the path to freedom

A path on the hill Tom and I climbed on Sunday!

 The other day, I was cleaning out a drawer at work and found one of my special foil wrapped chocolate biscuits.  I put it in my handbag, thinking I might have it on the train home.  Fast forward to the weekend, and I found it still in there!  I’d completely forgotten about it!  After all this time, I’m still quite amazed that I can do that.  That I can completely switch off around food and it just isn’t a big deal.  If I want it, I can have it.  If I don’t feel like it, I just forget about it. 

Prior to six years ago, the picture was very different.   

There was a time when a block of chocolate would not last the night in my company.  Where a giant 4 litre tub of ice cream would be gone in a weekend.  Where a six pack of cinnamon doughnuts would not survive the 10 minute drive from the supermarket to home.  Whenever these things were within my easy reach, they would not last.  If I knew they were in the house, I couldn’t rest until it was all gone.  I would think of nothing else until the packet was empty, the foil licked clean of every crumb of chocolate, the ice cream tub dented in the side from my enthusiastic spoon.  Once it was gone, I thought I was safe.  The damage was done.  I’d start again tomorrow.  Or on Monday.

It was a pattern I had repeated for most of my life, up to that point.  I remember most of my childhood Easters where the haul I got from Easter Bunny was usually demolished by lunchtime on Easter Sunday.  Ditto Christmas chocolates and treats.  Other people seemed able to “save” theirs, but I couldn’t.  I would go out of my mind, unable to concentrate or think of anything else.  I don’t know if it was as simple as just being greedy, as some people told me it was.  It was just a nice distraction.  With all my thoughts being monopolised by food, either the stuff that was right in front of me or waiting in the cupboard or the freezer for me, there wasn’t the time or energy to focus on other thoughts and feelings that weren’t particularly nice or comfortable.  Far from being out of control, this behaviour and way of thinking was possibly the only control I had.

But it had its drawbacks, obviously. 

In April 2005, as you all know, I started to unpack all of this chocolate coated baggage.  That was what made it different from all the other times I’d tried and failed to lose some weight and get some illusion of control.  I actually wanted to understand why I did the things I did, why these habits were so ingrained and what payoff I was getting from them that ensured I kept doing it even if it wasn’t in my best interests.  I wanted to understand why I ate when I wasn’t hungry, why the presence of something “forbidden” had such power over me.  Back then the idea of being able to have chocolate in the house and not demolish the whole lot in one go, or having a tub of ice cream and only putting two scoops in a bowl rather than eating it directly from the tub was some kind of bizarre fantasy.  But it was going to have to happen somehow if I wanted to shift the extra 27.5kg from my frame. 

At first, I knew having any of my previous lairs of temptation – chocolate, chips, ice cream – in the house would be too much.  I had to minimise any temptation, but I also had to balance that by making sure I didn’t feel deprived, because if I felt that way then my plan would fall on its arse by lunch time, like all the others that had gone before it.  So I decided on one treat I could have, and started teaching myself how to plan for it, savour it, and incorporate it into my every day life without feeling deprived or guilty.  The treat I decided on was Weight Watchers ice cream, which came in individual portion-controlled little tubs.  It was a tiny portion of ice cream, but because it was so small I ate it slowly to make it last, and felt oddly satisfied afterwards.  The mind is a funny thing.  My brain was happy because I was still eating the whole thing (as I had done with a 2 or 4 litre tub!) but I felt more satiated by that tiny tub.  Realising that I didn’t need all that excess was so freeing.  I was giddy with pride that I wasn’t as powerless as I believed I was.  I enjoyed feeling satisfied, rather than full.  I realised that they weren’t the same thing.

After about three months of learning to savour and enjoy food, to plan and look forward to treats, and finding that exercise wasn’t the drag I always thought it was, and about 10kg down, somehow a family sized block of chocolate found its way into my house.  I kept it in the fridge, rather than the pantry.  That made it easier to only break off a row at a time.  By this time it was becoming second nature to me to ask “do you really want/need this?” and after nearly a week, only two rows of it had gone.  It was a victory. 

