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Fabulous Friday!

Hurrah, it’s finally Friday! It’s been a tough old week (emotional breakdowns aside). But it’s Friday and almost home-time (yes, I should be working right now…whoops). I think the best part of the weekends are definitely that second you walk through the door at home after getting back from work. The whole weekend is in front of you. More sleep, more time to cook meals, and general relaxation. Oh, and housework. But I’m on of those funny people who enjoys housework (most of the time). I’m a bit OCD like that so it fits in nicely with that side of my personality. Hey, we’re all different!

Yesterday morning Ben and me dodged the rain (a difficult task these days) and went for an early morning run. Ben has just got back into running so he doesn’t quite leap out of bed like I do at 5.30am. It takes a bit of coaxing… It’s so nice to run with someone else. A 6am run can be a lonely place when you’re running. Without being disparaging towards Ben, I am faster than him and find it easier to run as he gave up running for a period of time a couple of months ago. So running at his pace doesn’t quite tax me as much, but I don’t mind because it’s just nice to have the company! We did split off in the end as I wanted go on for a bit longer so I was able to speed up a little more.

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So the run wasn’t my fastest but the enjoyment level of having someone else to run with made up for it. I’m just chuffed he’s running again Smile

This morning I did some weights:

· 3 sets of 12 x lunges per leg (5k)

· 3 sets of 12 x bent-over row (5kg)

· 3 sets of 12 x tricep kickbacks per arm (5kg)

· 40 x sit-ups

· 3 sets of 12 x sit-ups with 2.5kg weight

· 40 x bicycle sit-ups

· 1 plank (1 minute)

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Really getting into my weights again. I stopped for a while but with the wedding coming up I thought I’d best get back into it for some good toning! It’s always tough doing weight training at home though because the distractions are endless. During my 30 second breaks between sets I’m like “ooh there’s a bit of washing I can fold up” or just gaze out of the window instead. When I went to the gym I was always focused because the quicker you were done the quicker you’d get out of there and get home. Not quite the same incentive when you’re already at home!! But I set myself a time and a bunch of exercises I want to get done and try and focus that way.

I’m looking forward to tonight as we’re off out for a meal with Ben’s mum to one of our favourite gastro pubs, The Titchfield Mill. I’ve already perused the menu and know what I’m going to have…

Does anyone else do that – check the menu for a restaurant and decide what you’re having before getting there??

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First WIAW

Now I know I’m very new to this but I’m very excited about my first ever What I Ate Wednesday (hosted by Jenn from Peas and Crayons).

So here we go (apologies for the rubbish photography skills and quality – I am clearly very much a newbie in this area!).

For breakfast:

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A bowl of regular Scottish oats with almond milk and a bit of water. Microwaved until at the perfect consistency of just the right amount of stodginess (a very technical and scientific term). I’m a big fan of soya milk (and skimmed milk) and I’ve only just started using almond milk after reading about it on pretty much every blog around. So I jumped on the band wagon and, unsurprisingly, it’s delish!

Very simple but very filling and warming on yet another rubbish British’s summer day (is there any more rain left in the sky?? Because I’m pretty sure we’re all going to drown soon, or live life perpetually feeling slightly damp).

And a nice mug of black coffee after getting into work:

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For lunch:

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I’m a creature of habit and routine so I usually have the same thing for lunch during the week as it’s just so easy, cheap and yummy. Basically, it’s flaked tuna, lettuce, beetroot, cherry tomatoes and some random bits of veg (like broccoli, peas & cauliflower) with a quick spray of Caesar dressing. Some olives on the side and two Babel Bells.

For dinner:

I got in late last night from work so I threw together something easy and healthy for Ben (The Other Half) and me:

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Scrambled egg with tuna (yes, more tuna…whoops) and cherry tomatoes with a portion of soya beans (I meant to buy broad beans but got these by mistake – a nice change actually), Brussels sprouts, artichoke hearts and some left over cucumber that needed eating. Quite a meal! Very yummy. I must confess that Ben didn’t quite get on board with the sheer amount of veg…

I’m really enjoying artichokes at the moment. Going to try and find some recipes to do some interesting things with them because at the moment I’m just throwing them on the plate as a side (though they are damn good like that).

