Christmas Drinks

So today was going to be my big post about enjoying Christmas without without binging, however last night we had leaving drinks for one of my work colleagues, and because I am feeling somewhat delicate I have decided to write about some thing more suitable - that wonderful subject - ALCOHOL. Don't worry, I'll try and give it a Christmas slant so you don't feel too cheated!

I love to drink alcohol, I love shots, I love beer, I love wine, and I adore cocktails. In fact there aren’t many alcoholic drinks I don’t like (or won’t at least try once I am already drunk). I don’t think that I drink too often, but when I do I go all out. I guess I am your typical binge drinker. And Christmas always has plenty of occasions for me to embrace my bad habit. You see the problem is you don’t need to be a Rocket Scientist to know that alcohol is full of calories, and as an added extra can make you feel like crap the next day. I have decided to give up the booze in January to cleanse and give my body a big health kick and all that jazz but I won’t give up alcohol for Christmas. I don’t want to sound like an alcoholic but I just couldn’t. I have had about 4 hours sleep and have felt queasy since I woke up and it’s now lunchtime – my hangovers never lasted this long when I was younger! However I’m not one of those who say “I’m never drinking again!” everytime I feel a bit rough. Yes I’m not my usual sparkling self but I’ll feel better soon, and yes the hangover is usually worth it. I had a great time last night. I danced like a loon and that is not something I tend to do when sober so surely that exercise cancels out the calorific drinking?! Perhaps not. We started off well on some Prosecco. I believe Champagne is supposed to be relatively low in calories so I am sure this must be the same for Prosecco. However I then moved on to my favourite drink of the moment. Crabbies Ginger Beer.

I haven’t searched to see what the calorie content of one of these bottles is because honestly I would be scared to find out. I don’t imagine it is particularly low, I would guess it is close to the calorie content of a mars bar. The taste of this drink is superb though, perfect for Christmas with its spicy warming ginger kick. They are on special offer at Sainsburys at the moment (4 bottles for £5) so I have quite a few at home ready for Christmas celebrations.

Another of a favourite festive drink of mine is a Snowball! This is basically Advocaat with lemonade and a touch of lime. This is the drink we always had with family at Christmas gatherings when I was growing up. From about the time we hit double figures in age all the children in the family (brother, sister, cousins etc) would have a splash of Advocaat and a big slug of lemonade at Christmas parties. It made us feel like grown-ups and it tasted better than all the other harsh grown up drinks. It was fluffy, fun and went down so smoothly. Don’t get me wrong, I am sure the measures we were served contained almost no Advocaat, and therefore weren’t very alcoholic at all but the Advocaat /lemonade ratio did begin to change as we grew up! For me this is a nostalgia drink. I won’t order it at a bar but I will have it round by Aunt’s or cousins at this time of year.

And now on to the big one. The Daddy of all drinks. The Boss. The head honcho of the Christmas cabinet. Baileys. Sweet, silky, delicious , enchanting Baileys. I know they now have Baileys with all this different shit in it but give me a glass of the classic stuff with lots of ice and I am in heaven. It looks amazing; glossy and decadent. It smells out of this world, and it tastes like love. Maybe I'm taking it a bit far but if you can’t over-exaggerate in a blog where else can you? Needless to say, I love it. Honestly I cannot have any in the house because I would drink myself into a happy oblivion. However it will be offered to me by other people and I will happily accept a glass (or three).

So this is my conundrum to solve; how can I enjoy Christmas without giving up my beloved alcohol but without consuming so many unneeded calories? To be honest if I could give you an answer to this I would patent it and make a fortune. The only thing I can do is to try and moderate (that damn word again, grrr). If I am at the pub I am going to have Gin and slim line tonic, or Jack Daniels on the rocks or Prosecco as I figure these drinks to have the lowest calorie content. I hope this means that at a party or Christmas gathering I can accept a Baileys or Snowball without feeling guilty and increasing my waist line. I’ll let you know how I get on!

Missing in Action (or inaction!)