But, of course, the space in my head that all this obsessive thinking had taken up for the best part of 25 years was now clear.  There were other things to think about.  Things I hadn’t allowed myself to think, or feel, were now right at the surface.  Behind this obsession with food, and the self loathing and inertia that accompanied it, was a very deep desire to feel worthy and loved, and to be living a life that I felt mattered.  Once I realised that that was what I really wanted, it became harder to ignore it.  Being self aware and being oblivious are both painful states of being, but I would rather be on the self aware side of the fence.  You have far more power on that side.  You are not immune from suffering, far from it, but it’s a more helpful and empowering way of life, I’ve found.  You realise that you have the power to shape your beliefs, thoughts and hence your experience.  When you are oblivious, that’s when you wake up one day ten years from now and just can’t figure out why you have never done all the things you wanted to do.  I think that’s far worse than learning to say no to chocolate and having to sit with some discomfort instead. 

I have a “treat box” in my house now; a little wicker basket where I keep, as the name suggests, treats.  Chocolate perhaps, and Tom keeps his biscuits in there too.  If I get given chocolate as a gift, it goes in there, ready for when I might feel like it.  But I actually forget about the treat box and its contents most of the time.  Again, that is something that gives me a little tickle of delight.  If I see my favourite treats on sale, I usually cave and buy 3 for 2 (or whatever) but I know that I can handle having the stuff around and it won’t be a big deal.  I trust myself.  I trust myself to treat my body with kindness and to listen to what it wants and needs.  And occasionally it does need chocolate! :)    

It feels wonderful to no longer be held to ransom by food and the emotions I tried to smother with it.  I enjoy my food and get a great deal of pleasure out of it, but I enjoy it consciously.  I also have such an active life now, so any overindulgences can be managed.

I don’t get it right all the time.  I do sometimes eat when I’m not hungry, or I finish off the block of chocolate even though I only wanted one row, or I can feel my body resisting another bite of whatever’s on my plate and I have it anyway.  But it’s really not the end of the world.  I think people need to know that.  If you cave and don’t make the best choice, it’s really ok.  No one thinks you’re dreadful.  Just take a step back, see if you can work out what might have triggered it, work out a way you can minimise that happening again and resolve to do it, and then just move on.  Don’t start again tomorrow, or on Monday, or after Christmas.  Start again at the very next meal.

The way I see it, there is no “being good” or “being bad”.  There is only behaviour and decisions that will get you what you want, and those that will not.  Try to do more of what will get you what you want.  Try to do more of what will make you happy.  Even if it means being uncomfortable sometimes. 

I don’t think I have felt deprived once in the past six years.  Yet before, when I denied myself nothing, I constantly felt deprived.  And resentful.  And unhappy.  I didn’t realise until I started caring for myself, nourishing and nurturing myself, and living life consciously what a smokescreen all that had been.   I had to stop walking other people’s paths.  I had to find my own.  

And what I’ve found along that path beats the hell out of chocolate any day. 

What are some things you have learned on your path?

activate protein power

I made a mistake with my last purchase of protein powder.  I bought one I'd never tried before that was on special and it's horrible!  Well, in smoothies, it's horrible.  You could use the sweetest strawberries, the yellowest pineapple and the ripest mango but the presence of this powder makes it all taste like chalk and cardboard!  Ugh!  Hence I am trying to use it up in other ways!

Normally I wouldn't resort to being such a masochist but 1) there is no "not satisfied with this product? Please call 123-456 for a full refund" on the tin, which, note to self, I will look for next time and, in any case, 2) I have mislaid the receipt.

