Sweet Vincent

So, this totally made my day -

Freya  recently welcomed a handsome new addition into her life. Sadly, he was lacking a name, so being the sweet girl she is, Freya asked her readers for suggestions. I am (perhaps too) proud to say that my name was chosen. Vincent the Vitamix. Good choice, girl

Maybe I can put this on my CV?

xKx

Busy Bees

The past two days have been so hectic that I’ve barely had time to sit down! Dad is retiring at the end of July, and so my parents are looking to move back to England after 18 lovely years in Holland. Pretty exciting, but it means that lots of prospective buyers are coming to view the house, and we don’t often get a lot of notice before they show up.

Yesterday we got a phone call from the estate agent saying that a couple were coming at 9.30 this morning, so there was a mad rush to get the house straightened out and presentable for when they arrived. It was pretty interesting when they did turn up this morning, because it was the first viewing that I’d actually been home for. It was hard to not be nosy and try and eavesdrop on what they were saying to each other about the house

I’m so tired now! We all got up around 6am to make the ‘final preparations’, as Mum puts it – she claims not to get nervous about viewings, but honestly she gets so wound up that her stress transfers onto the rest of us! I’ll be glad when it’s all over with It’ll be so strange to leave this house though, because it’s the only one I remember – we’ve been living here since I was four years old, so I predict some tears when the moment comes to say goodbye. I’m excited for the move though, mostly because it will be the first time in over six years that the five of us are living in the same country!

I’m writing this from my bed – no shame I might go for a run this evening – it’s always harder for me to motivate myself when it’s later in the day, but I’ll give it a go! I had a great 40 minute run yesterday morning – it was extra tough because I was running into such a strong wind, but it made it all the more satisfying when I’d completed it . I should focus on how brilliant I feel after running and use that as motivation for making myself go later!

Do you prefer exercising in the morning, afternoon or evening? I’m a morning exerciser – I find that if I lay my gym stuff or running shoes out the night before, set my alarm and get out of bed straight away, I have less time to talk myself out of it! When I was still at university, it was much easier to go and work out in the afternoons/evenings if there was a class I wanted to do, like Body Pump. I miss Body Pump :’(

xKx

Onwards and Upwards

I read several posts today that really resonated with me, and with the tricky few days I’ve just had. While I’m all for exploring how I’m feeling at a particular moment, what I want to avoid doing is getting bogged down in feeling sorry for myself- it’s not productive, and won’t help me change behaviours that I want to leave behind.

A while ago, a certain Healthy Everythingtarian wrote about turning negatives into positives, and this has inspired me to start my own May July of positivity. Here goes!

1. My body is strong, fast, and does pretty much anything I ask it to do. It’s about time I celebrate what it can do rather than what I perceive to be flaws or weaknesses! Starting off with thanking it for carrying me on a great 35 minute run this morning – I knocked almost 7 minutes off my usual time for that route! Obviously heartache has some good effects on the old legs
2. So what if I’ve had pretty bad luck with guys up until now? Even though I got the less-than-great news last night that someone I had been seeing has decided to get back together with his ex, I have to see this as a lucky escape. Thank goodness I found out now, rather than months down the line. Who cares if he told me in a text message? It just goes to show that a guy who doesn’t have the courtesy to call me obviously isn’t such a great catch after all.
3. I’m at a very uncertain stage in my life right now – I just finished university, and don’t have any job prospects or plans for further education. However – instead of being nervous about this, I should be excited. I’m free to go wherever I choose. I graduated with a good degree from the university ranked number 3 in the UK, so once I get my butt into gear and start sending my CV to people, I’m sure I’ll be fine (that’s what I’m telling myself anyway )
4. I often feel out of control, especially with regards to my eating patterns and choices. The key word here is choices. Even though it seems that I lose control, I have to remind myself that the strength and discipline I applied to my studies hasn’t just disappeared. I can do it, and I am not helpless.
5. While they sometimes struggle to understand what I’m going through, I have a family who loves and supports me unconditionally. I know that there’s also an incredible network of women in the blogosphere who have already extended their support to me, showing me that even though I may feel isolated by the issues I have with food, I am never alone.

Tina said something that really sums up what I’m trying to say:

“ I’ve learned that if I’m not happy with something in my life, I need to DO something about it. I can’t just sit back and watch. Plus, I had nothing to lose! I’m just glad to be in a different place in my life right now.”

Similarly, Julie shared what her yoga instructor told her class the other day:

“Every day you decide to work out you make a decision to benefit your health. This is no small feat. Be proud of yourself for making your health and well-being a priority.

If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’re going to keep looking how you’ve been looking.”

When I read these sentiments, I felt inspired to carry their message into my own life. While I know it isn’t realistic to expect a dramatic change overnight, I need to realise that if something is going to happen for the better, the only person who can bring this change about is me. Instead of seeing my workouts as a chore or obligation to be fulfilled, or as a necessary punishment to make up for overeating, I have to flip this way of thinking on its head – going for a run is a treat, and a luxury that a lot of people don’t have access to. I’ve been taking my mobility for granted, and I need to take pride in every step that I take, just like Julie’s yoga instructor said.

