised in the first place. Win-win.
Keep track of your progress – I am guilty of letting my goals slide and before I knew it, a few months had passed by and I had barely done anything. Having regular monitoring will keep you focused and moving in the right direction.
Reward yourself – set milestones and then incentives to reach them. I feel like it really helps to have that tangible reward to keep you going – for me, it could be spending money on new workout gear at Lululemon without feeling guilty or a trip to the salon to spend some moolah on getting my fugly toenails sorted. Find your sweet spot and WORK for it. It’ll make that reward feel even more well deserved.
Focus on the now, the things I can do RIGHT NOW and not worry about the future.
So for me this means:
Getting off my butt and into the gym. I have a membership languishing and it makes me feel so guilty with the waste. I’m going to sign up for a few races to keep myself accountable and give myself something to strive for. GO TO YOGA. Just MOVE.
Blog more. Write, make the time to write and develop this blog. Do it because it makes me happy.
Spend time with family and friends. My mother is still recovering and because I live so close, I know I can help her more. This also means helping my little brother out as well.
Don’t stress about work – do what I can, but know that I have other paths in life.
Be happy. Smile. Eat chocolate. Run outside.
Keeping it simple.
Have you ever refocused your goals or made new ones? How do you keep yourself motivated – share!
It’s been one of those mornings. You know, the kind where despite it being a few hours after the sun has risen, it’s still dark outside.
The sound of wind and rain on the roof outside just causes you to snuggle into your blankets even more and you curse the husband who gets up and leaves a COLD SPOT on the bed to let the dogs out.
When he returns, commenting on the fact that even the dogs don’t want to go outside, you are rolled up in the blankets with only a glimpse of your head peeking through (you know, to breathe).
He shrugs and hops into the shower and you savour the warmth for a few minutes more.
Summer has gone.
In fact, I think that Melbourne has skipped Autumn completely with a very cheery one fingered salute in my direction to directly bring on Winter.
Evs tells me that this is nothing.
That when I was off gallivanting in the heat and humidity of Hong Kong last year, he was suffering through cold mornings like this all the time.
I have no idea how I am going to survive the next few months.
I’m home for a few days, resting and recovering after finally getting my wisdom teeth out last Friday. I’ve been on a cocktail of painkillers and antibiotics and have seen my face swell up like I’m storing nuts in my cheeks.
The surgery was ok – I was under a general anaesthetic and the last thing I remember before waking up was the sharp jab of the needle in my hand and a slightly, woozy, dizzy feeling that I likened to a big night out to my dentist.
Then I woke up and hit on the nurse who brought me out from my slumber (nooo! I was having such a nice rest!!) and then kept trying to apologize for being weird with a mouthful of cotton swabs in my cheeks which ended up sounding like I was hitting on her even more.
Or just being super creepy.
Evs trying to be considerate person, said that he couldn’t tell that my face was swollen.
Like I have a PUFFY, ROUND FACE ALL THE TIME.
It’s also meant that I have been on a liquid/soft-food diet that includes copious amounts of jelly, soup and chocolate soufflé. (Ok so I MAY have begged Evs to make that for me, but c’mon – totally deserved).
I attempted to ingest some sort of nutrition through a Green Monster but nearly gagged when I kinda overdid the cocoa powder to spinach ratio.
So haven’t been too fussed with my diet too much even though the sugar hits have done some strange things to my body.
But it’s been good to rest, wrapped up my in maroon shawl, sitting on the couch next to Evs with my laptop and books to keep me company.
I’ve banned people from making me laugh because it hurts.
So they have been making me laugh so it hurts.
Bastards.
What’s your go-to feeling-sick food to make youbetter?
