Northumberland - Day 1

Looks like we brought the sunshine with us

Today has been absolutely fantastic so far. We managed to drive to Northumberland in less than 5.5 hours yesterday, so arrived at my partners parents house at 11:30pm. I was actually quite pleased with myself as I managed to drive over 2 hours in his large Audi, which is really different to my little Corsa.  As usual, we were welcomed with opened arms and spent the next hour and a half chatting to his parents in the living room. I'm really lucky as his Mother is absolutely lovely and so friendly - She knows I'm usually trying to eat heathily, therefore rather than buy any kind of 'junk' food, she went out and bought all kinds of fruit which was so thoughtful of her.

After heading to bed at 1:00am, I awoke at 7:00 and wandered next door to cuddle up to my boyfriend for a bit (his parents don't mind us sleeping together, but I'm such a light sleeper, I actually prefer having my own bed!) before we headed downstairs for the days excitement - Breakfast was my usual Porridge and blueberries, if you look at the photos on my last blog post you should see the 4 pots of porridge in my suitcase :-) 

My boyfriends Mother really likes feeding people and as I had brought my breakfast with me for the next 4 days, I think she wanted to make sure we were both completely full, so she made us a massive tupperware box of fruit and handed it to us before we went out the door. It smelt and looked amazing, however in my head I was thinking 'God, that's more fruit than I eat in 3 days, let alone 1' However, politely accepted it, said thank-you and was grateful it was fruit she was giving us and not chocolate or sausage rolls.

Once happily fed and watered, we headed out to Sea Houses to find an available boat tour so we could go to the Farne Islands and take photos of both puffins and seals and enjoy the fact that the sea looked beautiful, blue and most importantly - very calm! 

As we approached Sea Houses, it was clear to see that it was far busier than we've seen it before - I guess that's because it's June and usually, we go to Sea Houses in December or April (Christmas or Easter time) Thankfully we managed to park and went to see if we could buy tickets to go on the boat. Unfortunately, whilst waiting in the queue, I heard the woman telling another person in the queue that all the landing trips had completely sold out for today - there were only 'stay on the boat' trips left. As I really want to take photos of Puffins, this wasn't going to work for us, so we decided to put our names down for the boat trip tomorrow and change our plans as to what to do today.

On our way back, we went past Bamburgh, the beautiful castle to our right hand side on the hill. We had a quick wander on the beach and I suggested my boyfriend take a 'selfie' of us. This is actually quite a monumental moment as I really dislike how I look - I don't think I'm attractive in any way, shape or form so tend to prefer to be behind the camera, rather than in front of it. Oddly enough, I think it turned out really nicely, is this my brain changing how I feel about myself? maybe,.. I'd like to look at photos of us and think back to all the lovely things we've done in the past.

We also made a quick pit-stop for some kippers. I love kippers and the ones you can get from Craster are apparently rather famous, either way, they certainly taste delicious. Not only did I buy some in a packet, I decided to buy a 'kipper in a bun' for lunch. However, rather than just eating the bun, I just ate the kipper and gave my boyfriend the bun - He was only too happy to devour it, along with his 'crab in a bun' as well. I also bought some beef jerky to have for lunch - I appreciate it's hardly the most balanced of meals, however when you're out and about, it's hard to be completely prepared so I jumped at the chance of eating low fat protein, as opposed to opting for a scone, clotted cream and jam, which the cafe next door to the kipper shop was advertising.

As I was in the shop, I noticed a sign - 'Don't look down on others, unless you're trying to help them up', which I thought was really nice and also a good motto to live by. I dislike the fact people judge each other so much and I know I've been guilty of that in the past. 

Having devoured the kipper and jerky, we headed back to base camp to drop off the kippers (and the sausage rolls my boyfriend had bought for his parents) and headed out again to go to Vindolanda, which is a massive roman fort near Newcastle. The weather was still looking good and we made good use of the fact it was only 3:00pm when we arrived. 

The place was a lot bigger than we imagined - there was a really comprehensive museum, an absolutely huge site full of Roman ruins and also a really nice shop and cafe, all hidden in utterly beautiful surroundings. As we went round, I was really happy that I was spending my day with my boyfriend and not at the Hell hole, more commonly referred to as 'work'. 

We spent a good hour walking around and reading about what the different ruins were used for. I feel quite at home when it comes to the Romans as I went to a school that taught us Latin for 5 years, so I actually have a good idea what the Romans got up to and can pretend I'm super smart when translating the odd Latin word :-)

Despite not feeling it, we've done over 6,800 steps today, so the exercise isn't going too badly and I imagine there will be a few more tonight when we go out to an 'All you can eat' sushi restaurant. I know the words 'All you can eat' and 'Healthy eating' don't always go together, so I'm going to try and be very mindful of what, and indeed, how much, I'm eating. 

Road Trip

I love being on holiday

Today marks the first of three days that I'm on holiday and already I'm feeling calmer, happier and more positive.

Not having to set an alarm and waking up naturally was bliss and I managed to sleep for over 8 hours, only finally leaving my comfy and warm bed after 9am. Had a shower, washed my hair (an operation that always needs to be planned as it's so thick and long) and started packing my suitcase, ready to take to Northumberland later on tonight. Before 10:00am, I'd already received 2 phone calls from recruiters which I was quite chuffed about - even if they don't come to fruition, it's nice to get some positive feedback that maybe you're not as useless that you've come to believe.