So I'm trying to use it up and surprisingly, it seems to be ok in baked goods!  I saw Angela's protein energy bar recipe and thought it would be worth a try.  I had no crispy rice cereal, so I put in some of my favourite Dorset Cereals full of fibre muesli.  It's proven to be a bit of a winner!  Lots of coconut, nuts and fudgy raisins and dates lifted this to the next level, especially after being in the freezer.  I put in lots of cinnamon and mixed spice too, to help mask the yucky protein powder flavour!  Also instead of a seed butter, I used up the last of my Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter.  So this ended up being a very chocolatey protein slice, probably more appropriate as a pre/post run snack than a substitute breakfast!  But it will always do in an emergency, like this morning ;)

I refer you to Angela's excellent original recipe, but this is what I did:

Protein power slice
Based on Oh She Glows Last Minute Protein Energy Bars

You will need:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup muesli (or other cereal - something like Curiously Cinnamon would be very nice!)
1/2 cup of your favourite protein powder (or one you desperately want to use up, like me!)
2 heaped teaspoons cinnamon and/or mixed spice (I did this to hide the taste of the protein powder!)
1/2 cup peanut butter, almond butter or other nut or seed butter of your choice
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
Dash of vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1 x 100g bar 85% dark chocolate (I use Green and Blacks)
Sesame seeds, to scatter on top

Method:
Mix the oats, muesli, protein powder and cinnamon/spice together.
Heat the nut/seed butter, maple syrup and vanilla in a saucepan over low heat until combined.
Mix in to the oat mixture.  It will be absorbed pretty quickly.  Add water if you need more liquid.
Spread into a large baking tray lined with baking paper. 
Melt the dark chocolate and spread a thin layer on top.  Scatter with sesame seeds.
Place in the freezer for 30 minutes or until hard.  Cut into bars and store in the fridge or freezer (I've been keeping mine in the freezer).

Yum!

I recommend serving it straight from the freezer, it gets a bit soft if left for too long.

I don't know if I'm going to be able to get through the whole tin of powder in this way.....am I being too much of a martyr, do you think?!  Is it better to just chuck it out and cut my losses?!

I won't be so much of a cheapskate next time and just get the Solgar one :)

Do you use a protein powder?  Any disaster stories to share?

it's a runner's world

I met Martin Yelling at the VLM Expo in April, and what a great guy he was!

Martin is a well known speaker, writer, runner and coach, and married to Olympic marathon runner Liz Yelling.  Martin is also the founder and co-presenter of Marathon Talk, the UK's number 1 ranked running podcast.

He and I did a live Q&A at the Lucozade stand at the Expo back in April, two days before the Big M, and I was nervous as hell!  I was quizzed about my fitness journey and shared a few things I'd learned while training for a marathon - it was great fun, apart from me having a Bridget Jones-esque moment with the microphone! Ha ha!

And now it's my turn to quiz him!  Martin has kindly agreed to be the next guest on the Skinny Latte Strikes Back podcast.  I'll be dragging his most inspirational and motivational tips out of him (!) and also get him to answer any reader/follower/liker questions about running, or anything fitness related you might like to ask him. Leave your questions here in a comment, on the SLSB Facebook page or via Twitter by Thursday night!!  Don't be shy :)

Find out more about Martin and his work here.

Hope you've all had great starts to the week - more soon! xx

monday mantra

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here comes the sun: tips for surviving winter

A scene from last winter!!

As I write this I'm warming up my insides with some peppermint chai, and the grass outside is blanketed with yellow and brown leaves, which get picked up by the wind and dance in the air like autumnal confetti.  I am also wearing my fingerless gloves and need to go and find a pair of socks!! Brrr!

However, in three weeks time I am in Oz!!  For six weeks of summer!!!

That is not to say I don't sympathise with those who are staring down the barrel of the UK winter!  Having had four full winters here, each one colder than the last, I've gleaned a few pearls of wisdom that helped me get through them.  I'd love to hear yours too!

