Falling Off The Wagon & Getting Back On

I have not posted for some time now, this has been for two reasons. 1. I have been super busy and 2. I'm sad to say that I haven't been following my own advice.

Don't let the picture fool you, I went on 2 runs over the 10 days!

I went on holiday at the beginning of June to sunny Portugal, and even before I even boarded the plane I was in holiday mode. Wine? Yes please! Ice cream? Why not! I ate and drank whatever I wanted because I was on holiday and that was that. It took about 4 days for me to regret this decision when I started to feel less comfortable in my bikini - but by that point the damage had already been done. My skin broke out and I was bloated 24.7. I'll correct this when I get back to England I said to myself after finishing the last sip of Daiquiri, Mai Tai, Mojito and so on. (The picture on the right is actually my birthday and so I have no remorse).

Fast forward 3 weeks and I have literally only just got my sudden motivational urge to get back on it. I have still been going to Crossfit but I am ashamed to say that I have not been eating very well. This is partly due to  lack of motivation which in turn has led to a lack of willpower. The moment of realisation came when I was accepting cookies, chocolate and sweets at the office. Those of you that have followed my blog will know that I wouldn't have even considered eating these things before. So what changed? Other than the fact that scientifically speaking it's about 10 times harder to turn down alcohol in the sunshine.

I guess after allowing myself to eat 'unclean' foods whilst I was away tainted my vision of how detrimental they can really be. What has been the most annoying thing for me is that I am actually eating A LOT less than I was before but still feeling crappy. It just goes to show how much refined products make up the bulk of diets and limit the level of nutrition and vitamins you can intake. 

Besides from the total lack of motivation I have also been so busy. My office has just moved, I'm still trying to work out at least 4 times a week, break in my hiking boots and prep for Thailand. My lack of time has sort of resulted in me not food shopping properly or food prepping like I used to and eating a little more on the go. Thank god for M&S's new 'nutritious & delicious' range - they have been my lunch time saviour. 

Breaking the boots in. I was so hot in 25 degrees, not sure how I'll cope at 35...

So it's not all been bad - I had definitely fallen off the wagon and my 80/20 rule had turned more into a 60/40 rule but at least I kept active and did what I could on week days. Now, I have looked back at why I started what I was doing and reinstated my goals and motivations. Although it feels like I've hindered myself I know I haven't as I might not have been losing fat, but I wasn't gaining it either. 

Not having the time to food prep has single handedly been the downfall - failing to prepare if preparing to fail remember. I've been coming to work snackless which was a major error and going to my boyfriends house unprepared. All of a sudden it was becoming OK to say yes to the cheesecake when I had no healthy alternative. 

So lesson learnt, no harm done and as soon as I return from Thailand (which I am hypothetically pooping my pants about) I will get straight back to prepping. Simply because I am too poor to do anything about it for now =)

For now I am sucking it up, eating the same thing day in and day out because it is the cheapest and fastest way to do things. This week I'm eating Paella- which I made with brown rice, chicken and some chorizo. I wanted something full of flavour that I could just chuck loads of veg into and this seemed like the perfect option. In an ideal world I wouldn't be eating so much rice but for now this will have do! 

I'm looking forward to getting back into the kitchen. I miss baked sweet potato fries, peanut butter, cacao and I can't wait to explore more clean dessert options - I guess I never realised just how much they were helping to keep me on track!

In other news: I'm running 'The Color Run' in London on Sunday. I was so happy when my gear turned up in the post. I literally can't wait to get that sexy sweat band on my face.

it's 9 days until I leave for Thailand!!! I have a couple of small bits left to get but other than that I am physically prepared - my brain just needs to catch up. I had a total of 10 injections, including accidentally having Tetnis, Diptheria and Polio done twice. You're supposed to have this vaccination once every 10 years and I managed it twice in 4 days so that was smooth.

I'm going to try do long walks every night in my boots between now and then so I'm safe in the knowledge that my boots will not cause me any grief. I've managed to rope a friend and a dog into keeping me company and thanks to the absolutely gorgeous weather we're being provided with I'm rather looking forward to it!

As much as I am nervous, I am also extremely excited. Bring on the treks, the kayaking and the rain - it's going to be tough but it's an experience and that's what I signed on for and I can't wait to share it all with you.

Finally... I thought it was worth mentioning that in January I set out to complete a goal. I vowed that 2013 would be the year that I faced my fears. 2013 would be the year that I would no longer be afraid of fish - and that I might actually enjoy it. Here I am on my 24th birthday. Enough said.

If you would like to sponsor me, I am raising money for Diabetes UK and you can do so by clicking here.

You can donate £1 by texting MINI95 £1 to 70070- every little helps and it's for a great cause. 

I hope you're all getting outdoors and making the most of the weather!

Minnie
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