So it's been quite sometime since I've posted here - and I started off so well! I would love to say I haven't posted because I've been so healthy and active and haven't wanted to boast about it, but I haven't. I've been lazy and falling back into bad habits. However one of my original goals was to enjoy Christmas without being a pig about it so I have decided to restart this blog now. A big part of me is going "wait until January, enjoy Christmas, have this health kick as a New Years Resolution" but I am going to ignore that voice and focus on my goals - I don't want to fail one of them, Dagnam it! Christmas and I are going to be best buddies without either one of us trying to sabotage the other! Surely there are other ways to enjoy the festive season without becoming as stuffed as your average turkey?

So this is a quick post to prepare you (dear reader) for my return tomorrow with a blog about Christmas!

Ho Ho Ho!

Finding my Style - Part 2

Whilst I was studying at Uni, one of my friends - Arabella introduced me to the beauty of Dita von Teese. Before then I had never heard of Burlesque or even thought about the glamour of the 50’s style pin up. Now, however, I love the style, the confidence and the individuality of Burlesque (and we’re not talking about the Cher & Christina Aguilera film!)

I’ve never been to a Burlesque show but I like the idea of them. I’ve known people who have been part of a show, and they always tell me how much confidence it gives them, and how you don’t have to be skinny and blonde with big tits to get involved. Now don’t get me wrong, I have no intention of stripping off in a giant martini glass for you, but I would watch others do it! So that is one thing I want to add to my list of things to do – watch a burlesque show. I live in London so that shouldn’t be much of an issue, I just need to get my arse in gear to go!I

Now onto the reason we are all here, the style of the 50’s Pin up…

I don’t know if it is a style I could ever pull off, but what I love about it is the understated glamour; the pale complexions, the perfect (yet subtle) make up, with the hair staying exactly as it should. Also, in my mind anyway, a true burlesque/50’s pin up always looks immaculate. You would never see her sweaty, or out of breath, or flustered. And they always go out looking glamorous, no trackpants and old t-shirt for them, hell no. What has made me think about Burlesque and Dita recently is an event of my own I have happening late next summer, where I need to find something special to wear. I don’t wear dresses. As we’ve established in earlier blogs I like my jeans and t-shirts. However this is a style I want to try and embrace – eventually.

Whilst I get my body 'dress ready’ here of some of my favourite dresses around at the moment to help inspire me.

I love, love, love this dress. It is from Vivien of Holloway and is absolutely stunning. You can get different colours but red with polka dots is easily my favourite. http://www.vivienofholloway.com/

This one is a little smaller in the skirt size, but nicely understated, yet still glamorous. It is from Dig for Victory and you can have your own dress custom made. http://www.digforvictoryclothing.com/

Well I hope you like them, yes it's quite different from the surfer style but I'm sure we all have an inner glamour goddess trying to get out every now and then, and this is the perfect style for them!

Sweet Treats

So yesterday the Filing Cabinet and I became re-acquainted - in a big way. My friend returned to work after a holiday to New Zealand and she brought with her so many goodies from the Southern Hemisphere that I couldn't resist. There were Tim Tams, Caramello Koalas, Pineapple lumps and Perkynanas. Now this may sound like gobblygook to most but they are all lovely chocolate based treats.

I was lucky enough to travel around New Zealand and the east coast of Australia for a couple of months way back in 2007 and all these treats (not to mention the photos) made me reminisce for the time I spent there. It was simply the best holiday I've ever had. I was 23, finished my degree and my Masters and without a 'proper' job. I went with my boyfriend and I think it is the closest I have ever felt to being truly carefree. The scenery was simply spectacular. Because we could only afford to be there for a couple of months we fit so much in a short space of time. Every day was something different from walks around mountains (certainly not up them) trying to swim with dolphins (they swam away when we jumped in the freezing sea) snorkelling at the barrier reef to a relaxing trip to the cinema.