Moisture essentials

I don't know if my fellow Antipodeans have experienced the same, but my skin's needs have changed dramatically since moving to the UK.  My first winter here I found that my skin was so dry.  Moisturisers and oils that my skin didn't cope with at all well in Australia were suddenly guzzled up by it over here!  I used some rich Vitamin E based creams until I discovered rosehip oil.  Now I use nothing else for the night time, all year round, and it's my day moisturiser in the winter as well, underneath my sunscreen.  I still apply that all year round - I'm afraid I've never got out of that habit :)

I also recommend aloe vera gel for sore, raw noses during cold and flu season, or better yet, have an aloe vera plant in your home and just break off a stalk when you need it.  My plant sadly succumbed to the flat with no natural light, so we will replace ours very soon!

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It goes without saying that Vaseline or lip balm is an essential for the winter, to keep your lips from drying out!  When I was on Roaccutane for a year I started carrying lip balm around with me everywhere (one of the side effects is dry lips) and I still do it now.  I occasionally use pawpaw lip balm, but I love the aloe vera and the rose flavoured Vaselines, and there's even a special Creme Brulee flavour out - but apparently you can only get it in Selfridges department store and I get terribly depressed every time I go in there.  I don't know why.  Going into Selfridges for me is like bumping into an ex.  An ex with whom you did not part well, that is!  It's awkward and exhausting, where every good and worthwhile thing you have ever done in your life seems to evaporate and you leave the encounter feeling bruised, fragile and barely able to remember your own name!!  Is it just me?!  But as a result I have made some very foolish purchases there over the years!!  I avoid it now.  I'll be sticking with the rose and aloe vera!

Hands and nails

Wear gloves whenever you're outside in the cold, it will help protect the thin skin on your hands. Use a rich hand cream on your hands each evening, and after having them in water (ie: washing up). I have always liked Avon's Silicone Glove.  Neutrogena is also a wonderful rich formula for the fierce European winter cold.  If you feel like absolutely treating yourself, L'Occitane do a wonderful shea butter hand cream.

I also suggest investing in a really good nail file, to prevent your nails snagging on your gloves ;)

Healthy on the inside

I love winter food!

Even though it's not quite the same bountiful harvest of summer, there are loads of tasty winter fruit and vegetables in season. It's easy to get your 5-a-day by cooking up a delicious vegetable soup or stew.  Here are some of my favourite veggie and protein packed winter warmers:

Best ever veggie soup

Dhal

Marathon minestrone

Risotto (any kind!  This one was beetroot)

Veggie Sunday roasts!

Twice baked potatoes

Any excuse to make the celeriac and potato bake -
it's wonderful with other winter root vegetables like swede (turnip)

Mushroom pie and kale chips

source Veggie sausage and chickpea stew (this was a winner! Recipe coming soon!)  

Keep up your vitamin C intake with all the lovely citrus fruits available - like clementines, oranges, and satsumas. Juice them or just peel and enjoy! Poach other wintry fruits such as pear, rhubarb or apple in a little sugar and water and have them on their own, or with some greek yoghurt, in a crumble or tart, or have them on top of delicious warming porridge. Just the thing to fuel you up for your run in the cold :P

Gingerbread porridge! 

Speaking of porridge, it's the most amazing breakfast you can have in the winter! I think of it as the winter version of my smoothies.  Porridge oats are so cheap to buy in bulk, so you can have a ready supply on hand in case it starts snowing out there!  And if you feel like a treat, there's always the wonderful Dorset Cereals gingerbread porridge I've been banging on about recently!

Also, keep up the water! If you can't stomach cold water, have herbal tea, or warm water with lemon juice in it, or a few sprigs of mint. Very refreshing and perfect for keeping colds away.

Keeping active

Despite the cold, I really think it's worth getting outside as much as you can, particularly if the sun is out.  Rug up and go for a brisk walk, it will make your cheeks lovely and pink and you'll come home feeling refreshed. Even just getting 20 minutes outside in the fresh air puts me in a better mood!

I am never tempted to join a gym in the winter.  I still try and exercise outside as much as possible - running in the dark doesn't bother me, and the cold just makes me go faster!  Maria has some excellent tips for staying safe exercising outside during winter.

I think it's also worth having one or two really good workout DVDs that you enjoy and can do at home!  I don't think you can go past The 30 Day Shred, myself.  I also have an excellent Shiva Rea yoga DVD collection.  What are your favourites?

