Happy Friday everyone! Hope you’ve had an awesome week. Mine has been a busy one, on Tuesday and Wednesday I was at Greenfield Arts Centre providing some activities for their family fun days. We wanted to do something creative around health and well being so I did a huge Feel Good Wall collage! I brought lots of arts and craft materials, stickers and magazines to be cut up. People could also draw and write directly on the wall. It was brilliant!
Just the act of thinking about the things that make you feel good can be really powerful, and it was lovely to look and see what makes other people feel good too. Food was clearly a big theme, but also family, friends, sports, pets, bottles of wine and so on. I had such a great time but was shattered afterwards! I still managed to get myself to the gym though:
Workouts this week:
- Saturday – rest / standing up all day at a community event
- Sunday – spin class
- Monday – gym workout – 30 minutes on cardio machines, strength, plank hold
- Tuesday – rest / working the community event
- Wednesday – gym workout – 30 minutes on cardio machines, strength, plank hold / working the community event
- Thursday – gym workout – 45 minutes cardio on machines, plank hold (no strength, feeling a bit sore!)
- Friday – rest
Did everyone have a good Halloween? I made a tasty pumpkin based recipe I’ll be sharing soon, but I also used it as a good excuse to eat it all week, starting with some of my Thai Red Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup:
Earlier in the week I’d made a big mix up of roast squash, roast brussels and bacon:
That was delicious! Yesterday morning I made some more pumpkin porridge:
I added almond butter and dark chocolate chips! Big thanks to my pumpkin for such deliciousness:
I’ve also been enjoying persimmon:
With yoghurt and peanut flour sauce for breakfast. I even treated myself to some Pear, Ginger and Dark Chocolate chip cake for breakfast:
I will definitely be having that again! Speaking of treats, the lovely Maria sent me a little bag of home made fudge and some green tea as a thanks for sponsoring her:
It was such a lovely surprise and the fudge tasted incredible!
On the Love List this week…
You all know I love my coffee, but whenever I have more than 2 cups I feel like you could peel me down off the ceiling. The only reason I haven’t gone for decaf instant before is that usually it’s not the best quality coffee. However I found this Clipper Super Special Organic Decaf in Tesco last week and I’ve been drinking it non stop! I love it with a bit of almond milk and as it’s instant it’s so much easier to make than having to faff on with the ground stuff. Also…
raw salted caramel sauce – another recipe coming soon! // crunchy apples // my work colleagues, they are just the best // sweet Facebook comments from my Dad // this article about how Instagram censored a woman’s body – disgraceful how people can be disgusted at what is a natural female body // getting stuck into watching The Blacklist // Dear Paleo, I quit over at Health Bent, more evidence of how bringing it back to your body and what works for you over dietary dogma is important
This is not on the Love List for reasons you will see in a moment: yesterday James shaved off his beard so he could start Movember cleanly shaven. Freaked out doesn’t even come close! I’ve never seen him cleanly shaven, he looks like a different man. Big props to him raising money for charity (here is his Mospace!), but I want my bearded man back! I never realised quite how much I liked his facial fuzz.
In case you missed it:
- What I got up to in October and my November Pledge
- Fitbit Flex Review
- Recipe for healthy apple, pecan and maple flapjacks
- October Reviews
- Quick Guide to Blood Pressure
- Some thoughts on quitting smoking and e cigarettes
What’s on your love list this week? Do you know anyone growing a tache for Movember? How much pumpkin and squash do you think is safe to eat before you turn into one? ;-) Have a great weekend!
Nick did Movember last year, but he’s not doing it this year, I missed his beard! I am loving persimmons right now, need to restock today! Like the feel good wall, that’s a really nice idea!
We’ve already said that he’s not doing it again next year, we both miss the beard too much!
