And the Winner is…

For all my US followers… A blogging event for you!

Lisa A.'s avatarLife of an El Paso Woman

wp-1470607427825.jpgHi everyone! I want to thank everyone who voted in the U.S. Blogging Event poll over the last month. I also want to thank those who spread the word on WordPress and/or on social media. A huge thank you also goes out to Tracy from A Joyful Process for putting together the poll. The U.S. Blogging Event will be held on Saturday, September 2, 2017 in… Chicago! The committee will now spend time searching for a location in Chicago over the next few months. Once the location is found, we’ll give you more details. Please feel free to spread the word on the location via WP and/or social media. Will you be attending? Thanks again everyone!

Photo from Google Search

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 #SoCS Aug 6/16 – Ex

Excuses – I’m always finding them, to explain why I’m putting off doing things like sorting out the kids bedroom… But I will do it, honest, it’s just that we have family over today for a barbecue so I need to clean the house from top to bottom! (Oops, see what I did there!)

Exercise – I’m attempting a lot of they right now, but exercise that will suit my knee problem, heel problem, and shortage of time problem. Today I may not get to walk, but my vigorous housework will count for something!!

Exterminate – I really am not into Dr a Who, so why did this come into my mind? Possibly because we needed to buy flea spray for the house yesterday. It’s that tine again… Thanks for the presents Sonu Singh, but we generally could do without fleas!

Extreme – I love that song by Extreme… More Than Words… Mmmmm Nuno Bettencourt…!

Existence – we are here… What are we here for? Have you worked out your purpose in life? Are we here just to exist, or do we each have a reason to be here? 

Extrovert – I guess that is how I could be described by some! It’s not that I crave attention, but I am not worried if I get it! I’m not shy, put it that way. 

Excited – I am, honestly, at the thought of finally getting the kids rooms sorted. We have four weeks of holiday left… Can we do it? As long as I don’t find any more excuses!!!

Written as part of Linda’s Stream ofConsciousness Series. Find the prompt here.

 

Eat to Live or Live to Eat?

All this healthy eating… it’s set my mind thinking…

Do we eat to live, or live to eat?

It stands to reason, that the majority of us eat to live doesn’t it? If we didn’t have nourishment, then we wouldn’t be here.

If we lived to eat, we would all be rolling around, obese, and probably dying way before our time…

This only really came into my mind as I was cooking my dinner for today. Hubby Dearest decided he didn’t really fancy anything overly healthy, but I stood my ground and said I would stick to my plan, and then sort him out with whatever he wanted.

As I sat eating my healthy homemade food (Lamb kebab, quinoa stuffed mushroom and salad) he glanced over at it, with a look that didn’t say “YUM!” but rather “Nah, I don’t think so!”

Was it really that unappetising?

Was I making myself eat something awful, all in the name of living a healthy diet? Was I eating to live?

 

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It doesn’t look that bad, does it?

No. Not today anyway!

There have been times though, in my life, where I have attempted to eat things that were not for my taste-buds, but meant to be good for you, so I tried. You gotta live, right? But it felt like I was making myself suffer, in order to look good.

From various fruit and vegetables, to herbal teas, I forced myself. But I couldn’t do it. That time of my life, I think I really did Live to Eat. I was in my prime. My weight wasn’t an issue, Mummy Tummy was a thing of the future, not yet experienced.

I would eat all sorts of rich foods, takeaways, drink soft drinks, and alcohol, without a care in the world. It was a wonderful time! But I guess all good things come to an end.

My metabolism changed with my age. I had 2 children. My body changed. I could no longer eat like I used to. I was unable to exercise in the same way, and even if I did, it wasn’t working like it did before. And I was definitely Eating to Live. I needed energy to cope with these two boisterous children, a job, and general family life.

But I was eating the wrong stuff.

And coupled with my general lifestyle, it was not good for me. So, I piled on weight, and found myself stuck with a jelly belly, wobbly bum, cellulite, bingo wings, and a double chin. No thigh gap visible here y’all!