Virtual sunshine

Something that was never on my radar in Australia was Vitamin D.  It never got mentioned!  Or maybe it's just something that's become "trendy" since I moved here.  Vitamin D is considered an essential vitamin for bone and teeth health, and to build a healthy immune system in general.  It is talked about a lot in the UK, probably because it's known as "the sunshine vitamin" because you can absorb the vitamin better with adequate sun exposure, and in the winter months you don't see much sun during the day over here and hence people get concerned about the impact that has on their well-being when, let's face it, who wants to be outside when it's freezing?!

I think to try and combat the urge to hibernate (!), and to stay healthy and happy over the colder, darker months it's a good idea to try and get out for at least a 20 minute walk during the day if you can - not just to up your vitamin D levels but for the benefits of fresh air and a brief spell in the sun (if it's out!) and of getting away from your desk, not to mention the lift it gives your mood!  As mentioned in the getting active section, I always feel great after going outside.  Obviously if your driveway is thick with ten inches of snow, that's a different story.  But if not, rug up, get out there and keep SAD at bay!

You could also think about Vitamin D supplements - it can be beneficial to helping ward off colds and flu and keeping the immune system firing on all cylinders.  Last winter Tom and I used a Vitamin D spray which we would take once a day, sprayed on to the tongue.  It wasn't an unpleasant taste, almost like peppermint, and, combined with taking our Wellness pills, we felt in pretty good spirits last winter.  It might have also helped that we went to Madeira for week in February too :P   The one we used is Better You DLux Vitamin D Spray and you can get it from the Nutricentre in London (one of my favourite places in the city!)

Another thing you could try is a Vitamin D drink called NeuroSun - I had a few bottles of this last week on the days I commute in, and particularly grey and gloomy days they were too (!), and found I got a bit of a buzz from drinking it!  It wasn't a sugar rush like the ones I've had from Red Bull and similar drinks; this felt a bit more natural and I just felt a bit brighter and more alert.  It tasted a bit like Passiona (an Australian fizzy drink) but with a herbal/medicinal kick!  One bottle of NeuroSun contains the recommended daily requirement of Vitamin D and you can find  in most WH Smiths and ASDA supermarkets in the UK, and it's available in the USA too!

Treat yourself to something cosy

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Red wine, cashmere, hot chocolate, roaring fires, long hot baths, sexy knee high boots, mornings tucked up in bed with warm blankets reading books.  It doesn't sound too shabby, does it? :)

If you're doing your best to keep yourself healthy and happy through winter I think you definitely deserve to treat yourself to something nice to get yourself through those long, cold, dark days.

I recently treated myself to a cashmere wrap from Boden (pictured above).  I had a voucher to use and thought why the hell not?  It's the most gorgeous cardigan I've ever had (it would want to be though, it wasn't cheap!).  And it's so cosy and warm!!  I'm so tempted to get it in green too.  I think on reflection I should have got a 10 rather than a 12, but that's what layering is for!!  And surely every girl (and guy, come to think of it) deserves at least one piece of cashmere in their winter wardrobe? :)

These are some of my other ideas of winter warmer treats when you've been especially good or just need a pick me up:

A hot yoga class

A bottle of your favourite red wine

A pair of sexy leather boots

A lush bath bomb or delicious smelling candle like cranberry, ginger or cinnamon

A cute scarf, pair of gloves or a hat

A hyacinth bulb in a pot you can grow inside - it makes your house smell heavenly as it grows and opens!!

A box of your favourite tea, a pouch of freshly ground coffee, or a tub of chai, and a nice new mug to drink it in :)

I don't know about you, but winter's not sounding too bad now, is it? :)

What do you enjoy about winter?  What are your tips for staying healthy and happy during the colder months?

feeling fruity

Have you guys ever had an office fruit delivery ? 