I always knew that there were some very special, compassionate women in this community, but now that I’ve experienced your kindness personally I’m filled with optimism for my month of positivity

xKx

Ain’t No Sunshine

Thank goodness the crazy storms held off today! I managed to go for a run this morning once my breakfast had settled, and it felt great! I was out for 50 minutes altogether, and for some reason I felt like I was flying along today. It was the perfect way to start the day, and put me in a great mood I need to get a watch that tracks distance though, especially if I’m going to be training myself up for a race!

After I got back to the house, I was bombarded by Alfie and Cassie, the resident fur babies. I’ll take some pictures tomorrow, because I’m sure you’ll be hearing a lot more about those two trouble-makers on here

The rest of the day was less fun. I was debating whether to write about it so early on, but perhaps it’ll do me some good to share what’s on my mind.

After a shower and some lunch, I binged on cereal, yoghurt, and granola bars/cookies. For such a short sentence, that was a pretty tough one to write! I’ve had this problem for over five years now, and for the past four to six weeks it had been getting so much better – I had been journalling, and keeping a food diary - and it seemed like expressing myself in that way was helping me cope with whatever it was that had been causing me to binge in this way.

I had been pretty nervous about coming home from university, because of the loss of control I associate with a major switch-up in my routine. I had been doing really well until a couple of days ago, but for whatever reason, I have binged on each of the past three days. I’m hoping that having this blog as an outlet will help me work through these issues, because clearly they haven’t been resolved regardless of how well I had been doing over the past month and a half.

Part of the problem is how I tend to deal with the fall-out following a binge. My reactions are generally one or more of the following:

• I’m huge. Therefore it won’t make any difference if I keep on doing this, because I’m already disgusting.
• I have to do some exercise to cancel this out. If I can’t, then it just confirms that I’m a weak person. (This one is something that I’m really struggling with at home, because if it happened while I was at university it was easy to go to a spin class, or spend hours at the campus gym.)
• No wonder I don’t have a boyfriend. Who would want someone who can’t control themselves in this way? I’m unattractive. (This is ironic, as by binging I only make myself feel worse. I feel powerless to stop this self-sabotage though.)
• I cannot eat until tomorrow morning. (Not only because of the physical discomfort, but because it makes me feel better if I manage to wait 15-16 hours before my next meal.)
• I don’t want to go out and meet with old friends, because they will think I’m disgusting. I also feel embarrassed to be around my family, and don’t want to answer questions about why I’m not eating dinner.

Now then. Sorry for making you sit through that – I feel really odd putting such private thoughts out there for scrutiny, and I feel a bit self-indulgent too – but I’m hoping that by pushing myself out of my comfort zone in this way, and opening  myself up to any advice, that any shame or embarrassment will slowly dissipate. I know that Melissa writes about her own struggles in her Side Notes, and her bravery is what is inspiring me to share my own issues with you.

How do you get back on track after a tough day?

Thanks for listening, and here’s to making tomorrow happier and healthier,

xKx

Where am I?!

Hey guys!

While most of you are enjoying a beautiful summer with temperatures of over 30 degrees C, apparently Holland has decided it wants to be original? I’d been having a lazy Monday (ahh, the beauty of being a student on summer break. Oh wait. I’m not a student anymore. Bugger.) when I thought I’d go and have a little run outside. The Dutch weather clearly thought otherwise. It’s raining so hard! Now, I’m not a wimp, but I think when the weather channels are advising people to stay indoors and issuing severe weather warnings, I think it’s acceptable to postpone a run, n’est-ce pas ?

What’s weird is that for the past week, it’s been absolutely beautiful here! Maybe losing in the World Cup Final last night made the weather cranky along with the rest of the country…

Fingers crossed that it stops by tomorrow. One day is cute; two is just rude.

I still feel I need to do some kind of exercise though – I overate today and feel gross. Any ideas? So far I’m thinking having a private disco in my bedroom

What do you do when you want to exercise but the weather is uncooperative?

Bisous,

xKx

Hello!

Hi everyone!

I’m Karen, a 22 year old British/French girl passionate about food and fitness and trying to find my way in the world after finally graduating from university this summer…easier said than done, right?

I’m new to blogging, so bear with me while I straighten myself out! I’m not sure yet what the focus of my posts will be – at the moment it’s looking like it’ll be a happy mixture of my goals to become a ‘serious runner’, and that of figuring out what I want to do with myself now that I’m done studying. No pressure at all then

I first started reading blogs (mainly exercise and food-centred) on my year abroad in South Carolina last year, and am very excited to become part of the community!

I think that’ll be it for the minute – I’ll be working on an ‘About Me’ post, so that I can introduce myself to you properly

Bisous,

xKx