Breakfast was a lovely cup of jasmine tea and porridge with blueberries, although I actually tried a 'Honey and Vanilla' pot, rather than my usual 'Golden Syrup'. It was OK, however I now know why there's usually a big hole on the supermarket shelf regarding the Golden Syrup pots and everything else is still there - Not sure I'd try it again to be honest.

Sitting on the sofa, I decided to add a couple more recipes to my website and proudly update how much weight I've lost so far. I also did the fun task of paying my gas and electricity bill (I just don't trust them with a Direct Debit so phone them up once every 3 months with my debit card) and watch some South Park episodes that I had on my Sky Planner. 

Lunch was a rather nice pot of butternut squash risotto - I actually forgot I bought it last weekend, so decided to use it up, rather than it go to waste. It's surprisingly filling and very quick to heat up if you're on the move. 

I then went out to 'prep' for the 6 hour journey up North - Usually we'd stop off at a service station, maybe partake in a Burger King or MacDonalds on the way up for dinner.... I'd rather not do that so went to Tescos to find some more healthy food and bring it with me. On my travels, I picked up more blueberries, some pita bread, chicken, salad etc - I'll make a really nice chicken salad sandwich and polish it off with some strawberries for 'pudding' which I think will be a lot healthier and better for me than fast food.

Next stop.... Northumberland!

Speedy breakfasts!

I don't want to get up earlier to faff around in the kitchen....

I wouldn't usually blog in the morning as I'm usually getting ready to go to work, however today I'm off to vote and then going into London for various (fun) meetings. 

I've seen a number of recipes for healthy breakfasts, loads in fact - and they all look great. However usually, all of them involve actual effort. Fair enough, that's cool if you want to get up earlier and are that motivated - I've tried before and within 2 weeks, I usually end up with additional food in my kitchen I don't use as I've hit the snooze button on my phone or have forgotten to eat, got to work and then wandered to the canteen to get a bacon roll.

Instant porridge has been my saviour - Of course 'home made' porridge would be better - less sugar for a start, however I find instant pots are good for portion control and I always try and stick some fresh fruit in them. If you pop the water in, then chuck a handful of blueberries in - by the time the porridge is ready, all the blueberries are soft and it tastes really nice - same with raspberries and blackberries. 

They fill me up until lunch time and I'm much less tempted to snack - they're also sustainable... I've been eating porridge for years and I can keep some at work in my locker, or even have a couple in the car, so if I stay over friends houses, I've got something I can eat and am not tempted to say 'Yes' when they offer me a fry up.I guess this just works for me. 

I would like to explore other alternatives for breakfast - however they have to be super quick, involve very little effort and be something I enjoy (as well, of course, as being healthy!).

Right then! off to vote and then to London :-)

Everyone loves 'fat pants', right?

Considering how I thought Tuesday would go, it actually went pretty darn well. I was dreading work after the Bank Holiday as I was convinced my Manager would give me another massive bollocking for how one of my areas was performing, however despite being in a meeting with him for 1.5 hours, he actually seemed OK...

So once I had got up and got dressed.... except, it's not that simple at the moment - I mean, it should be: you get up, have a shower, stick some clothes on and out you go, however due to how I currently look, there are certain clothes I won't wear as I think I look really bad in them.

One piece of 'clothing' (if you can call it that.. I think on some level, it's a torture device) I don't leave the house without is my trusty 'fat pants' commonly referred to as 'tummy control' pants or 'Spanx' if you buy a particular make... These aren't Spanx as I bought them from the local Marks and Spencers, however come rain or shine.. whether it's winter or summer, if I am not feeling confident in how I look, I will always wear a pair of these before putting on the rest of my clothes.

This is hardly a fun task - I mean, in the winter, it's hard enough to pull them over my thighs and stomach, but in the summer, it's an additional layer of clothing which makes me even more sweaty - Why? Why do I feel the need to wear them every day? As I'm not happy with how I feel my flab bulges over the top of my jeans, or the fact my stomach isn't flat. So whilst I could potentially wear them for the rest of my life, I can't say it's a particularly attractive prospect and as such, I'll try to continue to eat more healthy until I can happily wear clothes and go out the door feeling confident that I don't look like a lumpy-bumpy 30-something woman.

So.. on the healthy eating front, today was a good day. Porridge and blueberries for breakfast, home made spinach, sweet potato, cauliflower and lentil dhal for lunch and a very colourful plate of sweet potato chips, red cabbage and apple, peas and steamed cod fish for dinner.

Admittedly, my lunch may not look overly appetising, however I promise, it was absolutely gorgeous - not only that, it's vegetarian and if you use the right stock cubes, you can make it Vegan really, really easily (I have a good friend who is Vegan, so I am always on the look out for things to cook for her or recipes I can modify). I have the Covent Garden Soup Book, which is where I got the recipe, however you can also find it here:

http://newcoventgardensoup.com/recipes-grouping/sweet-potato-spinach-dhal/

I don't know how many calories I had today - it's not about that for me, one of the reasons I don't think I'd be any good at either Weight Watchers or Slimming World is because underneath, I am fundamentally quite lazy and having to calculate points, or work out how many 'Syns' I have per day is not something I want to spend effort doing - Maybe this means I won't succeed or that I will succeed but more slowly? I don't know... However if this is to work, it can't be a quick fix and I need to eat things I actually like....

.. which means that I will never, EVER eat celery... not ever.