My mates The Food Fairies say to go for 2-3 pieces of fresh fruit each day, and getting it in during the working day is ideal, I would say, for a burst of natural energy.  But with most canteen fruit on offer being pretty standard and uninspired, I was expecting maybe a bunch of bananas and a couple of oranges when Fruitdrop kindly offered to deliver some fruit to my office last week.  Instead, it was a cornucopia of delights!

We were treated to a Seasonal box which had two kinds of grapes, bananas, apples, satsumas (known in Australia as mandarins), figs, plums, pears, kiwi fruit, persimmons, and even a mango!  My workmates looked like they couldn’t believe their luck and the biscuits that are usually stacked in the customary place for communal snacks were promptly ignored!

I haven’t been eating much fruit lately - I have been snacking on nuts when I need a mid morning pick-me-up – but I found that having a handful of grapes, an apple and a fig really perked me up and I felt very refreshed!  My workmates reported similarly, taking satsumas, bananas and grapes back to their desks like they had just been to visit Santa’s grotto!  Isn’t it funny how fresh, high quality fruit can seem like such a treat when you’re used to the same old tastebud-blurring crisps and chocolate?

Fruit has usually been a fixture in my day, since I was little.  I used to have to take a piece of fruit to kindergarten which would be put in a bowl near the door when I came in, along with everyone else’s fruit.  Then it would be cut up and given to all the children on big platters later in the morning or afternoon – I always took a mandarin (satsuma).  I don’t know why, I think it was because I liked peeling it!  J  But then later in life, especially in the workplace, I started rebelling, no longer constrained by school rules or parents.  Fruit?!  Who wants fruit?!  With the freedom to choose, it was chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!  But I look back to those days and can’t remember feeling energised, motivated, or particularly happy.  Not that I’m saying if I’d eaten fruit for snacks that would have changed everything, but certainly being conscious of my habits and how by changing them I could have more energy and be happier would have made the world of difference.  But the penny did drop eventually!

Ben from Fruitdrop told me that he launched the concept of office fruit delivery in the UK after working in Australia (where all good ideas come from, of course!) at a bank where there was a daily fresh fruit delivery for all employees to help themselves to.  I think it’s no surprise that when an employer shows that they care about your wellbeing and happiness then you will feel more positive in your work and be more motivated; I know that’s certainly been the case with me.  Ben noticed the benefits of providing this service, to both the employer and the employee, and decided to launch his own office fruit delivery business when he returned to the UK.  And the rest is history – they now have over 40 employees and deliver to most areas on the UK mainland.

And I’m sure the Fruitdrop office is never short of fruit, right Ben?! :)

You can get either an essentials box or a seasonal box, delivered regularly or as and when, and if there’s any fruit you would particularly like they can usually tailor something to suit your needs.  Ben mentioned lemons sometimes get asked for, which might sound a bit out there but I think that’s a brilliant idea with winter coming up – hot water and lemon is perfect for keeping colds away!

My workmates reported very positively on the fruit.  A common thread in the feedback was how luxurious it all was!  “Amazing” and “a nice change from all the chocolate we normally have!” were also heard repeatedly!  It can often be difficult to find a healthy alternative that is quick, easy and everyone will like, but there was nothing but uproarious praise.  Thank you Fruitdrop!

So if you’re finding yourself going to the vending machine for elevenses or a bit tired of the same old muesli bar or packet of digestives, maybe you could get your workplace to treat you all to a Fruitdrop delivery for Christmas? :)

What are your favourite healthy workplace snacks?  Do you have an office fruit delivery or snacks scheme?  

monday mantra

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november notebook

It's proving to be a rather beautiful November here, weather wise.  I notice it more in our new home.  That photo above was taken about 3 this afternoon, when the light really spills into the front room and you forget that it's nearly winter outside.  After lunch we sat at the table and worked until the light faded, then we watched the sun go down in a blur of grey, purple and pink.  4.55pm, it was gone.

