25 Nov 2010

a month til christmas!

Because it is now exactly a month til Christmas (to the date, not the day - did I get that right?), I am allowed to mention the C word now, right? Yippee.

For me, Christmas means time off from school/university and is also time to relax and be away from the hustle and bustle of London for a few weeks (though, this may not be true come Christmas of 2011). I like the cold weather as I like layering clothes; I like the feeling of cuddling up in bed with a hot mug of something, be it hot chocolate, a cup of my favourite green tea or whatever and then just sitting there, either chilling (yes, I just used the word chilling), reading or even browsing the internet on my laptop. (I know the latter is a fire hazard but I have a bedsite table, you know!)

So, how have you guys been planning Christmas with the aid of your filofaxes? This year, I think I'll be hitting Winter Wonderland again one night with my friends (like I did last year, except this year, we are a bit further away. We walked there and back from the halls of residence last year!) and I hope it will be just as eventful and funny. It really was a good night last year. It was even snowing that night! Was literally, the perfect winter wonderland.

Any plans for you all this year? Anything exciting that you are doing? (So I can nick your ideas of course.)

21 Nov 2010

Slight Hiatus

Sorry for the wayward posting of late. I've been swamped under with uni work and other sport commitments so have not had much time (hence the (badly) scheduled posts).

Hoping to be less busy from next week or so onwards, so normal service will be resumed then :)

17 Nov 2010

shopping ban update!

Well, it's been three and a half months (more than a quarter of my way through this ban!) and it's gone pretty well; if I do say so myself (cue a proud face). I've not actually had an urge to spend money on clothes even though I've still been browsing shopping sites and if I do feel a slight urge to whip out that credit card, I immediately start thinking to myself "is this coat/dress/top/pair of trousers/skirt/pair of shoes/bag (delete as appropriate) really worth breaking the ban for?" and usually the answer is a big, fat, resounding NO. And I'd like things to stay this way, thanks.

It also helps than in my Filofax, I have a sticky note on the 'Today' ruler saying (oh so very imaginative) "No shopping allowed" and to be honest, I will probably keep that there for longer than this shopping ban goes on for because... I love the feeling of having money! Thank goodness for my Filofax and the Today ruler :)

2 Nov 2010

start of my vegetarian month...

I have decided to do a month where I go vegetarian which means under no circumstances am I allowed to consume meat in any shape or form. Note that I said vegetarian, not vegan which means I am still allowed to eat eggs, cheese, etc. With this month bound to be a difficult one for me, I will be turning to my filofax like it is a lifesaving buoy while I am trying not to drown from starvation. A weird analogy I know, but it's the best I've got!




As I am not allowed to eat meat for this month, I wrote down a list of protein containing foods, as well as iron containing foods which are vital for the well being and health of a woman (I can now call myself a woman as I am no longer a teenager!).

The meat substitutes I have so far found are: quorn, baked beans (forgot their real name! Starts with a 'c'?), nuts, eggs, fish, tofu (yummmm), soya beans and lentils. If anyone has anymore suggestions, please do do do comment! I want to eat a variety of foods this month, not churn the same meals out over and over again. I am also a fond lover of stew or a casserole in the winter months so any suggestions for what I can replace the beef with? I am thinking maybe lentils or chickpeas but still undecided.

High iron foods include brocolli, spinach and eggs and I don't really know what else... With regards to eggs, I will only be eating a maximum of two a week due to some things I have read about eating too much eggs. I'm not sure if it's true but I'm not willing to take a chance!

With this in mind, I have to be super organised with weekly meal plans and this is where my filofax comes in. On each day of this month, I will be pencilling in the protein containing ingredient I will be using for that night's dinner. I'm pretty much a health freak and last year, I cooked every single meal and when I didn't, it would be for an ocassion such as someone's birthday or something.

To aid my determination to complete a meat free month, I also have a food diary going. I have been recording what I've been eating since the 10th of August this year and I will continue to do so. My main reason for doing this diary was to see where I could save a bit on my weekly shop and also see what aspects of my diet were going wrong (maybe eating a cookie for lunch was not such a good idea due to my constant snacking in the afternoon after...). I also any unusual goings on with my body that may affect weight gain or a feeling of being bloated.

My Food Diary.
The beauty of being at home is that I can eat whatever the hell I want for breakfast!
And lunch - as you can see!