Mid Year Resolution #3

Shopping!

So this is the last of my 3 resolutions and in a weird way possibly the hardest (I will totally take that statement back when I am lying on the floor dying after my next run). No more clothes/shoes shopping! 

This was actually my first resolution, made after I had sworn not to buy a dress for an upcoming family wedding and to wear something I had, only to buckle in the weeks before it and get a dress, shoes, bag and wrap. I realised it was ridiculous to have all this stuff that I never wore that I was adding to with more things that I wouldn’t wear and swore to stop shopping.

I think fashion/style/dressing-up is something I came to quite late in life compared to many of my friends and as a result I love the thrill of buying something new. However the Scottish sensible part of me doesn’t like to part with my cash and so I am a sucker for a ‘bargain’ even if I end up with half a dozen cheap outfits costing more than one quality piece. The other problem I have is that (especially with nicer things) I save them for an unknown undetermined event. I regularly pick something nice out of the wardrobe to wear then decide not to, in case I need it for something specific and it is in then in the wash or I damage it, even if all I have coming up that week is a trip to the supermarket. I realized the drawers are full of nice things that I never wear and that I keep just buying repeats of the same old basic things to get that shopping thrill- enough is enough!

I have got a few caveats on this though- I can still shop for essentials if they are needed -not wanted but needed. E.g. if I ripped all of my tights (quite likely) or all my white T-shirts ended up pink after an unfortunate washing machine vs sock incident. Equally if I get any vouchers I am allowed to spend them and can accept gifts if anyone wants to buy my anything… hint hint.

I have to admit this hadn’t been too hard at first, we hadn’t been to Manchester or the shops at the weekends and Mr Owl had also decided to pause any shopping so he can have a bigger splurge on a new watch later in the year, so we had been supporting each other. However at the weekend while the car was getting its MOT I had time to kill, and popped into Zara ‘just to see what autumn styles were in’. I think the fact I walked out with nothing is testament to my stubbornness, either that or I couldn’t find the till due to my teary eyes at all the nice things I can’t buy- stupid resolutions. (If there are any Zara people reading this and feeling sorry for me please see my caveats above- my ban excludes gifts so send me all your lovely new stuff please…)

I am now almost 2months into this and just hope that I can hold strong for the next 4. I have my birthday in November so can hopefully use that to get a few nice pieces. As a side challenge to this, it will hopefully force me to be more creative and innovative with what I have and to try and channel some of the new trends without buying anything new. Meantime I think I will avoid temptation by staying away from the shops and trying not to browse online (hastily closes open browser window). Any tips on staying strong in the face of all that suede and 70s loveliness that is this autumn appreciated.

Mid Year Resolutions #2

Skincare!

I should have an amazing skincare regime all things considered, and would like to be able to recommend all sorts of wonder products here, but I don’t and if anything I want you to give me recommendations! That is why I am making skincare my second mid-year resolution.

  I have always had eczema, apparently since I was a small baby when I had to regularly visit the hospital, and can’t remember a time when my skin wasn’t itching, red and flaky. This has therefore meant a lifelong love/hate relationship with my skin. For a long time doctors told me that I would grow out of it when I hit puberty as ‘nearly all children did’, until turned out that I was one of the exceptions. Looking back I don’t know why I didn’t do more to get help with it, but the GP would prescribe me Aqueous cream and steroids to manage it and I would try to remember to apply it. At that age it was mainly on my arms and legs and I put up with it. At university it could be bad again, I remember sitting sobbing on the kitchen floor in our student flat next to the freezer holding bags of frozen peas on my hands where I had itched them raw to try and numb them.

As I have got older, my eczema moved to affecting my face a lot more, and this was perhaps motivation to try and find other things to use on it. I quickly determined that the aqueous cream I had been relying on for years was probably making my skin worse and have changed this but I have also found that most products I tested seemed to set it off. So I am stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place. I am desperate to try out anything that I think might improve my skin, especially on my face, but fed up of spending all my money on products only to find that they make me flare up horribly and are of no use to me. The irony is that when my skin is behaving it is actually really good and doesn’t need much care at all.

I suspect I have several other posts I could write, and will write, on this but for now my focus is to get better at using what works at the moment and then I can start experimenting with different options more carefully to see what effect they have.  So here is my ‘routine’ at present, with my goal being to stick to it more rigorously in the next 6 months and see what works and what doesn’t.

Morning

Clinique Soap and Clarifying Lotion: My mother got me on to Clinique a long time ago as they always had a reputation for being good for people with eczema and I have  found their products to be fairly good but affordable. I use the extra mild soap to wash my face (can’t use the liquid soap) and then the clarifying lotion is excellent for removing any remaining dry cells.

QV Cream: I have been using this for about 2 years now as my general all over body moisturizer and it is better than the last ones I had, though like all emollients I find that it builds up on repeated application during the day. I apply a thick layer of this all over.

Suncream SPF50: If I am going out then I always apply this. At the moment I am using the Soltan Sensitive or Baby suncream as I find that is the least irritating. A suncream that doesn’t irritate my skin would be the best find ever! Combined with an SPF lipbalm too.

Clinique Moisture Surge: This goes on last when I remember. It has a nice texture and soaks in to really help plump my skin up. 

Clinique Turnaround Serum: I alternate this day on day with the Moisture Surge. I prefer to use this but I find that if I use it every day my skin can react a little so I swap between them.

Clinique All About Eyes: Self explanatory I hope.

Day

I always carry a pot with me full of QV cream so I can reapply during the day as needed (every hour or so)

Night

Wash again with Clinique and apply QV cream

Clinique Moisture Surge Overnight Mask: I apply this just before going to bed to help my skin get through the night.