This morning I woke to fog, and was very tempted to stay in my bed, drinking tea and playing games on my iPod (seems to be how I start every Sunday!) but I pulled on my running gear anyway (eventually), and put on my Sweaty Betty jacket which hasn't been needed since March (!) and headed out.  Once the sun broke through the fog it was magical being out in the country lanes and roads.  I felt immensely powerful on today's run.  I don't know how to describe it really, but nothing was bothering me - nothing ached, there were no breathing problems, I didn't feel tired and like I wanted to stop.  I felt like if I had fuelled a bit more I could have done 10 miles!  I somehow found my rhythm really early and just glided along like a duck on the water.  It felt natural, it felt freeing and, for the first time in months and months, it felt easy.

But of course it's not easy, it never really is - but it's runs like this that keep me going and reassure me that my groove is back!  It is such a struggle to get out of the house sometimes but I am always so happy when I make the effort and feel so much better and stronger afterwards.  Caitlin talked about this the other day - how exercise might be a habit now, for those of us who used to be a bit lazy, but it's still something we have to commit to, every day, and I completely agree.  It's still something we have to choose to do.  We are the sum of our choices and that's what living consciously, to me, is all about.  If I want to fit into my clothes and feel fit and healthy and strong, then I need to go for a run as often as I can.  It's what I have to do to get what I want.  And every time I come back from a run, I'm hungry for the next time I can lace up my runners and get out there.  If only I could bottle that "just come back from a run" feeling, I think I'd be a rich woman indeed!

I did a resilience course a little while ago, and it has been shown that people who are physically fit and do aerobic activity regularly are far more resilient in life and find setbacks and challenges not as hard to deal with.  I think that's true - I know that when I was training for the marathon a few months back very little bothered me!  While I was running today I was reminded of how strong I can be - a thought to carry me through the week for sure!

We had my parents-in-law visit for most of the week just gone, which was lovely - and my mother-in-law made us some beautiful curtains.  The place is really coming together now, I feel rather proud.

We had our usual veggie box delivery on Friday, complete with a little mince pie!  Christmas really is on the way now.....

I enjoyed it with a cup of mango chai!!  This is really nice, and very fruity.

Over the course of the week Tom and his Dad discovered a hidden pub in one of our town's alleyways, off the beaten track, so we congregated in there with pints of local Chilterns Brewery ales and Buckinghamshire Rarebit on beer bread:

I wore my new favourite dress!

Later on Tom's mum and I went to the little antique store where Tom and I found our vintage cupboard a few weeks ago, and I found this lovely tea set for only £5.  Bargain!

I also saw this cute little pyjama case (not very practical for me, but cute all the same)!

It was very sad to see them go yesterday, but also kind of nice to get things back to normal as our place is only very small.  But the curtains have really lifted it and added an extra lightness to the space, Mumsch (as I call her) did a wonderful job!

After today's run, there was smoothie-ing:

And then I made a lovely Sunday lunch - it was the thought of that that got me out running to be honest!!  I made the gratin from a few weeks ago, but as swede (yellow turnip/rutabaga for my American friends) was in our veggie box this week, rather than celeriac, that's what I used instead, and it was wonderful!  I really recommend giving it a go!

Served with a Quorn vegetarian roast, and sauteed kale and peas:

And a delicious red wine:

Red has definitely been my pick lately, it's perfect for these sunny but chilly days, and dark frosty evenings.  Tom and I sometimes go for walks in the late afternoon, just before the sun sets, and watch the light on the red bricked houses, the fields and roads, littered with decaying leaves, and the bare branches black against the sky.  The heat wave we got in October has meant the sun has stuck around in November for a bit longer than usual, and I'm not complaining.  I need a coat and gloves in the mornings now, but the sun does break through for a few hours each day and that's all I need to get me through the next three weeks.

How has your November been shaping up?  Hope you have a lovely week xx  

rescue remedies: yoga and chocolate

I really needed some yoga today.