As we had such a great time that sometimes I consider if it would be worth upping sticks and emigrating but it is such a difficult decision – and it's so far away, it’s not like moving to Spain! At the moment I actually have a job I kind of enjoy and although I don’t have any commitments like a mortgage or (god help me) children I also do not have any savings – which would definitely be required. And what if we went for a year, got bored, or couldn’t find jobs, or simply didn’t like it? It would mean having to come back to start all over again in London. New jobs, new house, new savings. I guess this is why the people that do emigrate are the brave ones – there is so much to risk, and no guarantee the grass is greener. So that is why I have decided to embrace and enjoy life more here rather than think what if…

There is so much in Europe alone I have yet to see, which is why I have booked a holiday to Iceland in November and am planning to go to Wales with Skinny Jeans in the Spring (to climb Mt Snowdon!!!) As well as that my days since I started this blog have overall been so much busier and fun. I’ve had friends up to visit with trips to the theatre, attended a couple of concerts, had some lovely meals out and gone dancing! As Christmas approaches I have my Iceland holiday, a trip home, gigs, friend’s birthdays and hopefully more to look forward to. And don’t worry I still have the Friday night drinks with work! And these are the reasons why I am not going to beat myself up for having more NZ treats yesterday then perhaps I should have done. It was a one off, and the Tim Tams that are left will not be touched by me, well at least until Friday.

So here is a picture of Hobbiton to brighten your day!

Born to Run

As the evenings get darker and colder it takes me more effort to drag myself out for a jog. However there is a saviour out there in the form of my ipod and my fantastic taste in music that keeps me inspired. Normally you can get those cheap "101 songs for running" or " Best running song" CDs and although these have some great tunes on they tend to be a bit to centred on dance music so I have put together my own mixtape! I hope you the selection of some of my favourite songs to jog to and if anyone is reading this feel free to suggest your own!

Foo Fighters - My Hero. Who doesn't love Dave Grohl?

Legally Blonde, the Musical - Whipped into Shape. This is an excellent song for running to, you just have to imagine you'll end up with a body like the girls have in the musical to keep going. It almost makes me want to take up skipping.

Spice Girls - Who do you think you are? The less said about this choice the better.

Britney Spears - Toxic. You should now be seeing a pattern clearly showing that I love cheese.

Ash - Arcadia. I love Ash, they are easily my favourite band and have so many great songs. This one is particularly inspiring and one of my favourite songs ever.

Tim Minchin - Bears don't dig on dancing. If anyone hasn't seen Tim Minchin I urge you to, he is a musical comedy genius!

The Boy from Oz, the musical - Continental American. Hugh Jackman serenading me as I run, what more could a girl ask for?!

Alexander Rybak - Fairytale. A Eurovision classic.

Destiny's Child - Bootylicious. I feel this one needs no explanation!

Avenue Q, the Musical - If you were gay. This is one of the funniest musicals I have ever seen and hearing any of the songs from this cheers me up as I run.

Mumford and Songs - Little Lion Man. It's got a banjo, is catchy, quite simply it's great.

Glee cast - Loser like me. Come on there has to be some Glee in there somewhere!

Ash - Walking Barefoot. Another great Ash song. This one reminds me of summer.

Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the heart. Power Ballads FTW! Plus this is my go to karaoke song

Just reading through them now makes me want to pull on my trainers, stuff my headphones in my ears and hit the pavement!

To Weigh or not to Weigh?

I've never been big on weighing myself. Ignorance has always been bliss in my eyes, but since I've started this blog the scales and I have become firm friends. However I don't know if this is for the best. It's good that I can see that the numbers are slowly going down but at the moment I am weighing myself in the morning and then again in the evening, every single day which I know is unnecessary. So here is the question, do I stop completely or try and only do it once a week to make sure I am on track? I honestly don't know the answer. Part of me wants to throw the scales out - this is a lifestyle change not a diet so surely I should be judging this on how I feel and how my clothes fit opposed to just basing it on weight? But then, if I only weigh myself once a week at least I can check that I am on track! The once a week is the sensible answer I know, but then the scales are still there in the bathroom tempting me (blimey from biscuits to scales is there nothing I am tempted by?!) So here we go another area of self control I have to practice, the scales will stay but Friday mornings will be my weigh day and for the rest of the week they can rest. Well that is the plan at least.