But the good thing with getting older is that generally, you get wiser. And with that wisdom, I realised that I can try the ‘good for you’ food, and I can learn to love it too.

Currently, I am experimenting with different healthy recipes, some I have tried before, some new to me, but it is different to my recent diet.

And yes, I am definitely Eating to Live now, Eating to Live a healthy life, for my family, my children, and most importantly, for ME!

And as I become accustomed to some new flavours, some maturer tastes, I think, I may be actually Living to Eat too… because I have started to enjoy this good stuff, almost as much as some of the naughty food too!

I believe that in general, we all go through both phases, Eating to Live, and Living to Eat.

Which phase are you going through right now?

 Live to Eat

or

Eat to Live

 

I’ve Only Gone And Instagrammed Myself!

Well I’ve done it, kinda climbed into the more modern era!


I downloaded Instagram a few weeks ago, finally deciding I needed to see what it was all about. And Snapchat.

I’ve been reading a book called Techbitch by Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza. It’s about an old skool fashion editor coming back to work, after a lengthy sick leave, to find her position has been all but usurped by a young, tech savvy harridan, Eve, who wants to do away with print magazines, and have apps for everything instead.

In the book, Imogen, the unlikely heroine, goes through a huge metamorphosis, learning the ways of the tech world, and embracing all the social media out there, beyond Facebook.

It was a great read, by the way, I finished it within a day!!

Modern chick lit with none of the wishy washy romance, but a good storyline!

Where was I? Back to the point in hand!c I feel a bit like Imogen, clutching at my FB account. I know where I am with that! Twitter is there for the blog. I still don’t quite grasp it, but it’s there! I use Whatsapp. LinkedIn is all linked up.

So I decided to try old (new) Instagram… What fun! I’m all about the filters and hashtags now!!!

Snapchat is great for immediate entertainment for the kids, but I won’t use it properly.

But HELLO INSTAGRAM!

I’m loving it!

So, if you are an Instagrammer, find it in your hearts to follow lil old me!

@phantom_giggler

Just like my Twitter handle – @phantomgiggler

And Facebook my page – But I Smile Anyway 

And, (shameless plug!) while I’m at it… Dud you check out my poetry book, Poetic RITUals? It’s got 5 five star reviews so far on Amazon.co.uk!

Click Here to go to the Amazon of your country to pick up a copy, paperback or Kindle, and if you do, please let me know what you think! The Look Inside feature is also activated, so you can have a glance, try before you buy, if you like!


Then there is my Author page you can peruse if you like too!

Oh, and Goodreads too! 

Have a fantastic Thursday Peeps!

Walking My Way Fit!

Firstly, can I say a huge thank you to you all for liking and commenting on my post yesterday about my Weight Crisis?

I have been inundated with lovely words, and so much encouragement from you all, I feel I will make it! I will do this, slowly but surely.

I have decided I will do a weekly update, called Walking My Way Fit, as I have decided that this is going to be my main mode of physical exercise. I love to walk, and we have a playing field literally a minutes walk away from the house, with a marked running/walking perimeter. Perfect!

I have been really good today with my eating too, considering I had to start my daily nutrition late as I had to have a fasting blood test.

Seriously, though, the queue for the blood test was ridiculous! I got there early, hoping to beat the rest, but when I got there, the ticket number I pulled was 42! But in all fairness to the Phlebotomy crew, they whittled the patient number down pretty quickly, so I was able to get out and come home (after some sneaky shopping!) I bought one of those arm phone holder thingies, and a teeny tiny micro towel, as in this humidity, I do tend to glow/perspire/melt during any exertion!

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I managed another walk, over 3km this time, and drank different herbal teas all day, or water, with sensible snacks. You can see my breakfast, above, and my salmon and greens dinner. I had a chicken salad for lunch.

So,  I’m not doing too badly, am I?!

I shall keep you updated, if you are interested, and see how my walking goes! Might even throw in a bit of hula hooping again too… that big old hoop keeps looking at me, saying “Come on, you know you want to wiggle those hips around!”

Until tomorrow, my wonderfully supportive Blogily! I appreciate each and every one of you! 🙂

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