Well, I can’t believe that we are heading into the final month of 2015. No matter how much I moan about how fast this year has flown by I’m so thrilled about this time of year, it’s my favourite! Since after Bonfire Night I’ve been getting excited about all things Christmasy from present buying and thinking about all that festive food.
In what seems like an indulgent and excessive time of year I think it’s nice to take some time out and get back to basics which is something that I’ve been keen on doing throughout November. Budgeting and not spending my money so frivolously which I commonly do at this time of year has been a main focus of mine and trying to eat more simple vegetable-packed meals before the Christmas excess begins. All in all, November was a pretty exciting month for me and I’m really excited about a big family Christmas in our new home.
What I got up to in November
At the beginning of the month, I was feeling really frazzled and overwhelmed by everything. My self-care practices went out the window and even still I haven’t been brilliant at looking after myself properly, there have been some really challenging days waking up super early and staying up late to fit in work and a couple of sleep deprived nights with Aiden. This month has made me believe in the true virtues of self-care so much more and how it can affect your everyday.
Neom kindly sent my this gorgeous set of organic bath and shower oils to try, aptly name Three Nights Peace. They’ve been a fantastic way to fit in a bit of self-care and luxury into my shower time, almost killing two birds with one stone. I’m now a complete Neom convert and looking to treat myself to some other bits in the range, especially their candles.
I’ve been having so many laughs with my little mister, he’s an absolute treasure and such a happy little boy! We’ve had some lovely days hanging out, gorgeous long walks by the sea and generally just having fun together. This one just LOVES taking selfies!
We’ve been getting into the festive spirit this month with trips to a Christmas fair with lots of handmade crafts and gourmet food stalls, think lots of cheese, chutneys, chocolate, cakes and alcohol…what’s not to love? Wanting to miss out on the Christmas mayhem I’ve made a lovely dent in the Christmas shopping by starting early, which hopefully means that I can enjoy the run up to Christmas stress-free.
Slowly but surely I’ve been more motivated to dig myself out of my workout rut and enjoyed some short workouts and a couple of runs. I’m not putting too much pressure on myself to workout and on the days I just don’t fancy it I’ve stopped being so hard on myself and just thought sod it, who cares if I don’t want to work out. I’ve got nothing to prove, I’m happy, healthy and I’ll work out when I feel like it because that’s what’s best for me.
It’s been an exciting month for the blog, an amazing day in the studio getting creative with Quorn, launching my Healthy Snacking 101 E-Guide that is free to my email subscribers and my Super Creamy Apple & Ginger Green Smoothie recipe was featured on Buzzfeed!
My Favourite Links Form Around the Web
- How to Squeeze Good Healthy Habits into a Chaotic Schedule
- 16 Tricks to Stay Warm This Winter (Without Using a Heater)
- A 6-Step Guide To Radical Self-Healing – a great post on believing in the power of your body to heal itself!
- When Wellness Makes You Unwell
- 3 Choices That Make The Difference Between An Ordinary Life & An Extraordinary One
- 11 Vegetarian Turkey Alternatives That Aren’t Tofurkey – so many delicious vegetarian ideas!
- The Massive Fitness Trend That’s Seriously Ruining Our Body Image
- Beauty Benefits of Festive Fruits and Seasonal Spices
Moments That Made My Heart Sing
- Watching Aiden becoming more confident and independent
- Christmas shopping!
- Planning and writing a challenge that will be launching next year
- Watching the sunrise over the sea from our window
- Having friends and family come to stay
- Realising that I’m doing the best I can and being satisfied with that
- Doing what I love!
- Creating some new festive recipes in the kitchen
My words for December are EAT, DRINK & BE MERRY. Although I never restrict what I eat I’m going to be sensible and take a balanced approach to all the festive food and just enjoy it. Sometimes I do get into the habit of eating things for the sheer hell of it, not because I actually want them. Christmas is all about excess and indulgence, but at the same time I don’t want to be paying for it come January. I’m going to face plant myself in the food that I love which quite frankly involves a lot of healthy stuff and lots of chocolate too!
Aiden is a little cutie! Love the trainers! Totally agree with you about December, you need to be good but still enjoy all the lovely food!.
http://www.naomitalksbeauty.com
Thank you! The trainers are certainly bright, but I love them!
Ooh, that Neom package sounds like a delight and I’m totally with you on self-care playing a really important role in our every day lives. How adorable is your little boy? He’s got such a cheeky little smile. He looks like the double of you, too!
Neom is such a gorgeous brand! Their stuff smells amazing and it’s all organic too. He’s a cheeky monkey alright and keeps me on my toes. 🙂
This is my favourite time of year too and I can’t wait until Christmas eve to turn the computer off and just relax for a week before the madness of the new year again.
I love that your little one likes taking selfies haha
He’s the biggest little poser, it’s unreal, ha!
Your son is seriously adorable!!
Aww thank you!
I am glad you had a great month and got to spend quality time with your adorable son. Now I will get a smoothie in replace of a coffee and start my day lol
Ha! It really was a great month! Did you enjoy your smoothie?
My plan is to eat healthy most of the time for the first two weeks of December, but then it’s my birthday and after that Christmas and I am not planning to restrict myself then! I will try to be active as much as I can but if I can’t be, well it’s not going to be the end of the world!
How much Aiden has grown since I last saw his picture, great to see you in your running trainers!
I think you have such a great approach to the Christmas feasting Petra, it’s all about moderation and enjoying the food and having fun!
Aiden looks so big now- he’s not a baby any more! Lovely to see his big smile in that picture.
I think my aim for December is fresh air. I know it is easy to stay cooped up inside but I also know that a bit of fresh air each day helps me feel so much better.