On a brighter note I went jogging yesterday. I have started a Couch to 5k podcast and am already on week two (with 3 jogs scheduled each week). It really is knackering, by the end of it I am red, sweaty, and a little bit sweary but I know that it is working. This is because not only do I feel better after a run, which I really do I promise, but it is helping my motivation. Why would I want to each that chocolate when I've just sweated my arse off - it would undo all of my hard work. I think it is safe to say I am in a positive mode at the moment, to be honest I am just pleased that I have stuck at something for longer than I week - long may it continue!

One week review...

So it's been a week since I started this blog, and I think it's about time I put some goals down to work towards...

1. Loose weight & get down to a size 12 - most importantly get my BMI into the healthy range & have a healthy relationships with food.

2. Be more positive!

So there we go, there are my two core aims, they don't sound too hard do they?

In case I achieve this really quickly (!) there are other things I would like to accomplish over the next year and here they are;

Get fit and tone up! I want (need) to change how I eat but I also want to get healthy, active & trim - basically I want to be the living embodiment of 'bright eyed and bushy tailed'.

Go running - Do a 5k run in 30 minutes or less!

Be more sociable, meet up with friends more often.

Feel confident enough to go surfing in a swimming costume, or even a wetsuit.

Run up the stairs at work and not be out of breath.

Enjoy Christmas without feeling the need to gorge on all the goodies!

Well I think that is it, for now at least I am sure I will think of more but it is good to see them in writing so I can keep on track. And can I also say, the work biscuits have stayed untouched, 1 gold star for my self control!

Finding my Style

Unsurprisingly I don't like going clothes shopping. It's just embarrassing, nothing fits or if it does I don't look good in it. I'm 27 I know that I should have found my style by now but I haven't. Currently I wear either jeans and a hoodie, or black trousers with a relatively smart top. This is not exciting. This is boring, but I wear it because it is all I have. So fashion and I are not friends. This is going to change though, fashion and I are going to be BFF soon. If I have to chase fashion down with a shitty stick and force it to be friends with me I will.

With this in mind I have been searching the Internet for inspiration (or thinspiration if you prefer!) on what style I think I want. To keep me on track I'm going to post some pictures of what I like. This blog will be like the skinny picture you're supposed to stick on fridge!

To spread this out I will start with one style today and post others over the next few weeks.

Now the first place to start is easy - with a name like Blue Crush, surfer/beach style is something I love but have never suited. And do you know what, with this style you can wear hoodies - pretty awesome hoodies at that! 'Now why are you looking at hoodies when you've just complained about them' I hear you cry! Well these are different, you don't put these hoodies on to cover up, but to keep your buff surf body warm after getting out the sea. I can wear hoodies when I get fit because I'll be wearing them to keep warm not in the hope of blending into the background and hiding my belly.

Here is one of my favourites from Roxy;

Now I've decided that when I get buff I am going to have great legs. I'm currently doing lots of squats and walking, and will start jogging this weekend to help with this. Therefore I will need some sexy surfer hot pants to show my toned legs off. These are a great fun pair available from Animal;

Ok and now for the scary issue, swimsuits. I have no illusions about wearing a bikini, I've never worn one, not even as a teenager and I don't think I'll start now. While I may plan to have great legs I don't think my belly can recover from the years of abuse I've subjected it to of Ben and Jerry's ice cream (Phish food and Baked Alaska - yum!) so here are two of suits that I want to be able to wear next summer!

This first one is from Zoggos. It's pretty simply but I like that about it, there's not too much going on, and it doesn't have fussy strap lines. I can see myself wearing this one at the swimming pool doing laps in the winter and when I can't get to the sea!

This one is from Moontide and it a bit more glamorous and fun. Definitely for showing off at the beach with.

So London fashion week may have finished at the weekend but here I am, still blazing a trail for the fashionistas out their with my very first post on fashion. I have to admit it's quite scary as I have no fashion sense at all but hopefully I will get better over the next few months!

Working and downfalls

So, seeing as my intro post mentioned my work life, albeit briefly, I have decided today to address some of the issues I have with my job vs my new life style.