Bioactive Organic Manuka Honey Cream: This was something I read about recently for helping people with eczema. I use this overnight as an alternative to the Clinique. I can’t decide yet if I like it or not. It does sometimes make my skin hot/tingly when I apply it, but it does have a nice texture and seems to moisturize well overnight.

Just writing all this out has made me itchy, so I am off to wash my face off to try and cool it down. Hopefully if I can stick to doing all this I will see an improvement in it over the next few months. If anyone has any wonder products that they recommend then please let me know.

Little Owl 

 

This week I have mostly been eating...

Here is the basic idea- once a week I will be listing the meals that we had the previous week. You can read my motivation for this here . I am not going to detail recipes but I will state (or link where possible) the sources for them, otherwise they are my own recipe. If anyone does read this and wants more details then please just comment.

Assumptions: I have not made the basics e.g. pasta, rice, noodles, chips bread unless stated. Everything else is made from scratch unless marked as bought (b) or eating out (r)

Monday: Soup (b)

Tuesday: Breton Salad

Wednesday: Cartdriver's Pasta - Antonio Carluccio recipe.

Thursday: Sausage Cassoulet

Friday: Nasi Goreng (Dutch Indonesian version)

Saturday: Pizza made by niece and nephew

Sunday: Seafood Risotto

Little Owl 

This week I have mostly been eating...

Here is the basic idea- once a week I will be listing the meals that we had the previous week. You can read my motivation for this here. I am not going to detail recipes but I will state (or link where possible) the sources for them,otherwise they are my own recipe. If anyone does read this and wants more details then please just comment.

Assumptions: I have not made the basics e.g. pasta, rice, noodles, chips bread unless stated. Everything else is made from scratch unless marked as bought (b) or eating out (r)

Monday: Vietnamese Beef Pho - Rick Stein

Tuesday: Chicken with Bulgar Wheat Salad - Hairy Bikers

Wednesday: Thai Squid Salad

Thursday: Soup (b)

Friday: Tuna with Salsa Verde - Rick Stein

Saturday: Tagliata

Sunday: Spicy pasta with mushrooms and bacon

Vietnamese Beef Pho

Spicy Squid

Little Owl 

Mid-Year Resolutions

 Resolutions are normally something reserved for the New Year. Fueled by the sense of a new year meaning new beginnings (not to mention all the booze and brandy butter) we all make resolutions. Some of them may just be whispered to ourselves while falling asleep on New Year’s Eve, but they are made. Unfortunately come February when we realize we haven’t even started them, let alone achieved anything, we tend to give up and resolve never to make resolutions again.

I am one of those people that is continually determined to try and improve myself, and am often most enthusiastic about this on a Sunday night when lying on the sofa watching TV. Come the cold hard truth of a Monday morning it inevitably gets delayed another week, or two, or three.

So this year I have decided enough is enough and I am making some resolutions. However these are mid year resolutions with a 6month expiry. I am hoping that making a change during the summer months, when the nights are lighter and the days are occasionally warmer might help me to stick to them, so that by the time autumn creeps in they will have become natural and therefore easier to maintain. Then there is the reward of Christmas at the end of it all as something to look forward to.
I am a little late writing all this up, so although it is now August, these have been in place since July, meaning I am already one month through- hurrah!

What are these exciting resolutions I can hear you asking? Well I have it down to 3 main ones and will be listing them up here over the next few days, with what they entail and why I am doing them. The first one I am going to cover today and is probably the most obvious and clichéd of all resolutions!

Get Healthier!

I don’t just mean get fit and lose weight, (though if that is a side effect- bonus) I mean generally be healthier with all my choices. I think for me this breaks down into 3 areas:

Food- As you can see from my Monday ‘this week’ posts I like my food, and I think we generally do pretty well with this mainly cooking proper meals from scratch, (let’s not mention a joint weakness for Billionaire type deserts) and eating several pieces of fruit a day. However I am sure we could eat a lot more vegetables, I think most people could always eat more vegetables, and so I want to try and expand and improve my cooking so that we eat more good stuff. Eating more doesn’t sound like too much of a chore, so am hoping this will be more fun and informative than tough.

Fitness- Start exercising again. Before 2 years of ill health and operations knocked me back a bit I used to think I was fairly fit. At my best I was running 5k 3 times a week and we were regular hikers. We have started back walking and I was really pleased to get up Bowfell in the Lakes at the end of last year, but I paid the price for the days afterwards in sore aching muscles. Therefore I am starting back at the running, although it is painful being right back at the start and having to patiently build it back up. Luckily working from home with the countryside right on my doorstep (why does it have to be such hilly countryside!!) I can fit a run in during my day, whether it is an early pre-work one or more likely a lunchbreak run. My aim is to be able to run 5k again by the end of the year, which should also mean I can do a long day’s hike too.

Strength and flexibility- This goes with the fitness above, but I specifically want to focus on building my strength back and trying to become more flexible. I have never been bendy- much to the annoyance of my ballet teacher when I was younger- and if I can touch my knees it is good, let alone my toes! So I am going to build some yoga and some gentle weight training into my days to try and remedy this. If I can touch those toes at Christmas (probably best tested before I start eating turkey) then I will consider this a massive success.

So there we go, that is my 'healthiness' goals for the 6months. While I don’t expect to be some sort of Jessica Ennis/Gisele fit freak by the end, (although secretly I would love that to happen) I do want to feel stronger and better in myself. Any tips on how to stick to all this or to improve this would be greatly appreciated.

Little Owl