My friend Nadine sent me a box of her yogAttitude cards a little while ago and I've been waiting for the right time to introduce them into my home practice.  The idea is that you match a pose with an "attitude" and build a sequence of poses, or do meditation on the thoughts inspired by some of the "attitudes", or a combination of the two.  It's designed to get you out of a slump, in your yoga practice or in life in general.  So today it was perfect for me, as I've been feeling a bit lost.  So I plucked a few at random, and was inspired by their message:

I like to think of them as yoga tarot cards :)

So I built my practice around downward dog, warrior 2 and triangle; moving from downward dog to lunge, to warrior 1, then warrior 2 and into triangle, then working backwards to downward dog.  Also did some pigeon pose, and uttanasana.

Having spent the best part of the day feeling a bit gloomy, I felt inspired, grounded and strong after doing those poses.  Yoga is such a tonic, so restorative for the soul.  Every time I come back to the mat, I vow to come back more often.  Yoga always disarms my ego and leaves me little option but to accept things, and myself, as they are.

I've been reading The Handbag and Wellies Yoga Club, the follow up to Lucy Edge's first yoga memoir Yoga School Drop Out, where Lucy and the Bad Ladies often follow a yoga class with treacle tart and Pinot Grigio.

Lacking easy access to treacle tart today, I followed my yoga with chocolate!

The lovely Holly sent me some of her organic chocolates, from the wonderfully named chocoholly range.  I had a few different flavours to try, plus the award winning chocolate fish!  I've been working my way through them for about a week (sharing with Tom of course!) and we both agreed the chocolate fish were the best!  Holly calls it "a darker shade of milk" which is a great way to describe the rich cocoa flavour.  Today I had a bit of the cardamom milk chocolate, which tastes like a chai latte...perfect for after yoga!

So, in my opinion, yoga and chocolate, in the right doses, are the perfect rescue remedy combination!

What about you?  What's your rescue remedy? 

anita's bench

This is a video I made for Lucozade a few days before The Big M back in April - I don't think they ever used it, but I was reminded of it today when Anita's bench, which I used to go and find every time I ran in Battersea Park, popped into my head for some unknown reason.

I can't recall if I ever went into any great detail about Anita's bench on here.  I'm sitting on it in this video, and I tell you the story!  I hope you like it :)

It was fun to remember the last few days in the lead up to the marathon!  It was surreal and exciting - kind of like getting married!!  Can you believe it's been seven months since that fateful day?!

I hope I can find another Anita's bench out here.  Cheers Anita, and to everyone who misses someone special. xxx

operation gingerbread porridge - 24 hour give away on facebook and twitter!!!

If you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen me going a bit insane last week when I found out that Dorset Cereals, who make two of my favourite cereals which have been an adequate substitute for my beloved Carmans, have started doing a gingerbread porridge!!  How delicious does that sound?!

Even though I had just been to the Waitrose supermarket, I high-tailed back there in a record 4 minutes to scour the shelves - to find them bare!!  I got two very obliging young men on the case who informed me there would be some more after the weekend.  So I made my escape as soon as I could today and was delighted to find some still there!  As I rounded the corner of the cereal aisle, I saw people milling around down the end and said under my breath, "keep walking, keep walking!".....I can't remember the last time I went this crazy over cereal!

Seeing that this porridge is not available everywhere ("rare as gold dust" one commenter said earlier ), I thought I'd pick up an extra box for a lucky SLSB follower/liker :)

If you'd like to win some gingerbread porridge for yourself, either:

Like the Skinny Latte Strikes Back Facebook page and leave a comment on the
 Gingerbread Porridge photo

(if you're already a liker then 1. you rock and 2. just leave a comment on the photo)

OR

Follow me on Twitter and RT my #operationgingerbreadporridge tweet! 

The annoying small print: Please note Dorset Cereals aren't affiliated with this give away, I just thought it would be a fun thing to do :) 

I'll draw one lucky person at random at 9pm GMT tomorrow.   Give away is open to all likers and followers, world wide!

It's a perfect breakfast for this chilly weather or, if you're somewhere warm, it's a great breakfast to get you in the mood for Christmas!  :)

~ good luck! ~

monday mantra

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