Firstly I work in sport, an Olympic sport at that. Ok I work in a office all day and don't get to travel across the world with the athletes to competition etc but as a full time employee I am a representative of the company and sport, and I am the exact opposite as the athletes that I occasionally have to work with. They are tall, completely buff, ripped and oh so confident. If they are not confident they certainly hide it well. I will never compare to these guys - they train two or three times a day 6 days a week but I feel I need to put across a better view of myself as a professional. I want to be able to wear my branded kit (when I have to, not for fun) and not have passers by think I am a sweaty wannabe fan! So there we go, one new aim and reason for me to get my arse in gear.

Now here is the big downfall. I sit in front of a computer 8 hours a day most weekdays, and unlike many sport NGO's we do not have a gym or sports equipment on site so any exercise I do has to be outside of work. Second big downfall, biscuits, sweets and cakes. In the office we have 'The Filing Cabinet'. And on top of this baby there is always a selection of biscuits and sweets. If anyone goes on holiday or to an event with the athletes they bring back sweets, it tradition and you can't question tradition. If any of the coaches visit the office they bring biscuits. Right now on The Filing Cabinet we have one big bag of jelly sweets (brought by me after my holiday) one pack of Maryland Cookies, one pack of Fox's biscuit creams, one pack of dark chocolate digestives and some sainsburys cookies all donated by kind coaches. Bearing in mind there is usually about 8 of us in the office that is a lot of biscuits. And oh they are tempting me every single day. The Filing Cabinet will always have treats on it, I cannot change that but I must learn to have self control and leave them. Just because they are there it doesn't mean I have to have them. So that is the first challenge this week, to not have anything from The Filing Cabinet. Now this isn't to say that my 'new lifestyle' will not let me have sweet stuff because that way lies the way of binging (for me at least) so this week I cannot have any and once I have started to get my head around this new attitude to food I will move on to moderation. Now to me moderation doesn't sound too exciting but it is something I need to do.

On the plus side yesterday I did some exercise - Yay! Now I was going to go for a jog but my ipod had no battery (a terrible excuse I hear you cry) and I cannot run without music pushing me along. It's a scientific fact music keeps you moving and your brain off the terrible pain your (my) lungs are in. But that's not to say I didn't do anything. I did half an hour of a Davina DVD. This may sound rubbish and lightweight compared to a good old fashioned jog but believe me my legs and arse are feeling it today! Food wise, so far so good too. I even made bruschetta last night to have for lunch today, which not only is healthy, but cheap, as I had lots of tomatoes that needed using up - Go Me!

New Day, New Blog, New Me?!

So this is my first post. I don't imagine it will be very interesting but you have to start somewhere.

Following 27 years of eating exactly what I like, when I like, I have discovered I have no self control and look exactly like someone with no self control when it comes to food i.e. fat. However as the blog title says this is a new day, so we will not dwell on the past but on the reason I have set this blog up. I feel the need to engage in a whole new lifestyle, not just a faddy diet which will be forgotten by Christmas, so with the encouragement of my friend Skinny Jeans (http://skinnyjeansskinnydreams.blogspot.com) we have entered into a pact (oh yes SJ it's a pact you cannot escape) to change things around. The plan is that by summer 2012 we will go surfing, and although surfing may not be my secret talent (hey it may be, you never know) we will be able to run and frolic (and do all those things happy skinny girls do) down to the beach without embarrassment. If I have to wear a wetsuit I will not look like a great white shark's wet dream of a slow walrus but a svelte happy seal! That is the goal but there is also much more that I want to address and experience over the next year or so that I hope this lifestyle change will help me to do.

I want not just a change in attitude to food and exercise but a change in attitude to life. For a long time, particularly since finishing Uni life has been something I will do or experience later. In all sense and purposes I have become a 'no' person when at heart I want to be a 'yes' person. I want to try new things, meet new people and have a life outside of my job. Just to see how many clichés I can fit into one post I want to work to live to just live to work. Not that I spend hours and hours at work - I really don't, but I don't have much of a social life outside of work. And as much as I like my work colleagues a drink after work every Friday night is not the thrilling life I want. I want the Friday night drinks and so much more. Oh and just to add another spin on this lifestyle change I'm broke so whatever I do will have to be on a tight budget - lucky lucky me! Wish me luck, it may be a bumpy ride!