I was absolutely disgusted by the reaction to that photo – I can’t stand the double standards these days for what is/isn’t ‘accetpable’ in terms of male and female bodies. I found absolutely nothing ‘disgusting’ about that photo – the idea that women’s bodies have to be hyper-regulated with the main purpose being to please men aesthetically, and/or look a particular definition of ‘sexy’ infuriates me. Anyone who decides to shame another person for not shaving their damn bikini line is a pretty damn abhorrent human being to me…I have to admit to feeling super self-conscious about my leg hair, because I wear shorts all the time at the gym but can’t shave my legs that often without it setting off my eczema so badly that it looks as though my lower legs in particular are covered in burns. And yet I’m dying inside whenever the light catches my legs, even though the hairs are miniscule and blonde, so not that visible…but the very idea of someone seeing hair on my legs just feels ME with shame and disgust, even though I will defend every woman’s right to present herself as she pleases to the hilt. I wouldn’t be so angry if there was parity of the sexes, but the equivalent picture of a man would provoke no criticism at all.
On a lighter note, I think I push the limits of squash consumption at the best of times, and as of yet my skin hasn’t turned green and stripy like a kabocha…we’ll see how I look come January ;)
xxx
I should have clarified that of course it’s that woman’s response to the issue that’s on my love list rather than the issue itself. It scares me a lot, especially thinking of girls and young women growing up into this world with all of this, the internet seems to have made it so much worse. It’s just horrendous, so many people have completely lost the plot and any connection to what a woman looks like naturally, and as you say the worst thing is the difference between how men and women are treated around similar things.
I managed to bag a couple of orange squash, I think they might be hakido squashes from the farmers market. Ate my last kabocha on Friday it was so delicious!
Oh, obviously I didn’t think you’d love the response to the issue! I really respect anyone who can stand up to that kind of shaming – it’s nice to know there are still people like her out there with such strong convictions and enviable characters.
I’ve never tried Hakido squash! Now I’m on a mission to find some ;)
xxx
Gah, I’m not making sense this morning (two coffees already = no excuse!) – I mean I know you wouldn’t be supporting the issue itself, but you WOULD love the great response. Clearly my brain has frozen solid.
Hope it hasn’t been too cold or icy for you out there this morning, the heatings off at the office so I’m working from home. Seems like we’ve had a sudden cold snap!
Your event looks fab hope it went eel for you, love all these meals, and yep have a few friends doing the facial hair thang!
My love list is all about my new yoga class, its been forever since I practiced and even though it wasn’t Bikram I loved it!
Thanks Tam! Oh I would love to find a decent yoga class again but I’m hopeful of a pilates studio I’ve discovered!
The comments on that article were crazy too- some people were so against it. I mean, if you don’t like it, then just don’t look. The point about how in hair removal ads they never actually show the hair is a good point too- I have never noticed that but will from now on!
Glad you liked the fudge (and the green tea- needed for balance).
I think you need to stop with the pumpkin when your skin turns orange- until then, you are good to go!
I had some pumpkin soup this week for lunch- so good :)
It’s crazy once you start and see how they do those ads, it’s quite scary really. Haha, I’m not orange yet so I can keep going!
Haha yes about Movember. Ben has shaved his beard off and it’s crazy how different (and young) he looks. His hair grows so quickly so he’s going to have to shave it like every other day haha.
I’ve got two pumpkins on my counter ready to be sliced and diced. Not sure what to use them in yeat though….the options are endless! Definitely a soup will happen I think.
James is just the same, can’t wait to see his tache grow in! Looking forward to seeing what pumpkin meals you come up with!
Looks like you had a busy but eventful week. Feel Good Wall is so inspiring. I can feel positive energy coming from your words. Amazing.
Thanks Julie!
It’s persimmon season here too! I have one in my fridge that you’ve just reminded me about! We can’t get regular pumpkin here, only kabocha squash, which is really good, but not great for carving a face into, sadly. I’m very jealous of your jack o’ lantern!
Haha trying to imagine a kabocha made into a lantern, would not happen here cause I’d eat it too quick ;-) Persimmons are just fab, I can’t believe I went for so long not knowing they even existed!
That fudge looks so good!