Wednesday was a lot better than Tuesday – but then it didn’t take much considering how bad Tuesday was!

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Yep, I’m that girl…

Terrible day at work yesterday. Do you ever get those days where everything just gets on top of you and you feel like you can’t cope? Well, that was me yesterday. Obviously a mature way of dealing with it would not be to burst into tears. However, that’s exactly what I did. You can feel it happening and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. I know it’s incredibly stupid to get so worked up about something like work but that’s just me. I’m a perfectionist and hate feeling like I don’t understand something or feel like I don’t know what I’m doing.

I guess there’s always one emotionally unstable person at work, and I’m that girl for my office!

On a brighter note… My early morning run on Tuesday was one of those ‘air punching’ runs. Maybe not right after I finished as I was close to keeling over at that point. But a few minutes later there was definitely a happy feeling. I really made the conscious effort to really push myself. It’s so easy to ‘go through the motions’ and just sleepwalk your way through a run. OK, maybe not sleepwalk but mindlessly running, if you know what I mean. Instead I found myself several times during each mile pinpointing a lamppost or a wheelie bin in the distance and picking up my pace to get to it. Then slowing down a bit afterwards and continuing on at my comfortable pace. By the end of the run I was shattered, achy and sweaty. And managed to average around 8 minute a mile for each mile (just over 5 miles in total)! My comfortable pace is around 8mins30secs so this really was good for me.

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It’s always nice to know that no matter how tough work is or how much I panic over it, I can always go on an amazing run and just free my mind.

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Buffets are not my friend

So glad Monday is over. I had to do a Big Scary Work Presentation for the project I’m working on. But I got through it, and actually sounded like I knew what I was talking about, which is always a plus I guess. Even got some good feedback, hurrah!

Although it didn’t go completely smoothly – things never do with me. After dialling in to the people who were working from home and just getting ready to start, in true Anna style, I decide to knock my laptop into the phone subsequently hanging up everyone on the call. Mortification doesn’t quite cover my feelings at the time. Nor does beetroot for the colour of red my face turned…

Ah well, they saw the funny side so it wasn’t a complete disaster. An ice breaker I suppose.

Then we had a little ‘party’ to meet and greet all the people involved in the project. And there was a buffet. Buffets are my absolute weakness. All my good intentions and healthy behaviours just fly out of the window. I become overcome by the thought that the food might run out, all the good stuff will go quickly…so I panic. I’m invariably the first there eagerly waiting with my plate.  I stack it high with everything, even food I wouldn’t usually touch with a barge pole! I don’t know what it is. Maybe some sort of underlying psychological insecurity about going hungry. Needless to say I look like a bit of a pig and there’s usually always food left over so my intentions are in vain anyway.

It’s so difficult to know when to stop as well. Mini food is never good in my eyes. It’s deceptive and you never can tell how much you’ve eaten. So I just keep going. I probably ate the equivalent of three meals…whoops.

Right, back to being healthy! Today is a new day after all.

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Just Getting Started…

Hello!

This is my first blog and my first post…here goes.

My name is Anna. I live in the South of England with my husband-to-be (The Other Half) and our little dog, Alfie. We’ve recently just moved out of The Parents’ Houses (hurrah! Freedom!) and have a very small, but very lovely, little house. We’re also getting married in September. So basically, we’re just getting started.

I wanted to start a blog because I love writing and wanted to give myself some direction in life. I’m a keen runner, I love healthy food and cooking, and am struggling away at my first ‘proper’ career-orientated job since leaving university.

Oh, and I love apples.

I know that I may be the only one that ever reads this, but I’m going to give it a go 🙂