I actually like smoothies. Who’d have thought it?
It’s been a while since I’ve checked in with a food and fitness update on the blog, so I thought I’d pull up a chair, settle down and chat about that today because I have some thoughts on the matter. In fact I’ve been feeling pretty good recently. I’ve prioritised looking after myself; enjoying eating in a ‘everything in moderation’ way (although we have just got back from Madrid – city guide coming next week – and I feel like I may actually just become a gigantic slap of Iberico ham), have drunk more water in the past month than I probably have all year and working out? Well, yeah. We’ll get to that. Here’s what I’ve been up to recently in the realm of wellbeing…
Food. Guys, we haven’t ordered takeaway in A MONTH! A whole month! Not even when we got back from holiday at like 7pm and were really hungry, or when we didn’t really fancy the meal that we’d set ourselves to have for dinner that night. I put this amazing feat down to the fact that we have been trying something new with our food shopping. Firstly I gave into Lily’s constant demands and signed up to a meal box delivery service. I’ve actually uploaded a sponsored video with HelloFresh today (use my code COOKWITHANNA for 50% off your first and second box – just saying), but I signed up to the service myself a month ago now and have been pleasantly surprised at just how easy it makes dinner time. We do the three times a week service which usually works out well for us as around two nights of the week you can bet that one of us will be out somewhere, so on those evenings the one left at home uses up the leftovers, or has a quickie beans on toast number.
The second thing we’ve started to do is buy our weekly food shop online. We were getting SO LAZY with going to the actual supermarket and often we’d write the list and then pull out every excuse in the book in order to not go and then we’d just end up eating takeaway night after night and pulling scraps together for breakfast and lunch. It wasn’t pretty. So I’ve set myself up online and added all the usuals into a favourites folder, which makes re-ordering a dream. It comes to your door! You don’t even have to leave the house! It feels like for once, thanks to the combination of the online shop and the meal box, that we have all the food we need and we’re actually spending less. Win, win.
Fitness. As is always the case, I seem to have one thing down and then completely lose grip with the other. I feel like my life is currently a triangle of eating well, moving more and then work and I can only ever seem to find harmony between two of those things, whilst the other floats away and drifts off as I become preoccupied with the two things that I feel like I’m nailing. So right now? Work – fab, actually had a really productive couple of weeks, even when I was on holiday! Food – loving the new meal box/online shopping thing that I’m testing out and I’ve cooked more homemade dinners this month than you can shake a stick at. Fitness? Errrr, yeah about that.
The good news is that with the work side of things easing off the ‘OMG I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH HOURS IN THE DAY TO DO THIS’ level, I’m back to scheduling in my usual routine Lolz, I’m self-employed. I actually think at this point I would spontaneously combust in an office environment. So next week I have a few of my beloved Reformer Pilates classes booked in. But I’m giving some new things a go too thanks to my new Move GB* membership which my photographer is the biggest fan of (*kindly gifted for three months). We have a shoot next week and are going to give Arial Yoga a go for the first time after, so I’ll be seeing you the broken bones department of A&E very soon. On that membership I can also go to the local spin studio, so I’ve planned some father-daughter bonding time with my Dad as he is a spinning king and puts me to shame. I’m also planning to head back to the hot yoga studio that I’ve been to before as that’s included as well. More mixture, more movement – I’m actually weirdly excited.
Gut Health. Let’s rewind a bit here as I’m not sure that it’s something that I’ve ever discussed online before, but back when I was around the age of 16 I developed one hell of a bout of IBS. Oh it was shit. Quite literally. There was one time that I almost crapped my pants in the sandwich aisle of M&S. And that time on the bus when I thought I might pass out because my insides felt like they were on some wild rollercoaster ride that included umpteen loop the loops. Or that occasion when I emptied my bowels in such an epic way in the loos on Brighton Pier and ALL MY FRIENDS HEARD EVERYTHING. Luckily I have bloody brilliant pals, who were nothing but supportive during that time and eventually after about a year of intense shitting and stomach cramps it weirdly seemed to pass. The doctor did prescribe medication, but I found that lots of water, avoiding diary if possible, the odd dose of Imodium when things got really bad and trying to decrease my stress levels as much as possible, worked best. The GCSE exam stress is real people!
I feel pretty lucky that over the years it’s petered out and it’s pretty rare that I get a flare up, but I do get pretty bad bloating from time to time and my gut health is just something that I’d like to give a bit of T.L.C too as I know how f-ing awful it can be when it’s playing up. Now I’m in no way qualified to dish out advice on this matter and every gut is different and all that, but it is something that I’ve been reading about more. I’ve been trying to consume food naturally rich in probiotics like Kefir and Sauerkraut and dabble in supplement powders that I mix into my breakfast or almond milks, that are topped up with anti-inflammatory ingredients like Turmeric which apparently your belly loves. I’ve really amped up my focus with this in the past month and I’ve noticed a huge difference and no longer feel like I look five months pregnant from about midday onwards. HOORAY. After twelve years I feel like my gut and I might start to get on…
Photos by Emma Croman
*Sign up to my monthly newsletter ‘An Edited Life’ here*
SHOP THE POST
Comments