Sorry that I have not posted recently. I haven’t felt the need to write a diary entry. This year has been a bit of a struggle, as I have forgotten mostly that I only stopped studying at the end of last year and working full time since then. I keep feeling as though I am not making enough progress or working hard enough. I have almost gotten over this as I am working harder and making better use of my time. As well of making an effort to enjoy life more and release stress, I consciously make more time for exercise (as you know I am trying to lose weight still) and leisure (such as reading, watching films or playing computer games). I think you can equally work hard, make progress and still make time for leisure, enjoying yourself and seeing other people.
I figure this sort of conversation and transition is one that most adults eventually make, moving on from being a social and self centred teenager, to a hard working and integrated adult.
This is my first post of 2017. A bit late in the year huh?
This is also my first post on my new laptop! My poor other laptop was dying. Apparently laptops only last about 4 years and after that point in time it is hard to get back to a level that is workable, considering the system runs up a long list of records and files of how it runs.
2017 has started with a struggle to lose weight, I guess to a certain extent I have an unhealthy relationship with food and sometimes it is hard to fit exercise in due to the nature of my work. I have though been mostly sticking to a calorie deficit.
Life is in a weird place right now. I personally feel in limbo, that I’m not quite the person I used to be and I’m not the person I need to be yet either. When you get to my age, you don’t see your friends as often; and when you do, you don’t necessarily talk about the same things anymore or perhaps the friendship is not quite the same somehow. Saying that, I believe that old friends are the best. I haven’t really made many new friends since starting work but I feel that old friends are my comfort zone, I feel safe and that I can trust them.
Other than friends, most of your time is now spent at work or with your family. I think a lot of people complain about not having so much time to themselves anymore. You have money now compared to a teenager but you can’t necessarily spend like you used to either. Strange.
My life has gone down to the bare basics, with all the frivolities of modern living taken out, with the exception of minor one or two things here and there. Or if I am treated by my boyfriend which is actually getting more regular. But still, I am experiencing life to the full with lots of the adventures I get to go on! Though there has been a bit of a lull for the past couple of weeks.
I have delved a bit deeper in my like for country music, I love the music by Sam Hunt, he is a regular on Spotify now.
I don’t like writing this negative post but this is sort of like a diary for me and this bit is true. Since starting my next year of uni, I have managed to get behind a great deal again. Sad times. Even though in a previous post I stated that I was determined to prove to myself that I would get myself organised and on top of things, so far not so good unfortunately.
For some bizarre reason work picked up just as I was starting the module, and when I do have some time alone I just seem to want to relax, sometimes to recover from work. This is obviously a habit I need to get over. It’s only a 30 credit part time course and so I don’t entirely understand why I let myself slip, though I have struggled with some of the basic concepts that I hadn’t studied previously as I am not a maths student and am in fact a science student (you skip a previous maths module). I only ever really want to study for about a hour each night maximum, my concentration span is really that bad.
At the moment I am trying to focus on improving myself. I do have an interest in astrology, not as much as I used to but I still have a little look every now and then. One thing I do keep an eye on is a solar return. This year (birthday to birthday) it looks as if the universe is giving me the energy of change. I’m hoping I can ride with this energy to change myself for the better in terms of overcoming my shortcomings and demons; instead of it becoming something negative. I think everyone would agree that trying to get past these things into something positive takes a lot of effort because it is not easy.
I also forgot to say Happy Halloween on the 31st of October! I celebrated it alone this year, but it was rather nice watching Hocus Pocus in bed eating Hotel Chocolat’s Halloween chocolates. It felt all a bit rushed this year and I didn’t dress up. I could spend a whole weekend just watching Halloween-y films! I did listen to Panic! at the Disco’s It’s Almost Halloween though.
Isn’t it getting all a bit cold outside now, this is the part of autumn that I am not all that keen on. So far this year, autumn has been rather warm still, but not since the start of November. It makes me look to the future and try to figure out how many months it will take to warm again. I really don’t like mid-January until about April/May. Maybe it’s because of the old school/college days of getting nervous about preparing for exams etc., it’s also because there is nothing really to look forward to or get excited about for so long. Bit of a boring time really, though I shouldn’t really say that because my boyfriend’s birthday is during that period lol. Pancake Day happens to be too!
Still, I have been enjoying walks wearing a big jumper and coat with cold on my cheeks. Seeing all the colourful leaves on the pavements next to the remaining green grass. Last night was bonfire night, it was nice looking around at all the firework displays in the distance. Apart from that we didn’t really do anything. Pinterest has all different recipes and party ideas for it which did have me inspired though I didn’t actually do anything about it.
I have been thinking about making a look book with all my clothes and potential outfits; coats; TV show reviews; Halloween-y films; dance films; last but not least Christmas!
Oh, and I also visited MCM Comic Con last weekend! Should really post about that next..
I feel like I have forgotten to write something, which is unnerving.
One of my favourite breakfasts for 2016 has been pancakes! I love pancakes!
I try to make them as a treat on weekends.
I’m not a big fan of decadent recipes, I prefer them pretty plain, with the least amount of sugar and fat in them; but with toppings that I like. Though I will admit to indulging cream with them sometimes. Also, my favourite pancakes are American style; thick, fluffy, yummy!
Maple syrup is a must! I’m not sure that honey would go with American style. I quite like adding nuts or nut butters on the plate. Fruits are wonderful and healthy, the obvious addition to pancakes would be blueberries or strawberries. Bananas work well too, and I imagine peaches would be a dream.
Last year I had gluten free flour and so I experimented making a gluten and dairy free recipe from All Recipes here . This was during a restrictive diet to see if certain food groups caused me an issue, health wise. They were really nice pancakes actually.
I was in Montana in August 2014, and a hotel made me some gluten free pancakes for breakfast. Unfortunately they were horrible! They must have been the worst pancakes I have ever tried.
I finally visited the famous American IHoP (International House of Pancakes) in February of this year. I’m not usually a critic of food and for the foods I actually like, I’m not awfully picky. The pancakes I tried here though were disappointing. I found them to be rather salty, which was odd. To compensate, I doused on more syrup, which could be the point..?
(I tried all their syrups, hence the different colours!)
Also in February this year, I was served what I think could be the perfect breakfast, when I visited Coober Peedy in South Australia.
A pancake with scrambled eggs, hash browns, tomato and syrup!
I have some photos of previous batches:
Banana, strawberry, cream and maple syrup
Blueberry and maple syrup
Banana, chia seeds, macadamia nuts and maple syrup
I did try to have nice presentation.. I quickly took the photos so that I could hurry up and eat them!
I did experiment in early summer; I tried making those ‘3 ingredient pancakes’ constituting of bananas, egg and flour. They were alright but to be honest they tasted a lot like a banana omelette!
The most recent style that I have tried now that it is Autumn and in season, are Pumpkin pancakes! I don’t have a photo, but you can type them in to Pinterest and produce lots of photos.
The recipe that I now follow is this . Though if I’m avoiding too much dairy I will reduce the amount of milk, I always halve the recipe anyway.
Maple strawberry
Strawberry, pecan nuts and maple syrup
So in summary, I don’t see how they can be that bad for you.. If you don’t go overboard on the sugar and fat anyway. I’ve always liked the idea of making them with oats, I wonder how they would taste? They taste nice in pumpkin pancakes.
I’ve been on a diet/cutting down unhealthy habits now since the start of July. Coincidentally that was just under a month after I sat my exam. In between these two dates I figured that I was moving around more and that weight would naturally just come off, oh how I was wrong. Maybe it’s my age but it didn’t, so that’s what called for more drastic action. To be honest I haven’t lost that much weight, even now. Admittedly I have had cheat meals, more to the 80/20% range. It’s easy to blame the lack of weight loss on some mythical health issue, but I’m sure it’s there in the back of all our heads..
I said cutting down unhealthy habits because quite frankly I don’t like the idea of being on a diet and it’s not that nice being on one either. Healthy habits sounds more permanent and a positive choice to look after your body. Which essentially, is exactly why you’ve chosen to go on one in the first place.
A couple of aspects I like about this new regime thing, is that I now walk several times a week and do yoga. Both of these are not a chore really. I was going to say eating much more fruit is another aspect too, but there are times where I just want to eat nice foods, not necessarily healthy ones..
I think the main thing about making positive changes is that you need to pick things that you actually enjoy. If not, then it’s going to seem like a chore and you will eventually (holds breath) give up/fail (shock). Not as easy as it sounds. Especially if you have people around you that don’t need to make changes in their life (or want to of course) and people who are not sensitive to your own goals of a healthier you. Hard facts everyone.
To be honest if you search healthy anything on Pinterest, so much is shown. It is a big thing at the moment. There are many popular topics and on the section that shows you what is being searched, many of them are based around fitness, food and well being. One of the topics provided by Pinterest that I regularly click on is ‘Health and Fitness’.
Now it is coming to Autumn and the winter months, I wonder how many people will stick to healthy eating. I think we all like to hibernate. Although, I do prefer autumn/winter vegetables, think potatoes (both normal and sweet), parsnips, carrots, pumpkin, any kind of roasties really. I will hopefully be buying some canned pumpkin this year, so watch for pumpkin related recipes. Going back to the hibernation point, I wonder if I will still want to take a walk when the temperature drops and the weather worsens? Hmm.
This post is a bit overdue, I was supposed to publish it in August. I tend to write essay posts so I guess I get a bit lazy. I’m hoping to keep the pace going whilst studying and working, mostly for enjoyment and to prove to myself that I can be super organised.
Life on Cloud Nine 